How I spent my summer vacation

It's July 1st which means technically we've started a new school year here in Missouri.  We're not starting our "official" lessons yet but any hours I log now (swimming lessons and field trips) will count towards the 2011-2012 year.  So how did I spend my June vacation?   You can read about my adventures picking black raspberries--HOT and HUMID.  I would have like to done some bulk cooking and freezing of meals but the thought of spending the day in a hot kitchen was NOT appealing.  I may feel like doing that when the weather turns--say October.

I did spend some time planning our lessons.  Schnickelfritz will be finishing MUS Epsilon and moving on to the next level around mid-year.  We're going to finish the Institute for Excellence in Writing Level A that we got to review for last year's Homeschool Crew.  Another review item we continue to use is All About Spelling although we've moved on to Level 3.  A first for me will be collaborating with another homeschool mom using Apologia's Land Animals of the Sixth Day (we've skipped the Swimming Creatures in order to do this, but I think having other kids for the experiments will be so beneficial).   I'm also creating my own Missouri history course using an out of print book, Where Rivers Meet.   This is a real treasure I found at a used book sale covering history in our area before the arrival of European explorers up to the St. Louis World's Fair.   Finally I'm still trying to decide what to use to teach cursive writing.  This has been a real struggle for me as I gave up using cursive as soon as the teachers would let me.  In reality, we'll be learning cursive together.  I'm also starting my third year on the Homeschool Crew so we'll have other products to try through out the year and usually they turn out to be a blessing we never knew we needed.  I purchased a used binding machine on ebay so that I can be more organized this year.  I'll post more about it soon but for now I've made a school planner, a Missouri history timeline, and printed and bound several e-books.

It hasn't been all work and no play.  We're planning a Disney World vacation this September (reason #997 to love homeschooling--you can go to the parks when everyone else is in school).  I've been playing with my Cricut to make some Disney themed t shirts, autograph books, water bottles, etc.  I've also been taking a food preservation course through our local extension office--well I've got to do something with all those raspberries.  We've covered  water bath and pressure canning, freezing foods, making jams and jellies, salsas and pickling.  The classes have been very full  and the best part is we raffle off what we've preserved at the end of class.  I've gotten sliced apples and a 4-berry freezer jam so far.  

Some of the topics I hope to cover this year include doing Disney on a budget,  our homemade Missouri history course,  and of course the products we review for the Homeschool Crew.