name to be determined

Today it was cold and rainy. The good thing was, Violet and I had no where we had to go. No where. No where at all. We thoroughly enjoyed staying at home. Where do these people get the idea that homeschoolers stay at home all the time and don't see anyone? We're never home. None of us. And just try to schedule 2 or more families to get together. Good luck!

Anyway, we were home today. We did some school work. I pulled Story of Science, volume 2 back out. We read the first half last year and are going to finish it this year. Violet hasn't been too thrilled with it, she finds it boring. And I have to agree with her that volume 1 was a snooze-fest. It isn't Joy Hakim's fault, we just couldn't get into the ancient science. But today's chapter caught more of Violet's attention and I hope the rest of the volume will too. We'll start volume 3 next year.

I've changed my homeschool approach slightly. Instead of throwing every subject I can find at her at once, we are only doing a few: Key to Algebra, History of US, Editor in Chief, reading, Microscope study by Kim Wright, and Story of Science. I think this approach is working well. We'll do history, reading and algebra all year, but as we finish things, we'll add other things. We've been going in so many directions lately, it is hard to concentrate on even this much. But it is definitely the right way for right now. I'm hoping this winter we might have fewer activities and can add a few more subjects or workbooks.

Tomorrow we're going to open swim, and meeting up with Violet's best friend. After swimming she's coming back to our house for the afternoon and dinner. So not much time for formal school tomorrow.

I've been working on the Juliette plans today. Monday we're having our Juliette Low birthday party. We're going to decorate cupcakes and work on the Eco-Action badges (Junior and Cadette). The Cadettes made a mad lib for the Juniors to do, all about the life of Juliette Low. That should be fun. This Friday we're going on a tour of a local recycling facility, also for Eco-Action. I'm glad to be getting going with "our" group finally.

It has gotten difficult with getting involved with the park district group as well as "our" Juliette group. Trying to come up with 2 different programs (even in my limited capacity for the park district) for different levels is too much. If I hadn't already committed to "our" group this year, I'd definitely put them on hiatus. But I'm committed, and trying not to need to be "committed." The families in "our" group don't want to join the park district. We'll see how the park district group plays out the rest of the year. But next year I will only do one or the other. It will be hard to choose, I like them both and both are great for Violet. But too much is too much. And if I do too much it will all suffer and not be any fun for anyone. I'll make tough decisions that not everyone will be happy with if I have to. But first I want to see what changes come in the spring.

Violet and I just finished Anne of Green Gables. We both really enjoyed it. We're going to start the second Anne book next. But I am making her wait until Friday. We're discussing Anne in Classic Moms on Thursday. I'm frantically trying to read through it again so the early part is fresher in my mind. Did you know there is a real Green Gables in Canada? It is a national park. I'd love to go.