Life on Planet Caddick

Not only has it been almost a month since my last update; but there has been a lot going on and I should have updated sooner. School - we got so far behind while we were getting ready for our Christmas trip to MI. We haven't even hit 90 days - which was definately a goal before we left. Know I guess we will have to somehow catch up. Our MI trip - we were going to head up MI today to spend Christmas with my dad. CG really wanted to make a snowman and a snow angel. But, wintery weather put an end to our plans. So, we are spending our Christmas in GA with my brother in law and his family. I really love them so it's cool. I just worry about dad being alone on Christmas. Updating more school - we have been reading more Magic Tree House Books. We have been reading Day of the Dragon King, Lions at Lunchtime, and Mummies in the Morning. It's another Sonlight break, then we are going to double up our weeks to finish Core 1 by the end of the year. Maybe. That was my plan bu...

Yes, I had to show both sides!

Here is a picture of CG's Christmas present. He did a mighty fine job for hating anything "artsy".

We took a break from our Sonlight this week and studied the First Thanksgiving.  It was a short week, only three days, but we stayed on track with math, grammar, spelling, and language arts.  Some things just need to be done!  CG enjoyed the unit; mostly because we got to read a Magic School Bus book!  He loves the MSB!   I've been rethinking the whole "stretch this core to last until 4th grade".  First of all, I just don't think I'm creative enough to make it go that far.  Second, since Core 2 is also Intro to World History, I think it would be great if we moved on before CG got burned out!  So, I've finally decided on a schedule that will stretch this year and then I will worry about all the rest later.  See me relax?!  Now that I've decided on something I find it very interesting that I don't spend hours at night pouring over the IG and trying to tweak it.  That's how I know it's the right amount of everything everyday. So, what is the ...

Yes there is ~ I've seen him (her?) with my own eyes.  I suppose I could try and set out a mouse trap; but then I'd have to dispose of him myself too.  Um yeah, not so much my bag, know what I mean? So State lost yesterday.  That's ok, we will still get a bowl bid.  How exciting!  I've looked at some predictions and they say MSU vs. USC (o.k. that's the University of South Carolina - not the real  USC).  That would be cool since I totally live in Gamecock Country!   This week is Thanksgiving Week.  Take a moment to be thankful for all we have, the great country we live in, and the men and women who keep us free.  For school we are going to do a three day study on the First Thanksgiving.  I know, it doesn't seem like long enough, but since we will be homeschooling for a long time we can cover it more in depth in future years.  Since we are taking Thursday and Friday off I only had three days.  Hopefully next year my planning skills will be more advanced!  I'm...

So, I have made my decision about belonging to two groups.  Since it's just really not possible I have opted to stay with the group here on base.  I really loved the Eastover group - but I had to add 45 minutes to an hour to everything we did and I was just losing too much time out of the school day.  So, there it is.  Decision made. I have also decided to use Core 1 for the duration of 2nd and all of 3rd grade.  This does require some stretching and adding on my part - but I worked out the numbers and I think I can make it work.  If my math is faulty I will find out next year and then I can either slow it down some more or speed it back up.  For math, reading, language arts/handwriting, grammar, and spelling we are staying right on track.  Everyday for those subjects.  Then we will alternate history, geography, read-alouds, and science on a 2 day/week or 3 day/week schedule.  This will stretch out what I currently have to 62 weeks - which does leave me about 6 weeks short in third...

We had a good week last week overall.  CG actually started listening to Charlotte's Web.  I know this because we got to the chapter where Charlotte dies and he was crying and upset with me for not warning him that Charlotte died!  I read that book in 4th or 5th grade - which was too many years ago for me to calculate in my head - and I honestly didn't remember that Charlotte died!  I only remembered all the good stuff.  Ah, selective memory is a wonderful thing!  Well, most of the time anyway!  Friday night we went on an Owl Prowl at the Congaree National Park .  They only do this a couple times a year (spring and fall) if you live close to Columbia  I suggest making a reservation to go.  We didn't see any owls, but we heard them.  We also saw trees that are over 600 years old!  Sadly, no pictures.  We are going to go back this week during the day though.  We want to see the fall colors and the big trees in the daylight!  I will definitely take that camera for that trip!  ...