Feeling Better!

Oh man were we sick! I had a stomach bug that lasted 7 days! My house looks like a bomb dropped, I have laundry piled to the sky, dishes everywhere, and I am so happy! You know how it is when you are that sick, you just don't care. You know you are feeling better when you start to conquer the fallout.

Emma got her first perfect attendance certificate from her dad and I. Emma was always at the top her her class in school and was so accomplished yet she would come home every month crying because she didn't get the perfect attendance award. She has severe asthma and would never have gotten the dumb award. So sad that her school had a monthly assembly, party bribes, etc for attendance while never seeming to acknowledge academic excellence. If I didn't believe in the "government schools only exist to turn out good little workers who don't ask questions" conspiracy theory before, well now......

Happy Love Day!

My darling Emma made valentine's at activity days and anxiously awaited her chance to pass them out to us. My favorite was her dad's. Her love note simply said "I love you as much as I love mommy" How cute is that?

1 month anniversary!!!

We did it! We completed an entire month of home school and nobody is dead!!! Seriously, it has been great! We haven't had many "off" days and we are actually having a lot of fun

I just finished assessing Emma for math. It is nice to know where she is so I can concentrate on what she needs. We are almost finished reading Island of the Blue Dolphins, which Emma loves. She really loves anything dramatic. We have acquired several educational games. We love Boggle, Yahtzee, the scrambled states of America, and the castle puzzle game just to name a few. We checked out a melody harp and both girls are having a blast playing it. We just finished a unit study on Fort Humboldt and made a great poster with pictures, sun prints, and sketches. We also completed a geology unit study and can now boast a fabulous rock collection. Emma is also making wonderful progress with her violin.

Rachael is now reading short words. She continues to astound me with her fine motor skills. She cuts and colors as well as any crafter. She loves making music (although she assures me she is not interested in the violin). We also play preschool games and make lots of nature collections from our walks.

All in all I am very pleased with our work. We are starting to fit into a rhythm. I would never say schedule because it is just not us.

I just remembered that I am teaching Relief Society on Sunday and the teaching schedule got switched so I had better hustle.

what's new?

Here is Emma in front of a miner's cabin at Fort Humboldt

Emma and Rachael enjoying each other

I am now starting the 4th week of homeschooling. I still feel like I am on a freaky roller coaster. I really want to get on, and then as I am traveling the first hill I desperately want to get off. You know "what the heck am I doing on this thing?" Anyway, as frightening a prospect teaching my children on my own is, I am thrilled to be doing so.





We are still working through the bugs, although everything is starting to feel more organic. We have days where we are doing science experiments, art projects, venturing into the world of Spanish and then there are the days when we just get through some basic workbook stuff. There are so many days that Emma would have missed school with her asthma that we have been able to school at home that she isn't missing anything anymore. I am also seeing a lot of the holes in public education and as I tailor her curriculum to be more well rounded and integrated we are surging ahead again. The learning is now so much more natural and less drilled facts for state test passing. She is learning concepts as a matter of course now and everything is making so much more sense.





Of course I couldn't do what I am doing without my husband who wholeheartedly supports me. He is a very educated man (an engineer with a masters degree) and it makes me feel so good to know that he trusts me to teach my children and prepare them for college, etc. He is my best friend and my hero!





Rachael loves having Emma home and she loves to sit at the table and learn right along with her big sister. Life is good right now. Very busy, but good!
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