Rants, raves, reviews, reasons. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Sat, 18 Mar 2006 00:25:00 -0600 Sat, 18 Mar 2006 00:25:00 -0600 Hello.  Sorry for the pauses between blog entries, but I have been busy and haven't felt the same urge to write about our life of schooling lately. Alex started piano lessons.  He is liking them, and we are considering saving up money to buy him a keyboard that is computer compatible. Megan started flute lessons and she loves them.  I am so proud of how well she is doing with her practicing already.  I hope she sticks with it.  We found a cheap rental in the area, so that helps! I am supposed to start auditing College Algebra this week.  I still don't have the textbook.  I just am having a hard time justifying spending almost $200 on a book for it!!  It kills me.  We are so badly in debt right now.  We really should take out a loan on our equity to consolidate our debt.  I am seriously considering doing just that. Had my second and final review of this school year.  It went fine.  We have a very nice lady who does an umbrella school thing with us.  We are blessed by this.     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/102295/ Sat, 18 Mar 2006 00:25:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/102295/ Tonight was the dreaded Battle of the Books competition with our local library.  Alex was nervous, the team had been doing really crappy in practices, and the set-up turned out to be nothing like what we had planned and prepared them for.  Those of you with Asperger's kids know how important preparation is for things like this. Alex was such a winner!  He was the team captain, which meant that he did all of the writing, directing of answers, and final say in answering.  One of the other kids with Autism and some other disorders thrown into the mix had a very difficult time, and Alex handled it so well.  He was quite the leader.  When this boy turned his chair away and refused to play anymore, Alex told him, "I miss you and I wish you would come back."  This made the kid feel very special. Afterward, we all went to the local coffee shop for hot cocoa and unwind time.  The boys ran around like nuts playing superheroes, their cheeks rosy and their mouths full of laughter.  It was such a wonderful, happy experience. The parents had been having doubts over the last month as to whether we should have the kids actually DO the competition.  We were worried about embarrassment, meltdowns, self-esteem, etc.  I am so glad we decided to let them all finish it out.  I am so proud of them all!! Alhumdullilah! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/96272/ Wed, 8 Mar 2006 00:03:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/96272/ Good morning!  We spent yesterday staying busy.  I was on-call Saturday night, so I have advantage of being on daylight time this week...yay!!  We moved Megan's bookshelf to the dining room, which freed up a lot more space for books and games and things.  I no longer have two window radiator "shelves" full of books precariously waiting to fall over.  We are going to convert that corner in her room into a painting studio for her.  I can't wait! Alex had his best friend over to spend the night.  They went down to the woods to play in their fort for about an hour, then we went to the local Chinese buffet, whereupon they stuffed themselves to the point of no ice cream needed.  We proceeded to Port City Java for their weekly chess night.  The boys played each other for about three games, and then Alex played this very kind gentleman who comes every week.  He seems to be a real enthusiast, and actually enjoyed playing with Alex.  I have trouble fathoming this, because I know how annoying Alex can be at times!  Dan played Alex's friend one game, and then he went to watch Alex's game.  Megan ended up drifting over and watching, too.  It was odd, but in a very happy, pleasant way.  Alex thanked the man, without prompting from Mom when it was time to go, and shook his hand.  I was so proud of him.  I thanked the man, and he shook my hand warmly.  He had a good handshake.  The kind that tells you how nice he is.  He said it had been his pleasure, he had greatly enjoyed it.  I just was tickled!  For those of you who have a child with Asperger's in your home, you know what I am talking about.  I can't wait for next week. I am taking all three kids bowling this morning with our local homeschool group.  None of them slept well, so I am crossing my fingers that my luck doesn't run out!  Wish me well.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/95067/ Mon, 6 Mar 2006 09:22:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/95067/ Today, Alex came in from outside, where he had been playing with his sister in the wooded area by our house.  He was alone.  I asked him where Megan was, and he became upset, thinking she had already come home.  He told me that the boy he had been playing with had seen Megan with "a man" that looked like her "dad". When I established that she was not in the wooded area any longer, I did the thing we all fear most.  I called the police.  I had to give the very nice dispatch lady her description.  I hadn't panicked too much, until I had to do that.  That is when it got very scary.  I called Dan at work and put 911 after the number.  He barely hung up the phone to dash out the door in response to my choked explanation.  I started banging on neighbor's doors to elicit search help.  Time crawled to a painful itch on the back of my neck.  Poor Alex was also panicky.  He felt responsible.  Normally, Megan wears a cellphone on her pants loop.  Yesterday, she realized she had left it at her best friend's house.  They were supposed to have dropped it off last night, but they never did.  I let her go out without it because Alex was supposed to keep an eye on her.  I didn't realize until today how many different directions a lost child could disappear to in this neighborhood.  We have two churches at the end of our street, one close and one sort of far.  The far one has construction workers.  The close one has meetings off and on most of the day with people in cars going in and out.  The woods adjoins to the backyards of a newer, larger neighborhood.  Those aren't even the places that are "streets". Just as our neighbors started running down the street, Alex called out.  He had found her.  (Praise God!)  She was at one of the houses getting a bandaid.  She had seen this woman out walking her dog, and asked her for a bandaid.  The woman had kindly taken her home, not thinking that we would be frantically looking for her since she then stayed in the house to play with the woman's granddaughter.  Of course, the woman felt awful.  We were all so relieved.  That is only the second time I have seen my husband that angry in 9 years.  Alex came home and had a meltdown.  I felt like throwing up.  The dispatch lady was very happy that she was okay.  The neighbors were all relieved and Megan went to each of them and apologized for not telling Alex or myself where she was going before she left. After we were all home, it took hours for us to feel normal again.  I had a strange feeling that maybe I was still outside passed out in the street, and this was just a coma dream.  I thought maybe I had "snapped" and she was still missing but that my brain couldn't take it and had fabricated it all.  We went out to dinner to be around normal sounds and sights and to help us de-stress from the whole experience.   My heart goes out to those whose stories turned out differently.  Those whose descriptions hang on a wall in stores and on mail flyers.  God be with them and have mercy. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/92669/ Wed, 1 Mar 2006 18:56:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/92669/ We spent a few hours this afternoon googling different things from Alex's Scholastic Book of World Records (2005).  We saw the richest man, the most poison mushroom, the biggest flower, the sleepiest animal, etc.  While doing this, we stumbled across a neat eagle cam that is live streaming video and audio.  Alex was enthralled.  He was able to teach me how to put it as a permanent open picture on my desktop.  How cool is that?  He is learning computer skills by leaps and bounds.   I got my date in the mail today for my last board review of the year.  I had Megan copy a sentence about Yellowstone Park and then find the three states on our atlas.  I had Alex go to a website and answer a few questions, as well as find the states.  For certain days in March, I am going to have them do a relevant "school" thing.  Today was the founding of Yellowstone, tomorrow is Dr. Seuss' birthday.  Megan and I are going to attempt to write a Dr. Seuss Book.   Yesterday, Megan and I played a word association game for an hour.  She loved it!  It was fun to see what words she thought of and what words she rhymed, etc.  Alex finished his last required reading book for Battle of the Books.  We have a meeting tomorrow afternoon and then the competition is next Tuesday.  I am hopeful the kids can at least compete and finish it out, but I am preparing myself for the worst.  There are three Aspie's on the team, one writing disabled kid, and another child who has some genetic thing that I have no knowledge about.  Five kids, all with their own needs and issues, hence my worry.   Today is the second day in a row that the kids have gone outside to play in the afternoon together.  It is nice to see them getting fresh air and (hopefully) getting along. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/92529/ Wed, 1 Mar 2006 14:33:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/92529/ We just bought three new games and tried them out this morning. 1.  The Way Things Work.  Based on the successful book series, this board game teaches basic physics principles and scientific trivia by using three different levels of play geared toward all ages.  The third level, or PhD level, involves doing actual science experiments.  The level one game was fun for both kids...Alex is anticipating the higher levels now that we now the basic concept of the game. 2.  Pounce.  This is an ingenious game to develop hand-eye coordination, number recogition, and fast addition/subtraction skills.  There are plastic, brightly-colored mice with long string tails that are "pounced" upon by a big plastic cat head.  The goal is to pull on the tail of your mouse before the cat pounces if you see the number called out prior to the roll of the dice by the cat.  The kids were in a fit of giggles by the end of it. 3.  Tip-Over.  This is a solitaire puzzle game that involves using the cards given to set up the puzzle with different height pieces.  The goal is to tip over the pieces with your little red dude until you reach the red box at the end.  The kids both played this for a few hours.  It is great for developing critical thinking and strategy.  Alex did very well, and even Megan was able to get to card 5 of the beginner level.   All three games were a great way to spend our unschool morning.  After we played games, the kids and I sat down and read "Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic", chapter 2.  It was about the tattletales.  They both enjoy this series immensely, which is fun for me since I remember reading it when I was younger. Last night, we watched "White Fang" based on the Jack London book.  Both kids thought they would hate it, but were enthralled by the midpoint.  I will say there are several scenes during which I had Megan cover her eyes and ears...the illegal dog fight scenes in particular.  I could see nightmares stemming from that.  The end had all of us smiling and goosebumpy!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/91837/ Tue, 28 Feb 2006 12:39:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/91837/ Yesterday, the relaxed atmosphere I have been giving the kids finally paid off.  I have been waiting and wondering if they would start to learn and "do school" without any expectations or pressure. Alex has spent the last two weeks totally absorbed in Pokemon.  Through this he is learning html code, navigating on the computer, reading comprehension (as he follows the cheats), math (figuring out if he has enough money), using Ebay to auction (supply/demand/estimation), and leadership (teaching others). We had a Battle of the Books meeting yesterday, and Alex quizzed Dakota on the book they had both read.  He is to be the leader of the team, which means that he will be doing the writing of the answers.  He has learned how to spell the names of the 20 authors.  He played with Dakota, and showed how patient and caring he can truly be.  Dakota is much more autistic, perseverates, and has other issues as well.  Megan and I played Flip4, which is a math board game.  Then, we played four hands of Crazy 8's.  Afterward, we played the homemade board game.  She chose dice that went up to 20, so she had to do single and double digit adding to play.  The categories are varied, and the winner is someone who has completed all 7 categories.  We had to stop early for dinner. We went to the library and she read to me, and then I read to her.  We read about Pablo Picasso and his cat.  She thought it was strange that it was a true story.  She worked on cleaning her room yesterday, too. All in all, it was a rewarding day.  It is nice to see the kids learning while they play and recognizing that I really don't have to do much. Today we are going to see Charlotte's Web at the local theater. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/89044/ Thu, 23 Feb 2006 09:57:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/89044/ That is how my marriage feels this week.  It is still warm and necessary, but it just feels off, you know? Anyway...kids and I had a blah day.  I dropped Megan off at her friend's house (where they sang Annie songs and played dress up), took Alex to get new frames for his glasses as he broke them about 20 minutes before we had planned to leave, deposited the refund check for $26.00 I found yesterday, stopped for a quick tea for my sore throat, paid the other half of my Algebra audit tuition and priced the book ($128.00!), spent an hour chatting with a friend and her mom about my sudden life crisis, walked the dog, came home and made a late lunch and played a game of chess with Alex, read a book to Megan and then she read one to me, and then I started to get sleepy!  I have this fall down tired time around 4pm.  That, of course, is just when I need to get dinner started.  I sat down and started to read this interesting book "How To Hold A Crocodile" and then it was dinnertime and I was still wiped out and nothing had been cooked. Dan came home and he looked as tired as I felt.  We have no money right now for eating out.  So...he took Megan to see if he could buy pellets for the woodstoveI(this is a new game, since they are in short supply everywhere and we are down to five bags) while I laid down for about 30 minutes.  I heard him come back in and yelled down to him to start making tuna.  He did this, and I grumped into the kitchen to find some other things to compliment it.  We bickered about stupid stuff and I told him I really didn't want to discuss anything as tired as the two of us were, unless he wanted to have a fight. It was yucky.  He went to bed early and I am up late avoiding the bed.  Like I said...Yuck. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/88214/ Tue, 21 Feb 2006 21:28:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/88214/ We rushed around this morning, cleaned out the ferret cage and got ready to go.  Last night, I had espresso, and went like a nut cleaning the bunny cages and Megan's room up.  We played two games of bowling.  Megan scored 102 the last one, which was great.  The kids are learning how to score and use the computers there. We came home to a late lunch, and then Alex earned money by helping me clean the rest of the house.  Megan and I ran errands in the afternoon, while Alex stayed home vacuuming.  I signed up at the college to audit Algebra I as a review before I start the "real" classes this summer.  I had it ten years ago and earned a "B", but I need refreshing before I jump into Trig and Calculus. We ate dinner, I paid the bills, and then Megan and I read two books together.  The rest of the week is Battle of the Books and attending the theater for "Charlotte's Web".  Should be fun!   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/87533/ Mon, 20 Feb 2006 18:48:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/87533/ We went with the new homeschool group to Ski Liberty to snowtube for two hours.  The cost was high, but so was the fun!  Megan hooked up with two other girls and we didn't see her much except for when she was whooshing past us.   Alex hooked up with two other boys and we saw him a little more, but just barely. Dan and I had great fun.  I love outside purposeful activity.  I hate to just walk or just go to the park.  I need to have a goal of some kind.  For the record, I beat Dan down the hill 5 out of 6 times.  After that, we went down together, which of course, was much more fun. The kids were appropriately pink-cheeked, wet, and happy at the end of the day.  This is the best reason to homeschool in my opinion. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/86026/ Fri, 17 Feb 2006 16:06:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/abetterjulie/86026/