For The Grandparents

some pictures from Gavin's Slumber Party:


We had Make You Own Pizzas for dinner. I like my kitchen. It's great for things like this.

Gavin, his brothers, Ben (green shirt), Robert (next to Gavin) played some games.

Not sure why these are so dark. Brian took them. Maybe he didn't have the flash on or something.

My Garden - Entry #3

I can only get 5 pics to post per entry. this is the third post this weekend with garden pics.



There is a fenced off area in the back of my yard that I was told was a garden area once and used as a dog run my the previous renters. I want to make it a small vegetable garden. It needs a lot of work! I also think I might want to do a compost pile at the end of the strip. not sure how that works here in California.

My Garden - Entry #2

the post before this has pictures of my fruit trees....



here are some pictures of the flower area I am working on fixing. most things seem to be half dead or there too over-grown and blockingout the smaller plants.

The Fruit of my garden.....

I really don't have fruit yet. Just the potential for fruit to eat. Plus the Fruit of my Labors I guess.

The neighbor's tree broke, came down on our side and broke my lemon tree. the big main branch of the 3 was knocked off and one of the remaining two is ripped.

But Jen next door pointed out an olive tree! Didnt know we had that! Time to research growing olives!

And I found that the tree that in the neighbors but hangs way over in our yard has Alvocados! Brian and the other neighbors said is it's our yard, we can have the alvocados.

And Jen pointed out another tree that she said looks like a lemon tree. (it smells like a lemon tree, too)

That Can't be what you mean--

We have 2 boys over for Gavin's Slumber Party. As they were cutting cake and serving Ice Cream, Connor asked why there was no Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream. Robert says his mom would kill for mint chocolate chip ice cream! Connor, a bit taken a back, says "what??" Robert says his mom loves Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream and would kill to get it. Then he engages in some deep topic, like snake venom, with Ben, Ki, and Gavin. Connor keeps calling him. but is getting so concerned he keeps mixing up Ben and Robert's names.
"Ben... I mean Robert.. what do you mean your mom would kill for Mint Chocolate chip Ice cream."
No reply as R is busily gabbing with the other boys.
Connor keeps asking over and over.
"Ben!-- I mean Robert...""Why would she kill for it?"
"What do you mean she would kill for it?"
"Robert! Would she really kill someone?"
"So, if someone had a bowl of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice cream your mom would kill them and take it???"

Noting the rise in Connor's Concern and the lack of an answer I reassured him that Robert's mom wouldn't really kill anyone, that is just a saying that means she likes it VERY VERY much." Don't worry, his mom won't kill anyone."

Connor is pretty literal, esp when he doesn't know the person well. and we have never used that strong of a phrase, "I'd kill to get it."

Wrong Season/New Look

I had the urge to change my layout. Odd how it is almost Autumn and I have a Spring Look now.

CONNOR'S LIST *a weekly variety

Unlike Ki who has asked for daily lists, Connor has requested a weekly list. Here is this weeks, as a sample of what his weekly lists look like. It is a 4 day week of course:

WEEK SEPT 2-5
___ ALEKS math 2HR 50Min
___GEOLOLOGY (take good notes)
*3 times this week 40 mins each

☼CHOICES are:
►read ROCKS Kids Discovery magazine
►read Geo Current Events online, write about 1 of them
►choose 1 experiment to do from WILD GOOSE book. write supply list in your notebook
►Online Rader's GeoScience for Kids


___ Read 50 minutes a day
___ Pray Daily
___Do Social Studies
☼ finish vocab sentences page A
☼read pages 2-5 in PACE book
☼do questions 17-65

Ki's SCHOOL LIST

Ki like lists, yet he also likes the freedom to choose options. So I make school lists for him and sometimes he lots of options, sometimes it's detailed and he just chooses when to do which task.
This week is a more detailed list. I thought I'd share his daily lists: I asked what he wanted to do - Focus on just his missions, focus on just his social studies or do a little of both. He chose missions this week

TUES Sept 4
___ morning chores & Breakfast by 9AM
___MATH {remember your Brain Gym and Water}
*correct pg D-22 (his Miquon) write the problems in your notebook
*15 mins Quiktables (www.aleks.com)
~5 min break
*correct pages C-42,43 (miquon) do in your notebook
___GOING PLACES (language arts story book)
*read pages 28-30

۝ we have homeschool PE and will be gone from 10 AM-1PM. so it's a short day
WED Sept 4
___Morning Chores & Breakfast bt 9:30
___MATH {remember your Brain Gym & water}
*15 minutes Quicktables
~5 minute break
*15 minutes Alek Pie Chart w/ raisins
___GOING PLACES
*read pgs 31-34
*Do Questions in Red Book (I write questions for him in a Red Composition book)
___MISSIONS A.C.E.
*read pg 1 PACE with mom
*Do page 2 in your PACE
*locate beekman Mission Field on our map
___SCIENCE
*20 minutes+ working on your Ocean Box
THUR Sept 4
___Morning Chores & Breakfast by 9AM
___Math {remember your Brain Gym & water}
*20 minutes Your Choice
~10 minute Break
*15 minutes Your Choice
___Going Places
*Finish Reading the Story
*Red Book Questions
___Misssions A.C.E.
*Read with mom Peril by Choice
*Do Questions on pg 4 of PACE book
FRIDAY Sept 5
___Morning Chores & Breakfast by 9AM
___MATH {remember your Brain Gyn and water}
*15 minutes Quicktables
*5 min break
*20 minutes ALEKS Pie Chart
___ Go to Library w/ mom, get book
___Read 30 minutes
___SCIENCE
*Read a couple sections and write in your notebook
___MISSIONS A.C.E.
*read with mom in Peril by Choice
*do page 5 in PACE book

Little Update

Just to keep all (3) of my readers current. Actually I may have more. But I have been bad about reading others' blogs. But I just found out how I can link to blogs on my homepage here, so leave me a note if I used to read you and I'll link to you here so I can easily check out your blog. Still waiting for my mom to get a blog.

Today:
*Boys just have reading/math
*Boys have an extra hour of computer
*Gavin has a slumber party here tonight for his birthday. 2 homeschool friends.
*I need to bike to the store and make a cake.
*I plan on trying out the coffee shop for school lesson planning
*Connor will be getting upper braces in October
*Gavin will be 15 on Sunday.
*My grass is getting green in front
*I have only used my dryer twice. Still hanging clothes outside.
*I can see mountains from my bedroom window-just barely

Ki's School Day

Connor finished is breakfast and declared to us that he was going to go write a lot because he had been thinking of a new game and had a lot of rules and things to write about it. Sounded good to me. I like when he finds things to do that fit into my idea of school, LOL. I like when my boys think of things they want to write!

After Gavin and Ki were finished with breakfast I told them I wanted them to get started on something for school. Gavin decided to write a game story like Connor. Ki got his little note planner out to see what was his list today. He read through his list and asked me about a few things. He decided to do his Language Arts first. Today he is making an 8 panel comic strip of the story he has been reading; Mitchell is Moving. He has a little science experiment in his Science book today. He loves having his daily list of things that he can see what needs to be done and do them in any order he wants. Yesterday He chose for math - 10 minutes in Miquon and 10 minutes of Dice Math. I let him use whatever he rolled on the operation dice, so he had a few simple additions, since he was using a 12 sided and an 8 sided die. He rolled a Division sign and I taught him how to do that. It’s amazing how open and willing he is to learn when he does school on his terms and chooses activities. If I had said; “O.K. Today you will be doing division in school. Get your paper and pencil and I will teach you how to do division”- that would NOT have gone over well AT ALL! But when HE chose to do dice and rolled the division on the ‘operation die’ he asked ME to help him.

Yes, sometimes I tell him what to do- like make an 8 panel comic strip- but I choose things that I KNOW he enjoys and works well in doing. I tell him to do things that he has chosen in the past and enjoys.

Ki set up the desk in is room for doing his Comic Strip. He cleared it off, got his pencils, the pencil sharpener, his book and I brought a chair in for him. He seemed to really like having his own little work area in his bedroom. It’s one of the reasons I liked this house- the nice desk area in the room and one of the reasons he chose that room. He had some of his school books in there now. He took his math in there to do.

Before he did his math I had him help me with the laundry. It was good “Brain/Body Coordination/Movement” for him. He brought the basket of wet clothes up the steps (6 steps) then carried it outside (4 steps down), then he hung about 5 small towels. After that he did an Assortment of CrissCrosses. He did Scissors, Marches and To the Back. Then set himself up at his desk.
For his second set of 15 minutes in math he chose DICE.

This is what I had for his Dice option. I had a list of 6 different types of problems. We have an assortment of dice types. Fraction dice, dice IN Dice, Triple Die, 12 sided, 10 sided, 6 sided, decimal dice, operation Dice (all the different math signs, X, +,-, DIV sign, etc)
12D X 12D =
Fract.D + FractD =
TripleD + TripleD= (3 small dice inside a large clear Die- makes a 3 digit #)
TripleDie –Double 10. (a 10 sided INSIDE a 10 sided- makes a double digit #)
.## (decimal Die) > .## =
Double 10 X 10Sided =

So he can choose which ones he wants to do by simply looking and picking, He can roll a 6 Sided and do that number problem type or he can Roll the operation Die and do a problem type that has that operation.
He loves lots of options and alternatives.

Then we read out of his Science Book; Zoolology Apologia. And worked on the new terms and did a little experiment with a large dish of water and blowing opposite ways to make a Gyre Current. Yesterday we read about different types of Aquatic movement (nektonic, benthic, sessile, plankton) and then I acted them out randomly and he had to tell me which I was doing. Then we switched and I called out movement types and he had to demonstrate them.

Connor and Gavin did their stuff on their own. They didn’t need any help today, just the occasional reminder to stay focused.

MORE pics from the Musical

See the posting before this one for the 1st set of pictures from the Musical that Ki and Connor were in over the weekend.

MUSICALS!

Connor and Ki were in a Musical Play on the 23rd. The were Campers in a retelling of Hansel and Gretel.

CONNOR (green shorts)

Ki is in this next one --

This has both Connor and Ki.

The 'Witch' and her cooks

BOYS & their Jewelry

I bought some neat UV Beads(previous post). They stay white until in the sunlight (not houselight- just light with UV rays). So I thought my boys like making bracelets. Color changing bracelets are fine for boys I figured. I never thought about other accessory items.


Well, the Gavin, 15 yrs. old, made a bracelet

he braided red/white/blue for the second bracelet

Connor (13)had to make 2 matching bracelets. One for each wrist. And he keeps spinning them an they slide around and don't match up throughout the day


my son, Ki (12) Made a necklace and earrings. He is wearing them as he makes his lunch. The earrings are just like small bracelets that loop over his ears and hang down.

Before The SUN:

ALL- - -or- - -NOTHING

Connor was growing his hair out. He decided today he wanted to be BALD. So I shaved his head. My husband wasn't thrilled, but helped when it gone down to the razor part. I guess he decided a totally bald head was better than the hodge-podge clippers. I didn't do a great clipper job due to the fact I planned on using the razor to cut it all off anyway.

CONNOR LAST WEEK: (green shirt)

CONNOR TODAY:

One of the the 'non-organic' milk brands here is 'from cows not treated with growth hormones'

Really, that is all I want. I do not care if the milk came from a cow that ate organic corn or corn treated with whatever. I just don't want the hormones. And the Organic Milk cost SO MUCH MORE! I am fine with the 'non organic, non hormone' milk.

PS- this means the cheese/yogurt by this company is also non-hormone. another small savings. And in California, I need to save every nickel I can!

I just got back from riding my bike to the store. I love riding my bike to the store and walking to the bank. I like not needing to DRIVE everywhere.

UV RAYS? UV BEADS!

INSIDE the HOUSE

Outside, in the shade

Full Sunlight

I bought some UV BEADS from Steve Spangler's Website. They are white until exposed to UV light. Then they turn colors. Today I gave each boy about 10 white beads. they don't change colors i the house. They closed their hands and we went outside. We sat and I had them close their eyes and open their hands. When they opened their hands, their beads were no longer white, but all colored. They realy liked that. Then we sorted colors and made them white. They we took 3 reds. Used 2 different sunblocks and 1 without. Then out them in the sun to watch the differneces. Our Sunblocks are old and don;t work well. Then I used my sunglasses. Put one purple behind the lense and one in the full UV. We tried black and white paper, but that made no difference. Ki tried his in soapy water, it slowed down the change a little. Then they just had fun playing.

SCIENCE- GEOLOGY

Today was a Science Experiment Day. Well, one was more of a 'project', the other was an experiment.



The Project was from one of Connor's Geology Cards. I had his choose an experiment. He decided on a crystal growing one that uses amonia, liquid bluing, salt (all equal parts) and charcoal brisquettes.



You put the charcoal in a pie dish, mix the ingredients, put food color on the charcool, pour the solutuion on them. It was as grandiose as it sounded. and didn't do much until we moved them out into the sun. I had Connorlead the class.

Wasted Emotions

I was nervous for nothing.....

I got to the DMV and was told not only would I need my marriage certificate I need to prove I have an Ohio Driver's Lisense. Luckily I do not need to get a Duplicate Card (about $25), I just need to call the Ohio DMV and ask for a letter that confirms I hold a valid Ohio D.L.

I found a coffee shop to use for lesson planning. The caramel latte was good. The price the same as anywhere else and there are no tables in the front part of the building. When you walk in, it's just a place to order and a table of baked treats. BUT you can walk through the kitchen and there are 4 rooms. each with a table and chairs or benches. Like one family per room. And they wil be opening 4 or so more of rooms next week.

A few tables outside i the lovely California sun. The lady that owns the place is really nice. She said this private room concept works well becuse the coffee shop is located close to the civics center, the police and and everything. She often gets lawyers who want a private room to talk to clients, or detectives or police officers that need a private room

I think it is just a California thing. The like their privacy. Hence the reason so many houses have 6' brick walls (or higher) enclosing their backyards. I have that about my house. Our back yard is totally enclosed by a brisk wall that goes from 6 to 8 feet. I feel like a prisoner when I hang laundry.

Life is moving quickly this week. Which means 'school' is not. But that's OK. The do reading and math daily and then anything else they can fit in our short amount of time at the house. Gavin is being very laid back about his lessons that are due in January. I would to, if they weren't do till January. He might have a LOT of SPEED SCHOOL to cram in in November.

Brian got home last night and took the day off to work on the Miata and get the Van SMOG checked. (like our E-Checks in Ohio). He has the boys helping him. So it's another LIFE LESSON day. Connor and Ki have practice from 3-7:30 for their play.

It is VERY DUSTY here in California. In this area at least. I want to get a couple of those air purifiers that are like a collumn unit that stands on the floor. I wil run them during the day and turn them off when Brian gets home. He doesn't like them.

Brian is getting his California lisense today. Maybe. He may need his marriage certificate. he's hoping since he has his Ohio card that he won't. He will get CA plates for the van, too. I wonder if I should get I.D. cards for the boys.

NERVOUS

---- Taking my DMV Written Test today. I'm pretty nervous. ----

Brian says he should get home this evening.

thinkings

I need to finish planning Connor's school. He actually likes to be told every little thing to do- he just likes to have the whole weeks' worth of it told to him on Monday.

I need to go through and tell him exactly what problems on which pages for each session for a few things still.

Everything is off balance this week with Brian gone and the boys have play rehearsal every day on Base. I have a couple appointments this week and a few phone calls to make.

Gavin's birthday is quickly approaching. I need to figure out what to do for that. i don't have too plan anything for Ki's birthday this year though since Brian is taking him to Ohio over his birthday.

I need to find a quiet little cafe with Internet connection. I think and plan better out of the house away from the distractions,.

I need to find a place or group of people that does a Board Game Night. I may have to start my own Game Club.

ALBINO & ASYMMETRICAL

Albino Snakes and Asymmetrical Necklace. 2 of my topics. We attended a Family Day City Picnic at the Main Park here. They had a "Zoo to You" presentation. It's a shelter for abandoned Animals- but not domestic animal. They had a Sloth, a Spider Monkey, a toucan, hissing cockroaches and an Albino Python. Connor was selected to help hold the Python.





They had kinds of booths and freebees. And Selling booths. It was more like a mini fair. Brian and I got registered to vote, I found a Pampered Chef Lady, I was given a Free Energy Saving Lightbulb, Brian entered a contest to win a Free Lasik Surgery and I bought a Necklace.






Which brings me to my 2nd WORD. It is an asymmetrical necklace. Part of it really bugs me- being asymmetrical and yet I was strangely drawn to it's un-symetrical-ness.
Most necklace have their main midpoint bead (or whatever) and then they beads extending on the sides are the same on each side. This isn't. But it is slightly off center in this picture.
Brian asked if I was really his wife. I am never asymetrical about anything. I had been looking for the perfect necklace to go with this dress. It has upside-downAfrican Ladies on it. This seemed to be the perfect necklace for a dress with upside down people on it.

Yes, I like dresses and sometimes a necklace. I like to 'look girly' but not act it. Like yesterday I was wearing my India Outfit and climbing the tree. I'll wear a dress and dissect a bumble-bee.
Dresses are just way more comfortable. But I can't go hiking or rock climbing in a dress.

I found a hidden treasure!!!

Have you seen my sink in my bathroom, with the metal fixtures? I thought it's a copper sink, but needs to be cleaned...... I bought brass/copper cleaner at the store....
this is like finding a hidden treasure!
BEFORE-


AFTER a LOT of Elbow Grease--

a more open schedule

I talked with Gavin and we came up with this schedule for him:
Gavin

DAILY
1. Reading 50 minutes
2. Math

WEEKLY
1. Math is to be 3 hours 20 mins a week

Due by January 1st
1. 1st 3 books in Economics
2. 6 lessons in Physics finished- with notebook, experiment results, & any quizzes
3. Have Read the following:
a. Christian Fiction
b. Christian Biography
c. Something by Rudyard Kipling

LISTS

I am working on their school lists right now. I think I have Connor's, but it feels ike something is missing. We will have a busy week next week, so whatever is missing, maybe it's OK. The boys have auditions for a play on Monday and it's auditions for what part- not IF they get a part. So they will have practice an hour each day all week. Plus the hour driving time. And on Tuesday, it'll be 4 hours out of the house at least.

CONNOR (a weekly list. what he needs to have done by Friday)
__ALEKS math 3 hours (this will increase in September)
__Science - 30 minutes 3 times a week. 1 2 3 (I put # on items so he can cross them off when he's done)
__Your Geology Experiment
__Social Studies 30 minutes 3 times a week 1 2 3
__Read 50 minutes a day M T W TH F

*Make sure to take good science notes
*Check your email in the morning for notes from mom.

Ki asked for a daily list. So I will write out only 1 or 2 days at a time for him. What he does one day will determine what I write for the next day.

Monday
___ Read Going Places pages 14-16
___ Answer G.P. Questions in your notebook. ( I wrote out questions for him, as Conor used tghe workbook last year and it's not what Ki needs anyway)
___ Aleks 15 minutes Quicktables (TimesTable drills)
___ 20 minutes a math of your choice (He has been choosing Miquon all week. He plans to finish this Miquon before starting something else, but he may change his mind- usually does)
___ Choose 1 of the following to do for 30 minutes with mom
a. Science (I found out I need to read this with him. He is getting the info all mixed up in his head)
b. Social Studies (if he chooses this I have an activity, but I'm keeping it a suprise)
c. Missions
___ Check Your Email (I have his email and password written down for him)

*************************
I am still deciding how to do Gavin's. He told me how he wants to do science, and I know how I want to do his math and reading. It's his electives I'm not sure how to schedule. I an thinking a completion date. Like "Have Economics finshed by January." and let him do it as he sees fit.

NUDIBRANCH

Ki got the Geography question of the day right. He seems to get the answer correct more often than his brothers. He doesn’t really know the answers; he is just a better guesser, LOL.

Today’s Question:
Which of the following cities are located in the Tropics? ( reminded them of the section between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn that we looked at a couple days ago)

a. Darwin, Australia
b. Miami. Florida
c. Buenos Aires, Argentina
d. Honolulu, Hawaii
e. Cairo, Egypt
f. Beijing, China


I wanted them al to have an opportunity to get a quarter. I told them I’d give them a quarter for each correct answer. Gavin asked if they had a wrong answer it’d take away one of the quarters for the right answer. I told him I don’t think so. I hadn’t thought it out, I guess. Connor says “Well, then we can just write down ALL of the answers, get quarters for the right ones since the wrong ones won’t count off.”

Hmmm. That won’t work.

So, I decided to tell them how many correct answers there are. There are 2 correct answers. They list the 2 they think are correct and can’t list more than 2. They sure made this into a much bigger production that I thought it’d be.
So Gavin got 1, Connor none and Ki got both. But before I told them that, I got the map out and told them to look for the cities they wrote down. They all found their answers. Ki was happy to see both of his were correct. Ki got 50 cents. Gavin 25. Ki felt sorry for Connor and found a quarter laying on the counter and offered it him. Connor said ‘no, thanks.’ And I told Ki he can’t give away money that doesn’t belong to him.

The Answers:
A. Darwin, Ausralia
D. Honolulu, Hawaii


Gavin got an email from a friend in Ohio. She told him one of her favorite animals is the Red Panda, so Gavin had fun looking up Red Panda on Google.

Connor decided to look at rock pictures today. I had sent him a link of a website that lists the 3 types of rocks with a lot of pictures of each. It even has the pronunciation of some them apparently. He likes this one: http://geology.about.com/library/bl/images/blbasalt.htm


Ki really likes his Zoology book! He was telling all about whales today and how he’s glad he’s not a whale. The moms lay the eggs in the water and leave them. They hatch and can’t swim. They just float in the current until they learn. (many being eaten before that because they can’t swim away from a preditor).
And he likes the nudibranch. The name is funny and it is very colorful; almost fake looking.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudibranch

and he really like Filter Feeders. He read about them today.

short day

I guess it wasn't really short, it just seemed like it. The biys actually had more school today than yesterday, but Connor was done before 11 and Gavin was done before noon. Ki had a little meltdown, but was still done by 1.

Ki won the Geo Quarter today. Today's questions was "The west part of of Australia is made up of ________________"
Connor said "LAND!" I told him that didn't count. Ki rasied his and before Gavin and said desert; which was the correct, intended answer.

Ki choose to do Miquon again today for his math and he chose to read the rest of Lesson one in his Zoology text today. He has 2 animal project workbooks, but he decided to go in order and finish lesson 1.

Connor read a page on Geology Current Events. He choose Aug 13, Venezuela. They found 5,000 yr old cat fossils. a scimtar cat I think it was. He choose a geode science experiment for next week. (and did his social studies, aleks and chose to read for his extra computer time)

Gavin did his stuff. read some in his church history book, did more of his Physics and looked at what he'd need for his first experiment next week so we could make sure we have everything. He did his Aleks and is doing well.

Connor's Roadside Geology book came. I need to order the other half of California though. I assumed our area would be in the Central/Northern book. We are RIGHT on the edge, but just on the side not covered. maybe I'll save it for a Christmas Gift.

I cleaned my bathroom and hung two loads of clothes. Ki helped me take in the towels. It was his 'Occupational Therapy 'today, LOL. a lot less kids needed occupational and sensory therapy back in the day they were made to do more house work and played outside all day.

Brian is working late. I might go to a homeschool meeting with a lady that lives around the corner from us.

XTRA!

The new system for earning Xtra Computer time seems to be going well. Monday Ki and Connor choose to ride bikes. Gavin choose to read on Monday. Tuesday I don't think we will not do extra Computer time. We are out of the house a lot on Tuesdays. Today Gavin choose to write paragraphs (4). Connor choose to do push up. He has to do 20 without stopping to get 10 computer minutes. He earned 40 computer minutes. Ki hasn't decided yet. He said he might do reading. So, you can see the pattern here. Gavin likes reading and writing; non-physical activities. Connor prefers physical activities. Ki likes a mixture.

Today we looked at our sciences for this year. So far it all looks good.

Ki and I read part of his Zoology book together. We read how the book is set up and how to use the book. We looked at the different lessons, the notebook activities for each chapter,the science experiments and the project for the book. We talked about how he wants to break down each chapter. Then we found a box for his Ocean Box and he choose a notebook to use.

Gavin spent some time going over links that describe careers in robotics and computer science. ( link 1, link2, link 3) then read the introductory portions of his Physics CD-Rom. I told him that as long as he was responible in getting his CD Rom done, then it's all his decision on when and how to do it. But, for example, if I ask to look at his Physics Notebook to see where he is in 2 weeks and he only has 1/2 a page of scribbles and no notes, then I'll start assigning things. I'm sure he'll do well. I need to talk to him about experiments. He needs to tell me a couple days before he wants to do the experiment so I can make sure we have the items and the time.

Connor read at a few different websites I have him using for Geology. I told him to take notes. I'm sure he didn't take good ones. So I'll need to work with him on note taking. And I need to give him weeky assignments for his Geology to keep him on track.

On Mon,Wed,Fri Ki does 15 minutes of Aleks Quicktables. On Mondays he does 20 minutes of other Aleks work. He can choose what math to do the rest of the days of the week. Today he choose to do his 20 minutes in Miquon.

Gavin and Connor do 35 minutes of Aleks daily. but sometimes gavin will ask if he can design mechwarriors and do calculation for the mechs as his math. I let him. That's what he did yesterday. Gavin is good about not asking to do stuff like that for math daily. He does his Aleks most days and every now and then asks to do somehting different.

Ki earned 35 cents for our Geo Mind Builders today. The first 10 cents was kind of a freebe. I offered him a dime to tell me the difference between maps and globes. He needed some geography confidence. It seemed to work. His hand was first up when I asked today's question. What is the imganiary line called that circles the middle of the earth. No one knew any of the other question.
Name the imaginary line that...
b. sperates one day from the next.
c. marks 0* longitude (I gave Connor a dime for looking it up on Google.com)
d. Seperates the tropics from the temperate region in the southern hemisphere.

Then we got out the map ( the globe didn't make the trip from Ohio) and talked about all of those things and went over the questions agaiin to make sure they got them all.

I read from Story of the World. The boys did their reading in the Bible today.

Gavin and Connor are still answering the S.A.T. questions of the day. Gavin does them daily and gets them right most of the time. I'm not sure how often Connor does them. Gavin lets us know, Connor doesn't.

I finally have my schedules and routines figured out and in place. Today is Farmer's Market day! Kettle Corn and Churros! (and some fresh fruit)

And Brian bought a Miata so he can drive to work and we have the van if we need to go somewhere.

"FIRST" day of school

First ‘official’ day of school.

The day is going well.
We had breakfast, cleaned up from breakfast. The boys did their morning chores.
We had our 1st day of school meeting. I had a notecard of everything I wanted to talk about.
We talked about morning chores (I need to check their work this week), how they can earn extra computer time, our plan this week, reminded them to check their email and talked about spending more time reading the Bible and Talking to God.

We did our Geography Mind Builders. No one got it. I was offering a quarter for the first person to get the answer (without looking at the map) and $1 for the bonus part of the question. I told them we’d do 1 of these each day. More if they want. And I’d offer coins for correct answers (unassisted). I gave them each a quarter for it being our first day and just figuring out how to work. I asked if they wanted to try another question. Connor asked “If we do 2 questions today does that mean we won’t get to do one tomorrow?”. When I assured him they’d always have a chance at 1 a day, he decided to do another. Gavin got the quarter for the 2nd question.

Here were today’s questions.
#1 What is the name of the island country off the South East coast of India? What was it originally called?

#2. What large central European country was 2 separate countries from 1949-1990? (and I added “what was the name of the division between the 2 countries? What war ended in this separation?- but they only needed to answer the 1st for the quarter.)

ANSWERS:
#1 Sri Lanka and Ceylon
#2 Germany

Connor was a little upset that he didn’t get eat his lat chocolate chip. He had 12, did 11 problems, so I didn’t let eat his 12th choc chip. Ki got all 12 eaten and said if he didn’t do 12 in his Aleks time, he’d just do Aleks even longer until he got 12 done. Gavin decided he wanted some for his Aleks time, too.

Gavin and Connor both like to listen to Weird Al while they do their math.

They looked over some of their upcoming school things. Ki read in his book; Acting and Theater.

Connor and Ki went for a bike ride.

After lunch, we’ll do Story of the World and walk to the bank to set up accounts for the boys.

EMAILING KIDS

I emjoy emailing my boys. Ki loves it! He always emails me a respose even if it's just to say "OK. I WILL". We email back and forth via his ALEKS account. I like to always remind him to do his Brain Gym before he does his Aleks. and maybe give him a little challenge or ask him a question. For Monday I told him to do 15 minutes in Quicktables, then to get some chocolate covered rasins from me for doing his second 15 minutes on ALEKS. He eats 1 for each math problem he does. (for his first 10 )

Connor almost never emails me back, but I like to send him an online message in the morning with a reminder or idea or advice about his math. He heard about Ki's Choc raisins and wanted something similar. So I sent him a message telling him I have a treat for him to eat while doing his math. (froz choc chips) - 1st 10.

Gavin sent me an email about needing dad's help to understand some of the questions. In his message I told him to make sure he asks dad when he gets home and asked if he wanted me to switch him to Algebra 1 for a while.

I also sent 'regular' emails to G&K concerning their SAT Question of the Day. Gavin has been doing them daily- but we thought just doing them f rom your email box was all you needed to have them keep your score. I just discovered they need to SIGN IN to their SAT page before they answer the question for it to count on their little percentage chart. So I emailed that info to them.

I noticed Connor have about 10 emails (from Aug 3 to now) as he just hasn't bothered checking. He's just not as into it as gavin. Who seems to email a girl from our Church in Ohio- daily. It's neat. They both have big struggles with dyslexia and they will exchange different things about their dyslexia stuggles. Gavin is getting a little better with his spelling, too, from all his emailing. He emails 2 guy friends from Ohio. almost daily. And he has a couple friends iin the homeschool group here with whom he ocassionaly exchanges emails.

GETTING READY

Last week the boys just added www.aleks.com to their reading. And they only did their www.aleks.com M-W-F. We talked a little about what other school things we'll be doing.

TOMORROW- we start in with a little more. The plan is:
Daily Reading
Daily Math
Story of the World
Geo Mind Builders
and also this week we will fine tune our housework/houserules
And the boys will spend time looking over all the school books/texts/supplies/online links we have
They will choose notebooks.

We will discuss what kind of school schedule/plan they each want.

I think it will be a good day tomorrow.

ALSO- Tomorrow I will post a 'real' homeschool journal!

YAY!

or "YEAH"

Brian helped me attach my baskets to my bike! I can get 3-4 bags of groceries now! I've enjoyed walking and biking places.

We have a dryer now. But I plan on hanging wet laundry often, still. But the dryer will be very handy.

My mom sent me a care package! It had something I have been wanting! Day of the Week kitchen towels!


On the not so YEAH side- the baskets I bought for the boys won't work with their bikes. But they have carrying handles, so we may find other uses for them.

Rock Climbing

KI
GAVINCONNOR