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Friday, February 29, 2008
A rare personality....
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Finishing up the week...
Not much to report, but thought I'd just touch base with a sort of weekly wrap-up.
Language Arts:
Elf is doing well with ETC 3. This week we covered lesson two, which is long versus short vowel sounds. I sometimes spell out words for him in the car too, so he's getting extra practice. He's also been reading bits of a Little Bear book out loud to me. Fairy is working on Get Set for the Code, which she is buzzing right through. Fo our bedtime read-aloud, I am reading Charlotte's Web to the kids, and so far, they're really enjoying it.
Math:
Elf is up through lesson 80 in Saxon Math 2. We are doing fractions, measuring, telling time to the half hour, addition, subtraction, and story problems.
Fairy still loves her math workbook. She's working on identifying mixed groups of numbers (objects) correctly. I've also been working on some very basic addition with her.
History:
We read the rest of Cat Mummies this week, and made a virtual mummy (again). We are still working on our sarcophagus. The kids also watched a documentary on ancient Egypt/Mesopotamia with their dad.
Science:
We're working on completing unit two in RS4K Pre-Biology. It's all about the jobs cells do in the body, human or animal... or plant. We're also putting up a bird feeder in the yard this weekend, and I hope to start a compost pile, with their help.
And really, that's about it. It's been kind of a light week, due to hectic schedules, dentist appointments, and me having to study for my first math exam (next Monday).
Language Arts:
Elf is doing well with ETC 3. This week we covered lesson two, which is long versus short vowel sounds. I sometimes spell out words for him in the car too, so he's getting extra practice. He's also been reading bits of a Little Bear book out loud to me. Fairy is working on Get Set for the Code, which she is buzzing right through. Fo our bedtime read-aloud, I am reading Charlotte's Web to the kids, and so far, they're really enjoying it.
Math:
Elf is up through lesson 80 in Saxon Math 2. We are doing fractions, measuring, telling time to the half hour, addition, subtraction, and story problems.
Fairy still loves her math workbook. She's working on identifying mixed groups of numbers (objects) correctly. I've also been working on some very basic addition with her.
History:
We read the rest of Cat Mummies this week, and made a virtual mummy (again). We are still working on our sarcophagus. The kids also watched a documentary on ancient Egypt/Mesopotamia with their dad.
Science:
We're working on completing unit two in RS4K Pre-Biology. It's all about the jobs cells do in the body, human or animal... or plant. We're also putting up a bird feeder in the yard this weekend, and I hope to start a compost pile, with their help.
And really, that's about it. It's been kind of a light week, due to hectic schedules, dentist appointments, and me having to study for my first math exam (next Monday).
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
What a dreadful waste of a sunny afternoon...
At Elf's last dentist appointment, the dentist confirmed my fears that the "baby root canal" had not worked, and that he now had an abcess. I have since heard that only about 50% of baby root canals work! Anyhow, he refused to let the dentist get near him with novocaine, so we asked to be referred to a specialist that could give him laughing gas instead. Got our referral, went through our health insurance, which gave us a different referral. So off we went today, nearly all the way to the other end of the county. I had made a pot of my curried lentil soup so that Elf would have a nice soft dinner. We got there, filled out all the paperwork, and... first, they were given the wrong tooth in their referral, and the insurance gave them permission for only that wrong tooth (it's one he won't have until his wisdom teeth come in). Then, it turns out they don't do sedation, and wanted to refer us right back to our regular dentist office, which I am switching out of as soon as possible. I'm sorry, but FIVE hours to check and clean two children's teeth? Okay, four hours of that, at least, was spent in the waiting room, despite the fact that we had long-standing appointments for both kids. Plus, they lost Elf's x-rays when I went to pick them up, finally reprinted them, and the second dentist said they were the worst x-rays he had seen. So, aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhh!!! I'm going to call the insurance tomorrow and ask (demand?) a referral to the pediatric dentist that specializes in children afraid of needles, the one we were supposed to be referred to in the first place.
Other than that, it was a pretty good day. Elf did a drill page in math (subtraction), and used his letter cards to spell out words from ETC. Then he read silly sentences from ETC out loud. Fairy and I went through our alphabet and number flash cards, which I never used with Elf, but my oddball daughter likes them. In the truck, driving to and from the useless appointment, we listened to Beethoven Lives Upstairs. After we picked Fairy back up from my mom's, she told me the story of Rapunzel, and told it pretty well.
Also, at work this morning, I ran into a friend I have not seen since my wedding day! Totally happy to see him, and found out he recently got back in touch with a bunch of other people I used to know, so we may be holding a "reunion" of sorts soon.
And that's about it for today.
Other than that, it was a pretty good day. Elf did a drill page in math (subtraction), and used his letter cards to spell out words from ETC. Then he read silly sentences from ETC out loud. Fairy and I went through our alphabet and number flash cards, which I never used with Elf, but my oddball daughter likes them. In the truck, driving to and from the useless appointment, we listened to Beethoven Lives Upstairs. After we picked Fairy back up from my mom's, she told me the story of Rapunzel, and told it pretty well.
Also, at work this morning, I ran into a friend I have not seen since my wedding day! Totally happy to see him, and found out he recently got back in touch with a bunch of other people I used to know, so we may be holding a "reunion" of sorts soon.
And that's about it for today.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Curried Lentil Soup
Curried Lentil Soup
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup dried lentils (I used the red variety)
2-3 carrots, thinly sliced in rounds
1 cup julienned greens (I used mustard greens this time)
1-2 Tbsp curry powder, or to taste
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 can coconut milk
Saute onion & garlic until tender. Add broth, bring to a boil, and add lentils. Simmer until lentils begin to soften, then add carrots, salt, pepper & curry powder. Continue cooking until carrots & lentils are cooked through. Stir in greens - cook for about 5-8 minutes more, then stir in coconut milk & serve. If needed, during the cooking process, you can add a little water to reach your desired consistancy.
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup dried lentils (I used the red variety)
2-3 carrots, thinly sliced in rounds
1 cup julienned greens (I used mustard greens this time)
1-2 Tbsp curry powder, or to taste
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 can coconut milk
Saute onion & garlic until tender. Add broth, bring to a boil, and add lentils. Simmer until lentils begin to soften, then add carrots, salt, pepper & curry powder. Continue cooking until carrots & lentils are cooked through. Stir in greens - cook for about 5-8 minutes more, then stir in coconut milk & serve. If needed, during the cooking process, you can add a little water to reach your desired consistancy.
Green Hour Challenge #1...
The Green Hour Challenge (No Child Left Inside) looks great, and so I decided to use our trip to the beach as a jumping off point. We spent the entire day (well, about 5 hours) exploring a familiar stretch of coast made unfamilar by the very low tide. We saw hermit crabs, a variety of starfish, a few sea slugs, several varieties of seaweed and sea grass, and more!
Elf's two focuses for the week:
Hermit crabs - Why do they live in different types of shells?
Most species of hermit crabs have long soft abdomens which are protected from predators by the adaptation of carrying around an salvaged empty seashell, which the whole crab's body can retract into. Most frequently hermit crabs utilize the shells of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks. The tip of the hermit crab's abdomen is adapted to clasp strongly onto the columella of the snail shell. As the hermit crab grows in size it has to find a larger shell and abandon the previous one.
Or, as I explained it to Elf, the hermit crabs have unprotected bellies, so they use empty shells of other sea creatures to protect themselves from birds and other animals that might hurt or eat them. As the hermit crab gets bigger, it outgrows the shell just like we outgrow our clothes, so it searches around until it finds a new one that fits better, and then it suctions itself into it.
How do starfish move?
Starfish do not rely on a jointed, movable skeleton for support and locomotion (although they are protected by their skeleton), but instead possess a hydraulic water vascular system that aids in locomotion. The water vascular system has many projections called tube feet on the ventral face of the starfish's arms which function in locomotion and aid with feeding.
My explanation to Elf: Starfish have little tubes, called tube feet, on the underside of their bodies. They can squirt water from these tube feet and move around by essentially jetting themselves everywhere.
Elf's two focuses for the week:
Hermit crabs - Why do they live in different types of shells?
Most species of hermit crabs have long soft abdomens which are protected from predators by the adaptation of carrying around an salvaged empty seashell, which the whole crab's body can retract into. Most frequently hermit crabs utilize the shells of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks. The tip of the hermit crab's abdomen is adapted to clasp strongly onto the columella of the snail shell. As the hermit crab grows in size it has to find a larger shell and abandon the previous one.
Or, as I explained it to Elf, the hermit crabs have unprotected bellies, so they use empty shells of other sea creatures to protect themselves from birds and other animals that might hurt or eat them. As the hermit crab gets bigger, it outgrows the shell just like we outgrow our clothes, so it searches around until it finds a new one that fits better, and then it suctions itself into it.
How do starfish move?
Starfish do not rely on a jointed, movable skeleton for support and locomotion (although they are protected by their skeleton), but instead possess a hydraulic water vascular system that aids in locomotion. The water vascular system has many projections called tube feet on the ventral face of the starfish's arms which function in locomotion and aid with feeding.
My explanation to Elf: Starfish have little tubes, called tube feet, on the underside of their bodies. They can squirt water from these tube feet and move around by essentially jetting themselves everywhere.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Elf's latest passion....
The charter school got Classical Kids and is loaning out cds and all the accompaniments. So, we checked out Beethoven Lives Upstairs, because Elf heard part of Beethoven's 5th on the radio, and fell in love with it. He hums parts of it! Anyhow, I give this series a thumbs up - we are really enjoying it so far. The storytelling and the music work really well together, and even I have learned some new things about Ludwig. My mom also loaned us 5 or 6 tapes of Beethoven's music, so we are currently listening to the entire 5th symphony while in the car.
We finally made it to a park day today! The kids insisted on taking a pan of "Valentine's" brownies we had made together (just normal brownies, but made on Valentine's Day). There were a lot of the regular group of kids there today, and mine were glad to see them. My only problem? Every time activities changed a little, one or both of my kids would throw a minor fit and insist they did not want to play. Finally, I would get them playing, and once they were involved in the activity, they loved it. But this happened probably 5 or 6 times per child! Other than that, it was really nice to be there again. And on a sidenote, thank you Jenny! You made my day when I got there (the weight loss comment). And you look great, with the nice pregnant mama glow (which I never got btw, I always had that "yes, I just puked again" look instead)...
Oh, and this picture is for Jenny, who said that Fairy pouting (albeit with wild hair, and at the end of the slide) would make a great picture.
We finally made it to a park day today! The kids insisted on taking a pan of "Valentine's" brownies we had made together (just normal brownies, but made on Valentine's Day). There were a lot of the regular group of kids there today, and mine were glad to see them. My only problem? Every time activities changed a little, one or both of my kids would throw a minor fit and insist they did not want to play. Finally, I would get them playing, and once they were involved in the activity, they loved it. But this happened probably 5 or 6 times per child! Other than that, it was really nice to be there again. And on a sidenote, thank you Jenny! You made my day when I got there (the weight loss comment). And you look great, with the nice pregnant mama glow (which I never got btw, I always had that "yes, I just puked again" look instead)...
Oh, and this picture is for Jenny, who said that Fairy pouting (albeit with wild hair, and at the end of the slide) would make a great picture.
This picture was taken moments before the laughing one I posted last time, literally.
Oh, and I got a bunch of info from Oak Meadow in the mail, and looking over their sample lessons, I am suddenly not quite so sure about it.... (naturally). Maybe I can just adapt the elements I like to what I'm doing now? Can a person actually combine WTM, unit studies, Charlotte Mason and Oak Meadow into one cohesive homeschooling curriculum?
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Some pictures, and some musing...
Hard at work...
Also very studious...
Not quite so serious...
Just plain silly...
Just had to share some of these - they're from Monday. We have had a good homeschooling week thus far. Elf is excited about ETC 3, and Fairy is on the last few pages of Get Ready for the Code. Math-wise, Elf is working on carrying, and on basic mixed numbers/fractions, while Fairy continues plugging along in her workbook. We read a great Egyptian story - The Winged Cat - and we're in unit 3 in science, "Food for Plants", which discusses the basic structure of plants, and how they function. We are almost finished with Boxcar Children too. This is definately the most success we have had with a chapter book so far, as every evening (that I'm home anyway) the kids beg me to read another chapter or two.
Still haven't gotten anywhere with my inner turmoil. I sat down today at Elf's charter school and actually looked through Oak Meadow. It's a slightly older version, so the history, etc., is a little different than that online, but overall it is much the same - strangely enough, the history/social studies in these almost fit in with our current planned schedule. And it's a lovely curriculum. I am really tempted to try it out, since my kids are always drawing and wanting stories, and this is focused so much on those two things. The only remaining issue is where to place them in it. Second grade actually looks like a good fit for Elf, while Fairy would be between kindergarten and first grade. I would keep Saxon Math though, I think.... is there such a thing as an Oak Meadow placement test? I also think I will skip the recorder and crocheting parts for now, though knitting and crocheting would be cool things to know how to do. The recorder though, not so much.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Pretty good week so far, but why do I do this to myself?
Why? Why did I have to look at Oak Meadow? Maybe because during my meeting with Elf's IST yesterday, I noticed it sitting on the shelf? Maybe because I was thinking of Fairy starting kindergarten in the fall? Maybe because I like to doubt whatever I'm doing now? Aaaarrrggghhh. All I know is that now I want to actually look through the materials at the charter school, and see what Oak Meadow is really about, although looking at the summaries on their website, I'd have to put the kids ahead, or tweak things somewhat substantially (i.e. second grade is all about animal studies for science, and we just did those this year, so I don't know how excited Elf would be). I also am always tempted by AmblesideOnline (which actually works well with classical education). I need to just stop tormenting myself (and anyone who reads this) - obviously what we're doing now works, at least to some degree! Thank you, I just need to get some of that inner angst out!
Anyhow, back to actual life. We have finished ETC 2! Today I'm going to sit down with Elf and look over both 2 1/2 and 3, to decide which we want to move into next. We also decided, mutual consensus, to extend our Egypt studies a while longer, since Elf is enjoying them so much. I did decide to set aside SOTW for now, and just use all the other books we have piling up! We haven't gotten very far with the tomb project, and I am thinking it might be a little much for a 1st grader (maybe in 6th grade?), so we may just do a mummy doll and sarcophagus instead. Elf also got a gift from his best buddy A at school yesterday. A missed him while in Hawaii last week and so brought him a gift, which was sweet. I really need to set up a playdate for them.
I got a chance to sit in on Elf's new Wednesday afternoon music classes, and I really like what I saw (as did Fairy). The mom teaching the class was teaching them note value, rhythym, singing, and more. Fairy didn't want to participate, but she kept edging closer and closer to the other kids. She and I spent the time while Elf was in Spanish at the library, which was nice since we don't get a lot of time together with just the two of us. We read about 8 books, some of them better than others. My two favorites were Bebe Goes Shopping, so Fairy got in her Spanish lesson too ;), and a really gorgeous one called Good Night, Fairies. I need to start thinking of good birthday gifts, since my "baby" will be FIVE next month.
I had my first biology test yesterday. I think it went really well, but keep your fingers crossed for me! This Saturday I'm going to an information program regarding the college program I hope to enter in the fall. Should be interesting!
Anyhow, back to actual life. We have finished ETC 2! Today I'm going to sit down with Elf and look over both 2 1/2 and 3, to decide which we want to move into next. We also decided, mutual consensus, to extend our Egypt studies a while longer, since Elf is enjoying them so much. I did decide to set aside SOTW for now, and just use all the other books we have piling up! We haven't gotten very far with the tomb project, and I am thinking it might be a little much for a 1st grader (maybe in 6th grade?), so we may just do a mummy doll and sarcophagus instead. Elf also got a gift from his best buddy A at school yesterday. A missed him while in Hawaii last week and so brought him a gift, which was sweet. I really need to set up a playdate for them.
I got a chance to sit in on Elf's new Wednesday afternoon music classes, and I really like what I saw (as did Fairy). The mom teaching the class was teaching them note value, rhythym, singing, and more. Fairy didn't want to participate, but she kept edging closer and closer to the other kids. She and I spent the time while Elf was in Spanish at the library, which was nice since we don't get a lot of time together with just the two of us. We read about 8 books, some of them better than others. My two favorites were Bebe Goes Shopping, so Fairy got in her Spanish lesson too ;), and a really gorgeous one called Good Night, Fairies. I need to start thinking of good birthday gifts, since my "baby" will be FIVE next month.
I had my first biology test yesterday. I think it went really well, but keep your fingers crossed for me! This Saturday I'm going to an information program regarding the college program I hope to enter in the fall. Should be interesting!
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Hmmm... maybe need to rethink things a little...
Elf told me yesterday that he really doesn't like SOTW. Which, in retrospect, I can see, in that he can't remember anything I read out of it for more than 30 seconds. He says he "loves" the other books on Egypt that we are reading right now, but not SOTW.
So, what do I do? Do I continue reading it to him in the hopes that he'll learn to like it? Do I just move to the original ideas behind WTM and read aloud good books? I am much more tempted by option #2. Forcing things on my two has never gone over well, and I want him to enjoy his schooling process. I want him to be intrigued and to learn because he's enjoying what we're doing.
I also need to decide if we're going to stick with the charter school or strike out on our own in the next couple of years. Pros for sticking with it: Elf really enjoys it and Fairy is looking forward to it. I do like having them in a couple of classes to be around other kids regularly. I like having so much curriculum to pick and choose from. I like not having to keep extensive records (laziness?), though I do keep some for my own peace of mind. Cons: There's testing in 2nd grade, though I think it's somewhat optional. I also believe that we may have to start following the California State Education Content Standards more than we are now, in the areas of history and science (since we are essentially on target or ahead in the other areas). Looking at them, I can tweak things I am doing now (like chronological history) to essentially fit them since I am already extending our current history cycle. But it does mean I need to weigh options carefully over the next several months. So, just in case, so I am prepared either way, I have started compiling a list of resources that I like and that would work with the aforementioned standards. So far, I've only got some bare bones of history figured out, and haven't touched science.
Just have to move forward and see!
So, what do I do? Do I continue reading it to him in the hopes that he'll learn to like it? Do I just move to the original ideas behind WTM and read aloud good books? I am much more tempted by option #2. Forcing things on my two has never gone over well, and I want him to enjoy his schooling process. I want him to be intrigued and to learn because he's enjoying what we're doing.
I also need to decide if we're going to stick with the charter school or strike out on our own in the next couple of years. Pros for sticking with it: Elf really enjoys it and Fairy is looking forward to it. I do like having them in a couple of classes to be around other kids regularly. I like having so much curriculum to pick and choose from. I like not having to keep extensive records (laziness?), though I do keep some for my own peace of mind. Cons: There's testing in 2nd grade, though I think it's somewhat optional. I also believe that we may have to start following the California State Education Content Standards more than we are now, in the areas of history and science (since we are essentially on target or ahead in the other areas). Looking at them, I can tweak things I am doing now (like chronological history) to essentially fit them since I am already extending our current history cycle. But it does mean I need to weigh options carefully over the next several months. So, just in case, so I am prepared either way, I have started compiling a list of resources that I like and that would work with the aforementioned standards. So far, I've only got some bare bones of history figured out, and haven't touched science.
Just have to move forward and see!