Not Even January and....

It's not even January and we've already blown through the two large bins I filled with "junk" for the boys to use for arts & crafts, inventions or whatever creation they're currently contemplating. Items that were meant to last throughout the long winter months, to come in handy on those (many) bitter days when it's too cold to go outside and we've run out of ideas for indoor play. Items that took me all summer to save---empty plastic fruit jars, yogurt containers, oatmeal containers, juice bottles, lids, toilet paper/paper towel tubes, and cardboard of all shapes and sizes---have all been given new life in the form of pirate ships (see photo), rockets, airplanes, houses and boats. I love when the boys let their creativity and imaginations guide them in their play. Especially when it's a joint effort like it was today, with a lot of sharing of ideas and materials and virtually no arguing or physical combat. The problem arises after they've gone to bed and DH and I are tripping over everything, wondering where to keep all of their "stuff". Exactly what IS the protocol for how long one should keep a rocket-house-that-turns-into-a-submarine before sneaking it into the trash, while the owner is sleeping, and still be considered a good parent??

It's That Time of Year

Warm up a mug of milk, stir in 2-3 tablespoons of milk chocolate flavored Ovaltine, toss in a small handful of Hershey's semi-sweet chocolate chips, and top with as many mini marshmallows as you can fit. It's time to kick back and enjoy the holidays.

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas~ Keep warm, healthy, and enjoy the unfolding of 2009!!

Weekly Report~ December 19, 2008

I haven't been keeping up with my Weekly Report spreadsheet over the past month due to being inundated with holidays, a birthday, sickness, and the recent power outage. We have been completing lessons and a lot of projects, but mostly just "winging it". It seems to be working, though, because D has been a bit more cooperative and engaged while doing his school work. The past two mornings we were up and doing school by 7:30am per D's request. Beginning our science unit on magnets had a lot to do with his enthusiasm this morning. I had a few photos I wanted to share, but my camera battery died as soon as I attempted to upload the pictures. So, here is a very brief report of what we've been doing this past week:

Math~ Coin recognition; continuing addition drills and learning to tell time
Language Arts~ Ending blends (-st, -sk, -mp); OPG lessons; reading out loud
Science~ Finished up unit on floating and sinking; Beginning unit on magnets
Geography~ Our travels have taken us to the continent of Africa this week
Music~ Piano lesson(s)
Handwriting~ A few pages from his Getty-Dubay Italics workbook

Next week we'll be on vacation for the holidays, but will continue to fit in lots of reading and some math during this time. More importantly--and more FUN--will be baking lots of Christmas cookies, wrapping presents, making decorations, and celebrating with family. Merry Christmas everyone!!

First Grade Curriculum

We will be on Christmas break for the next two weeks, plus a week of "fun school" to start off the new semester. During our time off, I will be researching and ordering D's first grade curriculum. Here is what I am currently planning to use, keeping in mind that I am continuing to discover more about D's learning style, which may affect some of my decisions prior to starting school next fall.

MATH~ Singapore Primary Math 1A and 1B (Standards Edition)
PHONICS~ Continue with OPG; Explode the Code (online)
GRAMMAR~ First Language Lessons
HANDWRITING~ Getty-Dubay Italics Book B; begin Book 1; Getty-Dubay Copywork Book 1
HISTORY~ Story of the World: Ancients; SOTW Activity Book; NH History Unit Study
GEOGRAPHY~ Rand McNally Map Activity Book;
LeapFrog SmartGlobe
SCIENCE~ R.E.A.L. Science: Life Science; Nature Study
POETRY~ The Harp and Laurel Wreath for memorization;
A Child's Introduction to Poetry
MUSIC~ Piano lessons; Story of the Orchestra; Classical Kids
ART~ Child Size Masterpieces; Draw Squad
P.E.~ Hockey, Karate, Gymnastics, Swimming

At first glance it looks like a lot, but many of the subjects will only be studied once or twice a week. Math, reading and writing will continue to be the focus of our daily lessons.

Let There Be Light

I am happy to report we are HOME--- in a well lit, warm house, with the laundry going and the radio playing. We were stuck in the dark for five days straight, from Thursday night until DH came home from work on Tuesday evening. Earlier reports were saying we may not have power back until Saturday, which would leave us with less than one week before Christmas. As it is, Christmas is a week from today. Someone explain to me how that happened? So after an exhausting day yesterday (packing, unpacking, cleaning, driving, cleaning some more, paying bills, and beginning the laundry that has literally taken over our dining room) it was a phenomenal feeling to wake up to a fresh new day today. And the boys must be feeling the same way because they've been playing well, keeping busy, and..... D even ASKED to do school this morning!! Ahhhh, a Christmas miracle indeed.

More Power To You

Or in our case, ANY power would be appreciated! After two days without power, the boys and I have invaded Grandma's apartment while leaving poor DH home to tend the woodstove. It's technically not even winter until next week, yet here we are trying to survive a devastating ice storm that left over 400,000 NH residents without power. But being without power is just the tip of the iceburg (oh, how I couldn't resist!!).... due to the massive amount of rain and melting ice, our basement is flooding. DH spent last night trying to bail out with nothing more than a mop and a candle for light. Our oil lamps are running low, and after calling every store in the area we found out there is NO oil to be found.

It was so wonderful to stand in a nice, hot shower in a heated house. Unfortunately, a few hours later I was dragging two tired, wild boys to an urgent care center. Over the past week we've all been sick with a head cold, but I was also beginning to feel like I might have a UTI. I tried to ignore the symptoms for a few days, but for anyone who has ever had a urinary tract infection, you know very well the symptoms are all but impossible to ignore. I couldn't bear another minute and in pure desperation sought out the nearest clinic. Thank goodness I did because I feel 85% better already after a few doses of antibiotics and a GREAT night's sleep on mom's couch. Now all I'm left with are the unwanted memories of B's screaming tantrum in the waiting room, D climbing the walls and telling the doctor just how BORING it is at a doctor's office, B falling off the stool and smacking his head on the cabinet, D opening the door while I was attempting to put on a hospital gown, and (this is the topper) trying to pee in a cup in a small, not-so-clean bathroom with one boy making paper airplanes out of paper towels and the other boy wondering why mommy goes "pee pee" out of her "squishy bum".

So this morning I was beginning to see a tiny ray of hope, until I got a call from DH. He'd been up all night with the stomach flu and was about to go back to bed for a few hours. And just to spice things up even a *little* bit more, he went upstairs to get some Tums and stepped in a pile of cat puke at the top of the stairs. Terrific fun.

Wordless Wednesday

My sweet Jasmine (=*.*=)

Weekly Report

The news of the week is that D had his first official piano lesson. The bigger news?? He LOVED it. Originally, I was determined to send him to somebody else for lessons. I think, ultimately, it was because I was filled with fear that I wouldn't be able to teach him myself. I had six years of lessons when I was younger, and realistically there is no reason I shouldn't be able to at least get him started learning how to play. After a bit of research, I decided on the My First Piano Adventure series by Nancy and Randall Faber. It is incredibly child-friendly and FUN.

The past few weeks of school have been all about crafts, games and fun. As a result, D got right back to his book work this week with fewer complaints and a bit more focus. He's excited to be learning about physics this month, waking up each morning and asking, "What are we doing today, mom??" He loves doing science experiments, and what better way to learn about floating and sinking, gravity, and magnetics than through hands-on exploration?? Here's a few highlights of what we've been up to lately:

Reading about the first Thanksgiving, making hand-print turkeys, and collecting twigs to make our first Tree of Gratitude for our Thanksgiving centerpiece.

Studying France~ this has been a big hit. The boys love the CD's I've been playing of French children's songs, and have a new found crush on all things Madeline. B now points out the Eiffel Tower everywhere we go, even if it's just a cell phone tower along the highway! This week we've moved on to England, and D really enjoyed our read-aloud of The Tailor Of Gloucester (Beatrix Potter). We'll continue our journey through England next week as well. D is working on memorizing the poem "I'm Glad" (Anonymous) but for some reason doesn't seem to enjoying it as much as some of the others he's learned.

Here he is doing a floating and sinking experiment, where you squeeze the bottle to see the 'jellyfish' float. We also discovered that raisins continue to rise and fall if you put them in a jar filled with Sprite. Last night we read the Magic School Bus Ups and Downs: A Book About Floating and Sinking.

In math we've been working with our pocket chart calendar to learn about the days of the week and the months of the year. This week in OPG we covered the differences between TO, TOO, and TWO; hard c/ soft c; hard g/ soft g. He much prefers reading a leveled reader book to me than reading out of the OPG book, so I've been trying to do a little of both. And he's happy to be starting his new handwriting book this week~ Getty-Dubay Italics Book B. Each page is a bit more in-depth than Book A, and he doesn't seem to be as bored. That could also be because I'm only having him do 2 pages per week instead of one every day. He gets plenty of handwriting practice in other areas throughout the week.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we've switched gears. We are now in BIRTHDAY mode. And of course, with the beginning of Advent, the Christmas season has officially begun and we're looking forward to all the celebrations that fill the month ahead.

Our Youngest is Off To Med School....

But not without his "jammies" (his lovey) and his thumb!! Would you trust this guy to do surgery on you??

A Touch of Pink

Weekly Report~ November 21, 2008

After a week of DS complaining about "hating school" because "I don't want to just sit there and stare at a workbook all day", I decided today will be Fun School. We'll read the pile of books that have been neglected due to his procrastination on his other work (math, phonics, handwriting). He can color a map of France while listening to Classical Kids, do some spin art, read a book to me, watch a DVD about France that I received from Netflix, bake something yummy, and do his last lesson from ETC orally. I'll see how many complaints I get doing things this way compared to when I ask him to sit down and "do school". As I write about our day ahead, I realize that this is what I want out of our homeschooling experience more than anything else, not just once in awhile but on a more regular basis. I'm having a hard time balancing book work with the fun stuff, but KNOW that it doesn't have to be one or the other. It can be---and should be---a combination of both.

Speaking of doing school, here is our week in review:

Thrifty Thursday

A twenty-cent discovery hidden on my library's book sale shelf. I can't rave enough about the treasures I've found on that shelf, and all for two dimes each. A thrifter's paradise. This book feels right at home perched on the piano in our schoolroom, as if it's patiently waiting for someone to finger through and play even one note... just enough to give it a voice after lying silent all these years.

Life Learning

B adores cooking. He loves to pretend to cook whenever he plays, whether it's in the sand, dirt, leaves, bathtub, or with play-doh. He has his very own 'kitchen' in the schoolroom, filled with wooden play food including pizza, ice-cream, fruit, veggies, hot cocoa and cookies. But NOTHING compares to the real deal. Cooking, REAL cooking, on a real stove in a real kitchen. With daddy. Saturday was one of those dreary, rainy, perfect days for Hubby to cook his infamous lasagna, and B beamed with pride and excitement when asked to help out. It turned out fabulously delicious~ thanks B!! Sorry, no leftovers....maybe next time.

Weekly Report~ November 14, 2008

Finally!! A week to be satisfied with. D was calm (disclaimer: compared to last week), somewhat focused, and went about doing his assigned work until it was completed, with minimal complaining. I can credit his behavior to three distinct happenings: (1) I took away his Halloween candy and gum to give him a break from all the red dye--and all the artificial coloring and flavors--he's been ingesting; (2) He's been sleeping better due to his little brother not waking up as often during he night, and (3) We're not turning on the television until ALL school work is done. Before, I was turning on the tv after breakfast in order to take my shower and get dressed, but I am desperately trying to break the boys of their television addiction and it seems to be working. That being said, I've been unable to take a morning shower and have had a lot less time online, but it's worth it....more than words can say.

We'll see how next week goes. In the meantime, the company my DH works for has been bought-out, which makes for a lot of uncertainty concerning the future of his job. Please keep us in your prayers, if you are so inclined.

Weekly Report~ November 7, 2008

An early post and an informal one at that.... I am busy getting ready for a much-anticipated SCRAPBOOKING retreat. An entire weekend away, just me, my friends, and my stack of neglected photos waiting to be scrapped. I'd leave tonight if I could!! Not enough school got done this week (and there's "no school" tomorrow since I'll be leaving early), without anything to use as an excuse other than (1) a wild, uninterested student, (2) a crabby, non-napping, pants-wetting 3-year-old and (3) an impatient mommy who spent too much time hiding away in her room. What we DID get done:

Singapore Math Earlybird 2A: Lessons 6 and 7
OPG (phonics): Lessons 63-65
ETC (phonics practice): Lesson 3
Getty-Dubay Italics Handwriting: Letter o
Science: Read Tusk, Tusk by David McKee
Art: Class at studio~ drew/painted portrait of classmate

Once again, we managed to get the "core subjects" done, but I don't feel like it was quality work. D speeds through the pages and there is little to no discussion on my part. He just doesn't like me 'teaching' him when he thinks he can do it all on his own. I suppose if I sit back and ponder this for a moment, it's actually a good trait on his part. It's the beginning of his ability to "learn how to learn" and a step towards the more independent learning he'll be capable of in future years. There, now I feel better ;).

A 10-Minute Window Into Our Day

Welcome to Monday morning at the Tin Roof Schoolhouse. Picture this, if you will~ D is asked to work on two pages in his math workbook, consisting of 6 subtraction problems in total. The problems are set up so that D counts the number of objects pictured, and then crosses off however many the problem specifies (i.e. How many shovels are there? ____ Cross off 5. So, 8-5=___.) He insists on working alone, but after a few minutes of fooling around on the very first problem, I tell him I'll have to sit with him and help him. We make it to problem #4, where he is asked to count how many chickens there are:

"Chickens? Chickens!!!!! Who's calling ME a CHICKEN?? Bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk" D says while kneeling on his chair, spinning around in circles and using his arms to 'bawk' like a chicken.

"D, how many chickens are there?" (me)

"Um... a one-and-a two and-a three and-a four and-a five and-a six and-a seven. Hmmmm .... (starts over) a one and-a two and-a three and-a four and-a five and-a six and-a seven. Seven!" spins around in his chair. "Is it time for my break now?" (keep in mind this is the first subject of the day, about 7 minutes into it).

"No, not even close. Could you focus please?"

D writes a seven but extends the top of it too far to the right "Ha ha ha ha. That's a funny 7. It looks like it's wearing a hair-do. Hahahahahahaha!!!!".

"Yes, that is a funny 7," I answer as I am in the process of erasing it, "try it again so it looks nice".

Writes the 7 again. "My favorite number!! I'm done now. Hooray, hooray, I'm done hooray. Hooray, hooray, I'm done for today!!"

"No, not quite. We still have 2 more problems in math and we need to do phonics before you take a break"..... I take a deep breath and head towards the kitchen to sneak some Halloween candy while he finishes the rest. Ten minutes into the school day and mommy already needs to refuel.

Weekly Report~ October 31, 2008

Somehow we manage to get things accomplished each week, although I feel like we are spending way too much time just trying to get through the core subjects with little time or energy left over for the "fun" stuff (science, history, music, art, etc.). Most of this is due to D's inability to stay focused for very long, his need to move around ALL the time, and my need to continually redirect him to the task at hand. Once he focuses, he actually does the work rather quickly and easily. Whenever I find myself becoming frustrated with him I remind myself that these behaviors are a big reason why we're homeschooling him in the first place, and that I need to be extra patient with him at moments like this. Ohhh, so much easier said than done!!

Wordless Wednesday

A Few Changes

We are on Week 11 of our school year and it's time to fix a few things that just aren't working. I originally planned our days rather loosely, fitting in all of our core subjects early on and leaving the afternoons open for history, science, art, and play. I still intend to do this, but instead of switching the subjects around every day (i.e. math first on Monday, phonics first on Tuesday) I am going to try to stick with a repetitive schedule for the cores. Math first, then phonics, writing, and reading. We will continue to do history (social studies) twice a week and science twice a week. A huge difference is my decision to only do religion twice a week during the school week, with D attending Sunday School on a weekly basis. More on this to come.

This morning D attended his first art class at a gallery nearby. It is a one-hour class for homeschooled children ages 5-10, and with D's love for everything artsy and crafty, I know this class will be able to give him so much more than I can offer. After speaking with his teacher, I am going to try him in the younger class that meets later in the day. Today's class had four kids a bit older than D, probably between 7 and 9, and they all sat quietly at the table, intent on aborbing themselves in their artwork. Apparently D has a lot more "energy" (no, really?? Tell me more....) and he may feel more at home with kids closer to his own age. Either way, I'm thrilled that he is (slowly) becoming socially appropriate enough where I can now leave him (somewhat) comfortably to participate in a group setting like this. He's going to love it; he already does.

Weekly Report~ October 24th, 2008

The week started off on a sour note with D refusing any sort of instruction or direction from me, arguing with B to the point of tears, and wiggling and squirming so much he was unable to concentrate (or even hold a pencil for that matter). It made me evaluate how I've been presenting D's lessons to him and I took some time to rethink my approach as well as my expectations. One thing that seems to be helping is making sure he only does one or two pages of math and phonics per day, and one lesson from OPG (learning to read). I have to keep in mind that even though some of the lessons may seem easy to him, or that he grasps a concept more quickly than expected, he does tire easily and has a low tolerance for repetition (read: VERY low tolerance for anything repetitive). The rest of the week improved, to the point that D completed all his lessons yesterday with almost NO complaints whatsoever.

Today is a light workload day, with grandma coming to visit and a trip to the playground planned. Hubby and I are going on a DATE tonight.... ahhhh, how long has it been??? He got tickets to a UNH Wildcats hockey game from a friend at work, and I'm getting excited to go. It's been decades since I've been to a hockey game, and I love the sport. Go Wildcats!

Leaves, Leaves and More Leaves

We don't have to travel far to find fall. We just have to put our shoes on and step outside of our house. The leaves are continuing to fall every day, and until DH

does the yardwork next weekend we'll have a driveway filled with crunchy, crisp leaves. D is so excited for Halloween, and has been for the past 2-3 weeks. He spends his time cutting, pasting, and creating spooky decorations to hang all around the house. And talking about trick-or-treating. And wearing his costume. And making me Halloween cards that say "Boo!". If it wasn't for his contagious excitement, I'd be the same old scrooge I usually am and not think anything of the upcoming holiday, with the exception of making sure we have enough candy to hand out on the big night. Thank you D, for bringing a little BOO back into my life.

Weekly Report~ October 17, 2008

The beautiful fall weather kept us outside and away from our books more than it should have this week. The way I see it, we'll have plenty of days stuck inside this coming winter to make up any work we miss out on this month. The month of October in New England is a gift to behold, not one to miss out on. We enjoyed a week of pumpkin picking, hayrides, corn mazes, picnics at the park and getting together with friends, both old and new. While D's favorite activity seemed to be playing with other kids everywhere we went, B was content to befriend some farm animals at Emery farm and to hang out painting his pumpkin at a homeschool group's park day/birthday celebration.


We did manage to get some lessons accomplished in between all the fall fun. For science, we finished our unit on the human body by outlining D's body on butcher paper, and he proceeded to fill in and color his entire anatomy, including his brain, lungs, espophagus, veins, bones and muscles. We're traveling through India this week and next for social studies. After mapping out India on the globe, we read a handful of stories and folktales including The Magic Cooking Pot. Both boys enjoyed this story so much that I decided to pull out the clay and have them create a magic cooking pot of their own. Here is D's so far~ he plans to paint it to make it look "more like a real pot". Although B also played with the clay, he ended up with a wet, messy heap as opposed to anything paintable. It's fun to watch his creativity developin as he takes my instructions and interprets them however he feels fit.

Guess Who's Turning ONE???

Happy Birthday to my sweetie niece who turns ONE today! ~We love you~

A Fall Tradition

Today was apple picking day, a family tradition since D was born. Although we go home with bags overflowing with apples, the day is really about being outside amidst the foliage-filled trees, letting the kids run around burning off their boy-energy in a safe, fun environment. I was happy to see that there was one row of raspberry bushes still producing deep red, juicy berries. My favorite berry, if not my favorite fruit. Just look at how delicious that looks!! D found it (pictured above) and decided he HAD to eat it, right then and there. It was too perfect to save for later. I think I need to adopt that attitude about many things in life. I find there's always so much being "saved for later". Why wait for the future when you can savor the moment at hand?? Go ahead, eat the raspberry :).

A Nature Hike Around Tidal Lands

Last Thursday we took advantage of a gorgeously warm fall-ish day to get out and enjoy the weather before it took a turn for the worse. The weatherman predicted rain was headed our way, so we decided to get outside while we had the chance. I'm so glad we did.... it's been raining since Thursday night and today is Wednesday! We hiked the Cove and Border trails of the Bellamy River Audubon Wildlife Santuary, which took us almost two hours to complete. Keep in mind that we stopped a lot along the way to take pictures, observe tree bark and caterpillars, and to take an emergency bathroom break (one of the benefits of being a boy out in nature). Plus, B's little legs had to keep up with D's more strident pace. The trail was tricky because of all the large, shallow roots of the white pines. We all managed to make it back without any twisted ankles, but B tripped over a "mean root" (as he called it) and scratched up his hands a bit. He got over it quickly enough. Probably because we came to a footbridge, which was the HIGHLIGHT of the hike for both kiddos. There were a few along the way, and D was always on the lookout for more. At the end of the hike, the boys signed the register at the trailhead, which is kept in a mailbox for safe-keeping.

Weekly Report~ September 26, 2008

Better late than never! I think this may be a trend with me. I'm finding it difficult to complete and post a weekly report before the week is actually even over (Friday mornings), half the time guessing what will be accomplished that day. Not only that, but it takes awhile to review everything we've done that week and to type it all up.

I created this blog for many reasons, but my main goal was to utilize it as a means of keeping track of our homeschooling, not only for accountability to the state, but also for myself. It is an important aspect of my blog that I insist on keeping up with. One thing I may try in the future (especially once B starts school and I'll have two weekly reports to maintain) is to post bi-weekly or even monthly. This may help keep me consistent enough to stick with it. We shall see.

A Friend From Down Under

We began our unit on Australia last Monday, reading Koala Lou and following up on it by learning more about marsupials and locating Australia on our globe. At the same time, we were also finishing up our animal unit in science, and I thought a "field trip" to the Rochester Fair would be a fun way to round out our studies. There are always plenty of pigs, cattle, sheep, poultry and other farm animals to visit. I was on the lookout for an emu, after seeing one in the poultry barn a few years back. I figured it would give the boys a chance to be up close and personal with Australian wildlife, and get them excited to read about more. To my dismay, there were no emus in the barns this year. But a bigger surprise awaited us next to the circus tent. Not only did we get to see two beautiful giraffes, a zebra, and some monkeys, but of ALL THINGS there was a grey kangaroo and a wallaby family. The boys excitedly stuck their fingers through the wires of the cage trying to pet the kangaroo, laughing as it hopped around on its extremely large feet. At the wallaby cage, a most wonderful little gift awaited our eyes. We were petting the mommy wallaby and watching her jump around the cage when all of a sudden we noticed a little HEAD sticking out of her belly!! She was carrying an adorable baby around in her pouch, then he was out and exploring on his own, and finally he was nudging her to nurse.... and we got to see it all first hand. I could've stayed there for an hour trying to get a good photo, but with two busy boys by my side we eventually had to keep moving on.

Later that night after downloading the pictures onto my computer, I was thrilled to find the above photo of the baby giving his mommy a kiss. Too sweet!

Weekly Report~ September 19, 2008

I've neglected my blog over the past few weeks, but only from your end as a reader. Whenever I had a few moments, I was downloading photos, working on my weekly reports, and thinking about all of the things I want to write about. And that's as far as I would get. I'm not as computer savvy as a lot of bloggers out there, so it takes me a l-o-n-g time to figure out simple things, like adding my weekly report as a document (above). This is the spreadsheet I created to record everything we do each week. Once a week I type it up, print it out, and add it to my Teacher's Notebook. In addition to that, I was trying to come online and re-type everything on my blog as the Weekly Report. It was redundant and time-consuming, which is why it hasn't been done lately. So today I *think* I've finally figured it out!! Double click on the image above to get a closer look at our week. We've been busy, but we've been having a lot of fun.

Weekly Report, Week of August 25th

This week flew by. I have quickly learned that all of the activites, books, crafts and outings I plan each week are not getting done. Don't get me wrong, all of the important areas like math, reading, and writing get done on a daily basis. It's when the 3 R's are combined with breaks, playing outdoors, snacks, lunch, the occasional outing, and "behavior management", there isn't much time left for things like making a Japanese Hinu doll or doing our science experiments. Luckily, with no set school hours, we can squeeze in an extra story before dinner or save our science experiments for when daddy is home on the weekends. I'd love to have time every day to dedicate to hands-on activites, because this is what D thrives on. In the upcoming weeks I will try to tailor our schedule to accomodate this goal by planning ONE crafty thing per day and lessening my overall expectations of what can realistically be accomplished. That being said, when I look at what we've done this week, I see that we are covering quite a bit of material and am really pleased with D's eagerness (albeit unfocused, silly, moody, and non-compliant at times) to learn.

• Math: Singapore EB1 ~ Lessons 8, 9, 12; Power Math Unit 4
• OPG~ Lessons 32-35 (He's having trouble with the short-e sound, continually mixing it up with the short-i sound. We need to practice this more over the weekend); Reading Bob Books
• ETC~ Lesson 5
• Handwriting~ Ww, Xx, Zz
• Religion~ Lesson 3-Adam & Eve; Mirror craft, Made up a thank-you prayer to God, copywork, and drew a self-portrait
• Literature~ Winnie-The-Pooh stories (1) In Which We Are Introduced to Winnie-the-Pooh and Some Bees, and the Story Begins (2) In Which Eeyore Loses a Tail and Pooh Finds One; Aesop's For Children (selected tales)
• Geography~ Japan- Read: The Crane's Gratitude, How the Sea Became Salty, and Momotaro; Mapped out Japan on our large world map and on the globe; watched the video "Big Bird in Japan"
• Science~ Read more about the weather and seasons; will do experiments this weekend about air pressure and/or the rotation of the sun
• Extracurricular~Spent the day at the Children's Museum of NH followed by a picnic at the park. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post soon.

Wave to the School Bus!

Today was the first day of school for our public school district, and we watched the bus drive by in the morning to pick up the neighborhood kids and again this afternoon to drop them off. If D were attending school this year, he'd only be in Kindergarten and wouldn't be taking the bus. Even so, I felt a bit of a disconnect as I watched the big yellow bus noisily chug by. Homeschooling the boys is exactly what I want to be doing right now, but that doesn't erase the twelve years of memories of my own education, especially those of my early elementary years which I remember fondly. It's easy to let doubt creep in as the questions start invading my mind... Will the boys be happy? Will they make friends? Will they feel like they missed out on things? Will I be able to teach them? Will... What if.... What about... ???

After taking a (very large) breath, I was able to reflect on our day and how we did an entire days worth of lessons, AND made a trip to a playground (filled with kids to play with), came home and rested, read a few stories together, played outside and cleaned D's bedroom. All before the big yellow bus noisily chugged by this afternoon.

Weekly Report, Aug. 22nd

Our second week of school and we've already learned one very important thing.... homeschooling allows for flexibility. This week was filled with appointments, from dentists to minor day surgery, as well as a few final summer activites like going to the beach and learning how to fish. Somehow we managed to keep up with everything on our schedule, which is amazing considering how little time we were actually home. It's such a nice feeling to be enjoying the sun on a beautiful summer afternoon and not worrying about "being" anywhere in particular.

D still accomplished a decent amount of math lessons (estimation, weight), phonics readings (short i and short o vowels), a lesson on Creation, a few books about weather and a handful of experiments (making thunder; evaporation; condensation), and even the memorization of the poem "Rain" by Robert Louis Stevenson. A nice way to hold onto the last dyas of summer while still making a dent in our lesson plans.

Weekly Report, August 15th

D had a great first week of school. He accomplished more than I had planned for math and language arts, but we didn't spend nearly as much time as I would've liked on science and social studies. He did complain a little about having to do math again, but as long as he knew we'd follow-up with some sort of arts-and-crafts project, he'd focus on what needed to be done.

Language Arts: This week we learned how to read words with the short-a and short-o vowel sounds using OPG (Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading) and books 1&2 of LSLF (Little Stories for Little Folks). D shows a real excitement for wanting to learn how to read, and once he sets his mind to something he typically doesn't back off. In this case, that is a great thing. He completed Lesson 1 in ETC (Explode the Code) which was a reinforcement of the short-a vowel sound.

I decided on using the Getty & Dubay ITALIC handwriting series because I really like the style of the lettering. Advancing to cursive is a smoother transition than with the tradition method with all those time-consuming loops and swirls I was never fond of. We practiced writing the lower and uppercase letters Ii, Jj, and Ll this week.

I have been reading aloud stories from Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. Although some of the stories seem a bit advanced at this point, D is being exposed to the sound and flow of language and seems to be enjoying them nonetheless. He did a narration on "How the Whale Got Its Throat". Other than the LSLF booklets, D has been reading the beginning Bob Books aloud and earning a stamp for each book he reads. Once his chart is filled, we will take a trip to the bookstore where he can pick out a book as a reward. I like the idea of giving him incentive to read as much as possible and to make trips to the bookstore a "totally cool" experience.

Math: We covered greater-than and less-than, more and less, size, and patterns this week. D seems to enjoy math but gets easily frustrated when he doesn't immediately understand a concept. Oh how I can relate!!

Religion: We covered the Holy Trinity in lesson 1 of IOG (Images of God). D needs to improve his attitude about learning/talking/thinking about his religion, and IOG does a good job of keeping stories short and interesting while covering the important underlying catechism. He particularly seems to be enjoying the colorful cut-outs and craft projects this series has to offer.

Science: We read about time-zones and the weather this week. He demonstrated with our globe how the children in Asia are sleeping when we're awake and how the sun doesn't move, the earth moves.

Social Studies: We are focusing on learning about maps and directions this week, using the Rand McNally Geography and Map Activites book. He made a compass rose and although he's got North, South, East and West down, he needs more review with NW, NE, SW, SE. We made "People of the World" stick puppets and the boys proceeded to put on a silly puppet show for me.

Fine Arts: We listened to classical music, painted, and did a rainbow cut-and-paste project.

First Day of Homeschooling

D had his first day of school yesterday, and was beside himself with excitement. I put together a bag of supplies for both the boys, filled with brand new crayons, markers, watercolor paint, notebooks, folders, glue, scissors, a ruler and a stash of new pencils (one which says "Homeschoolers Are Cool"). The highlight of the morning was seeing how thrilled D was that his new "school shirt" had arrived. Over the summer I ordered a set of t-shirts for the family with this year's logo printed on it with the intention of wearing them to field trips and other homeschooling-type outings. D saw me designing them on the computer and immediately said "Can we get those for my school?" and requested they come in dark green. How could I resist? Obviously I couldn't, and they arrived just in time for the first day of school.

I wasn't quite as "with it", due to B's sleep issues we've been having this past week. I wake up in the morning feeling like I have a newborn in the house, getting about six hours of very broken sleep at night and trudging through the days in survival mode. Luckily, I had the week planned out and all I have to do is follow my schedule instead of trying to wing it.

B didn't know what to make of our focused attention during D's lessons, and proceeded to climb all over me like the monkey that he is. Luckily I found a chunk of free time in the afternoon to devote to B, who wanted to sit in the new chair and work at the big desk in one of his new sticker workbooks. It's going to be tough to juggle the attention B needs from me with the time I need to give to D. I'm sure it'll all smooth out over the next few weeks.

Weekly Report

D completed 4 lessons in his math workbook this week. Today we were supposed to have our "Back To School Brunch" but I decided to do it on Monday, which is when our first day of lessons begins. It would've confused the boys too much to have a party on Friday and then have to wait two days to actually begin school. This way, we can do some lessons Monday morning and have a little party after lunch. And to add to the fun, D's friend Joey will be joining us for cake. I found the cutest back-to-school cake idea in an issue of Family Fun magazine last year and just knew I'd have to make it for D's first day of Kindergarten. I'll share some photos on Monday and let you know how everything went.

Facing My Fears

One method of overcoming an intense phobia is to face your fear. As most of my friends know, I am deathly afraid of BATS, ever since our first "houseguest" back in 2001. That was the one hidden behind the television stand, where my cat Max was hovering just minutes before. The bat with the apparent scratches on its wing as if something (Max) had scratched it. And the realization that just moments earlier Max had scratched me (unintentionally, while we were playing). We called our vet and his reaction sent me into a tailspin of anxiety, the type of anxiety you get when you overreact to something you have literally no control over. DH had to drive the bat 30 miles away to get tested for rabies, and I had to wait 24 hours to find out the results. The phone call came around 9am the following morning....negative. It was one of those moments of relief that you never quite forget. The whole experience was enough to make me feel sick at the mere MENTION of the word "bat".

Well, much to my dismay we were visited by four more bats over the next two years, and each "houseguest" was increasingly more awful than the previous (minus any more rabies scares). We finally found the source, a tiny space above the air conditioner *just* big enough for a bat to squeeze it's way through. I should also mention that the air conditioner was in our bedroom window. Which was right next to our heads. Ugh.

Fast forward to 2008 and an extremely loud screech that woke me out of a deep sleep. I tried to ignore it, figuring it was a june bug or a figment of my imagination. That is, until I heard the sound in my room. I woke up DH and we sat listening, when all of a sudden SWOOSH!! By the light of the alarm clock, DH spotted the bat flying around right in front of our faces. I dashed out of the room and into B's room (he was standing in his doorway wondering what all the excitement was about) and left it up to DH to catch the sucker. He contained it, and set it free in the morning, but not before D could sneak a peek at it.

D came inside to tell me just "how cute" the bat was, "like a kitty-cat with sharp teeth". It wasn't enough to convince me that bats were cute, but something happened later that same day to help me realize I wasn't *quite* as freaked out anymore.

We were watching a video about wild, misunderstood creatures, and the bat was one of the highlighted features. They showed a few pictures, and the little brown bat just didn't look all that horrible, at least not as horrible as my memory had made it out to be. They explained that bats are actually quite clean, grooming themselves regularly with their sharp claws. Ok, I'm listening. Then they showed a baby bat nursing on its mother, with it's wide face and big pointy ears, and I found myself saying "Awwwww, how sweet!" With a little research and an open mind, I found myself coming around to a greater understanding and even an acceptance of these little upside down flying mammals. Just not in my house.

Weekly Report

Next week D will begin doing math lessons, as well as a few read alouds from the Ambleside Online curriculum (Year 0). I am hoping to slowly ease him into our new routine, which will officially begin next Friday with a "Back To School Brunch" and with lessons starting the following Monday. D loves routine and structure, and he may find it difficult adjusting to our new daily rhythm. I figure by stretching out the transition over a couple of weeks instead of all at once might just help him accept it more readily.

One of the things we'll be doing on a weekly basis is using Wednesday as our "fun day", with only math and language arts scheduled for lessons and an outing planned for the remainder of the afternoon. I am excited to visit the new Children's Museum of Dover which just opened last week. It was featured on NH Chronicle the other night and it looks fantastic. Lots of hands-on exhibits (including a dinosaur dig), lots of color, and a lot of activities for the kids to participate in. If they enjoy it, I am thinking of purchasing a family membership so we can go anytime we want and get our fill of it while they're still young.

The schoolroom still needs some work, but it's nearly finished. Yesterday we bought a black adjustable chair to go with our desk, so at least we have the basics covered. I'd really love for it to be DONE before we begin on August 11th just so that I don't have to think about it anymore and so that the room has a cohesive, inviting feel to it. I've got my work cut out for me this weekend!!

A Robotic Birthday

B turned THREE while we were on the Vineyard, and he is so proud of his self-proclaimed "Big Boy" status. The cake was actually more fun to make than I thought it would be, what with being in someone else's kitchen in a house full of people. I didn't let the need for perfection get in my way like I've tended to do in the past, and without that pressure hanging over my head I was able to actually enjoy the process. We had a small party after lunch with cake and presents, and then off to the beach to play in the waves.

Hubby also turned THREE (plus 8) this month. He has been lost in the birthday shuffle since B was born (the day before his bday)....but his father really knows how to celebrate. So this year Hubby got an enormous lobster feast, fine wine and some really nice gifts. The festivities took place after the kiddos were fast asleep, so we were able to enjoy some grown-up time together with our family and let DH have the spotlight for a few hours.

JULY is Already Upon Us

In our household, the month of July is comparable to the month of December in both festivity and overwhelming craziness. December brings D's birthday and all the endless Christmas preparations and celebrations. July brings a trail of birthday celebrations to plan for (B's, DH's, my mom/dad/brother's), DH's annual family reunion for the 4th of July weekend, and our yearly trip down to Martha's Vineyard with my FIL. Not to mention trying to cram every possible moment outdoors while the weather is nice. But this year is different. This summer brings the added challenge of preparing for our homeschool year, which is scheduled to begin early August. At times I feel as prepared as I'll ever be, while on days like today I feel like I'm in over my head. I still have to:

* Organize, decorate and clean the living room, which we'll be using as our "schoolroom".
* Put together a handful of "activity bags" and finish making file folder games/ felt board pieces which will mainly be used for B's preschooling and to keep him busy while I'm working with D.
* Put the finishing toches on my Teacher's Notebook in order to have it workable and functioning in time for school. I'm ALMOST there :)
* Place my final order from Rainbow Resources and shop the back-to-school bargains when they start to stock up on supplies.
* Work on my menu plans to try to figure out a way to reduce our astronomical weekly grocery bill.
* Wrap B's gifts, figure out what type of cake to make him for his "robot" birthday party, make lists of what to bring to MV, call friends to see if they'll come over while we're gone to feed our cats.
*Get off the computer and stop making lists when I could be downstairs accomplishing something!!

I have to remind myself that this is *only* Kindergarten and that everything that is really important has already been planned and is set to go. The rest is just finding the time to create all the supplemental activities I have in mind, decorate my bulletin board and walls with all the fun educational stuff I've collected over the months, and to relax so I can enjoy the summer while it's here.

Mr. Moose and Mother Goose (Part 2)

Here are the photos from our weekend. I saved the photo of the moose with inverted colors because it was just too dark on the original to see. This was when the moose came onto our path and was looking our direction, deciding which one of us looked the tastiest. The next one is one of the waterfalls at Diana's Baths. The dad's and the 'big kids' climbed the rocks to the top area and were thrilled to find even more water to swim in. The rest are from Storyland. B in the pumpkin, me and my boysies on the swan boats, and Hubby and D on the roller coaster (that's them in the last car coming around the bend).

Mr. Moose and Mother Goose

We don't get away much, especially as a family. Last weekend we spent three days up north with another family that we don't get too see often enough. Four adults and four children in a chalet-type condo right next door to Storyland. I spent the week prior to our getaway wondering how it would go.... what food should we bring for D? Were there any safe restaurants nearby? Did Storyland have any food he could safely eat? How would B do sleeping in a 'big boy bed' in the same room as his brother? Would any of us get any sleep?

Not only did we survive, but it couldn't have gone more smoothly under the circumstances (food allergies, kids getting along, B transitioning to a bed, D's behavior issues). An added bonus was sharing a condo with our friends, allowing us to hang out together after the kiddos went to bed.

The boys got a weekend jammed-pack full of activity, with new sights to see and new adventures to be had. We hiked a path near Echo Lake that led us to the rocky, beautiful waterfalls of Diana's Baths. No sooner had we started up the trail when--literally FEET away--we spotted as moose. We felt safe observing this quietly majestic creature because he was on the other side of a small creek. For the first few minutes. Then he decided he wanted to get a closer look at us and crossed the creek onto our path. Moose are typically gentle by nature but will charge if threatened, and there we stood, all eight of us, stumbling over each other as we backed up ever so quietly (which,if you know my boys, is fairly inconceivable) onto a nearby footbridge. We found our way safely to the waterfalls and spent the afternoon enjoying the icy-cold water.

The highlight of our weekend was our day at Storyland. The kids were just the right age to enjoy the attractions, with the little ones loving the storybook character area and the bigger ones riding every ride in the park. To "close the chapter" (so-to-speak) on our weekend getaway, we ate breakfast at Glen Junction, a fantastically kid-oriented restaurant with a toy-filled waiting room and an electric train chugging along the walls. It was the perfect warm-up to our visit to Hartmann's Model Train Museum, which included a ride on their miniature train. It was a great time, especially getting to witness the excitement and laughter of my boys as they shared this time together.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

To everyone we know who responds when a child calls out "Dad", have a happy Father's Day this weekend. Enjoy the family you helped create. Know that you are loved and appreciated in ways you may not even realize. And to the "Daddy" of my boys, a special thank you for all that you do to love, support, help out with, and take care of your family. Because of you, our house is Home.

Pitching a Tent

The boys love to go 'caterpillar hunting' and were quite thrilled to find their first caterpillar of the season. We examined his colors (black with white stripe down its back and blue stripes down the sides) before D picked him up to feel how "soft" it was.... the fuzzier the better in his opinion. This caterpillar met his approval. He anxiously told me to take pictures so that we could look it up later to see what kind it was. When I came back outside with my camera, they had found a few more fuzzy friends, and D was letting them crawl up his sleeves (boys will be boys, right?). That night we looked up caterpillars in The Gardener's Bug Book by Cynthia Westcott (an old book I found at our library book sale for twenty cents!!) and found out our little visitors are Eastern Tent Caterpillars. They form communal "tents" in the nooks of twigs until they are ready to morph into moths (reddish brown with two diagonal stripes on each wing). It was fun to search in this book because there aren't a lot of pictures so D and I had to read through all of the caterpillar entries in order to find the one that best fit our observations (a.k.a. cuddle time on the couch). We then confirmed our findings in my Audobon guide. The next day we found their nest right near the end of our driveway. The boys have been checking back every day to watch them crawling in, out, and all about their nest, and today B found a teeny little baby one crawling on a branch nearby. The next thing we're bound to notice is all the holes in the foliage as they eat their way through our trees. I guess we'll have to reread "The Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle tomorrow night (again.........).

A Week of Accomplishments

The training wheels came off last Sunday, and apparently D's been ready for this for awhile because he took off without a bauble. I can honestly say I have never seen him SO PROUD of himself as when he told me how he did it the very first time Daddy let go, without even falling. Not to be outdone, the very next morning B hopped onto his tricycle and began pedaling, all on his own. After weeks of trying to get him to even TRY to pedal and getting nothing more than a blank stare in return, suddenly he's off and rolling. Isn't it amazing what a little competition between brothers can do?

D also learned how to partially tie his shoes (doesn't really count but he was excited) and this morning he tied a balloon by himself. He must be going through a developmental growth spurt. They say it's common for this to happen around the time of a child's half-birthday, and his is just weeks away.

3rd Rock From the Sun

On Wednesday afternoon, D began complaining. So for those of you who know D, you may be asking, "Yeah, so what's new??" I'll tell you what was new....he was complaining about how tired he was. This coming from a child who is NEVER tired!! Then he began to cry, complete with big crocodile tears, about how cold he felt. He was freezing cold, even though it was pushing 70+ degrees. We came inside and he put a sweatshirt on, wrapped himself in his blanket, and cried some more about how he was sooooo cold. I held him in my lap and tried to warm him up, knowing full well my poor little man must have a fever and the chills.

"I HATE being cold mommy! I hate it I hate it!" he cried. "I'm not even getting warm!"

"You're not? Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry. I don't like when my kiddos are sick" I replied, squeezing him a little tighter.

" I HATE being cooollllllddddddddddd!!!" he continued to cry--big, sad crocodile tears and all-- "I wish our planet was the CLOSEST planet to the sun." And with that comment, he rested his head on my chest and stop complaining. His point had been made.

Back to the Beach

There's nothing quite like the first day back to the beach after an endlessly cold and snowy winter. Even though the breeze was chilly and the water frigid, it felt divine to have the smooth, soft sand between my toes while watching the boys play together by the seashore. Almost perfect..... until I lost my keys. And yes, I panicked, and even lost my temper (as B attempted to run into the street while I searched through my bags for the sixth time). "Please, God, let the keys be here!!" I muttered as I looked through the sand-laden beach toys. And what do you know? Even though I lost my patience and probably used His name in vain more than once, God answered my prayer. Right then and there.

No, the keys were not in my bag. Instead, he sent me an angel. A wonderfully concerned passerby noticed my frenzy and decided to ask if she could help me out. She volunteered to walk back to the beach with me, boys in tow, to help see if we could spot the missing keys along the way. We retraced our steps, and just as I was convinced the keys must've floated out to sea--never to be seen again--I hear her yell "We found them!!" Actually, D is the one who found them buried under the sand where we had been sitting, just a teeny tip of my little flashlight sticking up from the surface. I thanked her profusely for being so kind and she smiled and returned to her afternoon walk.

She took the time to help out a complete stranger, to offer her assistance, to speak kind words of concern and encouragement. Yes, it was only lost keys we were looking for, but she helped me find even more. She helped me discover hope where just moments ago only anger and frustration had resided.

Spring Cleaning

D and B have been helping mommy spring clean this year, with the help of a little "cleaning kit" I put together for them with items from the dollar store. Yes, it ends up making MORE of a mess for me, but it keeps them occupied for quite a long chunk of time and they have FUN.... so it's all worth it. They proudly show me everything they've wiped, washed, scrubbed, rubbed and dusted when the task at hand has been completed. Ok, now if I could only get them to learn how to do the laundry :)