New School Year!

I haven't finished writing about our trip to Alaska. I will get caught up on that eventually, but this is our first week of school. The schools in our area had been in session for about 8 days before we got started due to our trip. We started our school year on Labor Day as that isn't really a holiday we celebrate. To celebrate our new school year, I told the kids we'd go to Becky's, which is an ice cream place not that far from us. On Tuesdays from 6:00 to closing, they offer dogs a free small dish of vanilla soft serve, and we had never taken advantage of that offer although we'd talked about doing it many times over the last few years. Today was the day! After we ate dinner, Nadia drove the kids and I to the park for our back-to-school pictures, and then she drove us a few more minutes to Becky's for ice cream. Milo didn't finish his treat. It was too much for a little dog. He loved it, but he was shivering like crazy after he stopped eating. He's never had something that cold before to eat! I said it was also an early birthday treat for him as he turns four at the end of this month. 

Nadia will begin her classes with Liberty University on September 16, and the co-op at our home will begin on September 24. Two other kids might be joining our co-op later this year. Nadia had her first voice lesson today, and Ian will continue to have piano lessons on Mondays with Lyn DeVito. Nadia has been faithfully practicing the piano, and she's planning on auditioning for district chorus. She has set a goal of finishing two levels this year in piano. Tomorrow the kids will attend art and chorus for the first time this school year at MCS. It will be Oliver's first time ever taking any classes there. All three plan on auditioning to be in the spring musical. We've been told they'll either be doing Willy Wonka, the Wizard of Oz, or Barnum. Bible quizzing and youth group also resume tomorrow, which again are firsts for Oliver. Our first field trip (not counting the ones we took in July/August) will be to the PSU Nuclear Reactor on September 17, and their first homeschool party is at the roller-skating rink on September 18. Here are some things the kids will be studying this year:

1. Ian and Nadia are studying chemistry (Life of Fred and Apologia). Oliver is completing an elementary level chemistry/physics and also an elementary level botany science textbook. Paul is doing a chemistry lab during the co-op.
2. In math the kids are doing Pre-Calculus (Nadia), Geometry (Ian), and 6th grade math (Oliver). We use Life of Fred plus Teaching Textbooks. Ian will also be using Art of Problem Solving. 
3. In history we are studying from 1708 to the present. 
4. Oliver is working on his typing skills, level 7 of spelling, and level 3 of Fix it Grammar. 
5. Nadia and Ian are completing a University Ready Writing course through IEW. 
6. Nadia is learning French through Duolingo, and Ian is studying Spanish.
7. Nadia is learning how to drive, and she wants to get a job so she can have enough money to pay for her car insurance once she gets her license. She has applied for a job at Lingle's (grocery store) but is hoping to get a job at a horse farm or Warrior Run Petcare. 
8. We are working on memorizing verses (or in the case of Ian and Nadia chapters) from the book of Luke. 
9. I'm giving more specific assignments for literature for Nadia and Ian. This week they both started reading Uncle Tom's Cabin and soon they will also be starting The Two Towers, as that is a book many of the kids will be discussing at co-op this fall. Sometimes I will choose what Oliver needs to read on school days, but other times it will be his choice. Right now he's reading books from the Dead Sea Squirrels series, but he'll be reading Sign of the Beaver for co-op later this month.
10. We've started our fifth year of watching World Watch News five days a week all year long. 
11. We continue to listen to audiobooks together as a family. Currently we're listening to The Night War by Kimberly Bradley and Stellarlune by Shannon Messenger. 
12. In our fall session of the co-op we'll be doing chemistry lab, art, book groups, debates, and geography. In the spring session we'll be doing book groups, personal finance, drama, and chemistry lab.

I'm very grateful to be starting my twelfth year as a homeschool mom! Praying for the kids to grow physically, academically, spiritually, and emotionally over the coming year!