So Queenie was assigned to write a poem based on feelings she has felt while reading the Glass Castle- A Memoir in her Prep for College Reading 2 class.

Family

Why does the heart ache when wanting a parent’s love,

Because she desires her family.

Is happiness in the world itself that keeps them being sane,

Happiness is a family.

How does madness not drive one crazy,

Because support is there, called family.

Why does the mother dog bark when its pup is lost,

Because it is her family.

Or why does a ferret hate being alone,

Because it craves a family.

What do you call a bunch of people who live in a house together and love one another?

A happy proud family.

No matter how broken, depressed, or mad,

A family is there to love and cherish you.

Every family is genuine and loving,

And that is what we must remember.

In July my granbaby was born. Though it is kind of not happy that my dd is only 16, we are thankful for a healthy birth and so far healthy postpartum recovery. Everyone has been supportive to my dd and us. We are all pulling together to make sure things go ok and this baby knows she is truly a gift of God no matter her birth circumstances. I will mention her from now on as GB(granbaby). GB's daddy is very much in the picture and all is going well. She is a content little one and seems to go with our family flow. My dd is determined to stay at her agricultural high school and we are behind her all the way. Their Equestrian program is excellent and with some family help I know she will do well. She is a strong determined young woman like I was so she will go far. I told her she could come home and go to community college with her sister but she has a plan and I am proud of that

Will post some GB pics soon, she is SSSOOOO precious!

My Queenie is such a busy girl and with a new grandchuild in the house as well as Queenie attending 2 college courses each semester, I need to be careful not to ask too much. She really needs downtime. So here is my game plan...

English=Community College courses- Prep for College Reading 2 and Intro to Writing

Math=Community Courses-Fundamentals of Math, Intro to Algebra

HINT* Community College offers free tutoring to registered students in any course, sinc eher worst subject in math this will be very helpful!

History=Continuing SOS History 800 and supplementing with books such as D'Aulaire's George Washington(need to borrow), D'Aulaire's Abraham Lincoln(own), All of a Kind Family, Mr Revere and I, America's Horrible Histories

Science=Life Science, All Creatues Great and Small(love this text!!!)

We are also going to finish up Language Lessons for the Secondary Child by Queen Publishing.

She is joining Lifeteen now that she is old enough to provide extra socialization. We hope to continue at our friday group but I know our schedule is a bit on the hectic side with my other children. And mom is still attend school and going to be switching to days so I can graduate faster. But I think this will give Queenie some much needed down time during the day. She tends to be creative when given free time and I feel she has not had enough lately. She wants to continue at our local barn as well. 

So it is back to school for my 13 yr old. Boy has she grown this summer break! We take a break from Jun to July. This July she was blessed with the opportunity to attend a Teen Camp at Magdelan College in NH. She learned philosophy, and had to practice modesty and made great friends. We are truly grateful for the scholarship she was given to attend and though she was a bit young at age 13, fit right in and will definitely attend next year. I recommend other parents check out this terrificand small Catholic college! They are almost 50% homeschoolers, Yeah!

So onto the second half of this year. I contacted NARS and found out their school year runs Aug to July which is a problem as we go Jan through Dec. So in order for her high school credits not to be a bunch of halfsies, we are in need of schedule readjusting. They said we can just start her freshman year now since she earned her first high school credit at our community college in the spring and is of age(turning 14 in feb) but she is not ready to do all 9th grade. Her history is only half done as well as science. So we will wait another year and extend out her history and science with extras until jun. Her college credits this year and last will automatically be transferred anyways. So my hint to other cash strapped parents in this situation is continue the college courses and wait until your child is fully ready for at home high school credits to register with NARS. They don't charge you for past college credits only past homeschooling credits. And she is only 13 so what is the rush

Just to note, I went to a graden center today to find an organic plant food since my children and I are eating straight from the plant. So we chose Neptune's Fish/Seaweed liquid concentrate. Click on the title to check it out. What I can say after one day of use is-

1. It smells like rotten fish so do not wear anything nice to do this activity

2. I thought 1/8C:1G would do all 5 of my itty bitty plots but no the total ratio was 1Cup:8Gallons. I made sure to do each plant's base soil as I do not at this time have a watering can

3. BUY THE WATERING CAN, LOL! it took me a while on hands and knees to pour at the base as I did not want to waste and I have like 30 cucumber plants etc. Ugh. Save your knees and use a watering can.

4. My oldest Red swears she saw improvements in some of the plants overnight. I am skeptical but she does well in her studies at the Agricultural HIgh so...maybe she is right. I pray she is right

5. Make sure to dilute properly- I used an organizing plastic bin and a pyrex measuring cup- both to measure and pour onto the plants.

6. It needs to been done everyother week or so and in the evening in the last hour or two of sunlight(at least that was Red's advice)

Our butter lettuces are already munchable and can't wait til we have enough for a family salad night. Baby girl is very proud of her lettuce that she planted from seed. And I thought it would never grow. There is hope

Next to buy ladybugs as we have found 2 green bugs on our lettuces that are the same color as the lettuce and we also have munch holes on some leaves. Wish us luck.

Our family spent satuday buying, creating, and planting the new graden. It is bigger than I had envisioned, mostly due to my overbuying of starter plants. But this is due to the wonderful choices at our local fruit and veggie store. So last year I planted tomatoes, of which two plants took hold and provided an ok amount. We had problems at first with aphids but the ladybugs in the neighborhood took care of them. Then, after a long rainy period, we had yellowing and what I think is called early blight. Then we had what we called the "mutant squash", which due to my overplanting of the small plot, took over the two itty bitty green pepper plants. But I had a terrific yield of yellow squash! Then our few watermelon plants produce a couple but we only harevsted 2 of them and they were not fully matured and tasted gross. So no watermelon this year. I am focusing on veggies with one fruit, everbearing strawberries, very yummy! Wish I had pics ready to post but will get to that in the next few days. We have two types of big tomatoes because I wanted and early yielder while waiting for my Beef eaters. And I am trying a hybrid 100 variety of small one bite tomatoes. Then we have many green bean plants as I hope to freeze them for the winter, and I didn't realize how many plant shoots were in each container! Same with the cucumbers. There were at least 3-5 shoots per little square. Hopefully this is a good sign of healthy strong plants. I am trying a few Lady Finger Eggplants as I personally like eggplant though the kids were not thrilled. We planted pumpkins alongour fence in a very sunny spot. Last year I made the mistake of thinking a spot was sunny but it was definitely not sunny enough. And our lettuces are growing nice from seed that we planted a few weeks ago but I have a cat(I think) that is pooping in one spot. So I put up 4 ft netting around the garden and this morning I found another poop all in the same spot. I put natural mulch too around the lettuces so I am at a loss to detract this animal from pooping on my lettuce! Please help if anyone knows what to do!

We have more than tripled the garden size from last year. And need one more plot for the strawberries. More to come.....>

Long vacation here, ,,,YEAH RIGHT!

So this has been a bad winter. Not just too much snow but health, work and now a change for me which will affect our whole family. Life is never boring in this household.

Our son, now 20mos, has had some delays in walking and talking. He has great upper body strength due to crawling much longer than normal as he has low muscle tone and balance issues. Now he has had repeated ear infections since aug 08 and is FINALLY scheduled for ears tube next month as well as possible adnoidnectomy. He has gone through PT and now walks but still has balance/low muscle tone issues. He also is having his eval with Early Invtervention next week. His Neuro/Behavior Ped Dr wants him in immediate speech therapy as he has no real complete words. Dr also is doing genetic testing as he believes Little Man has the "symptoms" of Sotos Syndrome, yet my insurance is refusing to pay for the $2400 genetic test, UGH!!! But I don't think he is Classic Sotos anyway, his head is normal and his dad grew tall very fast at this age. But hey, test away if my insurance will pay :) So Little Man and his team of Specialists and Peds are keeping us quite busy, plus he himself is so active you would never think he needed a team of Peoples. 

As for the next one, our Baby Girl, is doing better, behavior wise and skill wise thanks to part time PreK(not at home). Her Neuro/Behav Ped Dr says she has limited impulse control and is developmentally at the age of a 3 yr old vs her 4 yr old age. But says she is bright and needs to be channeled and have much more structure and limits. As we are so disorganized and totally bordering unschooling/non scheduling here, she is better going to preK, but as for the "guilt" Dr says Stop It! So I am. Each child is different and right now, preK is where she needs to be.

So Queenie has started college this semester! Very excited for her as she is helping so much with the younger children at home while I work part time and take everyone(including my MIL) to every Dr imaginable. Her Home Ec points are through the roof. So she fits in well with the college class-Preparatory For College Reading 1. We plan 1-2 courses of the basics each semseter to build her up socially, academically, and get her out of the house.

As for Red, well, she is doing quite well at her Aggie High School. But she did mess up a bit and got herself into some "trouble". I can't imagine me as a grandma at 36 but I am trustin God to help us make this a positive for our family. As a large family already, another beautiful baby from the Lord is welcomed yet we had REALLY hoped this would happen in her 20s not 16! But this is earth not Heaven and sin is sin, we are humans and will sin. Red is really trying to take responsibilty and not let this bring into further into bad. She and her boyfriend have been to confession since and they continue in their Lifeteen group, who so far have not judged them. They plan to raise the baby together and in the Church so I am happy with that. His family is devout Portuguese and have been very supportive too. We all feel the baby should not be punished for their sin and Red will continue school(despite my pleas to come back home to school, UGH AGAIN) and continue her career goals of Equine Science. So my life will change as I help her attain her future and learn to be a mom. Please pray for us. Our Church is being supportive with our spiritual needs as well, thank you God. As I really could not have handled this all alone. So baby due in July. We hope monday to find out the sex.

So what about me? well my part time job is slowly being done away with as town budgets shrink. Many towns are foregoing student transportation except in federally mandated children. Which means I need a new career. Finally I started at a local tech school to train in the medical field. My Dh and DCs are so proud of me and supportive that I am overwhelmed with joy. It is going to be hard to work days, school nights and family/studying squeezed inbetween, but God has certainly had a hand in all this. Everything came together too well and too right to not give Him the credit.

Can I just say how truly Blessed we are here?

By when you are a homeschooling family! Wow, can't believe it has been so long since my last post but here it is, Thanksgiving already. As my children begin to wake, I will steal a few moments to post about where we have been. We have been everywhere and yet no where. Seems life can move too fast sometimes and then you realize it a bit late. Queenie has been busy getting ready for Exchange City next week with one of her co-ops. She also participated in a Shakespeare class. Her fave part was doing a scene from Romeo and Juliet in the last class. That night we watched to newer modern version with Leonardo DiCaprio. Warning Parents, This version needs to be screened by you first before allowing children to watch. But it gave us the chance(I had seen a few times before) to talk through it and notice how they took a 500 yr old play and modernized it. It also allowed her to make it relavant to her. And we both agreed Romeo is just plain whiney! She was amazed that Juliet was her about her age and they talk of having babies at that age back then. So all in all, a great discussion movie and play.

She and Red also attended Splash at MIT last weekend. Again, like last year, the courses were not as described on the catalog page. And they were bored by many of the classes they thought might be cool. But Queenie brought a friend this year and they had fun doing the class together and hanging out on the MIT campus. Queenie's fave class was How the Brain Works- which is because it included a thorough and fun dissection of a sheep's brain! She found out she likes dissection and lab environment. So I told her I would try to call the Butcher for some cow eyes or something and help her at home. Maybe she will be a doctor

Babygirl has restarted Preschool and is loving it. I think she enjoys the structure and teachers(not me) pushing her on new things. We butt heads so much at home! And she tells me of how when she gets older she will go to high school. And I laugh, she is so sweet and eager at this age, yet she has no clue...

AHappy Thanksgiving ll! I thank God for our family, home, friends, and the opportunities to grow He has given me this year. Blessings to All!

To start our festive week of home learning, pumpkins were a natural start. Coming home from work, the children were still in bed. So up I went and woke them saying they didn't want to sleep through Pumpkin Day. Both older ones said "Pumpkin what?" By 10am, all three were up and fed and ready to go. They couldn't resist checking out what I had planned and tried playing with the pumpkin and art board first. So I went with pumpkin bowling and after a few practice rolls, the game was ON. Now my plan was for babygirl to learn some turn waiting and this is NOT easy for her. Little guy was perfectly happy in his high chair as long as after each turn we took, he got the pumpkin to throw onto the floor. Queenie we found out is exceptional so we had to make it harder for her, hehehe, and babygirl stood in front of the soda bottle pins with her legs open. And yes, she still got a strike. A side learning I didn't think about was babygirl wanted to write the score numbers herself on our homemade scoresheet. I wrote it on a napkin and she copied it onto the scoresheet. After three turns, though, babygirl could not take not going again and again(waiting her turn), so the game melted. Next idea, we carve the pumpkin. The seeds were for snack time and the flesh scrapes for our upcoming pumpkin dessert contest(saturday) and the shell to carve. Yes, I made sure this little pumpkin would be fully used. Babygirl helped some, little guy played with the pumpkin guts and Queenie made me proud with her skills. We made 2 cups of puree from a 4 pound pumpkin while we still have a gorgeously faced pumpkin that we lit up during snack time. Babygirl planted some guts and seed in her garden for next year. Then inspired, Queenie wanted to set up snack time as a party so I let her take care of it while we played some. I taught babygirl the Ten Little Pumpkins song and a Mr Old Pumpkin finger play. She prefered the song. Then it was decided we must dress in costume for the snack time party. Mom is a ghost, babygirl a witch dress, Queenie in her fave dress and little guy in crocodile. Babygirl did each of our makeup>On the menu, guts(strawberries thawed), broken bones(roasted pumpkin seeds) and apple slices(ok I forgot our name for them). >

I am sad that babygirl seemed to have several meltdowns during this time of only 1 1/2 hrs. I had hoped it would hold her interest better and the time would be extended but it seemed too much still. My goal is to find active learning for her to hold her interest but it is hard as she has many issues with social skills, even within the family,as well as not able to do some activities(occupational type stuff,don't know how else to put it). Tomorrow is Ghost day with a few chosen activities. She enjoyed the eraser rhymes so happy to try a slightly longer one tomorrow. It has her erase the rhyming picture off our dry erase board. Makes her an active part of the poem. But right now she is rotting her brain on Sesame Street. I know, TV bad.

This week is Halloween week at our home. I know many Christians do not celebrate but luckily as Catholic it is ok and I personally love the fun of it. I have chosen to focus on pumpkins and Harvest themes with some other stuff too(witches, ghosts). Please take what you wish and leave the rest as you feel comfortable with your family. I used an excellent resource called Little Giraffe. I took what I could use and cut n paste it into my Word program and reduced sizes as to save paper and space!

Crafts

Styrofoam Cup Ghosts

The styrofoam ghost is simple. The children make the face with a a black marker. Punch a small hole in the bottom if you want them to hang from the ceiling. Place the cups on a cookie sheet and put in a 350 degree oven. Let them melt. This will take about 5 to 15 minutes, depending on how much you want them to shrink. Each one will be different.

Mr. Candy Corn

Color Mr. Candy Corn  in traditional orange, yellow and white. Draw a face and put on accordion folded arms and legs. Use wiggly eyes or white.

Math

Give each child one small cup of Haunted Cocoa Rice Krispies Cereal. Graph how many marshmallow bats, ghosts and eyeballs.

For a measurement and counting activity cover a ghost with pieces of popcorn. Then count how many pieces and write the number below the ghost.

Games

PUMPKIN PATTERNING: Trace a pumpkin or ghost onto a piece of construction paper. Use dot stickers  to make a pattern on the outline of the ghost or pumpkin.

 GHOST CRAFT AND GAME: Make ghosts and pumpkins by wrapping tissue paper around ping-pong balls. The children take turns trying to throw them into a plastic pumpkin.

PIN THE FANGS ON DRACULA

HAUNTED PIZZA: Make this Halloween snack by spreading pudding on a graham cracker. Then sprinkle on chocolate cookie crumbs  and add gummy worms.

STICK THE WART ON THE WITCH'S NOSE: Give each child a piece of gum and let them chew it for a few minutes. Play as you would "Pin the Tail on the Donkey". You will need a laminated picture of a witch, gum, and a blindfold.

PUMPKIN BOWLING: Use 2 "pie" pumpkins (the small ones - about 4-6" across), break off the stem, and use them to bowl down 3 or 4 1 liter bottles filled with sand or beans/rice (from your sand or rice/bean table). Make sure you put the caps are on. It's fun because the pie pumpkins don't exactly roll straight!

A HAUNTING WE WILL GO

Divide the group into four smaller groups and assign each group one of the words listed below. Read the story. After each of the words is read pause for the group to make the appropriate response.

       Witches:  High shrill laugh

      Ghosts:  "Whoooooooooooo"

      Black cat:  "Meow"

      Halloween:  Everyone scream

On a dark and windy night in October, around HALLOWEEN___, a group of kindergartners were walking along a dark country road when they came upon an old, old house. Now, it being HALLOWEEN___, and the GHOSTS___ and WITCHES___ were haunting places like this, it was no wonder the kindergartners were scared when a large BLACK CAT___ ran across the road in front of them.

The kindergartners decided to follow the BLACK CAT___ and see where he went. Well, the BLACK CAT___ went right into the old house! The boys, being kindergartners, were not afraid, so they went in the front door, but stopped when they heard what sounded like a GHOST___! They, being kindergartners, went all through the house but they didn't see a GHOST___ or a WITCH___ or even the BLACK CAT___! Then, just as they were about to leave, they saw a WITCH___ flying through the room on her broomstick with the BLACK CAT___ sitting on the end of her broom. Well, that really scared the kindergartners, so they all started through the door at the same time.

Now, everyone knows that a group of kindergartners won't fit through one door at the same time, but they sure tried. And when they all did come out the whole front wall of the house came with them, making the old house start to fall down, and as it fell, you could hear the GHOST___ and the WITCH___ with her BLACK CAT___ saying, "Where do we go a haunting now. It's almost HALLOWEEN___, too!"

Maybe they will come to haunt your house!

->Make two copies of a spider and cut one into 6 strips. Write one letter for each letter of the word SPIDER on each strip. You can laminate peices if you wish. Then have the child stick each strip in order on the spider picture tha was not sut up. The children get to put one piece of their spider puzzle on the orange mat for every flash card they can read. You can continue the game by making the spider disappear one piece at a time.

Halloween ABCDE Chant

AB CDE
Pumpkins as orange as can be.
FG HIJ
Halloween is on its way!
KL MNO
Children’s feet on the go.
PQ RST
Costumes cute as can be.
UV WXY
"Trick or treat", they all cry.
ZZ ZZZ
Candy for you and me!

Draw the "parts" on the dry erase board and give child eraser. have child erase as you say each "part" that would rhyme with the poem.

Witch
If you’ve ever seen her zoom, then you can erase her (broom).
If you’d like one just like that, then you can erase her (hat).
If you think she’ll give you a scare, then you can erase her (hair).
If you’ve seen her in disguise, then you can erase her (eyes).
If you’ve got warts just like those, then you can erase her (nose).
If you wait a little while, then you can erase her (smile).
If you’ve watched her in a race, then you can erase her (face).
Magic spells, she understands. Now you can erase her (hands).
If she has an owl that hoots, then you can erase her (boots).
If you want to make a guess, then you can erase her (dress).
Unless you want her to escape, then you should erase her (cape).

Scarecrow
If you stuff him, he’ll be fat. Now you must erase his (hat).
If you put him on a base, then you must erase his (face).
If you like those pumpkin pies, then you can erase his (eyes).
If he grins like a crocodile, then you should erase his (smile).
If he scares away the crows, then you can erase his (nose).
If you wish that he could play, then you can erase the (hay).
If you stick him in the dirt, then you can erase his (shirt).
If the wind will make him dance, then you can erase his (pants).
If you want to see him kick, then you can erase the (stick).

Jack-O-Lantern
If you want a big surprise, then you must erase his (eyes).
If he has a light that glows, then you can erase his (nose).
If you look and find his chin, then you can erase his (grin).
If you want one just like him, then you can erase his (stem).
If you know just the right place, then you can erase his (face).

Jack O. Happy Fingerplay
(Children make a circle around their heads before beginning.)

This is Jack O. Happy. (smile)
This is Jack O. Sad.  (frown)
This is Jack O. Spooky. (open mouth and look frightened.)
This is Jack O. Mad. (make angry face)
This is Jack in pieces small.  (open up hands)
But in a pie he’s best of all.   (pat tummy)

Ten Little Pumpkins
(tune of Ten Little Indians)

One little, two little, three little pumpkins.
Four little, five little, six little pumpkins.
Seven little, eight little, nine little pumpkins.
Ten little pumpkins growing in a patch.

Ten little, nine little, eight little pumpkins.
Seven little, six little, five little pumpkins,
Four little, three little, two little pumpkins.
One little pumpkin growing in a patch

Mr. Pumpkin
(Before beginning this finger rhyme, draw a jack-o-lantern on each child’s right thumb
or put a jack-o-lantern sticker on.)

Old Mr. Pumpkin (fist with right hand, thumb inside)
Hiding in a box, (left hand covers fist)
Take off the top, (remove left hand)
And out he pops! (thumb pops out)

We had a blast this weekend at the horse barn we work at! The owner went all out and there was face painting, pumpkin painting, hair color spraying, masks, goodies, tractor hayrides, unlimited pony rides, food, drinks, pizza.... Oh My!!!! And when I got home and looked through the pics, I had not taken a pic of my Queenie but she was beautiful and dressed as Herself

I was very proud of both girls. They left early in the morn to help set up. They had other people's pony parties to work and Queenie did not even get back to the barn until after the party started. Red went straight to "work" at the party. She gave pony rides, painted faces, happily colored OTHER kids' hair, and just seemed so grown up despite her Gothic Kitty costume. The barn work has really helped them both mature in a real world way. They take their responsibilities seriously there and are rewarded amply with riding and real living skills. And as Mom, I love watching them and how proud they are of themselves.

A new day, new learning happens. Due to a very wonderful friend fixing our laptop(do not use laptops on beds, UGH) I can blog more now. Queenie is doing her copywork right next to me at the table. She wants to get some of tomorrow's stuff done tonight so she can go to the barn tomorrow. I was all set this morn when I came home from work to put her to work at 10am but then she started playing sesame street with babygirl on the laptop and I did not want to disturb them. Then I took babygirl and boy for a walk to discover a new part of our neighborhood. It seems that someone was going to build houses and started clearing the land and even left a digger machine. So we made rock gardens and castles in the sand left there. We found some bugs under rotting wood and lots of crickets under a big rock pile. The little ones were happy and I wondered why it took so long for me to go up that hill!

Back at the house my oldest had half a day and I needed to go back to work. No time for formal schooling. After dropping off the two oldest at the barn for the afternoon/evening. Unfortunately, little man fell asleep while I was cooking dinner and is right now soooo cranky! Hate those late day naps, they ruin the evening.

So now around 8pm we finally get to do some work, formal stuff, you know, for the portfolio or something like that. Saxon goes so much better when we do it together. I breifly read over the lesson, then recap it for her. We are only on L27 so not much new stuff here. She is kind of frustrated by their manipulatives for fractions but then she will never forget how I MADE her do them, hehehe. Then we are using the OCt module for the Old Schoolhouse Planner. It is about exploring the world. Since Queeine at age 12 was complaining I do not let her print enough, I switche dover her copywork work to the Module's continental copywork. It combines both History and printing. She has to copy a fact about a continent and then answer fact questions for that continent. Tonight is Africa and North America. I did not know that Greenland was part of North america and not Europe. She did not know that Mexico is not part of South America. She was very upset saying they were wrong.

Babygirl is watching Wow Wow Wubbzy and I am off for my last pick up of the night, Hubby

Deadline is an evil word and should be avoided at all cost. Seriously!

Economics package, due October 13, not happening. I am delayed, and really have no excuse. So we had an economics cram session today and in about 3 hours, completed the job application portion finally. It actually reminded me of how I functioned in school. The teacher would give an assignment due in 2 weeks and I would cram it all the night before. But I still got the A usually so it worked. So now my dds are following in my learning styles footsteps. My oldest spent the holiday weekend working on a couple big projects for her school. A gorgeous 3-fold brochure, a 2 page essay, and a 10 page leaf suvery for math later and it was worth her cramming. Do you find your familiy does better under pressure?

Back to topic of  application package- first we finished up the resume and completed the application. She has chosen to apply first for the production designer of the sign shop, a very creative and emanding position. Next, I had her color her ad assignment so she could present it with her app at the "interview". And then I gave her the interview help worksheet to study. She ran off to her room to prepare for her "interview" at noon. Well, she caught me off guard at noon as I was on the phone and net, oops! She came downstairs dressed in a nice top and slacks with her "briefcase". We then played through the interview, even pretending older sis was my secretary and requesting coffee! Ok, a little overboard but it was fun! As employer I did request a computer-designed sign for the application to be complete and gave her a 1 hour deadline(which she did). Now our app is off to Exchange City for final review.

Lastly, it was voting day and she needed to review and then vote on a mayor and judge for Exchange City. We went through each candidate's poster and profile and she is alot like me in so much. I guess spending 24/7 rubs off especially with opinions. Voting now complete.

First deadline done- ok so I didn't make it to the mailbox, but I had to work late!!!And my dog chewed the first copy and the fairies stole the second copy and you really don't want to know what happended to the third copy!!!!(JK< BTW)

Good Nite

I was talking with a mom at our friday meet up playgroup and she seemed not to know of the wealth of free, yes FREE, printables out there. Babygirl at age 4 has a disdain for workbooks. Now you say but aren't printables the same? No! Not to her! When she seems a bit on the schooly side or quiet side I will now whip out a worksheet that I printed off and do complete it with her. The activity must take less than 2 minutes and must seem like fun. Babygirl is not like my oldest who wanted workbooks for christmas and did them while watching tv. No, this little girl is highly active and unable to concentrate for more than 2 minutes so I must adjust her learning accordingly. For the past year I bought various items to work with her on but now am giving in and letting her lead me where she wants to learn. The day is a bit happier this way. So now for my new online FREEBIE Treasure -> join notebookingnook@yahoogroups.com. Just trust me on this one, you will not regret the extra emails! A lovely and graciously woman named Belinda with the help of other women(but I don't know their names) put out a daily list of printables etc for each subject. So far I have been able to utilize about 30% of them and that is a good percentage considering ALL the free stuff out there. The difference is she puts them by subject so each day can be all planned out if you want or you can pick quick based on the subject. I personally save each email to a seperate Notebooking folder in my Outlook for future use. Baby girl especially likes the sesame street letter of the day print out. Belinda's actual website with other free and cheap printables and lessons is www.learningtreasures.com .

There are many more freebies out there. When I want something, I google it. For instance, castle color page, well I google "castle color page" in my internet explorer toolbar for google and up pops a bazillion possibles websites. I recommend any homeschoolers have a goggle toolbar on their internet explorer for ease of search. My oldest in high school could not survive school projects without it!

My goal- not to pay for curriculum!!! Thanks again to generous hard working moms and das who are helping make that goal a reality.

We are participating in Exchange City this year. If you have not heard of it and are near Michigan, RI, or NH, you should check it out! We are joining other homeschoolers from several states to participate. Basically, the children complete a homestudy, including aspects of careers, marketing, and personal finance. They apply for a career position at Exchange City and on one day they go to the location and train. They go back the next day and do an actual simulation of running a town. From Mayor to movie popcorn person, there are all types of jobs and the students must live it out. I am so proud my dd wants to do this. I really wish I had this opportunity as a child.

Anyways, first up this week, we must get the Job packet completed and mailed so she can get a job! We discussed career interests. We were provided a simple inventory list of her personality type and I had her choose the top 5 out of six and order them as she felt they pertained to her. Then we went online to Career Focus website and after she did that, it displayed terrific results categorizing according to occupations.We compared these to what she chose on the worksheet and found her top 3 were the same. So we started filling in the job application with her basic info. Exchange City prefers if they do not make up the app or resume but use their true background. I thought this a good idea too. The form asks for residence, schooling, employers, skills, talents, career applied for. They have her choose 3 positions from an "employment newspaper" in order of her desire. I told her 1/2 the students apply for police person but it is her #2 so she still wants to try for it. Surprisingly, she originally wanted nurse educator as #1 but none of her career interests laid in the medical field and she wasn't dissapointed by that fact...hmmm.

So we have made it half way through. And I know the tough parts are coming. She is down on herself and she will need to not be as she identifies her strengths. It is so easy to notice weaknesses yet to admit we are good at something seems prideful? Yes, I am kind of reluctant myself on this part as it is hard for me as well. Also, I get frustrated with her as denies she is good at something. She feels if it is not perfect, she stinks at it. As for personal finance-easy, I can give great advice, too bad I don't listen to myself

A friend forwarded this to me. The pics do not seem to come out when I cut n paste but the message was loud and clear and I had no idea of that fateful night before today. Please read.

 

THIS IS MOVING.  HOW QUICKLY WE FORGET.....IF ...WE EVER KNEW......   WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers; they lived only 90 years ago. Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right to go to the polls and vote. The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking for the vote. And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of 'obstructing sidewalk traffic.' They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air. They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women. Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms. When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press. ht tp://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/prisoners.pdf   So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because- -why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining? Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new movie 'Iron Jawed Angels.' It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder. All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient. My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie,' she said. 'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use, my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.' HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order. It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul w as strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy. The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.' Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know. We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote. History is being made.

So it is september and I have found so many great experiential activities for the children. What an exciting year of learning can be had. Focus. I am telling myself to slow down and focus. We have goals to attain. Signing up for everything is actually against those goals. Time home together learning and living was our main goal this year, which is why our leanring philosophy this year gravitated towards Charlotte Mason. I find it  a very grounding way of learning. But our co-op on mondays is just too good to pass up. It will offer desired topic classes for my queenie and even a much needed friend class for my baby girl who is really not so much a baby anymore. Mom needs to start letting her grow without the "baby" tag on her and this is such a perfect way to do it. There are 8-10 children going her age level so I do not think a preschool could offer a better opportunity for us. Besides, that preschool, while being what we needed at the time, was not made up of mutli-age children. Baby girl will be with 3,4,5,6ish children. So much better I think than just the 4s. But anyways, even my little guy needs some watching of other children. He is not walking and talking yet, though only 15 months-I know. I baby him as well at home. Hey, he is my only boy and my last child. So I have already met a mom bringing her 1 yr old girl there and I know there are a few others his age. I am so into the belief that my children grow more watching other children than watching me all day. Homeschoolers NEED to be out and about for their children to grow as people. But here comes the dilemma > when is too much too much? I find homeschoolers, myself MUCH included, tend to overschedule. Then we burn out and get grumpy and when mom is grumpy-everyone is grumpy. Come on, I know so many moms out there know what I mean.

So here I am, Mondays are booked. Well, on co-op day there really can be no learning at home except self learning. But wait, we must go to the social group on fridays. Queenie has few friends. She has not made real connections with anyone on mondays but loves the classes. Her friends are all in the friday group so cannot miss that one. Plus mom really likes these moms(more motivation for mom to attend). So now we are down to home learning scheduled tue, wed, thur. But wait, thur we were going to try a new learning co-op with creditable courses. This mom has terrific ideas and we were set to plan up. But now I am overbooked. What do I do? Guilt pops in, saying, well I said I would commit to this new  co-op but at that time we were going to drop the monday co-op. But the monday co-op came up with classes that dd HAD to do and offers more for our goals this year(socialize and teach certain class type manners to unruly 4 yr old) that I cannot NOT continue the monday co-op.

So WHY am I telling you all this?? Well, most importantly, to let you know you are not alone in overbooking! And 2, to work out in the open the decisions we face here. Kind of theraputic but also soliciting you all to offer opinions on what you all do. I truly like reading others' blogs to see how others keep it together and make tough decisions regarding their homeschool.

My mom loves to remind me that I do too much. Since she is a veteran successful homeschool mom, I should heed her advice. My kid sister turned out quite well. But my mom's main advice today was I need those three days in the middle of the week HOME, no field trips, no co-ops, no meets, nothing but with my children. Maybe not entirely feasible as I itch when I am home, but a goal none-the-less for us. BTW, we still will do some math and language arts on co-op days but in the car on the way here or there.

The next biggest factor is money. Boy, co-ops are great but you need to watch out. I have not had a budget in 4 yrs, I spend on the cuff. And now, with finances tighter than tight, I find I must now slow down and refuse based on cost as well. It will be a good lesson though in the long run for my children. Really, they have seen me always come up with the money and that gave them a false reality. It has been hard to say no, I am broke and can't do it to them. I want to give them every opportunity in the world but I can't. They are starting to learn to make opportunities happen and earn what they want here and there. Like horses, Red and Queenie get most of their experience free at the barn they work for in exchange for riding. This has been truly a blessing as riding is so expensive I could not have afforded it with four children. And this year, my queenie will be making her own line of jewelry to start up a business for christmas monies. And, though babysitting for family needs is required, I am starting to pay for unnecessary babysitting needs. This shows I value their help and gives me a break

So to sum up my thoughts tonight->By refusing to overschedule and learning to budget our home learning funds, my children are going to learn valuable lessons from me, ones they will hopefully live out when they have their own families.

Red had her first horse show in august and this totally neat pic was taken.She placed 5th in the Halter class out of 7. It was also our Gelding's first show ever too so praise to him for behaving as best he could. Also, thanks to Studio Equus for their outstanding photos. They takes shots at shows and then offer them up to the riders and their families(for a fee of course) but I couldn not have taken a better photo of my girl and boy

Last weekend Red took part in another local show but a little bit lower on the competition scale to give her and our horse some experience. He is green and so is she. But they stole the show!!! They earned 2 first places, a 2nd, and a 3rd, which earned them Champion of the show!!! OMG!!! We are so very proud of them. Red is excited and motivated by the wins. She is going to start with a trainer and hopefully push herself to go back up to the higher shows where her aunt competes. She has always wanted to be like her aunt who owns the gelding but generously allows our use of him. And it is with a mother's pride, to see her following this dream.

Below is cut n pasted from an email Jan Brett sends out regularly to her fans. I love her freebies. Check them out!

Gingerbread Friends!

     My new book is on sale today.  You can get a preview and order a
copy from you favorite bookstore here:

Let's Go Shopping
http://www.janbrett.com/bookstores/hedgies_lets_go_shopping.htm
Gingerbread Friends Teacher's Guide
http://www.janbrett.com/piggybacks/gingerbread_friends_teachers_guide.htm
Trim a Gingerbread House
http://www.janbrett.com/trim_a_jan_brett_gingerbread_baby_house.htm

Create A Gingerbread Friend
http://www.janbrett.com/trim_a_jan_brett_gingerbread_friend.html
Gingerbread Friends Ecards
http://www.janbrett.com/vcards
Gingerbread Friends "All About" letter.
http://janbrett.com/activities_pages_newsnotes.htm
Gingerbread Friends Wall Date Calendar
http://www.janbrett.com/2009_calendar/2009_calendar_main_page.htm

Gingerbread Friends Lunch on the Bus Contest
http://www.janbrett.com/contest_2009/lunch_on_the_bus_contest.htm

Gingerbread Friends Book Tour
http://www.janbrett.com/tour_fall_2008.htm

It's a pleasure to be in touch.

Sincerely,

Jan Brett

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