Author: Phoebe Gleeson

OK really I think I’ve got it + work update

Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

So, not Bookshark. But! Only because I got a great deal on two used Sonlight cores that correspond to those Bookshark years. Core D+E (US History) and Core W (World History.) Got both of them for way less than half what Bookshark new would have been. And, honestly, I really wanted to do one-year World History with Gilbert, not two. Then next year we can do an 8th-9th grade History of Science year or a 9th-10th grade US History. Pending what he wants, of course.

I’ll be using our own catechisms instead of the bible commentaries they provide, but that was already my plan.

Sean got some pretty long-term freelance work today. His unemployment ran out last week, so the timing is good. It shouldn’t interfere with any full time work he finds in the meantime, as it’s very much a side gig. Whew, thank the Lord, amen.

firming up

Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

OK here’s the tentative plan for most of the kids. Abby is very self-directed this year and Dorothy will be doing her Dorothy thing and learning to read. Bede expressed a desire to have stuff to do like Gilbert (a frequent motivating factor, he wants to be like Gilbert in most things) so I have some things planned for him.

Gilbert

  • BookShark 6+7 World History
  • Faith and Life 7
  • Saxon 7/6 and Algebra 1/2
  • Physical Science

Trixie

  • BookShark 4 Condensed US History
  • Faith and Life 5
  • Saxon 3 and 5/4
  • Natural history

Gloria

  • BookShark 4 Condensed US History
  • Faith and Life 4
  • Saxon 3
  • Natural history

Bede

  • Self led Social Studies (mostly continued Wikipedia devouring)
  • Faith and Life 3
  • Arithmetic review

made it!

Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

Linux Mint is alive and kicking on my machine! A process not entirely snag-free but I got ‘er done after mucking with the BIOS.

I bored all the children with tales of my life before I had them, working in tech support and installing OSes. “Why, back then we had floppy drives! You kids don’t know what it is, this wondrous age you live in!” Zzzzz. You know though, it was such a pain in the ass. The first time I installed Linux I couldn’t even use my CD-ROM drive because there wasn’t a driver for it. I had to WRITE MY OWN DRIVER.

I did, too.

Uphill both ways!

small hard drive, big security updates

Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

Stupid Windows. It won’t download any patches because there’s not 8GB free on my hard drive. I realize that’s not a big deal to most, but this HP Stream is really fast, really miserly with power, and has a correspondingly tiny SSD. I’m so tired of it. So, it’s my final time to attempt a Linux conversion. I’m downloading Linux Mint right now and I hope it works.

See you on the flip side.

Dinner for the week 2-18 to 2-24

Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

Sunday: Meatball subs

Monday: Glazed leg quarters in the Instant Pot, then popped under the broiler.

Tuesday: Pork tenderloin with broccoli and possibly sweet potatoes

Wednesday (Ember Day of Lent): Pasta and sauce

Thursday: Loaded cauliflower casserole

Friday (Ember Day of Lent): Eggs and potatoes

Saturday (Ember Day of Lent): Bean burritos

Meal planning is going well as you see. This week has three meatless days, which about takes the cake for my versatility and crowd pleasing options. The Ember Days are seasonal days of fasting and abstinence, and for the first time in many years my calendar doesn’t have them! I’m irked. Of course, everyone is meatless on Fridays since it’s Lent, anyway, though we keep fasting Friday year round.

homeschool planning

Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

This will be my 14th year as a homeschooler. Faith will be 18 in just a few weeks, and would be a senior in high school were she attending one. And I have at least 17 years ahead of me, with Peregrine to consider. I’m not even halfway through!

This year I have, from youngest to oldest, Dorothy, Gloria, Trixie, Gilbert, Bede, and Abby. We’ve discussed it and Gloria and Trixie want to study American history this year. Gilbert is going to do some kind of world history, and Abby will be doing a patchwork. She’s learning to code, she’s writing a lot, and she wants to learn about civics. Dorothy will be learning to read and Bede will be doing whatever Bede does, magnificently.

I’m really enamored of two different homeschool curricula, both of which we’ve used before, Bookshark and Oak Meadow. (As written, they are Too Much To Do. Well, that’s not true. I don’t know about Bookshark, just Sonlight. But it was a buncha stuff.) But we are Poor. So I can’t buy a box, as much as I’d like to. Honestly, I have so many of the books already it would be silly for the American history year. I have a world history Oak Meadow book already, along with a few other junior high things. Gilbert is probably set, there. As far as the girls go, I used to have the Sonlight American history core but I sold it when we moved, like a fool! so I’ll have to buy the Instructor’s Guide from Bookshark.

Both of the programs we’ll use are literature based, so my plan is to get the books we need used, when they are needed for the whole year, and from the library when they are not. Our library system just lengthened the checkout period to a month from two weeks, so that’s actually feasible.

Sean’s job situation remains unresolved, so that’s another reason I’m glad we homeschool. He’s broadened his search to some pretty far-flung areas but I don’t have to worry about schools if we need to move. The cost of a house just one block out of a particular district or school can be remarkably less than the same house in the boundary, and so what? My gain.

epic one-on-one continued, digital diet

Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

I emailed Epic today, but haven’t heard back. Well, I mean, I literally just clicked Send, so I guess that’s acceptable. I asked about curriculum choice, paperwork and assessment requirements. I do have mixed feelings about it. We have always done our own thing, but the kids don’t mind the structure when we have it. When we go high-tide and are doing several subjects regularly it’s all fine. I think if we get a teacher we jibe with it could really work out well for us to do this. I hope that’s not just a combination of naivete and dollar signs in my eyes with that learning fund though.

Anyway, I’ll update as new information comes in.

As usual I’m off Facebook for Lent. It feels nice to have my mind to myself again. I have such an It’s Complicated with Facebook. I genuinely appreciate the real connections it gives me, especially with the financial troubles we have had this last year, but I seem to be unable to moderate my use. I’m going to see about approaching it like any other fast, with times for feasting and times for fasting. I don’t usually do well with that, but who knows. I tend to prefer to be all in or a teetotaller. Like, the low-carb keto way of eating, or when I was a vegetarian. Much easier to completely eliminate something than try to moderate it.

Oh yeah I should note that Trixie has started Saxon this week and she likes it better than Teaching Textbooks. Just for the record.

UPDATE: I heard back. We’re a no. The biggies for me are: limited curriculum choice and testing at least three and up to six times a year, at their facility. Teacher involvement is variable, I’m told.

So no “free” piles of money for us, I’m afraid. I figured it would be like that, but I wanted to be wrong.

Epic One-on-One

Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

So in the interest of free buckets of cash

Mr. Krabs likes money

I’m looking into the virtual charter school thing.

Upside:

  • $800 per student per year to use toward education, including extracurriculars like piano or karate!

Downside(s):

  • Lots and lots of oversight.
  • Annual out-of-home testing.
  • Paperwork and meeting requirements from whoever we are given as our teacher liason.
  • Genneral ennui as my children are  injected, inspected, detected, infected, neglected, and selected.

But did I mention the $800?

I haven’t talked to anyone at the school, just other school families. Their opinions vary. I’m going to email the admissions director about what is really required and what is optional. This wouldn’t be for all the kids, most likely Gilbert, Trixie and Gloria. Possibly Abby. And I’d have to get their buy-in, because I’m not doing this unless they are willing to deal with the hoops and red tape. And the work, of course. Right now we do math, the end.

I bet we don’t end up doing it. But the monnnnneeeyyyy…

 

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Posted on by Phoebe Gleeson

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When you have a bunch of kids they give you a bunch of peanut butter and whole grain bread and you are Very Happy. Not pictured is the 40 pounds of beef and chicken as well as pounds and pounds of produce, bread, canned goods and dairy. The guys at the warehouse who load our car seem so pleased at my shock at the amounts of food they give us. "Feed those babies!” they say. Yes sir! This season of our lives is humbling, to be sure, but also full of joy. #corporalworksofmercy
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