Homeschool For One

Babies, Birds, and Making a Book

2009-08-07T19:16:00.003-06:00

Baby D likes birds so we're going to make a bird book. I've looked for ones to buy, stories, etc. but I think the best will be to have him take photos of birds that we see with our own eyes in the yard and places we go, then make a scrapbook ourselves. I downloaded a polar bear book and a tiger book from currclick.com for the littles before and they both (little A and baby D) really enjoyed the pictures, learning the facts, and making their craft bear and tiger. A couple of months ago I found a cheap little bird and nest with eggs from the Family Dollar store that he liked. We play bird games where I'm the mommy and he is a baby cracking out of its egg, then learning to fly. Then we watch out for the big bad hawks that try to come after him. He loves these games.

When we find a bird and get its picture, we can look up what type it is and find out a bit about its habits. Maybe I can get D to try to play its song on the keyboard too. My only problem with the pictures is that both littles think I'm just being mean when I "won't" show them the picture before it's developed. They're growing up in the age of immediate digital cameras but I don't have one. D does but there's not even the slightest chance he'll let baby D use it and I understand completely. Maybe D can take the picture while baby D tries to whistle the bird's song and that way it will be more fun - if D and I can remember to photograph the bird and not the baby being cute and adorable trying to sing to it!

We forgot about PHI!

2009-05-22T22:42:00.003-06:00

Today I started reading The Da Vinci Code and I'm glad I finally decided to do so. It reminded me to measure things with D to show the ubiquity of PHI. He already loves PI so this one should be interesting to him - when I showed him before, he was quite surprised but then we forgot to do much with it. I wonder if the human body ratios remain intact through puberty? D is also interested in music, we can explore the presence of PHI in that as well as art. He hates art but if I can add math into it that may spark a bit of at least temporary interest!

SAT Question of the Day

2009-05-10T12:18:00.001-06:00

This is at the bottom of my blog, I forgot it was there! I wanted it in the sidebar but it doesn't fit. Maybe just the link would fit but I want the whole question there.

Need A Real Wristwatch, Not A Clock On A Phone

2009-05-09T20:34:00.004-06:00

The babies are with their mother right now and with my free time I want to go spend money! First I planned to go to Subway but my teeth aren't really up to food right now. I want to buy toys and gadgets but have no real reason to. The boys want me to buy groceries but we need to not be lazy and cook real food, not always go look for the throw-it-in-the-oven or microwave kind! WE HAVE FOOD. Still, I want Subway and chocolate.
D needs a new watch, he doesn't carry a cell phone and he makes lots of use out of gadget watches. He wants a stopwatch on it, clock, alarm, anything else that comes on one and is fun to play with! Guess that's what we'll be doing next, the band on his is partly broken and I can't imagine how undressed he'll feel without a watch if he loses it. Not to mention the feeling of the losing itself. He times everything, his experiments require timing, he uses it all day. I need a job so spending money on things we use isn't a big question all the time. We mostly have what we need so we're not suffering and this isn't a complaint. It's hard to decide to be a stay-at-home Grandma when I thought all that was over. But I can't imagine putting babies in day care all day if we don't have to. They've been moved from caretaker to caretaker way too often. I have to balance what my D needs and what the littles need. Having the babies here has been good for D because they usually put him in a good mood with their sweet little faces and amusing ways.

Wow, that was way off the subject! I was posting about spending money on a watch and wanted to add something about considering a statistics course for D - he's as interested in numbers as his brother was and his brother LOVED his statistics class. There's time though, school is almost over for the year.

Teeth and Health

2009-05-09T20:15:00.003-06:00

My teeth hurt! I found a dental school near me (looking for cheap, all I want them to do is yank one out!) but they aren't accepting new patients. Looking in the phone book isn't as good an option as looking online because online they give more information like this site: Plano Dentist. I want to be able to go in and ask questions first because I know I have a couple of routes I can go with this, but I don't want to spend tons of $$ just to ask. The littles have their own dentist already, big A needs one because I took the same meds when I was pregnant with him that my mother took when she was pregnant with me - and it was disastrous for developing teeth! Lucky for D, his teeth look great. I'm not sure he's ever even been to a dentist before but we have no insurance so upfront costs matter a great deal. Finding out about oral health is part of D's need to know health class so I think I'll involve him in the search. Not only is it a health issue, it's a financial issue as well as the whole subject of insurance from a job/insurance just on one's own, etc.

At Least It's Good For Something!

2009-05-01T19:54:00.002-06:00

The course I actually chose from The Teaching Company is one called Biology and Human Behavior; The Neurological Origins of Individuality. The one called Consciousness came with it in a special deal - I was thrilled with that option, however, Consciousness is so abstract and philosophical that D is lost almost from the beginning. For a moment I thought he was understanding it (I was totally surprised to think he was able to) because of a comment he made:

D: Well, Mom, this does stimulate creative thinking.
Me: ?! You understand the points he's making?
D: Oh, no, no, not at all after the first ten minutes. My mind is wandering and I'm coming up with all sorts of creative ideas I can experiment with!

LOL!

Consciousness

2009-04-24T14:29:00.007-06:00

We just received two courses I ordered from The Teaching Company (I love this company's courses so far). This is from the intro page from a course called Consciousness and Its Implications:

First, that consciousness and mental life are not "like" anything else.
Second, what distinguishes consciousness (and the term presupposes consciousness of something) from all else is its phenomenology--there is something it is "like" to be conscious that is different from all other facts of nature.
Third, conscious awareness is a power possessed by the normal percipient, including non-human percipients. This power is such that much that impinges on the sense organs is filtered out and sometimes only the weakest but the most "meaningful" of occurrences gains entrance.
Fourth, such powers vary over the course of a lifetime, are subject to disease and defect, and thus, lead to questions of profound ethical consequence.

D has had questions about this subject, perhaps only a passing interest, but it's always been of great interest to me. I'm hoping we can both get something from it. Like the Quantum Revolution course, this and the geometry course I got for him are college level. D has a great many ideas and understandings in his head that he lacks the vocabulary to explore and express.
At times this is a challenge because I need to give him higher level information explained with lower level vocabulary. Of course, that's what much of parenthood is about, isn't it?

Use Those Milk Caps!

2009-04-19T22:28:00.002-06:00

We get our milk delivered from Rosehill Dairy and I hate throwing away the caps; they look so useful. These are larger than lids on our (formerly) usual gallon jug lids. These are a little over 2" in diameter, hard red plastic. That's a lot of plastic to waste for one.

A while ago, I downloaded Phonics Bingo by Brandenburg Studies from CurrClick and it's given me the perfect use for all those milk caps. The game has real-life photos set up as a bingo game card; I printed them out on photo paper and will most likely go ahead and laminate them. I don't know that that's necessary with photo paper but I plan to get a lot of use out of these cards. Anyway, this game also comes with game cards with capital letters. I printed those on regular paper, cut them out in circles that fit into the milk caps and now have the perfect game pieces for bingo!

The littles weren't interested before in games with paper pieces, these give them something to grab hold of. It also has the added benefit of keeping baby D from destroying them so easily. The funny part is that he's the one who knows all the letters and their sounds so it has to be suitable for him to play as well. Little A isn't very interested, she knows a few letters reliably, some occasionally, some not at all.
I've decided, just now, how to increase her interest in playing this game. Just as was suggested in the instructions for the game, I'll have the neighborhood kids join in. Little A is very sociable, any alone time is waiting time for her - waiting for it to be over. She has managed to get 5 or 6 neighborhood boys as well as the girls to play "dollies" with her! These boys, who range in age from 5 to 11 or so (I think one's 12 but he's mostly just hanging around talking to the kids while they play) actually wrap up dolls, play house, etc., in the front yard with little A for hours at a time! Sometimes the play is interspersed with shootouts when bad guys come and try to cause trouble. :-)
Anyway, I'm pretty sure most of the kids will be happy to play bingo a few times with us. The milk cap idea will definitely be helpful keeping the pieces in good shape.

Fun Experiment Idea Site

2009-04-07T11:56:00.001-06:00

Here's a fun site with science experiments to try: Exploratium Science "Snacks". D has done a couple of these, now he wants an aquarium for one of the experiments. Collecting items for experiments may seem to be a pain at times but he'll use things for other projects and experiments later anyway. The more stuff he has, the more ideas he comes up with. I like science sites like this because it gives me ideas on items that aren't just so ordinary and common necessarily. There are many experiments to be done with common household objects (and that's often considered a plus for the publisher of an experiment book or site) but he wants to expand! He still is relegated to what can be easily obtained online and used in a residential area, it'll be great when he's old enough to participate in true research labs.

This makes me think of a cartoon (I want to post it but can't find it, still looking!) in Foxtrot by Bill Amend. It shows Peter zipping around in some sort of control room of a spaceship, doing things at the speed of light, etc; then he comes out of his daydream in class with a toy car, marbles, and a wooden ramp - he has to figure out the equations for acceleration or something. His comment? Somehow I expected more out of a physics class...

100 Events, Very Good Book To Read

2009-03-22T12:52:00.003-06:00

D has been reading a 100 Events That Shook Our World by the editors of LIFE Magazine. I really like how it introduces him in short articles to things most adults know about, he'll understand more references and conversations now. It helped a great deal that big A saw it and took off with it to read and D had to let him know it was part of his school and ask for it back for a short while. That showed him it's not just a boring history book Mom makes him read, it's of interest to adults. His brother didn't even have to read it but he just wanted to? Hmm, maybe there's more to this than he thought. (At least, I hope he thought that way about it. He doesn't complain or even seem annoyed anymore at having to read it.)

Actually, we've discovered he's NOT quite ready for this. I told him to look up words he didn't know so he could understand what he was reading - for most pages he writes down 5-10 words! These are not long articles either! I played with the idea of dropping this book until next year but I see the next two articles use his regular vocabulary words, the ones he's actually supposed to learn. The ones from this book were meant to be casually looked up when he occasionally ran across a word he didn't know. After these two next articles, I'll have him read from this book only once or twice a week instead of every day. I'm having trouble finding reading material that's a good level. I want him challenged but not completely lost. I'm definitely glad I chose to spend this year concentrating on reading skills and vocabulary. Like someone commented on here before, he's short on the knowledge that makes reading easy. Too concentrated on numbers to be aware of much of the rest of the world I think.

Blog Stop

2009-02-09T21:57:00.001-07:00

I'm dropping blogging for a while (and entrecard too, can't have a widget without a blog!).

It's Just Good

2009-01-30T03:21:00.003-07:00

Instead of taking an hour to manage reading six pages, he now has been taking 25 minutes. He actually said, "Mom, I can't believe I'm saying this but...I think you need to make my school day longer." He's excited to realize how much more quickly he's reading and he loves the Breakthroughs in Science book. I have plenty of science books he can read if that's all it takes!

I still read history to him, these are very short lessons and each section starts with an overview of what's to come. Yesterday when I read the overview to him, he said, "Wow, they're just all over the place! First they talk about this, then that, then something else entirely." When I showed him how it was a preview of what the unit was about and how each subsequent chapter would go into more depth about each subject and how they tied together, he said, "Oh, well that makes sense now. I didn't know it was the overview." It's no longer all a big jumble of disconnected information in his brain, he's seeing things. I love it. This is my only child who's had trouble with language and sometimes I feel like I'm wandering around blind with him. But it's working!

After his school was over, he spent the next hour working out formulas for circles and their relative areas when the radius was increased. He wanted the ratio but didn't want to look it up anywhere, he wanted to work it out himself. He told me, "See, this could be useful for something later." Give him numbers, formulas, and a calculator and he's a happy young man.

Walking Up To Your Door

2009-01-30T03:05:00.000-07:00

This looks helpful - concrete cleaner, this is full of information on cleaning your sidewalk or concrete driveway. Our old house had a long, wide, concrete driveway and the garage floor was concrete as well. With lots of neighborhood children and a few of my own, having paintball fights, spilling treats, falling off bikes and skateboards and leaving blood on the cement as well as the usual stains from a car, it became a scrapbook of our lives. As interesting as that may be (kids actually DO point to stains and say, that's where I fell off the skateboard, I was bleeding everywhere, that's MY blood right there!), I really prefer to remove those things!
This site gives quick solutions to cleaning different types of stains and sells products for the ones that aren't so quick and easy. I live in a rental townhouse right now but with the 9-foot high snow mountain in my front yard, kids are always here and spilling things all over the sidewalk that goes right to my door. Plus, if we can keep the baby tinies, we need a larger place and that will include even more of the same. Glad to know I won't have to look at the same annoying stain on the way into my house every day, it kind of messes up that first impression!

Reading, Reading, Yes, Again - And A Link

2009-01-27T23:21:00.005-07:00

A few posts ago I asked if there are more boys (kids) with reading trouble now or if we just notice it more now. I found this site that says they believe it's more boys with trouble now. I didn't see a date for the research but regardless, this site may be helpful. It has short stories and activities specifically for boys: BOYS ROCK Reading.
I've been asking friends with boys who hate to read what they think of just accepting it and helping their boys into careers that don't require much intense reading. I'm afraid that would be shortchanging D to accept it but CAN it change? Is he perhaps wired so that language won't ever come easily, or at least nowhere as easily as numbers? Is it the same as insisting a child with one leg go running every day? Or is consistently pushing it more like giving a child with one leg a prosthetic leg, holding his hand, and helping him until he can balance and move quickly on his own?

The site I mentioned may be useful for specific reading help and it gave me excellent reasons and motivation to persevere.
I want questions and activities that go with reading selections but literature guides for his age are way too hard - Across Five Aprils is one suggestion. I've looked it over and can't imagine bothering to show him the book. I've found a book he might like but I have to make a study guide myself and that's been hard going (not the Time science one I mentioned long ago, that's all factual so no problem). D completely dislikes questions he considers 'girly' about emotions and deep meanings; he also dislikes questions about an author's motivation for writing a story - to him an author writes something because that's what happened! If he knows it's fiction, he figures the author wrote it because it would be cool if it could really happen. Of course, I also hear, "I don't know why the author wrote it but I wish he didn't, this is really boring. Do I HAVE to read it?" LOL!
The book I'm having him read next is about a video game experiment - the kids involved are not told the real purpose of the experiment, they think they're just testing a game and getting paid for playing it. The author's motivation comes through quite clearly and I want to see if D picks up on that or at least how far I have to lead him until he sees it. Enough rambling, it's late and I have traumatized babies to see to in the morning.

Scholastic's American Adventures series

2009-01-26T21:01:00.002-07:00

For D's history, I did go ahead and simplify - it was so hard, I really am impressed with the history book I had - Glencoe-McGraw Hill American History - The Modern Era Since 1865. I like the setup, I like the way it has connections to other subjects: artists from the time making statements with their works about the then-current sociopolitical situations; scientific understanding of the time and how it influenced life; learning summarizing skills using important speeches and literary works of the time; lots more. Oh, well, as informative and interesting as the text is, it's way above D's ability to follow.

We are now using the last two books of a series of four that I suspected may have been intended for adult foreign learners of English. It isn't though, it's a Scholastic Inc. book and the phrasing of the preface sounds like it's written to kids. I have no idea what level it is but it's working very well for D. He understands what he reads, remembers and knows how it connects to the previous chapter, looks ahead to the next chapter at times to see what result comes about from what just happened, and even understands the sites I find on the computer that gives more of the details on what he just read.
This is an old series called American Adventures (not to be confused with the historical fiction series I bought that he doesn't want to read). I only have him write the answer to one of the chapter questions, mostly we discuss what we're reading (I read it aloud to him). He can actually discuss it! As much as we would like for him to just "get the credits", I can't handle marking it done when he has no clue. Neither do I want to leave him thinking he's not smart enough to understand something when he just needs it presented a different way. So we've found something that works!

Sneaky Snow

2009-01-26T00:04:00.004-07:00

The snow is being sneaky tonight - every time I open the door and peek out, the cars are buried a bit more deeply - but it's never snowing when I look. Almost makes me feel like I'm playing Mother, May I? with the weather!

By the way, that Acobay site is not at all user-friendly. It still can work I think, but instead of unlabeled icons everywhere, a key would be helpful!

Good Book Choice For Him - Added To

2009-01-23T14:41:00.003-07:00

For reading, I've got D reading a very old book called Breakthroughs in Science by Isaac Asimov. It's a collection of short biographies of scientists that details their major contributions to scientific knowledge. Yesterday was wonderful, he said because of this book, he discovered what was going wrong in some of his experiments! I love it when something clearly useful comes from schoolwork.

Of course, that led immediately to a new list of experiment supplies he HAS to have!

Oh, yes, I forgot to mention how he used his algebra. Big A pays 1/3 of the rent and I pay 2/3 since I'm two people (D and I). Now that the littles are getting bigger, we decided to see what it would be if we count them in the equation as well. We decided each of them would count as 1/3 to 1/2 of an additional, and that they're here only 2-3 days out of 7; so he used his algebra to figure out the new amounts Big A and I would pay according to the varying numerical values assigned to the babies.

?? About the HippoCampus Site

2009-01-22T14:57:00.002-07:00

Has anyone else tried the HippoCampus site?

I know I read about it on a blog from entrecard but I don't know if someone just found it and liked the looks of it or if they had actually used it for themselves or their children.

D can benefit from the Physics course even though he's just done intro physics because the course he did didn't even include the symbols. Most classes I've found online just jump right in using all these symbols without ever explaining them. He's only on Algebra I so that's obviously why, still you'd think they would MENTION what they are before just throwing them into an equation! When I discovered this site does, I was quite happy about it. D can't jump in and just play around in the sub-topics he's most interested in, but doing a few at the beginning will give him what his conceptual course didn't.

New Way To Connect - I Like This

2009-01-22T14:09:00.003-07:00

I went to the consumer network site of Acobay before but didn't think I'd be interested because I just don't have that much "stuff". This time though, I started browsing and wanted to comment several times. I found reviews of a toy that's the same toy I gave my grandson who lives far away from me; it was wonderful to read posts where people said their little ones LOVED the toy (the Laugh and Learn puppy). There is a really awesome toy for babies that I've never seen, it's a play table/activity table but this one comes with an attached seat that allows the baby to circle the table playing, it's very cool. The next grandbaby gets one! (You can see it here, I decided I had to link it: Around We Go Activity Station)
Then I decided to check out books. I keep getting 1984 and Brave New World mixed up so I checked reviews on them both. I have the book Brave New World but keep telling D about 1984, now I'll get it right.
Then it occurred to me that it might be pretty cool after all to interact with people according to what they owned and were interested in, that's the point of Acobay. D always wants to talk about how incredible his camera is, I know he would like to find someone with the same camera, tell what he can do and find out what others have discovered. (He's just started a discussion with his brother about his camera as I'm writing this!).
So, contrary to my first impression, this site may be fun and interesting even for 'non-stuff' people like me. It can help promote your blog too, if you have one you want to do that with, people can click on your link because they like the same things you do. The only reason I didn't sign up yet is because I had to post this first, I took too long looking around and reading people's posts and reviews!

HippoCampus

2009-01-21T17:04:00.004-07:00

Another very good site I found is HippoCampus. It has all of these subjects:

Algebra

Algebra IA

Algebra IB

Elementary Algebra

American Government

Biology

Calculus

Calculus (Spanish)

Environmental Science

Physics

Psychology

Religion

Statistics

US History

I didn't know it would copy like that but at least it shows what's there! There are slideshows, videos, text readings, questions, etc. For algebra, it has problems to work along with the lesson, then they offer practice problems. Looks really, really good. Someone mentioned this before, I found it again by reading today.com pages for homeschooling.

Snow, BARE FEET, and Boots

2009-01-21T10:06:00.003-07:00

Last night I dreamed all the snow had turned to ice and that ice came up about four inches on the car tires; not a whole lot of moving was happening. This, after D and his friend ran around outside in the snow and cold barefooted and in T-shirts! When I yelled at them (I was outside), they ran in the back door, donned jackets and shoes, then hustled out the front before I got in. Smart move you little dimwits.

The only problem with being angry at D for not wearing boots is that I often have his on! He can wear shoes of course, I'm not sure he likes his boots that much. For me, his boots are easy, they're HUGE and I just slip my feet in and can go out to the car or whatever. I love boots, my main shoes are hiking boots. I fell in love with hiking boots when I was little and got my first pair to go mountain climbing with my family. I also have a pair of cowboy boots that are new but they got lost when we moved! :-(

I've tried so many times to get D to like hiking boots but he just doesn't. Finding a seller that specializes in American-made Boots makes me want to try again. Most of these boots are work boots, something worth spending money on if you work at the kind of job where boots are important, I've had a couple of temp jobs like that. Aching feet don't help your work day any! This site even carries perfect boots for the guy on TV that does the show Dirty Jobs, very funny looking boots but made especially for wet, muddy, uneven, or rough terrain. I personally would wear any of the boots on this page - Wolverine Women's Boots.

D needs new shoes even if they're not boots, he is seriously growing fast! For a while, he kept dropping things while he tried to put them in the refrigerator because his arms were suddenly longer and his hands are bigger than he's used to. He got really furious until I had him measure his arms again and he realized how much longer they are!

Another Shocker For Little A

2009-01-19T08:14:00.002-07:00

Little A was using my computer to play dressup dolls and got to a point where she needed to know what she could do next.
"Daddy, should I click on this button?" (Daddy's in the kitchen, starts heading in to help her.)
Daddy: "Well, what does it say?" (We do that, we know she doesn't know how to read yet, it just points out how useful reading is.)
"I don't know how to read, I'm not five yet!"
Something about the way she said it alerted me.
Grandma: "Little A, did you know you won't suddenly know how to read when you have your birthday? You still have to LEARN how to read, did you know that?"
SHOCK SHOCK SHOCK
Another little baby hope dashed, I felt so mean! The birthday she's been waiting for with such high hopes, now less than two weeks away, and she discovers THIS? Daddy promised he will still help her learn letters and sounds so she can read.
The look on her face was really funny, such total shock, jaw dropped, eyes HUGE!

(Maybe God looks at us like that too, cracking up when we get that kind of look but at the same time, sad that we are so disappointed when we discover we were wrong.)

Says He's A Guest User - Of His Own Brain

2009-01-16T19:46:00.000-07:00

Is there an increase of children with reading problems or is it just more commented on? Last night I was talking to D about it again, he again said how hard it is to concentrate while reading, especially something he doesn't enjoy.
I insisted he had to take charge of his own brain, like the book I reviewed on my other site said, he has to be on the stage on his own life instead of just letting his life happen TO him. But when I told him that he has to control his own brain, run it himself, he said,

"But I can't, I can't! I don't have the password, I'm just a guest!"

Update Your Info, It's Been Five Minutes Already

2009-01-16T15:57:00.000-07:00

Yikes! This site about Reinventing America is not what I thought - I thought it would be a political revolution site. Instead it's a marketing method for the future - a future that keeps arriving and passing faster than we can blink! The Ubertrends map page at the site is an eye-opener in some ways, mostly it's just a confirmation of what we see everywhere. It's a commentary on our society, but done in a way to inform the people with money to take advantage of the knowledge to know how to engage and sell to future generations.

Two things I noticed are "too much information" and that people, instead of going hunting and fishing, are just hoping for a cancelled lunch appointment! We're not busy around here, no money for that kind of lifestyle, and I'm certainly not one to be helping set trends.

The "too much information" hits home though. My friends and I have discussed how much more children have to take in in school than we did. The volume of info seems to be increasing exponentially, even my 30 yr old friend sees the difference in what was required of her and what is required of her 7th grader - that's not a lot of years. The differences in my friend who is in her mid-40s and her little 1st grader and kindergartener are absurd. They have to come in knowing colors, letters, numbers, some require the children to already have started to read!

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. Daniel 12:4

Soon we'll be teaching children with web pages that require "refreshing" for the new, current information every class period!

PERFECT Sport For Boys!

2009-01-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

Every time we ride by the paintball place, I want to go. D's friend goes with his dad, the dad is the same guy who used to "play" paintball with my older boys. I quickly learned to stay inside, they chased each other all over on our property. One of the boys took a shot right in his mouth! Luckily, they were still using blowguns, they didn't all have their own paintball guns and had to take turns.

Now with Spyders, Tippmanns, whole Mega sets, they can snipe each other all over the place. Of course, experience has taught them to use masks and to be sure they are well padded all over their bodies, those things can leave bruises. Guys like things like that though, apparently; they play football, soccer, they wrestle, have demolition derbies (derbys?) with old cars...bruises are nothing, but outwitting the next guy is a great big deal! Still, when D's friend goes, he wears padded pants, a vest, all kinds of gear - make it feel more tactical and military-like to use gear. Some equipment can be rented to try it out but anyone who likes it needs their own from a place like jt paintball (they even offer free shipping here). I've heard my boys and D's friend talk about it, rented equipment is only for emergencies as far as they're concerned. Besides, getting them their own - dads too remember, even girls really - makes it easy to choose birthday gifts!

I'm hoping D gets to go soon, he missed out with his brothers since he was only two!

Exercise At Last!!!

2009-01-15T18:17:00.004-07:00

We did it.
The store is only a little over two miles away, it took us 50 minutes each way. Avoiding mud, ice, snow, and cars made things a little annoying but that's what it is, right? It seemed SO FAR. But I feel so good right now, I really do always need to move. For a two mile walk (dragging a suitcase) to seem too far shows that we're in pretty bad shape but it's not like we had trouble or anything. The only depressing part was discovering before we left that I only had 1/4 as much money as I thought - we could only get milk and bread. I had a small suitcase so not a whole lot more would have fit anyway.

Next up is maybe the One Hundred Push Ups Challenge. I saw the site and decided to try. D has wanted me to do pushups with him before but I never do. He was upstairs, no one was watching so I tried - NONE, zip, zilch, I couldn't do ONE PUSH UP! So pathetic. I had to go to the next easier level and do them only from my knees, that was a "major" improvement (I did three). My favorite jobs have always been physical, this past year has not been good for me! I don't like "fake exercising", I want to get exercise by working but when I'm not working... I want to try this challenge but I don't know that my sights should be set on 100 in six weeks. We'll see.

Is This A Field Trip?

2009-01-15T08:50:00.002-07:00

We're going to try it this morning - walking to the store. It would feel better knowing how far it is, in a car it's not much. Would it be better to believe it's only a couple of miles or to know for sure that it's closer to five miles away? Yes, I know me, I want to know the truth. I love walking but I've been sedentary for so long, (not literally, I don't even sit at the computer) that it worries me a bit. D is excited because he won't have time for school today and because we're going to get some FOOD. That's the main focus of his life. He grew another quarter of an inch in the past two weeks so it's understandable! He claims this can be considered a field trip. Does he realize we can't carry much back? I'm thinking of taking my small suitcase with wheels, won't that look funny?

Trying To Make The Best Of Being Poor

2009-01-14T23:31:00.003-07:00

Big A's car completely died several weeks ago - we've been sharing mine. Now mine is parked over at a repair shop waiting for me to tell the people who will work on it to say yes or no to fixing it. Tomorrow D and I have to walk to the store for a few groceries. I was considering riding D's bike but have no lock and I certainly don't want to leave it to be stolen.
I'm starting to wish I had carried through with getting D the moped he wanted, it would be wonderful to have something motorized! Maybe if I get some motorcycle parts and put them on D's bike, I can trick it into thinking it IS a motorcycle! If only...

Of course, even if I could do that, I'd have to send Big A because I don't think I have the nerve to get on a motorcycle again; they're cool to look at but too scary on icy roads!

This being poor is horrible! We are trying to look at some of the good points, long walks are great exercise, limiting what we buy to what we can carry is probably good somehow. I'm not looking forward to carrying laundry to a laundromat though! At least it's way closer than the store and I can ride the bike and just keep it inside until I'm done.

Current Events for Kids

2009-01-13T19:41:00.002-07:00

I'm considering subscribing to this Current Events for D. He doesn't like history so starting with current events may be better because sometimes it catches his interest. Perhaps working backward is a better idea for him.

Probably watching news and reading the newspaper would work just as well but I like the looks of this paper because it's specifically for schoolage kids. They offer four different levels and there are activity sheets too. Mostly I just like finding and buying school curriculum! I had to minimize this when he walked by because I know he'd be horrified to see what I'm looking at!

Am I Prudish and Prissy After All?!

2009-01-11T11:04:00.007-07:00

The human body may be fearfully and wonderfully made but still... disconcertingly disgusting in many ways. This is what D and I read in a Time book called Your Body - A User's Guide, concerning the skin, we know it's dead cells on the outside:

This used-up tissue falls away from your body at the rate of 30,000 cells per minute (that's almost 50 million per day), and it is responsible for much of the dust you find in your home.

D's friend Billy Bob spent the night last night and D told him: Better go sterilize your toothbrush while you wait, dust has been falling on it while it's sitting there and we know what dust is!

Lucky Mechanics!

2009-01-10T21:33:00.001-07:00

Our car is giving us trouble. I had D add windshield wiper fluid, we checked the oil and discussed how to change it. He wanted me to turn the car on and rev it up with the hood up so he could watch and see what went on, so I did.
A few weeks ago, I bought a cheap car maintenance CD, it'll be good for all of us to go through! He seemed quite interested in learning more about cars - I always thought he would be, then when he had a chance to do something, he backed out!

I like taking him with me when mechanics work on the car, it gives me a good reason to keep an eye on what they're doing and he gets to be involved. It probably doesn't hurt the mechanics either to have some young teen 'idolize' them and consider them lucky to have a job that lets them mess with cool stuff like engines and cars and powerful machinery!

Excruciatingly S-L-O-W

2009-01-09T20:59:00.006-07:00

My D-man is tired of and bored with algebra today and for the past few days. He's using Saxon, it seems to be working quite well. The complaints are probably due in part to his being sick, he hasn't been feeling well lately; however, the main problem is that he's so slow! It takes him so very long to get through one lesson! He understands it easily, but I seriously believe his OCD and perfectionist tendencies drag everything out way too much. He wants me to give him only half a lesson per day by learning/reading the first day, then doing the problems the next, but I'd rather find a way to do fewer problems at a time. I'm not sure it's set up so that he can do odds only or evens only. It's worth a try but I have to remember that part of what we're working on is speeding up a bit.

We've tried those Focus Attention herb pills (slippery elm bark is one ingredient, how gross does THAT sound?) and he thinks they help. He can't handle ANY pressure, ever, none. He just panics and starts doing everything wrong. Hey! I'll point out to him that he finishes every single day. Yes, he takes 'forever' but he does finish. When he has that occasional day that he finishes a few minutes earlier than usual, he's beyond thrilled and tries to analyze how he did it. We've got a starting point...

You Have GOT To Be Kidding!

2009-01-05T19:31:00.003-07:00

My son must be out of his mind! The plows have left a Huge Mountain of Snow in our front yard, the kids all love to play there. Naturally, right? Well, D had this bright idea this morning that he would

RIDE HIS BIKE down it!

He was totally frustrated and disappointed when I told him there was NO WAY I would let him do that! I sent him to just walk on it first and see what would happen - it's covered with a sheet of ice, layered thinly over that with powdery snow. He did have fun sliding all over it but the bike business was NOT happening!

Just to be sure, when one of my neighbors came by, I asked him if he thought I was being overprotective. He's a guy, so he might have a different take on it. Nope, he agreed. What would this kid do if I wasn't with him all day? He used to call me at work to ask if he could do experiments with fire and electricity and all that. I'm afraid if I weren't homeschooling him, I wouldn't even have him by now!

Programming Site for Beginners That Really IS For ABSOLUTE Beginners

2009-01-01T10:23:00.008-07:00

Finally! D has been programming, mostly trial and error, some input from Big A in passing. He knows there are forums to use but they start too advanced. I've looked some things up myself for one of D's other brothers and never knew what to tell him, I didn't find out how to do anything from them. I'm talking absolute beginner, like I open the program and say, "Okay, how do I start?"

We found it, a place for an absolute beginner that really is for an absolute beginner. I'm afraid the guy's native language isn't english but it still works. It had gotten to the point that D started writing a tutorial for me, so basic that I can actually do it. (I haven't done it, I don't want to program but I have to try at least a little since it's D's passion. He wants to teach his friend, but his friend doesn't seem all that interested either.) Anyway, here: FreeBASIC Wiki is a site that we found that really does show a complete newbie how to begin. D knows much of it but we both knew he would find little things here and there that would change everything. He already did. We'll see how it goes from here but so far I'm very pleased!

Robotics Book

2008-12-31T17:58:00.005-07:00

A couple of days ago I used a free voucher to get a book for D, a self-study manual about Robotics. I was hoping he would be inspired since he's been making plans for doing something with this sort of thing. The book may be overwhelming though, he said it requires so much stuff he's not sure it would be worth it. Perhaps if he reads over his idea notebook again, he'll get recharged about it. His idea notebook is where he writes all his plans for things he wants to build, design, or experiment with.

Still Hazy Resolutions

2008-12-31T09:52:00.004-07:00

Melissa at Melissa's Homeschool blog wrote up some goals for her blog. I've had some nebulous ideas floating around in my head for mine as well and her post got me thinking a little more seriously about it. It's just that I'm so lazy! When I don't get results quickly enough, I figure I'm just not smart enough to figure it out and there's no one around to tell me so I quit. It's time to change that!
First is that I want to learn how to put pictures in my posts, so far all I can ever do is copy and paste if the picture has that available. Some don't and I have no idea how that works.
Second is to find out what is even available to do! There are several blogs that give information like this, I bookmark them and then am too afraid to actually read them and try it. Not a very good model for my son.
Third, I want some point to the blog instead of just journaling my random thoughts. Maybe. Actually, I like to do that but I want to have something useful as well. Perhaps permanent links? The problem is sometimes they change from what I originally liked about them. What I really need I think is to find a forum where there's feedback.

EDITED TO ADD: Even putting the link to Melissa's blog took me three tries! I still have to go look up my notes on that EVERY SINGLE TIME. This is how D feels about learning programming but he's advancing in that way faster than I am at this. And I noticed last night that the daily fact in my sidebar is empty. I clicked on it to go to the site and it's empty there too. I'm hoping it's their error and not mine.

My Boy Needs Help

2008-12-31T09:04:00.004-07:00

Last night D came to ask me to start his school back on Thursday so he could get used to doing a couple of half-days before the overwhelming horror of full-day school began again. This is so sad. For one, he dreads any kind of compulsory study; two, he's so bored and depressed that even school is better than nothing. From the way he phrased it at first, I thought he meant he wanted to go to public school but when I asked, he was even more horrified so it's not that.
It would help if he would show any interest in giving input on how to make things better but he doesn't. It's always, "You decide. I don't know." The only thing I get from him is that he doesn't want any of his fun things to be involved in school at all. He says that ruins the fun. For example, I count his reading Tolkien as part of his language arts for now only because I want him to read. But he's afraid I may ask him questions about it or have him write a chapter summary or even write down how much he read! So far I've allowed that, just reading. It can't continue though, that he never does any real language arts because I'm not sure his skills are improving.
I so long for the days of unschooling, that was so good for him! He was bright and interested every day in learning all he could. I would do that again if I thought I could give him as much opportunity as he had before. Also, to do that, I wouldn't count this year as high school; I'm seriously considering calling this 8th grade and changing everything. He's desperate for a routine, a schedule, and grades but at the same time he hates it intensely.
He needs a social life but I have to drag him kicking and screaming into one. It's a bit difficult.

Yes, Eyeglasses Again!

2008-12-30T22:25:00.008-07:00

For a moment I wondered if my eyes had improved just a little teeny bit. I'm still not quite sure but it's exciting to think so, so I'm just going to. My friend told me she considered buying me an eye exam for Christmas because I've been complaining so much about my glasses. It's not really the exam I need though as much as non-scratched lenses. I'm so poor right now I can't even afford Zenni frames even now that they have Holiday frames available. I really need a job!
Even though I'm more likely to wear something like these Purple half-rims - I love the idea of this frame with a Snow scene. I love winter and snow. Earlier I was thinking of my little black-haired niece with a pair of candy cane frames, that would be so adorable! They do have several red frames. There are two pages of options, all different styles and colors. I usually think purple but there's a green holiday pair I like (won't work for me) and the red ones might not just be for my niece, I like a couple of them too.

Big A spends most of his time squinting, he rarely wears his glasses even though it's obvious he needs them. Squinting doesn't look any more attractive than glasses do, it's worse! He told me he wants to buy some of those crazy designed contact lenses, that would be pretty funny I think. He's wanted a pair since he was a young teen.
D and I don't have the option of contacts (very dry eyes), so it's still glasses for us. I'm thrilled that there's a cheaper choice now, ever since I started seeing these ads and posts for Zenni eyeglasses, I've wanted to try a pair. I can't do the $8 ones because I need bifocals but even $30 is way WAY better than $200!!! And D CAN get the cheaper pair. Besides, I still want to experiment with getting glasses just a little bit weak and see if I can make my eyes adjust to accommodate them, then another pair just a little bit weaker than those; I want to keep doing that until I find out how much I can improve my vision. This is NOT something I could do at $200 or even $100 a pair! Besides, I don't want to just keep writing about these glasses, I want to report on them. And I want to report on the eye experiment too.

Planet Earth Parasite Invasion

2008-12-28T20:37:00.007-07:00

Yucch! Yuck! and Gross!
I was going to watch and record all the Planet Earth shows that come on tonight but the first one - well, I turned it off and rewound my tape. Parasites growing in insects and growing right through them? A real version of the old show Invasion of the Body Snatchers, I didn't like that show then and I sure don't want to see or even know about a true one!
Sure hope I like the next Planet Earth show better.

Snow, snow, wonderful snow!

2008-12-24T19:03:00.006-07:00

This is great. D's friend Billy Bob (he told me he wants that to be his name on here, he actually had three names but I don't remember the third) came over for a couple of hours last night and the boys went outside! My family really needs winter. Snow sucked D right out the door, the boys dug a hole in the pile the snow plow left, worked on the igloo D is building, climbed a snow-laden, icy tree (that one isn't my favorite), and just spent time outdoors being BOYS.
I keep going outside myself "just for a walk", I LOVE SNOW and COLD WEATHER. Driving in snow is a different matter altogether, that I don't like at all. But if that has to be part of it, I'll deal.
Really, there's all this building material all over the ground just waiting to play with. I can shape a mountain lion, so what if it's recognizable only to me? I can build a snowman, a little scene, a fort, an igloo, anything I can think of! We've made paths to play tag, we eat it, throw it, it's so much fun. It would be funny to build a scene out of Calvin and Hobbes but that so far has been too ambitious for us!
Anyone done that before? Built a Calvin and Hobbes scene?

Studying The Plan of YHWH

2008-12-23T20:04:00.003-07:00

For Bible, D has been working through a study called The Godly Man. I've been trying to think of what he will do next - a study, read a regular bible and summarize as he goes, make a lapbook as he reads, character studies (characteristics like patience, self-control, etc., not characters). Finally I remembered what I had wanted to do! I can hardly believe I forgot. We're going to study the Holy Days and their meanings. The whole plan laid out by the Father as demonstrated physically in the festivals that He called His Own. Finally instead of skipping all holidays, something I had never intended to do, we will know how to celebrate the real ones! He loves unleavened bread so it won't be a hardship for that one. Even after all my study of these, I couldn't explain the whole plan; He laid it all out, He gave physical representations of "the plan", then sent Yeshua to live it out and demonstrate the deeper complete fulfillment, and I still don't get it? Pathetic. Guess this is something we'll study together!

Homeschooling Alone Won't Work

2008-12-21T10:03:00.005-07:00

Here are the first few paragraphs of the next chapter of D's history book. I read it and honestly can't imagine him learning anything from it. Not history anyway. I'm still debating with myself whether or not he should continue in this book - reading it to increase his reading skills would be okay but I'm not sure if this should count as history.

The Gilded Age was a phrase coined by two authors of the period - Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner - in a novel about the corruption of the Grant administration. In the years following the Civil War, the quality of American government left much to be desired. Politicians were irresponsible, loyalties were shallow, and money was tainted.
In this post-Civil War period, the most ambitious and talented people were no longer attracted to politics but to business. Indeed, politics itself became something of a business. The goal of political entrepreneurs was to achieve power and position through political office. Often politicians were able to line their pockets with money. Corruption seemed to flourish at every level of government. At first the corruption was not apparent. Material progress had produced a society that appeared to be bright and attractive. Society and government were not what they appeared to be on the surface, however.

This doesn't seem difficult to read. BUT... as I imagined reading it to him, or having him read it aloud to me, I realized there are a lot of stumbling blocks.

1. What is Gilded?
2. How does Gilded apply to corruption, to an age?
(Just these will be a pain, telling him he will understand the point of the phrase after he reads the paragraphs. He wants to understand all before he continues and it's still difficult for him to believe waiting for more information is a good idea.
3. He'll have to think for a moment to put the idea of "quality" and government together. He'll likely be thinking of how a quality product is not easy to break, it will take a bit to think of it as applied to an abstract idea. Shouldn't take long, but it will make him stop.
4. How can a loyalty be shallow?
5. What is tainted?
6. ...no longer attracted to politics but to business... is phrased oddly for him. Once again, he'll get it quickly enough, but it will make him stop.
7. What's an entrepreneur?
8. How can someone line their pockets with money and how can it stay in a line?
9. What is flourish? He may know, I'm not sure.
10. This sentence, Material progress had produced a society that appeared to be bright and attractive. he'll most likely read and ignore, not knowing what it means.
11. The last sentence, he'll probably wonder how society and government have surfaces.

None of this is insurmountable, if we read and discuss it as he goes, he will be able to understand it. The problem is if he has to read and answer questions about it on his own. That's not happening and I may be working. If I'm not working, he will have worse problems than history, he'll still be worrying about how to get food to eat. If I am working, I won't be here to do this with him. This is one of the reasons I put him in school before but that didn't work at all. I really need to work from home. Anyway, the above is just the first two paragraphs of that chapter! If I read ahead and write a short summary for him, he may be okay but that just gives him more to read; besides, will I have time to do that through every lesson?

He needs to get to a level where he can read things like this but how can he do it? If I put him in something easier, he won't see this sort of thing and how will he ever learn it if he doesn't see it? There will be things that confuse him that I won't catch, things he will take wrong that he doesn't KNOW he's taken wrong and will leave him frustrated, and (hopefully) things he understands that I thought he wouldn't. He dreads history completely.

I've found videos at the library that have helped, he doesn't like them all that much but seeing, reading subtitles, hearing, and being able to pause helps a lot. He makes comments that show he gets it but he can only keep his attention on it for short periods. An hour of history is nothing like an hour of science. It certainly doesn't bring the expression of interest and absolute joy that the announcement of "Experiment Time" does!

Punching Bags For Littles

2008-12-18T23:55:00.003-07:00

Do you know those punching bags for little children? They have sand in the bottom, inflatable, made of plastic? I want one for Baby D but there's one thing I don't understand - WHY do they have their heroes on them? To punch out the good guys?! Dumb idea. I wonder if I can make my own though that leads right to 'what should be on it'? No faces I would say, I'm not trying to teach him to punch people. But he's all into punching. Maybe I'll get one of those balloons with a long rubber band handle and attach it to something for him. Or suspend a pillow on some sort of a frame. Much better idea I think.

Comprehension - Growing Up Isn't Always Fun

2008-12-17T08:46:00.004-07:00

A while ago I wrote about turbocharging and supercharging cars and the Bonneville Salt Flats. D turned on the TV last night and there was something about the Salt Flats and people going 200-250 mph, it was probably the Destroyed In Seconds show. Anyway, it reminded me of the souping up your car site; I went back to it and had D read the Learning Center page, the one I avoided for him before so he didn't get ideas about MY car! It was great how it all fit together after seeing the part of the TV show where people wiped out and broke bones. I don't think I would mind going ridiculously fast in a CAR with a cage and harness, but one woman went over 200 on a motorcycle! Stupid idea.
Anyway, it was also good because D read the first page and made a comment by putting together what he learned from it, then was very happy to see that was their next comment in the article. He read their inferences and made a conclusion and it was the very same conclusion they drew in the article. Often he reads and tries to draw conclusions only to realize he's imagined and thought nothing like what comes next. It's easy to remember that little tiny people will misunderstand and get wrong ideas, not so easy to remember that young teens don't have it all straight yet either. He may be bigger than me but there's still an awful lot he doesn't know. The fascinating part is being able to see his comprehension of the world grow. At this age, a social conscience is kicking in, it's sad to see my "little one" discover daily reasons to dislike how people behave though. He retreats more every day.

Rambling about Reading

2008-12-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

More about reading comprehension: I have a couple of workbooks I use sporadically with D, he really does learn quite well from them. My main concern is that I want to be sure he can USE what he learns. It's a toss-up at times between making him read above his level and improve, or having him read at his level to develop thinking skills. He spends a lot of time re-reading a sentence until he "can think about it and know what it means." Advising him to read the next couple of sentences even before he understood to see if it would be explained further on helped. He couldn't understand on his own that an idea may be introduced and THEN explained. He always leads up to an idea step by step, every detail.

He has a very specific way of thinking I guess. Once I told him, "I think when I learn something new, I put it in my brain and move it around until I find where it fits. I put it there and it's done. It seems you do things a bit differently. I think you get a new bit of information, search for where it fits, then you pull back to look at the whole picture to see what it looks like with the new information. It seems to not make sense to you until you run through everything you know with the new facts or ideas in place." He replied, "Exactly! That's exactly it!" When he's hurried at all, in any way, shape, or form, he can't take that step and the piece floats away - vanishes. How do you speed up someone who needs to do that? Should he be hurried? If allowed to take that step, he remembers and understands, or at least, he's much more likely to do so.

I have a few books like The Greatest Adventures of All Time by Life (Magazine?) that I may have him read. They're compilations of short stories that he can work from without being overwhelmed by an entire book that he didn't choose. I'll also use a recent one out by Time that I'm working on a study guide for. It's science so that will help, but the reading level is way above what he can understand (the author waxes quite poetic at times, D gets really thrown off by that). Good, that gives me time to complete the guide for it.

I just talked to him about his current book, The Fellowship of the Rings, he's understanding it! Of course, he's watched every movie about ten times each, but still, he can read it. It's taken four months. And he just told me he's reading The Silmarillion at the same time! And he understands it! This is great! Letting him have "reading class" in which he can read whatever he wants without any worksheets, summaries, analysis, just reading what he likes, has helped.
Maybe he just has so much trouble with his history book because it's not only difficult for him to read, but he has no framework organized in his brain to fit it in. He loves numbers, says he can understand a sentence if it has a number in it, wouldn't you think dates would work? But the timeline idea failed totally so far.

Vocabulary Help

2008-12-14T19:53:00.007-07:00

This holiday break is very welcome, I need time to really decide how to handle D's reading work. It's really difficult to figure out how to help someone increase reading comprehension. One thing that is helping is giving him vocabulary words to learn, very slowly, only two per week. He could handle many more, I'm sure, but this is working so well that I don't want to mess it up. (He's also learning Spanish so there's a lot of vocabulary there too.)
Something I've noticed is that he keeps getting stuck on idiomatic expressions, ones that I take for granted. DUH! How would he know them unless he's read them or heard them before? Somewhere in the past I had a book, or my parents did, that gave the origins of many of these expressions. I LOVED that book! Of course, it was many years ago and I have no idea what it was called, a quick look at the library didn't net me anything that looked like what I wanted. I need to look again more thoroughly because I think he would enjoy it. Online I found an article about the origins of language; he had asked where language came from anyway, why are they different, why are some the same. We're using the article for typing practice.
At CurrClick, I found a book called Workplace and Career - Vocabulary in Context by Saddleback Publishing; it's one of a series of books dealing with vocabulary for specific life situations. Two of them will be helpful, the others are too simple. Well, not necessarily simple, but he knows the words in them already. The only problem I see is that when the books teach the difference between formal and informal use, they use very out-of-date slang! The two books I want don't seem to have that.

cold, that's all

2008-12-09T21:08:00.005-07:00

How do I keep ending up with teenage boys or young adult men for neighbors that don't understand the concept of cold? I'll be outside with a shirt, lightweight jacket, my trench coat over that, gloves and a scarf - and here come these boys in T-shirts!
Early this morning I was outside enjoying the view of snow-covered mountains and the cool patterns the ice made in the puddle of what was previously water. It's COLD. Yes, this is great weather but you have to dress for it!
It's invigorating, crisp, beautiful, I do enjoy it. But these guys...I don't understand them at all.

Cuffs to the Head and Sweeping The Floors

2008-12-07T21:09:00.004-07:00

Poor D! I'm laughing poor kid! When I mentioned the possibility of him apprenticing at a university science lab, he was horrified! All he could think of, (he told me this) was of all the movies where some boy was cuffed around, sent on boring errands, and constantly sweeping the floor! He couldn't see why I would consider this a great opportunity!

Though, really, I wonder what it would be like, I've never done an apprenticeship myself. A far cry from what's shown in the movies set in colonial days, I'm sure.

Cold, Mountains, and The Great Outdoors

2008-12-07T12:48:00.005-07:00

Yesterday I bullied big A into getting the littles outside. It's so easy to just let them play in the house but they need fresh air and exercise! I went out too, then came back in and dragged D out with us. We only went to the playground but there's plenty of room to run for little people. D played the monster so they all got exercise, then D also tried doing pull-ups and surprised himself by how much stronger he is than before.
Then this morning, big A took the babies to the playground down the street (close but you have to drive), this playground isn't all that big but it has a picnic area with grills and horses behind the fence of the neighboring property. We may be different than most people, but outside is where we like to be when it gets colder!
At Sierra Adventure Gear, the home page photo is similar to what I see out of my windows, I love it so much! Exploring the site makes me want to GET OUTSIDE! I even use a sleeping bag for my regular bedding, the kids have a play tent, big A wants to cook out on a grill somewhere besides the backyard. Sierra Adventure has almost everything on major sale it looks like. D will be pleased to know that even Luminox watches are part of camping gear, he uses his watch constantly. He wants one with as many features and gadgets as possible, he times everything, EVERYTHING.
For D, a watch is one of the things he can have an expensive one of (when I can afford it), that and science experiment materials; for big A it's always been camping gear; very well-made shoes, and programming books and CDs for C; books and comfortable blankets for K; and social events for J.

If the economy doesn't improve, many of us may be out of jobs and homes and needing to live out in the wild so we'd better be prepared! LOL!

Phone Books, Experiments, and a Lab of His Own

2008-12-04T18:26:00.000-07:00

Last night's Mythbuster episode included Jamie and Adam interleaving (interleafing?) phone book pages and discovering that the result was a connection that required ARMY TANKS to separate! Now I have two phone books here out of commission!

Earlier he had done a couple of friction experiments from Janice VanCleave's A+ Projects in Physics book, so the timing was perfect. I really enjoy having this woman's books, I used the elementary books for D's brothers when they were younger, then found the A+ Projects series. They don't seem to be for elementary level and I would love to have the other three for his next subjects. Science should be DOING, not just reading. He's been saving science for last so he doesn't have to stop at a set time.
I NEED A JOB! There are so many things I want to buy for him to experiment with, not the least of which is a yard so he can build a lab. That's what he's mentioned several times now, he's desperate for a lab of his own. My dad used to tell him about working in the science lab at his work, a boy in one of the history novels he had to read last year had one, he sees labs on MythBusters and Time Warp; he's sure his life will be much better if he can have one too. I wonder if he's too young to apprentice in a university lab, I'll have to check into that.

It's Working

2008-12-04T18:21:00.000-07:00

A Breakthrough!
Yesterday D was able to use one of his vocabulary words on his own.

He said that Big A was just like this guy (on TV), he didn't want anything for himself, he's not greedy, he's...he's...amicable. No that's not it. Alleviate? No...it's, what is it, what is it? I gave him a little prompt, "Maybe al-"
Altruistic! That's it! He doesn't care about having stuff for himself, he'll give things to other people.

This was a big step because normally he can define a word, spell it without a hitch, but hesitates and stumbles when he tries to speak to express himself. It was getting so bad that I started to worry that something was going wrong in his brain. Then I noticed that little A has started doing the same thing -- her knowledge and vocabulary has increased and she's still working on "making it all her own". This may be exactly what D is doing. I know his ability to think abstractly has increased and he's working so hard to fit this new way of thinking into his everyday life.

I still plan to give him plenty of vocabulary to learn but, after the holiday break, the focus will be much more intense on having him come up with the correct word instead of simply recognizing it and being able to give a definition. So far, I haven't had him write sentences using his words because he frequently uses it incorrectly contextually. He thinks so differently than what I'm used to! At first he'll have several words and fill in blanks in paragraphs with them correctly, that has worked well for him in the past. This way, he doesn't have to worry about the nuances of language that elude him for now. He hears the words used on TV often, I point them out when I read them in a book or online; he's encouraged to realize these are important words to know, not just irrelevant school assignments!

Cornstarch Is FUN!

2008-12-03T16:35:00.007-07:00

D had a GREAT time today playing with cornstarch! We've had it for so long but had never actually done any experimenting. I never had any experience with it before, he saw it long ago in fifth grade but had never touched it so we were quite surprised. We didn't make as much as they did on Mythbusters or Time Warp of course! Still, using just a half-full cereal bowl amount was fun. He was busy for more than an hour experimenting with it, then adding food coloring, looking at it under his microscope (the dry powder).
We had a rather disconcerting discussion about using it for cooking. The mystery of gravy is now revealed to me, but we weren't sure what this stuff does once it's in your body. D even said, "I don't even know where it would come out, would it be liquid or solid?" We didn't like thinking too deeply about that!

Knowledge Leads To Dead Flies!

2008-12-02T21:26:00.012-07:00

On this page at the Scientific American site, the second article down (blurb, really, refers to an article in another magazine) down made me laugh! It's here: Dumb and dumber—a real plus if you're a fly

So far it's been discovered that stupidity and ignorance leads to longer life for fruit flies. The first thing I thought of, naturally, is...
Didn't God say from the beginning not to eat from that tree or else death will follow?
The scientists have postulated that the educated flies use more energy therefore running out more quickly. Is anyone else picturing a class full of bored, drowsy, sliding-out-of-their-chairs kids at school? LOL!

This was just too good to pass up!

Real Learning or Just Get The Credits?

2008-11-25T20:28:00.006-07:00

Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth until I'm dizzy! That's what I'm doing with D's school. From the beginning, I knew I have to concentrate on his reading skills and ability to focus. He has so much trouble he's asked me to find medicine that will help him concentrate! My friend works at Kitchen Kneads and told me about some herb they have called Focus Attention; we haven't tried it yet because I'm waiting for the holiday break to be over. Hope it works.

Anyway, I'm going back and forth on how hard to push D to work 'above his level'. Which is true, or are both true?
1. Making him do work he doesn't really understand is a waste of time, he doesn't "get it" and can't use or remember it.
2. Making him do work above his level pushes him to achieve and learn to work hard.

I don't want to let him slide and always think that if something is too hard, he shouldn't do it. Neither do I want to make him slog his way through learning when he really isn't learning, just to call it done. He's getting so depressed about school and life in general that I want to make things easier so he can be more successful. I can give him books about the same subjects that are written at a lower level but does that count for 9th grade credit? Another thing to go back and forth on, what is the goal? Learning or a diploma? It doesn't seem that BOTH is an option, at least not right now.
One thing that would help is if he got more physical exercise (like the rock climbing I talked about in an earlier post, that would be so cool!) and more social interaction. With no job, no money to even put gas in the car, I really can't do anything for him and that's ruining everything. He needs excitement to survive and he doesn't have any. He wants a dirt bike but right now I can't even rent one for a day - do 'they' even rent those out? He lovingly remembers his motorcycle he had a couple of years ago, one made for kids, it went 15 mph max. We gave it to his cousin when we moved, he already could RUN that fast just about! We clocked him at 12 mph running. This is the kid who now is in the house all day every day and has gotten wary about leaving it. Not good.

Have I whined enough for the day? I think so. At least I have time now with the holiday to make a firm decision on whether we'll focus on getting credits for the subjects he has no interest in, or if we'll back it up, slow it down, and truly learn it.

Dirt Bikes, Motorcycles, and other such things

2008-11-25T20:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, these are definitely not for dirt bikes, these are accessories for real motorcycles! If D does ever get a motorcycle, I'll feel a lot better about him finding just the right chrome, tires, saddlebags, sissy bars (what's sissy about not falling off the back of a motorcycle?!), other things like that for it as opposed what he's more likely to look for - parts to make it go faster! I think this site has those too though, performance parts? What else would that mean but more efficient and faster? Dangerous paragraph there, it includes the words "increased flow and velocity", "speed", and "performance". Maybe I should just be grateful that he's upstairs playing a computer game instead of seeing that.

He pulled out his steam engine last Tuesday, that got him tinkering with other motors he has, THAT got him thinking about motorcycles and dirt bikes again... there are several tracks around here for dirt bikes, and there's still the Bonneville Salt Flats, I THINK we can ride there or race in something. I personally will not be riding a motorcycle for him to be a passenger so I'd need to find someone I trust - nope, don't know anyone. Maybe he can start building one now so that he can dream about it while working on it and I won't have to worry for a while. I'll be sure to show him how to customize his ride and maybe that will buy some more time.

No, he needs something exciting now. I remember something from when he and I drove out here from the east coast. We stopped at a hotel one night and beside us pulled up two guys on some very fine bikes. What I liked was they had storage all over them (the bikes, not the guys). They showed us the place under the seat for storage, saddlebags that were large enough to work as suitcases but were balanced and looked really nice, bags on the back bar held things they wanted to get to easily. It was funny watching them "unpack" to take things in for the night, those bikes held way more than I ever thought they could have! The main bags had locks on them so the guys didn't have to unpack everything; others just unhooked and went in with them. They were traveling from the east coast too, we 'met' in Arkansas or Oklahoma so they had been on the road quite a while like we had.

That was just a rambling motorcycle memory - it impressed me that they could manage a cross country trip on bikes like that. Of course, they ARE guys, they need less, right? Besides, I was MOVING, changing homes, they weren't. Big difference. My defense rests.

By the way, YES dirt bikes and motorcycles can be rented. I just found a place - when I have money...

Low Arousal Types and Turbo Charging

2008-11-20T18:43:00.008-07:00

A few days ago, D mentioned a conversation we had had long ago with my parents about people with "low arousal" - people who need very high levels of excitement or danger to feel the interest that normally is felt just in daily life. Though many people like that end up in jail, I think many may also be heroes like firefighters or police officers, soldiers, etc. This was a very important point, I don't know if it's true but it sure seems reasonable and likely; it was important because D said he'll probably end up in jail because he's like that! I didn't even know he remembered that conversation!

Now we're thinking of high excitement activities that are NOT BAD. Personally I think much of it is normal guy stuff - he likes explosions, intense motion (like those amusement park rides that drop you), speed... I saw this opportunity to blog about turbo-charging your ride but ignored it at first. Then it got me thinking, we live near the salt flats, the perfect place for speed. When he's ready to drive he can go here: turbochargerpros.com and find what he can get for his car to rev it up. He likes engines and maybe a VW with a Volkswagen turbocharger could be his first car; it doesn't have to be a VW though, the site covers lots of cars. I also liked the site because it has options for a/c for my car, even Utah is getting too hot in the summer now. Plus turbo- or supercharging the engine sounds like it's more efficient, I always thought it meant super speed and would use much more gas. Apparently not - it's super and turbo CHARGED which means the system is more efficiently powerful. Maybe I won't wait for him to get a car, I need to do this on mine!

Anyway, back to the point, if D can find a legitimate outlet for this 'need', we'd both feel a lot better. This is perfectly acceptable to me, it gives him something to look forward to and an exciting goal to work toward. The site has a Learning Center page so he knows what it's all about. Notice how I didn't mention that that's the page that helped ME know what it's all about?

Is This Misleading?

2008-11-17T19:30:00.010-07:00

In a book called Friendly Foes - A Look At Political Parties, I found something that annoys me greatly. In a sidebar it says:

The Second Amendment says, "A well-regulated militia (military force), being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed (limited)." Does this mean everyone should be able to own a gun? Or is the amendment talking about a militia using guns to defend the country? What do you think?

It's misleading to define 'militia' as 'military force' especially without mentioning that it's specifically defined as an armed citizenry.
Just another thing to watch when your children are reading books; as my brother always says, "Consider the source!" And it reminds me of the book on government for elementary school children in a teacher supply store that exhorts littles to "think of the government as your parent."

Take Pride In Learning Something New

2008-11-11T17:18:00.004-07:00

People have gotten too used to saying They'll have so much fun, they won't even notice they're learning! In the prefaces and introductions of many textbooks, there's an apologetic and calming tone to reassure students that even though everyone hates/is scared of math/physics/chemistry, this book will not be as horrible as everyone expects.

I worry that with this attitude considered normal, whether students read it themselves or parents read it and pass it on to their kids, we're perpetuating it. I'm not really a proponent of pretending that no one dreads certain subjects, but it annoys me to read that so often in the front of a book that I borrow or buy because I find the subject interesting! Besides, I don't want D to pick up on the attitude and think that he SHOULD be hating the subject or that he's odd for not hating it.

What happened to the pride in maturing, growing up, learning?

All It Would Take Is A Quick Call...

2008-11-10T08:54:00.008-07:00

I'm too lazy and whiny for my own good!

Everywhere are these ads for Zenni eyeglasses, I keep taking posts about them myself but I haven't ordered them. All I do is whine about how I can't even see through these messed up lenses anymore and need new glasses. If I would just call to have my prescription faxed, I could order a new pair. It's quite difficult to even type on the computer, I had to not apply for a job I wanted because it requires excellent closeup vision (okay, glasses wouldn't really help there, I do the old lady thing of pulling my glasses off to see closeup even with bifocals - does that make me old?!). I'm not sure a store will fax a prescription to a competitor...but it's worth a try. There's an FTC ruling that says you have to be allowed to take your prescription anywhere you want to! I just found that out from the Chicago Tribune article linked below. I haven't found my scrip at home; I DID look for it. And I didn't find D's even though I'm pretty sure I have his somewhere in my mess of paperwork.
The glasses are inexpensive but since I don't have a job I'm afraid to spend ANY money. The Chicago Tribune pointed out that there's no reason to spend buku bucks on glasses and mentioned Zenni as a good deal. (That was a good article by the way, price-gouging exposed!) Why am I waiting? Pure laziness and apparently a desire to wallow in self-pity that I can't see right.

Surviving

2008-11-06T14:44:00.006-07:00

We've had to pull out our gloves and heavy jackets. D needs new winter boots and big A probably does too. Big A likes to go winter camping, seems like a good thing for brothers to do together, doesn't it? But I'm not comfortable with it. I just got a survival book to study with D; the real experience would be better but not until AFTER he's learned a bit.

I don't think his brother will 'take care' of him, he thinks D should learn everything on his own and that the hard way won't hurt him. That's true to a point - I'm not a man though, so I don't like it! D's never even been camping!

Nope, I can't accept it.

Big A doesn't even take good enough care of himself as far as I'm concerned. I'm the one who bought him wool socks for being out in the snow and ice, the one who insists he keep a blanket in the car in winter, things like that. I'm the one who wants him to have tactical pants so that he'll have pockets to keep a knife ON him and other survival things while he's out alone in the mountains camping. It's not always good enough to have your equipment in a pack, people sometimes get separated from those.

Maybe I'm just reading too many survival books and watching too many survival TV shows with D.

Quicksand!

2008-11-05T21:42:00.004-07:00

Tonight on Time Warp, they're doing a show on cornstarch quicksand - we just bought some cornstarch to do this! First dry ice, now this, this one is a lot safer. Maybe they can try to walk on it though I don't really have quite THAT much, 2000 pounds. (I wonder if that was right?) I thought the boys had seen the dry ice on Mythbusters since that's what they yelled out at the end but D says no, they just thought it was fun to pretend to be Adam and Jamie.

More Baby Experimenting!

2008-11-05T15:35:00.002-07:00

My grandbaby girl is definitely more interested in hands-on than academics. This past weekend, I told her about the Mythbuster show that had the 'crew' climbing down ropes made of unusual materials (a prison break, but I didn't tell her that part!). I told her Grant had to climb down a rope made of sheets all tied together, she thought that was okay since Uncle D swings her around in one.
Then we moved on to the toilet paper that Tory had to make a rope from. I had her get some TP and pretended I was going to try to lift her with it. Of course, it immediately tore. So we tried again and it tore right off. THEN we started twisting, got more and twisted that into it, got even more and twisted that into it as well. Then I folded it over and twisted those together. This time when I had her try to tear it off, she was impressed to find that she couldn't! Toilet paper? She eventually did tear it but clearly realizes how much harder it was to do.
Then I told her Kari (Carrie?) made a rope of hair - like Rapunzel. Her eyes got big and she was excited to hear it worked. I had to stop her from pulling out her hair to try it!

Baby D is the one who goes around singing songs from the LeapFrog video about the letter sounds, the one who comes running if he hears counting or the alphabet. I even got him the next LeapFrog video about making words out of these sounds. Little A enjoys it for a short time then is ready to move on to something else. They both enjoyed doing crafts. My friend does crafts with all of her kids and they seem to enjoy it a great deal, so I got a couple of pasteboard boxes from Walmart for my littles to paint. Once they were dry, little A decorated hers with foam stickers of mermaids and underwater creatures. Baby D has been fascinated lately with the "apple-puss" (octopus), jellyfish, and sharks. I think someone took them to the aquarium.

What Can We Blow Up Today?

2008-11-01T13:03:00.004-06:00

Young Teenage Boys, Dry Ice, Plastic Bottles, Large Private Yard...
EXPLOSIONS!

D and his friend had a great time experimenting at the friend's house yesterday. They partially filled a bottle with dry ice, screwed on the cap and ran. For a while, nothing happened - they hadn't added water to accelerate the process - and it was so funny to watch them hiding behind and peeking around a huge board they were using for a shelter. They threw rocks at the bottle, hit it a couple of times, nothing. Then a rock hit it and bounced the bottle way off into the garden. Still nothing. They then tried using a milk gallon jug but the gas leaked out the lid, they could hear it. So far two tries and nothing.
D's friend finally picked up the first bottle that had never done anything, his little sister asked what he had, friend said, "Carbon dioxide..." his eyes grew huge and he THREW that bottle as fast and far as he could. Just In Time! It exploded and he was stunned! When we all were certain he was safe, everyone burst out laughing; it was so loud and such a close call, we needed to recover for a moment first.

Afterward, D and friend started walking next to each other across the yard in a way that was obviously intended to mean something. I gave them a curious look, they replied, "All in all, I'd say this was a successful day." They continued their walk and yelled out, "We're the Mythbusters, we're walking off into the sunset off the screen!"

Umm...the constitution...all science curriculum?

2008-10-28T12:29:00.002-06:00

D and I were discussing the Constitution this morning. His history book has a copy of it spread over 25 pages with commentary and explanation in the outside column. It's GREAT. I wish we had time to go in depth on it but we probably should wait until a higher grade for formal government studies. For now, we will have impromptu (or perhaps, on occasion, prompted) discussions about the Constitution and will look things up, but for now his easy introduction will be enough. If I do this right, his interest will be sparked and eventually overcome his fear of all things sociopolitical!

It's not helping that I keep finding incredibly interesting books and websites for science. Is it okay to make all day every day about science, experiments, scientific reports, and research? Oops, no, he wouldn't want to skip the math, but that's part of science anyway. Hmmm, so are writing skills so that he can report his results properly and clearly.

CO2 Freezing Right Out Of The Air

2008-10-27T12:52:00.005-06:00

D asked me why carbon dioxide doesn't freeze out of the air in the Antarctic; I asked him why he thinks it doesn't. We looked online - a physics forum was debating the question of the existence of polar CO2 ice but they were getting all crazy about it and ended up making a wager over who was right.
Then I found another site where people on a scientific expedition for the Phoenix Mars Expedition (practice perhaps?) wrote about their experience there in the antarctic, Mars Phoenix Expedition. Here's one line at the end:

"The winter ice that covers our landing site is predominantly carbon dioxide ice as the atmosphere actually freezes onto the cold surface."

Princesses

2008-10-27T10:07:00.004-06:00

Adorable Baby! I was showing little A on the computer pictures of real, living princesses. She was entranced. We came to one and she said, "She's beautiful!" I asked, Should we get her for Daddy? (Not PC at all, I know) Should we get Daddy a princess and he can be the prince?
She swung around, looked at Big A and said, "You can marry me, Daddy, I'll be a princess for you. Then you can be a prince!"
Littles are so precious!

Civics and History

2008-10-26T15:48:00.004-06:00

The latest foray into the next level of "civics" seems to be going okay, not great but okay. We're still in elementary level (National Government - Kids' Guide) but at least I can read this book without cringing! D never even complained about the first "baby" book, some of the information was presented so obviously to little kids, somewhere in the 2nd to 4th grade range I'd assume, that I was waiting for him to complain or at least mention it! He didn't care at all, apparently all he cared about was that it was simple enough to get through quickly.

It took him two days to get through the first one, taking notes. I wasn't sure he could take notes on such a low level book but there was enough information that it worked very well. It will take him three days to finish this next book, adding to his notes as he discovers more information. These, the video documentary, and a project (poster, speech, some such thing) may be all I have him do about the government other than keeping track of the elections. We'll go back to his regularly scheduled history.

His regular history (McGraw Hill's American History - The Modern Era Since 1865) is written on a high school level, above his reading level but doing it together is working, he gets none or only one wrong on the quizzes. As long as I actually teach the lesson, he can understand. Reading it on his own doesn't work, the vocabulary in this book is too much for him - difficult vocabulary to describe difficult concepts. I considered not having him do this anymore, this text came out one readability check as 11th grade, but he said he had no problem until he had to study economy and business. He likes the fact that it's an actual textbook. He's happy with it and doing well so we'll keep on with it!

Success!

2008-10-23T11:46:00.004-06:00

For a while, I've wanted to introduce D to civics. He has zero interest, hates it completely, doesn't understand at all. I've brought home videos, tried to discuss the subject, found books...nothing. He listens of course, because I'm his mother, but it's obvious that's the only reason; it's almost comical to see him struggle to avoid passing out from boredom.

That may be changing.

I kept looking for simple books about government, elementary level but that goes further than merely that we have three branches. I found one at the library that I like finally. It's called How the U.S. Government Works by Syl Sobel, it's a Barron's book. It's simple but gives enough information for the start I wanted him to have. All went as usual until we got to the Judicial branch, then things got going! Suddenly his eyes were wide open, he had comments and questions, even opinions! AND THEN...there's more! I also brought home a video documentary called Understanding Government - The Judicial Branch. I was watching it while he was doing something else, he started heading upstairs but stopped. I can hardly believe what he said, "Mom, that's interesting, turn it off so I can go upstairs!"
A couple of weeks ago, I brought home the video from the same series called The Executive Branch, but he was totally uninterested; this time we've got a winner. Perhaps I should have expected this, he loves to watch Matlock.

Free eBooks, great Eco Site

2008-10-15T18:35:00.004-06:00

I just found a bookstore site for green living literature (and curriculum as well); I planned to mention here on my blog two of the books I liked, then found that they might give me credit for doing so! How perfect! The site is: EcoBrain.com
First, here's the paragraph they offer as a guideline:

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I found this great online bookstore, focused on green living and wanted to share it with you. Right now, if you sign up for a free account, you'll get $5 in site credit, enough to get a book for free. Here is some more information about EcoBrain:

EcoBrain.com is the only online eBook store focused on the environment and environmentally friendly living. Sign up for a free account now and get a $5 account credit. (Many of EcoBrain books are $5 or less, so this is a great way to get a free book and try out EcoBrain.com with no obligation.) EcoBrain.com offers thousands of titles from top publishers about sustainable living, home and garden, green living, vegetarian cooking, green building and more. EcoBrain even has a great selection of elementary, middle school and academic environmental science material. And, because eBooks don't use paper and ink to produce, or fuel to deliver, you'll be saving yourself money, and making an eco-friendly decision too!

*************************************************************

Now for the books I wanted to mention:

1. Electric Water: The Emerging Revolution in Water and Energy. This book is by a guy who actually made a plan and proposed it to Congress for funding, which he didn't get, and is still working on not just slowing or stopping, but reversing damage to the planet. I read the sample preview, it was quite interesting.

2. Chasing The Sun: Solar Adventures Around The World. This one is by someone who has been involved in (pioneered it even?) providing access to solar power in third world countries that had no real power before.

I downloaded a free one as well, it's great from what I've read so far. This one is called Extreme Kids, it's full of ideas for getting involved in "extreme" outdoor adventures with your children. It's not all truly extreme, the first example is the author snow-caving with his 5-yr-old son. They built a shelter in the snow and slept overnight in it. For a little boy, that's extreme, for some of us too! Tame-to-wild ideas, and the download is free right now.

My only concern with e-books is that they're only truly eco-friendly if you don't print them out. I don't like reading at the computer, it's very uncomfortable. Guess I'd better get used to it though, a free book of over 200 pages (two, another one I was going to buy turned out to be free also!) from an eco-friendly site means I should do my part.

Get The Blood Pumping!

2008-10-14T21:07:00.003-06:00

For PE, we've decided to add Ping Pong and the climbing wall next door to the gym right down the street. He's getting bored with calisthenics since he has no class to do them with. He's been putting PE off until last as often as possible even though he originally wanted to do it second, a decision I applauded since it would get his blood circulating through his brain early on. To keep that up, we need to spice it up a bit! I wish he liked sports but he's not only not interested, he's antagonistic, the climbing wall and gym will be a better bet.

We'll Study It Anyway

2008-10-05T15:35:00.004-06:00

There are a few subjects D is showing an interest in that we haven't reached yet or are not covering this year. I've decided we're going to go ahead and do a couple of mini-studies despite what he "should" otherwise be doing. This will mess up the plan but I don't see any good coming out of forcing a study of what he's not interested in and leaving what he is interested in until he's not interested anymore!

He keeps asking about the world wars, when they happened, why, who did what; we may as well study the wars for history instead of slogging through until we "reach" them. History builds on itself but I think we can make it work.
I have An Overview Of The 20th Century from Journey Through Learning, it's got a map to fill in of the countries involved on which side, I have a couple of history books we can read through including his history book for this year. I may find a movie but so far he doesn't like historical documentaries very much, a re-enactment movie would be better or maybe even fiction set in the time. We'll have to find a field trip that we can make, perhaps there are some replicas of the planes at the nearby AF base.

I Want Him To Find Out Everything

2008-10-05T11:50:00.003-06:00

There are so many interesting, fascinating things to study! Even just the normal information we generally know is tempting. I want to teach D everything, all at once, introduce things, try things, watch movies about them, take field trips ...

It's not that it has to be me to personally teach or show him but I want him to find out everything that exists and hear all the viewpoints and debates. Why? I don't know, too much knowledge can be confusing but everything is so interesting.

I want to do it for myself too of course. There are so many things I know nothing about, even many things that have become necessary; I have to be sure he learns how to do these things that I don't know. This is quite a tall order.

Can you tell I'm trying to plan out his courses? It's so different if he goes to school next year, I've had a school recommended that would likely be much better for him. But if he's at home, all school-type education can be tailored to him. I have to be sure he can get a diploma or find alternates that I'm comfortable with (he doesn't care yet, but I have to be sure it's something he will be happy with once he's older and DOES care.) There's just not time to do all in a year that we want if we're aiming at fitting back into public education

Not Natural Couch Potatoes

2008-10-04T16:35:00.004-06:00

Due to some casual experimenting yesterday, we found out that D's reading comprehension increases greatly when he stands to read. Reading out loud made a difference too. Reminds me of old fashioned one room schoolhouses, isn't that how they did it?
That reading out loud helped surprises me; he always complained that he couldn't follow anything if he read out loud. I think it's really the standing that did it.

He doesn't want me to put the computer back up high like I did for my work at home job. He has asked to not have schoolwork on the computer, he dislikes it a lot. I'm concluding that he's grown much taller and it's now too low for him; I can't help but insist he needs to be standing just like I do!

He does still enjoy sitting close to me on the sofa when I read aloud to him and I love that!

Baby Scientist

2008-10-03T08:32:00.005-06:00

My little granddaughter is definitely showing that she has the family genes! Besides princess books - she's a 4 year old girl - her favorite books are:

Germs! Germs! Germs!
Hear Your Heart
Magic School Bus Books

She loves when I say, "Let's do an experiment." Wonder what they'll think when she goes home and says we made a colloidal suspension yesterday. Perhaps we should just call it quicksand.

Another scientist in the family!

Can You Guess The Word?

2008-10-02T16:23:00.003-06:00

Sciencejunkies.com, link in the right sidebar, has a fun photo puzzle quiz on words or phrases indicated by the pictures. The first one has a photo of a shark with what looks like painted numbers, hearts, faces, diamonds, etc on it. You have to figure out what the picture represents. It was from Sept 29 so you have to scroll down two posts now. See how many you can guess -

Go Ahead, Try It!

Glasses To Match Your Outfit For The Evening!

2008-10-02T16:10:00.008-06:00

Zenni Optical has more frame choices! They're inexpensive enough that you can buy glasses to match your mood or your outfit, never thought I'd see that happen!
So far I haven't gotten new eyeglasses, I had hoped that I would need new ones because my vision had improved - so far it hasn't. Even so, I would need a new prescription which comes with a visit to the doctor which generally includes frames in the price. Or vice versa, the frames include a "free" exam.
Lately though, I've been annoyed that my glasses are so scratched. I'm wondering if the scratches are in the anti-glare coating and if so, can it simply be removed? Time to dig up my prescription, without glasses I can't do much of anything; I never feel comfortable without a backup pair and right now I don't have one! This is really not good, I wouldn't feel comfortable driving using my old pair.
I know where D's prescription is I think, he needs a new pair but he may need an exam first. Even if he needs a new scrip, he needs a backup pair as well. His eyes are not horrible but they're bad enough that he doesn't forget his glasses when we go somewhere. They're always on his face already.

There are a lot of customer reviews that range from thrilled with quality and service to furiously disappointed at this site: The Clark Howard Show. Clark Howard did a review on Zenni Optical after he bought eyeglasses for himself, and some of his staff bought from them as well. They were apparently satisfied and many people tried it because he recommended them on his show. I definitely want to try them, negative reviews notwithstanding - glasses are normally so expensive!
I wish I could put a picture on here of the ones I want but I don't know how. And I won't really get this carried away but if I felt like it, I could buy several pair so I could match what I'm wearing!

Made Me Think

2008-10-02T11:06:00.003-06:00

This was a perfect post to read this morning:
Streeeeetch Your Life

As I was making D's schedule, I tried to figure out ways to get him involved in things with groups, at least with other people; he doesn't like sports, I haven't found science clubs that meet for his age during the school year, music lessons are generally one person at a time. Anyway, besides church which we will be starting, the post I read reminded me of community service! There must be lots of opportunities for us to get involved.

He's been getting frustrated lately wondering why other countries are so poor. He's trying to figure out why they don't "just build better houses and make the things they need". He wondered if America has most of the world's natural resources then exclaimed, "No. We're always buying from other countries!" I honestly don't know why our country is so rich and others are so poor. I can get biblical about it but I can't explain the practicalities.

Exactly Like School

2008-10-01T16:39:00.002-06:00

* Sigh *

D has been so institutionalized that he wants me to do everything exactly like school. I won't but he thinks that's what he wants. I told him to put his DVD in that he's watching for physics and he was upset that I'm not being like "the teacher" would be, I should put it in, start it, tell him where to sit...

He had a moment, barely more than a literal moment, when he expressed interest in being involved in the planning of his own education - I think he frightened himself making that request. He retreated not long afterward like a turtle into its shell. The "be exactly like school" panic came after this.

How can someone be so adamantly against having any input into his own life? This is not recent, not at all, and it seems to be getting worse. Long ago, in exasperation I asked him, "Do you want me to tell you what to think too? Or perhaps I should think the thoughts for you and just pour them into your head?!"
His reply was, "You know what? I would like that; I wish you really could."

*More sighs*

School is not likely the culprit here, it's too extreme. I have no idea what to do for a child like this.

Do Ants Form Committees?

2008-09-29T21:21:00.003-06:00

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Now it's time to find out how to add things to my blog - pictures mainly. So many blogs I go to are enjoyable because they have photos that go along with the subject, some are photos of their family (that one I'm not so comfortable with), some were just too beautiful for the blogger to resist posting, etc.

=========

Tonight I called D outside to see something and take a picture of because I had never seen such a thing before. It would be great to post it and get some input but it's a photo of ants. They're rather small and I don't really know how clear it will be. I'm going to describe it because I want to remember to find out what was going on - if anyone has seen this please let me know.

ANT COMMITTEES

Ants were in clusters, mainly of five each, forming star shapes. There were at least ten of these groups, it looked like they were having committee meetings. Other ants were running around hysterically, checking in on the groups and occasionally joining one. It was so strange, is this normal ant behavior? Not in my experience!

Procrastination

2008-09-29T12:33:00.003-06:00

Here I am blogging instead of informing the powers-that-be that D isn't going back to school. The school knows but the right person to sign D out wasn't available so they "couldn't" let me withdraw him yet. I have to go today but I think I'll go to the county first and file an intent to homeschool.

Part of me wishes I were still doing it the easy way and sending him off every day to others that are even legally sanctioned to educate him. But I AM his mother and "best for my child" keeps cropping up. If I list all the things that were not right at school, it's easy to see he would be better off not there. But there were enough good points that I hate to lose them. Now I'm responsible to see to it that he gets all the good that school offers AND all the good homeschooling offers.

At least I get to research and play around with curriculum again and it's required instead of just being me indulging myself! :-)

Intriguing Question

2008-09-26T23:25:00.004-06:00

An assignment D has (had) from school is to write five paragraphs discussing prey/predator relationships and human intervention in that process. One question to be addressed is "Why is it considered more 'natural' for creatures to die from predators instead of starvation?" D didn't particularly want to think about it but his brother and I were intrigued.
Something that struck me about it is concerning humans, like any population, we fight over resources. Without natural predators, we've turned on ourselves.

Living Courses

2008-09-26T23:03:00.003-06:00

If I ever regret not finishing college or even wondering what my life would be like if I hadn't chosen being a mother over continuing education, I realize that makes no real sense. Each child is a living course in human behavior and development, a course in linguistic development, cultural anthropology, anatomy, biology, statistics. Two or more children merely expands the scope of one's education in these.

That's IT, No More Public School

2008-09-26T09:00:00.004-06:00

Today is the day. I told D it's his last day at school. We've gone back and forth, but why is public school the default choice? It isn't. We had parent-teacher conferences last night, he's doing great, his teachers for the most part are reasonable but there are enough problems that I want him to be home for school.

For one, his algebra class is so out of control that he's not getting much out of it. One of the reasons I chose this school is for its emphasis on math and science. There isn't one. The teacher just went back to Pre-Algebra, he's trying to convince the school to let him have one class for students who are interested and willing to pay attention but so far it isn't allowed. The ability levels have to be mixed which means teaching to the lowest common denominator. That's a no right there.

My main problem, the one that made me say, "Yes, you can homeschool again," is the fact that two girls came over to the lockers right by his and started KISSING. That's it, he's out. I don't care how many people try to claim it's fine, it's not. I told him that I don't even want him dealing with seeing boy-girl groping going on in front of him all the time. He gave me examples of that happening a lot too.

THIS IS SCHOOL! Kids do this, yes, but for there to be no reaction from the teachers means it's not controlled at all. Not the environment for a young teenage boy. Whether he's intrigued or repulsed, fascinated or taken aback, I don't care. How is he supposed to keep his mind on schoolwork if that's what he's confronted with constantly? He's also seen some inappropriate behavior from boys but not so openly. It's difficult enough for a boy his age, this is not what I had in mind when I sent him to school. He's still pretending (to me) that he doesn't notice girls. His friends know otherwise and I do too but I haven't let him know. As long as he's still happy to 'play' with his friends and sneak sidelong glances at pretty girls and get red-faced when he's caught, that's fine by me. He just turned 14 last month, there's still time for all that when he's a little older.

Most Likely Coming Back Home

2008-09-24T12:43:00.002-06:00

Big A is against D being educated at home for social reasons. He remembers having fun in high school and that's where he made lifelong friends. But that's not quite true. The friends he has now are people he met OUTSIDE of school, one was our neighbor (it's so funny to see these boys now as husbands, fathers, ADULT MEN), one was met through the neighbor.
I have two best friends, one was a neighbor, one I met at work.
Big A's main deal is that he wants D to have the chance to do things he shouldn't without Mom finding out! Is that really a necessary part of growing up? I do worry that D will change as he gets older and resent being home for school, by high school it's kind of tied in for the long haul, isn't it? In the earlier years, in and out of public school was not a major concern, whatever was best for the child at that time in his life is what we did. Now that D is older, it seems there are more things to consider.

One thing is that I have to force D to interact with other people, he never wants to initially but is always glad afterward. What I'm noticing is that the things he needs as part of his education may not be best addressed in school. Can I really do better by him at home? Some things are a definite yes. Ritalin was suggested for him when he was little but I didn't want to do that. Music worked instead. Now his behavior is fine, if there was something wrong he went from ADHD to ADD. He knows he has trouble focusing and paying attention. These are things that I believe will respond better to home intervention than a public school setting - they don't have time or even the know-how there. At home I can have him do a subject for two or three hours at a time so that once he manages to focus on what he's doing, he's not interrupted and forced to change focus to something else. He's excited about doing math and science for extended periods, but history and language arts? I have some ideas about all of it that I believe will work, even English. He enjoys writing, his problem is being under time constraints. He has to learn to handle deadlines but I believe we can work him up to it a little more gently at home. A fifty minute class, fifteen or so minutes of which is used up doing other things, is not enough for him to produce a piece of writing that he can live with. He's a perfectionist, slow, and very thorough; if his writing did not explore every possibility, he can't imagine calling it finished. Being made to hurry and just get something written in his opinion produces sloppy garbage and makes him very unsettled. Like Big A says, these characteristics are not well-adapted to life, my worry exactly. But if that's how he's made, there IS a place in this world for him, he may have more trouble fitting into certain work situations but I'm sure there are plenty that specifically NEED his type. Why should someone be punished for believing in quality over quantity?

Also, for purely practical reasons, having D at home will make it easier to get back east to my sister's wedding this spring without huge hassles and worry over missing school! He loves to travel, he was raised in an RV after all!

Starter Homes?!

2008-09-24T12:34:00.002-06:00

Because of D's wanting to experiment and for the babies, we need a house with a yard. While I was looking through the employment section of the paper, I got a little distracted and started looking at homes for sale :-) . There's one thing I don't quite understand, what the heck is a starter home?
I've always thought that was an inexpensive, small house that a newly-married couple buys before they have children or perhaps a house with one extra bedroom for a nursery. Small, not where they necessarily intend to stay forever.
I must be wrong though because the ads in the paper are calling 4 bedroom, 3 bath homes with acreage "starter homes"!
I think one reason I like being poor is that I don't have to worry about mortgages, medical insurance, homeowner's insurance, bank rates and all that. Been there, done that, it's all such a hassle! But that means I have nothing. Usually I like that but sometimes...

Indy's Back! Indy as in Indecisive!

2008-09-23T07:04:00.002-06:00

Everything depends on everything else.
Bringing D back home for school has to be arranged around my work. My work may need to depend on benefits. I've never had any health benefits since the boys' dad was gone, I always saved up money and went to the doctor or, for a while, the boys were on state Medicaid. Luckily, we're generally healthy. Now it's a consideration again. If I work full-time during the day to get benefits, can I still homeschool him? The main reason he's in school is to be with other people, he dislikes being alone. His brother would be here, but sleeping.

I can't tell for sure if school is working or not, he's way behind because of homework. Can a kid get an ulcer?!
Today I have an interview for a part-time job that I'm sure has no benefits and won't pay enough to live on. I can get two part-time jobs or find a full-time job OR take this P/T if it's offered and find a way to make some more $$ at home. That will be perfect if I need to have D at home. Of course, this option will make ME be the one to start worrying! Who guarantees that I'll actually be able to make up that money anyway?

Also I wonder if keeping him home will keep D from ever learning to adapt to this world. He's v-e-r-y slow and methodical.

I'm looking at everything from a mother's perspective; from a woman's perspective; from a human perspective. Maybe I should look at this from God's perspective but I don't know what that is other than that this world isn't what's important. How does that play out in making a decision? I told D that if it was horrible at school and he totally hated it, he could come back home. He says it IS like that but I think the part he hates is fixable, he doesn't think it is. Until I work out a solution, he feels that I've betrayed him! Plus I keep finding courses and websites and books that I want to share with him - there's no time for even thinking of that while he's in school.

Is This Fair?

2008-09-22T13:05:00.005-06:00

I'm a little bit afraid of this - I have an idea for a work-from-home business for which I'll need a website. There are a couple of options that DON'T require one but it would probably be the best. The part that worries me is if I bring D back home for school, is it right/fair/good or just lazy to have him learn to design websites as part of school - so that I don't have to.
Really, it's not entirely that I don't want to learn, I need to keep using my brain or I'll lose it. But this would make him part of the business, it will be a valuable skill and I have the feeling that he can learn it much more quickly than I can! He already has taught himself some programming so it shouldn't be too much of a stretch unless they have nothing to do with each other. I have a tendency to think most computer related activities are alike but I know that's just my age showing.
Another thing is that D could go through the business setup course with me, it's quite basic and we have someone to help who has done much of this before with her own business. (She's a lot younger than I am so if I discount her mommy-mush-brain, she should be quicker with the new info too.) I'm starting to feel real empathy for old people, does everyone start feeling so out-of-date and useless? Those older people who keep busy mentally and involved in life stay sharp and useful much longer but it's so hard to remember that it may be worth it! I'm not old enough to excuse myself into a support position for all the younger people around me, it's pure laziness. Maybe it's a good thing that D is never quite secure without specific instructions and expectations every step of the way. It forces me to stay in the game even while trying to figure out how to help him get over that. I must have always displayed an overly laid back attitude to cause him and his next older brother to be like that, always just a bit worried. Pointing out the God has always taken care of us when we needed it doesn't help. I've pointed out that they have food, a home, clothes, sometimes luxuries just because they want them...it hasn't helped. Guess I can't get out of work by claiming advanced old age quite yet. I still have too much to do.

Money Management Lessons For The Young

2008-09-22T09:52:00.003-06:00

My son's ex keeps coming to me asking for money. I don't know where she got the idea that I HAVE money but I admit she didn't know I just quit my latest job. No one in their right mind would be jobless as often as I am lately.
Anyway, she apparently has a lot of credit card debt (she's barely 22!) and keeps looking for ways to get it paid off and/or lower the monthly payments. Her share of day care is way more than she can handle and I really would like to help with that. Her latest is to get a title loan to consolidate all her debts; that makes me worried - if she loses her car because she can't make the monthly payments, how can she get to work to KEEP making money? My son is looking for a way to help her stay at home with the babies (she has a baby by some other guy too), he can't afford to pay for three in day care either and the other guy pays nothing. I considered keeping the kids but then I have no money either, the state won't pay a grandmother for helping with her own grandkids and they can't afford enough for me to pay my bills.
This site, consolidate debt is one that educates about debt consolidation, it gives info and warnings needed for someone like her, someone young and overwhelmed with too much responsibility on her shoulders.
I checked to be sure and it DOES mention that some forms of consolidation and/or credit counseling hurt your credit rating. At this point, I'm not sure she cares, can it get any worse? The site discusses consolidation to pay off the debt more quickly; it also gives options about lowering the monthly payments. There's really no good way out of this, there's no way she can afford the monthly payments and all the associated fees. Consolidating is probably the best bet but she'll have to be sure she can make the payment. Even late fees for one larger loan is better for her than several late fees for numerous smaller amounts. It may be one of those hard life lessons she needs to experience but do the littles have to suffer with her? It's helping my boys as they see her go through this, also my son (the dad) is determined to do what he can to fix the situation. (These are not shared debts).
I was planning to send her the link to this site but I think instead I'll meet with her and go through it with her so she can ask questions and truly understand. Even better, I think I'll go through the options and information with her AND my son. My son isn't in serious debt, has already learned a few things himself, but even if they're not together, any problem she has is his too since they share two precious angels.
This whole mess makes me realize again that I too have a part. Why don't I have enough money to help out my own family members when youth and inexperience gets them in a bind? Even though a total bailout isn't the right answer here, she needs to work through much of it herself BUT I have seen her focus go from total selfish annoyance that she can't get whatever she feels like having to being concerned that she can't provide what her babies need. She's growing up. I want to help.

Right Way To Think Of It

2008-09-22T07:38:00.003-06:00

This was a great thing to read this morning! On http://heartofwisdom.com/blog/, she quoted:

Speaking to a large audience, D.L. Moody held up a glass and asked, “How can I get the air out of this glass?” One man shouted, “Suck it out with a pump!” Moody replied, “That would create a vacuum and shatter the glass.”

After numerous other suggestions Moody smiled, picked up a pitcher of water, and filled the glass. “There,” he said, “all the air is now removed.” He then went on to explain that victory in the Christian life is not accomplished by “sucking out a sin here and there,” but by being filled with the Holy Spirit. (Moody Bible Institute’s Today in the Word).

Same Decision Keeps Coming Back

2008-09-20T10:42:00.004-06:00

D has been begging me to let him come home for school again, he reminds me that I told him he had to try it for a few weeks first to be sure then he could if he wanted to. There are reasons to bring him home and reasons not to, the same reasons that existed before he went in the first place. When I got sick of dealing with psychos at my job and quit, I decided he should quit too if it was really so horrible every day. He wavers on whether or not he REALLY wants to stop public school so I don't want to take him out if we're not positive it's the best. Well, Friday we discussed his day on the way home from school; I said, "So if I go in Monday and withdraw you from school, it will be a huge relief, right? I'll do it." His response? "Ummm, could you wait until I have way too much homework again? I just turned in a lot of stuff." He wanted to enjoy the satisfaction for a while first!

I completely understand and I'm also fairly certain that he would want to continue there if it wasn't for the overwhelming amounts of homework. I can hardly believe what some teachers believe constitutes an assignment for one night. Add that to the fact the D is slow and thorough in EVERYTHING, he really got into one assignment he was given but it used up all his time, he can NOT keep up with it all. I'm trying to figure out how to help him wisely pick and choose which homework to do and which can be safely skipped. I'm not sure that will work though, he's an obsessive and compulsive type, a real worrier - leaving something undone leaves him feeling too unsettled. I'm trying to keep a better watch and see for sure if he could really do all of it in a night without it taking his every waking moment.

Entrecard Didn't Do It - YES THEY DID

2008-09-17T22:47:00.001-06:00

Entrecard didn't lock me out, it wasn't their fault at all, it was mine. I asked them to do something, they promptly fulfilled my request to link my blogs which requires me to use a different sign-in; I just as promptly FORGOT! I think it's all good again, at least until the next time I forget who I am or try to sign on to the TV or something!

edited to say: I think maybe they did do something. I can drop cards but not get to my dashboard. Then after sneaking up on my login a few times, it let me in...kind of. I'm IN my dashboard but it still tells me to log in and I can't see drops but I can see ads waiting. This is all very strange.

Mental Decline

2008-09-14T09:15:00.006-06:00

Lately I've been getting concerned that my memory is shot!! As in barely functioning. I actually decided that's one of the reasons D needs to be at school; because my mental cognition is in a serious decline and he shouldn't be taught by someone who's becoming senile at an early (for senility) age.
Then I took this test at science junkies concerning temporal memory and face recognition. I've never been able to remember faces - I didn't think. But on this test I scored a perfect 100%! My friend makes all kinds of jokes and insults about my memory for faces, now I'll just point this test out to her and she can't say anything. But she only started that because I claimed incompetence, I don't think she has any experience to back up what she says to me. Does this mean I have to come up with another excuse?

I wanted to leave a comment at the site but I'm not a member, I just read there. The coincidence of knowing that I came on today to air my fears about my growing inability to think and my total inability to remember faces and then finding that test (and getting a perfect score!) makes me think I'd better just check what other reasons I have for thinking I can't think. There IS something going on, Friday night at work I tried to entertain myself by figuring out how much I was getting paid by the minute to do a particularly brainless task...it took me over five minutes, maybe closer to ten!!! This is a simple division problem and I used rounded numbers! Adding occurrences like that to the fact that I've started searching for words - as in saying to D, "Don't forget your...you know that...over there, what's that called? Oh yeah, your jacket," is frightening! At what age does testing for Alzheimer's start? I would attribute it mostly to the fact that I'm working graveyard shift but I believe it started before I started this job. I don't remember for sure! :-)
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Just now my friend sent me an email about this memory site: http://www.livescience.com/health/080428-working-memory.html

Entrecard troubles again

2008-09-14T08:56:00.002-06:00

First I couldn't sign in on Entrecard with my other blog, this morning I can't on this one, now I can't on either!! What is the deal with this, I'm getting tired of a big hassle every time I try to sign on. I use entrecard to keep track of sites I want to revisit, and to drop cards to remind them I'm here, plus it's just fun! But this isn't fun anymore. I have less time now to do the drops so spending the first 20 minutes trying to figure out why I can't sign in uses too much time. I LIKE Entrecard but I guess they don't like me... :-(

Vocab Replacements for Vulgarities

2008-09-14T07:53:00.003-06:00

There's a young man at my work, probably between 19 and 23, that doesn't seem to know any word other than F*^#. I'm considering giving him a specially made vocabulary book and telling him I notice he's having trouble with the English language...
He's Mexican, speaks Spanish but his English is flawless and unaccented, English may be his first language even for all I know. But do you think that would make the point?
The only reason I haven't yet done this is because I'm a female and don't think the same. He's a young man and intensity is very much a part of his thinking. Any "alternatives" I suggest would need to incorporate that concept, just a different non-offensive phrase isn't going to have the impact it needs. Besides that, I want him to actually change the way he talks - I don't want to have to hear this all day!

Interesting History Tidbit

2008-09-12T08:00:00.003-06:00

I really liked finding this blog comparing 1908 and 2008. It gives some statistics like average life expectancy was 47 in 1908; 90% of doctors had no college education; plenty more that are even better, some are funny, some will be interesting to kids too! If you want to take a look - 1908 vs. 2008.

I'm anticipating enjoying sharing these with D; this is history that interests him.

Homework Limit

2008-09-07T01:37:00.004-06:00

Over on Stop Homework, I read with interest all the differing views on kids and homework. Now that D is in public school again, it's an issue around here. I've never allowed my kids to spend their whole nights doing homework - they spend 6-8 hours at school already!
One point is made that homework is a way to keep parents informed about what their children are doing and learning at school. I can do that by reading over the papers he brings home. I don't mind some homework but there is a limit. In middle school I gave my boys one hour. The very slow workers had to do more simply because they COULD have done it more quickly and didn't. D is a slow worker but it's not because he's playing around, he's too thorough. He doesn't write a couple of sentences for an answer, he writes a half page! Now that he's in high school, I allow him to do an hour and a half every night unless he's getting too upset and frustrated.
Some argue that parents are wrong for not being involved in the homework - TOO BAD! If I teach D the lesson and then we spend an hour practicing what he's learned as he works through questions and problems, I'm homeschooling! He doesn't need to spend all day in school then, does he? Another problem I've noticed is that when we try to discuss and enjoy something he's learning about, he doesn't have time to finish all the assignments; from waking to bedtime is schoolwork. No time for his own thoughts and experiments, no time to watch MythBusters or How It's Made, shows I consider as good as school. He has no time to spend with friends or playing the piano, being with us, learning programming with his brother...
I don't know what the answer is. I understand the fear that not requiring it is teaching our kids to be slackers but I don't agree. Working from waking until sleeping each night on acquiring knowledge through bookwork is not necessary or good for anyone - experiential learning is necessary too. Social interaction, family time, all these are as necessary and probably more necessary. For us, the time limit on homework is still firmly in place.

I miss him

2008-09-06T16:55:00.004-06:00

I'm missing homeschooling D; trying to replace his lessons with lessons for myself isn't going so well. There are sites I go to that I want to read through and study but I've already been through high school, I don't need those lessons again. When I admit I've forgotten a lot (it's been a very long time after all!) and it wouldn't hurt to relearn some of it, I also realize I only forgot it because I've never needed it at all ever. Then I feel guilty for sending D to school. The good part? He's making use of what he learns AND he said school is getting better every day. Good happens, bad happens, overall it comes out on the good side of the balance. I'm glad for him and think this is the right choice for him BUT I MISS HIM. They keep growing up even when you tell them they're not allowed to! :-)

If anyone wonders why I'm not studying college course sites, it wouldn't be the same thing! I found sites for D, things I think he'd be interested in and that I enjoy discussing with him. Some sites, books and courses are for everyone, not necessarily high school or college so it isn't as mentally lazy as it may sound.

Pattern Of Gray?

2008-09-05T09:04:00.004-06:00

This is an off-subject question to anyone who may read this: does hair turn gray in a pattern?

I wonder because mine is so odd to me. It grayed in a streak down one side in the front and underneath on the other side. If I leave my hair down, the gray is like that woman in the X-Men, dark everywhere but the streak. If I pull it back, it's ALL gray in the front because I've pulled the underneath to the top. I'm not quite sure what I expected but this isn't it.

Most other women I see have dyed their hair and I don't know what pattern they may have.

Compassion

2008-08-31T07:29:00.002-06:00

Two of my boys are compassionate to a degree that astonishes me. D changed out of his engineering class at school (!! engineering he doesn't like??!!) but won't get out of another class he's not that excited about because the same teacher teaches it and it would be "rude and mean" to quit BOTH of her classes.

Big A thinks it would be horribly wrong to round up illegals and ship them back to their native countries. I think it would be fine but he said, "Mom, think about it. You can't take a man from his life and family and just dump him on a deserted road and leave him there!" When I say this is the chance someone takes by not doing things the right way, his answer is that we can't treat someone that way.
This discussion was specifically without taking into account that someone may be here from desperation, we don't mean people who escaped from terror and came here however they could. That's a whole different situation in my opinion and mercy is much easier to extend.

How can my boys so easily put themselves in someone else's position and work from there? They didn't learn it from me I'm sure because I don't think I'm that considerate. I'm not sure what I think of it, I think they're being righteous and holy this way but it's so foreign to me!

I have made meager offerings to this type of thinking in that I usually point out (aloud) to them through their growing up years that if a person is being an absolute jerk, they probably just had to deal with something upsetting. Or if they're often like that, that they likely have suffered a lot and feel life is awful and dangerous, wonder how we can show them something better. But their compassion goes way beyond what I can truly fathom.

Visualizing What They Read

2008-08-26T13:33:00.008-06:00

Some children may need to read about things in their recent, direct experience to learn to visualize when they read.

This morning I found this posted on Adventures in Freelancing concerning going back to college as an adult:

As an adult student I think I have an opportunity to “get” more
out of college than I did as a 21 year-old who hadn’t found herself
yet. My real life learning (can I call that street cred?) and
experiences help me to process the information better. The lessons
carry a different depth to them and more relevance.

I think the opening statement ties in with her sentiments. This is exactly what I noticed with D and with his brother CC; they were able to read and understand reading much better if they already had experienced the subject of the material directly. (Big A would likely have profited from this as well but he was my first and I didn't know yet.) CC was fourteen years old, able to read quite well but unable to get anything out of it and hated reading intensely. Somehow he had never learned to have a picture in his head of what he was reading, he was just reading words. He couldn't understand the concept of doing so from me, for some reason when his brother Ky explained it, it worked. Later when I showed D how to read, I realized the cute cartoon figures and illustrations did nothing for him, we did better using short stories about places he had been recently himself, or about a boy close to his age doing something D had recently done or discovered. He's still not the best at it but for a history lesson as an example, watching a movie first that gives some life-like visuals makes a major difference for him. He needs help to associate what he reads with something he already knows, then the new information makes sense to him. He doesn't make these associations naturally if it's not about science, things he thinks about on his own, I still need to work on that with him.