Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Last school year was so hard.

 

I mean HAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRD!

 

I began the year knowing I had MCTD/Lupus and taking meds that were making me feel somewhat better... just well enough that I thought I was ok. Truthfully, I was in denial about how NOT OK I really was. Feeling empowered by a new-found modicum of strength and energy, I rushed headlong into the year, ready to take on a full, taxing schedule.

 

Then I got some bad news... or rather MORE bad news.

 

In November, my lab work came back questionable. It looked like I was developing kidney disease, and my rheumatologist prescribed a weekly shot of a chemotherapy drug to slow my immune system so that it would not destroy my vital organs. Even though I was feeling better, my inflammation levels were off the charts and stronger measures were needed.

 

Long story short, chemo + homeschool + mothering + part-time work made for an interesting year. We had to stop, reevaluate, and make many changes to the plans we had just begun to set in motion. (You can read more about my condition at my Lupus blog, I'm a Little Lupie.) And blogging, other than the occasional post at Lupie to keep those praying for me informed, was the first of my many activities to be cut.

 

As a result, this blog is nearly dead. My stats show some regular traffic and pins that get bounced around Pinterest and certain posts that pull in a decent number of readers per week. However, only a handful of you are still truly hanging around here, reading my new stuff (what little there is).

 

I'm fine with that, however, because despite the poor health of the blog, I am alive and well... doing so much better than I was one year ago. Although I doubt reviving this blog will be part of this year's agenda, I would like at least to share a little glimpse of the good parts of last year while sharing our plans for this year.

 

Let's look back at what I just didn't have time or energy to write last year while looking forward to what I hope this year will include...

 

But, as always (and perhaps with greater understanding), these plans assume "Lord willing."

  

Ben
10th Grade

Bible/Christian Living

1. Each year our family reads through the Bible using the 52-week reading plan. We like that each day of the week is dedicated to a different genre (e.g. Sundays = Gospels, Wed = poetry). It helps break up the more difficult or (don't hate me) less interesting portions, and we stay on track most successfully with this approach.
2. Each boy has a yearly reading list. Here is Ben's:

• Knowing God, Packer
• Desiring God, Piper
• Do Hard Things, Harris
• Start Here, Harris
• The Holiness of God, Sproul
• Total Truth, Pearcy
• Gospel, JD Greer
• The Christian View of Man, Machen
• Discovering God's Will, Ferguson
• The Pursuit of God, Tozer
• The Crucial Questions Series, Sproul
• Developing a Healthy Prayer Life, Beeke
• Holiness, Ryle
• Idolatry, Ryle
• Don't Waste Your Life, Piper
• Radical, Platt
• Taking God at His Word, DeYoung
• 7 Men, Metaxas
• The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer

You can find links to most of those titles in my bookshelf located in the right sidebar.

Here is our olive plant in front of my painting,
Olive Plants. Oh yeah, he just got braces!

English/Language Arts


1. He will complete a portion of this credit at co-op in a class I will teach. During the first semester, he will review essay writing using The Elegant Essay (IEW). I will also fold in some of their materials on creative writing. During the 2nd semester, I will teach Writing Research Papers (IEW). He will also review grammar with Analytical Grammar and editing assignments that I create.
2. At home, he will complete World Literature (Dr. Stobaugh, For Such a Time as This).
3. For Vocabulary, I will teach Latin and Gk roots and English derivatives at co-op. He will study SAT prep words at home (although we still don't know exactly what we're going to do in this area because the SAT changes will affect him).

Ben and Brian are not in this picture; however,
it shows how much fun we have at co-op!

Math

We are officially a Teaching Textbooks family. Last year I really struggled to keep up with math after I started chemo. I had to ditch the old math program because I did not have the spoons or available brain cells to tutor Algebra 2. TT required absolutely nothing from me. He completely self-managed his math studies for the 1st time ever and maintained a 99 average. I'm sold! This year he will complete TT Geometry.



We've started visiting colleges!
Ahhhhhh!

Science
He will take Chemistry at co-op with his papaw as the teacher. Papaw likes to teach from BJU... works for me!



Ben won the science fair last year (high school division)
for his project "Tweet Side Story."
He observed and kept records of bird populations
 in our county.

Social Studies

1. He will complete the 2nd half of a world history credit by completing the 2nd half of Dr. Stobaugh's World History course. This curriculum is intended for 1 year; however, I divided it into 2 years because last year I had him try out the Ron Paul Curriculum and Dr. Grant's online course. (Antiquity OVERLOAD!) Neither of those options worked as well for us as Dr. Stobaugh's course.
2. He will also complete a half credit of World Geography using Mapping the World by Heart.

They enjoyed the coastal region of Georgia
during the YBC in April.

Foreign Language

1. He starts Spanish IV this year! Dad is the teacher, and he will use Dos Mundos (his college text) and DGP Spanish.
2. Ben wants to branch out and start Korean, too. We have a large Korean community in our town due to one of the industries located here. He will take lessons from a native speaker and practice with all our Korean friends. (We hope. I'm still looking for a teacher. If anyone local can help connect us with a teacher, please contact me!)

We enjoyed birding with Dad last year,
as well as speaking Spanish.

Electives

1. Health- We debated whether or not to include this and then wrestled with what curriculum to use. We decided it was a necessary, easy credit and chose the curriculum from Glencoe. It is not Christian but it is not contradictory to what we are already teaching him through relational, day-to-day, Biblical teaching and parenting.
2. P.E.- Karate! He loves his karate lessons and sensei. We are so blessed to have a great studio in town led by a Christian, homeschooling family.
3. Keyboarding- Mavis Beacon. He's been working on it all summer, and his speed and accuracy are improving.
4. Ballroom dancing- We have wonderful dance instructors in our area who include our teens in classes they teach for adult couples. They offer the most reasonably priced lessons I've ever encountered, and the instructors are Christians who have created a fabulous learning and social environment, including a monthly formal dance. Ben has found he is passionate about ballroom (or at least getting to go to a monthly party, lol). Michael and I love that he is learning this graceful, refined art and that it provides numerous appropriate and safe social opportunities. Win-win!

Ben is dancing with a friend, Laura, at our
homeschool support group's formal dance held in April.

Here, he is dancing with one of my flute students (and favorite gals)!

After his blue belt testing
He is at 6th green now!

 



Brian
8th Grade

Bible/Christian Living
Brian will follow the same 52-week Bible reading plan as Ben. Here is his additional reading list:

1. Confessing Christ, Great Commission Publications
2. Answers Books 1-4, Ham
3. The Critical Questions Series, Sproul
4. Do Hard Things, Harris
5. Desiring God, Piper
6. The Holiness of God, Sproul
7. Thoughts for Young Men, Ryle
8. Don't Check Your Brains at the Door, McDowell
9. Calvin for Teens: Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin, edited and paraphrased by Caroline Weerstra
10. Reformation Heroes, Klyen/Beeke

Enjoying the Creation while on Spring Break

English/Languge Arts

1. Brian will also complete his ELA credits through co-op with me as his instructor. He will complete Following Narnia (IEW) and Analytical Grammar, Season 2.
2. At home, he will read the following books and write a book report after completing each:
1. Loamhedge, Jacques
2. Rakkety Tamm, Jacques
3. High Rhulain, Jacques
4. Eulalia!, Jacques
5. Doomwyte, Jacques
6. The Sable Queen, Jacques
7. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Twain
8. Sherlock Holmes (exact title, TBD), Doyle
9. Call of the Wild, London
10. Treasure Island, Stevenson
11. The Two Towers, Tolkien
12. Return of the King, Tokien
13. Rip Van Winkle and Sleepy Hollow, Irving
14. Around the World in 80 Days, Verne
15. The Scarlet Pimpernel, Orczy
16. The Jungle Book, Kipling

We ended the co-op year in May with a reading of
Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Brian read the part of Tom Snout
who plays the wall in the play within the play.

Math
Due to Ben's success with Teaching Textbooks, Brian will complete their Algebra I course.

Counting Birds with Dad and Ben

Science
Brian will complete Physical Science at co-op with Papaw as his teacher. Yay, Papaw!

Brian also won the science fair (middle school division)!
He's rocking his new navy blue (on the front)
and bright yellow (on the side and back) glasses.

Social Studies

1. I am starting him on the 2nd year of Dr. Stobaugh's history for Jr. High. He has not completed the 1st year, but the 2nd year starts at the approximate time period that the curriculum we used last year left off. I want to get him started on this great curriculum now so that he will be ready for the high school level next year.
2. He will also complete Mapping the World by Heart. We looked into starting CC two years ago but there were too many aspects of the program that would not have met our needs. One part that I really liked was that the Challenge A has the students learn to draw the current world map. This curriculum teaches geography through a similar method.



Working (and then destroying) the Global Puzzle
over Summer Break

Foreign Language
He will complete Spanish I, taught by his dad from Avancemos 1. This class and Algebra I will give him two high school credits by the close of the school year!

Taking a break from Spanish at co-op
to have fun at a Christmas party.

Electives

1. Karate: He LOVES karate and takes lessons at the same studio as Ben.
2. Art: This will not be an official co-op class; however, there is a teacher who has been teaching art courses at the church where our co-op will meet this year. She has lined up her teaching schedule to complement our co-op schedule, so he will take art right before his co-op classes begin. I LOVE when things like that happen! It saves soooooo many spoons!!
3. Keyboarding: He will also keep working on those skills using Mavis Beacon.
4. Programming: He started the programming courses available at Khan Academy over the summer and is enthralled. We're going to keep that going.

With his birding team, getting ready for YBC 2014

Acting Silly!

Breaking Boards at Karate

So, there you have it!

As I am about to press "publish," I wonder what surprises are in store for this year. Plenty, I'm sure.

However, God will direct my steps and provide the grace to do (or not to do), and for Him, there are never surprises.

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
    How unsearchable his judgments,
    and his paths beyond tracing out!
 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
    Or who has been his counselor?”

“Who has ever given to God,
    that God should repay them?”
 For from him and through him and for him are all things.
    To him be the glory forever!

Amen

Roman 11: 33-36

May God bless you as you start your new school year!

It's a Give-away!

Update: I am extending the deadline on this giveaway to Sept. 1, 2014 to allow time for more entries. You can also share on Pinterest to enter, so please, help spread the word. Thanks!

Hey Olive Planters!

Are you ready for school to start?

I am! I am!

I have really enjoyed summer break. I have spent a lot of time at the pool, even more time lesson planning, and even fought off some bats! Soon, however, the Olive Plants Home Academy will be in full swing. I will share our 2014-15 curriculum plans in days to come but wanted to take a minute to share a great resource with you today! (AND A GIVE-AWAY!)

It is my honor to spotlight a very talented curriculum and e-book author, Kathy Hutto. She is a personal friend of mine-- a sweet, God-honoring lady with two of the nicest kids you could ever meet (one of them is a student at the co-op I lead). She also just happens to have amazing teaching ideas oozing from her pores.

Here is just a sampling of the many wonderful items available at her CurrClick store.

An Excellent Homeschool Planner



Unit Studies


 

Virtual Field Trips!



Supplemental Materials



Resources for Special Needs Students







...and even a book
on writing and publishing ebooks!

Kathy also offers memory aids, posters, lapbooks, spelling sheets, and (my personal fave) silly sentences. She is such a gifted and experienced teacher who has taken great care to publish affordable materials for use at home or in a formal school setting. Most of her items cost between 50 cents and $5!

You should click over and check out her store now!

She has also graciously offered to give away

one of her fabulous products (up to $25)

to an Olive Plants reader!

To enter, visit Kathy's CurrClick store and tell me in comments to this post what item you would choose if you were the give-away winner.

You can earn 1 bonus entry each by sharing about this giveaway on facebook or twitter. Notify me here in comments or include #kathyhutto in your post/tweet so I can give you credit.

Earn three bonus entries by liking Olive Plants on facebook and/or following me on twitter, @Homeschooldawn.

Earn FIVE bonus entries by subscribing to Olive Plants.

You have until August 13th to enter. I will pick a winner using random.org. (I'm old school because I don't want to buy a rafflecopter subscription right now. ;-)

Happy last few days of summer!

The L-O-N-G- Awaited Reveal

Last summer, Michael and I, with the help of the boys and my parents, remodeled the boys' bedrooms. Actually, because they were soon to be teenagers, we moved them into their own bedrooms for the 1st time in a long, long time. I got to play interior decorator and design two rooms to match two very distinct personalities. ;-)

By this time last year, we had finished the painting, bought the furniture, and gotten everyone moved into their new spaces. Soon afterward, I started chemo and switched from Martha Stewart-mode to survival mode. It took every ounce of energy Michael and I had to get "regular" life done, so the finishing touches on the room had to be postponed.

But, finally, here it is!

As promised many moons ago... Brian's finished room!!

Okay, if you think really hard, you might remember how the room looked after we painted last year.


I was a bit worried about painting the room bright yellow,
but you held my hand and told me it would be alright.


 

 

I'm so glad you did
because here is what the finished room looks like!

Never in a million years,

 would I have thought that

I would LOVE so much bright color,

but I DO!

Not only does he have a nifty art station under his loft
but he has a Hot Wheels track that runs from his bed
to the floor! How fun!!
And COLORFUL!!!



Here is a close-up of the art station and his latest modeling project.
The art table is adjustable so it lies flat as pictured,
or it can tilt to various angles for sketching or painting.
We added the cups in the background to hold markers,
pens, crayons, glue and scissor.
The boxes on the shelf hold assorted art supplies.
IKEA should totally pay me for this ad post!

Which reminds me...
Disclaimer: This post is not an ad.
I just wanted to share my son's room with you
and am not being compensated for this post.

I attached a cool piece of fabric under the mattress so that
he would have something inspiring above him as he works.



The legs of the art table provide more storage space.
We are using as much wall space as possible
to display his artwork and other projects,
like his science fair board to the left.

Note: Post on science fair coming soon!



Above the loft, we displayed another piece of his artwork--
some kind of bird. Surprise, surprise.
On either side of the bird are the paintings
that his friends made at his 10th bday pARTy.

 



 

Now to the desk area.

You may remember that I pretended to know what I was doing

with paintable wallpaper and spray paint.

 

 



 

 

Graffiti!

Here is the completed school area!

As you can see, some of his art supplies spill over into
the school area. He came home with lots of
great art loot after his pARTy.
However, there are shelves and cubbies
for storing his school supplies, too.

 

 

Now, remember this corner?

 

Here it is with an IKEA cabinet.
We use it for toy storage/display
and as a place to display awards.
The karate belts on top will have a case
one day soon. ;-)

 

 

I would be a horrible daughter if I did not add this picture
which gives you a good view of the cute curtains
my mom made.
She also made the quilt on his bed.
Thanks, Nohnie!

 

 

 As I mentioned earlier, both boys moved into their own rooms. We completely revamped Ben's room, too; however, there are still finishing touches to be completed. Just to show you how different my guys are, I will give you a sneak peak of his room....

 

      

Can we say POLAR OPPOSITE of his brother?!
 



I love the color palette he chose: dolphin grey, blue, and black with just
a pop of red here and there.
I also LOVE his Dr. Who, Starry Night, TARDIS Exploding
(not sure what its actual name is) poster.
I'm not a fan of Dr. Who, like every teen I know.
However, van Gogh is my favorite artist.

One day soon, hopefully before Ben graduates high school (that's fewer than 3 years!!!!), I will have the curtains done and will post a tour of his room, too.

 

Until then....


It's time for YBC 2014!

My Dear Readers,

Hi! How are you?

You have probably wondered if I have fallen off the face of the planet. I am still alive and well... doing much better than I was 6 months ago, actually. You can read all about my current lupus progress and chemo treatments over at I'm a Little Lupie.

I have taken a long, much-needed break from blogging, however, to clear my head. The struggles of being sick have been real and intense. I have had to put my full focus on my health and my family and so the blog has suffered. :(

I'm back in the blogosphere today, though, to ask a favor of you.

My sons and their teammates are about to participate in the Youth Birding Competition. This is the next-to-last time they will compete because they are growing up. Only one more competition will be held (we compete every other year) before my Ben graduates!

Waaaaaaaaaaaah! 

I am trying really hard to hold it together, but look at these cuties!

Their 2nd year in the competition...
I couldn't find a picture from the 1st year!

These guys have grown up together, blessed to be such good friends as well as teammates. Here they are a couple years later.

in 2012

This year, they will enter the high school division!

 

What a bunch of sillies!
I hope they remember how to use their binoculars properly
before Friday!

 

Something they do as part of the competition is fundraise for the American Bird Conservancy. This is a conservation effort that we have chosen, as very conservative families, and feel free to support in good conscience. Check them out, and if you feel similarly and would like to support our team's efforts, please consider sponsoring our team.

You can pledge to donate a fixed amount, as little as $5.

OR what we really like is a per-bird pledge. It really motivates the guys to work hard.

In 2012, they identified 105 species. We hope they will identify 120-ish this year (to give you an idea of what your total pledge would come to if done per-bird).

To sponsor the boys, please email me at homeschooldawn (at) gmail (dot) com. You will need to give me your real name, your pledge amount, and your email address. After the competition, I will let you know how much you will need to send directly to the ABC. You can pay by credit card here.

Thank you so much for following my blog and sharing in and rejoicing over the successes of my kids and their friends over the years. If you can't sponsor the team we'll still love you! ;)

We also ask that you keep us in your prayers as we travel. Pray for safety, lots of birds and good health. This trek will be very taxing on my lupie self, but you know how we moms will do anything for our youngins, right?

Team Birds of a Feather, 2014

Thank you, also, for considering supporting the team and for praying for their efforts.

Edit: We need pledges in by 9 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, April 24, 2014, for them to count toward the team's total. They could win prizes for this fundraising effort. However, if you miss our deadline, you may still make a donation to the ABC. Thank you to the reader who brought this to my attention! :)

Blessings,

School Pictures 2013-14

 

Ben (14) and Brian (13)

recently had their school pictures

taken by a local photographer:

Chloe of

Chloe Virginia Photography.

 

 

 

Someone had fun in front of the camera!

 

 

 

 

 

 

He is a jokester!

 

 

You put my sonic screwdriver WHERE?!

 

A Dr. Who Aficionado

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is he sneezing or laughing?

 

 

Oh, he's laughing!

 

 

Ben: And now for your viewing pleasure...

the Amazing Growing Pumpkin.

Brian: Oh, brother.

 

 

Ben: Dude, that worked!

Brian: Bro, it's a different pumpkin!

 

 

 

 

 

The perfect 13-yo shot!

 

 

Love,