1 Quarter Down, 3 to Go

I hope you all are having a great school year!  We have managed to finish our first quarter.  This year has not been easy.  Teaching 7th grade has taken a lot more of my time and energy than I thought it would.  But, we made it past the quarter mark, so Yay! :)

If you know me or follow my blog at all, you know that I am constantly thinking of new ideas and new ways of doing things.  I have a couple of those ideas posted here.  I have changed some things since that post.  My kids help me find the flaws in my designs/plans. Hehe.  For instance, I had the months of the year in two rows up on the wall, but my 2nd grader was getting very confused of the order (especially since they were seasonally color coded), so I made them into a straight line under the date.  He is understanding that much better, but still doesn't get why winter just doesn't start in January. (It bothers me that the colors are not grouped together too Buddy.) ;)

This handy dandy Handwriting Without Tears chalkboard now is our official school countdown. Please ignore the bookshelf that it sits under that I haven't painted yet.  I have been. Teehee.

And I am typically a grammar nut.  But for the life of me, I couldn't figure out when to use lying, laying, lied, or laid.  And was layed a word?   Hence, one of the things I love about homeschooling, I seriously learn stuff right along with my kids.  So, if you were ever wondering, here it is:


To lie means rest.  To lay is to place down.  Lays, laid, and laying will have direct objects following them.

And now you know. :)

Ok, so, I love my gradebook.  Click here for a FREE Download by fivejs.  But, it doesn't break down the grades into quarters for grading / report cards.  So I made my own quarterly break down that I've attached to the end of my gradebook.  It's fairly easy to do, but time consuming.  You just have to know 4 formulas, and make a Grade Calculator page.  If you are not weighing your grades, you only have to know 1 formula & have a grade calculator page.  It's kind of a pain in the behind to describe here.  I may have to make a whole separate blog about it.   Oh, and FYI, these formulas are for Microsoft Excel only.  I'm (unfortunately) not familiar with Mac.


The history grade is N/A because we have not done history yet this quarter.  And if there is no grade, I just haven't plugged in the formulas yet.

Here are just some shots of our first quarter.


Coming partially or barely dressed is a regular thing in our school. (Not for me though! lol)



He's so proud to be reading.



Doing TT3 in 2nd grade



Another partially dressed kid doing Typing



These two goofballs are two peas in a pod



And as always, we love having this student join us twice a week.

Report Card Day!!  My eldest did not want his picture taken. :(

[And yes, I'm going to have to go back and make new report cards.  Those white spaces that should be gray are driving me crazy!!!] :)

So we celebrated all straight A's by going bowling!