The Banister School of Excellence

We were brainstorming names for our new homeschool, and Brian came up with "The Banister School of Excellence".  Olivia picked our mascot, "The Mighty Oaks" and Genevieve is working on a school song, although she keeps calling us "The Mighty Princesses" which Olivia is NOT going to agree to by any means.  :)

We had such a great first week!  We are using Sue Patrick's Workbox System to keep us (me!) organized and on track.  (I'll take pictures of our workboxes this week and post them.)  We start the morning with the Pledge of Allegiance and a morning prayer.  Then, we sing a little song, the girls ring a bell and they check-in for the morning.  We do calendar activities first, mostly for Genevieve's benefit, but it also helps Olivia keep track of the day, and I let her teach this so she gets a chance to take on a leadership roll.

Olivia has 8 to 10 workboxes a day to complete which seems to be taking about 4 hours a day.  Genevieve has 5 -6 workboxes a day which takes a couple of hours.  We start our school day about 8:30AM, have a mid-day snack, break for lunch, and when Genevieve takes her nap, Olivia and I catch up on some workboxes that require me to give her more attention.  We squeeze in P.E. (a walk to the neighborhood park, an obstacle course in the backyard, a trip to the YMCA, or an indoor dance party) as well as watering the plants and feeding the hermit crabs (The hermit crabs are stunned to be getting fresh food daily; this is soooo not what they are used to.). 

Genevieve's curriculum comes from Little Saints Preschool Program and the letter activities from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  She's learned how to read 10 - 12  one syllable words and is so proud.  :)

Olivia is using Singapore Math, Geography Songs, Sequential Spelling, Sonlight for reading and language arts, Noeo Science, Learn Spanish with Grace, Story of the World for history, A Reason for Handwriting, Discovering Great Artists, and playing her guitar for music.  She has a full school load and is really enjoying the new reading books outside.  She also likes to take a break and do a project here or there with Genevieve. 

Our plan is to get everything done Monday - Thursday so that we can save Fridays for field trips, educational games, and some downtime.  Last Friday, we met Uncle Brad, and cousins Celeste and Charlotte at the Brushy Creek Lake Park sprinkler park.  The girls ran and played their hearts out.  What a great way to spend a super first week of school!  :)

The Last Hurrah!

The weekend before we started our homeschooling adventure, we took a family "camping" trip to beautiful Bastrop State Park. We didn't actually tent camp in the 104 degree F heat...we're not THAT crazy! We did stay in a cozy, sandstone and pine cabin built by the CCC in 1935. My granddaddy was part of the CCC crew that built the buildings in the park, so when we hiked around the park, there was awe about it all to me as I wondered if he worked on the very cabin we were sleeping in.Despite the heat, we cooked out on the campfire...hotdogs, hamburgers, corn-on-the-cob, new potatoes, summer squash, and even mushrooms (Olivia's request)! Oh! I almost forgot about the s'mores! The chocolate bars were melted before they even touched the toasted marshmallows, but good and messy as expected.We hiked one morning and went looking for a geocache. After a couple of hours bushwacking, we aborted our quest and headed back for the picnic area. A hiker came up as we were taking our break, and it turned out he had been lost for several hours, and the park rangers were looking for him. We called the rangers and shared some oranges with him, while he waited for his wife to come pick him up. Just part of the adventure! :)

Saturday afternoon, we stayed in the park's swimming pool and ate ice cream. Now, that's what I call camping! :) Before heading home on Sunday, we went fishing, and although we didn't catch anything the girls enjoyed casting and reeling in.
All in all it was a great trip and an awesome way to spend the weekend together before we buckle down into schooling.

A Trip to Bountiful

One of the weekends before school started back up, we took the girls and went to see my dad and his wife. The girls love going to the "country" and feel right at home at Granddaddy and Granny Gigi's house. Our visit came at a good time because a couple of days before, their dog of 13 years passed away. The girls had lots if hugs and "sugar" to give, which I hope eased some of Granddaddy and Granny's heartache.

While visiting, we made a trip to the Wharton County Historical Museum. The museum now resides in the former home of Marshall and Lillie Johnson, which I had never been to even though I was raised in Wharton. There were exhibits on the Native Americans who once lived in the region, Academy Award winning screenwriter and playwright, Horton Foote, former news anchor Dan Rather, the Texasgulf Sulfur Company, the history of Wharton County Junior College, and the interesting animal collection of Marshall Johnson.

When we came back to East Bernard, Aunt Gatha came by and brought a Slip-n-Slide and sidewalk chalk for the girls to play with. They had a blast!


Happy Birthday, Granddaddy!
P.S. If you have never seen the movie *The Trip to Bountiful* (adapted from Horton Foote's TV play), it's definitely worth checking out!

Summertime

Summertime...oh how I wish you would never end!

Camp Invention

Olivia went to a week long creativity camp called Camp Invention this summer. She and her fellow campers brought recyclable materials with them and used them to create new inventions. They also brought an electronic item which they took apart to make something new. Olivia went to GoodWill and bought a flight controller for a video game, she took this apart and added pieces to it to make an earthquake/vibration detector that really works! Olivia is always coming up with inventions and had so much fun having the time and materials to put her creativity to work. If possible, she would love to do this camp again next year.

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

We hope you have a special 7th birthday, Olivia. Your smile is as big as your heart. We love you and no matter how old you are, you'll always be my Baby Cakes. :)