day 1

ok, I am going to start this declutter challenge for 365 days and see how that goes. I am going to aim for two things a day though, just because I think I have a serious enough clutter problem over here. We will see what happens. Shalom, Toni

spelling site

Well, today was an ok day at the Hill Learning academy. All of our subjects were completed in a timely manner. No one even had to have homework. I used one site to make some word finds with this weeks spelling words and found a true find.
www.spellingcity.com
Here I am able to load my kids lists and they can come to the computer and it will say spell say the words with them. How cool is that, I know!! It also provides a testing center and a print out of a certificate. I really like it for Tre' who is always wanting to jump on the pc. Now he has typing and spelling practice on the computer. He is going to be a happy camper.

First day of School

Well, the 09/10 Hill learning academy has officially begun. Our first official day was 9/8/09. PJ was the most excited of the whole gang and was a little irritated that his lesson lasted as short of a time as it did. Precious completed all of her 7th grade work and says that she is glad she read the Twilight series this summer because it helped with the speed that she reads. I am glad too. Tre' was the only one stuck with individual work on the first day of school as he did not finish his Rod and Staff math in the time he was given. Only Precious and I did Meals on Wheels today. The youngsters stayed home with dad and finished coloring their school boxes. Yes, Patience has one too.
This year I have some boxes that stack on top of each other for each child. Precious has basic supplies including:
pens and pencils
ruler and compass
erasers
fine tip markers, colored pencils
index cards
Tre' has:
glue and scissors
pencils, sharpener, erasers
markers, crayons, ruler
PJ has:
flashcards
glue, scissors, pencils, eraser
crayons and markers
Patience has:
glue, scissors
flashcards
crayons and a pencil
I hope this is going to help with the "she has mine"s. I can't stand that and it takes up too much valuable time.

It's been a long day

We got a piano today!!! Precious loves it. Tre' tapped a little but, no where near as much as she did. I have been having problems with my online classes. The stuff in one of them does not load right so I can't access my work. Yeah, I want to do my homework!! Also today Preston got some more of his school books in. He was excited! I decided to do the "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons " with him. So far he loves it. We are on day three...Because of his minor pronunciation issues, I have decided to also use Abeka along side that for him.

So curriculum this year for Preston "PJ" is:
Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons
Abeka phonics complete
Abeka numbers complete
Apologia Science - Zoology 3 land animals of the sixth day
Mystery of history
I kind of came up with my own health curriculum for him
as always we will utilize our local library for reading.

This week's selection is actually one that we have on inter library loan. It is "A Child's Introduction to Poetry" author is Michael Driscoll illustrated by Meredith Hamilton. It comes with a cd so they are not just listening to mom read, so that's a change. Its longer than I thought it would be though. I think I see a amazon purchase in the immediate future so we can delve into it a little bit more. Tre' has been enjoying it as much as Patience and PJ have. Well the house is quiet and I have to study.
Shalom,

Not long left

school will be starting soon. The kids are ready to do something I believe. I never have taken this long of a break (2 1/2 months) but, I believe the refresher is good for all parties involved. Summer was full of stuff to do. The highlight was the zoo I think. We went to the Memphis zoo with Aunt Raven and Granny. We ended up buying the membership because it was only a few dollars more than our cost of admission. Hopefully that means we will utilize it in the upcoming year. Pj liked the polar bears the best. For Patience it was the monkeys. She sat there for hours watching them play. Tre' loved the elephants. Precious and her sweet tooth loved the snow cones of course. We are planning to go back right before we start school.

I can't believe its been a year since I wrote. I have to get with it I know.

Sweet Saturday

Ideally, we try to spend Saturday with the kids. It is normally our family day. Today we went to Lowe's for build and grow. PJ actually really built something start to finish for the first time today. Of course, I didn't have my camera. Tre' got help from dad and ended up having what we called a frunk on his dune buggy. We bought a venus fly trap and supplies for the shelves I have to put up in the classroom before school starts. After Lowe's it was lunch time. We had a picnic in the van since it was too hot by then to have it outside. We then drove to Saltillo just to drive and looped back to Tupelo. We used to take long drives with the kids all the time and just end up somewhere before gas became so outrageous. After that we went to pet smart to look at gear for the new aquarium. Then to staples so I could get some relaxation from the massager there on display. I have to have one of those this Christmas. I told Jimmy that is all I want. It just feels so good. After that we were too tired to do anything else and went home for an afternoon nap. About 8 we got the idea of going to get pizza while I go to Anytime Fitness for my workout. That will make you not overeat. Workout and then pizza. lol. It's now bath and bed for the kids. They have to go to bed we will be having a cookout after church tomorrow.
Shalom, Toni

Theatre camp is over

I have been busy this week and have not gotten to the computer a whole lot. One of my doula clients delivered a fine healthy baby boy, the kids have had Pied Piper Theatre camp, I've been working, working, and working all week. It's been fun but, crazy. Hope to add more details later. Tomorrow is cleaning day and build and grow at Lowe's. Another busy day no rest for the tired and weary. Shalom, Toni

Art

Yesterday and today I prepared for art for all of the kids. We do art year around so the art area is looking pretty bare. Our staples are:

• paper w/one clean side recycled from someone's job usually
• 20-25 magazines for picture cuttings
• about 10 bottles of glue 3-4 glue sticks(Precious is the only one that uses glue sticks)
• clay (I make my own recipe later), cookie cutters, etc.
• plaster of Paris
• scissors, markers, crayons, colored pencils, enough so each child can work at the same time
• construction paper, tracing paper, and sketch pads
• paint, washable of course and brushes, (we make those too)
• paper bags, fabric and yarn scraps, stickers, pill bottles, bottle caps, plastic lids, egg shells, etc.
• lots and lots of tape electrical, masking, and invisible
• spray bottle w/vinegar and water and cleaning rags
• apron per kid

I have also decided that I am selling the school desks this year. We don't use them much. It seems the kitchen table works fine for us although we do have a classroom it's crazy! Precious has a desk in her room and so do the boys so we are downsizing them since they seem to stay in the way. Also we are setting up centers all over the house, (well in the living room, hall areas, and kitchen anyway). This may become a disaster later we'll have to see but, this way each child can have their personal time without distracting the others who maybe working. More later.

Shalom,

Toni

Skool supplies

It's time to stock up on school supplies. Staples has penny stuff already. I need more pencils. I don't know why they go through so many pencils. It's insane how many I buy. I think I will try to stock up and maybe have about 200 or so total. Here is the staples link if you don't have it.
http://staples. shoplocal. com/staples/ default.aspx? action=entryflas h&adref=staples_ right_hand_ nav&cm_sp= merchandising- _-Specials% 20Page-_- Local%20Circular