Mommy Brain

I’m participating in Dewey’s 24 Read-a-thon this weekend. You can read my updates here at Books and Movies.

We’re almost two months into our new homeschooling year, so I thought it would be a good time for an update on what we’ve been doing.

Math
The three boys are now doing Horizons Math and the switch from Saxon seems to have been a very good thing. They are all enjoying math much more than they did last year. Noah is in 5th and doing Horizons 5. Jonathan is in 4th and doing Horizons 3, as it is more advanced and he needed some of the concepts cemented in his mind before he moved on. Josiah is in 2nd grade and doing Horizons 2 and it seems like it may be a bit behind where he actually is, but I know that book 3 would be too advanced, so we’re skipping a bit here and there.

Natalie is doing Saxon Math 8/7 with Pre-Algebra, and pretty much hates it, but that would be the case no matter what book we used. She is not a math fan, but gets Bs and Cs on her tests, so it’s all fine for now.

Grammar
All four kids are still doing Shurley English. It may drill a lot, and it’s not an exciting curricula, but they are learning the basics of grammar and sentence construction and how to write essays, so I like that. The writing assignments get a bit repetitive, so I’m looking for some more creative writing projects to do on alternating weeks. Natalie has agreed to do NaNoWriMo with me, so we’ll be skipping the writing assignments in Shurley English and doing some outlining and character work.

All of the kids are still doing the Spelling Workout series and a Core Knowledge Reading Comprehension workbook.

Reading
Natalie is still reading a lot, but I don’t assign her a certain amount of silent reading time – especially since her history and science require a lot more reading than before. On top of her own choice of book, she is reading an anthology called Realms of Gold, which I got from Core Knowledge. It includes poems, short stories, essays, speeches, and excerpts from books. She’s reading Poe, Frost, Thurber – and we’re discussing what she’s reading. From her own reading, recently she’s enjoyed Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham, Little Women by Alcott, and Dork Diaries by Rachel Renee Russell.

Noah does at least 45 minutes of silent reading a day, on top of any reading for other subjects. Recent favorites have been Zamora’s Ultimate Challenge by M.K. Scott, Alibi Junior High by Greg Logsted, and Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel.

Jonathan also reads for 45 minutes during silent reading time. It is very hard to find a book that will hold his attention and keep him from checking the clock every few minutes. The only book to do that recently has been Goblins: An UnderEarth Adventure by Royce Buckingham.

Josiah reads for 30 minutes, and he recently completed the Littles series by John Peterson, and is now making his way through the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney.

History
The boys and I just finished our study of the Civil War. We read the chapters in Story of the World, then read If You Lived at the Time of the Civil War, The Boys’ War, and Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln. We also watched a series of movies on slavery, the war, and reconstruction. We will top this off by watching the film Glory next week.

Natalie is also studying the Civil War, using All American History, and this was a poor choice of curricula. As soon as she completes the unit on the Civil War, we’ll be making a change.

Science
The boys and I won’t be doing science until second semester. Natalie is doing the Science Explorer Life Science books, and she’s almost done with From Bacteria to Plants. She seems to like it all right, and has been getting As and Bs on her exams.

Latin
The older two kids and I are doing Latina Christiana I – and I love it! Noah seems to enjoy it, too – mostly because it’s like a puzzle. Natalie thinks I’m torturing her, but likes that she gets to correct my papers. We took our first unit exam today, and we all got As.

Read-aloud
We started the school year reading Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, which was a hit all around, and are now halfway through The Purloined Boy by Mortimus Clay – it’s brilliant. (The kids think so, too.)

Outside classes
The kids are taking a break from Tae Kwon Do. Natalie continues to take voice lessons. Noah is taking a P.E. class, and all four of them are taking a computer science class.

So, that’s how our school year is going so far. How’s yours?

Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace
Betsy-Tacy and Tib by Maud Hart Lovelace
Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill by Maud Hart Lovelace
Action! (Nancy Drew: All New Girl Detective #6) by “Carolyn Keene”
Dork Diaries: Tales From a Not-So-Fabulous Life by Rachel Renee Russell
The Stolen Relic (Nancy Drew: All New Girl Detective #7) by “Carolyn Keene”
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Zamora’s Ultimate Challenge by M.K. Scott
The 39 Clues Book 4: Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson
Bone Volume 3: Eyes of the Storm by Jeff Smith
Bone Volume 4: The Dragonslayer by Jeff Smith

The Littles and the Big Storm by John Peterson

What to Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kid’s Guide to Overcoming Anxiety (What to Do Guides for Kids) by Dawn Huebner
Garfield Spills the Beans by Jim Davis
Goblins: An UnderEarth Adventure by Royce Buckingham

Today is Jonathan’s birthday – he’s turning 10. Which means that our house will be inundated with Playstation-playing boys this evening. Three extra boys, plus Natalie’s friend for a sleepover equals 8 kids in our tiny house. Kevin may run away.

I haven’t done an Extreme Health Makeover post in a couple weeks. We didn’t have a meeting on Labor Day and I had a week where I gained 1 1/2 pounds, then the next week lost 1 1/2 pounds, so no further loss so far. Workouts are going well – starting to get into a routine. Listening to the fourth Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants book on audio – makes the workouts go faster.

We’re in a routine with our homeschooling, too – the kids are doing well. The boys love the Horizons Math (we switched from Saxon). Natalie’s not completely thrilled with her history, though I don’t think that’s the curriculum’s fault. She’s enjoying her science and I’m enjoying the short stories we’re reading and discussing.

Even though my web surfing time has been seriously curtailed, I still managed to save a few links to share with you all:

~ Ten Scariest Sea Creatures – and Kevin wonders why the ocean is one of my biggest phobias.

~ The Telegraph: 50 Things That Are Being Killed By the Internet

~ New trailer for New Moon – two people in this house are very excited to see it.

~ Our own Andrea of HJ has an awesome post: Why I Still Homeschool

At Books and Movies recently:

~ Literary Road Trip: Author Jennifer Bradbury
~ Book Review: The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
~ Whatcha Watchin’? Wednesday – Grey’s Anatomy: The Complete Fifth Season
~ Book Review: The Twelve by William Gladstone
~ Book blogs you should be reading
~ Still time to enter my BBAW Giveaway – win one of eight books. Enter by 11:59 pm PST tonight.
~ Book Review: Girls in Pants by Ann Brashares
~ Literary Road Trip: Author Terry Davis
~ Book Review: Holly’s Inbox by Holly Denham
~ Whatcha Watchin’? Wednesday – Monk: Season 7
~ Monday’s Movie Review: District 9
~ Book Review: The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Well, we made it through our first week back to homeschooling – it went well, we are all still speaking to each other, so far, so good. Natalie is getting used to her bigger load – she’s in junior high now – and will start her weekly babysitting gig next week. (It’s hard to believe that the baby girl I used to take to Bible Study nursery, where a homeschooled teenager would babysit her, is now the homeschooled (almost) teenager doing the babysitting!)

I only have a couple minutes before I’m heading to the gym. Fun way to spend Friday night, right? Actually, I love the gym on Friday nights – it’s so empty and quiet.

I just finished reading The Maze Runner by James Dashner – if you like science fiction, dystopian fiction, YA fiction – actually, if you just love a mind-blowingly good story that keeps you turning the pages, you should definitely read it. It’s being released on October 13th. I was lucky enough to be sent an ARC for review – my review will be up at Books and Movies in the next couple of days.

~ A Life in Pages: Send a man to the grocery store – this video is a bit long, but so funny.

~ Mommy Brain was linked to from the Rural Health Blog, as part of the Get Fit Colville program.

~ Scribbit: Should children have allowances? Some good thoughts here.

~ A Life in Pages: Funny wedding moment – another fun video.

~ Moomin Light: For Star Wars fans – this guy is incredibly talented.

~ Don’t forget to enter my Ginger Kids giveaway – it’s a great tool for teaching cooking and geography!

At Books and Movies:

~ My ever-expanding list of must-reads
~ Literary Road Trip: Author Michael Harmon
~ Whatcha Watchin’? Wednesday: Scrubs, Season 8
~ Book Review: The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
~ Book Review: The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares
~ My Life According to Literature Meme
~ Favorite classics (so far)
~ Literary Road Trip: Author Meghan Nuttall Sayres
~ Book Review: Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff
~ Whatcha Watchin’? Wednesday: Psych
~ Found in the pages of Bookmarks Magazine, September/October 2009 Issue
~ Book Review: Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner
~ Monday’s Movie Review: Stop-Loss

Halfway to Forever by Karen Kingsbury
False Notes (Nancy Drew: All New Girl Detective #3) by “Carolyn Keene”
Inkspell by Cornelia Funke
Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke
Coming Attractions by Robin Jones Gunn
High Risk (Nancy Drew: All New Girl Detective #4) by “Carolyn Keene”
Princess in the Spotlight by Meg Cabot
A Time to Dance by Karen Kingsbury
To Dance: A Ballerina’s Graphic Novel by Siena Cherson Siegel and Mark Siegel
Beyond the Grave (39 Clues, Book 4) by Jude Watson
The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
Lights, Camera… (Nancy Drew: All New Girl Detective #5) by “Carolyn Keene”

Whew – it’s been a whirlwind week, with no signs of slowing down. Adding in my weekly support meetings and weekly training sessions, plus three trips a week to the gym on my own, has made things feel very busy – not that I’m complaining, since it’s working. Plus we have one more week of summer vacation before our homeschooling year starts back up on the 31st, and the kids want to suck as much free time and fun up as they can, while they can, so there has been a lot of shuttling kids to the city pool and park.

Friday, the kids and I headed down to Silverwood for our once-a-year amusement park day. We went with a friend and her daughter. The kids all read their 10 hours (outside of school reading) for a free ticket. Why don’t they have a similar program for adults? My admission ticket was $43.75. Add to that snacks – not even a meal, just snacks, because they won’t let you bring in any of your own food – and it was a very expensive day. Glad it only happens once a year. And also grateful that they do have the reading program for kids, or we would never be able to afford it.

The kids were all at sleepovers last night, so Kevin and I went out to Mexican food to split an order of chicken fajitas, and then came home and watched Psych on DVD. I love that show. Slept in this morning. I have to go pick up the boys here in a couple of hours, and then this evening we head south to Mom and Dad’s to celebrate Mom’s birthday.

The upcoming week will be just as busy, but with fun stuff. We’re having an extra play date with Michelle Tuesday afternoon, because she leaves on her dream trip to Edinburgh and London on Thursday. For four weeks. Sob. I’m so happy for her that she gets to go, but what will I do without our weekly gabfests?

Then, next weekend is the fair, and Natalie is competing. She will be singing twice for auditions on Thursday, and then if she moves on, again for the Talent Show on Friday, and, possibly, the Grand Revue on Saturday. She had an extra lesson with her voice teacher on Saturday, and I cried: she sounded so beautiful and looked so grown up.

After our fair weekend, it’s time to get back into our school routine. I’m ready. I think the kids are, too, though they might not admit it.

Well, it’s almost time to go pick up the kids, and I haven’t even put my makeup on. I just have enough time to share the links I’ve been collecting:

~ Win some cool Simply Fun family games at 5 Minutes for Giveaways.

~ Sherry has a great post about Miley Cyrus’s recent exhibition of poor choices.

~ Project 2996 is a project for bloggers to help commemorate the Americans lost on 9/11.

~ Am I the only grammar geek who has dreamed of doing this?

~ This little boy is an amazing guitarist.

~ Ever feel stumped for the perfect retort? Check out this list of imaginative insults.

Here’s what’s been going on at Books and Movies lately (By the way, Books and Movies was nominated for two Book Blogger Appreciation Week Awards: Best General Review Blog and Best YA Lit Blog, so thanks to anyone who nominated me!):

~ Book Review: Daniel X: Watch the Skies by James Patterson & Ned Rust
~ Literary Road Trip: YA Author Chris Crutcher
~ Book Review: Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
~ Book Review: The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall
~ Enter to win a copy of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
~ Movie Review: Lost in Austen
~ Book Review: Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich
~ Some movie links and trailers
~ Author Interview: Elle Newmark, author The Book of Unholy Mischief
~ Book Review: Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon