Weekly Homeschool Wrap-Up–April 25, 2010

 

 

It’s weekly wrap-up time!   If you want to join in, we’d love to see what is going on with you, so please visit Mary.   

 

From where I sat this past week,

 

As an individual, I…

 

am, surprisingly enough, at a place where there isn’t as much to do (for me), and it’s good to sit quietly for a change.   I am wrapping up co-teaching with our associate pastor, and I have been blessed to take on this endeavor.  I’ll post about it separately.

 

 

It’s funny; when I wasn’t working out regularly, I would often post my progress, which wasn’t progress at all.   Yet, for the last two or three months, I’ve been working out 3 to 4 times a week, praise God.    I just haven’t slowed down to write about it!    At any rate, according to my Wii Fit Plus, I’m about 20 pounds lighter, which is great.   What’s more exciting for me is that I put back on a pair of cropped jeans that imposed, shall we say, upon my hips and midsection.   They now fit comfortably, and if I say so myself, I look gooooooood.     What is equally exciting is that I’m not tired in the midst of all that my hands and mind find to do.   This renewed energy for exercise couldn’t have come at a better time, or maybe the timing was coincidental.    I had more than enough on my plate already, and once I took on the development of the training materials for this latest Bible study, I needed an energy boost.   

 

As a wife and homemaker, I…

 

am happy that the superhero seems to have been healed, with some prevention, of his health challenges.     He was diagnosed as being hypoglycemic, and needs to eat smaller meals on a more frequent basis.   Not to make light of his issues, but don’t some people have all the luck?    Of course, he wouldn’t think so, and in trying to adopt my own habits, I’m finding that it’s hard to eat six small meals each day!    Once the kids get up, I struggle to slow down for lunch, sometimes not eating until 2 p.m. or 3 p.m. in the afternoon.    He gets home not too long after that, and he’s ready for dinner.   Of course, I’m not hungry at that point, and tend to eat dinner closer to 7 p.m. or 8 p.m.    That’s just my third meal, and with a dessert, I’m done.    Having to think about food every 3 hours, even for someone who loves food, is hard work!   By the way, in reading with the oldest, I learned a new word:

 

cloys:  to become uninteresting or distasteful through overabundance

 

 

 

Used in a sentence, having to think about food every three hours cloys.

 

 

 

As a mom and homeschooling parent, I…

 

continue to make changes where I can and, in the meantime, enjoy the remainder of our year.    The youngest had talked of planting more, and Dad was excited after last year’s gardening success, so here we go again.

 

 

vegetables;2010;spring;garden;tomato

 

 

In the middle are pecan shells, which my FIL swears make the best fertilizer.  Last year, we took a lesson from Squanto and planted our shrimp heads in the garden.   I’m not so sure of the results, as I uncovered heads while weeding earlier this spring—one year later. 

 

 

vegetables;2010;spring;garden;tomato

 

 

Okay, it’s not forty acres and a mule, but for a city kid, this is a pretty good-sized vegetable garden.   Actually, it’s been interesting to read of the number of people who are turning to gardens in the midst of this recession.    We garden more for the fun of seeing things grow than for cutting expenses, but I have to say that it was neat to not have to buy as much last summer at the produce market as we normally would.   I’m actually looking forward to having fried okra cloy.

 

We’re all enjoying The Cricket in Times Square much better than Bambi, and we might fit in one more book before our official end of the school year.    The oldest will end with Plato’s Republic, and I’ll miss reading Mother Teresa’s biography to our son.   I’ll try to fit her in on next year, when I’m pretty sure our son will use Sonlight’s “History of God’s Kingdom” readers.

 

I am not sure what our summer will look like right now.   When we began to put dates together, I realized that the oldest will have camps and classes every week in the month of June, and our son’s final season competition is the first full week of July.    By the way, they didn’t triumph at the most recent competition on last weekend, but here’s a picture of them two competitions ago when they took home almost every award that was there for the taking.   Our son had already changed into his warm-up suit.

 

 

Photobucket

 

My plan A was to begin school in mid- to late-July, so that we would finish in April; at this point, I’m realizing that starting when I plan means that there will be virtually no days to stay home and just be before we kick off a new school year.   And to me, that’s what summer is really all about—no agenda, nowhere to go, and plenty of time to do something that’s close to nothing.   Regarding school, we’ve traditionally covered math and reading during the summer, and this continues to look like a good plan.   However, I do want the kids to rest, mentally and physically.   I’ll figure it out—hopefully, soon.

 

A couple of classes will end within the next 1-2 weeks.   Namely, they are the classes that the kids didn’t have as much fun with, so this will be an unexpected treat for them—at least, that’s what I’m thinking.    I’m thinking that this will be the start of the rest that is sorely lacking right now.    As I think I’ve stated before, the kids have, for a variety of reasons, not slept as much this semester, and it’s starting to show now toward the year’s end.   It’s an area where I need to get a better handle, and that “handle” starts with me and my own sleeping habits.

 

As a business owner, I…

 

am so glad that I got everything to a comfortable place right before I begin my summer sale.    I’ve got some other ideas for unit studies that I need to begin to pen for hopeful publication late this year.

 

May the Lord bless your week as well.

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6 thoughts on “Weekly Homeschool Wrap-Up–April 25, 2010

  1. Woo-Hooo! Way to go on the 20 pounds! That's gotta feel good 🙂

    Hmmmm…..rest is important. Just "being" is important.
    Have you considered doing a four-day week instead of five?
    I know that works for some folks and gives them one day a week to really truly just kick back.

    We school year-round, but take frequent long weekends. I figure it all comes out in the end. We will take a couple of weeks off in June for camps, too. And a week in May and a week or two in October.

    Hope you find a solution that works for you guys.

  2. You sound like you are in such a content place right now! That's awesome! Enjoyed all the photos…especially your guy surrounded by those dancing beauties.

  3. Sounds like you might need a break before June starts, but if everyone's having fun, it doesn't really matter.

    Janet W

  4. Wahoo ! That is great news about the 20 lbs, ((happy dance)) for you.

    I am glad that things are feeling slowed down for you and you are seeing a good finish for your school year. And you garden looks wonderful ! I hope you keep posting pictures as it grows and for sure take a pic of your harvest. [0=

    I need to master eating every three hours too. I think part of the challenge is to have things pre-pared ahead of time. That reminds me I need to make up my humus and veggie sticks for my snack this morning. [0=

    We really enjoyed the Cricket in Time Square. We loved it as a read aloud. Is that what you all are doing ?

    May the Lord bless your time writing the unit studies. ((HUGS))

    Blessings and ((HUGS))
    In Him<><
    -Mary

  5. Hey, guys, and thanks for the advice.

    Actually, Tracey, we operated on a 4-day school week for several years, but as the kids got older, they opted for five shorter days rather than 4 longer ones with a break in between. Given that dance occupies several evenings, it worked out better this way.

    When I looked at the schedule we will take a break during the first week of June. I believe it will give everyone a much-needed breather, and thanks.

  6. Cloys…love it!
    I've always eaten around every 2-3 hrs. Yes, its like you're eating all day! There are a few staple snacks that will always need to be on hand & very easy..ex. wraps, soup in thermos, crackers & chz.
    Can't wait to see how the garden grows!
    Blessings!

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