To Kill A Mockingbird

A long lost sequel to, To Kill A Mockingbird, has been discovered!!!! The sequel is called, Go Set A Watchman. The sequel is set to come out this summer.

I cannot wait to read Harper Lee's sequel!!!

Nancy Drew

My sixth grade daughter has fallen in love with the Nancy Drew series. Until recently I did not know that the series was updated in order to better relate to the newer generations. I am currently on the hunt for some of the original versions so that my daughter can compare the old with the new and decide which is better.

There are many great sites dedicated to the Nancy Drew series. Her Interactive is one site to learn more about Nancy Drew and her mysteries.

Skippyjon Jones

Tonight we went to see Skippyjon Jones at Dallas Children's Theater. The performance was amazing!!! The playwright, Linda Daugherty, did a great job transforming Skippyjon Jones into a play. Nick Martin, the composer and musical director, did a superb job at bringing Skippyjon Jones to life through music. We laughed all of the way though. The actors did an amazing job. This production was definitely five stars. 

My children loved the production and came home and immediately went to find their copy of Skippyjon Jones. I am sure that we will be reading it many times over the next couple of days. I am hoping to find some cute activities online that go along with the book. 

A pet peeve

Does anyone else deal with pencil sharpener frustration?!?!

We have tried these...

I swear they disappear just like socks in the dryer.

And several models of these.....

We wear them out, and they overheat or quit working. I cannot even count how many we have purchased throughout the years.

And also this....

I love these, not just because this is the kind I used as a kid but because they always worked.  The only problem, I really don't really have a good place to mount it in the house. If not mounted, this option doesn't work so well.

Then I begin to wonder, is the pencil the real culprit. How many times have you sharpened a pencil that just doesn't sharpen correctly. Mechanical pencils are great but they tend to be more distracting for my kiddos. When the lead is out there either never seems to be more to refill the pencil, or again, you cannot find the lead.

There has to be a SIMPLE SOLUTION?!?!

Into the Woods

What better was to make education fun than to read books and watch movies and compare them all. Recently the movie, Into the Woods came out in theaters. Of course all of my children want to go and see it. My daughter, the bookworm, absolutely loves Grimms' Fairy Tales. There is also a wonderful Broadway musical of Into the Woods.

I feel a compare and contrast paper coming in the near future.

We have watched the Broadway Musical of Into the Woods with Bernadette Peters. Actually, we have seen it many times. It is very well done.

Next, the movie....

Bob Books

In teaching my children how to read I utilize a multitude of resources, one being Bob Books. I love how these books start out extremely simple and give a child a sense of accomplishment.

The Bob Books site has an activities page to supplement their books. There are many sites online that also provide great Bob Books activities. Reading success is essential to the success of a child's academic learning and I am so happy for books like these that make that task a bit easier.

Scholastic has come out with a Early Readers set of Bob Books called Bob Books® Readers.

Need an App for that, well you can download an App called Reading Magic from iTunes as well as from many other sources.

Make-A-Wish January 2015

Interactive Reading Notebook

I came across an amazing idea on Pinterest the other day for an Interactive Reading Notebook on a blog called The Inspired Classroom. The notebook is used to keep track of books that your child reads throughout the year and a bit about each book. I am so very excited about starting these notebooks for my kiddos. I know that for some of my more avid readers this will be a great way for them to chronicle books they have read. I wish I would have thought about this years ago. It would be kind of neat to look back through the years and see all of the fun and amazing books read.

Spring Term is upon us....

After a very crazy winter break which included, a Make A Wish trip, a central line break, Influenza A, a nine day hospital admission, and delayed Christmas celebrations, next week we will be jumping back into school. Instead of focusing on what Christmas break wasn't, I am choosing to focus on what is ahead.

I am very excited to begin my new adventure with The Schoolhouse Review Crew reviewing various curriculums. I am always intrigued by new and unfamiliar curriculums but never seem to venture out of my comfort zone.

Here is to a great, productive second half of the school year!!!!

To grade or not to grade.....

When I first began our homeschooling journey I never felt that a letter on a paper was really important. That does not mean that I do not look over my children's work and mark things wrong, because I do. I require my children to correct the things that are wrong so that I am sure that they master what they are learning before moving on. I begin to keep official grades and transcripts when my children enter the 9th grade.

We are blessed to live in a state that does not require us to be accountable to the state for how we homeschool. Not every state is the same so it is best to know what your state requires of homeschoolers. You can find this all out by going to HLSDA laws for homeschooling. There are many sites on the web to help with record keeping. One such site is Homeschooling Resources to Help Parents Raise Lifelong Learners.

Fall Term Wrap-up

As we wrap up the first half of this year’s homeschooling year I thought it would be good to share our experience. I first want to say how very privileged I feel that we homeschool. The children have not only made academic strides but they have also gained many life lessons. Our year started out rocky again with a kiddo in the hospital with Para influenza. All of my best-laid plans were turned upside down. So often I find myself wondering why I fall victim to the “perfect, flawless beginning” each and every year. Over the years I have learned that the only way to approach homeschooling is to work around life instead of trying to work life around homeschooling.

Within weeks of the year starting my eldest child, in her first year of college, was blindsided by a breakup with her boyfriend of several years. Loves first heartbreak and wow was it rough. Realizing that she would have to find a way to deal with this trial without being able to interrupt her classes was tough. She pulled through and ended up successfully completing her first semester of college classes with flying colors.

Early on in the semester I realized that some of my kiddos were really struggling with their math. Again, I was reminded that just because one child succeeds with a curriculum does not mean that the others will have the same success. Over the years I am constantly reminded that homeschooling is not a cheap way out. Instead of making every child fit into the same cookie cutter mold, for true success to be found each child really needs their own custom fit curriculum. Each and every year I reevaluate how successful each and every child are doing and adjust to make them successful, confident learners. Sometimes this also means that a curriculum that is supposed to take more of the load off of mom just cannot be. In November I headed out to Mardel to purchase more math curriculum, not a cheap change but in the end will be so worth it.

Having a child with chronic, life threatening conditions always adds an extra element of craziness to homeschooling. Well, my daughter was granted a Make A Wish and the beginning of December we headed off to Disney World for a week. Normally, I would prefer to do schoolwork up until the week before Christmas but this year that just was not going to happen. The week before our big trip the kiddos were too excited to focus on schoolwork and I was running around trying to get everything in order in order for the trip to happen. So, basically Thanksgiving was our cut off for schoolwork. Again, my mommy brain was freaking because I knew where I wanted everyone to be academically by the end of the term and that did not quit happen.

Next, yet another devastating experience was the tragic loss of one of my eldest daughters friends from suicide. Again, her world was shaken and it was finals week. Life does not stop for tragedy. My daughter was able to pull it together to take a final the day after her friend’s death. One of her professors let her skip a final based on her exemplary grades.

Even though life has thrown some curve balls there was also greats strides gained this first term. My first grader is now a pretty fluent reader, and will actually be starting some 2^nd grade curriculum in the spring. Co-op classes for the older children were amazing and they have learned so much. My son just last week was commenting on how whenever he reads something he is constantly annotating the text in his mind, LOL. The kiddos have read some amazing literature. Of course I am taking about “classics” not junk books. My 3^rd and 6^th graders have produced some amazing compositions and have come a long way with their writing skills. My 8^th grader has taken a great interest in history and has immersed him into a growing stack of history books of all kinds. It is so fun to see your child find their nitch. My 3^rd grader would be completely content if she could tailor all of her curriculum around animals. I am so very thankful for Apologia Science for their amazing elementary series on animals in creation.

I cannot end without sharing some of the amazing family experiences we had the privilege of attending this fall. What would childhood be with attending the Ringling Bros. Circus? Clowns, lions and elephants, acrobats, and all of the other fanfare that make a circus experience complete. Next, we visited the Dallas Aquarium and the Texas Discovery Garden where we experienced butterflies flying around us, aquatic creatures, and beautiful flower gardens. Next, we got to enjoy some wonderful theater performances at the Dallas Children’s Theater. We saw Rapunzel!, Rapunzel!, A Very Hairy Fairy Tale and Miracle on 34^th Street.  Both performances where amazing. This year our family attended our first ever-live ballet performance of the Nutcracker. Wow, was that spectacular. Hannah especially loved it since she is a very serious dancer. To get us excited for our Disney World trip we got the privilege to attend Disney On Ice, cold but so very magical and fun. Last but not least, sports. Our family took in a Dallas Stars game, a Dallas Mavericks game and a Texas Rangers game.

Our family is enjoying our extended Christmas break as we celebrate the birth of Christ!!!!