HMJ: Pets, Pictures, Pre-tests and Permits

Well, I missed last week's Homeschool Journal post, in part because I thought it was a "slow" week with nothing too exciting report (I may have been wrong on that!) and in part because I was working on the latest Bible Study for the newsletter (which issued yesterday, but if you sign up before the week of Thanksgiving I will forward you November's issue anyway!!)  So, my Saturday looked something like this:

It was nice and cozy. 

My previous Sunday was like this:

We still had spit-spot snow, though more-so in the higher elevations.  Brooke had a Serve Team meeting after church so I headed out and decided to explore a road I had yet to travel since we moved to this area 5 years ago.  I didn't get 10 or 15 minutes out of town and was met with beautiful cliff-top views, the Rocky Mountain/Beartooth range to the West (not pictured because my camera did them NO justice) and random peaks to the north.  I do love living in Montana!

The snow is good and gone now though.  We tried to rake but with a large elm still very full of golden sprays, we found the work to be more point for play!  I did get the garden pulled and perennials cut though.

My oldest daughter's pup! 

Speaking of pets, our new Dusty Cat is very at home...

... his favorite place is hubby's arms.  He likes shoulders as well...

... and the other cats are finally use to him, which can be quite entertaining, especially when Brooke is doing her homework with her cat (black, fluffy, Aslan) and Dusty wants a nap companion as well...

I think Brooke is Dusty's second favorite person!

Aslan still insists on being where-ever Brooke's homework is...

... Geography and Driver's Ed make good pillows I guess!  Brooke often points out how much more entertaining schoolwork is with pets... and how boring it would be in public school without them!  ha!

Another note on pets is our idea to re-do Brooke's Instagram profile to include her favorite...

... Samwise Gamgee, or just "Sam" for short, her Holland Lop-eared rabbit.  Bunnies are her fave.  We did a mini-photo shoot:

My little girl is growing up before my eyes (*enter sniffles here*).

I took her to a local, new-to-her coffee shop, Christian owned, while her siblings were at a young adult Bible Study group Last Tuesday night. 

She worked on finishing her assigned reading in Treasure Island while I tip-tapped away on some articles.  I love how we can enjoy these simple pleasures together.

With Treasure Island finally wrapped up and re-capped last Friday, we were able to start into Beowulf on Monday this week:

I have to admit, while I assigned this to Ashley when she was in High School because of some recommended reading lists I had at the time, I have never personally read it!  I did not assign it to Brenden, being dyslexic I didn't think the material would be worth the challenges he would have.  Brooke is enjoying it though. 

I always heard the actual book was nothing like the movie... which I only saw parts of years ago when it first came out and hubby watched it... too gory for me.  As I am reading I can honestly say I see where they get some of the movie content, in an expounded sense, but, yes, the book itself is not near the imagery the movie assaults the mind with! 

I really enjoy this translation because you get simple English on one side and Old English in contrast on the other. There are also margin notes to guide in clarity.  I guess you could say it is "Beowulf for Dummies"!!

In other curriculum and schoolwork news, we put the leaf back into our table for Brooke's study hangout since we also hosted them for dinner.  I left the extension in even though I knew it was probably too much space for just me and her but apparently I was wrong!

It's hard to tell, but this is quite a sprawling shot!  And a good snap-shot of life in homeschool during cold season (hence the Kleenex and medicine!)

Also, we started in on Proofs in Geometry this week.  Brooke LOVES math.  She hates proofs!  She says they are too tedious and she likes work to be more concise.  I get that.  I talked with my 24 year old who is the other family math-whiz to see how much time he spent on proofs during high school (my only public schooled all the way through kiddo) and if it was on the SAT.  He confirmed my suspicions that they aren't quite as crucial as the 2/3 of our Abeka Geometry book makes them seem and the SAT is not saturated with them either... nothing more than some quick pre-SAT studying won't have her prepared for.  As a result, I have decided to just move forward skimming across the tops of Proofs and not getting too wrapped up in them. 

I've been planning to get Brooke a tutor this summer to coach her for the SAT. Since we don't do common core, my biggest concern is that she might mis-understand some of the concepts as compared to how I have taught them and I want to be sure she is equipped to be successful on this important test.  We missed the PSAT because the Christian School wouldn't allow us to test with them and when we finally got approval from the public school high school and arrived to pay for her spot, the school was on lock-down and we couldn't get in.  I'm sure their are unfavorable things I could say on both these accounts, but I won't except to point out how sad it all is.  Good ole Brooke recognizes how God has a greater plan for all of this and I agree, I won't get wrapped up in semantics if He is directing! ♥️

One test we were able to schedule was her written Driver's License/Permit test!  We were having trouble logging into the DMV's website to set up the appointment but finally got it all figured out.

She is crazy excited!  It's set for 9a.m. on the 9th, her 16th birthday.  She is studying hard and practicing in empty parking lots so she can drive us home after she passes!

I guess that is a wrap for our past two weeks.  How has your homeschool been going this month? 

Blessings,

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