Chanukah

We weren't able to celebrate with family this year due to the inclement weather, however, here is a shot of us lighting candles on the 3rd night.

Finishing out our week

I do have to say the second half of this went better then the first half. The kids had a great time at Discussion Group. They were all in agreement that the 3d movie was better then the Mickey Mouse version. They also all agreed that ......spoiler here........the chase scene with the 3rd spirit served no purpose whatsoever. None of them saw a point other then to throw an action scene into the movie. They discussed why they thought Scrooge gave up love for money. We all (parents included) wondered why if he had such a great employer in Feziwig, one that modeled how to run a business and be nice, that Scrooge turned into such a Miser. Speculation is that it was his business partner who gave free access to his darker side. Baggage from childhood that never leaves us.

Yesterday and today our lessons seemed to flow smoothly. Minimum of complaints and work done in a timely fashion. M is still loving long division. B is working on converting mixed number fractions into fractions. History, B started working on his Biography of St. Francis of Assisi. As he was reading one of the books we took out of the library he said "Papa Howard was a lot like St. Francis." "How so? asked I. In my head thinking -I wonder if my father is laughing in his grave at being compared to a Saint. B answered with "St. Francis loved and lived life the way Papa Howard did." How sweet is that? I just melted. M finished her unit on Islam. She and I had a nice discussion on how Islam is similar to Judaism. Her very astute observation "If we are so similar, why do so many hate us?" Good question. One to which I really do not have a satisfactory answer. Language Arts, B-relative pronouns, M-singular and plural possessive nouns. Latin-they continue to work on the nominative case.

This week we started doing an awesome science experiment. B asked the tooth fairy to leave the teeth that he had pulled so we could use them in a science experiment. The tooth fairy obliged. We have one tooth sitting in a small jar of cola so we can see what soda does to our teeth.

The other big hit this week is the game The Scrambled States of America. They love this game. For the first few days they played it all the time. There was me saying "Stop playing that game and go to bed." Then in the morning it was "Stop playing that game and go do your math." The novelty has started wearing off but I am still amazed by how much they are enjoying that game. Learning geography has never been so much fun.

Countdown to Holiday Break

I am ready for our December break. So very ready. Were unable to celebrate the family Hanukkah celebration due to inclement weather. Nasty ice/sleet storm. The kids were devastated. Sunday was not a happy day in this house. No seeing cousins, no seeing grandparents, no seeing, aunts & uncles, NO PRESENTS!

As you can see, the beginning of the week-not so hot. Yesterday, in order to try to make up for it, we went to see Disney's A Christmas Carol in IMAX 3D. It was pretty good. M did get scared at some parts and covered her eyes. Smart girl. Some of the scenes were a bit over the top. Overall, they enjoyed themselves-so that was good. An advantage of homeschooling-we were the only ones in the theatre. I really liked that. They liked having a big bag of popcorn for lunch. Then it was off to our regular scheduled programming-swim and gym. Fun, fun, fun.

Today, the kids had their dentists appointments. B had to have 2 teeth pulled. One canine, the orthodontist wanted removed because the roots were not dissolving and the teeth were a bit crowded and removing the tooth will increase the chances for the permanent tooth to come in straight. The other, a baby molar that was being held in place by the gums. The permanent tooth coming in below it but that baby tooth was hanging on. Sort of a "Hey, this is my tooth and I am not giving it up!" Needless to say, B is not a happy guy right now. On the upside-no cavities for both of them.

Tomorrow we have discussion group. We will be watching the Mickey Mouse version of a Christmas Carol and then comparing it to the one we just saw yesterday.

Random December Musings

It is almost Hanukkah! It is almost Hanukkah! This seems to be the daily chant around here. Followed up with me saying "Yes, it is. Now please focus on your math." In talking with some other friends who homeschool I am understanding that this is a common phenomenon. Lack of focus on academics and totally wrapped up in having a Happy Chriskwansizikah. Am I unrealistic in my expectations of some focus? I don't think so but maybe I am if this is common in their schooled and homeschooled friends.

The other day we were at the library and M successfully added up our exorbitant library fines in her head. The Librarian smiled at her and said "You are very good at math." M was beaming. Inside I was beaming. Thinking "Yes! She is learning. I am not screwing my kids up for life. I feel validated." Then I thought "Why do I need this outside validation?" I don't really but I am often bitten by the "OMG! What I am doing? Should I be doing this?" bug. It felt good to have someone other then me notice my smart daughter.

Yesterday, our usual round of Math, grammar, swim, and gym class. B continues working on reducing, dividing, and multiplying irregular fractions. I should insert here that he feels about this process the same way he feels about long division but at least he is being successful at it. M started division. So far she is loving it. But, she does realize that it will probably become more difficult. In the meantime, I am enjoying the love. Grammar-B-reflexive pronouns, M-irregular nouns. In History we are touching on the rise of Islam and comparing how much area is divided between Christianity and Islam. Fascinating stuff.

Yesterday I decided to start reading A Christmas Carol with the kids. Truthfully, I have never read the book. My understanding of the story is rooted in Mr. Magoo's A Christmas Carol. Who doesn't love Tiny Tim singing about razzleberry dressing? Honestly, so far, I prefer Mr. Magoo. I had forgotten just how wordy Charles Dickens is. When you got paid by the word you tend to use a lot of them. The kids are not thrilled with the level of wordiness so I have started editing while I read. The Reader's Digest version, I suppose.

Wednesday Discussion Group

Today we headed off for our twice monthly discussion group. Today's topic was Aesop's Fables. The kids read a selection and discussed the moral and how it may relate to situations today. A good portion of the ones read dealt with being a good friend. The Traveller's and the Bear-one friend leaving the other to be eaten by the bear. Instead of eating him the bear tells him to get new friends. There was a good few minutes of the kids thinking about what it means to be a good friend-through good times and bad. There was the story about the Ant and the Dove-If someone does a good deed for you, return the favor. We need to help one another. The Fox and the Stork-Do unto others as you would like done unto you. By this point they were really seeing the connections. Treating people the way you would like to be treated is a good thing. On the car ride home I got to listen to the kids saying "oh, so this is where you got all those things you say to us." Picture a mocking tone here of two kids saying "Treat others the way you want to be treated. Think before you do something. Be a good friend." This lead to a discussion of how these lessons from so long ago are still relevant. You should be kind to one another, every story does have two sides and you should try to see and understand someone else's point of view, a friend in need is a friend indeed. These are all good lessons to learn and live by.

After the discussion in group there was lots of free play. Shoot outs, ball throwing, video games, Lego's, and general running around. So today we covered literature, critical thinking skills, history, phys ed, and peer interaction. A good day. A very good day.

5 days off and it all falls apart

We had a great Thanksgiving. Just the right amount of leftovers. Seeing family, catching up, laughing together, all good. Then a realaxing week-end, what could be better?

On to the start of the week. After enjoying the freedom of no lessons and staying up late who would want to go back to getting up, learning those facts and figures, an early bedtime? Not my two kids. Yesterday, I felt thankful to get through math lessons. M also managed to complete grammar. I then read aloud until it was time to leave for swim and gym class. Those went splendidly. Their gym teacher gave all the kids a homework assignment. They each have to come up with a game (one they make up themselves) and they will start doing them in class. My two loved that idea and have now completed the assignments. I won't tell you what they are until next week.

Today went a little better then yesterday. Except for the part where I asked B to write a paragraph on the persecution of the Jews during the Middle Ages. You would have thought I asked him to amputate a limb. He can write. He comes up with his own comic strips. He can write a paragraph. I've seen him do it. However, there is something about assigning a topic that makes his brain stop working. The frustration, the groans, the staring in to space, the forcing him to look up words in the dictionary. What is up with that? It took an hour but he managed to write it. Then I added insult to injury by making him check his spelling. That part of the day was not fun at all. The other lessons went well.

M took her Final exam for the math book she was using. She got a 79% and said "I passed. Great." No. Not great. I then sat her down and explained how it would have been an 85% if not for the careless mistakes she made. All I ever ask is that she tries her best. She said she did and I had to explain how careless mistakes means she did not. Honestly, I don't think a word I said sunk in. I hope it did but I really don't think so. The other parts she got wrong had to do with measurements. She can not remember how many pints in a quart, therefore she can not figure out how many pints in a gallon. I am going to work on this with her but I was not overly upset by it as the hubby was. The truth of the matter is, I can never remember that either and I don't have to because if I really need to know I can look it up. In the front of just about every cook book I own there is a conversion chart or I can look it up online. Yes, she needs to know but she can move onto the next book in the math program without knowing it right now. If she had gotten the multiplication questions wrong-well that would be another matter. You need those times tables to move on to division.

Tomorrow we head off to Discussion Group. The subject is Aesop's Fables. It should be interesting.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Very little formal lessons and a whole lot of Practical Life Skills this week. Since we are hosting Thanksgiving the kids have been helping me clean the house and prepare the food. M was even going to help me with the Turkey today. I can honestly say she touched the raw turkey. That was as far as it got because it is "Ewwwww! That's disgusting!" Instead she is polishing the candlesticks. We hung up our thankful leaves from last year and I meant to have them do some new ones but you know there is that whole man plans, G-d laughs thing.

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!