Business Cards and Baklava - The Homeschool Mother's Journal
Friday, April 29, 2011 at 6:47PM 
This week was also very scary, as we spent some time Wednesday evening in our basement while the tornado sirens were blaring. We were just fine, but I know of several people in our homeschool group who either have loved ones who lost homes, were injured, or one whose brother-in-law was killed. My heart and prayers go out to all of the storm victims.
In our homeschool this week: One word: GREECE. We are all things Greek this week. We had a Greek dinner at Athena's last night and the kids tried Baklava (which they loved!). We are reading Black Ships Before Troy and I am amazed at how much they are loving this retelling of The Iliad. I love Story of the World.
Places we're going and people we're seeing: Would you believe I can't remember? Actually, I do know we had some tball games. It's that time of year! My daughter and I also went to a local nursing home and learned about volunteer opportunities. We will be going to play the piano for the residents in the memory care section. Miss B sat down and played a little for them and I had a hard time not crying as I watched her sharing her gifts. It made the residents so happy.
What's working/not working for us: My youngest is starting to sit for longer periods of time during read-alouds and I have come up with a way to increase his attention span. He sits with me and follows along - when I stop he tells me where I am (sometimes I get lost, you know!). I make a big deal out of the fact that he always knows where we are in the book, and he has been sitting for a long time listening.
Homeschool Questions/Thoughts I Have: I'm still debating which math program to use for my oldest next year. She is currently using Horizons and I love the rigor and mastery, but it's a lot of work on me. I've heard so much about Teaching Textbooks, but I've also heard it runs a grade behind. Can anyone give me any words of wisdom?
A photo to share: Miss B, enjoying her Baklava so very much!
*Hop over to The Homeschool Chick to read other mom's journals this week!
Reader Comments (9)
I'm switching my oldest to Teaching Textbooks, and the new version coming out in July does all grading and gradebooking! That, in and of itself, is totally worth it! Now when he does the problems, and misses one, it allows him to go right then and see how to do it, etc. Awesome!
So sweet how your daughter is volunteering her musical talents!
Hi Mary, thanks for stopping by my blog! We were studying ancient Greece earlier this year (using Ancient Civilizations & the Bible) and we actually made some Baklava! It was really good...our recipe had a syrup that was poured over it after baking...not sure if this is typical or not, but if we ever make it again I think we'll omit that part as it make it entirely too sticky and sicky-sweet. Enjoyed your post!
Piper uses Teaching Textbooks. She loves it. I gave her the placement test and she placed a grade ahead (as did A, but she didn't like doing math on the computer). As far as what is covered, it seems very similar to the content they would get in school. TT seems to have a spiral approach to teaching. I know Jessica uses Aleks and I am considering that for P next year. I like the idea of the pie and knowing they are at a certain level.
So glad to hear you guys are okay. Those tornadoes are scary. The Southeast is definitely in our prayers.
I enjoy the blog thing a lot as well. It's a great resource for ideas and a great way to chronicle everything (I envision my girls reading my blog when they are moms! lol). I love the idea of a homeschool ambassador. I've been trying to focus more on using my blog to show that homeschool families are basically just like any other family--but I guess I need to find readers other than homeschool moms ;-) I just know that when I was starting out, considering homeschooling, I was looking for blogs that showed just a normal, average family.
Sounds like an eventful week. So glad you were safe in the storms. The business cards are splendid! :) And, can you believe, I've never had Baklava???
Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting! We use Mammoth Math. It is not computer based but is easy to use. Also very affordable. I like the idea of TT but it is out of our price range! :( I look forward to seeing what you decide on!
First of all, Mary, I don't know what we would do without Braum's milk! Once you drink it NOTHING tastes as good! I wasn't a milk-drinker until we started drinking Braum's. It's more expensive, but so worth it!
And, okay, $45 for a TT curriculum!! WOW!!! Buy that! My son will be a freshman and doing Algebra. If I had to do the grading for him, he would do the problems, I'd grade and then he'd have to go back to redo missed ones, etc. The new version is $185 (which is actually the cost of the old version, new). The used set I was going to purchase was $120. But with the auto grading he can do the assignment online, it tells him if hes right or wrong and then gives him the option to see how the problem is worked out. It will be much better for us, so that's why it's worth the extra money. And, the rest of his curriculum is inexpensive and we do a lot of self-built curriculum via the library. But if I could buy a used one for $45, I'd do the grading myself ... especially with it being my first year using it.
I know that was a long opinion.
How wonderful that you could find such an awesome opportunity for your daughter. Enjoyed reading about your week.
Providing a service to someone else in the community is a Work of Mercy. It is a blessing when one can do this! Music is so comforting to the soul too! Tell your daughter how awesome she is!
GREAT business card - be sure to pass it out at your convention in GA !!!!