Can't BELIEVE so much time has passed since my last entry.

We've been busy.  The boys are heavily into their academic routine and Scouts.

I am thankful for Scouts.  It provides the boys with opportunities they would not otherwise pursue.  Once they're exposed to - let's say.....hiking to the top of a mountain - they realize they actually enjoy it and we find ourselves hiking to more fun locations as a family.  Scouts has made finguring out how to get my homeschooled boys to find their passions a LOT easier for me.

Not much else has been happening here.  BLAH.  I need to find ways to shake things up a bit, or it's going to get OLD really fast. 

I've been researching some fun learning sites online the last couple of days.  I've included some great links in my sidebar.  Check them out!

From the House of Hooligans ~ Happy Fall, Y'all!

The folks from AO emailed me yesterday and asked if I would put a link to their site on my blog.  They thanked me first , of course, for mentioning their product in my blog.  When I read their message, I wasn't quite sure how I felt about a company asking me to provide free advertising - but then I realized that I had already done it.  Hahaha.  Truly ~ I do not mind a bit that they contacted me and truly I am most happy to say I LOVE the Switched on Schoolhouse and Lifepac that we are using this year.  I will happily include a link to their site on my blog and hope you'll give them a look.

Since I'm sending you to see what they have, I think it is only fair that I should share our experience with their products ~

We are using the History (sixth grade) Lifepac along with the Switched On Schoolhouse computer program.  I was not familiar with either program when I purchased them.  I purchased the Lifepac first.  After looking it over, I wasn't happy with its simplicity.  I knew that one pass through a lesson and filling in the blanks would not be enough for my fellas to retain important information.  I needed something that would reach out and grab them.  SO....I thought I would order a computer history program to see if it would capture their attention a little better.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the SOS History is the EXACT same program as the History Lifepac.   We use the Lifepac as a supplement to reinforce the computer program - and so far, the boys are doing a GREAT job.

Maybe AO would consider selling a combination pack.  *grin*   *hint hint hint*  Or maybe they already do, and I just haven't figured it out yet???

From the House of Hooligans ~ Have a happy Wednesday! 

We have settled into our school-day routine - surprisingly fast.  I thought it would take at least a month for the boys to ease into their VERY full schedule.  I was wrong, wrong, wrong.  They are SO ready to learn and they are buzzing through their day at an amazing pace.

They both begin their day at 7:00am.  I can't say they're happy about that part of their schedule.  *chuckle*  They eat breakfast, get dressed, and do their morning chores between 7:00 and 8:00.  At 8:00, they are at their computers, working on their blogs (VERY fun way to sneak in some creative writing).  The rest of their day goes something like this ~

•  8:20   -   8:40  Spelling Drills (Dr. Aardsma) and Copywork (See Copywork Blog Entry)
•  8:40   -   9:00  Vocabulary (Wordly Wise 3000)
•  9:00   -   9:30  Grammar (Easy Grammar)
•  9:30   - 10:00  Writing (Institute for Excellence in Writing)
• 10:00  - 10:15  Break
• 10:15  - 10:45  History (Switched on Schoolhouse and LifePac)
• 10:45  - 11:15  Spanish (Rosetta Stone)
• 11:15  - 11:45  Math (MathUSee)
• 11:45  - 12:30  Lunch
• 12:30  -   2:00  Science (Apologia)

I also require one hour of reading (They gladly read for longer periods of time....but as long as they give me an hour, I'm happy.).

It looks like they have zero wiggle room, but this is actually working out great for us!  They've already learned that they can 'bank time saved' on one subject to use somewhere else.  Without knowing it, they are learning time management.   

They'll stay busy four days a week.  On Fridays, we will have out-of-house learning.  Every other Friday, we will spend several hours at the library (finding new books to read and doing research).  On the Fridays we don't go to the library, we'll have a little fun!

Well ~ there you have it.  The House of Hooligans Homeschool Schedule.  It will make us stronger or it will kill us.  Hahahaha.

From the House of Hooligans ~ Have a restful evening! 

My first grade teacher (who was also my father's first grade teacher - if you can believe that!) deemed good penmanship a necessary life skill.  I remember our handwriting lessons vividly.  I look at my first grade work every now and then (my mom still has copies of stories I wrote all those years ago) and marvel at the difference in my writing and that of my children.  Somehow, my daughter came through the public school system with beautiful handwriting.  My boys, on the other hand, have not fared so well in that area. 

A battle I continually fought with their teachers was over their penmanship.  I simply could not accept the school's tolerance of the scrawl my boys were permitted to pass off as 'handwriting'.  *I* knew they could do better and I demanded it.  Their teachers knew they could do better, too.  They would not demand it. 

When we brought learning home, one of the first things I addressed was penmanship.  I found Handwriting Without Tears and pushed my middle school level boys all the way back to the basics.  I had them complete several lessons of printing, then bumped them up to cursive (something my fifth grade son had not been taught in public school - I was STUNNED).  I had them complete the HWT Cursive book TWICE before I was satisfied they had mastered correct letter formation.

Still, they show a great deal of laziness in this area.  I am determined this is going to change.  *grin*

On the first day of school, I pulled out a notebook I found while cleaning out some boxes this summer.  In this notebook I have a collection of quotes, poems, song lyrics, and 'blurbs' from short stories and plays I enjoyed when I was about their age.  They looked at just a few pages and it hit them - everything was hand copied.  Both commented on the neatness of my handwriting and how long it must have taken me to fill the notebook.  Both of them then realized one of the quotes in my book matched one written on the white board in our kitchen classroom.

OH!  THAT'S what this is all about ~ Mom is OH SO CLEVER!

From the House of Hooligans ~ Have an awesome weekend!

Well ~ We're off~

We began the 2008-2009 school year quietly and we're easing into what is going to be a pretty intense academic schedule.  When I asked what the boys thought of the new year so far, both yawned.  They are more than ready to be challenged.  We'll bump it up a notch today.

Yesterday, the boys started working with Rosetta Stone - Spanish Level 1.  They LOVE it!  Both are a little intimidated by the pronunciation segments - but only because they are nervous about everyone else in the house hearing them make a mistake.  I found that if I walked away and busied myself in the other room (where I could hear them....but they didn't KNOW I could hear them), they did much better.  This will be a challenge for Scott, whose ADHD seemed to get in the way a little bit yesterday.  I could hear him self adjusting, though - and by the end of the lesson, I could tell he was more aware of his need to focus.  I expect things will go better for him today as he knows more what to expect from the program.  Nick - flew through the lesson and wanted more.

We got the Switched on Schoolhouse History and Science in the mail yesterday.  I did some preliminary set up.  Today we'll see if this is going to be a good fit for us.  Pray for us!  I am just about out of ideas (and money) for bringing these two subjects to the intersection of learning and enjoyment.  With everything I have purchased for this year, I hope NOW I can pull everything together for a challenging and engaging course of study.

Alarm clocks are going off upstairs for the second time now (gotta love those snooze buttons).  I'm off to the races.

From the House of Hooligans ~ Have an AWESOME Thursday!

I used this morning to catch up on my blog.  I read over the few posts I've managed to click off the keyboard over the last couple of years (a sad few posts) and took the time to read the comments left by others.  I am so blessed by the words of others ~ and by the fact that they took time out of their day to view my entries.  I've added them as friends and will visit their pages often.  They have inspired me.

I'm "caught up".  Now ~ it's time to move on. 

Three days and counting.

From the House of Hooligans ~ Happy Weekend!  GO HOKIES!! 

Whatever doubts I had yesterday are gone. As I sat here today watching my lesson plans for the year finally begin to take on some definite...organized form, I became more and more convinced that I've worried for nothing about the upcoming school year - and the boys' seeming desire to return to public school. I am very pleased with the resources I've chosen for each subject and I'm reasonably sure the boys will be equally as pleased.

I have allowed for a four day in-house school week, with Friday as our day for out-of-house learning. The boys will work through five subjects each day - from 8:00am until 2:00pm. This probably sounds like a rigid schedule to some - but I tried a more relaxed schedule last year and the result was hearing my boys talk about going back to "real school".

If my plan grabs their attention as it has already grabbed mine, this should be a year filled with enough challenges and successes to redefine "real school".

Pray for us.

From the House of Hooligans ~ Have an awesome evening!

Actually ~ the countdown started about two weeks ago.  I've been gleefully ticking off the days since my youngest son whined one sunny afternoon, "I'm boooooooored."  Naturally, I suggested he could start school early and do a little math review - an idea he readily rejected (with the look of horror on his face). 

The idea made sense to *me*.

Both boys, now 12 and 14, are talking more and more about going back to public school - and this breaks my heart.  At first, I didn't know how to respond.  I was torn between standing firm in the decision we made two years ago to leave that rat race behind us and giving in to their yearning for the 'normal life'.  There are still days I wonder if I am doing the right thing - but for now, I've decided to dig my heels in deeper and stand firm. 

So - the countdown has begun.  School will be in session bright and early next Tuesday morning.

From the House of Hooligans ~ 8 Days (and counting)

I don't know if I will ever shake the public school mentality I seem to be stuck in, but I am proud to say I have ventured outside the box a little bit.  This week, I noticed for the first time, the signs of boredom in my sons' eyes.  They are buzzing through their daily studies and wanting more.  THAT is something I never thought I'd be able to say and I am so very pleased that God has brought us to this point. 

I've been sitting at the computer daily, searching and searching for something new that will ignite the fire we had in the beginning (only 1 1/2 short years ago!).....and it hit me!  Unit Studies.  I'm so thrilled to have found a unit study on - my favorite subject of all time - chocolate!  At first I thought this was too 'elementary school' for my middle school boys, but I have been VERY pleasantly surprised.  They LOVE this method of learning.  They're excited about starting their school work every morning. 

I'm absolutely thrilled.  Now, I'm looking for unit studies for EVERYTHING. 

Well....I'm off now....to see if there are enough M&Ms left for a fractions lesson (*chucke* ~ Did I mention there are definite advantages to this method of learning?). 

From the House of Hooligans ~ Have an AWESOME Friday!

AHHHH!  Is it only Thursday?  I am pulling my hair out this week! 

I know I am teaching two sons.  I know both are different.  I know their learning styles are different and I know they have different strengths and weaknesses.  AND...I know they both like to work at different speeds.

But....this week - one has purposed to drive his mother c*r*a*z*y.

Meet Mojo and Slow Joe.

Mojo is my younger son.  He has always been my early riser.  He works best in the mornings.  Since Christmas break, he has been getting up almost an hour early JUST so he can finish his school work early. Ah....my wise little bird....catching the best worms.

Now, meet Slow Joe.  This is my older son.  He is my grumpy riser.  He works best when he feels like it.  Since Christmas break, he has been getting up late JUST so he can delay his school work.  Ah....my sleepy little bird....catching the best zzzzzzzzzzzzs.

Ok.  Feeble attempt at humor aside, this has been a REALLY difficult week.  Slow Joe has been dragging through every single subject.  This lack of speed doesn't concern me nearly as much as his lack of focus.  I know it is the ADHD rearing its ugly head, but it has been exhaustingly frustrating watching him snail through one math problem after another - all while constantly asking me how to implement concepts he has already mastered (I THOUGHT!).  And, please, don't ask him this week what a 'verb' is....because if you do, you'll be left to wonder HOW one can "jigsaw puzzle" up a tree.

I don't know what to do to fix this.  I don't even know if I SHOULD do anything to fix it.  We have been through this before.....and just when I didn't think there was any more hair to pull out of my head, Slow Joe finds his mojo again.

So I'm left to wonder ~ do I wait this out and hope the 'missing pieces' fall back into place?  Do I backtrack and go over 'lost' concepts once again?  

*sigh*  I guess I'll get another cup o' joe and think about it some more.

From the House of Hooligans ~ Happy Almost Weekend!   

Isn't this where we started last year?  Back to basics?!  I can't believe, after everything settled into a beautifully peaceful routine, that I allowed myself to be lured into the craziness again.

My last entry was in September.  At that time I was feeling disconnected.  School was in session, but we were going nowhere.  But that wasn't from lack of motion.  We were moving.  A lot.

I don't know if I was more insecure with my ability to teach my sons or insecure about my ability to socialize my sons....but I got the bright idea to enroll them in a local enrichment center for two classes - one of which I decided I would teach.  This put us out of the house two days a week AND time I should have been planning lessons for my boys, I was using to plan for the class I was teaching.  The result:  the boys are waaaaaaay behind in reaching their adademic goals for the year.

Being behind academically isn't a big deal, really.  We can catch up on lessons - where we are lacking quantity, we make up in quality (isn't that what homeschooling is all about?).  The bigger deal for me is that I doubted myself and discounted the huge success of our first year at home. 

My boys thrive when surrounded by routine and organization (truly a funny statement if you really know me!).  Last year's success was due to my ability to maintain a fair amount of both.  For us, this means limiting outside distractions.  Allowing two full days of of those distractions was a HUGE mistake on my part.

When I told the boys I had made the decision to withdraw them from the outside classes, I was SHOCKED to hear their reply ~ they were THRILLED!  My boys MISSED their lessons.  They missed their routine.  They missed the success they felt at the end of last year. 

So....here we are again.  Back to basics.  In the four full days we have been 'in session' since Christmas break, my youngest son has buzzed through SIX math lessons.  My oldest son ACED a math test last Friday.  Both are picking off prepositions and plowing through verb phrases at a record rate.  Both are excited about reading. 

I am working my way back to a level of organization that is acceptable.  I haven't reached Super Organizer yet, but I'm getting there. 

The disconnection we felt at the beginning of the year is gone.  We're going places now!  We're not moving nearly as much - but we're defintely going places!

From the House of Hooligans ~ Things are GREAT in 2008!

I'm a little confused. 

When exactly is the first day of school?

I ask this question because I know I've been getting out of bed at the crack of dawn for the last four weeks, and I know I've been driving my daughter across the street to the high school, and I know I've been dragging my OH SO 11 and 13 year old boys out of the bed each morning.  I know I've been pushing them through the usual school-time morning routine ~ get dressed, walk the dog, get breakfast, HFTD (hair, face, teeth, DEODORANT), feed the dog, empty the dishwasher.  But for some reason, after all of that (which seems to be somewhat disabling for my otherwise able-bodied boys), the school work is.....well.....I don't know WHAT the school work is doing.

We are having a REALLY hard time getting this year kick started. 

So, I'm thinking that maybe - just maybe - school really hasn't started yet and I'm just having the same silly dream every morning....you know, sort of like the dream I had as a kid when I would wake up thanking God I wasn't REALLY running for the bus in my underwear.  Maybe I'm just DREAMING that school has already started.  MAYBE I'm not as disconnected and disorganized as I am DREAMING I am.  Right?

From the House of Hooligans ~ It's good to be back!  (Last entry:  Feb. 2007?  YIKES!)

Multiplication 'Bunko' ~ If it kills me, we will master those multiplication facts!

We started off simply - with just a pair of dice for each player.  We simply rolled the dice, multiplied our numbers, and added our points.  The first one to 200 won.

Then we added a little spice to our game:  If we rolled doubles, those points were SUBTRACTED instead of added to our scores!  That was fun, but we were unable to practice multiplying the higher numbers.

SO....here is the game we ended up playing and enjoying:

Each player receives four dice (each pair a different color - i.e. a pair of blue dice and a pair of red dice).  Players take turns rolling their dice.  The sum of the blue dice times the sum of the red dice equals the points awarded.  If doubles are rolled (same color dice), those points are subtracted from the total score for that turn.  Snake eyes equals minus ten points!  We played to 1,000 points. 

This ended up being a great exercise for my ADHD son, who has a hard, hard time with multiple functions.  This game allowed him to practice adding, multiplying, and sometimes subtracting to get his score.  I am hoping this practice will carry over to his daily math practice - particularly with multiplying multi-digit numbers....and will also be helpful in the near future with division.

When I made the decision to teach my boys, I knew we would experience highs and lows.  The highs are wonderful and I come away from those days knowing without a doubt I have made the right choice.  The lows, on the other hand, leave me with deep feelings of self doubt - almost to the point of regret!  Do all first time home schoolers go through this?

We are standing still. 

I have one student who moves along at a stunning pace.  He takes in everything I give him and is always ready for more.  I could easily see him well above 'grade level' in no time....but I am holding him back.

I have another student who is sitting still - unable (or is it unwilling??  I don't know!) to move forward in math.  This is affecting every other aspect of his learning.

How do I get past this obstacle?  How do I allow one to excel while allowing the other to sit still?  If I allow one to push ahead, will this motivate the other - or will it discourage him? 

We have been way off our game since Christmas break.  I am in the middle of a period of self doubt.  This is the lowest low I've experienced thus far.  I don't like it - but I am determine not to allow it to take over.  We will come through this, I know.  I owe it to my boys to find a way to push upward into the high places again.

Pray for us.  :-) 

One of the first things people told me when I decided to teach my boys at home was ~ don't let the condition of your house get you down.  Now, everyone who knows me knows I am SuperMom, so why would anyone think that I couldn't keep my house spotless AND teach my boys at the same time?  Hahahahahahahaha.  Oh yes.  I had a LOT to learn about how my priorities were going to line up! 

This reality hit me fully this past month.  Let's see.  First, I didn't even THINK about putting the Christmas decorations away earlier than usual.  After all, it's family tradition to keep them up until the kids are back in school after New Year's Day.  Ooops!  The kids aren't "back in school" this year, are they?  When exactly was I going to get the decorations put away?  In between math and spelling?

Two weeks into the new year,  I came down with a lovely case of Norovirus.  I was unable to teach the boys for three days - which left them pretty much on their honor to get the basics done - math, grammar, spelling, reading.  After Day Three of watching my nearly non-functioning family from my sickbed (AKA: my watchpost on the family room sofa), another dose of reality thunked me upside the head:  The house is trashed and nobody knows how to untrash it without my direction.  I relunctantly dragged myself off the sofa (which by this time had molded itself comfortably around me), and discovered several areas of the house where Kryptonite had obviously been planted.  SuperMom has yet to recover from its crippling effects.

We managed to eek out two full days and then another full week of school lessons - HOWEVER - Laundry Mountain has not yet been 'conquered'.

Three days ago, Scott came down with the dreaded Norovirus.  After being up all night with him on Sunday night and then looking at him sleeping so peacefully on Monday morning, yet another reality hit me.  Who is going to teach Nick today?    I napped in between math and spelling pages.

Yesterday, I took the Christmas lights off the bushes in the front yard.  Thank the Good Lord they had green wires so they were not visible from the street. 

So, this is the current status report from our one house school room:  1.  Christmas lights are piled up in the foyer until I can get up into the attic to find the totes they live in until next Christmas.  2.  The living room sofa is stacked with Nick's school books - which Lucy (the dog) finds most comfortable, by the way.  3.  Don't EVEN venture into my kitchen.  Empty Gatorade and Pepto Bismol bottles line the countertop.  Sitting next to them are the tshirts the boys and I tye dyed with blueberry dye last week (the Phoenecians boiled snails - we felt the boiled blueberries would probably smell better).  4.  History books, spelling books, math drill worksheets, and a report about King Nebuchadnezzar lie in various states of disarray around the family room. 

The only semi-tidy spot in the whole room is my watchpost - where I think I will go now and take a nap.  Maybe I'll dream about the time when I was SuperMom, when my house was just a house.  Or maybe, I'll just take the advice everyone tried to give me in the beginning and just not let it get me down. 

From the House of Hooligans ~ Happy Last Day of January!  

I knew I wouldn't keep up with this.    Life has a way of just jumping in and taking over.  To be honest, after the first couple of weeks of trying to settle into a "good" daily routine for the boys, I became totally immersed in teaching them.  That left little time for anything else....most especially sharing our days with the rest of the world.    And I have the audacity to complain about feelings of isolation.

Let's see if I can catch up a bit.  I last posted in September!  Gee Whiz.  I didn't even make it one month!!

Since then, we have indeed settled into a "good routine".  In fact, it's so good - it's non existent!  I found out early on that my boys like to mix it up.  They are their mother's sons!  I have been thrilled to find out that we can still learn and have fun - a LOT of fun - at the same time.

The boys are moving along academically: 

Nick is working very close to grade level or above in math.  This was my goal for him for this year.  Next year he will exceed grade level standards with no problems!  He is a math whiz.  He didn't believe this of himself when we started.  I'm very proud of him - not just because he has exceeded my expectations academically, but more because he has allowed himself to believe in himself!  He is moving along swiftly and confidently in all other areas as well.  He is reading at a sixth grade level!  The boy can't get enough of books!  When we started, I had to force him to read.  I'll keep you posted!

Scott continues to concern me.  He is still working to master third grade material.  I showed in my letter of intent to the county that I would be teaching him on a sixth grade level.  I did not submit an IEP for him.  So, when I give him the standardized test at the sixth grade level, I am fearful that he will not pass the math section of the test.    I am looking for clever ways to get him to remember his multiplication facts.  Any suggestions readers have that would assist me would be MORE than appreciated!  Scott, as I may have mentioned in my earlier posts, has ADHD.  This stands in his way for doing things that are simple for other kids his age:  Memorization is a nightmare, as are tasks that involve multiple stages (i.e. multi-digit multiplication).  I need help!  And I don't know where to look.  As far as other academic areas, Scott holds his own.  He easily functions at grade level in grammar, reading, history, and science.  Spelling is not any more of a challenge than it is for any kid his age.  He excells in the area of vocabulary.  The kid can guess the definition of just about any word if given the word in a good sentence.  It's amazing.  Scott also started the year unwilling to read.  He has settled into a nice reading schedule (I require at least one hour daily) and has found a couple of authors he really enjoys!  I"ll keep you posted here too!

All in all, we are still thoroughly enjoying learning together.  The boys continue to teach me valuable lessons about learning and life.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE the time we spend together and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Still - there are days when I crave the company of another Mom!  I belong to a wonderful online group.  They are pillars of strength and encouragement for me.  I wish they lived closer to me, though.  Some days I desperately need to meet someone at Starbuck's for an hour, ya know?

 From the House of Hooligans ~ Have an awesome Tuesday!

Someone sent me this very delightful list of 'symptoms' that indicate you have definitely been bitten by the home school bug!  I just HAD to share it:

You Know You're A Homeschool Mom When...

When a child busts a lip, and after seeing she's okay, you round up some Scotch tape to capture some blood and look at it under the microscope.

You find dead animals and actually consider saving them to dissect later.

Your children never, ever leave the "why?" stage.

You look at every room in your home to try and imagine how to squeeze in another bookshelf.

You turn your china cabinet into book shelves.

When your teenager decides to take one community college course, and comes home and asks you why the teacher wrote "At" on his paper. (A+)

You ask for, and get, a copier instead of a diamond tennis bracelet for your wedding anniversary.

Your kids think reading history is best accomplished while lying on the floor with their head resting on the side of their patient dog.

Your husband can walk in at the end of a long day and tell how the science experiment went just by looking at the house.

You never have to drive your child's forgotten lunch to school.

Your child will never suffer the embarrassment of group showers after PE.

The only debate about the school lunch program is whose turn it is to cook.

You never have to face the dilemma of whether to take your child's side or the teacher's side in a dispute at school.

If your child gets drugs at school, it's probably Tylenol.

Your neighbors think you are insane.

Your kids learn new vocabulary from their extensive collection of "Calvin & Hobbes" books.

Your formal dining room now has a computer, copy machine, and many book shelves and there are educational posters and maps all over the walls.

You have meal worms growing in a container....on purpose.

If you get caught talking to yourself, you can claim you're having a PTA meeting.

Talking out loud to yourself is a parent/teacher conference.

You take off for a teacher in-service day because the principal needs clean underwear.

You can't make it through a movie without pointing out the historical inaccuracies.

You step on math manipulatives on your pre-dawn stumble to the bathroom.

The teacher gets to kiss the principal in the faculty lounge and no one gossips.

Your honor student can actually read the bumper sticker that you put on your car.

If your child claims that the dog ate his homework, you can ask the dog.

Someday your children will consider you to be a miracle-working expert and will turn to you for advice.

Your kids refer to the neighbor kids as "government school inmates."

You can't make it through the grocery produce department without asking your preschooler the name and color of every vegetable.

You can't put your produce in your cart without asking your older student to estimate its weight and verify its accuracy.

You live in a one-house schoolroom

~Author Unknown

Today was a weird day.  I allowed the boys to work at their own pace while I observed. 

Scott had a particularly bad day.  He had a really hard time concentrating.  For those who don't already know, Scott has ADHD.  Some days are good for him; others are not so good.  Today was one of the not so good days.  BUT, we managed to weed through the work and I think he finally has a firm grasp on nouns.

Nick had a tough day, too. 

Poor Nick!  He left his bedroom door open last night and Lucy took up residence in his bed.....but not at his feet, like a good little furball. Unfortunately, she was in Nick's face half the night.  Nick said she kept waking him up, each time nudging a different toy under his nose.  I guess because she slept all day yesterday, she figured last night was play time.  She's never done this before, so we're not exactly sure WHAT her problem was. 

Nick pushed through his work fairly quickly in spite of his fatique.  The only hangup we had today was that he was SO tired that he actually stressed at having to alphabetize some simple spelling words.  He couldn't remember his alphabet.  Have you ever had days like that when you just couldn't do the simpliest task???  I felt so sorry for him!  You should have seen the look on his face when he said to me, "I can't remember my alphabet."  He was mortified.  Naturally, it came back to him....but for a few agonizing seconds, he was really stressed!

All is well now.  We took a break from academics and the boys worked on painting their cuneiform tablets.  It's funny that the most elementary little project captured their interest the way it did.  I honestly thought carving coded messages into a hunk of clay would have been 'beneath them', but they had the best time playing in that mud! 

They read somewhere that the Egyptians used a form of 'glaze' to preserve color, so they experimented with mixing glue and paint.  The result was glossy, colorful tablets and some very lovely Egyptian pottery.  They think it would be a hoot to bury their creations in the yard for archaeologists to find hundreds of years from now.  They're wondering just what the scientists would think upon finding their artifacts.  Their goal:  to confuse scientists of the future by making them think the past was here in the present.

Are YOU confused? 

I've just come back from picking up LK from school.  She kept texting me throughout seventh period, begging me to pick her up from school early.  She was bored silly.  I keep telling her I can home school her along with the boys and she will be home early every day....but she's not buying into it.  Oh well. 

I'm off to have a much needed Friday afternoon nap.  Then I can set my mind to what I need to have ready for the boys for next week's lessons.

From the House of Hooligans ~ HAPPY FRIDAY!

Beginning at the beginning was a difficult enough feat for me....and today, after I realized that I never sat down to type an update yesterday, it hit me that there is NO way I'll be able to keep track of our days by number!

How do they do that in public school? 

You know how they always celebrate the 100th day of school?  First of all, I have never understood WHY they celebrate that particular day.  Now I find myself wondering how on earth they kept track!  I had to study the calendar (at some length I might add) this morning to figure out what day of the week it was.  I can't imagine myself standing in front of the refrigerator at 4:00 in the morning, ticking off days....thinking for certain it's only Day 99 and I'll have one more day to get myself ready for the big event.....only to find out that it's really THE DAY!  It's Day 100 and I'm supposed to be ready with some huge celebration!

How did I get here?  in front of the refrigerator?  counting down to the 100th day of school?

Oh yeah.  I was realizing that there is no way I'll be able to keep track of our days by number.  It was a clever idea to get things started, I suppose.  But really, sooner or later...I WILL lose count.

So....instead of calling yesterday and today by their numbers, let's just say:

Yesterday and today were great days!  We're in the third week of our adventure and the three of us are still just LOVING it.  

I am SO proud of my boys!  What they couldn't seem to master in 6 years of public school, they have mastered in just 2 1/2 weeks at home.  My boys, who have never mastered their simple addition and subtraction facts, now have them embedded in their memory.

Part of me is very upset with the school system for not forcing them to build a firm math skills foundation before moving them along and then labeling them "slow learners".  Another part of me is very upset with myself for allowing it!  Still another part of me keeps asking, "WHY didn't I make the decision to teach them myself from the beginning?"  

For whatever reason God has appointed THIS as the time for our beginning, I am OH SO THANKFUL that it was now and not later!  It will do me no good (and will do the boys no good) to dwell on what they have missed.  We'll just keep pushing forward and take these little victories (well....these are actually BIG victories!) as they come....and we'll be thankful for every one of them!

We've settled into a very nice little routine.  The boys are becoming more and more 'self sufficient' with regard to their daily schedules.  They know Handwriting will follow Journal time, Logic will follow Handwriting, Math will follow Logic, and English....oh, the dreaded nouns and verbs....will follow Math.  They know Fridays are 'easy math' days (this they learned after only two weeks!), and we'll fill that time with some Latin and Greek roots instead.  They know Friday mornings are short seatwork mornings and we'll be working on a fun History or Science project for the rest of the day!  

*I* know the routine now!  I am getting better at making copies and finding extra supplemental work ahead of time so I'm not interrupting the flow of learning to make quick copies!  I know just how many times I can drill Scott on how to spell the word, "hieroglyphics" before we can take a break for a snack!  I know just how much coffee I can (or cannot) drink each morning to be able to 'hold it' until the boys are working on Mind Benders intently enough for me to slip out for a potty break.  Hahahaha!

I'm having fun.  The boys are having fun.  We're all learning!  So far, so good!

From the House of the Hooligans - Have an awesome evening! (Happy 'almost weekend'!)    

Day Eleven:

Why Begin Here?

Beginning at the beginning would make more sense, I know.  But remembering what I did yesterday is difficult enough!  Haha.

We are still feeling the newness of this experience.  Because all of our learning materials have not yet arrived, our days are not yet 'full'.  We're making good use of the time, though!  The boys are working on catching themselves up in Math (they are currently working below grade level) and English.  Other subjects, such as Logic and Latin are new to them - and they are truly enjoying the challenge!  Both are experiencing The Ancients in History (Our timeline arrived yesterday!  It was fun turning it into wallpaper border in our dining room/class room!).  For our first science project, we'll mummify a chicken.  I'm told the smell will be delightful.  We'll see.

We are using THE WELL TRAINED MIND as a guideline toward our learning.  Since I did not withdraw the boys from the public school setting until this year (Scott - 6th grade, Nick - 4th grade), it is difficult to teach them based on the concept of the Trivium.  I feel I have missed the entire first stage of their learning!  I am applying the concepts when I can - having them go back and "re-learn" the basics (math facts, helping verbs, etc.).  This IS helping them, but it's a little heartbreaking for me to have to back them up so far.  I know that by building precept upon precept it will benefit them in the end - so I remind them of our goal every day:  To get them working comfortably on 'grade level' so they can begin the REAL challenge later.

It's time to 'rise and shine' those minds! 

From the House of Hooligans - Have an awesome day!