Reading 'Riting 'Rithmetic

Liberty seems to be getting healthy, though she was still cranky and needed a nap today. She probably could take a nap every day! She even fell asleep in my arms today. It was so sweet, even if she is almost 50 pounds!

The girls also have a new little friend who comes over almost every day asking to play, and its been a good encouragement for them to get their work done early in the day so that they can play with her in the afternoon. It helps Ainsley the most, as she is the one who has both the most work to complete, and is the slowest worker.

Last night's dinner was quite yummy too. I made a cross between swedish and italian meatballs. My girls will never eat meatballs in spaghetti, even though I've tried to convince them that meatballs are just like little balls of hamburgers! So, I thought maybe I could introduce them to meatballs at home like the ones they used to love at IKEA. Only we didn't have sausage, or ingredients for cream sauce. So we just baked up the meatballs in the oven and had a variety of dipping sauces. Of course Ainsley said at the beginning of the meal that she didn't like meatballs and wasn't going to eat them. She knows she has to try everything on her plate, but she was convinced that it would take her eating them many more times before she would like them. Well, all it took was a little A1 sauce for Ainsley to eat both the meatballs on her plate and ask for more! Victory :) All the girls had seconds, and are looking forward to the mini meatballs that I made for their lunches tomorrow.

On the school front, the girls are doing well. They had a Scantron test last week, and though I haven't officially gotten the results, I know Ainsley did very well. She did MUCH better on her math than on her placement exam! We've really been working on Math this past month, and I feel like she suddenly has the confidence in her ability to do math. It is just wonderful! Its very similar to the way she started reading, actually. And I knew that the moment would come, but it feels like its been a long time coming. In fact, she missed so much in the placement test, even on the second grade level (yet scored 100% on things like multiplication!) which is why I asked for the second grade level to be sent. I hoped we'd be able to get through 2 years of math this year. And just yesterday, she did the end of the year test in the second grade Math book and passed it!!!! I saw the areas where she needs work, and we will go over those couple of areas while we wait for the third grade Math to arrive. I asked the teacher to order it yesterday! Now I am hoping that we can get through third grade Math by December, and then maybe we will actually begin 4th grade Math this year!

And her writing is improving, and its not such a struggle to get her going in the morning. All around, this is shaping up to be the best year of homeschooling yet.

Oh, the recipe for the meatballs!

Around 2 pounds of ground beef
2 eggs
enough bread crumbs to bind the meatballs, approx 1/2 cup
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
sprinkle of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbs dried onion
A dash of chili pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and lightly spray cookie sheets with Pam
Mix together all ingredients in a large bowl with your hands
Roll into small balls, about 1 Tbs or less of mixture (we did large ones for dinner and small ones for lunches)
Bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes turning about halfway through
Serve with a variety of dipping sauce, make extra to add to spaghetti sauce, and for lunch the next day! We ate ours with cheater baked potatoes (I microwaved them first for 15 minutes then through them into the over with the meatballs.)

Yummy!

Homeschooling has been a part of our lives ever since we first had kids. I knew I wanted to homeschool Ainsley from the time she was teeny. In California, the public school system we were in was one of the lowest rated systems in the state. Ainsley had always been very bright, and while I would not have minded a private school education for her, which is what I was blessed to receive, it was not within our financial means at the time. And I relished the idea of working together as a family and learning together. I thought of days where we would lay out in the field and study the bugs; days where we would bake pies and measure and chop together. It was all rather idyllic in my mind.

Needless to say, homeschooling wasn't always the bed of roses I dreamed it to be!

Ainsley was stubborn. I also had a 2 year old with some developmental issues rising to the surface just at the time we began Kindergarten with Ainsley. Oh, and an infant! Conditions were not ideal by any means. But we joined a wonderful support group, and every Friday she was in a Cottage school program. She learned, and we survived. We perhaps didn't study as many bugs in the fields as I would have liked, or bake many (if any!) pies. But we'd made it! The next year, Liberty was in the wonderful preschool program at the Cottage school, and Ainsley thoroughly enjoyed First Grade. We started to get the hang of homeschooling and fell into a good pattern. Ainsley's reading ability took off, and she was reading whatever she could get her hands onto.

And then we moved halfway through the year. To a new state. With no support. We were pretty far ahead of schedule with Ainsley in First Grade, so we sort of took schooling in stride for the last couple of months of First Grade. I figured I would find a group to be involved with in the fall, when I would have both a second grader and a Kindergartner. Unfortunately, I found groups in my area were too expensive, or didn't offer what I was missing from California. I also tend to be shy in new situations, and was having a difficult time finding a place I was comfortable.

The last two years of school, we have been going it completely on our own. And the girls have been learning and progressing well. But I really have missed those relationships with other homeschooling moms. We have been involved in sports, church, and the neighborhood, but it wasn't the same. This year, my best friend moved to Colorado and is choosing to homeschool her five children as well. Because it is her first year homeschooling, she decided to join the Colorado Virtual Academy (COVA). She encouraged me to take a look at all that is offered through COVA. I was impressed with the field trips, and resources available. I was also impressed with the curriculum. And it would save us money, which would allow the girls to take some more private lessons and be involved in other activities. It seemed like COVA just might allow us to have some of what we were missing from our days in California. It would also give us some accountability and academic support. I know the girls are learning, and I don't need the state telling me that they are on track, but the reassurance that they are progressing well is going to be an added benefit for both my husband and myself. I tend to be a box-checker type, and I like to make sure all my bases are covered. My husband would love to see actual report cards, as he is a natural planner and box-checker as well.

So we've gotten all registered. My girls took their assessment tests and placed right where I thought they should. This was also encouraging to me, that I was assessing their skills similarly. As an added benefit, my fourth grader will be able to do her State history work with other fourth graders. Since I am not from Colorado, I am looking forward to learning the state history right along with her! They will continue learning French, and taking Karate. I will probably add gymnastics and a music lesson to this years activities with the money we save by not purchasing curriculum. The only thing I am disappointed about is that my littlest missed their cut-off for Kindergarten by less than 2 weeks. So we will be doing K on our own, and then if we are still doing COVA next year, she will test into their first grade level, most likely.

So that is our experience with registering with a virtual academy. I know there are so many homeschoolers out there proclaiming the evils of virtual academies. But this is what I think we need right now. And I am looking forward to sharing our experience with COVA and K12.