Week 17 of Learning 2013-14

We finished up week 17 this morning.  Here’s what we were up to…
Micah, Kindergarten
Bible – Micah continued to work in his AWANAS Sparks book.
Phonics – This week Micah worked on the initial blends of ‘sl, fl, tr, and pl.’  His sight words were 'get, yes, he, that.’

Math – This week Micah continued to review numbers 0-9 and added in learning about rectangles.

Caleb, Fifth Grade
Bible – Caleb continued to work in his AWANAS T&T Ultimate Challenge book.
Math – This week Caleb worked on adding three numbers in your head; special times; multiplication; and multiplication basics.
English – Caleb started a new chapter on pronouns.  He worked on pronouns; the antecedent; subject pronouns; and object pronouns. 
We enjoyed a very low-key Thanksgiving yesterday.  We went to see Frozen at the movies, and we were going to head to Cracker Barrel for our lunch.  But – it was crazy crowded even at 2pm, so we opted for Boston Market instead.  While it was NOT my mom’s delicious Thanksgiving meal, it was still decent and we enjoyed being together as a family.  After lunch we headed to the park to let the boys ride their scooters, and we then headed home so we could all enjoy an afternoon nap. 
How did you spend your Thanksgiving?

Week 16 of Learning 2013-14

We finished up another week of school, and while we’re still behind in our schedule, we’re trekking right along.
Micah, Kindergarten
Bible – Micah continued to work in his AWANAS Sparks book.
Phonics – Micah worked on blends…initial ‘sl’, final ‘st’, final ‘mp’.  His phonograms were ‘-est, –ust, –ump, –end’.  His sight words were ‘of, say, now, there.’

Poetry – Since our printer is in storage, we’re skipping poetry for the next few weeks.
Math – This week Micah continued to review numbers 0-9.

Caleb, Fifth Grade

Bible – Caleb continued to work in his AWANAS T&T Ultimate Challenge book.

Math – This week Caleb worked on subtraction word problems; telling time; reading an old-fashioned clock; more on time; and more long subtraction.

English – Caleb worked on more confusing verbs and narrative paragraphs.  Here’s his narrative paragraph…

We enjoyed meeting up with friends at Lego Club and for fun at the park as well.  Even though we’re only focusing on the basics, the boys are still enjoying their school time and things are going smoothly considering all of the chaos we’ve been dealing with the past month or so.  We’re looking forward to a very low-key Thanksgiving holiday.

Week 15 of Learning 2013-14

We finished up Week 15, and here’s how it went…
Micah, Kindergarten
Bible – We continue to work in the Sparks AWANAS book.
Phonics – This week Micah began working on initial blends, and he worked on ‘st, gr, sp, br.’  His sight words were ‘on, too, they, must.’

Poetry – This week our poem was “I Like Bugs.”  We used it to discuss commas, periods, and capital letters.

Math – This week we started with a NEW math curriculum.  I ordered Math Lessons for a Living Education Book One.  It’s very similar to Life of Fred, but I think it may be a gentler approach.  I’m really trying my hardest NOT to make the same mistakes in math that I made with Caleb again with Micah.  I think I pushed Caleb too hard, too fast in math, and I truly believe it has backfired.  He has struggled, and he’s still probably 6 months-year behind.  But – the beauty of homeschool is that IT’S OKAY!  I can teach him where he’s at and not worry about it.  So, I’m trying to do better with Micah and not really push too much.  So, since this is math through LIFE, then I think it’ll be a better experience.  We will see…

This week Micah worked on Numbers 0-9, which he’d already learned.  So it was more of a review…which most of these first lessons will be, but I wanted to start at the beginning since it’s a story that follows two twins, Charlie and Charlotte.

Caleb, Fifth Grade
Bible – Caleb worked in his T&T AWANAS book.
Math – This week Caleb worked on coins; using the fewest coins; subtracting in your head; and long subtraction.
English – This week Caleb worked on principal parts of regular verbs; principal parts of irregular verbs; indirect objects; and confusing verbs.  When we got to the confusing verbs, he was like “I don’t want to do that because I’m already confused.”  LOL!  Bless his heart…he did fine with it though. 
We enjoyed a day at the park on Friday with some homeschool friends, and the weather has been very nice this past week.  We’re looking forward to Lego Club and checking out books at the library next week. 

Finding the Positive When Life Throws You Curveballs…

So, I mentioned that I haven’t posted in over a month, and now I’ll explain why.  As most of you know, we moved to Florida’s Space Coast back in August.  Well, when we signed our one-year lease, our landlord failed to mention that they would be doing balcony renovations.  There are four buildings in the condominium community where we were renting.  They began balcony renovations on the first building back in May.  Well, they didn’t finish that building until the END of October…SIX months later.  They began construction on our building on 9/28…that means we were looking at at LEAST 4-6 months of noise, dust, chaos, and inconvenience…not to mention the 1-2 months of no use of our personal balconies (three of them).  Well, being as I stay home with the boys and we do our schooling at home, the noise is a HUGE issue.  It’s also an issue because we’ve learned that Caleb, due to his Tourette’s, has noise sensitivities.  Loud noises will sometimes send him into a tailspin, and it bothers him tremendously.  So, add all of that up, and you’re looking at a NOT very happy couple.  Our landlord wasn’t very cooperative in working with us to come up with a feasible agreement, so he just opted to let us get out of our lease.  We all agreed that we’d be out of the condo by 10/31.
Well, trying to find a place to rent in Florida during snowbird rental season isn’t very easy.  So, we ended up putting all of our belongings into storage, and we moved into Candlewood Suites for an unknown period of time.  Brian was able to negotiate a decent rate with them, and we were happy to be together and out of the construction.  So, on 10/28, we moved into the hotel.
Upon hearing of our situation, our pastor at church mentioned that a couple who had recently married may have a condo that we could rent.  He contacted them, and we moved AGAIN last weekend (11/9).  We’re now beachside again in a 2br, 1ba condo.  However, for now, we’re only able to stay here for 8 weeks…it was just rented for January-May.  But – it’s bigger than the hotel, a bit cheaper, and I have a full kitchen.   
So, this has been a crazy month+ for us, and we’re all learning a LOT during this time of transitioning from place to place.  I’m also becoming quite the pro at packing and unpacking.    We’re learning that we don’t need very much to get by for sure…being as most of our belongings are in storage.  We’re also doing JUST the basics with school b/c that’s all packed up, too.  So, the FUN will have to wait.  We’re making do by visiting the park weekly (more than once when we can), spending time with friends from church, spending time at church activities, and finding homeschool activities to do as well. 
We’re also learning that God is in control of everything (we knew this already), but it’s becoming more and more evident that HIS plan is the only one that matters.  We’re not in control, and that’s a BIG lesson for me…I like to be in control, and I’m learning the hard way that I’m not.    We’re so very grateful for all that God is teaching us and the many blessings He continues to bestow up on our family.
So, there you have it…finding the positive…sometimes it’s all that gets you through the day. 

Week 14 of Learning 2013-14

Wow, it’s been over a month since I last blogged.  Let me just say – a LOT has happened in that month, but that’s another blog post.  Here’s how week 14 went for us…
Micah, Kindergarten
Bible – We continue to work in Micah’s AWANAS Sparks book.  He is so very proud of himself as he earns his awards and jewels.  He’s super eager to study and learn.
Phonics – We worked on the consonant ‘y’ and ‘qu’ words.  His sight words were be, new, under, was. 
Poetry – Our poem this week was “Making Tracks.”  We used the poem to discuss periods, commas, capital letters, and rhyming words.

Math – This week Micah continued to work on addition sentences up to the sum of 5.

Caleb, Fifth Grade
Bible – Caleb worked in his T&T Ultimate Challenge AWANAS book. 
Math – This week Caleb worked on measuring with inches and feet; sequences; more adding in your head; and more carrying.
English – This week Caleb worked on subject-verb agreement; subject-verb agreement with more than one subject; verb tense; and irregular verbs.
As you can see, we’re doing JUST the basics, and I’ll explain why in a later post.  So, hopefully it will explain the lack of posting and pictures.    Be back soon…