In my life this week…
Do you all want to celebrate with me? Our homeschool portfolios have been evaluated and turned in to the local school district! If you listen, I’m quite sure you’ll hear me cheering!
Having our 2012-2013 school year wrapped up somehow makes me feel like I can focus on preparing for the new school year. And that’s a good thing!
My favorite thing this week was…
Weston got his very own homeschool binder this year, complete with a pencil case, colored pencils, and a pencil and eraser. He was so thrilled that he took his binder to bed with him! And I’m thrilled that we’ll be doing preschool this year. Together. At home.
Things I’m working on…
I’ve been trying to get the kids’ wardrobes ready for the church camps we’ll be attending in July and August. Sorting, alterations, shopping . . . what a job! With seven growing children, it sometimes feels like a full-time job to keep everyone properly clothed. 
I’m praying for…
God’s help in my own personal life.
Questions/thoughts I have…
Have you used notebooking as a learning tool in the upper grades? I’m curious about how I could mesh textbooks and notebooking for several of my older children.
A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
Hello! We started our 2012-2013 school year a few weeks ago (had our portfolios done in April for 11-12).
Oh, you are getting a REALLY good start! In PA the new school year doesn’t begin until July 1, so we can’t count any days until then. And with two church camps to attend, we don’t typically get started until late August anyway. But how awesome to have porfolios done in April!
I’ve heard PA was strict. In Ohio we only have to do 900 hours and we don’t really even have to track that just be sure we do
and we don’t have to follow public school schedules. It’s nice because all mine move up grades while their peers are still finishing their current grades. My oldest likes knowing this. We take an early vacation because I can’t be out in the heat so I wanted portfolios done early before we left, made for a less stressed vaca.
Weston looks so happy!!!
He had just been out watching Brandon shoot his bow!
I soooooo love having one year wrapped completely! You’re right – I can focus so much better on the next one.
Something about freeing up some mental space, I think! One thing for sure, summer break always makes me excited about the next school year.
Weston is such a sweetheart and his cute smile, Judy, you are doing a awesome job, keep it up.
Thank you, Nora, you are so kind! You are always an encouragement to me.
Congrats on getting your portfolios done and submitted! Yay!
I evaluted a friend’s portfolios for 3 of her children. She was stressed, as it was her first time. I hope I made the process a bit easier for her.
Your son’s photo is absolutely precious! What a beautiful and sweet smile.
Wow, 2 church camps! I hope they will be a wonderful experience for you and your family. My kids really enjoyed their VBS this week. Their show tonight was a lot of fun. I took a lot of photos, of course, lol. I will try to post some of them on Monday.
As for notebooking, I did some toward the end of the year with my 7th and 8th graders. It worked well with them. I’d be happy to “chat” about some notebooking ideas with you!
Have a great weekend, friend! Many blessings, Lisa
Lisa, I would LOVE to talk notebooking with you! I’m especially interested in how to make it work at the junior high/high school level. Email me?
Yes! Last year my oldest son kept a notebook for Earth Science. Now, it’s probably not the TRADITIONAL notebooking you see with pre-printed pages on a specific topic. What we did was simpler: I gave him a black and white composition notebook and he would write summaries, draw diagrams, make information charts, and added pictures printed from on-line or the textbook based on his reading. After a few chapters of working with him to show him how I wanted this to work, I turned over what he included to HIM. He LOVED it!
Jessy, did your son enjoy the notebooking? And did you still do review questions/tests, or just the notebooking? Oh, and what grade is he in?
what a cutie pie! just prayed for you and your personal life
support is good. My oldest is just now going into 6th grade- so I am having him do more and more notebooking – I plan to just let him grow with it – turn it into more of a journal as he gets older.
Thanks for the prayers, Kelli!
I’m glad to hear that notebooking is working out for your 6th grader–and a boy, at that! I’m open to any suggestions or tips you may have!