Happy Easter!

It's Friday Again. Can you all believe it?

The weeks just go by so quickly, I think I might be getting whiplash.  At this rate, it will be summertime before I know it.  Meanwhile, we're hanging in there, not taking spring break because we want to take breaks when the oldest is home and we took a couple extra weeks in January.  We're also doing a little prom planning.  We are going to try and borrow a dress and do her hair and makeup at home.   If I do either the hair or makeup I'll need to practice before the big day.  

Yesterday was a long but good day.  I got a lot of housework done and then went for my volunteer night at the Children's Hospital.  Some nights when I go there, I feel like a super hero because I can help the babies so much, calming each one down, moving from one to another and helping with their stress levels, but last night I spent almost the whole time holding a beautiful, precious baby who was, at 1 month old, struggling with her drug addiction that it really made me sad.  At one point though, the little sweetie gave me a very good, eye contact, awake, smile and that made it all worthwhile. 

On the way home, my eye started hurting and when I got home, I had a swelling at the inside corner of my eye that was very painful.  I took some Tylenol and Benadryl and applied some warm compresses to it and it is better this morning, though still there a little bit.  I hope this resolves, because I really, really can't think of a way to squeeze going to the doctor in this weekend.

Since this post (and most other ones if the truth be told) does not contain any references to homeschooling or any good homeschooling advice, I'd like to direct your attention back a bit to a day when I did have some (very good in my own opinion) homeschooling advice.  :-)


http://homeschoolhome.blogspot.com/2009/10/advice.html

Trying to squeeze it in.

Today was one of those days where we try to squish school and work into as small a time slot as possible in order to go do other things.  Actually a lot of days seem to be like that.  Anyway, today we girls went thrift store shopping and salvage grocery shopping and the boy went to hang out with some other boys and play video games.  It was fun for all, I think.  I know it relaxes me just to get away from real life for a little while and think about bargains.  I got a donut pan to use to make some gluten free donuts, a bunch of extreme bargains at the salvage grocery and a few other things.  Mostly, it's just fun talking and laughing with the other mom and her daughter.  We went to our new favorite restaurant, Moe's and had some wonderful nachos with everything but the kitchen sink on them.  We went to Micheal's crafts and got a pretty good sale on some yarn.

Now we are going to spend the evening relaxing and watching our latest Netflix find, The Mary Tyler Moore show.  

Good times.

In other news this week, we finally got to talk to our busy, busy college student.  He's doing fine.  He has joined a band and he's taking 3 classes.  He's still getting As and Bs.  The car there in Mississippi is still not running and the car here is still not running, so I'm kind of starting to doubt we'll ever see him again, having now missed 2 opportunities, trimester break and spring break.  Maybe he will get to come home for the summer?  

A few pictures from this week.

It's been raining a LOT and the creek has been up.

This is the new puppy.  Her name is Piper aka Hyper Piper.  This is a rare being-still moment.

Freckles "helping" me with my art journal.

Prom Practice.

My daughter had prom practice today.  Since this prom is encompassing several different homeschool groups, the person in charge wanted the kids to meet, break the ice and learn some of the dances, so that's what we did today.  I sat there and watched.  It was quite entertaining and I really think it was a good idea for the kids to get to meet the people from other groups before the big night.  I wish I had gotten some pictures today, but I didn't take a camera.  It was quite a feat just for us to get there, with out car situation and trying to arrange transporation was what was on my mind, not bringing a camera.  Oh well.  We'll have pix of the actual event when it happens.

It's Friday, but.

That really doesn't mean that much to me since I have to work on Saturday as well, but  my students are very happy about it or they will be once they get through today's work.  To my husband, it's kind of like Monday since he works the weekend shift and Friday is his first day of the workweek. It has been a busy week for me.  In addition to working and homeschooling this week, we've had 3 meetings, 2 doctor's appointments and my volunteering session.  I'm talking big doctor's appointments, not the quick kind, the minimum of 2 hours kind and 3 hours for the pain clinic.  I really can't believe it's Friday again.  The weeks are just flying by, it seems like.  I guess that's a good thing because our oldest won't be home until June and maybe if the weeks continue to fly by at this pace, it won't seem like long?  

This looks interesting.  It's to show kids which careers use what math.  It even loads on my slow internet too!  Math Apprentice

But it's a good tired.

The well child check went well.  Everyone in the family is now officially taller than me.  It's been unofficial for a couple of months, but now it's a done deal.  After the doctor's visit, I had to take the boy to Rally's for some fries.  That's a go-to-the-doctor-tradition for him since the doctor's office is in the town with the Rally's and not the town we live closest to. Then I came home, took a quick break and then went to volunteer at the children's hospital.  I still love it after all this time.  It helps that I'm learning the rules and getting to know the people who work there a little bit better.  Anyway, it was a good, full day and I'm tired, but it's a good tired. 

Again with the snail mail.

If you didn't follow the link yesterday for the snail mail article, do it today.  It's really great. 

Here's a cool exerpt.

The most inspiring example is Henry Box Brown, who in 1849 was a slave in Virginia. Using his savings to pay for the clandestine delivery, he had himself mailed to an abolitionist in Philadelphia. The trip took 27 hours, much of it upside down despite “this side up” instructions on the box.

 Also this little snippet.  I may have to do this to the teacher who told me I would "ruin" my son.   

When the situation calls for it, tell your truth with an un-thank you note. Of course it’s best to handle negative situations immediately, but I’ve gotten some dire predictions from professionals that proved false over time. This surgery is absolutely necessary. You’ll have a maladjusted child if you homeschool. Ritalin is the only solution for that behavior.  It’s my contention that sending a respectful letter updating a doctor, teacher, or other expert is a kindness to the people they will advise in the future. There are ways to write a useful unthank you note. Chances are you won’t get a response but you’ll feel lighter.

We're off for the second of our well-child checks today.  I'll update later.

Building robots, playing games in restaurants ...

Just another day in the life of our homeschooling group, which is not so much a homeschool group now, as a family.  We went to our 4H office and did a very cool lesson on Ecobots which are robots used to help the envirnoment, made tiny bristle robots out of toothbrush tops and used them to try and clean up a fake oil spill (which was actually rice).  The kids had a lot of fun with it.  While they were doing that the moms had a planning meeting and we planned a couple of field trips and discussed what we might do over the summer and next year. Afterwards, we moved the group to the local McDonald's Restaurant where we moms had a prom planning meeting and the kids played Yu-Gi-Oh and Telestrations which is very fun.  Usually, we moms join in, but we had business to talk about.  It is, in my opinion, one of the most fun games we have ever played.

From my web wanderings this morning, 2 very good educational links.

Tour of Ted Ed./ Ted Ed Website.

Fun with Snail Mail

Well, I wrote ...

a post this morning about how having 4 dogs is driving us crazy, the barking the whining, the howling, etc. but I somehow deleted it.  This morning was just pretty awful.  The new puppy is making all the other dogs crazy (and me too).  It's been quiet on that front this afternoon but this afternoon, we had an adventure.  My youngest says that he told his sister he was going for a walk in the woods and she says that she told him that she was going to get her camera and come back, but when she came back, he was gone and she couldn't find him despite yelling so she came and got me.  We ran all over the place yelling and looking for him (and believe me, I can project at loud volumes when I want to).  I even walked out on a scary big top of a culvert to check to see if he'd fallen in the creek since it rained a lot this morning and the creek was up very high. We yelled and yelled and finally decided to head back into the house to call 911 and report a lost child.  When we got to the back door, guess who was there?  He had went on a walk in the woods and hadn't heard us even one of the times we yelled.  Is that crazy or what?  I don't know.  Anyway, he and his sister squabbled with the I-told-you-I-was-goings for a while, and I resolved to get the kids hearing checked when he has his checkup next week.  I don't know if it is that he can't hear well or if he just gets in his own little world.  He wasn't listening to his MP 3 player this time. 

For those of you who aren't familiar with where we live, we are surrounded by woods  It's not like there's a neighborhood here.  Anyway, I got quite a bit of exercise and a really good adrenaline rush/heart workout.  I really don't want to do it again though. 

Some resources for homeschooling.

I was looking at the We Home School page on Facebook.  There is a wealth of information on this page, especially in the comments. 

A free online curriculum this one says Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool.

And this one NeoK12 has videos for education, as does this one Open Culture.  (You might need to watch some of these first, I don't know.  They are new to me too.)  Also, incidentally, I have found that Youtube is much better if you put it on the "safe" setting. 


Some news around here, our homeschool group is gearing up for a prom.  Our first.  My daughter wants to go.  My oldest son won't be home in time.  My youngest would rather have his eyes gouged out.  So anyway, we are maybe going to be dress shopping.  It feels weird.  The only time the girl has worn a dress since she was 6, was last Easter, because she was singing in the choir.  :-) 

Rushing to get school work done.

The kids are trying to get done so we can go see grandma for a little while before she goes to bed.  My son is in the shower (because personal hygeine and chores long ago became part of our school lists) and my daughter is practicing piano.  The songs I have heard her playing have been are Angels From the Realms of Glory and Joy to the World.  Yes, it's been THAT long since we have had a car and been able to go to piano lessons.   Oh great, now she's playing the chipmunk song about the hula hoop.   Oh how I hope that one doesn't get stuck in my head!!

Thursday, March 14.

No work today.  Thankfully.  I also took off yesterday because I've been feeling just plain awful.  It hurts to turn over in bed.  It feels like my entire body is sprained and when I move, I make involuntary moans, groans, indrawn breaths, etc.  My son told me that this is amusing, my noises, not my pain.  I'm glad someone is enjoying it because I've had about all I can take.   I went to the doctor yesterday and so far the only report that I have is anemia and vitamin D deficiency.   Soon, I will hear about all the autoimmune diseases, whether I have any of those.  They run in my family.  This week seems to be a week for going to the doctor.  My son has a cold and did not do much of his schoolwork.  My daughter went in for her well child check.  She's now taller than me, officially, by an inch.  Her cholesterol is pretty much nonexistent, her weight is good and the scoliosis has straightened out.  All good.   Just by being there in the doctor's office, she will probably get a cold.  She did last time we were there.  They got a new computer system and it took us half an hour to get registered.  I sat there and thought 'I've been coming here for 17 years.  Just about the time you all get our computer file done, we'll be gone...because we won't need a pediatrician anymore."  Our wonderful pediatrician inadvertently made me sad today, asking me about my apparently impossible dream of adopting some more kids which seems destined not to come true.  Anyway, I came home and found out that we had adopted a puppy while I was gone.  That's really not what I had in mind.   Also, I had to miss my volunteering tonight because of the fact that all my joints are sore.  So.  Crabby.

Also, because of the cold, the doctor's visit and the puppy, school work is being done as I type this at 10:00 p.m.  Good thing we can flex.

Representing us well.

I took my son to 4H electricity class today.  He's held back in some of the classes, not said much, has not attended as much as the other 2 kids, but this year, he's enjoying it.  In electricity class, they learned about how the power is delivered to the local electric co-ops and how computers work and then they had to build 3 snap circuits projects.  My son was able to answer several questions and help his team of younger kids get their circuits built correctly and then explain to them and to the 4H leader (who was not the teacher of the class) what was happening and why.  I was pretty proud of him. 

Favorites through the years.

We're almost finished homeschooling.  The big boy is off, doing well in college, with all As and Bs.  The girl has 1 1/2 years left and the youngest has 3 1/2 years left.  I just wanted to list some of our favorite curriculum choices, things that have worked for us well, thus far.  These do not include everything we've done over the years, just a few of the highlights.

For math, we've used Homeschool Math
Life of Fred and
Teaching Textbooks.

For English/Grammar, we've used Grammar with a Giggle and Daily Edits and we have read, read, read, read and read. 

For writing, we've used Jump In. and a couple of novel writing curricula which didn't produce novels only short stories, but I think made the kids believe that they can do it.  The two who are here at home are both working on writing fiction stories or novels depending on how long they get, which is not an assignment from us, but just something they want to do.  They spend a lot of time on it, writing, typing, editing, dictating, all on their own.   Also, the oldest got an A in Freshman Composition.

For Spelling we've used Sequential Spelling with everyone and with the youngest who has some kind of glitch in his spelling so that he can spell words like superfluous and not words like milk, we've used Dianne Craft's techniques. 

Lately, we've also been using a lot of Youtube educational videos   There are other educational video sites, but this is the only one I know of that lets us adjust the quality down to that they will play on our slower internet connection.
.
My favorite in the early years was Konos and other unit studies.  That's a ton of fun and everyone should do it sometimes, if only in the summer or something.  I also think notebooking is really cool and wish we'd done a lot more of it, but my youngest son's dysgraphia had him protesting this a lot when he was little and so we did less of it than I wished. 

I've also filled in some of the gaps with things off the internet, searching for things like "How to write a 5 paragraph essay" or "poetry worksheets" or things like that.  Everyone's education has gaps.  There's no way anyone can know everything.  Finding out what your gaps are, and finding out how to fill them in yourself is the key to lifelong learning.  I don't worry about them much.  I know that my kids are very resourceful at finding things out and learning them, so in college, if they hit a gap, they know what to do.  If you worry excessively about covering everything, someone has written a book just for you.  It's called The Checklist.

Actually better, schoolwork-wise, anyway.

The kids are working on school quite well today which is a nice change.  They've gotten better at that, for the past few weeks, after the incident where school wasn't done before bedtime on a Friday night and someone got grounded.  I'm also loving the rule that says that they have to clean for a certain amount of time based on when they get up, because they've been sleeping in and the house is staying pretty clean, despite the fact that I've felt bad lately.   I haven't mentioned that they would have had next week off if their brother had come home, but since he's not coming, they have to do school.  They are aware that they won't get to see him and we all hate it because the sibling bond is a really important one, the only one that goes with you throughout your whole life, pretty much, but they haven't made the connection to the fact that they will be missing a week off.  I won't mention it.  .It wouldn't make anyone feel good.  It's better, I think, to just keep on pushing and get done a week earlier, but if we get horribly frustrated later on this year, we may take a little break. The flexibility of homeschooling is a wonderful thing.

As a medical transcriptionist,

my job is to type what the doctors dictate and I also do a little minimal editing for clarity.  Sometimes though, I just can't figure out what they mean.  Today's example:

"According to the patient, during this episode, the patient was passed out but the patient never lost consciousness according to the patient. " 

No idea what to type here, so I'll just type what he said.  

Some stuff.

I've kind of been in a funk this week.  I admit it.  And when I'm feeling funky, I don't blog as much, so I've opened this blogging window all week and then closed it again, thinking, if I can't type anything nice, I shouldn't type anything at all.   But here goes anyway. The facts are these. 

My mom is not doing all that well lately, it seems like she is losing ground  more quickly and we are all struggling with it.  It's very hard.. 

Also, my son's car is still broken down.  My husband had a difficult time even getting it into the garage, finally was able to and seems to have replaced every part on it and thought he had it fixed, only to have it break again today, 100 feet or so away from the garage, downhill naturally, so it's going to be a pain to get back in there and darn it, it's not fixed.  So this means my oldest son who is in Mississippi (9 hours away) at college cannot come home when he gets out of class tomorrow.  Also, to top this off, my husband's car, which my son drove to Mississippi (9 hours away) has also stopped running.  All of this means that we won't see our firstborn son again until June.  I am not happy about it, but what can I do?  He can't afford to fly home because he put all his money into that stupid car that is now sitting at the end of the driveway. 

On the good side of things, school is going well.  We went to what seemed like our 99th and 100th 4H clubs this for this month, this afternoon.  They were both good.  The cooking club went to a local restaurant and learned about how to make panini sandwiches and then we went to a 4H Means Business club.  It's a club for entrepeneurs and my daughter wants to learn about expanding her craft business so that will be helpful for her.  I worry that it might be terribly time consuming for me though.  We'll see how it works.  Everything has been a little bit more difficult to accomplish because my husband and I are sharing 1 car.   We've had to cancel piano lessons, miss volunteering, miss church and bum rides from people. 

Also, school is going well.  The kids are getting better and better at working independently. 

So that's it, the good, the bad and the rest of it.

Also, I ordered Downton Abbey from Netflix and am now as hooked on it as everyone else.

A few pictures from the winter of 2013.

Artsy shot of the tree my daughter now calls her tree. 

Blurry shot of a raccoon.  You can't believe how excited the kids and the dogs got about this guy.

Schooling outside on a warm sunny day in February.  Now that it's March, it's freezing.

Yesterday's 4H needlework club project.

Heroscape.

The rest are some of my art journal doodles, because Amy asked.

Good videos for Bad Grammar.

Check out this very good summary of all the grammar mistakes we see on a daily basis on the internet.

Messy Mondays Spelling 1

Their/there/they're, bare/bear, things like that.

and this one too.

Messy Mondays Spelling 2

This one has a great reminder statement in it - If you want to get all As in grammar, spell grammar with all As.

These videos are cute.  My kids started watching them last night on their own and I joined them.  I see these every day pretty much.  Where I hate to see it the most is when a group of homeschooling mom's are having an online conversation.  That's when it really makes me cringe. Although I have to admit, my grammar sometimes isn't all that great.  Sometimes when I'm blogging I like to write the way I talk and use words like gonna, etc.  Also, I have a lot of trouble remembering the difference between affect and effect and insure and ensure, so no one is perfect.  :-P

****  It's a good thing I said no one's perfect and admitted to my own grammatical errors, since I came back and noticed that I had put an apostrophe in the word moms.  Oh my goodness!  Yes, I do know better! This is awful, especially if you know I just watched The Apostrophe Song the other day! 

A school day on Saturday.

We went to the Engineering Expo at the University of Louisville today.  It was pretty fun and interesting.  Our favorite part was the keynote speaker who was from Lego Education Division.  We got free lunch, a free T-shirt for each student and free legos.  How cool is that?  We also saw all kinds of interesting experiments and got to try some of them ourselves.  It was very cool.

Not too bad.

The kids finished their school work for the week tonight at 8-9 p.m. ish.   I knew my daughter was done when she picked up the book she was reading (one of the Animorphs) and started laughing in her room.  Then, when my son turned on his video games a few minutes later, I knew he was done too.  I was working later than both of them because of this pesky not feeling good stuff I've had going on lately.  I felt the need to stop working in the early afternoon and take a 3 hour or so nap.  Yes, I do know that's not normal and one of these days I am going to go to the doctor for it.  I just hate to go to the doctor so badly ... :-P  

Anyway, that's it for today.  I did some pinning to Pinterest this morning and some of it you all might find interesting, so here's a link to my Pinterest Boards.   

I so hope I feel better tomorrow.