We are headed into a new school year. Much is staying the same. I'll be using the same combination of Charlotte Mason and Robinson in my schooling.
I'm adding a grammar program - Daily Grams. And I've discovered two fonts on Donna Young's website, which you can use in Word to make your own handwriting worksheets. I have one girl that desperately needs work on her handwriting beyond copywork. Then I have another that needs to solidify her knowledge of cursive. I think cursive is becoming more passe in general in this day, but I think it still a good skill to have down.
I've driven myself CRAZY trying to figure out what activities we are going to do this year (out of the house). Our state tightened it's funding, so what they were helping to pay for last year, they aren't this year. We were paying the full expense for dance and also for my oldest daughter's private violin lesson. Orchestra and art were mostly paid for by our homeschooling program. And, my younger (middle) daughter is moving up in dance (makes her dance more expensive) and my youngest daughter has been wanting to start dance. Obviously, it wasn't doable to pay for Orchestra, Private Violin, Art Class, and Dance.
My oldest thrives at art and I really wanted to keep that. Somehow I wanted to keep my kids playing an instrument. But, in the end, for this year, I sided with dance. The girls all love it and the youngest hasn't gotten a chance to do it. I also signed up for a few local classes for homeschoolers that are close to our home and that are free through our homeschooling program (and we retain our homeschooling status). So the two older girls are taking Drama and my oldest is taking Choir and all three girls are taking Dance. We'll see about an instrument. If Grandma can pay for lessons, we might do that too (just the lessons, not the Orchestra class). But, honestly, I think that may be stretching us too thin this year. Yet, I'd like to see them stay with an instrument.
Pray for me to just settle into what the Lord has directed me to do this year. I'm going to have a chance to work at our business too, a little too with the activities I picked for the girls. My husband can take the littles home and I can work while they take their classes, since work is very close to their classes. I'm also praying for my heart to be stirred for the lost and the hurting. Always, I guess. But, sometimes, as a homeschooling Mom, I think it becomes easy to be focused only on your kids and not on the needs of this world. I pray that this year I'd learn to pray, even in my busy-ness.
Right now, this weekend, my husband is gone with my 10 year old and 8 year old girls and my step-daughter on a camping trip. They are hiking and picking huckleberries. It's a great experience for them. I'm home with the 3 year old and the 1 year old. The one year old seems a little sick, but I'm thinking it's possible it could be a bad case of teething. He has a fever and no appetite. It's also VERY hot outside here (hot for us anyhow). It's September 10 and it was 91 degrees here today and tomorrow is supposed to be just as hot. Then, it is supposed to cool down. As far as I'm concerned heat like this is meant for spending time by the water.
It was never that hot here in the Summer part of Summer, so I suppose it's right that it's hot now. At least our corn is growing. We gave up on a lot of vegetables around here because when we planted them, the seeds rotted in the ground from the wet and the cold, and we planted our plants late. Everything I did in my 8' x 6' greenhouse did great. I really want a great big greenhouse. Nothing fancy, but I really think it could pay for itself as we could extend our seasons and even grow some things year round. That's a big project for my husband though. ;)
