Micah quotes!

Last night, we were outside for awhile and our neighbor boy pointed out the moon to Micah.

Our neighbor said, "Is it a half moon or a full moon?" I could clearly see that it was a half moon.

Micah responded with, "The moon is broken!"

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Micah also had a late nap yesterday, so he was still pretty wired at 9 pm. I still put him to bed like usual, but after he laid in bed about 30-45 minutes and didn't go to sleep, he decided to get up.

I told him it was not time to play, but time to go to bed! He responded with, "I slept last night!"

Apparently he didn't think he had to go to sleep!

What do you do??

Yesterday we finished up Christian's phonics books. We had been working on these since January 2016, and we finally finished in May of 2018!! 

I have the 2nd grade program, and I asked him yesterday if he wanted to start these. I kind of talked him out of it because honestly, I want to start wrapping school up for the year.

Today when we were doing language arts, he said, "What about phonics??" I told him that we were done, and I just wanted to wait until next fall to start the next book.

He said, "Really? Can't we just start it now??" 

I guess we can! I pulled it out, and we started it!

What would you do????

Everybody is moving!

It is a bittersweet day in our house today. Everybody is switching bedrooms.

My nursery is being turned into a teenager room.

The room that Megan has slept in for TEN years is being turned into a little boys' room.

Courtney is finally getting "her" room back after being gone for about seven years.

We are also going to move  Micah into a toddler bed.


This is all started because Courtney has been begging for her own room for about the last six months.  Megan and Courtney have been sharing a room since Megan has been in kindergarten, but about six months ago, Courtney decided that she wants to go to sleep early.  This means that she wants the light OFF.  Megan, on the other hand, likes to sit up and write in her journal and read.  To compromise, Courtney would go to bed with the light off and Megan would sit in the hallway and write and read.  When I went to bed, I would turn the hall light off, so Megan had to go into her bedroom. At this point, she would pull out her kindle and continue to read a book until whenever she went to bed! Well, even though Courtney was in bed, she would often lay awake until Megan came in and then she still struggled to get to sleep with the kindle light on.

For the last three months or so, Courtney would often gather up all her bedding and go down to the couch to get to sleep. She was always in her bed in the morning, but this really became a nightly issue as of late.  She felt like she was being kicked out of her own bedroom, which she was really not, and she started begging us for her own room.

We told her that we have four children and three bedrooms, and someone has to share! I told her the only option was to put the boys together and when Micah had a consistent bedtime, the boys could go together.

This brings us to last Sunday. Matt went to Seattle for five days, and I was alone for bedtime.  I told the kids we would try some switching around while Matt was gone. I took Christian's mattress and put it on the floor in Micah's room. I wanted to see how they would do together.  I then took Courtney's mattress and put it on Christian's bed.  She now had her own room, and then Megan got her room to herself to stay up late at night.

Needless to say, there was NO drama at nigh for five nights!! There was nobody in my room crying because she couldn't sleep. There was nobody sitting in the hallway until I went to bed. Nothing! Bedtime was peaceful!!!!

On top of that, the boys played all week in Micah's bedroom together. They actually got along!!

Is this a win for everyone?? Even mom and dad?

Christian and Micah work on their relationship.
Courtney gets her own room.

Megan is not so happy about the whole thing. She has slept in that one corner of her room for ten years, but I think she is willing to move.  She said she doesn't want a blue room; I don't blame her, but we are not going to paint  it. :(

I took them to Hobby Lobby yesterday and we got some new room decorations to help them.

So that brings us to today- moving day!

End of School is in sight!

Just like every other student and teacher in Omaha, I am anxious to wrap up school for the year! I know my children are itching to be done too, but it looks like we will be going at least until the end of May and maybe into June a little bit.

Even though we homeschool, and we can quit when we want, I don't just pick and a day and call that our last day. I like to be at a good "stopping point" in our books.  I rarely finish a curriculum in one year, so I just need to stop somewhere (like a unit break), and then I pick it up again next fall.  I will continue in math and English though until we are done. I really do like to finish our "grade level" items, so we are ready to go on to the next grade level in the fall. I think by looking at everything, we have about six weeks at the most.

Megan starts high school next year, so I am trying to get things lined up there.  

Prealgebra- She has about four chapters left, so we will be trucking through that book for awhile yet. She will start Algebra I in the fall.

English- She is on her last chapter of her 8th grade book!! Her last chapter is on reference sources, such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, and atlases. I am always torn whether I should teach her these or not. I want her to know what they are, but honestly, will she ever use one??   On anther note, she is disappointed that she is done with grammar and has asked that she can continue to diagram sentences next year! She is crazy (but in a good way!)

Greek/ Latin roots- She will continue with this book next year, and then do the next book in the series. I am going to give her half credit for high school for this vocabulary study.

Writing- She finished her writing book awhile ago, so I said we would replace that with the writing assignments in her English book, but we haven't done them yet. We will get to them before the year is over! She really wants to go over the poetry section.

Reading- She has been reading books to go along with our history, and she will probably get a couple books in yet before we quit for the year.

History- She just started the 2nd quarter in her history book. I told her when she gets to the semester break that she can be done for the year. I think she has about six weeks to go. Very manageable!

Science- She is FINALLY finishing up her science curriculum that she started at the beginning of 7th grade! She is set to take the last test tomorrow. I have her next book all ready to go. She wants to start it this last month, but honestly, I wish she would just wait until next fall to start. She will be doing physical science her freshman year. 

Courtney is kind of right beside Megan in many things.

She is on lesson 107 of 170 in her math book. We will keep going all summer. She really wants to move in prealgebra next year because 6th grade math is too easy, according to her! I am not sure if she is ready for prealgebra, so we may just combine the 7th and 8th grade math books for next year. Megan does not want her only a year behind her in math! I guess I will see how the rest of the book goes. I really thought 6th grade was harder, but apparently it isn't for Courtney!

On the other hand, she only has two chapters left in her English book. She is a great sentence diagrammer!! 

She also finished her writing book awhile ago, and we are doing the writing lessons in her English book for writing. She doesn't have near as many as Megan, and they are pretty easy for her. 

She is currently reading "Ginger Pye" for reading. She will probably read one more book before the end of year. I need to figure up something for next year. 

History is also not a favorite subject for her. She is a week behind Megan in history, and I also said that when she gets to the semester break, she can be done for the year! I think that means there are about seven weeks left for her. 

As for science, she is finishing a unit on plants and will start a five week unit on invertebrates next week. Again, when she is done with that unit, she can be done! She is about in the middle of her book.

The same goes for her spelling. She is on week 31 of 36. When she finishes, she can be done! 

Christian has completely different subjects.

He is even further behind in math because at the beginning of the year, he was only doing half a lesson for awhile. I think he just got to lesson 85 of 170. We might need to double up on lessons or skip a few to get done before we go back in August!! 

He has also been working on a 1st grade phonics program since January of 2016!! He has four more lessons and we are done with this curriculum! I will probably pull out the 2nd grade program and have him start that in May. Might as well get ahead!

He is only on week 21 of 36 on spelling, so when we get to a review lesson (24), I said he can be done for the year. I won't make him continue spelling over the summer.

Next fall, I am going to start the same type of writing book for him as I did for the girls. He is going to finish up his sight words in about a week, and then I thought we could work out of a 1st grade one that Courtney started when she was in 1st grade! We will only go until the end of May and then put it back on the shelf. I will start him in the 2nd grade one next fall. 

As for reading, he has been reading short excerpts about animals and answering comprehension questions. I may just keep using this for next year. I also have a curriculum in my basement that Megan used in 2nd grade. It uses chapter books; I may pull that out for him for next year. 

AH! I think that is it!!!