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October 26, 2006
I'm Going to The Closet, I'm Going on a Trip ...
I am going on vacation. Yes, folks, a real vacation, without my children, without, even, my wonderful husband.
I am leaving for the weekend. I'm going to Memphis, to see a dear friend. Then we're going to hop into her car and drive to Little Rock, where we have front row seats (!) to the Journey/Def Leppard show.
Don't wait up. We're going to party like it's ... uh ... 1983. And like we were of drinking age then.
Posted by lynx at 8:41 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Belated
I missed posting about Griffin's birthday. He had one, though, and now he's six.
Here's the cake he requested. They wouldn't let me decorate it this year, though - they did this all themselves. Yes, it's being attacked by Captain Jack.
Yep, he's six, and he astounds us every day with how big he is. It still catches us by surprise. I think we have a tendency to treat him as a younger kid. He won't stand for that much longer, though. He's a big kid. He takes karate. He's learning arithmetic.
He seems to have decided that his position in the family is that of class clown. I truly think this was a considered decision on his part. And he works at it. He wants, more than anything, to be funny. To make people laugh, as only the third child can.
And he's a sweet, sweet boy.
Posted by lynx at 8:35 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
October 25, 2006
I Love My Kid
So, in reference to the last post, I was trying to explain Marilyn Manson to Connor. I asked him if he knows what a Goth is.
"Sure ... they were, um, a Germanic tribe, I think? That attacked Rome?"
Posted by lynx at 9:13 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Everyone Hail to the Pumpkin Song
I'm not generally a Marilyn Manson fan, but this really works.
This is one of our family's favorite movies. And it's back out in the theaters, in 3-D. The 3-D part means nothing to me, as my eyes don't see it, but regardless, Nightmare Before Christmas is back out in theaters.
Posted by lynx at 9:04 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 24, 2006
Head Shots
This is four of the six. The blue one with the snakes coming out of its head is Connor's (not quite finished, it still needs some touching up). Griffin's is the Bug Man. That lovely orange one with the knife in his skull and dripping blood, well, that was the creation of my four-year old.
The one on the end is mine. I'm bringing cake to the party, so I'm going to set her up by the cake with a sign urging everyone to eat cake. Too subtle?
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October 23, 2006
Overheard And Out Of Context
Jeff beat me to it.
Posted by lynx at 5:23 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
October 21, 2006
Things My Kids Will Never Forgive
I didn't realize, until just now, what I have done. I imagine Aidan will remember this for the rest of his life, and never forgive me.
Aidan is getting braces. I scheduled the appointment for ...
do you believe this? ...
Oct. 30.
Do I break it to him now? Or wait for him to figure it out?
Posted by lynx at 10:07 AM | Comments (17) | TrackBack
October 20, 2006
Overheard In My Car
Connor: I am NOT a Trekkie.
Me: Yes you are.
Connor: No, Aidan's a Trekkie. I am not a TrekkIE, I'm a TrekkER.
I'm doomed.
Posted by lynx at 3:39 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
October 18, 2006
How To Be Moral
At a den meeting this week, the leader asked the boys what it means to be "morally straight."
My 10 year old's response: "It means not running around being like Hitler."
There you have it, folks. Moral = not Hitler.
Posted by lynx at 10:23 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
October 16, 2006
Yep, this is why I hate breaks
It's like pulling teeth to start up again.
Frankly, I'd just as soon take another week off as well. My fear is that if we do, we won't get back into our groove until, say, the end of January. Which is not really a problem, except then I'd feel compelled to keep going at it through the summer. Which is not really a problem, except that the summers here are so darned nice that we ought to be out playing.
Eh, I don't know. We still have heads on sticks to make. And a Borg costume to assemble. Oh, and a house to clean. And a kid who (predictably) has lost his math book.
Posted by lynx at 9:08 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
TV Causes Autism?
I haven't checked this study out, but it's an interesting idea. Television viewing causes autism.
Posted by lynx at 8:18 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
I want a poster of this
Today's APOD
Posted by lynx at 8:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 13, 2006
Fight Back!
Chris asked if Texas is right or wrong in encouraging classes to fight back when threatened.
You bet your ten-gallon hat Texas is right.
When you are attacked, anywhere, what is your best chance of survival? It's to fight back.
Kids at school are easy pickings. People with violent intent know that the kids are largely helpless, that no one else there will have a weapon, and that the carnage and terror will make him an instant media star.
Yes, teach the kids, and the teachers, to fight! I hate that it's come to this, but if my kids were in school I would certainly feel better if teachers and classes were coached on how to make it extremely difficult for an attacker to succeed. In such a situation, you cannot wait for the powers that be to save you. You have to save yourself, to keep yourself alive until help can come.
While we're at it, perhaps an on-site armed guard is not a bad idea. I don't advocate arming the teachers or the administration, but someone on-site with arms training could be invaluable when a student body is faced with an armed idiot.
Fight back. What is the alternative?
Posted by lynx at 8:35 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
October 12, 2006
Comparisons
The moment a homeschooler admits to doing productive work, the rest of us compare ourselves to that family. It's automatic.
We did have a pretty darned productive nine weeks. This productivity is the result of us finding a really good groove for schooling. And the good groove is the result of years of figuring out what works for us.
Plus, I'm, er, very goal-oriented.
What have we done now that we've finished this productive nine weeks? We've taken a break. That's hard for me to do, when we are in the groove. I want to keep going, keep checking off lesson numbers in my planner, keep crossing items off lists. There's more to life, and education, than that, though, and so I make myself put the planner down and walk away.
I appreciate the kind comments, but for all of you who look at my list and think you didn't do much, think again. You just did different things. You probably did many things that would send me into fits of homeschooling envy. And Dy? Sheesh! You renovated a house while pregnant and caring for three young children! That would not have happened in my world. Ever.
Comparisons are fine, as long as we take the right lesson from them: We can't do everything, but we can choose what we are going to do, and do it. That which we don't choose might look nice in someone else's lawn, but would probably choke out the flowers over on this side of the fence. Or whatever metaphor you can mangle after midnight. (I go out mangling ... after midnight ... out in the moonlight ...)
Posted by lynx at 11:13 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
A Lovely Fall Day
Posted by lynx at 8:06 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 11, 2006
Nine Week Wrap-Up
We just completed nine solid weeks of schooling - no illnesses, no interruptions, just nine solid weeks.
Connor (5th grade) read nine books: Three Bruce Coville retellings of Shakespeare, "Gilgamesh the Hero" (McCaughrean), "Egyptian Tales," "Pyramid" (McCaulay), two Star Trek novels, and a Star Wars novel. He's currently in the middle of another Star Wars novel, and "The Hobbit."
Aidan (3rd grade) read "Gilgamesh the Hero," "Stuart Little," One Coville Shakespeare, and the same two Star Trek novels that Connor read. He's in the middle of another Star Trek novel, and "Charlotte's Web."
Aloud, I've read many chapters of D'Aulaire's "Greek Myths" and "Famous Men of Rome," and a few chapters from a children's Bible. We've read several chapters of "Story of the World," and "Farmer Boy."
They've each memorized something like 7 poems, thanks to our poetry program that we do in the car.
Connor has completed 14 lessons of "Using Latin Book One." I throw in (better) exercises from "Latin Book One." We are very, very happy with this combination. It's a shame these Latin books aren't in print any more.
Aidan is in Chapter 4 of Latin for Children A. It's slow going, but that's fine. We have time. My goal is for him to be able to start ULBO in 5th grade.
Connor has completed through Week 5 of Classical Writing Aesop B, and that's going very well. It's not particularly challenging, so when we start back I'm going to try picking up the pace. He is still the king of concise writing projects. However, he can now write a good paragraph, something I despaired of a year ago. It just goes to show that patience pays off - patience, and small, attainable steps.
I've dropped Classical Writing for Aidan. He's in 3rd grade, and he's already completed Aesop A. Again, we have plenty of time. He's doing copywork, dictation and narrations for the year, and I'll start him in Aesop B next year.
Connor has sailed through most of Singapore 5A, and Aidan is within 20 lessons of finishing Right Start level C.
Griffin (K or 1) has done a few lessons in Right Start B, and is learning phonograms and how to write letters. He also listens to "Story of the World," but he's only interested in the parts about Egypt.
Their Clay Animation and LEGO Engineering classes are going well. I'm very impressed with these classes. The LEGO class is really teaching them basic engineering and physics. The clay animation class has them doing their own work, from concept to storyboarding, and right now they're working on creating the clay characters and scenery. They're also taking karate once a week, and attending a chess club. And then there's Scouts.
Within all that, they've had plenty of time to play, pick apples, play games, run around, decorate heads on sticks, explore nature trails, etc. The only thing I'd like to change is that I wish they had friends in the neighborhood to play outside with (and, of course, the drive time to the wonderful classes).
Today, we're doing nothing. I hope.
Posted by lynx at 8:05 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
October 9, 2006
Eh?
I blogged this morning. A nice, long blog. Where did it go?
I announced that we were taking Fall break this week, and summed up our nine weeks of school so far.
Well.
At any rate, the decision to take a break this week was prophetic. This morning, Connor said his throat was sore. An hour later, he was talking funny so as not to move his mouth when he talked. An hour after that, he wanted to lie down. That was my cue to call the doc.
No fever, no other symptoms. Wanna guess? Strep, and probably pneumonia.
It's a fine week for a break.
I'll see if I can dig up my previous post.
Posted by lynx at 9:54 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
October 5, 2006
If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Michigan
I'm not blogging much because I'm busy. As I've said before, I hate busy. I know it's only going to get worse. I still hate it.
The kids don't like being out of the house all day, two days a week, either. They like the classes and activities, but they've inherited my dislike of having to be somewhere every week. (Do you begin to see why I hated working?)
Our days at home go like this:
The kids get up around 8, and eat breakfast while listening to the XM Kids morning show. We used to listen to classical. But heck, even I like that morning show.
On a good day we start schoolwork at 9; on other days at 10. We do math first, then Latin. After that Aidan does copywork and piano, and is free. Connor does Classical Writing. This usually takes us until lunchtime.
While they eat I read to them: Monday I read Classical Studies materials, Wednesday I read history. My goal is to read science on Fridays, but that hasn't happened yet. After that we do any maps or projects or activities. I do housework. If it's a good day, we go play somewhere. They read. They play. Connor writes whatever I'm' having him write this week. Sometimes we'll do spelling. Somewhere in there I'll grab Griffin for a math lesson, or a spelling lesson. And then there's more housework.
On our class days, we get up at the same time. We rush through math and Latin, and maybe some CW analysis work. Then we get everyone together and in the car. We come back in the late afternoon, and are too tired to do anything productive. I'd like to still do history on those days, but housework calls. Again.
We're doing all the important things, but even having classes on only two days a week, I feel that too much of the fun stuff is squeezed out. Maybe not for the kids - they love their classes! But for me!
At least one night a week, and most weekends, belongs to Scouts. I'm not complaining about our activities, I just wish I could learn to handle them in a way that doesn't leave me feeling pressured. The classes and activities are good, and worthwhile. But I really treasure, and apparently need, lots and lots of downtime. It must be that introvert thing again.
Posted by lynx at 7:47 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
October 2, 2006
You Might be a Homeschool Mom If ...
This landed in my Inbox today. Might I be a homeschool(ing) Mom? Let's see ...
When a child busts a lip, and after seeing she's okay, you round up
some Scotch tape to capture some blood and look at it under the
microscope.
Eh, maybe. I could see doing that. If you're studying biology, you've got to capture the opportunities as they come.
You find dead animals and actually consider saving them to dissect
later.
Yep. Or consider saving the skeletons.
Your children never, ever leave the "why?" stage.
No kidding.
You look at every room in your home to try and imagine how to squeeze
in another bookshelf.
Guilty.
You turn your china cabinet into book shelves.
China cabinet?
You ask for, and get, a copier instead of a diamond tennis bracelet
for your wedding anniversary.
I hope so. I'd much rather have the copier.
Your kids think reading history is best accomplished while lying on
the floor with their head resting on the side of their patient dog.
We don't have a dog, so I had the kids test this out with our cats. I don't know how comfortable the kids were, but the cats were definitely not enthused. I think my kids think learning history is best accomplished via "Age of Empires" or "Civilization."
Your husband can walk in at the end of a long day and tell how the
science experiment went just by looking at the house.
A bad science experiment wouldn't look much different from a normal day.
You never have to drive your child's forgotten lunch to school.
This is a nice perk, admittedly.
Your child will never suffer the embarrassment of group showers after
PE.
Err ... there were no group showers when I had PE. Where did you people go to school?
You never have to face the dilemma of whether to take your child's
side or the teacher's side in a dispute at school.
No, but you have to be both the parent and the teacher in any student dispute.
If your child gets drugs at school, it's probably Tylenol.
That's right, only the teacher gets the bourbon.
Your kids learn new vocabulary from their extensive collection of
"Calvin & Hobbes" books.
Kids? I learn new vocabulary from Calvin and Hobbes.
Your formal dining room now has a computer, copy machine, and many
book shelves and there are educational posters and maps all over the
walls.
We don't have a formal dining room, but that does describe our decor.
You have meal worms growing in a container....on purpose.
Eww! No! Gross!
If you get caught talking to yourself, you can claim you're having a
PTA meeting.
Yeah. Okay. Sure.
You take off for a teacher in-service day because the principal needs
clean underwear.
No, actually I can do laundry and teach the kids.
You can't make it through a movie without pointing out the historical
inaccuracies.
True, but we did that before we had kids.
You step on math manipulatives on your pre-dawn stumble to the
bathroom.
Sigh. True.
The teacher gets to kiss the principal in the faculty lounge and no
one gossips.
Sure, no one but the kids, who will tell the neighbors, your parents, and anyone else it would be sure to embarrass.
If your child claims that the dog ate his homework, you can ask the
dog.
Again, the cat is not so much into eating paper. Nor are they particularly helpful in subversive plots.
Someday your children will consider you to be a miracle-working
expert and will turn to you for advice.
This is where the author veers off into fantasy land ...
Your kids refer to the neighbor kids as "government school inmates."
Actually, they usually refer to them as "kids."
You can't make it through the grocery produce department without
asking your preschooler the name and color of every vegetable.
This was true, with the first kid. The fourth kid is lucky to know what a vegetable is.
You can't put your produce in your cart without asking your older
student to estimate its weight and verify its accuracy.
No, I can't put produce in my cart without at least two children begging to weigh it, while I make a run away from the scales, so that I don't end up in the supermarket for three hours.
Posted by lynx at 9:09 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
October 1, 2006
Weird People/Embarrassing Kids
Another strange thing about Michigan: People say things to my kids when we're in the store. Things that my kids just do not get.
Today Lachlan was sulking in the cereal aisle, as the permitted-cereal negotiations were not going as he had hoped. A man walking in the same aisle stopped to stoop near Lachlan's ear, and told him: "Hey, I just saw Santa Claus over on the next aisle!"
It took me several seconds to understand what he meant. We do have Santa visit us at Christmas, but do not use him as a bribe for good behavior. Lachlan just assumed the man was insane and resumed his pout.
But soon, a cereal was agreed upon, and the rest of the family joined us in that fateful aisle. All of the children simultaneously opened negotiations for cookies, but I was feeling unilateral and smacked that idea down.
"Please can we have cookies?" begged Griffin.
"No."
I swear that as I said "no," talked ceased in the aisle. I'm quite certain they all paused for a moment of silence so that they could hear my child's next words clearly. Would he yell? Would he throw a fit? Would he say "That's okay, Mom, I'm sure you have excellent reasons for not allowing us to load up on sugar right now?"
Not my kid. No, my kid, my new six-year-old giggled at me, and then, as the store held its breath, yelled out: "Awww, you bastard!"
I may never be able to shop there again. What do you think Santa thought of that?
Posted by lynx at 9:38 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack