Today was cool, windy, and perfect for track practice. Five guys showed up for circuit training, bleachers, and bounding. If it wasn't so much fun being active and doing this stuff with them, it would probably be smart of me to remember how old I am compared to them.
BLEACHERS.
At OU we would run up the east side of Owens Field. I think it was 23 steps then, and they grew in height as you went upward. We would actually run eight to ten repeats. The sprinters would fly to the top. It was amazing to watch them. They would take one quick step to the left and be around the passage opening halfway up without slowing down.
Our little field has eight rows of seats that we did 2x8 == Squat hopped up the 8 rows of seats 16 times. We then finished off with a CORE EXERCISE Circuit and a PLYOBALL Circuit of 45 seconds on and 30 seconds off.
The joy has been the attitudes, they are willing and ready to do what is asked of them.
I had to giggle when one of them started talking about food. He couldn't wait to get to the cafeteria. Another one said he wasn't going to the cafeteria, he was going home to lie on the couch and moan. He would see if his mother and father would feed him while he convalesced, if not, he'd get breakfast tomorrow. I think I need to give his parents a heads up.
Homeschooling hit a fat wall yesterday. One of those days where you wonder why you are doing this, and I had just ordered the next math book for T12. Today made up for it. The boys were done in time to help our Youth Pastor in a small community service job this afternoon while I was coaching. Thanks for taking them, C.C. We have to work on their self esteem though. One of them said he was a 'B' student and that was good enough for him. I can't see settling for that. That's not giving God 100%. T12 just walked by and I asked him about that last statement. HMMMM made an impact.
Have a great weekend.
Loving God, blessed to homeschool three boys with my wonderful Army husband of almost 20 years.
Showing posts with label Homeschool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homeschool. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
How we homeschool
This is a general synopsis of our day, it fluctuates like waves on a beach. I try to be the moon and pull an even tide, but I wane and wax, too.
With just the first week under our belt, we have found that getting up at the same time works best - when I get up, I get them up, somewhere between 8-9. With late nights at the store, then insomnia in some degree or another, I need to ignore Commander's alarm.
The boys start with Bible reading and verse practice while eating breakfast. Next is Daily grams and Easy grams, We do two daily grams on MWF so we have T, TH off, but also will finish the year earlier by about 36 days. We are required 186 days in our private sector.
The boys then follow a daily checkoff schedule meant to keep them from needing the computer or the same book at the same time. They have helped line out this list as to what they want to get out of the way first. For Herogian it is; World Geography, Hawk - Math, T12 - grammar.
THe boys have 11-13 different subjects to cover in the week. some are every other day, to once a week. "Better THinking Skills" only takes five minutes. (You heard about that one yesterday). S.A.T. Prep is one chapter a week for the older boys. They need to know what is coming, so it won't be overwhelming. Typing and Foreign Language are computer lessons, this allows them to get away from the books.
The boys work at their own pace, but have a time schedule to follow. If they finish a subject early, they can get a chore done, or tell me that they are taking a short break. Sometimes they use this time to do a lap on their bike, or Herogian takes Penny for a walk.
Lunch is between 30 minutes to an hour, but if lunch is finished or not- they start back to work at 1:00. If they played around and missed lunch, too bad.
THe workout for me is staying up on the daily check of their work ( 3 against 1) and making sure, right now, that they are doing complete notes from the chapters. During this first quarter, they will be allowed to use notes for test. Then those will drop away, but they still must take the notes.
I look at Jr. High and High school as college prep training. They need to have the study skillsengrained, beat into their heads, established by their sophmore year in high school.
The boys know that if they mess around during the day, they will be doing their work when Commander comes home. In the past I've left T12 at the table working with Commander while I leave for work. School isn't over until their work is finished. During this frustrating period for all involved. If they need a break - they can go do a chore and burn off their frustration getting something accomplished, or they might be allowed to take a bike ride, or run a loop around the neighborhood.
Hawk has especially learned to sit down in the evening with his ice cream and start on the next days assignments. Herogian will also do some reading in the evenings. T12 is still fighting this concept.
Yesterday Herogian learned that I won't be so eager to take him places that he wants to go - Ducks Unlimited Banquet, last night, if he hasn't completed his chores. The chickens depend on him. So when he was so eager to go at 4:30 last night, I asked if his jobs for the last three days were done. What a look came over his face when he realized he had three jobs to complete before he'd get to leave.
When we finally left, (remember this is the kid that loves to hunt and hates geography) I told him, he would have to give me directions. A deer in the headlights look blossomed on his face. So I gave him a hint. DeSoto, 10th or 20th street, which one do you want me to take? He chose 10th. We drove about four miles down this road before he decided that we were on the wrong road and asked if we could go to 20th. I turned on Spruce. That's when Commander called and asked him where were we? When Herogian told him Spruce. Commander thought I was lost and gave Herogian the directions. OHHHHH! I asked Herogian how he would have found the place if we had given him the keys to the car and told him to have a great time. His reply: "I would have driven around until I found it." OR RAN OUT OF GAS!
I like dishing out life lessons.
As I'm typing, Hawk asked, "do you want a grape soda, cream soda, or a root beer for lunch?"
"I don't know."
"You sound just like Hawk!"
Takes one to know one. Indecisive parent, Indecisive child.
With just the first week under our belt, we have found that getting up at the same time works best - when I get up, I get them up, somewhere between 8-9. With late nights at the store, then insomnia in some degree or another, I need to ignore Commander's alarm.
The boys start with Bible reading and verse practice while eating breakfast. Next is Daily grams and Easy grams, We do two daily grams on MWF so we have T, TH off, but also will finish the year earlier by about 36 days. We are required 186 days in our private sector.
The boys then follow a daily checkoff schedule meant to keep them from needing the computer or the same book at the same time. They have helped line out this list as to what they want to get out of the way first. For Herogian it is; World Geography, Hawk - Math, T12 - grammar.
THe boys have 11-13 different subjects to cover in the week. some are every other day, to once a week. "Better THinking Skills" only takes five minutes. (You heard about that one yesterday). S.A.T. Prep is one chapter a week for the older boys. They need to know what is coming, so it won't be overwhelming. Typing and Foreign Language are computer lessons, this allows them to get away from the books.
The boys work at their own pace, but have a time schedule to follow. If they finish a subject early, they can get a chore done, or tell me that they are taking a short break. Sometimes they use this time to do a lap on their bike, or Herogian takes Penny for a walk.
Lunch is between 30 minutes to an hour, but if lunch is finished or not- they start back to work at 1:00. If they played around and missed lunch, too bad.
THe workout for me is staying up on the daily check of their work ( 3 against 1) and making sure, right now, that they are doing complete notes from the chapters. During this first quarter, they will be allowed to use notes for test. Then those will drop away, but they still must take the notes.
I look at Jr. High and High school as college prep training. They need to have the study skills
The boys know that if they mess around during the day, they will be doing their work when Commander comes home. In the past I've left T12 at the table working with Commander while I leave for work. School isn't over until their work is finished. During this frustrating period for all involved. If they need a break - they can go do a chore and burn off their frustration getting something accomplished, or they might be allowed to take a bike ride, or run a loop around the neighborhood.
Hawk has especially learned to sit down in the evening with his ice cream and start on the next days assignments. Herogian will also do some reading in the evenings. T12 is still fighting this concept.
Yesterday Herogian learned that I won't be so eager to take him places that he wants to go - Ducks Unlimited Banquet, last night, if he hasn't completed his chores. The chickens depend on him. So when he was so eager to go at 4:30 last night, I asked if his jobs for the last three days were done. What a look came over his face when he realized he had three jobs to complete before he'd get to leave.
When we finally left, (remember this is the kid that loves to hunt and hates geography) I told him, he would have to give me directions. A deer in the headlights look blossomed on his face. So I gave him a hint. DeSoto, 10th or 20th street, which one do you want me to take? He chose 10th. We drove about four miles down this road before he decided that we were on the wrong road and asked if we could go to 20th. I turned on Spruce. That's when Commander called and asked him where were we? When Herogian told him Spruce. Commander thought I was lost and gave Herogian the directions. OHHHHH! I asked Herogian how he would have found the place if we had given him the keys to the car and told him to have a great time. His reply: "I would have driven around until I found it." OR RAN OUT OF GAS!
I like dishing out life lessons.
As I'm typing, Hawk asked, "do you want a grape soda, cream soda, or a root beer for lunch?"
"I don't know."
"You sound just like Hawk!"
Takes one to know one. Indecisive parent, Indecisive child.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Birthday, school, shopping and stuff
I like planning things out, the diagramming the page, the putting it down on paper, a full year syllabus for each subject.
So now you know why I haven't been writing here. So let's catch up a bit.
One of the boys was sitting on the floor with Casey between his legs. They were playing when a bit of natural gas escaped from the boy. Casey jumped back and sat on his haunches, leaned forward toward the boy, sniffed, backed up and barked twice. Translation: "Pay the jar!"
T11 will now have the moniker of T12 (thanks for the word, Julie, hadn't heard it in a long time). He was surprised to get a couple of gifts from his school teacher - since Mom and Dad said he already had his presents from them.
He is really trying to smile through his disbelief that it wasn't a video game.
Below is the major part of T12's birthday. Casey. We found his tickle spot.
So now you know why I haven't been writing here. So let's catch up a bit.
One of the boys was sitting on the floor with Casey between his legs. They were playing when a bit of natural gas escaped from the boy. Casey jumped back and sat on his haunches, leaned forward toward the boy, sniffed, backed up and barked twice. Translation: "Pay the jar!"
T11 will now have the moniker of T12 (thanks for the word, Julie, hadn't heard it in a long time). He was surprised to get a couple of gifts from his school teacher - since Mom and Dad said he already had his presents from them.
He's in a state of shock - his teacher gave him #2 pencils with sharpener and mechanical pencils along with the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do it Yourself Book.
Below is the major part of T12's birthday. Casey. We found his tickle spot.
I had to laugh after taking this picture of the boys in the family. Let's get color coordinated in camouflage colors. Hoorah!They make doing laundry easy around here.
We are almost done with school for the 2010-2011 year. The boys might have one book to finish reading, and a few work pages. For the summer they will work through the Keys to Math series; Algebra for the older two, Percents, Decimals and Fractions for T12, along with penmanship practice, and reading. T12 and Herogian will complain everyday about penmanship - I'll bet you money on it, I'm so sure I'll win. The three of us are left handed, but somehow they are wired to hook, this drives me crazy. This problem has improved Herogian's typing skills, but hand writing is important.
I must tell you about my sweetie. But first a quick bit of history. When I was taking the chemo drugs after the major treatment, I gained up to 20 pounds, it was a fight to not gain more. The drug side effects were horrible in this area. Now that I'm off all those meds the weight has come back off. I was trying to find something to wear to church that wouldn't feel too frumpy when Commander asked me when it was that I last bought new clothes. "Well, when I gained weight." He told me it was time to revamp my wardrobe. I was telling my mother-in-law how special her son is for doing this for me when she about fell to the floor laughing when she asked what stores we went to for clothes. Well, JCPenneys, Cabela's, and Campmor, of course. Where else would a girl go shopping for a Mossy Oak Mini Skirt.
Remember: He is With Us, today, tomorrow, and forever.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Bible before Breakfast / or during breakfast
My blogging friend Julie at 40 acres mentioned a friend's blog that talked about her kids reading the Bible before they could have breakfast. Cool. Great way to start the day. Since today was our first day back to school, we implemented the program in our own way. Bible reading during breakfast. We have done this before with daily devotionals but this semester will be the book of Isaiah. Just as Julie asked us to keep her accountable by asking how her program is going, I'd like my readers to keep us accountable. Just ask anytime. You can also ask about the gym, to keep me accountable to going daily.
Yesterday's walk ended up being 9.51 miles. I used Mapmyrun.com to check it out. Workout today was during the lunch hour. I had a good forty-five minute workout and quick shower before returning home for afternoon subjects. It was fun. I have missed the machines and free weights. I immediately saw (in my mind's eyes) University of Arizona's weight room in my mind when I stepped into the squat rack. That's the last place I trained and where I met the Commander. Good memories.
Have a great day. Thanks for stopping by.
I'll try to make it easier for you to leave a post. I find that I have to return to the post a comment page three or four times before it finally goes through on many of my friends blogs. I hope you don't have to do that here. Please let me know if you do.
Yesterday's walk ended up being 9.51 miles. I used Mapmyrun.com to check it out. Workout today was during the lunch hour. I had a good forty-five minute workout and quick shower before returning home for afternoon subjects. It was fun. I have missed the machines and free weights. I immediately saw (in my mind's eyes) University of Arizona's weight room in my mind when I stepped into the squat rack. That's the last place I trained and where I met the Commander. Good memories.
Have a great day. Thanks for stopping by.
I'll try to make it easier for you to leave a post. I find that I have to return to the post a comment page three or four times before it finally goes through on many of my friends blogs. I hope you don't have to do that here. Please let me know if you do.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
busy day, busy week planned
I'm not scheduled to work at the store until next Thursday. Thank goodness for that! Herogian just told me I needed to sit down and watch a movie with him, I was working too much for a Saturday. I work from son up until son down and then some. Don't all mothers?
The drywall is up. The mudding is in stages of either 1 or 2 coats. I did receive a nice tip today from a friend who paints professionally. He told me to prime after the second coat of mud. That way if there are any dings in the drywall they show up better and I'll be able to fill them in while doing the third coat of mud. Excellent. Tonight might finish the second coat of mud on the two large walls. Tomorrow I can then sand and paint, and apply the second coat to the rest of the seams. I'm really pushing to have the room painted and ceiling in place before Christmas. The carpet should come the following week. I used a plastic corner bead in the room and like how it finished. I now know what to do with the corner edge in the kitchen, family room, and the stairway. You know the beaten up edges that flake everytime a hand grabs hold of them. Or, as in our case, everytime the boys climb the walls and brace themselves in the doorways.
I opened the box of ceiling tile from Ceilume. I can't wait to hang it. I'm amazed at how thin and light the panels are. Check them out if you are wanting to change the look of your ceiling. You can nail them to the ceiling or use them as drop panels. http://www.ceilume.com/ .
Here we are at the point of starting Christmas break and I'm looking forward to spending time planning out a couple of new subjects for the boys. Don't tell them. We will be starting some SAT prep. It only takes a few minutes a day, but you know boys, they don't like anything added to their schedules. We will also spend some time improving our reading speed and comprehension. Herogian is only excited about it if it will get him through history faster.
Penny is getting to be a challenge. Especially for T13. He has lost his dinner twice in the last week. "I only turned away for a moment." That's all it takes for Penny to eat your lasagna. It is sure different having a big dog in the house.
Hope you have a great week. Keep your eyes on your food.
The drywall is up. The mudding is in stages of either 1 or 2 coats. I did receive a nice tip today from a friend who paints professionally. He told me to prime after the second coat of mud. That way if there are any dings in the drywall they show up better and I'll be able to fill them in while doing the third coat of mud. Excellent. Tonight might finish the second coat of mud on the two large walls. Tomorrow I can then sand and paint, and apply the second coat to the rest of the seams. I'm really pushing to have the room painted and ceiling in place before Christmas. The carpet should come the following week. I used a plastic corner bead in the room and like how it finished. I now know what to do with the corner edge in the kitchen, family room, and the stairway. You know the beaten up edges that flake everytime a hand grabs hold of them. Or, as in our case, everytime the boys climb the walls and brace themselves in the doorways.
I opened the box of ceiling tile from Ceilume. I can't wait to hang it. I'm amazed at how thin and light the panels are. Check them out if you are wanting to change the look of your ceiling. You can nail them to the ceiling or use them as drop panels. http://www.ceilume.com/ .
Here we are at the point of starting Christmas break and I'm looking forward to spending time planning out a couple of new subjects for the boys. Don't tell them. We will be starting some SAT prep. It only takes a few minutes a day, but you know boys, they don't like anything added to their schedules. We will also spend some time improving our reading speed and comprehension. Herogian is only excited about it if it will get him through history faster.
Penny is getting to be a challenge. Especially for T13. He has lost his dinner twice in the last week. "I only turned away for a moment." That's all it takes for Penny to eat your lasagna. It is sure different having a big dog in the house.
Hope you have a great week. Keep your eyes on your food.
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