homeschool

All posts tagged homeschool

Day One of MStep Testing

Published April 14, 2015 by Angela

If you live in Michigan and have children in school (public or home), then you are surely familiar with the new standardized testing for Michigan called MStep; formerly the MEAP test.

Oddly enough, out of my four daughters, and the youngest three are still at home, they are all doing the MStep testing right now. Kendall is in 11th grade, Erin homeschools 8th grade, and Cassidy is in the 5th grade. All of the possible grade years that you would get tested in.

Since Erin homeschools, her testing took place in a local hotel about 20 minutes from us. While she started her testing, I hit some local parks to get some pictures, and then started reading a book while I waited for her to finish up. She has testing tomorrow as well, and then 3 days next week.

Some of the sights I captured today:

Whitehall - Montague 4-14-2015 013 Whitehall - Montague 4-14-2015 018 Whitehall - Montague 4-14-2015 021 Whitehall - Montague 4-14-2015 024 Whitehall - Montague 4-14-2015 056 Whitehall - Montague 4-14-2015 057

When Homeschooling Gets The Best Of You!

Published March 23, 2015 by Angela

I am about to tap the mat, and concede. I have been beaten. How does a 13 year old get the best of me?

I am going to eat up 5 vacation days through my employers so I can take my daughter to her MStep testing. I get to sit around the local hotel while she does her testing. For 5 days.

Why is it that she can sleep until 11am, when I already have 5 hours in at work, and still get her requirements done?

Can we homeschool work?

Staying Ahead of the Game!

Published January 17, 2015 by Angela

I have big plans this weekend of getting Erin ahead on her homeschooling assessments. Her school requires that she completes Educational and Technology assignments, which goes over using your computer, good study habits, being safe on the internet, and the like. This is one of two classes that actually has both semester’s worth of assignments available.

I know the feeling!

I know the feeling!

Her grades ending this semester are mediocre at best, and I am trying to develop a schedule that she will stick to and follow in order to get the grades that she is capable of achieving.

I can honestly say I get discouraged, more often than not, when working with her on her assignments. I am sure it is the mindset she has versus mine. I have gotten 2 college degrees online, and am about half-way through my Master’s degree, also online. For her entire life she has watched me spend hours on the computer doing homework, reading textbooks, and complaining about the difficulty of going to school online. I was hoping some of that would have rubbed off on her, but as of yet, it has not.

Confused Girl 1-30-14

If she can finish this school year on a strong, positive note, I may not be so strongly against her doing another year of homeschooling.

What do you do when your homeschooler can’t find the motivation they need to stay on task?

One Homeschooling Semester Down; One To Go!

Published January 17, 2015 by Angela

I have been beyond frustrated with my daughter and her homeschooling efforts this week. It has been a trying week for me anyways with very little sleep, and terrible headaches.

Sunflowers 9-22-14 005

I swear to goodness I have no idea what I am going to do next year if she does not go to the public high school 😦

She will be spending many hours this weekend, as well as Monday and Tuesday when she is actually off from homeschool, getting ahead.

What she doesn’t know, won’t hurt her.

And it will certainly help me!

Hoping tonight brings me some sleep, and tomorrow brings me some smiles and peace of mind.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend full of joy, warmth, and wonderful memories!

It’s Time To Lock Up The Video Game Controllers…

Published January 14, 2015 by Angela

…because apparently my 13 year old homeschooler saw no big issue with skipping her two small assignments, and studying for a test, in order to get on the PS3 and play video games with her dad (who is 4 hours away).

I asked him if he was aware that she did not do her homework and he said no he was not; he asked and she told him it was done already.

Yep, you should ALWAYS believe what the teenager tells you when you ask a question.

And this, my friends, is why I am grateful he only sees them once a year. Now I just have to do something about the daily contact, and obvious bad influence, he is having on them.

Technology is not always a blessing; sometimes it is a curse! 

Getting Schooled By My Homeschooler

Published January 13, 2015 by Angela

What do you say when you have a full time job, 6am -3 pm, and get home to find your homeschooler doing, well, nothing? Here is how my day went when I got home from work….

Homeschooler:  “I woke up late. Yelled at my 10 year old sister, who goes to public school but is home sick, for not waking me up.” “Oh, but then, I had to take a shower and get dressed because of my dentist appointment today.” “Oh, and I did not want to start something that I would not be able to finish.”

Really? REALLY?

Why she is under the impression (the wrong impression, I might add) that she is off the hook for the day is beyond me. I had to go out of my way after work to get her Algebra study guides sent to the school, or risk her losing 20% of her grade.

Trust me, she does not have 20% to give away.

And before you give me all hell and high water, I spend 5-6 hours every night (every. single. night.) going over her homework with her. I do not leave her hanging to do this on her own. She has a direct number to my office at work, that no one answers but me. Any questions? Call me, I can help you out.

But when you have a 13 year old who is literally bigger than you in size and strength, and refuses to go to school, what do you do?

She promises she is going to go to public high school next year when she enters 9th grade; I am praying daily for this.

Day One of Back To Reality; Here We Go!

Published January 6, 2015 by Angela

I wish I could say I had a spectacular day at work, but it was rather boring. Things tend to be a bit slow at the beginning of the year. My girls got home Sunday afternoon, and were home about 10 minutes before the bickering began. Or should I say continued, from the bickering they had been doing the whole time they were gone.

Christmas 2014 and Dads 1-2-2015 009

I was very happy to have them home, and it is nice to be back on schedule. I was very sad that my 10 year old could not stop crying last night because she missed her dad. All I could do was hug her. I had no answers for her when she kept asking “When are we going to see dad again?” I certainly could not tell her next Christmas, which is more than likely true.

Erin is on track with her home schooling, and I already made it very clear to her that we will not be going to bed on any given night until all assessments are turned in that are due that day.

Weather 1-5-2015

We are still under a Winter Storm Warning here in Michigan. That is supposed to expire Tuesday at noon, and then they will just issue the next one. There is no stop in the snow before Saturday, and with highs of 9 degrees, the wind chill temperature is horrible. The doors on my Mini Cooper were frozen shut this morning and there was no chance of me getting them open to get my safety glasses for work. Thank goodness I have a different car to drive in the Winter!

I hope you are all getting settled into your 2015, working on any resolutions you made, and getting the year started off with a bang!

Getting back To Work…

Published December 1, 2014 by Angela

…felt very nice! I have been trying to keep myself in a positive mood, but this freezing cold, no sunshine Michigan weather is really unbearable. I really do not know if it is the dreary weather, or true-full-fledged-100% depression that is smacking me upside the face without ceasing.

I really can’t figure it out. What was going on last year at this time that I was so happy about, that is not going on this year? Everything feels the same. It all looks the same. I feel like I have less going on this year than I did last December, but maybe I am wrong. Since my spirits were unbelievably on the ‘up’ side, maybe I was more busy last year, but I just didn’t notice.

I balanced my checkbook this afternoon when I got home from work. I will worry about the -$360.00 tomorrow. (I have the money in there, but I divide my check on a weekly basis per how much each bill needs for a 4 week month. This is necessary when living on one income with no child support). I have some utilities with a credit this month, so I will juggle the money around tomorrow to get out of the red 🙂

My homeschooler fell asleep this afternoon, so she is nowhere near where she should be for today’s assignments. Which means after I clean the kitchen from dinner, her and I get to spend the rest of our (MY) night doing homework.

My goal for December is to find a way to enjoy it. To get to Church as much as physically possible. To lose about 15 of the 30 lbs I stress-ate for the last 3 months. And to NOT drink. Sad to say, after doing so well for so long, I already know that will be tougher than everything else put together.

What is supposed to be the ‘most wonderful time of the year’, can really suck sometimes. And I know it is not that way just for me. So many have a difficult time during the Christmas season. Who thought up that shit-assed saying anyhow? Most wonderful time of the year…..

The Things Your Own Kids Say – Part 1

Published October 30, 2014 by Angela

Now this is funny. No, I did not laugh about it at the time, but it was so ridiculous I wondered how many times I pulled this crap on my own parents.

So my 10-year-old daughter joined basketball. Last Saturday was her first game, and we had to go buy shorts. So I told her I would get her 2 pairs of shorts. From K-Mart, or Wal-Mart. Well of course, you cannot find sports shorts in October. And this is not my fault; she waited until the last possible minute to even join and stay in basketball. (See my previous posts).

So, K-Mart at 9 am on a Saturday is not pleasant, so on the way to Wal-Mart, I stopped to MC Sports. No problem. $22.00 for one pair of shorts. So she got one pair of shorts (I thought we all might like to eat for the week).

So, after the game Saturday, which they won, she did not bother to take off her uniform. And she fell asleep on the couch for the night with it on. And we dropped off her sister to church the next morning for classes, and she was still wearing it (we were not going out in public, and by age 10, I am done telling my girls to not go out of the house looking a mess). So, at some point Sunday when I finally forced her to take a bath and change her clothes, she tossed those $22.00 shorts somewhere.

Fast-Forward to Monday night, and she is looking for her shorts.

What did she say to me after she was throwing a literal tantrum and I would not let her stress me out?

“Mom, you said you were going to buy me two pairs of shorts.”

What did I say?

“Excuse me? Whether or not I bought you two pairs of shorts does not excuse the fact that you lost the pair you had. Do not blame me because you cannot pick up after yourself!”

2 more hours, and she found them.

In her bedroom.

Under her bed.

Just In The Nick Of Time!

Published October 29, 2014 by Angela

We had pumpkin carving tonight for our Wednesday night church classes (WOW) Worship on Wednesday. This is the only way my girls were likely going to be carving pumpkins. I completely blew this task off last year, and am still being told a couple of them cried because of it. I hardly think so because 1) if they were crying about it, I would remember it, and 2) I am not that mean.

WOW Halloween Celebration 10-29-2014 023

So yeah, I do not like carving pumpkins. I did not really care for it when I was a kid, either. The only thing I dislike more than carving pumpkins is coloring Easter eggs. Yep; I can’t stand doing that either. But in my defense, every single Easter, I have 4 dozen colored eggs sitting in my refrigerator for weeks.

My two favorite holidays, and I dislike the two most popular things about those holidays 🙂

So now that that is over, I hope everyone has a safe, fun-filled Halloween. I am officially down to 1 child trick-or-treating, and since it is supposed to snow here in Michigan, by Friday I will be thinking that it is 1 too many!