Yep. That's the mantra at my house. Even the little guy learned early on (from his brothers) to declare his contempt for school. Of course, when . . .
. . . I asked my thirteen-year-old if I was overloading him with too much work or if he was just working at it slowly, enjoying being able to work at his own pace (a snail's!), he responded that it really was the latter.
. . . I almost forgot to "do reading" with my youngest, he reminded me.
. . . we begin listening to any book on tape (usually to protests of how boring it will be), within minutes they are pleading with me to keep playing it.
. . . after listening to part of Cheaper By the Dozen tonight, my middle son insisted I immediately get out the Power Glide Latin curriculum we used a couple of years ago so he could do it on his own.
. . . the highlight of our week is the trip to the library and the most anticipated regular event of the month is the monthly trip to the BIG library.
. . . our pretending is fueled by the period movies and documentaries that we are watching and reading about at that time. (OK, admittedly, superheroes often work their way into the dress code too; but we wear superhero costumes while we are doing school work.)
. . . the kids tell me what they want to do next year for school.
It's just too bad that they hate school so much. Think how much they would hate it if they weren't actually learning something!
My best friend Eva and I have this contest going where we compare our children. The funny thing about it is that we don't compare their grand successes, or their great accomplishments, but we compare the things they do to prove that we are truly raising nerds. We have laughed at things like our boys wanting to dig holes in the back yard together . . . or the fact that our kids' favorite movies include Horatio Hornblower . . . or when our littlest ones say things like "I'm considering all my opportunities." (Our little kids have said some very STRANGE things . . . for little kids, anyway.) Occasionally we even enter the competition ourselves.
This week? I'm the bigger nerd. I'm still revelling in the high of going to a library used book sale last night. In fact, I'm rather enjoying the fact that it was a family outing, and the whole family went, and everybody had a great time. Here's what we brought home (skip to the end if you don't want to read a long list of book titles):
For my upper elementary/juvenile reading shelves
HARDBACKS:
Crispin: the Cross of Lead
Catherine, Called Birdy (anybody know anything about these two books? I kept thinking I had seen them on reading lists somewhere)
Tuck Everlasting
Tales of St. Patrick (a collection of stories pieced together from letters and accounts; sounded like a very good biographical sketch)
Lord Hornblower
Hornblower and the Hotspur (I was THRILLED to find Horatio books! Yes, our goofball screen obsession will now carry into our reading!)
Island of the Blue Dolphin (Hardback! Beautifully illustrated!!!)
The High King
The Giver
Oliver Twist (library binding edition)
Where the Red Fern Grows
King of the Wind (this is a BEAUTIFUL edition, and hardly used)
The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne (an N.C. Wyeth Illustrated edition. WOW!!!)
Softback:
Sherlock Holmes/The Hound of Baskerville
The Red Badge of Courage
The Island (haven't read this or seen it on any lists, but it's by Gary Paulsen, who I know is a good author)
The Pearl
Julie's Wolf Pack
Old Yeller
Mr. Popper's Penguins
and books just for fun:
Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great
Super Fudge
Double Fudge (Stephen loves the Fudge books by Judy Blume)
Paddington's Storybook
Paddington Helps Out
Paddington Takes the Test (AJ LOVES Paddington stories)
Loamhedge
Martin the Warrior (Redwall books are the only ones we are collecting multiple editions of, because both Stephen and Josh want their own sets. We found these, and they're library hardback editions!)
George's Marvelous Medicine (didn't recognize the title, but we really like Ronald Dahl stuff)
See You Around, Sam! (sounds like a funny story by Lois Lowry, whom I have loved reading!)
Picture Books for my little guy (and the big guys kinda like some of them too):
German and French picture dictionaries
Gilgamesh the King
Paul Revere's Ride (great illustrations!)
The Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin
The Middle Ages (Stephen picked this one out)
A Nest Full of Eggs (A Step into Science book)
An Earthworm's Life (thought it'd go great with some Jan Hoffman Backyard Science books)
The Seminoles
A Picture Book of Louis Braille (I love the Picture Book biographies!)
Other stuff:
three science books
Jan VanCleave's A+ Chemistry
Math Magic (fun little book for early mathmaticians)
a two volume set of books called Ancient Civilizations Almanac. This will more than make up for the fact that I can't ever find decent books to use as reference for civilizations like the Persians, the Assyrians, etc. I thumbed through these tonight and feel like maybe they are the find of the year!
2 American Girl Kaya books (yeah, yeah. These are for a friend of mine!)
Family Games (this is great! A 250+ page book giving directions for all kinds of games--board games, card games, indoor games, travel games, outdoor games. It even has a thorough index so you can find solo games, games for two players, and so on.)
One of my goals was to increase my sampling of art works, so I got Art books including:
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain (probably the only book I really got for me)
The National Gallery of Washington (I was looking for books on art collections so I can show the boys samples of works as we discuss different artists)
Post-Impressionism (an Eyewitness Book)
DK Guide to Music
What Makes a Rembrandt a Rembrandt
What Makes a Bruegel a Bruegel (These are the BEST books for introducing works and biographical information about single artists)
3 Degas books
a Rembrandt book
a DaVinci book
and a book on Mary Cassat
The biggest surprise of the night was a missionary biography I picked up called The Runaway's Revenge. It is by authors I really like, but it is about none other than John Newton!!! (You know, the author of Amazing Grace) I didn't even notice it when I picked it up, just knew I like the series of biographies)
Josh got:
The Ultimate Guide to the X-Men (a little damaged, but he thought it was still worth a buck)
2 Artemis Fowl books
5 Jedi Apprentice (Star Wars)books
a Star Wars novel
Stephen got:
4 Jedi Apprentice books
The Ultimate Guide to the Hulk (These DK Ultimate Guides are the best, and one of the few books on comic heroes that I more or less trust)
a football book on records or something like that
AJ got:
2 baseball books including a huge one on baseball history
3 picture books including his own Redwall book
I was tempted to go back and figure out what the cost of all these books would have been retail, and then again what I might have paid to get them in the same condition used from say, Amazon, but I'm way too tired to do that. Suffice to say that I got 90 items for under $100. Some of these I consider collectors books (but after doing just a little online research, they don't sell for much), and many are hardbacks in excellent condition. I was surprised that the most valuable find was the Ancient Civilizations Almanac, which retails for over $100, and fetches a minimal $50 used. All of the books are easily worth the 50 cents to a dollar that I paid for them. I always love it when I feel like I've gotten a really good deal.
I am also pleased because I didn't get home with anything I regretted getting. I didn't succumb to the "maybe I can sell it online" syndrome. Unlike the first book sale I went to, where I could have easily just picked up a box and gone home with whatever was in it, this time I had a list of books I wanted for Josh, I had been through my library and knew what I didn't have much of and what I actually had, and I took time to sort through what I had chosen near the end of the evening and actually put back things I didn't want or wasn't sure about.
Now that I've proved I'm a nerd, let's talk about you. If you skipped to the end and just read the paragraphs, but none of my book list, you're safe. You are definitely not a nerd. If you skimmed my list, you're pretty safe too, but you might be a wanna-be nerd. If you read through my entire list of books, including my comments, give yourself 5 points. You have nerdy inclinations, and are probably on the way to becoming one. If you recognized many of the books on my list, give yourself 15 more points. If you had heard of every book on my list, give yourself 50 points. If you actually knew the authors I mentioned give yourself 20 points. If you knew most of the authors of these books, whether I mentioned them or not, well, you don't need anymore points. You win the biggest nerd award. And if you're heading to your bookshelf when you get done reading this, because you just remembered you had one of these books and you want to look it over . . . just check yourself into rehab. You need nerdy book-lover therapy!
As for my friend Eva, don't worry about her losing our competition this week. She's proving she's a nerd right now 'cause I know she's fighting back just a little envy that I went to the book sale and brought home books, and she wasn't able to go. Don't worry friend! There's always next year!
As for me . . . I'm looking for a good book to read. Or maybe I need to go work on building some more shelves.
(Ha! Ha! I've noticed that only homeschoolers consider school something you do, instead of a place you go.)
Dear, sweet boys,
OK. We HAVE to resume school. No, I don't want to either, but someone says we have to. Most of my friends would be apalled that it is a week into the new year and we still have not picked up a book. Most of my non-homeschooling friends . . . and the Classical homeschoolers, that is. All my other friends who do homeschool? They're just jealous.
I understand why we haven't started back yet. Mommy's a bit disorganized, but I'm really working on it (New Year's resolution--should be past it by late February). Then there were the two days this week where we were sick. They didn't help much. Not only did it keep us from actually accomplishing the things we were supposed to do, but it created a heap of new laundry and cleaning for me. Thanks to whoever gave us the bug. And of course, the weekend was spent cleaning and getting the house in order . . . downstairs, at least. We still have upstairs to do this week.
So tomorrow, like it or not, you will do math, and read, and maybe something else if I can come up with it. I have LOTS of chores for you. I know you'll thank me and tell me how grateful you are. You will work, while I plan (if I can find the desk in the schoolroom--all the stuff I couldn't deal with as I cleaned the other rooms in the house is there, burying everything else. But I'm working on that too.) And then Tuesday? We start back!!! Period. NO complaining, OK? Or I might be seriously tempted to put it off another day . . .or week . . . no! We HAVE to do school. Somebody says so. So we have to.
I was impressed with the success of my home education program when Stephen announced in the car on the way to church this morning that he wanted to be a chemist!
"How much school do chemists need, Mommy?" he asked.
So I casually told him that they have to finish high school, get a four-year degree, go on for a two-year masters, and probably a doctorate. I was trying very hard to make it sound like not that much school. Still, he seemed resolved that chemistry was his chosen profession.
Conversation in the car continued for a few more minutes, then Stephen said, "Mommy, do you know why I want to be a chemist?"
"No, why?" I answered, assuming it was because he has had this unchanging love of chemistry for about the last year and a half.
"Because all the superheroes get their powers from lab experiments!"
Tomorrow I was hoping to be ready for a sprint in our school work. Although we have been working on school for three weeks now, it has been sporadic and inconsistent--just too many other things going on for us. I was pleased yesterday because things were looking well in order. My house was straight and somewhat clean, and all I had to do today was a couple of quick things and look at lesson plans. Unfortunately, everything today went wrong.
We went to a lake party yesterday (see photos on my other blog), and so there were still things left from that to pick up and put away. To complicate matters, I put off working on my Sunday school lesson until last night, so I was up pretty late, and passed out this afternoon. When I finally got up, I worked on some laundry, put some things in order, and started dinner. I helped Josh with homework (because he is doing FL Virtual Schools online, he sometimes falls behind and has to make up work as homework), and began cleaning up the kitchen. The boys got ready for bed and wanted me to tuck them in, and on the way upstairs I stopped to check the laundry. That was when I found an additional step back . . . or actually EIGHT steps back.
My laundry sorter (names have been left off to protect the innocent), forgot to check the pockets, and tonight there happened to be three brightly colored crayons in the pocket of a pair of pants belonging to a different boy. The crayons were fine until they hit the dryer, where they left bright rainbow-colored stains on the ENTIRE load of colored permanent press clothes (including some of my favorite things!). I called a friend in desperation, not knowing how to get crayon out of an ENTIRE load of laundry. I got some good suggestions, but not the "this is what has worked for me" answer I was hoping for, so I headed for the Internet.
After finding a myriad of choices, including all kinds of chemical combinations, and WD-40 (Isn't is amazing how that stuff is good for EVERYTHING?), I copied a coupld choices and headed down to the laundry room. I realized I coulnd't do anything with the stained load until I had moved the load in the washer, and before I moved it I had to make sure the dryer drum wasn't going to reinfect another load with crayon. So I went to work scrubbing out the drum with a Mr. Clean magic sponge. The progress was dismally slow, so I finally put it aside and started working with the WD-40 . . . until I happened to look down at the can only to discover . . . it's FLAMMABLE!!! Ok, who was the bubble-head who didn't notice that WD-40 is a flammable liquid, and doesn't everyone know you aren't supposed to use flammable liquids in your dryer!!! After I cleaned the WD-40 out of the dryer with a soapy wash cloth and rinsed it well, I started again with the Magic Sponge, but finally gave up. I figure if it takes that much work to scrub it out, what are the chances it will just come off on my laundry (although at the moment I am rethinking that and figuring that the way tonight has gone--pretty good.).
Now I have the dryer running (with the fire extinguisher sitting close to the door of the laundry room), and a concoction of chemicals in my washer, in HOT water with permanent press I would NEVER wash in hot water. I decided that if I survive the asphyxiation, I might actually salvage a few items. Of course they'll probably only fit AJ's teddy bears, but the whole load was pretty much toast, so it can't get much worse.
On top of such a thrilling evening, I wrote all this out, only to have it disappear into cyber-space. Decided it was entertaining enough to write again (plus I can't find a shoulder to cry on at midnight!). And to increase the excitement, my a/c unit is dripping and I don't think it's draining properly. Not sure who to call to help me figure this one out. Who says being a full-time homemaker isn't exciting?
. . . feeding a baby! You try to make it appealing. You shove a lot in. Sometimes it comes back out. You keep at it, and finally the bowl is empty and it's safely inside them! I think the clean up in homeschooling is usually a lot less . . . unless you have boys.
Hey, do you hear that? Sss . . . sss . . . salad! Salad starts with 'ssssss'"
Ok, I know I wanted him to learn his letters, but now he's making me crazy! I keep looking for Ernie and Bert to start singing! I think it's time to start reading!
