DASH1

DAY 1 with our foreign exchange student from Mongolia. Slightly out of sequence.

KI, CONNOR, DASHNYAM, GAVIN - at Pismo Beach. It was Dashnyams first time to a beach. He and the other boys had a fun time wave jumping. Itt's too coold to swim and I am too fearful of sharks to want them out too far, The have fuun waavee jumping and if the waves are good enough, my boys will also body surf. I'm sure Dashnyam will get to enjoy larger waves some time whle he's here. Dashnyam slept on the way home. He slept on the way there, too. Jet Lag from a 15 hur time difference. Dinner was Lemon Pepper Chicken (crock pot) with bread & dipping sauce and asparagus. The asparagus had a delightful glaze of Balsamic Vinegar with a touch of soy sauce and brown sugar.

Connor & Gavin decided to make Spaghhetti Sauce Yesterday and had Dashnyam help. But Connor used too much much oregano. I told him tooo much, because I wasn't paying attention and forgot he also was using some Italian Seasoning. Dashnyam would have been better off eating the ham sandwich he packed for hiss lunch. He ended up only doing a placement test at school yesterday so he was home by noon and just ate lunch with us.

Dashnyam's family own a restaurant in Mongolia. I look forward to a Mongolian meal!

Below is Dashnyam on his first day at the high school, but iit was just testing, so not a full, real day.

And here are some pictures from the beach ....

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Yesterday, aftr the beach and while I was working on dinner, Gavin and Dashnyam went for a walk in the neighborhood. After dinner, they played on Xbox. I made banana bread. Dashnyam liked that a lot! with 6 of us eating, I need to make a double batch of banana bread next time! And I'lll have Dashnyam help. He says he likes cooking.

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This morning Dashnyam slept in till 9. He didn't have school in the morning. Gavin helped me hang a load of laundry ut to dry while Ki started making pancakes. Connor made the pork bacon and Gavin made a batch of turkey bacon (for Ki). Dashnyam set the table and made scrambled eggs. I supervised and started a load of laundry.

Laundry is Ki's morning job, but during the school year he has a deal where he makes breakfast a couple days a week instead of doing laundry. This school year he is doing breakfast on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

While we ate breakfast, I read the first section in our Story of the World book to the boys. after a few weeks I'll have to ask Dashnyam how much he understands from my reading. Or maybe just have him take a quiz with the other boys.

Monday

WHEN did the sun start getting up so early! Mr Golden Sun was shining full force by 6:45 this lovely AM. This AM that I had planned to sleep in- to prepare myself for a week full of Driving Stresses.

I feel gypped somehow. I was so sure someone changed my clock. And I just now learned that GYPPED come from gypsies. (I thought it was JIPPED until I looked it up on Wikipedia. You can learn SO much on Wikipedia!!) The point being- I feel I am missing 2 hours of sleep.

I herded the male offspring into the van to get a few things checked off my To Do list. (things like (take boys to Starbucks for Breakfast and Pick up Brian;s Suit from the Dry Cleaners)- but could not find my keys. I had to call Brian while the herd waited in the van. But I found them on Brian's dresser under a black sock behind the camera battery charger. So, it was all good in the end. I got my Chai.

and Gavin got a chai.
and Connor got Hot Chocolate.
and Ki got a Vanilla Steamer.

We had our PSYCHE quiz. The boys love that show. After we sat down with out breakfast (oh, yeah- they all got pastries & I got a yogurt cup) I quizzed them.
How many shelves in the pastry display?
How many people wearing hats?
What did the cashier look like?
The Street Number for the store?
What was on the Today's Special Sign?
Describe the Barrista......

they did not do so well.

We then played a game of FLUXX. Ki won.


I picked up Brian's dry cleaning and make a quick stop at the Thrift Store for $2.74

The BEST part of gardening?? The CHOPPERS! Or clippers, but CHOPPERS sounds better.

I hacked down a large bush. Then whacked off limbs to some roses and other green growing things. Then poured a bag of dirt into the contained plant area in the front and planted about 25 sunflower seeds.

I have plans to hack and whack more stuff. but I needed a break. So I rode my bike to the pharmacy to get my $30 allergy nose spray.

And when did that go up to $29.50?? Oh, the high prices I pay just to breath at night.

BTW- when I went to add a picture to my last blog, I was notified I had reached my available limit for pictures. Talk about sad. I was mortified! How can they LIMIT pictures? so wrong. I went and deleted 100 pictured from my Blogger Album- so I should be fine fine for a couple more weeks.
AND, if you want to see me in my Renaissance Garb- check the previous entry at the bottom!

Did I mention this was a NO SCHOOL WEEK?

They only have to read and get some physical activity daily.
Morning Computer is over at 8:30 (they often wake up at 6 or 7 to play longer) and no more computer games until dad gets home.

They have been making an arsenol of amtgard armaments today.As soon as my sewing machine returns from it's medical check-up, they will be sewing covers for them and maybe a new tunic.

It is now 1PM and I need to shower, pack snacks, and offer money to Gavin for cleaning my mess in the front yard.

COME BACK tomorrow to see my FIRST "How To Tuesday" Post!! You will be AMAZED and ASTONISHED at my Aptitude!





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school? What School?

I felt the need for a schoolish-type entry.
The J-term entries and the Fun Science entries are, well, fun. Entertaining. Great Blog-Fodder.
But it seems that often our educational experiences of the day just aren't as exciting as those cool posts like about Autopsies or Smoke Bombs or even just awesome plans & schedules.
I sometimes fell not much school happens. But I guess that isn't true. or maybe it is. A lot of learning, fun, research, and freedom to find their passions & goals happens. But maybe not lot of 'school' happens; not a lot that looks like typical-school, anyway.
So, here are some things that are going on at our house:
KI -

• Ki has not been too interested in Life Of Fred (for math). It is a great math book, written as a story. I think Ki is just taking a break from it. Though I not require certain things to be done at certain times for math, nor the completion of something that's not working for them at the moment, math. of some sort, is required. Ki is doing some Aleks Quicktables online daily. It's a TimesTablePractice. I have been looking over KHAN Academy lately and had the boys try it out. It has a great math area; videos and exercises, tracking of progress and earning of badges. It was not assigned to do the math, I just asked them to register and try it. Ki went through a couple sections and earned a few badges. (check out the Khan Academy- it is really good and free)
• Ki has decided he wants to read Lord of the Ring books, finally. Brian has a rule of 'read it before watching it'. Ki's very eager to watch it, but has not been ready to read it. A few weeks ago he asked for the LOTR books from the top shelf so he can read them. He's also reading books from The Series of Unfortunate Events and a Warriors series. Plus he reads his Bible daily. He's more consistent at it than I am.
• He likes to watch Doctor Who on Netflix or NCIS online. (we still do not have a working television)
• Ki loves acting and cooking. they are his passions. He is in a play. He has practice twice a week. This is his 4th or 5th acting session since we've been here. Sometimes he reads skits or watches acting 'lessons' on YouTube. He was a Junior Chef at the local cooking school, but they moved. Now he just has fun planning meals or treats to make for us. I sent a video to him yesterday. It's from Molecular Gastronomy. It is awesome! He lloved what they did and wants to give it a try. I'll be ordering the Molecular Gastronomy kit for us to make creative culinary confections. Seriously- Watch This!

CONNOR-

• Connor's been plugging away at his ALEKS math. I assign a certain numbers of topics to be done each week. Sometimes he gets stuck, so I tell him to have his dad help him. Next thing I know he's figured it out on his own. He also tried the KHAN Academy. I think we'll switch from Aleks to Khan when C & G are done with their current ALEKS. Probably in 2 weeks I guess.
• He's been using Gavin's Bamboo Pen Tablet to do some drawing.







• He's looking up stuff online and reading his books (and from Proverbs).
• He's enjoying acting and is the play with Ki.

GAVIN-

• I don't know what he is reading.
• He is spending a lot of time with his Bamboo Pen Tablet- working on his sketching. He's looking into getting 2 online illustrator programs. He & Connor are thinking about making a mini-animation video.

• He's doing his Aleks Math and has earned a few KHAN Badges.
• He likes to read current events and tell us about it.

ME- I send the boys an email with what I want them to work on through out the week. I also write a few things on our Dry Erase Board- but not this week. This week I just sent the email and some links.

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DOUBLE ENTRY!

Entry #1 food (#2 is school)Panera has done something that will totally ruin their business.
I LOVE Pecan Sweet Rolls. I don;t get them often, but talk about a very special treat!
I went into Panera for lunch today.
OH and there was this chick that looked EXACTLY like Angela on BONES!! Do you thing Angela from Bones lives in the California Central Coast area?
Oh.. Panera.. bad move.. sorry for the sidetrack (but I LOVE that show)
So I go into Panera and am eyeing the Pecan Sweet Roll and wondering about getting one next week when we go to Panera for Chemistry Testing.
See, I take the boys to Panera for Science Tests. EVERYTHING is better with cocoa and a pastry- even chemistry tests! And brains need glucose!
So I am mentally drooling over the Pecan Roll (yes, I am back to the real Panera story) and see they have put CALORIES on all their signs.
750 (approx. I was in shock, so the number may be off by 25 calories either way)SHOCK.
SO- thanks to Panera's new Marketing Plan (to post exactly how evil their food really is for us)I will never ever EVER buy a Pecan Sweet Roll from then.750 Calories??I think I need to start counting calories in Joules. I think 1 Calorie is like 4.19 Joules or something like that.
So, I'll round that number... DOWN750 Calories would be...(looking for my calculator)
179 Joules
See, they need to list JOULES not Calories.
Oh, wait.. the type of calorie used in Joule conversion is equal to 1,000 of our calories.
never mind
no more Pecan Sweet Rolls for me(well, maybe just 1 more... for Chemistry Test Day... I'll 8 bike miles, which only burns like 300 Calories, but, whatever)
Entry #2 (school)

I think I want to start each day with a couple gamesThis Week :SET & Volcano
Gavin and Connor are doing GREAT on their math! They worked hard last week.I'm going to have them work hard this week, too.This is one of our "quasi unschool" thingsYes I give them assignments sometimes and track their progress (an online math course)They choose their course and sometimes switch in the middle. They choose whatever lesson they want in their chosen course.See, we had a talk about unschool and radical unschool. they all 3 told me they do not want to do radical unschool. They want to have me hold them to what they need to do for their goals (which is engineering and computer programming for the older 2- so I make sure they are working on the math and sciences they need.
Part of reaching their goal is to have 4 different sciences in high school.Ki wants to be a pastor or chef or actor so he sits in on science lessons but can opt out of the advanced stuff (which usually means math).He likes science lessonsesp ones that involve making smoke bombs or reenacting crime scenes.He often asks what we get to learn in science "this week".
Ki and I decided to really focus on Bible reading for Lent. I'm aiming 3-5 chapters a day.Ki is reading a chapter in Proverbs and then he reads a chapter or 2 elsewhere.
It's great now that all 3 boys read.Yes, I know, they are 14-17but Gavin and Ki were late readers(5th grade)Gavin took off right away, but Ki still took a couple years to warm up to it. It's just been a year since he has really been reading well AND liking it.
Gavin has been reading Current Events.He seems to really be enjoying it. he starts with a current event (like Japan) and then after he reads about it, he researches things that go with it (like earthquakes and nuclear power plants)THEN he tells me EVERYTHING!!
I remember 'teaching' my mom all the new things I learned in Science class that day at school.I loved teaching other people the new things I learned! and teaching others helped me REALLY learn it thoroughly!



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Spet 9, 2009- off-track scheduling

7-8 is Morning Computer time. (If morning chores are finished). But The boys slept in today. Connor got some morning computer, but Ki & Gavin didn’t.
8-9 is Breakfast, Bible Reading, Story of the World, and any discussion time about the days assignments or agenda. With K&G sleeping in and the fact that I have an extremely sore throat so I slept inn a little, we were off a bit here, too. That’s fine, The times are more just to keep up moving onto the next thing. If we are not done with our ‘together reading’ by 9, we don’t just stop at 9. We finish our reading. So today the next session didn’t really start until 10:15. I had a sore throat (still do) so Connor read SOTW for us. Ki was our Bible Reader today. (Eph 6:10-20)
9-10 is almost always Reading Time. It works best that way. It gives me time to make sure I have gathered any lists or items I need and gives me time to clean up a bit in the kitchen, plus the boys like to ease into the school day and reading is a good way to accomplish that. Ki is reading WARRIORS (cat warriors), Gavin is reading 39 Clues (second book), He’s supposed to be reading Tom Sawyer, but can’t find it. We don’t always do assigned reading books, but when we do and Gavin can’t find his, he usually is handed the Robert Frost book of poetry. I was nicer today and just let him choose any book he’s not read yet. Connor is reading Swiss Family Robinson. His dad assigned that.
OK—we are even further OFF the time slots- All is good. We just moved on to the next thing when we are done with the previous. Ki choose to start with Science. (I printed all his syllabi for his classes. He put them in to their corresponding books). Science was almost a meltdown, because I mentioned he didn’t rite the first word on the list first, he had skiped it accidently then I corrected his letter ‘n’ and told them to write them properly. He makes them like a lazy, upside-down u. no stem- just a bump. He said when he makes them with a stem they look kind of like an ‘h’. I told him at 3 or 5 or even 7, that is an understandable excuse, but at 12 and 13, he can figure out which it is by the word. LESSON has an /n/ sound at the end, not an /h/. He was fighting a meltdown so hard! He then does his verson of an ‘n’ with a stem. He writes it correctly, then ADDS more stem to it. (making it look like a short ‘h’). I told him there is no need to add a stem if he did it when he wrote the letter. He said it didn’t look right without adding the extra stem. He was about to cry and run off and slam doors, I could tell. So I dropped it. Correcting penmanship & pointing out omissions are not worth a meltdown.
(G&C did their math during this time)
Ki wanted to do Church History next, but next in Church History was writing Name Cards. He decided to do german as there was no writing in that. I found that one of our High School Advantage CDs had german lessons so we did that. It’s basically like Talking Flash Cards on the computer. He did great with the 1st two things in the lesson, but the 3rd thing was to type the number name in English that went with the German card. So if it said Eins- he had to type O-N-E.
O.K. TYPING and SPELLING all at the same is NOT going over well for a boys who had Dyslexia & Dyspraxia and already was on the verge of a meltdown. He actually did a couple, but got frustrated that he couldn’t just hit the number button (like ‘ 1’ or ‘5’) and then he always messed up the typing/spelling. So I ended that quickly! I am a “Meltdown-Avoiding Wimp” today.

I’ll be changing his Church History today. No more writing today.
I got out a 10-sided die and we played a little game. We just rolled the die back and forth to each other saying the number (German) that was the number. So if Ki rolled it to me and it landed on 8, I’s say “acht”
We did 2 rounds. Round 1 we had the “0” be ZERO and round 2 we had it ne TEN. It was a good game.

SEPT 1, 2009

WOW. 2 mornings in a row I have woke before 7 Am, all on my own. Well, I did have help from the sun shining in the windows, the sound of the Broccoli and Strawberry trucks barreling down Stowell, and the sound of 3 boys doing morning chores. Gavin takes his shower at night now, so he’ll have more time for morning computer; which ends at 8AM and starts after their morning work, but no sooner than 6:30.
So, yes, they may actually get 1.5 hours on the computer in the morning if they are awake by about 6 AM to get their morning work done. Gavin got 2 new games for his birthday. Spore and Grand Age of Rome.
Today was a ‘get your own breakfast’ day. Gavin made a tuna sandwich. Connor and Ki had leftover Birthday cake. Connor also had yogurt. Ki just had cake and toast. I’ll suggest almonds and a glass of milk during Bible Reading.
9:15- Reading time is over. We meet at the kitchen table. I read Eph 6:10-20. We discuss a few things about it. Out of the 6 items mentioned in the full armor of God, only 1 is a weapon. The Sword of the Spirit. It is a defensive weapon, not an offensive weapon. No where does it tell us to fight. (though it does saw we wrestle against spiritual forces, not against man) It tells us to Stand against the evil one. To STAND. To Withstand. To Quench the Fiery Darts. To Pray and Pray and Watch and pray.

We prayed then read some Story of the world. We read chapter 8- about the Chinese Dynasties of the Middle Ages. The boys sat on the kitchen floor in a spot of warm sunlight, eating nuts, while they listened. We got out the world map to see how the rivers in China split the North & South.

Then head off to different lessons. G&C set off to take a progress assessment on their online math course while I read to K the rest of the Shark Chapter in his Zoology book. I had a little project. Measuring shark teeth (in a photo) and estimating the length of the sharks. I had him draw two teeth; one for a 50 foot shark and for a 35 foot shark. They got their timers from their pencil boxes. Let’s hope they put them back when school is finished. Again, he sat on the floor in the sun while he listened. Then he wrote a few notes and drew a few pictures in his notebook. He does better taking notes that are pictures of what he learned then writing out what he learned. So I have him draw pictures and copy any simple graphs and label things.

The boys were told they could take a break and start their last round of school in 15 minutes. G&C decided to play on FB. Ki decided to get a jump start on his math so he’d be done with school early.

Normally, I don’t set times for them to start and keep them on track. Just – no computer if they don’t get stay on track. But I got tired of them not doing much school until Friday, then rushing through and not getting much done. So I decided for a couple weeks I’d keep them on track and we’d do a few fun things each week after school (which should be done around noon or 1). So we’ll go to the park and play a few hours, or ride roller blades on the bike path, or go to the beach for a couple hours. Then I’ll do a couple weeks of letting them be in charge of their time and if they don’t get things accomplished, we won’t do all those fun things. After a couple weeks of that, we have a talk about how they like it better. When they get done early and we go to the beach or when they get t lollygag most the day not doing much of anything. (actually, Ki is always on daily schedule for school. He likes that.

Ki made a decision for Language Arts. He decided he wants to learn German.
And everyone was done with today’s school by about 12:30.

Things I have to do this week:
Find the Miquon Purple book or order a new one.

Figure out what to do for German. Maybe Petra can help us. Figure out what I need to order.
Go over C’s and G’s sciences to see what exactly they are doing so I can talk thing over with them, maybe think of fun activities to do, etc.

Plan some math for Ki . He was struggling with division. He found a way to help his brain figure some things out and also decided to do some multiplication worksheets. Either the first 10 minutes of Math time or just complete focus on Multiplication this week and back to division next week. He said he’d let me know his decision tomorrow.

Best Laid Plans

AH-h-h-h-h-h.... NICE! I have the basic plans laid for school. I let the boys choose their science, social studies and Bible; which was a math choice for Gavin, since he choose Physics for Science (I didn't even suggest that one).
SO here is what I have so far. I will add online research and projects to these. ACE [Accelerated Christian Education] are self paced workbooks. We've never tried them, but I figured for a couple subjects they might be OK.

GAVIN (9th grade 08/09)
Science:Physics [Apologia CD course]
Math: Trig [Aleks Online] *Lessons from dad
Social Studies: Economics [A.C.E.] AND Ben'sGov [online]
Bible: Life of Christ [A.C.E.]
History: Story of the World and WW1&2 reading
Language Arts: Eclectic [Spectrum Writing, NanoFictionary, Reading, etc]

CONNOR (8th grade 08/09)
Science: Geology [online, research, projects, I'll pull a bunch of stuff together]
Math: Middle School 3 course [Aleks Online] Lessons from dad
Social Studies: Civics [A.C.E.] AND Ben'sGov [online]
Bible: Christian Growth [A.C.E.]
History: Story of the World and WW1&2 reading
Language Arts: Eclectic [Spectrum Writing, NanoFictionary, Reading, etc]

Ki David (6th grade 08/09)
Science: Zoology [online, research, projects, I'll pull a bunch of stuff together]
Math: Middle School 1 course [Aleks Online] Froggy Fractions and Froggy Decimals [Ki chose the Froggy Math] Lessons with dad
Social Studies:6th Grade Social Studies [A.C.E.] AND Ben'sGov [online]
Bible: Introduction to Missions [A.C.E.]
History: Story of the World and WW1&2 reading
Language Arts: Eclectic [Spectrum Writing, NanoFictionary, Reading, etc]

** That is the plan. We (all 5 of us) decided to try something a little different this upcoming school year. I still have to buy stuff. need todecide if I want to buy them now or wait till he move.
We'll do lots of hands on projects & independant research and fun stuff, too.

On The Move

As soon as I got over Pneumonia- we were gone for a few days, then the house stuff started. Brian decided it was time to put the hous eonthe market, so I have been working with my Mother In Law most days. Packing, boxing, cleaning, painting, boxing and packing more..... She couldn't come over today, so I srcapbooked and tried to catch up on emails.

We aren't doing much school- and this is my school blog... so I don;t have much to write. Gavin has been reading about Moderns and Space Age weapons and Connor has been reading about the history of money. They will have little reports to do. Ki wants to learn about Martin Luther. But there's not a lot on him. Esp for kid age. So I read a bit to him and will read more. I'll have him do a time line and some vocabulary words.

I am once again trying to get Manuel to understand fractions. It's not going well. My boys are reading and memorizing verses about friendships and the imortance of choosing wise friends. Connor memorized an extra verse and was eager to tell it to me this morning.

Here are some pictures: some layuts I have made today-

Sno-Cones

Today's school was easy. I told the boys to do something math, something reading and something writing. I told Manuel to pick any page he wanted in the Miquon book I have for him.

We went to the Rec Center and posed for picture passes for the waterpark pass.

Ate lunch.

Walked to the outdoor mall:





Here is Manuel (the one on red.... in case you couldn't pick him out...)


Here is Connor-


Here is Gavin (It was hard getting a face shot of him....)


Here is Connor and Ki (and Manuel and some kid with a mohawk)-


After we were done there, the boys got a sno-cone. No School next week, so Ki could have a little artificial....

Then I took a nap at home. The boys watched a couple Greatest American Heros shows on DVD. It is "Get your Own Dinner" night. Brian and the boys washed the Miata.

This&That

Hey... it's been a few days......

Hmmm. since last post Manuel saw the doctor and was out back into pressure garments and given the estimated date of early September for returning home. Which made him very sad..... I think he was better when he was sad about not knowing when. At least then he thought "Maybe this month!!" each month... now he knows it's NOT 'this month' for 3 more months.... (pic of pressure garments here Manuels' are for his legs)

(no school Friday- Brain took the day off work and took Manuel to Cincy for me)

Saturday a friend came over andhelped me organize the kids section of the bookshelf.


TOP SHELF- basket new reading books for Ki- who all the sudden started reading! YEAH! next to it, reading books for Connor. They often need help when I say 'it's reading time'. Esp Ki. He gets oberwhelmed with too many free choices. So having a group of books that 'count as school reading' helps. Cononr is reading a cat warrior series, but between books he can choose somehting from his school reading shelf and he also needed more advanced books than what was there last month.

2ND SHELF- books grouped by size/kind.... and a basket of mostly Fieldguides.

BOTTOM- books that are more scientific, 'schooly'.


By Sunday his feet and ankles were swelling from his pressure garments. So I called Monday. They told me to put him BACK into the ace wraps and bring him to Cincy Wed to be fotted for new garments. Being out of those nasty garments made him happy.. but going back to the hospital is NOT making him happy at all!



I took Tylenol PM Sundaynight- mild headache and hadn't slept well (due to sick kids), so I thought the Tylenol PM might help. I slept 11 hours before I dragged my half asleep body out of bed. I figured my body was just getting caught up on sleep. Hardly any school got done. Monday night I had a bad headache and decided to take the Tylenol PM again. Again, it was all I could do to drag my half comotose body out of bed. I was numb and my head felt like it was swirling. Conclusion- NO MORE TLYENOL PM for me!

Yesterday We did some school. Ki made fingerprint letters for his spelling words. With an inkpad. He'd make a fingerprint and then turn itinto a letter. (not all letters were fingerprintble) He seemed to enjoy it. Nothing else worth mentioning.

Today I was brain dead all morning. Gavin read to his brothers out of Pilgrim's Progress. (My eyes couldn't focus to read until around...well, they still aren't that great). Then they used clay to make amodel of a scene. Gavin and Connor wrote about their scene. Ki had a little meltdown over playdough ownership and mixed colors in the containers. I didn;t push for writing from him.

CONNOR'S


Connor's writing- (spelling errors fixed for your reading ease)
In the scene, Christian is running for his life out of the city. He wants to go to a different city.


GAVIN'S



Gavin's writing-(spelling errors fixed for your reading ease)
Bad City (yes, he gave it a title)
Faithful and Christian see the beautiful city. But Evangelist says it's a bad city built by the Wicked Prince. Faithful and Christian could be killed. The city is so nice you want to stay and not go to the Prince (the good prince). If you don't the bad men can throw you in jail or just kill you. Many pilgrims stay in the city and are treated cruelly. So, what will hapepen when they enter the city?
[j in jail is fine, yet j in just it backwards.. you'd think they'd be the same one way or the other]

Ki's picture came out very blurry... but art is so NOT his thing AT ALL! you didn't miss much.

We then went to the park to play. We taught Manuel how toplay Red Light Green Light. Ki was all out of breath after one game. He tires so easily..... We ate lunch there.

At home I gave Gavin, Manuel and Connor small assignments and took Ki to the coffee shop. He had hot choclate and I had juice. I read a book to him. He read one to me. (He is doing SO GREAT!! The lightbulb just turned on and he reads now!). Ki has been struggling A LOT with double digit multiplication. I asked him if he wanted to me sit and help him everyday or if he wanted to take a break and do something else for math. He decided to take a break and we decided on maps. He did 2 pages in his Miquon about copying a picture onto a smaller grid and making it to scale. He lovedit and did a third page. Then I hadhim measure the table. I choose this spot and pages inMiquon specifcally. The shop has tile topped tables. So Ki could count the tiles (after measruing to make sure they were the same size) and then draw it on the graph paper. One grid per tile on the tables length and width. Then again with 2 grids per tile. Then he did the same with the smaller end table with tile. Then he decided to do the 2 different sized tables where the people sit to eat. One was the same as the small tile table. The other was 35" by 35". I suggest he use one grid for every 5 inches. He very quickly knew it was 7 grids. it seems the multiplication comes easier when it doesn't look like a multiplication problem.

He was so excited! Then we played a game of chess. (after he measured the chess board and put it on the graph paper)

Then he finished the book he started at the Coffee shop.

Manuel did extra math and Ingles so he won;t have school to do tomorrow. He'll still need to read though. He was pretty excited to do extra today so he doesn't have to do it tomorrow!

First Impressions-

This is a two part blog- the first is a journal of our school day- the second an entry about new blogger friends.

I woke up on time today, but felt brain dead. The boys were up on tim and Manuel got up, but fell asleep on the couch. My boys asked to dig outside this morninf. So they worked on their current school project- digging a hole in my backyard. Whenever they choose to do something like this, Ki calls it a school project- so I'll let him do it 'instead of schoolwork'. It's cute. So I then ask him what he is learning with his project and get to hear all kinds of reasons....

The did reading and spelling before lunch. For lunch we went to a greasy fast food, fried chicken joint next to their school (where they take once a week clases). It's called Chicken Louie's. Manuel enjoyed saying the name. We ate at the school. the food place is just carry out. Connor found over 60 cents under their pop machines. This is what he does everywhere we go. He's even found foreign currency on occassion!

A lady I know is a nurse and helped me re-wrap Manuel's legs to help elleviate his swelling. There been no change in that though. if you missed it- Manuel's Story

After lunch and Gavin's computer class, we did some more school here at the house. It didn;t seem to amount to much.

I decided to start going through summer clothes, with all this WARM weather! I love this time of year... when I get to look through their 'new for this season' clothes.

PART 2
I am new to blogspot. I homeschool journaled at a different place, but never got comments and found it hard to get to other blogs to read them.
Being new here and having found some great blogs- I thought I’d highlight some of the ones I read most. The names are clickable links to take yo to the blogs.

A room of my own—A mom to 3 feisty kids- by her own admission.
I love all the links to other bloggers. Her daughter (12) sounds like a wonderful child, full of love and compassion. Her little James reminds me of my boys….. all boy! sharks, cars, dirt! And her 3 yr old is adorable. I’d like to meet her skink. Her latest blog of Sunday Six… or was that Saturday Seven- is GREAT! I love the idea- it’s like a ‘mini carnival’. And being new here, I love all the links and intros to other great blogs to read.

dumb ox academy- I just found this blog. It looks as if she is raising a smart, thoughtful 14 yr old. Having a boy almost that age and 2 more close behind- it’ good to see that others are doing a great job raising teenage boys. It strengthens my resolve.

Enjoy The Journey- I enjoyed her thoughts on Double Standards of ‘Earth Day’. I have just started reading hers and don’t have a lot to say yet. But I have enjoyed all I have read so far! I like her simple truth/common sense thinking.

Get In Hang On- easy to read and thought provoking. And it’s her daughter’s birthday! This is another one I have only read twice. So- my review is short.

Home schooling Aspergers- a mum from Down Under with a fun little boy! I have thoroughly enjoyed reading her blog of homeschooling in Australia. It’s neat to see that kids are kids and just the same everywhere. And I have enjoyed reading her approach to home educating her Aspie Son. (having 2 or 3 myself…LOL) And she has nice photos on her blogs!


Homeschooling in the Garden State- a very PINK blog! LOL. She has a LOT of fun with her little girl, who often is clad in pink tutus or other frilly pretty costumes. I love the feather boa numbers! And the have lots of fun gardening.

In A Spacious Place- a first reader to this one- very well stated and thought provoking. With a loooong list of links to other bloggers!

Issues with Knitting- though I don’t knit and hate to wear sock- I have enjoyed this blog from the get-go. Her blogs are just enjoyable to read. And her knitting is very pretty, too. and colorful. I have enjoyed her review on Leak Brake classes…..

Kitchen Table Learners- also a first time reader here, but I already like it. Homeschool blogs about boys and nature are always among my favorites!

Little Acorn Trees- What is not to love about a fellow chart maker?? I so enjoy reading accounts of others’ homeschool days and gathering tips for organization and schedules!

My Little Wonders- a mom to 3 girls, a boy and a stepson. She is new here, too. And has my favorite type of homeschool blog--- just retelling what went on in their school lives!

Notes from a Homeschoolihg Mom- What a neat idea! A VIDEO BLOG! her blogs are not something you have to read, she video tapes herself talking to you about what is going through her head! I love the concept! (but am too shy to do it myself)

One Big Happy Family- just had a baby boy! They have that great, live and learn with outdoor nature thing going on there too!

Purple Puzzle Place- another blogger I am slowly getting to now. She has the cutest little girls! But I often feel a bit out of place amongst all little girls—like I don’t know what to say…LOL

Ragamuffin Studies- Fun, friendly blogs. And she thinks, too. I have just read a couple of her blogs- but I am enjoying them and look forward to her next.

ScrapLove- a single homeschooling mom in the Netherlands. She has a 13 yr old son and is another mom on my list of ‘moms who homeschool autism spectrum kids). Her blog has lots of photos and ranging from lovely flowers to cool cars! And is another of my favorite blog styles- the recounting of the day!

Sprittibee- She hosted the first Homeschool Blog carnival I posted… Her blog is fun and informative. I like stopping by to see what is new! Hey, maybe I’ll think of another carnival post entry…….. her blog does take a while to load for me, though.

Double Doodles

I have nothing to post from Yesterday- so here is a post from March-

Double Doodles is an activity where you draw the same thing with both hands at the same time and they are mirror image of each other. It's good for getting the eyes to work with the brain and getting both sides of the brain to work together at he same time. It is a Brain Gym activity.

here is Connor-

Here is Gavin-

The Schoolroom after school today- we all cleaned up well today.

Here is Ki writing his story yesterday-

Connor and Gavin writing their spelling words yesterday-

I need to get another ball or two. Ki uses the ball for his OT and They all like to sit on it for school.

a colorful day

(Complete with links)
This morning I read Ki's lines with him. He is in a play next week. I made the mistake of doing this before he had a good big drink after breakfast and before his sensory occupational therapy. It is amazing how little and tired he is before his OT. He is like a limp noodle. Not a big deal though. We'll just read through the lines again after his OT. A little Joint Compression and breathing exercises will do wonders for him. Apparently his teacher doesn't say much to him about his performance during class. She sent home a note about how he needs to work on volume and annunciation. But because she doesn't say anything to him during class, he keeps saying "This is how I do it in class and my teacher is fine with it!"
I will do 1-on-1 school with Ki today and have Gavin do SOS History and Connor do Saxon Math.
Today I go down to Shriner's hospital to spend some time with Manuel. The plan is to bring him home tomorrow. So I will probably spend the night there. I should call first to see what time they expect him to be able to leave tomorrow.
For past blogs about homeschooling and archived links and tips, visit WWW.HOMESCHOOLBLOGGER.COM/3FOLDCHORD

You will find links on the top banner for:
Dyslexia/LDs/ADS tips and journals
Charts and Schedules


Online Links
Our School Day- for examples of a day in our school.




TODAY- We did morning Brain Exersices together. CrissCross Marches, Deep Breathing stretches, Lazy 8s with arms and legs and Hook Ups.This was intersparsed with the consumption of water. (Brains are 80% water and need to be fully hydrated)



Next-Gavin looked up spelling words and wrote their definitions while Connor worked on Saxon Math. During this time I did word family reading with Ki. Beyond The Code. Then he circled base words in the groups. After that we worked with letter tiles. He had to find letters and find certain letters in front or behind to work on letter placement in the alphabet. After that he used the textured letter tiles to spell words from his word cards.

Snack Break

Gavin read poetry. His creative writing teacher is going over poetery with him. (Thursday class). I have a book of Robert Frost poetry for him to read. Connor is reading Time Cat. Ki and I did a few pages in his Miquon with manipulatives.


Lunch

Classes at Dominion. Ki takes drama and Connor has art class. Gavin stays home. I will be going to Shriners to stay with Manuel. (click to read- who is Manuel?)

SCHOOL DAY

We started with Story of the World (we are reading about Ancient Greece) then we did Brain Gym. Ki did his bouncy ball Joint Compression. Then water and more Brain Gym. I wrote G&C's spelling words on the board during this time. They still play and bicker when they are in charge of Brain gym, but they are getting better.
For spelling:
G&K had a list of words-
arrange
strange
range
fringe
cringe.
They had to use these words in sentences and they had to have 3-6 sentences for all the different forms of the word they can think of. I told them they could double up words. So some of their sences mght be:
It is strange to arrange eggs by color.
The stranger was arranging flowers.
That is the strangest arrangement I have seen.

I told them I wanted at least 10 sentences (they could use more than 2 words as long as the sentence structure is proper). Connor wrote.
"I like to say. "...then listed all the words with their forms.."
then wrote 10 short sentences like "I see a cat."

Connor is like that. finding loopholes and taking shortcuts..... I have to be so exact with him. I didn't say the 10 sentences had to have words from the spelling list.

Gavin's is so totally sloppy.. and nothing is capatilized. plus he used some words incorrectly, so he hd to look them up in the dictionary.
So they both are rewriting their sentences.

Ki had three parts to his spelling. write his words in ABC order, write in order of shortest to longest and them pick 2 word cards at random and write a sentence using those words. And do 3 sentences like this. He did the 1st part and forgot about the second part and 3rd part. (I was running errands). BUT he couldn't find where in his spelling notebook he did the 1st part so I had him do it again and watching him, I don't think he even did it the first time. So he had to do all of it.

Gavin got most of his math correct. Usualy it was on;y 'wrong' becuase he wrote the answer in the wrong form or forgot the units. I dontt think that's so bad- his math skills are great, it's just the organizational part...

Connor did math online and got a A. But he was supposed to play 3 games not just one. My written instructions were unclear. I wrote - MATH Detective -- 3.....not 3 games. I forgot the GAMES. I think he should have figures it out. I dunno... but he'll be doing what he missed. so I guess it's all good in the end.

Connor had already done his Language Arts book at Grammy's house, he worked ahead and I didn't realize. So he didn't have to do that- but he read the story a second time.

LESSON LEARNED- be more specific in giving instructions! I always think I am specific enough, but it never seems to be.

Ki will not be left to do school on his own for sometime as he really didn't do anything except 2 pages in Miquon. Next time I have to run errands he comes with me then will have to get his work done later after we get home. With his SID and Dyslexia, it's just not working yet. Maybe next year.

Ki has forgotten the alphabet again. He forgets information that isn't constantly reviewed.. I just was thinking by now we'd no longer have to review the alphabet. this is going to be a long road..... he can't be reviewing things like counting in order (which he does still mix up if it's not reviewed often enough) and the alphabet when he's in college...