The Middle of July...ALREADY?

I don't know about all of you, but July 15th snuck up on me! We get paid on the 1st and the 15th of the month, which is also when I pay our bills. So, last night when I realized it was the 14th I was shocked! And this morning I paid bills. Good times, huh? More than trying to make everything in both check books (that's right, we have two!) is the fact that it's the middle of July!

For those of us who were on the Georgia school schedule that means we've been away from actual structured learning for two and a half months! It means that goals I had in mind to meet by the end of July and running short on time. I've got to get my act together and get our Gebel Family Homeschool up and running.

We are making strides, but the basement is so far from organized we're going to be starting out with a mess on the other side of the room...not ideal for focusing, but it's going to have to do. There's just no place to put all the rest of the junk, er...I mean stuff. We're going to be getting a new kitchen table tonight and the one we currently use will become our homeschool table. That's going to help, not with the other side of the room, but with our classroom feeling like a great place to learn and explore!

Jace and Gracie also took math assessments today to see what level of math curriculum I need for them. Gracie, who is in Kindergarten, will be jumping into Horizons 1st grade math. She completed her little test with a great deal of excitement and even surprised herself with all she knew. Jace, on the other hand, struggled. He cried almost immediately because he could remember how to write a "4" and didn't know how to read all the clocks on his assessment. I sat down with him and went through it, but it appears he's not ready for Horizons' 2nd grade math. However, he's more than ready for their 1st grade. They must pack a ton of skills into that particular year!

So, I'm not sure what I'm going to do for Jace's math. I asked some questions of the Alpha Omega people (who publish Horizons). I'm hoping that Jace can use Gracie's books and start mid-year someplace and learn the things (like borrowing with subtraction and carrying with addition) that he didn't learn last year and then be ready for the 2nd grade curriculum in a few months. We'll see...

Since we're talking about math, though, let me tell you about a little chit chat I had with a few old friends today. I stopped by to visit the place I used to work and one of the women who works there now has a son the same age as Jace. We were talking about our decision to homeschool. She encouraged it, saying that Washington's schools weren't the greatest. As an example she told me that her son wasn't learning the terms "add" and "equals" but instead was learning to say "more than" and "is the same as." Everyone in the office felt that Jace, Gracie, and Tyler will benefit from being taught at home.

That makes me smile.

I hope I'm still smiling at the end of the month...by which time we'll be starting school! Right? Right. I hope.