Thursday, December 8, 2011

Well - here's a load of pictures! I have a couple more months worth of pictures to go through, but this gets us through sept. and part of october. Don't forget you can double-click on the picture to zoom in.


Julian "helping" with our erosion science experiment:

Veronica smiling pretty

Maureen rocking Julian to sleep :) Such a good big sister!


Julian trying to ride on a little people bus!

Josephine, Maureen and friends over for Josephine's 9th birthday party:



Saints game with Daddy, Pa Pa, Josephine and Maureen!


Maureen didn't have a jersey, so Josephine "made" one for her! So sweet, and cute! Michael bought Maureen a jersey at the game later that night :)



A cantaloupe grown right in our very own back yard! It was yummy!

This is the book that I credit my success of homeschooling this year: I have made plenty of lists, schedules, etc. in the past, but none quite like this one. This one is very regimented (which I was never too fond of before actually implenting the new schedule) and strongly encourages sticking to the schedule, no matter what! I would always make a list of how much work needed to be done per day, but never in an exact order every day... not anymore! It has helped ALL of us to know what happens in what order. Even Veronica noticed one day that I didn't do school with her (I don't remember why I skipped her that day... it was the only day so far that I did) and she brought it to my attention! I will forever follow this plan! It has made homeschooling days much more manageable.

Is this like a rite of passage (to tear out every book off the shelf) for every baby/toddler, or what?!
The white shelf holds all the girls' schoolbooks; each child has their own shelves, Josephine on the top, then Maureen, then Veronica and Julian has baby toys/books on the bottom.
Here's an example of Josephine's detailed daily school schedule: Click on it to zoom in.
Josephine's actual "work" time (taking away lunch, playtime with siblings, etc.), if you add it all up is only 3 and 1/2 hours... sometimes it takes her up to 4.


Here's the "master schedule" for Monday-wed. Thursdays and Fridays are a little different, due to PE and on friday we do all the "fun" stuff: art, spanish, music, science experiments...

pretty much, every 30 minutes we rotate...while someone is doing one-on-one with me, normally someone else is doing independent work or having alone time, and Julian is normally tagging along near me. He does have one-on-one "playtime" with Josephine (which Josephine really looks forward to, and often times she ends up rocking him and putting him to sleep!) He has one-on-one playtime with Maureen, too... some days she doesn't feel like entertaining him, so I just keep an eye on him while he plays near me, and she gets alone time.

Veronica and Julian with their "together" time, watching Baby Einstein (I know it's not the best thing in the world... it's only 30 minutes a day!) It's a huge lifesaver, really; it gives me a good (and quiet!!!) 30 minutes of uninterrupted time to teach Maureen phonics/reading.

Maureen and I, doing schoolwork together: Maureen is holding up a book she made "Apple Tree, Apple Tree, Don't fall down."
Maureen and Veronica's "together" time:
Maureen doing "independent work"

Other miscellaneous pictures: