Have you ever made a change that just pleased you for several days? Well, I changed my haircut on Monday and I'm so glad I did!
It's funny how something so little can make such a HUGE difference. I've had long, curly hair for the past three years and decided it was time for a change.
Monday several inches were taken off my hair ... I'm enjoying much less time being spent on my hair and just a bouncier feeling in general.
I bet you thought this post was going to have some great homeschooling moments in it, didn't you? Well, I'll get to those, I promise.
As you can see from the collage, we also have been doing other things - such as eating lunch one day at the Dwarf House, including our sweet little dog in math lessons, and going to the Braves game where Grant was given a Chipper Jones bobblehead by some friends of ours.
It was also the start of fall ball for Grant. This little boy LOVES baseball. My husband decided it was time to get him a little more serious instruction, so he is going to a baseball academy two evenings each week. He has enjoyed the focus and quality coaching. My husband texted me from the first practice and said how well it was going. I replied to him, "Wonderful. Grant needs this!" and he replied back: "And, he DESERVES it." Yes, he does. This is a talent we are nurturing and if he's willing to work hard we are willing to do what it takes for him to be successful.
Our current composer is George Gershwin. I'm working on a birthday lesson for him through the iHomeschool Network that you will be able to see on Sept. 1. {The last birthday lesson I did was for JK Rowling, and it was such fun!} We listened to Rhapsody in Blue and read a great book to go along with it. In listening to the music I asked the kids to draw a picture of what they heard -- Grant did this, but Anna decided to make a music map of the piece. I was impressed with her thought and creativity. I printed out composer Notebooking Pages and we spent quite a bit of time with this.
Anna has been in her Saxon 7/6 for three weeks now. I am IMPRESSED with the rigor of the lessons and how thorough and easy to understand they are. She is taking a math class, so I am just her guide - that's a nice feeling, actually. Grant also started Saxon 3 this week. He is enjoying the "meeting time" each morning, and is thriving on the patterns, keeping track of the temperature, and many other details. I'm SO GLAD we changed math programs. There's just nothing left to chance with Saxon.
We also started a great audio book - In The Heart of the Rockies - from Jim Hodges Audio Books. We will be traveling to Colorado and Wyoming in October, so this is preparing us for the adventure! The author of In The Heart of the Rockies, GA Henty, is new to me. We will definitely be reading more of his works I am sure! In fact, this was my Favorite Resource This Week!
Did I mention I like my haircut? Here it is on Wednesday -- straighted (as much as my hair will straighten) all by myself. I promise I won't mention it again!
In an ongoing effort to be honest about my personal struggles with back pain, I can report to you that it was a pretty good week. Thursday afternoon a dear friend texted me out of the blue saying she was praying for me and my pain. Miraculously I felt wonderful for the rest of the day. I firmly believe in the power of prayer! I am still in pain most times - I will be going next Tuesday to have a diagnostic procedure done on my lower spine. This will helpfully pinpoint where the problem really is. If you think about it, please pray for me - I covet prayers from everyone.
Other highlights from the week:
- I got creative with our student photos.
- There is a bundle of 53 eBooks being offered at a great price!
- My friend Jenn posted on the blog and is giving away a copy of the book she wrote.
- DO HARD THINGS is the motto of our homeschool this year. Do you have a motto? Are you making your kids do HARD things?
Other wonderful resources:
- Typing Web - both children are using this daily
- Spelling City - using this to supplement our Spelling Workout lessons
- Building Language by Michael Clay Thompson. This is a wonderful explanation of our language and relates it all back to ancient Rome. This was intended just for Grant, but Anna has sat with us while I'm reading it to him and she is learning, too.
- Writing With Ease - this week both children have had copywork, narration and dictation from different Beatrix Potter stories. I downloaded them to our Kindle (they were free!) and we all delight in reading these stories.
- The Story of the World - we finished our chapter about Henry VIII and Martin Luther and will pause here for some read alouds and more investigation. I've been adding to my SOTW pinboard - do you follow me on Pinterest?
Finally, I've had a goal of getting to 1,000 FB likes. I know numbers shouldn't matter, but it just makes me giddy to think that people read the blog and are there each day on the homeschool journey with me. Won't you help me get to 1,000 likes? There is a special "Just for Likers" download once you're there, too!
I am linking to something new this week, and I hope you can link, too. Since all of these photos were taken with my iPhone, it is fitting to be a part of the iPhone Photo Dump at Passport Academy
I hope you can join me for Collage Friday. Please grab a button or put a text link somewhere in your post, sign the linky, and then visit other bloggers on the list. Reading through the collage posts each weekend is one of my favorite things! Last week a record 31 bloggers linked their collage posts!
