Just a week and a half left!

My 3 older kids have done well in public school. They have all grown and proved to themselves that they could do it. I am really proud of them. They have made some good friends, I have been complimented and thanked for raising such nice kids to befriend other kids. They have learned some things we would have never covered. They've gotten to go on field trips and be part of performances. They have each been recognized for high acheivement in various ways. I am really pleased. I am also really glad that this time period is almost over. I am excited for them to get back to studying Greek, Latin, math at their own pace, lots of music, and more time together to work in chores and practicing and reading throughout the day instead of concentrated outside of school hours. I am also excited to go on hikes, to fun places and do learning activities at home and around. #4 has been making huge leaps of improvement in his vision. I am really proud of him. I didn't realize what he couldn't see until he could see it, if that makes sense. He has really missed his older siblings, but he has been a huge help with the young kids at home and he has stepped up and taken on greater responsibilities at home. I am very pleased with him. #5 is still very innocent and sweet. He is a true joy. He has a ways to go in learning to be more obedient and doing his chores better, but he does try and he is really good with the 3 little ones. He is doing great with reading, writing and math. He still likes to be read to and enjoys singing time. It makes me happy. My four older kids really don't like singing time anymore, and the twins don't like to sing or do actions, they feed off each other, one of them is extremely stubborn, but we still do it and I love that my little #5 still enjoys it. The twins are doing better potty training. I cleaned up a lot of poop today because of all the watermelon they ate, but overall, they re improving a lot. They love to be read to, they are learning the alphabet. They want to do their "math" too. They are still very high maintenance, but they can get in and out of the car now and find their shoes and it continues to get easier. They are also able to do some chores, and I can see how all of the sudden, they'll be boys instead of toddlers and able to do more and even be helpful. We are getting there. The baby is way cute, he is getting his top two teeth in and he is just a doll. Life is good. I think I'll take the little ones swimming tomorrow to end our school year, I'll have the two boys take their math tests and then we'll call it good for a couple weeks. Then we'll just have fun. I am looking forward to summer!

Nice homeschooling info graphic!

Created by: CollegeAtHome.com

Khan's Educational Ideas

I think most homeschoolers are familiar with Salman Khan's videos and the http://www.khanacademy.org/.  Well apparently he has written a book about his ideas for education 
And this article summarized them-- it's not long, but very very good.  Worth the time to read for sure!

https://medium.com/teaching-learning/4cf86e193541

Spring Break

Spring Break was Awesome!  I really hate school, we have to get up early in the morning again tomorrow and I haven't mixed the bread douggh yet to let it rise for lunches tomorrow and I'm tired!  Anyway, that is beside the point-- We went to Montana near Glacier National Park because we had a timeshare opening there and we had never been there so we figured-- let's go check it out!  It turned out to be very fun for all of us-- the kids were great in the car and our accomodations weredecent with a kitchen and laundry although outdated, it was kept up nice.  It was funny how my oldest kept commenting on how she liked that oven and that dishwasher and those lights and cabinets and how it was just like the old movie Freaky Friday.  Very funny-- it wasn't that old and not that different from our last house that was built in the late 70s, but whatever!  Kids are funny sometimes-- anyway-- we were right on the lake there, but the lake was extremely low, so much so that the docks were all completely exposed, when we called about boat rentals, they said it is like this every year and they don't rent boats until May or June.  Glacier was mostly closed and so wa the pool-- so not waht we expected nor what was described in the listing.  But it was beautiful, the weather was great, so we saw and did all that was open and all the was to see.  My husband and the five older kids camped in the woods one night, we threw lots of rocks into the lake, the kids waded around in the muddy freezing water and we took some really great pictures, and we decided to go home a little early and stay at Fairmon Hot Springs and enjoy the pool there for a night.  That was pretty fun, then we finished our drive home and completed our spring break vacation by riding Frontrunner adn Trax into Salt Lake  and eating at California Pizza Kitchen to cover 4 kids' birthdays.  It was a lot of fun and the twins had been waiting for their train ride.  And it was awesome to have some time to relax and recover and get things put away-- although there's still some to do.  Ugh-- getting kids off to school in the morning-- I'd better go to bed!

Education Fair

Our homeschool group sponsored an educational fair where the families could do a display all together or have each child do their own.  My kids love to print things and glue them onto to posters and make a nice big mess for days on end, so of course we participated.  #2 even skipped school so that she could do a display and presentation on foxes-- her very favorite animal.  She even found out that there is a breed that can be tamed and they act just like dogs.  She had the clever idea of printing out a lRge picture of a forest to use as her background.  It turned out great.  # 4 did his on the chin strapped penguin.  He also used a big picture for his background and did a great job.  #5 did his on the komodo dragon.  It was fun to do, and it was fun to see what the other kids had done.  Thank you homeschool group!  I really like these opportunities for the kids to get up in front of people and practice their presentation skills.  I thought everybody did a great job-- there weren't a lot, but it is still worth it to go ahead with it.

more vision therapy success!

We have been focusing on vision therapy for # 4 and have found thst he enjoys parching his strong eye to work his weak eye by playing games on the eye pad, instead of eye exercises being s chore, he actually asks if he can do them.  It does make it s bit of  pain when everybody else wants a turn too, but it's worth it, because he has now reached a new level of vision.  he is seeing things he has not been able to see before.  I am so happy about it and so proud of him, this journey hasn't been easy, but he has perservered and I am very pleased and happy with his progress.

Battle of the Books

They have a program at the school called Battle of the Books.  There are 20 books and they divide the kids up into teams and ask them questions about the books, and the team that answers the most questions right wins.  #2's team didn't do super well, but she did get to be on the all-star team.  To be an all star, she had to read all 20 books and get her signed papers proving she did so in first.  There were 14 all-stars.  They got to compete against the teachers in front of the whole school.  The kids won by a couple questions.  And they each got a trophy, a certificate, a t-shirt, and a free book.  Way to go #2.  She loves to read and I liked the books they selected.  It was a great program, I'm glad she got to be a part of it.