The Halloween that wasn't....

This year we had a snow storm the day before Halloween.  A large portion of the town is still without power.  My kids are bummed because their trick or treat plans fell through.  The friends they were going to go with have no power and they are staying with their grandparents.  I offered my two the option to go with each other but they said No.

Other friends stopped by to say hello and my friend told me that my children are the poster children for Homeschooling.

I keep my homeschooled children locked in the basement and when they try to escape they are seriously injured.

No hairbrush or fashionable clothes when you are locked in the basement.

Grab food while you can.

The boy tried to escape.  He was taught a lesson.

Week in review

Wednesday, the kids had Discussion Group.  They all did a little research on their favorite Halloween Monster or Symbol.  We all learned something about Bats, Jack-O-Lanterns, Vampires, Mummies, Frankenstein, and Werewolves.  The kids were also introduced to the new guidelines for the group.

1. The Talking Ball (we thought about a stick but thought that siblings would hit each other).  If you do not have the ball you do not get to speak.  The talking ball was a great help for the excessive talkers in the group.

2.  Everyone is responsible for keeping the conversation going.  Listen to what the discussion is about and build on it.

3. Paper and pencil.  If you do not have the talking ball and you think of something to say, write it down.  That way you will not forget when it is your turn.

It was a little awkward at first but they all seemed to be getting the hang of it by the end.

Thursday and Friday were the usual subjects.  Everyone is moving along nicely.

Friday I took the kids shopping.  Mister B was in desperate need of a new winter coat.  He now has one.  I was also in desperate need of a new winter coat.  Mission accomplished.

I thought about snow boots for the kids but then thought I had time.  I was in denial about the big snow storm we had last night.

Which brings us to last night.  Half of my town has no power.  2 very good friends of ours had no power.  So over they all came to sleep over here.  8 extra people camping out at our home plus 1 lizard. 

It was a little crowded in the house.  One family in the basement on air mattresses, Part of one family on the pull out sofa and love seat.  Kids sharing their rooms with some of the other kids.  It was quite the party. 

Music Class

The kids had music class today.  They really love going to this class.  I am very happy.  Having zero musical knowledge or ability I am glad we have been able to participate in this group.

Today they learned about scales and how to sing them.  Listening to them sing the scales, us moms realized that they probably won't be forming a choir but that is okay because it was not the goal.

Our regular daily course work is moving along nicely and tomorrow they have discussion group.

Montclair Art Museum

Yesterday we made our way to The Montclair Art Museum (http://www.montclairartmuseum.org) for a homeschool art class.  We used to go to a lot of these but schedules being what they are this is the first one we have been able to attend in over a year.

The class was on Dia de Los Muertos (The Day of the Dead), a holiday celebrated in Mexico on November 1st and 2nd.   I learned that the 1st is the day the gates of heaven open and deceased children are reunited with their parents for 24 hours.  On the 2nd everyone is reunited.  The kids talked about the different materials used in creating the folk art that goes along with the holiday.  Then they took a gallery tour of current folk art on display and related it to what they had discussed.  Finding the different materials used, looking at the overall picture created by the individual materials, and observing different kinds of folk art.

After the gallery they created their own skull masks using different materials.

Mister B tracing the outline of the skull for the mask.

Little Miss tracing the skull outline.

Decorating the mask.

Proper placement of the teeth is very important.

Choosing just the right angle.

Mister B and his finished mask.

Little Miss M and her completed mask.

Philosophy

Today in Philosophy the kids started designing their own school.  The last class they talked a bit about what it means to be educated.  Is it training?  Is it knowing a lot of facts? Is it being able to think for yourself?

Today they continued with this discussion and they talked about The Summerville Experiment.  A school experiment in the 60's that was a Free School.  In a nutshell: It operated on the theory that kids should be able to follow their passions and decide what they were going to learn that day.  The kids turned out well educated but one thing that stood out at the end was that the kids lacked job skills.  With that in mind, as the class was designing their school they tacked on a class about job skills.

This in turn led us parents to have an interesting chat about job skills and people who know how to think.  For example: People who know how to think for themselves but lack communication skills will be unhappy in office drone type jobs where you often have to perform mundane tasks that make no sense over and over and over.  The constant challenging of directions without proper communication skills will leave you unsatisfied and probably fired frequently.  If you have proper skills you can turn your challenges into promotions and increased job satisfaction.

While the kids are designing their school I am turning my thoughts to how to teach some of those important job skills.

Just keep schooling....

We are plugging away at our studies this week.

Little Miss M: Completed reading The Endless Steppe and is working on her book report.  In math she continues adding and subtracting mixed number fractions with different denominators.  She is continuing her mapping in Around the World in 80 Days.  In Critical Thinking she is continuing to work on outlining skills.  In science-stimuli and responses to stimuli.

Mister B: Is still reading The Giver and working on various writing assignments about the overuse of phrases in writing.  Math: Median, Mode, and Mean plus review of converting decimals to fractions to percents.  Science he is learning about metric measurements and converting measurements.  This has been going well because he already covered that area in math.  In history he is also mapping his way in Around the World in 80 Days.  Civics: What happens if you don't follow the rules of the group you are in?  Are there consequences to not following the rules and what are they?

Today we went to a friends house to join them for lunch in their sukkah.  It was very nice (good company) and very buggy.  Which reminded me why I don't have a sukkah of my own.  I hate eating outside.  Tonight we are going to our Synagogue to join other congregants for Pizza in the Hut (aren't we clever with our words?).  It will be an evening spent with more good company and hopefully few insects.

Wednesday!

So far this week, nothing too exciting.  We are getting back into the groove after the Holiday.   The kids had a good time with their cousins.  Mister B fasted for the full day.  I was very proud of him.

In math, Mister B is learning about mode, median, and mean.  I like this lesson.  Even I can understand what is going on the first time.  Grammar-review of plural and singular nouns, Literature-The Giver, History-Around the World in 80 Days and mapping his course, for Science he learned about where different units of measure came from and what they were used for.  For example, I was unaware that 1 foot came from the average length of a man's foot.  Seems kind of obvious now but trust me, it was a "well, duh" moment.

Little Miss M is reviewing multiplying and dividing fractions in math.  For grammar she is working on indirect and direct quotes.  Literature-The Endless Steppe, Science-she finished her chapter on environments.  History-Around the World in 80 Days.  Critical Thinking-Outlining and Summarizing and for Vocabulary-this week- the root Voc and Dict.

Yesterday, they had music class.  They learned about the different keys on the piano and the notes they make.

Today they had Discussion Group.  Since us moms needed to sit down and figure out where we want the group to go the kids played an assortment of games that required them to talk, such as, Would You Rather and the 1 minute game.  The 1 minute game had a variety of topics in an envelope and you had 1 minute to talk about your topic.

While the kids played we talked about where we want the group to go.  This is our 3rd year with the group and it was time to set some goals and determine if we all have the same end goal in mind.  It turns out we do: They should all have the ability to discuss a topic thoughtfully and be able to disagree respectfully and be able to back up your thoughts.  We decided that in order to get them to the next step we need to set some group guidelines/expectations of participation and preparedness.  We will also be introducing "The Talking Ball" .  You can not speak if you do not have the ball,  We feel this will help the shyer members of the group be heard and curb some of the more talkative members so there is better balance in the discussion.

May you be inscribed in the Book of Life

To my friends and family.....

Wishing you are all inscribed in The Book of Life for a good year.
May your fast be easy.

A New Week

Well, this week has gotten started with a hitch.  Mister B has been running a fever since Monday.  This makes him very unpleasant and he will have some catching up to do when he feels better.  I figure it is better for him to take the sick days and play catch up then to try to force learning when he is under the weather.  It is not as if he would retain any information and it would just  make life more difficult.

Little Miss, on the other hand, is enjoying her brother's illness.  With my undivided attention school work is completed in record time.  She has been done by 10:30 both days her brother has been ill.  Makes me wonder if it would be possible to work with her earlier in the day and have Mister B get started later.  Although, now that I typed that out he would probably spend most of his time complaining that his sister was done already.  Never mind, I will keep things the way they are.

I am hoping Mister B is better by tonight so he can go to Philosophy class tomorrow.  Plus, tomorrow evening I have to take them to be fitted for their swim team suits.

Never a dull moment.