Our Homeschool & Work from Home Schedule

On Monday we will officially start homeschooling.  For the last few weeks, we have been working on some various elements of homeschooling, to help the kids keep up their language skills, as well as to keep them busy while we waited for their toys to arrive.  (See this post about the arrival of our stuff.)  This trial time also gave me time to work out how our schedule should run, without wasting time that I had designated to their education.  From my previous classroom experience, I know that our schedule will probably change throughout the year, but here is our projected schedule for the beginning of the school year.

First, our weekly schedule.  Because we are working in three languages, we are trying to dedicate a day each week to each language.  So, our weeks should run like this:

Monday – English work – listening, reading, writing, grammar, math, country studies (science & social studies)

Tuesday – French work – listening, reading, writing, grammar, math, country studies (science & social studies)

Wednesday – Arabic work – listening, reading, writing, grammar, math, country studies (science & social studies)

Thursday – Finish whatever hasn’t been completed and work on Genius Projects (choose a topic of interest, research, create a way to share what you learned) with additional time.  My oldest is hoping to use some of this time to delve into his newest fascination – psychology and I’m thinking my 2nd grader, who works a bit on the slow side, will use this time to finish up.

Friday – Field Trips!!!  These will most likely relate to our country studies, but will also include volunteer work, national parks and a bunch of other cool places like museums and monuments that hold the boys’ attention.

Now, in addition to homeschooling the boys, I am also running Raki’s Rad Resources – my teacher resource business, so I need to be sure to have time each day to work as well as teach.  Here’s what our daily schedule will look like Monday – Thursday:


The To-Do List that you see on this schedule is a collection of activities that are on each child’s instructional level.  They include things like math book pages, writing stories, grammar exercises and researching their self chosen countries.  For more information about our curriculum, stop by my teaching blog – Raki’s Rad Resources and find our entire curriculum explained. 

Our Stuff Has Arrived!!!!

In 2011, when we moved to Morocco, we sorted out, sold and gave away about half of our stuff, but still shipped 20 foot container to Morocco.  Coming back to the US, we knew we were moving into an RV and needed to downsize, so we started the process of sorting, selling and giving away again.  We took no furniture, almost no kitchen equipment and narrowed our clothing down to what would fit into the suitcases we were taking with us on the airplane.  However, it was still necessary to ship some things – one pallet.  Our pallet included 3 large boxes, 6 plastic totes and 2 suitcases, full of what was left of our “stuff”.  After all this paring down, what made the final cut?

 

Books – Although we got rid of quite a few books, knowing that each of the boys and I own a kindle and have a good supply of e-books, there were still so many great books in our possession – both from home and my classroom library that I always stacked with my own books - that we brought quite a few books – in English, Arabic and French, which will come in handy when we start homeschooling on Monday.

 

 

 

Toys, Games & Puzzles – Not all of the toys survived the cut, but the classics survived, including wooden blocks, train tracks, trucks, soldiers, wooden jigsaw puzzles, Monopoly, Scrabble, Battleship, etc.  However, the boys were most excited to see their roller skates!

 

 

 

Quality Kitchen Supplies – I used to sell Pampered Chef, so I had so many great kitchen supplies, and I cook – a lot!  I did sell some, but had to keep 3 different stones, my Mandolin slicer, my mixing bowls and of course – my can opener.  However, my favorite kitchen supply is my Kitchen Aid Mixer, which allows me to make bread and bake daily, without acting up my tendinitis.  As you can see from the picture, it’s already been put into use.

 

 

 

 

Blankets – Since most Moroccan homes do not have indoor heat, you can find the absolute BEST blankets in Morocco during the winter.  When it gets cold, we will be prepared and have no worries about the cold!

 

Memories & Holiday Materials – Scrapbooks, pictures, Christmas stockings and ornaments.  Those things that you don’t use or look at much, but are so hard to give up. 

 

 

While we were waiting for our stuff, we kept looking around and going – I hope we have enough storage.  Now that it’s arrived, we have found a home for everything and still have some storage space.  I’m amazed at how much this RV holds!  I am also amazed at how little stuff we “need”.  When you have a big house and a big garage, you think you need every little thing.  Then, so much of it sits around waiting for you to use it.  We have a lot less stuff now, but we use most everything in our “house”. 

 

Fishing with Kids

 

Recently, the boys learned how to fish and got their very own fishing poles. Here is what they have to say about fishing:

 

One time we went to a pond.  At that pond I did not catch a fish . Where we visetid ther was a pond. My little brother caut a fish but it let go befor he could weel it it in.  When I catch a fish I screm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you know how to fish? I can! I will teach you how. First things first, you need a fishing pole and a jig. There are two types of fishing poles, one has you use to cast and one without the button to cast. If you’re using a pole with a button just simply push the button and in the middle of swinging the pole let go of the button. When you reel it in make sure you reel it in slowly so the fish can have a chance to bit the jig.

 

I've caught three different types of fish Catfish, Bass and Brim. Catfish are big, long and tough. It took me and my 7 year old brother working together to catch that baby! Bass are long, small and green. There are two types of Bass, Large mouth Bass and Small mouth Bass. The only difference is they're mouth and what the eat. Brim come in many different shapes and colors, but they’re mostly brown with a big red dot. There are many different types of fish. What is you’re favorite type?

                

 

 

 

 

   

Spark Plugs are IMPORTANT!

Recently, I learned the importance of spark plugs for a smooth ride. I had already changed the fuel filter and fuel pump, because the RV was losing power and the engine was shutting down. Since I am not a big mechanical guy, I hadn’t thought to check the spark plugs. When the engine shut down again, we pulled to the side of the road to let it cool down and I laid down in the back of the RV to take a rest. Suddenly, it occurred to me that I need to check the spark plug, and OMG they sure needed to be replaced.

The next Auto parts store was 30 miles away in Grants New Mexico. When the RV cooled down, we headed there, but on the way the RV broke down AGAIN. So we decided to look for the closest campground to spend a night and get the spark plugs next day. We arrived at the campground with just enough time to jump in the pool and eat a yummy dinner.

The next day I woke up early - at what I thought was 7 o’clock. Unfortunately, my watch was still on Georgia time, so I walked all the way (about 6 miles) to Napa Auto Parts only to find out that they wouldn’t open for the next 2 hours. While I waited, I wandered around a few other stores, got some coffee and enjoyed quiet time away from the kids. Once they opened, I got the parts needed (8 spark plugs for almost 20 dollars) and walked back - another 6miles. I finally arrived and had just enough time before checking out of the campground to change each individual plug.

You can see from the picture that one broke while I was changing them. It snapped easily, so I was glad that I was changing the spark plugs before hitting the road. Anyway, I learned my lesson, and also learned that spark plugs are easy to replace. Anyone can do it! Now the RV is running REALLY GOOD!!!!

Peaches, Peaches and More Peaches!!!!

We landed in Georgia just in time for peach picking season!  We’ve been peach picking before, and knowing we had enough time at my aunt’s place to do some preserves, we went a little peach crazy!  We filled three 20 gallon buckets with peaches (and then ended up going back for an additional bucket!), as well as 3 pounds of blueberries.

 

In addition to eating fresh peaches with every meal, we had blueberry muffins, peach muffins and peach cobbler.  And then we began preserving.

 Peach preserves, peach halves, peach salsa and peach butter – all in large quantities to help us get through the winter when there is little local fresh fruit available!  Here is a look at just a fraction of what we preserved:

 

Preserving peaches is not too hard.  The hardest part is that you need to remove the skin, but the easiest trick is to throw them in a big pot, cover with water and bring to a boil.  Then let them sit in the warm water until the water cools.  This blanching technique makes the skin slide ride off of a ripe peach and makes less peaches much easier to peel.  Once the peaches have their skins off, it just depends on what you want to do with them.

 

Our peach halves simply got covered with “simple syrup” a combination of 1 part sugar, 3 parts water that has come to a boil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The peach preserves were simply hand squished, combined with sugar and boiled to the right consistency.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the peach salsa, we used this recipe:

13 – 15 peaches (diced small)

8 – 10 tomatoes (diced small)

3 – 5 green peppers (diced small)

1 onion (diced small)

1 cup of lemon juice

salt & pepper to taste

 

 

 

For peach butter, we used a full crockpot of peaches – blanched, peeled and squished with 4 cups of sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spices.  Leave it in the crockpot on high for 5 hours or on low overnight, and then either blend or use a mixer to get the right consistency.

 

All of our peach recipes were canned in a simple hot water bath for 15 minutes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The blueberries were easier, they simply get thrown into a baggie and stuck in the freezer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now we can’t wait for apple season!

 

Free Range Summer Fun

After our fast paced trip to Las Vegas and back, we have taken the last two weeks to relax at my aunt’s place, on a farm just outside of Eastman, Georgia.  It’s been a fabulous time of family and free range fun, with the kids tumbling out of the RV door each morning to run around with the dogs, swim in the pool, dig in the dirt, ride their bikes, climb trees, fish in the pond – basically just be kids in summer.  Many days they have spent the entire day in the swimsuits.

 

 

 

  

Yesterday, they decided they were “bored”, so they decided to put on a play featuring my little guy as a robot:

 

And almost every day, we’ve achieved an afternoon nap!

They have had a blast playing with their cousin and I have gotten a chance to get some serious work done, which was very important since Back to School season is upon us, and the big Back to School sale at Teachers Pay Teachers (my current main source of income) is today and tomorrow.

Hope the last lazy days of summer have been as great for you as they have been for us!