Halloween in a New Neighborhood

D knew by mid-September that he wanted to be a mummy for Halloween. I had visions of me wrapping him up in toilet paper and then going trick-or-treating in the rain. Not a pretty scenario. Luckily we found the perfect mummy costume at a store right down the street from our new house. Scary mask included, but not shown here. While at the store, B was immediately drawn to the fireman costume. I warned him that if he wanted to be a fireman, he HAD to wear the hat. HAD TO. He has a history for wanting to wear a certain costume only to cry about not wanting to wear the hat once Halloween finally arrives (for example, the elephant head/hood on his Dumbo costume, the engineers cap on his train engineer costume, and his surgical cap with last year's doctor outfit). And what do you know?? He actually LOVED his hat this year. Except that he kept insisiting on wearing it backwards. I had to show him pictures of fireman out of various children's books in order to convince him that the brim is indeed worn on the back.

On trick-or-treat night we were dressed and raring to go by 5:15, even though nothing 'officially' started until at *least* 5:30. After 11 years at our old house, we were curious to see what Halloween was like in our new neighborhood. We were more than pleasantly surprised at the turnout. Grandma came to hand out candy for us so that we could all go out together (thanks, mom!!), and what a bucket of loot our boys ended up with! There are approximately 10 roads of side-by-side houses in our development. By the time we finished trick-or-treating up two roads, the boys' pumpkin-buckets were filled to the brim. We had to return home to empty the load and went back out for round two. It was SO MUCH FUN to see so many costumed people clustered together under the dim street lights of our cute little neighborhood. People were sitting outside on their doorsteps with big bowls of candy to hand out. People were peaking out windows waiting for the next group of scary goblins to ring their doorbells. And best of all, Hubby and I got to enjoy watching our own little boysies having the time of their lives.

At our old house, D got tired after five houses. That's because of the distance we had to walk between each house. It was an effort, to say the least. Here, we conquered five houses in five minutes. Even though last year at this time we'd never have foreseen where we'd be today, we are finding new joys with each passing day. What a difference a year makes.

Weekly Report~ October 23, 2009

This is B's idea of hide-and-seek. He cracks me up! Even on the worst of days, B manages to add a good helping of humor to the mix. But boy oh boy is he pushing his limits lately. Everything (and I mean EVERYthing) is a battle. He reminds me of what his big brother was like when he was four. Yet, he behaves wonderfully at preschool and is absolutely in love with his teacher. It's adorable, actually. This week they carved pumpkins and made a lot of autumn related crafts, including a leaf rubbing that he is incredibly proud of. At home, I am continuing to practice the ABC song with him and playing letter games in order to help him begin learning letter sounds.

D has been filling his evenings with chemistry experiments, math drills, learning the poem "Work" from his FLL book, and a lot of writing. He loves to write! I am excited to see this because I know writing can be the source of frustration for many parents. My frustration comes in many, many other ways, so it's nice to find something that he's happy doing without any prompting from mom first. He also continues to be fascinated with Ancient Egypt, so our library book bag is filled to the brim with books about mummies, pyramids, Gilgamesh, King Sargon, the Nile River, and King Tut. We watched a National Geographic DVD about Egypt one rainy afternoon, and he was glued to the tv through the entire series. I'm working hard to make sure our home is filled with a learning atmosphere so that the boys are drawn to science, history, and literature naturally. It's easy to accomplish a lot of "learning" when they think they're just having fun!

The number 13... SO not scary!!

Serendipity has brought the number 13 front-and-center in our lives this month. We have been getting our house ready to put on the market, and after 13 weeks of grueling, back breaking work, DH's hard work paid off. We met with a realtor who told us straight-out that 13 is her lucky number. She has spread her luck our way. On October 13th we had our first showing, and an offer was made the following morning. Without getting specific about financials (you can look it up online if you're that curious), the offer was made for $x13,900. And our fantastic realtor was able to bump-up our closing date to a week earlier than planned, now scheduled for (you guessed it) November 13th. Finally, on a romantic note, Monday DH and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary!! I think it's time to play the lottery.

Thank you to everyone keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. This move has brought some major life changes our way, and although we'll miss our old house and cherish all of the memories we made there (first house, the birth of both of our boys while there, family dinners, birthday parties, and our first year of homeschooling), we're excited to move on.

Weekly Report~ October 9, 2009

School. I always loved it. The books, the teachers, the desks (especially the kind with the lids that opened and closed), the worksheets, listening to the chalk on the chalkboard, recess, my friends, sharpening my pencils, and reading. The actual *learning* part of school was ok, but not my top priority. I was in love with the physical and social experience of "school".

D, on the other hand, seems to be in love with the actual learning and could care less about the rest of the school experience. I want to give him what is best for HIM, but that's not always an easy thing to figure out with a kid like D. He's had two more meltdowns concerning school, and continues to express the desire to be homeschooled so that he can "be taught lots of stuff and do lots of science and not just sit around playing games like I do at school". And he's so intense and adamant in his proclamations that it's hard to argue with his logic. At the same time, on an emotional level, I feel that going to school has really been helpful in teaching him to listen to/follow directions from other adults, to learn there are certain rules that need to be followed, and to learn to respect authority. He has also made a handful of friends, but he does that everywhere he goes! The other bonus of going to school is that he consistently has a well-rounded week filled with gym, art, music, reading in group settings, learning how to get along with his peers for longer periods of time, and spending less time in front of the television.

As far as afterschooling, I let him take the lead this week. The LAST thing I want to do is push him too hard, or make learning a chore. The main reason I'm supplementing with him at all is because of his love of learning and his need for moremoremore. I'd hate to kill that passion by forcing him to do a lot of unneccesary work. Here's some of what we did do throughout the week:

• Lots of nature study (October is sooooooo my favorite month!)
• Finished our books on mummies and pyramids; read about Sargon taking over Mesopotamia in SOTW1
• Writing.... this is his favorite thing at the moment. He makes books and writes stories to read to me every night. The stories are typically about a boy going on an adventure and in some way or another discovering a crystal. :)
• Two math lessons in Singapore 1A
• Reviewing common nouns & proper nouns, doing picture study & narration in FLL

No science this week. I have a few experiments planned for this weekend, as D has 4 days off of school and we'll have a lot of free time to fill. As for my little guy--B--we've had more time together with D in school all week, and it's been nice to just hang out with him. We went to the library story hour, ran errands, played together, and spent a lot of time snuggling.

Wordless Wednesday

Weekly Report~ October 2, 2009

Fall is in the air, and the leaves are changing colors before our eyes. It seems a bit early this year, perhaps due to the rainy summer? All I know is that it will be over in the blink of an eye and we want to get out and enjoy autumn in New England while we can. In the meantime, D had an *excellent* week at school. And B made it to all three days of preschool~ no more fever or snoogy nose. I am in the process of trying to find a balance between school, playtime, screen time, outdoor time, play dates, and afterschooling for D. Luckily, he has a LOT less interest in television now that his days are full, but he does still ask to play on the computer almost every day. He also wants to be outside alot, he asks for playdates almost every day, he craves 'alone time' as well as the occasional 'brother time', he wants to build with his Legos, and he wants to draw. Every day. Now, we all know there are not enough hours in a day to fit all this in, but try telling that to an argumentative six year old!!

I encourage spending time outside as well as playing indoors with or without friends/brother until dinner time, and after dinner is when we focus on afterschooling (although he chooses most of what he wants to do at this point and considers it as 'fun time', so let's not ruin things by calling it school).

Here is a taste of what we did this week:

Real Science 4 Kids Pre-Chemistry~ Unit 1 & lab; Janice Van Cleave experiment book~ two chemistry related experiments and notebooking pages.

Math~ Timed addition sheets, a "math maze", and other review problems.

SOTW~Section on Egyptian pyramids; map, maze, and built a pyramid out of Legos.

FLL~ Learned the definition of common and proper nouns; did a few pages out of a workbook I bought at the bookstore.

Independent Reading and read-alouds

This coming weekend I will give D a placement test to see which level of Singapore Math I need to order for him. Other than that, DH is working his tail off trying to get our house ready to go on the market a week from Saturday. We can't wait for that house to S.E.L.L.

Wordless Wednesday

Boys Don't Sleep.....They Recharge

My sweet little B has been sick for two weeks with two different viruses. You know it's bad when a four-year-old actually ASKS to go to the doctor. After many days and nights of some serious TLC, he woke up the other morning and declared, "No mine sore throat hurt no more!!" It's always such a huge relief when you know your kiddo is finally on the mend.

Weekly Report~ September 25, 2009

We made the decision to send D to public school this year, but not for academic reasons. He desperately needed to be a part of a structured setting where there were (non-Mom) rules to follow and (non-Mom) directions to be listened to. He needed socialization that I was unable to provide him, on a consistent and daily basis. During his K year, I joined a homeschool support group and he made a few friends, but we only got together once a month or so. I signed him up for hockey, homeschool gym class, and a homeschool art class. The only one he really liked was art, but there was only one other boy in class with him who was not only older but very quiet. So no solid, regular connections were being made. Now that he's in school, he's thriving socially and his behavior at school AND at home has already improved quite a bit. He's making friends and looks forward to seeing them every day.

However, last night he had a meltdown over something small that led to him admitting to me that he was feeling really bored with what he's learning at school, saying that they are doing stuff he did in preschool. I explained that it'll get more challenging as the year goes on, but asked him what it was he wanted to learn. He told me, "SCIENCE! And math. And how to draw. And about Egypt." Although I've been 'afterschooling' him in order to supplement his academics, I've been doing it casually. After last night's tear-fest, we spent the next hour or so doing addition drill sheets, learning the definition of a noun and memorizing the poem The Caterpillar from FLL lessons 1-4; reading a chapter in SOTW (Story of the World) about mummies and pyramids, and doing a science experiement, complete with discussion sheet. To wrap it all up, we mummified an Egyptian god.... thanks to this online BBC game: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/launch_gms_mummy_maker.shtml

We did more last night in an impromptu afterschooling session than we did on any one day of homeschooling last year (or at least without the complaining and procrastination that used to go along with it). D's attitude towards learning and his ability to focus has improved drastically in just a few months time.

I'll be posting my weekly report regardless of whether we do much afterschooling or not. It gives me that extra push to get online and keep an informal record of what we're doing, so that I can review it as the year goes on. I also hope to share my experience with other families who have also chosen to afterschool their children, as well as with homeschooling families who have been--and continue to be--an inspiration and support in my life. I'm looking forward to reading your blogs as well!!

Back For More (Blogging, that is)!

I haven't been able to bring myself to blog since my last post in May. We've been thrown one curve ball after another this summer, and haven't yet begun to feel any relief. Emphasis on the word 'yet'. It's coming, it's just around the corner, we just have to keep working hard to get where we need to be.

In the meantime, D has started first grade at his new school, and is doing much better (socially/behaviorally) than I could've hoped. That's not to say that I haven't received a phone call (or two) from his teacher. That's not to say that D hasn't come home with a note in his backpack letting me know he "had a hard time compromising during partner reading", or that his art teacher had a tough day with him last Wednesday. But these are small fish to fry compared to what I was expecting. To my pure and utter joy, he has been waking up early every morning without complaint, and getting off the school bus every afternoon with a huge smile on his face. I keep waiting for the tears to start, like they did when he attended preschool, and like they did when I'd ask him to do his deskwork while homeschooling him last year. I'm sure there will be tears, but I am grateful for this positive start to the school year.

A Bittersweet Decision

After a few weeks of deliberation, sleepless nights, struggle and tears, DH and I came to the decision that D will be attending school next fall. This past year of homeschooling was a learning experience, in more ways than one. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to watch D learn how to read, improve his handwriting, memorize his math facts. It was a chance to give him the freedom to grow and play and explore. And it gave me great satisfaction to research, plan, and carry out lesson plans and activities on a weekly basis. It all sounded great on paper. Our days were carefully planned so that everything and everyone got attention~ school work, house chores, outdoor time, play time. I signed D up for various classes and sports throughout the year trying to keep him active and involved, but it just wasn't enough.

He is a strong-willed, energetic, social creature who craves attention and activity. I'm only one person, in a somewhat isolated area without a lot of outside help, and I have finally come to terms with the fact that I am unable to do it alone. I have to swallow my pride to say that, because I fought tooth and nail to make it work, and it's not. It's broken. We're broken. And I don't want my relationship with my boys to suffer. Homeschooling was meant to bring us closer together, but it has become obvious that D doesn't want to learn from me, or take direction from me. At least not 24/7. Daddy sees them briefly in the mornings and again at bedtime, but every minute in between it's just us.

We told D that he'd be going to school in the fall, and he was sad. For about five minutes. We drove by the school and by the time we left the parking lot, he was asking me, "How long is it until school starts, 90 days?" and "I'm going to need a lunch box" and "Will I make friends on the school bus?". He was excited. And for all of you who know D, he doesn't get truly EXCITED about much, outside of buying new Legos and playing with his friends.

I'm sad. I feel like a dream of mine has been shattered. But admittedly, I am relieved. A huge weight has lifted from my shoulders. This decision feels right. It feels like it might just work. I'm looking forward to how these changes will affect our family life. For instance, maybe we'll do less arguing and more listening. We'll have more space from each other, so that we'll have more to give when we are together. I'll have more patience, and a clean house!! Imagine that.

In the meantime, we're wrapping up his Kindergarten year. He's done more and gone farther than I planned, so I feel like accomplished our goals. I will continue to have D read every day, and practice his handwriting and math. The classroom will only be one aspect of his life experience, but it will be one aspect that provides him with the structure, activity and socialization he's been craving. His home is where he can come for security, safety, and reassurance at the end of a hard day. As they say, "it's all good".

Weekly Report~May 1, 2009

We bid farewell to D's very first loose tooth, which was successfully yanked out by yours truly and magically transformed into $2.00 by the generous tooth fairy. A major milestone in the life of any six-year-old boy. D was thrilled~ I actually thought he'd be incredibly upset, based on his past reactions to any form of bodily harm. I think the impending tooth fairy visit was what kept him excited, especially since he's been saving all his pennies in order to earn a new box of Legos.

We've been very casual about school this month. Things seem to be winding down. D needs extra practice with his addition of numbers 1-20, so we're slowing down a bit with his workbook in order to practice. Phonics comes very easy for him, but I insist he continues with his ETC workbook because it's actually giving him plenty of handwriting practice. I would never tell that to him, however, because he reacts very negatively to the idea of "doing handwriting". He has also been reading Level 1 readers to me at night before I read bedtime stories to him and B. For social studies, we read The Littlest Matryoshka and played with my set of nesting dolls. The boys also colored a map of Russia and the flag.

Science has been almost non-existant this month, at least in terms of anything formal. With the arrival of spring and nicer weather, we've been spending more time outside and observing nature. We took a walk by a wetland area of our neighborhood and watched to see if we could find any frogs. We took a walk through our backyard woods and found a pile of deer poop which we identified by looking it up on the internet. And the boys have excitedly watched our daffodils bloom and the buds appear on all of our trees, as if by magic. We took a walk and found a handful of rocks that had broken in half, giving us the opportunity to observe what a rock looks like inside. D thinks they're all "crystals" and we have them displayed on our nature table. D will begin gymnastics next Tuesday, with his very best buddy in class with him. He did a trial class last week and loved it, although (not surpisingly) the teacher mentioned that he really needs to work on not talking over her and listening to her while she talks. Hopefully he will be able to control his need to constantly chatter.

That's about it for this week. I need to get cracking on ordering curriculum for next year, finishing up this year's paperwork and organizing all of D's work, and making sure to fill out an Intent to Homeschool form, as we'll be "officially" homeschooling next fall once D is in first grade. Kindergarten is not legally mandatory here in NH, so this felt a bit like a "practice year". I'd better get focused!! Hey, isn't that what I'm always telling D?? Like mother, like son.

Weekly Report~ April 10, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET GODDAUGHTER!!! She turns the big "6" today. Unfortunately she lives across the country from us, but we'll be thinking of her regardless of the miles. Here she is with an enormous pine cone~ have you ever seen anything like it?? My little guy B would be in his GLORY if he stumbled upon this beauty.

Another week has flown by. D continues to complain about having to "do school", but quickly gets down to business now that he's earning money to buy LEGOs. It's amazing the difference we've seen in him, both with school and in his behavior around the house. He will do ANYTHING to save up money for the latest and greatest Lego product. This morning he was dressed and done with two pages of math and two pages of phonics before I even woke up. "Whatever works" has become my new motto.

Here's a quick rundown of what we've been up to:

Math~ Addition up to 20
Phonics~ "ch"
Handwriting~ Mixed in with other lessons and some 'homemade' copywork
Geography~ Russia
Science~ Plants
Reading~ OPG and library books (he's been reading to us at night before bed)
Everything Else~ Playdates, Lego, computer games and playing outside (YEAY nice weather!)

Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates! Enjoy your time together.

Wordless Wednesday

D made a few good friends during our visit to the NHSPCA animal shelter in March.

Weekly Report~ March 20, 2009

It's been a busy week or two at the Tin Roof Schoolhouse, and once again it's time for a weekly report. First, I want to re-thank my sister for the adorable, embroidered pillow she sent for my birthday (see photo). It thrills me to no end. She is a well of creativity, and I love to be on the receiving end. This looks just like our house, right down to the red tin roof. So cute.

As for school, we are continuing our journey through Mexico and South America, reading related stories (The Llama's Secret, The Moon Was At a Fiesta, Tonight Is Carnaval) and finding countries on the map. D was inspired by the book Diego by Jeanette and Jonah Winter, the story of the Mexican artist Diego Rivera. He couldn't wait to wake up the next morning and draw. In math, he is reviewing addition and subtraction. Just this morning over breakfast he declared, "Hey mom, if 4+4=8, then 40+40=80, right?" That triggered a discussion about other values of 10, which turned into a discussion about dimes and money. I love how 'school' can happen anywhere, even over toast and juice at the breakfast table.

D reads everything he sees, but if you were to ask him he'd say "I hate reading". What I've learned is that actually means, "I am bored stiff with OPG but I will read just about anything else" (OPG is the book I am using to teach him reading). He's just not a workbook-y type kid. He likes color and pictures and surprises, which OPG does not offer. It's very black-and-white, matter-of-fact, and repetitious. I will continue to use it because it is definitely teaching him the rules of reading, but I've relaxed on how often we do it as long as he continues reading so many other things during the day.

The weather is slowly warming up which means we've been outside more during the day. What a blessing! We took a walk the other day and the boys collected rocks like they always do. But now that we are learning about rocks for school, D took a deeper interest in them, carefully selecting a variety of sizes and colors so that we could go home and learn about them. We followed-up by doing an experiment to show how limestone rocks are hollowed out to become caves. Sound complicated? Far from it.... it involved dissolving a piece of chalk in 1/2 cup of white vinegar. It can't get much easier than that, and the boys were fascinated with watching the chalk bubble, fizz, and disappear.

We are still attending gym class two days a week, and both boys continue to have a love/hate relationship with it. Luckily, next week is the final week and we can move on to something new. I am disappointed that they don't like the gym class more, though, because it provides such a great outlet for burning off energy, learning sports, and getting to play with other kids. Someday...someday.... we will discover something that holds D's interest for more than one class. Swimming and karate are next on our agenda. Any other suggestions?

Weekly Report~ February 27, 2009

The past two weeks have been a mixture of school, vacation days, snow days and sick days. We've lost our routine and the flow of the day that I worked so hard to achieve prior to the holidays. My goal for the month of March is to ease back into that routine so the remainder of the school year has a sense of structure to it. Although it feels like we haven't been accomplishing much lately, D continues to improve his reading, writing and math skills. We're about 1/2 way through Unit 4 in his new math book, solidifying his addition facts (1-10) and currently working on subtraction. D finished the first two lessons in his new ETC Level 3 book and is demonstrating a firm grasp on the concept of words ending with "silent e". He has discovered that learning to read opens whole new worlds for him to explore, from leveled readers to LEGO catalogs.

Our learning about the continents has stalled during the past month. We spent a week on Mexico, reading a few books and coloring the map and flag, but haven't moved on from there. I intend to spend two more weeks on Mexico and South America before moving on to our next country. I'd still like to fit in Russia, the Middle East, Canada, and America before the end of June.

We read about the solar system a lot over this past month, but haven't been doing any experiments to go along with it. Last Friday we spent the afternoon at the Children's Museum, and at the end of the day the boys got to pick out a little pouch and four polished rocks to go in it. I figured this was a great way to introduce them to our next unit on rocks (geology).

The most rewarding accomplishment this past week was reading the Great Illustrated Classics edition of The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Although the story is adapted from the original, it works well as a family read-aloud due to the amount of illustrations included. It is a great stepping stone from reading picture books to reading more advanced books without losing his interest in the process. An additional bonus is that B loves to sit with us and it keeps his attention throughout.

One reason our routine has failed us lately is due to attending gym class every Tuesday and Thursday mornings. It truly takes up most of the day. By the time we get home, it's already into the afternoon. D has made a few friends there, including his new girl-friend Catherine. I am pleased as punch with this new friendship, considering that just a few weeks ago he wouldn't speak to, sit near, play with, or look at a girl. NO GIRLS ALLOWED seemed to be his motto. Luckily, that phase didn't last long and now he has a sweet new friend to show for it. It doesn't hurt that C's mommy is incredibly easy to get along with either. It's hard to find like-minded moms even among homeschooling crowds, and it's been nice to have someone to chat with and get to know while sitting through 3 hours of gym class every week! D has also been taking ice-skating lessons on the weekends, and it is a love/hate relationship. One second he's cold, his feet hurt, and he never wants to skate again. Then in the blink of an eye he's skating around the ice with a huge smile on his face. Personally, I'm looking forward to the lessons coming to an end. It's been a challenge, to say the least.

Housebound

I'm not meant to have a social life. It's written in the stars. Every time I have something planned, somebody gets sick, there is a nor'easter dumping 2 feet of snow on us, or some other unpredictable act of God descends upon us. Seriously, this happens nearly *every* time I make plans.

When DH and I got married, New England was hit by the remnants of Hurricane Lily, leaving our hotel water logged and our cruise to Bermuda delayed by one day. When I turned 30 years old, my mom and I drove through a blizzard to get to New York City for our planned weekend away. Last year, we were supposed to go to our friend's house (who we had not spent time with in waaayyyy too long) for a football game, and B and I both ended up with the stomach flu. You get the idea.

This week it's a bit more simplistic---B is sick with a head cold---but the result is the same. We're housebound. No "socialization" for D due to a missed playdate, no physical exercise due to missing gym class, and another day of playing board games and doing arts and crafts. It's a good thing I'm a total hermit and love to be home, because I'd be out of my mind otherwise. Having said that, even a homebody like myself can only go so long staring at the same four walls. I think this situation calls for a nice, long nap with my sick little guy.

Weekly Report~ February 6, 2009

Another week has flown by in the blink of an eye. I have no new photos to share and nothing very exciting to report~ yup, it's definitely February. D did unit 2 in his new math book, and seems to be enjoying it so far. He especially likes the exercises that have you figure out a problem and then spell out a secret code. He completed his ETC book 2 and will be starting book 3 next Monday (or possibly today, we'll see how it goes). We're reading about Mexico but didn't get to it as much as I would've liked to. I'm hoping to catch up a bit over the weekend. His handwriting is improving.....slowly..... as long as he concentrates while writing his letters.

As for the rest of the family, DH enjoyed his trip to Florida with his father and came home with fun goodies for everyone. He gave D a real, working pirate pocket watch that thrilled D to pieces. It's also been useful in teaching D more about telling time. B has been flourishing lately in so many ways, especially with his wanting to "write" in his notebook all day long and scribble pictures. He loves using his scissors and markers (Daddy even had to make a special trip to the store just to buy him more since his wore out), and continues to love play-doh. As for me?? Well, LOST has started again, I finally dug out my scrapbook supplies and photos (first time since before the holidays), and I sold my first item ever on Ebay. Nothing too exciting, but like I said, it's February in New England.

Weekly Report~ January 30, 2009

And the snow just keeps on coming!! We had a 'snow day' on Wednesday and spent the day building Zoobs, reading the rest of The Invention of Hugo Cabret (part one), and playing in the snow. I haven't been keeping up with my weekly reports lately due to transitioning to my new (awesome) computer. I am now located downstairs right in the middle of all the action, which I love. But I've yet to install Word, Excel, and my photo software..... which are the three main things I use for recording/planning our school and blogging. In the meantime, I've snuck back upstairs to the old computer in hopes of posting a quick report.

D continues to show great progress in reading. It has come so naturally for him, and for that I am grateful. He has completed his Singapore EarlyBird 2B workbook, so yesterday we began first grade math (Singapore Primary Math 1A standards edition). I want him to master his math facts before proceeding to the next level, but he gets bored and frustrated with too much repetition. So we spent two weeks playing math games, finishing up EB 2B, and doing some worksheets before jumping into our new book. D really enjoyed our unit on outer space, but to my surprise B has become fascinated with all things space as well. He proclaimed he wants to be an astronaut when he grows up, builds Lego spaceships all day long, and often wants me to read space books throughout the day. It's fun to see his personality taking shape and his interests developing.

The rest of the week we spent going to homeschool gym class, finishing up D's Explode the Code 2 workbook, working on handwriting, and reading Hugo Cabret (D loves loves loves this book.... thank you Uncle K and Uncle C). It is truly the most unique, captivating read aloud we've ever done and it has inspired D to find a little notebook and fill it with sketches and 'secrets' of all kinds.

Weekly Report~ January 16, 2009

I came downstairs yesterday morning to find the boys side by side, D playing his Leapster and B "working on my computer" as he would say. If you know my kids, you would realize how rare moments like this are. Although they *do* seem to be happening a bit more often lately. After awhile I told D to turn off his game and get ready for school. He said, "Just one more game, mom. Besides, I'm doing math so this IS school". I couldn't argue with that logic, and gave in to the 'just one more game' request.

This week of school has been fantastic. I'm not quite sure why the change in attitude, but D has done his work quickly and neatly. When he puts his mind to it, his lessons get done in less than an hour. Maybe he's finally realizing that when his work gets done, it leaves more time for playing. Another difference this week is that we started a homeschool gym class. It meets twice a week for 1.5 hours at a time. I think getting out of the house, being around other kids, and running around playing sports for a few hours was just what the boys needed to burn off all that pent-up energy that's been brewing.

Here's a summary of our week:

Handwriting~ Cc, Dd, Ee
ETC~ Lesson 8, began Lesson 9
Reading~ OPG Lesson 85-87; LSLF "Funny Ann"
Math~ P.66, Lesson 18, Review 1, Power Math Unit 11 (p. 211-213)
Social Studies~ Read Bimwili & The Zimwi; Mirandy and Brother Wind with narration; mapwork
Science~ Began unit on Astronomy: Read Sun, Moon and Stars and crafts (made a space telescope)
Music~ Listened to classical music and The Musical Life of Gustav Mole book/CD
Religion~ Bible stories

Weekly Report~ January 9, 2009

Our first week back to school after a couple weeks off for the holidays was filled with activity. Admittedly, Monday was disasterous. D wanted nothing to do with anything even remotely related to school. Somehow we managed to get through that day, and the rest of the week flew by. We spent an afternoon at the Children's Museum where D played with anyone and everyone while B played on the computer designing kaleidoscopic images. Wednesday and Thursday were snowy days so we had some much-needed outdoor time in between lessons.

We are currently studying Africa and the boys really seem to be enjoying the stories as well as the African Playground CD I've been playing for them. D especially enjoyed By The Baobab Tree (book on CD with accompanying song) by John Archambault, so we expanded on his interest by making our own baobab tree and putting on a show with our new puppet theater. I love being able to go off on little tangents now and again when D shows excitement about something.
As for the core subjects, D is reviewing counting by 10's to 100, simple addition, and money. He continues to read from OPG, about a page per day. This week he learned about "ai" blends, along with homophones such as made/maid and plane/plain. And finally, he continues working through his handwriting book and ETC (phonics).

Homeschoolers Don't Get Snow Days

Winter has hit New England hard this year, resulting in an abundance of power outages, icy roads, and snow days for the school kids. It's a nice feeling to wake up to a blizzard and not have to worry about whether or not school is cancelled, and how dangerous the roads will be. We just carry on with our day as usual~ play a bit in the morning, get ready for the day, do some schoolwork, take a break, eat some lunch, do some more work and then play, play, play. This week we spent a generous amount of time outdoors, which is so refreshing after being cooped up inside so much last month. The boys got these nifty snow toys for Christmas and they spent an entire afternoon building forts and perfecting the art of snowball making (and throwing). The weather is calling for more snow flurries today and tomorrow, and I say, "Bring it on!"