Catching Up with Connie

Hello fellow people! It is I, Connie, here to tell you about my life!

School has started for everyone. Which is cool, because when we go places it isn't crowded. The mall is real fun when there is not many people there. People are there, mind you, but it is only tiny children and adults, and the kids who cut school. (just kidding)

So I have to go to school! Yeah, you heard me I gotta go to school. With people and everything! I only have to go for a science class, because Mom and Dad think I'll learn more from someone who understands science. Mom will rue the day she signed me up for that! I am so not looking forward to it. The science book is so confusing and is, well, BORING! The only plus to this is I get new clothes. Like it is back to school.

Musings from Molly

i have soccer practice. I bet it is fun. I got new shoes. I have a math test today. I did my math already. I only missed one. (Molly's typing)

(Molly's dictation) Today we made the Nile River with dirt, rocks, and, what was that stuff we used for the river? (Aluminum foil.) We put it in a tray and it's going to grow grass soon. We put water in the middle of the river and it overflows like the Nile River overflowed.

That's all I want to write today.

10% of the Year

Pictures: 1) Bram pulled a globe on top of himself and got a little black eye 2) A "help" note that was waiting at my desk when I came back from putting Bram down for his nap one day. 3) cave paintings 4) Lucy Clare and Molly playing with their new handwriting/paint bags




I remember our last year in public school, I counted down the days and would use percentages to remind myself of where we were in relation to being finished. When we hit 18 days this week, it reminded me of that first 10% that year and how both long and short the year looked like in front of me. Only a year to prepare for homeschooling but a whole year before we got to start.

We've had a fairly good 10% so far. It certainly hasn't been without a few bumps and bad days, but we seem to be getting into a good rhythm lately and settling into our new books and curriculum's.

The biggest changes have been how much more teacher-intensive a lot of our subjects are this year, especially for the younger kids. We've always dabbled in the classical theories of schooling, but this year, we dove into it with much more focus. So that means, lots of reading, lots of narration, and lots and lots of memorizing. So far Lucy Clare and Molly have mastered a poem each, about 25 questions in the Baltimore Catechism and 20-25 Latin vocabulary words.

History, as always, is my favorite subject. We're studying the Ancient World, and the Nomads, Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians are proving to be an exciting bunch. We've made cave paintings, tombstones for Pericles, Solon, and Draco, and built huts out of whatever we could find like the nomads.

Bram continues to add an extra level of organizational needs to our day, and although we love having him around, we can fly through work while he takes his morning nap. I know he's going to drop that nap soon, and I don't know what we're going to do then. When he's not napping, he loves to color, (which he calls "bubbles" because he insists we draw circles over and over for him) play dress up, trains, and little people. The girls take turns playing with him in the playroom, and can sometimes lay in there and read while he just plays around them.

Back with Belle

Hiya everyone! It is Belle again here to tell you about my life!!! FUN!

Well I had quite a busy weekend. On Saturday I went to church and then spent the night with my grandparents. We watched two movies that night and stayed up to 1:00 AM. On Sunday my uncle, aunt and cousins came over. We ate and hung out, then we went to the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers with them. On Monday we did school then went out with our grandparents for lunch. Now today we did school and Connie and I goofed off for awhile dressing Bram up, the picture above. After school my mom and Grandma are going to see " The Help " while our Grandpa watches us kids. Well, it was a busy weekend with a busy week ahead. I will talk to you later on Back with Belle!

Life with Lucy-August 11th

We are having a great school year. Connie did a project today. We got to watch the experiment. I had two tests today in history and math. I got a 100 in math.I got a piece of candy I am learning cursive. We are on day 16. Only 164 days of school left.I did the math. Tomorrow is Friday then the weekend .

Catching Up with Connie

So, I'm not allowed to say anything about being forced to write this, nor am I allowed to just talk about random stuff. I was told I had to write about one topic and stick with it. And between you and me, I thought I always stayed on track. Yes, I know my mind wanders quite easily, but I normally talk about one subject. (Usually)

So, my one subject will be...... school. I will recite a little poem:

SCHOOL

I stay at home

and work all day

I do math

and learn of ray

I read a book

called Treasure Island

A story with a good hook

I play with the baby

and listen to music

and play with paint, maybe

I get yelled at

for this or that

And at the end of school

I walk upstairs

Yes, everything in that poem is true. I am reading Treasure Island, I do get yelled at, I do play with the baby and I do listen to music. (To drown out the sibling's voices) School is going fine so far. Being in 8th grade is exactly what I sort of thought it would be.

Being 13 is hard, and as a result I get yelled at a lot. But a couple hours alone in my room makes me happy Connie again.

Musings from Molly

I am six. I am in first grade. Summer is over and we are doing school.

(Molly typed that by herself. We're working on key board skills and not phonics when we do it, though, so I helped her with spelling.)

The following is dictated to me by Molly:

My favorite is math. I love it because I'm good at it. School is fun so far. My worst thing is Latin because I have trouble remembering sometimes. I like reading books to Mama and I like tracing stuff. We all take turns playing with Bram. I like to play with the train tracks when it's my turn. I hope we learn about all different words that I don't know. I read a poem all by myself and I have to "rememborize" it. I know all of it now. That's all I want to talk about right now.

Back to Belle!

Hiya!! It is Belle again and we are back in school! Blah! It is my first year in middle school and I am doing okay. It is starting out tough because of Bram. He is always doing something bad! Sometimes he draws on my mom's stuff. Also he dropped the globe on himself today and he got a black eye. My mom was very upset.

The best part of homeschooling is the days we get to take off, like, we went to Six Flags on Monday with some of our friends. Also we get to eat good food and don't have to eat cafeteria food!! For lunch today I had a salad and baked potato. I would not have gotten that at public school!!!

My work has definitely gotten harder. For example I am doing my first year of biology. Blah! In math I am doing decimals and I am doing 7th grade literature. I have world history and a big religion thing. Oh! And I am taking a drama class starting after Labor Day! I cant wait!! Well, all my people are leaving me so I've gotta go!! I'll see you next time on Back to Belle! :-)