Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween!!!!!

"Happy Halloween"

We don't have any plans for today/night, We are just going to stay home. We will be having some candy, and I bought some brownies & cookies mixes that we will be making tonight. It will also be game night which is always fun : ) My son bought the new WWE wrestling video game so that will be included in tonights line up....

Hope everyone has a safe and fun filled Halloween!!!!!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

My Heart A Bit Sad....

I wanted to start by thanking all those who posted & wrote e-mails to me, I will look into all of your ideas! Thank You : )

My heart was a bit sad yesterday, My son was home and he was on the computer when Kelly & I were doing school work. He said to me, "If I had school like this I would have quit - You talk to much"! Kelly jumped in and said, "I like it like this, She does all the work and I just sit here". Now you know I have found that Kelly really does take in the things we learn about even though she may be coloring or painting while I am reading, BUT I do do alot of the "work". When it came to a story she needed to write she kept putting it off, finding reasons why she could not do it. I wasn't going to give in and she handed back one paragrah that she wrote. Maybe I am doing to much of the "work" and she does need to do more.... I was just so happy she was actually retaining the information we talked about instead of having it go in one ear and then out the next that maybe I have been neglecting other things : (

I found this site for assesment test taking: Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills I thought it would help knowing what each grade level is learning. Gosh, by this Kelly is way behind in math.....

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Teaching High School

I really have been thinking about what lies ahead for us in Kelly's homeschooling.
Do we really want to continue homeschooling for the next four years.... Am I capable of giving her a high school level of education? When she was in public school she had an IEP (Individual Education Program), So I am sure this would affect the "requirments" expected of her for graduation.... The one website I found about teaching high school mentions that you should print out your states requirements for graducation and start from there, but do you really teach to those requirements or do you follow your own path? Or do you teach to be able to pass the GED test? I would love to hear from those of you who have moved into that area of teaching "high school" you can e-mail me at justme32110@yahoo.com

P.s.- I found this great article about the topic of how to teach: http://www.homelifeacademy.com/heart_for_learning.php
Thanks!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Good News - Bad News


Start of another day....
I found this picture in the newspaper this morning of the pelicans flying over the beach, I wanted to share it with you, I thought it looked so peaceful.

Good News - Kelly is doing alittle better with the toothache, It doesn't seem to be hurting as much - Thank God!

Bad News - The job that my husband's boss told them they would be starting tomorrow in Alabama fell through : ( I can not tell you how upset we are to hear this.... We were soooo counting on this money! We have a $404.00 electric bill that we will be getting the shut off notice for any day now (I called around to see if we could get help - the one lady said to call back in about four weeks that they are so swamped with requests already. The other places I called are tapped out already by the huge demand of people in our area needing help). We get another unemployment check on thurs. which we could use to pay the electric bill but we are out of food stamp money and need to use some of that money for that..... I just have to pray everything will work out okay.

Monday, October 26, 2009

The Monday Blues.....

Kelly is still struggling with a terrible toothache!
I feel soooo terrible for her - She was up most the night last night (she had run out of anbesol, which has been the only thing to give her some pain free moments).
She is napping right now laying on the bench next to our table, I hope she can nap for awhile - no sleep always makes things worse!
The really sad part is I can't get her any help for all this pain! We just don't have any money to take her to the dentist, and I can't see any time in the near future when we will either : (
If you know of any home remedies that work for toothaches please let me know....
She has tried advil, ice bag on the area, salt water rinses and nothing so far as worked.
Needless to say a really down day here : (

Sunday, October 25, 2009

I've Been Thinking....

I have really been mulling over - What do kids really need to learn about,
I think I have been struggle with this because of my having to work up Kelly's transcript.
I printed out from World Book what an 8th grader should be learning about as a general guide line.
Why do we teach some things and not others? How much do you really remember from 13 years of schooling? Do you really need to know the state bird of another state? Do you need to know the periodic table of elements? ect. How much of the stuff we teach do they really ever use? (Can you tell I haven't slept well in awhile).
Most everything can be looked up on the computer in minutes so there really is no need to know the "indepth" of things if there is no interest in it - Is there?
I really find this topic interesting.
I think to since our area has been hit really hard with the bad economy - Flagler County's unemployment rate is at 16%, Is it more important to focus in on job type things to learn? But there again, I know a Penn State graduate who can't find a job either and is working at a store.
I wonder if it is more important to just have the "love of learning".

Friday, October 23, 2009

Friday....

Nothing much new here....
Kelly still seems to be in that in between stage of being sick and not being sick.
To top it off the poor thing has a toothache also : (
We have been trying to get a little bit of schooling in each day but really we haven't gotten much done. We wrapped up early today because I saw it was pointless, She just feels lousy and cranky.
I went up to the library this morning - It is sad to say but going to the library is the highlight of my week. When I got there they were setting up for a play and had most of the children's book area roped off. The gal did help me by getting two of the books I needed. I hate when I can't browse through the books! Needless to say I came home with a poor selection of books for this up-coming week.
One of the inter-library books I have been waiting for weeks did come in today (The Yanks Are Coming) - The problem is that we have covered most all of what the book is about already using other texts : ( I will most likely send the book back without reading it - I hate that because I have to pay $2.00 for every inter-library book I order. I am debating if it is just easier to order the books from Amazon - most of the books are .01 plus $3.99 shipping, so for $4.00 I can get the books pretty much within a week and not have to wait almost a month for the inter-library book.
I did pick-up from the library Mommywood by Tori Spelling that I had requested so at least I have something to read again.... I just LOVE when you get a book and crack it open and submerge yourself in it!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Feeling Under The Weather : (

Kelly hasn't been feeling well since last night.... It's almost 11:00am and she is still laying in bed dosing on and off.
It's been brewing, she wasn't eating very much, then last night she said it was hard to breath, her throat was soar, headache, feeling shaky. My son works at a food store so I always worry that he is bringing home all those germs from the many different shoppers he runs into. He also mentioned that one of the guys he works with is sick as a dog coughing on everything (they told him to go home but he is in major need of a paycheck), the guy is taking today off though - my son is filling if for him. So not sure if Kelly is starting with the flu or what but I hate to see her not well : (
My son brought home "Transformers Revenge of the Fallen" video so that looks like what we will be doing today.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Still Searching.....

Well we hit the books today again.
I have been wracking my brain on what I had been doing that kept Kelly interested in schooling and had been actually getting Kelly to the school table before me..... I have not found it yet : (
She has no interest at all in the Apologia Zoology 1 book, I was debating if I should just go through the bird stuff anyway but she just totally tunes out so I am think we will jump to the info about bats and see how that goes. I'm not sure if that is the correct thing to do or not - I know she is not always going to be interested in everything she needs to learn but when I see that she isn't paying any attention at all to the topic I can't see the point in proceding with it. It really caught me off guard since she usually loves anything to do about animals.... all of her picks for our "special interest" topics have been about different animals.
I was reading over at Home *School* Home how their homeschool group went on a great field trip to a fantastic looking maze which looked like so much fun! I have to say the homeschool group around here is nothing like most homeschool groups I have read about, they get together once in awhile at a local park, once in a rare while they plan a field trip but not many at all. I know most times I don't even have a car or money to go places but it would be nice if the options where there.
The weather has been so beautiful here!!!!!! We have been out walking a whole lot more : ) I hope it stays like this!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Topsy Turvy Kinda Day

Things sure are topsy turvy here!
A cold front has traveled down to our area of the country and boy am I LOVING it!!!!! It has been sooooo refreshing to feel actually cold again. I don't own a single pair of pants so I don't want it to get too cold : (
Then on a sad note, My son and his fiancee broke up last night. Just seeing my 20 year old cry just makes my heart so sad..... I don't know if they will get back together or not but for now he feels so sad and keeps saying he will never find another girl like her. I have tried to explain to him at 20 he has alot of time to find the right girl and there is no rush at all.
The other topic I wanted to mention is our schooling - It was going fantastic but since my husband has been home ALL the time, then the turmoil with my son & the decision to end my dog breeding business has just put a major damper on it! Kelly has not been able to consentrate on any of the work again : (
We started Cricket In Time Square as our next book from the Beyond Five In A Row selection. I thought she would be interested in it since I know alot about the area and have been there a number of times and could share with her some stories but so far she hasn't been interested at all. I went to one of my favorite blogging buddies site Toad Haven, her and her family recently visited Time Square and took some GREAT pictures I thought it would give Kelly as idea of what it actually looks like there.
Maybe tomorrow we will have a better day !!!!!!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Sometimes I Could Just Kick Myself!!!!!!


Awhile back my son found on the beach a Mermaid's Purse it's the first time I had seen one. He kept it in his room, then a few days ago he gave it to us for our shell collection. Would you belive in less then a week's time it got ruined.... some how the dogs got it and ripped it to shreds : (

This picture is a picture I found of one that looked just like the one he had..... I just HATE when something that I wanted to keep get's tossed around and ruined! I can blame it on the house being messy & It should have been placed in a much safer spot.

My goal this weekend it to organize - It's not that we have alot of stuff, I really have decluttered but the stuff we do have seems to be not in place.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Hot, Hot, Hot Here In Florida....


It sure is hot here in Florida! Where is the fall weather? I think we have even broke some old records for this time of year : ( All those folks who have planned their Disney vacations for this week must be sweating their tails off..... It's funny we live about 20 or so minutes from Flagler Beach (picture above) do you know how many times we have been down there this year swimming? None! I know alot of people would die to be able to visit the beach and here we never go.... I guess that is the way it is when things are in you so called "backyard" you just don't enjoy them like you should.
I sure hope the cooler temps. start heading our way soon!!!!!!


Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Perspective.....

Sometimes you really have to step back and see what else is going on before you complain.....
We are facing a tough week this week, Our electric is being shut off this Friday. The bill is $368.00, there is no work in site for my husband (his boss now says maybe at the start of November) and I can't seem to sell my puppies..... I have been such a crank pot this week with worry, and of course the temp. has gone back up here so not having a/c is going to be terrible but the worst part is having no water.... ANYWAY, here I am complaning about one thing after another then I read my blogging buddy Rhonda's post at Alston Academy that really just puts things back into perspective!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Tiny Egg.....


Look at the tiny egg my daughter found out in the hen house..... It is so tiny : ) I placed a large egg next to it so you can see the size difference. Not sure why one of the girls layed one so small. In the number of years we have had the hens we have only had one egg hatch to a baby chick. We didn't spot it fast enough and the poor thing got stepped on by one of the goats or the turkey's got it.
We are going to start Apologia Flying Creatures - We are trading our Zoology 3 book with a gal who had the Flying Creatures book and wanted to trade with us. We were going to start Apologia General Science but after looking it over I think we won't start that until next year. We will go through Flying Creatures and then Botnay to finish off those books.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Happy October 1st.!


It was chilly here in Florida the past fews nights, a sure sign we are heading into the later part of the year.... I soooooo enjoy the cooler weather!


Would you belive I am STILL working on Kelly's transcript for last year!!!! I sent a copy in to the gal who handles the paper work for our unbrella school and she said it needed more.... she wants to meet with me to fix it - Yikes! I am using a regular notebook to keep track of everything we do this year, but still feel I don't really have a handle on what is required for the transcript : (

Other then that school is going very well still - Kelly actually for the second time woke me up from a nap and said we best get to the schooling.... I think the whole key for Kelly is to keep it short and sweet. She remembers a whole lot more that way, once we go into to much detail her eyes glaze over and the she seems to zone out. Adding the "Special Interest" section to the school day has helped too.

On the home front things are not going very well..... My son's mustang broke down (it may be the head gasket or engine) costing in the $850.00 range which he does not have sooooo he has been using my jeep. My car has 250,000 miles on her and I baby her so I am so afraid all this extra driving will ruin her. My husband also is still not working, that has really been tough again especially since out electric bills each month have been $367.00 last month and this month $400.00!!!!!! Something is drastically wrong with our airconditoner but we can't afford to have someone come out and look at it and it had been way too hot in the house to not run it..... but now that the cooler weather has come that baby has been SHUT OFF!