Homeschooling In Lakeland: Almost 3 months gone, a lot can change in that time, but it hasn't...

It turns out that I'm a blogger/twitter drop out and I don't know why that happened. I was going along just fine almost a year ago, but then the posts started getting further apart until it's now been almost three months again. Oh well, better late than never, right?

The girls are still sleeping right now at 11am, though from the sounds of creaking beds, I think they'll be up soon. Evie got up about an hour ago. I think this is one of the less respected benefits of homeschooling. My growing girls can get all the sleep they need most of the time, often 12 hours plus a night. We have days where we have to get out early (before 10 is early for me) for field trips, classes, etc. but we don't have a set wake up time otherwise. I really think this is a huge help for the girls, growing is hard work for bodies. I can remember having to be at the bus stop at 6:30 or earlier each morning and getting home from school at nearly 3pm. I still had chores to do, homework to complete, and most of the time a job to work. I'd go to bed at midnight if I was lucky and have to be up and out of the house 6 1/2 hours later. No wonder teens tend to be sullen and disagreeable, I know I'm a cranky shrew when I haven't had enough sleep.

Not a lot has changed in the past few months wrt. schoolwork, it's mostly the same. Tori finished Intermediate Algebra at PSC (dual enrolled) and will start College Composition I (also dual enrolled) in a couple of weeks after the holiday break. She will be finishing World History and American History through FLVS at about the same time. She'll immediately start American Government with FLVS which will be her last high school class. Evie is nearly finished with Art 2-D and selected M/J Science (7th grade level) to take through FLVS next. Beth and Lili are both halfway through their current FLVS classes, Geometry and Earth/Space Science for Beth, Earth Space Science and Spanish II for Lili.

We've attended (and hosted) many field trips with Lighthouse, our homeschool group over the past few months. We've toured a phosphate plant, attended the Orlando Philharmonic, participated in a personal and internet safety seminar with the Polk County Sheriff's Office, had an astronomy class at Florida Southern College, helped make cards and pack food boxes at VISTE (Volunteers in Service To the Elderly), participated in a SIDNE demo with the Polk County Sheriff's Office/Lakeland Police Department, played at a Thanksgiving social, visited Homeland Heritage Park and the Polk County Historical Museum, toured USF and have a Kid's Cook/Get To Know You Social to attend tomorrow.

The girls are still writing for The Beam, the monthly kids newsletter for our homeschool group. Tori is editing this year, she was Editor last year as well. We attend homeschool PE class every other Tuesday morning, alternating weeks when we have archery practice. We also have our art co-op which meets about every other week and Jr and Plus Lit Clubs meeting alternating months. We had a small family reunion or large family get-together with my husband's family, including his Grandmom who I adore. She has the best personality, never a negative word and so cheerful. My parents and one of my nieces and her boyfriend were here for Thanksgiving dinner.

I've been teaching a personal economics class to about 15 kids, including my own. It's going not so great. I am running the class through a website and youtube videos I create so it can be done virtually and when each student has time. Our schedule was full enough that I didn't feel we could add another co-op, and to have such a large group would have been difficult to coordinate. Unfortunately, it can be hard to motivate the kids when they don't have a set deadline for completing work, and since I am using a free Google site for the class, I have to work within it's confines which has proven confusing and difficult at times, for me and the students. The material I've come up with works well, the actual practice does not. I let the students know I was going to take time off during the holidays to try and improve the usability, I hope I can find a solution.

I rarely remember to bring the camera, but the girls grab it some of the time. Here are a few photos from the past months. Ugh, just noticed the date has been reset on the camera, all of the pictures from the beginning of December are dated January 2008. I don't know if I can fix that...

Phil's Grandmom, the girls Great Grandmom!

November 2008 - She's ready to rock!