Start of another busy year

Here it is already the middle of October and I am just now getting this post for the 2009-2010 year started! .. that shows how things are going with us so far! lol

This is Patrick's senior year. He has been doing a college course online this year with the school. It's been really eye opening to him. He has to figure out how to prioritize his time and still have time for other things in life. I think this past week he is finally catching on to that fact. He is doing a film analysis class through Kirkwood college. It's been good practice for him. He has had to write three 4-5 page papers so far with no end in site. ;) He is also doing Mathematics the Human Endeavour by Herold Jacobs , American Government from Abeka and an ACT prep guide from Barron's. Most of his other credits have already been met... hard to believe he will be off to college by this time next year!

Kelsey has been working on American History by Abeka, Geometry by Herold Jacobs, Biology through Abeka, Critical Thinking, tons and tons of reading and Applications of Grammar at home. She is also taking band, choir, Spanish 2 and music theory at the school. I have never seen her get so much out of history as she has this year! She is actually talking to me about what she is learning as she is learning it. Finally the spark I was waiting on. Her Geometry is going pretty well. When I can't help her, Patrick or Darrel step in and explain things to her. I am glad I have them... I didn't do so well with Geometry. Biology is not her favorite subject, that's for sure. But she does the work well.. it's just not a big interest of hers. Kelsey has also been writing some poetry. I have never seen such expression in her writing! I am quite impressed. Unfortunately, heartache can bring about beautiful poetry...This is one of her new poems.

You Forgot About the Ever

I thought we'd be together forever,
forever to call you mine,
But I guess you forgot the ever,
and you thought it was time,
I loved you then,
I love you still,
I love you when,
we were well,
I want you and you alone,
for you are the one I love,
I want you to call me on the phone,
and say I look as pretty as a dove,
You broke my heart into pieces,
is it bad that I don't care?
You said there were lots of reasons,
but I don't see them there,
I cry every night in my room,
missing the way things used to be,
Things were as easy as 'click click boom',
when it was you and me,
I feel like I need to talk to you about everything,
because you know me so well,
And then my heart starts bleeding,
because the broken pieces fell,
You sit back and don't care,
I just don't understand,
Life just doesn't seem fair,
I just want to hold your hand,
Why did things go so bad?
what did I do wrong?
Did I really make you that mad,
when I didn't like a song,
People tell me to just move on,
but it's hard to let you go,
We were together for so long,
I just keep saying no,
Life seems easier with you by my side,
I don't want to give in,
They all tell me how much you lied,
should I believe them?
If it's true,
why didn't I see?
What would I do?
I don't feel like me,
I want to just lie down and clothes my eyes,
but life says no,
I wish I could rewind time,
but this is not a show,
This is my life,
as much as I wish it wouldn't be,
I will put away the image as a wife,
and just let God lead me,
We had great times when we were together,
in my heart they will always be,
But you forgot about the ever,
and also about me.


Now for my Ryan! :) When you look over at your son and see him reading the Bible-- on his own, for free reading, THAT makes everything worth it! He is doing the Beyond the Codes this year. He is doing really well with it. We are over half way through the first book which now includes stories he has to read as well as comprehension questions in each lesson. I think he is going to be ready to skip on up to a higher level than what I am giving him at this point, but he needs to build up his confidence first. So after we get done with this book, we will evaluate and go on from there. He is doing Modern Curriculum Press math, the 5th grade level book. He is right on track, as he usually is with his math... that is always his strong point. We had one day that we weren't sure if any of us would get the problem though... it was tough!... I need to invest in the answer key. lol We have been doing a bible study book that uses science as a basis for each devotional. He has really picked up a lot on things such as atom, particles, light, even discussed rainbows and how they are scientifically and divinely created. He is also working on health and some spelling. That needs to be my area of concentration this year... SPELLING! He is gaining knowledge every day. But that's the goal, right?

Our family experience has been different this year. Darrel was switched to the afternoon shift. That makes for challenges as we try to figure out how to get Ryan to do his school instead of hang out with daddy. But as the weather gets cooler, I see changes already. Darrel has been able to read his devotion every day with him and get him started on his math. That sure makes the day go better for Ryan. I look forward to the changes that happen each year and watching my children grow and mature, gain knowledge and get closer to God. I am so thankful to be able to have my kids home. I am thankful to have the freedom and even the responsibilities that come with homeschooling... well, most of them anyway. :D

School... how are we doing? well, Patrick is officially done with his Econ, all but 2 lessons in his Critical thinking... that's an accomplishment! Now... we get to concentrate on the rest of his Geometry and american lit.

Kelsey is close to done with her Algebra and Health! Progress again!

Ryan is working on his explode the code and math, trying to get done before the others are done with theirs... I don't mind, just as long as he is learning and wanting to. His handwritting is so pretty. :) Lots of fun things. :)

Overall, the last 2 month have been slow... but there is progress that I didn't even realize! yay!

I am so glad it is January!

December was a terrible month for us...

Darrel's dad very unexpectedly passed away... It was hard on all of us. We learned a lot about family and how precious they are.. we learned a lot on how to handle tough situations and still be happy, and we learned how to lean on God when things just don't seem to make sense... I think those lessons are the toughest and carry the most weight.

We began school again in January and things have been going extremely well. Despite the fact that we are behind where I wanted to be at this time, everyone is back on track with their school and we have had some pretty big break throughs!

Ryan has been reading better and better every day. He has been reading in an old reading book from the public school. I am so glad I found this book. It helps to build his confidence and it's so cool to let him look back at where he started and see how much progress he has made. He is reading bigger and bigger words and the best part of it all is his comprehension! He always remembers what he read about. Even if it takes him 20 minutes to read a 4 page story, he is getting what it means and that is the biggest hurdle in reading in my eyes. What good does it do to be able to read fast if what you are reading doesn't stick?
His math has had to be reviewed because of our long break in December. I have made some multiplication flash cards for him and am having him do an extra multiplication fact sheet every day as well as his math lesson. He is beginning to get better and better with it though, so I guess it's working!
I started his language book finally last week. He hadn't been doing it yet because I needed him to get more confident in his reading skills first. It worked! He is going through it quite easily. His explode the code is getting easy enough for him to sit and do it on his own now, which is a blessing to me.
We also started working in a health book. He has put on the 10 year old chunk that Patch had... and I want him to be aware of how to be healthy. So far he has been learning about how important posture is. Every now and again you can see him remember what we said as he sits up a little straighter. :D

Kelsey is doing well with her math finally. Algebra has finally began to make sense to her. yay!
Her English has been a blessing. We are working with Easy Grammar Plus like I did with Patrick a few years ago. I am so thankful for this book. It is something that really reviews well and makes sense to my kids without overwhelming them with writing.
She is doing a writing course as well, so that part has been covered with something a little more fun. She had thought she wasn't going to be able to come up with a story with a hero and a villain, but she surprised herself when she began typing! It just came to her. She has worked on it several times and is now ready to start the unit on family. I think this one is going to be so fun for her!
Her science is going pretty well, but I have noticed she is copying things out of the book instead of writing them in her own words for a summary. I am going to work with her on that one... we don't need a plagiarizer!
She got a bit confused on her geography, which I expected. But she is beginning to get her maps book caught up so she can do both books in the order I laid out in the beginning on the year. Her health is pretty easy for her so that doesn't give me much concern.
Kelsey is doing Spanish at the school this year and it is going quite well. She was able to opt out of the semester test this last semester because her grade was an A! I look forward to her continuing with Spanish through her entire high school career. She has a natural gift when other languages are introduced. I would like to get her involved in some other languages as well.. but I will see what she wants for her life.

Patrick is getting so responsible this year. He is working on his school on his own and is starting to make goals for himself since he is going to be graduating next year. He is looking at possible colleges for music!(yay!) He just started a music theory class at the school second semester and it has been really good for him so far. He is working on writing music for his band he is trying to get started. We have a bass, electric and a drum set.. why not?! (but I must admit, it's a bit tough some days when they practice the same song for 2 hours very loudly in our basement directly under our living room... but it's how they will get better! If it's not here, where will they learn?)
His chemistry with Mr. Oliver is going about how I expected. He has been keeping a pretty steady B or B- which is fine with me. He needed that class to experience the school and to build his confidence in his abilities.
He is doing geometry this year and has way bypassed by knowledge of the subject. I didn't really apply myself when I was a young in.. lol Thank God for answer keys and husbands who did apply themselves!
His econ is moving kinda slow.. I expected he would be done with the book by now, but even if it takes him the whole year, it's no big deal.. he is taking it as a junior instead of a senior, so next year we can just focus completely on government!
He is doing pretty amazing with the critical thinking. It is usually the first thing he goes for and he always does his assignments in it. He is over half way through the book. Joselynn did the same book as a senior and loved every bit of it. She suggested that all the kids take it, so I started with Patrick. I am glad I did.
We haven't made any progress on the Latin.. I am not sure what to do with it... so I may just have to take Nicole up on her offer to help me find a good book for him to start in.
His lit is going well and he still talks of stories every now and again. Good signs!

Well, that is an overview of our school season so far..Not only was December hard with Darrel's dad, but we had Kelsey's birthday 3 days after the funeral, then right after Christmas, all 5 of us ended up sick with the flu! It was a rough bug.. Kelsey was sick for 4 days, I had it for over a week and a half! Not cool. So, thus explains why I am so thankful it is January!

Blessings!
Jody

Our last few weeks

Well, the last few weeks have been full of twists and turns and some set back, other gains, as we all come to expect in the wonderful world of homeschooling. I will do my best to give a good overview of what all has been going on in the Brown household.



My eldest son has faced his first heartbreak. It has been a tough time with him learning the hard lessons in life. He has been really struggling to make it through the day of intense schooling so I let him take some time, work on the movie he wrote, produced, directed, filmed and edited. He has poured his everything into making it the way he wanted it. I am trying to find a way to upload it but I am having some difficulty. I will try to get it uploaded in the next couple days. He has also taken to guitars. He was in his room and next thing I know, he asked me to come down and listen to what he just wrote. Now, mind you, he has never really played an instrument before, although he is quite musically gifted. He worked and worked on the song until he came up with a bass line and an electric guitar part. He called his friend over and he started playing the electric as Patrick plunged away at the bass and low and behold, they have it sounding really good. They called another friend over and he started on the drum set and wow... they have made a little band. They still don't have lyrics, but they have only been at it for 2 weeks now. They have 2 songs they have worked up. He is getting back on track with his school, but all in all, I don't think he wasted his time while he was struggling. He has built confidence in himself and seen the gifts God has given his and is trying to develop them. That is what we all want for our kids, am I right?

Kelsey has been working away on her school. She has finally hit a spot in Algebra she can work on her own. It may take her 2 years to finish this book, but that is my goal for her. She will benefit from that greatly. Her science is working out quite well and she is learning a lot through her health class. I love hearing little revelations from her as she learns something new. She has struggled with the debate class more because of her own procrastination than any other reason. We have decided we aren't really in the class for her to get graded. We would just like to have her learn something of value without the pressure. She has a pretty full load this year as is. Her spelling is still going great. She has been reading lots of books this year. I have warned her though, for her to get more credit for the books she reads it would be to her benefit to stop reading the same book over . ha ha

Ryan is doing terrific with his school this year! He has been working hard on his explode the code and is through his first book this year. He will start the next one next week. His handwriting is getting so beautiful. He finished last years book and now I am debating on starting on the new one or just having him practice through his assignments instead. He is working on an old school reading book as well. He had his first experience with a story making him cry. He was so surprised that words can be so powerful when you read them. He has been working on a comic book in his spare time. At this point, I am deciphering everything he is writing, because he isn't ready for me to have his correct his spelling, but I think I am going to work on that soon and see if he wants to give his comic book as a Christmas gift to someone. It could be a fun project actually. He hit a bit of a slump on his math this past week. It was the whole, subtraction, then checking with adding. There were so many problems and he was missing the problem by one number, so it was frustrating him. But we passed that and are on to his refresher on multiplication. :D He really enjoys math.

Well, that is the update on our school this past few weeks. We are looking forward to Christmas break. Darrel is off for a couple weeks, so that will be a nice break. I will try to get that video on here in the next couple days so you can see it! He got 5th place at the thespian festival with it! For the limited resources he had, I think he did a great job.

What's up with this?

So, this past week or so has been eventful to say the least. We have had about 2-3 days where we have just plain struggled to do much of anything , but we have worked hard when we worked. lol

Ryan is working really well on his stuff and I must say that most of the time when he doesn't get his work done, it's because of my lack of motivation not his. He is really making wonderful strides in his handwriting. You should see his cursive Gs! Beautiful! We are going to re-do his spelling lists from the beginning. Mainly because I want to build up his confidence and be assured he is really getting it. I really need to work on getting him reading more books. He is doing excellent on his explode the code and reading the words well enough he has been doing some of it on his own without me right there. I am quite proud of that. His math is going amazing as usual and he has taken to the show word girl on PBS which is really expanding his already vast vocabulary. I love that in him. That's the part of him that reminds me of Joselynn. Patrick has a pretty vast vocabulary as well. Now to get him spelling it right...

Kelsey is struggling with her math. We are doing algebra and to be honest it is more of a struggle against mom than it is a struggle against the concepts. I know teenage girls want to be independant and it is hard to ask for help, but when she does she gets upset if I am not able to come exactly when SHE is ready instead of when I am ready. It makes for a pretty stressful situation at times. I think for a while I am either going to have Patrick take over and explain things to her or have her dad. I'm not the greatest communicator, so it is hard for her to understand what I am trying to tell her. Other than the algebra issue, she is doing really well in the rest of her classes. She is one of those natural spellers, so that is going very well. She gets upset if she misses one and most of the time it's just a simple mistake that gets her, like doubling her letters or putting an i instead of an e. She is still working diligently on her maps and her geography and she is doing VERY well this year with her science. We tried note booking with her a couple years ago and it didn't go as well as it is this time. I guess she just needed some time to figure it out. She is doing very well with her class at the school. The one advantage of doing Spanish at the school is I know she has the ability to go through 4 levels of Spanish. It's a little more difficult to do that at home without a knowledge of Spanish.

Patrick is going working hard on all of his school, with the exception on Latin. He doesn't know where to get started in it and frankly I don't either. I think we need another book for him to be able to get it going right. I just really would like him to have that so he has the ability to go to a college if he chooses to. His geometry is going very well. Darrel has been checking on him occasionally since geometry is a weakness of mine. He has made another movie script for the thespians festival this year. After he gets it made, I will try to post it on here. It's quite funny! Patrick has been amazing me with his spelling. That is one thing he lacks in, but he comes by it naturally... so do I. But he has been really trying hard to do the best in his spelling skills and it is obvious the effort he has been placing into it.

We have been struggling with the school system this year more than ever in the past. Apparently the aids are having some problems with our children being there, so it has gotten to the point Kelsey and Patrick were pulled into the office and told they are not allowed to go in the hallways after they get out of their classes. I can see a point if they are disrupting the school or if they are making others late, but it's to the point they are being watched all the time. Kelsey was walking down the hall to remind her teacher she wouldn't be there because of activity day and was followed down the hall by this aid who told her she couldn't disrupt her during her lunch. It made my daughter feel like she was doing something wrong when she wasn't. It just bothers me. If we have any more problems I am hoping my husband will go in and speak with the principal. I could understand if our kids were causing problems, but they are good kids.. and despite what the aids believe, our kids have a right to be in that school as much as any other kid in that school.
Well, that's my rant for the day... if you could pray for this situation so it can be resolved without conflict and the kids and us as adults will ALWAYS be a shining example for Christ even when they are confronted by adversity, I would appreciate it.

I have so many details I wanted to write about, but this school issue really was weighing heavy on me, so it took over. I will try to get more detailed fun next post next time.

Wow.. time flys

Gee... since September 10th since I posted... a lot has gone on!



My youngest has been amazing me with his eagerness to work.. until this week! That is probably more my problem than his though. If I get over there and sit with him while he does his work, he is getting everything done by 11. But I haven't been doing as well the last week. He is staying right on track on everything but spelling, but the last time I gave him a test it was a bit overwhelming to him, so I am just letting him work on spelling out the words and getting them correct for the next time I give him a test. He is doing amazing in his math. He needs to do a bit more reading on his own though. His handwriting is so pretty. He has been doing cursive handwriting and is about to start capitals. He is a very good imitator. He is making progress on his reading with Explode the Code. I can see the leaps and bounds improvements he has made from last year to this year already. He is growing up on me. We finally made it to activity day with Ryan this past week. It was the same day as homecoming so I was a bit concerned if he would rather go to activity day or stay here and get candy from the parade.. that was a tough decision,but in the end I think he was quite happy he picked activity day.



Kelsey is working hard at her science , even though she claims it as her worst subject. She is doing really well with the note booking approach with Science. She puts a lot of time into it and is gaining a lot from it. She is amazing in her spelling skills... I didn't realize how much so until this year to be honest. She really is a natural speller. She struggles with pronunciation of certain words though.. I wonder sometimes if that has something to do with her hearing... but it could just be the wrong coaching on how to decode. She has been working diligently on her geography. I am so happy with how much she wants to do everything with it.. not skip over this part, but really work at it. Her biggest struggle this year has been Algebra. She is dreading it so much she isn't coming to me with problems.... so we need to focus on that the rest of this week. She is a bit behind, but I don't really care if she is behind, I care if she is actually learning the materials. She has been taking Spanish at the schools this year. It has been going really well. She is one of those kind of kids that really wants to impress people with her intelligence.. so she won't stop until she is getting the best grade in class. That's just the way it is. I am thankful that the class she is in only has 4 students. That eases her into the learning of this language without the distraction of 14-20 other students.



Patrick has been so quick at doing all of his school this year... I was a bit concerned maybe he was just rushing through things and then yesterday he came up to me and asked me to read this poem he read in his English Lit book. Just for a bit of history on my son... he doesn't like to read, he has spent his entire life trying to keep from reading... and he came up to ME and had me READ something that he REALLY LIKED! I about cried! He was even talking to me about the poem today! That really put my mind at ease. He is struggling with the whole Latin thing, but I haven't taken the time to sit with him and give him some guidance on what to do with it either. I did tell him today that this Latin book will count for 2 years, so I plan on it taking the 2 years. That made him not feel so overwhelmed with the idea of it again.



Well, that is a general overview of what has been going on around here with their school.





Oh and before we go, Ryan wrote a poem the other day! I was so proud. He came up to me in this eager voice and asked if he could read the poem he just wrote. Of course I said "Yes". He got all serious and almost read it like I picture someone in a dimly lit coffee house with the black barre' would read.



"The leaves are falling

The wind is blowing

The birds are chirping

To be continued..."

It loses some of its effect written out, but it was super adorable!

First Week of School!

Well, we started our school on Monday. Things have been going very smoothly so far. Ryan and I work on his stuff while Kelsey and Patrick are at band and choir at the school. It gives us 2 hours of alone time and he works real hard to get done most of his work without fuss. Plus he likes to say "I was the first one done again today!" lol

We are just in the review portions of the books. Ryan is finishing what he didn't get done with his handwriting last year, which happens to be cursive. He just has beautiful handwriting and at times, I have troubles distinguishing his writing from mine. Well, after doing his handwriting, he began his new adventure of spelling. He is doing a little better than I expected for where he is with his reading. Yesterday he was sitting down, ready to write his first word and he hesitated, looked at me, put his hand on his head and said, "Oh man! Cursive is taking me over!" I thought it was so cute! It made my day, anyway.

Patrick has been working very diligently to not get behind with football practice every evening. He comes home, works on his school after eating something really quick, then is usually done with everything before his practice. But for now, it is basically introductions to subjects that I know are going to get a lot more intense. He is taking Chemistry at the school this year. So far he is enjoying it. He is keeping a steady B I do believe. He is getting ready to take Latin here this year. I am quite excited about it, but a bit nervous because I have never taken it. He is just reading over the introduction now. I still have one more book to get for him that should help out a lot for the course. He is taking Geometry and can't understand at all why he is writing sentences for a book about geometric shapes. lol I think he will understand once he gets into it more. He is also doing a class on Critical Thinking. He isn't complaining about that one, which is a pretty good indication he almost likes it. Joselynn went through that class her senior year and has said time and time again how much she learned from it and that we should make EVERYONE take it. I hope Patch gets as much out of it as she did.

Kelsey is working hard at figuring out the right schedule for her. She is doing choir, band and then interrupting the day and taking Spanish at the school. It is different for her to not be the first one done, but I think she is realizing it isn't about being the first one done, but doing your work to the best of your abilities. She is reviewing her Easy Grammar from last year and then continuing on with the rest of the book. I am having her notebook her science this year. She has a desire to write, so this will only foster more of that and maybe develop into a passion. My main objective for her this year is for her to work on her work slowly enough she really learns what she needs to and develop a passion for learning. Geography is going to stress her out a bit, but it is soooo important she learns about the world and knows where things are in this world. Once her sister leaves to go across the country, I think that will be more important to her, but for now, we will work on getting her aware of life outside our little bubble. She says she is loving Algebra. That's a good sign! lol


Well, that is an overview of our week thus far. I would add pictures, but my eldest took over my camera for her journalism class. We will eventually end up with it back, I just have no clue when! I am going to have Kelsey work on a post for here this weekend so until then, have a blessed day/week!

Mama Brown