2010 - 2011 School Year

We have officially started our new school year! We really school year round, but we have taken off several weeks due to having company and other things going on.

I'm back to homeschooling only one this year. Dakota was 8 when Elijah was born so it's been about 10 years since I've had only one to focus on. This year is all about Elijah as last year seemed to be about Dakota and his senior year.

I've never been a serious have to do school or we'll be behind kind of teacher. I love homeschooling year round so we can take off when we want to and have family days when Jody is off.

Last year was a pretty bad year for me as I was so sick and most days couldn't even get out of bed. I'm still in that shape, but I've came up with a plan. I am a hands on, unit study, lapbook and notebooking kind of teacher, but with my health problems I'm just not able to school like I want to. At one point last year I really wondered how much longer I was going to be around so I made the decision to get Elijah some Spectrum workbooks from Books A Million. He was able to work in these books even if I couldn't get out of bed. And I felt better knowing he was doing something.

So this year I wanted to have a plan. Plan A for my sick days and plan B for my better days. I asked Elijah to help me come up with school plans.

First we decided our school days will be
Sunday - school
Monday - school
Tuesday - family day
Wednesday - co-op
Thursday - school
Friday - school
Saturday - free day

This schedule will start in August. Even though we have started school this month we have a lot of unusual events going on so we are just schooling on the days we don't have scheduled for other things.

After having a long Wednesday this past week I'm wondering if I should have Thursday as a free day so I can recoop after co-op and have Saturday as a school day. I guess I'll see how it goes, thankfully I can always change things up to what works best for us.

Next we came up with a list of goals for Elijah.
1. learn his multiplication facts better
2. read every day
3. get his formula and hook up to his pump by himself
4. learn cursive
5. memorize 10 Bible verses
6. train his dog, maybe take classes at Pet Smart
7. more art
8. learn to tie shoes
9. practice counting money
10. practice telling time

We came up with a list of FIAR books we want to row.
1. Salamander Room
2. Owl Moon
3. Snowflake Bentley
4. Daniel's Duck
5. Truman's Aunt Farm
6. Follow The Drinking Gourd
7. The Giraffe that Walked to Paris
8. The Glorious Flight
9. Night of the Moon jellies
10. Mailing May
11. Who Owns the Sun
12. Papa Piccolo

Unit Studies
1. Pirates
2. Zoo
3. Magnets
4. Birds
5. Dinosaurs
6. Butterflies
7. Human Body
8. Detectives
9. Night of the Museum

Lapbooks
1. Madagascar Cockroaches
2. Legos
3. Arthur Meets the President
4. snakes
5. worms
6. oil spill
7. astronaut adventures
8. bears
9. mammals
10. frogs
11. soccer
12. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Topics of interest
1. bull sharks and tiger sharks
2 Battle of Vicksburg
3. any war
4. bats

Elijah also decided he wants to learn about American History.

So on the days that I am too sick to do school Elijah can use his Spectrum workbooks and on my better days we will do lapbooks, notebooking and unit studies.

The Pain Behind The Smile

When I'm out and about I try to smile and not complain about my health. Gosh I do enough of that at home anyway. I really just don't want to be a downer around people so I just smile and struggle through.

That might be confusing for some though. I really am sick and it is so hard to do things I really want to do.

The Savella does help. It takes the edge off, but it does not take the pain completely away.

We had co-op registration the other day, 9am - 3pm. That was a long hard day for me. By the end of the day I was in so much pain I got in the van and cried. We did have a heat issue too and heat always makes me feel worse. That night my skeleton and muscles hurt so bad I laid there and cried. Jody said even when I did doze off I was whimpering like a dog.

I knew the registration day were coming so I upped my prednisone in hopes that it would help me get through the next few weeks. I don't think it worked!

I spent Thursday in the bed barely able to move. Guess what Thursday was our first day of school too. HA I have a design to where Elijah can still do some school even on my bad days.

Anyway many people ask me how I am and I always say okay, but the truth is if you think about me please say a prayer for me. Some days are almost unbearable. I am so thankful for the days where I can at least get up and out.

Along with the Fibromyalgia I have also been diagnosed with Sjogrens syndrome and Connective Tissue Disease. My test for Lupus have also came back pos 4 times. I go back to the doctor August 23 so we'll see if he has more to say about that.

I thank my family for being understanding and putting up with me. I hate being like this and wish I could do all that I really want to do. If only my body could keep up with my brain!

Science

I love it that Elijah makes his own science learning. He found some eggs about a month ago, but didn't know what kind of eggs they were. He carefully placed them in a container and has been "taking care" of them.

Today he discovered they hatched. Six five lined skinks. I had no idea they were called five lined, but that's what Elijah said. I googled and he was right.

He is so proud of his skinks.

Planning for the new school year!

I've spent days and days planning out our school year and now I'm exhausted.

Elijah will be in the 4th grade this year. I guess I should step it up and make some real homeschool plans.

I bought a brand new teacher lesson planning book. Gathered my materials and sat down pouring over everything. Planning is hard work, but very rewarding.

After days of fretting over everything this is what I've came up with:

Elijah will be using Facebook for spelling and writing.
Watch all 6 Star Wars movies for science and watch Mythbusters.
The Abeka demo CD for tracing circles to make art.
Cleaning house for home EC.
Watch Night of The Museum I and II for history.
Staying up all night Thanksgiving night, standing in lines to shop on Black Friday for survival skills.
Play video games for hand eye coordination.
Shop at Wal-Mart in the middle of the night for math.
Watch Anthony Bourdain for health and geography.
Play Wii for PE.
We will also be going to co-op once a week so we can cover that pesky thing called socialization.

Looking forward to a GREAT school year!

Lots happening, just haven't blogged

We really do have a lot of stuff going on in our lives. I sometimes feel so down I feel like I don't have anything to blog about, but I know that's not true, there is always something going on here.

I've had a few bad days in a row and it has been a struggle to do things that I needed to get done. I don't know what I'd do if it weren't for Dakota. He is such a big help to me. He has always been like that. Lately though Elijah has stepped up and even ask "is there anything you need me to do?" Dakota is a great example to Elijah.
I'm so blessed!

Tomorrow we will be going to Jackson MS to pick up a homeschool friend from California. KK (her name is Kayla too) is going to be spending 11 days with us. Her mom, Tina, and I have been friends on the internet for 12 years, but we've never met. We are excited to have KK come visit us. I hope she can put up with us for 11 days!

The blog challenge... I don't think Elijah has blogged any this month. Dakota has some, but I'm not sure how much, but I WILL win, even if I have to put up 20 post on the 30th! LOL

Toy Story 3

Today we went to the mall and saw Toy Story 3. It was a really good movie. I could have cried at the end if I hadn't been so hot and ready to get out of that theater.

As I watched the movie I thought about Dakota. He was just a little guy when the first Toy Story came out. He had to have a Woody, Buzz and a Bullseye. He loved those toys and played with them all the time. Of course he outgrew them, but watching the movie I realized he has outgrown all his toys, even Legos. Then I realized Elijah is 10 and before I know it he will have outgrown his toys. He already thinks he is too old for most things I think he should like.

Dakota grew up way too fast and I'm not ready for Elijah to grow up. I want to capture and enjoy every minute and not miss anything.

Blogging Challenge

My guys, Dakota and Elijah, and myself have a blogging challenge going on for the month of July. We are going to try to blog every day. We can blog more than once a day if we want to. At the end of the month we will see who has blogged the most and that person will win $1 for every blog post they made. I have made it very clear that it has to be some typing and not just posting a picture.
My sneaky way of getting Elijah to write and making sure Dakota does continue to write. I want to blog, but other things just get in the way. We'll see how I do this month.

Hey look I'm two post up on em already! HAHA