Denial

"an unconscious defense mechanism used to reduce anxiety by denying thoughts, feelings, or facts that are consciously intolerable."

This state is often seen in homeschool moms in late July when they know school is just around the corner.

I'm sure I have no clue what this statement means. Nope. Not one.

Incidently, if you need me you can find me here:


La La Land: A state of being out of touch with reality.

Miss Daisy's List

I suppose I must give Miss Daisy equal opportunity here, although her schedule for next fall doesn't look near as bad. :-)

6th grade
English: Wordly Wise 7, Jump In, Easy Grammar Plus, Natural Speller, Diagramming

History: Mystery of History Vol. 1, Supplemental reading from Winter Promise, etc.

Math: Teaching Textbooks Pre-Algebra

Reading: Progeny Press guides, free reading

Science: Real Science 4 Kids, Physics and Chemistry; TOPS experiments; living books (maybe Intermediate Science Through Literature)

Non-Core:
Ballet, Modern, Violin, Spanish, Handmaidens, Character Building for Families Vol. 2

Her non-core requires quite a bit of time, so this is pretty full load, especially considering she is my crafty girl. She sews, knits, crochets, embroiders, quills, scrapbooks, and more. :-)

Tune in next fall to see if these schedules bring whines and groans or blissful studies.

Beating the February Burn-Out

I've heard that February is the classic burn-out month for homeschoolers. Apparently I wasn't included in this survey, because I would have voted for November, but I digress. So here it is February, and while I've made it over that halfway hump, I have to refocus on the finish line and think of the big picture, and guess what that means? It's time for planning next year! Yes, I've been looking ahead to Fall 2009 and all the joys that it will bring, and nothing does my heart better than to peruse catalogs for new items, look at my old lists, and check out websites.

This year it has been a bit of a challenge to get things to fall into place, because we are finishing science early as well as several other items, so I've had to factor in what else we can do for the rest of this year (most will come from things we have around here already). I was seriously losing sleep over this, so I dragged my narrowed down pile of catalogs and notebook nearly everywhere I went for the last 2 weeks, and after much prayer and discussion, I think I have a plan!

Science for the rest of this year is going to be Biology. A dear friend is loaning me her Real Science 4 Kids, and we're coupling that with two TOPS units ("Radishes" and "Corn and Beans"), and probably a tadpole kit and protist kit from Home Training Tools. Add to that helping to take care of our own garden, and we're set for spring!

Next year Miss Rose gets to join the masses of schooled children. Almost every day she asks if she is going to get to do school. I'm planning to do Ann Ward's Learning at Home preK/K with her as well as McGuffey Readerss and workbooks.

I'll save Mr. Al's and Miss Daisy's fall schedule for another post.

If you happen to be suffering from burn-out or are stressed, please take my number one advice: talk to the Lord about it! He has calmed my spirit, given me strength, and brought to mind things I'd long forgotten. I'm so glad He's part of my homeschool team, because I would quickly fail without Him.

Blessings to you all.