INDEPENDENT LEARNING!!

I am trying out a new curriculum (thanks Rachel!) called Aleks. We were able to sign up for a free 1-month trial period for all kids. It's an online program, but the unique aspect of it is that there is not needless repitition. Once you master a concept, you go on. For my kids, this seems perfect. I signed Maddie up for 5th-grade math and Haley for Algebra II. The best part I see so far, though, is that the girls can completely work independently. I haven't needed to step in for more than a couple minutes. They are motivated and LOVE the program! Both girls started at 4:00 on Monday and worked for 4 hours, until bedtime. Then, the same on Tuesday. They are now reaching hour 11 on the program. The only time they stop is when they want to show me something "cool" they learned. I am loving it so far!! The only drawback I see is that I'm not sure if it EVER comes back to topics they have covered. I'm afraid that they may not completely have a skill mastered 2 months from now. We'll see! For now, I am LOVING the break from teaching :)

Math Break

After a conversation with Maddie's JET teacher, I have decided to take a short break from math with Haley next year. Oh, don't get me wrong: we WILL be doing math, just not structured "curriculum" math. She had an awesome idea to do a budget-based math course. Haley and Maddie will have to research several different popular professions and find out the average salary. They will then have to put a budget together for each person/family. They will have to research places to live/dine/shop/etc. Since both girls are already WAY ahead of schedule as far as math courses, I think it will be fun to take a break from the textbooks. Now, I have an entire semester to plan!!! I'm planning on incorporating simple/compound interest, balancing a checkbook, and other life skills. Haley will probably also review Algebra II next year (on a much slower pace).

The Kids Start to Blog!

I saw a great idea in Family Fun Magazine last week! We have decided to implement the idea into our homeschooling. The kids have started their own blog. They started by typing up a biography of themselves. I told them that they are free to blog whenever they wish about something that we're doing in school or for fun! Check it out! I have decided not to edit anything so that we can see the improvement in their writing over the years. . .

www.heatherskidsblog.blogspot.com

Electricity

We have been studying Ben Franklin and electricity/magnetism in our unit study at home. Ironically, Haley is also studying electricity and magnetism at school. So. . .she had twice the fun making a circuit board, parallel circuit, and many more experiments! She is in the middle of Ben and Me. The one problem I am finding with our unit studies is fitting the book studies in. It seems like we get finished with a unit, but are no where close to being finished with the literature. There are just too many activities they give to go along with each novel. I guess I'll just have to start picking out just a few activities for the books so that we can complete them on time.

This weekend, all four of our scheduled soccer games were canceled due to wet conditions. The girls spent a lot of time reading. Haley got started on Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie. We have a mother/daughter book chat in November on the sixth book in the series and she thinks she has to read them in order! Madeleine's been reading Magic Treehouse books.

Brian's working on finishing out the garage and Hunter's been stuck to his side like glue! He is soooo happy just watching his daddy work :)

I have been putting the finishing touches on the plans for Bubblegum day! The kids are so excited! Of course, I have to "test" the gum out beforehand to make sure it will work for our experiments. :) LOL

Getting Ready for Christmas

Well, it's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas around the Nuehring household. I always start handing out Christmas pieces to my students during the first week of October. Of course, my kids are anxious to start on their holiday repertoire as well. Hunter wanted to work on a Halloween song as well, so he is also practicing "Witches' Rock." He wanted to play Up on the Housetop, We Wish You a Merry Christmas and Joy to the World as well. He's a little ambitious and I love it :) Maddie is working on a harder version of Up on the Housetop and Haley is going through a book of Christmas songs. I know the neighbors must think we're absolutely nuts. LOL

Duet Night

I had my 4th Annual Duet Night last Friday night. Aside from 6 students backing out at the last minute, the recital went very smoothly. I can never predict accurately how long the recital will last. I had predicted 30 minutes, but it was closer to 50! It was an awesome program of duets and trios. My students worked so hard on their pieces of music and I was very proud.

I started having Duet Nights in the fall because I wanted the students to benefit from playing with others. It is so good for their listening skills as well as their counting!

Haley ended up playing five duets because she took a couple parts for students who couldn't make it at the last minute. She handled it beautifully.

Maddie played a duet called "Dreaming" with one of my students. It's the first duet she's played that is more lyrical than technical. Maddie and Hannah both worked hard on playing together with all the dynamics, ritardandos, etc. They pulled it off and it was beautiful!

Hunter played for the first time at duet night! He and another 4-year-old boy played Setting Sun. They stumbled a little bit in a couple spots, but overall stayed together pretty darn well for their age :)

The kids were rewarded for their performace by being allowed to skip piano practice on Saturday. We also celebrated with caramel apples Friday night!

What happened to September?

Maddie finally just started to spell September correctly on her papers at school, just in time for October :) Where did the month go?

It's been a whilrlwind in the Nuehring household this month! We are trying to get in a groove with our schedule, but it's taking longer than expected.

Maddie's schedule at school is absolutely perfect. Her 2nd-grade teacher is wonderful. She had taught Maddie so many strategies for reading comprehension and we have seen so much growth already this year. She is also working hard to get Maddie to express her comprehension in a written form. She uses the PQPA technique with the students when they answer questions on paper. (part question, part answer). Maddie also takes the spelling tests with her 2nd-grade class as well and is improving each week. Last week was the first week that she was allowed to study the "challenge" words. She was so proud of herself, especially when she got 4 out of 5 of them correct on the test. Maddie spends a couple hours in the afternoon with her 1st-grade classroom. Her first-grade teacher is so loving and has a very warm personality. Maddie loves being in her class as well. They have been studying different cultures in 1st-grade, which ties in perfectly with the Native American Class that Haley and Maddie take on Tuesdays. I pick Maddie up a little early from school most days to do her math at home. She is taking her course online through the MOVIP program. The program is awesome!! We received two huge boxes filled with materials that she may need for the course including manipulatives, headphones, workbooks, text, etc. Whenever we have a question, she can email her teacher. She had an assignment she was required to do last week for an assessment. She had to solve a problem using a picture and an equation. Trying to get her to draw a frog that looked similar to a frog was the biggest challenge :) LOL She finally got one that looked okay, so we made copies of it and shrank it down. She was pretty proud of the final project when she was completed.

Haley is loving school as well. She has a fabulous 4th-grade teacher this year. They have studied magnetism and electricity in science. Right now, they are working on making a circuit board at school. I pick her up right after lunch W-F and we do math at home. She has quite a bit more homework for Algebra II than I had anticipated. However, it's getting a little easier to complete each week. She was getting really upset the first couple of weeks when she'd get problems wrong. So, I have learned that I need to sit with her and make sure she's on the right track for every single problem. Her teacher encourages them to check their work and fix it before turning in their assignments, so Haley is getting an "A" in Algebra II!! She was so proud to find that out this week :) We aren't doing a lot of reading right now because she has so much on her plate. In addition to Native American History and Algebra II, she is also taking Intermediate Spanish. She LOVES her classes at the Learning Center!

One of the challenges we are dealing with in Haley is her perfectionism. She thinks her answers have to be correct the first time. We are trying to teach her that making mistakes is part of the learning process, but it doesn't seem to be sinking in yet. On Mondays each week, she tries to solve a problem of the week. She usually attempts the elementary problem as well as the middle school problem. If she answers correctly the first time, her name is posted on the website. This past Monday, she missed the elementary problem. She burst into tears. She was mostly upset because she knew how to solve the problem, but had made a careless error. She did solve the middle school problem correctly, so I explained to her that she has super math skills. Nothing I said seemed to matter :(

Hunter is now working with me a little each day. He reads his sight words, reads a few books, practices piano, and does some math. Math is by far his favorite. Usually he completes 3 or 4 assignments of math each day!! We have the option to do 1/2 or full-day kindergarten next year. I think he needs to go to school until he matures a little (for my sake)!! I think the 1/2 day option sounds perfect though, so I can work with him at home still.

We are in the planning stages for a problem solving day with the Carpenters at the end of the month. The kids don't have school on the 30th, so we thought it would be the perfect opportunity! I think they'll have a lot of fun solving problems together. Now, Rachel and I need a MNO to plan :) We are also going to do our "Bubblegum" day in November! Brian is also taking the 29th off so we can visit the Cahokia mounds near St. Louis. Haley and Maddie's history teacher recommended the field trip, so we thought we would take advantage of one of their days off. The girls are super excited.

It's been a crazy start to the school year, but all three kids are LOVING the learning that they are doing. I'd say that's a mission accomplished!

Planning for Bubble Gum Day!

I told the kids today that we would have a bubble gum day IF they could convince me that it would be educational and a learning experience. Rachel and I have a ton of fun ideas and are planning a great day for the kids!

I was blown away at all the ideas Maddie and Haley were coming up with!!! These are a few of their ideas: (many of which I hadn't even thought of!!!)

1. math: write equations with the number of bubble gum pieces in different packages
2. math: write different problems about bubble gum
3. spelling: learn to spell the different flavors of gum (ie: grape, peppermint)
4. spelling: see how many words you can come up with from the letters of "bubblegum" (and spell correctly)
5. history: learn about famous people who loved gum
6. geography: Find out where bubblegum is made
7. history: find out when people discovered gum
8. science: see if gum sinks or floats
9. science: see if gum is attracted to a magnet (Haley added that she knew the answer already, but that we could test to make sure :)

I think that they will have a BLAST. It will be especially fun for my kids, since they've never before been allowed to chew gum. LOL I'm sure they'll have sore jaws at the end of the day.

Junior Novelist

Haley is starting to develop a passion for writing. I am so thrilled for her! For the past 6 months or so, she has had on her checklist "20 minutes free writing." I have let her explore her thesaurus and writing during this time. I do not correct any grammar or spelling during her free writing. I am amazed at how far she has come. Of course, she has not FINISHED one single piece that she's writing, but she's coming up with some great ideas.

Yesterday, she told Maddie that she was going to write another Weird School Book for her to read. Maddie has read every single one of the series that has been released. Haley worked on her first chapter of Mr. Sum is Dumb. Maddie always laughs at the beginning of each book when it announces that AJ HATES school. So. . . Haley decided to go forward in time a couple years to 4th-grade, when AJ has learned to LOVE school.

I think the idea of not taking a red pen to her work is the key to getting her to love writing. Too many teachers in the public school correct EVERYTHING that a child has written and consequently, the child is turned off.

We're starting to get used to our schedule. However, the girls were tardy to school today. Maddie was busy practicing piano and Haley was taking an Algebra quiz on the computer. Before we knew it, it was time to leave. Hunter was downstairs, still in his pajamas :( We were only a few minutes late, but still not good!

Off and Running (Literally)

I've discovered it's going to take several weeks to get into our routine. I think we have a schedule for the girls that will really challenge them in all areas, though, so I'm willing to do the running around.

Haley has started her Movip Algebra and is finished with 3 weeks worth of material in just a couple days. Of course, they always start the year off pretty easy. I'm sure it will get more challenging. .. .

Maddie's Movip class STILL isn't working!! She hasn't even received her textbook or workbook in the mail yet. Oh, well. She's working hard in other areas for the meantime. They have calendar time in her first-grade classroom each day. I'm sure the teacher is quite shocked when she comes up with so many ideas to make the date. Yesterday, she told me that she gave Mrs. Leslie 4 ways to make 25: (5 squared), (5+5+5+5+5), (32-7), and (5x5). The other kids probably think she's speaking some foreign language.

Maddie woke me up at 7:30 this morning, practicing the piano. I really can't complain, right??

Hunter LOVES preschool. Yesterday, he started crying when I told him it wasn't a preschool day. Quite a change from last year, when I had to practically drag him in!!

All in all, it's been crazy, but the kids are really learning and LOVING it! Next week gets even crazier as they add their Tuesday classes to the schedule.

Time Flies!

OMG!! I just noticed that it's been over a month since I made my last post. Where has the time gone?

Hunter spent a week at Grandma's house. It was a much needed break for him AND the rest of the family. He came back refreshed and happy. We told him that he was a big boy and that he couldn't wear pullups any more. At first, he was angry. However, he's only had a couple accidents in the past week. I think we're finally on the right track.

We traveled to Chicago last week as a family and met up with some good friends up in Gurnee, Illinois. It is always wonderful to catch up with great friends. Kari and I have known each other for 30 years. (Makes me seem soooo old :) The kids all get along fabulously, as well. We all spent the afternoon at the beach and the kids camped out in the Kunkle's backyard.

The past month has been a whirlwind around here! Haley has made a decision to go back to school. She heard about a wonderful teacher that is new to Emge this year and decided that she'd like to meet her. She met Mrs. Billingsley at the Bread Company and loved her! I think it's going to be a great year for her. She will attend school W/Th/F mornings only. She will participate in science, social studies, language, specials and lunch. She will be taking Algebra II, Native American History and Spanish at the Learning Center on Tuesdays. JET is on Mondays as it was last year. Basically, my role in homeschooling is going to be making sure she completes her work. We are going to do some units at home because she LOVES to learn about the topics and really enjoys doing research. We have begun to study Africa and eventially are going to compare and contrast Africa and Asia.

Maddie is going to school almost a full day. She will attend 2nd grade in the morning for language arts and reading. She will then travel to her homeroom (1st grade) classroom for science/social studies/lunch/specials. I will pick her up at 2:35 each day to complete math at home. It's really an ideal situation for her. I was so pleased that the school worked so hard to come up with an educational plan that will benefit her the most! I will also pull her out on Tuesdays to take Native American History and Spanish with Haley for two hours.

The girls had their first day of school today. Haley was just excited; Maddie had a twinge of nervousness mixed in with her excitement. I am hoping that all will go well today. They both have wonderful teachers and I have met with them on a couple different occasions this summer.

July, Really??

It's almost chilly enough for me to wear a sweatshirt outside. It is 3:00 p.m. on July 18th! This weather is crazy! Maybe we should think about moving back to Texas :) Karla told me it's been over 100 pretty much all summer. Yesterday the high was 108. It sounds crazy, but I would prefer that to our summer weather right now.

The pool deck is getting torn up and hauled away. Hopefully they will come back soon to repour the concrete. It is the perfect time to fix our problem. For one, it's too chilly to swim anyway. 2. Haley's in the middle of her Propositional Calculus and Operational Systems classes with 4+ hours of homework a day. 3. The kids were needing a break from swimming. They have literally been swimming every single day since we opened the pool in May!

Haley got a review test to study over the weekend. She has one more class period, then test day next Wednesday. Brian took the day off work today so that he could sit in class with her. She's actually doing quite well, but there were a couple things that I did not understand. He took a few semesters of Calculus in college, so I passed the buck onto him!

Our dinner vocabulary word was "abashed" a few days ago. Somehow, the subject of every single sentence ended up being Ella or Zeke. For instance, "Ella was probably abashed when she threw a dart in the toilet." or "Zeke was abashed when he told a lie." I guess MY kids must think they are pefect little angels and have nothing to be ashamed of. . . . .

Bagel Sandwich

More often than not, my kids have absolutely no common sense! Last week Maddie was getting out a bagel for lunch. I told her she couldn't just have a plain bagel; that she'd have to make a sandwich out of it. About ten minutes later, I walked into the kitchen to find her eating a blueberry bagel, wrapped up in 12-grain bread. Not quite what I had in mind:) lol

Exhilarating Week

Our friends, the Duffys came to visit for the 4th of July. We all had a very good time with them. The weather was not optimal, but we did get some swimming in. A lot of the neighbors were shooting off hundreds of $ in fireworks, so we sat in the drive and watched them. They also played a friendly game of basketball: Duffys against the Nuehrings. Brian and Joel joined in with the girls as Hunter rode his scooter in and around the game.

Haley started her MEGSSS classes this week. She is taking two courses: Propositional Calculus and Operational Systems. She absolutely LOVES class. At the end of the week she told me the only drawback was that she didn't have any time to read all week. She spent a good 4 hours + a day doing homework. This was in addition to the 9 hours she spent in class last week! She's doing great and has an "A" average so far in the class. I couldn't be more proud of my "little nerd." :)

The kids had their piano recital on Wednesday evening and had a fabulous performance! Hunter got up to the bench without any issues and played as if no one else was in the room! (of course this was after a lot of prodding and bribery beforehand!) We celebrated with ice cream from Fritz's after the recital.

They also had a swim lesson this week on Tuesday. Ms. Rachel comes out and works with the kids. Maddie is working hard at her front crawl; getting the breathing down with the stroke. Haley is working on polishing the strokes she is familiar with. Hunter refused to work with Ms. Rachel this week, so he lost his swimming treat.

Haley took her friend, Zeke, to the library for a Harry Potter activity. The kids were invited to Hogwarts and had to do some "shopping" while they were there. They had all kinds of crafts set up. Haley and Zeke made an owl for a pet, magic wand, magic jelly beans, crest, and a few other things. They had a blast. Maddie stayed at Ella's house while Haley was gone and had a great time playing with Ella's American Dolls! She is very excited for our upcoming vacation to Chicago.

All in all it was a very busy and FUN week. We took this weekend to unwind from all the excitement!

Party!!

I have decided to make a bigger deal when the kids "get promoted" to a new grade. Maddie just finished her 5th-grade math book, so I decided to take them to the mall to get a special treat. I told Haley when she finished her Algebra I book, we will have a party! She's already busy planning the party, complete with swimming and ice cream sundaes. (no surprise there!)

After telling Haley about the party, she was much more willing to get her math out and even wanted to do extra problem sets today! Her attitude was MUCH improved :) It is a big deal to complete a textbook and I think I haven't emphasized it enough in the past. Haley is on problem set 88 out of 130 and her goal is to finish by the end of the summer. I think that goal is very feasible.

Hunter has started 1st grade math minutes, so we told him he gets a special treat when he finishes as well. He is understanding the concepts of addition and subtraction, but is having trouble with bigger numbers. For instance, when I ask him what comes before 87, he thinks he has to start with #1 and count all the way up!! We have been working a lot with a 100 chart this week. He seems to really enjoy math, though, much more than reading!

Lack of Confidence

If you are reading this and you know Haley, PLEASE help me out! Our biggest challenge right now is getting her to gain confidence in ALL areas. She doesn't believe she is "good" at anything and fails to try.

For instance, softball!! She did AWESOME at the first two games. . .she even hit two doubles! Somewhere along the way to the fourth game (this morning), she got it into her head that she couldn't hit. She struck out four times (out of 4 times up to bat) in today's game.

Another instance: soccer!! She played on a 6 and under team this past spring (even though she was 7, she technically could still play there since her birthday fell after August 1st). So. . . she was the oldest kid out there, but didn't give it her all. The entire season, she poked around out on the field and didn't try her best. However, before the very last game of the season, Coach Greg said he would give the first slice of pizza to the player that scored the most goals. All of a sudden it was a contest she was going to win!!! That girl scored 7 goals (because John scored 6 and she was bound and determined to beat him)!! Obviously, she has the skills to be a great soccer player, just not the confidence!

It's so frustrating because she doesn't think she's any good at math (even though she's almost finished with Algebra I at age 7)!! . . . and cries when she misses problems. I have tried explaining to her dozens of times that I don't WANT her to get all the problems correct. She would have nothing to learn if she knew everything already.

Please give me advice!! I'm willing to try anything.

Bead Challenge

I decided to create an incentive for the girls to get their work done without complaining. I got out a bucket of beads and for each positive thing I see from them, they receive a bead. When they accumulate 100, they will get to go to Auntie Anne's for a fresh mix-in lemonade. (and maybe a pretzel, too:)

Monday (the first day of the contest) was really rough. Haley only had 5 beads in her cup at the end of the day and Maddie only had 7. However, on Wednesday, they started getting the hang of getting their chores and work done without any reminding.

Over the week, I've heard many more phrases such as "May I please be excused to put my dishes in the dishwasher," or "Hunter, can I help you write your numbers?" If they continue to work hard, I think we will be able to get our reward next Friday.

MEGSSS Challenge

Haley received her first assignment and quiz for the MEGSSS program, even though she doesn't start until July. I was helping her with the first couple problems and she burst into tears, stating that it was TOO HARD! I reminded her that they said the class would be very challenging and that she was going to learn a lot. The first component of the class is the logic section. The problems consist of knights, who always tell the truth, knaves who always lie, and normal people who could either tell the truth or lie. Each problem makes you analyze different scenarios. After showing Haley how to make a chart and organize her thinking, she seemed to get the hang of it. We may be in for a long summer, though, if this is just the first assignment!! The second component of the class is called "Propositional Calculus." YIKES!!

The girls have bible school tonight and are very excited. The preschoolers have to go in the morning since the church isn't big enough to accommodate all the children. Hunter will go during the mornings this week. It's been a very busy summer so far!

Book Chat

Haley and I went to a mother/daughter book chat at the library Thurs. evening. The book we read was called Surviving the Applewhites. It was about a juvenile delinquent named Jake who had been kicked out of just about every school in his area. He is placed in the home of the Applewhites, a homeschool family that practices unschooling. They call their homeschool "The Creative Academy" in which each child pursues their artistic talent. During the course of the book, Jake is transformed from a "bad boy" to a possible actor/singer with real talent. It shows that even the worst kids have good in them.

We were the only homeschooling family in the group, so Haley had a chance to explain why she chose to be homeschooled after trying out public school. There is a mother/daughter book chat each month, so we just need to make time to attend more often. It was great to get Haley involved in a discussion about what she read.

Camp Coming to an End

As I reflect on the week, I realize that I have forgotten how young these six children are on numerous occasions. I have been teaching them as if they were fifth-graders in my fifth-grade class. And. . . they have totally been up for the challenge. They have been working on mysteries in history for grades 4-6, read a book that was at the 6th-grade reading level, and solved science experiments that were intended for my 5th-grade class. They range from 5-8 years old while a typical child in 5th grade is either 11 or 12! We had some very high level discussion and conversations over the week.

Yesterday we all watched a Scooby Doo episode dealing with witchcraft and wicca. It tied into the unit Ede was studying with the kids. They really enjoyed learning about witchcraft and thought it was CRAZY that people actually accused others of being a witch for minute reasons. Like a lot of other events in history, this didn't make a whole lot of sense. When it was swimming time, the kids played "witch hunt."

Today they began to write their own mystery. All kids were engaged and WRITING for at least 20 minutes! They had some great ideas so far. Aiden is going to write 14 chapters in his "Lost Snake" mystery. His characters are going to travel to the different continents and oceans to look for it. Ella is writing a mystery that begins "It all began when the window was left open." It's about a missing hamster. She already has written in a red herring. Maddie is writing about the seven chairs. Haley's idea was about a missing (very rare) seashell.

We got into groups to solve the "Mystery of the Stolen Laundry." The kids had to do math and scientific experiments to eliminate suspects that could have stolen Karla Clueless' laundry. They all had trouble staying organized, especially when they had to chart 8 different types of "laundry powder."

We read some more science mysteries. Zeke was able to figure out that a candle inside a pumpkin would not stay lit after the holes were covered and the top was placed back on. He was able to explain it very thoroughly as well! Maddie and Zoë were both able to recall that the sun is the largest star in the sky. Of course, they all recalled that the sun was the largest star. . . they were just stumped after the story was read.

We discussed our jobs in literary circles again. Since it was our last day of camp, I told the kids they would get an extra bead for doing an extra job. Zeke, Haley, Zoë and Aiden took me up on the offer :) They have really been working hard on thinking of higher-level questions. They have also had some great discussions over the book this week, too.

I am looking forward to meeting one last time, on the 22nd to recap everything they've learned. Hopefully, some of the kids will have finished the Westing Game and/or their mystery and we can share! Each and every one of them started thinking on a higher level and got better at sharing their ideas. It's been a great week and they are all looking forward to camp next summer!!

Mystery Camp Day Recap

It was another day of high level thinking and solving mysteries! I also tested out the kids' observation skills today. I was really impressed with the attention to detail Haley and Zoë had in the activity. They had to study a picture of an accident scene for two minutes, then I asked 15 questions. Haley and Zoë got 14 and 13 questions correct, respectively. I thought that was totally cool :)

I also read some two-minute mysteries which they had to solve. Haley solved the first one, knowing that a second will could not possibly have been written on the 31st of November! Zeke solved the second mystery, knowing that a dog could not have found a pair of red underwear to use as a stop signal since they are color blind. Zoë solved the third mystery using her knowledge that bats are nocturnal.

Rachel guided the kids into the mystery of the Mary Celeste. Haley, Zoë and Zeke got into their own group to rank the different theories. Ede and I went upstairs to help them, but they were doing great on their own. They were all working together and discussing their thoughts on the different theories. They came to the conclusion that a storm was the most likely reason for the disappearance of the crew. Rachel worked with the younger three: Ella, Maddie, and Aiden. They also came to the conclusion that a storm was the most probable cause.

Next, Ede began the Salem Witch Trial Unit. The kids first had to draw a picture of what they considered a "witch." They discussed the different characteristics included in the sketches. We didn't get far and it was time to break for lunch. We'll be continuing on with the unit tomorrow.

It was a great day and once again, we lucked out with the weather! The sun came out and the kids got in a couple hours of swimming!

2nd Day of Camp

We had a great second day of camp! The kids were excited to continue earning beads (put in a cup for good behavior/effort/etc.) They worked hard to clean up and listen as we were teaching!

Rachel started out by finishing up the Amelia Earhart mystery. The kids acted out the different theories of her disappearance. They then were videotaped with their personal theory about what happened to her. We watched the final product upstairs. Three kids voted that she was captured by the Japanese, but the other three all had different ideas.

Next, we discussed their homework in our literature circle. Haley had a list of about 20 new words that she shared with the group. A lot of the words were new to all of the kids. Surprisingly, no one knew what an attorney was! Zeke was flying by the seat of his pants, making up questions as he went :) Ella had a few connections she made such as "I know someone named Grace." Maddie wrote a few simple sentences to summarize the chapter. Zoë was the illustrator for the group. Aiden enjoyed reading his favorite passage to the group.

I read some one-minute science mysteries to the kids. Zeke was doing a good job solving a bunch of them. No one knew why ice froze faster on bridges OR how snakes and worms were different, though. I don't think they will be forgetting the info learned.

Ede then began her unit on the "Lost City of Atlantis." Haley and Maddie thought this was the best part of mystery camp so far. They read about different facts and theories that supported a existence of a city that disappeared.

Once again, we ended the day with a couple hours in the pool! Unfortunately, it looks like rain for the next couple of days! We may have to have "game afternoons."

Mystery Camp

The kids enjoyed their first day of Mystery Camp! The day started with a mystery that they acted out. All six kids are very good readers and a few even read with a lot of expression! It was a blast! Aiden (Will) had a special role. Since he didn't have very many lines, he was the designated photographer. We got lots of pictures from MANY different angles!

We began the novel The Westing Game and discussed higher level thinking questions. Although Maddie had quite a bit of trouble writing questions at first, she began to catch on once the others got going. We wrote low and high level questions to go along with "The Three Little Pigs." One of the questions they came up with was "Why did the wolf keep trying to blow down the brick house even though it was a really strong building?" They also wondered, "What will the wolf do now that he's been tricked?" The thought level of these kids is amazing. We can have a real discussion in which all 6 are involved! When I used to do this activity with my students, it was like pulling teeth to get any thoughts from the kids.

Ede tried to work with Hunter while I was teaching the others. He had one of his stubborn streaks and threw two books down and refused to pick them up. She tried EVERYTHING to get him to pick up the books, but to no avail! Later on in the morning, I told him it was time to practice piano. He informed me that he wanted to practice with Ede. She told him she would, but first he had to pick up the two books. He went straight over and put the books away! Stinker!

After reading the first couple chapters of the Westing Game, we began to write down the characters that have been introduced so far. We read that there is a bomber, a bookie, a burglar, and a mistake living in the Sunset Towers. No one knew what a bookie was, but Ella thought it was a pretty funny word :)

We discussed literature circles and the "homework" they will have to complete tonight. Haley was the "word whacker" and has already come up with a list of about 20 new words to teach the group tomorrow. Maddie is the summarizer, so I will reread the chapter with her tonight and help her summarize it. Tomorrow we will meet and discuss our jobs in the group.

Next, Rachel began her Amelia Earhart mystery. First, the kiddos had to plot her life on a timeline. They got into pairs to complete it. Then they worked on mapping out one of her flights. It was a little tricky because some of the countries no longer exist. Tomorrow they will do news stories on the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. I can't wait to see them report the story!

We ended the day with a couple hours of swimming in the pool! Luckily, the bad storms abated by noon and the sun came out.

Back to Work!

After taking two wonderful days to READ, we were back to work this morning. We have two more days to finish up our government unit. Haley is finalizing her speech today. The girls are learning about the three branches of government as well as presidential duties.

Hunter has been doing better with his reading. He actually is sitting down and concentrating now and we're able to get through several books in a session.

Maddie is getting to some really tough math, but seems to enjoy the challenge. She is so proud of herself when she masters something new. She is now adding, subtracting and multiplying fractions. She even had some mixed numbers she had to add today. I'm a tad bit worried that 2nd grade math is going to be extremely boring for her next year. I'm sure I'll be doing math with her after school; I just don't want her to get turned off sitting through adding, subtracting and simple fractions for an hour each day.

We just found out that Maddie will have the 1st and 2nd grade teachers that I requested. I obsevered both teachers and each of them worked with Maddie a little in the classroom. I am thrilled that both of them will be teaching her next year! The school was also very accommodating when I requested to pull Maddie out on Tuesdays for both Spanish and Native American History Classes! She will be pulled out from 10:45-1:15 every Tuesday. They will try to schedule the class library visit during this time and she will also miss lunch and recess. (I'll have to pack a lunch for her to eat in the car).

Reading Day is a Success!

Well, both girls were up at the crack of dawn. . . reading!! They each selected a huge pile of books last night for today's reading. They were so excited to go pick up their reading logs at the library! We also went last weekend to get the reading log for Barnes and Noble. After reading 8 books, Barnes and Noble gives the children a free book. I think they had that log completed by lunchtime!!

Haley read 11 Birthdays before I even rolled out of bed! She then went on to read a couple Geronimo Stilton and Katie Kazoo books. We checked out a bunch of books from the library and I convinced her to try out Trixie Belden (my childhood favorite series).

Maddie started with Ms. Coco is Loco (from the Weird School Series), then moved on to reading some "easier" books. I think she feels more successful when she is able to complete books more quickly. I made an eye appointment for her for tomorrow afternoon. I realized yesterday that she's gone through an entire bottle of children's ibuprofin in the last couple of weeks. At first, I just thought it was more allergy trouble. However, when I thought about it some more, I decided to ask her when she gets her headaches. Her response was, "I get them a lot when I read." Hence, the appointment!

We checked out dozens of easy readers from the library for Hunter to read. They changed the preschool version of the forms this year. Instead of writing in every single title, there are just numbers for him to color each time he reads a book. He's been busy all day coloring in his numbers :) His favorite book so far has been "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom." He's all boy and LOVES trucks!

I was pleasantly surprised by my piano student, Megan, who came to her lesson today complete with cupcakes (lit with a candle, no less). I don't know how she knew my birthday was this week, but it was a happy surprise! :)

Reading Day!

The first day of our local library reading program is Monday. I told the kids that they could "earn" a reading day if they completed extra math last week. Both of the girls were up to the challenge!
We are planning to go pick up the reading sheets at the library in the morning, then they can read all day long!! They each already have a stack of books ready to go:) Haley thought she would get her tent out and take a pillow inside to read.
It's awesome that they will be reading all day long and think it's a privilege!

Loathe

Brian spent the good portion of yesterday completely taking apart our washing machine. It has not been in working condition for about a week. He had it put together in the afternoon, but it still was not working. So. . . he took it apart again. Finally, he found a marble in one of the filters (obviously the source of the problem), put the machine back together, and it started working again! I was not looking forward to taking 7+ loads of wash to the laundromat!!

Our dinner vocabulary word last night was "loathe." Of course, Brian came up with all sorts of interesting sentences dealing with the stupid washing machine! I don't think the kids will forget that word for awhile.

We have been working on our government unit. Maddie is struggling a little with this unit. I think she had a lot more background knowledge with the rainforest unit, so it was much easier for her to comprehend. Haley's helping her quite a bit when they get an assignment to do.

Yesterday, they were instructed that they were each going to be politicians running for the office of president of the Nuehring household. Haley's assignment was to write a campaign speech. Maddie had some general questions to answer for a debate. We are getting ready for the "news conference" on Friday. They had a lot of fun with this assignment! The thing Haley would do differently is plant flowers in our house. She would spend some money from the budget to buy soil, pots and flower seeds. I thought that was a pretty great idea!

Lazy Weekend

It was actually nice to have a weekend with absolutely nothing on the calendar for once! Brian got a few projects completed that have been on his "to do" list for awhile! The kids got to swim quite a bit. Luckily, the metereologist has been incorrect in his forecast for rain all weekend!

Last night, we spent a nice evening at Tom and Rachels' house. The kids enjoyed running around with friends and making smores:) I think Hunter had more than his share of chocolate!!

Haley has been working on memorizing four of her piano pieces all weekend. I have an ongoing contest with my students. If they memorize four songs during a month, they get a prize. It finally occurred to her to ask if she could do the contest as well! She finally got all four for me today: The Arab Horseman, The Prancing Horse, Festive Dance and Barcarolle.

Top 10

I was browsing the internet today and came across Suzy Red. Many years ago (has it really been that long?) when I taught public school, I went to her training. She was publishing literature units to follow the Texas Bluebonnet books each year. She had some wonderful activities and did a great job with her units! Anyway, her business has really grown and now she has an entire website full of great units and curriculums. I found a "Top 10 List" that she wrote on reasons to use an integrated curriculum in your classroom. It is geared toward a classroom teacher, but definitely works in our homeschool environment as well! I especially like #'s 1, 4, 6, 7 and 8!

10. Unless you have 50 hours a day to teach, you'll never get it all in.
9. An integrated curriculum allows science and social studies to frame your reading, writing, and math.
8. The brain thrives on connections.
7. Life is not divided into neat little blocks of time called science, math, reading, writing, social studies, and recess.
6. Problem solving skills soar when all of our knowledge and higher level thinking from all curriculum areas are tapped.
5. Real literature in real books provides an authentic diving board into learning all subjects. Award-winning literature provides models for problem solving, peer relationships, character development, and skill building as students are captivated by exciting adventures with realistic characters who go through problems very much like their own or problems (like war)from which they will learn historical truths.
4. School's got it backwards! In real life you are tested with a problem and then must scramble for answers, but in traditional school you are given the answers and asked to... regurgitate them.3. Group interaction and team building inherent in an integrated curriculum depend on using various strengths and skills to create bridges to understanding.
2. Your standardized test scores will hit the top! By inspiring students to think, to love learning, and to put their learning to work in authentic ways, your kids will be equipped for whatever curves they might be thrown...on standardized tests and in life!
1. Students LOVE an integrated curriculum and thrive on its challenges!

Reflections on the Year

I sent Haley to school last year in part because I was feeling overwhelmed and not confident that I could do it all. I got this great idea from Rachel to reflect on everything we have actually done this year. It gave her a great perspective and encouragement that yes, she’s doing the right thing for the kids!

VOCABULARY
This past semester, we started doing a lot more vocabulary. This is one of my kids’ area of weakness. They had a list of 10 vocabulary words to learn each week. Every day they took two words and wrote sentences and made flashcards for them. So. . .when you add it up, they’ve learned approximately 200 new words over the past five months. Also, each night at the dinner table I choose a new word for them to learn. Each time someone correctly uses a word in a sentence, they earn a dime. When they earn enough, we go to Fritz’s for ice cream. Maddie LOVES this game. She loves to go around and use the words whenever she can. One day we ran into the teacher I requested for her for next year. The teacher chatted with me for quite some time. When we left, Maddie said, “Mrs. C was really loquacious!” At other times, she'll rub up against me. When I ask her if she needs anything, she replies, "I'm just adhering to you momma."

SCIENCE AND SOCIAL STUDIES
I am very excited about the curriculum we are using! I have found that nearly EVERY activity they do involves higher-level thinking. For every activity, there are great thinking questions to ask the students. This is so far from the learning Haley was doing in school. At school, nearly everything she did was answer questions in which there was only one answer. Basically, you read and answer recall questions: no thinking involved. We started with the Rainforest Unit 7 weeks ago. While reading, they located literary elements such as onomatopoeia, similes and metaphors. They wrote a paragraph pretending to be a rainforest animal to tell about their day. I had them also do a research project on a different animal. Maddie took notes on the sloth, but Haley actually organized her notes and wrote a research paper. They did a lot of research on the computer at different rainforest sites as well as watched some videos we checked out from the library. In addition to our unit study, the girls also complete a Scholastic News once a week. Haley writes a paragraph summary (in cursive) of an article of her choice.

WRITING
Each day, the girls have 20 minutes in which they write in their journals. For this activity, I let them write anything and they don’t have to worry about their handwriting. Every day I have Maddie work on her handwriting as well. (this still needs a lot of work!!) Haley works on her cursive with quotation practice once a week. She’s pretty much mastered cursive now. She still has trouble with a few capital letters.

READING
Maddie
Read Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing, Superfudge, Double Fudge, Shiloh, Whipping Boy, One Day in the Tropical Rainforest, Where the Red Fern Grows. She also read dozens of biographies, Magic Treehouse books, Weird School Books (her favorites!) She has almost completed three books of reading passages, grades 2-3 in which she worked on context clues, predictions, and main idea.

Haley
She’s read too many books to even list here. She has 30-minutes of free reading each day, but usually reads more than that. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she is required to read nonfiction during the 30-minute time slot.

MATH
Maddie has whizzed through grades 1-4 workbooks and is almost completed grade 5! She is currently working on multiplying and dividing decimals. (ie: 54.5 x 3.14) She struggles a little with math reasoning, but we are doing a lot of problem solving in a 3rd and 4th-grade book. She has gotten a lot better! Just a list of a few things she’s learned this year: telling time, adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers, adding money, multiplying and dividing up to 3-digits, perimeter, area, mean, range

Haley completed pre-algebra last fall and has almost completed Algebra I. I am starting to feel a little uncomfortable teaching her the concepts. I have forgotten a lot of the algebra rules and hope I am teaching her correctly??

MUSIC
Of course, the girls are still practicing the violin and piano. Haley played in the orchestra again this year, but wants to take a year off. We will continue the violin lessons and try orchestra again the following year. Maddie is in the middle of Level 1 Suzuki and Haley’s in Level 3. Maddie is working in level 4 on piano and doing quite well. Haley is doing a hodgepodge of piano work. She is working on a couple Sonatinas and I’ve started having her do some listening. She needs to start working on her musicality. Her fingers move like the wind, but playing musically is more of a challenge for her.

In reflecting over the past year, the kids have learned SO much here at home. They are so happy learning at home and feel challenged in everything they do. I only need to find the balance with Haley and her perfectionism.

Balance

I'm struggling with the idea of balance between challenge and discouragement. Haley is very perfectionistic, but also has a great need for challenge. She gets very upset when she doesn't do well and can't figure out an answer. However, on the flip side, she also gets upset if an activity is "too easy" for her.

I found a great book with Greek and Latin roots, along with vocabulary to follow each. Last week, they worked on the root ped = foot. Their words for the week were quadruped, biped, tripod, peddler, pedestrian, pedicure, millipede, impediment, centipede and pedal. They had a vocabulary quiz on Friday. The first half of the quiz was a bubble-in format. #1 said, "Cats and dogs are examples of these." They had to bubble in the correct answer. (Maddie only completed these 10 questions). For the second half of the quiz, you had to fill in the sentence with the word that fit. Haley immediately started sobbing when she got her quiz because she couldn't figure out one of the answers. The sentence was, "Tristan's speech ______ lessened every year, so people could hear his words more clearly when he gave his graduation speech." She ended up getting 14/15 correct, which I explained to her was still an "A" on the quiz. She just sobbed, "but I could have done better!" Maddie, on the other hand, was happy with her 7/10 score. :)

I think I just have to ask Haley what she really wants: easy work so she can get a perfect score, or challenging work in which she may occasionally miss some problems.

Wrapping up the Rainforest

We are finished with our rainforest unit. Haley completed her manatee report yesterday (posted at the bottom of this page). Maddie just took notes on the sloth. I thought it would be too hard for her to organize the information into paragraphs. They both learned a lot about the rainforest. Maddie found The Magic Treehouse: Afternoon in the Amazon. She sat down and read from cover to cover this morning! She usually NEVER reads on her own. Normally, I set the timer for 30 minutes each day and as soon as it goes off, her book goes back on her shelf. Needless to say, they both were very interested in learning all about the unit study!

Haley has found an interest in chess. She and her friend, Zeke, have been teaching each other with a computer program I have. They played their first "real" game last Friday night at chess club. Although Haley won, they both still have a LONG way to go. Unfortunately, I have never played myself so I'm not much help at this point. Haley told Mrs. D (5th-grade JET teacher) that she was learning chess and she was so excited! She said she would make some copies for Haley and Zeke to learn some strategic moves.

The girls have been swimming nearly every day in our pool! The weather has been pretty nice, but the water is still way too cold for me to take a dip! The kids don't mind at all. . .they are just happy to be swimming again:) It was a long winter looking out our windows and seeing the pool all closed up!

Ede, Rachel and I are going to plan a "mystery camp" for the kids this summer. The kids can not wait to begin! I am really excited about all the fun things we have found to do with them, but I just wonder if there will be time. . . . I found some really fun lesson plans that have activities to learn about mysteries in history. We have chosen to learn about the Mary Celeste, Witch Trials, Lost City of Atlantis, and the Disappearance of Amelia Earhart. I also wrote a mystery when I was teaching 5th grade, "The Mystery of the Stolen Laundry." The kids will have to do a few scientific experiments and solve some math problems to eliminate suspects, and, eventually lead to the thief. We are going to read and discuss The Westing Game, a novel written in a style similar to the Clue Game. I think they will have a blast!

Handwriting Practice

A few months ago I ordered a book of handwriting practice pages for Haley. Each page has a different quotation that you need to write in cursive. Haley started these sheets yesterday and I love the quotations! The first one was Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. - Nelson Mandela
The second one was The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. -Vince Lombardi

When asked, Haley was not able to explain the quotes to me. We were able to have a good conversation about each. I am excited for her to continue with these for handwriting practice!

Broken Record

Sometimes I wonder IF my kids ever listen to me. I think I am turning into a broken record a lot! Yesterday was just one of those days! All day long I was repeating the same things:

"Haley, remember order of operations!"
"Maddie, where do you put your dishes when you're finished eating?"
"Hunter, time to go potty. Hunter, time to go potty. Hunter, NOW!"
"Madeleine, stop the whining!" (Notice I use her full name for this one. LOL)
"Girls, there's another pencil on the floor the dog's going to get!"
"Haley, you have to indent the beginning of a paragraph."
"Haley, where do you put your dishes when you're finished eating?"
"Hunter, go back and wash your hands."
"Hunter, you don't hit or kick!"

. . . . . . and I could go on and on!

Hopefully today will go much more smoothly for all of us. Despite the numerous reminders I had to give, they did work hard and got a lot accomplished yesterday. Haley is working on writing her research paper. She was forgetting to indent EVERY time she got to a new paragraph, however, she was doing a great job organizing her notes into separate ideas for different paragraphs. She got about half of the paper written yesterday. She is getting to some pretty tricky algebra work, but is doing very well. I am a little concerned that I do not know exactly how to teach the stuff. I know how to do everything, but hope I'm telling her the correct way to do it! It might not be a bad idea for her to take Algebra II at the Learning Center next year! Maddie and Haley are answering chapter questions together over the book they read: One Day in a Tropical Rain Forest. They are finishing up all their rain forest work this week and we are having a culminating party tomorrow night! Yeah! Hunter read "Go Dog Go" all by himself. He only had trouble with a few words. His reading fluency is getting a lot better and his attitude has improved a TON! He doesn't fight me when I say it's time to read anymore.

Cramming

What in the world am I teaching my kids???

Well, Haley and Maddie had their final exams in Spanish today. I guess the fact didn't really register to me this weekend. We enjoyed Sunday at the zoo as a family and have been swimming a lot in our pool. I asked the girls to make flashcards of the vocabulary they didn't know this weekend, so they had been studying those. However, when I looked at Haley's study sheet on Monday night (at 7:30 p.m. after teaching piano for 5 hours), I realized that there was a WHOLE lot more she needed to know for the test. So. . . . we studied and studied and studied! She stayed up until 10:00 with me, then I woke her up before 7 to study some more. In addition to hundreds of vocabulary words (some of which she didn't even know the English counterpart), she had to conjugate over a dozen irregular verbs. I am pretty proud of her for hanging in there. She is just too young to understand the concept of studying and I should have been on top of this during the semester! Good news: I think she did okay on the test. The teacher gave them the final 10 minutes to look in their book, so she said she frantically looked up items that she had left blank on the test. Maddie was a little better off. The teacher wanted them to review last semester's information as well as the new. So. . . . . she knew half the stuff already. I think Haley and I learned our lesson about waiting until the last moment possible to study!!

Ganging Up

Well, we had our meeting about Madeleine's schooling today. I felt like everyone was ganging up on Brian and me, but we held strong. They are concerned about her written expression. It is definitely a weakness of hers, but not something that should hold her back in areas. For example, they gave her the 2nd grade skills test. She got the answers correct, but didn't know how to "explain how she got the answer." For the question, there are 5 rows of 4 marbles. How many marbles in all, she wrote "5 x 4 = 20." They expected her to draw a picture. Where I understand the need for struggling students, Maddie is efficient in multiplication and division and I don't believe it's necessary for her to draw a picture or explain how this works. She's way past that point. No one asks me to "explain my work" every time I balance my checkbook!

I was tired after the hour-long meeting. I felt like I had to justify her strengths (which they didn't test) as well as explain that maybe we have different goals for our children than most parents. The assistant superintendent said her major goal was to make sure Maddie was "happy" and "successful." I interjected and said our goals are to make sure our children are challenged. We make sure they are successful and they will only be happy if they ARE challenged. She didn't quite know what to say after that!

We did come to a compromise after they realized we weren't backing down. We are going to try to send Maddie to 1st grade next year, but let her attend 2nd grade for reading and math. I think she will continue to grow in reading. Math will be quite boring for her, but maybe the teacher will agree to let her do harder worksheets when she completes her work. I like the idea of her going to specials with kids that aren't 2 years older than her. I also think she will enjoy making friends in two different classes! She is quite the social butterfly :)

Productive Day!

Aside from Hunter not willing to sing in his preschool program, today has been very productive so far! Hunter woke up this morning and told me he was NOT going to get up on stage. I really wasn't in the mood to witness a full-blown tantrum in front of all the parents of the school, so we kept him home. He was in bed taking a nap by noon, so maybe he is fighting off a bug.

The girls have been finishing up on their rainforest animal research. They are ready now to put it in paragraph form. Haley organized her notecards and figured out that she could organize them into about 5 or 6 different topics. I think she'll be able to write a pretty good report. Maddie will just work on rewriting her notes in her best handwriting.

We have been discussing different scientists that may work in the rainforest such as botanists, herpetologists, ornithologists, and mammalogists. Haley thought she might like to be a herpetologist when she grows up because she loves animals and would enjoy living in a warm climate :)

Haley is learning to multiply variables with negative and postive exponents. She was a little confused at first, but seems to have grasped the concept today. Maddie is nearing the end of her 5th-grade math workbook. She has mastered most concepts, but still makes a lot of careless mistakes. I always struggle with the question of holding her back until she becomes more accurate or continuing to teach her more.

The girls went to factmonster.com today to find answers to a bunch of questions I made up. Part of their challenge is to figure out what resource they need to find their answer. ie: atlas, encyclopedia, dictionary, etc. Maddie is struggling with this a little, but Haley's pretty good at locating information.

I was really excited to find some really cool CD's at the library today! They took classical symphonies and put catchy words to them to help kids recognize them. For instance, for the Trout Quintet by Schubert, the song lyrics center around the theme, "Schubert Fishing for Trout." Some of the songs are really corny, but beneficial for helping kids remember and appreciate famous classical works!

The girls are eating lunch now, but I anticipate them being done with their work shortly. They are anxious to complete their bromeliad plant art project :)

Decisions

We have a lot of upcoming decisions to make for the 2009/2010 school year. Madeleine is going to be tested at our elementary school on Monday morning. They will be doing the JET screening as well as giving her the end-of-the year skills assessments for each grade. Then, we will meet with the principal, 2 assistant superintendents and the counselor to try to devise a plan for school next year. We may try to send her part-time as we did with Haley this year.

I have signed both girls up for Spanish II and Native American History at the Homeschool Learning Center. The classes meet on Tuesdays from 10-12. I may sign Haley up for Algebra II there as well. Of course, I had to get special permission from the teacher to allow her in the class. (That took some convincing :) The class meets from 8:30-10, so it wouldn't be inconvenient to take her. Haley will still go to JET one day a week next year (hopefully it doesn't fall on Tuesdays!). We are optimistic that Maddie will also get in, but time will tell. If she passes the screening on Monday, she will have the WASI administered on her this summer.

Haley made it into MEGSSS (an intensive 3-year math program for gifted middle schoolers). She's the youngest ever to test into the program. She is VERY excited to begin. We are going to try out the summer program and see how she does. We can either continue in the fall or wait a year. They are really flexible. She was just smiling from ear to ear when we got the acceptance letter in the mail. She especially liked the statement, "be prepared to be challenged!" It will be such a neat experience for her!

Hunter will be attending preschool two days a week next year. I think he will be ready to start some "formal schooling" at home as well. That means we probably need to think about getting another desk for the basement! He is very interested in math as well!! He loves to do his addition and subtraction problems. (although he's only adding and subtracting 0, 1, or 2)!

Haley also wants to do homeschool choir. The director also allows students to accompany specific songs, so she might get some great practice on the piano as well. I plan on being very busy running the kids back and forth!

More on the Rainforest. .

Yesterday was a pretty good day for the kids. Hunter went to preschool as usual (no problems this time). The girls worked hard on their math and piano right away. When they were finished, we worked more on our rainforest unit. The girls decorated toilet paper tubes to create rain sticks. They also decorated invitations for our end of the unit party! They are deciding on some snacks to serve (they have to be made with products from the rainforest of course). They read together chapter 2 of "One Day in the Tropical Rainforest." They are completing two charts as they read. On one, they list the plants/animals/relationships that are mentioned in the chapter. On the other, they list the things Tepui does for each time slot listed. I think I will have to blow up Maddie's charts. Her handwriting is so big and sloppy that she can't fit it in the little boxes.

After lunch, the kids were surprised to find out that Zoe and Aiden were coming over to play! It was a beautiful day and the kids enjoyed it outdoors. Our yard is now littered with confetti (and the house, too) after my kids introduced Zoe and Aiden to cascarones.

Rachel brought over my curriculum for next year, so I spent last night looking it over and getting excited about next year! As Rachel was showing the kids what they get to do next year, Maddie said she didn't want to go to school. . . .she wanted to do all this "stuff" with us :) We'll see. . . .we haven't made any decisions regarding her yet.

Stubborn as a Mule!

It took me an hour and a half to get Hunter to go to preschool of his own free will, LITERALLY!! We have learned in the past (the hard way!) that if he says he is not going to do something, not to push it. He decided this morning that he was not going to go to preschool. At first I pretended like I did not hear it. I figured if I could get him excited about it before I acknowledged that he didn't want to go, I wouldn't have any problems. No such luck! He stood at preschool for 30 minutes outside the classroom with a frown and arms folded across his chest. Every time Ms. Rachel would tell him something fun that they'd be doing, he would grunt and pout even more.

So. . .finally, I brought him home. He immediately went to his cars and race track. I told him that he didn't get to play with it because he didn't go to preschool. We were going to work on writing letters and reading books ALL DAY! He said to me, "I will go to preschool, then come home and play with my cars!!" End of story. We drove back to the school and in he went!

Hunter definitely has a mind of his own! The girls are and always have been very compliant and obedient. I guess he makes our lives interesting :)

Haley has JET today. They are doing a unit on time. She had some homework over the weekend where she was to illustrate an idiom that dealt with time. She drew her daddy with a little stubble for "5:00 Shadow." She made clocks for his eyes that depicted five o'clock. I thought it was pretty cute!

Maddie is home alone with me today. She has finished her math and we are getting ready to practice the piano. I am a little bummed because the sun was out this morning, but it has become overcast and is drizzling!

Busy Weekend

We woke up to see dark clouds forming. Maddie and Hunter had soccer pictures at 8:00 and, sure enough, it started raining at about 7:50. Pictures still went on as scheduled, however, and it stopped just about when our 8:30 game was supposed to begin. The only problem was that the opposing team did not show up!! So. . . since we had 6 players, we decided to burn off their energy with a scrimmage. (boys against girls) I think boys won by a couple goals, but who's keeping score!?

Haley and Maddie had their pictures at 9:30 and the second soccer game at 10:00. Haley had to leave a little early to get to orchestra at 10:45.

This afternoon was a little calmer. The girls were very anxious to work on their rainforest unit. Since Haley is now home four days a week (she goes to JET on Mondays), I decided to try out the new curriculum I found. I ordered a set on Relationships since the first topic studied is the Rainforest. We started yesterday and both girls are doing very well! There is usually an activity I and II (easy and hard option), so both girls can do the same thing at their own level. They LOVE the work and beg me to go on to the next lesson! Yesterday the girls colored and labeled a map of the world, showing where the rainforests are located. We read The Green House and discussed the metaphors throughout the literature. They are now watching a video and taking notes on the animals and plants found in the rainforest. It's amazing how much they LOVE to learn when the teaching is centered around a topic.

Research

This is an exciting day for the girls! They get to do research on a rainforest animal. We are headed to the library this morning to see what resources are available. Haley has chosen the manatee and Maddie has chosen the sloth. I wish I could get them this excited about math.

Our basement is starting to look a tad bit like a classroom. I have a timeline hung that I created when I was teaching. Every time we study something in history, I plan to write it on the timeline. I was really surprised by how little Haley seemed to know about history. She knows a lot of facts (things that happened), but for instance, she didn't know that the first settlement was BEFORE the Revolutionary War. She knows all about the Boston Tea Party, but couldn't tell me in which century it occurred. I think the timeline will help!

Relaxation Needed Here

It's been a long day! Haley decided her carpet would look "more interesting" with thousands of beads and sequins thrown all over. Then, a few hours later, I opened Hunter's door to discover he had used an entire roll of scotch tape to adhere papers everywhere. What will Maddie get into now?

On a positive note, the girls got a lot of work done today. Maddie is playing Spanish Guitars with the CD on the piano. She is learning to divide numbers with decimals.

Haley had a little trouble with her math today. She is working on squares and cubes. She gets a little mixed up when parentheses are involved. After a few tries, I think it sank in.

Hunter read his books to me this afternoon. He is starting to be able to sound out words and has a huge sight word vocabulary. He can read the Biscuit books pretty easily. For a long time, it was like pulling teeth to get him to read. However, I think he's starting to gain some confidence and actually enjoy reading.

Getting Organized

After the girls finished their math and vocabulary this morning, we went on a couple errands. We are trying to create a school area for the kids in the basement. Up to this point, school "stuff" has been scattered around our house and in the Pilot. There are loose papers/books/assignments all over the house. I finally told them enough was enough! We are getting a desk for the basement that one of the girls can use to do schoolwork. I also bought a rolling cart to use for loose assignments and paper. We are also going to transform one of our bookcases into a textbook area. I think it will help ALL of us stay organized :)

Easter

The girls and I had a great time with my college friend, Krista and her family. She has girls nearly the same ages as Maddie and Haley. We enjoyed watching an hour-long Easter Egg hunt! Cailin even found the "camouflaged" eggs in the trees :) The girls all get along amazingly well. All four girls enjoyed their first ever sleepover complete with pancakes covered in whipped cream and strawberries.

I got a phone call on our way back to Iowa. It was the director of MEGSSS with some great news for Haley. She has been accepted into the program and will start this summer. The director was quite shocked when I told her Haley was only 7 years old!! Haley is very excited to do some "challenging math."

Somehow Hunter has managed to keep his pullup dry the entire weekend. It's a record! Last Thursday, I had had enough of the very frequent accidents and wet clothing, so I told him he had to now wear a pullup all the time. He says that he's four now and a big boy. It would be so nice to get through the potty issues.

We had another Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma's house on Saturday. The kids enjoyed a visit from four of their cousins. I really appreciated Aunt Sherri for putting money in the eggs instead of more candy :)

Keeping Haley Safe

We have decided to withdraw Haley from public school and start the full-time homeschool plan earlier than we had planned. There was a student in her class who threated to bring a gun to school to shoot her teacher. She was very upset as were we! The child basically got a "slap on the wrist" even though there has been a history of defiance, disrespect, bullying and fighting during the school year. The child will be back in the classroom after the Easter break, so Haley will NOT be there.

I had a student in my 5th-grade classroom once that did act on a threat, so it's nothing I take lightly. Fortunately, my student did not have access to weapons, but he broke another teacher's nose.

We have decided to begin a Rain Forest unit. We went to the library this afternoon and checked out bunches of books and videos about our topic. Haley and Maddie are very excited and Haley has already read a couple of the books.

After hearing a couple success stories, I decided to jump on the bandwagon with 5 math problems. I will be giving Haley the five hardest problems from her problem set each day. If she gets them all correct, she is done with math for the day. So far, it is working very well. Even if she misses one or two, she is working much more carefully and neatly.

Soccer

It was our first game of the season yesterday for all the kids! Maddie is definitely the most athletic of the bunch. It was her first time ever to play with a goalie and she scored in the first few minutes of the game. Haley also did very well. She's been playing much longer, so the game strategy is starting to "click." It was Hunter's first game ever and, well, he got out there and kicked the ball a couple times :) LOL There were a couple kids on the team that refused to even get out on the field, so I guess we should be proud that he stuck with it!! Brian is coaching the peewee team and boy, did he exercise a lot of patience! I knew it was going to be a long season when we were trying to pick out team names (color: green). The best ideas from the kids were green rocks, grass, shoes, and Pokemons.

Haley's Decision

Haley has been going to school part-time this year. The schedule has been working really well. We do reading/math/piano in the morning, then she goes to school for 4 hours in the afternoon. She attends for lunch/recess/specials/science/social studies. However, since she was sooo far ahead of her grade-level curriculum (I guess I taught her too much. LOL) they insisted that we skip her ahead two grade levels. She was placed in a 3rd grade classroom. Socially, she's been doing much better than I had anticipated. She made a couple very special friends this year and had her first sleepover at our house. Unfortunately, she feels like she is not challenged in school. She said that the "naughty kids" were always getting yelled at and taking away from her learning. She also felt like things were being repeated a lot. She says she'd rather be home to do "hard work." She picks up material VERY quickly, so I'm sure the repetition would be very boring for her. So. . . we have just decided to keep her home full-time again next year.

April Fools

I got the kids good this morning! heehee! I put a few drops of different colored food coloring in each of the kids' cereal bowls, then filled up with cereal. Maddie was the first victim. She came crying into my bedroom at 7:20 and woke me up. Then, we decided to set up a video camera to get Haley! She came down and poured her milk and started eating, all the while, glancing at me to see why I had a video camera on her. I explained that I had a few minutes left of tape and was using it up. She continued to eat a few more bites, then suddenly got a very shocked (maybe scared?) expression on her face. Worriedly, she told me that there was some "RED" in her bowl. I wonder if she thought it was blood? It was fun! The video will be awesome blackmail in about 15 years!

Simple Motivation

Last night, Ede brought over a notebook that a friend was getting rid of. She said we could have a box of them if we could find use for them. Are you kidding?? YES!! Anyway, Haley has been constantly asking me questions such as, "What are you going to do with that notebook, mom?" Or, "What do you think would be a good use for that notebook?" After 24 hours of hearing her hint around, I finally asked her if she wanted it. On one condition. . . she had to use it as a writing journal. She was soooo excited! She's been working on a story entitled "The Snake and its Amigo" all evening! Thanks Ede :)

Vocabulary Success

We have been playing a game at dinner time. Each night, the kids learn a new vocabulary word and try to use it in their conversation. For each sentence they come up with, a dime is placed in a cup to save for Fritz's!
Well. . . . I just ran into someone I knew at the gas station. We talked for quite awhile. When we got home, Maddie said, "she was very loquacious." Wow! Our game is a success :)

Inspiration

Over the weekend, Grandma came to stay. The kids had a great time! We celebrated Hunter's birthday and he got his "big" present, a Cars bike :) He was sooo excited.

I went to the Homeschool EXPO on Friday and was a little disappointed with what was offered. However, it was well worth my time because I got a lot of ideas and inspiration from another homeschool mom. Rachel pulled her kids out of school in Feb. and is homeschooling them because they were not challenged in school. I am excited because we have a lot in common and have the same educational goals for our children. She found some awesome curriculum she is using and let me browse through it. It teaches with integrated units; exactly what I have been doing with Haley. Rachel and I are planning to coordinate our units so that we can occasional do a project/activity together with the kids. I am excited to have some support and am encouraged to continue with homeschooling.

surprise!!

Maddie was working on her math today and skip counting by 6's. Hunter was rote counting along with her. I asked him if he could do it all by himself and he counted, "6, 12, 18, 24, 30." I know it's just rote memorization, but nonetheless, I was impressed!

What's a hyphen?

I was working on Madeleine's handwriting the other day. She was writing a word and didn't have room to finish it on a particular line. So. . . .I explained to her that she could split the word at the syllable break and put in a hyphen. Haley was listening in on our conversation and piped in, "ohhhhh. . .so THAT'S how it works!" Haley, who's been known to write the word "conversatio-, then put the "n" on the following line! The little things that they learn each day :)

The sisterly bonding

Today I had a migraine, so I was chilling in the kitchen. Madeleine decided to read to Hunter on the couch. It was so cute as she read to him and even asked "comprehension" questions :) Haley was working on studying for her math PSAT that she will be taking on Saturday. When she was finished, she asked if she could help Madeleine with her reading. I am so proud of my sweet girls!

Why I homeschool

I started to homeschool my oldest daughter when we ran out of schooling options for her. She was reading by age 3 and doing 5th-grade math by age 5. She missed the K cut-off date in MO, so wasn't allowed to go to kindergarten until right after she turned 6. The school district we are in has a "no-acceleration" policy. They claim to challenge students "horizontally" rather than "vertically." I think it's just BS for "we don't have the time or want to put in the effort to work with gifted children." I must have visited half a dozen private schools and called another couple dozen. Many of them flat-out told me to go elsewhere. They said they didn't have the resources to work with a child like my daughter.
Homeschooling Haley has reduced her boredom issues. I also feel that it eliminates comparisons with other students. There is also the benefit of flexibility, allowing Haley to set the pace of learning and work from a wide variety of educational materials.