Archives for August 2011
August 3 in 30, Week 4
At least I think it’s week 4. I’m losing track. We’re mostly unpacked, and definitely settling in to our new little life, part of which consists of twice weekly trips to the library to let the kids use Headsprout/Dreambox and me catch up on some of my internet use/email, etc.
Things are going well, but we’re going away today and will be gone for 10 days. I’ve packed a bunch of homeschool books to continue working on homeschool planning and my computer to continue work on revision.
So here’s the progress on the goals:
- The goals for revision toward the writer’s conference have become goals toward revision for submission to editors and agents within the month. Still plugging away, slightly behind schedule, and hoping to make it up on the road. (I realize we’ve left the realm of the realistic, here!)
- The move is complete in terms of moving in. Still unpacking boxes, but we’ve found just about everything we’re urgently needing, and only a few boxes remain, mostly of books we use occasionally. Things are in good shape.
- Homeschool planning still needs quite a bit of work, but we’ve actually already started homeschooling, and at my childrens’ request! I convinced them to start Story of the World, and then they asked to do another lesson. They enjoyed so much doing the coloring pages along with the reading, and I appreciated having the comprehension questions to ask afterwards. It’s just so nice when someone has done the hard work for you, isn’t it? We have the homeschool space set up (it’s not actually a room). I still have a bit more of the planning to do–especially for Science. There are a lot of handouts to have photocopied, etc. I’ve decided instead of purchasing resources for Science (and having printables) to use a combination of two science curriculums I was given–big savings, bit of an extra pain.
How are you doing on your back-to-school goal-setting?
Life Unplugged
We moved last week. We now live in a very rural setting. The kids have been eagerly anticipating this, since in China, and for the last year in Toronto, we haven’t had a back yard.
Now, not only do we have a back yard, we have our very own creek. The kids have already enjoyed hours getting wet, hunting frogs and minnows and insects and riding their bikes all around the area.
The house we’re living in is huge, compared to what we’ve been living in for the last number of months. We also had the opportunity on Saturday to visit the local farmer’s market and spend a little time poking around town. So the benefits of our new living situation are many.
But there is no internet. Did you read that? NO internet! Even when we moved to rural Saskatchewan last year and lived in a town of 67 people, we had internet. This is a bit of an adjustment for us. At first we thought it wouldn’t be possible to survive such a fate, but we checked out the prices for our alternatives (given that our stay at the house may be as short as two months), and decided that we’ll have to survive after all.
It has been an adjustment, however. We use the internet for a lot of things: banking, Facebook, Twitter, this blog, five email accounts between JavaMan and me, recipes, homeschool ideas, printouts, the kids’ Dreambox Math and Headsprout Early Reading.
We’ve already introduced ourselves at the library, and plan to visit frequently to stay somewhat connected. So that should make homeschool interesting, with at least two days a week at the library for some of our homeschool time.
I am the first to admit that the internet can be a great time-waster. What I’ve been forced to do is make a to-do list for my internet time. This is a good thing. I can’t tell you the numbers of times I’ve sat down at the computer to look something up on the internet and forgotten what I was looking for or become distracted looking at something else, heading off on a rabbit trail that wasted hours. So this experience could result in a good habit for me!
I’ll post pictures of the creek later this week, and you’ll see just what we’ve traded our unplugged life for. I think you’ll agree it’s worth it.
Jack Layton Dies
Along with the rest of the country, I am in shock at the passing of Jack Layton. My sympathies are with his family and friends today.
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