Sunday, May 31, 2009

Family Talk

To South Carolina we go. WE had been planning this trip earlier and the plans fell through as the doctor's did not think it was a good idea. Now we missed the Family Reunion that not even Chris has been to. The objective of the trip is to see if dh gets better if we live here. Obviously three weeks is not the same as living here but last time we were here for two weeks and an ulcer dh had on a finger went away. Granted it was not as far along as dh's toe.


Doc still didn't think it was a good idea but dh had other plans. He figured if they are going to amputate half his leg anyway why not come down here and see if he gets better. Well the jury is back...sort of. He is feeling much better. The burning sensation he has has been MIA and he has taken walks with us. Also the ulcer on the toe next to the one they amputated went away, cleared up, left the building, healed what ever you want to call it. The toe looks great, nice and pink no black anymore. Also where they amputated healed considerably more in the amount of time we spent there then in the amount of time since the amputation. So the final part of the experiment will be to see if he gets worse again. If this happens our plans for moving down here just went to the express lane. This comes with very mixed feelings for me. Obviously if hubs is better there I am willing to go. All of my family lives here. Well not all of it since there is alot of family that my dad has around the U.S.A. But my parents, grandparents, brother and sister all live here. Dh's parents do as well. I like having my family around and being able to get together if I want. All those holidays and the simple things too. But if dh improves the decision is a no- brainer.
Anyhow the trip was fun and very relaxing. We had no agenda just a list of people we want to spend time with. A majority of the two weeks there we spent on the beach. A cousin of dh owns a condo on the beach. It was very nice. We got burned to a crisp our first day out. I could swear I put on sunscreen. We went to some u-pick farms and got the freshest fruit, yummmm. The boys loved picking the strawberries the most. I think Conner only contributed to his tummy but he is still 10 so I let it slide. We saw an island that was a bird sanctuary and a loggerhead turtle nest. We saw millions of sea snails and slugs ( so gross they look like poop, snicker) horseshoe crabs, ghost crabs, jelly fish, birds, dolphins, hummingbirds, the smallest frogs ever, lightning bugs- such a huge hit, love bugs- so funny the reaction of the boys to these ones, lizards, butterflies, turtles and I'm positive I missed some. We spent a couple of days out on a hunting ground that some cousin's of dh use for weekend getaway. They all brought 4 wheelers and the kids would ride the trails. They did this every weekend and about 20 people would come. It was a good time and the boys loved 4-wheeling. One of their kids feet couldn't even reach the floor of the 4-wheeler and he was 5. I thought wow not sure I would let my kid at that age but that is none of my business. I finally found the gulah gulah island baskets. I remember in my research reading about a small island that was cut off of the mainland till only about 20 years ago or so. Anyway there was a completely different community and they all did things in very old ways. It was neat learning about them. They are supposed to make some wonderful baskets and I do want one. Colin caught animal after animal. As a matter of fact I'm not sure I would have seen so many different animals had it not been for him.

Distant cousin's invited us out for BBQ's and family dinners. Apparently pretty much every Sunday they go to a house and does pot luck. Its very neat to see a family do this. We would live about a mile down the st from their homes so I am sure we will become part of the tradition. A friend of the family, dh's cousin's family, is a pastor and prayed over dh. It was very nice and the next day the skin came off like a scar would. Kid you not. Oh I already told you about it. Sorry, I still can't quite grasp it. We did look at some modular homes. This would be a very frugal option and eventually we could build our dream home on the property. I can not believe how nice these homes are. It is definitely not what I pictured. There are wood burning fireplaces, garden tubs, huge kitchens with island, stone work throughout. With any luck we can be debt free in a few years.

I used this "vacation" to give the boys a break from school although they did learn alot during this trip. I will be having them do reading lists ,3 math lessons a week and we will do science projects . What are some of your plans this summer?

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

what didn't work

This year has been, well not my best in the homeschool department. I don't mean your usual "I'm not doing enough" type stuff, although I do tend to have that . I'm talking about I have really let alot slide by. Let's see yesterday the boys got done with "school" by lunch, well a while before. I looked at the clock and we went through what they had done. Math, check, Literature, check, writting, check, grammer, check. We alternate days for history and science and that day was science. They hadn't done that so they wanted to watch the Magic school bus. Well that's all fine and dandy but in order for me to feel like we did science I would love a little hard proof. So I found the lessons for that particular episode and printed out 13 pages for them each. We still got done with time to spare for lunch. Then I wallowed in the whole I should be doing more. What can I do? I finally hit on that I do need a good plan.



As with history that had been floundering for a good portion of the year once I had a plan in mind, I had a direction. But science has been a bit more whatever the kids feel like doing for science works for me. Now that has lead to some wonderful projects and neat studies such as the time they made rock candy. Unfortunatly none of it tied in with anything else. I really like when our subjects touch on each other. A good example is when we were reading "Daniel Boone" and studying Native Americans. They were great companions. I need a good plan otherwise I know this will happen again. I would love to get books that we can read that relate to our history or science projects that do.



Do I then get a Science text ? or what? I really feel like I wouldn't have floundered so much had I had a text to fall back on in the event I hadn't been prepared due to our life getting in the way. Then I feel that perhaps I am using that as a crutch to fall on when saying I haven't done enought this year. Kwim? Half the year the boys went to co-op every other friday that would involve 3 science classes that were about an hour long. I really didn't worry about science then because we still did what we normally do plus that. I almost felt like I had no need to concern myself with science. Then the other half the year we just do random things that interest the kids.



Over the past year I have been mulling over getting Apologia Science. I have heard good things about it. Now to figure out which one I want. I know they generally go in an order of some sort. I would like to use them with all three kids. They will be in 6th, 7th and 8th next year. So which one will fit? They love creatures so it would have to be one of those. I am leaning towards the land mammals one. I think they would enjoy it. Should I get three of the same book? That seems a bit nuts too, and expensive. But I definetly can see that there could be fighting over it at some point if there is only one. If I buy three why not buy different ones. That way I have three years of Science, I'll just switch them around. I would like them to work a bit more independently and if I do three I have an inkling that won't happen. But if I have one they can help each other out which will be great for critical thinking. There are pro's and con's to having one or three. Overall I think mabey one for the two younger kids and one for the eldest may work best.



I truly have enjoyed the reading portion of our school time. It is the only time no one is fussing. Honestly I wonder if other homeschoolers have all these squabbles. Oh that is a whole nother post. Anywho I know the kids really enjoy this time as well and they are listening to books that otherwise I know they would probably not read. We will continue checking off our list till it's done. Then I will need a new list. Since the reading of "Daniel Boone" worked out so well at the time I think I will try to get some books that relate to other areas of our hs'ing. This way I can tie things in together. Of course this will require me to get my ducks in a row and get a plan.

What are some things that worked for your homeschool this year? What did you find did just not fit within your school year? I would love to see your responses.