The National Geographic Society, that bastion of well-documented scientific discovery, has offered me (ME!) the "Preferred Professional Rate" on an annual subscription. I wonder how they found out I was a professional?! Who knew homeschooling had such global recognition... ;)
You may remember the cold winter days Up North, when you poke your nose out the door, sniff once, your nose hairs freeze, and someone screams, "For God's sake, close the f-ing door!" That's happening here, only it's September and it's too hot to breathe. Ah, Florida in September -- hell on Earth, only made worse by hurricanes, flooding, and the first cool breath of Fall that you know is blowing somewhere Up North. Down here, you poke your head out the door, a blast of hot air hits you like a wet towel, the sun fries the top of your head, and someone screams, "For God's sake, close the f-ing door!"
The Boy asked me if it's "fall" yet. I just didn't know what to say, except, "For God's sake..."
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Stone Age Mom
Hey! Yesterday we were doing cave painting. Check it out!
We're painting the animals that we want to get on our next hunt, then we're going to put our hand print to sign it, since we can't read or write. This is The Boy, and I think he's going to be hunting deer, salmon, and that thing in the lower right, which he tells me is a wooly rhinoceros.
We're painting the animals that we want to get on our next hunt, then we're going to put our hand print to sign it, since we can't read or write. This is The Boy, and I think he's going to be hunting deer, salmon, and that thing in the lower right, which he tells me is a wooly rhinoceros.
Apparently, The Girl likes eating mouse.
We only have wood, stone and animal parts for materials, and we only eat what we can find or chase down and kill. Later this week, we'll be getting into agriculture and clay pots. We're very progressive for stone age people. I imagine pretty soon we'll discover bronze. ;)
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Why are you working so hard?
People (often) ask me why I don't just fork over the bucks and buy a third-grade curruculum. I'll tell ya why. My kids are wackydoodles. Seriously, The Girl is autistic and way behind. The Boy is gifted but has trouble organizing his thoughts into words, meaning that his reading comprehension tests out at null. He can't tell time, but he understands "dimensionality". And neither of them can tie their shoes or ride a bike.
Starting to see why I pulled them out of the public schools? He was terrified of everything and hit people a lot. She had no aide in class and was learning nothing. Yeah. I'm a big believer in "No child of mine left behind," so I'm doing it myself. I'm SO happy with those education taxes I'm paying. NOT! Each of my kids could be getting a $10,500 scholarship to go to a private school, but there aren't any autism schools here.
One size does not fit all, particularly in this house. So, I quit my job to stay home and cut out little green squares and draw inchworms on them. "One inchworm, two inchworms, three inchworms -- three inches long. Write it down." I make increasingly long timelines, starting with units they understand (24 hours in a day -- breakfast, lunch, dinner) and ending with millennia (prehistoric, Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, etc.) Everything has to be physical, concrete, and manipulative. "The 3-bee flies in the 4-door, and Jeff takes her to the 7th street park. 3+4=7"
I try not to dwell on it -- all those nice normal kids out there, all those nice fun elementary classes, all those reading clubs, all those soccer teams -- it makes me a little crazy to think about it. Instead, I have fun with what I've got -- two really great kids! Sure, The Girl still tries to drink from puddles, and sure, The Boy still refuses to walk in front of the TV, but hey. Never a dull moment at our house... ;)
Starting to see why I pulled them out of the public schools? He was terrified of everything and hit people a lot. She had no aide in class and was learning nothing. Yeah. I'm a big believer in "No child of mine left behind," so I'm doing it myself. I'm SO happy with those education taxes I'm paying. NOT! Each of my kids could be getting a $10,500 scholarship to go to a private school, but there aren't any autism schools here.
One size does not fit all, particularly in this house. So, I quit my job to stay home and cut out little green squares and draw inchworms on them. "One inchworm, two inchworms, three inchworms -- three inches long. Write it down." I make increasingly long timelines, starting with units they understand (24 hours in a day -- breakfast, lunch, dinner) and ending with millennia (prehistoric, Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, etc.) Everything has to be physical, concrete, and manipulative. "The 3-bee flies in the 4-door, and Jeff takes her to the 7th street park. 3+4=7"
I try not to dwell on it -- all those nice normal kids out there, all those nice fun elementary classes, all those reading clubs, all those soccer teams -- it makes me a little crazy to think about it. Instead, I have fun with what I've got -- two really great kids! Sure, The Girl still tries to drink from puddles, and sure, The Boy still refuses to walk in front of the TV, but hey. Never a dull moment at our house... ;)
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
OMG! Clean up -- company's here!!
WOW! I feel famous now -- at least by my humble standards... Thanks Suburban Correspondent!
Well, school's been in for a week and a half. More correctly, the public schools were in on Monday of last week and then off for the four days of Tropical Storm Fay. I figured the school busses would make it from the bedroom to the dining room, and it'd be okay to have class. ;)
The kids' vapor-lock of the brain has let up a little. The Boy connected length/width/height with 1D, 2D, and 3D! He volunteered that the crack in the table is 1D (length), the table top is 2D (area), and the table itself is 3D (volume). He's fascinated that the cat can't see in 2D, only 3D. Woo-hoo-hoo!!!
We finished our timelines back past the Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians. I asked The Boy what happened to the left of the Egyptians, y'know, pre-history. His eyes lit up and he asked, "Like, 'prehistoric'"? Bing!!
You might wonder where The Girl fits in with all this. I work with her on a scaled-back version of what The Boy is doing. We measured length in "inchworms" and area in "square inchworms". She counted square centimeters, and measured centimeters of circumference. I'm not even trying volume with this one. We both feel smart, and I'm going with it. ;)
The Girl and I are still chipping away at timelines, and we've been reading about prehistory (GREAT BOOK: Stone Age Boy) and we'll connect it up with the far left of a timeline eventually. I'll probably have to block in all the VeggieTales stories before I'm finished. ;)
The Boy is past his review of addition, and The Girl is still working on adding her 3's. Slowly but surely, we WILL work through the Addition the Fun Way stories. Right now, we're on 3+8: The 3-bee fixes the 8-gate and gets an 11-popsicle as a reward.
I'm still trying to get organized. In a former life (three weeks ago!) I was a database analyst -- my job was to organize other people's data, give them a way to get their data into the database, and then give them reports to get the data back out. I have seven binders, and I'm still trying to find a way to keep the paper, HUGE PILES OF IT, in order. Is there no end to the paper...
Well, having finished up the coverage of the Democratic Convention, it's now time for me to go to bed before I start behaving like, well, y'know... ;) BTW, I saw a picture on The News Hour of four pants suits hung up on the stage of the convention -- Hillary's staff was color-testing her wardrobe against the set!! Of the four colors (light blue, royal blue, red and orange), I chose the same one she did!! Wa-hoo!
Well, school's been in for a week and a half. More correctly, the public schools were in on Monday of last week and then off for the four days of Tropical Storm Fay. I figured the school busses would make it from the bedroom to the dining room, and it'd be okay to have class. ;)
The kids' vapor-lock of the brain has let up a little. The Boy connected length/width/height with 1D, 2D, and 3D! He volunteered that the crack in the table is 1D (length), the table top is 2D (area), and the table itself is 3D (volume). He's fascinated that the cat can't see in 2D, only 3D. Woo-hoo-hoo!!!
We finished our timelines back past the Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians. I asked The Boy what happened to the left of the Egyptians, y'know, pre-history. His eyes lit up and he asked, "Like, 'prehistoric'"? Bing!!
You might wonder where The Girl fits in with all this. I work with her on a scaled-back version of what The Boy is doing. We measured length in "inchworms" and area in "square inchworms". She counted square centimeters, and measured centimeters of circumference. I'm not even trying volume with this one. We both feel smart, and I'm going with it. ;)
The Girl and I are still chipping away at timelines, and we've been reading about prehistory (GREAT BOOK: Stone Age Boy) and we'll connect it up with the far left of a timeline eventually. I'll probably have to block in all the VeggieTales stories before I'm finished. ;)
The Boy is past his review of addition, and The Girl is still working on adding her 3's. Slowly but surely, we WILL work through the Addition the Fun Way stories. Right now, we're on 3+8: The 3-bee fixes the 8-gate and gets an 11-popsicle as a reward.
I'm still trying to get organized. In a former life (three weeks ago!) I was a database analyst -- my job was to organize other people's data, give them a way to get their data into the database, and then give them reports to get the data back out. I have seven binders, and I'm still trying to find a way to keep the paper, HUGE PILES OF IT, in order. Is there no end to the paper...
Well, having finished up the coverage of the Democratic Convention, it's now time for me to go to bed before I start behaving like, well, y'know... ;) BTW, I saw a picture on The News Hour of four pants suits hung up on the stage of the convention -- Hillary's staff was color-testing her wardrobe against the set!! Of the four colors (light blue, royal blue, red and orange), I chose the same one she did!! Wa-hoo!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
8 year olds and prehistory -- plus a tropical storm!
Fun thing today -- I'm headed into teaching prehistory, so I'm now doing timelines. Monday, we did a timeline for a day. (I had to use the TV guide from the newspaper for The Girl.) Today, we did a timeline for a year, with all the holidays and our vacations. I'm hammering on earlier/later and past/future. I started on making a century timeline with The Boy, and told him that if I want to put the time Jesus was born, I have to extend it to the front lawn, and he asked me how far to the cave men! Wow! I thought the curiousity was gone! (I estimated from here to the airport!) That was fun. Hey, I take my victories where I can get them.
Other than that, I'm starting to get the urge to clean the house. I'm getting sick of seeing the mess. Hm. Bad sign. I've also been baking cookies. ;)
And the tropical storm is going to go off the coast, turn into a hurricane, and come back at us again. Or something like that. Can't wait...
Other than that, I'm starting to get the urge to clean the house. I'm getting sick of seeing the mess. Hm. Bad sign. I've also been baking cookies. ;)
And the tropical storm is going to go off the coast, turn into a hurricane, and come back at us again. Or something like that. Can't wait...
Monday, August 18, 2008
first day of school! first day of school!
Or something like that. Is is possible that kids get vapor-lock in their brains over the summer? They seem so, umm, stupid today. I read the following to The Boy: "Elmer Elevator flew into the evening air on the back of his baby dragon." I asked him, "Who is in the story?" No answer. No idea. No way. What are they doing? Same response. Heh? Look at the word next to the boy's name: flew. Heh? And he has forgotten all of his addition. *sigh* The Girl is going to need a separate curriculum. And a separate school. And they're still demanding to go to "PE" at my dad's pool. Ech. Not feeling the love.
Good things: everyone woke, dressed and showed up without complaining. The Boy cheerfully measured the items I asked him to, although he played dumb a lot. "If a yard is the length from the king's nose to his fingers, and you're smaller than the king, will you get the same size if you measure it on your own body?" Over and over. I think he finally got it. Can't wait to do area...
Oh yeah, good. Um. The school shirts turned out nice, except that the logo kind of migrates under their armpits. ;) Mine looks ridiculous. And also, they made so little progress that I have very little preparation to get ready for tomorrow...
Good things: everyone woke, dressed and showed up without complaining. The Boy cheerfully measured the items I asked him to, although he played dumb a lot. "If a yard is the length from the king's nose to his fingers, and you're smaller than the king, will you get the same size if you measure it on your own body?" Over and over. I think he finally got it. Can't wait to do area...
Oh yeah, good. Um. The school shirts turned out nice, except that the logo kind of migrates under their armpits. ;) Mine looks ridiculous. And also, they made so little progress that I have very little preparation to get ready for tomorrow...
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Parents' Night In (again) and Curruculum Envy
We're bailing on "parents' night out" tonight. I was sick of being there, sick of the gleam in the other parents' eyes, and sick of saying, "Girl, get back here. Stay with the kids." Sick!
My mom's going to babysit them Friday evening, so The Husband and I can go celebrate our new-found poverty. ;) Someone gave him $100 in Darden Restaurant cards for some presentation he did this summer, so we're off to -- what -- Olive Garden or something. I wonder how the daquiris are at Olive Garden...
Had my first fit of Curriculum Envy yesterday -- made the mistake of looking up a link my egg-head brother sent me -- http://www.greatbooks.org/programs-for-all-ages/junior/jgbseries/jgb2006.html Sheesh. Way make me feel like a total dufus. I was going to teach The Boy reading comprehension using Goosebumps books. *sigh* Turns out I should be using Nigerian folk tales instead...
My mom's going to babysit them Friday evening, so The Husband and I can go celebrate our new-found poverty. ;) Someone gave him $100 in Darden Restaurant cards for some presentation he did this summer, so we're off to -- what -- Olive Garden or something. I wonder how the daquiris are at Olive Garden...
Had my first fit of Curriculum Envy yesterday -- made the mistake of looking up a link my egg-head brother sent me -- http://www.greatbooks.org/programs-for-all-ages/junior/jgbseries/jgb2006.html Sheesh. Way make me feel like a total dufus. I was going to teach The Boy reading comprehension using Goosebumps books. *sigh* Turns out I should be using Nigerian folk tales instead...
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