I love magazines

Which is probably not a shock if you know me at all. It's a genetic affliction (thanks, Mom). But I try really hard not to buy every magazine I see. This is not easy, because I really do love magazines. Fortunately for me, the libraries around here sell donated magazines for either 10 or 25 cents. So occasionally I'll go a little crazy and bring home every magazine ever written. Except the ones with cars on the front. Those I skip. But every other magazine. And sometimes I even get lucky and someone has donated the most recent issue of one that I like.

Take, for instance, Family Fun. I like Family Fun--it does help my family have fun with the party, craft, and food ideas. But most of the time I don't feel like buying it retail because most of the craft, party, and food ideas are also found on their website, appropriately named familyfun.com. I saw the November issue at the library a few days ago and it looked great, in fact there were a couple of craft ideas I definitely wanted to use. But I didn't buy it. Mostly because I decided that I wasn't going to buy more magazines but also, at least a little bit, because I couldn't find it.

Today I found it--at the library! Yay. And I excitedly opened it up and found the craft I was dreaming about--Turkey Luminarias. They are prettier than they sound, honest.) Oh, it was exciting! Until I found this:

Turkey Luminarias

Fine, lesson learned.

Mini Yarn Apples and Pumpkins

This is a craft that I saw here:

http://www.makeandtakes.com/little-apple-yarn-favors

I don't want to repost the craft, so just click on over and check it out. It looks adorable and fairly easy. We're planning to do this tomorrow.

Somewhere else I found that another person had made pumpkins using the same method, just orange yarn instead of red. They looked cute too and I kicked myself for not thinking of that and buying orange yarn when I got the red.

Of course, there is so much you could do with the apple theme. Go pick some, make a pie or some applesauce, or a pie (that has Jason's vote).

Here are some apple-themed books.

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World
Apple Farmer Annie
Up, Up, Up, It's Apple-Picking Time

That's just a few of the ones out there. I know you probably already have your favorites.

I hope that helps make your fall a little more creative and fun. Enjoy!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Actually I'm not talking about Christmas. I love Thanksgiving. If I had to choose, I'd pick Thanksgiving as my favorite holiday. There isn't nearly as much stress and it's all about food and being together. And giving thanks, which really, we could probably all stand to do more in our lives. (And if you don't, that's fine, please don't take offense.) And while Christmas colors and decorations are prettier than those for Thanksgiving, there's something about the season that I just like.

So, we are big into Fall and Thanksgiving crafts around here. I've spent a fair number of hours searching around for my favorites--those that I can see actually doing with the kids. And even tossing some books into the mix. I will post one each day until Thanksgiving and then begin with the Christmas/Nativity posts. And this year I actually will do it--I've figure out how to use Blogger's auto post and will write as many up as I can and set them to post by magic!

So Enjoy--I hope this makes your fall a little bit happier.

Today's Craft:

Begin our yearly "I'm Thankful For..." Craft.

We always talk about what we are thankful for in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. And usually it's a tree of some sort. Last year we had a big tree on the wall of our family room with the leaves cut out of fancy paper and hung on it. The year before I think I just traced a tree on some paper and cut the leaves out of construction paper. The goal is to have the kids think about what they are thankful for more than creating a product.

This year I am putting yarn across our fireplace (which we've never used) and just hanging the leaves onto that. Or at least I will be, once I replace the tape the kids have decided to use. And by "use" I mean "pull off long pieces and twist them together until my Mom goes insane." Just to clarify. This year I plan to cut the leaves out of coffee filters for the kids to color with washable markers. Then the kids "paint" them with water and let them dry. The water mixes the colors and the end result is cool. You have to use washable markers or it doesn't work nearly as well. Once they are dry, they write what they are thankful for.

I won't post what the kids said tonight, but suffice it to say that we get some heart-warming ones and some where we look at each other and wonder why.

That's our craft for today. I will have pictures when I can buy some tape.

Nature Outing Monday

I've decided to have a theme to the days. Monday is Nature Day, Tuesday we do Geography, Thursdays, Shakespeare and that leaves Poetry for Friday. Wednesday is our day "off" because of all of the outside activities we have, although I'd like to figure out a way to make it our art and music day. So far, I've been too tired even though I know that I'm making it seem like a much bigger deal than it probably is. Can you tell I feel a little guilty and conflicted?

Anyway, we went on our nature walk this morning to the lake. We saw ducks and a couple of geese.The kids spent a good amount of time rescuing worms--pulling them out of the drainage ditch and putting them in the nice cool dirt nearby. We took pictures of some of the things we saw and tried to make sure we spent some time being quiet so we could hear the birds and whatever was around us. It was a nice time, although I wished I had my hat since it was already getting hot.

Once we got home, the kids had a snack and drew in their nature journals while I read a chapter of The Burgess Bird Book. That might be my all-time favorite homeschooling find. It's not just for homeschoolers and it's not a text at all. I love it, the kids love it, what could be better? You should read it.

I put Emma down for a nap since it was close to 11:30 and sent the boys off to do some math. Harry did his test from chapter 9 and Sam reviewed the +9's. They were giving him a hard time last week, so I had him spend some extra time on them. That seemed to do the trick and we moved on.

We had a Dutch windmill to build, so we did that while talking more about New Amsterdam. We are so behind on Story of the World, but that's okay. We will get back to it full time once we have spent some more time talking about the colonies. As much as I believe in the trivium and studying world history from the beginning to the end, I also think the kids should know about the early Americans. My plan for history right now is to continue on with SOTW, reading a chapter each week, but really focusing on the colonies and early America.

I also did some reading with Annika. She's interesting to me and I'm not sure if what I'm doing with her is working. This is one area where I'm having a really hard time not comparing her to the boys. They were both reading fluently by this point and she can't seem to always remember which letter is which, even though we've done so much to teach them to her. She's a different person, she's still really young, she'll learn when she's ready. I know all of these things, but I want to make sure I'm giving her the attention she needs to have a chance to learn. We did a vowel page from The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading and read/looked at one of the Bob Books. We also read a nursery rhyme and did a coloring page with it.

Harry did a spelling pre-test and will do the real test later on in the week. Sam "read" Tuesday--it's a wordless book, and drew some frogs.

We ended there for the day. I still need to read to the boys. Sam and I are reading Little House in the Big Woods and Harry and I, The Jungle Book. Our bedtime book is Bill Bergson, Master Detective. We are planning to do some Mad Libs in a few minutes and that'll be our grammar for the day. I also want to get out the markers and stuff and make some Halloween cards for the cousins.

Wow, it's kind of scary that I can talk this much about one day.

One Month Review

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Math: Math U See. It’s working and I’m not changing anything that works

Science: Chemistry. Sadly this is my absolute worst science. I barely passed it in high school and am already a little confused about our lessons this year. I need to find more easy chemistry books that can explain it in a way that I can understand and explain. Then I need to read them first so that I’m not just sitting there confused when the boys ask me a question. Fortunately I'm married to a brilliant scientist who can more than make up for what I lack.

Latin: Harry loves this. Sam likes it. Which is perfectly fine. It’s been Harry’s dream to learn Latin and Sam has been along for the ride. For both of them it’s pretty much optional.

Language Arts: This is where the biggest problem is. Sam doesn’t mind Writing With Ease, but for him it’s pretty easy. He also does his grammar with very little problem, but that’s probably partly because he doesn’t have much writing to go with it. Most of it is oral.

On the other hand, Harry hates writing. He hates it with a passion. And I’m torn on what to do. On one side, he hates it and he’s only in third grade. Is it vitally important that he does a writing program yet or is it something that he can pick up as he enters middle school? Also, he is not at all fond of his grammar program. Doing both seems like overkill to me, but I’m not sure which, if either is more important. But not doing anything at all feels like walking off a plank with sharks underneath. What if I mess him up completely?

The other question this brings up, is it okay to just do formal grammar and writing with my younger child and not with my older? That seems kind of weird to me.

History: We have never had a problem with history before. At least not to the extent we are now. I made little notebooks for the boys with a sheet for each chapter so they would know what was expected of them. For each section there are a couple of questions for them to answer so I’d know if they were paying attention at all.

We do most, but not all of Sam’s work orally. He still has to write parts of it. But Harry is expected to write the answers to the two questions on his own. He’s been throwing a complete fit lately over it though. This morning he had answer one question in a complete sentence and freaked out. He finally did it after crying and worrying over it for thirty minutes. Looking back on it now, I should have told him to stop and put it away until later, but it’s hard not to get caught up in the drama.

Reading: I count this different than Language Arts because it’s just reading. Each of the boys has a book the two of us are reading together. I don’t expect a narration or any work from it because I want this to be something that we can look forward to each day.

Other stuff:

I want to add in Geography and continue with Shakespeare. I don’t ask the boys to do too much in addition to listening and talking about the what we’re reading, and it’s a lot of fun. I really look forward to that. I will eventually add geography into the mix, but it’s tough to add more in when I don’t feel confident about what we’re already doing.

Also, we’re kind of skating by with art and music by looking at a painting or two one day and then waiting a week to look at another usually by someone completely different. That’s frustrating, but again, I need to get everything else in order before I can add to what we’re already doing.

Danger, Will Robinson

or something like that!

I've spent today getting the nitty-gritty plans started for lessons that are supposed to begin next Monday. Of course that's when I pick up the books and see most of them for the very first time. So, while it would be nice to have a full day of lessons on Monday, I don't see how that will happen.

I'm finding myself in the "danger zone" of homeschooling though. I searched for some notebook pages and an easy plan for handwriting and found how one family is doing their Shakespeare studies. Well, that looks like fun. I can do that. And that led me to some nature study challenges, which led me to a neat geography program, which led me to a partridge in a pear tree.

See the problem with homeschooling, in my opinion, isn't that it's hard to teach your kids math or reading. It's more along the lines of knowing when to stop and call it enough. If you think about it, the world is full of fascinating things, most of which are interesting to study, and as a homeschooler, I get to pick which ones we study.

So while the list of subjects we are planning to study looked like this last week:

math
reading
handwriting
writing
science
history
Latin
grammar
spelling
art
music,

now it looks like this:

math
reading
handwriting
writing
science
history
Latin
grammar
spelling
art
music
Shakespeare
nature and outdoors
American geography
world geography and
Chinese (don't ask).

I need to drop a few subjects or try to fold them in with another. Or, better yet, buy The Latin-Centered Curriculum. I've heard that it streamlines language arts.

That way I could add all of the other fun stuff back in.

Getting Ready

It seems as though everyone is getting ready to go back to school in the next couple of weeks. While the kids aren't actually 'going' anywhere, I am finishing up my plans for teaching them the things they'll need to know so they aren't laughed at when they go to important dinner parties. Yes, I plan my childrens' educations so that they can fit in well at parties.

To that end, I've created a notebook for each of the boys. Harry's is green and Sam's blue so they are easy to find. Plus I'm reasonably sure that by this point they do know their colors. Annika is jealous, so I'll have to make her one too. In pink. Anyway, inside the super-cool, color-coded binders are tabs labeled with their major subject. Except Math. We are skipping Math this year so they can spend more time battling their Pokemon. (Kidding, we're skipping reading.)

Actually Math is self-contained in it's own little workbook and since I only got five of those little tab things, I left it out. The tabs are: History, Geography, Language Arts, Science, and Latin. In the front of the notebook, the boys find this:

Kids Daily

Each day I will write what they need to do--list the subject and the assignment. I'm hoping that they can work somewhat independently and they will see that the day will end at some point. Obviously I'll be right there if/when they need me, but this way they can see what they've already finished and what they still have to do. Interestingly, we have more subjects than will fit into the boxes, but I don't want to overwhelm them first thing in the morning. Life won't end if we have more to do or if we don't get everything finished, but on the whole I'll say that when the list is done, so are we.

Harry is going into third grade, so he'll be way more independent, and probably bouncier, than Sam, who is going into first. I'm anticipating that we'll spend more time in the first few weeks of school getting adjusted to things than doing serious school work. That of course, assumes that I set an actual start date. We'll see.

Oh, there's more coming. An awesome (if I do say so myself) organizer for doing Story of the World. And how I'm organizing language arts. I know, you can't wait.

To Do, 2009

I've decided that both boys are going to be home next year, so I've had to plan what to do with them. So far, I've come up with:

Harry:

• Grammar: First Language Lessons 3
• Spelling: I'm not sure yet if I want to use a specific spelling program. Harry is a natural speller and it gets tedious. Right now I'm planning to use words from his texts that are at the level he is at and go from there.
• Reading: We don't use reading texts, instead we tie his formal reading into his history work. For this he will be required to narrate what he has read and it will go into a special reading notebook.
• Writing: Writing With Ease, Level 2 or 3. I'm testing him right now to see where he is.
• Penmanship: He'll start cursive and continue to fix the mess that his writing became when he was in school. I use copywork for that--phrases from his reading or from other good books.
• Math: Math-U-See Gamma

Sam:

• Grammar: First Language Lessons, Level 1
• Spelling: We'll start with Spelling Workout A and go from there.
• Reading: Similar to Harry's work, but on his level.
• Writing: Writing With Ease, Level 1
• Penmanship: copywork to clean up his printing.
• Math: Math-U-See Alpha

Annika:

• I'll teach her to read using The Ordinary Parent's Guide.
• Playing and being crazy.

Emma:

• Eating Legos.
• Following Annika around.
• Pointing to the hamster.
  

Combined:

• History: Story of the World 3: Early Modern Times. I'm excited about this--most of our reading for the year will be based off of this time period, so SOTW is kind of the basis of what we do.
  
• Science: Classic Science, I think. It's an elementary overview, so I'm not positive. This is really the only thing that I'm not positive about. We'll also continue on our nature studies. We'll take at least one nature walk each week. The boys will have to find three things to draw and discover more about.
• Geography: I found an interesting set of lessons that I'm planning to try with the kids. It'll take them on a trip around the world.
  
• Art: We'll study artwork from the time period we're studying and try our hands at different techniques. My kids think I'm a talented artist, but I'm not really, so they will have to take outside classes for that.
  
• Music: Harry is taking piano lessons, so he'll continue that. We'll also listen to music at lunch and breakfast.

I've already realized that I forgot to add in poetry, so I'm going to figure that out. I'm sure there's more that will come to me, but for now, these are the materials that I plan to use. Now I just need to figure out exactly how to use them.

It's Over

Harry isn't going back to his school. I will call on Monday and tell them that he has started at a new school and won't be needing their services. I also need to talk to his teacher and get the work that he's done for her. He's way more excited than I am at this point. I had no intention of bringing him home until Spring Break at the earliest. I realized on Friday afternoon, though, that the school is toxic for him. And I don't say that lightly. I honestly believe that I would be shirking my parenting duties to send him back with what's happening.

So now what? I don't know. We will spend the time before Spring Break "deschooling," and getting used to being home. We will read a lot of books and spend some time catching up with each other. We will also have to work on getting rid of some of the behaviors he picked up at school. That won't be as fun as some of the other things!

I probably won't start him on anything really new for the rest of the year. We'll loosely follow the Ambleside Online reading list and work on some math facts. He told me today that he wants to learn how to do multiplication and division, so we'll work on that. I'm going to stay as far away from worksheets and meaningless things as I can. He's already done enough of that for the year.

In the fall I'll enroll him and Sam in one of the local homeschool charters and we'll start over again. But we're done with traditional school. It's just not worth it.

Myth Busters

People give many reasons for not liking the idea of homeschooling, whether they are considering it or they know someone else who is. Chief among the reasons they give is "socialization." People hate the idea that there are kids out there that aren't having the same experience as the other kids. They fear, among other things, that the kids are going to grow up not knowing how to relate to other kids, that they won't have a shared body of knowledge, and about a hundred other, made-up fears.

This is a false problem though, in my opinion. I went to school for something like 17 years. You can ask anyone who knew me in middle school, I didn't fit in at all. In fact, I still consider those the worst years of my life. But why? According to the theory that sending a kid to school, they will be socialized the same as the other kids. I should have fit in, I had the same opportunities as the other kids, the same shared school experience. But I didn't. So I spent three years crying almost every day after school because the other kids were mean.

Something happened today at Harry's school that makes me even more deeply skeptical of the socialization occurring at school. A kid said something that in any other situation would have gotten him sued for sexual harassment. But since it happened at the school, it's supposed to help Harry become properly socialized and learn to deal with people as he grows up.

Here's the thing. Harry is a normal 8-year-old kid. There is absolutely no reason for him to hear other 8-year-olds say things like he heard today. Not even so that he can be properly socialized. No reason whatsoever.

In case you were wondering...

Here are my plans for preschool this month:

March

Theme: Animals

Daily Theme Craft Letter/Craft Activity Story

Tuesday 3/3 Wild Animals: Moose	Moose	M: marble painting	Eat muffins	If you give a moose a muffin, moostache
Thursday 3/5 Wild Animals: Bears	Brown Bear craft	L: lines with rulers	Color hunt	Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see
Tuesday 3/10 Zoo Animals	Giraffe: link below	D: dot markers
Thursday 3/12 Zoo Animals	Elephant: link below	Z: zebra stripes
Tuesday 3/17 St. Patrick’s Day	Shamrock table top craft	G: glitter	Shamrock hop or make green in shaving cream
Thursday 3/19 Farm Animals	Create a farm with the kids	F: fingerpainting	Create a farm together
Tuesday 3/24 Farm Animals	Don’t forget that R loves tractors—do something with that	K: keys
Tuesday 3/26 Pets	Fish	P: purple and pink	Goldfish pick up

School Days... or is it Daze?

I wish school was working for Harry and Sam, but it isn't. I had a whole post in my head to explain why it isn't working and what I plan to do about it. But I just realized that I don't want to go into the whole thing again. So, I'll give you a very quick rundown of the problems we are having and then talk a little about my dilemma.

Problem #1: Both boys are bored to tears. Sam literally as I have to drag him to the car kicking and screaming.

Problem #2: Harry is learning things from the kids around him that I wish he wasn't. Have you ever tried to explain the f-word to an 8-yo?

Problem #3: Homework. I'm sorry, but you've got my kid for 7 hours a day. I at least get the couple of hours before he goes to bed. We don't do busywork in this house.

Problem #4: Wasted Time. When you've got a kid who doesn't know the alphabet in a class with another kid who is reading a couple of levels above grade, guess who sits and waits for the teacher to pay attention to him. (Hint: it's the one who is reading higher.)

Problem #5: I have to wake up kids to pick up other kids from school. I could, potentially, be driving to and from school 4 times each day. Thank goodness Jason takes Sam, but that still means I have to be out 3 times. And it always hits at naptime. No matter what I do.

Solution: Bring them home. You all know that I wasn't thrilled to send them to school in the first place. So, do I start homeschooling them right now or do I wait until the fall? There are pros and cons to both options, which I will go into in a different post, possibly tomorrow, but more realistically later in the week.

Bye, gotta go prepare for preschool this week.

I'm sorry, so sorry...

I am really sorry that I didn't continue my Christmas posts. I meant to, but my eyes are bigger than my stomach. Or something like that. I always think I have more time than I really do. Although I'm not sure why I think I have time in December. We have Christmas, of course, and two other birthdays that month, just in our little family. In our extended family we have a lot more. Anyway, I really am sorry and I think I'll hold off on making any more promises any time soon. But, changes are coming up, so hold onto your hats.

Although, you can probably let go, what with the pace of things here being what it is.

(And if you understood that last sentence, applause.)

Yes, I know...

I skipped a day. That's going to happen though. I have a real life too. And unfortunately, my imaginary life is much more organized than my real life.

We ended up making paper bag gingerbread men and ginger hamsters. They are very cute. And since it's two days later and the kids have all but forgotten about the gingerbread cookies, I have all of the stuff. I'm going to mix it up tonight so that after school tomorrow we can dive right in with the cookie cutters. Wish me luck.

Oh, and tonight we read a bunch of books because I was desperate to calm them down. It didn't work, but we read:


Of Course Polly Can Do Almost Everything by Astrid Lindgren. It's a translation from the Swedish. I think the book is out of print, but you can get copies from amazon for cheap. Jason gave me this one when he bought every Astrid Lindgren book in both Swedish and English. So every time I read this, I am reminded of how well taken care of I am. So I like this for a lot of different reasons!


A Pussycat's Christmas by Margaret Wise Brown. Which I didn't like at all. And really, I'm not a fan of Goodnight, Moon either, although everyone else seems to be.
I really, really liked this one. It shows sand and that Joseph was wearing sandals and the shepherds were out sleeping while watching the sheep. It's good to read a Christmas story that doesn't talk about snow.

We didn't do any crafts tonight, but I have a couple of other A. Lindgren books to read with the kids and we'll make Christmas heart ornaments for the tree. We might make some other things typically Swedish, but we'll see about that. I'm getting too many craft ideas for my own good.

Oops

I just thought I had a bunch of brown felt. I don't!

So I think we'll do something like this.

Christmas, Christmas time is here

(sung in a nasally, chipmunky type of voice.)

So I've decided to post what we're doing each day to get ready for Christmas. And, maybe, if the stars align and I can get myself together, post what my plans are for tomorrow. We'll see, that might be way too ambitious.

Going back in time:

Sunday, November 30:

We read the book Cranberry Christmas and made the cranberry cookie recipe off of the back. I also remembered that I don't actually like cranberries. Oh, and I didn't have the walnuts the recipe called for, so I substituted white chocolate chips. Sadly, that didn't help and I still didn't like the cookies. The kids of course did, but Jason decided that they looked like hunks of raw meat. We gave them to the neighbor after this and I made a pan of brownies. Other than that, we liked the story.

Monday, December 1

We started on the Advent calendar from the Friend. We read a scripture and talked about it and the picture. The picture is great for Annika--she can have something visual while the boys are reading. There are a bunch of other calendars on the Friend site that I like a lot, but I'm just doing this one since it's so easy to keep up with.

It seems like we read a book, but I've already forgotten which one. It's sad, this whole mommy-brain thing.

Tuesday (today)

We read the scripture for today and looked at the picture. Annika tormented Emma with the picture. We had to kick her out so we could actually have our little spiritual moment. We made little handprint Rudolphs from Family Fun. They don't look exactly like the picture, but isn't that the point. It also would have helped if I actually had any red pompoms. But I do have a ton of little red sparkly things, so the day was saved. Oh, and Sam decided that his Rudolph needed a beard instead of antlers, so his is a little scary. But it was fun. It kept the kids' attention for more than twenty minutes which is a true miracle.

And since we had the pipe cleaners, oh, I mean the chenille stems, out, we twisted a red one with a white one and made candy canes. They were more proud of those than the Rudolphs.

At bedtime we read The Gingerbread Man. That was fun--"you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man." If I had actually planned this, I would have the molasses and dark brown sugar to make gingerbread men tomorrow. But I didn't so, I think we'll make faux gingerbread folk from Family Fun. Strangely, I do have a ton of dark brown felt.

It sounds like a lot. But really it isn't. We did what was fun until it wasn't and there was no stress. And, as you read, very little planning. I do have a list of things that are important for me do before Christmas, so we will make sure to do that and if we fit anything else in, great. If not, there's always next year!

Oh, in the interest of full disclosure, I've been trying to make this Advent calendar for several days now. I think I finally have all of the stuff, so I'm starting on it tonight. Yes, I'm starting on my December calendar on December 2!

Annika today

We had a little "tea party." We had juice and little cookies while I read her a couple of books. We read Roxaboxen, A Visitor for Bear, and Piggies.

I love spending time just with Annika and she just eats it up. I really miss homeschooling, more than I can say, but the time I get to spend one-on-one with the kids helps to make up for it.

Neither of us said anything profound or memorable, but our little juice and cookies party is something I hope Annika will remember. Even if she doesn't remember this one specifically, I hope she remembers that we did it at all.

I've Decided...

that this blog will become my "afterschooling" blog.

That means that I will chronicle the intentional learning things I do with my children in it. From the preschool-type stuff with Annika, the reading practice with Sam, the subtraction with Harry, and the playing with Emma, I'll try to list it here. I miss homeschooling more than anyone knows, but it's not the right time to bring them home. Sam, in particular, is doing great at kindergarten.

Fortunately, though, I do have time before and after school with the kids that I can use to teach them what I think is especially important. So, that's my plan. Let's hope that I can actually fulfill my intentions!

Sam's Kindergarten Orientation...

I'm going to start this post with a brief look back on Harry's kindergarten orientation.

Two years ago, I took Harry over to his old school and went into the kindergarten room where I met his two teachers who went over a bit about their classroom. His teachers went over the rules of their room and how they were one person in two. Then I was told to leave Harry head over to the cafeteria. The principal spoke to all of us parents about how our job was basically over and the kids were now theirs to do with what they will. Okay, so she didn't actually use those terms, but that was the gist of the talk. She also talked about how kindergarten is now really academic and the kids would need to do lots of work and listen and sit for a long time.

There was more, but that was the first warning about how kindergarten was going to go.

Contrast that with today. Sam and I walked into the cafeteria where the principal welcomed us and turned the time over to the teachers. There are five total, three morning classes and two afternoon. They briefly talked about how kindergarten would work and we went over to the classes. The only thing that gave me pause was one of the teachers saying, "if the kids are five minutes late, that's five minutes of learning time they miss." My thought was, "oh, no, whatever shall we do." But hey, apparently I'm a total rebel.

We went back to the classroom where his teacher (who is really, really tall) asked the kids to line up and practice walking out to meet the parents picking them up. Sam froze. I led him out with the other kids and left him standing there. He was with the kids, but not really with them. His teacher told the kids they could go find their parents and Sam just stood there. I wanted to see what she would do, how she would handle Sam just freezing.

Sam had brought a book to show the teacher, so I went over and asked Sam to show it to her. He just opened right up! He told her all about the bionicles in the book. Miss B listened and talked to him. It was great. She spend at least 10 minutes just talking with him about Bionicles and this little seal toy he had in his pocket. He was eating up the attention and really liked her. Finally it was time to leave and he kind of froze up again, but he was still doing okay. I was able to tell Miss B that he is really, incredibly shy and there is no magic key for solving it. He just has to make the decision to keep moving. I also totally impressed her by telling her that Sam can read on a third grade level and that he actually read the Bionicle book he brought with him.

When we got back in the car, Sam told me that I was right, she is really nice!

New School Orientation

So, after all of the kids left yesterday, we high-tailed it over to the school. I don't know if I mentioned it, but the school is brand new. In fact, they are still finishing a few things up. We hadn't been able to be on campus until the PTO meeting Tuesday night, and the official tour was not until yesterday evening.

The school is gorgeous--as much as a modern school can be. The kindergarten rooms are attached to the administration building and they have their own playground. It's small, but I like that they will be by themselves. The rooms have high ceilings and lots of light. They seem inviting. The teachers have baskets of books out and I hope Sam will have time to read some of them. Harry's room is smaller, which makes sense--there are 33 kids in Sam's room and 20 in Harry's. His teacher had their reading books out, so we flipped through them. So easy. In fact Harry pointed out that "they have lots of big pictures and hardly any words." Something to talk to the teacher about, but not something to freak out about. Both of their rooms have lots of things on the walls and seem very cheery.

The school library is filled with light. I took a sneak peak at the books, some of them are very good, but there are a lot of others I'd like to see, so I think I'll have to donate a few. They have no less than five copies of each of the Harry Potter books, which Harry thought was funny! The helpers and guides were all fifth graders and were very talkative. I liked that they all spoke well with me, a grown-up they didn't know.

Overall, the building impressed me. The teachers seemed nice and happy to be there. They were talkative and good with the kids. I think part of it was that they are relieved to be in their rooms and have the school mostly finished. I also know that the school building doesn't matter a bit if the teachers aren't good, so I need to keep my full opinion for after school starts.

But my first impression is positive. Yay!

It's Getting Closer and Closer...

I really don't want to send the boys to school. The time is getting shorter and shorter and I'm panicking. Not really panicking, but just very emotional. I will do this and I'll only show them how excited I am, but inside...I really don't want them to go.

The Curse of Low Expectations

I went to my first PTO meeting last night at the kids' new school and I ran smack up against what I am calling "The Curse of Low Expectations." It's the attitude that what we have is fine, it's all we'll ever going to get and nothing will ever change, so why ask.

Example One:

I was looking at the kindergarten playground which has one small structure for up to 90 kids to play on and mentioned to another mom that it seemed small. Her response, "well, they only have 20 minutes to have their snack and play, so it's okay."

Really--I would think that since they only have 20 minutes to play, we'd like it to be spent playing, not waiting to play.

Example Two:

There is no art or music taught at the school. None. And it's not a priority for the school. However, if the PTO wants to pay art and music teachers we can. Doesn't that seem odd to you?

Those are the two main examples that came up last night. I'm sure there will be more as they actually start school!

Now I'm repeating my new mantra: "They will be fine, they will make friends, they will have fun, they will be fine."

What Do I Want?

I want a perfect school. Preferably one that I can take the kids to in the morning and pick them up at lunchtime. That way they will get to have school, I'll get some time and we will have most of the day together. No homework unless absolutely needed--in case they don't understand something and need more practice.

A school where they read good books--not parts of books and not readers. But actual good books. Ones that I would select. And once they are finished with the book, the kids would narrate back to the teacher what they read. That way they would learn how to discuss and learn from others. One where printing is actually taught, not to be picked up by osmosis. Because osmosis only really works in science. A school that teaches how to write as fluidly as they teach narration. If you read good books and require kids to narrate, their writing will reflect that. Their spelling will too, for the most part. But if spelling does need to be taught as it's own subject, it won't be with little lists, but again by reading good books and absorbing how language works. Grammar would be taught early, but not in a manner that the kids circle all of the verbs, but by using the whole body and things around them. I want Language Arts to be taught as something that they use all of the time, not just in class.

Math would not be taught using guessing. There is one right answer in math and if you aren't right, you are wrong. It sounds harsh, but I'd rather my doctor be someone who actually knows the right answer instead of one who is told to guess for it. I'm probably crazy like that.

Science would start with nature studies and how the world works. Not with textbooks and by reading about experiments, but by getting outside and being part of the world.

Social Studies would be banned. Kids would learn history instead of about firemen and mayors. Geography would be a major part of their history lessons. The past would be taught using stories about the people who came before them. The children would learn that where things happened is just as important as what happened and why.

Art and music would be integral to the lessons. The children would have time to get up and move and play.

There's more to my perfect school, but let me end there for now.

Feel the Power!

I already wrote about visiting with the principal and my concerns with Sam's teacher. Well, the principal said that he would try to put Sam in the teacher's class, but that the morning kindergarten was full, so he might put him into the afternoon class that has a different, also good, teacher. Then I spoke with the secretary who said that both of these classes were full and he would be in the class of one of the teachers we didn't want in the afternoon.

I had a very frustrated moment, then got back on the phone with the principal who said he'd straighten everything out. And he did!

Thank goodness. Sam is going to morning kindergarten with the really good teacher, Miss B. He's actually really excited and keeps looking at the paper with his teacher on it. I'm excited too. This school experiment just might work out after all!

Another Thing...

I don't think that people understand. I'm not sending the boys to school because homeschooling didn't "work" or that I couldn't handle it or that they weren't listening or it was too hard. I'm sending them because it is time.

Sure, I pulled Harry from kindergarten because of issues we had with the school, but sending him in the first place wasn't planned. I had planned on keeping him home for kindergarten.

It really is a lifestyle. I enjoy spending my days with my children. I enjoy teaching them and being the one to watch their eyes light up when they discover a new interest. There probably isn't a parent out there that would say they didn't. But for a year and a half, I was the one to introduce everything to Harry. I got to see everything. And not all of it was sweetness and light. Some of it was quite difficult. But I wouldn't trade it for the world. That's another part of why this is such a difficult transition.

A good meeting

I met with the principal this morning. He answered all of my questions and I really got a good feeling from him. The meeting wasn't long, but it did help me feel better about sending the kids. One of the final things he said was to give him a chance and let him surprise me with how good things are. So I think I will give him the chance. If the school really does what they want to, it will be a good place.

There's more to come, but I need to play with my kids now. Bunco is tomorrow night and I'm hosting, so tomorrow is going to be a whirlwind of preparation.

Don't they understand...

that I do have a choice?

I just got a vaguely threatening call from the school. The attendance secretary is very concerned that she doesn't have proof of Sam's latest physical and dental appointments. Apparently she can't assign him to a teacher until she has that. And "the school is filling up quickly, of course."

Oh no, whatever will I do?! I'll have to...oh don't say it...homeschool?! The horror.

That's not completely true--since he is in the district they will have to find a place for him at one of the other schools nearby. Which would be an issue because as far as I know, Harry is in at the new school. This isn't the first time I've heard this and I have yet to see a line forming outside of the school.

If

you have a major decision to grapple with, and you're not quite sure how to do it, I would suggest that you have visitors come for the next few weeks. That will give you plenty to do while you process the decision. Once the visitors leave, you will have more or less come to terms with it magically while you are so busy.

Or at least that's my experience. Sort of. We had family come for the last three weeks of July--right after the decision to send the boys to school was made. First my Mom, and then almost all of Jason's family. So we got real busy and I just didn't have time to dwell on sending the boys.

However, that can backfire too. Once everyone left, I was a little bummed because I missed everyone and now I'm spending my time dreading sending them to school. I know I'm being melodramatic, and honestly, I don't care. When I think of them in school I get weepy and my stomach hurts.

I'd like to say that that this transition will be easier for them than for me--but I don't know that. There are just too many "what-ifs." I look at my children and they are so innocent, I wonder if the kids in their classes will make fun of them for that. I was teased unmercifully all through middle school, what if it starts earlier in school now?

Anyway, hopefully it will be more difficult for me. I'm trying to focus on the good parts of sending them to school. I bought Sam his backpack last week and he's taken it everywhere with him. He'd like to where it to bed, but he can't sleep on it! He's excited to go to kindergarten. They have reference for that since Harry went for a few months and it was fun and exciting.

Oh yeah, so tomorrow morning I have an appointment with the principal to talk to him about the kids. I have a list, but if you were able to ask a principal anything you could (with regards to school), what would you ask him?

Thanks,
Felicity

They're In!

I registered the boys this morning for school. So it's official.

It was pretty easy and straightforward. Part of me feels better now that I've met someone from the school and part of me just wants to run screaming the other way. As I said, the school is brand new and the plans are just beautiful. Strangely enough they are putting boulders in as decoration and you know the kids are all going to want to climb on them and they won't be allowed to. There is a preschool on-site, so maybe Annika will join the boys over there. (I'm kidding, although she did just dump an entire bottle of laundry soap into the dryer. Any more of that and she'll be off to boarding school.)

The library has it's own building which is fairly big and our school district does still have librarians, which apparently, for our area, is rare. Sam's speech service will be in a little room, one on one, which is nice. Sam will have 33 in his class and Harry only 20. The secretary that I talked to thinks that the kindergarten should be full day so they have more instructional time. Which, obviously, I disagree with.

The classes are all integrated, so 70% of the kids in any one class will be esl. The party line for that is "well, it's the area we live in." Yes, I know that, but it doesn't make me feel better about sending my kids to school.

I was pleased that when I asked to have an appointment with the principal, the answer was, "when would you like to come in? Is tomorrow good for you?" That in itself says a lot.

But, I have to go now, we have a housefull of family to hang out with. I just wanted to update the saga.

A Wrinkle

Or maybe a crease.

I've been intentionally surrounding myself with people that are pro-public school. That way if I start to waver or get worried about something, the automatic answer won't be, "just keep them home." But today I got a call from a friend who homeschools and who, I'm sure won't understand why they are going to school in the fall. I really like this woman--she is incredibly friendly and nice, but I'm afraid that she will try to sway me back to homeschooling. And since I'm already kind of freaked out about everything, I'll just get more worried.

This is actually the opposite problem that I see with people who homeschool--they don't talk to many people about it because they might try to change their mind.

Apparently this post is going nowhere, but if I want to keep being friends with her, how do I do that? Honestly, I know that academically and in just about every other way homeschooling is a thousand times better than regular school, but they are going anyway. It's not something I can explain well (obviously), so I think I'll just have to bow out of this friendship for a while.

I knew this was going to be hard, but why does it keep just getting harder and harder by the day?

Preparation

According to well, everybody, the principal at the new school is the best in the district and maybe on the planet. And he got to pick the best teachers from the existing schools to teach at the new school. Seriously, this guy had better be good or everyone I've talked to this week will have a lot of explaining to do.

So knowing that, I've been asking around to find the best of the best teachers. There is definite consensus for second grade, but not for kindergarten yet. Hopefully that will come, seeing as I'm going in on Wednesday morning to formally register them. I have to take their birth certificates, immunization records, physical forms and dental forms. I'm also planning to take the forms from some tests Harry took last year showing that he reads at a higher level, another set of tests for Sam's reading. I also have to take Sam's IEP for speech so he can continue to receive services.

I'm getting everything organized and planning to play the "I'm-a-homeschool-mom-that's-really-nervous-about-this-and-I-won't-send-my-kids-here-(giving you about $15,000 a year)-unless-I-get-what-I-want" card. I'm a much smarter public-school Mom than I was when Harry started kindergarten.

Crossing the Rubicon

Yesterday we read in Story of the World about Caesar's return to Rome, even though he knew that he would be arrested. Apparently he stopped at the Rubicon River and told his men that once they crossed things would change and asked if they were ready. Of course, Caesar being Caesar went on and crossed the Rubicon. We've been talking about how the phrase, "crossing the Rubicon" has come to mean a decision that can't be undone.

Well, I feel as though I'm probably crossing the Rubicon with my almost certain decision to send the boys to school next year. It's not totally certain until the day school starts (when of course, we'll be on vacation), but I'd say 90%.

I can only explain this decision one way--by talking about the Church Relief Society lessons I've been giving lately, especially the one from the last Sunday on Obedience. There was a phrase in the lesson that said something like, "you ask for the answer, then you follow the answer, what every it may be." I expanded that a little in talking about integrity and the fact that you didn't have to ask, but once you did, you are pretty much obligated to follow the direction.

I asked, thinking I knew the answer. But I still asked one night about whether I should keep the boys home. And the answer was very clear. I need to send them to school. So you see, I asked and I got an answer--not the one I wanted, but an answer nonetheless.

There is a lot going on in my mind right now. I'm trying really hard to be excited and not worry. I'm really trying hard not to focus on the things I had planned for next year and focus instead on preparing them to go to school.

Honestly, I think one of the hardest things for me to accept is that I won't be a teacher any more. I'll still have Annika and Emma home and Sam for part of the day, but I won't have to make the formal plans I've done in the past. I don't need to plan out my day in terms of Math, Reading, Science and History. I won't need to pore through books finding the best way to teach this or that. Being a homeschool mom has allowed me to hold onto some of the more "adult" parts of my identity even while spending the days with my children. And I'll miss that. A lot. I expect that I'll be at loose ends for a while. I'll need to find a new identity that I can live with and be excited about.

This is getting pretty long, but allow me to indulge in this just a bit longer. I think I'll chronicle our lives getting ready to go to school in the next month or so and the first part of the school year in this space and then close it down. This is going to be really hard, wish us all luck please.

notable quotables

(in deference to my kids' love of Jeopardy)

Heard around the house today:

Sam: "It isn't fun, but it sure is easy." About an activity book he was working on--I told him he didn't need to do any of it if it wasn't fun, but he just replied that it was easy. Okay then!

Annika, with great joy and excitement in her voice: "Mama, I'm going to be five too, just like Sam-boy!"

Annika, confused to Harry, "Why do you call Baby Jane, 'Emma'?" Um, I don't know, maybe because it's her name. Oddly enough she said "Emma," not "Enna." She actually used the m sound, the absence of which is driving her speech teacher crazy.

What's the Plan, Stan?

I cleaned up the loft Thursday morning because I couldn't let Marty and Jenny see it in the incredibly messy state it was in. But also because I just couldn't think in there any more. There were books and papers everywhere. It wasn't so much that the room was embarrassing (although it was) it was more that it wasn't functional any longer as a place to learn. And that in itself is embarrassing.

But no more. I cleaned it! I cleaned out the big cabinet, all of the random drawers, my files...everything. It felt so good.

Now that I don't have to think about that anymore, I can move onto other, bigger and more interesting things.

Things like:
1. What books should I have Harry and Sam read next year?
2. What books and activities should I use from the SOTW 2 Activity Book next year?
3. How can I organize a little area for Annika to do "preschool" in?
4. How do I deal with Sam's speech next year--do I need to advocate more for two thirty minute sessions in a week or can he handle one full hour session?
5. I really need to call early intervention for Annika to get her into the preschool speech program as soon as school starts next year.
6. How am I going to be able to teach two very different curricula next year? (Something that causes worry and concern, but that I know will come together.)
7. What composers and artists should I focus on next year and what does that really mean?

So really I'm in a planning mode for next year and it does feel good. I love planning. Now, if I could just stick to the plan for more than a week. That would probably be helpful.

a good start

Mondays tend to be our best day and this was no exception.

This morning we did:
History--discussed the Buddha and Buddhism
Math--more addition and review
Spelling--his final test from last week, still having a hard time with "a" blends
Readings--Farmer Boy, Eldest
Grammar--review of a poem by Christina G. Rosetti

Weekly Planning

I love planning and organizing. Things go smoother in our lives if I've got some idea of what comes next. That doesn't mean I always follow the plan, but thinking ahead is always good. So I created a chart to guide us through our learning week.

Another thing to remember is that we don't do something in each column each week. And a lot of the lessons that we actually do are "read this story" or "do one page." Remember that when you scroll down to the bottom and see a lot of subjects.

I just pencil in the lesson or the pages we're working on. Then after we've done the work I'll write it in the day. I know that doesn't make much sense, but the chart is less for me to plan out which day I'm going to do what and more so I can be aware of what I need to do in order to stay on top of something.

For instance, if we're on math lesson 34, after Harry does page 34a on Monday, I'll write it in, if he doesn't do math again until Thursday, I'll write under Thursday that he did 34 b and d. If it's a reading that we're doing, I'll write the chapter or page numbers in the appropriate days.

I write down Harry's narrations on the back and when the week is over, I file all of the sheets in my "records" notebook.

It's much easier than I'm making it seem. Here's the link to my planning sheet.

Oh, I don't usually use google docs, so if you know how to make the grid lines, please let me know. It's driving me crazy!

Harrius the Mighty, 2008, part one

While Sam is going to be happily painting and drawing and playing with gnomes, Harry is going to work, work, work. Yep, no slacking for him!

This is true, but only to a point. He's going into second grade with a fifth grade reading ability and third grade math ability. He knows more history than most adults (you should see him watching Jeopardy) and he is interested in almost everything. My trouble with him is that we both like to do everything--it's all interesting and there isn't enough time in the day to do as much as we'd like. So my challenge is to simultaneously spur him on to learn all of the interesting things he wants to, but also direct him to the things he needs to know.

I don't think I made a mistake necessarily in his first grade year by expecting so much from him--the grammar and spelling and math, but I do think I could have slowed down a bit and not thought it was so important that he learn it all RIGHT NOW. So, I want him to grow and learn of course, but maybe not quite in the same quick way he has been.

That said, not a whole lot is changing for him this next year.

We'll continue with:
1. Math U See--it's working, it's really working. He'll finish Beta over the summer, I think and start Gamma next year.
2. First Language Lessons--we're still plugging along with that. I think the idea is to do a lesson every day. We do a lesson every few days. I don't think the world will spin off of it's axis.
3. Story of the World, Volume Two--hands down, Harry's favorite part of his school day. And the next volume is about the medieval period. Even I'm excited.

Stuff we won't keep using:
Spelling Workout--I hate, hate, hate it. Total busywork, no connections. It gives a list of ten words to memorize with no real rule introduced. Then you are expected to generalize from those ten words to the rest of the English language. That's fine, Harry's doing well with it. His spelling is very good and he doesn't hate it. But it's just too much busywork and I don't have time in my life for busywork (that may explain my kitchen floors).

New Stuff to Try and Use:
1. Writing with Ease by Susan Wise Bauer. I love SOTW and I'm pretty sure I'll love this one. It's not handwriting, but a guide to begin actual writing. I'm excited to see it and use it.
2. Simply Spelling. Also a new one for me. I need something for spelling and it came down to this one and Spelling Wisdom. This won out because it has a clear plan on how to use it. I like clear plans. They help me when the world does go off of it's axis.

Semi-new Stuff:
1. Literature Pockets. This is mostly for Sam, but Harry will be reading along too, as will Annika, so I'm getting this for all of us. We've used the History Pockets for Ancient History and it's been a lot of fun, so I'm looking forward to these.

The List of Maybes:
1. Song School Latin. Harry REALLY wants to learn Latin. In fact when I was talking to Celeste about possibly doing Latin next year, he started jumping for joy. Who am I to deny him his hearts desire. Since I know next to no Latin, I need something to teach it for me. Hence, Song School Latin. I'm hoping it will be a fun and gentle approach. More because I'm worried about it than I think Harry will need it. The biggest problem I have with this is the fact that it's songs. I'm not big into listening to kids sing a lot. I like my own, but I'm afraid it'll be some Latin "Wee Sing" thing. We'll see.
2. Handwriting Without Tears, Cursive. I'm not sure about this. He wants to learn "fancy writing," but he's still improving his regular writing. I'm leaning toward "no" but I might request it, then say "no, thanks."

There are a few other things I'm going to request, but I'm not going to list here because it's late and I don't want to. As I narrow the list down, I'll try to let you know what other supplementary things I'm planning to use and what I'm planning for science.

Sir Sam William the Conqueror 2008

This is what I have planned for Sam's kindergarten year:

Oak Meadow First Grade

Right now I'm planning on using a prepackaged curriculum for Sam. What does that mean, you ask? Well, it means that I get everything in one big box and it tells me what to use when.

For example, it will tell me "on week one, day one, do this math, this reading, this..." The Oak Meadow program covers all of the subjects, so there is very little prep for me. I like that. I do enough prep for a couple of homeschooling families, so I'll be happy to have it taken out of my hands for this.

One of the other cool things about OM is that it's Waldorf-inspired. The company used to say it followed Waldorf teachings, but it doesn't, but it's still flavored with that thinking. Again, you are asking "what in the world does Waldorf mean, isn't that just a big salad?" Well, yes, it is a salad, but I'm not planning to eat Sam's work for the year. It's an idea that everything should be natural and happy and flowy. In Waldorf schools they don't begin teaching reading until 2nd grade, so obviously we aren't Waldorf in that sense, but I like many other things they do. They teach with stories and Sam loves stories. So math is about gnomes who do things like add sticks and rocks. When you learn the alphabet you learn that the shape of the letter is something that looks like it. For instance, a 'g' looks like a goose ducking in the water.

There is also a huge emphasis on the arts. So Sam will be drawing and painting and finger knitting. This is all stuff he loves and he would do anyway, so I'm kind of directing it toward lessons. He's also going to learn the recorder and the piano (if we can ever find a keyboard; don't ask). Those are things Harry's going to learn too.

Since he is already reading, I need to work on that separately, but that's pretty easy. I have about a thousand booklists already, so I'll pick and choose from that.

Sam will still have speech twice a week, but he'll have to get used to another teacher. That's something I'm not looking forward to. But he's growing and I think he can make the transition. It might not be completely painless, but it should be at least bloodless.

So that's the plan. I've already told the school what I want, and they're pretty okay with it all. Now I just have to wait and wait to get the books. That's the hard part!

Thinking Ahead

So this is the time of the year when I need to think about next year. Since we are with a school, we run on their schedule. The year "ends" in early June and "begins" in late August. Right now I'm putting our orders in for September.

The biggest change is that Sam will be in Kindergarten, so I need to think about what to get for him. Should I do the same as I am with Harry or branch out to something different? He's reading on a 1st to 2nd grade level now, but his writing and math aren't quite that high. The curriculum I'm using with Harry is obviously working--he's doing very well according to the testing they do at the school, but they are such different kids.

The other thing I'm thinking about is what worked and didn't work this year for everyone. I started the year out kind of Charlotte Mason inspired. I used ambleside online for a lot of the readings and books that I used. Unfortunately some of the books bombed, one of them was too offensive for me use, and it just didn't work with what I wanted from our homeschool. So we began adding in more grammar and spelling--workbooks and just lessons. Harry (and Sam, when he wanted to listen) learned a lot, but most of it was boring, repetitive work with very little connection to life and to Harry. I'd like to figure out how to best take what I like from Charlotte Mason and ambleside and add it to what I like and need from the more classical approach.

These are the thoughts floating around in my head right now. For next year I'd like to:
1. have a theme for the year, both for the boys individually and for the family.
2. make connections between what they are learning and their lives.
3. get out more and do more "fun stuff." We do quite a bit, but with gas prices so high we've curtailed a lot of our field trips. I'd like to add some of them back in.
4. figure out how to get Annika more involved with our schooling and spend time just with her. I'm thinking about preschool for her next year. She needs other kids and while we've got quite a few here, she needs other two-to-three-year-olds on a regular basis.

So, if anyone has a magic curriculum that will answer all of these things, let me know. In the meantime, I'll post my ideas for next year in the next few days.

Monday--Fighting, Writing

and experimenting...

The day started by arguing with Harry about his attitude. You just know that when I write "attitude" things aren't going real well.

Eventually he came out of his funk and brought me the work he did. Only it was completely a mess, so he had to redo it. I think I told him he could do it later since I wanted the whole morning to end.

I wrangled him out of the playroom to do some math--adding three or four numbers in a line. I told him that it was tower math and to climb the tower, he had to add. He did fine.

Spelling is getting trickier for him, he's still getting the answers right, but he has to think about it more. On the other hand, he gets really excited when the answer is right, so his struggling isn't all a bad thing. He did the section I told him to, then asked if he could do the next one also because it was a crossword puzzle. I of course said, "yes."

We began The Great Avocado Experiment today. We put avocado pits in water, a wet paper towel in a plastic bag, and in some dirt today. The experiment is to see which sprouts first. Hopefully one of them will. We also read some books on seeds and plants and both boys drew a seed and labeled it.

Harry read "The Laconic Answer" to me and we talked about it. I love 50 Famous Stories. I'll be so bummed when we're finished with it.

So that's all of the official school stuff we've done today. Now I'm off to figure out the curriculum for next year. It sounds like way more fun than it really is!

The Time Travelling Roman

by Harry

One day when Harrius the Mighty was fighting the Gauls, he almost lost. There were 100 Romans fighting 200 Gauls. Harrius ordered his legionnaires with javelins to throw their javelins at the remaining Gauls and his horsemen to attack.

Then it was a heroic victory for the Romans!

Harrius rode back into Rome but the only way to ride under Triumphal Arch was to kill 5,000 men. Julius Caesar saluted Harrius the Mighty for this heroic victory. He said, "thank you for saving Rome."

Then Julius Caesar gave Harrius the Mighty the time traveler helmet. Julius Caesar invented the time traveler helmet. He told Harrius the Mighty, "this is a time traveler helmet. Go forward in time, look up some things about legions. Look up some machines besides our flame throwers, ballistas, and onagers. Find out how to build them and what we need. Go get Samus the Conqueror and tell him you're going to go to the future and to hold your hand. Tell him what buttons to push. Harrius the Mighty is going to wear it and Samus the Conqueror will hold his hand."

They got ready and heard a whirring sound then a blasting off sound and in five seconds they landed at the _____ house.

Harrius the Mighty knocked at the door. I answered it and said, "hi Harrius the Mighty and Samus the Conqueror." Harrius the Mighty asked me, "can Sam and I look up some machines, not ballistas, flame throwers, or onagers and find out how to build them?"

I said, "I know how to tell you how to build them. How about you go to our military and you can get the pieces there also. I have a place traveler helmet that takes you places like your time traveler helmet does, except it goes to places in the modern time."

Samus went to the military with Sam and Harrius the Mightly stayed and played Nintendo 64 with me. Then we read Roman books. The reading was for fun.

Sam and Samus the Conqueror came back and told Harrius the Mighty how to build machines. Harrius and Samus have the list of what they need and what they are called. They are tanks, Long-Bow Apaches, and F15 Eagles and F16 Eagles. Those are jets, not eagles.

Harrius the Mighty put the helmet back on. They hld hands and pushed the buttons when they were at the back door. They traded the place traveling helmet for the time traveler helmet and went back to Rome.

Harrius the Mighty and Samus the Conqueror told Julius Caesar what they found. He was happy. They used the modern machines to win every battle. Harrius the Mighty went under the Triumphal Arch and got a huge empire.

The End.