3D Art Projects....

A round-up of some of The Boy's art projects from his Three Dimensional Art Class at the junior college, fall 2015...

Morphing cubes

Which we are making into a hanging mobile

Our new living-room accent lamp!

A pop-up book on (what else?) car parts

Reboot...

The Boy is wrapping up his first semester at the junior college today. It's been a fabulous experience for him, almost effortless in some ways, and full of work in others. He's been elated, exhausted, enthusiastic, overloaded... and he loves it.

We had our end-of-semester check-in yesterday while driving around town on errands, and here's the plan for spring:

At the junior college:
Stellar Astronomy
Intro to Engineering

At home:
Continue with (and pick up the pace!) Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1
Complete The Lively Art of Writing
Listen in on good books, read some good books
Study, somewhat loosely, ancient-modern South Asia, and then Asia

And that's it. That's our plan for the rest of ninth grade. I'm happy with it, he's happy with it. He wants time to get back to fencing at least once a week, and to draw, read, follow some interests...


The Girl and I also had our planning meeting, albeit a shorter one. And here are her plans:

Continue with (and pick up the pace) Math Essentials
Daily spelling practice with a Scholastic book I have and Spelling City activities
Possibly return to Junior English (I think she's ready)
I'm going to have her try Dinosaur Paleobiology through Coursera (might skip unit tests) 
Listen in on good books, read some good books
Study, somewhat loosely, ancient-modern South Asia, and then Asia

We're actually going to be doing math over winter break to help catch up. We've gotten so far behind! And we need to catch up on our literature.

What-We're-Up-To-Wednesday

{An attempt at catching up a bit}

...Recently...

We hiked to the top of Bald Mountain, the day after Thanksgiving. It was very chilly (lower 40s), but so beautiful! After a couple of hours of hard hiking, we made it to the top...

The views from the top were pretty amazing! We could see the ocean, San Francisco, even the Sierra Nevada mountains 130 miles away!

And then of course, we had to hike back down, making it to the car just before dark...

...Other than that...

The Boy is wrapping up his first semester of junior college, with actual finals next week. One class was hugely successful with/for him (3D art), the other not as much (Machine Tool Technology), which he said had too much lecture time, and too many quizzes, to the point that next to no students in the class finished their actual hands-on projects. He's even been going to extra workshops, as have many other students, but still can't quite finish. The teacher is new, so I think he will be making some adjustments in future semesters.

Overall, it has been a great process for The Boy, enough so that he's signed up for two more classes in the spring! He'll be taking Stellar Astronomy (with a totally awesome teacher that I had many years ago!), and has signed up for Intro to Engineering (non-mathematical, hands-on course), which he's not quite definitely taking. I don't want him to feel overwhelmed, which he did earlier this semester.

He and I are both excited for the end of the semester partly because it means we'll have the time to read books of our own choice again. I did manage to squeeze in, and enjoy, Circling the Sun (by the author of The Paris Wife... a really good book), and it got me very intrigued by Beryl Markham, etc. So, I have West With the Night and Out of Africa waiting to be read.

The Girl has discovered my stash of Harry Potter books late Monday evening. And yesterday, in ONE DAY, she read almost 50 pages of the first book! I know... some of you will be thinking that your kids read a lot more. But she's been such a reluctant reader, and struggled so much with reading, that this is HUGE! I'm hoping the momentum keeps going.

We've been doing some math, though not nearly enough, here and there. Both kids have agreed to keep up with math over the winter "break" so that we can attempt to get caught up. And a lot of other things have drifted by the wayside too. We're gradually figuring it out... I think. As long as math and language arts get done, plus some shared literature, I think we're okay. The Boy has science for spring (which, by the way, counts for both a semester of college, and a year of high school science!). Maybe The Girl and I will tackle some biology. I'm tweaking my instructional facilitator schedule a bit so that I can be more available for my kids.

In the meantime, we're enjoying Christmas movies and music. And some Dickens books as films/mini-series, as The Boy is interested in Victorian times. Our lights are up outside, and we'll get a tree this weekend with tutoring money. The Girl and I want to do some cookie baking, and we need to figure out homemade gifts for relatives. My dad will likely still be in the nursing facility, so we'll visit him there, and then do a late Christmas with him when he goes home again (he's making good progress, by the way). The kids are happily making lists of potential stocking stuffers, and we've panned out their big gifts already, to be purchased shortly. Can I just say how grateful I am for Amazon Prime shipping?

Hope all is well in your worlds!

The Good and the Bad...

December is a holy month. Maybe it is the dark, silky silence that descends so early that speaks to me of reverence. Maybe it is the promise that December holds -- that no matter how dark, how cold, how empty it can get, the light is coming back. Something always shifts in me when December arrives -- I embrace the darkness, and am eager for the coming solstice when the whole world is still and holds its breath, waiting to be reborn again.

~Meg Casey 

Inspired by Kim over at Our Enchanted Place, I've decided I need to be more proactive around holiday planning, starting today, with Advent. We have never celebrated Advent really, other than those cheap calendars with pieces of chocolate (which we have this year too, of course).

...Ideas...

A Waldorf-inspired seasonal nature table, with something new added each week:

The first Light of Advent It is the Light of stones:
The Light that shines in seashells In crystals and our bones.

Week one: stones, crystals, shells

The second Light of Advent It is the Light of plants:
Plants that reach up to the sun And in the breezes dance.

Week two: plants, mosses, flowers, pine cones

The third Light of Advent, It is the light of beasts:
The Light of faith that we may see In greatest and in least.

Week three: animal images (wooden animals, beeswax ones, etc. Make peanut butter/birdseed treats to hang in the apple tree)

The fourth Light of Advent It is the Light of humankind:
The Light of hope, of thoughts and deeds,
The Light of hand, heart and mind.

Week four: a human image, perhaps something like this:

Other Days to Celebrate Before Christmas:

December 6: St Nicholas Day

December 22: Winter Solstice

We also need to make gifts for family, get and decorate the tree, put up our Christmas lights and homemade giant peace symbol, and clean the house with Christmas in mind. We have cookies to bake, some fudge to make, menus to plan, and things of that sort. We usually buy toys for the firefighters' toy drive too. Everyone gets one gift on the Solstice, and then the family gathering is normally on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day is just for us!

Sadly, this year is different in a not-so-good way. Over Thanksgiving weekend, my dad fell, three times. The first time, he was on the floor for about 8 hours, before my sister, who checks on him every morning, found him. We had him transported to the hospital, where they proclaimed him to be severely dehydrated. They pumped him full of fluids, and nine hours later, sent him home.

He fell again that night.

And later that afternoon. This time, the paramedics took him to a different hospital. They haven't figured out exactly what is going on, but kept him, and today he's being transferred to a rehabilitative/nursing facility. We have no idea how long he will be there, or if he'll be able to return to his "independent" living, or if he'll have to be placed in assisted living.

I have power of attorney for medical issues, so it has been a horribly long weekend. I've been staying home from work, spending hours in the hospital, etc. I did finally sleep last night, knowing that he was safe, and that he's being transferred to someplace he'll be safe too.

Homeschooling has been on the back burner, as has housework. Today I feel like the fog I've been in since Saturday morning is starting to lift.

In the meantime, I want to keep things as normal as I can at home. Hence the focus on enjoying December!

Today...

 ...Twenty years...

...Two children...

...Lots of laughter, some tears, plenty of hugs, some arguing...

...Many more years to come!...

Monday Musings...

...Over the Weekend...

We headed to the coast for a sunset. One of my favorite things about living where we do is that the beach is only about 40 minutes away.

...Outside My Window...

It is really fall! We have bouts of rain, followed by days of clear, cold (for us) beauty. Sweaters, scarves, the occasional knit hat... all are coming out of storage at last. There is green poking up through the ground everywhere.

...In Our House & Kitchen...

I am really trying to be more on the ball with menu planning. And making good use of leftovers. For example, after our hike last week, we roasted up some turkey legs. The leftover meat went for turkey nachos after the beach visit, and then the bones will make a great stock for Friday's slow cooker soup, exact recipe to be determined.

And I'm having the kids do cleaning bursts every day. Even if they only spend 10-15 minutes at a time cleaning, it makes a huge difference. And while they're cleaning one area, I tackle another one. That reminds me, we need to clean out the rain gutters again while the sun is shining!

...In Our Homeschooling...

Yesterday we got off to a great start for the week. We read in our history book; read about the sun and seasons; and did math (The Boy got 96% on his first Teaching Textbooks test!). The Girl is making fantastic progress with Mastering Math Essentials (thank you Erin!)

The rest of this week, we plan to read another few chapters of history; start The Glorious Adventure; read some more of The Hobbit; do at least 3 more math lessons; and do some Brave Writer work. The Boy will be working on brainstorming for an essay/writing project, and he'll be crafting his thesis (I'll have him use Thinking In Threes for assistance with this); The Girl will do some copywork (probably poetry); and we'll do some freewriting. I also came across an old book in my bookshelves, called Practical Exercises in Basic English, that has some good exercises for The Girl.

...Art and Such...

Our artist this month is Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and here is what we have been looking at and/or will be looking at (as always, I just print these and hang them up on the fridge):

As far as art projects, I need to pull out a few of our instructional books, and choose something to do! I think we might make these Star Wars snowflakes to decorate the front windows for the Christmas season!

...Reading and Watching...
The Girl and I are just about finished with this lovely version of Cinderella. She's still reading The Marvelous Land of Oz, between nonfiction titles on various animals, and books of poetry. The Boy, in addition to reading his textbook for machine shop/tech, is still reading Dracula. As a family, we are reading The Hobbit, which I hope to finish in time to read Kringle before Christmas, then we'll tackle the Lord of the Rings trilogy in the new year.

We watched Dodgeball not long ago, when we all just needed something ridiculously funny. This week though, The Girl asked for the first installment of The Hobbit, "to compare and contrast it, Mom." And the kids discovered a new show on Amazon called The Olympians. Meanwhile, M and I are watching old reruns of The Practice... we do enjoy a good courtroom drama! And I am partway through season 4 of Parenthood. I only watch an episode or two a week, so it will take me a while to finish.

...Also on the Agenda...
Work, and work. No derby practice right now, so we're getting exercise other ways! The Boy is working on finishing an art project on his own for class, as well as a group project done on campus. The Girl is watching BBC videos (dinosaurs, I think) she found on YouTube (she was very proud and pleased that she found those!). I'm working on my seminar paper for the end of the semester. This week is we reach our twentieth wedding anniversary, so M and I will be heading to a dinner out!

Have a great week! And here's one last picture for you, from our hike last week...

Linked up over at the Coombe Mill blog

I Couldn't Stay Away Forever...

image courtesy of oakpointchristiancenter dot com

I decided I wouldn't let my own feelings get in the way of blogging the whole thing... the whole homeschooling experience. Besides, in the time I've taken off, I've been going through, removing some personal details, and I rekindled so much passion for what I'm doing through reading of all our adventures!

...What We've Been Up To...

The Boy is only a few weeks away from completing his first semester in junior college! He loves it, and is planning on another two classes in the spring, exact classes to be determined.

I'm almost done with my class as well, and am in the throes of figuring out my seminar paper.

The Girl is reading and writing of her own accord right now, and is studying amphibians and butterflies/moths. 

I've updated our Afternoon Basket

We've been working around the house. M put in half my new patio yesterday while the kids and I were at the park.

We hiked to the top of a local mountain. From the top, we could just see the ocean, about 24 miles away (it's the tiny bit of silver in the middle of the horizon).

  

We've watched some history documentaries, played some games, and truthfully spent too much time on our respective electronic devices. 

...Realizations...

In reading through so many of my old blog posts, I found that our homeschooling, etc., are lacking in the joy and interest we used to have. I am revamping things a bit, returning to some old ways, finding some new ones, because we all miss the connection we had then, when we weren't always all doing "our own thing".

image courtesy of plus google dot com

We haven't been reading much together, working much together, or getting a lot of our homeschooling done.

Part of it is the second job I took on. While the money is necessary, the time issues are bothering me. I need to make myself take more advantage of the time we do have to actually get us on track, and keep us there.

So I made up a goals sheet for myself for each week, and a log form for keeping track of what we do learn. Once I get homeschooling back in its place, I'll tackle housework again.

Baby steps.

image found on Pinterest

We may need to homeschool on weekends, or in the evenings. We may need to implement more audio books. I know we need to turn off devices more, earn the time playing computer games, get our hands dirty, gaze at the stars, go places, read books.

...How We're Planning on Homeschooling Now...

Math 4 days a week: Teaching Textbooks for The Boy, Mastering Math Essentials for The Girl

Writing 4 days a week: I am teaching The Boy about essays, and The Girl is working on general writing skills. Brave Writer is out main approach these days.

Read-Alouds 4 days a week: History (they're short chapters) daily; literature daily; Geography once a week; science twice a week; math reading once a week

Hands-on science once a week. This may line up with our reading, and may not, though I'm hoping to keep most experiments in line with our studies.

Art projects at least once a month. The Boy is taking an art class, and The Girl does a lot of art on her own, but I enjoy completing projects together.

...What We're Leaving Behind...

No computer based courses right now.

Fewer documentaries.

Fewer rabbit trails for the moment, although they are certainly free to explore whatever they want during their own time.

...Breathing Deeply...

I feel more focused than I have in a long time. The time away from thinking about homeschooling too much, and the re-reading of how much we used to enjoy learning together, really gave me room to get back to what we enjoy, how we learn best. Simplifying, cutting out the clutter, the noise.

I feel good!

Considerations...

Let me preface this discussion by saying that I feel this blog has become stagnant, a little forced at times. It feels cluttered and too multi-directional sometimes... I have too many thoughts going on. At the same time, I have so much history here, and I wanted, at least originally, to capture all our years of homeschooling here, especially as I have seen so many blogs fall by the wayside as the kids got older.

Right now I am unsure as to my plans for this blog. I may make it private (by invitation only), I may just post erratically... I am unsure. I am changing some information on it, bit by bit, to make it feel a little more private either way.

I am still keeping up with the blogs of others though!

Our lives at the moment have become a tad slower, and I am grateful for that. We're exploring learning in a more truly relaxed and, to us, more meaningful way, gradually piecing together how we want it to look and feel for us at this point.

Take care!

It Is Time...

Time to step back for a bit, take a break from blogging, and enjoy the world around us.

Rabbit Trails...

It seems the show Human Planet is rife with opportunities for rabbit trails. We watched episode two yesterday, on people who inhabit deserts, and this is where is has led/is leading so far...

An exploration of matriarchal societies and women's roles in trading, etc., after learning about the Tubu women crossing the Sahara. While not a strictly matriarchal society, it certainly places the women in a very important role.

This discussion makes me think The Girl might enjoy How High Can We Climb? The Story of Women Explorers.

Water collection from fog leads to experimental ideas... we're talking about/planning to try different approaches to this in our backyard to see what works and what doesn't.

 We talked about the transition between childhood and adulthood, without a "teenage" era, after the segment on the Tubu women, and another on cattle herding in Mali, in which a sixteen year old boy was fully responsible for maintaining his family's cattle herd, even taking them days across the desert to a watering hole. In the segment on the Tubu, the matriarch of the group turned the directions over to her ten year old daughter on the final 20 mile trek through the Sahara, both to test her abilities to guide her camel caravan through the desert, and to ensure that future generations will be able to find the tiny well in the middle of nowhere.

We compared our current water use (58 33 gallons per day per person based on our last water bill) against the rates in Las Vegas, which is 199-208 gallons per day, per person. Of course, the average American usage of water (178 gallons per day), and even our own lower total, still far outstrip Africa's general 5 gallons per capita (Water Facts).

We even had an interesting discussion about whether socially permitted extramarital "affairs" were okay or not, after a segment on the Wodaabe people of Niger. When the rains come, which is not every year, they have fertility dances, and then men, married or not, can be chosen as lovers. They are a polygamist culture overall, so these brief interludes don't seem out of character for their beliefs. And we talked about standards of beauty, and how widely varied they are.

The next episode is on life in the Arctic... I can't wait to see where that one leads us!

Miscellany...

...I am...

trying out new recipes

finishing up Dracula for my Gothic Lit class

working too many hours

suffering from shingles or hives, to be determined -- thankfully it's in a limited area, and not spreading... just very, very itchy

enjoying working with students, despite working too many hours

realizing that without derby practice after Thursday, we'll have two more nights at home

...The Boy is...

doing exceedingly well at the junior college (with a curve adjustment due to a number of low scores on the midterm in his Machine Tools Tech class, The Boy scored 109%)... he also finished his first tool, which is a drill gauge, handmade from beginning to end

designing a synskin (fiberglass, or shoji, paper) lamp—which will be hung in the living room—for his 3D art class... here's his working model

 also reading, and really enjoying, Dracula, so we can discuss it

fencing here and there—being sick a couple of weeks ago really threw him off, and when he did fencing last Friday, he tired easily, and was really sore the next day

plugging along in math and writing, considering NaNoWriMo (young writers version)

spending spare moments playing Car Mechanic Simulator

...The Girl is...

slowly devouring The Marvelous Land of Oz

jumping ahead a bit in math

designing and developing a new comfort harness for dogs—she's hoping to launch her own (Etsy?) business by the age of 14

finishing up another season of roller derby, with plans to go back when it starts again in January

thinking about taekwondo or karate in the meantime...maybe...maybe not

reading about amphibians

working on her cooking skills

learning to play poker with M's help

...We are...

still watching Lost and having very interesting conversations about bits and pieces of it

laughing at The Worst Cooks in America

enjoying our October line-up of movies... we've watched Edward Scissorhands, Dracula, The Corpse Bride, and Sleepy Hollow so far, all with great success, although I will say The Boy enjoyed Dracula more than The Girl

trying to get history and science done—I really need to either get a handle on this, or just let go and trust unschooling these things

enjoying card games

looking forward to Halloween 

Recipe: Make Ahead Breakfast...

This week, I tried a new make-ahead breakfast, high in protein, low in sugar, and it has a little fiber. You can get 4-6 servings from this (see below).

QUINOA EGG BAKE

Ingredients

1 teaspoon butter or cooking spray
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
2 whole eggs
8-10 egg whites
1 1/4 cup milk
1/2 tablespoon garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon thyme, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 cups packed baby spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 cup finely shredded romano or parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-by-8-inch glass or metal baking dish with butter/spray; set aside.
2. Put quinoa into a fine-mesh strainer and rinse under cold running water until water runs clear; drain well.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, and quinoa. Stir in spinach, then pour mixture into prepared dish.
4. Cover tightly with foil then jiggle dish gently from side to side so that quinoa settles on the bottom in an even layer. Bake until just set, about 45 minutes.
5. Remove foil and sprinkle top evenly with cheese. Return to oven and bake, uncovered, until golden brown and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes more.
6. Set aside to let cool briefly, then slice and serve. 

Servings

4 servings = 305 calories each, with 25 g. protein, 5 g. sugar, and 2 g. fiber
6 servings = 203 calories each, with 16.6 g. protein, 3.3 g. sugar, and 1.3 g. fiber

I reheat mine in the toaster oven, set on convection bake, at 350, for 15 minutes. That gives me time to make coffee, get a nice plate set out, etc.!

Ahhhh....

Yet another week (week six?) has come and gone. Overall a good week—we're over our cold/flu thing, except for a lingering cough, but that's tolerable. And we're ready for the weekend!

...In Homeschooling...

The kids like our art of the month so far! Both have seen references to American Gothic in the past, and now they know more about it. And both said it's nice to see art on the fridge again.

The Boy worked through another few lessons in Teaching Textbooks. We had our first hiccup yesterday, when he learned about simplifying algebraic fractions. So I sat with him, worked through several examples, and I think he got it. I might have him watch a couple of videos on this topic on Khan Academy over the weekend.

He's been better this week about scheduling/regulating his homework load, which is good, because his first midterm ever is coming up next week in Machine Tool Technology! He won't say so, but I think he is a little nervous. Thankfully, he can use notes on the test, and he takes some pretty extensive notes!

The Girl is buzzing right through her multiplication and division review. What's really nice is that this year, because we've worked so hard on reading skills, she is finally reading the assignments herself! I'm adding in practice pages next week from Right Brained Multiplication & Division, just one each day, to really cement the multiplication/division tables. The more fluid she is with those, the better off she will be as we move up in math!

And reading aloud is going very well for her. She doesn't really want to do it, but she can see that she reads better than she thought she did. And she got 100% on her spelling test this week!

We started reading A Young People's History of the United States, and both kids really liked the voice of the writer (Howard Zinn). So we will definitely be continuing that, and I'm going to loosely match up episodes of America: The Story of Us. The Men Who Built America looks intriguing too, for a little later in our American historical journey. Right now the plan is to do American history until winter break, then switch to an overview of world history after that. I think we might use this book, and this series (and this one) for that. Asian history, at the request of the kids, using (most likely) this book, and this one, followed by this one, and then perhaps this one. As for documentaries, I am not sure yet!

Now that history is falling into place, I want to add science in over the few weeks, with a study of microbiology for both kids, physics/quantum physics or astronomy for The Boy, and more animals for The Girl.

...In Our General Day to Day Life...

I'm getting better at balancing two jobs, college, homeschooling, etc. Meal planning helps, as does keeping on top of basic chores. M is now in charge of Thursday dinners, since I am with The Girl at derby practice from 7-9 pm, and he's at home. And I'm getting the kids to help more, both around the house, and in doing more on their own.

We're getting ready to launch the first of who knows how many Home Improvement Saturdays. This week, I am totally overhauling the living room (small room, good to start with!), I've been using the Look Inside feature at Amazon to view this book, and the intro is my inspiration for the living room overhaul. The author, Marie Kondo, says "Start by discarding. Then organize your space thoroughly, completely, in one go." We'll see if it works! Right now the living room is sort of a depository... books, body boards, scooters, skateboards, kites, a stack or two of laundry... you get the picture. 

And we're moving the load of free bricks we got into the backyard, where M has been working hard at leveling the ground for a new patio! Next week, I will tackle the dining room, and we will work together on the slightly leaky family room roof...before the predicted winter rains get here!

The Boy should be back to fencing tonight, The Girl did fine with derby practice yesterday, and we're definitely getting some physical activity back in there—we walked around a local lake on Wednesday, then The Boy and I rode bikes to the junior college library, and back, yesterday, so I could work and he could study. It feels good to feel better.

I'll leave you with a sunset picture from our Wednesday walk...have a good weekend!

linked up over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Using What I Have...

A while back, I sent for a bunch of free dvds from HHMI... excellent resource, by the way! However, we never really got around to using them, and they are just gathering dust. Then today, I remembered seeing a free downloadable science project somewhere that looked really, really good ... did a lot of digging, and found it. It turns out that it is from HHMI, and goes with a dvd we already have!

The activity is focused on microbial ecology, and takes 6-8 weeks. There are student and teacher handouts, and it looks relatively easy to set up. Record keeping includes taking notes/making observations, comparing experimental columns to a control column, photographing changes, and sketching changes.

It goes with the lecture series Changing Planet: Past, Present, Future.

They've got a plethora of other videos, and lots of activities (some do look better than others).

I think we're going to give this one a try!

Art for October...

Artist of the Month: Grant Wood

I'm a little late getting art for the month set up (I print and display images, one at a time, on the fridge, mainly from Mark Harden's [fabulous] Artchives), so here are my three choices for October:

Fall Plowing, 1931

American Gothic, 1930

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, 1931

This year, I am also posting a brief biography of each artist, also on the fridge door.

Comparisons? No Thank You...

It hit me today that, with very rare exception (i.e. maybe once every few months), I have left all homeschooling message boards/forums. Why? Because when I do go on such boards, I automatically start comparing our style of education to those portrayed, and that often leads to feelings of panic and inadequacy. I've come to realize I don't miss those feelings, and that in fact, comparing what we do to what others do is like comparing apples to oranges.

Realistically speaking, we are far, these days, from the classical education end of the homeschooling spectrum. We don't quite fit the "standard" definition of the other end—unschooling—either. Hmmph. I guess labeling doesn't work?

I used to frequent the message boards/forums for ideas, for book lists, for reassurance that I was following the "right" path at the "right" time. Now it feels like trying to do this...

 

Maybe the error in on my part though. Maybe I need to look at use of such boards in a different light. Sometimes there are gems hidden in there, like long threads on how unschooling works, or books that delighted someone, projects that brought something to life for a child.
 
Do you like homeschooling message boards/forums? Do you find them helpful, or overwhelming? Has your view of them changed over the years?

So Much for Planning...

Last week did not work out as planned. Instead, Tuesday I came home with a sore throat and a wicked headache. The Boy's two friends had missed class on Monday due to much the same complaint, and by Wednesday, The Boy was sick too. I missed work Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday... The Boy missed school Wednesday... The Girl was sick by Thursday. We spent the days sleeping as much as we could, living on soup and hot tea, with frequent doses of elderberry, vitamin C, and echinacea.

The Boy is still not fully recovered today, and so I kept him home again. His plan is to spend the morning working on his current art class project, to get caught up, and maybe even a little ahead. I returned to one job today, but am offering only online support for the other. I tried tutoring yesterday, and ended up with a massive coughing fit partway through. The Girl has a really horrendous sounding cough still. We also missed fencing class, and an in-club tournament, derby practice, and even my class.

UGH.

About the only thing we got done, when feeling better here and there, was a little homeschooling. They both worked on math. The Boy did a lesson from The Lively Art of Writing, and did it quite well. The Girl, after complaining about her reading abilities, read out loud to me from one of her Cinderella books...and she did it beautifully. I hooked her up with some spelling words this week on Spelling City, and will continue to have her practice reading aloud throughout the week.

And we watched the first episode of Human Planet (which is very good!), and read a little from The Magic of Reality. That was it for the week, besides watching Edward Scissorhands. Oh, we also watched a lot of The Worst Cook in America, and The Great Food Truck Race, both on Netflix. I can tell when The Girl has been watching a lot of foodie shows, because then she makes desserts like this one (notice the attention to plating, and the "textural contrast" of the granola)...

Coconut Greek yogurt, with sauteed bananas and a homemade caramel sauce.

Also, during a brief bout of energy, the kids built the bottle rocket from our free Tinker Crate kit...

They launched it a number of times, trying out both the included citric acid + baking soda, as well as vinegar + baking soda. It launched well most of the time, and I think The Boy got footage on his GoPro.

My honest opinion of Tinker Crate? Well, I think they certainly serve a place in the market. If getting around to hands-on activities is hard for your family, then this is a fabulous option, as the kids can really do most, if not all, of it themselves. We've had some good fun with the one we got, but chose not to subscribe, as we aren't sure the cost is equaled in the value of the supplies/projects.

So on the agenda:
Mondays are never "school" days for us, really, as The Boy is usually gone all day, and when he gets home in the early evening, after a full day of classes, I hate to make him do more. Hopefully by tomorrow we will be getting back to normal.

More math -- this is going very well right now. I have The Girl working on various lessons in multiplication, division, and place value, from Math Mammoth. She likes that I am mixing it up a bit, so she's not doing just one thing every day. The Boy hasn't gotten anything below 96% on a lesson yet in Teaching Textbooks.

Language Arts --  The Boy will hopefully finish chapter 1 in The Lively Art of Writing. The Girl will be working on spelling, reading aloud, and maybe some work from her old Writing Skills book.

The Boy is studying for his first midterm, which he is very glad will be an open-note test.

I want to get back to having some sort of physical activity planned for each day, but right now that depends on the coughing fits.

We'll probably watch another episode of Human Planet, read some more from The Magic of Reality, get in another few chapters of The Shakespeare Stealer, and some more Cinderella.

Besides homeschooling, I am taking my dad to the doctor this week for a follow-up. I plan to return to my junior college on-campus office hours Wednesday, and I have somewhere around 60 essays to grade over the next week or so. The Boy hopes to get back to fencing by Friday, and The Girl back to derby by Thursday. We are really hoping to hang out with friends on Friday, as we haven't seen them in two+ weeks, due to one thing or another.

I had a brief burst of usefulness yesterday evening too, and made a giant bowl of pasta salad, and a big pot of butternut squash-orange-ginger soup.

We'll watch Sleepy Hollow, or maybe Beetlejuice, this week for family movie night, and at some point soon, the kids and I will be watching Sweeney Todd (M has no interest in re-watching it).

We also need to catch up on housework...again. I had a burst of energy last week, before getting sick, and cleaned the kitchen and living room, and had the kids clean the family room. Unfortunately, things fell back apart after that, but I think we'll catch up again fairly quickly.

On my way out for the day, here's a picture of our nature observation from a few days ago... spider versus bee, and the spider won:

Anyhow, have a good week!

Monday Musings...A Meeting of Minds...

Sorry for the lower quality of the picture, but here is The Boy meeting Richard Dawkins! We attended a lecture and book signing on the beautiful Dominican University campus yesterday, taking my dad, a long-time Dawkins fan, with us. We listened to about an hour of anecdotes and side notes, then lined up to get our books signed. Unfortunately, my dad, due to mobility issues, could not go up on stage to get his book signed...so Richard Dawkins came to him! (He's sitting behind The Boy in this picture) We got to chat for a couple of minutes, and then Dawkins was off to an evening engagement. Still, it isn't every day that we get to meet a great scientific mind and Nobel Peace Prize winner!

Outside My Window...
Temperatures are moving into the seventies more often, though we are expecting some higher eighties late in the week. We had tremendous wind over Saturday night, and saw dry (sheet) lightning miles away. The winds blew almost all the leaves off the cherry and maple trees, though the olive tree is still looking quite good, and the olives are almost ready for picking.

In Our Kitchen...
Both M and The Girl requested a "vegetarian experiment", so I've happily been re-exploring favorite vegetarian recipes (I was a vegetarian for 6 years, then vegan for two). My mom gave me a plenitude of zucchini, eggplants, bell peppers, and onions, so over the weekend, I made a favorite roasted eggplant and tomato soup, and a giant pot of ratatouille. I then made a ratatouille lasagna as well, which was a big hit! Also on the menu this week are a vegetarian pot-pie (with mushrooms, peas, carrots, celery, onion, red potatoes, and a homemade onion-mushroom-veg broth gravy), and my own version of Japanese noodle bowls, with miso broth.

Around the House...
Our cleaning routine needs work. Enough said.

In Our Homeschooling...
I know we're doing math and writing/language arts. The Boy will be doing at least 4 lessons from Teaching Textbooks, and 1-2 sections in the Lively Art of Writing. The Girl will be working on spelling, and will do at least 4 lessons from Math Mammoth. I know I wrote a glowing review here about the language arts book I had gotten for her, but the writing prompts actually frustrated her to tears, so I have set it aside for the moment. Not sure where we're going with writing for her from here. She wants to focus on reading more fluently -- she can read fairly well now, but still on the slower side, and it worries and frustrates her, so we're going to buzz through a review of Reading Pathways, from which I will also be pulling her spelling words.

As for history, science, etc., I'm leaving those looser this week (though please see reading and watching below). I know the kids want to complete at least another project or two from the free Tinker Crate we had gotten.

Reading and Watching...
We'll be reading more of The Shakespeare Stealer. We may start re-reading The Magic of Reality this week, and I have put the first volume of Howard Zinn's A Young People's History of the United States on hold at the library. The Boy is reading Douglas Adams and Richard Dawkins on his own, and The Girl is still working through Ballet Shoes. I'm cramming my way through Bleak House for my class, and am eager to read the Dawkins biography I got yesterday. The Girl and I are reading various Cinderella books together, and that's lots of fun!

As for watching, we viewed Sahara on Saturday (which led to a discussion on refugees and the current Syrian crisis), and I'm going to try to talk the kids into watching the first episode of Human Planet tonight. Or we'll watch an episode of Once Upon a Time! Movie night this week will be something from my growing October list...maybe Sleepy Hollow, Edward Scissorhands, or Beetlejuice.

Also on the Agenda...
Both kids are (temporarily) down to one practice session a week (fencing, derby), though The Girl says that this Sunday's practice might be the only missed one. I have on-campus hours, school, and work, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. We plan to get in some physical activity every day, and make some time for cuddled-up-on-couch read alouds.

Update on the Meltdown from Last Week...
So we had the almost meltdown last week. The Boy has agreed to come with me to campus on Thursday afternoons, for two solid and quiet hours of study time. We are making an effort to start out our Monday mornings (he has classes at the junior college, I have work) with breakfast together, which was really nice today. He's chosen one day of the week for fencing - one that generally has a high attendance rate, so lots of people to fence. We talked about setting aside some time every day to study or work on his art projects as well, and maybe heading to bed half an hour earlier for some relaxed reading time. He has not decided yet of he wants to move forward with the Big History Project. He says he's very interested in it, but wants to get in a better routine for math, and writing, and homework first.

Have a good week!

End of the Week...

This week, we...

...had a meltdown of sorts.

...played You've Been Sentenced (which, by the way, is a great, and fun, way to work with language).

...laughed our way through an episode of Drunk History, learning about scientist Percy Julian; the [teenage] woman behind Rosa Parks—Claudette Colvin; and fighting champion Joe Louis. The first two parts were the best—our sides were aching from laughing!

...did some math. The Boy is doing very well with Teaching Textbooks, and The Girl is plugging away with Math Mammoth. I plan to break out Totally Tut over the weekend for some operations review with both.

...read some more of The Shakespeare Stealer.

...watched the eclipse as the moon rose.

...spent a while gazing at the moon through binoculars the following night, and talking about how the moon influences the tide.

...decided we miss hanging out on the couch reading together. 

...started making a list of October movies to watch, among them The Addams Family (the first one is best), Sleepy Hollow, The Corpse Bride, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hocus Pocus, Beetlejuice, Arsenic & Old Lace, Edward Scissorhands, and maybe Sweeney Todd. (Do you see the awesome Depp theme running through there? What does that say about us, or him?)

The Boy...

...worked on his 3D art project, which is a pop-up book he is making about...CARS (surprise!)!

...finally got to use some power (and hand) tools in his Machine Tool Technology class.

...worked on some video editing.

...detailed the inside of my car. It hasn't been this clean in years!

The Girl...

...worked on a lovely art project with her dad (I'll post pictures soon), as well as about 5 or 6 other art projects.

...read Smoky Mountain Rose for her Cinderella studies.

...finished her spelling for the week, with 100% on her test. 

...devoured a few episodes of The Life of Mammals, as well as a couple of shows on undersea creatures.

..helped cook a couple of dinners, and made some fantastic black-bean brownies. I'll share the recipe soon!


Linked up over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Overload...

I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that don't work. ~ Thomas Edison

That's my mantra for the moment.

Yesterday, The Boy had a two hour fencing class on his schedule. He came to me and said "Mom, I don't want to go today. I feel like we never have any time. We have fencing, and derby, and school, and we're barely homeschooling, and I have homework. We don't have any time." His face (none of us are good at hiding emotions) was pinched and upset.

So we emailed his fencing coach, and asked about drop-ins for the time being. His coach was delighted to hear that he wanted to come even with everything else going on, and understood too why we need to back off from two classes a week. He offered us a great drop-in rate too. Then The Boy and I talked about his school load, and scheduling homework time more effectively. I explained that the Big History Project, etc., could be done when he has time... at his discretion. That all he needs to do for me is math, and writing, and I want to see him pursue interests. We can squeeze in more story reading, or lunch time documentaries, and time out in nature.

His face relaxed, and he smiled!

He built an intricate Keva plank structure, chatted on the phone with his best buddy. We ordered pizza, and watched an episode of Chopped, with teen chefs, as a family. We played a few rounds of You've Been Sentenced. Totally the right move at the time.

Yes, college has been a learning curve for him, definitely. Being accountable to a teacher, following a syllabus -- all new territory, but he's navigating it very well overall. I don' want him feeling overloaded at home, so I am absolutely fine backing off on some of the academics (just not math and writing), and the fencing classes. I don't want him to feel like this...

Any words of advice on balancing the busy life of a teen?

Block One of the Fairy Tale Project...

The Girl and I vastly enjoyed watching Cinderella over the weekend, so we are starting our fairy tale studies with Cinderella.

The plan at this point is pretty simple... she'll read selections from the following list, at the rate of 2-3 books a week, and I will be reading to her from a longer version.

Cinderella Stories for The Girl to read:
Domitila (Mexican)
Adelaida (Cuban)
Smoky Mountain Rose (American, Appalachian)
Little Gold Star (Spanish American)
Perrault's Cinderella (French)
The Orphan (Greek)
Egyptian Cinderella (Egyptian)
The Turkey Girl (Zuni)
Persian Cinderella (Persian)
Yeh-Shen (Chinese)
Korean Cinderella (Korean)
Angkat (Cambodian)
Anklet for a Princess (Indian)
The Golden Sandal (Middle Eastern)
The Way Meat Loves Salt (Jewish)
Abadeha (Philippine)
Tam and Cam (Vietnamese)
Cendrillon (Caribbean)
The Salmon Princess (Alaskan)

And the longer version I am reading aloud, with amazing illustrations (I love Arthur Rackham):

Besides that, we'll watch a few movies, such as Ella Enchanted, Ever After, and likely the original Disney version. We'll be discussing the differences in the various versions, book and film, and I may use a guide to discussion (or I may not!).