Okay, what I bought...

This is what I bought from Amazon:

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• 1 of: Lewis and Clark for Kids : Their Journey of Discovery with 21 Activities (For Kids series)
• 1 of: Nonfiction Reading Practice Grade 5 (Nonfiction Reading Practice)
• 1 of: How it works: how math works (How It Works)
• 1 of: HTML for the World Wide Web with XHTML and CSS: Visual QuickStart Guide, Fifth Edition
• 1 of: How body works (How It Works)
<>1 of: How it works: how nature works (How It Works)
• 1 of: A Young Person's Guide to Music
• 1 of: How it works: how the universe works (How It Works)
• 1 of: Janice VanCleave's Geometry for Every Kid : Easy Activities that Make Learning Geometry Fun (Science for Every Kid Series)
• 1 of: Mapping the World by Heart Lite 7th Edition
• 1 of: Logic Liftoff
• 1 of: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geography, Second Edition
• 1 of: The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia Of World Geography with Complete World Atlas (Geography)
• 1 of: Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters (Bright Ideas for Learning)
• 1 of: Leonardo da Vinci for Kids : His Life and Ideas, 21 Activities (For Kids series)

And this is what I bought from Rainbow:
Building Writing Skills Grade 4 & 5 (hoping this is good, taking a chance)
How Science Works
How Things Work
Metric System placemat
Constellations placemat
Notebook Science Fact Book
an organizational skills book
Pentime Cursive Grade 5
Spectrum Test Practice
Step-by-Step Spreadsheet Activities for Excel
SOTW II activity book
SOTW II CD's
Switched on Schoolhouse Science 5

Can you tell my kid likes science?

I will also be using audible.com to download three Hakim volumes onto a CD (If I can figure out how to do that)

We'll be using some of these things this summer but most in the fall. I also have already purchased reading books, Civil War for Kids, tons of Cornerstone of Freedom books, tons of scholastic biographies, etc. I still have to buy Rod and Staff English. We'll be using Lial's BCM for math again. I plan to use it for 5th and 6th grade. Which is why I bought VanCleave's geometry book because my son won't get to geometry this year. We'll work on that this summer. I'm sure it will be light fluff but enough to get his feet wet and cover bases if it's covered on our standardized test. He's already had geometry exposure with Singapore math so I'm not that worried.

We used American Revolution for Kids this year and we really enjoyed that book, so I bought the Civil War last time I was in civilization (i.e. a bookstore) and it's good, too. I'm anxious to see the do DaVinci and Lewis and Clark books.

I'm still not sure how to approach writing. I may just teach him how to outline and go without a program. I don't know. I've got plenty of time to think that through. I could just use Rod and Staff. ???

Garage Sales

This afternoon after lunch I looked around the house and all our hard work from yesterday disappeared. It was really messy again. Now most people would dive in and get it straightened up. Not me. I wanted out, so I grabbed the newspaper, highlighted the garage sales that were going on this afternoon, gave my son $5 and the door we went.

At our first garage sale I spent a whopping .55 for a really nice Grand Canyon book and -- don't laugh -- a cleaning book for me. (I collect cleaning books like some people collect cookbooks.) The woman holding the sale was very nice and friendly and I told her how beautiful her garden was. She had a garden that ran alongside her driveway with gorgeous flowers. I asked if they were Sweet William and she told me no, they were called Pinks. I could have sworn they were Sweet William. In fact, they were identical to what I planted two years ago, which were Sweet William. She said no, she was a master gardener and in fact they were Pinks. Perplexed, the first thing I did when I arrived home was google Sweet William and Pinks only to be relieved to find they are both Dianthus and I wasn't so crazy. Upon further research, I know that she actually had both Pinks and Sweet Williams.

I'm really funny this way, because I feel compelled to know the correct answer to life's little questionable conversations. We were both right. Nonetheless, they were gorgeous.

This same lady had some yellow perennial that she didn't know what it was and she dug one flower up for me. She told me she's giving one to everyone who comments about her flowers because they spread so fast, she wants rid of them, but appreciates compliments on her garden. I planted it in my garden and wished she would have given me three instead of one. I might have my husband drive by her sale and get me another. lol I offered to pay for it, but she said no.

We went to about ten sales total. Nothing to write home about, really, but we did pick up some Scholastic reading books for my son for ten cents apiece. I also got a four-tiered letter stacking tray for 50 cents. I wanted one for our homeschool table and knew they'd be a dime a dozen at sales.

The most fun part of our afternoon romp was what my son decided to purchase. We went to one sale that had a beautiful hibiscus plant for $2.50. He went straight for it. It surprised the proprietors, but not me. I was so very proud as he stood there asking question after question on the proper care of his hibiscus. What kind of sun should it get? Will it die in the winter? He was delighted to find he can bring it indoors and it will continue to grow. "Should I fertilize it?" was his final question. Just a cute moment. The proprietors were so taken with him that they cut the price in half. The man said, "You are such a nice young man that I think you deserve 50% off." Thomas's eyes grew huge and he gleamed.

He's not a "typical" boy. Yes, he loves frogs, toads, bugs and mud. He also has a very gentle and loving spirit that can appreciate flowers. He just makes me smile. He's my flower and it is so much fun watching him bloom.

Catching Up

Thanks for all the comments regarding my last entry. I talked to my dad who stopped me before I even got into the excuses and reassured me that it was not necessary for me to come, that he completely understood, that gas prices were horrible and to get over the guilt trip. Then he said, "It's okay because your sister will be here." lol Okay, so it wasn't completely guilt-free, but I do feel much better about my decision. And bless her little pea-picking heart, my sister is now and has always been dad's favorite so he's happy that she will be there. And that really does make me happy, too. After I got to thinking about it, I have spent nine out of his last 13 birthdays with him, plus I have visited for up to a month each summer for the past eight years. So guilt-trip over.

My birthday is the day after his, so for once I'll be able to spend mine the way I want to.

With summer vacation upon us, we have turned into lazy bums! Our daily chore cards flew out the window, we have been staying up late, getting up late and aside from the house being a pit, we've been having a ball. Thomas and I have been playing games every single day, have been going to the park a lot, have been going for long walks. Thomas has been going on long bike rides with his dad, too. Try as they might, I won't join them on the bike rides. Yes, I have a nice bike. Yes, I have a gel seat. Yes, I have lots of extra padding on my body. But still -- riding a bike hurts! Even though I have all that extra padding, I am still boney and I just won't bear that.

Yesterday we decided to come back into the real world and started working on chores again. We're putzing around the house slowly and getting it back into shape. It is amazing how quickly a house will go to ruins when you don't do very much. We mowed the back of our property where my husband just refuses to mow. The grass was knee-deep. I don't get my husband and I never will, but it looks better now. I told Thomas that he is not done mowing until everything is mowed. My husband always tells him to stop and the shed line. I told Thomas that he is with me 24/7 and with his dad only six hours a day -- who would he rather have mad at him? lol That was a no brainer.

I placed my big school orders earlier this week. Living in the boonies, in a place with no bookstores, I had to use Amazon. What is it with Amazon now? Earlier in the year I placed a $190 order (I think it was that much) and a month later they emailed and said it wouldn't be shipping for a few more weeks. I cancelled the order. This time I ordered $250 worth of books and they are coming in bits and pieces, and one of those pieces isn't supposed to ship until the end of June. That's just not good customer service, IMHO. I also placed a big order with Rainbow Resources. When I was done giving her the order, I asked why I hadn't received a new catalog. I told her that is my homeschooling bible. I read that catalog more than I read any other homeschooling resources, including my Rebecca Rupp books. I was just sure that it came every year in the spring. She told me it is set to ship out mid-June and that it was new, improved and I was going to like it even better. Is that possible? Did they add more secular products? That would get me to like it even better.

While I am a Christian, there are few Christian products I like to use. Christians have differences ranging from night to day, and I'm a liberal Christian, not the mainstream, and I don't like bible passages on every page. My son had requested Switched on Schoolhouse Science again this year, and that one I can handle because it is easy to just skim over the religious parts. Usually a sentence or two, sometimes a paragraph, it's easy to jump down and get to the meat. I would have ordered the secular version of SOS but it was twice the price.

We will start summer school next week. We are going to work on art, spelling, history, math, science and a review of grammar. I suppose we'll do more than that, but that not much. It will be a relaxed pace, much different than our school year, and I'm going to try to get my son to take the initiative on when and how the work gets done. We'll see how that flies. I don't think we'll get far with that. lol

Well, my son just announced, "Hairball on aisle 5." My kitty got sick so I need to go clean it up. Never a dull moment.

A Very Tough Decision

I had to make a very tough decision. I am feeling extremely guilty for my choice.

My dad will turn 80 at the end of the month. Dad lives two days away from me. My tough decision is that I decided not to go "home" for his birthday.

He won't be alone on his birthday, my sister and one or both of her kids will be there. Still, my son and I should be there to help him celebrate because it is such a big deal. I worry that my dad will feel let down. I worry that by not attending, I am teaching my son to not be supportive of family.

On the other hand, every single time I go somewhere it is to visit dad. Period. Okay, we went to South Carolina last November only because my husband was working there and his company paid for my son and I to fly out, for the motel, and for our rental car.

Every year I spend hundreds of dollars getting to Denver and back. Three times in the past eight years we have gone to Indiana with my dad, my sister and her kids. Dad grew up in Indiana and he wanted us to attend his family reunions. Even though we were in dad's car, he paid for gas and motels, I still spent hundreds of dollars on the trips.

I don't mean to sound unappreciated. I loved our trips to Hoosier land very much. I loved meeting family, renewing some relationships, and seeing the country. I loved, even more, the trip down memory lane -- going on a family vacation with dad. It took me back to my childhood. I loved his stories. I loved finding ancestors' graves. I loved researching our genealogy. I also love going to dad's house, cleaning for him. (I am always cleaning for him!)

Now we are a one-income family. I used to be a professional bringing in a nice salary. In fact, I was the sole support of this family while my husband went back to school for his degree. Now I feel it's more important to be mom and teacher. With that, I knew money would be tight. It is, we make due, and have a good life. Nothing extravagant, but our needs are met.

We have some major projects we have to do. We need a new roof. We need some new windows. We need to evaluate our transportation and update. Money, money, money.

Here comes the guilt. I am putting my needs before that of my dad's.

From a different perspective, traveling is difficult for me. In the summer, my right leg swells up terribly. Who knows why. The doctor gave me water pills. It is painful and uncomfortable. It takes two days to drive to dad's. We cannot afford airline tickets. Amtrak is five hours away and due to my leg, I cannot sleep in coach for one night or I wouldn't be able to walk the next day. When we take Amtrak to Denver, I get a room in a sleeper car. I'm a good shopper and it's usually cheap. Not in the summer. Can't afford it now. Last summer I drove us down. My leg was swollen the whole visit. It was a long haul and I was physically exhausted and in pain.

I also have a little phobia. I hate driving into Denver. Really, I hate it. The last three times I've driven in, we've experienced scary situations. Once, I was driving on I-25 and a car entered and almost drove right into me. I couldn't get over because of traffic. I shook violently. It was very close at high speeds. Another time, I was driving down 6th Ave with what I would consider "medium" traffic. Top a hill and right in my lane is a mattress! I had to slam on my brakes and I was barely able to get out of the lane. I have had nightmares over that mattress.

Finally, the worst was our visit last June. Hating driving into Denver as I do, I went a different route. We drove through South Dakota and Wyoming. (Took my son to see my inlaws.) We spent the night at a friend's house in Cheyenne. I got up at 5 am on a Sunday morning thinking the traffic would be next to nothing going into Denver. We were on the road at 5:30 am. What I didn't take into account were drunk drivers on their way home from late-night partying.

Driving on I-25, just past the Wyoming/Colorado border, before 6am, there was very little traffic. It was wonderful. Until I saw the car swerving in my rear view mirror. I slowed way down and got over as far as I could when it passed me. Sadly, the truck in front of me did not. The drunk hit the truck. The truck spun wildly. I slammed on my brakes, watched the truck come to a stop in the median. Thankfully the guy was able to walk and was only "banged" up. I stayed with the man until the Highway Patrol arrived. The drunk driver was never caught.

So anyway, I now have a horrible phobia of driving into Denver. Face it, I live in a town with a population of 10,000 and 3/4 of that is senior citizens. It's slow. Fast paced city driving is not my thing anymore.

Dad had two strokes last October. Thankfully they were mild and he's doing just fine. I needed to get there but I couldn't drive. We took Amtrak because I was able to get a cheap sleeper car. Thomas and I stayed almost three weeks while dad was recovering. Thank goodness for homeschooling, we just packed it up and did school in his living room. But...I couldn't drive.

So here I am. I'm afraid to drive into the city of Denver. My health isn't the greatest which makes long-distance driving miserable. I'm broke and can't fly. My dad will suffer as a result.

I feel like a heel. I also would like a little fun money to do some fun things this summer. If we went to Denver, that fun money is gone forever.

This was a tough choice. I'll probably feel guilty over it until my dying day. Ugh.

Finally

I am happy to report that tonight, at 8:06 pm, we officially finished 4th grade. (We had to finish one leg of the standardized test and did it after supper.)

Whew. Thomas is excited for summer break and bouncing off the walls.

Mom will take a good two weeks (at least) to recover from the school year.

It was a good year.

Mom's opinion on the best thing we did this year: Make a school room. Although we still do a lot at the kitchen table, having it all in one spot was wonderful. The sense of ownership my son felt with the room (he applied the decorations, helped clean and organize) was well worth it.

Thomas thought the best thing we did this school year was our early-November trip to South Carolina. (This comes in as a very close second for me.)

Worst thing this year: ??? Neither Thomas nor I can come up with anything.

Things I'll change for next year: Well, this is a no brainer. With two years under my belt, I know that we will do a few weeks of summer school so that we can take off a few weeks in the spring. Spring and cabin fever hits hard in Minnesota and in February and March, I am climbing the walls.

I can't believe my baby is now a fifth grader. Where does time go!

How did they do it?

I want to know how people survived before central air. I'm dead serious.

This weekend we took down five of our kitchen windows, stripped them down to bare wood, and managed to get a primer coat on. Then we put the windows back on because it is supposed to rain tonight.

In the meanwhile, our air conditioner kept flipping the circuit breaker off and we decided not to run it until having it serviced -- hopefully tomorrow. And it would have been stupid to run it anyway with the windows off.

Of course, as my luck has been running, it was in the 90s here this weekend. Humidity was well above 60.

I am beat. I have a problem with my right ankle and in the heat it swells. I cannot get a shoe on tonight it is so swollen. I am drenched. The house is hotter than outside, even though I went out and bought two fans. Every time I move I sweat like a pig.

Last night to cool off and relax, I sat in front of a fan doing Sudokus. I started feeling cool and so I moved the fan. It was tolerable. Then I checked the thermometer: 92 degrees. In the house.

I am a wimp. I keep the thermometer at 70-72 year round. WHINE!

When we watched the parade this morning, I was so wet from heat/sun that I thought I might pass out. I don't know how much water I drank, but it was quite a bit. I did notice that all the people around me were also sweating, so that made me feel a little less -- well, whiney.

I feel very childish complaining about the heat. I mean, there is are a lot worse things in life to endure. I guess I can fall back on the medical condition: heat-induced edema, I believe the doctor called it. I was told to stay out of the heat. I keep thinking of my mother, at my age, who had to turn her oven on and bake every day in the hot summer heat. I think of my grandparents and ancestors who had to wear more clothes than we do today. Ugh.

Then my thoughts turn back toward my windows. It's supposed to be dry here tomorrow through Friday. So DH will take them back off, we'll finish the frames and put a couple coats of paint on the windows themselves and then have eight more to worry about. I'm hoping for 70ish weather this week so we can get it done. It was so hot we seemed to be working in slow motion this weekend.

On a less whiney note, I wanted to share this. I haven't blogged a lot because I didn't have a lot to talk about in the homeschool realm. I have always tried to keep this pretty much on the topic of homeschooling. Well, that's going to be impossible this summer. So I'm going to blog about life in general, hopefully throwing something homeschool related in here and there through the summer. In fall I'll be back to mostly homeschool stuff again.

My hat is off to whomever invented central air conditioning. Hopefully ours will be up and running tomorrow which in turn will help my ankle/leg get back to its normal size which in turn will make it easier for me to actually walk and get things done in a more timely and less hobbled manner.

Memorial Day

Today my son marched in his very first parade, our town's small Memorial Day parade. He marched with his Cub Scouts pack. I'd share a picture but our camera's batteries died right as my husband was about to snap the photo.

I had many thoughts racing through my head as we arrived at the landing area then watched the parade.

My first thought was this was way too small of a parade. The whole lineup was way too short. Our local military personnel were at the front of the line followed by three cars of VFWs. A troop of Girl Scouts was next, the local Boy Scouts, then the Cub Scouts. The local high school marching band ended the parade. It passed by us in about two minutes. It is too bad the parade was so "small." These people deserve so much more.

My husband and I discussed the fact this was the first time we ever attended the Memorial Day parade. This should be the parade we always attend to show support of our troops and those who fought for us in the past. My husband and I both have fathers who are veterans of World War II. We should know to say thank you and show support. I pledge to attend the parades from here on out.

As I looked at all our young military men and women in their uniforms, I kept uttering the mantra "I can support the troops but not the war" in my head. Over and over I repeated that thought.

Last week a local serviceman was killed in Iraq at a roadside bombing. There was a prayer and moment of silence for him at the flag ceremony following the parade. My heart ached for him, his family and friends.

Lastly, I cannot help but mention how many homeschoolers I saw. There weren't a lot of children at the parade or at the ceremony. Most of them were in scouts. Except for the homeschoolers. I was amazed at the turnout of homeschoolers.

I couldn't help but think about the differences between me and the other homeschoolers. I was there to support my country, the troops, all people who have served in the military, my ancestors who were veterans, and my son. I was not there to support a war. In the back of my mind I kept thinking about the homeschoolers I saw. Many are the type that have signed photos of President Bush displayed in their homes. Yes, I've seen the photos. They are the type that support the war. I am not.

It made me glad to live in a country where we can have differences of opinions, but sad, too. Even though I feel they're wrong, I support their freedom of choice. On the other hand, they are constantly belittling and condemning the liberals. Liberals are not patriotic. Liberals are flag burners. Liberals are evil. Yes, I have heard these comments from fellow homeschoolers. While I am not really a liberal, I am a moderate, I am a liberal in their eyes. I believe in freedom of choice. I just want to say that liberals are not evil, and that yes, liberals can be patriotic. Very patriotic.

Thank you to all our service people, past and present.

Need a free spelling program?

Everyday Spelling by Scott Foresman/Pearson has a new program. Their entire 1st - 8th grade spelling lists are online. There are also practice review tests that are identical to the type found on the CAT5 standardized test! Excellent practice if you need it. Trust me, we need it.

Granted, it is not the entire program. But free graded spelling lists? Free practice tests? Why not!

I still love Sequential Spelling, but I'm really torn. My son is not a good speller. He does really well with Sequential Spelling, but I think that I'm going to give him a spelling list from Everyday spelling every week just for more practice or more variety.

after all that planning. . .

My son comes up to me tonight and says, "Mom, will you please buy Switched on Schoolhouse for science for next year? Please?"

He did that in third grade and loved it. We talked about the fact that it is a Christian curriculum. He said, "Well, mom, we are Christians, after all." Yeah, you're right, we're the nonchurch-going, nonpreaching, myob type. lol

Okay. Switched on Schoolhouse for science it is. That will make my life a whole lot easier.

Bluch

Double-ear infection, sinusitis, and bronchitis. My whining is justified, cough-cough.

With all that, school got done this week. Friday was a very light day with reading and writing, but the writing took a long time. We also went to the library. (And of course I run into another homeschooler when I am coughing like a maniac, I am wearing NO makeup, my hair is pulled back and I look like an idiot.) Isn't that just peachy? lol

Our standardized test arrived in today's mail, so we'll be doing our test prep book next week and possibly starting the testing or waiting until the following week. I think Thomas will do very well again this year with the exception of spelling.

I have continued with my planning spree. I think that I am actually going to follow The Well-Trained Mind's suggestion for the Reader's Digest How It Works series of science books. I think we'll do How the Earth Works and How Science Works next year. If we do, we'll have to do science every single day because there is a lot of info in those books and a whole school year would be more adequate to cover everything in one book. My library had two books in that series, of course not the two I want to do next year, but my husband and I looked them over last night. We both think they jump around a lot and don't give a lot of supporting information. My kiddo is one who reads something on science and says: MORE. I think it will work, though.

We're going to do three Hakim books next year. Book 4, 5 and 6. We'll cover 4 and 5 the first semester and book 6 the second semester. I am toying with the idea of joining audible.com and getting the books on CD. Okay, so I have no idea how to download an audio file, let alone how to make a CD from the download. I am so behind the times. It's high-time I learn!

I'll be buying SOTW II on CD.

That's it for now, I'm ready for a long nap.

Tell me why!

Tell me why I love planning so much?

Tell me why I spend hours planning next year's school, finishing it, and then:

completely change my mind.

Tell me why I do this. I am going to have to quit blaming my gray hair on my husband and son and owning up: I do it to myself.

I suppose it's best that I change my mind now rather than jump ship mid-year.

Oy!

Our Rainbow Day

I am still very sick. I think I have both of the viruses that are going around right now. I am not a happy camper.

When I woke up this morning, I was craving a fountain pop. (For you southerners, that's a soda or Coke, but of the diet persuasion.) I love that whole pop/soda/Coke debate -- I'm a pop girl. Anyway, I decided to take Thomas through McDonald's drive-thru so I could get a pop. Of course I had to get an Egg McMuffin, too, and hoped it would nourish me not make me any sicker. (I was fine.) Thomas was delighted to get some pancakes. (Okay, don't tell my husband, but we did this yesterday morning, too.)

So on the way to McD's, we saw the biggest, brightest, most beautiful and complete rainbow! It was one of the prettiest rainbows I had seen in years. We even pulled over just to look at it. We started talking about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I told Thomas that I had a feeling today was going to be a lucky day. I was just sure good things were going to happen.

We ate, we schooled, I took a nap while Thomas read a stack of Titanic books, we schooled some more. When we finished school, Thomas told me I was wrong, that it had not been a lucky day after all. I reminded him it was only 4:00 and the day was not over.

My husband came home from work and took Thomas to play basketball. On the way out the door, he whispered in my ear that he was going to stop and buy Thomas a new bike on the way home with the last of our income tax return money. I just smiled.

Thomas came home thrilled, jumping up and down, yelling, "Mom, mom, come look!" DH had to do something before he could get the bike out of the van. I went out to the van, pulled the bike out and Thomas jumped on. He did not have his helmet on. He rode down our driveway, hit the brakes and the back wheel was off the ground, the bike was flying up, he was flying off -- luckily he didn't get hurt. His eyes were huge, he ran to the house and emerged with his helmet. It's tricky learning a new bike. Especially one with 21 gears. And shocks. Gosh, I loved my plain-Jane banana-seat bike in the 70s, I wouldn't have known what to do with all those gears.

So it was Thomas's lucky day. And he reminded me of that. "Mom, you were right!"

The day still was not over. It gets even better.

While Thomas was riding his bike, I checked the mailbox. I about took a spill when I went through our mail. Mixed in the stack of bills was a check from my doctor's office. Last fall I had a mamogram and for some strange reason the insurance company refused to pay for it. They sent special forms for my husband to fill out and send back but he didn't. They sent the forms each month for three months and my husband didn't do anything. So I paid the bill, then threw a fit telling my husband he needed to take care of my insurance. Actually I threw more than a fit. ;-) I had totally forgotten about paying the $365.

So my lucky day was getting an unexpected check in the mail for $365. Wow, now I have gas money to go visit family this summer! I showed the check to my husband and told him it's going into MY account for our summer gas fund. Of course he had no objections, tee hee.

I don't really believe in luck. I think things just happen. If I believed in luck, today definitely was our lucky day.

Writing

Two days ago I made a general list of everything we've done this year in sort of a portfolio form. One thing severely lacking was writing. Time to step up to the plate, ignoring my wait until 5th grade to start theory.

Yesterday I taught my son to use the four-square writing method. He wrote a really nice paragraph for me using that method. Next I decided we'd tweak it a bit and do a five-paragraph story using the same method. What I thought would be quick wasn't. I was so mad at myself. Why didn't I make him do more than journal this year. He did write a few stories on his Alphasmart this year, but bad mom.

In the afternoon after we'd done other things, I decided to get out our Writing Trails in American History book. We went through the example chapter and then I had him start the lesson on Paul Revere. It took forever for him to look three words up in the dictionary and put them in his own words in the book. Again, it took forever to look up those same words in the thesaurus and come up with the new words for the book. Yikes. Oh, he has dictionary skills. He's been using both a dictionary and thesaurus for the past year. His mind just wanders when he does things he doesn't like.

Next he had to do the key-word outline. That went very well. I was surprised.

Finally he had to do a rough draft report. He finished half and then we had to leave for scouts.

This morning I got out the book first thing. Whine, groan, moan. Immediately. Once he got his attitude adjusted (mom stating it's the law, kid, you have to - lol) he set out to work. He finished the rough draft. Since this was his first, I went through it with a green marker -- he loves green and I don't want him to fear red -- with him. Not too many corrections. Very nice sentence structure. Wow, I was very impressed. We then discussed two sentences that could have been worded better. Off he went to make his final draft.

Wow, Thomas, knock your mother's socks off. He did an excellent job. His handwriting, which is so painful for him, was beautiful. Spelling was all perfect. I couldn't be happier.

I think we'll work right through this book because I think it will be a great confidence booster. It teaches him how to put things in his own words, how to do a key-word outline, how to organize, how to use synonyms. I think it's a great start for my boy who doesn't like to write.

My only beef with the book is that if you want to use it with your American history curriculum, it moves so slowly that it would be nearly impossible to use.

Next year we are going to be heavy on writing instruction. I had planned that anyway, but I see the need to write in every subject as well as to write for fun.

Oh, Monday

Oh, what a Monday it is. I'm sick. I'm a whiner when I'm sick. Everything aches. I can't breathe. I just want to lie down. And I will. There, end of whine.

We managed to do school today despite my whines, moans, groans, the distracting sounds of constantly blowing my nose and my constant complaints. My poor son!

Yesterday, while whining, I was able to finish up my plans for our next school year. Just a little tweaking and I'm going to start ordering.

On a quick break today, I found some more wonderful teacher guides.

Sea World Animal Teacher Guides.

I have nothing earth-shattering to blog about. Nothing interesting. Okay, well, I found that Bill Maher has a TV show on one of the subscription channels and I laughed myself silly watching him last night. I missed Politically Incorrect. So now I'm going to have to search the online TV guide to find when he's on next and which channel it was.

That's it. I'm assigning some books to read and a book report to write. When Thomas is well on his way, I'm curling up. ZZZZZZZ

Life on a Thursday

This is not a typical-day in our homeschool. It's an atypical day. Actually, two atypical days.

Thomas is sick. He was sick yesterday, too. He's got a cold and also has a fever. This morning he woke me way too early complaining of a stomach ache.

I knew he was really sick when he climbed into my bed yesterday, turned on the TV and watched cartoons. Although he watches toons sometimes with his dad, typically this kid doesn't watch much TV at all, let alone daytime toons.

So what do I do with my free-found time, aside from nursing and babying my son? Nothing much. I didn't catch up with my laundry. I didn't clean the house. I didn't cook an extraordinary dinner.

I sat down with my copy of The Well-Trained Mind, and my favorite, Home Learning Year by Year. I wasted two days playing, dreaming, wishing, scheduling. I looked at curricula online that I normally wouldn't look at. Last night Rainbow Science, I was sure, would be the perfect fit for our family. I could always take out the parts that I didn't agree with. Luckily I came to my senses this morning. Why isn't there a wonderful secular science program similar to Rainbow out there? Or is there and I'm missing it. I want it all in one box so I don't have to think, just teach.

I've made two pots of chicken noodle soup, and have to run to the store tonight for more. What is it about chicken noodle soup that is so good when you're not feeling well?

I've made a million trips into the bedroom to check on Thomas. He's been sleeping since 2 this afternoon.

So I will play more with forms, dreams, and ideas for our year to come.

I've come to the conclusion there isn't enough time. Time goes so fast, he grows too fast, there aren't enough hours in the day. I want to do so much and it isn't possible. Sigh.

I hope Thomas is well tomorrow. He has a campout planned and I'd hate for him to miss it.

I will note that I almost went to the video store to rent some DVDs for him. I didn't -- can't spoil him too much. I did try to get him to watch The Founding Fathers that we have out on loan from Family Pass. Shees, did he get mad when I popped that baby in.

The best part of my day today was when Thomas came out to the kitchen for some lunch. He was feeling a little better and actually asked to do spelling! Whoa, this kid is sick! lol

Country Fair #2

The Second Country Fair is up here. I had an afternoon of great reading!

Thomas

This is Thomas. Welcome to his sense of humor. I believe he was acting like a zombie that day.

No wonder I have so many gray hairs!

What a joy he is. =)

And the winner is...

District Pinewood Derby Day Results

Thomas Won First Place!!!

My son won the first race, lost the second by eight inches. Won the third race.

Watching the races unfold, I knew he'd get second. My husband and I whispered to each other: second. And that's okay.

And then something amazing happened. He raced the car that beat him again. Best two out of three takes it. That car won the first by race by a hair. My son won the second by a hair. Thomas won the third by an inch.

Time to race same racer again for first place. We were all on the edge of our seats because we had no hopes of first place. Best two out of three again. Somehow, some way, my son won! It was a sweet victory that we were not expecting!

Moral of the story: My husband believes that my son had not worked the graphite in well enough and it was just kicking in toward the end. Either that or the car that beat him originally was running out of lube. Or both.

I cannot help but feel really, really bad for the second place finisher. He had smoked all racers until the final two races against Thomas. The saddest part was my son went to shake his hand and tell him good race and the boy turned and walked in the other direction. I would imagine some tears were shed by him. A really good lesson for Thomas on sportsmanship. But then again, what a win for Thomas.

He won district two years in a row. This is the last time he'll be able to attend district races, so it was a nice way to finish up.

I am so very proud of him! He worked darned hard on that car. =) His car is the green and gold flat car. (My least favorite design but a speedy design nonetheless.)

The Scene of the Crime

11:10 am. Thomas and I were snuggled in my bed, under the covers, and we each had what we affectionately call a fuzzy -- a Biederback blanket. Thomas was in his pajamas, I was dressed but also in my bathrobe because it was darned cold this morning.

Thomas was doing his daily reading, early. He's reading A Week in the Woods. Mom was trying to doze.

On the kitchen table were remnants of our morning schooling. Spelling stuff, vocabulary stuff, math worksheets. And syrup. Lots of it. And McDonald's stuff. I left the sack out on the table. I left my pop on the table. Thomas had spilled the syrup all over him, the table and the floor. After making him take a shower, scrubbing the floor and table, there' s still syrup everywhere.

Normally at 11:45 I would have done the mad dash through the kitchen straightening everything in preparation for the husband's arrival. He comes home for lunch every single day.

Today he caught us in the act. Guilty of fast-fooding it this morning. (We were out of milk, after all!) Guilty of hurrying through school so I could take a nap. Wouldn't most moms do something productive while their child was reading? No, not me -- I snooze.

Sometimes I get a little annoyed when my husband surprises us by taking the afternoon off. I was just falling asleep. Thomas was enjoying his book. Sigh. However, today my husband brought home a gift. A brand new soft air gun and a gallon of soft-air BBs. It's a guy thing. Forget doing science and history this afternoon, the boys will be playing. DH backed the car out of the garage and they're shooting in there. It's too darned cold, windy and wet outside.

Maybe I should make this a science lesson. While they're playing, I could google. Yeah, that's it. Be flexible, switch to unschooling mode!

The best thing was my husband didn't get too upset about the McDonald's run. He normally gets so frustrated with my love of Egg McMuffins (and Wendy's hamburgers and Hardee's Sunday $1 roast beef sandwiches and Taco Bell's bean burritos). He cut me some slack today. Whew. I suppose my afternoon now will consist of a grocery store run and actually cooking a decent meal tonight.

We were caught in the act of having a snuggly school morning. Not a bad crime to be guilty of.

Excellent Science Teacher Guide Site

I don't know where I found this (whose blog was it!) or when, but I've been printing a lot of the Teacher's Guides from this site. It is a wonderful resource for Earth Science.

I thought I'd share because while we are doing a few of the units now (minerals, gems, etc.) I'm definitely printing the rest out for next year's mini-science units I'm planning.

Click on the unit you're interested in, then click the bottom right "Teacher Corner" for the great guides.

I even used bits and pieces of this for Cub Scouts. A lotta bang for the buck here!

Edited: Thanks for letting me know about the extra http:// It has been fixed!

Woo-Hoo!!! Country Fair!!!

Thank you to Doc, Ron and Andrea for the new Country Fair! Becky posted the first Country Fair awhile back here.

Now this is a blog carnival I can get excited about.

The Rules for the secular Country Fair are:

Posts should be homeschool related.
No posts/links to/from HomeschoolBlogger. No posts supportive of HSB or TOS.
The hosting blog owner reserves the right to accept or decline submitted posts.
This is NOT an anti-Christian Carnival. Christians (or Muslims, or Homosexuals - everyone) are more than welcome to participate.
No spanking posts. None. Nada.

Now it's time to start thinking of interesting topics!

Petty Me, but thank goodness for homeschooling

Much to my son's dismay, today I have stolen bits and pieces of time on the good computer. I've been reading blogs and enjoying my selfish desire to keep caught up.

For some reason on this latest "stolen internet moment" I decided to hit our local school district's website. I do this from time to time for many reasons: 1) To see what they're doing and compare it to what we're doing 2) To reaffirm my choice in homeschooling 3) To see if any photos of kids I (we) know are on the site. I did see some great pictures of some of my son's former and a couple of current friends.

While looking at the website today, I just had a sick visceral feeling. I cannot fathom sending my son back to public school. Looking at the photos made me smile to see kids I'd forgotten, but made me ill to see the desks in weird configurations -- not conducive to learning. Really, who can do work when you don't even have a personal space zone of at least two feet?? What if you hate the kid sitting next to you? What if that kid doesn't bathe? What if that kid is a bully? What if that kid sneezes in your direction? I know that PS teachers change the classrooms around a lot for interest, but sitting on top of each other just doesn't work for all kids. What if the kid next to you had ADHD or is a chatterbox or taps his pencil constantly? Ugh.

I looked at the walls which were plastered with so much junk that it made my head spin. Don't they realize less is more? That is a big issue to me, the amount of clutter on classroom walls.
It makes my mind dizzy because it is so cluttered. When we were touring the school the spring before DS started kindergarten, we walked into one kindergarten classroom and I promptly stated to my husband: Thomas would not survive with this teacher. There wasn't any wall space between all the posters and room decorations. She had stacks of crap (I normally would have used the word stuff, but trust me, crap is the preferred word here) everywhere. Her desk had not one single bare spot. Every single surface in that classroom was covered. She even had stuff taped to the floors!!!

As a side note, guess who my son's kindergarten teacher was? Yup, the crap-filled-room teacher. And halfway through the year we were in the principal's office demanding a new teacher, which we got. That is a blog entry for another day.

As I continued looking at the photos posted on the school's website I just kept thinking: Why do people send their kids there? WHY? It is so foreign, fake and unreal. A small majority of the kids were actually smiling in the photos. Why? I couldn't do it again ... ever.

When I finished looking at the 4th grade class sites, I took a peak at the 5th grades'. None of those teachers put up photos or do anything to share what goes on in their classroom -- except two published their schedules.

Class one:

8:00-8:15 Morning greeting/Question of the day
8:15-9:15 Math
9:15-10:05 Art/Music/PE
10:15-11:10 Reading
11:15-11:45 Science/Spelling
11:55-12:35 Lunch/Recess
12:45-1:00 Planner Check and Read Aloud
1:00-2:00 Language/Social Studies
2:10-2:55 Choir/Orchestra/Band/Study Hall
2:55-3:01 Announcements and dismissal

Class two:

8:00-8:15 Welcome/Morning Announcements
8:15-8:20 Question for the day
8:20-9:15 Math
9:15-9:30 snack break
9:30-10:05 Science
10:05-10:55 Phy.Ed/Music
11:00-11:45 Social Studies
11:45-11:55 Planner check
11:55 -12:45 Lunch
12:45-2:10 Language Arts (spelling, reading, grammar, writing)
2:10-2:55 Respect Mondays, Band, Choir, Study Hall
2:55-3:01 Announcements and Dismissal

I think I've blogged about schedules before, but just taking a look at these classroom schedules and comparing it to what we accomplish on an OFF day at home is laughable. It eases my mind that we are not doing enough.

I'm not typically a big public school basher. My son had two really good teachers, one good teacher, and one that had no business around kids, but it was an okay education. Public school doesn't even compare to the education he's getting at home.

And the best thing is, he can sit wherever he wants. Added to that best list, he can wear pajamas if he wants to, he can and does have his Tamaguchi's at the table every day, he can snack when he's hungry, he can break when he needs it, he can go to the bathroom without asking or announcing it to the world, he can play with the cat as he's doing his work. He can choose books he wants to read and they don't have to be from a list (even though I do have a required reading list, he gets input and freedom), he can do art projects the way he wants, he can sing, hum, make hideous noises while working (he does and it drives me crazy). He has a say in how our classroom is decorated. He chose the theme and did the decorating. He can choose the class pets. He can choose their names. He can finish his work early and not have to waste time waiting for others. Or, he can take his sweet time (driving his mom nuts) and finish when he finishes -- learning in a more relaxed style.

He can stay up later, start school later, and accomplish more in a few hours than his peers do at school -- even while taking his sweet time.

He can choose whatever type of pencil, pen, maker, etc., he wants to write with. He can choose folders, notebooks of his liking rathern than from an assigned list. He doesn't need a separate pair of tennis shoes for gym class. We can buy the forbidden "Pentech, Sanford or foil-wrapped penciles" and use them. He can use the pencil sharpener whenever he needs to. He can use fluorescent glue if he wants. He can use glitter glue. He no longer needs to worry about his snacks being stolen (unless his mom gets into the Hostess muffins) as they were in public school. He does not have to put his name on everything he owns.

I need to stop. I've had a big chuckle this afternoon. Thank goodness for homeschooling.

(p.s. please forgive any and all spelling errors, I can't get my spellchecker to pop up and I'm too lazy to proofread this.)

It's been how long???

I can't believe I haven't blogged since April 19! Wow.

School's been going *very* well lately, knock on wood.

My husband had a safe trip to Africa for work. He's glad to be home. He was missed very much.
He was gone two weeks and worked in the desert. He said the "locals" were extremely warm, friendly and wonderful. The trip he dreaded wasn't so bad, except that it took forever to get there.

I killed my computer. Long story short, while he was in Africa our Norton's expired and when I renewed it I somehow got the 2003 version instead of the current version and we got hit and hit hard with viruses. My husband has been plugging away on the computer but hasn't got it fixed. We decided to back up everything I need (all my Word files and links) and reformat. I'll be busy this weekend.

In the mean time, trying to get time on the good computer that DH built has been futile. Both DH and DS are runescape addicts. The time I like to spend surfing is when DH is online. Argh. So until my old faithful is faithful once again, I'll be scarce.

I am starting to prepare for next year. I'm trying to get a bunch of one- to two-week science units prepared. Next to impossible when you don't have a computer!

For my Georgia Peach friend, we've been studying geology and really enjoying it. That "a rock is a rock is a rock" mentality has left my brain and I've actually enjoyed our studies as much as my son! This was the topic I really dreaded because I thought it would be so boring. I was wrong, I admit it.

Nothing else new in my corner of the world. I think that's a good thing. =-)

Will blog again if I ever get the good computer all to myself.

The Math Worksheet Site

I thought I would share this. The Math Worksheet Site is one of my favorite free worksheet generators. I've been making some worksheets today and just happened to come across the free open house. My printer is almost smoking now! lol

The Math Worksheet Site

Look to the right and click preview. The User Name is open and the password is house. The subscription area will be open to everyone through Sunday, April 23. If you wish to subscribe, it is $25 a year or you can subscribe for one month for $2.50. Not too bad of a deal.

This is one of my favorite sites because the worksheets are nice and clean, big, and have lots of room to work -- a necessity for my son.

It's Carnival Time

The 16th Carnival of Homeschooling is up! Beverly Hernandez is hosting. You will find it here.

Although I've always read the carnival in the past, this is the first time I've participated in it. What fun it is! I do challenge all the bloggers out there who have been too chicken like me, too reluctant or just haven't contributed to the carnvial to give it a shot and submit something for the next week.

Household mediocrity revisited

In February, I wrote about mediocrity. This is one paragraph from that entry:

"Back to my contemplating: Why is it that if we have a really good school week, everything else is mediocre or dismal. School was great which means my house is not. Why can't I have both? My kitchen looks like a tornado went through it. I've got bills stacked to pay, checks to order, checkbook to balance, library books to return, a telephone line to get fixed, a broken car window motor to fix, a house to clean, menus to plan, groceries to buy, prescriptions to fill, sheets to change, laundry to wash, floors to vacuum and scrub, etc. Why can't I "do" both and do them well?"

After I wrote this, I felt liberated. Just getting that frustration out and into the open enabled me to clear my mind and come up with a solution. Thinking about the mediocrity in our day-to-day life did me good and inspired me, which in turn carried over to our family. Harmony and teamwork. That was the answer. I needed to distinguish between my work as a wife, mother, homemaker and the work that belonged to the entire family unit. I needed to reflect on what I was teaching my son. I needed to teach him that a good work ethic applies to more than just school work.

I called a family meeting. We’re not big on official family meetings, but this needed to be done. My husband was less than enthusiastic to come to the table, sit down and start discussing. My son wanted to play. We did it anyway. I explained the problem about the mediocrity, the house and household responsibilities being chaotic if we had a good school week. I admitted that I could not do it all. That was obvious. I asked for ideas on what we could do. My son was great with coming up with ideas. My husband knew what was coming and again was less than enthusiastic but he did participate. I clearly defined my expectations. All I wanted from my husband was a couple of hours each weekend to help clean the house. I was surprised but he didn’t put up a fight.

When the meeting was over, I started work on the chore chart my son requested. After working on it a bit, I decided it wouldn’t work. Charts are great for some things, but I knew we needed something more tangible. So I got out my colored index cards and Sharpie markers. I made a list of things that needed to be done each day to keep the house in the shape that we desired and deserved. Then I wrote one chore on each index card in my best kindergarten-style handwriting. I highlighted the top of the cards in pink to denote daily chores. Then I did the same thing for our weekly cleaning tasks. The weekly cards were highlighted in green. It needed to be simplistic for everyone to participate fully. It needed to be easy because all the family members have a tendency to go off on tangents. All the cards went into an index box.

Every morning when we get up, the first thing we do is lay the daily cards on our counter. Every morning we start our school day with home ec. Home ec consists of the daily chore cards. We cannot start school until all the tasks have been completed and the cards have been put back in the box. There is something very gratifying about starting the morning with a counter full of cards and watching the pile dwindle down to nothing. We needed to see our work being accomplished in more ways than one. Obviously, you can see a clean bathroom. How much more empowering it was, though, to move that bathroom card back into the box. My son and I complete our morning task cards in 15 to 20 minutes.

On the weekends, at my husband's desired time, we do the weekly cleaning. Once again, I lay out all the weekly cleaning task cards on the counter. Everyone just grabs a card and goes to work. We aren't going off on tangents now because we know what task we are completing. House cleaning takes about an hour and a half now with all three of us pitching in. I always wanted to get up Saturday morning and clean the house first thing. My husband hated that. For years it was a problem or he was in my way. When we discussed it, I realized I could be more flexible. By doing so, I got what I wanted, and he got what he wanted, too.

It's that simple. Kindergarten stuff, basically, but it works. The results have been fantastic. For over a month now chaos has been eliminated and we have had both: good school and good home. Household mediocrity eliminated.

Last week I added two cards to the box. They were: balance checkbook and pay bills. That takes just a few minutes, but those two tasks done on a daily basis have taken a massive amount of stress away from me. I hate paying bills, but somehow I was the one that got that responsibility in this marriage. I used to pay bills and balance the checkbook once a month. As of the last week, when one came in the house, it was paid the next morning. Although I’ve only been at this for one week, I will continue. The results are too good not to. This took a major amount of dread and stress away from my life.

I have a few more ideas that I will add to the box in time. For now, I’m just happy to know that I can run my house well while homeschooling.

Our Daily Tasks

Thomas shower

Mom shower -- yes, we included showers, more cards to put away ;-)

feed and water pets

general house pick up

empty dishwasher

load dishwasher

gather dirty clothes

sort laundry

start load if needed

make beds

empty trash

empty recycling

plan supper

swiffer dust (my son's choice, he loves to dust)

wipe down bathroom

wipe down kitchen

swiffer or vacuum floors

checkbook

bills

Our Nightly Tasks

pick up house

rinse snack dishes

Our Weekly Tasks

mass pick up

kitchen

vacuum basement

put laundry away

laundry

basement bathroom

vacuum floors upstairs

cobweb removal (Minnesota has too many spiders)

mop floors

windex

empty garbages

cat box

dust upstairs

upstairs bathroom

bedrooms

vacuum furniture (1 dog, 2 cats)

vacuum drapes (1 cat lives in the window and gets hair on the drapes)

vacuum stairs

wash bedding

clean out cars

ready trash and recycling for pick up

Happy Easter

Writing Links

This is a very rough draft of a project I just started working on. I haven't even linked for all my topics yet. Aim is for my son or 4th-6th grade. I will be revising this list often.

SENTENCE WRITING

http://www.tustin.k12.ca.us/cyberseminar/paragraph.htm

http://www.stackthedeck.com/tips-getting.html

PARAGRAPH WRITING

Topic Sentences:

http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/partopic.html

http://www2.actden.com/writ_den/tips/paragrap/index.htm

http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/paragrph.html

http://www.gigglepotz.com/para.htm

http://www.english-zone.com/writing/para-strctr.html

http://www.swc.utexas.edu/highschool/hsopenpara.shtml

BASIC WRITING SKILLS

Outlining

http://www.albany.edu/eas/170/outline.htm

http://www.pb5th.com/outline1.htm

http://killeenroos.com/adm/essayo.htm#Criteria

http://www.adellshay.com/domain%20site/BUS%2032outlineformat.htm

http://www.cmsnet.org/stdlife/Summer%20ESS%20Website/outlinefacts.html

Prewriting:

http://www.studygs.net/roughdrafts.htm

Rough Draft

http://www.swc.utexas.edu/highschool/hswritedraft.shtml

http://www.cc.utexas.edu/student/utlc/lrnres/handouts/1234.html

http://www.arc.sbc.edu/roughdraft.html

Revising: Improving

http://personal.ashland.edu/~cdawkins/Student%20Tools/Revise%20a%20Rough%20Draft.htm

Final Copy

DESCRIPTIVE WRITING

• describing a person
• describing an event
• describing a thing

NARRATIVE WRITING

EXPOSITORY WRITING

PERSUASIVE WRITING

BOOK REVIEW OR REPORT

http://www.caledonia.k12.mi.us/kettle/otherpages/k-5pages/bookreportform.htm (book report outline)

http://hewitthomeschooling.com/pdfs/spnbkrpt.pdf (excellent outline and sample book report)

CREATIVE WRITING

POEMS

RESEARCH REPORT

FIVE PARAGRAPH ESSAY

http://web.uvic.ca/wguide/Pages/EssayWritingBody.html

http://www.geocities.com/fifth_grade_tpes/Handyguide.html

http://www.geocities.com/fifth_grade_tpes/five.html

http://www.gc.maricopa.edu/English/essay/index.html

http://homepage.mac.com/mseffie/handouts/paragraph.html (monster diagram)

http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/acen/writerslab/handouts/organization.htm (wizard theme)

MISC.

http://www.geocities.com/fifth_grade_tpes/five.html

http://www.rscc.cc.tn.us/owl&writingcenter/OWL/HowtoBegin.html

HANDOUTS: (MAPPING, GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS)

http://www.cusd.com/calonline/englishlab/module03/03image/0303mapping.gif (mapping)

Tax Time, Homeschooling Expenses and Planning

This week I finally got my taxes done. In my state, we get to claim the cost of the majority of homeschooling expenses. It can’t be religious stuff though. So the only thing I couldn’t claim was my Rod and Staff English program.

I spent over a $1000 on homeschooling last year, which was up a few hundred from the year before. This year I bought tons of books because I hate relying on the library. I guess in reality I can’t compare 2005’s expenses with 2004 because ’04 was the first year we homeschooled and only covered Sept – Dec.

I noticed a pattern starting. It seems in the spring, when spring fever was high and I felt like climbing the walls last year my spending went way up. I started ordering this spring as well. So I’ll be prepared next spring to not spend so much money.

I will continue to use Rebecca Rupp’s Home Learning Year by Year and Doc’s secular resources as my guide. Kixque shared an email from Doc with some additional links. I hope that Doc comes back to blogland because I miss her terribly.

Doc wrote an entry about goal planning versus scheduling that I printed and have read many times. What a great resource that is. Doc also wrote a big list of what should be studied. I can’t find a link to it on her site or else I’d place it here. I printed that out as well. Finally, she had a link to a high school 9^th-12^th grade planning sheet. I adapted that and made my 5^th-8^th grade plan. Well, I’m still working on it, but I have the outline and am happily filling it in. What a valuable resource that is. I had never thought to do that before and it has helped me tremendously.

Thank you, Doc, my son’s education has been touched by you. You’ve helped me tremendously.

As for upcoming expenses, I have decided to set a $1000 budget for the next year. I will continue to buy used, haunt Ebay and half.com. This summer I will again go to garage sales and make a bee line toward the books. I’m learning a lot about smart choices and spur of the moment mistakes. An ink cartridge for my laser printer is $90 and will print thousands of pages. Last cartridge lasted about two years. I can buy a ream of paper for $2.99 at Kmart or splurge and buy pretty pastel paper at Office Max for $5.99 a ream. The internet has tons of free teacher’s guides and lesson plans on almost every subject imaginable. Unless I buy a lot of reading material again, or go hog wild at Carolina Botanical’s website, I can’t foresee spending $1000 next year. For that, my husband will be thankful.

If I were really good, I'd take this year's tax refund and put it in a separate account for our homeschooling expenses. I'm not that good, though, and would rather play with that money now.

Fun on the net

I needed to clean my basement today, desperately. So while my I was doing tasks that my son could not help with, he needed something to divert his attention besides the Sims, Puzzle Pirates, or Runescape.

I found a fun website. It has simple machines, virtual knee surgery and a weather unit. My son is playing online and having fun. There are teacher's plans at the site as well.

Just thought I'd share.

edheads

I made him do it

I made him do it, I made him...

CUT MY HAIR.

My ten year old son. He cut my hair.

Long story short, I've been growing my bangs out for a year. They're below my chin and just so out of sync with the back of my hair that was to the bottom of my shoulder blades. It's getting hot and I don't want so much hair when it's hot.

So why don't I go get a professional haircut like most normal people? Because I'm not normal. The urge to cut usually strikes me at night. And when it strikes, I want it NOW not tomorrow or later in the week.

My husband was passed out on the couch and I turned to poor Tommy and said, "It's time. Come into the bathroom with me."

Poor child was shaking like a leaf. "Mom, I'm nervous!" I said you can't mess it up, just cut straight across here and pointed to where I wanted him to start.

"Now I know what you feel like when you cut my hair" he almost cried.

I'm such a mean mom.

He did it. He did a fine job, too. It's perfectly straight. Should I pay him $20 that I would have paid a pro? Nah. I'll count it as school. Cosmetology 101.

I cut his hair half the time. He likes buzz cuts so I bought clippers a long time ago. Saves a lot of money. My husband has *never* had a professional hair cut since I've known him. He used to cut it but I could stand it no longer so got books from the library and a few videos and learned how to cut his. I've also picked up a few cosmetology textbooks from garage sales and book sales through the years. His is difficult because he's naturally curly. But I use the clippers on him now, too, because he likes it super short.

Ah, we're a weird family. I just cannot ever be normal. Making my 10-year-old son cut my hair is strange, but he lived. And I'm happy.

Gotta love instant gratification.

A different carnival this week

Because the Carnival of Homeschooling is being hosted by someone who blogs at homeschoolblogger, and because I boycott homeschoolblogger, I was thrilled to find that Becky at Farm School made up her own substitute carnival for the week! Take a peak!

Thank you, Becky!!!

Was it really a day off from school?

My husband took the majority of the day off from work today. He was at work and back home before I was even out of bed. We cancelled school for the day. So much possibility for my day -- I was going to go out shopping, during school hours, by myself -- something I haven't done in almost two years now.

I didn't. Instead I putzed around the house. I'm still in my bathrobe. And dare I say, I'm enjoying the heck out of my day!

I always find it so surprising that when we take a day off from school, we don't really take a day off. I mean we don't do our scheduled schoolwork, but learning is still going on.

Today my son decided to do an experiment with a pound of acorns he brought back from South Carolina. Some are soaking in water, some are planted in dirt, some he cracked with a hammer, others he left alone. He has continued to work on his forester project for scouts without my asking. Woo-hoo.

He researched, outlined and wrote a report on hermit crabs.

He snuggled up with me in bed and we read more about the American Revolution.

He's been studying geology a little this afternoon.

He's been in the garage with his dad using the band saw again. I have no clue what they were doing.

He made his first fried eggs today. He was disappointed that he cracked the yolk in one egg and overcooked the yolk in another. I told him that was okay because I'm 40 and I still can't fry an egg.

For phy ed, he went outside and played in the pouring rain. He splashed in puddles. He tried to get the dog to play with him but the dog just wanted back in the house.

My husband bought some concrete mix on his way home from work, and they mixed it up and did something with it. I have no clue what they made.

So today we've done science, history, cooking, reading, construction and phy ed.

Not bad for a no-school day. The day is only half over. I wonder what he'll come up with next!

I'm a snot

I'm a snot and I admit it.

I was at a meeting tonight. Before the meeting started, a friend introduced me to a friend of hers. We were visiting and the topic of homeschool came up. The new acquaintence had a baffled look on her face. Then she asked THE questions.

How do you do it? Doesn't it drive you crazy to homeschool? How can you be around your kids all day?

I smiled and said, "I love being with my son."

Then I stared at her.

She got the point.

I'm a snot and I love it. I just don't get why it drives people crazy to be with their kids. *That's* what drives me crazy.

Cool Time and Date

Did anyone get up early this morning and look at your digital clock at 3 seconds past 1:02? At that time it was 1:02:03 on 04/05/06.

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This will never happen again. That is, unless you are one of those people that puts the day in front of the month. In that case, you will have to get up early on May 4.

Changing clocks

I hate daylight savings time. Really, I hate it. Who can go to sleep an hour earlier? Not me, not my son. Who can get up an hour earlier? Definitely not me. Not my son.

Of course if I had a job in the "real world" I would. We survived when my son was in public school, too.

The animals are all on old time still, the human animals are too. We're not hungry at lunch and dinner time. It just stinks.

My son and I were discussing it this morning. He woke up late again and we didn't get school started until 10. Of course last week that would have been 9 and would have been fine. But starting at 10 really puts us behind. It puts us in a bad mood. My son declared that while the majority of America does the daylight savings time thing, we should not. I then asked him how he would keep track of appointments, den meetings, play dates and the like. He thought it would be easy. We discussed it further and he started to change his mind. He then expanded his thinking and came up with how it would be difficult to go to the movies and watch favorite TV programs. In other words, he figured out it would be a royal pain in the butt.

So he decided it would be best if we conform and change our clocks. I hope within a week we're good to go.

Everybody is too crabby here right now.

I've had a friend tell me many times which is "real time." I don't know if fall time is real or spring time. I don't care. I just don't want to change clocks anymore. Can't we do away with it? Is it really necessary in today's society? Really?

Bluch.

I am very proud to report...

My son won 1st place in his Webelos Den in today's Pinewood Derby. He then went on to the pack champion finals...

and won.

Second year in a row.

He'll be going to districts in May and hopefully he'll do well there. He won that last year.

I am so proud of him.

I am also proud to report that my husband placed 1st in the dad's race. Two women and one boy scout entered the dad's race this year. There were a total of nine entries in the dad's race. I am very evil, but I am proud to report that I won second place and the boy scout won third. We smoked the other five men and the other female den leader in the races. I'm just kind of proud because a WOMAN placed second in the DAD'S race.

After the races, someone came up to me and asked me what was my husband's secret for building fast cars. I said, "Well, WE worked on the cars every night for a few weeks." I think people assume my son did not build his car -- but he did. He designed it, he cut it out on the band saw, he did axle work, he sanded it, he primed it, he painted it, he clear-coated it and he applied the graphite. My husband did help a with the axles and stood over his shoulder for guidance -- but MY SON BUILT HIS CAR.

I designed mine, my husband cut it out, he helped me with the axles and paint, but I did a lot of the work on the car. Really. And I'm NOT making one next year because it was a lot harder than I thought.

So what is our secret for winning? Well, researching good designs -- a thin, flat slab works best. (I chose a wedge because I like them better.) Weights in the back. Straight axles and wheels. Sometimes the wheels that come in the kit stink so you should buy more than one kit. Lots of graphite work and not too much handling before the races. That's all we do. BUT...we work on the cars every night.

Someone else asked me if we actually had fun building the cars. Yep. Every night after supper we would clear the kitchen table and go to work. We did this for a few weeks. I'd call it good quality family time. My son really enjoyed teaching me how to build a car this year.

I am very happy and proud of my son for all his hard work. He did a great job.

Next year I hope they rename the dad's race to an open class race.

For "the circle"

I found something that reminded me of "the circle." I placed it here.

The English Language

I know this email has been circulating for years, but it came across my screen recently and I printed it out for my son. We laughed ourselves silly reading it. Actually he laughed at me because I actually read a few of them wrong and had to correct myself.

This may be a fun reading exercise for a rainy day.

The bandage was wound around the wound.

The farm was used to produce produce.

The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

We must polish the Polish furniture.

He could lead if he would get the lead out.

The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

I did not object to the object.

There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

They were too close to the door to close it.

Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

I shed my clothes in the shed.

Let's face it - English is a ridiculous language.

There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in a hamburger; neither apple nor pine in a pineapple.

English muffins weren't invented in England, nor French fries in France.

Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which are neither bread nor sweet, but meat.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that bakers bake, but grocers don't groce?

If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth?

One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? We ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn't a race at all).

That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

And finally, how about when you want to shut down your computer you
have to hit "START"?