Happy Autumn!

My favorite season of the year! Now if only the weather would reflect the season, instead of tricking me by being cool for a day or two, and then jumping right back up into the 90s....

What We've Been Up To...

The Boy has decided he wants to go ahead and try the Big History Project with some added science, so for the time being, his homeschooling consists of math, writing, reading, and Big History/Science. Nice and simple.

So The Girl says if he gets The Big History Project, it's high time we get going with the Big Fairy Tale Project. Math, writing/spelling, reading, and fairy tales. Check. By the way, we are really enjoying The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making! It is a little bizarre, but in an appealing way.

She also really wants to stick with reading through a bunch of the Scientists in the Field series, which are excellent books. For both kids, we're actually going to have a science day once a week for hands-on explorations, using BFSU 2 and 3 as general guidelines.

The Afternoon Basket is therefore being set aside for the time being, which is okay.

The Boy loves his classes at the junior college. He was very proud this week when, after trying for the last two weeks and not quite getting it, he finally got all the measurements correct on a worksheet for Machine Tools Technology. His teacher says they need 100% on everything before they can move on to the next step. He says both his teachers are great—enthusiastic, helpful... just what one wants in a teacher! Here's a link to his art teacher's work, currently on display at the on-campus art gallery.

The Girl is getting quite proficient with dictionary use, which is nice to see. She told me yesterday though, after all the great work she's been doing with time telling worksheets, that she still doesn't really get it. Grrrr. Somewhere I have a practice clock we can try working with, or I'll just pull the clock off the family room wall, as it is one of the few I have seen that marks the minutes in 5 minute increments around the edge of the clock.

We've watched an odd assortment of movies lately, among them Dirty Dancing (enjoyed by all), and Carrie (the remake, which is pretty accurate to the original). M and The Boy watched The Ring—The Boy has definitely inherited his dad's love of horror films—and The Girl and I watched The Craft. She and I plan to watch the new Cinderella movie on the weekend, while is at the local airshow with his best buddy. I'm thinking ahead now to October/Halloween movies!

The Girl built a fairy house out of an abalone shell, shoebox, and various odds and ends. She hand-sewed the mattress and pillow herself!

So all in all, a little beginning of the year tweaking still to be done, but I am sure it will all come together!

How is your year going so far?