Homeschool Mother's Journal ~ April 13, 2013

In my life this week…
This week felt pretty 'normal', if such a thing exists.  Most days I felt pretty good. Wednesday was pretty rough in the health deptartment, I had stomach issues all day and just felt blah. I've pretty much determined that it is an overload of grains, wheat, carbs. Something in there.  I woke up starving and nothing sounded good.  So I had some cereal. It made me feel horrible the rest of the day.  I won't be doing that again.  My days are pretty awesome when they start with a green smoothie.  I'll stick to that instead of the carbs, thank-you-very-much.

In our homeschool this week…
It was a good week!  We got quite a bit done. We're plowing through spelling, doing two lessons on Monday because they were so easy.  Trying to plow through some easy math to get to more challenging & fun stuff.  I don't want to push too hard for fear of missing something along the way, but he's not really learning anything new right now. 

History was fun this week.  Last week we started reading about the first kings of England. This continued into this week as we learned about life in England after the Norman conquest.  We are having a lot of fun reading Castle Diary. I'm really glad it ended up on this list for this year! 

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
Take the rabbit trails!  You never know where you'll end up. We spent 15 minutes going around from William the Conqueror to Prince William and the royal family (including Princess Diana, Princess Kate and the new baby) to English government to Windsor Palace (and other royal residences) back to William the Conqueror who built the first part of Windsor Palace. Thanks Wikipedia for easy rabbit trail following!  

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
This week's co-op was Science Day.  We learned about the surface tension of water by doing an experiment of dropping water onto pennies. 

Bug also started baseball this week. He plays in a relaxed homeschool league.  This is his first year playing in the 9-12 yr old team with player pitched and real rules! We are looking forward to seeing how his skill advance with this higher level.  First game is in a couple weeks! 

My favorite thing this week was…
Seeing Bug's maturity.  Although he doesn't always show it, I see these hints of the man he will become and it makes my heart happy.  

My kiddo's favorite thing this week was... 
Starting baseball! He's looking forward to the season too! 

What’s working/not working for us…
Mornings. We have a hard time getting started in the mornings. It's on my list to think and pray over as we start a new week. 

Questions/thoughts I have…
Is there anyway to stop a boy's need for constant noise? 
Should I be worried that at 9.5 he still reverses a few letters and numbers? 3's and J's are definitely problems, can't remember what other ones are. 

Things I’m working on…
Preparing to teach Poetry to our Little Ones Book Club at WAHF next week.  Organizing the geography fair. Staying on top of life. 
I’m reading…
Just finished up Book 12 of the Wheel of Time series!  Immediately started Book 13.  I've also got Drop-Dead Healthy in the library basket that I read on occasion. 

I’m cooking…
Lots of smoothies! I joined the 14-Day Green Smoothie Challenge over at Heal Thyself. I didn't get a straight 14 days done, but I've had a green smoothie for breakfast (or brunch/lunch) ALMOST every day.  The days when I didn't, I could feel it. Starting my day off with all those nutrients really helps my body! 

I’m grateful for…
Access to the internet and all the information contained on it.  I have to use a lot of discernment as to what is factual, but almost everything I need to know can be found! 

I’m praying for…
All the ladies that are starting on a Bible study with me tomorrow.  There are about 40 women in a FB group that will be studying the book of Ephesians together over the next 12 weeks.

Something I'm ogling or have my eye on...
Hubby and I went to Ikea last Sunday.  We had a lot of fun just the two of us.  We bought new dishes and silverware and ogled the Billy line of bookcases.  We really want to redo our living room with these! 

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
We've had some instances of dealing with the world lately, and this quote really struck me. 

See what other homeschoolers are doing this week over at:
Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers 
iHomeschool Network