Jun. 13, 2009 - Summer Learning

Summer doesn't seem to be slowing down for us.  I'm trying to keep our "learning time" somewhere close to what I had planned.  Daily, we have speech therapy homework for both Big Man (9) and Peanut (4), I try to do some O.T. work with Peanut daily, I'm trying to keep up with Barton three times a week, and we're either doing a math game or an Auditory Processing game daily.  It's making me feel like I'm not really on vacation, especially since there are other things that are need to be done like....maybe....planning for next year??!! 

One wonderful thing so far this summer is the library book club.  We do this every year, but this is the first year my kids are really taking off on their reading.  Little Monkey (6) was upset he didn't have a library card yet since he's officially a second grader now.  He put up such a fuss (and frankly I needed another card to check out enough books to last us a week)  I went ahead and got him signed up.  He is now the proud owner of a library card and can check out ten books at a time.  Well, let me tell you I need one of those file crates on wheels like you see at homeschool conventions for our weekly library trips now!  Both of the older boys check out 9-10 books at a time, and I check out the same amount (about six for Peanut then the rest are some harder books for the older boys).  The kids immediately pick out a book to read on the ride home, and by the end of the week they are through their respective stacks.  You would have needed to be around here to know what a difference this is from last year.  You see, last year we had to make them read a certain amount of time each day, and we would struggle to get the few books we had done before the due date three weeks after checking them out of the library.  It's a real boost for all of us to see an excitement about reading.  Yes, they're doing it for points and prizes, but I DON'T CARE!!!  My kids are finally reading, enjoying it, and asking for more.  You have no idea how much I get choked up thinking about it. 

As far as our math games, our biggies are Multiplication War and Goin' Fishin'.  I got the fishing idea from a Carol Barnier book, though I can't remember which one at the moment.  They're both good, go check them out!! 

Here are our little fishies:

A closer look at my artistic genius

The seals we're feeding (they have the product written on the front):

Little Monkey is Goin' Fishin':

And so is Big Man:

The fish have a multiplication problem on the back, and you have to "feed" the fish to the seal with the correct product.  The really great thing was that Peanut wanted a turn, and he happened to get a fish with the product of 100.  He knows what that number looks like, and was thrilled he didn't need any help knowing which seal to feed.  We'll be using this game later with Peanut so he can fish for letters.

Speech therapy has been helpful with our Auditory Processing times.  We play the Auditory Processing Game, but our speech therapist also works with Big Man on his processing problems.  Many times I can use some of his homework as our group APD time.   Also, I was excited (and so were the boys) to find that the makers of Earobics have created a few online games you can use to supplement their programs.  My boys are pretty sick of Earobics, so this was a breath of fresh air for them!  The site is called Game Goo .  Go check it out and play those fun, silly games.

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Jun. 13, 2009 - Next, She'll Be Teacher of the Year

This just makes me sad, plain ol' sad for this little boy.

Teach Who Let Students Vote Out 5 Year Old Aspergers Boy Gets Her Job Back

 And people wonder why homeschooling is becoming more and more popular!

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May. 29, 2009 - Schoolyear Wrap Up

Woo Hoo!  Those 180 days are finally finished for another year.  I still have papers to file away, but our official year is done.  Whew!  It's been quite a year.  Little Monkey was so happy, it made another tooth fall out  

Reading:  

Big Man (9) is on Level 4, lesson 8 in the Barton Reading program.  For sure the hardest lesson for him so far was the Picnic Chicken Basket rule back in lesson 4!  I never thought we'd move past that one!  I'm beginning to get high hopes that we can complete Level 4 with ease before the end of summer, and maybe have a week off before the beginning of next school year and Level 5.  For a 9 or 10 year old, we would only go thru Level 8 before stopping until he's a little older for the last two levels in Barton.  I'm crossing my fingers we'll get done with Level 8 before the end of next summer....but I'm not holding my breath on that one!

Little Monkey (6) is on Level 4, lesson 6.  He, too, took his sweet time getting thru that fourth lesson in this level, but now is on the move again.  I'm so impressed that his little six-year-old mind is soaking up all of the complexities of Barton.  I've noticed him reading much more, and much more quickly, scanning pretty much every sign he sees.  "Do you know what that sign says Mom?" is a common question coming from him.  It warms me to my toes. 

Math: 

Big Man is done with Math U See Gamma!  He was very proud of himself for learning all of his multiplication tables up to the 10's, and for fun we did a "Challenge Level" of the 11's and 12's.  We are very, very proud of how far he has come this year after switching him to Math U See.  It's made all of the difference for him.  He says he actually likes math now!  We went from panicking fits of crying at the beginning of the year....to actually liking it!!  Wow.

Little Monkey also learned all of his multiplication tables up to 10.  The Abeka book started throwing in learning skip counting by a number, multiplying by that number, and dividing by that number all in the same week.  It was getting confusing for him, so we pulled him off of the last few weeks of the 2nd grade book and concentrated on multiplication.  We got as far as multiplying a two digit number by a one digit number with carrying (like 14 x 3).  He's doing that with ease.  Simply amazing.  In the fall, I'll have him finish the 2nd grade Abeka book (where now only division will be new), skip the review lessons in the 3rd grade book, and he should still finish the 3rd grade book by the end of next year.  He's definitely my math kid.

For both boys, we have the Right Start Games set (bought at the Homeschool Convention) from which we'll do games all summer.  The big favorite right now (and it's fantastic for practicing those multiplication tables) is Multiplication War.  We have the Right Start number cards, 0 - 10.  Instead of laying down one card during each round, you put down two.  Each player has to call out what his set totals when multiplied (like if you put down a five and an eight, you would call out 40), the highest product wins the round.  We LOVE this game!  It's going to be hard to convince them to try out a different game.

Grammar: 

Big Man finished his 3rd grade First Language Lessons book, and we'll continue on to the 4th grade book next year.  At one of Susan Bauers talks, she said she doesn't recommend beginning diagramming until about middle school.  And yet, both of the 3rd and 4th grade books are waaaay heavy on diagramming.  If anyone can tell me why this is, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Little Monkey also finished his 1st grade First Language Lessons book, and we'll continue on next year in the 2nd grade section of the book.  I didn't make him learn any of the poems this year.....because the ones I wanted him to learn he did last year as he listened to Big Man learn them.

Handwriting: 

Big Man finished learning each of the lower case letters in cursive.  He has a little trouble remembering how to form the letters when he's writing out a sentence, but that will come with more practice.  Next year we'll cement those lower case letters further and learn the upper case letters as well.

Little Monkey and his handwriting, ugh.  This summer, we'll do some "creative writing" together.  (Writing on the sidewalk or deck with paint/chalk, the windows with fingerpaint, or wherever I can get him to do gigantic letters)  I'll also get some sandpaper letter cards ready for next school year.  It will make handwriting more multisensory for him, which he really thrives on.  This year, the best thing we did was throw a piece of screen (yes, like what's in your windows) under the sheet of paper he's writing on.  That extra bumpiness helps him.  I've also heard of using the plastic knitting screen, but I didn't have any of that lying around.  I just put masking tape around the edges of the window screen to prevent poking.

History: 

Our first year using Tapestry of Grace was a big success.  We went from Year 2, Unit 1 through Year 3, Unit 3.  We'll finish out Year 3 and fit in all of Year 4 next schoolyear.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed the Civil War and Wild West era, as any little boy should! 

A few of the things we did during the last couple of weeks: 

Built a wooden version of a covered wagon so the boys can use it with their Lincoln Logs (bought this at the Homeschool Convention--knew they would love it!)  Built a telegraph while learning about a few of the different inventions of the time.  We went to the local Bass Pro Shop to try a little target practice while learning about Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley. Our favorite thing was going to a Civil War Days recreation.  It was a day trip, but very fun.....except for the on-again/off-again rain and wind during a cool day! 

Our wooden covered wagon, now at home with our Licoln Logs:

Our telegraph machine:

Meeting Abraham Lincoln....while sporting Confederate Flag stickers.  Behind Little Monkeys back, my darling hubby was holding mini Confederate Flags:

Coming up to the Union camp:

The Union Camp, where we talked for quite a while with the regiments doctor.  He was eager to show the boys all of the gruesome medical equipment.  This was actually neat.   Who else but homeschoolers get to hold a bone saw after reading about them in a book?

Only my kids would find bowling during the Civil War.  My favorite memory from this picture?  The lovely women behind my kids bartering with my dear hubby. They were trying to find out how many of those "strapping young boys" he would be willing to sell:

The battle begins:

The Calvary ready to charge:

A couple of funny quotes from the day: 

"Go home, Johnny Reb!!!" yelled from a distance by a Union soldier to Big Man because his rebel Daddy slapped a Confederate Flag sticker on his shirt.  

"Someone died.......FINALLY!!" said by Little Monkey during the battle.  We stood through a long skirmish before the actual battle, and fake deaths, began.

Science: 

Oh, science was so fun this year.  Due to time constraints, I was very glad our science curriculum had as few lessons in it as it did.  We did almost all of the experiments I had laid out during planning, with a couple on tap for this summer, like experimenting with bubbles, and ways to change the color of your campfire   The boys put on their Polymer Magic Show for their cousin when she came down to visit....still need to work on those Vegas moves!  I'm very happy with what the kids learned this year, and we'll use this same company next year when we explore Physics.  If you had told me before we homeschooled that my 3rd and 1st graders would learn about Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Liquids, Gases, Acids & Bases, Mixtures, unmixing, Chemical reactions, enzymes, & molecular chains, and that they would have fun doing it.....I would have thought you had a screw loose!

Peanut Update:  One nice thing about summer being here is the opportunity to spend more time working with Peanut on basic skills.  I've been printing various file folder games (FolderFun , FileFolderHeaven) working on basic skills I never thought I would need to concentrate on with a four year old!  An incredible site I recently found is Tot School, which I am also getting together for Peanut.  The woman who put together the Tot Tray idea is a genius!  The great thing about a lot of these trays is that they will double as O.T. time with mommy.     I'll need to do a post later this summer when I have everything (or most things) ready to go.

Of course, over the summer we can't stop doing our Barton Reading lessons and some math review.  One new thing we're adding this summer:  both Big Man and Little Monkey will have a day of the week they will read a book to Peanut.  We'll incorporate books from the library for their summer book club so the boys get credit toward their weekly reading goals. 

It's been a long, frustrating, exhausting, encouraging, enjoyable, fun-filled year.  And I wouldn't trade it for anything.  But now I want summer break!! 

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May. 28, 2009 - Busy, Busy!

I still need to post a final update on our schoolyear, and I'd still like to do a post with my thoughts about the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention, but here's a look at how we've spent our first week of "summer vacation":

Before:

A bountiful harvest from our little garden.  Every day all three boys run out to the garden to see how many strawberries they can collect.  Most days it's around 30, with our big day being a little more than 40! 

After:

Our first try at canning was a big success!  Big Man and I worked hard at making about a years worth of strawberry jam.  YUM!

Putting ideas together for Peanut (4) this fall. 

Since it looks like it's going to take a whole lot of work getting things to stick in Peanuts brain, I'm going to attack things from as many angles as possible....while keeping it as fun as I can of course.  I've only just begun to get my things together.  Once I'm finished, I'll get a post together listing all of the things we'll be doing.  So far I have: file folder games, Right Start math games, Math U See for math, Earobics, Letter/shapes/colors/numbers games, ideas from Carol Barniers books, my Preschool Planning pages from last year, and an amazing website that I'm drooling over: Tot School.  If you haven't visited Tot School, you MUST.  This lady is brilliant!  Also, as a HUGE praise, the insurance company has said it will cover Peanut's Neuropsych exam!  That is a major, major answer to prayer!

Well, I'm off to do a little more planning, then it's off to a date night with Little Monkey (6).  Happy summer!

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Apr. 29, 2009 - April School Update

Holy Moly I finally figured out how to get the pictures off of my camera and on to the new computer!!  It only took me four months   Here's something I've wanted to post since Christmas, it's the World's Best Christmas Present:

My kids have practically been living on this sucker.  It's been so great!!  Trampolines and pool noodle light sabers are a wonderful combination.

Also, in unrelated school news, Little Monkey (6) has FINALLY lost another tooth:

It's been so long since he lost his last one, we were wondering if he'd go thru life with baby teeth ;)  Now there are two other loose teeth, one of them being the other front tooth.  I foresee a lisp coming on!

Okay, onto the actual school update!

Reading:

Big Man (9) is on Level 4, Lesson 6.  We took a couple of weeks to review all of the things he's learned over this year.  He's been a little shaky on a couple of things, but having the review helped all of that come back.  Now he's on to Schwa's. 

Little Monkey (6) is still on that pesky Chicken Picnic Basket rule in Level 4, Lesson 4.  He's right on the verge of having it, I think one more time thru the lesson will do it for him.

I wouldn't say either boy was thrilled to learn we would be continuing this program over the summer.  When I explained the potential loss of skill over those months, they understood and were a bit more receptive to it.  But still not thrilled.

Math:

Big Man is at the tail end of his Math U See book.  He may finish the book with two weeks left to the school year!    He's come such a long way in math this year, I'm so proud of him!  The last big thing he has to tackle in this book is triple digit by triple digit multiplication (like 394 x 127).  When he started multiplying a triple digit number by a double digit number he panicked a bit.  We stayed on that lesson for a couple of weeks, bumping up to triple digit by triple digit may make him panic again. 

Little Monkey has been taken off of Abeka for the remainder of the school year.  They started throwing in things that were very confusing, so we decided we would use the rest of the school year to focus on learning his multiplication tables.  He's doing really great, only the 7's and 8's are left!!  That little boy rocks math!

Grammar:

Eech.  Still going.  We don't like the drudgery of doing grammar, but both of the boys are doing well.  I won't miss it over the summer

Handwriting:

Big Man only has two more letters to learn in cursive, then it's on to a whole lot of copywork.  He's happy he can sign his name in cursive.  It looks much more grown-up that way, you know.

Little Monkey has a loooong way to go before he can move on to cursive!!  I'm thinking about having only one letter a month that we concentrate on.  That seems to be the only way the correct formation transfers over from "handwriting time" to actual writing throughout the day.  I'm really tired of saying "Where do you start your letters?  At the top!"  Only ten more years of this and I may be thru the alphabet with him

Science:

Still LOVING science!  We learned about mixtures, then how we can unmix a solution.  We used Borax in one solution and Epsom Salts in another solution.  I wish these pictures turned out better, they are really beautiful!

Here's Big Man's star, made out of Epsom salt:

And Little Monkey's star, made out of Borax:

This week we had a week I called "The Magic of Polymers"  Daddy was in Seattle on business, so we worked hard to learn four different magic tricks using polymers.  My. boys. loved. this.  The day after he got back, we put on a show.  We did a "Magic Sand" trick, with colored sand that had been coated with polymers....it stays dry, even in water.  We did a "How Many Drops Can You Hold On Your Finger" trick.  In this one, Little Monkey challenges Dad to a competition.  "I bet I can hold more drops of water on my finger than you!"  Daddy goes first, only getting a few tiny drops to stay on there.  Little Monkey goes next, very un-slyly dipping his finger in a powdered polymer (we really need to work on their sneakiness if they're taking this act to Vegas!)  Little Monkey's finger held about 30 drops of water.  Third in the line-up was a "Guess Where the Water Went" trick.  Three white styrofoam cups, one with a teaspoon of powdered polymer in it.  Pour a cup of water into one of the cups with a flourish, shuffle the cups, and have him guess which cup now holds the water.  When he gets it wrong, turn that cup upside down.  Repeat with the remaining two cups.  When you're down to the last cup, turn it over.....none of the cups spilled.  Sneaky polymer!  Last, the favorite trick of everyone, the "Cup Over the Head" trick.  Have a white styrofoam cup with a teaspoon of polymer in it, pour a cup of water into the white cup.  Place an index card over the top of the cup, and turn it upside down (quickly) over the "victims" head.  Remove the index card with a flourish.  No water.  Sneaky polymer!!  Oh man, my kids could do these tricks for days!!!

They really enjoyed going on a polymer hunt in our house, and were amazed at all of the things that polymers are used for.  Their favorite was seeing how many cups of water could fit into a diaper (10!!), then cutting it open to see the saturated polymer crystals inside. 

My new books just came in the mail for next year, Real Science 4 Kids Physics.  My kids saw the books and actually got excited!!  THAT'S how I know we have a great curriculum for science!

(Little Monkey found the Chemistry book on the table and decided to curl up in Daddy's chair and have some "study" time)

History:

We've been learning about the Civil War, Pony Express, Buffalo Bill, and Annie Oakley.  They're really enjoying this time in history.  Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to add in the fun extras like we normally do.  A couple of books they especially enjoyed for the Civil War were "Hold the Flag High" by Catherine Clinton and "Thunder at Gettysburg" by Patricia Lee Gauch (which is based on the journal entries of a girl that lived thru the Gettysburg battle).  Their very favorite part of learning about the Civil War?  Watching portions of Gods and Generals.  I selected two battle scenes, one in a town and one in a field.  We had talked about what a battle would be like in both of those places, but seeing it in the movie really captivated them.  If I had unlimited funds...and unlimited time...we'd pack up and travel to some battle sites.  Oh well, I can dream.

A fun little item I picked up at the homeschool convention was a wooden covered wagon kit.  We made one a few weeks ago out of an orange juice container, but they wanted a sturdy one to keep and play with their Lincoln Logs.  We'll get that put together this week.

Peanut Update:  Oh, little Peanut (4) needs an update time, doesn't he?  He's been working hard at his speech therapy.  He likes speech.  Ask him.  He'll tell you it's because of the candy at the end.  Whatever works, man.  We've noticed progress with his speech, which is very encouraging.  He has a long way to go, but he's doing well.  He's also been working hard with "Miss Michelle" over at Occupational Therapy.  He's not as thrilled with this time, but he always gives it his best.  No candy, and she pushes his little sensory system as far as she can without pushing it over the edge.  He works his little heart out!  But he says he likes Miss Michelle, so we're both happy.  He's especially happy when the time in the swing is done!!  On the plus side, having so much "homework" has been good practice for having school time next year.  In fact, I'm able to slip a little work in on him now and then:

Here he's practicing coloring, cutting (O.T. time), stickers, clipping laundry clips on the side of a bucket (O.T. time), and picking up cotton balls with tweezers & putting them in the bucket (O.T. time).  He was in a particularly agreeable mood this day, so we got a good bit of work done

The countdown is now on.  Four weeks until the end of our school year!!!  The last couple of weeks will be dicey.  We'll have family in town for a few days, then we'll be leaving town for a few days, but eventually we'll be done!  The next school update will probably be a wrap up of our school year.  I intend on doing a couple of posts about our time at the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention.  It was SO great with lots of fantastic seminars, lots of fantastic tips, lots of fantastic vendors, etc.  I am still sorting through all of the notes I took, and reading through one of the books I bought, but I hope to have a coherent post put together sometime in the next week or so!

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Apr. 15, 2009 - This Weekend

There's been so much going on around here lately, and not much time to blog.  Lots of family coming and going......and now I'm going here:

I can't get a little song from WKRP out of my head, and I'm lovin' it

Best of all, my greatest-in-laws-on-the-planet are here and allowing us to run away from home without the kids so we can enjoy the convention together. 

Have a great weekend, I know I will!!

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Apr. 4, 2009 - Keep Those Skills Fresh Over the Summer...For FREE!

Looking for something to keep those skills fresh over the summer?  Needing it to be low cost?  Me too!  Through my searches for a way for my boys to retain as much as possible over the summer, I've found quite a few free online sources that my boys are already beginning to enjoy.  Math was my biggie for this year, so many of these websites deal with that subject, although there are a few here that incorporate many subjects.

You can't have a list like this and not include this first one.  I've seen many people sing the praises of Time for Learning, an interactive way to learn...or supplement...many subjects.  I've looked at Time for Learning, and had thought about signing up for their free trial during the summer.  Since finding these other resources, this one is still on my radar, although now it's on the back burner.

Multiplication.com is a fantastic free math game site that has enthralled my children.  Even Big Man who struggled learning multiplication is enjoying these games.  I've been using this site as a reward for a week of hard work.  There are many games to choose from, but I'd say their two favorite are Cone Crazy, the Penguin Ice Cream shop game, and Flight of the Knight, where you shoot the knights out of a slingshot.

Another interesting site is PlayKidsGames.com.  This site includes games for addition and subtraction as well as multiplication.  The favorite here?  Tunnel Blaster.  No better name for a game than that to get a little boy interested.  Seahorse counting is a good game for a preschooler, although I think they could have gotten a less freakish voice telling you "Good Job"!

APlusMath also has a games page to practice those pesky math skills, all the way up to division.  You can play M-A-T-H-O (like BINGO), Concentration, uncover a Hidden Picture, or blast a planet from your rocket ship on Planet Blaster.  Very fun!  They also have an Algebra version of Planet Blaster, but I haven't poked around that one.

A great game you download free to your own computer is Timez Attack!  Little Monkey asks often if he can play Timez Attack! for a few minutes after he's finished his time on Earobics.  Like I'm going to turn him down!  There is an option to upgrade on their website, which buys you additional backgrounds, but the math part of the game doesn't change.

Leaving on a trip and want something to keep them busy on the long drive?  Math Games has printables you can take with you on the road.  If you're looking for more than just math, you can check out WorksheetWorks.com to print out loads of things, including the most popular things in my house:  puzzles and mazes.  The Secret Map printout is great!  You can customize your map to fit your childs abilities.  Use addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division.  Directions can be North, South, East, and West; or Up, Down, Right, or Left.  Make the map a pirate ship looking for the buried treasure, or which teddy bear belongs to your brother, etc.  VERY fun, and a tricky way to get them to enjoy reviewing math

Okay, many of these sites are based on Math.  What if you're looking for many subjects without jumping from website to website.  Gamequarium is a great site to explore.  There's just too much to list here.

Wanting to get a jump on keyboarding before the next schoolyear starts up?  Gamequarium has many free games to start building those skills in a fun way, or you can try GoodTyping.com for a free online typing course.  I haven't registered with them, but you could make yourself crazy trying out their free typing speed test!

Have kids who enjoy listening to audio books?  Story Nory may be the place to go.  These stories can be downloaded to take with you, or listened to online.  The text of the story is right there as well, which is great for reading along. 

Do you want something to motivate those kiddos to read more over the lazy summer months?  Perhaps you should look into Read, Click, and Win sponsored by Sylvan learning center.  After each book, the child must complete an online quiz to be eligible to win prizes.  The prizes are anything from bookmarks or temporary tattoos, to ebooks or candy.  Now, I have not signed up for this service just yet, so you'll need to investigate it for yourself to see how it works.

On that same note, perhaps you're like me and are always wondering what reading level a certain book is.  I don't know how accurate it is, (but it can at least put you in the ballpark) I've been using OKAPI! a lot lately.  It seems to be good, in my very-much-not-an-expert opinion.  Books Little Monkey has been reading easily came through OKAPI! at the same level as his reading tests indicated, which causes me to think it may be reasonably accurate.

What if you just want some fresh ideas for easy, fun unit studies over the summer?  Try out Homeschool Share, where you can choose from unit studies ranging in skill level from Preschooler to Middle Elementary (up to age 12).  This site is just.....WOW.  A whole lot of ideas in this one!!

Maybe, like me, you're always looking for mazes to keep little hands busy at a restaurant or in waiting room when there's nothing else to do.  A couple of great maze sites I've been using lately are KrazyDadMazes and PrintActivities.  I'm finding I have to print out multiple copies of each maze, since everyone wants a shot at solving them.  :)

Now, do we like having our kids staring at a screen all summer long?  Not at all, however these sites can be used as a fun way to supplement their summer review.  My kids get excited when they know they have to do some work, then find out I'm letting them play games on the computer.  Enjoy!

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Mar. 28, 2009 - Little Monkey's Evaluation

No big, bad surprises in Little Monkeys report.  **huge sigh of relief!!**  The "official" word:

*Dysgraphia  (well duh, mommy says!)

*Mild Dyslexia   (no big surprise there either)

*No big concerns about auditory processing, it's most likely related to Little Monkeys Sensory Processing problems.  Keep a close watch and begin some recommendations given by evaluator.  (YIPPEE!!)

The only big surprise?  His Phonological Awareness Composite score.......a very wonderful surprise   He started this schoolyear totally unable to remove phonological segments from words to form other words.  Now?  He tested in the Superior range.    This is often seen as the function that is easiest and fastest to remediate.  We've obviously seen great remediation here!!

His big need is to work on fluency, rapid naming abilities, and handwriting.  Ahhh, I feel so uplifted today

Happy Saturday!

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Mar. 14, 2009 - A Spring To Do List

I haven't felt like I've had much to blog about recently.  My days are filled with constant motion, running from one activity to another.  Unlike many homeschoolers who say that, my activities are mostly within my own home.  Because of this business of late, I don't feel like I've been on top of my game over the last two months with homeschooling.  Normally by this time, I have most of my curriculum picked out for next year, and am winding up my research on a couple of remaining things.  I just haven't had the time to do those things recently.  Plus, since I feel like there has been so many unknowns around here I haven't felt like I could accurately research what I've needed.  For most people that isn't a big deal, but I don't feel good about next year until I have some solid planning under my belt.  On top of everything else, my hubby has been having some health problems that have added to the strains of everyday life.  I'm beginning to get that swirly feeling in my head again when I have a lot to do and don't feel like I have a good grasp on what needs to get done.  For my own benefit, my to do list for the next 6-8 weeks.

* Continue Speech therapy appointments with Big Man & Peanut.  Do homework daily with each, and speech practice with an at-home program for Little Monkey.     Ongoing

* Peanut's OT evaluation is done.  Wait for official report to be finalized.  Schedule weekly therapy appointment (coordinate with hubby since he needs to be home with other two).  Insurance has already authorized a year of therapy.

* Contact insurance company and haggle over non-coverage of educational psychological exam for Peanut.  Covered!!  Woo-Hoo!

* Try to determine if I should change Little Monkey's math program from Abeka to Math U See.  (He doesn't feel confident in multiplication yet, and they're trying to throw in division.  This is where everything went crazy for Big Man.  I'm trying to head off disaster before it begins this time....but maybe it wouldn't be disaster for Little Monkey.  Need to pray over this a lot!)   Dear Hubby and I have agreed to a plan on this one :)

* Continue to look into Right Start math for Peanut next year.  They're going to have seminars about their program at the homeschool convention next month, which is wonderful!!  Hopefully that will answer my questions.

* Look into Five in a Row program for Peanut.  Decide if this would be too much for him.

* Answer questions about Tapestry of Grace for friends asking about it.  Loan a binder.

* Answer questions about homeschool for a friend.  Have her over for a morning to talk.

* Look into Physics curriculum for next year.  Gravitas Publications again?  Look into supplemental experiment book like I did this year for chemistry.

* Behind again in books for Tapestry of Grace.  Look up books for Year 3, Unit 3. Get a library list done, then determine which books should be purchased.  That will end out our school year in history.  Next year, we'll do Year 3, Unit 4 and all of Year 4.  Year 4 should be purchased by early summer at latest.

* Meeting with reading evaluator.  Get report & recommendations for Little Monkey.  Begin research into recommendations.

* Make appointment with reading evaluator, annual appointment for Big Man in May.

* Continue to remediate Little Monkey with handwriting.  Determine which letters will come next, create pages for practice.   Ongoing

* Create extra cursive practice for Big Man.  Almost done learning lower case alphabet.  Once that is complete, begin lots of copywork for practice.   Ongoing

* Weekly:  extra math practice sheets for Big Man--subtraction with borrowing & clocks.  Ongoing

* Watch more Barton Level 4 tutor training:  Lessons 5  6 - 9?  Make necessary copies for lessons.  Ongoing

* Create recordkeeping pages for Barton Fluency Drills time.  Add Great Leaps stories section for story practice.

* Decide on continuing education things for summer so all information isn't lost.  Begin getting supplies for whatever is needed.   Making progress little by little!

* Take dog doo sample to vet & pick up tick preventative.  (yucky, but necessary)

* Normal, everyday chores & school responsibilities.   Ongoing

* What I'm looking forward to most...besides summer vacation...the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention!!

* Begin planning outside to-do list.  Spring is almost here and we need have our projects planned out for the summer or nothing will get done!

* Write thank-you notes to church friends who did so much for us while hubby was in the hospital and also when he was home recuperating.   Geez, I really need to get on this one!

* While hubby is gone for treatment over the next week or so, add in the things he would normally do to help out:  more laundry, garbage, take kids to taekwondo, added academic time for: read-alouds, bible stories, verse to memorize for church, flash cards.  I'm not going to worry about doing catechism questions or geography. 

Yup, my head is spinning.  Summer vacation will be wonderful.  I hope I get to relax a bit this year!

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Feb. 19, 2009 - Updating the Children

How to tell it's been a ridiculously busy two months?  Three update posts to get through it all!!  Here is an update on each of the children, warts and all.

Big Man (9) has braces, pictures to come once I can get the kinks out of our new computer.  He also had some stitches just above his eye brow after a pool noodle light saber fight with Peanut (4).  Note to all who make the very fun pool noodle light sabers:  don't allow anyone to put small metal balls in the hole at the end of the pool noodle.  When the noodle is swung, the metal ball becomes a deadly object!!!  Big Man is happy he now has a manly scar on his face.  The basketball season wraps up this weekend, and Big Man continues his Karate.  If he keeps going to the classes, they will test him in June to see if he can go from white belt to, I think, a yellow belt.  Big Man has started speech therapy again for his stuttering.  He graduated from therapy a while ago, but his stuttering has come back with a vengeance.  The therapist he's going to was recommended by our audiologist because she also works with kids who have processing disorders.  She will work with him on some of his weak areas related to that as well as his stuttering.

Little Monkey (6) has been doing well over all.  I'd love for his "r" sounds to come along so he doesn't need to start speech therapy as well, but I'm beginning to doubt it will happen without professional intervention.  He's been keeping up with his big brother in Karate, and can test in June as well if he wants.  He's eager for spring, since the kids got a trampoline for Christmas.  He asks almost daily if it is spring yet.   He has also begun to care about his baby brothers eternal soul.  I can hear them talking during their afternoon room time. 

Little Monkey: "(Peanut), do you believe in God?" 

Peanut:  "No" (this is a common answer, no matter what the question) 

Little Monkey: "(PEANUT)!!  You need to believe in God or else you'll go to Hell when you die.  And that's a very bad place, you don't want to be there!" 

Peanut:  "No." 

Little Monkey:  "(Peanut), please tell me you believe in God, then you can go to heaven." 

Peanut: "No" 

And on, and on, and on.  This is greatly disturbing to Little Monkey!  It's very sweet, but he doesn't seem to understand that it takes a little more than telling your big brother you believe in God before you will go to heaven.  We're working on him

Peanut (4) has started speech therapy as well.  He is quite behind developmentally, which we knew, and she will work with him on those things as well as his articulation problems.  He is a little more behind than we had thought, but I'm hoping to see great improvements over the next year.  I'm really hoping that he only has to go to speech once a week, but I have a feeling he'll need to go more than that.  Ugh. 

Unfortunately, the speech therapist also noticed many warning signs pointing to Sensory Integration Disorder.  My head started spinning when she began to talk of sensory problems with Peanut and I felt a little like I was having an out of body experience!!  Is there anything else people would like to throw at us with our kids?  Maybe I don't want to ask that.  Truthfully, I was really upset with myself for not seeing the symptoms in Peanut.  I mean, after all we've been through with Little Monkey, I thought I would really be alert to the warning signs.  Once the speech therapist started listing off the things she was seeing, I knew she was right on target.  I could just kick myself.  This means, of course, more therapy.  I'm going to see if we can get in with the Occupational Therapist who helped Little Monkey.  We loved Mr. Steve, and Little Monkey still talks about how fun it was to go play with him. 

Also, she has found significant auditory processing problems.  The Occupational Therapist will work with him on that as well, then we'll start Earobics at home like his brothers.  The speech therapist wanted to remind me that processing problems tend to go hand in hand with dyslexia, and we have a solid family history with dyslexia.  Yeah, I know.  Thanks for the reminder. 

As far as learning, I've been playing games almost daily with Peanut that help him with his letters.  He's showing lots of warning signs for dyslexia, as I mentioned a tiny bit above, I don't remember if I've mentioned that here any other time.  Things take a long time to "stick" with him, and letters are no exception.  He used to know his letters when I reviewed them daily with him.  Once I neglected that, much of the information was gone.  He absolutely refuses any type of paper type work, so I stick to games.  I'll do whatever is necessary to get the information in there and make it stick.  I think he finally has most of his colors down, and he's doing well with shapes.

All of this has been very trying for my husband and me.  We are leaning on God to get us through all of this junk.  I will admit that there are days where I just feel weary.  There's no other good word for it.  We have a really long road ahead of us, but we're so thankful that God lead us to homeschooling before the negative effects of these problems began in our children.  Every "expert" we've been to fully supports homeschooling, and they have told us repeatedly it's the best thing for these of children.  It doesn't mean our job is easy, in fact I have days where I fight major envy of people with "neurotypical" kids.  (That's my new favorite word, neurotypical )  I get really envious when I think of the people that just shove all of the educational things off on others and blindly go about their easy days, doing fun things with their kids and saying, "Oh yeah, did you get your homework done?", while we toil day in and day out to get the basics in our children.  Or people who homeschool their neurotypical kids, eagerly meeting educational goals hand over fist.  They haven't got a clue how fortunate they are.  On the other hand, I shouldn't let anger build up in me over this.  I would be treading on dangerous territory, being angry over what God has given me, trusted me with.  I need to be thankful and content. He blessed us with three beautiful boys who He made exactly as He intended.  There isn't a hair, cell, or gene out of where He ordered it.  God has provided every need we've had through this whole journey at the time we needed it.  He has provided for us financially, so we can provide therapies and specialized curriculum when we need it.  He has given us a support network through our care group at church, who sit through our crying when we need to vent, and who love our children.  But it's still hard.  Really hard.

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Feb. 19, 2009 - January and February School Update

I was hoping to include pictures with this update, however the computer had other plans.  I'm having trouble loading my pictures onto the new computer, so I may just have a post full of pictures in a few days.  Until then, here's my lengthy update from the last two months of school.

Reading:  Both Big Man (9) and Little Monkey (6) have passed Level 3 in Barton and are now in the first  couple of lessons in Level 4.  I hear from everyone that this is the toughest level, and that on average it takes 4 - 6 months to get thru.  I'm trying to go very slowly so I'm confident they are solid on the concept being taught in the lesson before I move on.  This is also the level that many people say they've seen the most progress in their kids once they've completed the whole level.  We'll see what happens with my kiddos.  Little Monkey has his official reading evaluation in three weeks.  We won't get the results until at least two weeks after the evaluation.  I'll be holding my breath to see what our reading evaluator says.  Big Man did so much worse than what we expected, I'm worried it will be the same way with Little Monkey!  I've seen great improvements with both of the boys this year since beginning Barton, but I'm anxious to see how he does with the formal testing.  I'm sure he needs more fluency work, so we've already decided to add in the One Minute Readers like Big Man does.  I'm also considering switching the Great Leaps fluency time over to the fluency drills provided on the Barton website.  These fluency drills are a recent addition, if they were offered last summer I wouldn't have needed to purchase Great Leaps.  One thing that I really like about the Barton fluency drills is that you print them to match whatever level you are on.  This eliminates all of the mismatched skills between Barton and Great Leaps.  I haven't decided for sure one way or the other.  Decisions, decisions.

Math:  Big Man continues to do very well with Math U See.  It is amazing to me the difference a curriculum can make.  He went from failing Abeka math to aceing Math U See.  He has learned all of his math tables up to ten, and knows how to multiply by 11's.  He is a little shaky on a couple of combinations, but he continues to work flashcards with his dad to keep those things improving.  He has worked on rounding, estimating multiplication problems, multiplying a number with zero's at the end (like 400 x 7), and reviewed how to multiply a large number by a one digit number (like 47 x 5).  After our break he will begin to learn how to multiply multi-digit numbers by multi-digit numbers (like 152 x 38).  This is where the sequencing problems of dyslexia could become a big factor.  We'll take as much time as needed to get this solid in his head.  I am also continuing to give review papers for clocks and subtraction with borrowing to keep those skills fresh.  Little Monkey continues to fly thru math.  He has begun to do some multiplication as well.  He has covered the 0's and 1's, and a little bit of the 2's. 

Grammar:  Going well for both boys.  I had to gloat when a speech evaluation test result showed above average grammar usage.    We continue to color code our parts of speech, which works very well for Big Man when he's trying to diagram sentences.  Little Monkey is working on the 4-part definition of a verb. 

History: 

We are still enjoying Tapestry of Grace very much.  There are weeks where we are so busy with other things we don't get to do some of the fun things I had hoped to get to in history.  That's okay, I can use the ideas the next time we hit this time period!  Anyway, we've covered things like the building of the Erie Canal, and had a fun time constructing a locks system in pans in our kitchen.  Once the weather is nicer we'll go down to our local shipping area and see real locks doing their thing.  It should be really neat.  Also, we spent some time learning about Davy Crockett, Andrew Jackson, and the beginnings of westward expansion.  The kids enjoyed learning about the Alamo.  We were going to set up a recreation of the attack with our building blocks and army men, but that was a busy week so it got dropped.  We also learned about the Trail of Tears and built an interactive map.  If I can get that blasted camera to load pictures on the computer, I'll have lots of pictures to show!

Science:  We've been doing our experiments as we have time.  We'll still easily be able to get thru all of the lessons by the end of the year.  After this weeks break, we'll really start getting into the fun stuff.  The first week back, we'll be showing how chemicals react by putting Mentos in Coke    They're going to like this in a very big way!  There may be a river of Coke flowing from our yard by the end of that week.  Well, that's only one of the experiments, but I have a sneaking suspicion it will be a favorite.

Extras: 

Well, I started doing an update on the kids here, but it got very long an involved.  I'll do this one in a separate post!  I've got a lot to get off of my chest!  Other than that, we've been busy with life.  Various appointments, playdates, and homeschool group events have kept us on our toes.  I've already put in my resignation for the homeschool group next year.  As much as I enjoy doing it, I just don't have an ounce of time to give it....and next year is going to be even worse!  I have one more big group event that I'm putting together, then it's just a few playdates to finish out our year.  I'm hoping we'll still be able to be involved in the service projects the homeschool group has put together around Easter, but I guess I won't know that for sure until it gets closer. 

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Feb. 12, 2009 - Time To Catch Up!!

I haven't blogged in about 2 months!  My, oh, my how the time has flown by!  Let's just see if I can stretch my brain to remember even half of what has kept me away from my precious computer

* Christmas and all of the fun surrounding it.  We had our two week break, using half of it to travel back to Michigan to visit family.

*The day after we return, the computer goes BOOM.  Insert hysterical crying now!

*Two weeks after the big Boom, the Geek Squad breaks the news that our computer is dead.  Purchase a new computer.  I'm still trying to get programs loaded on it.  This has left me behind in a few important things, those will be mentioned briefly below.

*Catch up on a few hundred emails.  That's no lie.

*Catch up on a whole bunch of nametags for the church nursery.

*Have worst ice storm this area has ever seen.....and 6 1/2 inches of snow on top of it, something not normally seen around here.

*Prepare and deliver a homeschool talk to church members.  My first foray into public speaking .  It went well, and I'm already being asked to do it again.

*Struggle to "plan" a Valentine's Day party for the elementary kids in my homeschool group, although I'm not the one planning it, I'm not even planning on attending.  How come the only thing I'm not in charge of this schoolyear suddenly becomes something I'm in charge of?

*Plan a Walk Through History event for the kids in my homeschool group.  I thought I had one person helping me, she's now going to be on the other side of the country that day.  I'm all alone, again.

*Since the computer died while we were on Christmas break, I fall terribly behind in getting things prepared for school (looking up books, printing extra practice sheets, printing pictures for presidents cards, etc.).  I'm hoping to get caught up on that next week during our February break.

*Weekly speech therapy appointments.  Oh yeah, and on the way to one we found out that a barge had hit one of the bridges.  That caused our regular 30 minute drive to take 2 solid hours! 

*Weaved thru all of this, discovering some things about my precious children that I am really wishing wasn't happening.  More on that during our school update.  Hopefully I'll get that posted in a couple of days.

Well, that's what I can think of off the top of my head.  It seems as if there has been so much more than this.  I know there has been a little more, but I'll cover that in our school update.  I'm tired and very, very ready for our break next week.  We're going to spend a day at our favorite aquarium, and we'll have a day where some new friends from church come over to play.  I'm ready to make big progress on my To Do list and not have school work to do everyday on top of everything!

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Dec. 19, 2008 - December Update

It's almost Christmas, and I should be finishing up our Christmas cards and wrapping gifts!!  Instead, I'm going to stall and do this.  :)    I don't have any fun pictures or anything, but here it goes:

Reading:  Big Man (8) had a lot of trouble with the last couple of lessons in Barton Level 3.  We trudged thru all of the lessons, and he didn't pass the end of the level test.  We're currently re-doing and reviewing the things he had problems with -- darn contractions!  Hopefully by mid-January he'll pass the test and move on to Level 4.  Little Monkey (6) may just pass his brother soon!!  He has two lessons left in Level 3, then will do the end of the level test.  I think the last couple of lessons will be difficult for him, so they may begin Level 4 at the same time. 

Math:  Big Man is doing SO great with Math U See.  Switching his math program was exactly what he needed.  He still takes a while to get a new concept, but this curriculum is so much more hands on it really seems to be suiting him well.  He was thrilled to have memorized his 9's times table within two sittings (and one of those was a very short session!)  The next week was reviewing & multiplying by 9's, then counting & multiplying by 3's came after that.  Since he already has the 3's down solid, I made this past week a review week for both the 9's and the 3's.  Today he did his test, and asked to do the 3's test as well.  Big Man was jumping with excitement when he received two A+'s on a math test day!!  It was a great accomplishment, and he was extremely proud of himself.  I love how it is set up to be taught until mastery is reached.  My only gripe about the curriculum is the lack of review on the previously taught concepts.  Big Man needs constant review to retain things, but this is an easy problem to solve.  I got a great deal on an e-version of Math Mammoth.  I've been using that to print off extra multiplication and clock practice.  I use the worksheet generator on the Math U See website to print off practice pages for subtraction with borrowing (which he still needs to practice on a daily basis).  Also, this week at a Parent/Teacher store, I picked up a Clock Bingo game that we'll use for both boys to practice telling time.  Little Monkey is still cruising right along in 2nd grade Abeka.  This past week he was introduced to subtraction with borrowing.  I was holding my breath since that has been the thing that Big Man has had trouble mastering over the past year.  Little Monkey blew right thru it, though.  He needed a reminder for two days exactly when to borrow, but after that he has had no problems whatsoever.  He has started working on multiplication facts with his Daddy during their time together. . . after much begging from Little Monkey to "Please, please, please show me how to do those multiplication cards"!!  Yup, I love a little boy with a math brain :)

Grammar:  Big Man's grammar has gotten harder, but he's still pluggin along in it.  He is diagramming sentences with nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and direct objects all in the same sentence.  It takes him a while, but it's much harder for him than the simpler sentences with just three of those things.   Little Monkey was excited to finally get to pronouns.  He's doing well, and is almost done learning all of the different pronouns he might encounter.

Science:  Oh, I've been bad with science.  We haven't done any for the last three weeks.  I'm not upset about it; we've been rushed with Christmas and all of the busy things that go with that.  The kids will be excited to pick this up again after our Christmas break.

History:  I've been trying to get as much in as possible these last few weeks.  I haven't done as much as I had hoped, though, but we still got thru quite a lot.  Not bad considering this time of year!  The boys learned about the three branches of government, and what each branch is responsible for.  We made a "Three Branches of Government" poster with tree branches coming down to remind them these are "branches" of government.  They then glued pictures to go with each branch on the poster.  I was pleased how much they learned that week.  We also learned about the War of 1812.  Honestly, we didn't do much with history that week, but oh well!  This week we started a two week rotation of South America.  I wouldn't have chosen to have a two-week break in the middle of a two week study, but that's just how it worked out.  Big Man had just finished learning all of the countries in South America during geography time with his Dad, so that was mostly a review time for him.  It was all new for Little Monkey, however, and he's doing quite well learning those countries, as well as the Amazon River.  Finding something hands on for them related to what we were doing this week was a little rough.  Since we were mainly concentrating on learning the geography of the continent, I made a South America puzzle out of an old cardboard box.  I had to cut it out with a box cutter, so it didn't turn out quite as good as I had hoped.  The boys enjoyed reviewing geography with that little puzzle, though, so it was all worth it.  If I remember, I'll post a picture here next time.

Extras:  We had a really fun playdate this month at a new place.  Big Man seems to have made a really good friend thru our group.  I'm very happy about that, he's been pretty sad about his friend in our neighborhood moving away this summer   Our Christmas party for our homeschool group went well.  The planning for that took almost all of my time for a couple of weeks this month, so I'm REALLY glad it's over!  Everyone had a good time, and my kids really like that we get to keep all of the games played at the party.....since I was the one who made them all!!  I had hoped that we would be able to do some service work this month ringing bells for the Salvation Army, but the week our group was signed up for that, I had things going every other night of that week as well, so that was something that didn't happen as planned.  There is a new support group forming in this area for parents of children with Sensory Processing Disorder.  The first meeting was just last night.  I was the ONLY person to come to the meeting, so that was a major disapointment.  I've been feeling very alone lately, being the only person I know with dyslexic kids as well as a SPD kid.  It's VERY hard not having anyone to talk to, who knows what we go thru every day.  I don't have anyone to swap stories with, cry on each others shoulders, etc.  The lady organizing it knew that the turnout would be very low because of the holidays, but she knows quite a few people that are already signed up for the next meeting.  Lastly, a friend from church is coming to take care of our kids for a few hours tomorrow.  I'm calling her my Christmas Angel    I really need the time to de-stress and gear up for the Christmas celebrations.  I'm sure I won't be posting anymore until the new year.  For family that is reading this, we'll see you in a few days.  For our friends that are reading this, we love you and we hope you have a great Christmas! 

Drat, now I need to go wrap those presents.

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Nov. 21, 2008 - End of November School Update

We're officially off for the rest of the month.  Woo Hoo!!  Here are some of the fun things we did over the last few weeks.  We've been busy, busy, busy with projects and field trips.

Big Man has finished up football.  He absolutely loved it.  Was he good at it?  Nope, but he sure enjoyed it.  He was so excited to receive his first trophy:

The boy carried it everywhere he went for two days.  It's now safely on the top shelf in their room, away from a certain little brother.

We went to the local nature preserve for a day of learning about Indians.  This fit in well with our Lewis & Clark week.  My boys are fascinated with Indians, so the majority of our time talking about Lewis & Clark revolved around the different Indian tribes they encountered.

Big Man and Little Monkey (6) really enjoyed this.  Their favorite, of course, was the time learning about the Indian weapons and how they hunted.  Second favorite?  Learning about Indian games.  Here is Little Monkey getting set for the "Keeper of the Fire" game. 

Last up for us was a time learning about Indian dances.  Here, some of the kids try it out:

Science:  We finished up learning about Solids/Liquids/Gases.  One craft I can't actually post yet, since it's going to be a Christmas present for the Grandmas.  We'll be making it next week while we're on our break.   We made Gooblek (the cornstarch and water mix).  This kept everyone busy for a very long time!  Here's Big Man showing how it acts like a solid if you hit it or squeeze it in your hand:

Then Little Monkey shows how it acts more like a liquid when you let it run out of your fingers:

Gee, you think he likes it?

Also we've been learning lots about Lewis & Clark.  Our first attempt at a salt map (before painting):

The salt map being painted:

The finished product, with rivers & mountains labeled:

We also made a map marking the trail where Lewis & Clark explored.  The kids liked that you could move the pieces along the trail.

Why, when it's 35 degrees are my boys shirtless?  I guess because they're boys:

The finished product (both boys made their own):

Also, to kick off the Christmas season, we went to see a Frosty the Snowman play at our local theater.  This was Little Monkey and Peanuts first time seeing a play.  Little Monkey is the perfect age for Frosty, he enjoyed it very much.  Peanut liked it.....minus the snowman and the rabbit (both men in costumes--he's adding them to his hit list:  Chucky Cheese, the Funhouse Dog, P.Nut the fireman, Frosty, and the magicians rabbit from Frosty)  At least he didn't cry or scream.  He just sat there with his hands over his ears anytime they were on stage.  At one point he yelled, "JUST A COSTUME MOM?"  The place was packed full of young schoolkids.  Our homeschool group was by far the smallest, with maybe twenty-five people there.

Added to all of these fun things, we also did math (an update next time on how our new math program is working for Big Man), grammar, handwriting, and reading.  Big Man didn't quite finish level 3 of the Barton Reading System, but he only has one more lesson in it before the post test.  I keep seeing that level 4 is the most intense level, with some people taking six months to get thru it.  I've got it ordered and am looking forward to seeing what's inside.  I hope we can get thru level 4 before the end of our schoolyear!  Little Monkey has slowed way down in level 3.  It's taking him a few days to master the spelling rules.  Slowly but surely we're making progress.  It's a beautiful thing.

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Nov. 21, 2008 - For My Grandma

You can stop begging now

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Nov. 17, 2008 - Happy Birthday Peanut

Peanut turned 4 this weekend!!!  He's very excited, here he is doing his birthday dance:

Yesterday at church he would stop random people and tell them, "I'm four!"  It's so fun at this age to see the excitement of their special day.

His favorite present?  A pack of sandpeople action figures.  Don't know they're from Star Wars?  You must have girls

About ten years from now he's going to complain that he only got cupcakes for his birthday.  This year, however, he was thrilled.  In fact, until he opened his sandpeople present, it was what he was most excited about.

Happy birthday, Peanut!

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Nov. 12, 2008 - I'm So Excited!!

I may just make an idiot of myself like I did when I got to meet Susan Wise Bauer two years ago.  (I think I'm the reason she sent her mother to the convention last year ....."Hey mom, just be careful of that wacky woman who's acting like a schoolgirl drooling over Elvis.  She creeped me out a little.")  Here's my big, big news from today:  Spunky will be blogging from the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention.  OH.  MY. GOODNESS.  She's hoping to set up a blogger meet-up for sometime during the convention.  Okay, deep breaths, don't hyperventilate now.   Whooo.

For those that don't know how much I LOVE Spunky, she was a major inspiration when I was first researching homeschooling.  She, Susan Wise Bauer, and Carolyn Morrison from Guilt Free Homeschooling convinced me I was capable of homeschooling.  Okay, especially Spunky and Carolyn Morrison.  They showed me that everyday mom's like me could successfully educate their children without having a doctorate.  Spunky, especially, reminded me of the heart reasons for doing this.  Her posts about The ART of Homeschooling are among my favorites.  If you've got a little while, I'd encourage you to read thru Spunky's archives.  Maybe you'll become a blathering idiot like me when you meet her in April at the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention.    Hey, I don't want to be the only one!

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Nov. 10, 2008 - Gallon Guy

We have a new friend in our school area.  Meet Gallon Guy:

We built this friend to help Big Man (8) keep the liquid measurements in his mind.  Thanks to Mathwire for this great idea. 

Here's a closer view:

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Nov. 7, 2008 - School Update: Early November

I have no idea what week we're on over here.  Umm, maybe 12?  Anyway, our week was crazy in many ways!  Somewhere in there we did school.

Math:  This subject was the doozy!  We took all of October off of Abeka math to slow way down.  The purpose was to allieviate some of the stress and confusion Big Man (8) was having in math.   The last Friday in October, Big Man took his test and almost got an A+!!  I don't think his chest could have puffed out any farther.    He was proud of himself, and I was proud of him.  He got to pick a prize out of the prize box, which hadn't happened in a long, long, long time!  (more on that below)  Then Monday came.  (cue mournful music)  Math couldn't have tanked any worse than it did Monday.  He was completely overwhelmed, frustrated, and deflated.  He muscled thru his assignment, with me taking him thru it step by step.  The moment he finished his paper, he burst into tears.  He declared that he hated school, hated math, he didn't understand it, it's just too hard.  All of this in between sobs.  Did you hear my heart breaking?  That night I spend the entire evening engrossed in Math U See.  I completely studied the teachers manual, did some online searching, and had long talks with my dear hubby.  We decided that we needed to switch curriculums NOW.  Big Man is thru with Abeka, period.  Starting Monday, he'll be a Math U See kid.  Boy, will I be holding my breath!!  I have already shown him some of the things we'll be doing, and explained a little bit how this math program is different than the other one.  Throughout this past week I printed off some worksheets for him from the Math U See website.  We've used the manipulatives for things he was having trouble with.  The big thing I did was have him go thru a multiplication chart.  Every combination he could give me quickly, we shaded in.  If there was any hesitation, we left it blank.  By the time he was done, 2/3 of the chart was shaded.  That blew him away.  He had absolutely no idea he knew that many multiplication facts.  We've been telling him and telling him, but he's the type of kid that needs to see the evidence!   If you think of us, won't you please pray for Big Man?  He could really use it!

Little Monkey (6), again, is a math wiz.  He loves it.  He flourishes in it.  He doesn't have trouble with any of it.  He's doing work kids a grade (or more) above him would be doing, and he says it's all so easy.  Have I mentioned lately how nice it is to have a kid that is a math wiz?  The only thing I have to remember to do is remind him NOT to expect perfection.  He's my little perfectionist, and it rears it's ugly head in math.  If you haven't read before how we reward math tests, we have a prize box.  After five "A's", they can pick a prize.  If they have gotten an "A+" at any time, they can pick two prizes.  These are little cheap prizes I pick up here and there.  Since Star Wars is so huge around here, lately it's been filled with little Star Wars action figures, books, stickers, etc.  Well, Little Monkey got his fifth "A" today.  Three out of the five A's were actually A+'s.  He was disappointed because he wanted ALL A+'s.  Aaaaarrrgggg!!!!  After a little talk about how difficult it is to get even ONE A+, and how Jesus is the ONLY perfect person EVER, he got to pick his prizes.  Then he was fine.  He had Star Wars loot.

Reading:  Still going well for both boys.  We're on Level 3, moving along slowly.  I think Big Man will be thru this level by Thanksgiving break.  I'm not certain about that, but I'm getting ready to order Level 4 just in case.    I am so, so impressed with this program.  Yes, it moves slow, sometimes it feels painfully slow, but it is proving itself effective.  Neither of the boys enjoy doing it, but even they have recognized their progress.  For me, the big test of the Barton system was the spelling part.  Big Man struggles over spelling like I've never seen before!  He is learning, retaining, and using the things in this system.  If I could do cartwheels without hurting myself or those around me . . . I'd be flipping all over the city!

Grammar:  Still going very well.  Big Man has moved into diagramming sentences made up of Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, and Articles.  We practice for five or ten minutes on the board using our color coding and reviewing the definitions of each part of speech.  We then move to his workbook and complete that.  This week, he asked if he could try his workbook by himself.  YOU BETCHA!!!  He knocked it out of the park.  After all of his troubles with math, it's a relief to have a subject he's doing well with!  Little Monkey is getting tired of just doing Nouns.  Next week I'm going to begin moving him along in his book a little faster.  The worst thing for him is to be bored with something.  I will gladly move faster if that's what he needs.  He memorized some of the poems along with Big Man last year, so we may be skipping a whole lot of lessons!  There are some story narrations thrown in there, so we'll do those, along with a couple of oral usage lessons, but I think we'll be skipping somewhere in the vicinity of a dozen lessons.  Yikes!

Science:  Oh, we're having so much fun with science.  We're really cruising along now with lots of experiments.  This week and next week we're learning about the three states of matter:  Solids, liquids, and gases.  This week we melted an ice cube in a frying pan until it went from a solid state to a completely gaseous state.  We trapped the gases of a melting ice cube in a plastic baggie in the microwave.  We saw how an egg begins as a liquid, then cooked it to a solid.  We did an evaporation experiment out on the sidewalk, and did evaporation art.  (where all of the water evaporated and left the food coloring behind on plastic page protectors).  Next week, we'll be doing some edible experiments using the same lessons.

History:  We've been learning about Napoleon this week.  Not the most exciting week for us, we're just looking ahead to Lewis & Clark.  The boys did, however, enjoy the part of the book that talked about Napoleon showing early leadership abilities during snowball fights in military school

Extras:  Yikes we've been busy!!  Monday I had a meeting with my Elementary committee for our homeschool group.  We met at a church playground so the kids could all play while the moms worked.  Tuesday we took a field trip to the voting booth of course.  Wednesday had the distinction of being the only normal day.  Thursday my dear hubby flew back and forth from Washington D.C., again, and we had a playdate with our homeschool group at a bowling alley.  Friday we babysat a friends little boy (1 yr. old) for a little more than an hour while we hurried through our lessons for the day, then we were off to a playdate with a friend who had the day off from public school.  After that -- big news -- we went to the doctor to have Big Mans toenail removed!!!  FINALLY!!  It looked like it was getting infected in one spot, so Big Man is now on antibiotics and will be rechecked in two weeks.  We're just relieved to have that rotten toenail off of there.  It had really been bothering him this week.  Next week won't be nearly as hectic, but Peanuts (3) birthday is next Saturday and I haven't even begun to shop for him!   

Two weeks until we're off for Thanksgiving break.  I'm so ready!

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Nov. 7, 2008 - A Lewis & Clark Kind Of Day

We were able to visit a Lewis and Clark festival a couple of weeks ago.  The kids thought it was neat that they began their journey not far from our home.  It was a really fun festival, full of fun things little boys enjoy. 

The kids all made "Three Sisters" bracelets made up of squash, bean, and corn seeds:

Big Man had a great time trying out the real bow and arrow.  He was very surprised how difficult it was to shoot an arrow accurately, but he really did pretty well.  Later, he said it was his favorite part of the day.  The boys also liked that most of the people involved in the festival dressed as they would have during the time of Lewis & Clark:

What little boy doesn't want to try to throw the Indian Spear?  Big Man (8) didn't make it to the target, but he got pretty close:

Little Monkey (6) did the above activities too, as well as Daddy, but I didn't get pictures that turned out well of them!  Here's proof that Little Monkey did get involved in some of the hard work:In case you can tell from the picture, they are using a two-man saw.  If they were building our house, we may not have walls for another year :)

My favorite part was the cabin of George Rogers Clark.  It was filled with neat things of that era.  The boys enjoyed the upstairs the most, with it's slide windows that looked out over the Ohio River.  Big Man also liked that he got to hold guns this day.  Lots of guns.  Lots of different kinds of guns.  He was in little boy heaven!  Muskets, dueling pistols, etc.  What was fun, too, was getting to hold a dueling pistol used in the movie "The Patriot", then holding an authentic dueling pistol.  The weight difference was amazing.  It was really great that they also got to hold and examine the little musket balls, powder horns, and all that.  We had been learning about those types of things since talking about the Revolutionary War. 

There was a man at the festival that had an exhibit of supplies someone would take with him in the wilderness for two weeks.  When it was all spread out, the kids were very suprised!  Let's see if they complain about dragging a full watering can across the back yard again after seeing all that!

There was a blacksmith demonstration, a soldier encampment, and a weaving demonstration.  All such interesting things!  All in all it was a very, very fun festival.  It kept their interest flowing in this time period after a dry week of learning about the Constitution and the different branches of government.  Next week we begin our study of Lewis and Clark.  The boys are very excited . . . and they don't even know what we'll be doing! 

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