The Homeschool Mother's Journal

Another week has come and gone.  Isn't it amazing how the weeks are just flying by.  Today is the day I get to reflect on our week and see what things are working for us, not working, or were just amazing.  The Homeschool Mothers Journal is a great way to do this.  I am linking up with  The Homeschool Chick  for this weekly reflection.

In My Life This Week:  Ash had her first training session with Bella for service dog training.  They both did amazing!  Bella was very responsive to Ash and Ash was a natural dog trainer.  We will be training for about 4 months, with a 2 hour once a week training slot.  Of course, we will have do practice quite a bit in between.  Ash and Bella learned so many new things this week, and have already created a special bond.  I am so very proud of both of them.  In the end, Ash will be able to bring Bella with her to the hospital as well as anywhere she would like.  Bella is also going to be trained to learn when Ash is having troubles with her breathing.  This way she will be able to alert us when Ash is unable to talk.  Amazing!  We are very excited about this adventure and I will keep you all updated on the progress.  This week we also celebrated Fat Tuesday which was so much fun. On Ash Wednesday we went to church to receive ashes and we have been taking time each day to celebrate Lent and have done many fun activities in the process.  For Lent, we have given up television at dinner time, which has been wonderful.   All of a sudden everyone has so much to say!  Yeah!

In Our Homeschool This Week:  Ash is making great progress with her Funnix reading program.  She is also starting to read stories in her Little Angel Readers.  I am pleased with her progress and she gains confidence by the week.  We are learning our prayers in Bible and I have decided to dive deeper into scripture memory work for all of the kids.  Ash is really doing well in math.  She is counting by 10's, learned about pennies and dimes, and can do many addition and subtraction facts.  She is also doing great with her flashcards.  Tay is still learning about George Washington and stated writing an essay on the important people in his life.  She is making a timeline to go along with the essay as well.  In geography, she has finished her map of the United States and has started on Canada.  We are in the process of reviewing A Time 4 Learning so Tay does her states and capitals review using the computer.  She loves it!  In math she is working on long division which has been a challenge but she appears to understand much better this week.  Buddy is having fun as usual.  He is showing an interest in ocean life, so I am planning on putting together a little unit study for him next week.  He is able to count to ten with only a few mistakes, and he is doing amazing on his colors.  I have been letting Buddy draw a lot.  He loves it and I know soon enough his repeated circles will turn into an amazing picture!

Places We Are Going/People We Are Seeing:  This week we are planning to take Bella to some public places.  Ash is so excited for this!  Our first outing will be to Pet Smart as I feel this is a good place for a beginner.  The kids and my husband will be going to my Dads softball tournament today, while I get to the hair salon to get my hair done.  Relaxing!  Tay starts her first private lesson in ballet today.  She wants to try out for the Nutcracker in September.

What Is Working/Not Working For Us:  Things are working great so far.  My only complaint is Tay's history.  I really would like to make it more interesting for her.

Homeschool Questions/Thoughts I Have:  What is everyone using for history?  This seems to be the subject that is the biggest struggle for Tay.  I would love to make it fun and something she wants to learn.  We are working on Early American History right now, but I feel like she is just going through the motions and not really retaining what is being taught.

My Favorite Thing This Week:  My favorite thing this week had to be watching Ash walk Bella around the yard on the leash with complete control.  Bella was looking up at her the entire time with so much focus.  I am excited for Ash and very proud of her.  I wish I was able to get a picture, but I didn't have my camera.  Next week!

A Photo/Quote/Or Link To Share:  Here is a photo of Bella, who will soon become Ash's best helper.  I was not able to get a picture of the two of them working, but will next week.  Enjoy!