Settlers of America

At the AHFE homeschool convention in July I spotted this gem.  It is my all time favorite game… but in the AMERICAN version!  This made my heart palpitate.  Maybe I even drooled a bit.  Usually in Settlers of Catan, you set the game board up with the hex-shapes each time you play, so the board is always different.  This new one is interesting to me because it’s an actual game board that doesn’t change.  The resoundingly cool thing is the resources, which are usually scattered haphazardly, are in the right places for the USA.  Wheat is in Kansas.  Ore is in the Rocky Mountains.  It’s a LEARNING game… and guess what we are studying this year?  You guessed it… American History!  WhoooOOo HOooooOOOOooo! 

So, I’ve cancelled school uniforms for our homeschool this year (hardy har har) and am using the money for this game.  It’s the only cover I could come up with on short notice.  It will provide HOURS of historical and geographical information for all of us!  YES!  Not many things get me this excited.. especially buying an expensive board game… but Settlers of America is so totally unbelievably coolio!  Don’t you feel envious for the high schoolers in my American History class???  I ALWAYS dreamed of having a teacher who let us play games FOR school.  I am that teacher.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!

Tomorrow is the first day of our ELEVENTH year of homeschooling.  We ALWAYS start off the year with a trip to Krispy Kreme doughnuts… but not this year.  I just found out that the one near our house closed down.  In fact all of the Arizona KK’s closed except for the one in Mesa.  That a 56 minute drive (according to mapquest) for 1st Day of School Doughnuts.  But it IS a tradition.  Hmmmm.  Maybe it’s time for a new tradition.

And yes, it’s because tomorrow is the first day of school that I have been a lacking blogger.  Sorry, folks.  The other day I was sitting in my green birthday chair in my room with my feet up on the stool…. and I realized that I need to make time every day for the things I truly enjoy….. right after the things that I truly need to do (specifically, Bible reading, prayer, exercise and eating right.)  This got my mind a-wandering to those things I truly love…. water-color painting… writing… scrapbooking…. gardening….. reading.  Starting tomorrow (since we are starting other important things tomorrow), I plan to add 30 minutes for ME!  We’ll see how this goes.

Did anyone else notice the creepy little girl in the Krispy Kreme advertisement?  I don’t know if this is good advertising on their part.  She looks like she’s eaten 27 KK sugar bombs already and is tempted to bite the nicely manicured hand in the photo.  One of those things in life that I find strange.

Happy New School Year to all those moms and kids out there.  Do your best… teaching and learning!  This is the most important job on earth!

I’m a Poser

I figured it out.  I’m a poser.  I’m not a real homeschool mom.  It all came crashing down today as I sat at my fellow-homeschool-mom’s kitchen table.  Books, planners, test guides, lists and schedules were strewn from one end of the kitchen to the other.  She was busily slipping pink sticky-notes into each literature book before they were stored in the red plastic box that nobody is allowed to touch except her.  The queen mother of homeschooling.  I mean, good grief, the lady’s got six kids.  And no twins.  Each hot pink note said something different:   “Read Aloud”  “Jimmy”  “Easy Reader”   “Lisa”   I’ve never seen anything like it.  Mounds of books.

To my credit, I’ve done more planning this August than all of my past ten Augusts added up.  I’m branching out this year.  I’m not using the tried and true curriculum that has served me well for ten years.  I’ve always taught all of my kids together on the same topic.  It’s so much easier to teach that way!  But this year?  No.  Well, yes and no.  We are studying American History with a vengeance, but not like any unit ever tackled in this house of school.  My two high schoolers are in my US History class, so they are on the same page, albeit at drastically different levels. My junior higher is in for the shock of his life.  I just finished writing his assignment for the YEAR…. literature, history, vocabulary and math. (He’s taking a science class from the homeschool mom mentioned previously… with the booky kitchen table.)  I have NEVER written down a year’s worth of assignments for anyone, including myself.  I’ve always flown by the seat of my pants…. planning a week or two… or miraculously a month in advance.  Not this year.  This is a ton of work.

My level of comfort was surpassed when it dawned on me…. early June… that I am teaching English as a Second Language to a youngster… for the very first time in my life.  Our girl can sound out words in Spanish… she can write a handful of words in Spanish… but we are swiping the slate clean and starting at square one in English.  It’s been a while since I looked at phonics… a, ay, ah.  The more I learn the 27 phonograms, the less sense the English language makes.  Spanish is so much easier with every letter making ONLY one sound.  Brilliant.

The plan is set in stone… .like never before.  Even if I get carried off by gypsies the kids will know what to work on until late May.  They may not even notice I’m gone!  Even their dad could hold down the homeschooling fort!  All this planning does make sense to me…. but what it we have a hiccup?  What if we fall behind?  What if I need fieldtrips… LOTS of fieldtrips???  What if? 

So, fellow homeschool moms.  I’m with you this year.  My planning is done.  I’m not posing this year as a mom-educator with children at home who has it all together.  I do actually have it all together.  First time in TEN years!

Go Diamondbacks!

Last night was homeschool night at the Diamondback’s baseball game.  Naturally we asked the kids who was interested in going.  With one glance at the calendar, I realized it was transforming into date night… not family night at the ballpark.  Our eldest was babysitting. Our two youngest were invited to a birthday party. And my personal favorite opt-out excuse was from our eldest son…. who was heading downtown to feed the homeless.  What can you say to that?  “See you after the seventh inning stretch!” 

Lo and behold, it was also Bark at the Park night…. where people take their dogs to the game.  A BASEBALL game.  Good grief.  I’m not really a dog lover, but we do have a dog.  I wouldn’t dream of taking her to a game.  One question ran amuck in my mind all during the game…. where do they do their business?  Seriously… who thought of this??? Instead of the Kiss-Cam during the breaks between innings, there was the Pooch Smooch.  It was really sort of sad.  Will they have cat night next?  Or guinea pig night?

Another distraction was a group of three girls who were probably eight or nine, who weren’t actually supposed to be sitting in front of us, but they ended up there.  I discovered that they just met each other, but I would never have guessed by the way they were brushing each other’s hair, sharing chapstick and hugging one another.  I love that kids make friends so easily.  I didn’t have the heart to ask them to sit down 27 times so I could see the game that I wasn’t really interested in a whole lot.

Distraction #27 was the heat.  I realize we live in Phoenix, Arizona, but there was some humidity last night that made the 102 degrees feel like 112.  Metal seats didn’t aid the situation.

Distraction #87 was my sweet husband, who is not a baseball fan, repeatedly asking questions about rules, plays and all those numbers and letters on the scoreboard.  I’m not sure his appreciation of the American pastime grew at all last night, but he seemed to have a good time. And he did participate in the wave.

To top off the night, the D-backs won 6 to 4…. which means we eat three free tacos each at Taco Bell tonight.  Every time they score at least six runs, the next day is free tacos.  Thanks to the D-backs high scoring season, we have cut our grocery bill quite a bit with free taco night!  Yes!

I still have my eye on the paint!

Here is the list of what I STILL need to do before school starts in 17 days:  organize Keeve’s science stuff and go over his first assignment with him, find and set out a plan for Nora’s phonics, make a syllabus for American History (the class I’m teaching to high schoolers), find Keeve’s math and get that on track, order Geometry for Larisa, go with Larisa to the college bookstore for ID and book information, order Larisa’s math book, set up planners for Keeve, Nora and Austin, make a “Daily News” template for weekly handouts for Amer. Hist., buy printer ink, print out weeks 26-32 for Amer. Hist., meet with the other Amer. Hist. moms to plan our English and other subject (art, geography or Bible), register Keeve for band, get Austin’s physical for the golf team, one ortho appointment, one dr. appointment, and make a weekly schedule so my life flows smoothly like warm butter on hot corn-on-the-cob.  That’s it.

B U T….. I still have my eye on the paint for the living room.  Really.  I think I could squeeze in some redecorating in the next 17 days… somewhere.  It’s possible.  And I just know my school year would go so much more better (see how I need to get back into grammar??) if the front room was a different color and didn’t resemble a cave.  I haven’t even picked a color yet…. but I’m thinking it will happen.  Really.

Typical for Me!

Tuesday morning my terribly athletically addicted son got up when the first number on the clock was a FOUR… and went to “stick time” at the local ice arena.  When a seven appeared on my clock, I entered the land of the non-sleeping and hurried off to meet a fellow crazy homeschool mom to plan our brains out for the coming school year.  It was a good time at Cabin Coffee…. a quaint little coffee shop that actually made me feel like I was in Lake Tahoe for a few hours…. logging saws on the wall, logs sticking out everywhere… bears… lanterns… circular saw blades.  Very cabin-y.  When all that was finished, I went to Austin’s friend’s house to pick him up after their pre-dawn hockey adventure.  I pulled into the driveway and hopped out to knock on the door.  No answer.  I rang the doorbell several times.  There were no dogs barking, which made me curious…. that they would keep a collie outside in August in Phoenix.  A bit frustrated that my son wasn’t waiting for me with great anticipation… I called his cell phone. “Dude, I’m at the front door.”  “That’s funny, Mom, because we are outside the front door too!”  “Oh.”  Wrong door.  I was really close.. just one house away.  Thankfully the neighbors weren’t home.

Today my overly popular babysitting daughter was watching two little girls a few streets over.  She has watched these two for over a year.  At 6:22 pm as I was enjoying a Caesar salad with mushroom and olives and a delectable boca burger, the aforementioned daughter texted me and asked me to come pick her up.  I dropped my fork, grabbed my keys and was out the door before anyone could yell “Cowabunga, Dude.”  So I pulled up and honked the horn… just like a tacky date would!  My daughter did not appear.  I hopped out of the van and knocked on the front door.  This time the dogs barked like CRAZY miniature attack animals.  But no one answered the door.  Then I heard voices… coming from the next door house… and I recognized one voice.  I was really close…. just one house away.  Thankfully the neighbors weren’t home.

Typical for me!

Minor Freak Out

Yes, it’s true.  I had a minor freak out last night.  I realized that in two-and-a-half weeks I will be starting the one and only year that I will be teaching all FOUR of my kids at home.  The reason this is daunting is because I have always used a curriculum that enables me to teach all or most of my kids at the same time…. Konos… the queen mother of unit studies.  This year I am teaching a Konos high school American History class, but then I still have so many other subjects that cannot be taught together…. like English as a second language.  And Geometry.  And Literature.  And Algebra 1.  And first grade math.  And… And…. And…

The plan is in place, I simply need to make all the schedules and calendars for each kid.  This is the most prep work I have ever done in my ten years of homeschooling.  It’s a bit wearing.  So, this is why my writing is dry… my blog is slightly boring…. ok, really boring.  But I promise I’ll be back to my old self soon…. maybe mid September.  If you’re the praying type, send up a few for me, eh?

August 1st…. where did the summer go?

I’m having a hard time believing that we just entered the month that SCHOOL STARTS!  Well, it doesn’t start until August 31st, but still…. it’s the right month.  I did go out and buy 3×5 cards today…. and now I feel far more ready.  There is so much still to do before school starts… I haven’t even looked for ESL curriculum for Nora yet.  This will be my first year homeschooling with kids in elementary, jr. high, high school and even taking a few college classes!  We’ve come a long way, baby!

Tonight, in one single trip to Walmart, we solved many of the broken household items… new printer… new vacuum… new toilet flusher handle… new box for Barbie and her clothes.  Earlier today I wandered through our lower floor picking lint from the carpet…. oh well.  I’m still looking forward to vacuuming again with a new fangled machine!  Tomorrow morning Superman is scheduled to arrive and fix the washing machine.  I’m not going to know what to do with myself when everything is up and running again!

I feel a book review coming on… stay tuned.