Week 2 is on it's way...

So far, so good.  We are settling into a routine.  Get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and be ready to dive into to learning by 9.

Mister B is still grumbling about his increased work load.  Too bad.  If he wasn't complaining then it would be too easy.  We are not going for easy, we are going for college.  Mister B gets a little more control over his schedule this year.  Math is always the first subject and then he gets to decide the order he completes the rest of his assignments. 

Our largest hurdle in these first weeks of school is his absolute hatred of writing.  Every writing exercise is greeted with such an attitude of displeasure.  We are working on attitude improvement when unhappy with an assignment.


Little Miss M took her first Chapter Quiz in science today.  She did quite well.  90%.  As we went over her test we identified areas for her to work on in the upcoming year.  She needs to work on her handwriting.  Writing slower will help.  She needs to work on elaborating her answers.  She needs clearer descriptions.

For Literature she started reading The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig.  One of my favorite books when I was a girl.  She will be using various graphic organizers during her reading of this book to start developing skills in analysis.

Little Miss is also grumbling about her increased work load.  She is quite appalled at the addition to vocabulary quizzes in addition to spelling.  It is no longer enough to do the workbook and copy work. No she has to be able to recall the information a week later.  Development of study habits is important.

First Week of School has been completed.

Okay, my title says it is completed but technically Mister B is still working on science and then he has to do Civics.  He is working on Science now-reading a bit about Aristotle.  When he completes that he will move on to a question on Justice in Civics.

Overall, I think it has been a successful first week.  We had a few bumps.  Thanks to all the rain from Tropical Storm Lee I am still cleaning up water from the basement.  Yesterday and this morning I was clearing ruined things from the basement and dragging them out to the curb for garbage pick up along with all of my neighbors.  If nothing else, it prompted me into getting rid of those broken toys I have been meaning to toss.  School bumps were the usual grumblings of getting back into the routine along with some boundary pushing.  Those moments are always so much fun.

I think the year is off to a good start.  I am hopeful that the good things will continue.

First Day of School!

We had a rainy start to the 2011/2012 School Year.  The flood waters have receded.  The basement is almost dry.  However, today, we are back under a flood watch due to the continuous rain from Tropical Storm Lee.  I am hopeful that this time the water won't enter the home.  Now back to our start of the school year report.

Our first official day back went pretty well.  We started with the First Day of School Mug Shots.  I still can't believe I have an 8th grader and a 6th grader.  After the pictures were taken we sat down and got to work.

The day started with Math and was followed by grammar.  This was followed by science.  After that Little Miss did independent reading and she colored some maps.  She know knows the State Capitals for Pennsylvania & Ohio (I certainly didn't know).  While Little Miss was doing that Mister B started his Civics course.  Today was a discussion on "What is Civics? Why is the study of civics relevant to my life?"  Then we discussed the ideas of equality, justice, and freedom.  Once civics was done Mister B moved on to Literature.  He will be reading The Giver by Lois Lowry.  Today he read a short bio on the author and received his vocabulary list and his chapter assignment to be completed by next Wednesday.

Once all of the above was completed we headed over to Philosophy.  They did manage to have a brief philosophical discussion but today was more about getting reacquainted after not seeing each other all summer.  Over the next 2 or 3 sessions they will get back into the swing.

Tomorrow is a new day and we shall see what it brings.

Flooding Update

It seems I spoke to soon about the lack of water in our basement.  We ended up with a couple of inches down there.  Thank goodness the floor in the finished part, the laundry room, and one of the closets is raised off the floor.  I am also thankful that the majority of things I store on the floor are in plastic bins.  That said, we borrowed a shop vac from a friend (because there is not a pump to be had) and have been vacuuming up water since Friday night.  At first, it felt like I was not even making a dent.  I wondered if the water I was dumping down the slop sink was just spewing back in.  It wasn't.  The basement is physics at work.  Where the slop sink in, the floor is at the lowest point.  I was vacuuming up the water and the water from the rest of the basement was flowing down hill.

The downside to the raised floor is that I have to wait for the water to trickle down to the area where I can vacuum it up (which is the storage closet in the laundry room).  Most of the exposed floor in the furnace room is now dry.  One big damp spot in the corner that is getting smaller every day. 

Now I am left with a new problem.  The gross musty, mildewy smell.  The parts of the floor that I can scrub down with a vinegar solution will get done but there is that whole big section under the raised floor.  I have now way of cleaning that up.  Now we are shopping around for a dehumidifier to help with the dampness.  Price is an issue.  The really good ones are a few hundred dollars.  The internet is both a blessing and a curse.  We read reviews until we are too paralyzed to make a decision.  

Even with the few inches of water in the basement we are still luckier then most of our neighbors.  I am trying to count my blessings.

We survived the flooding

There has been lots of excitement by us these past few days.  Hurricane Irene didn't do too much damage.  The same can not be said of the flooding she caused in her aftermath.  Here is a link to some pictures of the flooding: http://fairlawn.patch.com/articles/day-3-fair-lawn-versus-irene#photo-7568936

We were incredibly lucky.  The river did make it to our house but only started filling the driveway before the river crested.  We did get a few inches of sewer back-up in the slop sink in the basement and one of the basement walls is a bit damp with some seepage.  Compared to my neighbors nothing happened to us.  My friend's parents live one block away.  Their basement was filled to the ceiling.  They spent all night bailing water to keep it from getting into the rest of the house.  Many of my neighbors experienced similar.  Many people also had a lot of sewage spewing into their basements.  It makes me glad that we hubby and decided many years ago not to put a bathroom in the basement.

School starts in our area the Tuesday after Labor Day.  It will be starting for everyone except the students at the middle school my two would attend if we did not homeschool.  The middle school had a boiler room full of water and some overflow into the auditorium.  Fortunately, no water made it into the classrooms or hallways.  However, between pumping out the water, the clean up, etc, they are anticipating that school will start on the 12th but they admit it may be longer.

Of course, my two thought a delayed start to the school year sounds awesome.  I pointed out that losing vacation time and/or having school end later then everyone else was not ideal and that we will be officially starting the school year next Tuesday.

From a school standpoint we are ready to go.  The new books are on the shelves.  Supplies are organized. 

This year Mister B will be using:
Math U See Pre-Algebra
History Odyssey-Modern Times
Oak Meadow English
Growing with Grammar
Oak Meadow Physical Science
Oak Meadow Civics

Extra Curricular:
Philosophy
Music Appreciation
Discussion Group
Swim Team

Little Miss M will be using:
Math U See Epsilon
Growing with Grammar
Critical Thinking Skills
Assorted Reading -Poetry, Biography, Non-Fiction
Oak Meadow Basic Life Science
History Odyssey-Modern Times

Extra Curricular:
Music Appreciation
Philosophy
Swim Team

Plus, we will be doing units on whatever else strikes our fancy.  I think this will be an exciting year.

Coach RJ Anderson

Yesterday my two started swim camp.  When I picked them up they told me their coach was taken away in an ambulance with a heart problem.  It turns out that he had a stroke and he passed away today.

Mister B and Little Miss M are very sad.  They really liked their coach.  I really liked their coach. Through his leadership, Coach RJ Anderson inspired the kids to excel at swimming.  He had passion a true passion for the sport and his loss will be deeply felt by his team, The Bergen Sharks.

Summer School

This past week summer swim team ended and I stepped up our summer review.  During swim team it was just too much effort for me to get Mister B and Little Miss M to sit down and do the work.  Practice was early in the morning and then we spent a couple of hours at the pool and by afternoon everyone was drained.  If I got some schooling in 2 or 3 times a week I was content.

Bringing us to this past week.  Swim Team ended on Tues. and out came the books on Wed.  Following our normal school year routine has worked out much better.  School then pool.  Since it is summer we only do 2 subjects a day.  Math and something. This is working out much better.

This afternoon they tried out for a different swim team then the one they were on last year.  Mister B really likes the team he is on but I explained that if this is something he seriously wants to pursue then we need to do our Due Diligence.  It may be the team we were on last year is the team we should be on but you have to see what other teams/coaches have to offer.  They both did well today so we shall see.  Mister B hated to admit that he liked these coaches a lot.  Due Diligence can be an eye opener.