BookShark with Reading Level 5

So I had a bit of a false start on my return to my blog. Seizures do that. If you have MS or know someone well with the disease then you know plans are often impossible to make and promises impossible to keep. But I am back and sorry I wasn't able to write for a few days.
And now I'm able to begin updating you on what we have planned for the 2017-2018 school year.

For Bess we have a wonderful year of history ahead, and both she and I are incredibly excited.

BookShark Level 5 History

This year is entirely about the Eastern Hemisphere. As you can see from the picture, I've removed the worksheet pages Bess will be writing on and I've put them in their own binder. The program comes with about 40 books including one on origami with origami paper which will be used after she reads Sadako and The Thousand Paper Cranes.
 This core comes with a beautiful calligraphy kit which includes ink and paper for the student to try their hand at writing Chinese words. Calligraphy Kit Instructions  can be found on BookShark's website.
 As usual, a book of poetry is included. This year it is All the Small Poems by Valerie Worth. I have BookShark to thank for inspiring my children's love of poetry. Ever since the younger levels, Bess has often been choosing our poetry books for her night time reading.
Henry Read Inc. and A Horse and His Boy are also added, probably to give a small break from the Eastern Hemisphere intensive core.
I love BookShark! I wish I'd had this program for my older boys. It would have saved me so much time and effort instead of having to single handedly organize a literature rich program for them. I managed to do it somehow. They read some great books, but I love that I can place the research in the hands of BookShark now.
Of course this isn't all we have planned for the year.  Bess and Max will be sharing BookShark Science Level 4 and some other things which I will include in future posts.
I really hope we can manage to purchase BookShark's Pre-K program for Rose. She is definitely ready for it, but we made a large investment this year for the microscope BookShark sells. And with a move coming up before Christmas, I'm trying to watch how much more we spend.

We will be starting our school year in August and I'll review the books we are reading and post about our science experiments. I'm not going to foolishly say when.  MS is in the driver's seat for now. But I'll give it my best effort to let you know how our year is going.

Thank you for reading. I feel incredibly fortunate to be writing again.

Until Next Time!

Home Sweet Blog

It has been almost two years since I last posted here. Where did the time go? Well most of it ended up in the dumpster called Multiple Sclerosis, but I've missed my little blog and I'm ready to start writing again. Tomorrow will be my official return with pictures and comments about what we have planned for the 2017-2018 school year. My first post will be on BookShark History 5. I'm really excited about this year. This will be Rose's first year of preschool. I'm hoping to purchase BookShark Pre-K for her. We also will be building our new home this fall which we hope to have completed by Christmas. So lots to do, but all of it happy. I hope anyone who used to read my blog will find it again. And I hope the past couple of years have been good for you. I wish all of you a great year of homeschooling!

Our BookShark Box is Ordered!

No two children could be more excited about curriculum coming in the mail than my two are right now. We had a great BookShark year last year and are looking forward to the next. So as we await our Box Day, this is what we're up to:

The snow has finally melted, but it's still really wet and muddy out. So as we're mostly housebound, we're reading, drawing, and finishing this year's math.

Bess is reading Peppermints in the Parlor and Ms Leaky is Freaky.

Max is building car ramps and continually improving them.

Rose's favorite book used to be Mr. Brown can Moo! Can you?(We all have it memorized now. I once woke to myself reciting it in my sleep!) But now she's been having us read the We Help Daddy book over and over.

I'm reading : Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America by Linda Tirado.

I'm watching the K-dramas Blood and re-watching Pinocchio(so good!)

I haven't been feeling great lately, quite a lot of pain around my middle. It's called the "ms hug". Ethan has been doing literally all of the housework. So to give him a bit of a break from cooking dinner every night, I've been ordering Panera online and having my husband pick it up on his way home from work. Bess, who is soup-crazy, now asks when the soup is getting here and then guiltily adds,"and Daddy!"

That's all for now. Hopefully my next post will be about our Box Day!
Until Next Time!