*sigh*

I'm sooo tempted to change every day of the week to Friday.

During the week, we try to do our normal school work, but Fridays are set apart to be a little different. In the past our homeschooling playgroup has always met at a park on Friday mornings to let the kids get together and play, and to let the moms get together to chat and hang out. We usually spend a few hours there, so by the time we get home and have some lunch everyone is too worn out to even attempt any additional school work. I had things on our schedule for Friday (math games, journal writing, cooking projects) but we rarely got around to doing them. :(

Recently we decided to move our weekly park day to Thursday afternoons... so yesterday after schoolwork was finished and lunch was eaten, we took off and spent a few hours at the park. That meant that we had all day today to stay home and enjoy our homeschooling Friday!

I slept in a little this morning, and the kids got up and made their own breakfast - what a wonderful way to start the day, huh?

After I cleaned that up, we started the day by playing some games. First we played multiplication war, then we got out Parcheesi. It was a little cold, so I started a fire in the fireplace and made everyone some hot chocolate while we played that.

After the games, it was time for a cooking project. The kids love Chocolate Malted Crunch ice cream from Rite Aid, so we had to try this recipe. It turned out great (but not quite as "malty" as I had expected). While the cookies were baking we did a couple read-alouds.

Next I had the kids write in their journals... with Thanksgiving coming up I suggested that they write something they are thankful for. Here is what they wrote:

Madison:

Hunter:
Kaden:Then we had some lunch and the kids played outside for a while.

When they came in I worked on Latin with Madison. We are really enjoying this, when we get around to doing it. Today's lesson was on the phrase "Cogito ergo sum" (I think, therefore I am). We talked some about Descartes, and the meaning of the phrase. I was searching for more information, and came across this article. While it may not be exactly what Descartes intended with the original phrase, I thought it was an interesting idea. I read the whole thing with Madison and we talked how our attitudes and thoughts can affect our reality.

I read to them all some more, and that was it! I kind of wish every day was so relaxed and pleasant.... but I don't think we would do a good enough job of covering the basics if that was all we did every day.

I guess I'll settle for fun Fridays, and keep cracking down on them with "real" school work the rest of the week.

got pumpkins?

Here is a list of 100 things to do with pumpkins~
Have fun!

pumpkin patch

preserving marriage

Elder Ballard announced a new church website at the special broadcast tonight. He and Elder Cook specifically invited those with blogs and other internet groups to "go viral" with the videos and information on the website. :o)

http://www.preservingmarriage.org/

two field trips

In the past two months our homeschool group has had two fun field trips~

In August, we visited J&K Farley Farms to pick grapes. The kids love picking their own grapes, and the prices are awesome! Each of the kids was able to fill a cardboard box for just $2.

They also have a small petting zoo there, with the normal farm animals ~ cow, donkey, goats, pig...

...oh, yeah, and an emu!! The kids were frightened of it at first, but gradually got closer and closer until they were actually petting it... I mantained a respectful distance, myself.

Then, last month, we went on a field trip to the zoo. Our group decided to do the guided tour, and I was a little worried that my kids would be bored by it. Luckily, I was totally wrong about that, and they had a great time.

I was able to relax while she led the kids around the zoo and pointed out interesting things to them. They were able to get up close to this owl, and also chatted for quite a while with zoo employee at the reptile house who showed them a snake and answered all their questions.Later this month, we will be visiting the pumpkin patch. I always make my kids take lots of pictures there, so I'm sure I'll post about that when it happens!

Homeschooling: part 2

Math:
For math this year Hunter is continuing to use the workbook provided by the charter school we were using last year - Progress in Mathematics by Sadlier-Oxford. He enjoys math and is good at it. His mind is always thinking in numbers - he is constantly counting or adding things. He is almost halfway done with the first grade workbook, and I am still deciding what we will do when he finishes it.

Madison is using the MCP workbook, 4th grade level. She placed advanced on her STAR tests last year in everything except multiplication so we really need to work on memorizing those this year. She is pretty good at math most of the time, but is easily frustrated when something is hard for her.

Kaden is learning to count. He knows up to 5 pretty well. Usually while the other two are working on their math he will sit at the table and color in a coloring book or a blank notebook. While in Target the other day we found some cute little monster stamps and he has really liked playing with those. We will count how many of each one he stamps and we also make patterns with them. Besides actually learning the numbers, he is working on fine motor control and just getting in the habit of doing "work."

In the past I have struggled to keep the kids attention on their work - a simple math worksheet that should really only take a few minutes would take an hour or more, due to doodling, dawdling, and distractions. About a year ago, I started bribing them giving them an incentive. Now, each child gets a small amount of candy (like 5 M&M's) in a paper cup. We go over any new material in the lesson and what I expect them to accomplish, then I set the kitchen timer for 10 or 15 minutes. If I notice them being distracted from their work, I take one of the candies from their cup. When the timer beeps, they can eat their candy. At that time, sometimes they want to keep working, but I don't require it. If they haven't finished they just continue the next day. Hunter can usually finish two or more worksheets during this time, and Madison usually gets one done - her problems are more difficult, though.

Friday is a fun day here, so we play games instead of doing workbooks. I like Math Card War and Chess, but I also allow games that are more fun, and less "math-y." We also try to do a cooking project on Fridays - which incorporates some math as well. Last Friday Madison and Hunter made blueberry muffins from scratch, with very little help from me.

our fun morning

So Kaden had a dentist appointment at 8:00 this morning to have a crown put on one of his back molars. They sedated him, which I am glad of, but we have been home for about an hour and a half, and I have just now gotten him calmed down.

First he wanted to watch Little Einsteins. Not just any Little Einsteins, "the flower one"! I have no idea which one is the flower one, but apparently it is not any one of the 14 I have saved on the DVR. So after we went through all of them at least twice, he decided he was hungry.

I would think so, since he hadn't eaten since dinner last night. I was supposed to start him on clear liquids so I offered him some juice. He wanted juice in one cup and milk in another cup. But not either of the two bottles of juice that were in the fridge - a new bottle of juice (same juice, new bottle). I thought, whatever, it will get used up sooner or later....

So I put the juice in the green cup and the milk in the yellow cup, just like he asked. Then he wanted some cereal. We managed to get some cereal (two different kinds, in just the right proportion) into a bowl without too much drama. Then after he sat at the table, he wanted me to move the table. I moved the table. That wasn't good enough, he wanted to move to a different seat. I moved his bowl and two cups to the spot where he wanted to sit, which was obviously a horrible thing for me to do, because it caused a full meltdown. I put everything back where he wanted it. Then he wanted Madison, not me, to help him move to the other chair. I guess she did something wrong, because that chair was no good either. He picked a third spot.

Okay, so we're all set, right? Juice in the green cup, milk in the yellow cup, cereal in the bowl (again, after being dumped out sometime during meltdown), chair and table positioned perfectly.... but no. Now he wanted the milk in the green cup, and the juice in the yellow cup! So I poured out the juice. Which caused a full screaming total fit.

Several minutes later, after he calmed down somewhat, I finally figured out what I had done wrong - he wanted me to wait until he sat back in his chair to pour out the juice. So I got the milk in the green cup. Now he wanted the juice in the yellow cup. So I waited until he sat in his chair like a good mommy, and poured out the milk in the yellow cup. But now he wanted "new" juice, again. Well, the bottle of juice I just opened for him was the last bottle of new juice I had.... so I took the bottle of juice out of the fridge and used it to fill up the other bottle of juice - "tada! - new juice." That was acceptable - so I poured the new juice into the yellow cup.

Finally satisfied, he ate a few pieces of the cereal, and had a sip of the milk, and then decided to go outside and play with the other kids.

Keep in mind that throughout this entire process he is on the verge of total meltdown (and frequently going over the edge)... normally I would not be nearly so accommodating to the whims of my three year old, but he was still coming out of the anesthesia, tired and groggy and grumpy. I know that nothing I could have done would have made him happy, but I sure tried.