Looking Forward

Tis the season...This is the time of year when I start the heavy planning for the following school year, which in this case will be the beginning of high school for our last child. Like most parents that stand at the base of this mountain I have mixed feelings about the next and last phase of our final journey: sadness, joy, relief, excitement...However, the one thing I am not experiencing is fear. Planning and navigating homeschooling through high school does not scare me. I have been through this before and I learned alot from my oldest. Some of what I went through with her, like meeting NCAA and California's UC system a-g requirements, does not apply to my son- that is not the path he's on and that is a wonderful thing for him. I am looking forward to truly tailoring his high school experience to him and his interests. This is the fun part! I'll be posting more about this as the summer progresses, but ds like so many young boys his age, is really "into" video games, and it's something he has been thinking of pursuing as a career for several years. Now, I am fully aware that that this is a booming business and EVERYBODY and their uncle want to break into this industry, it's not like becoming a physician or pharmacist, and so while I will be preparing ds for a career in this field, his high school course of study will actually be preparing him for anything-like sneaking peas into the casserole. Stay tuned for more!

Finally Had to Make My Own

Sometimes you just have to do it yourself. I remember seeing a reader log/tracker/planner for students who are having to read multiple books at one time. Problem is, it's been a LONG TIME, and I have no idea where I saw it. So after spending about 2 hours looking online for one, I just made one myself. Close enough.

Reading Tracker for Multiple Books by LongNightsMoon

A Little of What We've Been Up To

Growing Crystals
GeoSculpt

Types of Volcanoes
#22's At Bat...She'll Give the Ball a Whack! If I Were You I'd Scoot My Booty Back!

Waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy Back!!!

Remembering to Seize the Moment...

Or at least to let Xan seize the moment. Sometimes I forget that it's not about me, that I don't have to be the top of my game, and my son can really do things without me. I used to just let him create on his own, but somehow over time it turned into, "Not right now I'm tired...or busy...or not feeling up to it..." That's not what I aspire to be. That's not the kind of mom I want to be remembered as. So tonight when Xan was watching House Hunters International in Costa Rica, he wanted to paint a picture of an orange house on a beach with a wave. It's late Sunday night, we spent the day out of the house, I'm tired, I have homework to do, and my back hurts. My first response was no, but then I realized that there really wasn't any real reason he couldn't paint. So out came the paints, brushes and canvas board and my boy is having a good time.

Xan's December Report...

Okay it was Christmas so our monthy report isn't terribly exciting.. And it's late, so apologies to all my other monthly reporters for being flakey.

Math:
Saxon Lessons through Lesson 41
Test: #6 16/20 ; #7 15/20
Daily Timed Math Drills: (addition, subtraction, & multiplication) 64-100 problems in fewer than 5m; Daily Word Problems
Life of Fred: Through Chapter 29

Language Arts:
Word Study:
SWO G: 12-14
Writing:
Saxon Writing: Lesson 7-9
Outlining
Summarizing
Descriptive Paragraph- Write a descriptive paragraph about damage caused earthquakes
Grammar:
Saxon Grammar: Lessons 28-33
Literature:
When the Earth Dragon Awakes by Laurence Yep
Reading Comprehension –pg. 52


History:
History Odyssey: Lessons 4

Science:
PH Science Explorer Chapter 1-2
Review Questions for each section and Chapter Review
King fisher Science Encyclopedia: 24-25 choose one section to outline.

Art:
Cartooning
Polymer Clay

P.E.:
60 minutes of outside play 3-4x per week. Activities include bike riding, playing catch, playing fetch with the dog, walking. 2 x baseball rules and fundamentals.

Life Skills:
Cooking: Cooked dinner several nights with Dad and continued yard care.