Around Our Home In June

Isn’t the release into the freedom of summer one of the most wonderful feelings in the world? We have very little that is scheduled regularly during the school year, but there is something about that feeling of no commitments, no schedules, and very few expectations that makes me very happy.

This month we are concentrating on finishing up most of painting and redecorating in our home. We’ve lived here six years and we are finally making it “ours.” We did finish up Caroline’s room a few weeks ago which I linked to below. It turned out very well. But I’m so excited to have everything be freshly painted and with new carpet and wood laminate in the house. My dust allergy is already thanking me. LOL! (Updated: Decorating a Tween Girl’s Bedroom)

We continue to chip away at redoing all of my printables. We also did some tweaking to this website to make it prettier and more user friendly!

In Our Homeschool This Month

This month I’m doing some planning for the fall. We are going to be moving toward a more structured curriculum which I’ll write about in the future. We will be doing some learning activities regularly in the summer.

Caroline won three goldfish at the carnival. She gave one to the friend who came with her and kept two. She has been asking for a pet (especially a fish or cat) and I have been dragging my heels. (We tried a kitten when she was eight and it did not work.) So now she has two goldfish and she’s loving that. We bought a nice set-up for her. I decided this was much cheaper than taking care of a cat for years and years.

It will be a good experience for Caroline to see how much work it is to keep the water clean, etc. I also think this is the best option for all of us so we officially have two pets now.

Caroline has also been getting into making miniatures from clay that are then baked. She has been watching YouTube videos such as this one.

Caroline was inspired so we bought the supplies she needed to get started.

Places We’re Going and People We’re Seeing

We may do some day type activities around here, but for the most part we’re planning on being home. With home renovations and work projects, our month is full of good things!

My Favorite Thing This Month

I’m really thankful for just having a quiet month.

What’s Working for Us

Games! We’re playing games almost every day. Currently we are heavily into Spot It. I admit I LOVE this kind of game. I have to remind myself to not be overly competitive with a ten year old. This explains the game reality in my family when I was growing up.

We ALL played to win. We were very competitive. (David’s family – not so much at all. They played games to have fun. I don’t really get that.) Guess which family Caroline takes after? HA! Mine! She’s so much like I was at that age when she doesn’t win. I totally understand that intense competitiveness. David… not so much. 🙂

Homeschool Questions and Thoughts I Have

We’re in the process of reviewing a couple of products this summer. We’re using an online math program that we BOTH like (insert angels singing). We are also trying out an Apologia reading program. More about those in the reviews to come. (Update: Online Math for Relaxed Homeschoolers and Homeschool Reading Curriculum Reviews – Apologia’s Readers in Residence)

A Link to Share

If you are in need of some summer reading ideas, don’t miss my 100 Wholesome Books for Girls and Tweens. It’s full of books to keep your daughter reading this summer!