A new year and a fresh start. I am feeling somewhat recharged after our official winter break so we jumped right back into the pool. I added a new feature to our school day. Current Events. I realized that my kids were missing out on the thrill of reading the newspaper. Both my husband and I read the news online. I refuse to watch the news because I do not enjoy all that negativity. We do talk about current events but I realized there is a lot going on that they really are not aware of. Some of that is good but at the same time they need to be well rounded individuals. So, today when I took our pooch out for his morning constitutional I headed to the newspaper kiosk and purchased the paper.
I will admit, the newspaper was greeted with very little enthusiasm. Little Miss M was excited to read the lifestyle section. I explained that the subject is current events. She needed to choose an article from either world news or local news and write a short summary on what she read. That went over like a lead balloon. However, she did it. For a first attempt at summarizing a news article she did okay.
Other subjects Little Miss covered today: Math-fractions. Grammar-Possessive nouns. History-she started the age of enlightenment. She read a bit in the Usbourne Internet Linked Encyclopedia. In there was a blurb about Galileo and his telescope. I then asked her if she remembered looking through his telescope when we were at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. She did. I pointed out that this is the telescope they are talking about. Her eyes lit up and she said "That is really cool". She got to a coloring page on Galileo and learn a bit more about his telescope. She also looked up Discovery in the dictionary and copied the definitions. Critical Thinking-Descriptive comparisons. She ended her official day with independent reading.
Mister B-he was slightly more enthused about the newspaper assignment but not by much. He also covered Math-Metric system plus review of fractions. Grammar-Interjections. Literature: Rhyme in Poetry. History: he started a unit on 17th Century art and literature. He also ended with independent reading.
All in all, a full day and a good start to the new year.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Friday, December 24, 2010
Happy Holidays!
We are officially on winter break. I am looking forward to a week of clearing house, regrouping, and planning the next few months. The kids are looking forward to a relaxed week.
From our family to yours,
Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year
Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Crazy Week
I feel as though I have been neglecting my blog with all the general craziness. On the academic front we have been pretty light. I am happy to get in Math and Grammar. Between making those peppermint sticks and the project of oiling my unfinished wood floors it is a miracle I have been getting anything done. Yes, you read that correctly. Every day this week I have been down on my hands and knees with a rag and a solution of vegetable oil and vinegar cleaning and polishing a section at a time. The parts I have completed look pretty darn good. I have no idea why I took on this project now. It is not as if I am wallowing in spare time. However, I did, and I will just have to finish over the next week.
Today the kids had philosophy class. Another good class. Today they had
a deep discussion about if something is called by another name is it the same. They focused on chairs. What makes a chair. They agreed-it has 4 legs and a seat. Then Mister B said-well, a dog has 4 legs and you can sit on it. Does that make it a chair? Good question. Which brought them around to intent. A dog is not intended to be a chair. A bench can be a chair.
Today the kids had philosophy class. Another good class. Today they had
a deep discussion about if something is called by another name is it the same. They focused on chairs. What makes a chair. They agreed-it has 4 legs and a seat. Then Mister B said-well, a dog has 4 legs and you can sit on it. Does that make it a chair? Good question. Which brought them around to intent. A dog is not intended to be a chair. A bench can be a chair.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Bucky Balls
The greatest gift ever....Bucky Balls (http://www.getbuckyballs.com)
When we went to visit my sister in September my kids were enthralled with their cousins Bucky Balls. They make shapes, you can wear them as jewelry, you can make a sculpture, you can do whatever you imagine. They are better then worry beads. Since they loved them so much my sister gave some to my kids for Hanukkah. They were super excited when they opened their gifts this morning. So excited that formal lessons ceased so they could start playing with those balls. At first this annoyed me. I have stuff I wanted them to learn today. Then I realized, this goes back to just because they are not learning what I want them to does not mean they are not learning.
Mister B gets his bling on.
When we went to visit my sister in September my kids were enthralled with their cousins Bucky Balls. They make shapes, you can wear them as jewelry, you can make a sculpture, you can do whatever you imagine. They are better then worry beads. Since they loved them so much my sister gave some to my kids for Hanukkah. They were super excited when they opened their gifts this morning. So excited that formal lessons ceased so they could start playing with those balls. At first this annoyed me. I have stuff I wanted them to learn today. Then I realized, this goes back to just because they are not learning what I want them to does not mean they are not learning.
Mister B gets his bling on.
Little Miss makes a hexagon.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
A new week
A friend of mine put her struggles to get into a routine on her blog recently. I read it and thought "Wow, that is so me." These past couple of weeks I have been getting the 3Rs but not much of anything else, First there was Thanksgiving. Now there is Hanukkah. Now it is making the Holiday gifts for my husband's clients.
Side note: This year I am making Chocolate Peppermint Sticks using semi-sweet and white chocolate. Very tasty. Here is the recipe:
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup crushed peppermint sticks
1/4 cup shredded coconut (I know, yuck, coconut, but it really adds a nice richness without the coconut taste)
Melt chocolate in double boiler. Mix in peppermint and coconut. Spread onto wax paper into a rectangle approx. 5" x 8". Cool in the fridge for 30 minutes. Using a sharp knife cut into sticks.
Back to my homeschooling-or lack of these days. Some days it is difficult to find the balance. Some days I have to remind myself that even though they are not learning what I want them to learn they are learning. If they weren't they would never be able to argue as intelligently as they do with me.
So to my friend who is struggling with finding her groove and lost in distraction. Take heart, you are not alone.
Side note: This year I am making Chocolate Peppermint Sticks using semi-sweet and white chocolate. Very tasty. Here is the recipe:
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup crushed peppermint sticks
1/4 cup shredded coconut (I know, yuck, coconut, but it really adds a nice richness without the coconut taste)
Melt chocolate in double boiler. Mix in peppermint and coconut. Spread onto wax paper into a rectangle approx. 5" x 8". Cool in the fridge for 30 minutes. Using a sharp knife cut into sticks.
Back to my homeschooling-or lack of these days. Some days it is difficult to find the balance. Some days I have to remind myself that even though they are not learning what I want them to learn they are learning. If they weren't they would never be able to argue as intelligently as they do with me.
So to my friend who is struggling with finding her groove and lost in distraction. Take heart, you are not alone.
Friday, December 3, 2010
TGIF
We made it to the end of the week!
Wednesday the kids had Philosophy. They had a great discussion on "Do Turkeys have rights?" The overall consensus was humans have more rights. Some of the thoughts were "No, because we have more intelligence." "Yes, they have better survival skills." "No, we have better survival skills or we wouldn't be able to catch one and that is because we have greater intelligence."
On Wednesday, Little Miss completed the Delta level in MUS. She took the final exam on Thursday. She got 86%. It would have been a 90% if not for 2 little careless mistakes. This is a huge improvement over her final exam with Gamma. She is starting to take the Final seriously. On Monday she will start Epsilon.
Today I am going to surprise them by canceling lessons and taking them to see Tangled this morning. Sometimes, you just need to celebrate.
Wednesday the kids had Philosophy. They had a great discussion on "Do Turkeys have rights?" The overall consensus was humans have more rights. Some of the thoughts were "No, because we have more intelligence." "Yes, they have better survival skills." "No, we have better survival skills or we wouldn't be able to catch one and that is because we have greater intelligence."
On Wednesday, Little Miss completed the Delta level in MUS. She took the final exam on Thursday. She got 86%. It would have been a 90% if not for 2 little careless mistakes. This is a huge improvement over her final exam with Gamma. She is starting to take the Final seriously. On Monday she will start Epsilon.
Today I am going to surprise them by canceling lessons and taking them to see Tangled this morning. Sometimes, you just need to celebrate.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Wednesday Status
We are slowly and surely getting back into the groove after our Thanksgiving break. All in all it has been a quiet week so far. We move forward in our lessons. We have some excellent conversations.
Gym class was a lot of fun on Monday. Besides the usual physical challenges, Mr. Duke added in some mental exercise. He broke the kids into 2 teams and gave them math problems to solve. They all had a lot of fun with it. Mister B learned a lesson in good sportsmanship. The team he was on was in the lead and he walked over to the other team and told them "You Stink" and bounced back to his team. The other team told the coach. Mister B's team lost a point for his poor sportsmanship. A friend and I were talking about it and we thought the team that tattled should have lost a point, too.
Gym class was a lot of fun on Monday. Besides the usual physical challenges, Mr. Duke added in some mental exercise. He broke the kids into 2 teams and gave them math problems to solve. They all had a lot of fun with it. Mister B learned a lesson in good sportsmanship. The team he was on was in the lead and he walked over to the other team and told them "You Stink" and bounced back to his team. The other team told the coach. Mister B's team lost a point for his poor sportsmanship. A friend and I were talking about it and we thought the team that tattled should have lost a point, too.
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