Live and Learn
Dec. 25, 2006
Christmas Eve 2006
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The day in pictures (using my new camera!). Christmas Eve morning after church     Evening - waiting to open jammies and book(s) present  Little one and her new "princess" slippers  Middle one getting ready to open his jammies  Oldest opening his "skateboarder" pjs and Peter and the Starcatchers book  Everyone on the couch reading (in their new pjs!)  And a smile before bedtime  |
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Nov. 20, 2006
Thankful for our "sizzlers"
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I received this email last year from a loop I'm on (Sizzle Life) and it
brought a smile to my face and tears to my eyes. I was thrilled to see
it in my inbox again today and thought I'd share it here. FYI - A "sizzler" is a high energy, easily distractible child (or adult ;-)). I'm blessed with at least two and possibly three of them. :-) This email loop has been a wonderful source of inspiration and encouragement in dealing with these types of children on a day to day basis. The site is owned by Carol Barnier, author of "How To Get Your Child off of the Refrigerator and on to Learning." I can't get the link function to work so here are the urls for the site: Sizzle Bop home - http://sizzlebop.com/index.htm info on joining "Sizzle Bop" loop - http://sizzlebop.com/join.htm info on Carol Barnier - http://sizzlebop.com/Carol.htm And, finally, here is the email: Just a few great reasons to be thankful for the Sizzler in your life. |
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Nov. 9, 2006
Florida Cracker
 Several weeks ago we went to our local library to hear a talk by Butch Harrison, Florida Cracker. A few months ago I read a wonderful historical fiction book, A Land Remembered, about three generations of the MacIvey family and the pioneer life.....in Florida. I loved learning about the "real" Florida and was fascinated with what life was like here so many years ago. So when I read that a real live Florida cracker was scheduled to speak at our library, I jumped at the chance to hear more and share the experience with my children. Other than a reporter from the local newspaper and her photographer, dc and I were the only people to come to the talk. I was saddened no one else saw the benefit or was willing to take the time to learn some history of their state or hear some great storytelling. Sigh. Anyways, their loss was our gain as we had Butch all to ourselves. He had my boys enthralled as he pulled all kinds of interesting things out of his croaker sack and told one story after another of his life. Along with having grown up the son of a Florida cracker and spending his childhood days out of doors, he spent 20 years as a guide in the everglades. He also has spent time photographing the outdoors as well as leading hunting and fishing trips. He's also quite a history buff. He was a wealth of information and my dc walked away with a living picture of what the "real" Florida is like. After his talk he took us outside to crack his whip - much to my boys' delight! He explained that the "crackers" got their name from the sound that the whip they used to drive cattle made. CRACK! The photo above is right afterwards when I asked if we could take a picture with him (notice little one holding the whip!). We left having learned a lot about the "real" Florida and feeling like we'd made a friend. Another neat benefit was having my dc interviewed by the reporter and being featured along with Butch in the newspaper article. They made the front page of our local newspaper - my dc couldn't get over seeing themselves in the paper. They used the same shot as above (the photog. snapped a shot for himself as I took mine). |
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Oct. 9, 2006
A sweet sight
 This is what I saw as I turned to see what book middle was reading aloud from this afternoon. He wasn't just reading aloud though, he was reading to his sister who'd picked the book out and asked him to read it to her. This brightened my day on so many levels. It's always a pleasure to see my children with a book and my heart swells with pride and thanks when hearing oldest and middle read being the one given the privilege of teaching them to read. But seeing little one cuddled up to middle as he read to her was especially sweet. There's no part of our homeschool experience I've loved more than reading to my children. Sharing a book together and all the laughs, tears and inspiration a story can bring. But more than that, there's a closeness that reading together brings that's hard to put into words. It's the physical closeness - a hand around my shoulder or holding my hand, my little one on my lap and/or my boys snuggling under my arm while I read. And then there's the mutual giving - them giving me their time and the privilege of sharing a story with them, me giving them my time and abilities - and the bond that's made, the significance we give to and feel from one another as a result of the exchange. And as I heard middle diligently reading and saw little one's head on his shoulder, I knew they were not only sharing a good story but were sharing in that closeness with one another. That indeed is sweet. |
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Oct. 5, 2006
Watercolor painting on a Friday
 Inspiration struck after we watched an instructional video on some simple watercolor techniques. We pulled out all the watercolor supplies and paper, turned on some classical music and painted for nearly an hour. Oh yeah, I could get used to this! I'll try to take some pictures of the final products and post later. Here's some individual pics:    |
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Oct. 5, 2006
What's New
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Exploring a poet or two per semester. We jumped into poetry last year - reading from several collections during teatime and also following the weekly assignments in the Sonlight schedule. We really enjoyed ourselves and expanded our knowledge and appreciation of poetry. Desirous to build on that foundation, I decided to try the Ambleside Online schedule for poetry study (in addition to Sonlight scheduled poems). The schedule for year 1 is Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson, Now We Are Six and When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne and Oxford Book of Children's Verse by Iona and Peter Opie. Year 5 is Rudyard Kipling, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier and Paul Lawrence Dunbar. We started with Milne and When We Were Very Young with middle one using this book:  Image from Amazon.com We love this book. It is a delightful collection of Winnie-the-Pooh, The House on Pooh Corner, When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six with charming illustrations by Ernest H. Shepard. Middle and I (and often oldest and little one too) have had a great time reading these poems together. We usually read 2-3 poems on Wednesdays and 4-5 on Fridays. We're just a few poems away from finishing When We Were Very Young and will probably start on Now We Are Six next week. Here are a few of our favorites: Puppy and I I met a man as I went walking; We got talking, Man and I. "Where are you going to, Man?" I said (I said to the Man as he went by). "Down to the village, to get some bread. Will you come with me?" "No, not I." I met a Horse as I went walking; We got talking, Horse and I. "Where are you going to, Horse, today?" (I said to the Horse as he went by). "Down to the village to get some hay. Will you come with me?" "No, not I." I met a Woman as I went walking; We got talking, Woman and I. "Where are you going to, Woman, so early?" (I said to the Woman as she went by). "Down to the village to get some barley. Will you come with me?" "No, not I." I met some Rabbits as I went walking; We got talking, Rabbits and I. "Where are you going in your brown fur coats?" (I said to the Rabbits as they went by). "Down to the village to get some oats. Will you come with us?" "No, not I." I met a Puppy as I went walking; We got talking, Puppy and I. "Where are you going this nice fine day?" (I said to the Puppy as he went by). "Up in the hills to roll and play." "I'll come with you, Puppy," said I. Jonathan Jo Jonathan Jo Has a mouth like an "O" And a wheelbarrow full of surprises; If you ask for a bat, Or for something like that, He has got it, whatever the size is. If you're wanting a ball, It's not trouble at all; Why, the more that you ask for, the merrier-- Like a hoop and a top, And a watch that won't stop, And some sweets, and an Aberdeen terrier. Jonathan Jo Has a mouth like an "O" But this is what makes him so funny: If you give him a smile, Only once in a while, Then he never expects any money! One day after reading poetry, middle asked if we could read Winnie the Pooh as well. We finished it a week or so ago and went right on to The House on Pooh Corner. I was able to get it on cd from the library and we've been enjoying listening to it. Besides, my Pooh, Piglet, Owl and Eeyore voices just weren't that great --- Jim Broadbent does a *much* better job! Oldest has read several poetry collections by both Longfellow and Kipling so far and definitely preferred Longfellow (remember the "Let's skip the Kip" poem?). I shared one of our favorite Longfellow poems in another post (The Blacksmith). We'll probably move on the Whittier or Dunbar in the coming weeks. |
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Sep. 27, 2006
My other son the ferryboat maker.
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I'm going to make a boat.....a ferryboat. That was middle's out-of-the-blue announcement as he burst into the playroom. And off he went as fast as he came in. Thirty or so minutes later he came back in with his ferryboat - a pencil box with Matchbox cars in it (a ferryboat, remember?) taped (lots of tape - middle loves tape) to a shoebox. Can I see if it floats? Can we put it in the pool? Images of "Will It Float" (a segment on the David Letterman show) flashed through my mind as we made our way out to the pool. Middle was confident of his design (oldest didn't give it a chance) and I thought there was something to learn either way (well as long as middle didn't get too upset when his cars got wet!) Here's the proud boat maker seconds before the launching.  And here's the launch:  He put it in and then screamed "It floats! It floats! It worked!" We then speculated about why it worked - was it the cardboard? air under the cardboard? Five minutes, ten mintues, twenty minutes later it was still floating. It never did sink.  Several hours later (still floating!), middle decided to take it out, remove the cardboard (it was in pretty bad shape) and out of sheer curiosity, put the the pencil box in by itself. And guess what, the pencil box floated too. Well up until little one splashed some killer waves and water got inside. Then they had fun sinking cars. :-) All in all a neat experience. I love that middle had an idea, thought it through and was creative. I loved his enthusiasm and curiousity. I loved the learning experience. And I love to see those wheels a turnin'.  |
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Sep. 26, 2006
My son the poet
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I've shared about how much we're enjoying poetry this year. I've shared
about the lovely conversations about life issues we've been having.
I've shared some of our favorite poems. I felt it only fair to share this conversation oldest and I had the other day too. Me: Did you read out of that poetry book yet (Selected Poems by Rudyard Kipling)? Oldest: (said w/ a sigh) Yeah, I did. (said w/ a sudden spark of enthusiasm) Hey mom, I got a some poetry for ya. Me: You do? What is it? Oldest: Let's skip the Kip. Me: (laughing) Ok, I get the message, son. So, as of now, we're "skipping the Kip." He gave it a fair shake, got some exposure and formed an opinion. I'm happy with that. And I'm happy that I'm happy with that. A few years ago I wouldn't have been. Yeah, Mom learns too. |
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Sep. 25, 2006
A visit to Camp Milton Historic Preserve
 A few weekends ago we took off for the country to attend the grand opening of a new city park - Camp Milton Historic Preserve. In keeping with its Civil War history, the opening featured Civil War re-enactments, musket and cannon demonstrations and informational talks on activities of the times. Here are a couple of pictures from some of the displays:   And here are middle ds and dd observing how to work an old sewing machine, which btw, was a work of art in and of itself.  And here are dc inside the educational center. A beautiful building inside and out - looks like an old barn on the outside with a great big old front porch and is filled from floor to ceiling with the wood you see in this picture.  And here are some outside shots along some of the trails:    The camp is the mid-point on the 14.5 Rails to Trails (converted railroad corridors) greenway. Doesn't this lovely path just beg to be traveled? It was tempting but after having already been outside for a few hours in mid-90 temps, we decided to pass. But when cooler weather finally comes (it will, won't it?), we'll be back. I'm dreaming of a cool, autumn stroll through the scenery.  And here's a picture of my hot and sweaty dc after a day of walking, observing and learning!  |
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Sep. 18, 2006
Looking for some fun math books?
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I just found out from the LivingMath loop
I'm on that Bookcloseouts.com has several living math books on sale
right now. We just finished the last set of Math Start
readers I bought at the beginning of the year so I thought this
would be a good time to replenish our supply of Math reading books. I bought nine books for just over $50 (including tax, handling and shipping). I saved more money than I spent (all but one book was 50% off, one was 60%). A little math on the Math books. :-) Here's the titles I ordered: Pigs Will Be Pigs, Pigs on the Move, Pigs in the Pantry, Pigs in the Corner and Pigs on the Ball (all by Amy Axelrod) - stories about a pig family that focus on different aspects of math. Arithme-Tickle and Scien-Trickery (J. Patrick Lewis) - math (and science) puzzlers, riddles and rhymes. Millions to Measure (David M. Schwartz) - we read How Much is a Million by this author and loved it. This is book focuses on measurement and its history. Mathematickles (Betsy Franco) - math poems all focused on the seasons. If you decide to order, please use the link to Bookcloseouts.com on the LivingMath site. Using the link helps support the site - spend some time there and you'll see it's a much deserving site. I also highly recommend the yahoo group - a great source of information and encouragement. Off to wait for the UPS man. :-) |
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Sep. 18, 2006
See our cell?
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The jello cell - it's an oldie but a goodie. And hey, making a cell out of jello is a better use than eating it, right? ;-) So here's our lovely little cell - basketball nucleus, yarn organelles, lego mitochondria and lysosomes. And in case you're wondering, we only had red (cherry) jello - we just called it a red blood cell.  And here's the page we modeled it after (from the DK Nature Encyclopedia)  A great hands-on science activity enjoyed by all. |
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Sep. 14, 2006
A Lovely Poem by Longfellow
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Oldest ds is currently reading poetry by
Longfellow and Kipling. Sometimes we read together, other times he
reads independently. Along with reading some great poetry and getting
to know the poets behind them, an unexpected byproduct has been the
sharing and conversations that have taken place. Ds and I often talk
about a poem after reading together ~ it's a wonderful opportunity to
talk about the issues of life. Much to my surprise and pleasure,
though, several times now ds has sought me out after reading
independently - "Mom" he'll call, "you've got to read this." "You'll
like it." Such was the case the other day when we sat down to read together. As I flipped through the pages he said "Stop there, you've got to read that one. It's great." He was right - I loved it. I thought it so simply and beautifully portrayed some of the basic emotions and virtues of life. I thought I'd share it here. The Village Blacksmith by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Under a spreading chestnut-tree The village smith stands; The smith, a mighty man is he, With large and sinewy hands; And the muscles of his brawny arms Are strong as iron bands. His hair is crisp, and black, and long, His face is like the tan; His brow is wet with honest sweat, he earns whate'er he can, And looks the whole world in the face, For he owes not any man. Week in, week out, from morn till night, You can hear his bellows blow; You can hear him swing his heavy sledge, With measured beat and slow, Like a sexton ringing the village bell, When the evening sun is low. And children coming home from school Look in at the open door; They love to see the flaming forge, and hear the bellows roar, And catch the burning sparks that fly Like chaff from threshing floor. He goes on Sunday to the church, And sits among his boys; He hears the parson pray and preach, He hears his daughter's voice, Singing in the village choir, And it makes his heart rejoice. It sounds to him like her mother's voice, Singing in Paradise! He needs must think of her once more, How in the grave she lies; And with his hard, rought hand he wipes A tear out of his eyes. Toiling,---rejoicing,---sorrowing, Onward through life he goes; Each morning sees some task begin, Each evening sees it close; Something attempted, something done, Has earned a night's repose. Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend, For the lesson thou hast taught! Thus at the flaming forge of life Our fortunes must be wrought; Thus on its sounding anvil shaped Each burning deed and thought. |
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Sep. 13, 2006
I'm a bird watcher
 Part of our Friday schedule includes time for observing nature. Ideally we'll spend about 20-30 minutes outside just seeing what we can see. Once the weather cools, I hope to fit in a "nature walk" and/or a visit to a local park (see here, here and here) a few times a month. For now, though, we mostly hang around in the backyard. On this particular day we took over the "tall tower" of the kids' playset (built by their dad I say w/ much admiration and pride) as a lookout spot. Much to our delight, a woodpecker, almost as if on cue, flew to the tree in front of us. We watched him hop up and down the tree pecking away in search of food. On our way inside we also observed a dragonfly by our shed. Once inside, and after we'd cooled down w/ a drink, we got out our field guide (National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds), identified our new little friend and read about him. We got out the colored pencils and the boys drew the woodpecker in their nature journals. (Didn't think to take a photo of their journals - will do that and add them in here later) We also looked up dragonflies in Florida's Fabulous Insects and did some reading about them. By the way, if you're looking for a pre-made nature journal, I heartily recommend the "Nature Notebook" found online at The Tanglewood School. Once you've paid through paypal, you're given a code that allows you to download it onto your computer (and print). It's just beautiful, well thought out and a steal for $5.25 (especially since one purchase allows you to print out all you need for your family's use). Here's a link to the order page for the nature notebook The Tanglewood School Curriculum. As an aside, although they no longer sell curriculum, their site is a wonderful resource for history and classic literature ideas. It felt so good to have this time back in the schedule. Of course, we can (and do) take the time to observe nature every day but it's also really nice to have a time set aside each week specifically for nature study and learning. I look forward to many more days of fresh air, observing God's wonderful creation and learning. |
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Sep. 12, 2006
What do these things have in common?
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finding a gopher tortoise in the yard spotting a hawk on our fence and backyard having a sick cat, taking him to the vet, having to treat his illness and adjust our care for him finding a snake in the pool visits to the pediatrician various illnesses working on re-landscaping our yard: transplanting bushes, planting flowers, pulling weeds, watering, mulching dc being mistreated by friends seeing jets from the nearby Navy base fly overhead visiting a local park on the river and observing an old orange grove facility a bee sting rising gas prices These were all things that happened during last school year. Some were inconvenient. Some were planned. Some were pleasant. Some were not. All of them, though, were wonderful learning opportunities. We asked questions. We looked up information. We read. We observed. We talked. And we learned. Most of the things we learned wouldn't be considered typical school day fare, weren't scheduled, wouldn't be covered on a year end test. Some we spent a lot of time on - hours, days. Others just a few minutes. If asked, the boys might not remember some of the details. Others they're still talking about. Some came along right in the middle of our school day. I'm so glad we took the time for these lessens everyday life sent to us. They were every bit as valuable, some moreso, than anything we planned for the day. We learned the difference between a tortoise and a turtle, that water snakes often fall into pools when taking a drink, why an ear infection makes your ear hurt, why your skin swells from a bee sting, why gas prices are rising, what station has the lowest gas price and by how much, what makes a good friend, how our cat got sick, how the medicine would help him, what we could do to help him, what an orange grove was like and what part it had in our county's history. But most of all we learned that there are opportunities to learn around us every day. Life is full of learning. We just need to see everyday happenings as opportunities to learn and be willing to take the time to see what they have to teach us. What lessons did life send your way today? What did you learn? |
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Sep. 10, 2006
Wild Cam Africa is finally back!
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Giraffes, zebras and elephants Oh My! Let the gawking begin. Let the cries of Ostrich! Wildebeest! Warthog! ring out again! In case you haven't heard, Wildcam Africa is live video feed from a camera focused on Pete's Pond in the Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana. Here's an overhead photo from National Geographic.com.  The pond itself is a great story. It was put into the landscape by Pete Le Roux in an attempt to protect the animals from poachers who gathered in and around the Limpopo River where the animals went for water. We had so much fun watching this last year. We were driven to see as many animals as we possibly could. I ended up leaving it on the screen most days so we could periodically check in during the day. Someone would yell "ostrich!" or "baby elephants!" and we'd all come running. We learned so much not only about the animals (watching their behavior, identifying them) but also about climate, time zones and geography. It was a great addition to our school year. Here's a link to the site - Wild Cam Africa. Have fun going on a safari from the comfort of your own home! Oh and I've heard that you might not want to tell your dc about all the animals you see when viewing the cam late at night and into the wee hours (which is early morning in Botswana) - apparantly some are known to get a wee bit jealous and try every scheme possible to stay up late (or wake up during the night). Again, just passing along what I've heard. :-) |
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May. 20, 2006
A trip to the zoo
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Saturday, May 20, 2006 Thanks to my dad and his company (CSX) picnic we were able to make a trip to the zoo.       |
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May. 12, 2006
Week 30
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May 8-12 Wednesday of this week was little one's birthday. We sang Happy Birthday to her all day, met Dad for lunch and went to Alpine Groves park. When we got to the park we found that they'd planted a butterfly garden. Dd was thrilled - she thought it was just for her.  The butterfly garden.  Dd on one of the swings near the river.  A picture of sunset on the river.  Read to Middle: I Lost My Bear! Hiding Hoover Leonardo's Dream Billy Tibbles Moves Out Please Say Please!! Yikes!! Pirate Piggy Wiggy Firefighter Piggy Wiggy Cat on a Hill Middle has really taken off in his reading. Seems everytime I see him he's reading a book. It's like the world has come alive to him - words everywhere and *he can read them!* He is thrilled and so am I. One of the great benefits of homeschooling - being able to teach your child to read. Oldest: Workbook pages in Math and Grammar. Shh! We're Writing the Constitution for assigned reading. Farmer Boy for free reading. |
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May. 5, 2006
Week 29
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May 1 - 5 Oldest had his Art exhibit on Tuesday, May 2. I was so proud of the work he did this year. He had a good time showing off his work to his grandparents and also talking with friends. The sunflower painting was my absolute favorite. I plan to have it matted and framed and hang it in my bedroom - perfect colors, reminds me of a painting by one of my favorite artists and most importantly, painted by my sweet ds. I'll smile everytime I see it. I don't have a picture of it here but he also did a painting of the American flag - dh has claimed that one for his office.   Tuesday was oldest year-end test. I think it went pretty well - oldest seemed calm and said he thought he did pretty good. I'm so glad to have that over with! Oldest read Shh! We're Writing the Constitution for assigned reading and Fellowship of the Ring and Farmer Boy for free reading. Middle: We read - Inside Mouse, Outside Mouse Hairy Maclary's Caterwaul Caper Hairy Maclary's Bone Five Grey & Speckled Frogs Harriet and the Roller Coaster Read some more bios in Children Just Like Me, a book about the life cycle of a tree (From Little Acorns) and poetry. Some pages in his workbooks and piano practice. |
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Apr. 28, 2006
Week 28
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April 24 - 28 Oldest: More test prep. Assigned reading - Boston Jane. Free reading - Fellowship of the Ring. Middle: Read some more books mentioned on Reading Rainbow (music shows): Max Found Two Sticks Meet the Orchestra and some other books: Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too? From Head to Toe Climb the Family Tree, Jesse Bear Poetry some workbook pages in Math, Handwriting and Letter Skills K. A reader each day. On Wednesday we left for a trip to Orlando. We stayed at the Portofino resort and went to Universal Studios and Universal Islands of Adventure. Here are some pictures: The Portofino Resort - a little taste of Italy!   Middle  Little one  Oldest Fun time at the pool.    |
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Apr. 21, 2006
Week 27
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April 17-21 Middle: I got some of the books featured on the Reading Rainbow shows we watched last week - "The Maestro Plays" and "The Marching Smithereens." It was good to continue in the enjoyment of music and follow up on some things we learned from the show. Both boys were mesmerized on a segment of the show about "Stomp" so I'll be checking the library catalog to see what I can find. We also read: Ruby the Copycat 10 Minutes Till Bedtime The Day the Babies Crawled Away Middle found an illuminated (mini) microscope I bought for oldest years ago and played with it on an off all week. He had a great time looking at a variety of things - a drop of water, a piece of his shirt, the tablecloth, money, a cereal box etc. etc. etc. Here's a pic of the microscope. They are pretty nifty little things for the money - $8 plus tax. If you have a Radio Shack near you, you might want to check them out.  (image from radioshack.com) I found a book of poems about math called Marvelous Math and we read those during the week for Math. We also read some poems from "Nibble Nibble" (by Margaret Wise Brown - a precious kid's poetry book) and "Animals Animals" (by Eric Carle - a book of poem about animals w/ illustrations by Eric Carle). For History we continued to read in "Children Just Like Me." Middle is loving the peek into the lives of children around the world. I came across this book at the library years ago when oldest was in kindergarten. We really enjoyed reading through it and I filed the title away for possible future purchase. I was thrilled a few years later to find a copy at a used book sale for a few dollars. As I said, we found it first at the library and I feel sure most libraries would carry it if anyone is interested. Here's a pic of the book and a link to Amazon where you can get a look inside.  (image from Amazon.com) We also finished "The Usborne Children's Encyclopedia" this week. Oldest: Oldest has his year-end testing on May 3 so we spent some time each day working out of test prep booklets. Ok let me just go ahead and say that the relaxed, part unschooler, love of learning homeschooler that I am really bristles over testing to measure learning or progress. However, since I'm registered directly with the county and it's one of our state's requirements, we do it (there are other options - testing just happens to be the option that makes the least waves with the school board and is the least expensive for me). I try to remember that it's just one test one time a year - the rest of the time we get to learn how and when we want. Plus it's not all bad for oldest to get some test taking practice (in case he wants to pursue the college route) and also get a glimpse what it must be like living in the "box" of public education (said with a grin and sarcasm that only a mom of a strong-willed, left-brained, global thinker, visual/spatial, "spirited" son could.) So anyways (stepping off the soapbox), since we don't do "testing" in school and oldest really has a hard time with the whole testing atmosphere - being timed, staying focused, dealing with material that's new to him, filling in circles, believing that there's just one answer (you get the picture), I find it best to do some preparation. It also affords us the opportunity to see what we haven't covered and go over it a bit - not to measure up to grade-level learning but rather to prevent oldest from freaking out when he comes across something he doesn't know on the test (and then feeling like he knows nothing and forgetting everything he *does* know in the process - I know those of you with boys like mine are smiling!). We're working on a section or two each day then going through the answers. One surprising side benefit - we found that oldest loves geometry. That was one of the areas we hadn't covered yet so we spent some time going through the lessons on geometry in his math workbook. Imagine my surprise when, after working through the pages, oldest says to me "Hey, I love that geometry stuff. Got any more?" Note to self - enthusiastic about geometry - pursue this area! He continued reading in "Boston Jane" for assigned reading and picked up "Fellowship of the Ring" for free reading. |
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