Day 50

Such a full day!  Poor Emily must be exhausted.  We started with Dance, and Luke went to Nana's house.  Then we went to the Esopus Bend Preserve with our group, COKAH.  We have been slowly evolving into something we weren't when we started, but I'm good with it.  It was great when the kids were younger, and it's great now.  Just different.  But then, so is life, so it's all good. 

After our walk, we dropped off the dopey dog at home, and played Flip4, a math game that they seem to like.  It's all about adding, subtracting and multiplying the dice rolls.  After that, I took them to Aikido.

Full day, right?  Well, not done!  Dad decided to do chemistry tonight.  It was the perfect lesson for tonight, because it was basically a refresher, and building an atom.  They then did the Crazy Electron Dance, which I unfortunately missed a picture of.  You haven't lived until you've seen two 9-year-olds and a grown adult doing the Crazy Electron Dance around the nucleus of black and yellow balloons.  It was really cool.

Not sure if you can see the plus signs on the yellow balloons showing that they are the protons, and they have grapes in their hands for the electrons.  They were very enthusiastic about this, which is saying something considering how busy we were all day!

Days 48, 49

Wow, mamma never said there'd be days like this!  What a roller coaster ride!  I have to say, by the end of the day, I've been ready to knock a few back.

Anyway,  the big news for us right now is we are thinking of switching math curricula.  More than thinking, actually.  Emily has complained from the beginning that Saxon moves too slowly, is boring, is not challenging.  I have talked to MANY homeschoolers who use Singapore, and all really like it.  Understandably, DH is worried that it won't be comprehensive enough.  I understand his concern.  After all, one of the main complaints against homeschoolers at the college where he teaches is lack of preparedness in math (right after science lab work).  Not that they can't catch up, but if we can actually give them an edge, why shouldn't we?  So, we go looking at Singapore with some trepidation.  We are still in the placement test phase, and I'm really quite surprised at where they seem to be placing.  In Saxon, we are doing 5/4, and they are both pretty bored.  Not that they get everything right, but it doesn't seem like the lessons are teaching anything new, and what they get wrong will come with practice. 
So, what it boils down to is that we need something that is challenging, that we can suppliment with additional rote math as we will.  I think Singapore may be the answer, so we'll see!

Since I'm covering two days, I'll add another topic here.  I had been getting complaints about certain activities that we do (via the wondertwins).  I haven't heard so many lately, and I decided to ask how we felt about these activities. 
"So how do you guys like Orchestra?"  Last year: 1. OK  2.  Hate it!
This year: 1.  Good!  2.  Yeah!

"So how do you feel about Numeracy Club?"  3 weeks ago:  1 and 2.  BORING!
This week:  1 and 2.  Better!

"So what do you think of history?"  1.  I hate history!  2.  I hate history class!
This week:  1.  It's ok  2.  Not too bad.

Maybe we're settling into the routine, but I think it's a little more than that.  I think it's me learning two things:

1.  How to teach a little more effectively, and
2.  How to release my grip on them a bit and let them choose to go or not.

I'm learning all the time with this process called Homeschooling.  I'm learning academically (my addition has never been so good!) and otherwise.  In some ways, it drives me crazy, but sometimes I think this is the best job ever.

Day 47

In Which... We have a Slow Day, and Still Manage to do Little Academic Work

Actually, we got our math and English done.  We also practiced instruments, made caramel apples, and read about Bonfire Night, which is celebrated in England.  It's basically a celebration of the foiling of a plot to kill the king in the 1600's.  We made effigies of monsters, and talked about it being a celebration of burning the 'boogey man', and then we burned them outside in the very damp fire pit.  Luke was hesitant about the dark, but he braved up when the dog came out, too. 

Well, I'm off to finish making dinner.  I'm a hard worker, and I'm whipping together a dish I call "Fries with Dogs".  Can you guess?  At least dessert will be good... (Can you believe I asked the kids if "dessert' has one 's' or two?)

Day 46

Here I am again.  And I did indeed get my quarterly done.  Not mailed, mind you, but done at any rate.  My quarterly is very simple, and here's most of it:

Subject                 Materials/Covered                                                        Grade (P/F)

Math	Saxon Math Grade 4 lessons 1-35, Flip4 math game, Numeracy Club	Pass
Reading	Library program, independent reading e.g. Howl’s Moving Castle, the Harry Potter series, the Warriors series	Pass
Writing	Daily Grams, “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” lapbook project, Postcrossing: postcard writing	Pass
English	Library story time, English Fourth Grade Workbook, Daily Grams Spelling Connections	Pass
Geography	Geographic terms, maps, map reading skills	Pass
History	A Little History of the World by E.H. Gombrich, Brainpop US History class, Usborne World History, Timeline started	Pass
Science	Chemistry: elements, compounds, mixtures, atoms, periodic table Family Mole Night at SUNY NP Rocket Day Zoo program, Numeracy Club	Pass
Health	Hygene, diet, nutrition	Pass
Music	Singing, participation in MUSET orchestra weekly with practice in between on trumpet, exposure to various types of music, note reading	Pass
Art	Various crafts, card-making, drawing, painting Picturing America program Museums	Pass
Physical Education	Swimming Lessons, Hiking, Walking, Tennis, Aikido lessons, Outdoor recreation, Independent play	Pass

I always do grading pass/fail for my reports.  The fact is that *I* know how they are doing, and they are never failing, since as soon as something is not understood, we slow down and make sure that it is.  The school district will get the end-of-year test scores anyway, so pass/fail is fine.  It makes this process much more bearable.  I'm not sure if I can continue this into high school, but as long as it works, this is what I'll use! 

Day 45

Day 45.  So did I do my quarterly report?  No, no.  Don't be silly.  I spent all day searching for a library book and playing pyromaniac. 

Actually, we did go to Dance today and got math and English done.  Other than that, the kids played outside, visited with Nana, and generally were happy to amuse themselves while I dashed about looking for a book that does not seem to be in the house.  Then I realized tonight that our crayons are missing too.  They were in the same bag for History class a couple of weeks ago, so I have a suspicion they will all turn up together.

Anyway, on to the pyromaniac issue.  We are going to do a map for the Explorers section of history, and one of the people in the class kindly donated the paper bags.  I unfolded and ripped each one up, then burned all the edges (outside at the advice of my kids) then crumpled them and then ironed them.  I questioned my self about the crumple-then-iron technique.  It seemed counterintuitive.  Why am I wrinkling something just to smooth it out?  I go to great pains not to wrinkle anything that would have to be ironed.  But I have to say, it came out pretty good, and I'll hopefully be posting pictures of maps tomorrow on 'scrolls'. 

Ok, other than that, I'm pooped, so the quarterly will go out tomorrow, but won't be written until tomorrow in the am.  Sigh...

Day 44

One more day before my first quarterly is due in.  Thankfully my school district is fairly easy going.  I'm not worried about it, and I may even do it during the day tomorrow.  I basically take last year's first quarterly report and keep the format, changing the info as needed.

According to the HSLDA web site:

"Required Days of Instruction: The substantial equivalent of 180 days. 900 hours per year for grades 1-6; 990 hours per year for grades 7-12. Required Subjects: (grades K through 12): patriotism and citizenship, about substance abuse, traffic safety, fire safety; (grades 1 through 6): arithmetic, reading, spelling, writing, English, geography, United States history, science, health, music, visual arts, and physical education; (grades 7 and 8): English, history and geography, science, mathematics, physical education, health, art, music, practical arts, and library skills; (at least once in first 8 grades): United States and New York history and constitutions; (grades 9 through 12): 4 credits English, 4 credits of social studies—including American history, participation in government, and economics—2 credits of math, 2 credits of science, 1 credit of art or music, .5 credit of health, 2 credits of physical education, and 3 credits of electives. N.Y. Educ. Law §§ 801, 804, 806, 808, 3204. "

This seems very loose, and it is.  This is NY State law, and it's what we follow.  Hence the fact that I'm sending my quarterly after 45 days.  I can't count the hours, because I wouldn't know what to count.  Do I count listening to an audio CD in the car?  Probably.  Do I count discussing nutrition and labelling in a food store?  Sure, but how long does that count for?  Who can say?  What are they learning by observing when I don't know?  Are they really learning when I think they are?  I also frequently make the mistake of not counting the preparation time.  This is supposed to be counted in the total number of hours as well.  I tried counting the hours when the kids were in kindergarten, and stopped half-way through because we were already close to 900.  So, I'll count the days and go with that. 

Today was light, and it was really quite nice.  We had the morning off, and played tennis in the surprisingly nice sun, then had Numeracy Club.  Even with the morning at home, lessons didn't get finished until the evening because everyone had projects they wanted to work on, and we also watched Assignment: the World.  I like the way they always draw them back in with a story they know kids will enjoy.  Today they talked about Wallabys.  We'll work on the three clues they give for next week, and maybe we'll actually be able to guess what the stories will be if we get to it, but for now, it's enough to work out the clues and see that we got them right.  One thing at a time!

All in all, a decent day!

Day 43

Another Monday.  As usual, we were late to MUSET.  Not only that, but we managed to leave Emily's violin behind.  This is the third year we are in MUSET, and I don't recall ever leaving anything behind before.  That said, we did stay afterward and play, chat, eat lunch, and generally decompress after a long weekend of driving and wedded bliss for my brother and his new wife.

When we got home, my attention turned to books, at which Luke balked.  I decided to turn my attention elsewhere, and that's when I noticed how wilted the morning glory had gotten in the cold.  With that, I got the clippers and a bunch of gloves out, and got the kids outside.  They helped all the way through as we tore down all the vines.  We pulled them out of lattice, off railings, out of drainage, out of the floor.  It was crazy, and the kids loved it.  They got to use the clippers, and they got to yank and pull and have vines fall on their heads.  Then they rolled in them and hauled them away.  There are many, many days where if you told me they would do all this work, I would probably just laugh or cry.  Emily took some pictures to prove it really did happen.  Well, that may not be why she took them, but it's why I'll save them.



In summer, it was beautiful and provided shade and privacy!



Earlier today, eek!



My hard-working boy, taken by
my hard-working girl!