School year 2018-2019

And so it begins!

We're starting back to school a bit early this year so that we can have a bit more flexibility to take time off. Last year we didn't start until mid-September because of our move back to Kyrgyzstan and we only took off 2 days between then and Christmas Break...and the spring semester look similar. By the end of the school year we were all a bit burned out after getting our 36 weeks in. So, starting early hasn't made me the most popular mom/homeschool teacher, but, I think in the long run they will thank me for it because we have a horse trek planned, the World Nomad Games to attend, I'm planning the whole week of Thanksgiving to be off from school so Indy can take the boys bird hunting, and we're going to take 3 weeks this year at Christmas for some family travel and a conference! I am hoping this makes for a fuller "life!"

Now, let's talk about what we're doing this year for school.

Each year looks just a little bit different. This year is my first year with no Grammar (Elementary) students, and that seems weird to me! I have been homeschooling since the beginning, so when Krypto turned 2, we started doing letters and numbers and cutting and pasting and reading out loud and I have had an elementary aged child, doing arts and crafts and "simpler school" for 13 years now....this year, no more! Sissi is in the 6th grade and officially a Dialectic (Middle School) student.

We are back at Year 1 in our Tapestry of Grace studies, this time is our third time through the curriculum and we're finally using it all...Government, Philosophy, Worldview, Geography, Literature, History, it's a full buffet at our house!

I spent time this past spring making sure I had all the supplies I needed and ordering a few odds and ends to be brought out by some visitors we had in June. Then, I took some more planning time over the summer and drew up a schedule/routine and pre-read the materials so we have our plan in place. This is what each child is covering this year.

Krypto - 10th grade
Tapestry of Grace Year 1 - Creation to the Fall of Rome; covering History, Literature, Writing, Fine Arts, Government, Geography, Bible/Worldview, and Philosophy
Math U See Algebra II
Apologia Marine Biology
Master Books Biblical Archaeology
Analytical Grammar review and Wordly Wise
PSAT prep with Khan Academy
Logic with Thinking Toolbox
Russian
Sambo - A Russian martial art
Drama at Hope Academy

Gwangi - 8th grade
Tapestry of Grace Year 1 - Creation to the Fall of Rome; covering History, Literature, Writing, Fine Arts, Geography, and Bible/Worldview
Math U See Algebra
Apologia General Science
Easy Grammar
Logic with Fallacy Detectives
4H Coding
Russian
Sambo

Sissi - 6th grade
Tapestry of Grace Year 1 - Creation to the Fall of Rome; covering History, Literature, Writing, Fine Arts, Geography, and Bible/Worldview
Math U See Zeta
4 H Science curriculum about dogs and horses
4 H Coding
Easy Grammar
Logic workbooks
Russian
Horseback riding lessons

In addition, they will be continuing with their memorization work and we will pick up right where we left off last year after memorizing Philippians, Colossians, and the first 3 chapters of James. They memorize about 2-3 verses a day and then quote whole sections or chapters as they go until they have an entire book done, then we put it to bed and move on to the next book. When we finish James, my plan is to move on to some more of the letters before in future school years conquering one of the Gospels and hopefully Acts and Romans.

We've also done some catechism work in the past, to make sure our theology and doctrine is sound. This year I am going to try something new, the New City Catechism. It is set up in 3 parts, with 52 questions total. The idea is to read the question and answer and then talk about and memorize the answer along with the scripture reference to back up the answer. My plan is to do one question a week to give us some time to research, talk about, and explore each idea as we progress forward.

Krypto did finish writing his pirate adventure novel in June and he and I spent a good chunk of the rest of the summer editing it. We have sent it off to about a dozen people to take a read through the book and give us edits and ideas. We think we are planning to pursue some kind of publishing avenue, but aren't sure yet what that will look like. He did ask me to purchase the next part of the One Year Adventure Novel series, which deals with writing Fantasy and Science Fiction and he is hoping to begin work on another novel, though that might wait for a few months as he is currently a bit tired from all the writing.

Vera wanted to get in on all the action and picture taking as well.

Candy for the first day of school!

Krypto's assignment book

Gwangi's assignment book

What Sissi is up to today.

Camping in Chong Kemin

For our last weekend of summer 2018, we planned a camping trip to Chong Kemin National Park. We had been to this location back in June and had met some really great local friends that told us about some beautiful horse treks in the region. Indy brought some of his Taigan Expeditions' clients here in July and when he came home told me, "Yes, we need to go back, it's lovely!"

The weekend got cut short though by an accident with our pup, Vera. Turns out being raised in suburbia, away from horses, has got her a bit anxious and excited about these larger animals. Our local friend brought up 5 horses, plus the one he was riding, and Vera was not thrilled. She started jumping and barking and wouldn't go with us on our horse trek when we were sure she would follow right along as she does on hikes and other walks. In her exuberance, she jumped on our tent, breaking one of the plastic extension poles. Indy tried to fix it and another pole broke. We really liked these easy pop up tents, but the lighter weight, plastic poles aren't as sturdy and now we're afraid we're without a tent. It put all of us in a foul mood unfortunately and we had to pack up on Saturday evening and head home to Bishkek. We learned a few things about grace and forgiveness though, so for that we're thankful for our time out in Chong Kemin.

Our little corner of the wilderness with our tent all set up.

There were so many different kinds of wildflowers, I just couldn't stop taking pictures.

Purple in my color, and this area was covered in purple wildflowers.

Part of the path we took to get up to our campsite.

The tall trees surrounding where we camped.

Our puppy, Vera, now 8 months old and weighing 53 lbs.

Yeah, yellow, a different color from purple.

Walking around the valley, you can see Vera on the path on the left, following the kids. I was always falling behind to take pictures.

A view from our horse trek.

Cresting this hill and looking down in the valley was just beautiful.

Indy stayed behind to clean up the camp site and the kids and I went on with our friend for a couple of hours of horse trekking.

A family driving up in the mountains for a day trip.

There they go, down the hill to return to the village.

The dark trees on the hillside reminded me so much of Colorado.

Sissi took this and many more pictures. She likes to take close ups and layer her photos. I might have her do a post at some point sharing some of our photography.

Family Photos - May 2018

For the past couple of years, I have wanted to do our family photos in the late spring, when the poppies are in bloom. This year, we set a date, but due to a cold winter, we were a bit too early. It's ok though, we got some great photos of the family, the mountains, and some other wild flowers...and who is to say we won't try again, another year!