I am asking you to humor me by playing along with a short essay answer. What is your favorite day of the week, and why?
I wish I could honestly say Sunday. It is certainly the best day of the week, but it has one thing against it, and it's a big thing. It is followed (almost invariably) by Monday. And that is a big strike.
But my favorite day, since grade school, has been Thursday. On Thursday, you know the weekend and a break is coming. You can almost taste it. It still looks huge and long and full of possibility. And yet, there is no pressure on you just yet to enjoy it - you cannot yet find yourself thinking, "I can't believe I'm wasting my weekend dealing with this" overflowing toilet, or squabbling offspring, or needing to wash extra loads of laundry. On Thursday hope and fantasies are in tact.
Here is another of my get-rich-quick-in-the-world-of-homeschooling plans. I find I do not need more math manipulatives. I do not need more wallmaps. I do not need lapbook guides. I do not need more workbooks or software or primary sources. Those are all on the shelf.
I DO need glue.
For some reason, it is almost impossible for me to keep my seat on my seat long enough to trudge through some of the daily drudgery necessary to get school done. (My kids, sadly, suffer the same malady.) At Saxon time, our behinds act as if they are full of magnets with the same polarity as our chairs. We suddenly remember that the bathtub needs to be scrubbed. Or a place we have not yet looked for the missing key. Or that meat needs to be thawed for dinner. Or that the dear dog needs to be walked. Or... well... or ANYTHING AT ALL just so it does not mean we must continue to sit and work on the task at hand.
So, my suggestion is some good strong glue. This stuff will not get the job done, despite the name:
And this stuff, even though there are those who find it tasty, and the little spreader is oh-so charming, will also not keep us working:
Now, this, it might work. But I have no experience with it:
Dear Reader, do you know? Would Gorilla Glue applied to the posterior section of students (and teachers) aid in completing schoolwork? Or do we need to create a whole new product?
And why is it that it seems superglue has been applied all to successfully to my internet surfing/blogging seat?
Friday, January 22, 2010 - Historic Romance, per Miss Dog Lover
The assignment: "Pretend you reside along Paul Revere's or William Dawe's route. Write a dialogue between yourself (you are a Patriot of course) and Revere or Dawes. Include the important information such as why you will fight, how the British will come, where the minutemen will gather, and the expected outcome. Use quotation marks to indicate direct quotes.
Miss Dog Lover completed the assignment this way:
Paul Revere said, "The British are coming!" I said, "Don't worry, I'll hide the powder." Solomon said, "Let's fight, get the militia troops." Colonists got the militia troops, and cannons and guns. Johnatton, Simon, Daniel, and I got on our horses. And the British shot by the colonists and Paul Revere, and William and all of us charged into battle and we won and went to William Daus's house to have a party. And Nathan Daus and I - Lydia Paton got engaged and were married the next month. 2 years later we had Natalie Grace Daus our new baby. She was a very strong, healthy, sweet, beautiful daughter and we loved her especially her father Nathan. Later we had 2 more babies Danielle and Joshua.
First, the wrap-up on the old poll. 57% of voters were in favor of calling 2010 "Twenty-ten." 19% were in favor of "Two thousand ten." 24% voted "other" but no one left a comment to specify what. Around the Bananas, it has settled to "twenty-ten" in speech and MMX in writing. But Melrose's fans already knew that.
And now to the new poll (see side to vote). After lunch today the Bananalets were eating Smarties. I believe this is a helpful food item before tackling Saxon. I asked if they thought they were more like Smarties or more like Dum-dums. And then from there we got to wondering about a few other candies, and what most people would relate to. So, I am asking you to vote. If your choice is not on the poll, please leave a comment. Tell me. And remember, this is for posterity, so be honest -- how do you feel?
Monday, January 18, 2010 - A Moment of Silence, Please
I am sad to report the tragic demise of my favorite Gingerbread Man Mug. The Before picture (out of respect I shall not post the After):
Unfortunately I kept it out later than the other Christmas mugs and ran it through the microwave instead of boiling my tea in the teakettle. The glazing at the top chose to crackle at such treatment and left burning paint fumes in the kitchen.
But there is always a silver lining. My kitchen pens and pencils have now been upgraded from storage in a canning jar to in a crackled mug.
Miss Dance heard an item on the radio saying that people whose first name starts with an /A/ are much more successful than those whose name starts with /D/, and that they live, on average, 10 years longer. She is going to check with friends Andrew and David to see what they think.
We have been noticing that /d/ seems to get a bad rap. Miss Dance is often telling us we would be "downcast, downtrodden, and dejected if anything happened to her." We also noticed that many /d/ words just have a nonsensical (dopey), unintelligent (dumb) sound to them. Really. In her American History, she just read about the Dingley Tariff of 1897. Not surprisingly, with a name like that, it failed.
Monday, January 11, 2010 - They Must Be Around Here Somewhere
Somehow the combination of:
back to school
general Mondayness
the deep freeze and deep snow
Saxon math
wet boots
and Life in General
have contributed to my feeling pretty sure that today will be the day I finally lose the last of my marbles.
So, in true internet addict fashion, I have done a bit of research to see what is available for this sort of woe, because, clearly, that research is more helpful to my mindset than actually accomplishing anything.
The results of my research?
* a Lost Marble Society you can join for a small fee (though this strikes me as entirely too organized for the truly marble-less
* some really awesome marble photos:
* and this article explaining why losing your marbles might not be such a bad thing after all
Tuesday, January 5, 2010 - Dining Advice from Mr Music
Lunch options here today included left-over chili and cornbread. Now, in the middle of his beloved Saxon lesson, Mr Music tosses out this advice for what it's worth: Mom, don't ever eat an orange with orange marmalade on it. They taste horrible together. *shudders*
