Great find!

I have been spending a lot of my down time looking for next years curriculum. I thought I had found what I wanted but the kids changed my mind. They are so burned out on the textbook learning. Both of them want to enjoy science and history, their two favorite subjects. So I began to search for secular literature based curriculum. I like Sonlight and still plan on using it for Poogie for reading. But while searching through several new web sites and blogs I found a wonderful curriculum suggestion. It's called Otter science and Otter history. It is a free literature based science and history curriculum for Poogie and can even be adapted for T. There are tons of books with the history curriculum, some to purchase and some to get at the library. Many of the ones that needed to be purchased I have already found really super cheap on Vegsource and other sites. In other words I just wanted to let you all know about this little curriculum so you can check it out.

Summers almost here. Only a few more weeks of dance, yay! Then we can have some fun. Poogie has become obsessed with basketball and art. I purchased her a great little sketch pad, watercolor pad, drawing pencils, charcoal, and brushed to start her own nature journal. She was inspired by a book I picked up at the library, A Diary of an Edwardian Lady. I believe that is the title anyway, I can't find it at the moment. Poogie hasn't put it down since I brought it home. We also purchased her a new basketball goal since a storm a while back destroyed hers. That should keep us busy for a while, lol.

Well, I must go for now. Have a great day.

We survived!

We officially made it through the flood of 2010! Wow. I have been living here for 15 years and I have never seen so much water. It pretty much shut down the whole area. Roads were closed due to flooding, damage or the road was completely gone. We spent two sleepless nights of one tornado warning after another. Rain that just never stopped. And way too much time stuck inside a house with 2 bored, exhausted kids and a very restless American Bulldog.

But we made it and now I am ready for things to get back to normal. Don't know when everything will be back to normal since several of the main roads are still closed, but at least we don't have to hear the weather radio going off every 5 minutes.

On a good note I was able to spend the days searching and researching for our curriculum for next year. I have to say it is irritating trying to find anything other than Christian curriculum. Now, don't misunderstand, we have enjoyed some of the BJU curriculum. It is excellent. But I want my children to be able to read a science, history or reading lesson without the influence of Christian views. I believe and have always believed that religion does not belong in the classroom. I think the great thing about going to school and learning is to gather the information about the world, all the information, not just what someone wants you to learn, and to make your own choices based on that information. You need to know both sides of the issues, not just one. And that you are a better person for understanding the way other people live or believe, why they live or believe that way and not whether it is right or wrong but just different.

That being said I was so excited to find some great curriculum this year. For T and Poogie I finally found a secular science, Holt Science. I found it along with the all the supporting material including teachers manuals. From Holt publishers I also choose the history curriculum I will base their studies around. I plan on basing our literature read alouds and independent reading to go along with the time periods we will be learning about. I also want to purchase A History of the US from Sonlight since they will both be studying US history this year.

For T I only need a health book and maybe something extra for language arts. He already has most of the other subjects thankfully.

Poogie will be using Holt for science, definitely, and maybe history. I am debating between Holt and Sonlight. She will be using Sonlight for reading and read alouds. We will be using Saxon for math again, she loves it. And as of right now we will use Bob Jones for English, Spelling and Handwriting. We are comfortable using those and the content is very good.

Now all I have to do is finish out this school year, lol. We may be going way into the summer to complete everything, which I dread. Hopefully next year without having the YMCA cutting into two of our days a week we won't get so far behind in the fall. I hope:) Well I must go and surf the web for more curriculum. It's almost addictive!

Happy Birthday to....

ME! Yes, yes. Another year has come and gone. I get to add another number to my age. I consider it my numerical age. I don't feel anything like 38 years old, most days anyway. We had planned a fun weekend. My hubby was going to take me to Nashville Friday for my favorite food, Jack in the Box tacos and shopping. But we had to skip because Poogie had to be at dance class that day to get her costume and we wouldn't have made it back in time.

So we decided we go to Memphis on Saturday to eat and I would get to shop at Archiver's and Eclectica for scrapbooks stuff. Well, that went out the window when we were up till 5 am with one Severe Thunderstorm warning and Tornado warning after another. Then thanks to the torrential rain we are experiencing the worst flood in years. We couldn't even make it to a local town to eat out.

So trying to be sweet my hubby orders a pizza from a place close by so we can watch a movie and just chill. Well, we get home with the pizza and the power is out. Now come on, I just can't catch a break. Thankfully the power comes on and we do watch some of a movie. But, I am so tired from the lack of sleep I decide to turn in and try something different tomorrow.

It hasn't' been a bad birthday just an unusual one, one I definitely won't forget, lol.