I've been really pleased by the efforts the kids have been putting into their lessons this fall. Not that there haven't been moments of grumbling and days of complete apathy regarding certain areas - there have been plenty of those days! Overall, though, their efforts have been really good. We sit down together every now and then and evaluate what we're doing: what we like and don't like, what we'd like to be doing, what needs changing, etc. They really pack a lot into each week!
Below is a list of what they are each regularly working on right now.
Math:
Andrew - Life of Fred, Beginning Algebra - he's nearly 3/4 of the way through this book, using the Home Companion as a guideline. He took a lengthy break from math in the spring and summer so isn't quite where he had anticipated he'd be right now, but is determined to finish the book before Christmas.
Nicholas is working on Singapore Math 5A again. He was using this text last year, but ran into some serious confidence-killing problems with fractions so we switched gears part-way into the book and concentrated on fractions and times tables for the rest of the year. He's half-way through 5A and should be finished by Christmas. He has gone through the fractions section with no trouble and is asking me why he ever thought this was so difficult before! I still have to remind myself that his learning style is different than Andrew's. Andrew intuitively gets math. Nicholas needs to do each and every step along the way and frequently second-guesses himself. We've found that he shuts down and doesn't take anything in when he reaches a wall-moment and that it is best to let it go for a day or two and try again. He tends to be more of a plateau-style of learner. He plods along at the same level for ages it seems, then suddenly makes this huge leap and is at the next level. This carries over to some other areas, not just math.
Matthew has been working on a grade 3 level activity book that has math, reading, spelling, geography and some science in it. He picks away at it now and then, though it has been on the shelf for a few weeks now. We've been talking about getting out the Miquon Math books again and filling in the areas he skipped before.
Typing - We're using Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing - Adrian had to pick it up for his course and the kids decided to learn to touch-type with him. Andrew is almost finished the Intermediate level and has a typing rate of about 15-18 wpm. Nicholas just started the Intermediate level and has a typing rate of about 9-11 wpm. Matthew mostly plays the typing games on this and hasn't spent as much time on the lessons. He's not as motivated to learn to touch-type as the others are.
Spelling:
All three boys have completed Level 1 of All About Spelling and we're a quarter of the way through Level 2. I started them all at the same time and usually do the lessons with Andrew and Nicholas together since Matthew needs a bit more hands on time for it. This is the first year we've used an actual spelling program and I like the way it is set up. Very easy for me to teach the lessons and review is only as necessary, so no busywork. The kids like the program, too.
Writing:
Andrew and Nicholas are doing a 15-week writing course titled Student Writing Structure & Style. Typically they watch a portion of a DVD then work on the assignments. There are four assignments each week, but they usually combine one of the days and work on writing only three days. One thing I like about this program is that it encourages writers to choose words other than 'said' or 'went' to make their work more varied and interesting to a reader. The boys are keen to get to their writing each week.
Matthew's writing has consisted of writing short letters to his cousins, some comics and ideas for games.
History:
We are re-reading The Story of the World Volume 2: The Middle Ages. We're using it as a discussion-starter mostly and for anything they want to find out more about we order books from the library. All three boys like listening to the short chapters in this book and will ask for me to continue reading!
Reading:
Of course, the kids all read huge amounts on their own, but they still enjoy our read-aloud times. We spend hours each week reading together. Right now we're enjoying The Adventures of Doctor Dolittle.
Bible Study/Devotions:
Andrew and Nicholas are working on a study surrounding the Christmas story. It is called Preparing My Heart For Advent, one that I did last fall and had planned to share with my women's study group this year. We haven't gone back to meeting together yet (totally my fault for not being prepared this fall) so I decided to do the study with the boys instead. They are enjoying checking timelines and thinking more about the characters in the Christmas story.
Before bed we read a devotion together that Matthew can share in. The study is a little more advanced than he'd be willing to get into right now, but the devotions are perfect for including him. There have been many nights where the devotion has led to a fantastic discussion - and a much, much later bedtime!
Fitness:
All three boys take Tae Kwon Do three times a week, which gives them a terrific workout, but beyond that they spend hours each week in the basement or outside working out.
Other Stuff:
On top of their regular studies, the kids dabble in a bunch of other areas, though not through a set program at the moment. They spend time with geography, biology, cooking, drawing/sketching and piano each week and we're hoping to add a regular theatre class in the new year. And they still have hours and hours of free play inside and outside! Yes, homeschooling is still working for us!
Showing posts with label Homeschooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homeschooling. Show all posts
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
A Month? Really?
Nearly a month has gone by since I've written here. It doesn't seem like that long, but when I consider how much has happened in that period of time, I suppose it has to be a month! lol!
One of our biggest changes is that Adrian has started school again. He applied through Second Chance at the beginning of the summer, had to do a mound of research and paperwork and was down to waiting for approval on his retraining application at the beginning of September. He went to the orientation seminar at the school he is attending the week before classes started, though at that time he still hadn't heard anything about his application. He was told they were very backlogged trying to get through the hundreds of applications and that he should have a phone call by the Friday afternoon before his classes start. Friday came and went. Adrian was so disappointed. I was wondering what God was up to. I mean, I really felt his leading all the way through this process, right from last spring and through the summer. Each time I had a question about how things were progressing, God had the answer. I told Adrian we'd just have to wait until Monday morning to see how things go. His class wasn't to start until the evening so there was still time for a phone call to come during the day.
Adrian and Nicholas headed to church Sunday morning. I stayed home...Matthew had hives (we still don't know exactly from what but they lasted three days!) and Andrew's allergies were so bad I wasn't positive it wasn't a cold. At lunchtime, the two boys and I prayed for Adrian's phone call to come first thing Monday morning. Andrew then said to me that maybe the call would come that very afternoon. I chuckled and told him not likely since government offices don't typically work weekends. Well, imagine my shock when half an hour later I answered the phone and it was THE CALL!!! That was definitely from God! Adrian started his classes last week on Monday and has been studying hard ever since.
This past week and a bit has been an adjustment for us all. Adrian's first block of classes are held in the evenings and he doesn't get home until late. It's been weird for him not to sit with us at dinner (though he does for lunch still) and for me to not have anyone to talk to other than Panda after the kids have gone to bed. Oh, that's another thing...I can't seem to get them in bed at a decent hour! lol! We talk too much! We head up at the regular time, but then we get into lengthy discussions or I've read much longer than usual to them.
I have not yet been able to fall asleep before Adrian's home and I'm getting up before him most mornings to let Panda out. Adrian's having a more difficult adjustment, I think. He's typically an early riser so these late nights have thrown his system out a bit. He's trying to sleep in and he's successful about half the time. He's very tired, but wired, when he gets home and is not able to get to sleep until the wee hours of the morning. I'm sure his body will adjust. It'll probably be just about the time that they switch the block of classes to a different time slot!
Schooling for the boys is going well so far. We're using All About Spelling this year and so far they are enjoying it. Even Matthew when he's not in a grumpy mood. I started all three of them at Level One as recommended and there were a few things that Andrew and Nicholas needed correction on for sounds of letters, especially vowels, and on segmenting words into the individual letter sounds. Funnily enough, Matthew did better on that section than they did. He just got it faster. The point we are at now with the lessons is that I spend much less time with the older boys than with Matthew. They are approaching the lessons with a bit of humour...knowing it will only take a few minutes, literally.
I'm spending more time with Matthew for two reasons. The first is that there are some things that they have learned before and he hasn't so it's not really review for him. The second reason is that he has a stubborn streak in him and has been a bit moody. The stubborn streak is nothing new. I suppose moodiness isn't either, but he seems to be more affected by changes than the others are. He's had a lot on his plate recently: Adrian being home all summer and now going to school, Tae Kwon Do has started again so he is getting a real workout three times a week on top of being extremely active on his own, he's been getting to sleep later and not always sleeping in the next morning so he's tired, he had hives for several days and was uncomfortably itchy, and finally, he just spent five nights sleeping in Andrew's room because of a spider problem in his own room. It's obviously too much for an eight-year-old to handle! I'm having trouble handling the same things and I'm a lot older than eight!!!
The spider issue. I've been taking a theatre class in a nearby town once a week. Adrian's Mum came last week to watch the boys while I was out and told me when I got home that there had been dozens and dozens of tiny spiders crawling on Matthew's bedroom ceiling. Eeeewww!!!! She had cleaned them off the ceiling but Matthew was asleep in my bed. I don't blame him...I wouldn't want to sleep in there either. I checked after K left and cleared another two dozen or so spiders off the ceiling and some off the curtains. Then I went and had a shower. Extreme heebie-jeebies! I showed Adrian when he got home and there were more again. He stopped counting the spiders, closed the door and promised to deal with it in the morning. Not my favourite way to deal with it, but we used spider spray, left the door closed and all the windows in the house open. Of course, it was cold that day - we were freezing by lunchtime!
It has taken until today for us to get everything cleaned and put back in the room. All the clothing and curtains and bedding had to be washed. Everything. I lost count of how many loads of laundry we did. All the clothes ended up on the dining room table. I quickly decided Matthew has way too many clothes, since the table was piled high! We have very generous friends who send us clothing for the boys and Matthew being the smallest ends up with a load of hand-me-downs from everyone. Today we managed to get through most of his clothing and have a huge pile to send to his cousin, a smaller pile of clothes that are only fit for the bin and some that will still be put aside for Matthew to grow into. We just have pants left to do, which is tomorrow's job.
We vacuumed, cleaned walls and doors and the closet and windows plus all the furniture. I forgot about the ceiling fan so I'll get to that tomorrow, too. Matthew also took this opportunity (okay, he was, ahem, encouraged by me to go through the books on his shelves and decide which ones he can part with to send to his cousins. His shelves are nearly empty now! The toys are in the basement at the moment, but he's got plans to go through them and be choosey about what gets to come back into his room.
Andrew and Nicholas are now under orders to go through their bookshelves tomorrow and start doing a thorough cleaning through their rooms. I'm not going to empty their rooms to do this, I'm just asking them to make sure they clean behind and under things and declutter a bit while they are doing so. Their rooms aren't that bad. They are pretty good about keeping the clutter mostly out of the way!
My next huge project really is going to have to be the craft room. I did make a start on it in the summer, but it's gone back to being the dumping ground for all the things that don't have a home elsewhere in the house. I think I'm going to have to be ruthless this time. I want that space back!
Well, Adrian should be home any time now and then I'll head to bed.
One of our biggest changes is that Adrian has started school again. He applied through Second Chance at the beginning of the summer, had to do a mound of research and paperwork and was down to waiting for approval on his retraining application at the beginning of September. He went to the orientation seminar at the school he is attending the week before classes started, though at that time he still hadn't heard anything about his application. He was told they were very backlogged trying to get through the hundreds of applications and that he should have a phone call by the Friday afternoon before his classes start. Friday came and went. Adrian was so disappointed. I was wondering what God was up to. I mean, I really felt his leading all the way through this process, right from last spring and through the summer. Each time I had a question about how things were progressing, God had the answer. I told Adrian we'd just have to wait until Monday morning to see how things go. His class wasn't to start until the evening so there was still time for a phone call to come during the day.
Adrian and Nicholas headed to church Sunday morning. I stayed home...Matthew had hives (we still don't know exactly from what but they lasted three days!) and Andrew's allergies were so bad I wasn't positive it wasn't a cold. At lunchtime, the two boys and I prayed for Adrian's phone call to come first thing Monday morning. Andrew then said to me that maybe the call would come that very afternoon. I chuckled and told him not likely since government offices don't typically work weekends. Well, imagine my shock when half an hour later I answered the phone and it was THE CALL!!! That was definitely from God! Adrian started his classes last week on Monday and has been studying hard ever since.
This past week and a bit has been an adjustment for us all. Adrian's first block of classes are held in the evenings and he doesn't get home until late. It's been weird for him not to sit with us at dinner (though he does for lunch still) and for me to not have anyone to talk to other than Panda after the kids have gone to bed. Oh, that's another thing...I can't seem to get them in bed at a decent hour! lol! We talk too much! We head up at the regular time, but then we get into lengthy discussions or I've read much longer than usual to them.
I have not yet been able to fall asleep before Adrian's home and I'm getting up before him most mornings to let Panda out. Adrian's having a more difficult adjustment, I think. He's typically an early riser so these late nights have thrown his system out a bit. He's trying to sleep in and he's successful about half the time. He's very tired, but wired, when he gets home and is not able to get to sleep until the wee hours of the morning. I'm sure his body will adjust. It'll probably be just about the time that they switch the block of classes to a different time slot!
Schooling for the boys is going well so far. We're using All About Spelling this year and so far they are enjoying it. Even Matthew when he's not in a grumpy mood. I started all three of them at Level One as recommended and there were a few things that Andrew and Nicholas needed correction on for sounds of letters, especially vowels, and on segmenting words into the individual letter sounds. Funnily enough, Matthew did better on that section than they did. He just got it faster. The point we are at now with the lessons is that I spend much less time with the older boys than with Matthew. They are approaching the lessons with a bit of humour...knowing it will only take a few minutes, literally.
I'm spending more time with Matthew for two reasons. The first is that there are some things that they have learned before and he hasn't so it's not really review for him. The second reason is that he has a stubborn streak in him and has been a bit moody. The stubborn streak is nothing new. I suppose moodiness isn't either, but he seems to be more affected by changes than the others are. He's had a lot on his plate recently: Adrian being home all summer and now going to school, Tae Kwon Do has started again so he is getting a real workout three times a week on top of being extremely active on his own, he's been getting to sleep later and not always sleeping in the next morning so he's tired, he had hives for several days and was uncomfortably itchy, and finally, he just spent five nights sleeping in Andrew's room because of a spider problem in his own room. It's obviously too much for an eight-year-old to handle! I'm having trouble handling the same things and I'm a lot older than eight!!!
The spider issue. I've been taking a theatre class in a nearby town once a week. Adrian's Mum came last week to watch the boys while I was out and told me when I got home that there had been dozens and dozens of tiny spiders crawling on Matthew's bedroom ceiling. Eeeewww!!!! She had cleaned them off the ceiling but Matthew was asleep in my bed. I don't blame him...I wouldn't want to sleep in there either. I checked after K left and cleared another two dozen or so spiders off the ceiling and some off the curtains. Then I went and had a shower. Extreme heebie-jeebies! I showed Adrian when he got home and there were more again. He stopped counting the spiders, closed the door and promised to deal with it in the morning. Not my favourite way to deal with it, but we used spider spray, left the door closed and all the windows in the house open. Of course, it was cold that day - we were freezing by lunchtime!
It has taken until today for us to get everything cleaned and put back in the room. All the clothing and curtains and bedding had to be washed. Everything. I lost count of how many loads of laundry we did. All the clothes ended up on the dining room table. I quickly decided Matthew has way too many clothes, since the table was piled high! We have very generous friends who send us clothing for the boys and Matthew being the smallest ends up with a load of hand-me-downs from everyone. Today we managed to get through most of his clothing and have a huge pile to send to his cousin, a smaller pile of clothes that are only fit for the bin and some that will still be put aside for Matthew to grow into. We just have pants left to do, which is tomorrow's job.
We vacuumed, cleaned walls and doors and the closet and windows plus all the furniture. I forgot about the ceiling fan so I'll get to that tomorrow, too. Matthew also took this opportunity (okay, he was, ahem, encouraged by me to go through the books on his shelves and decide which ones he can part with to send to his cousins. His shelves are nearly empty now! The toys are in the basement at the moment, but he's got plans to go through them and be choosey about what gets to come back into his room.
Andrew and Nicholas are now under orders to go through their bookshelves tomorrow and start doing a thorough cleaning through their rooms. I'm not going to empty their rooms to do this, I'm just asking them to make sure they clean behind and under things and declutter a bit while they are doing so. Their rooms aren't that bad. They are pretty good about keeping the clutter mostly out of the way!
My next huge project really is going to have to be the craft room. I did make a start on it in the summer, but it's gone back to being the dumping ground for all the things that don't have a home elsewhere in the house. I think I'm going to have to be ruthless this time. I want that space back!
Well, Adrian should be home any time now and then I'll head to bed.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Too Early!
I am up way too early for a Saturday morning! After waking up shortly after 4:00am, I gave up trying to get back to sleep and just got up at 5:30am. It's going to be a long day!
The boys had their colour belt testing for Tae Kwon Do last night, testing to receive their orange with black stripe belts. They did very well! Matthew even remembered to be more vocal than usual, except during his sparring match when both he and the girl he was sparring needed to be reminded. Amazing how a child who can be very loud at home seems to lose his voice when he's concentrating on the moves! lol!
I took a few photos, but did mostly video of the boys doing their patterns and breaking techniques so that they can see where they need improvement. Last night the instructor brought out real wooden boards for the kids to break so that was a huge novelty for everyone. They were optional (since you have to pay for them), but every person there wanted to break a real board rather than the foam rebreakable ones! lol!
They'll get the results of their testing Monday night at class, but they are happy that it's over for now. Andrew had previously decided his goal was to reach green belt by the end of this calendar year and he is well on pace for it since it is the next one to test for. The next testing our boys will do will be in the fall. We are taking a break for July and August since the kids will be busy with swim team and camps. That's busy enough for me!
Today K is coming over to watch the boys while Adrian and I go to a homeschooling conference in Barrie. We've actually never been to one before and only received notice of this one last week. Adrian surprised me by suggesting we go to it. Normally we just do our own thing when it comes to researching anything to do with homeschooling, but two of the places we've ordered supplies from in the last year will be there, along with a local business from our own small town and I'm eager to take the opportunity to actually view some of the materials we're interested in rather than trying to make a decision based on a small online photo and description. Some of the seminars sound interesting and there will be one on homeschooling through high school which we'd like to hear more about. Of course, that one is the last scheduled seminar of the day.
K will take the boys to their sport class this morning, which will only be one hour instead of the regular two because there is black belt testing today. Afterward she said she may take them to camp for some of the work party that is on today. Andrew knows he's responsible for Panda before they go out so everything is in good hands.
Eeek! Matthew just came downstairs! The kids were pretty wired (and hungry) after testing last night and didn't get in bed until 9:30pm. Matthew and Andrew were still awake after 10:00pm. Ohhh, I hope they aren't too crabby for Grandma!!!
The boys had their colour belt testing for Tae Kwon Do last night, testing to receive their orange with black stripe belts. They did very well! Matthew even remembered to be more vocal than usual, except during his sparring match when both he and the girl he was sparring needed to be reminded. Amazing how a child who can be very loud at home seems to lose his voice when he's concentrating on the moves! lol!
I took a few photos, but did mostly video of the boys doing their patterns and breaking techniques so that they can see where they need improvement. Last night the instructor brought out real wooden boards for the kids to break so that was a huge novelty for everyone. They were optional (since you have to pay for them), but every person there wanted to break a real board rather than the foam rebreakable ones! lol!
They'll get the results of their testing Monday night at class, but they are happy that it's over for now. Andrew had previously decided his goal was to reach green belt by the end of this calendar year and he is well on pace for it since it is the next one to test for. The next testing our boys will do will be in the fall. We are taking a break for July and August since the kids will be busy with swim team and camps. That's busy enough for me!
Today K is coming over to watch the boys while Adrian and I go to a homeschooling conference in Barrie. We've actually never been to one before and only received notice of this one last week. Adrian surprised me by suggesting we go to it. Normally we just do our own thing when it comes to researching anything to do with homeschooling, but two of the places we've ordered supplies from in the last year will be there, along with a local business from our own small town and I'm eager to take the opportunity to actually view some of the materials we're interested in rather than trying to make a decision based on a small online photo and description. Some of the seminars sound interesting and there will be one on homeschooling through high school which we'd like to hear more about. Of course, that one is the last scheduled seminar of the day.
K will take the boys to their sport class this morning, which will only be one hour instead of the regular two because there is black belt testing today. Afterward she said she may take them to camp for some of the work party that is on today. Andrew knows he's responsible for Panda before they go out so everything is in good hands.
Eeek! Matthew just came downstairs! The kids were pretty wired (and hungry) after testing last night and didn't get in bed until 9:30pm. Matthew and Andrew were still awake after 10:00pm. Ohhh, I hope they aren't too crabby for Grandma!!!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Blessed by Books
Have you ever had anyone be an answer to prayer? A friend from church sent home a bag of books for the kids several weeks ago. She'd been clearing them out of her kids' bookshelves and thought our boys would enjoy them. I gave them the bag and they happily dug in. They never emptied the bag though, having immediately found books they wanted to read and it was put aside in the kitchen.
One Sunday morning, a week or two after receiving the bag of books, on the way to church I was thinking about Andrew's and Nicholas' wardrobe. After recently going through their clothing and seeing what didn't fit any more or what was worn out I realised they were in need of some clothing items, mainly pajamas and nice button up shirts. We don't have a lot of extra cash at the moment for clothing, and usually it happens that a friend will send a bag or two of clothes for the kids and that gets us by without having to spend a fortune on clothes anyway. Nobody had sent us any clothing in months and months though so I prayed that someone would be clearing out closets soon and think of us.
That morning, at church, I saw my friend, J, who sent us the bag of books and thanked her for them. I told her how much the boys had enjoyed the new reading material. She then asked me if the shirts fit. Hmmm? It turns out that at the bottom of this large cloth bag of books were several shirts, shorts and pajamas. We'd just not got around to emptying the bag out and didn't know there was clothing at the bottom!
When I got home I found the bag and emptied it. What a surprise to see what was there! God knew what we needed and put this in my hands even before I prayed about it. I just didn't know about it until afterward! God is so good!!!
Last Sunday, J blessed us with two more boxes of books. The kids are absolutely thrilled! There are novels and series of books and there are even a load of pop-up books. These pop-ups are not for toddlers and young children though. Many of them are science books about space, birds, dinosaurs, insects or the Olympics or motorcycles, with detailed descriptions and tidbits of information written throughout. They are gorgeous!!! We've all been enjoying reading through these books. What a treasure to have!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Getting My Act Together
This month has been one I'm thankful is almost over. With the kids sick for two weeks, the weather outside ranging from mild and damp to freezing and icy then back again, cancellations of many of our activities due to illness and weather, no women's Bible study for the entire month now because nobody else other than K and me were able to come on Monday this week, some issues with piano and Tae Kwon Do, vehicle woes, tempers flaring around the house and general lack of energy and motivation for everyone, yes, I'm glad February is coming to an end.
Not that the entire month has been terrible. We've had some great moments interspersed with the yucky ones. Had we not, I think I would have had trouble even maintaining things. We had a terrific Family Day at camp (although Adrian had to work or not get the Civic Holiday in August off with pay) - the blog post about that is sitting in drafts waiting for me to finish adding photos and post it. We had a lovely visit with friends to celebrate a birthday. The neighbourhood kids have enjoyed the serendipitous discovery of a large patch of ice in our immediate next door neighbour's yard. Skates were quickly donned and every day since there have been kids gleefully skating, playing hockey and generally having a blast. Again, photos are awaiting posting.
The boys had their second Tae Kwon Do testing which had it's good and not-so-good moments in the week following. More to come on that (with photos); I just want to wait and see if certain things actually play out the way they've been promised.
There has definitely been a lack of sit-down workbook type of work in the past month. This annual lack of motivation usually sends me into a panic about all the things we're NOT doing. Well, this year I decided not to panic and just go with it. The kids don't seem to be bothered and aren't missing it for sure! They have been busy with other things instead. We've spent a great deal of time just sitting together and reading, doing bits of things around the house when the notion hit us, and recovering from the mental onslaught of February's events. Downtime is not a bad thing and this year we've really needed it.
So, my thoughts are to let February slide past us and go into March with renewed spirits. Spring will come...eventually!
Not that the entire month has been terrible. We've had some great moments interspersed with the yucky ones. Had we not, I think I would have had trouble even maintaining things. We had a terrific Family Day at camp (although Adrian had to work or not get the Civic Holiday in August off with pay) - the blog post about that is sitting in drafts waiting for me to finish adding photos and post it. We had a lovely visit with friends to celebrate a birthday. The neighbourhood kids have enjoyed the serendipitous discovery of a large patch of ice in our immediate next door neighbour's yard. Skates were quickly donned and every day since there have been kids gleefully skating, playing hockey and generally having a blast. Again, photos are awaiting posting.
The boys had their second Tae Kwon Do testing which had it's good and not-so-good moments in the week following. More to come on that (with photos); I just want to wait and see if certain things actually play out the way they've been promised.
There has definitely been a lack of sit-down workbook type of work in the past month. This annual lack of motivation usually sends me into a panic about all the things we're NOT doing. Well, this year I decided not to panic and just go with it. The kids don't seem to be bothered and aren't missing it for sure! They have been busy with other things instead. We've spent a great deal of time just sitting together and reading, doing bits of things around the house when the notion hit us, and recovering from the mental onslaught of February's events. Downtime is not a bad thing and this year we've really needed it.
So, my thoughts are to let February slide past us and go into March with renewed spirits. Spring will come...eventually!
Friday, January 30, 2009
Visiting Cousins
This morning we headed to Grandma's (K's) house for a visit with cousins E and C who are there for the weekend sans parents. We had a lovely time! E was absolutely thrilled to play with the boys. She and Matthew get along really well and always enjoy playing together. I think it's because E is two years younger (she's almost 6) and thinks the games Matthew comes up with to play are just the best. Quite a change from his brothers' reactions! lol! Matthew wasn't so enamoured of C's interventions in the games and had to be reminded that C is only 2.5 years old and to cut him some slack.
The kids all played until lunchtime, then again for a while afterwards. C had a little nap on the couch in the basement while K and I had a chat and the other kids played, then I took the older ones upstairs to get ready to go in the hot tub. They all had a great time in the hot tub and C joined in after he'd fully woken up from his nap and had a snack. Before we left Andrew put on a little magic show for everyone while Matthew provided background music on the piano. E made a lovely magician's assistant for Andrew. Very cute!
I even got a few cuddles with C today. I was surprised he let me hold him since we don't see them that often. He's not really used to me being around and usually shies away, but he snuggled right in. It was so nice!
Today reminded me of just one of the reasons I am glad we homeschool. The boys don't see their cousins very often now that one is in grade one, two are in kindergarten and another two go to preschool a couple of days a week. Weekends are always busy for all the families and weather is a huge factor right now since they all live about an hour and a half away from us. If we didn't homeschool we'd miss out on visits like the one we had today. And those memories are precious.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Cursive Writing
Over the years Andrew and Nicholas have made a few attempts at cursive writing, sometimes wholeheartedly, sometimes totally lacking enthusiasm for the project which Adrian and I have placed on them. My thoughts on learning cursive writing have changed over the years. I started out thinking that we had better make sure our kids know how to write because that's what we learned when we were in school. Really, when you think about it, any forms you fill out must be printed, not written. The only thing I officially write any more is my name to sign something. I do write about half the time when I journal or send a letter or card, but it is more of a joined up printing than the formal cursive writing I learned as a child. I don't think it is a necessary skill that people require these days. A neat thing to be able to do? Yes. Necessary? No.I remember our first homeschooling foray into cursive writing and the why behind it.
I had overheard a very proud father of a little girl about a year older than Andrew boasting about how great his daughter's private school was. They didn't teach them printing, they started them off with cursive writing...at the very tender age of five! I was stunned and was thinking back to when I learned to write at school...probably the tail end of grade 2. Hmmmm. Must be some kind of progressive school. At any rate, the group of people he was gushing to all thoroughly agreed that this was the best way. Huh?
As we had already pretty much decided that we were going to homeschool I realised that this task of teaching cursive writing would fall to us to do. But when to start? I pushed this to the back of my mind for a few years, ignoring that little panicky feeling that my son wasn't learning to write already because he wasn't part of a progressive school. (By the way, I am completely over this now. I was young and we were new to homeschooling, knowing nobody else in person who actually homeschooled.) Then when Andrew was about seven I found a cursive writing book while out shopping and picked it up, figuring my kid could handle this at his age. After all, he picked many things up easily and eagerly. Ha! While the initial reception was of interest it waned very quickly and he resented this intrusion on his time, especially since forming printed letters still gave him some grief. The book got put away and eventually misplaced - he may have helped in that!
Fast forward a few years. Nicholas was eight and a half years old and had shown interest in how to properly write his name. We showed him how. Adrian found the identical cursive writing book while out one day and picked it up for Nicholas to start on. He was eager and made his way through most of the book before it lost it's appeal. He would practice writing his own name, but that was about all that really interested him. He had accomplished all he desired...to be able to write his name.
Around this time Adrian found full time work so I was able to be at home with the kids again (I worked outside the home for two and a half years while he was home with the boys), and I rediscovered my own tendencies to lean towards unschooling. The cursive writing book didn't leave the shelf in the kitchen for the next year and a half.
I was filling out passport applications a couple of weeks ago and Andrew asked what I was doing. I explained what it was and he took a bit of interest in the applications. When I got to his, I mentioned that he'd be able to sign his own name since he is older than 11 years old. He asked if that meant a true written signature or just his printed name. I honestly didn't know. The bank allows him to print his name when he makes a deposit or withdrawal. Would it suffice on a passport application? He must have been mulling this over because the next day he had dug out Nicholas' cursive writing book and made his own way through most of it in one sitting. Over the last two weeks Andrew has gone through that book in its entirety twice and is working on a third go through. He can write his name quite well now and is so pleased with the results. He even signed his name in writing at the bank last week. This, after a six-year hiatus on writing.
My point? Well, I guess it just goes to show that like many other things in life, kids learn best when they are motivated and interested in a subject. Especially when it becomes personal to them. Truthfully, I think our kids weren't ready until they were older and better able to control their pencils to tackle cursive writing. Having been through this with two of them now, I know we'll wait for Matthew's lead on whether he wants to learn to write. Even if it's just his own name.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Rock Tumbler - Stage 3
Yesterday Andrew brought the tumbler up from the workshop to clean everything out before starting the pre-polish stage. You need to make sure the stones and the barrel are completely clean before starting the next stage. The stones were even smoother than last week and the kids kept rubbing them and exclaiming how cool this is!With the pre-polish and later stages you don't want the stones to be clacking against each other much to avoid marring the stones so you need the liquid in with the sand to be more viscous. We added corn syrup to the mix and the noise was much more muffled. I think we maybe have not added enough to make the solution as thick as it should be since we can hear some rock noise, but having not done this before we are learning as we go. The polish and wash stages also need to be done with a very thick solution so we'll see what happens. This particular run is for three days, then the polish is another week and the wash is overnight.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Anne's 100th Anniversary
This week is Canadian Children's Book Week and our local library has a lovely display for L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables since this year is the 100th anniversary of the publishing date of the book. There are Anne and Diana dolls sitting up high on the bookshelves, flanked by adorable dresses, hats and boots, all on loan from local collectors. There is a quiz about Anne that you can fill out and drop off at the library. They will be drawing one correctly answered quiz to win a special Anne coin. All three boys filled in the quiz sheets and each of them would like to win. Matthew has already said he'd give me the coin - what a sweetheart!
This evening we attended a reading by an actress portraying L.M. Montgomery. She was wonderful, speaking about 'her' life, what prompted her to write the Anne stories and giving other tidbits of information along the way. We were served raspberry cordial as we arrived at the library and 'Maud' read the portion of the story where Anne invites Diana to tea and mistakenly serves her currant wine instead of raspberry cordial. She captivated the entire audience. After the reading she drew the children into conversation about writing, asking what they were writing right now, what sorts of things they liked to write about and encouraging them to keep going. She was so kind and gentle and the children really responded to her.
Andrew scooped up the latest 100th anniversary edition of the story to sign out, leaving a few people adding their names to the hold list for it. We read the book last year and then borrowed the videotapes from Adrian's Mum. We then read Anne of Avonlea. The boys loved the stories and the movie. I think they just loved Anne's adventurous spirit! I do, too!
This evening we attended a reading by an actress portraying L.M. Montgomery. She was wonderful, speaking about 'her' life, what prompted her to write the Anne stories and giving other tidbits of information along the way. We were served raspberry cordial as we arrived at the library and 'Maud' read the portion of the story where Anne invites Diana to tea and mistakenly serves her currant wine instead of raspberry cordial. She captivated the entire audience. After the reading she drew the children into conversation about writing, asking what they were writing right now, what sorts of things they liked to write about and encouraging them to keep going. She was so kind and gentle and the children really responded to her.
Andrew scooped up the latest 100th anniversary edition of the story to sign out, leaving a few people adding their names to the hold list for it. We read the book last year and then borrowed the videotapes from Adrian's Mum. We then read Anne of Avonlea. The boys loved the stories and the movie. I think they just loved Anne's adventurous spirit! I do, too!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Postcards
We joined a postcard exchange with other homeschoolers across Canada. It's a fun thing to do and shouldn't take too long to do it, right? Well, we've checked the shops in town and haven't found postcards. None. I'm guessing we're not looking in the right places. We haven't tried the convenience stores, but our other option was to try one of the larger towns nearby. I confess that every time we've traveled to one of those towns, I've been on a particular mission to pick up something and have forgotten about the postcards until we're back home again.
We decided we'd just get some photos printed at the local print shop, stick them on some cardstock and write on the backs instead. Then the kids decided it would be more fun to include several photos so they've written a newletter instead. They each contributed to the ideas for what should be included to describe where we live, what we like to do and which photos to include. Andrew did the typing and I helped position the photos where they wanted them. With just one more photo to add they should be able to print these out and get them in the mail by tomorrow.
The one photo? It's of the dog. They couldn't agree on which photo of Panda to use so they chased her around last night with the camera trying to capture the perfect shot. They deleted many. They still couldn't decide which one to use and thought they'd add one of each of them with the dog, so three photos instead of one. Except there's not enough room on the page for three photos. So, they're back to deciding which one photo to use. That's one of today's jobs!
We decided we'd just get some photos printed at the local print shop, stick them on some cardstock and write on the backs instead. Then the kids decided it would be more fun to include several photos so they've written a newletter instead. They each contributed to the ideas for what should be included to describe where we live, what we like to do and which photos to include. Andrew did the typing and I helped position the photos where they wanted them. With just one more photo to add they should be able to print these out and get them in the mail by tomorrow.
The one photo? It's of the dog. They couldn't agree on which photo of Panda to use so they chased her around last night with the camera trying to capture the perfect shot. They deleted many. They still couldn't decide which one to use and thought they'd add one of each of them with the dog, so three photos instead of one. Except there's not enough room on the page for three photos. So, they're back to deciding which one photo to use. That's one of today's jobs!
What's that sound?
Sitting on my kitchen counter is a rock tumbler. My parents loaned it to the kids so they could polish all the hoards of stones they have around the house. After carefully selecting the stones of the appropriate size and hardness, adding the coarse sand and water, checking that all mechanisms were operating smoothly and getting my permission to finally turn the thing on, Andrew was thrilled to finally be starting it up! It ran all day yesterday. We unplugged it before bed last night as it's rather loud and sound travels well through the house when all else is silent. We're thinking of trying it out in the workshop to see if that will work, but really I'm not sure if it's just something we'll have to ignore! I'm wishing for a garage right now! lol! The tumbler is supposed to run 24/7 for the next week. Then the stones and barrel are rinsed really well and a finer grit of sand is added for the next stage. There are four stages in all with a total time of anywhere from 20-30 days for finished products. I should have taken a photo of the stones Andrew put in this time so we could see just how different they look at each stage, but I didn't think of it until just now.
Andrew's stones are in there now, and when his are finished Nicholas will choose which ones he would like to polish. He has quite the collection in a shoebox in his closet. We were looking through them the other day and he has many which should polish up nicely. Matthew will then have a chance, if he's still interested by then. His stones tend to get lost in the house and then pitched outside when the dog finds them. We didn't want to mix them up because the end results are really amazing...the stones are difficult to remember which ones were which because they look so different. The boys came up with the solution to do each set of stones separately so there is no confusion as to who they belong to. Of course, Andrew suggested that birth order was fair! lol!
We have had many books from the library about gemstones recently. I think the kids are secretly hoping that there will be a precious stone hiding within the stones they have collected!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Homeschoolers at Tae Kwon Do!
Tonight I was speaking to another mom at the Tae Kwon Do class and after chatting for a bit I found out their family homeschools, too. How exciting! Her two boys are black belts and one helps with the beginner class. Our boys have enjoyed speaking to each other and laughing together over the weeks since the classes began. It was nice to meet another family with kids closer in age to ours. They live about 20 minutes away from here and it sounds like they are every bit as busy as we are! lol!
Andrew, Nicholas and Matthew have been invited to join the advanced class after their belt testing Friday night. They are quite excited about this, especially since they will be in the class with these other two boys. Since this Tae Kwon Do school is new there are basically white belts (beginners), a single yellow belt, and a few black belts who have come from another school. The beginner class has two dozen kids in it and the instructor has identified a number of kids who are ready to move on to more advanced training since they've quickly picked up the basics. The advanced classes are normally reserved for green belts and higher, but since there are none at present, he's just trying to even out numbers between the two classes.
Tonight our three boys, along with two other beginners stayed for the advanced class a little ahead of schedule. I had wondered at the instructor's decision to place Matthew in the class because he is so much smaller than the other kids, but he said he didn't want to separate him from his brothers, especially since Matthew is doing really well. His concern was that Matthew would be discouraged and not want to try as hard if he was left in the other class. Tonight my concerns kind of melted away after seeing Matthew hold his own with the other kids in the advanced class. He had the eight of them do the first pattern they've learned (well, the black belts know many others, of course) and they were amazing! They kept together and every one of them got the pattern perfect! Matthew did have a couple of silly moments which earned him some push ups. I knew he was getting tired when that started. Now I'm wondering how long it's going to take him to adjust to the later class.
The only concern Matthew has right now about testing on Friday night is the fact that he still does not have a uniform. When Andrew and Nicholas got theirs, there were none left in Matt's size. The instructor went last week to pick them up and only received half his order. He had thought he'd be getting the rest yesterday, but tonight said he has to pick them up tomorrow. Matthew is having minor fits about this and is fairly upset if he thinks about it too long. My concern is that it took a few times wearing the uniforms for Andrew and Nicholas to get used to moving in them. Matthew may not get that opportunity to get used to it before he has to do his test.
Andrew, Nicholas and Matthew have been invited to join the advanced class after their belt testing Friday night. They are quite excited about this, especially since they will be in the class with these other two boys. Since this Tae Kwon Do school is new there are basically white belts (beginners), a single yellow belt, and a few black belts who have come from another school. The beginner class has two dozen kids in it and the instructor has identified a number of kids who are ready to move on to more advanced training since they've quickly picked up the basics. The advanced classes are normally reserved for green belts and higher, but since there are none at present, he's just trying to even out numbers between the two classes.
Tonight our three boys, along with two other beginners stayed for the advanced class a little ahead of schedule. I had wondered at the instructor's decision to place Matthew in the class because he is so much smaller than the other kids, but he said he didn't want to separate him from his brothers, especially since Matthew is doing really well. His concern was that Matthew would be discouraged and not want to try as hard if he was left in the other class. Tonight my concerns kind of melted away after seeing Matthew hold his own with the other kids in the advanced class. He had the eight of them do the first pattern they've learned (well, the black belts know many others, of course) and they were amazing! They kept together and every one of them got the pattern perfect! Matthew did have a couple of silly moments which earned him some push ups. I knew he was getting tired when that started. Now I'm wondering how long it's going to take him to adjust to the later class.
The only concern Matthew has right now about testing on Friday night is the fact that he still does not have a uniform. When Andrew and Nicholas got theirs, there were none left in Matt's size. The instructor went last week to pick them up and only received half his order. He had thought he'd be getting the rest yesterday, but tonight said he has to pick them up tomorrow. Matthew is having minor fits about this and is fairly upset if he thinks about it too long. My concern is that it took a few times wearing the uniforms for Andrew and Nicholas to get used to moving in them. Matthew may not get that opportunity to get used to it before he has to do his test.
Monday, November 3, 2008
What am I Learning?
On a homeschooling board I like to visit the question was posted, "What are you learning?" I haven't been able to log in there all day (my computer and that particular website don't always agree with each other!) so I thought I'd answer the question here. I can always copy it there when I can finally log in.
I have been learning piano alongside Nicholas and Matthew. Since they are doing the Music for Young Children programme and the parents take part I find I am being reminded of the things I learned in the one high school music class I took. I have always wanted to learn to play the piano so I've picked away at some of the music the kids are learning. I am making a conscious effort to be able to read music and find those keys on the piano without having to look at my hands all the time. I'm finding it easier to help Matthew especially if I have some idea of what he's going through! I'm not taking formal lessons myself and I don't see myself taking any in the near future, but I'm happy to learn along with the kids.
My major project right now is doing a daily Bible study. It is "Preparing Your Heart for Advent" by Ann Marie Stewart. I've never really looked into what Advent is before and the study involves daily reading and answering questions. It helps to put the focus of Christmas back on Jesus Christ. I wanted to do this particular study with my women's group, but didn't realise it would have to start before the end of October to follow the right schedule. Our current study won't end until the the end of November so it just wouldn't work for the Monday mornings. I considered offering an additional evening study but came to the conclusion that my life is just too busy to add another meeting into it right at the moment. I decided to go ahead and do the study myself and so far I'm enjoying it. I'm trying really hard to get to know my Bible better and this is helping. Well, this study along with the weekly study on Philippians and the Christianity Explored course! It's funny, I'm still craving more!!!
Adrian and I have been borrowing books and DVDs from the library on dog training and trying to implement some of the suggestions with Panda. She has come a long way in the two years we have owned her, but she still has some serious fear aggression issues at the doors and with any visitors who move too quickly in the house. I just wish she would show her lovable side to others! Part of my agenda then is to work with her more on basic obedience, which she is pretty good at for the most part, and getting back into the habit of taking her for daily walks.
Something else I'm learning about is my own limitations when it comes to fitness. Lifeguards are in short supply at camp, particularly for the day camp. I wanted to take a Bronze Medallion course as the first step in obtaining NLS certification...by next summer. However, the days the course was offered at the two closest pools to us, each about a half hour drive away, would not work out for me so I will have to wait and see what the spring schedules are like. This isn't such a bad thing, not being able to do it now because I realised I don't have the endurance to do all the requirements for these courses. My goal is to improve my overall fitness. Having three boys who are right into stretching and exercising, something that has only increased since they started Tae Kwon Do, has been an inspiration to me and I try to do these things when they are. I confess that with all the sickness that's been going through this house in the last two months I lost momentum and haven't done as much as I'd hoped. This may just be a good week to get back into it!
This is just one of the things I absolutely love about homeschooling - my kids inspire me to do things I may not have considered doing before. I thoroughly enjoy watching those lightbulb moments they have, the wonder and excitement of learning something new and being able to share those experiences with them. I wouldn't trade it at all!
I have been learning piano alongside Nicholas and Matthew. Since they are doing the Music for Young Children programme and the parents take part I find I am being reminded of the things I learned in the one high school music class I took. I have always wanted to learn to play the piano so I've picked away at some of the music the kids are learning. I am making a conscious effort to be able to read music and find those keys on the piano without having to look at my hands all the time. I'm finding it easier to help Matthew especially if I have some idea of what he's going through! I'm not taking formal lessons myself and I don't see myself taking any in the near future, but I'm happy to learn along with the kids.
My major project right now is doing a daily Bible study. It is "Preparing Your Heart for Advent" by Ann Marie Stewart. I've never really looked into what Advent is before and the study involves daily reading and answering questions. It helps to put the focus of Christmas back on Jesus Christ. I wanted to do this particular study with my women's group, but didn't realise it would have to start before the end of October to follow the right schedule. Our current study won't end until the the end of November so it just wouldn't work for the Monday mornings. I considered offering an additional evening study but came to the conclusion that my life is just too busy to add another meeting into it right at the moment. I decided to go ahead and do the study myself and so far I'm enjoying it. I'm trying really hard to get to know my Bible better and this is helping. Well, this study along with the weekly study on Philippians and the Christianity Explored course! It's funny, I'm still craving more!!!
Adrian and I have been borrowing books and DVDs from the library on dog training and trying to implement some of the suggestions with Panda. She has come a long way in the two years we have owned her, but she still has some serious fear aggression issues at the doors and with any visitors who move too quickly in the house. I just wish she would show her lovable side to others! Part of my agenda then is to work with her more on basic obedience, which she is pretty good at for the most part, and getting back into the habit of taking her for daily walks.
Something else I'm learning about is my own limitations when it comes to fitness. Lifeguards are in short supply at camp, particularly for the day camp. I wanted to take a Bronze Medallion course as the first step in obtaining NLS certification...by next summer. However, the days the course was offered at the two closest pools to us, each about a half hour drive away, would not work out for me so I will have to wait and see what the spring schedules are like. This isn't such a bad thing, not being able to do it now because I realised I don't have the endurance to do all the requirements for these courses. My goal is to improve my overall fitness. Having three boys who are right into stretching and exercising, something that has only increased since they started Tae Kwon Do, has been an inspiration to me and I try to do these things when they are. I confess that with all the sickness that's been going through this house in the last two months I lost momentum and haven't done as much as I'd hoped. This may just be a good week to get back into it!
This is just one of the things I absolutely love about homeschooling - my kids inspire me to do things I may not have considered doing before. I thoroughly enjoy watching those lightbulb moments they have, the wonder and excitement of learning something new and being able to share those experiences with them. I wouldn't trade it at all!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Schedule Went Out the Window!
This week has been a very laid-back one so far. Andrew had a bit of a cold last week which he kindly passed on to his brothers. Andrew's still got a cough and is needing his puffer at night. Sunday morning Matthew mentioned he wasn't feeling that great, mostly his head. Through the day he was fine, then just slumped by late afternoon. Monday he felt fine and insisted on going to Tae Kwon Do. When we got home, the boys had a snack and we read for a bit (we're reading "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick right now). Within half an hour, Nicholas was saying he wasn't feeling well.
Monday night I was up with Matthew and we ended up sleeping in the family room on the couches there. Adrian was up with Nicholas through the night and Panda, the little monkey, decided to take my place in bed beside Adrian!
Nicholas stayed in his jammies all day yesterday and barely ate anything until dinner time. We got some reading done, but no math, no chemistry, no physics, nothing else! Andrew put in some time at the piano and read on his own most of the day. Oh, and there were Star Trek videos playing in the basement for a couple of hours in the morning.
This morning everyone is feeling better, but it seems that they all feel worse by the evening and through the night. Ugh! I need a nap already!
Monday night I was up with Matthew and we ended up sleeping in the family room on the couches there. Adrian was up with Nicholas through the night and Panda, the little monkey, decided to take my place in bed beside Adrian!
Nicholas stayed in his jammies all day yesterday and barely ate anything until dinner time. We got some reading done, but no math, no chemistry, no physics, nothing else! Andrew put in some time at the piano and read on his own most of the day. Oh, and there were Star Trek videos playing in the basement for a couple of hours in the morning.
This morning everyone is feeling better, but it seems that they all feel worse by the evening and through the night. Ugh! I need a nap already!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
So far this week...
We've actually done well so far this week at sticking to a semi-structured day. It just hasn't been at the times I thought it would be. Yesterday was the first day of the women's Bible study I host so the boys were left to entertain themselves from 10:00am to about noon. They are fine doing this and generally there isn't any trouble, other than the possibility of me having to remind them to lower their voices in the basement, which is directly underneath the family room where the study takes place. The ceiling isn't finished in the basement so noise travels rather easily between the two rooms. We had a small group yesterday, five ladies including me, but we made our way through the first part and had a good discussion. We're studying the book of Philippians for the next two months.
The kids retreated to the basement to play. They put a DVD on and watched it for a while. Andrew took the laptop down with him to write his second issue of "Creature Corner," a newsletter dedicated to giving information about creatures found in games like Runescape and D&D (Andrew came across some old Dungeons and Dragons books Adrian had and has been reading through them to find cool creatures), along with creatures he has made up himself. He played around with different settings using Word and created some cool titles using the word art function. He was pleased with the results of his second edition and considers it much more professtional looking because of the colour used than his first black and white edition.
After lunch we got the book work out of the way. Matthew was very reluctant to get going with math, telling me it was too hard, but all that was needed was a bit of confidence boosting. He knew what he was doing. Nicholas was very much the same and felt he needed me to sit with him while he did his exercise. Again, it was a confidence boost that was needed. They both tend to second-guess themselves with math and don't have the same intuitiveness that Andrew does. They really need to do each step of the problem whereas Andrew can do the steps in his head and just write down the final answer.
Matthew was in for the chemistry experiment (separating a salt/sand mixture), then all three boys helped prepare dinner. They enjoyed Tae Kwon Do last night, learning a few more new moves. Easily the favourite is the front jump kick (or whatever it's called!). They've been practising all day today!
Today was a bit slower. Matthew and Nicholas have both had colds for a few days and today they just seemed to be a bit slow off the start. Nicholas actually slept in until 10:00am! Definitely not feeling the greatest. This is my child who routinely wakes up at the first sign of light. He still wakes up very early (6:00am, give or take half an hour), but will read until there are signs of life from the rest of us. Sleeping in for Nicholas is 7:00am. While he was sleeping the others got their math done and I got the next activities for physics sorted out.
We've been reading a book about tsunamis which has tied in with our study of Hawaii. It was interesting to find out that since records have been kept in Hawaii, there have been 95 tsunamis, an average of about one every other year. There was a bad one on April 1, 1946 that took the lives of many children who were delightedly checking out the ocean floor that appeared as the water drew back before the first giant waves hit. It must have been frightening! Hawaii is of interest to the boys because Grandma and Grandpa have just returned from a trip to Hawaii. We're eager to see their photos!
Adrian wanted to know if I mentioned here that he cut the grass after dinner tonight, after working a ten hour shift at work. I hadn't yet, so I figured I should. I should also mention that I was planning on cutting the grass tomorrow, but he beat me to it. Again. He's so good to me!
The kids retreated to the basement to play. They put a DVD on and watched it for a while. Andrew took the laptop down with him to write his second issue of "Creature Corner," a newsletter dedicated to giving information about creatures found in games like Runescape and D&D (Andrew came across some old Dungeons and Dragons books Adrian had and has been reading through them to find cool creatures), along with creatures he has made up himself. He played around with different settings using Word and created some cool titles using the word art function. He was pleased with the results of his second edition and considers it much more professtional looking because of the colour used than his first black and white edition.
After lunch we got the book work out of the way. Matthew was very reluctant to get going with math, telling me it was too hard, but all that was needed was a bit of confidence boosting. He knew what he was doing. Nicholas was very much the same and felt he needed me to sit with him while he did his exercise. Again, it was a confidence boost that was needed. They both tend to second-guess themselves with math and don't have the same intuitiveness that Andrew does. They really need to do each step of the problem whereas Andrew can do the steps in his head and just write down the final answer.
Matthew was in for the chemistry experiment (separating a salt/sand mixture), then all three boys helped prepare dinner. They enjoyed Tae Kwon Do last night, learning a few more new moves. Easily the favourite is the front jump kick (or whatever it's called!). They've been practising all day today!
Today was a bit slower. Matthew and Nicholas have both had colds for a few days and today they just seemed to be a bit slow off the start. Nicholas actually slept in until 10:00am! Definitely not feeling the greatest. This is my child who routinely wakes up at the first sign of light. He still wakes up very early (6:00am, give or take half an hour), but will read until there are signs of life from the rest of us. Sleeping in for Nicholas is 7:00am. While he was sleeping the others got their math done and I got the next activities for physics sorted out.
We've been reading a book about tsunamis which has tied in with our study of Hawaii. It was interesting to find out that since records have been kept in Hawaii, there have been 95 tsunamis, an average of about one every other year. There was a bad one on April 1, 1946 that took the lives of many children who were delightedly checking out the ocean floor that appeared as the water drew back before the first giant waves hit. It must have been frightening! Hawaii is of interest to the boys because Grandma and Grandpa have just returned from a trip to Hawaii. We're eager to see their photos!
Adrian wanted to know if I mentioned here that he cut the grass after dinner tonight, after working a ten hour shift at work. I hadn't yet, so I figured I should. I should also mention that I was planning on cutting the grass tomorrow, but he beat me to it. Again. He's so good to me!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Another Busy Day
One of these days I might feel like we actually accomplished something grand! lol! This morning was chemistry, complete with our first experiment. Now, I'm not really expecting Matthew to take notes and be totally enthralled by everything being read for chemistry and physics, but I did think that he'd at least be in the same room taking it in by some form. He has an amazing ability to absorb information while busily doing something else. He sometimes will stop us to ask a question that shows he's obviously been listening though it doesn't often appear so. Today he chose to not even be in the kitchen with us so he missed the experiment. No biggie, but I admit, I was disappointed in his lack of enthusiasm.
After that was done we headed out to the shops to pick up some things we'll be needing for the various experiments. We never made it out yesterday because of a number of incidents with a rather impulsive 7yo.
The trip took a bit longer than I anticipated. One of the disadvantages of living a half hour drive from any large stores is not being able to just pop out to pick something up. I have to plan our trips carefully, complete with list and this time there were some items added to the list along the way. Andrew and Nicholas both needed some trackpants for Tae Kwon Do because they actually do not have any! I was surprised going through their clothes on Monday that they didn't have any, either of them. Shocking considering Andrew lived in trackpants until he was about seven or eight years old! Anyway, I remembered this on the way to the stores. Good thing I remembered! Uniforms for Tae Kwon Do are optional until they are ready for testing which probably won't be until November. That gives us a bit more time to save the $$$ for three uniforms.
We got home, put everything away and the kids went off to play. My friend, J, arrived and we retreated to the dining room to scrapbook for a couple of hours. My big accomplishment this afternoon was to put additional page protectors in Andrew's album and insert several pages I had done in the spring. J got one page done. She and I had a nice visit though and I got to cuddle with baby J. She's almost 13 months old now and her entire face lights up when she smiles!
Nicholas helped make dinner - a new chicken pot pie recipe which turned out great! He loves to cook and helps quite frequently. Adrian called to let me know he was going to be late home so the boys and I wandered over to Tae Kwon Do and he met us there part way through the practice.
Matthew ended up with a couple of push ups tonight for not paying attention to the instructor. I heard a couple of dads comment on how good his push ups are. It made me giggle a bit because Matthew and Nicholas have been doing their own version of "training" all summer and push ups are a regular part of it. Matthew can do a fantastic push up!
So, another day and only a wee bit of "structure." I don't expect it to improve tomorrow since the boys have newspapers and catalogues to deliver.
After that was done we headed out to the shops to pick up some things we'll be needing for the various experiments. We never made it out yesterday because of a number of incidents with a rather impulsive 7yo.
The trip took a bit longer than I anticipated. One of the disadvantages of living a half hour drive from any large stores is not being able to just pop out to pick something up. I have to plan our trips carefully, complete with list and this time there were some items added to the list along the way. Andrew and Nicholas both needed some trackpants for Tae Kwon Do because they actually do not have any! I was surprised going through their clothes on Monday that they didn't have any, either of them. Shocking considering Andrew lived in trackpants until he was about seven or eight years old! Anyway, I remembered this on the way to the stores. Good thing I remembered! Uniforms for Tae Kwon Do are optional until they are ready for testing which probably won't be until November. That gives us a bit more time to save the $$$ for three uniforms.
We got home, put everything away and the kids went off to play. My friend, J, arrived and we retreated to the dining room to scrapbook for a couple of hours. My big accomplishment this afternoon was to put additional page protectors in Andrew's album and insert several pages I had done in the spring. J got one page done. She and I had a nice visit though and I got to cuddle with baby J. She's almost 13 months old now and her entire face lights up when she smiles!
Nicholas helped make dinner - a new chicken pot pie recipe which turned out great! He loves to cook and helps quite frequently. Adrian called to let me know he was going to be late home so the boys and I wandered over to Tae Kwon Do and he met us there part way through the practice.
Matthew ended up with a couple of push ups tonight for not paying attention to the instructor. I heard a couple of dads comment on how good his push ups are. It made me giggle a bit because Matthew and Nicholas have been doing their own version of "training" all summer and push ups are a regular part of it. Matthew can do a fantastic push up!
So, another day and only a wee bit of "structure." I don't expect it to improve tomorrow since the boys have newspapers and catalogues to deliver.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Tuesday Strike Two
This morning we got through physics, but the kids haven't finished their chores. Andrew is supposedly doing his math right now. The other two are supposedly doing their chores. We have to head out to the shops this afternoon to pick some things up, so that will be most of the afternoon killed without doing any bookwork because by the time we get home it will be time to start dinner. French will be very limited today.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Our First Bookish Day
Today did not start out well at all. This morning I woke up to the sound of Panda heaving. Since she was on my bed at the time I very quickly threw back the covers, grabbed her collar and encouraged her to get to the bathroom where she threw up a lovely puddle of bile. I never would have got her to the front door in time! Andrew took her outside while I cleaned the bathroom floor. Definitely not a good start to my day - I am not a happy morning person at the best of times.
The boys requested more structure this year so that they could see for themselves the progress they were making. I suspect part of that has to do with conversations their schooled friends have had with them about what "unit" they were on in math or science or history, etc. When asked, my kids couldn't say for certain they were "doing" a particular unit and were not easily able to get the concept across to their friends about what "unit" a particular activity was part of. We tend to lean towards an unschooling approach, so I hadn't really thought of this before.
This morning I tried to initiate the structure they had asked for. It was met rather unenthusiastically by Andrew and Nicholas (who were the ones making the request in the first place). We managed to do a chemistry lesson in more time than I had originally thought it would take. Geography was a total letdown. My Nick was absolutely not having any part of taking it in, preferring to be distracted by Matthew's antics beside him. (I admit, the book I had chosen was not exactly what I thought it would be so I'm hoping the other ones we have on order from the library prove to be a little more captivating.)
After lunch we had to head out the door for an impromptu dentist appointment (we were on the cancellation list and got a call first thing in the morning). We stopped at the library on the way home to see if any of our books were in and came home with a bag full of different ones (the holds had only just arrived and were being unpacked while we were there).
Math was a no-go for the younger two, while Andrew did complete one lesson from his book. We had previously reached an agreement that I would remind him to do one lesson per day. Nicholas has been unenthusiastic about math for months now so I need to find something new for him, just haven't figured out what that is going to be yet. He hasn't had a particular math programme for the last year, doing bits and pieces of math from a variety of workbooks as the mood struck him, which was not often at all.
The rest of the afternoon was spent between getting dinner ready, fielding phone calls and making a list of supplies needed for our chemistry and physics experiments. The kids played. When their friends got home from school they played outside with them. After dinner we dashed out the door to check out a Tae Kwon Do class which the boys have all decided to join (Adrian nearly had heart failure when he found out the cost!).
The evening was spent watching a Bill Nye DVD from the library, then reading out loud (historical fiction I had taken from the library for Matthew, but the others enjoyed listening, too) before bed.
I have no idea how the rest of our week is going to go.
The boys requested more structure this year so that they could see for themselves the progress they were making. I suspect part of that has to do with conversations their schooled friends have had with them about what "unit" they were on in math or science or history, etc. When asked, my kids couldn't say for certain they were "doing" a particular unit and were not easily able to get the concept across to their friends about what "unit" a particular activity was part of. We tend to lean towards an unschooling approach, so I hadn't really thought of this before.
This morning I tried to initiate the structure they had asked for. It was met rather unenthusiastically by Andrew and Nicholas (who were the ones making the request in the first place). We managed to do a chemistry lesson in more time than I had originally thought it would take. Geography was a total letdown. My Nick was absolutely not having any part of taking it in, preferring to be distracted by Matthew's antics beside him. (I admit, the book I had chosen was not exactly what I thought it would be so I'm hoping the other ones we have on order from the library prove to be a little more captivating.)
After lunch we had to head out the door for an impromptu dentist appointment (we were on the cancellation list and got a call first thing in the morning). We stopped at the library on the way home to see if any of our books were in and came home with a bag full of different ones (the holds had only just arrived and were being unpacked while we were there).
Math was a no-go for the younger two, while Andrew did complete one lesson from his book. We had previously reached an agreement that I would remind him to do one lesson per day. Nicholas has been unenthusiastic about math for months now so I need to find something new for him, just haven't figured out what that is going to be yet. He hasn't had a particular math programme for the last year, doing bits and pieces of math from a variety of workbooks as the mood struck him, which was not often at all.
The rest of the afternoon was spent between getting dinner ready, fielding phone calls and making a list of supplies needed for our chemistry and physics experiments. The kids played. When their friends got home from school they played outside with them. After dinner we dashed out the door to check out a Tae Kwon Do class which the boys have all decided to join (Adrian nearly had heart failure when he found out the cost!).
The evening was spent watching a Bill Nye DVD from the library, then reading out loud (historical fiction I had taken from the library for Matthew, but the others enjoyed listening, too) before bed.
I have no idea how the rest of our week is going to go.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Short Road Trip
Today we took a little trip to a homeschool supply store to pick up some math and science books. The place we went to, the JOY Center for Learning is located a little more than half an hour from us, in Shelburne. It's just a warehouse, but you can go in to browse by making an appointment. It was a bit crowded as they had just received several large shipments and were in the middle of unpacking it all. The people were really friendly. One woman found some things for my boys to play with while I had a chance to check out the books I was interested in. They gave each of the boys a ball as we left because they had "been so well-behaved". I'm so glad they didn't see what went on in the van just as we were leaving!
On the way home Andrew started reading the Life of Fred Fractions book and doing some of the calculations in his head. He went to his room when we got in and continued reading it. He finished reading that one and moved onto the Decimals book, just to continue reading the story! lol! He plans on doing the actual math part of the texts; he just enjoyed the humour and story so much he wanted more! His current goal is to get through the Fractions, Decimals and Beginning Algebra texts by Christmas. We'll see how motivated he stays. He did start the problems on paper during his reading time tonight.
The other two books we bought were Christian Kids Explore Physics and CKE Chemistry. We already have the biology book and have enjoyed it. Andrew especially has been wanting a physics book and while he's been happy going through an old grade 11 chemistry text we have, it doesn't have the hands-on stuff he's eager for.
We'll probably get to some bookish work next week.
On the way home Andrew started reading the Life of Fred Fractions book and doing some of the calculations in his head. He went to his room when we got in and continued reading it. He finished reading that one and moved onto the Decimals book, just to continue reading the story! lol! He plans on doing the actual math part of the texts; he just enjoyed the humour and story so much he wanted more! His current goal is to get through the Fractions, Decimals and Beginning Algebra texts by Christmas. We'll see how motivated he stays. He did start the problems on paper during his reading time tonight.
The other two books we bought were Christian Kids Explore Physics and CKE Chemistry. We already have the biology book and have enjoyed it. Andrew especially has been wanting a physics book and while he's been happy going through an old grade 11 chemistry text we have, it doesn't have the hands-on stuff he's eager for.
We'll probably get to some bookish work next week.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
It's September?
Today being the first day back to school for their friends has the boys with mixed feelings. They are sad that their playtime is about to be cut short, but glad they aren't in school! lol! We spent part of the day at camp with Katie, cleaning cabins. It was another hot day so we took the swimsuits and the boys had a splash in the pond when we were finished with the cabins. Actually, the cabins were the best I have ever seen them at the end of a week of camp! Not much in the way of tidying needed so we mostly put the mattresses flat, ready for winter, cleared out any items left behind and did a little bit of vacuuming here and there. Nothing major at all.
That thrilled the boys because they were eager to hit the water. Nicholas did a fair bit of swimming while Andrew and Matthew were busy catching frogs again. Poor frogs. They must have been thinking after second week of camp was done that they were free from being chased around the weeds. Not so! I managed to get some nice photos of some of them. There are several different species around the pond. A couple of years ago we had done a survey to find out what kinds of frogs there were around camp. We watched for frog eggs, listened for their croaking, and of course, watched for actual jumping frogs. It was really cool. I came across the identification pages a couple of weeks ago. I'll have to find them again and see what the kids caught!
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