Second Week

         Getting ready to start our 2nd week and already a BIG change of plans. We are adding 2 more students to our Planted Oaks Academy!! My sis-in-law is moving to Arizona with my niece and nephew and are goin to live with us for  a little while. She asked if I would help her homeschool them.  So crazy weekend of scheduling and trying to get it to all work out. My schedule looks like one big jigsaw puzzle but I think it will work.  They have always attended school but are looking forward to homeschooling.

  

 

First day of school

 We have O'fish'ally started back to school today!  :)   The kids were actually pretty excited to start back today (we shall see how long it lasts). 

 The kids were looking forward to breakfast and to see how I decorated the table.  I wanted to make it special for our first day. I looked up some table settings on pinterest and then on Saturday I happened to go by Target and struck gold. In the dollar section there were so many cute back to school decorations. There were even $3.00 fidget spinners!

 The Smartie container says: "Have a great first day Smartie Pants" and the gold fish says: "You are O'fish'ally back in school".

 They each had some new notebooks, a fidget spinner and a pack of gum in their seats.

We had oatmeal bake for breakfast and then we were ready to get started!

 Joshua is on a block schedule. We started it at the end of last year and it works really well for him. He stays on track and more focused.

 

'Twas the night before school

'Twas the night before school started, and all through the house

Not a child was stirring; it was just me and my spouse.

The schoolroom was cleaned and the books stacked with care,

Knowing we would spend part of our days in there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds;

While visions of co-op danced in their heads.

And me with my arms full of morning treats

Was setting a table to look oh so neat!

I couldn’t wait for them to wake in the morning

Surly this day would be anything but boring.

We'll do our school work at the table and on the floor

Bible, reading, math and so much more!

This year there will be co-op, sports, and book clubs  too

Maybe even a few trips to the zoo.

We follow our own schedule and feel so blessed

We think homeschooling is the best!

-----Lori Pearce

2017 School Year

       We are getting ready to start back to school after our 7 week summer break. I get asked a lot "Why so early?". Well, last year for the first time we followed a six week on one week off schedule and we all loved it!! Here is how I set it up. 180 days is six, six week sessions. I want to complete 3 sessions before Christmas and 3 after.  We take a week off at Thanksgiving and a month off at Christmas. (In Arizona we want to be out and about while the weather is beautiful and not blistering hot.) So this year we start on July 17th and our first session ends August 25. We are off the week of August 28th-1st. The next session is September 4th-October 13th and off the week of the 16th. Then for the 3rd session we are able to get 4 weeks in before Thanksgiving (take the week if Thanksgiving off) complete the 2 weeks after Thanksgiving. For this year we then have from December 11through Jan 7 off. So from January 8th count six weeks on one week off. The last session will end Friday, June 1st.

        This schedule really kept us focused and helped us complete our work. We usually scheduled playdates and other activities for our week off. However, if they take a day off they can try and make it up during our six weeks or during one of our days off.  We still have co-op or book club or things like that where ever they fall. This just helped us from feeling "behind" because of taking off misc. days. 

         After 13 years of homeschooling I really like this schedule. I hope it helps someone else too!

 

Packing lunches

This was our second year being able to help pack lunches with Acts of Hope.  It is a ministry that passes out lunches to the homeless on Thanksgiving day.  We were really wanting to go as a family this year and help pass out the lunches but Jay has hurt his leg and a couple of the kids were fighting illnesses.  It is definitely something we will do next year.

A friend of mine coordinates this each year.  We just hosted it and several families came over to help.  The kids all make assembly lines, putting stickers on bags, making peanut butter sandwiches and filling the bags with fruit, water and a snack.  We were able to pack 150 lunches in just under two hours!  What a great ministry.

Fun pictures from the week

Here are just a few funny pictures from the week and how we managed to get school done before our week long Thanksgiving break.

So Thor's bed is normally on the floor to the left of the fire place.  We put it up on the hearth as we were vacumming and shampooing carpets.  Well he really wanted on his bed! LOL

School was done outside and on ledges this week.....can you tell it is almost the holidays!

Week in Review October 26

I don't get a lot of pictures during school especially when it is just our math work books or computer work. I did get some however of Jadon's reading activities and our science.  

The above picture is them measuring out how long the small intestine is.  And below is an experiment to see which food item has the most fat.  Seen by the oil residue formed on the paper bag squares.

These two keep us quite entertained each day!  They are great buddies and I am glad we have the two of them to also keep one another amused.

Last week of Senior year volleyball for this girl!  I loved watching her play!!!  Her team made it through the quarter finals and got to play in the semi finals.  They played hard but didn't win and then were eliminated.  It was a great season with a group of GREAT girls.  I loved how they all played hard and all got along and encouraged one another and NO girl drama!!  My hashtag on FB has been #5ismyfavorite.

The two Seniors

So one advantage of Jay traveling and working in different offices is that he comes home with some pretty great recipes.  This past week he was in California and the people running the office were Filipino and a recipe  that  they taught him was Pancit.  It is really yummy!  All of us loved it and are begging for daddy to make it again.  

I think I have a new one who is more than willing to take over laundry!  Natasha  (who is 7)was helping me out this week.  I was showing her how to switch the loads, how much detergent to add and what buttons to push.  Well she found some money in the washer and I told her, it was hers to keep.  That is her laundry tip.  :)  This was all by accident but it was all the motivation she needed and now she begs to switch and start new loads.  I think I will occasionally start throwing some coin into the washer and dryer for her to "find".  Shhhh......don't tell!  :) 

An Afternoon of Caramel Apple Making

Yummy goodness!! What a fun afternoon for all of us!  I invited some families from our homeschooling group to come over to make caramel apples.  I provided the caramel and each family brought their own apples and then toppings to share. Nuts, crushed oreos, sprinkles, candies and more, oh my! 

 My kids were great and helped unwrap ALL the little individually wrapped caramels before everyone came over.  I set up two stations for the caramel and and mom's helped get the caramel on the apples and then the kids got to decorate it however they wanted.  I even made popcorn to drizzle  some caramel over.  Fall is so much fun and so much yumminess, even in the desert!

Here are some pictures, in no particular order.