Wrapping my week

We finished our summer school!! Woohoo!!  I think I can now diagram sentences in my sleep!!  I believe that my soon to be 2nd grader does it better than I do 😉

We kick off our school year on Monday.  We will begin slowly, easing ourselves into it.  It’s my first year of Tapestry of Grace, and I have been told that I will need a few weeks to adjust to that teaching method.  I am still very excited about it!!!  I don’t mind at all.  We hit the library today for our reading books.

It is my first year filling out a planner.  I know that may sound crazy to some, especially if you knew how much I love making lists and checking them off.  The states we have lived in (military family) have required so little that I had not really needed it.  Also, I enjoy the freedom of fudging on the schedule a bit.  However, in the state of Maryland, a planner is quite necessary.  The state laws emphasize “regular classroom instruction”.  No attendance record nor annual testing is required in this state, just proof of regular instruction.  I think it’s a bit mis-guided there, but I desire to follow the rules and stay above the law, keeping my nose clean 😉  It was actually fun.  I made it up myself since I am an Excel junkie.  Also, I type so much faster than I can write.  How do you guys organize your school year?  I will happily share a picture of our school room when it’s somewhat organized.  Right now it’s looks like Office Max threw up on our table  😉

Do you guys do any groups or coops?  I am trying to start one here.  Another oddity to MD homeschooling (in case you ever end up living here) is the concept of the Umbrella Group.  Most of the coops in the area consist of this legal umbrella necessity and cost lots of money.  On top of the money aspect the coops I have found follow a set curriculum for the group, doing lessons together from this book set.  I don’t really want that.  So I am trying to kick off a coop where mother’s volunteer to teach classes, it remains informal and relaxed, where the mom’s find time to interact and fellowship for support.  Do you have any suggestions or ideas you love about your coop or HS group?  Please feel free to share those with me!!

One of the biggest reason I love home education is the variable schedule that I can keep.  Last Friday was a great example of this.  Hubby called around 10am saying, “Hey, some other folks did bring their kids, so maybe you guys should come over to the picnic.”

We played softball!!

We ate some good BBQ