Last Regular Week

OK, so some of you will be asking why this is our last regular week. The answer is simple... I originally planned to start our summer schedule the first full week in June, but Noni is coming next week and that would already count our week down to four days or working again on the weekend. The campers have been working really hard this year and so I decided that we'll start our summer schedule a week early! What does our summer schedule look like? Well, we do three weeks on and one week off all summer with only three school days per week. Usually those school days fall on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. What do we do with our other days during the week? We hit the beach, walk to the park or library, follow up on personal interests, you name it and we probably do it. Schooling year round isn't for everyone but this schedule works best for us because then we always finish all of our textbooks, we have no learning gap from vacation memory loss, and we still have plenty of fun days to do what we want to do.

Needless to say the campers are very excited!

Friday Daddy had to work so the campers and I got lessons in right after he left for work. We got them done in two and a half hours, with me planning the next week's worth of lessons during the last half hour while it was only ECJ working on book work left. He's very excited to try Life of Fred Fractions starting on Monday. We accidently got shipped LoF Fractions when I ordered LoF Beginning Algebra ... but looked into it and since it's a book to keep reviewing and that contains needed information for just about every higher math we've decided to keep it and work through it first. Noni ordered LoF Beginning Algebra for us to have on hand after we finish Fractions so we'll still have the book we wanted to begin with. He's nervous that he won't like it but I think he'll eat it up. If we have time this summer he'll also review Painless Algebra, if not he'll likely review it in the fall before doing the next level of Life of Fred. (If it really doesn't work for him I'll look into getting him Saxon math again before fall comes.) Peanut worked on measuring items around the house for the first real time with a ruler, using the inches for things like combs and pencils ... and centimeters for our seedlings that we're growing. YCJ struggled through some review of improper fractions and adding them together and then simplifying ... she'll get it eventually and now we have another book for her to use to review it, though she'll probably review it next fall or even next summer. After lessons and Daddy getting home we relaxed and enjoyed the cooler weather. We were thrilled by two days in the high 80's this past week (Wednesday and Thursday) but I got sunburned really quickly due to my fair skin and red hair ... Friday was only in the 50's so that was a HUGE jump in temperatures! Of course scooters were rode and friends were played with.

On Saturday we did the lessons we missed from the week when we were hanging out with Noni. The campers got them done really quickly (in under two hours) so that they could go outside and enjoy the 70+ degree weather. They all wanted to ride their scooters and possibly go to the park when Daddy got home from his appointment. But Daddy and I had to go do some quick grocery shopping and then when we got home Daddy gave the truck a tune up. The campers did spend a good portion of the day playing with their neighborhood friends, riding scooters, and enjoying the weather. I planted my mother's day flowers from the campers. And then, just as it started to rain in the afternoon, we all came inside to relax. Daddy took a nap, I crocheted, Peanut and ECJ played minecraft together on their tablets, and YCJ played her new Nintendo 3DS game for Pokemon. We had bratwurst and seasoned french fries for supper and relaxed the drizzly evening away.

A shawl I made for myself!

Sunday we got off to a slow start. Waking up on a gloomy gray day sometimes takes some extra effort. Once we did get up we went to mass and then left for a drive. We ended up at a cider mill close to Grandma and Papa's house so we stopped and grabbed a gallon of cider and two dozen donuts. Then we went over to their house to share in the bounty. Everyone enjoyed a lunch of cider and donuts and we hung out for several hours, Daddy cleaned out the gutters for Papa, and ECJ went next door to help take some things down to the basement. After leaving Grandma and Papa's house we went scrapping and, after filling the back of the truck, we headed home... grabbing some quick pizzas to eat in the truck on our way.

Monday rolled around to all the campers coughing from sinus drainage brought on by allergies. I actually had a decent headache from sinus pressure (first real painful headache since getting my daith piercing), so I took some medicine to try to get rid of it. Before beginning lessons for the day the campers did their chores and ate breakfast while I put together a crock pot supper for us and Daddy went to work. Lessons took approximately an hour and a half to do with ECJ doing his first chapter in Life of Fred Fractions. He sped through it, got all the questions correct, and really enjoyed the layout. We'll see if that continues. Peanut continued studying about insects, in particular the monarch butterfly, and working on Starfall learning to read a bit more. (We'll be working through McDuffy's Primer and Phonics Pathways again this summer just to cement the knowledge ... we might even pick up a level of The Good and The Beautiful over the summer for her.) YCJ did some extra work with multiplying fractions this day and reviewed more verb work. After lessons were completed. ECJ went outside to begin breaking down the scrap, YCJ worked on research for her last science report of the year using her new tablet, and Peanut kept switching between watching Netflix and playing with her brother's tablet. I spent some time working on the blog and our Facebook page and then crocheted. Once Daddy got home we reloaded the truck with the scrap, went to the scrap yard, sent some items across country for our eldest, and then went scrapping some more.


So, Tuesday rolled around and we didn't have enough scrap to take back to the scrap yard. This sometimes happens with Monday night loads. Daddy went off to work, the campers and I did lessons, and then I did just about half an hour worth of crochet while laundry ran from changing all the bedding in the house during those lessons. Daddy came home from work and we suddenly were in the middle of a project. He decided that today was the day to not only put the screens in the windows but to install the new window in our bedroom on his side of the bed. So suddenly I had a hole where my wall used to be! But soon enough the window was in along with a nice ledge above it to hold our window air conditioner year round and all the framing and caulking were finished. Siding still needs to be put back around the window opening and some dry wall work inside of our bedroom but I'm pleased as pie that it's done. After the window work Daddy and I had a "date night" and went scrapping on our own without the campers and filled the back of the truck pretty easily. Once we were home, after stopping at the grocery store for a few things we needed, I got in about another half hour of crochet while talking to my sister who lives in the next state ... she invited Peanut to be her flower girl in the wedding in November! Peanut of course said yes! Then it was off to bed with the campers and shortly followed by Daddy and I after I snuck in another half an hour or so of crochet. I'm currently working on a large cotton tote bag to take to the library with us since I threw out all of our backpacks because they were all ripped and no longer functioned. I'll buy more come fall when they're on sale.

Wednesday Daddy, ECJ, and I broke down the scrap that we had and organized it and then Daddy and I went to the scrap yard. They were talking rain in the afternoon so the girls rode their scooters while we were busy with the scrap until we left for the scrap yard. When we got back Daddy had to go into work for a little while and the campers needed to do their lessons. This was kind of a switch to our normal schedule but we still got our lessons finished in about an hour and a half. This is because we're already on our summer textbook load (well, except for ECJ who is still working on several things on the computer along with his textbooks). For summer we only do language arts and math and those are the only textbooks that we haven't finished yet this year. So spelling, then grammar lessons (and parts of speech), then a math lesson, followed by personal reading time. Which the older two prefer to do right before bed and Peanut prefers to work on her reading with me right after supper each night. Daddy came home and took a quick nap and I crocheted while the campers played some games together in the girls room. When Daddy got up he and I went scrapping again (usually Wednesday night is the last night each week we scrap, though sometimes we do Thursday's as well). After we finished it was home for supper time, medicine, reading with Peanut, games, quiet time, and bed.

Finally we got to Thursday and we were nearly done with the week. One more day of school after today (I type these up on Thursdays) and we're off for a week and then picking up our summer schedule. The campers and I are all excited for this. Lessons actually got done in less than an hour while Daddy was at an appointment. Then the campers split apart to do their own thing while I crocheted in between loads of laundry. There was no scrapping tonight and we ate leftovers for supper while the rain kept drizzling down all day and night.

Come on summer!!!

Posts you may have missed this week:
Homeschooling High School
What in the World is Scrapping

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