UncategorizedDecember 16, 2007 4:10 pm

Time4Learning gives us real Examples!

Time4Learning is our amazing curriculum that is giving us real examples that the boys can relate to.  I love when they are doing something on the their lessons and something strikes out as having already been done in real life or when they do something in real life that is related to something that they are doing.  Both boys relate to Time4Learning with different things going on in their lives and it is wonderful.

Zach just did a lesson on Tiles that he was exciting about because we had just spent a week in Florida laying down tile. Quentin often relates to things that he is doing as "I read about that on Time4Learning"……. 

 The boys run to do their work…..  There is no arguments, no moaning.  They have fallen into a very nice routine and I am loving it!  I noticed when Zach was in Florida he got crazy by the end of the week.  He needed to do his work and when his brain was not active every day with his school work he had to much to think about.  He enjoys his Language arts the most and hates math.  Time4Learning has really helped enable him to advance without frustration.  He now does his math without frustration because he can take it at his own pace without having a million problems to learn a concept.  Because his reading level is so far beyond his writing skills he loves the Online learning so that he can still learn but does not have to struggle with every letter he writes.

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UncategorizedDecember 14, 2007 3:03 pm

Please Pray for my Friend

This is my friend, she is in need of prayers from everyone.  Please keep her in your thoughts today and if you have the chance, thank an officer of the law for keeping you safe.

ATHENS, Ga. —

An Athens-Clarke County police officer working off-duty at a Kroger was viciously attacked by a man with a butcher knife, police say.

Officials say Sgt. Courtney Gale was working off-duty in uniform at a Kroger grocery store on Alps Road in Athens Tuesday night when someone told her about a suspicious man who was opening meat in one of the store?s aisles.

Gale approached the man and authorities said he ?wantonly and viciously? attacked her with a butcher knife they believe he stole from the store.

Officials said Gale received numerous stab wounds and hospital officials said her injuries are serious.

Other citizens in the store were able to help the officer and subdue the suspect. Athens-Clarke County officials said after a brief foot chase, they arrested Steven Anthony Eberhart, 44. He has been charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault, felony obstruction and misdemeanor obstruction.

Channel 2 has learned the officer?s family is coming from out of town to be with her at the hospital.

An account has been set up for the officer at SunTrust Bank. Anyone interested in making a donation to this account may do so at any SunTrust branch or mail to SunTrust Bank, Attention: Heidi Spratlin, 1022 Prince Ave, Athens, Georgia, 30606.

 

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UncategorizedNovember 22, 2007 2:38 pm

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Thanksgiving puts steel into our patriotic veins.

It reminds us or our great heritage.

It carries us back with numbing nostalgia to that first

dreadful winter at Plymouth where less than half the

handful of people survived. It speaks in clear,

crisp tones of forgotten terms, like: integrity…bravery…

respect…faith…vigilance…dignity…honor…freedom…

discipline…sacrifice…godliness."

[Charles R. Swindoll]

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UncategorizedNovember 18, 2007 5:41 pm

Colleges

So, it has been on my mind…..  Will my kids get into college??  Here is a list of college that have taken home school kids…

List of colleges 

We have like 9 years to worry about this…. But still….  Hopefully by that time it won’t even be an issue…. 

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Uncategorized 5:13 am

I am having a good year!

This year has been fun.  School is flying by for the boys and everyday is a new adventure for them.  My DH is going to start to do more science projects with them in the afternoon and that will be great.  I will stay out of it (except for the occasional photo taking!) We are so much better off this year with school work and I have enjoyed watching them learn and grow.  Master’s has been a blast this year and now they will have to wait until January to go back! 

My year has been busy because I took on a new writing job but with them doing their school work so well it really has been nice for me and has brought in some extra money that we have needed!  I look forward to keeping it up through next year too.

 Sports is over but we just found out that there might be a spring program this year so that is cool.  Cubs are going well and I am happy that they are part of it.  The only other program that I would really enjoy seeing them in is 4H but don’t know that we will ever have the time for that!

We shall see how traveling goes.  I hope well.  Holiday season is always tough……  Wish us luck! 

 

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UncategorizedNovember 7, 2007 2:49 pm

My Zman and our family

My little son is 6.  He will always be my baby.  I am learning more and more about him every day.  I knew that we were going to have issues with him this year because his fine motor skills are not where they should be.  His brain however is so much more advanced and sometimes he does not know what to do with himself.  Last year we purchased book work for kindergarten and 1st grade for him. (They were on sale and I am cheap).  He burned through the kindergarten work and started on the first grade work before Christmas.  By May and June he was doing second grade work.  When I got the IBTS tests for his 3rd grade brother I ordered the Kindergarten one for him.  I should have known better but I did not want him to be discouraged, instead it was a joke and a waste of money.  Oh well.  This year I will order the 2nd grade one to see how he does.  We switched curriculum this year and we are using Time4Learning.  This program has helped both my boys.  Zman just finished his 2nd grade language arts program and is now doing the 3rd grade lessons. 

I printed off math resource sheets the other night and together he and I sat and did 8 pages of review.  We worked on Fractions, Venn Diagrams, Money, and patterns.  I was thrilled that he flew through the review with me.  I know that he is honestly getting it this year without the fuss from last year!  I was honestly shocked that the money portion he was getting.  It was a month ago that he could not tell you the difference between a quarter, dime and nickel.  He knew the amounts when you asked him but if you showed him he would get confused.  He now has it down pat!  

Not only has Time4Learning helped my boys but it has given me a comfort level and a network that I honestly did not know existed.  These are real people behind the program and emails.  They have calmed my fears and helped me in ways that I can’t imagine any other curriculum could ever do.   With the addition to a new home school family in our lives, Time4Learning has helped us grow as a family.  Each one of us is taking away unique features from the program and my whole family is better for it.  I enjoy watching the two boys when they are talking about a  science or social studies lesson that they  are doing.  My oldest is really good about helping his brother read some of the tougher lessons.

The new family that I mentioned introduced T4L to us and our boys have little inside jokes that they share; sometimes revolve around Time4Learning because they all do the curriculum.  I think this is really a turning year for us as far as our comfort level in Home Schooling goes. 

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UncategorizedNovember 6, 2007 4:24 pm

Just plugging along…..

We are just plugging along.  Last night when I was saying goodnight to my oldest son and we started talking about how well schooling was going this year.  He said that he was having a lot of fun learning and that he was really enjoying his new curriculum. 

This morning I went to get some coffee and from the kitchen I said that they needed to start on school work now that they were done with breakfast.  When I came back into the office I was surprised to see both boys sitting at their computers signing on to school.  Last night I printed off some recourse sheets for Z and sat down with him when he was done with school work to see if he could do them and how quickly.  Of course he whipped through the 8 pages that contained Venn diagram, money, and fractions.  

The boys are finishing up by working on their blogs…  Our days are just so stress free and it is really nice. 

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UncategorizedOctober 30, 2007 3:25 am

We are always busy…..

Gone are the days of boring calm.  Gone are the days when there truly is nothing to do….   The boys are working their tails off on school work, I have picked up a couple of writing assignments and Scott is in the throws of month end with a new computer system…..  Our weekends have been and are consumed by something going on until Mid-December, never a free moment to relax.  On top of everything else, my friend and I decided we needed a month to get back on track with weight loss and are meeting every day at the gym to "pump it up" a bit….

I have a travel proposal that I want to write, I have a book that I started on and two more that are coming along but with not a minute to spare I can’t seem to even look at them.  I have not played WOW in weeks and get on now only to humor my husband but usually I am alt-tabbing working on something else at the same time.

The boys are doing so well in their school work and we have to find a day to do a few of the science projects that are looming in the background…..  Their soccer season is over and we are waiting for the call for their end of year parties.  

So very sad are the days gone that there is nothing but lazy days ahead….  My construction list keep growing and I never pick up my hammer to start them, wood sits in stacks waiting for the day to be nailed into place.  I just don’t know when the days will be long enough or the work finished enough for me to push myself away from my computer and actually start on them!

Oh well, better to be to busy than idle and non-productive I guess…..  

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UncategorizedOctober 25, 2007 2:59 pm

school work is all the time

Last night I started making apple sauce way to late.  It was not going to be done on time.  My youngest son wanted to help me so I gave him a pile of apples and a knife and we went to work.  He loves to cook and I enjoy when he cooks with me.  For a while each boy had to plan and make a dinner and we really need to get back to that.  My oldest was not as thrilled with it and enjoyed opening a can but we set rules and they had to actually make dinner.  Sept, Oct and Nov are so busy that we are lucky if we can get a meal in them on different days……  We have to get back on track.

So, Z and I cut up about 50 apples and started them cooking and then ate dinner.  Unfortunately things were not done on time and it was well after 9 when they were ready to be strained…   It was almost 10pm when I was straining them and each boy was helping.  As I watched them it occurred to me how nice it was that I did not actually have to rush them to go to bed, they did not have to get up early and they enjoyed eating the warm apple sauce… 

Learning happens….   All the time when your homeschooled….. My boys are lucky..

. 

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UncategorizedOctober 17, 2007 10:57 pm

Hello world!

This blog will mostly be about our home school curriculum Our family has been using Time4Learning for about 2 months now and we are enjoying every bit of it.

To give you a little background:

We have been rather eclectic in our home schooling.  We used Modern Curriculum Press and then a wide assortment of other material to cover most all that we needed to.  My father (a master craftsman) is my boys "shop" teacher and my mom has been their "arts, crafts, and cooking" teacher since they could sit up on their own.

My husband changed his work schedule so that he could be home the better part of the day with the boys, actively participating in their education. (he gets up at 2:45 and gets home about 2pm every day)….  My in-laws are great and lend a hand with the boys when we need them to. 

My boys have never gone to public school and when things got bad last year we asked our oldest (then 8) if he wanted to try public school.  He said the only reason that he would go was to "ride the bus" but I quickly informed him that he would not ride the bus because our school system puts every child of every grade on each bus so it would not be uncommon for my children to ride the same bus as a Junior or Senior.  That was the end of that discussion.

We have struggled for the last year because my oldest son could not learn to read and my youngest son (then 5) learned to read on his own….  Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum.  We needed a change.  Both boys took their IBTS tests last spring and did very well but we knew that our Oldest was behind.

Two very important things happened in our lives….  One was a family that we met who was exactly like us and the second thing was they introduced us to Time4Learning  I was against online schooling because our family spends a great deal of time on computers.  We each have one and our world revolves around on-line games, emails, IM’s and now blogs……   But I plunked them down in front of their computers, signed on to the lesson demos and they started.  By the end of the lesson demos they were begging for more!  It was amazing and I could not sign them up fast enough!  They had never "begged" to keep doing work before and their enthusiasm has not stopped……  2 months later and they are "Mastering" their English and enjoying every bit of their science and Social studies!

So basically this is a public forum that is open to discussion and hopefully will enlighten a few people about "online" learning!  

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