Saturday, January 12, 2013

Week in Review: Jan. 7-11, 2013

I saw here a Week In Review setup and then saw a different one. I kind of like it, thought it would make for a good blog post, so here I go. :)


In my life this week...


This was a tough week. I always seem to forget how I have to adjust to the hustle and bustle of school weeks. By the end of the week, both my daughter and I were absolutely beat! And no wonder: we went from Christmas holidays with no real structure, no real demands, to:

*Monday--school morning, I taught a class in the afternoon, picked up my nieces and nephew from school right after class, she had dance in the evening

*Tuesday--regular school day, regular after-school pick up, she had an activity in the evening

*Wednesday--appointment for blood work in the morning (completely stressed her out as she's never had blood taken before), followed by a visit to the library and lunch out, regular after school pick-up

*Thursday--French class in the morning (she is part of it), starting at 8:30, rush off a little after 10 am to a homeschool "co-op" of sorts (not a real co-op, but hard to otherwise explain), I had to stay for the parent meeting, got back at noon, had lunch and final prep before a class I teach from 1-3, after-school pick up, then went to pick up my 15yo at the co-op--complete opposite direction I need to go in compared to the school pick up

*Friday (we were both in rough shape by yesterday morning)--regular school day, except she had slept horribly, wasn't feeling well, I had a headache and sniffles all day, managed to get some work in, after-school pick up and then she had dance in the evening.

Add to all of this there is the flu going around and norovirus, which we haven't caught, but that doesn't mean we haven't come in contact and aren't fighting off! I still have a headache today, with my sinuses having now decided to join in, too, and my ears a bit. It's been a rough week.

In our homeschool this week...

Kind of tied with above in terms of schedule. However, I've hit a home run with Life of Fred and my son! Woot!!! I had him just read the first chapter of the Fractions book, telling him, "Just read it, don't do the math yet. I want to know if you think you'd like to use it." Well, he ended up reading half the book over two days because he liked the story aspect of it so much. lol. We did manage one time to sit down and actually do the math required. We skipped the first lesson's work because he has already done some work like that this year and it's far too easy for him (< > = ), but the large multiplication with the second lesson sure did challenge him since he doesn't know his math facts!

We resumed Faith and Life, although I think we only did it once. A new Débrouillards magazine came in (a French science magazine for youth) which formed his science curriculum this week. He reads that thing from front to back. There was an interesting article in there about robots which has spurred on what we'll work on next week for science. I did come across some TOPS units in my school stuff and he picked a unit he'd like to do (a chemistry unit). I started prepping the stuff and realized we don't have everything we need. Will have to do some groceries for that.

My 15yo has resumed her work, but it's been slow. Her level of positivity isn't good when it comes to a lot of it. I have somewhat decided that I do just need to forge ahead with her when she's kind of holding back, resistant to any of the work. That's what I did and we got all the pre-novel-reading activities done. Now she just has to get the novel read. Math has been an issue, as usual. One of those things where she does the work nearly perfectly, but frustration and tears are common. We had a fantastic math session Wednesday evening where she painted her nails, I read the questions to her and either she told me what to write to work out the answers or she would manage to write out a part. We need to get some done this weekend.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share...

Make sure to have some down time, some time just for yourself, especially when things are chaotic!

I am inspired by...

It just hit me that I haven't done any Bible reading nor my devotional this week. (No wonder things felt so chaotic! part of my brain says.) Other forms of inspiration this week have been the people online who have managed to make a living--and been completely honest about how long it took them to reach the level they are at and honest about how you have to work at it. Zig Ziglar (author of the book linked above) has also been inspiring me to be more positive.

Places we went and people we saw...

Somewhat covered above, but let me write out a little more specifically. I saw all the kids in my classes. We saw the medical lab people, friends who are also part of the "co-op", dd saw her friends at Rangers (Girl Guides) and her dance classmates and instructor.

My favourite thing this week was...

Watching movies in the evening with my girl. :)

What's working/not working for us...

Working: Life of Fred! Woot!
Not working: Schedule. Lack of clear expectations on my part.

Questions/thoughts I have...

How do I get my 15yo over her lifelong unrealistic expectations of herself? How much do I insist that she forge ahead--especially when I can see she's slept horribly or isn't feeling well and I know how much my brain power and emotional tolerance of things goes out the window when I'm like that?

Things I'm working on...

Other than all the driving around and class planning and everything involved with the above, I have been working on learning more about how to make an income online. Lots of hours spent researching and learning and doing things!

I'm reading...

I've been listening to an audiobook version of Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World. I am really liking it!

I'm cooking...

I honestly can't remember what I cooked this week. lol. I am working on a plan for next week with gluten-free suppers. Part of the blood work this week was to test for celiac. She will have to go wheat-free at the very least because we know that affects her, but we don't know at this point if it's just wheat or gluten the problem. We did a week and a half of gluten-free meals before Christmas holidays. I want to get going with it again now because if the testing shows it's likely celiac, then the suppers will already be taken care of and she'll just have to transition herself back to gluten-free for the rest of the day. The first few days were very hard when we went gluten-free in December; I want it to be a little easier this time around. We can't go completely gluten-free just yet because if the testing says she needs to go for a biopsy, she has to have been consuming gluten for a period of time to see what it's doing to her internally.

I'm grateful for...

Having my nieces and nephew after school. While it does add to the busyness of my day to go and get them (a process that takes 50 minutes!), I do really enjoy having them here. My one niece always turns the corner in her school, sees me and gets this infectious smile on her face. <3

I'm praying for...

Wisdom in guiding my children in their schooling and finding/creating suitable online work.

A photo, video, link or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)...

 "You have to be a positive parent if you want positive children." (Could be a paraphrase. lol. From the audiobook of the book linked above.)

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