April 15 marks the 95th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Thomas loves all things Titanic, so we are doing a unit study on the Titanic this week.
I was up late last night due to insomnia (as usual) and decided to poke around Titanic websites. Bob was up late because he injured his leg and he was icing it. (Yeah, right, any excuse to play Runescape, eh?)
I found a statistic that just blew me away. The price of a 1st class parlor suite on the Titanic was $4,350. The price of a 1st class berth was $150. A second-class ticket was about $60 and a third-class ticket, or steerage, was $35-40.
So I'm reading statistics to Bob who isn't remotely interested, but because our computers are in the same room, he was forced to listen to me. I wondered out loud what that $4,000 ticket in 1912 would cost today. Bob told me to google and find my answer. (I know he was thinking, "Just leave me alone.") So I did.
I found a great website that I can plug in my date and dollar amount to find out what it's worth today -- well, 2006. I about fell out of my chair with the results.
1st Class Titanic Parlor Suite 1912 - $4,350. Today that ticket would cost: $93,293.62.
Holy cow, holy cow, holy cow. I just cannot fathom having that much money!
1st Class Titanic Berth 1912 - $150 today would be $3217.02. Okay, that is definitely more doable, but honestly, out of my price range. lol
2nd Class Titanic Ticket 1912 - $60 today would cost $1286.81.
3rd Class Titanic Ticket 1912 - $35 today would cost $750.64.
Guess who would be buying the steerage ticket? No wonder I have a fear of large bodies of water.
After Bob and I discussed this, I was reminded of a strange Amtrak experience I once had. Thomas and I rode Amtrak to Denver to visit my dad on Easter years ago. Because we were going to be on the train less than 12 hours, I bought coach tickets. Thomas was four at the time. It was his first-ever train trip.
We boarded that train around eight in the evening, and Thomas stayed awake all night long. He has always been a train buff, and that first train ride was a fantastic experience. He was wired. Thomas finally fell asleep at 4 am. He woke me up at 6 am with "Let's eat in the dining car, mom." We went downstairs to the restrooms, washed our faces, brushed our hair and teeth, did some other things, and then went to the dining car for breakfast.
When you ride Amtrak and eat in the dining car, you must share a table with other parties. The porter seats you -- you have no choice. So we were the first in there and were seated at a table. Five minutes later, a couple joined us. They were well dressed. In fact, I'll even say their attire was completely inappropriate for train travel. He was in an expensive suit and she was wearing a beautiful dress with high heels. High heels -- on a train. Walking can be difficult on a train at times, one jerk and you lose your balance. Not too smart to wear high heels.
They sit down and we make our introductions. Thomas orders biscuits and gravy, surprise, surprise. I sip my coffee and secretly wish I were home alone in my quiet kitchen because I am so not a morning person. The woman really liked to talk, which was nice because I only had to smile and nod occasionally. He was a sheriff in New Jersey. I learned their whole life history. (And I still remember it.)
Then she asked me a question. "What was your room like?" Before I could answer, she was complaining that the shower was over the toilet in her room. I laughed inside at that because I've showered over a toilet in a train a few times in my life. She finally asked me again about my room. I smiled and said we were traveling coach this trip. She gave me a look that I will never forget. It was as if I suddenly stunk to high heaven. And then THE question.
"How are your accommodations in coach?"
Now, this is one of those instances where you just cannot get the gist of a question in print. She asked me in that same snooty way that the first-class passengers talked down to poor Jack Dawson in the Titanic movie. Very pointed, each syllable spoken slowly as if the words inflicted pain or disgust as she spoke them. It was all I could do to keep from busting out laughing. Thomas was oblivious, staring out the window. I told her they were wonderful, thank you.
That is one of the very few times I have experienced being looked down upon due to class. Maybe the only time. I have to say, I think it was one of the most hilarious things I've ever experienced. When we arrived in Denver, I got another laugh out of "my couple." They rode the luggage cart instead of walking along the platform to get into the depot. They looked SO silly.
The funniest thing about that whole experience, and how it is actually related to the topic of Titanic, is what Thomas said after the fact. Thomas has always appeared like he wasn't paying attention, doing his own thing, and in his own world. He's usually listening, though. He heard every single word that woman spoke. And this was his comment: Mom, that woman reminded me of Rose's mom in Titanic.
***
$93,000 -- I can think of better things to do with $93,000. I think the grass is actually greener on my side.
I must admit, though, that the next time we rode Amtrak to dad's house, we rode first class in what is called a roomette. That was a, well, substandard version of first-class accommodations on Amtrak. No bathroom, but we had beds. In my mind, I was prepared to be meet that woman again, I was ready to say that our room was wonderful. Thankfully, we dined with a woman who was pleasant and down to earth and didn't give a hoot where our accommodations were on the train. And that's the way it should be.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Saturday, April 07, 2007
I don't mean to butt in
Last week Thomas and I went to a friend's house. We have known our friends for nine years. This family is fundamentalist Christian. For the record, I am a Christian but no where close to being what I term "fundie."
We both know that we are totally different from each other on the religious front. I watch my P's and Q's when I'm around this friend, fearing I might slip up and say, "Oh, shit" in front of her. We have both had a mutual respect for each other and our differences.
Thomas has asked me why they are the way they are, and we have had many open talks about it. One of the things I tell Thomas is that this country is so wonderful because we can believe whatever we want to and practice that chosen religion (as long as it causes no one harm) however we want. (I still take exception to the Pearls and their physically cruel punishments, but I've already talked about that ad nauseam.)
Anyway, I have suspected that she talked with her children about why we are the way we are. I was right on that.
She had to take two of her children to an appointment on the day we visited. She asked if I'd watch her youngest while they left. So I did. The boys were happy to play together and I didn't mind at all.
So what I found so funny was after my friend left, the very first thing her youngest son did was to come up to me and say this: "Um, I don't mean to butt in, but why don't you go to church?"
I believe he was too polite to ask that question in front of his mom, but he was curious and wanted to know. I didn't give him an answer other than the fact that it was a very long story why we didn't go to church. But he was very relieved to know we were Christians.
So as Thomas and I were driving home, I took the opportunity to discuss this because he witnessed it. I asked him what he thought of his friend's question. Thomas thought it was rude and an invasion of our privacy. I explained that children are curious and just want to know things, and while it is something I hope he would never ask someone, it didn't really bother me to be asked.
I brought up the fact that his friend was very relieved to know we were Christians. I asked Thomas what he thought of that. He asked me if they would be our friends if we were not Christians. I told him no, that our friends would not accept us if we were not Christians. (And that is the truth. I have talked about that with Mom Friend a few times.)
Thomas thought that it was very sad indeed. He just couldn't understand the concept of not being friends with someone who didn't share the same faith. I was SO proud, because that is the lesson I have been trying to teach. (And it's one reason I'm "not Christian enough" with some of the local homeschoolers. So be it.)
I have friends of all different faiths or lack of faith. I don't judge on what religion someone practices. I do judge, and that is if they are kind, moral, etc. I cannot imagine closing myself off to -- well, the world. I do, however, understand that is "their" choice to make, though. I just feel it's so sad. Then again, like I said, this is why I'm viewed as "not Christian enough."
Why do I stay friends then? This relationship has been on and off over the years. Sometimes I would just go crazy with it all and not call for months. We always seem to end up in the same place, though, as it's a small town. I stay friends because deep down, aside from the judgmental part I don't like, she is a very lovely person. Her kids are nice, well behaved, and warm. Thomas adores her kids, and they like him.
Thomas asked me why we (well, I) stayed friends and I told him that if we did not, we were being judgmental. We will never see eye-to-eye with anyone. There will always be differences. It opens his world to see how others live, especially those that are so different from us.
And that's it. I don't expect any more religious posts here for a very long time.
We both know that we are totally different from each other on the religious front. I watch my P's and Q's when I'm around this friend, fearing I might slip up and say, "Oh, shit" in front of her. We have both had a mutual respect for each other and our differences.
Thomas has asked me why they are the way they are, and we have had many open talks about it. One of the things I tell Thomas is that this country is so wonderful because we can believe whatever we want to and practice that chosen religion (as long as it causes no one harm) however we want. (I still take exception to the Pearls and their physically cruel punishments, but I've already talked about that ad nauseam.)
Anyway, I have suspected that she talked with her children about why we are the way we are. I was right on that.
She had to take two of her children to an appointment on the day we visited. She asked if I'd watch her youngest while they left. So I did. The boys were happy to play together and I didn't mind at all.
So what I found so funny was after my friend left, the very first thing her youngest son did was to come up to me and say this: "Um, I don't mean to butt in, but why don't you go to church?"
I believe he was too polite to ask that question in front of his mom, but he was curious and wanted to know. I didn't give him an answer other than the fact that it was a very long story why we didn't go to church. But he was very relieved to know we were Christians.
So as Thomas and I were driving home, I took the opportunity to discuss this because he witnessed it. I asked him what he thought of his friend's question. Thomas thought it was rude and an invasion of our privacy. I explained that children are curious and just want to know things, and while it is something I hope he would never ask someone, it didn't really bother me to be asked.
I brought up the fact that his friend was very relieved to know we were Christians. I asked Thomas what he thought of that. He asked me if they would be our friends if we were not Christians. I told him no, that our friends would not accept us if we were not Christians. (And that is the truth. I have talked about that with Mom Friend a few times.)
Thomas thought that it was very sad indeed. He just couldn't understand the concept of not being friends with someone who didn't share the same faith. I was SO proud, because that is the lesson I have been trying to teach. (And it's one reason I'm "not Christian enough" with some of the local homeschoolers. So be it.)
I have friends of all different faiths or lack of faith. I don't judge on what religion someone practices. I do judge, and that is if they are kind, moral, etc. I cannot imagine closing myself off to -- well, the world. I do, however, understand that is "their" choice to make, though. I just feel it's so sad. Then again, like I said, this is why I'm viewed as "not Christian enough."
Why do I stay friends then? This relationship has been on and off over the years. Sometimes I would just go crazy with it all and not call for months. We always seem to end up in the same place, though, as it's a small town. I stay friends because deep down, aside from the judgmental part I don't like, she is a very lovely person. Her kids are nice, well behaved, and warm. Thomas adores her kids, and they like him.
Thomas asked me why we (well, I) stayed friends and I told him that if we did not, we were being judgmental. We will never see eye-to-eye with anyone. There will always be differences. It opens his world to see how others live, especially those that are so different from us.
And that's it. I don't expect any more religious posts here for a very long time.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Another great week
Yes, it has been another great week. (Okay,except for the wind, cold and snow!) While we have not started school before 8am again, we have worked hard and steady.
Awhile back I signed Thomas up for a ceramics class. It is the only art class for kids in our local community education program. I knew this class was out there, but never signed him up before because I was sexist and thought it was too girlish.
Once again, I was wrong. I admit it. Thomas loved the class and made these cute dolphins. The instructor called me the night before class to give me directions to her studio/house. We ended up chatting on the phone for over a half hour. She was so nice, she had "retired" from scouts right as I had joined up, so I was following in her footsteps. She was incredibly warm and friendly and we had many things in common.
Awhile back I signed Thomas up for a ceramics class. It is the only art class for kids in our local community education program. I knew this class was out there, but never signed him up before because I was sexist and thought it was too girlish.
Once again, I was wrong. I admit it. Thomas loved the class and made these cute dolphins. The instructor called me the night before class to give me directions to her studio/house. We ended up chatting on the phone for over a half hour. She was so nice, she had "retired" from scouts right as I had joined up, so I was following in her footsteps. She was incredibly warm and friendly and we had many things in common.
She was great with kids. The kids were all smiling and happy to be there. They loved free reign to create what they wanted. Apparently Thomas was the only one to register for this class through the CER. The other five kids there just show up every Tuesday. She invited Thomas to do the same and he was thrilled. Two of the girls in the class were former classmates of Thomas. I only recognized one of the girls. The other girl looked about 14 and was a goth. Black clothes and black fingernails. I didn't notice if she was wearing makeup. When Thomas told me who she was, I was shocked. I don't mind kids expressing themselves, but it surprised me that she was only 11 and a goth already.
Thomas has many plans for future projects. He's doing a unit study on the Titanic right now and so when he goes to class next week, he plans on painting the Titanic on a dinner plate. He wants to make presents for his Grandma, his Grandpa and his dad for Father's day. I had to remind him that Mother's Day was fast approaching, too.
While this was not the art class I was looking for, I am a happy mom because he's happy. And that's what it's all about.
Now I'm just hoping that a cute boy who Thomas has known since preschool will get his grades up so he can join the train club. The boy, his dad and brother all visited the train club last night and the dad said that if the boy would get his grades up in school, he could join.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Feeling very happy tonight
Today was one of those -- WOW, HOMESCHOOLING IS GREAT days!
Thomas got up early, had his special breakfast, and we set out to work. He worked very hard. He even gave up his usual morning break to continue plugging along. At noon, I looked at my list and aside from reading and physics in the evening with dad, he was done.
Impossible that we had a four-hour school day! I don't know who was more excited, Thomas or I. Well, I do, it was me. After Bob left from lunch, Thomas settled in with his book and I took a hot, long bubble bath. During the day. It was a very overcast day where it tries to rain all day, sometimes managing a little precipitation hitting the ground, but definitely foggy. It was a snuggle in your jammies kind of day.
And that is what I did. After my luxurious soak, I threw on my favorite nightgown, grabbed my favorite Biederlack blanket, and found the couch and remote. Thomas snuggled in. I think he thought we'd have fun with TV for the afternoon, but the mom that I am found a two-hour show on the Dark Ages on the History Channel. I remember the first hour, but after that I was sawing logs. Thomas enjoyed what he saw. I wonder if he changed the channel when he heard me snoring? (Yes, I snore.)
When I woke up Thomas was making a cave with all the blankets in our house. (We have about eight of those lovely Biederlack blankets.) The tv was not on. I got up and felt energized so I vacuumed the entire living room, even moving furniture. I vacuumed the entire upstairs. I did all my daily chores that I never get done during the day. Wow.
Bob and Thomas did physics after supper tonight and that went well. (Sometimes it's a bit rocky because the two are too alike and butt heads.)
So I'm just feeling great, relaxed yet energized and very happy.
I wonder...would it be possible for this life-long nightowl to change her ways and become a morning bird?
Thomas has already told me he wants normal routine back tomorrow. I think I'll surprise him with some banana nut muffins to entice him out of bed instead.
I'm seeing the light -- the early morning sun rays, and they are nice.
Thomas got up early, had his special breakfast, and we set out to work. He worked very hard. He even gave up his usual morning break to continue plugging along. At noon, I looked at my list and aside from reading and physics in the evening with dad, he was done.
Impossible that we had a four-hour school day! I don't know who was more excited, Thomas or I. Well, I do, it was me. After Bob left from lunch, Thomas settled in with his book and I took a hot, long bubble bath. During the day. It was a very overcast day where it tries to rain all day, sometimes managing a little precipitation hitting the ground, but definitely foggy. It was a snuggle in your jammies kind of day.
And that is what I did. After my luxurious soak, I threw on my favorite nightgown, grabbed my favorite Biederlack blanket, and found the couch and remote. Thomas snuggled in. I think he thought we'd have fun with TV for the afternoon, but the mom that I am found a two-hour show on the Dark Ages on the History Channel. I remember the first hour, but after that I was sawing logs. Thomas enjoyed what he saw. I wonder if he changed the channel when he heard me snoring? (Yes, I snore.)
When I woke up Thomas was making a cave with all the blankets in our house. (We have about eight of those lovely Biederlack blankets.) The tv was not on. I got up and felt energized so I vacuumed the entire living room, even moving furniture. I vacuumed the entire upstairs. I did all my daily chores that I never get done during the day. Wow.
Bob and Thomas did physics after supper tonight and that went well. (Sometimes it's a bit rocky because the two are too alike and butt heads.)
So I'm just feeling great, relaxed yet energized and very happy.
I wonder...would it be possible for this life-long nightowl to change her ways and become a morning bird?
Thomas has already told me he wants normal routine back tomorrow. I think I'll surprise him with some banana nut muffins to entice him out of bed instead.
I'm seeing the light -- the early morning sun rays, and they are nice.
book meme from meg
Mark in italics any books that you have read.
Mark in bold any books that your kids have read.
Underline any books that you have on your shelves. *I'm highlighting because I can't find how to underline on blogger!)
Cross out any books that you (or your kids) didn’t like. I don't know how to do this, either. Someone teach me!
red - we own it Of course when I made blue, it messed up my red, so we actually own a lot of books.
blue - Thomas has read it. (bold didn't show when I publised the post.)
What a mess I made here!
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Robinson, Barbara)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Dahl, Roald)
Charlotte’s Web (White, E.B.)
Freckle Juice (Blume, Judy)
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler I hated this, Thomas loved it(Konigsburg, E. L.)
Misty of Chincoteague (Henry, Marguerite)
Pippi Longstocking (Lindgren, Astrid)
Ramona (Cleary, Beverly)
Shiloh (Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds)
Sounder (Armstrong, William)
Velveteen Rabbit (Williams, Margery)
The Whipping Boy (Fleischman, Sid)
Little House series (Wilder, Laura Ingalls)
Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes (Coerr, Eleanor)
Sarah, Plain and Tall (MacLachlan, Patricia) Thomas read the whole series and enjoyed very them much.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Verne, Jules)
Alice in Wonderland (Carroll, Lewis)
The Cricket in Times Square (Seldon, George)
The Secret Garden (Burnett, Frances) Childhood favorite of mine
Wizard of Oz (Baum, L. Frank)
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (Pyle, Howard)
Tales of Uncle Remus (Lester, Julian)
The New Kid on the Block (Prelutsky, Jack)
The Magic School Bus series (Cole, Joanna)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Twain, Mark)
Anne of Green Gables (Montgomery, Lucy Maud) on our to-read list
A Christmas Carol (Dickens, Charles)
Flowers for Algernon (Keyes, Daniel)
Holes (Sacher, Louis)
Island of the Blue Dolphins (O’Dell, Scott) We loved this.
The Little Prince (De Saint-Exupery, Antoine)
Little Women (Alcott, Louisa May)
My Side of the Mountain (George, Jean Craighead) Thomas LOVED this
The Pearl (Steinbeck, John)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Taylor, Mildred D.)
Summer of My German Soldier (Greene, Bette) Childhood favorite of mine.
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Avi)
The Yearling (Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan)
Across Five Aprils (Hunt, Irene)
Catherine, Called Birdy (Cushman, Karen)
Johnny Tremain (Forbes, Ester)
Out of the Dust (Hesse, Karen)
The Watsons Go to Birmingham (Curtis, Christopher Paul)
The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Speare, Elizabeth George)
The Hobbit (Tolkien, J.R.R.) I saw the cartoon movie in the 70s and HATED -- double hated it. Not my thing. I think Thomas would love it, though.
I, Robot (Asimov, Isaac)
, the The LionWitch, and the Wardrobe (Lewis, C.S.) Thomas and I each read a couple -- found them dull
Phantom Tollbooth (Juster, Norton) just bought this
Swifly Tilting Planet (L’Engle, Madeleine)
The Time Machine (Wells, H.G.)
A Wizard of Earthsea (Le Guin, Ursula)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Doyle, Arthur Conan)
And Then There Were None (Christie, Agatha)
Call of the Wild (London, Jack)
Hatchet (Paulsen, Gary)
Motel of the Mysteries (Macauley, David)
Treasure Island (Stevenson, Robert Louis)
Aesop’s Fables (Aesop)
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth)
Song of Myself (Whitman, Walt)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Irving, Washington)
The Night the Bed Fell (Thurber, James)
The Tell-Tale Heart (Poe, Edgar Allan)
Thank You Ma’am (Hughes, Langston)
Hiroshima (Hersey, John)
The Diary of a Young Girl (Frank, Anne)
All Creatures Great and Small (Herriot, James) on my to-read list forever
Animal Farm (Orwell, George)
Catcher in the Rye (Salinger, J.D.)
Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevsky, Fyodor)
Frankenstein (Shelley, Mary)
A Girl fo the Limberlost (Stratton-Porter, Gene)
The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald, F. Scott)
Heart of Darkness (Conrad, Joseph)
House on Mango Street (Cisneros, Sandra)
Jane Eyre (Bronte, Charlotte)
The Joy Luck Club (Tan, Amy)
The Metamorphosis (Kafka, Franz)
Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck, John)
The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway, Ernest) I started reading this years ago and just could not get into it. Why was Hemingway so great? Maybe I need to revisit.
Pride and Prejudice (Austen, Jane)
The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne, Nathaniel)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee, Harper)
All Quiet of the Western Front (Remarque, Erich Maria)
The Jungle (Sinclair, Upton)
The Red Badge of Courage (Crane, Stephan)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Clarke, Arthur C.)
Brave New World (Huxley, Aldus)
Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury, Ray)
Iliad (Homer)
The Once and Future King (White, T.H.)
The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer, Geoffrey)
“I Hear America Singing” (Whitman, Walt)
“The Tiger” (Blake, William)
“The Lottery” (Jackson, Shirley)
“Gift of the Magi” (Henry, O.)
The Crucible (Miller, Arthur) saw the movie, does that count? Our library doesn't have this, I wanted to read it.
Death of a Salesman (Miller, Arthur)
A Doll’s House (Ibsen, Henrik)
The Glass Menagerie (Williams, Tennessee)
“Declaration of Independence” (Jefferson, Thomas)
“The Gettysburg Address” (Lincoln, Abraham)
“I Have a Dream” (King, Martin Luther, Jr.)
“I Will Fight No More Forever” (Chief Joseph)
A Brief History of Time (Hawking, Stephen)
Democracy in America (de Tocqueville, Alexis)
Roots (Haley, Alex)
Walden (Thoreau, Henry David)
Night (Wiesel, Elie)
Mark in bold any books that your kids have read.
Underline any books that you have on your shelves. *I'm highlighting because I can't find how to underline on blogger!)
Cross out any books that you (or your kids) didn’t like. I don't know how to do this, either. Someone teach me!
red - we own it Of course when I made blue, it messed up my red, so we actually own a lot of books.
blue - Thomas has read it. (bold didn't show when I publised the post.)
What a mess I made here!
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Robinson, Barbara)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Dahl, Roald)
Charlotte’s Web (White, E.B.)
Freckle Juice (Blume, Judy)
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler I hated this, Thomas loved it(Konigsburg, E. L.)
Misty of Chincoteague (Henry, Marguerite)
Pippi Longstocking (Lindgren, Astrid)
Ramona (Cleary, Beverly)
Shiloh (Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds)
Sounder (Armstrong, William)
Velveteen Rabbit (Williams, Margery)
The Whipping Boy (Fleischman, Sid)
Little House series (Wilder, Laura Ingalls)
Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes (Coerr, Eleanor)
Sarah, Plain and Tall (MacLachlan, Patricia) Thomas read the whole series and enjoyed very them much.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Verne, Jules)
Alice in Wonderland (Carroll, Lewis)
The Cricket in Times Square (Seldon, George)
The Secret Garden (Burnett, Frances) Childhood favorite of mine
Wizard of Oz (Baum, L. Frank)
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood (Pyle, Howard)
Tales of Uncle Remus (Lester, Julian)
The New Kid on the Block (Prelutsky, Jack)
The Magic School Bus series (Cole, Joanna)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Twain, Mark)
Anne of Green Gables (Montgomery, Lucy Maud) on our to-read list
A Christmas Carol (Dickens, Charles)
Flowers for Algernon (Keyes, Daniel)
Holes (Sacher, Louis)
Island of the Blue Dolphins (O’Dell, Scott) We loved this.
The Little Prince (De Saint-Exupery, Antoine)
Little Women (Alcott, Louisa May)
My Side of the Mountain (George, Jean Craighead) Thomas LOVED this
The Pearl (Steinbeck, John)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Taylor, Mildred D.)
Summer of My German Soldier (Greene, Bette) Childhood favorite of mine.
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Avi)
The Yearling (Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan)
Across Five Aprils (Hunt, Irene)
Catherine, Called Birdy (Cushman, Karen)
Johnny Tremain (Forbes, Ester)
Out of the Dust (Hesse, Karen)
The Watsons Go to Birmingham (Curtis, Christopher Paul)
The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Speare, Elizabeth George)
The Hobbit (Tolkien, J.R.R.) I saw the cartoon movie in the 70s and HATED -- double hated it. Not my thing. I think Thomas would love it, though.
I, Robot (Asimov, Isaac)
, the The LionWitch, and the Wardrobe (Lewis, C.S.) Thomas and I each read a couple -- found them dull
Phantom Tollbooth (Juster, Norton) just bought this
Swifly Tilting Planet (L’Engle, Madeleine)
The Time Machine (Wells, H.G.)
A Wizard of Earthsea (Le Guin, Ursula)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Doyle, Arthur Conan)
And Then There Were None (Christie, Agatha)
Call of the Wild (London, Jack)
Hatchet (Paulsen, Gary)
Motel of the Mysteries (Macauley, David)
Treasure Island (Stevenson, Robert Louis)
Aesop’s Fables (Aesop)
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth)
Song of Myself (Whitman, Walt)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Irving, Washington)
The Night the Bed Fell (Thurber, James)
The Tell-Tale Heart (Poe, Edgar Allan)
Thank You Ma’am (Hughes, Langston)
Hiroshima (Hersey, John)
The Diary of a Young Girl (Frank, Anne)
All Creatures Great and Small (Herriot, James) on my to-read list forever
Animal Farm (Orwell, George)
Catcher in the Rye (Salinger, J.D.)
Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevsky, Fyodor)
Frankenstein (Shelley, Mary)
A Girl fo the Limberlost (Stratton-Porter, Gene)
The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald, F. Scott)
Heart of Darkness (Conrad, Joseph)
House on Mango Street (Cisneros, Sandra)
Jane Eyre (Bronte, Charlotte)
The Joy Luck Club (Tan, Amy)
The Metamorphosis (Kafka, Franz)
Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck, John)
The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway, Ernest) I started reading this years ago and just could not get into it. Why was Hemingway so great? Maybe I need to revisit.
Pride and Prejudice (Austen, Jane)
The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne, Nathaniel)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee, Harper)
All Quiet of the Western Front (Remarque, Erich Maria)
The Jungle (Sinclair, Upton)
The Red Badge of Courage (Crane, Stephan)
2001: A Space Odyssey (Clarke, Arthur C.)
Brave New World (Huxley, Aldus)
Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury, Ray)
Iliad (Homer)
The Once and Future King (White, T.H.)
The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer, Geoffrey)
“I Hear America Singing” (Whitman, Walt)
“The Tiger” (Blake, William)
“The Lottery” (Jackson, Shirley)
“Gift of the Magi” (Henry, O.)
The Crucible (Miller, Arthur) saw the movie, does that count? Our library doesn't have this, I wanted to read it.
Death of a Salesman (Miller, Arthur)
A Doll’s House (Ibsen, Henrik)
The Glass Menagerie (Williams, Tennessee)
“Declaration of Independence” (Jefferson, Thomas)
“The Gettysburg Address” (Lincoln, Abraham)
“I Have a Dream” (King, Martin Luther, Jr.)
“I Will Fight No More Forever” (Chief Joseph)
A Brief History of Time (Hawking, Stephen)
Democracy in America (de Tocqueville, Alexis)
Roots (Haley, Alex)
Walden (Thoreau, Henry David)
Night (Wiesel, Elie)
Biscuits and Gravy
Awhile ago I blogged about our Hardee's closing and how upset it made us. Thomas loves his biscuits and gravy, so we always went the first morning of school, then throughout the year as a special treat. (Or as a great incentive for him to get up early.)
Earlier this week as we were driving around, we noticed a sign at Burger King: Try our new biscuits and gravy.
And so we did.
For some unknown reason, Thomas actually awoke early and was up and dressed by 7 am. That is an amazing feat, believe it or not. So I thought a special Burger King run was in order.
I drove up to the microphone and placed our order: One biscuits and gravy and one large diet pop, please. (The pop was for me.) As we pulled around the side of the building, we saw this advertisement:
I know, I know, you can't read it. The first sign said: This burger is stocked full of good stuff. The second sign says: Just like our 10,000 lakes.
Now I don't know who came up with that advertising campaign, but it immediately made me nauseous. I know they were talking about good fish, but I was thinking of fish byproducts. Come summer, our lakes (we have several lakes in our small town) smell. They're full of algae. They're an ugly green. And that is what came to my mind immediately, not lovely fish. I don't like fish anyway. So I had my laugh of the morning.
Thomas was in heaven: Fast, easy, cheap biscuits and gravy. (I know, I could make them -- Bob does every once in awhile.)
He ate every last drop. He also said they're not quite as good as Hardee's. He was happy nonetheless.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
A busy day
We don't typically have busy days outside the home. I do that for my benefit. Today, though, we had a field trip and a play date at a friend's house.
The local homeschool group went to a pizza place and the kids got a tour of the kitchen and got to make their own pizzas. They had fun. I was wishing I had their kitchen -- the dishwasher that washed and dried dishes in two minutes really excited me! And the pizza oven. That would be fun.
Thomas and all the kids had fun. After eating the kids went outside and played in the yard and the moms talked shop. I used to think I didn't fit in because I had nothing in common, but in reality we have a big thing in common: love of our kids and homeschooling. Whoops, that's two big things.
A lovely outing, during school hours, in a public place -- wow. What a day.
It got better because we went to a friend's new house. I was a little envious because I absolutely loved her house -- it was huge, designed nicely and on the lake -- gorgeous. Then I come home to my little home that has many unfinished projects...sigh. We had a good time, though.
After supper, Thomas and his dad were getting ready for train club. I was so glad I didn't have to go because I was tired. As they were heading out the door, the phone rang. I answered and it was Bob's boss. He never calls here so it raised the hair on my neck. Bob took the phone and was very serious, giving uh-huh's, yeses, mmmm's for the longest time. I was thinking the worst -- maybe he'll have to fly out of town tomorrow unexpectedly to attend to one of the projects. I was dreading that only because I'm not caught up with his laundry. Well, this phone call had nothing to do with work. All of a sudden Bob said, "Well, the key is in the axles."
I bust out laughing so hard that I'm sure his boss heard me. The light bulb went on and I figured out that phone call. It is Pinewood Derby time. His boss's son is new to scouting and this is his first pinewood derby. His boss called him to ask for help/info/pointers in designing their pinewood derby car.
Bob walked out of the room when I was laughing but came back when I shut my mouth. He then told his boss how Thomas's cars did very well, having won districts three years in a row.
Guess who is going to take Thomas's pinewood derby cars to work tomorrow to show to the boss? I just think this is so funny.
The clincher, though, is this. When Bob hung up the phone, he laughed and said: "I would hope that the boss could help his son build a better car than we did. After all, he is a mechanical engineer."
And so it goes. Never a dull moment, but lots of laughs.
The local homeschool group went to a pizza place and the kids got a tour of the kitchen and got to make their own pizzas. They had fun. I was wishing I had their kitchen -- the dishwasher that washed and dried dishes in two minutes really excited me! And the pizza oven. That would be fun.
Thomas and all the kids had fun. After eating the kids went outside and played in the yard and the moms talked shop. I used to think I didn't fit in because I had nothing in common, but in reality we have a big thing in common: love of our kids and homeschooling. Whoops, that's two big things.
A lovely outing, during school hours, in a public place -- wow. What a day.
It got better because we went to a friend's new house. I was a little envious because I absolutely loved her house -- it was huge, designed nicely and on the lake -- gorgeous. Then I come home to my little home that has many unfinished projects...sigh. We had a good time, though.
After supper, Thomas and his dad were getting ready for train club. I was so glad I didn't have to go because I was tired. As they were heading out the door, the phone rang. I answered and it was Bob's boss. He never calls here so it raised the hair on my neck. Bob took the phone and was very serious, giving uh-huh's, yeses, mmmm's for the longest time. I was thinking the worst -- maybe he'll have to fly out of town tomorrow unexpectedly to attend to one of the projects. I was dreading that only because I'm not caught up with his laundry. Well, this phone call had nothing to do with work. All of a sudden Bob said, "Well, the key is in the axles."
I bust out laughing so hard that I'm sure his boss heard me. The light bulb went on and I figured out that phone call. It is Pinewood Derby time. His boss's son is new to scouting and this is his first pinewood derby. His boss called him to ask for help/info/pointers in designing their pinewood derby car.
Bob walked out of the room when I was laughing but came back when I shut my mouth. He then told his boss how Thomas's cars did very well, having won districts three years in a row.
Guess who is going to take Thomas's pinewood derby cars to work tomorrow to show to the boss? I just think this is so funny.
The clincher, though, is this. When Bob hung up the phone, he laughed and said: "I would hope that the boss could help his son build a better car than we did. After all, he is a mechanical engineer."
And so it goes. Never a dull moment, but lots of laughs.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Honoring My Father
Dad is standing in the gangway.
This is taken in Laramie, Wyoming. I don't know the date except that it was in the 1960s. My dad is on the far right. Our neighbor, Bob Davis, a man very kind to me as a child, is second from the left. I don't know the other men. This photo was taken because it was the very last run of the Portland Rose out of Laramie. The Portland Rose was a Union Pacific passenger train that ran between Chicago and Portland that started in the 1920s.
That's dad sticking his head out the window waving hello. Taken in Laramie, Wyoming in the '60s.
Dad mad copies of these photos for Thomas. They arrived in the mail today. I don't know who loved them more, Thomas or I. I get kind of weepy looking at them. I'm very nostalgic. I wish there were more photos of dad at work. Because Thomas and I love all things train, these photos are very special indeed.
Sorry they're blurry, dad had them enlarged and they're a little grainy. I think they're fantastic nonetheless.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
For Mama B -- Gila Window Films
Mama B, at Home Depot I bought Gila Glare Control Smoke colored window film. It was $11 and some change for each roll. It took one roll for each window (with some left over). Each window is about 24 by 52 inches. I pieced the remnants to cover a third window, but that looks really tacky.
Our kitchen faces east and the films make a huge difference in the morning. I installed them on the inside -- a no-no if you have thermal pane or dual pane windows, which I do have. Our windows are so old, that I didn't think it could damage them. We went through below-zero temps with the clings above the kitchen sink and the windows are fine. But I wouldn't do that on new, good windows.
The room did get darker. It's still light enough to sit at the kitchen table and read a book, though.
The best thing about these films for me is the privacy factor. These are not their privacy films, but they do a fantastic job of affording us privacy. At dusk I went outside to look in. All the lights were on. I had Thomas stand by the window and wave and I could not see him. I loved that! We can see out just fine.
So just a cheap fix for us but one that makes me very happy. Next time I hit the big city I plan to buy three more rolls (there goes that money again) and do our living room.
Our kitchen faces east and the films make a huge difference in the morning. I installed them on the inside -- a no-no if you have thermal pane or dual pane windows, which I do have. Our windows are so old, that I didn't think it could damage them. We went through below-zero temps with the clings above the kitchen sink and the windows are fine. But I wouldn't do that on new, good windows.
The room did get darker. It's still light enough to sit at the kitchen table and read a book, though.
The best thing about these films for me is the privacy factor. These are not their privacy films, but they do a fantastic job of affording us privacy. At dusk I went outside to look in. All the lights were on. I had Thomas stand by the window and wave and I could not see him. I loved that! We can see out just fine.
So just a cheap fix for us but one that makes me very happy. Next time I hit the big city I plan to buy three more rolls (there goes that money again) and do our living room.
Tuesday, blues day
Well, it's a blues day for two reason. First, it was overcast all day. I do like gray days because I have blue eyes and the bright sun hurts my eyes, but gray days aren't very cheery. (My eye doctor claims the sun hurts my eyes because they're blue. lol)
It's a blues day also because I just paid bills. Aaargh! Where does our money go? Ugh, ugh, ugh.
We've been very "on" with school yesterday and today. I just love it when that happens. Thomas has been very well behaved and eager -- yes, eager to learn.
A few weeks ago I ordered Power Basics Physics from Rainbow Resources for Thomas. (Where DOES all our money go? d'uh) At any rate, I couldn't be more pleased. Thomas is doing well. Maybe that's because dad is teaching physics at night as opposed to me. Thomas and I are both taking the class. Thomas is whippin' my you-know-what, too.
That same Rainbow order also included World History the Easy Way. I just didn't like History Odyssey. We had been pecking away at it and Thomas didn't have a good sense of history. He knew bits and pieces about bits and pieces. It didn't have a good order to it, either. It just wasn't very cohesive.
I couldn't be more impressed with World History the Easy Way. Thomas likes it, too. When we got the book, Thomas actually looked at it -- I nearly fainted. He asked to start at the beginning rather than trying to start with the middle ages. Oh brother, that messed up my plans, but I agreed. We have really been enjoying the book. I read each chapter in two days, we listen to a correlating Story of the World chapter, and then I read the correlating chapter from Van Loon's Story of Mankind. I've printed out maps, too. We then do the questions at the end of the chapter in WHTEW. If I get the time to sit down and do some planning, I just might incorporate some projects as well. Otherwise, we just read and discuss. Thomas retains very well.
I was so happy with this purchase that when we were in the big city the other day at Barnes and Noble, I bought American History the Easy Way. I really like Barron's Easy Way series. I am even more impressed with the American history book.
So everything is going well here, knock on wood. I had been searching for those history books since we started homeschooling -- I am so happy to find them.
I continue to feel better every day. That was a rather nasty spell I had. I'm picking up the pieces, getting caught up on things, and making good progress. Yeah.
It's a blues day also because I just paid bills. Aaargh! Where does our money go? Ugh, ugh, ugh.
We've been very "on" with school yesterday and today. I just love it when that happens. Thomas has been very well behaved and eager -- yes, eager to learn.
A few weeks ago I ordered Power Basics Physics from Rainbow Resources for Thomas. (Where DOES all our money go? d'uh) At any rate, I couldn't be more pleased. Thomas is doing well. Maybe that's because dad is teaching physics at night as opposed to me. Thomas and I are both taking the class. Thomas is whippin' my you-know-what, too.
That same Rainbow order also included World History the Easy Way. I just didn't like History Odyssey. We had been pecking away at it and Thomas didn't have a good sense of history. He knew bits and pieces about bits and pieces. It didn't have a good order to it, either. It just wasn't very cohesive.
I couldn't be more impressed with World History the Easy Way. Thomas likes it, too. When we got the book, Thomas actually looked at it -- I nearly fainted. He asked to start at the beginning rather than trying to start with the middle ages. Oh brother, that messed up my plans, but I agreed. We have really been enjoying the book. I read each chapter in two days, we listen to a correlating Story of the World chapter, and then I read the correlating chapter from Van Loon's Story of Mankind. I've printed out maps, too. We then do the questions at the end of the chapter in WHTEW. If I get the time to sit down and do some planning, I just might incorporate some projects as well. Otherwise, we just read and discuss. Thomas retains very well.
I was so happy with this purchase that when we were in the big city the other day at Barnes and Noble, I bought American History the Easy Way. I really like Barron's Easy Way series. I am even more impressed with the American history book.
So everything is going well here, knock on wood. I had been searching for those history books since we started homeschooling -- I am so happy to find them.
I continue to feel better every day. That was a rather nasty spell I had. I'm picking up the pieces, getting caught up on things, and making good progress. Yeah.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
I'm alive...
...and kicking, just have been very busy. Well, that and I think I just got over my normal springtime blahs.
Whew.
Last night I told DH I was very blah, and I haven't been blah in a very long time. It's a combination of hormones, time change and just stuff. I told him I really needed to get out of town. So today we did. We drove to the big city. We went to real stores: Home Depot, Barnes and Noble and Best Buy. That was fun.
At the Home Depot I bought some Gila window clings/film for my kitchen windows. I installed the smoky film over my kitchen sink a few months ago and loved it, so I bought more for the big windows. Instant privacy and glare reduction. That made me so happy. I took down the cute cafe curtains I made and the room just feels larger, brighter and airier.
B&N was having a 20% off sale of everything as they are moving their store. We only spent $65, believe it or not. What was really nice was that they gave me my teacher's discount on top of the 20% on the "educational" books.
DH bought new speakers for the new computer. I was upset with him that he didn't order any speakers when he built the computer...I was really missing sound. He's installed them and has blared George Thorogood, his fav.
To top the day off, we went to the Olive Garden. Last time we were in the big city, I spied a brand-new Olive Garden as we were driving. Before that, the nearest was 100 miles. OG is my most favorite restaurant in the world. We had a delicious meal.
I feel SO MUCH BETTER. I just needed a day out and about. I needed an attitude adjustment.
School has been going well, thankfully. I might have loads of laundry to do, dishes to catch up on and fur balls floating across the floor, but by golly, school gets done. We have made some changes which I'll blog about later, but we're very happy.
I want to give a heart-felt thank you to the people who have emailed me or left comments wondering where I was. That made me feel great to come home today and find those today.
Whew.
Last night I told DH I was very blah, and I haven't been blah in a very long time. It's a combination of hormones, time change and just stuff. I told him I really needed to get out of town. So today we did. We drove to the big city. We went to real stores: Home Depot, Barnes and Noble and Best Buy. That was fun.
At the Home Depot I bought some Gila window clings/film for my kitchen windows. I installed the smoky film over my kitchen sink a few months ago and loved it, so I bought more for the big windows. Instant privacy and glare reduction. That made me so happy. I took down the cute cafe curtains I made and the room just feels larger, brighter and airier.
B&N was having a 20% off sale of everything as they are moving their store. We only spent $65, believe it or not. What was really nice was that they gave me my teacher's discount on top of the 20% on the "educational" books.
DH bought new speakers for the new computer. I was upset with him that he didn't order any speakers when he built the computer...I was really missing sound. He's installed them and has blared George Thorogood, his fav.
To top the day off, we went to the Olive Garden. Last time we were in the big city, I spied a brand-new Olive Garden as we were driving. Before that, the nearest was 100 miles. OG is my most favorite restaurant in the world. We had a delicious meal.
I feel SO MUCH BETTER. I just needed a day out and about. I needed an attitude adjustment.
School has been going well, thankfully. I might have loads of laundry to do, dishes to catch up on and fur balls floating across the floor, but by golly, school gets done. We have made some changes which I'll blog about later, but we're very happy.
I want to give a heart-felt thank you to the people who have emailed me or left comments wondering where I was. That made me feel great to come home today and find those today.
Friday, March 02, 2007
A Long Time Ago...
Last summer, to be exact, we went to Wall Drug in beautiful South Dakota. I didn't post the pictures here because our digital camera broke. I couldn't figure out what was wrong, so I asked Bob to fix it. Well, Bob had no desire to fix it because he didn't need to use the camera. Today he wanted the camera to take photos of the snow. Amazingly, he fixed the camera in 15 minutes. Grrrr. Oh well, the end result is I uploaded 190 photos this afternoon and can say goodbye to my blurry cell-phone photos.
Wall Drug is a tourist trap, but lots of fun nonetheless. If you're in the area, I highly recommended spending an hour or two there.
500 miles to Wall Drug!
The Fun of it All!
King of the hill!
For an idea of how much snow is out there, that little black thing that is below and in line with the tan house's window is our mailbox.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Mid-morning snow report
A rare site -- a cardinal at our milk-jugfeeder. Usually only the chickadees indulge at the milk jug.
It has been the most beautiful morning here! The snow is gorgeous. Great big fluffy flakes continuously falling.
Thomas curled up in my bed and read a book after working on his new time line. I actually watched The View ... both on TV and out the window.
I wish my good camera was working because the Razor phone doesn't take the best photos. You can't see those gorgeous snowflakes.
I learned a new term today. While watching The View, the Twin Cities news came on during a commercial. They talked about "thunder-snow." I had never heard that. Apparently there is a lot of thunder-snow in Minnesota today. Thankfully not where I live.
It's been fun watching my neighbor. They run a day care. The kids have not been out playing, but there has been a constant stream of cars. Even if the schools are closed, the work places are not. I bet it's crazy in her house today. At any rate, it's been fun watching them go out every half hour and snow blowing the driveway. They keep their drive very clean because of the day care. The snow is so heavy and falling so fast that they are working very hard to keep up with it. The snow is winning.
Bring it on!
The weather forecast keeps changing. At first we were expecting 4-6 inches of snow yesterday and today. Now we're expecting up to 21 inches by tomorrow night.
I got up this morning at 6:30 am. When I took the dog out, it was not snowing and we barely got a skiff last night. I saw my husband off to work, turned the radio on and settled down with a Sudoku and cup of coffee. Then I heard it: Schools were cancelled! I was scratching my head because it wasn't even snowing. Then I looked outside. In a mere half hour it went from nothing to snow so thick I could barely see across the street.
Thomas woke up while Bob was still at home and talked to us from the comforts of his warm, cozy bed. He threw out that he hoped schools were called off so that the poor public-schooled children could have a day off. Gee, how generous of him. (Think there was an ulterior motive there? I usually follow the public school's snow days.) He promptly went back to sleep. And I let him.
We will have school today, but we will definitely go into unschooling mode. I think a batch of cookies is in order. Maybe some hot chocolate, too. Today seems like a great day to curl up on the couch, snuggle, and read a good book or two.
I only wish my Rainbow order was here...today would have been great to play our new games. Those new orders never arrive soon enough, though.
I got up this morning at 6:30 am. When I took the dog out, it was not snowing and we barely got a skiff last night. I saw my husband off to work, turned the radio on and settled down with a Sudoku and cup of coffee. Then I heard it: Schools were cancelled! I was scratching my head because it wasn't even snowing. Then I looked outside. In a mere half hour it went from nothing to snow so thick I could barely see across the street.
Thomas woke up while Bob was still at home and talked to us from the comforts of his warm, cozy bed. He threw out that he hoped schools were called off so that the poor public-schooled children could have a day off. Gee, how generous of him. (Think there was an ulterior motive there? I usually follow the public school's snow days.) He promptly went back to sleep. And I let him.
We will have school today, but we will definitely go into unschooling mode. I think a batch of cookies is in order. Maybe some hot chocolate, too. Today seems like a great day to curl up on the couch, snuggle, and read a good book or two.
I only wish my Rainbow order was here...today would have been great to play our new games. Those new orders never arrive soon enough, though.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Back in the Saddle Again
We're back to our normal routine, finally. Thomas was sick, then I was sick, now Bob is sick. We all had "that nasty virus" that everyone is getting and taking forever to recover from.
Last week we did a little school every day. Ha, little might mean reading one book. On Friday Thomas and I sat down and discussed this year's school. He shared his likes and his dislikes. He really wanted to go back to Sequential Spelling. He did not like MegaWords. Okay. Done. We started Monday morning first thing with Sequential Spelling. This time I got my spelling rules book out and after his lesson, we reviewed a few lessons. A cheap little book with a good list of rules. That will satisfy my need for teaching rules for now.
Thomas also begged -- and I do mean begged -- to learn Spanish. I have fought this tooth and nail. I had no desire to learn Spanish. German was my language love, both in high school and college. I discussed this with Bob and he quickly produced his college Spanish text, tapes, workbook and completed tests. Ugh. I looked it over and quickly determined it was too difficult for Thomas. We listened to the first lesson together and he did the freak-out on me. He freaks when he doesn't understand something the first time. I closed the book and said the magic words, "I really think this is too difficult for you and I don't think that you can't do it." MEAN mom. Mean, nasty words.
Well, those mean, nasty words motivated Thomas. Monday morning the first thing he asked to do was Spanish. He quit freaking out, started listening and studying. We did the first two pages in the book. We will really have to go slow because this program moves fast. Surprisingly, I am actually enjoying it. I have been sitting at my kitchen table at night with the books and tape recorder and studying on my own. Go figure. Thanks to Thomas, I now have a desire.
I ordered a couple label books from Rainbow. (My time is worth something, right? I could have made these on my own, but it's so much easier to just order something.) When they arrive, I'll take my tape and cover the house in Spanish words. Hopefully this will help increase our vocabulary.
On the math front, we came to the decimals chapter Rod and Staff. Thomas had very weak instruction in decimals last year. My fault totally, because we were switching curriculum and it got left high and dry. So instead of forging ahead with Rod and Staff, I pulled the Key to Decimals series from the shelf. He actually started this last week (I don't remember when, I was in a fog) and has been working 5-6 pages a day. What a nice break from the rigors of Rod and Staff.
On the World History front, we both decided that History Odyssey is just not for us. Neither of us like the flow, neither of us have a good understanding of the time frame. It seems as if we're just learning little chunks or snippets here and there and that it is not cohesive. What to do? I spent a bit of time searching history curriculum. I just don't like anything I see. So I ended up buying World History the Easy Way as a guide and will incorporate reading lists from the net, SOTW CD's, Kingfisher, etc.
Geography. Last year Thomas loved geography. This year he hated it. I had purchased Trail Guide to US Geography. Thomas thought it was all busywork. So I looked at other programs and decided to wing it. We're going to study region by region using The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geography as our guide. This is not my choice book to use as a guide, it will need lots of supplementation, but heck, it was sitting on my shelf. We started yesterday and had fun. That's what counts, having fun while learning, right? I also ordered the Name that Country game from Rainbow. It had good reviews at Amazon. I read a great idea at Amazon for making more cards as the game doesn't have that many countries, so I ordered some blank flashcards, too.
It seems every year about this time I evaluate school and place a big order. This year is no exception. Sometimes we just need to stir the pot a little.
Last week we did a little school every day. Ha, little might mean reading one book. On Friday Thomas and I sat down and discussed this year's school. He shared his likes and his dislikes. He really wanted to go back to Sequential Spelling. He did not like MegaWords. Okay. Done. We started Monday morning first thing with Sequential Spelling. This time I got my spelling rules book out and after his lesson, we reviewed a few lessons. A cheap little book with a good list of rules. That will satisfy my need for teaching rules for now.
Thomas also begged -- and I do mean begged -- to learn Spanish. I have fought this tooth and nail. I had no desire to learn Spanish. German was my language love, both in high school and college. I discussed this with Bob and he quickly produced his college Spanish text, tapes, workbook and completed tests. Ugh. I looked it over and quickly determined it was too difficult for Thomas. We listened to the first lesson together and he did the freak-out on me. He freaks when he doesn't understand something the first time. I closed the book and said the magic words, "I really think this is too difficult for you and I don't think that you can't do it." MEAN mom. Mean, nasty words.
Well, those mean, nasty words motivated Thomas. Monday morning the first thing he asked to do was Spanish. He quit freaking out, started listening and studying. We did the first two pages in the book. We will really have to go slow because this program moves fast. Surprisingly, I am actually enjoying it. I have been sitting at my kitchen table at night with the books and tape recorder and studying on my own. Go figure. Thanks to Thomas, I now have a desire.
I ordered a couple label books from Rainbow. (My time is worth something, right? I could have made these on my own, but it's so much easier to just order something.) When they arrive, I'll take my tape and cover the house in Spanish words. Hopefully this will help increase our vocabulary.
On the math front, we came to the decimals chapter Rod and Staff. Thomas had very weak instruction in decimals last year. My fault totally, because we were switching curriculum and it got left high and dry. So instead of forging ahead with Rod and Staff, I pulled the Key to Decimals series from the shelf. He actually started this last week (I don't remember when, I was in a fog) and has been working 5-6 pages a day. What a nice break from the rigors of Rod and Staff.
On the World History front, we both decided that History Odyssey is just not for us. Neither of us like the flow, neither of us have a good understanding of the time frame. It seems as if we're just learning little chunks or snippets here and there and that it is not cohesive. What to do? I spent a bit of time searching history curriculum. I just don't like anything I see. So I ended up buying World History the Easy Way as a guide and will incorporate reading lists from the net, SOTW CD's, Kingfisher, etc.
Geography. Last year Thomas loved geography. This year he hated it. I had purchased Trail Guide to US Geography. Thomas thought it was all busywork. So I looked at other programs and decided to wing it. We're going to study region by region using The Complete Idiot's Guide to Geography as our guide. This is not my choice book to use as a guide, it will need lots of supplementation, but heck, it was sitting on my shelf. We started yesterday and had fun. That's what counts, having fun while learning, right? I also ordered the Name that Country game from Rainbow. It had good reviews at Amazon. I read a great idea at Amazon for making more cards as the game doesn't have that many countries, so I ordered some blank flashcards, too.
It seems every year about this time I evaluate school and place a big order. This year is no exception. Sometimes we just need to stir the pot a little.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Well, shoot
We decided to take Monday and Tuesday off from school as originally planned. Thomas still wasn't up to par so the break, we figured, would be nice.
Sunday Thomas went ice skating for an hour, came home and crashed. Today he was very crabby. It wasn't registering in my head he didn't feel well, I just thought he was in a mood. However, tonight was train club night. Thomas and his father scared the you-know-what out of me by coming home way early. Bob said that Thomas was running the trains but wasn't asking any questions, which is very atypical. Finally Thomas asked for a chair to sit down and rest in. That's when they decided to come home. Thomas went to bed. Immediately.
I've been reading about this virus. Lots of my e-friends' families have had it. I hear it lasts a few weeks. Sigh.
How on earth do you school when your kiddo(s) are sick like this? Even worse, how on earth do parents and kids deal with public school? I am very thankful we're not doing the public school thing right now, but I feel very sorry for all those kids.
Well, tomorrow we'll do math. After that, I think we should climb into my bed and read, do English orally, and wing it from there. Bed school. Sounds like the only solution to me. And if need be, nap school.
Ugh, ugh, ugh.
Sunday Thomas went ice skating for an hour, came home and crashed. Today he was very crabby. It wasn't registering in my head he didn't feel well, I just thought he was in a mood. However, tonight was train club night. Thomas and his father scared the you-know-what out of me by coming home way early. Bob said that Thomas was running the trains but wasn't asking any questions, which is very atypical. Finally Thomas asked for a chair to sit down and rest in. That's when they decided to come home. Thomas went to bed. Immediately.
I've been reading about this virus. Lots of my e-friends' families have had it. I hear it lasts a few weeks. Sigh.
How on earth do you school when your kiddo(s) are sick like this? Even worse, how on earth do parents and kids deal with public school? I am very thankful we're not doing the public school thing right now, but I feel very sorry for all those kids.
Well, tomorrow we'll do math. After that, I think we should climb into my bed and read, do English orally, and wing it from there. Bed school. Sounds like the only solution to me. And if need be, nap school.
Ugh, ugh, ugh.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Thank you, Mama B
Mama B, you saved the day. We were successful (well, DH was) in putting the old hard drive in the new computer and transferring files.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing that idea!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing that idea!
Friday, February 16, 2007
I'm so funny, aren't I? This was a picture taken at cross over. Five of my six boys. I don't have their parents' permission to post their photo on the blog, so I made them all happy faces. I did something else to the photo, can anyone figure it out?Cross over was Thursday night. It was a wonderful experience. Yes, I cried. I was so proud of the boys, and they just seemed so grown up.
Thomas is on the mend. He really shouldn't have gone to the cross over. I broke my rule of not taking him out and about less than 24 hours after a fever has broken. He'd been on antibiotics for 48 hours, though, so I hoped he wasn't contagious. It was, after all, a once-in-a-lifetime event. Another boy in our den missed the event because he had exactly what Thomas had, only he had not started antibiotics until the day before. Sadly, he stayed home.
We did not do school all week. Thomas is much better this evening, and I think after the weekend, he'll be ready to do school. Our plans were to take Monday and Tuesday of next week off to coincide with the public school's vacation days, but I've decided to just forge ahead and do school anyway.
Our project for the weekend is to figure out how to transfer files to the new computer. Neither the CD or DVD drive is working on the old computer, and the USB port will only recognize the printer so we can't plug the external hard drive in. Ugh! I'm also having a bear of a time figuring out the new Outlook Express in XP. I am such a creature of habit and behind the times. I'm hoping my dear, sweet husband will wave his magic wand and make something work. He is an engineer, he loves a challenge, so hopefully he'll be up to the task.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Monday -- Not without school after all
While I was feeling like garbage Monday, we still managed to get some form of education in. In the afternoon Thomas and I made a milk-jug bird feeder. Bob hung it when he got home from work.
Monday night Bob and Thomas built the new computer. It's up, it's running, but Bob still has to install Office. It's still sitting on my kitchen table.
Bob was going to install that tonight, but Thomas had other plans. Thomas woke up very grumpy and not feeling well at all this morning. His throat hurt and it was bright red. He laid down in bed and read a book this morning. He ate a good lunch and requested we do school in the afternoon. We did math and geography. We also watched birds out our window.
Then Thomas did the unspeakable. He went into my bedroom, climbed into the bed and took a nap. Ding, ding, ding...I knew he was not well. He slept for quite awhile. I woke him for dinner. He had a temp of 103. He was moaning, hurting, and miserable. (He's just like his mom, he's a whiner when he's sick.)
I made the decision to take him to the after-hours clinic. My husband wasn't happy about that, but I didn't want to wait until tomorrow. Part of my reason is that he had a temperature, and I have learned that when you take your child to the doctor, you can't give them Motrin beforehand because then their true fever won't show. Sad but true.
So we went to the clinic and I, Dr. Mom, learned that I was wrong with my diagnosis. I was sure he had the flu. The doc said he had strep. The doc told us that because he did not have a runny nose, he was sure it was not the flu. If he is wrong, we'd know in 24 hours. If Thomas isn't feeling better in 24 hours, he told Bob and I to get in for a flu shot pronto.
I never knew you had to have a runny nose to have the flu. Learn something new every day. Or not. We'll know in 24 hours, I guess.
So Thomas took his antibiotics and Motrin and promptly fell asleep.
The doctor ordered him not to go to school until 24 hours had passed from the time his fever broke. I started laughing and said he had to go to school, as he lived in his school. We just won't make him do any work. Such a lame attempt at homeschool humor.
I had completely forgotten that tomorrow was Valentine's Day. I didn't have anything prepared. Bob reminded me as I was getting out of the car. While I filled the prescription, with Thomas and his dad waiting in the car, I bought him a bouquet of balloons. That will be a sure hit with him. The kind clerk got a garbage bag to stuff them in so I could sneak the goods into the car in front of him. Whew.
What a week. I just hope he's feeling better tomorrow and it really isn't the flu. Next week we had planned on taking two days off because the public school does. I think we'll have a full week of school instead.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Manic Monday
Frankie is not feeling well today. I got up at 7, went back to bed at 7:30, woke up at 10:45. Thomas was reading a book in my bed, but I felt awful I let him down. I'm glad he let me sleep, though. My husband came home for lunch and I told him I just don't feel well enough to do school and he said to make this a Fun Monday and do school on our typical Fun Friday. Perfect solution!
Thomas is working on art, I'm sipping coffee and on the net wishing I had a drip IV of Motrin -- or something stronger.
Speaking of Thomas and art, he had an artistic weekend. He prepared his cake for his last Scouts Blue and Gold banquet. He worked on it Saturday night and Sunday morning. I am a little upset with myself because I didn't take a final picture. What you cannot see is the jello lake. Thomas scooped a portion of the cake out, and we made blue jello and poured it in. Stuck the entire cake in the fridge so it could gel, and he had his beautiful blue lake.
The banquet was yesterday afternoon and it was quite fun. Thomas got lots of blue ribbons for his cake. We're about done with scouts, we have our cross over and an ice skating event left. Counting the days...
I think I shall now go back to bed.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
An Art Idea
Crop art, not to be confused with crop circles, caught my attention today.
I was looking around for bird pictures -- by the way, we saw many cardinals, blue jays, magpies and woodpeckers today -- and I came upon a bird blog. I noticed immediately the host was from the same state in which I live: not confusion, but rather Minnesota. So I looked through her blog and found a crop art photo. I clicked on the link and was awed.
Crop art is big in Minnesota. Apparently it has its own special category at the Minnesota State Fair and is a big deal. Some of the work is absolutely mind boggling how realistic it looks.
As a child, I remember seed roosters and owls in almost everyone's kitchen. Making things out of seeds was very popular back in the 60s and 70s. I hadn't thought of it for years until it sprang up in one of our scouting books. We actually did a seed and bean project with scouts, but the boys weren't too impressed with it. Thomas, however, really enjoyed it and he came home and made a cute little box that sits in my living room in a place of honor on my great-grandma's Hoosier cabinet.
I showed Thomas this website. All the pictures are copyrighted, so I won't share them here. Wow, we had a lot of fun looking at them. And to think, they were made from seed. Our favorites were Vincent Price and Where the Wild Things Are.
I think we're going to do some of this art. I think I am going to talk Thomas into making a Thomas the Tank Engine rice picture. (For me, not for him.) We can dye the rice and see how it works. If he enjoys the project, I might spring for some beans and seeds and go beyond.
I'm not a crafty person. I am a perfectionist and that doesn't work well when you make something for the first time and it turns out like you-know-what. This, however, looks like fun for me.
It's a good thing I just bought a huge bag of rice!
I'll share photos after we've made some progress.
Monday, February 05, 2007
A Room With a View
There is one bird in this photo (can you find it?) and the photo didn't do it justice. It was a woodpecker, had a bright-red head and beautiful black and white back and wing feathers. If the google images are correct, it was a red-bellied woodpecker. I found it amazing that the photo looked nothing like real life!
Our schoolroom has a great view of our back yard, specifically our big ash tree. Since we moved our desks to actually face the window, we have been able to look out and dream a little. Sometimes we even see birds.
Today, even with the arctic temperatures, we had quite a show. The woodpeckers were out, with a vengeance. I'm not a bird watcher so I don't know many birds. I think this was the first time I have ever seen a woodpecker. Thomas had never seen one. I shouldn't say "a" woodpecker. We saw so many today that we lost count. We'd watch for awhile, run to the computer and hit google images and try and figure out what we were seeing, then run back. We got the binoculars out and saw them up close and personal.
We saw lots of birds today, some I knew, most I didn't. It's time to buy a field guide. We laughed at how fat they looked, knowing their feathers were just puffed up to keep them warm.
We had so much fun, in fact, that tonight while I was running errands I stopped and bought a block of suet and a suet holder. My sweet husband went outside (without his coat, even!) and hung it in the tree. Thomas is asking to make a bird feeder. I think that would be a wonderful project for him...when it warms up a bit.
Friday, February 02, 2007
A Scouting Solution
Thomas decided to not move on to Boy Scouts. Bob and I are definitely okay with that decision. In fact, we were to the point that we would have said no had he wanted to join.
We have a scout master who is busy in school and forgets everything. He has been sexist in the past. He's just not leader material. Nice enough guy, though. We have an assistant SM that is a nice guy but is openly bigoted toward gay people. Uhm, that just doesn't fly with me. If it weren't for that one huge character flaw, he'd be semi-okay -- except for the fact that he, too, is somewhat sexist. We have another assistant SM who farts and belches out loud at meetings. I'm talking committee meetings, pack meetings -- every time I've ever been around her, she's passed gas in some fashion. The worst about her, though, was the time that we attended a district pinewood derby race a few years back. We were at our fairgrounds. Another mom and I went outside for a break. We were sitting in my car and saw this woman walk through all the parked cars. Then, right in front of us, she dropped her drawers and urinated all over the parking lot. The possibility of a boy seeing this was extremely high. The mom and I sat there with our chins on our chests. The woman was looking around as she was relieving herself, locked eyes with me, and was shocked. She pulled her pants up and went running.
The funny part about this story? (As if there could be a funny part!) There was a indoor public restroom about 50 feet from where we were.
Everyone is human, and everyone is flawed. I have more flaws that I dare admit to here. However, I'm not bigoted toward gays, I don't think I'm sexist, and I know not to fart, belch and pee in public. Those are not qualities I want leading my son.
So...today for some reason I remembered that there is a program called The Lone Scout. I called someone in the know in our district and she told me who to call for further info. I have put my call in and am awaiting response. I am hoping that Thomas will be able to do this. He should, because one of ways you can register is:
Boys being home schooled whose parents do not want them in a youth group.
Yup, we qualify for that. For the reasons stated above, and much, much more. I guess I should say not any youth group, but that specific youth group.
I have looked over the merit badges at Merit Badge Dot Com and I like what I see. So Lone Scouting will be a solution. We would still be able to participate in district events, service projects, and camps.
We have a scout master who is busy in school and forgets everything. He has been sexist in the past. He's just not leader material. Nice enough guy, though. We have an assistant SM that is a nice guy but is openly bigoted toward gay people. Uhm, that just doesn't fly with me. If it weren't for that one huge character flaw, he'd be semi-okay -- except for the fact that he, too, is somewhat sexist. We have another assistant SM who farts and belches out loud at meetings. I'm talking committee meetings, pack meetings -- every time I've ever been around her, she's passed gas in some fashion. The worst about her, though, was the time that we attended a district pinewood derby race a few years back. We were at our fairgrounds. Another mom and I went outside for a break. We were sitting in my car and saw this woman walk through all the parked cars. Then, right in front of us, she dropped her drawers and urinated all over the parking lot. The possibility of a boy seeing this was extremely high. The mom and I sat there with our chins on our chests. The woman was looking around as she was relieving herself, locked eyes with me, and was shocked. She pulled her pants up and went running.
The funny part about this story? (As if there could be a funny part!) There was a indoor public restroom about 50 feet from where we were.
Everyone is human, and everyone is flawed. I have more flaws that I dare admit to here. However, I'm not bigoted toward gays, I don't think I'm sexist, and I know not to fart, belch and pee in public. Those are not qualities I want leading my son.
So...today for some reason I remembered that there is a program called The Lone Scout. I called someone in the know in our district and she told me who to call for further info. I have put my call in and am awaiting response. I am hoping that Thomas will be able to do this. He should, because one of ways you can register is:
Boys being home schooled whose parents do not want them in a youth group.
Yup, we qualify for that. For the reasons stated above, and much, much more. I guess I should say not any youth group, but that specific youth group.
I have looked over the merit badges at Merit Badge Dot Com and I like what I see. So Lone Scouting will be a solution. We would still be able to participate in district events, service projects, and camps.
My husband is tired of my whining...
I whine when I'm on my computer. Why? Because it freezes, it doesn't support a lot of things I want to use, and it's old. We purchased my computer in 1998. Yeah, I'm on Windows 98. Really, I don't whine that much. Only when it freezes -- which is about once a day.
My husband, with the help of Thomas, built a new computer two? years ago. I don't get to use it because if Bob isn't on it, Thomas is. That's okay.
Well, we're getting just enough of a tax return for Bob to build me a new computer. Supposedly I won't whine anymore. He's been married to me for nearly 18 years, he should know by now that I will always whine.
Am I excited? Not really. I wanted a notebook. Desperately. I envision endless homeschool possibilities with a notebook. Bob refuses. Why, I don't know. (Probably because that's what I want. I have a theory that he just does everything contrary to my wants, needs, desires...but that's a post for a different blog, which I don't possess.)
Then it dawned on me. I can take my old faithful to the school room and have what we want: Word and Excel. I can buy a printer cartridge for our old, icky Lexmark printer, and we'll be set. I doubt Bob will hook it up to the internet upstairs, but that's okay.
So am I excited now? Yes, I guess I am. I hope he gets the parts ordered this weekend.
My husband, with the help of Thomas, built a new computer two? years ago. I don't get to use it because if Bob isn't on it, Thomas is. That's okay.
Well, we're getting just enough of a tax return for Bob to build me a new computer. Supposedly I won't whine anymore. He's been married to me for nearly 18 years, he should know by now that I will always whine.
Am I excited? Not really. I wanted a notebook. Desperately. I envision endless homeschool possibilities with a notebook. Bob refuses. Why, I don't know. (Probably because that's what I want. I have a theory that he just does everything contrary to my wants, needs, desires...but that's a post for a different blog, which I don't possess.)
Then it dawned on me. I can take my old faithful to the school room and have what we want: Word and Excel. I can buy a printer cartridge for our old, icky Lexmark printer, and we'll be set. I doubt Bob will hook it up to the internet upstairs, but that's okay.
So am I excited now? Yes, I guess I am. I hope he gets the parts ordered this weekend.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Nothing On My Mind Until Now
Nothing much has been on my mind lately. I just looked and I haven't really blogged a lot. I guess I've been in deep thought, trying to get my house even more organized, trying to get through school, life....ignoring the calls from family members asking me when I am going to put Thomas in real school. Ahem.
I guess one thing that has been on my mind a lot is math. My son is very good at math concepts. He's very good at fractions. Some things click, some don't. Bottom line is that he hates math. Math is our biggest stumbling block in our day. Now it is my opinion that math will be done every.single.day. Period. When your child takes two hours to get his math done, that really screws up your day.
Okay, part of our problem is that we don't start school with the early birds. We get up, do our chores, eat breakfast, do spelling and grammar, then Thomas does reading for an hour while I watch the view. By then it's 11 and we start math. At 12 DH comes home for lunch and from the second he walks in the door, Thomas is pumped up and bouncing.
Thomas and I had yet another long talk about school and how much we are missing out on, how many fun things we could do. Such as: This week we have played Perfection every day, we have worked on a couple exercises from Audiblox, and we have played the Memory game. All very fun things, but good for helping develop short-term memory and speed. If anyone reading has good ideas for games of these types that don't take too much time, please share.
At any rate, Thomas decided he'd start an 8:30 bedtime. It has been 10. Which means his night-owl mother will have to get her butt to bed earlier. It also means we'll be getting up at 6:30, what I call an ungodly hour, and we'll have to see the bear until he leaves. Oh wait, the bear is my husband. He likes his solitude in the morning. So this will be an adjustment. Thomas wanted to start school at 7, but I talked him into 7:30.
Our plan is to do everything BUT math until we're done, and then we'll all sit a the kitchen table with math. I hope this works. He'll be tired and focus will be an issue, but he'll also have two adults to work with not just one.
I wish the math fairy would come to our home and sprinkle her math dust on us. Wouldn't that be the easy way out?
Hmmmmm...
I think I'll tuck myself back under my nice, comfy-cozy rock and do some more deep thinking now.
I guess one thing that has been on my mind a lot is math. My son is very good at math concepts. He's very good at fractions. Some things click, some don't. Bottom line is that he hates math. Math is our biggest stumbling block in our day. Now it is my opinion that math will be done every.single.day. Period. When your child takes two hours to get his math done, that really screws up your day.
Okay, part of our problem is that we don't start school with the early birds. We get up, do our chores, eat breakfast, do spelling and grammar, then Thomas does reading for an hour while I watch the view. By then it's 11 and we start math. At 12 DH comes home for lunch and from the second he walks in the door, Thomas is pumped up and bouncing.
Thomas and I had yet another long talk about school and how much we are missing out on, how many fun things we could do. Such as: This week we have played Perfection every day, we have worked on a couple exercises from Audiblox, and we have played the Memory game. All very fun things, but good for helping develop short-term memory and speed. If anyone reading has good ideas for games of these types that don't take too much time, please share.
At any rate, Thomas decided he'd start an 8:30 bedtime. It has been 10. Which means his night-owl mother will have to get her butt to bed earlier. It also means we'll be getting up at 6:30, what I call an ungodly hour, and we'll have to see the bear until he leaves. Oh wait, the bear is my husband. He likes his solitude in the morning. So this will be an adjustment. Thomas wanted to start school at 7, but I talked him into 7:30.
Our plan is to do everything BUT math until we're done, and then we'll all sit a the kitchen table with math. I hope this works. He'll be tired and focus will be an issue, but he'll also have two adults to work with not just one.
I wish the math fairy would come to our home and sprinkle her math dust on us. Wouldn't that be the easy way out?
Hmmmmm...
I think I'll tuck myself back under my nice, comfy-cozy rock and do some more deep thinking now.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Question of the Day
About four in the afternoon, we were still doing school. We started talking about the current war, then about vets. Thomas sat back and reflected. I could tell he was really thinking hard about something. Then he made a quizzical expression, I was expecting a deep, profound question from him.
"Mom, did my grandpas fight in the Viet Nam War or the Civil War?"
Now, I'm a good mom who supports my son. He is highly sensitive and I deal with that very well on a daily basis. But not today. I burst out laughing. In fact, it might be because I was very tired, it was late in the day, or I was feeling extremely blue today, but I laughed so hard I had tears coming down my face.
Thomas has come a long way because he actually started laughing in with me. Whew, I didn't hurt his feelings.
I looked at him and told him to think about how old both grandpas are/were. I see the light bulb pop over his head. "Oh, DUH, mom, the Civil War was in the 1800s. They were in WWII."
Thank goodness he figured that out and joined me in further laughter.
Tonight while he was at the train club with his dad, I called my dad. I told him what Thomas had asked. My dad roared! He then said he feels as though he were in the civil war. Three of my father's grandfathers were in the Civil War. I think we may have to go off on a tangent tomorrow, get my genealogy out, and go through our war patriots.
We have one known that served in the Revolutionary War. We have oodles that served in the Civil War. The day my granddad signed up for WWI, it was over. How lucky was he! Both of Thomas's grandfathers were in WWII.
My great-great-great grandfather fought in the Mexican Wars. I know nothing about that period and I need to do some research, and quickly.
Sometimes when you're down and out (I was having an awful day today mood wise) one simple yet innocent question will make you laugh and snap you back into reality.
God, I love my kiddo! (Just not when he wakes up grumpy, as he's been doing the past two days.)
"Mom, did my grandpas fight in the Viet Nam War or the Civil War?"
Now, I'm a good mom who supports my son. He is highly sensitive and I deal with that very well on a daily basis. But not today. I burst out laughing. In fact, it might be because I was very tired, it was late in the day, or I was feeling extremely blue today, but I laughed so hard I had tears coming down my face.
Thomas has come a long way because he actually started laughing in with me. Whew, I didn't hurt his feelings.
I looked at him and told him to think about how old both grandpas are/were. I see the light bulb pop over his head. "Oh, DUH, mom, the Civil War was in the 1800s. They were in WWII."
Thank goodness he figured that out and joined me in further laughter.
Tonight while he was at the train club with his dad, I called my dad. I told him what Thomas had asked. My dad roared! He then said he feels as though he were in the civil war. Three of my father's grandfathers were in the Civil War. I think we may have to go off on a tangent tomorrow, get my genealogy out, and go through our war patriots.
We have one known that served in the Revolutionary War. We have oodles that served in the Civil War. The day my granddad signed up for WWI, it was over. How lucky was he! Both of Thomas's grandfathers were in WWII.
My great-great-great grandfather fought in the Mexican Wars. I know nothing about that period and I need to do some research, and quickly.
Sometimes when you're down and out (I was having an awful day today mood wise) one simple yet innocent question will make you laugh and snap you back into reality.
God, I love my kiddo! (Just not when he wakes up grumpy, as he's been doing the past two days.)
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Thomas, Addie Mouse, and the Trains...
Addie posted this photo to her blog, but I wanted to share it here as well. This is a small corner of the train club's room. Thomas continues to love the railroad club.
Monday, January 22, 2007
A Weird Kind of Sorrow
I'm feeling a little down tonight. Not depressed, and not really down, either, I guess. Just feeling sad that a change is about to happen. Tomorrow afternoon will be our last real den meeting -- ever. We do have one final den meeting set, but we wanted to take the boys out to eat as a special treat -- so that is just pure fun and takes no prep time from me.
I've spent about three hours preparing for tomorrow's den meeting. The den leader joke is: only an hour a week and you're done. Yeah, the meetings last an hour and you spend many hours preparing for those meetings. In fact, our meetings last two hours.
It's been fun. I loved the boys. I didn't like all of them, to be honest. There was one I hoped would quit, but he didn't. That's okay. He's nice when he's by himself, he just goes wild with a crowd. I put on a good program for the boys. Thomas enjoyed scouts. He had even more fun at pack meetings. He gets along with kids younger than he is much better than his own-age peers. He also gets along with older kids better. Strange.
There will definitely be a void. This was my thing for since second grade, so not quite four years.
I joined a local organization to help fill the void for me. Thomas has joined the train club. Which, I might add, is working out better than Bob or I could have imagined. There are people of all ages in the club and they all treat Thomas with respect and share his great enthusiasm. They teach him like they would teach an adult -- that part I love. What a confidence booster it is for him. He comes home from every meeting glowing, bouncing, and sharing his experiences 200 words per minute. He's happy. I have my eyes wide open, though, to find something with more kids -- a chance where he can escape his mom and secretly tell poop jokes that I've forbid.
Well, goodbye to scouts. We have our restaurant meeting left, a blue and gold banquet to attend, and finally our cross over.
It went SO fast. Why does time go so fast the older you get?
I enjoyed watching all the tiger cubs at our last meeting. They were so little. My Webelos were so grown up. Blink and it's over. Sigh.
From now on, our Tuesdays will be ours. I won't be interrupting school to put the final touches on our projects, or run to the dollar store for something we need. Tuesdays will be like any other day now.
Sigh.
Thomas is not going on to Boy Scouts. He didn't like it. I didn't, either. New leaders just took over and it's a little chaotic at best. The difference between Cubs and BS is very noticable. I'm okay with his choice.
Sigh, sigh, sigh.
I've spent about three hours preparing for tomorrow's den meeting. The den leader joke is: only an hour a week and you're done. Yeah, the meetings last an hour and you spend many hours preparing for those meetings. In fact, our meetings last two hours.
It's been fun. I loved the boys. I didn't like all of them, to be honest. There was one I hoped would quit, but he didn't. That's okay. He's nice when he's by himself, he just goes wild with a crowd. I put on a good program for the boys. Thomas enjoyed scouts. He had even more fun at pack meetings. He gets along with kids younger than he is much better than his own-age peers. He also gets along with older kids better. Strange.
There will definitely be a void. This was my thing for since second grade, so not quite four years.
I joined a local organization to help fill the void for me. Thomas has joined the train club. Which, I might add, is working out better than Bob or I could have imagined. There are people of all ages in the club and they all treat Thomas with respect and share his great enthusiasm. They teach him like they would teach an adult -- that part I love. What a confidence booster it is for him. He comes home from every meeting glowing, bouncing, and sharing his experiences 200 words per minute. He's happy. I have my eyes wide open, though, to find something with more kids -- a chance where he can escape his mom and secretly tell poop jokes that I've forbid.
Well, goodbye to scouts. We have our restaurant meeting left, a blue and gold banquet to attend, and finally our cross over.
It went SO fast. Why does time go so fast the older you get?
I enjoyed watching all the tiger cubs at our last meeting. They were so little. My Webelos were so grown up. Blink and it's over. Sigh.
From now on, our Tuesdays will be ours. I won't be interrupting school to put the final touches on our projects, or run to the dollar store for something we need. Tuesdays will be like any other day now.
Sigh.
Thomas is not going on to Boy Scouts. He didn't like it. I didn't, either. New leaders just took over and it's a little chaotic at best. The difference between Cubs and BS is very noticable. I'm okay with his choice.
Sigh, sigh, sigh.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
While I'm Bragging...
Here's another brag.
We switched to Rod and Staff Math this year. I put Thomas in their 5th grade program. We skipped a few chapters in the beginning because it was review and he knew the material. We forged on. The first section on fractions we came to was completely different than we had learned last year, so I had him do the chapter. I scheduled our year so that we would complete the book by the end of the year.
Today, however, we sped things up a bit. We started a new chapter of fractions. I looked closely at the material, knew Thomas could do it, so I decided to have some fun. I turned to the first lesson of the chapter, put the hardest two problems on the white board, and had him work them. Done in 30 seconds. I went to the next lesson and did the same. I did it for the entire chapter. Wow, that kid knows his fractions. We moved on to the next section on fractions. We did the same thing. Done in no time flat.
So two chapters down in one day. Woo-hoo. Good going, Thomas.
I credit his "love" of fractions on the book we used last year. Barron's Painless Fractions. We worked through about 3/4 of the book last year. We had started fractions in Singapore and it wasn't clicking with Thomas so I did a quick Amazon search and order. I would either print worksheets from the net on the day's lesson or make my own for him to practice. The proof is in the pudding as it taught him well!
In reality, Thomas hates math. He despises math. I don't know why, but he loses his ability to focus while doing math. It's frustrating for him. He scores very high on math concepts, and even well above grade level on calculation, but he hates it. Math in this house takes an hour to hour and a half every day. And I'm the mean mom who makes him "strive for excellence" and keep at it.
One of the reasons I like Rod and Staff so much is that there is a lot of review and practice. Tons. You learn new stuff on one page of the lesson, do the practice problems, and the second page of the lesson is review and practice of old skills.
Thomas has told me many times that while he hates math, even he likes Rod and Staff because it helps him get it down cold. And that's the point.
So I guess this day will go down as a super-fantastic day for us on all accounts!
We switched to Rod and Staff Math this year. I put Thomas in their 5th grade program. We skipped a few chapters in the beginning because it was review and he knew the material. We forged on. The first section on fractions we came to was completely different than we had learned last year, so I had him do the chapter. I scheduled our year so that we would complete the book by the end of the year.
Today, however, we sped things up a bit. We started a new chapter of fractions. I looked closely at the material, knew Thomas could do it, so I decided to have some fun. I turned to the first lesson of the chapter, put the hardest two problems on the white board, and had him work them. Done in 30 seconds. I went to the next lesson and did the same. I did it for the entire chapter. Wow, that kid knows his fractions. We moved on to the next section on fractions. We did the same thing. Done in no time flat.
So two chapters down in one day. Woo-hoo. Good going, Thomas.
I credit his "love" of fractions on the book we used last year. Barron's Painless Fractions. We worked through about 3/4 of the book last year. We had started fractions in Singapore and it wasn't clicking with Thomas so I did a quick Amazon search and order. I would either print worksheets from the net on the day's lesson or make my own for him to practice. The proof is in the pudding as it taught him well!
In reality, Thomas hates math. He despises math. I don't know why, but he loses his ability to focus while doing math. It's frustrating for him. He scores very high on math concepts, and even well above grade level on calculation, but he hates it. Math in this house takes an hour to hour and a half every day. And I'm the mean mom who makes him "strive for excellence" and keep at it.
One of the reasons I like Rod and Staff so much is that there is a lot of review and practice. Tons. You learn new stuff on one page of the lesson, do the practice problems, and the second page of the lesson is review and practice of old skills.
Thomas has told me many times that while he hates math, even he likes Rod and Staff because it helps him get it down cold. And that's the point.
So I guess this day will go down as a super-fantastic day for us on all accounts!
Wow
Do we expect enough of our children?
I ask this because I had an exchange with someone tonight that left me a little stunned. I was told by the CM in scouts that for tonight's pack meeting, my six Webelos had received $150 worth of awards. About a quarter of that were badges and three quarters were belt loops and pins. My son received the most, but was followed closely by others.
Over the past year and a half, three of my six boys (including Thomas) earned every single Webelos badge available. Thomas earned every academic belt loop and almost half of the sports belt loops. I am very proud of my boys. They all worked very hard.
Anyway, the CM shared with me that the district told him that my den has received more awards than any other den in our district -- ever.
While I am very proud of that, I am stunned. We worked the program. We had great boys with great parents who helped them with the badges we did not do in the den. They worked on belt loops outside of the den as well. I am stunned, though, because it really wasn't that hard. I cannot fathom why dens across the district, state and US don't earn more awards.
If we teach our children to strive for excellence, they will. If we settle for good enough, that's what we'll get.
I am so proud of my boys.
I ask this because I had an exchange with someone tonight that left me a little stunned. I was told by the CM in scouts that for tonight's pack meeting, my six Webelos had received $150 worth of awards. About a quarter of that were badges and three quarters were belt loops and pins. My son received the most, but was followed closely by others.
Over the past year and a half, three of my six boys (including Thomas) earned every single Webelos badge available. Thomas earned every academic belt loop and almost half of the sports belt loops. I am very proud of my boys. They all worked very hard.
Anyway, the CM shared with me that the district told him that my den has received more awards than any other den in our district -- ever.
While I am very proud of that, I am stunned. We worked the program. We had great boys with great parents who helped them with the badges we did not do in the den. They worked on belt loops outside of the den as well. I am stunned, though, because it really wasn't that hard. I cannot fathom why dens across the district, state and US don't earn more awards.
If we teach our children to strive for excellence, they will. If we settle for good enough, that's what we'll get.
I am so proud of my boys.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
I Miss Family Pass
I really miss Family Pass, formerly Mentura. We watched so many wonderful educational DVDs from them it really enhanced our school. I was devistated when it closed. Our public library, while good for a small town, has a dismal collection of DVDs and videos. I decided today that I need to do something about this void.
I did a little searching. It seems there is a company out there that was made exclusively for homeschoolers. It's expensive, IMHO, and didn't have the flexibility that Family Pass had or that Netflix has. You have to return your videos in 15 days. You pay individually for each, and it's expensive. On their site it says:
So off to Netflix. I searched many things we're studying now and found a fair amount of titles that we might enjoy. They have over 100 Imax titles. Lots of History Channel. This seems as if it will be our best bet.
Another option would be to check the TV schedule on a daily basis and start recording programs. This is what my husband wants me to do. I don't want the hassle of doing that, I don't want videos taking up space in my house, and I am not ready to buy a DVD player that can also record at the moment. Who wants to fast forward through commercials. Plus, it would take quite some time to build up a colleciton to use while we study. With Netflix, I can get it as soon as it is available.
The last option I considered was United Streaming. At $149 a year, not bad. The pros are the vidoes are available whenever I would want them with no wait. The con is that we'd have to watch it on the computer. From what I've read, it's impossible to burn a decent DVD as the quality goes down. Our computers are in the basement. It's cold, ugly and uncomfortable down here. I'd rather snuggle up on the couch while watching our videos. Our school system does subscribe to this, so I may call them and see if we can get a free subscription, but it's not exactly what I want.
So I guess Netflix wins. Not exactly what I want, it will take me awhile to find movies that fit with our studies, but it will have to do.
Anyone else have any other ideas??
I did a little searching. It seems there is a company out there that was made exclusively for homeschoolers. It's expensive, IMHO, and didn't have the flexibility that Family Pass had or that Netflix has. You have to return your videos in 15 days. You pay individually for each, and it's expensive. On their site it says:
The more you rent—the more you save! The annual membership fee is only $25 per year. As a member, you can rent up to 3 educational multimedia products at one time. The first rental item cost is $7 and the second and third items are only $4 each, making the average rental price only $5 each. The selected items are mailed to your mailbox and you can enjoy them for up to 15 days. Then mail the items back to (them) using the provided FREE shipping label. Visit us online, rent 3 new items and the convenient process starts again.I won't link to the company. I found this company on a google search and was taken to a page comparing it to Netflix. When I went to the main page, I found this: "Participant in The Old Schoolhouse New Subscriber Free Gift Promotion." I still boycott The Old Schoolhouse. So that's not an option. In fact, when I saw that, I didn't even bother to search their collection.
So off to Netflix. I searched many things we're studying now and found a fair amount of titles that we might enjoy. They have over 100 Imax titles. Lots of History Channel. This seems as if it will be our best bet.
Another option would be to check the TV schedule on a daily basis and start recording programs. This is what my husband wants me to do. I don't want the hassle of doing that, I don't want videos taking up space in my house, and I am not ready to buy a DVD player that can also record at the moment. Who wants to fast forward through commercials. Plus, it would take quite some time to build up a colleciton to use while we study. With Netflix, I can get it as soon as it is available.
The last option I considered was United Streaming. At $149 a year, not bad. The pros are the vidoes are available whenever I would want them with no wait. The con is that we'd have to watch it on the computer. From what I've read, it's impossible to burn a decent DVD as the quality goes down. Our computers are in the basement. It's cold, ugly and uncomfortable down here. I'd rather snuggle up on the couch while watching our videos. Our school system does subscribe to this, so I may call them and see if we can get a free subscription, but it's not exactly what I want.
So I guess Netflix wins. Not exactly what I want, it will take me awhile to find movies that fit with our studies, but it will have to do.
Anyone else have any other ideas??
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Brrr!
Addie ventured out into the snow today.We're finally getting a taste of winter. It's been cold all week, with windchills below zero. Today it started snowing. Thomas and I ran to the grocery store for my weekly shopping. Coming out of the snow, we delighted in "the little things that are great about winter."
First, the snow was hitting our eyelashes and melting. We both had watery eyes -- and it felt great. In March, it's not a great feeling, but when there hasn't been hardly any snow, it's a great feeling.
Secondly, we delighted in something weird. When you go outside in very cold weather, the hair in your nose freezes and it feels really cool. We both laughed at our frozen noses. That was one of my favorite things to do as a kid, freeze my nose hair. I'd go in and out of the house, just to experience it. Freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw.
Yeah, I'm weird.
We had a weird and busy week. We didn't go out of the house much, but for some reason we were extremely busy. Lots of schooling got done, lots of fretting about the state of the house as well. This morning we finally packed up all the Christmas goodies and gave the living room a good deep cleaning. That hung over my head all week, enough to make me grumpy, but not enough to pack it all up. I feel so much better.
Monday is a school holiday. I had completely forgotten that until a friend reminded me on Friday. I'm such a stinker that I'm not going to tell Thomas and we're going to school anyway. At least math, but probably the whole works. We're still making up for lost time from this past November.
Scouts has me extremely busy as we wind up for the big finale. We have two den meetings left, two pack meetings and our Blue and Gold banquet. I am counting the days. It's been fun, I'm going to miss the boys (most of them) but I am so looking forward to having my Tuesdays free again and not rushing through school. I'm looking forward to putting all the money I spent on scouts on our school! It was easy for me to spend around $25 a meeting on supplies. I think that's about what it averaged out to. I'm looking forward to no more Monday night meetings. I'm looking forward to no more Thursday night meetings. I'm looking forward to retirement. =)
My yahoo groups have been extremely busy lately as well. Tis the season for anyone and everyone to join a diet group and a cleaning group. So almost all my online time has been devoted to those groups.
That's my week in a nutshell. This coming week I have hopes of re-organizing our school room, YET again. I am just never happy with that room. There's not a lot you can do with a 9x9 school room with 1970's blue carpeting. I dream of a big room, more table space, less sprawling out on our kitchen table -- no wait, that's my husband's dream, having a kitchen table that is free and clear of books.
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