Homeschool Mother's Journal

In my life this week…I'm focusing on homeschooling, volunteering, donating, and continuing to organize/de-clutter.

In our homeschool this week…the girls went to the homeschool co-op for piano lessons, cooking, and sewing (Sophia); and piano lessons, American Sign Language, and music fundamentals (Olivia). Sophia had her harp lesson on Tuesday. Both girls have choir practice on Wednesday. Olivia goes for speech therapy and help with reading with a specialist (due to a few learning disabilities) on Thursday and Friday.

We also are finishing the dental unit study and artist study about Frederick Remington. We are continuing work on the core subjects (e.g., math, history, spelling, art); and starting a couple new subjects in science - astronomy/space and veterinary science.

We continue to make recipes that tie into the Five in a Row series that Olivia is using as well as recipes that are in the Alpha-Bakery cookbook.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…always incorporate service to others and giving as part of homeschooling. Developing good character is equally as important as academic knowledge.

I am inspired by…my dad who I am learning more about...even after his death. What an incredibly rich, meaningful, full, and compassionate life he led. He was and continues to be an incredible role model for me.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…today we're going to spend part of the day helping others and donating items we no longer need. We're going to make in-kind/product donations to a second-hand store, the library, food shelf, and church. We'll be donating cans, kitten food, and cash to an animal shelter. Last, we'll be visiting a nursing home to hang window stars that the 4-H club made on Monday night.

My favorite thing this week was…taking some quiet time by myself to listen to music and embroider a wool-felt case for the iPad. have been wanting to do this for months, but never took the time to do it. Finally did the project on Monday afternoon.

What’s working/not working for us…the Fiscal Fast during the past week was challenging because it seemed like everything was running out or having problems, and needed money to fix the issue.

For example, the drains were plugged and needed Drano; the cats ran out of food; and I had to go to a specialist and get a rather expensive prescription (over $2 per pill which needs to be taken once per day...perhaps twice a day if the dosage needs to be stronger...or $4+ a day). So much for not spending money for a week. Hopefully next month when we do the Fiscal Fast again I can go for a complete week without spending like I did in January.

Questions/thoughts I have…I wish there was an inexpensive way to travel and see all the states in the U.S. as the girls are learning about each of the states. Reading and learning about Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois now. It would be nice to be able to travel to these four states and see things we've read about.

Things I’m working on…an embroidered square for the Embroidery Journal Project. I'm going to combine all the squares that I do this year (one per month) into a quilt. Also will be doing a chain stitch sampler to include in my embroidery journal this week. The sampler goes with images I collage, a list of items for which I'm grateful, and a short personal reflection.

I’m reading…Wesley the Owl. It's about a woman who raises an owl from 4-5 days old until it's about 19 years old. It had nerve damage in one wing so it was unable to survive in the wild. just started reading it. So far, it looks like an interesting book.

I’m cooking…using food that's on hand. During February, only purchased the essentials in an effort to use only food that's in the cupboard, refrigerator, and freezer. Not only will that reduce expenses, but will clean things out so by spring I can hopefully start out fresh with healthier food and do more seasonal cooking.

I’m grateful for…being able to watch the variety of birds that are visiting the bird feeder this morning. Will put out more bird seed so even more birds visit throughout the day.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…