Six weeks done!

I can not believe I've been homeschooling for six weeks! The time has really flown by! I've been thrilled with the progress of everything! I can see the kids are learning and every week I'm learning how to more effective in our classroom and in prepping. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                      There has also been sweet finds along the way...C has really stepped up numerous times and helped M when she has a question or a problem. They work pretty well together (minus the time they are arguing, lol). C really enjoys being able to read to his sister and she loves helping him with artwork and she is always good about telling him how well he is doing!

We had one day that was about to try my nerves. C just would not settle down and work on school. I figured I could sit and fight with him or I could give up for the day, but since this is all so new I didn't want him to think if I just throw a fit no school. Plus I want to try and stay on schedule, because I know there will be days we will need to miss. It was beautiful outside, so I grabbed most of our books and threw them in a bag. I told the kids to get in the car and we drove to a local  park. I let them run around and play, then we read from our book CHARLOTTE'S WEB, played some more and then they were happy to sit and do homework. The only fail was I forgot to pack drinks.

We've been keeping very busy. We just completed our topic of volcanoes. The kids loved erupting a volcano in our backyard! We watched videos, read books and of course did artwork. The kids are brimming with ideas, so we set up a jar where we write our ideas down and pull a topic out of the jar. This is has helped with the fighting over who gets to pick. There will be some I will pick myself. I'm very excited to do a unit on Autumn!

Our first book order!!! 

Five Days Left by Julie Lawson Timmer

"A beautifully drawn study of what is at risk when you lose control of your own life.  Unique, gripping, and viscerally moving -- this impressive debut novel heralds the arrival of an extremely talented writer." —Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of The Storyteller and Lone Wolf


Destined to be a book club favorite, a heart-wrenching debut about two people who must decide how much they’re willing to sacrifice for love.

Mara Nichols, a successful lawyer, and devoted wife and adoptive mother, has recently been diagnosed with a terminal disease. Scott Coffman, a middle school teacher, has been fostering an eight-year-old boy while the boy’s mother serves a jail sentence. Scott and Mara both have five days left until they must say good-bye to the ones they love the most. Through their stories, Julie Lawson Timmer explores the individual limits of human endurance, the power of relationships, and that sometimes loving someone means holding on, and sometimes it means letting go.




My thoughts...Wow! Storytelling at its finest. Five Days Left had me sitting on the edge of my seat with every single page. This is going to be one of those reviews that is hard to write because I don't want to give too much of the story away, but I want to write a review to give this novel justice.

The novel is told from the viewpoint of Mara and Scott. They both know their lives will forever be changed in five days. One has a choice the other does not, but the choice isn't an easy one--it's heart wrenching. Storyline wise, I was more connected to Mara and her story. I could completely understand to some extent where she was mentally. I could understand her dilemma, felt her turmoil, I found myself sickened for her...my heart in agony for what she must have been going through. I respected her fight. I personally have seen both my parents parish to cancer...I've seen the evil of what a disease can do. As a child of parents who have been ill, I scream fight for me. Mara's story is powerful.

Scott's story was also painful. He poured love into his little man for a year. He knew where it was going to end. He put all sorts of love into this little boy and he's leaving...going back to where we hate to think of kids going back to. Scott's heart is breaking, yet his wife not so much. She had opened up her home to bring the little boy there for a year-but she didn't fully invest. Now with the boy leaving, it is almost as if Scott is holding it against her for not being fully devoted, not to be falling apart like he is. He changed the rules without telling her. Then everything changes. Where will this lead this couple?

If I'm going to recommend one book this year...this is the book! 

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