Lona wanted to start the school year off right and so did I.  I thought hard about what we were going to do this year in school and I knew that I wanted to concentrate more on writing and reading. I had math figured out and science but writing was another thing. I just feel so incompetent with writing and correcting it and grammar, and, and, and, well everything about it.  So we are journaling everyday for 5 minutes. I'm not reading what she has written and it goes to say then that it isn't being corrected. That is just for her, kind of like my blog only paper form. I have a box of prompts for her if she gets stumped but she has to write for 5 minutes. Then we are doing a journal together based on Philippians 4:4-9.  It's about five weeks long and we each have parts that we journal and then there is an art project to go along with it. On top of that, we are going through a writing book.  We did a little of it last year, however this year I want to really work through it. Last year she bagged it when she started to write her super hero story which took all year but I love the way it turned out.  Since I want her to write more, I've been practicing as well with different writing styles. I figure that I could use more practice as well. I am drawn to writing that is introspective yet find it hard to be introspective myself. For reading we are starting with Shakespeare, As You Like It. There are so many quotes from Shakespeare and his themes are universal. Search Pinterest and Shakespeare has many, possibly hundreds of links to plays, movies, quotes, books. He permeates our culture with references.  I think the Bible does to a much grander scale than Shakespeare however he was and still is influential to our language. That being said, I knew that we needed to start out watching the play even if we didn't understand how they talked. I almost couldn't have John talk to me because I needed to pay attention to know what was happening. Now we are reading the play and working on vocabulary, quotes and comprehension questions. When we are all done, I think we will watch that play or another again. Then I think we will need a break and read something fun like Wind in the Willows or Treasure Island. Lona's idea of starting off right was to throw a party and she did. I wasn't up to it but she planned, called, purchased, created, set up and cleaned up her Not Going Back to School Celebration.