Yesterday I had a plan for lunch. I was making a meat bread loaf. It was just a way to use up some browned ground beef, but it was hearty and delicious. Problem was, after I filled the bread machine with ingredients, I went up to school Wesley, and FORGOT to turn it on. SO, we ended up having it for snack. They thought it was a great snack and I may plan it that way in the winter. It was warm and yummy.
Here's what I did. Made a regular white bread dough in the machine. Rolled it out into a rectangle. Covered with about 1 pound of meat. Sprinkled all over with taco seasoning, then cheddar cheese/ I rolled it up like a jelly roll and put on a baking sheet to rise. When risen, I baked for about 40? minutes until golden brown, We could barely wait for it to cool before we ate the pretty spiral slices. It didn't last long and we'll need two for a real meal, but it was a good way to use up the meat.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
School year 09-10
This may well be our easiest year yet. For the past 5 years I have been teaching 2 or 3 days a week, including Monday morning. It has been tough to get much done without a good start day to the week. Things like spelling and handwriting fell through the cracks without due diligence. But this year I will be home at least for Monday mornings. I moved the Monday classes to afternoons, but at this point it doesn't look like they will fill. That location is struggling. But I still have two days that I trust will support us.
There are other factors that will be different this year. First, Rebecca is going to public school. That is a post in and of itself, but suffice it to say this is a one year adventure for both of us and we expect her to come back home next year. Also, Bethany is graduating so we will be doing all the Senior year/college stuff for the first time this year. I am full of trepidation and excitement for her.
Well, for the nuts and bolts. I will start with the youngest since he is schooling at my feet this very minute, writing his letters in the correct spaces. Wesley is in 3rd grade. He is an eager learner and loves to read. Writing, not so much. But we need to work on writing this year, so there are several items to help us do that. His curriculum includes Singapore Math 3, ACSI Spelling, A Reason for Writing handwriting, First Language Lessons -Level 3, Building Thinking Skills -Book 1 (logic), Apologia Elementary Zoology-Flying Creatures, Egermeier Story Bible, and Sonlight's Core 4 for American History and Literature. We stopped last year just after the Civil War so we are only covering the 20th Century portion. Sonlight is very intense, so if we spread the 12 or so weeks that covers into our 36 weeks, it works for us. I have used Sonlight with all of them at various times and we love it.
In addition to these things at home, Wesley is taking Spanish and Art where I teach.
Honour is my next student. She is 8th grade now and quite the learner. She will be doing a balanced mix of home and out classes. She'll be in my Physical Science class where I teach. Also, her second year of Latin, English, and a theatre class. At home, we'll be doing PreAlgebra with Teaching Textbooks, our first time to use this program. Also a first for us will be Texas history with Switched on Schoolhouse. Both of these will allow her to use the computer to help learn things when I am not immediately available. We will continue reading through the Fallacy Detective for her logic.
Bethany and Bill are my two oldest and have very different paths. Most of their school career, they have been schooled together, being only 14 months apart. But now only about 50% of their curriculum is common. We will do Economics (Uncle Eric books and guides) and History (Sonlight's 20th century core for high school) together. Bethany will also do Speech with an Alpha Omega LifePac. I like those for electives or stand alone courses. Both will also be taking my Advanced Biology course, which is Anatomy and Physiology.
Bill will be taking Physics where I teach and Calculus and Spanish at the local junior college. Bethany will be taking Spanish and Creative Writing at the same junior college and a second year of Computer where I teach. In our district, students can take up to 6 hours per semester free during their last two years of high school. I hope to let them have a good amount of college under their belt by the time they graduate high school....... ALL free! Well, books are not free, but all the other stuff will save college dollars in the long run.
So this is a summary of our year. It will also include baseball for Wesley, Tai Chi for Bethany (her PE credit), Scouts for both boys, lots of church youth activities all year, and driving progress for both older kids. Bill drove us home from church today and we all survived quite nicely.
I'll be checking in periodically to see how the school year is going. I expect there will be some additions and revisions along the way; there always are. But this is the game plan as of August.
There are other factors that will be different this year. First, Rebecca is going to public school. That is a post in and of itself, but suffice it to say this is a one year adventure for both of us and we expect her to come back home next year. Also, Bethany is graduating so we will be doing all the Senior year/college stuff for the first time this year. I am full of trepidation and excitement for her.
Well, for the nuts and bolts. I will start with the youngest since he is schooling at my feet this very minute, writing his letters in the correct spaces. Wesley is in 3rd grade. He is an eager learner and loves to read. Writing, not so much. But we need to work on writing this year, so there are several items to help us do that. His curriculum includes Singapore Math 3, ACSI Spelling, A Reason for Writing handwriting, First Language Lessons -Level 3, Building Thinking Skills -Book 1 (logic), Apologia Elementary Zoology-Flying Creatures, Egermeier Story Bible, and Sonlight's Core 4 for American History and Literature. We stopped last year just after the Civil War so we are only covering the 20th Century portion. Sonlight is very intense, so if we spread the 12 or so weeks that covers into our 36 weeks, it works for us. I have used Sonlight with all of them at various times and we love it.
In addition to these things at home, Wesley is taking Spanish and Art where I teach.
Honour is my next student. She is 8th grade now and quite the learner. She will be doing a balanced mix of home and out classes. She'll be in my Physical Science class where I teach. Also, her second year of Latin, English, and a theatre class. At home, we'll be doing PreAlgebra with Teaching Textbooks, our first time to use this program. Also a first for us will be Texas history with Switched on Schoolhouse. Both of these will allow her to use the computer to help learn things when I am not immediately available. We will continue reading through the Fallacy Detective for her logic.
Bethany and Bill are my two oldest and have very different paths. Most of their school career, they have been schooled together, being only 14 months apart. But now only about 50% of their curriculum is common. We will do Economics (Uncle Eric books and guides) and History (Sonlight's 20th century core for high school) together. Bethany will also do Speech with an Alpha Omega LifePac. I like those for electives or stand alone courses. Both will also be taking my Advanced Biology course, which is Anatomy and Physiology.
Bill will be taking Physics where I teach and Calculus and Spanish at the local junior college. Bethany will be taking Spanish and Creative Writing at the same junior college and a second year of Computer where I teach. In our district, students can take up to 6 hours per semester free during their last two years of high school. I hope to let them have a good amount of college under their belt by the time they graduate high school....... ALL free! Well, books are not free, but all the other stuff will save college dollars in the long run.
So this is a summary of our year. It will also include baseball for Wesley, Tai Chi for Bethany (her PE credit), Scouts for both boys, lots of church youth activities all year, and driving progress for both older kids. Bill drove us home from church today and we all survived quite nicely.
I'll be checking in periodically to see how the school year is going. I expect there will be some additions and revisions along the way; there always are. But this is the game plan as of August.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Oh, Wow!
Man, I am astonished at how quickly this summer has gone by and is essentially OVER. I am sad and frustrated at the list of things I wanted to accomplish which did NOT get done. Looking back we did get a few things done in the house. New floors in the bathrooms upstairs. I painted the trim, but I had wanted to strip the wallpaper and paint the walls. No time----
I did sort through all the papers from my classes last year and get them filed, did get all grades final and reported. Have been able to keep up with new registrations as they come in. But I have not compiled all the notes for all classes and gotten them all typed up like I wanted to. Just today I began reading the new course I'll be teaching this year, Anatomy and Physiology. That will be an ongoing project I'm sure.
I did get all the planning done for my own kids' school. I'll do a separate post about all those plans since I like to have it all in one place. I thought I already had but,... I'll search that, too.
This week Wesley started school because he has to go to camp next week while the others are starting. Bill had his ACC (local jr college) orientation yesterday and Rebecca had hers at the public school for 6th graders this morning.
I have spent 3 weeks in a row fixing something on the van - 2 new tired, then a new battery, and today, new calipers for the brake system that has given me fits for two years.
I am not strictly following my Spent routine, although I am continuing to work out when I can 2 or 3 times a week, and drinking smoothies on some days for breakfast.
Now I am off to drive kids to yet another youth function. It is the final Poolside Parables summer Bible study meeting. Then, I'm coming home to relax in my massage chair with a foot massage and maybe a glass of wine. What a week!
I did sort through all the papers from my classes last year and get them filed, did get all grades final and reported. Have been able to keep up with new registrations as they come in. But I have not compiled all the notes for all classes and gotten them all typed up like I wanted to. Just today I began reading the new course I'll be teaching this year, Anatomy and Physiology. That will be an ongoing project I'm sure.
I did get all the planning done for my own kids' school. I'll do a separate post about all those plans since I like to have it all in one place. I thought I already had but,... I'll search that, too.
This week Wesley started school because he has to go to camp next week while the others are starting. Bill had his ACC (local jr college) orientation yesterday and Rebecca had hers at the public school for 6th graders this morning.
I have spent 3 weeks in a row fixing something on the van - 2 new tired, then a new battery, and today, new calipers for the brake system that has given me fits for two years.
I am not strictly following my Spent routine, although I am continuing to work out when I can 2 or 3 times a week, and drinking smoothies on some days for breakfast.
Now I am off to drive kids to yet another youth function. It is the final Poolside Parables summer Bible study meeting. Then, I'm coming home to relax in my massage chair with a foot massage and maybe a glass of wine. What a week!
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