Chugging along

This is school work light week. Mister B's Bar Mitzvah is coming up fast so we are taking this week to focus on practicing his Torah portion, the prayers for Friday night and Saturday morning services, party planning and his mitzvah project.

Little Miss went back to the boutique where we purchased her dress for alterations. We are adding straps (much to her disappointment. She dreams of the day she can wear strapless even though I keep explaining how much better it is to have straps) and shortening the gown to tea length. We go back on Friday for another fitting before the seamstress finishes it off.

Mister B got his suit. I have to get myself over to the store to pick it up now that the alterations are complete.

I have coordinated with the synagogue and the photographer (and most importantly my hair stylists) for our shots in the sanctuary (can't do them on the Sabbath).

I still need to find shoes to go with my dress. The shoes are either orthopedic or have 5 inch stilettos. Neither of which I am finding appealing.

The Mitzvah project: Mister B is collecting donations for The Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge (http://www.rbari.org/). The only no-kill shelter in our county. Since we rescued a dog last year this is meaningful to him.

Tomorrow the kids have discussion group. It should be fun. They all read The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. We are planning a trip to The Met to see if we can find all the things mentioned in the book.

Ready for the Week-end

This has been one fun filled week.
Wednesday-Philosophy. The group had an interesting discussion on dignity and what it means to protect their dignity and what a dignified person looks and acts like.
Thursday-a typical school day. Math, grammar,history, science. Nothing earth shattering in any of these events.
Friday-a fun social day. First we headed out to Panerra's to meet up for lunch with a group of friends. The kids played various games and the parents chatted. It was a nice way to spend some time and pick up some new homeschooling resource tips.

After that we headed home with a couple of friends. Little Miss had a few friends over and Mister B had a friend, too. The girls created a game outside - they set up chairs around the giant melting puddle of snow at the end of the driveway and were pretending they were in a paradise. Dipping their feet into that puddle (it was almost 70 degrees here yesterday). I walked away and tried not to think about all the dirt and ice melt in that puddle They were having a good time. After a couple of the girls went home the remaining friend tried to teach Little Miss to knit. I have tried this in the past (not that I am so great. I have only managed to knit a scarf). Her friend was not anymore successful then I had been but they had a good time.

Mister B and his friend did what most teen boys do. Played the Wii. Normally, I do not like all the time to be devoted to video games but his friend was only here for a little over an hour and they are of an age where Mister B gets a bit more freedom in his choices.

Now we are ready for the weekend. My sister is coming into town and leaving my nephews with me for a sleepover. The kids are psyched to see their cousins. They live in DC and we only get to see each other a couple of times a year.

Just Keep Going. Just Keep Going

Just Keep Going. That is my mantra this week. Just keep plugging away at what needs to be done.

Little Miss: Math: Comparing fractions with the rule of 4. Grammar: Predicate Nouns and Direct Objects. History: The rise of the factory. Science: She chose an animal (Tiger) and is learning about its environment and what it needs to survive. Critical Thinking-Identifying Structure.

Mister B: Math: Multiplying decimals. Grammar: Compound predicates. History: Short Summary on The Age of Enlightenment. Science: Quiz on scientific measurements.

Tomorrow-Philosophy!

Thursday

This week keeps plodding along. Yesterday the kids had discussion group. They discussed people with disabilities and proper etiquette. Considering that this group has not met in almost a month due to the snow and ice we were all rather impressed they managed to stay on topic for 45 minutes.

I think everyone learned a little something. For example, I had no idea that handicapped and differently abled are outdated expressions. Some stories were shared from personal experience. 2 of the children have a disability you can't see. They have a Mitochondrial Disorder. One has autism on top of that. They both talked about what is like to be different. Others talked about experiences with different people. A friend of Mister B was in a wheelchair for awhile because he broke his femur (13 pins) and he talked about what it was like for his friend and helping him. As impressed as we were with their staying on topic they couldn't wait for the free time portion to start. Lots of laughter and fun.

Monday!

Monday, the start of a new school week. The chance to do totally awesome things. A moment in time when all things are possible. Then that moment passes.

Yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday (I truly did not care) and my spouse took Little Miss to a super bowl party. Mister B was kind of bummed that he could not go due to swim practice. They were doing time trials to see who would get to compete in the coming meet. I was impressed with his maturity about the situation. Yes, he was bummed but he did not pitch a fit or pout. He went to swim practice without so much as a complaint. It was rather pleasant. Due to the fact that hubby and daughter got home so late there was late sleeping today.

Little Miss managed to complete math, grammar, spelling, science, and history. Mister B managed to practice for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah, math, and grammar. More would have been completed but dad decided that now was the time to teach the children how to tune their guitars. I am not sure why it couldn't wait but this was one of those moments where he looks at me and says with all innocence "Isn't this one of the reasons we homeschool? The flexibility?" Have I mentioned that I really dislike when he throws reasons I gave him back at me?

TGIF!

Another week completed. In spite of all the snow days I feel this week has been somewhat productive.

Little Miss: Math-Fractions and The Rule of 4. The shortcut for making equivalent fractions. Grammar: Linking and Action Verbs. Critical Thinking: Compare and Contrast. Science: The pasta in her mold experiment is now getting nice and moldy in the sunny window. No mold yet on the cheese which is in the fridge and no mold on the bread which is in the dark. She also completed her unit on scientific tools/measurements. History: Scientific farming methods during the enlightenment.

Mister B: Math-Multiplying decimals (we did the tenths and the hundredths-now he has added the thousandths). Grammar: Complete and simple subjects and predicates. Literature-finished up his poetry unit. Science-Finished his unit on scientific tools. History: Age of Enlightenment. I should mention how much he hates writing summaries. He really hates it. He is very passionate about it.

No Philosophy this week for us due to the ice storm we were hit with. 2 very disappointed kids.

Would you believe.....

.....that it is snowing again. I wouldn't either if I wasn't living it. Today has been more sleet then snow and tonight there is supposed to be more.

Due to the inclement weather I decided that today was a good day to watch Joan of Arc. We watched this version http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0178145.
I thought it was well done. After it was over we had a nice discussion about the question of was she crazy or did she really hear the voice of G-d. We also discussed why they burned her at the stake and how women were treated back in the day. My one confession-it was sometimes difficult to watch Doogie Houser (Neil Patrick Harris) playing the king. I know I just dated myself.