Today I discovered the Thomas Jefferson Education site. Their basic premise is that you cannot teach someone who does not want to learn, and this is a basic flaw in the entire education system of the country. One must figure out the goal of the education (Enlightenment? Employment? Career? Politics?) to figure out how to go about it. One more building or a few more computers aren't going to change the education in schools.
I was intrigued with this whole idea, as that seems to be part of the problem in my house. I'm trying to get facts into their heads that they don't really care about. While this philosophy may not make me throw out the history text or math sheets, I think it can play a very important role in Luke and Emily's education.
One of the suggestions was if one is not truly educated oneself, to start getting educated as the parent. Read the classics. Read the Federalist Papers, Asimov, Einstein, Aristotle, and others. This is the basis of a Thomas Jefferson Education. They don't really believe in using textbooks, but as I looked at the list of resources they recommend as Classics, Saxon math was among them. Actually, MANY of the books we have read to the kids or they have read themselves were on the list, so I feel pretty good about that.
The other point that a Thomas Jefferson education makes is that, as the kids get older, use mentors, not teachers. I think it's an interesting idea, but not sure how one goes about it in this day and age. I guess that having them take a music lesson from an inspiring musician is a good start. From there, I think they have to wait a while. I'm doing well if I get them another teacher at all, never mind a mentor, but I think we'll get there when they are older.
I am most intrigued...
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Days 22, 23
Here's what happens when I have a good day or two. I get totally distracted and don't post!
We have now caught up with Math from when Luke was sick, and everything is rolling merrily along. Unfortunately, I'm getting the lousy cold now, and it's going to be lousy weather tomorrow. Yuck. Still have to go out as we are doing crafts for our history class tomorrow.
Picturing America did a great job of collecting works that really represent the history of our country, and the teacher's guide does a good job of going over what the kids should learn, and ways to help them learn them.
Tomorrow we will be going over the Native People's baskets. There are examples from pretty much all over the country (ok, not the northeast, but what can you do?) and we will be making coiled clay vessels much like they made in the American Southwest. And this is only the first one!
If you want to access the art online, go to http://picturingamerica.neh.gov/ The whole collection includes photos, paintings, stained glass, quilts and architecture. There is an amazing amount of info available online at this site.
We have now caught up with Math from when Luke was sick, and everything is rolling merrily along. Unfortunately, I'm getting the lousy cold now, and it's going to be lousy weather tomorrow. Yuck. Still have to go out as we are doing crafts for our history class tomorrow.
Picturing America did a great job of collecting works that really represent the history of our country, and the teacher's guide does a good job of going over what the kids should learn, and ways to help them learn them.
Tomorrow we will be going over the Native People's baskets. There are examples from pretty much all over the country (ok, not the northeast, but what can you do?) and we will be making coiled clay vessels much like they made in the American Southwest. And this is only the first one!
If you want to access the art online, go to http://picturingamerica.neh.gov/ The whole collection includes photos, paintings, stained glass, quilts and architecture. There is an amazing amount of info available online at this site.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Day 21
Monday again! How does it come around so fast?
MUSET, the homeschool orchestra, was good. Luke is hanging on to his cold for all he's worth, so he did not play (or even bring) his trumpet. What I didn't find out until later is that he did what I asked him to, which was to follow along in the music and try to see where he would be playing. That was one of the up points. Another was when the leader complimented Emily on her enthusiasm.
On the down side, which really isn't a down side, I found out that Emily is truly lacking in music-reading and tracking ability. No, not ability, but skill. This isn't really a negative because now we have a point to start at. This is what is missing from the public school scenario. If a kid is lost in band, he's lost, and he MIGHT get help, and he might not. More than likely he'll eventually find himself out of band. Homeschooling, I can find out the problem and address it. Now we have a unit study to do!
This reminds me of math. Not math now, but when I was in high school in NYC. I had taken algebra and geometry in junior high, so by the time I was a junior, I was in trigonometry. I could not make heads or tails out of what the teacher was saying. My not-so-bright solution? "It's the first semester. I'll fail this, and they'll let me repeat it next semester." Not so bright. I sat in the back of class and read fiction all through the semester. When I think about it, I'm appalled at myself, but more appalled that a teacher would allow that to go on! And my plan backfired, as it turned out that they didn't offer the first semester again, so I got pushed onward anyway. What a mess.
Had I been homeschooled, I may have gotten lost, but it would have been noticed and rectified. Rectification, the signature of homeschooling! Now, I have rectification of my own to do with Emily. I think she'll feel good about getting the hang of it. We started going over the notes and rests, beats and time. It will be good for me, too, as I try to beat my clarinet into submisson. I hope that my playing a new instrument will be inspiring to both Luke and Emily. I hope it will show them that you can always have a passion for learning something new.
MUSET, the homeschool orchestra, was good. Luke is hanging on to his cold for all he's worth, so he did not play (or even bring) his trumpet. What I didn't find out until later is that he did what I asked him to, which was to follow along in the music and try to see where he would be playing. That was one of the up points. Another was when the leader complimented Emily on her enthusiasm.
On the down side, which really isn't a down side, I found out that Emily is truly lacking in music-reading and tracking ability. No, not ability, but skill. This isn't really a negative because now we have a point to start at. This is what is missing from the public school scenario. If a kid is lost in band, he's lost, and he MIGHT get help, and he might not. More than likely he'll eventually find himself out of band. Homeschooling, I can find out the problem and address it. Now we have a unit study to do!
This reminds me of math. Not math now, but when I was in high school in NYC. I had taken algebra and geometry in junior high, so by the time I was a junior, I was in trigonometry. I could not make heads or tails out of what the teacher was saying. My not-so-bright solution? "It's the first semester. I'll fail this, and they'll let me repeat it next semester." Not so bright. I sat in the back of class and read fiction all through the semester. When I think about it, I'm appalled at myself, but more appalled that a teacher would allow that to go on! And my plan backfired, as it turned out that they didn't offer the first semester again, so I got pushed onward anyway. What a mess.
Had I been homeschooled, I may have gotten lost, but it would have been noticed and rectified. Rectification, the signature of homeschooling! Now, I have rectification of my own to do with Emily. I think she'll feel good about getting the hang of it. We started going over the notes and rests, beats and time. It will be good for me, too, as I try to beat my clarinet into submisson. I hope that my playing a new instrument will be inspiring to both Luke and Emily. I hope it will show them that you can always have a passion for learning something new.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Day 20
Today we went on a field trip to one of our favorite almost-local places. Trevor Zoo is a zoo run by the students at Millerton School across the river from us. It's a private boarding high school (one of the few places I wouldn't object to sending the kids to, but we couldn't even near afford it).
He discussed how animals 'make a living', either through hunting, grazing, whatever it takes for them to eke out an existence. We learned that our jaws come in two parts, connected by ligaments, tendons and muscles. We learned about homologous (birds of different feathers have the same parts but don't always use them the same way, such as an ostrich and a hummingbird) and analogous features (such as wings of a flying bird, a bat, and a butterfly. They all do the same thing, but are not built the same way).
Another topic was classification. He left us with homework (yay!) which was a sheet to fill out with all the animals of the zoo in their proper classification down to Order. I was surprised that I could remember the names all the way down:
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
The mnemonic I was given in high school was King Phillip Came Over For Good (um) Spaghetti.
It's amazing, the things you remember.
Anyway, even though Luke is sick, and Emily now has a fever, they both enjoyed the class, and loved the zoo. It's not huge, but it has a lot going for it. I love the porcupine.
A Red Panda
A Porcupine
They have over 180 animals, many exotic, some endangered. Today we actually took part in a class for homeschoolers which was really well done. The man who taught was really great with the kids, taking it in stride when people didn't raise their hands, either from excitement or not knowing about the whole raise-your-hand-to-speak thing (mine would fall into that catagory. Oops.)He discussed how animals 'make a living', either through hunting, grazing, whatever it takes for them to eke out an existence. We learned that our jaws come in two parts, connected by ligaments, tendons and muscles. We learned about homologous (birds of different feathers have the same parts but don't always use them the same way, such as an ostrich and a hummingbird) and analogous features (such as wings of a flying bird, a bat, and a butterfly. They all do the same thing, but are not built the same way).
Another topic was classification. He left us with homework (yay!) which was a sheet to fill out with all the animals of the zoo in their proper classification down to Order. I was surprised that I could remember the names all the way down:
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
The mnemonic I was given in high school was King Phillip Came Over For Good (um) Spaghetti.
It's amazing, the things you remember.
Anyway, even though Luke is sick, and Emily now has a fever, they both enjoyed the class, and loved the zoo. It's not huge, but it has a lot going for it. I love the porcupine.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Day 19
Day 19? How did I get here?
Anyway, somehow, it's 7:30pm, and my daughter is in the dining room working on her math without complaining. It's a mystery to me. Not just that she's not arguing (though she was earlier) but that somehow school is taking longer and longer. How can we not be done before 7:30 at night?
I have heard from other homeschoolers that fourth grade is a tough one. Maybe it's because we finally realize that we ARE doing academics, and we need to really buckle down but I think what it comes to is that this is the age where independence and youth are at war, and the homeschool parent is in the middle of the battlefield. There is nowhere to hide. I know some homeschoolers who went to school in fourth grade. One returned to homeschooling the following year, one stayed in school. It is hard to be in a constant tug-of-war. On the one hand, you want to give independence, on the other, the kid is too young to handle "Take these papers and have them done by 3pm." So we have been trying to meet in the middle. Seems like it's always the middle!
In other news, Emily is now coming down with the cold, which could explain why she seemed so out of it in History class. Ah, well, may as well get it out of the way early. Hopefully we won't be sick all winter. Ugh!
Anyway, somehow, it's 7:30pm, and my daughter is in the dining room working on her math without complaining. It's a mystery to me. Not just that she's not arguing (though she was earlier) but that somehow school is taking longer and longer. How can we not be done before 7:30 at night?
I have heard from other homeschoolers that fourth grade is a tough one. Maybe it's because we finally realize that we ARE doing academics, and we need to really buckle down but I think what it comes to is that this is the age where independence and youth are at war, and the homeschool parent is in the middle of the battlefield. There is nowhere to hide. I know some homeschoolers who went to school in fourth grade. One returned to homeschooling the following year, one stayed in school. It is hard to be in a constant tug-of-war. On the one hand, you want to give independence, on the other, the kid is too young to handle "Take these papers and have them done by 3pm." So we have been trying to meet in the middle. Seems like it's always the middle!
In other news, Emily is now coming down with the cold, which could explain why she seemed so out of it in History class. Ah, well, may as well get it out of the way early. Hopefully we won't be sick all winter. Ugh!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Day 18
A new day, a new experience! Luke is still sick, but we managed to get Emily to Dance, and we all went to Rocket Day. Steve had built the launcher this past spring, and we really enjoyed it. All the kids build rockets and buy engines and igniters, and we go to the park and launch them. Today, it was just as good! We sent the rockets up a bunch of times, and this time only lost two of them! Last time, we launched them until most of them were gone. I think we would have this time if it hadn't been for the fact that the kids lost interest since we were in the sun and the temps were in the high 80's! However, a good time was had by all, and no one got hurt or even upset particularly, so a good day in my book.
In math news, Emily has decided that she likes the timed sheets! I'm amazed, I'm astounded, and I'm thinking it may last because she's been getting more into it as the days have gone by. Very cool!
In just plain other news, found a web site today that I think I have to use. Lots of games, and organized by grade and type, it seems a bit flashy, but I think it will be good for them to use. http://www.vocabulary.co.il/ is the web address.
All in all, a good day!
In math news, Emily has decided that she likes the timed sheets! I'm amazed, I'm astounded, and I'm thinking it may last because she's been getting more into it as the days have gone by. Very cool!
In just plain other news, found a web site today that I think I have to use. Lots of games, and organized by grade and type, it seems a bit flashy, but I think it will be good for them to use. http://www.vocabulary.co.il/ is the web address.
All in all, a good day!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Day 17 Positive
Positively sick, that is. Luke has a terrible cold, up with which he does not well put. My boy hates like blazes when he can't breathe through his nose, and makes no small noise about it. Since I am operating on ONE cup of coffee, and he had me up last night, I am less than in a good place.
However, it showed me rather glaringly that homeschooling is the option for him. If he went to school, I would have kept him home today, to be sure, but tomorrow I'd be thinking about sending him in. I'd be worried that he's missing too much school for a cold.
Today, he managed a page of English. That's fine. Tomorrow, it will be something else even if he is still sick. Homeschooling allows us to keep him in the learning zone. It seems like homeschooling is less like regular school, and more like a vast number of Venn diagrams. Sometimes I'm not even sure how many of the circles we're in. What did we learn today? We learned that sometimes it's easier to sleep in a car when you're sick. We also learned that it's a good idea to bring the vomi-pot in the car with us, but that it would be an even better idea to bring water for rinsing said vomi-pot.
We learned that we (Emily) can do her work when someone else needs attention. We learned that she outgrew all her clothes from last year. We learned that something that costs $8 would cost us $32 if we want 4 of them, and $24 if we want 3, but that maybe we can make them ourselves.
We'll return to more strict academics tomorrow, or maybe the next day for Luke, but meantime, it isn't like he's not learning something.
However, it showed me rather glaringly that homeschooling is the option for him. If he went to school, I would have kept him home today, to be sure, but tomorrow I'd be thinking about sending him in. I'd be worried that he's missing too much school for a cold.
Today, he managed a page of English. That's fine. Tomorrow, it will be something else even if he is still sick. Homeschooling allows us to keep him in the learning zone. It seems like homeschooling is less like regular school, and more like a vast number of Venn diagrams. Sometimes I'm not even sure how many of the circles we're in. What did we learn today? We learned that sometimes it's easier to sleep in a car when you're sick. We also learned that it's a good idea to bring the vomi-pot in the car with us, but that it would be an even better idea to bring water for rinsing said vomi-pot.
We learned that we (Emily) can do her work when someone else needs attention. We learned that she outgrew all her clothes from last year. We learned that something that costs $8 would cost us $32 if we want 4 of them, and $24 if we want 3, but that maybe we can make them ourselves.
We'll return to more strict academics tomorrow, or maybe the next day for Luke, but meantime, it isn't like he's not learning something.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Day 16 Monday, Monday
Orchestra today. I like orchestra, myself. I've figured out how to fit my piece into the rest of it (at least at the beginning) and I have hope that it'll sound like I belong there pretty soon. It's different for the kids, and I'm a bit puzzled. Emily was completely lost, and I think Luke was a bit lost, too.
They don't seem to have the enthusiasm I do for playing at home, either. Do most parents have to force their kids to play? I guess they do, but I feel bad for doing so. I haven't so far (we've been in the orchestra a couple of years now) but I'm at the point where I need to. If either of them want to get better at their instruments, they have to pick them up and play them now and again! Maybe if we work on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star some more...
It seems like I've turned this into the List of Homeschooling Complaints, so I'm going to take a new tack for a bit and post about some of the good things we've been up to.
We almost have our rockets ready for Rocket Day on Wednesday. We're looking forward to launching them from Steve's launch pad that he made last Spring. I think the kids enjoy it, although I think they'll like it more and more as they get older as they can do more and more building.
Tomorrow, we're off to tennis, then Numeracy Club in the afternoon! Always a full day!
They don't seem to have the enthusiasm I do for playing at home, either. Do most parents have to force their kids to play? I guess they do, but I feel bad for doing so. I haven't so far (we've been in the orchestra a couple of years now) but I'm at the point where I need to. If either of them want to get better at their instruments, they have to pick them up and play them now and again! Maybe if we work on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star some more...
It seems like I've turned this into the List of Homeschooling Complaints, so I'm going to take a new tack for a bit and post about some of the good things we've been up to.
We almost have our rockets ready for Rocket Day on Wednesday. We're looking forward to launching them from Steve's launch pad that he made last Spring. I think the kids enjoy it, although I think they'll like it more and more as they get older as they can do more and more building.
Tomorrow, we're off to tennis, then Numeracy Club in the afternoon! Always a full day!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Day 15
We had a good day. We worked on our time line for World History, we looked at artifacts on-line, we played Twenty Squares just like they did thousands of years ago (well, except it was on a computer) and we got math done without much fighting at all. No one got particularly upset, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Aikido went well, and no one said that they didn't want to go.
So why am I feeling down? This evening Emily still says she wants to go to school. I know she's just got this idea of what it's like in her head, and wants to see what it's really like, but it bothers me a lot. I work hard, we have a good day, and I get...what? Rejected? I guess that's why I'm down, but I know really that she isn't being mean spirited. She just wants to try what everyone else is doing.
And how do I know when it's time to let her try school? I have no guidelines to go by, no line in the sand. There must be some point at which I make a conscious decision that it is ok for her to try this "school" thing, and try to see it as an adventure for our family. It just isn't something I want to do.
Our whole schedule upset, no longer to revolve around the college schedule, but around college and Public School schedules? Egads. Not having my daughter get the education I feel she should have? Having to fight the crowds at all the cool places we can now go to when they are quiet? And all the myriad other issues swirling in my head that I'm not taking the time to type out?
It isn't that she says it all the time, but she's starting to say it enough that I'm concerned that I need to know when is enough. When is enough?
So why am I feeling down? This evening Emily still says she wants to go to school. I know she's just got this idea of what it's like in her head, and wants to see what it's really like, but it bothers me a lot. I work hard, we have a good day, and I get...what? Rejected? I guess that's why I'm down, but I know really that she isn't being mean spirited. She just wants to try what everyone else is doing.
And how do I know when it's time to let her try school? I have no guidelines to go by, no line in the sand. There must be some point at which I make a conscious decision that it is ok for her to try this "school" thing, and try to see it as an adventure for our family. It just isn't something I want to do.
Our whole schedule upset, no longer to revolve around the college schedule, but around college and Public School schedules? Egads. Not having my daughter get the education I feel she should have? Having to fight the crowds at all the cool places we can now go to when they are quiet? And all the myriad other issues swirling in my head that I'm not taking the time to type out?
It isn't that she says it all the time, but she's starting to say it enough that I'm concerned that I need to know when is enough. When is enough?
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Day 14
So our day progressed fairly well until the end of math. Our new history class was very good, and the kids enjoyed it. We even went food shopping with little issue. Luke was ecstatic to have his first trumpet lesson, and he did pretty well. The teacher even gave him a case for his trumpet!
Unfortunately, I'm concerned that at this point, the bug that has been threatening to take us down may be rearing it's ugly head. Luke was very nauseous shakey, and is only now (at 11pm) asleep. Not in itself a rarity, but it was a busy day. Not only that, but I'm feeling a bit queasy in sympathy, so I'm not staying on long.
Still looking for a magic way to get Emily to stop giving me trouble. I talked to her about starting a chart, but she didn't like my idea of having Dance depend on her good behavior. Small wonder. How long would that last? Ha!
Off to bed, and hopefully a healthy-feeling tomorrow!
Unfortunately, I'm concerned that at this point, the bug that has been threatening to take us down may be rearing it's ugly head. Luke was very nauseous shakey, and is only now (at 11pm) asleep. Not in itself a rarity, but it was a busy day. Not only that, but I'm feeling a bit queasy in sympathy, so I'm not staying on long.
Still looking for a magic way to get Emily to stop giving me trouble. I talked to her about starting a chart, but she didn't like my idea of having Dance depend on her good behavior. Small wonder. How long would that last? Ha!
Off to bed, and hopefully a healthy-feeling tomorrow!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Day 13
Another day, another...day. Today was mostly ok, other than the constant nagging and the screaming.
Trying to get Emily to do math before Dance was a disaster, so tomorrow I won't even pretend we'll get it done before we go to our new History class. Maybe if I dole it out in smaller chunks, she'll take it better. Steve got a taste of what I deal with all day when he did Chemistry with them tonight. Lots of screaming and whining. Ugh. I give him credit, though, he handled it well and came out the other side with two kids who seemed to enjoy it.
The rest of the day was good. We went to Dance, which was good, though I'm afraid we may be overwhelming the small group of older adults with three kids (no other kids in the group) and four more adults! Hopefully it will work alright. One woman seems to have taken a shine to Emily and one of the other girls, and she helps them out. It is so nice! I do like the interplay between the generations. I think it's great to see them talking and enjoying each other's company. We are a bit slow to learn, which I think might aggrevate some of the people, so we'll just have to take it one session at a time and see how it goes.
After Dance, it was race back home to get lunch and Luke and go apple picking. There have not been a lot of people coming to our little co-op. I understand it, but it annoys me at the same time. Not that I put a ton of work into it, but this is our social time. How are we going to have social time without the people? Next week will seal it one way or the other. It will be Rocket Day, so I think we'll have more turn-out. If not, I may do something drastic like not go sometimes just because I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed myself. Or maybe I'm just tired today because I've been having less coffee and no real sleep aids (with fibro, that's tough) so I'm running on low.
All that complaining aside, we had a very nice time with the people who did come. We are getting to be good friends with some of the younger set (that 'intergenerational' thing again) and I think that is good for everyone. I remember when Luke and Emily were the young ones, and the other kids were older. I don't remember the interactions, but Luke and Em consider them good friends. I see the interactions now with my kids being the older ones, and it's mostly good. Very encouraging. One of their good friends who's a little older also came, so it was really nice to share some time together!
Between all this, I was trying to get Emily to get her math done. "Emily, we're not going to Dance unless this page is done." "EE-EH!" "Emily, you have to get this done before we get there." "EE-EH!" And that's just my side of the conversation.
So, mostly a good day, sprinkled liberally with attitude and screamage. Hmm.
Trying to get Emily to do math before Dance was a disaster, so tomorrow I won't even pretend we'll get it done before we go to our new History class. Maybe if I dole it out in smaller chunks, she'll take it better. Steve got a taste of what I deal with all day when he did Chemistry with them tonight. Lots of screaming and whining. Ugh. I give him credit, though, he handled it well and came out the other side with two kids who seemed to enjoy it.
The rest of the day was good. We went to Dance, which was good, though I'm afraid we may be overwhelming the small group of older adults with three kids (no other kids in the group) and four more adults! Hopefully it will work alright. One woman seems to have taken a shine to Emily and one of the other girls, and she helps them out. It is so nice! I do like the interplay between the generations. I think it's great to see them talking and enjoying each other's company. We are a bit slow to learn, which I think might aggrevate some of the people, so we'll just have to take it one session at a time and see how it goes.
After Dance, it was race back home to get lunch and Luke and go apple picking. There have not been a lot of people coming to our little co-op. I understand it, but it annoys me at the same time. Not that I put a ton of work into it, but this is our social time. How are we going to have social time without the people? Next week will seal it one way or the other. It will be Rocket Day, so I think we'll have more turn-out. If not, I may do something drastic like not go sometimes just because I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed myself. Or maybe I'm just tired today because I've been having less coffee and no real sleep aids (with fibro, that's tough) so I'm running on low.
All that complaining aside, we had a very nice time with the people who did come. We are getting to be good friends with some of the younger set (that 'intergenerational' thing again) and I think that is good for everyone. I remember when Luke and Emily were the young ones, and the other kids were older. I don't remember the interactions, but Luke and Em consider them good friends. I see the interactions now with my kids being the older ones, and it's mostly good. Very encouraging. One of their good friends who's a little older also came, so it was really nice to share some time together!
Between all this, I was trying to get Emily to get her math done. "Emily, we're not going to Dance unless this page is done." "EE-EH!" "Emily, you have to get this done before we get there." "EE-EH!" And that's just my side of the conversation.
So, mostly a good day, sprinkled liberally with attitude and screamage. Hmm.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Day 12
I knew it couldn't last long, but I was hoping for a week at least. The candy thing was not as much a temptation for Emily as on other days. The maddening thing is that she totally gets everything. She gets the math concepts, she gets the timing thing, she gets that it's the curriculum we have to do, she even gets that she doesn't get candies when she's acting out at the beginning of the lesson! She's always so reasonable by the end of the lesson that I'm not sure what I'm dealing with sometimes. Split personality? Or, dare I say, prepubescence? Oh, say it ain't so. For that, there ain't no cure but time.
So, the next tactic is to try to either add harder math, or try to get to some lesson that she doesn't know. The trouble is that Saxon repeats and repeats and repeats. We all understand that it's necessary. We just don't think we need to 'learn' about Some, Some More stories for the third time. Or number lines. Tell us something we don't know! So, I'm going to give her some challenging math in addition to the lessons. Should be fun; adding math to math. Hmm. It sounds so crazy that it just...might...work! We'll keep on with the candies just in case.
Meantime, the kids also went to a Numeracy Club, which they really enjoyed. They played games, made graphs, all sorts of things. I'm glad that they enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to many more weeks of an hour and a half sans kids without having the guilt of asking someone to watch them for me. I'm also glad that they seem to get something out of it academically. It's a win-win! Ah, if it weren't for life's little perks, we would sometimes just want to hang our heads down in defeat.
I think this may be a record. Although math didn't go as well as hoped, it was yet another positive day! Is this three in a row? Maybe I need to start a count. So I guess this is acutally day 12/3.
So, the next tactic is to try to either add harder math, or try to get to some lesson that she doesn't know. The trouble is that Saxon repeats and repeats and repeats. We all understand that it's necessary. We just don't think we need to 'learn' about Some, Some More stories for the third time. Or number lines. Tell us something we don't know! So, I'm going to give her some challenging math in addition to the lessons. Should be fun; adding math to math. Hmm. It sounds so crazy that it just...might...work! We'll keep on with the candies just in case.
Meantime, the kids also went to a Numeracy Club, which they really enjoyed. They played games, made graphs, all sorts of things. I'm glad that they enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to many more weeks of an hour and a half sans kids without having the guilt of asking someone to watch them for me. I'm also glad that they seem to get something out of it academically. It's a win-win! Ah, if it weren't for life's little perks, we would sometimes just want to hang our heads down in defeat.
I think this may be a record. Although math didn't go as well as hoped, it was yet another positive day! Is this three in a row? Maybe I need to start a count. So I guess this is acutally day 12/3.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Day 11
Today went better than expected. We had orchestra today which, in the past, has been a bit of a bone of contention with my son. Today, he still gave me trouble going, but not as much as I expected. Part of the reason being that he was finally starting on a new instrument.
I was a little worried when we got there and 45 minutes later, we were still trying to hammer out details and meet everyone. Luke was getting a bit bored. I poked him. Then we got to the music. I couldn't play, of course, not knowing what note I'd get out of my clarinet, but Luke surprised me by getting into it and trying really hard to play his trumpet by following the adult trumpet player. He even asked to sit next to him so he could follow better! I think this is going to work! The adult player even accepted the idea of lessons! Wow!! I'm so excited! We couldn't have left orchestra on a better note, so to speak.
But off we flew to Aikido. It turns out there were only people we knew in the class, so that was easy. Afterwards, Luke came out and played his trumpet for the other kids. They loved it, and he loved it.
Emily did not give me a hard time about math after she lost two candies. Very cool. Both kids did well on their first math tests, which I'm psyched about.
The best thing, though, is that this is one of the few days this school year that has not involved me yelling at the kids. What a joy! I feel like I won a prize! I don't know how tomorrow will go, but I'll have to try to hang onto this little high...
I was a little worried when we got there and 45 minutes later, we were still trying to hammer out details and meet everyone. Luke was getting a bit bored. I poked him. Then we got to the music. I couldn't play, of course, not knowing what note I'd get out of my clarinet, but Luke surprised me by getting into it and trying really hard to play his trumpet by following the adult trumpet player. He even asked to sit next to him so he could follow better! I think this is going to work! The adult player even accepted the idea of lessons! Wow!! I'm so excited! We couldn't have left orchestra on a better note, so to speak.
But off we flew to Aikido. It turns out there were only people we knew in the class, so that was easy. Afterwards, Luke came out and played his trumpet for the other kids. They loved it, and he loved it.
Emily did not give me a hard time about math after she lost two candies. Very cool. Both kids did well on their first math tests, which I'm psyched about.
The best thing, though, is that this is one of the few days this school year that has not involved me yelling at the kids. What a joy! I feel like I won a prize! I don't know how tomorrow will go, but I'll have to try to hang onto this little high...
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Day 10
How weird. Here it is Sunday, and here I am posting! While we did go to church, and the kids sang and went to Sunday school, I would normally not post about it. In fact, I'm not posting about it, other than to say that Emily was really cute showing her cousin where she was in the song they were singing. Very sweet.
No, that is neither here nor there, though I do count the singing for my quarterly reports to the mighty New York State. No, I post here because as Emily and I returned from food shopping, we may have hit on the idea that will save my sanity.
She has been talking about school a lot. Not homeschool. School. Oy. Honestly, I can see the appeal. More than see it, I can almost taste it. But when it comes right down to it, darn it, I just don't want to send her off to school to get a barely-education with potential for being made fun of, bored, and exposed to cultural ways of acting we generally don't agree with.
So, back to the idea. Somehow, the way we have been trying to get Math done has not worked for Emily. There is no tempting her with video games, no timing for the sake of timing, no work for an hour, get a break. So, it comes to a method as old as 2 year olds. Food. We will be using candy to get her to finish in a timely manner. The clock gets set for 45 minutes, and if she finishes in that time, she'll get a certain amount of candy. Every 5 minutes past that decreases the amount by one. The reason I post about this today is because we tried it! While every other math lesson has taken at least half a day, she had this one sewn up in 38 minutes. I realize that this could be classified as bribery. So could video-game time, and so could a paycheck. How many people would go to work if there were no paycheck waiting on Friday? Oh, wait, I guess I would, wouldn't I? Ha ha, but seriously.
I'm elated! Now all the good things that I can point out about homeschooling make sense! She couldn't do dance class, Aikido, orchestra, rocket building, apple picking, history class, playing with her friends, or reading in her room during school hours. And so much more! I think part of her just wants to see what all the fuss is about, and I can understand that. What I have been trying to do is give her the good parts of school without all the crap that usually goes with it.
Her Sunday School teacher is wonderful, we are starting a history class only 1/4 taught by me, she'll be going to a Numeracy Club soon, which I'm psyched about, so we have plenty of 'classes' in the mix. I'm hoping we can tip the scales in our favor with our new Math-getting-done technique. Can't get paid in candy for doing math in school. That's what I'll tell her if she gives me grief tomorrow. Or maybe I've played that card too much, and it's time to retire it. I'll have to think of something else...hmmm, always something new to ponder!
No, that is neither here nor there, though I do count the singing for my quarterly reports to the mighty New York State. No, I post here because as Emily and I returned from food shopping, we may have hit on the idea that will save my sanity.
She has been talking about school a lot. Not homeschool. School. Oy. Honestly, I can see the appeal. More than see it, I can almost taste it. But when it comes right down to it, darn it, I just don't want to send her off to school to get a barely-education with potential for being made fun of, bored, and exposed to cultural ways of acting we generally don't agree with.
So, back to the idea. Somehow, the way we have been trying to get Math done has not worked for Emily. There is no tempting her with video games, no timing for the sake of timing, no work for an hour, get a break. So, it comes to a method as old as 2 year olds. Food. We will be using candy to get her to finish in a timely manner. The clock gets set for 45 minutes, and if she finishes in that time, she'll get a certain amount of candy. Every 5 minutes past that decreases the amount by one. The reason I post about this today is because we tried it! While every other math lesson has taken at least half a day, she had this one sewn up in 38 minutes. I realize that this could be classified as bribery. So could video-game time, and so could a paycheck. How many people would go to work if there were no paycheck waiting on Friday? Oh, wait, I guess I would, wouldn't I? Ha ha, but seriously.
I'm elated! Now all the good things that I can point out about homeschooling make sense! She couldn't do dance class, Aikido, orchestra, rocket building, apple picking, history class, playing with her friends, or reading in her room during school hours. And so much more! I think part of her just wants to see what all the fuss is about, and I can understand that. What I have been trying to do is give her the good parts of school without all the crap that usually goes with it.
Her Sunday School teacher is wonderful, we are starting a history class only 1/4 taught by me, she'll be going to a Numeracy Club soon, which I'm psyched about, so we have plenty of 'classes' in the mix. I'm hoping we can tip the scales in our favor with our new Math-getting-done technique. Can't get paid in candy for doing math in school. That's what I'll tell her if she gives me grief tomorrow. Or maybe I've played that card too much, and it's time to retire it. I'll have to think of something else...hmmm, always something new to ponder!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Day 9
I took a new tack today, mostly out of necessity. We had a doctor's appointment that was about an hour away, and had to get the oil changed beforehand. It turned out that the hour before we left was spent eating and getting dressed (why do I always forget about those things?) so we took our school with us. The oil change was fine, as we got lost in our spiral notebook playing hangman. I think we only play it when we get the oil changed, so it's always a bit new for them. The trick came to dealing with the car ride to Albany.
The deal was, if people did their work, they could play their DSs on the way home. This worked beautifully with my boy. He will do anything for an electronic game of any sort. It was a good way to go since the appointment was for him, and it gave him something else to think about. In the end, on the way up, he even played with his sister. On the way back, he was so relieved that the appointment was over, he didn't even seem to mind that his DS ran out of charge. Poor kid.
Trouble was, it didn't work for my girl. She just doesn't care. She's more interested in anything going on around her, or reading a book, or talking to someone. In the end, she didn't finish her lesson until dinner was done. Not when we were home, not when dinner was cooking, but when dinner was DONE.
Here's where the 'new' part kicks in. I told her she had to do it. Many times. But I didn't make a big deal of it, and when there was something else that took her interest, I let her be. Sometimes you have to let it go. In the end, the work got done, and she probably doesn't feel like the whole day was eaten up with it the way I do. She was too busy doing all manner of other thing much more important than Saxon. She was just living life.
Maybe I need to take a lesson from her.
The deal was, if people did their work, they could play their DSs on the way home. This worked beautifully with my boy. He will do anything for an electronic game of any sort. It was a good way to go since the appointment was for him, and it gave him something else to think about. In the end, on the way up, he even played with his sister. On the way back, he was so relieved that the appointment was over, he didn't even seem to mind that his DS ran out of charge. Poor kid.
Trouble was, it didn't work for my girl. She just doesn't care. She's more interested in anything going on around her, or reading a book, or talking to someone. In the end, she didn't finish her lesson until dinner was done. Not when we were home, not when dinner was cooking, but when dinner was DONE.
Here's where the 'new' part kicks in. I told her she had to do it. Many times. But I didn't make a big deal of it, and when there was something else that took her interest, I let her be. Sometimes you have to let it go. In the end, the work got done, and she probably doesn't feel like the whole day was eaten up with it the way I do. She was too busy doing all manner of other thing much more important than Saxon. She was just living life.
Maybe I need to take a lesson from her.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Day 8
Here we are at Day 8. I hate it that thenumber of days are off because of Labor Day. I like it when they all line up like soldiers in groups of 5. Found out last night that Steve, my husband, is off today! We got to sleep late, which I like, but it meant a late start, which I am starting to detest.
It just throws us off, and for good measure, Emily decides to give me all manner of hard time again. The rats were the only thing that could help, but not without so many false starts and breaks that we didn't finish up until nearly 3, and that was only doing one page of English, a Daily Gram, and one math lesson! Good thing we did finish then, as I ended up going with Steve to a meeting and going out later, then we met all the kids at a Little League game, which we don't participate in, but I don't mind going and watching the game a bit. Free entertainment! Yay! The kids seemed to have a good time, so that worked out.
Tomorrow, we are going up to a medical appointment. I already warned the kids that they have to do their math speedy tomorrow, so we'll see if that pans out. Either that or we take it with us and do it in the doctor's office. They'd LOOOOve that!
It just throws us off, and for good measure, Emily decides to give me all manner of hard time again. The rats were the only thing that could help, but not without so many false starts and breaks that we didn't finish up until nearly 3, and that was only doing one page of English, a Daily Gram, and one math lesson! Good thing we did finish then, as I ended up going with Steve to a meeting and going out later, then we met all the kids at a Little League game, which we don't participate in, but I don't mind going and watching the game a bit. Free entertainment! Yay! The kids seemed to have a good time, so that worked out.
Tomorrow, we are going up to a medical appointment. I already warned the kids that they have to do their math speedy tomorrow, so we'll see if that pans out. Either that or we take it with us and do it in the doctor's office. They'd LOOOOve that!
Day 7-Yesterday
So this is what happens when we have a good day. I completely miss posting! I guess that lends new meaning to the phrase "No news is good news."
We actually got some schoolwork done before we had to leave for dance, which was pretty cool. We invented a new game with a plastic dragon we bought at Michael's as we searched for a candy thermometer the day before ("Fourteen dollars?! Are you kidding me? I'll test it on my wrist!") We now have a Math Dragon (alternate name the Number Dragon) who does not like it when people are not working on math. The Math Dragon will sometimes advance towards the kid not working, and the only way to ward it off is to do a math problem quick! Other times, the Math Dragon kidnaps (ratnaps?) the plastic rats and only gives them back once a certain number of problems are done (I divide the number of problems by the number of rats available to the math dragon). He has a convenient claw for holding onto the rat he is tempting them with, so it's entertaining at any rate.
For some reason, the other thing that motivates my kids when it comes to math fact sheets is having a plastic animal (a rat, of course) point his bewhiskered nose at each problem, skipping around the sheet as he does. I don't know why this keeps their attention the way it does, but if it works, what's a homeschooling mom to do?
At any rate, we went to dance. Emily and I. I have to say, Balkan Folk Dancing is a lot of fun! I can't believe we can go there and do this for free, and they teach us how and all! It just goes to show you that people can be very generous and kind. I just hope my sad body can keep up with it. It's a lot of footwork, which is fine. I found it very fun to focus on what I was doing, and lose my whole attention to learning the steps. The tricky part was some of the turning. It wasn't hard, just a bit ow-y. We'll have to take that as it comes.
After dance, we raced home, tried to collect Luke from Nana's house next door unsuccessfully, so I made lunch and went to the car, and beeped the horn for the kids to come. Turned out that they were trying to get into the house, so they flew into the car and off we went to meet our once-a-week co-op to feed the fish downtown at the Strand. Very nice, right? It all went off smoothly. We were almost going to be on time! Fifteen minutes into our 25 minute ride, my son announces that he has no shoes. No shoes. Like, really, NO SHOES!! Now I know why I don't mind usually having all manner of stuff in the car. No shoes. I turned around, went home, we got shoes and went back to town. Our friends were still there even though we were a bit more than fashionably late, and the afternoon was quite pleasant. We fed the fish, we chatted, we wandered around, we bought a lemonade and did bubbles and sidewalk chalk.
And when we came home, what did we do? Well, we finished our work! With hardly any complaining! And I learned that I had an extra day before I have to zip up to a medical appointment that's an hour away! Life is good!
But really, no shoes?
We actually got some schoolwork done before we had to leave for dance, which was pretty cool. We invented a new game with a plastic dragon we bought at Michael's as we searched for a candy thermometer the day before ("Fourteen dollars?! Are you kidding me? I'll test it on my wrist!") We now have a Math Dragon (alternate name the Number Dragon) who does not like it when people are not working on math. The Math Dragon will sometimes advance towards the kid not working, and the only way to ward it off is to do a math problem quick! Other times, the Math Dragon kidnaps (ratnaps?) the plastic rats and only gives them back once a certain number of problems are done (I divide the number of problems by the number of rats available to the math dragon). He has a convenient claw for holding onto the rat he is tempting them with, so it's entertaining at any rate.
For some reason, the other thing that motivates my kids when it comes to math fact sheets is having a plastic animal (a rat, of course) point his bewhiskered nose at each problem, skipping around the sheet as he does. I don't know why this keeps their attention the way it does, but if it works, what's a homeschooling mom to do?
At any rate, we went to dance. Emily and I. I have to say, Balkan Folk Dancing is a lot of fun! I can't believe we can go there and do this for free, and they teach us how and all! It just goes to show you that people can be very generous and kind. I just hope my sad body can keep up with it. It's a lot of footwork, which is fine. I found it very fun to focus on what I was doing, and lose my whole attention to learning the steps. The tricky part was some of the turning. It wasn't hard, just a bit ow-y. We'll have to take that as it comes.
After dance, we raced home, tried to collect Luke from Nana's house next door unsuccessfully, so I made lunch and went to the car, and beeped the horn for the kids to come. Turned out that they were trying to get into the house, so they flew into the car and off we went to meet our once-a-week co-op to feed the fish downtown at the Strand. Very nice, right? It all went off smoothly. We were almost going to be on time! Fifteen minutes into our 25 minute ride, my son announces that he has no shoes. No shoes. Like, really, NO SHOES!! Now I know why I don't mind usually having all manner of stuff in the car. No shoes. I turned around, went home, we got shoes and went back to town. Our friends were still there even though we were a bit more than fashionably late, and the afternoon was quite pleasant. We fed the fish, we chatted, we wandered around, we bought a lemonade and did bubbles and sidewalk chalk.
And when we came home, what did we do? Well, we finished our work! With hardly any complaining! And I learned that I had an extra day before I have to zip up to a medical appointment that's an hour away! Life is good!
But really, no shoes?
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Day 6
What happened to the weekend? How did we get to this day already? Was it the day from hell? Or did it just feel like it? Is it PMS? Menopause? I just don't know. I don't know if it's me, the kids, one of the kids, or the world.
We could not get work done today. I made the mistake of starting with the fun stuff, since I was looking forward to it, and it smacked me in the face. ALWAYS start with the regular stuff, and save the fun stuff for later. We spent most of the day trying to get ONE math lesson done. Granted, we did get work done on the Lesson Pathways project for The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, but I'm not sure if I can count that with a good conscience until math is accomplished as well. The projects are fun, but I might be the only one who really likes them. The good thing is that Lesson Pathways offers so much that if they don't like it, I can do something else tomorrow.
Maybe I'm expecting too much from them. We did decide that we should only work for one hour at a time, then have a 15 minute break. Seems like a good plan.
We could not get work done today. I made the mistake of starting with the fun stuff, since I was looking forward to it, and it smacked me in the face. ALWAYS start with the regular stuff, and save the fun stuff for later. We spent most of the day trying to get ONE math lesson done. Granted, we did get work done on the Lesson Pathways project for The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, but I'm not sure if I can count that with a good conscience until math is accomplished as well. The projects are fun, but I might be the only one who really likes them. The good thing is that Lesson Pathways offers so much that if they don't like it, I can do something else tomorrow.
Maybe I'm expecting too much from them. We did decide that we should only work for one hour at a time, then have a 15 minute break. Seems like a good plan.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Day 5
TGILabor Day Weekend. Seriously.
It is now 8pm, and we have our dear niece overnight. She's fine, Emily is fine, even Luke is fine. The only trouble is my crazy son went insane today and wouldn't do his math lesson. So, now he has to do his math. Eek. I guess his mood is improved from earlier, so I have high hopes that math will be done before bed.
Also, found out today that our schedule is going to be a bit tighter than I thought. Someone scheduled something for a day we didn't want it. Now I'll be jetting across the county once a week.
Did I mention I'm glad we've gotten to the weekend?
It is now 8pm, and we have our dear niece overnight. She's fine, Emily is fine, even Luke is fine. The only trouble is my crazy son went insane today and wouldn't do his math lesson. So, now he has to do his math. Eek. I guess his mood is improved from earlier, so I have high hopes that math will be done before bed.
Also, found out today that our schedule is going to be a bit tighter than I thought. Someone scheduled something for a day we didn't want it. Now I'll be jetting across the county once a week.
Did I mention I'm glad we've gotten to the weekend?
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Day 4
We're closing in on one week! It's gone fairly well, but again, Emily is giving me grief over math. Today, I tried to get creative with it. We made a game out of school today. A toy was being argued over, and I took it away. I told them that in order to find the toy, they had to get 4 plastic animals. The plastic animals each got assigned tasks by the kids (school goals, determined by me). Once they finished their task, the kids would ask, "Did he find it?" Oh, so hopefully. Nope. Didn't find it. One by one, they had to accomplish the task, and one by one the animals would disappear! Finally, all the schoolwork was done, and all the animals were gone. I produced a new crew who were assigned the task of finding the animals that had gone missing. When they found those, the toy would be found! They had a great time hunting the living room for where I had planted the various critters. At the end, they got the final clue: The toy was somewhere very cold. The freezer! They ran and found it. Not bad.
In the past, to do math drills, we've done our own version of a game show, with multiple contestants (plastic animals), flashcards and a sheet to keep score. The caveat is that if one of the contestants gets an answer wrong, the owner of the contestant has to tell them the right answer. They love the game, but the best part is at the end when the loser gets placed in a freezer-proof cup or container in water, and placed in the freezer overnight! I don't know why they like it, but they do, and we often have contestants that don't know 1+1, but at least I know the kids do!
So, on to tomorrow. Maybe I'll try to get them to do the hundred-fact math sheet by freezing them. I don't know if I mean the sheets or the kids.
In the past, to do math drills, we've done our own version of a game show, with multiple contestants (plastic animals), flashcards and a sheet to keep score. The caveat is that if one of the contestants gets an answer wrong, the owner of the contestant has to tell them the right answer. They love the game, but the best part is at the end when the loser gets placed in a freezer-proof cup or container in water, and placed in the freezer overnight! I don't know why they like it, but they do, and we often have contestants that don't know 1+1, but at least I know the kids do!
So, on to tomorrow. Maybe I'll try to get them to do the hundred-fact math sheet by freezing them. I don't know if I mean the sheets or the kids.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Day 3
At the end of the day, I guess if we got the work done, that's the important thing.
Today we went to a new class. Well, the class isn't new, but it's new to us. It's a folk dancing class, and it looked like much more fun than I thought it would be. Emily constantly amazes me how she is willing to put herself out there to try new things. She really did well!
We also went to the zoo and fed the animals and met some people we didn't know with some people we did. Again, the kids did well, and even though the temperature was in the 90's, they held it together until they could tear me away from the conversations about an hour and a half after our arrival.
So far, so good, you say. Well, there the gravy train ends. Math was a disaster with Emily. Maybe I had the day too scheduled. Um, no, no maybe about it. Got to learn to pace myself. But I can't let math go on any day, since we have 120 lessons, and we certainly can't do more than one lesson in a day anymore. We used to get away with that in the lower grades, but they've got our number now, and it's more paced to one a day. Ugh. The thing that gets me is that the reason she gives me grief isn't because she doesn't know the stuff, it's because she's bored. And I fault the curriculum for that, but someone insists that this is the best one. It's REPETITIVE REPETITIVE REPETITIVE. And just in case, they repeat everything one more time. Then, to be sure, bring it up later.
I see why they do it. It does really drive the concept home, and the fact that they bring the same concepts up over and over reinforces the bonds wiring the brain. I get it. The trouble is, the kids get sick of it. Oh well. They'd have the same problem in school, so I guess I just have to keep plugging away. At least there are some things that make math fun for them. Several books are a help. The Number Devil by Enzensberger, or the Life of Fred series by Schmidt (for a little older kids) are very entertaining while being invaluably educational. There are web sites that have games that also help. We have the Personal Math Trainer for the DS as well.
I guess I just have to mix it up a bit and keep going. That seems to have been my philosophy throughout, so on we go...
Today we went to a new class. Well, the class isn't new, but it's new to us. It's a folk dancing class, and it looked like much more fun than I thought it would be. Emily constantly amazes me how she is willing to put herself out there to try new things. She really did well!
We also went to the zoo and fed the animals and met some people we didn't know with some people we did. Again, the kids did well, and even though the temperature was in the 90's, they held it together until they could tear me away from the conversations about an hour and a half after our arrival.
So far, so good, you say. Well, there the gravy train ends. Math was a disaster with Emily. Maybe I had the day too scheduled. Um, no, no maybe about it. Got to learn to pace myself. But I can't let math go on any day, since we have 120 lessons, and we certainly can't do more than one lesson in a day anymore. We used to get away with that in the lower grades, but they've got our number now, and it's more paced to one a day. Ugh. The thing that gets me is that the reason she gives me grief isn't because she doesn't know the stuff, it's because she's bored. And I fault the curriculum for that, but someone insists that this is the best one. It's REPETITIVE REPETITIVE REPETITIVE. And just in case, they repeat everything one more time. Then, to be sure, bring it up later.
I see why they do it. It does really drive the concept home, and the fact that they bring the same concepts up over and over reinforces the bonds wiring the brain. I get it. The trouble is, the kids get sick of it. Oh well. They'd have the same problem in school, so I guess I just have to keep plugging away. At least there are some things that make math fun for them. Several books are a help. The Number Devil by Enzensberger, or the Life of Fred series by Schmidt (for a little older kids) are very entertaining while being invaluably educational. There are web sites that have games that also help. We have the Personal Math Trainer for the DS as well.
I guess I just have to mix it up a bit and keep going. That seems to have been my philosophy throughout, so on we go...
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