Between Units

Our days are progressing smoothly, and I think Em is getting into the homeschooling groove. Attitude has greatly improved and she's much better with self-directed projects or assignments.

Did a chapter review in grammar and more division word problems. Cursive practice after that.

Since our main science unit is done, and I'm not actually ready to begin the big Middle Ages unit yet, we're filling in time for the afternoons until next week. Today there was some news reading at Currents4kids and even a quick typing lesson. I figure some typing skills will come in handy soon enough, even though she's only 9. All those new-fangled computers and such. Oh, and we spent time together looking at animal pictures in a big world wildlife book.

This weekend will be all about gathering up resources for the Middle Ages unit. I expect that to last at least a full month if not 2. It's still really hard to judge since I have no clue how long each day or lesson is going to take. Still, I'm sure it will be more interesting than talking about sound waves.

Struggling with social options still. Another playdate is on the horizon for the weekend, but getting another mom to call me back is not working out.... AGAIN.

Links to Nowhere

Ok, just a rant. I really hate it when you find pages on a specific topic, like a page titled "Unit Study on the Middle Ages" (my current project to organize), and then the majority of the supposed resource is really just a collection of links to other pages. Ok, that's fine.

But then I start to follow those pages, only to find they lead to more collections of links and after 5 or 6 clicks, I am still looking at link lists and not a darned bit of information on the Middle Ages.

It makes me nuts.

Imbolc Lamb

Our homeschooling day was side-lined for several hours when we discovered a new-born little lamb in the barn. Socks finally had her baby, who is appropriately now named Slipper. Just in time for Imbolc!

After that, we got back to business. Did our usual grammar and math lessons (thank gods for pre-planned lesson books sometimes). Then spent some time learning about the parts of the eye and ear, as an extension of the light/sound physics unit. Much more interesting than trying to understand wavelengths and whatnot.

She's now engrossed in the anatomy book and hopefully doing a little exploration on her own. Nope, she's clamoring for a French lesson. Off to Rosetta stone, which of course is only installed on MY computer.

Long Saturday

Pleas and calls for playdates have all fallen flat, leaving us alone again for the weekend. And snowed into the house at that. Toy shopping has been cancelled, so Em is bored as well as disappointed.

I tried to convince her that the cool kids do math on the weekends. She's not falling for it.

I'm cold

The woodstove can't keep up with this crazy cold weather. I'm freezing! But my daughter knows the speed of sound by heart, so I guess there's an upside to today.

Time Hates Me

Well, my mornings are still running smoothly. Grammar, math, cursive and creative writing worked well before lunch. I used a Story Starter from Scholastic (love it, except you can't save to work later). She is still working on hers, and will likely keep writing for a few days now.

But after lunch, my plans of science or other unit studies for the afternoons is sucking. After a little geography, I jumped into today's demonstrations about light and refraction (3 of them). Took about an hour. I got her to do some more writing but our day basically fell apart around 2pm.

I have to come up with some other regular subjects to tackle in the afternoons. I hadn't wanted to overload our days but more and more we're coming up short. I can see some days in our upcoming Middle Ages unit will take a full afternoon (catapults!!). Can't wait.

Wednesday again already?

Spent another great afternoon at our local homeschool play group, though Em only had one other boy to play with. Still thrilled that it's otherwise working out well with our weekly schedule.

Before we left, we squoze in a quick math worksheet and a grammar lesson to at least do something educational. On the way home, we ended up taking a short "field trip" to the book store which was fun for everyone. I got fancy coffee. 'nuff said.

She wrote a new haiku poem when we got home, and did an illustration for it. So I am somewhat fine with our academics for the day.

I'm also toying with the idea of publishing a Pagan kid's cookbook. Of course, I need a new project like another hole in my head. We'll see where that goes....

Doing Cursive

Handwriting practice is going pretty good. They hadn't even started back at school. I'm making it a little more interesting by writing my own practice sheets. This page at worksheetworks is perfect.

Add your own text and it creates a PDF you can print. I write a sentence at the top and have her repeat it on the lines below. Today's was "Darlene was doodling during dinner". Much more fun than just writing "d" over and over.

Another social play event tomorrow, which I am really looking forward too. She's getting past her lonely stage I think now that she has a few outings to expect each week. I'll be making some phone calls tonight to see about some girls coming over on the weekend. Keeping my fingers crossed. Nobody ever seems to have time around here.

Our day today:

impromptu discussion about haiku poetry over breakfast
Grammar - nouns and their purals
Cursive writing practice
Math - introduction to division

Watched some Bill Nye over lunch

Spend the afternoon doing experiments about light and reflection
That's our main science unit for the next week or so.

Unexpected perk

One unexpected benefit of homeschooling is that I can't snack all through the day like I used to do while I work. With little eyes around, I can't be stuffing my face like a maniac. So I've already lost 2 pounds since we started.

Not the most enlightening way of looking at things, but I'll take the perks where I can find them.

Socialization has commenced

We're getting some rhythm down to our day, and getting some progress in the core subjects (math, grammar, spelling). Still a little flighty with the science and social studies.

Our first attempts at getting her some social playtime have begun! We went to a local homeschool group play-day and it was a big hit. Last time we went, she was too shy to talk to anyone. This week, she jumped right in and never stopped. It's a big relief. As an only child, I am really concerned about keeping and maintaining friendships. Our local Girl Guide group only has 5 girls in it and we obviously don't go to church. Here's hoping next week is just as good.

Is this thing on?

Just a quick test post to see what it looks like with the theme. A proper introduction is coming soon.

Basically, I wanted to create a blog about homeschooling an only child in a Pagan (at least a non-Christian) environment. I seem to be in the minority on all counts here.

And the name comes from the silly saying I use when getting my daughter into bed:

"Nighty night, flighty bite". 

 No meaning. It's just one of the many pieces of nonsense that come out of my mouth.