Tonya reporting for everyone (again!!!) because they are outside working. We have stayed steady with the 3 R's this week, and I am very, very pleased with the progress the kids have made in Latin. We're discussing a few changes in the Greek and Latin, but I'm not sure how, if, when, etc. it will be. We were observed by College students this week, and I was pleased by the boys' behavior and responses in the class. It was probably a little awkward for the students because they couldn't understand what the boys were saying. I spoke English during the Latin lesson, but I explained that the boys were not allowed to speak English with me.

It is so hot down here. The gardens are moving slowly now, and the blueberries are almost finished bearing. Hopefully we'll get some nice, ripe tomatoes soon instead of those plastic fake tomatoes from the store.

Our goals for this upcoming week:

1. Do a great job on the Patriotic Performances and speeches
2. Work on instant obedience with a good attitude
3. Stay steady with the 3 R's
4. Figure out which way to head with the Latin and Greek for optimum success
5. Go back to a Third World menu (we see some picky eating sneaking back in, and we need to nip it in the bud)
6. Start planning for vacation to Minnesota (yipee!!)
7. Think about moving back into SEALs training (they are begging!!!)

We have company again this week, a family reunion, and a cook-out for 100 Haitians, so it has been another busy week. I apologize that the boys don't post often; they ask and ask to do it, and I may have to let them do it during the week because on week-ends they disappear outside.

Kajsa Reporting: I haven't done much in my Latin or Greek books but I have done a little. I have everything on our wall memorized but I have not memorized the the Lords Prayer in Greek. Mom put up some Latin Posters, some of them are kind of funny. In the garden we have some things sprouting up and, half of the garden is planted with apple, plum, and pear trees. Today we went to see a play called the Taming of the Shrew. It was fun doing something for the fun of it. Yesterday I had a soccer game. We played the girls that were a year older than us. I think it was a pretty good game even though we lost by two points. Well, that's my up date.

Hi, Rachel here.
I didn't do much Greek or Latin. Friday we went to a play in D.L nexts Thursday
we are going to the cities. I asked daddy if I could bring my bunny so my friend who lives there could see it. So daddy said I can bring it. I have my flowers in my garden. Yesterday when Kajsa was playing I was playing a game but it was just for fun. And the other game was with Willyboy. He was playing with his friend and told me to be on the girls side so I did. Well thats all for now. Bye

P.S. Not everyone can post for they were sleeping when we wrote.

Perhaps we should post any day of the week. I might qualify for that!

Teresa posting for all, because Levi is in the garden (fancy that). He just brought in a bowlful of warm, sweet cherry tomatoes. Yum! I am trying to think optimistically about what we ARE accomplishing and not the other way around. It's hard to change my thinking.

We have done a little Greek and Latin each day. We have read aloud. We have gardened, swam, laughed and mowed. See! We have not used many books, but plenty of situational education.

Mean Ol' Mama here. We missed it again, Vave family! Perhaps we should post always on Friday OR Saturday, as we can. Anyway, I'm alone again on the computer, but we discussed all week what we should post.
1. Memory work went pretty well this week. We're moving into Ancient Greece, so we'll be working in our history notebooks under a new time period starting Monday or Tuesday.

2. The switch back to Eng/Sp alternating school weeks went well. It's a lot less overwhelming.

3. The kids worked hard in math this week. The Girl and Branch are trying to finish up Saxon 2 by doing about 30 lessons a day w/ mommy, so we'll finish it up this week and move them into the 3rd grade book. They have all made good progress in their math skills lately.

4. We have a performance this Friday and another big one in 2 weeks plus company coming this weekend, so we'll be busy with those things on top of our "normal" routine. Normal? Define normal, anyway.

5. The Girl and Branch are really improving in Eng reading, and I'm looking forward to seeing how well they can alternate between the two starting Monday. I think they'll do just fine.

6. The boys have been fishing whenever possible, and we've enjoyed some fun swim time at the pool.

7. We discussed the basic 5-paragraph essay and I assigned the topic "What Comprises a Good Education?". These are due Monday morning, and it has been interesting to see how the boys "think" on paper.

It was a pretty good week considering that Monday (including Performance Practice in the afternoon), Thursday and Friday were pretty much no-school days because we were out of the home.

Hi From from Uncle's and Auntie's Place

This is Wilson posting for every one. We did no school except for me. I did a little math but that was it. We were doing a garage sale yesterday, and today but only up to 1:00 p.m. We are at our Uncle's and Aunt's place, having a good time visiting. Our Aunt is letting me use her computer. Mom will post later today.

Well, I thought about posting early Friday morning and then forgot again until today. Remember, I am much older than you ladies!

We've had a good week. Just easing along. Being the first of the month, we had to sing at the nursing home, plus we added an assisted living home. That is basically singing for a little over an hour. The children are improving in their sound and technique. I was exhausted when we finished.

We've worked more on the Lord's Prayer in Greek. I've got it posted on the bathroom board. Hey, whatever works, right? Pop wanted to know how anyone could read it. We've done a little Greek and Latin everyday this week. Perhaps next week we'll do more than a little.

Levi is working in his garden (he lives there) with Tim and Caleb is reading his TIG welding book. A group of Mexican men stopped me in the grocery store parking lot this morning wanting to know if we were coming to their camp later today. With their little English and my little Spanish, we were able to comunicate through "signs and wonders." Maybe we'll see them this evening.

I really need to work harder on #4 this week. Don't freeze; we can send some heat!

Oh no! We forgot to post on Friday, so I'll do a quick update. We've been busy this week as well, trying to wrap up loose ends. I have made another executive decision to return to the English/Spanish weekly rotation because the kids have so much in each language that it's impossible to get both languages done daily. I think it will go much smoother for us. This will also help out during our memory time so we can concentrate on each language weekly to the best of our ability.

We posted the Lord's Prayer in Greek by the table and I have really made progress. Don't know about the kids, but they seem to do well anyway without it right there in front of them. Just goes to show that I'm getting old!

We will be working this week in English so I need to pull down and file next year's books for the kids. We also have a big performance coming up, so speeches need to be written and memorized, songs need to be learned, and we need to figure out where we're headed with our band.

Josiah is outside now harvesting the rest of his potatoes, Anders and ChubChub are working in the yard, Branch was picking up the schoolroom but he found an interesting book instead, Poppins is taking a snooze, Stennes and The Girl are playing a game, bread is baking in the oven (AGAIN!!!!), we have company coming from Canada for supper tomorrow night, all the migrant camps are full for preaching, and I have a list long enough to wrap around the world (a small one, anyway!). Sorry about missing our posting on Friday. We'll do better next week.

Brrrrr its COLD!

Hey all, this week I did some pages in my Latin, Greek and Greek Copy book. I'm reading Crispen.Today we went to the soccer field and played a 3 v. 3 competition. It was lots of fun. Our team name was Aunt Susie's Pancakes and we wore a Papa Murphy's Hawaiian shirt. We lost one game, tied one game, and won one game. Tomorrow we will have our recital in piano. We will be with other kids eating pizza and playing piano. Sunday school is over and Vacatin Bible School is starting soon. This year I am too old to be in V.B.S., but I am going to be an assistant helper (yeah). Kajsa

Hi it's Rosie, I did 11 pages in Latin, and 2 pages in Greek, and 5 pages in Math. I did an oral book report on Erasmus, and 11 pages in Grammer. I also did 2 sentences in my Greek Copy book. Outside the grape vines are looking alive now, and the woods are green! The grass is long enough to mow now. Sunday we are going to my Aunt Fern's place and eating pizza and playing piano. It was cold today but we may be suprised!


Hi, it's Rachel
I did 9 pages in Greek. Idid 4 pages of in math .We went to lots of places for Kajsa's soccer games and pratices. I have a baby bunny whose name is Dandylion. She gets out of her pen every 5 mins, but the chickens don't attack her. Sunday we have a piano pizza party.We will meet all the other students. Ican't wait! Well that's all for now. Bye.


Wilson here. I did a few exercises in Latin, a few sentences in Greek, and a lesson of Math this week. I was very busy in soccer this week. On Wednessday I had a game in soccer and lost 2-1. But today we won 6-0! I finally recieved my pigs a couple weeks ago, my sisters call them Oinky and Doinky. I also finished my Logic Book and already started the second book! Until next time.

Things are picking up...speaking of picking up, I need to pick up around here! We've been on the go all week. It's good to just sit here a bit. The weather is crazy. It froze pretty hard last night and there was heavy frost on the windshield this morning. I'd say "the frost is on the punkin", except it's June. We haven't planted "punkin" yet...it's so cold. We have been working hard on our memory for Latin and Greek. Also, we have been doing the translation exercises from Lingua Angelica. Have been doing much better on 1 and improving on 2. We'll be seeing about 3, and I'm thinking 4 is too broad for me...ha! no pun intended. It is going well in some areas, yet not so well in others. Again, no pun intended. Really! ~Rebecca

Let's try that again.

Okay, my computer blinked and we lost our post. I will post for us this time...holding frustration at bay...[smiling, smiling, smiling].

The kids have been busy with soccer, school, piano and the farm. Yesterday they had their last scheduled piano practice until the fall. Their teacher, my dad's aunt Fern, has a busy summer with her daughters coming from Arizona and Illinois. Next Sunday all of her students will get together to play for each other and have a pizza party. Fern wanted to have a recital, but the other kids were too nervous. Guess they don't have a mean ol' mama! After piano we went to the park for a picnic. Eddie chased squirrels while the others presented their oral book reports.

This month we begin our "Friday on Monday" writing and speeches, so next week they will present written essays. When it comes to the research paper, they will present their prospectus the 4th week of the month and continue working on the paper, concurrently with their other work, until the 8th week (4th week of the next month), when they will present the final paper. At least that is the plan. We'll let you know how it goes. Thanks for the tip Tonya: "Start small; add gradually."

Wilson finished Trad. Logic I and began the second book. They are all working hard in their Math books, not quite as hard in Latin and Greek though. We need to step that up a bit. I haven't been on the ball this past week. I really slipped on morning memory and it has messed us up. We need to stick to that morning routine, or our days get all out of whack. Need I tell you? 1 was not too bad, but 2 and 3...ufdah! 4 ditto. We are blessed though and moving forward!

June 1, 2009

We missed the Friday deadline. Again. We were gone two days last week so, not much Greek/Latin was covered. The boys were able to visit the GA Cotton Museum, Ocmulgee National Monument, Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center, and Hard Labor Creek State Park. This was a trip for the wildlife judging team. We learned lots and it was very profitable. Levi's garden is moving along. He has a really good crop of grass in areas. He even has a baby canteloupe. Cute! Caleb started summer session in college today. Fun!

We're really going to try to hit all of our objectives this week.