School News!

Yesterday marked the end of our first semester in school this year. We are officially halfway "done" and I wanted to make it special. We took the day off and had a "play day" which mostly consisted of me losing games. We slept in and dawdled most of the morning. I wrapped up and handed out some small gifts, then came....the progress reports! Now, I know as a homeschool mom, I don't have to do this and a lot of people actually disagree with it, but I have found that my boys LOVE it and look forward to it, so I do it. Throughout the year, the only assignments I actually grade is math and I usually save that for big reviews. Recently I did start giving report cards or progress reports two times a year with subjects including academics, electives, and character. I also give a grade in their effort which I believe to be more important than their actual grade. Of course at this point, there is no formula I use...just the E for Excellent, S for Satisfactory, NI for Needs Improvement and U for Unsatisfactory.

After my little conference with Connor, he decided to grade me as well in the teacher category. He said for sure my effort would be E and my actual grade would be an S. I told him it meant a lot that he knows how hard I try and I am completely happy with a satisfactory grade overall;) Brody didn't volunteer but when I asked him later he also said he would give me an E for my effort grade and he couldn't decide between an E or an S for my overall grade. I was very happy....needless to say!

We played a complete game of Monopoly which took a really long time then ate a lesiurely lunch while reading. After blasting some music and getting our chores done, we splurged with some Wii time where I realized that I am way to old for Mariokart! How on earth do they keep with all that is going on? They still loved playing with me which made me feel great! They didn't even complain when I pulled down the whole team and our chances for the trophy;) Then we pulled out the Wii Sports which I do much better in. We had a blast and it was a really fun and memorable day!

I figured this was a great time to post their school pictures for this year, it is going by so quickly! I am so blessed and honored to be home with them every day and I promise to keep trying to earn that Excellent grade for my effort in making our decision for home education a good experience for both of them!

Brody 2nd Grade 2010-2011

Connor 4th Grade - 2010- 2011