too much computer??!

It's a topic on which I go back and forth. How much time it too much? Why is 'too much time' thought of as 'too much time'? Will it burn their retinas or cause cerebral impairment? Will is make it difficult to sleep?

Why do I want them on the computer less?

Brian (my husband) likes to play games on the computer before bed or while taking a break after working outside or in the garage on the weekends. He will play games with our 3 boys (over the modem). I love that they spend time playing together but am not always happy that after 4 hours (and its 10:30PM) they are still on and I have to remind them they need to go to bed. They only play all together late like that on the weekends and only a couple times a month.

And the last time they did this they had been outside playing for about 6 hours that day. While doing research on why 'they' say to limit computer time, the only real reasons I could find was to make sure they are not on the computer all day instead of getting outside to play and be with friends. They seem to spend enough time playing, for the most part, so as long as they are getting their schooling & chores done , then I guess computer time isn't really that important. They don't watch much TV.

On school days computer time is:
between 7-8 IF they have their morning work done. I don’t wake them (I sleep till 7:30ish). So they have to get up on their own and get things done. Ki often doesn't play on the computer in the morning- and he is fine with that. He likes his sleep. Gavin is pretty good about getting up early and getting all his morning work done so he can play. Connor is 50-50.

After school (which includes playing outside), if they have done a good job at picking up after themselves they get about 45 minutes. If they haven’t done a great job picking up after themselves, I don’t take away all computer. I find it better to take away half. ‘No computer’ really is better than 20 minutes. Yet they take the 20 minutes and then get upset they can’t finish their game- so it is more effective then taking all computer time away for them)Tues/Thursdays they don't get 'after school' computer because we are gone.
But some nights after dinner Brian will play computer games with them. Though sometimes they get into Axis & Allies (board game) or on a RPG kick.

So, I guess their computer time as is, is fine.
Connor has ‘regular school’ pplus LARP crafts- making arrows that are Amttgard legal, and sewing covers.
Gavin will be adding ‘planting radishes’ to his normal list.

Ki is helping Connor.

Quasi-Confsion

I called today about getting a work permit for Gavin. I didn’t know which came first- applying for a job or getting a work permit so he can apply for a job. He needs to apply for a job and have a job lined up first, before he gets a work permit.

The lady wanted to now what school sponsors us. I told her we homeschool & are not sponsored by another school. She then asks about what charter school, or other private school, are we affiliated with. I told her we don’t go through a charter school; it’s just us. She was confused. I was confused as to what they wanted to know. I think the PSA I filed today will be good enough. I have a copy.

In order to grant a wok permit the schools need to have his grades approved. We don’t really ‘do grades’. So I have to go through websites to see what classes are offered in a typical 10th grade so I can figure out what we have done and how it applies to those topics then give a grade letter.
AND we have just had 1 month of school so far, what kind of grades do they expect after just 1 month?

I need an attendance record. I wonder if they’ll accept my “Days Absent Record” in the bottom drawer.

I never replaced our Social Security Cards. I had them in my purse when we were moving here. Dumb idea- but for a big move it seemed good at the time to have them handy. Well, my purse was stolen. I looked into getting them replaced. I forget what I found out, but for whatever reason I guess I decided as long as I have the numbers written down at the house (which I do), I didn’t need replacement cards.
Looks like I do now!

Unschooling would be a lot easier if no one ever required grades or records- but they do at some point. That’s where the “QUASI-“ part of quasi-unschooling comes in.

*small rant* He’s MY kid, I know what he’s doing daily, I know his schooling and as long as I sign that he can get a job he should be able to! It should not be at the discretion of a public school system he does not even attend! *end rant*

The PSA (Public School Affidavit) is always a little unnerving to me. It asks about administrator names and director titles, etc. It was easier in Ohio to submit a form. Just think; if we lived in Texas we’d not have to submit anything at all! But I filled it out and submitted it so we are legally submitted- whatever that means. It’s not approval or anything.

language arts & dyslexia

This is a NanoFictionary story Ki wrote. I corrected a few things in blue-

There is 2 xplorers they persuwtid [parachuted] there cars out of there
plans [planes]. Then they ran in tow ech other on the shakes remote islandand died the snake uyuy whitnis [witnessed] it all and they ware naver seen oh gen [again].

'boring' science class (and more)

Ki is learning about mollusks in science. I love Youtube for science class! Ki loves watching videos of the sea animals about which he's learning. Today was SHIPWORMS- which are pretty awesome! They are a clam species that bore into wood. They bore into piers and make them collapse. The bore into ships and cause them to sink. (some clams bore into coral, too)We found a goood video that showed some of the Mollusk parts that he was learning, like the foot and siphons. I then found some other videos for him to watch tomorrow or Monday. I always have a couple Youtube Days with his science. He loves that.

here are the videos we watched(and saved for later):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FOAzLcy8WM this has no sounds, but is pretty informative and actually tells what to look for at different spots in the clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnWXgAGUHJQ&feature=PlayList&p=E9ABAE43246D2875 this is just pictures and an awesome Celtic Song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsxAr_yrJtM&feature=PlayList&p=E9ABAE43246D2875&index=1 BBC video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw85eXBNny0&feature=PlayList&p=E9ABAE43246D2875&index=2 a silly edu-song. Has terms we've been learning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8qwRCs_7x0&feature=PlayList&p=E9ABAE43246D2875&index=3 one of my favorite Mollusks... the nautilus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2iXHBuSIJY&feature=PlayList&p=E9ABAE43246D2875&index=4 a Swimming Scallop- Ki thought their description in his book was funny so I found this for him.

A walking Clam- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48_MU9NH2rc&feature=PlayList&p=E9ABAE43246D2875&index=5 again, Ki thought the picture in the book was interesting- the clam 'sticking out it's 'toungue' .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9A-oxUMAy8&feature=PlayList&p=E9ABAE43246D2875&index=6 SHARK vs OCTOPUS- because it has a mollusk and it's cool!!

MATH----MATH---

today for math Ki listens to 4 Multiplication Table Songs ( I bought a few on iTunes), then 12D x 12D for 15 minutes. That means 2 dice that are both 12 sides- rolled and them multiply the numbers (he has to reroll 1s and 10s)

WRITING--- WRITING--

NanoFictionary- a fun little storytelling card game. We use the game or just the cards seperately for writing sometimes. Today was just picking cards and making a story and writing it. There are 4 types of cards. CHARRACTERS (ex: the household of 3, the alien disguised as a human, the invisible polar bear, etc), SETTINGS (ex: the ice-cream parlour, by locker 17, on the grounds of an insane asylum, etc), ,PROBLEM :('suddenly a fight broke out', ' everyone exlodes', 'trapped!', ' a terrble accident involving food'), and solutions ('duct tape saved the day again', 'the earth was destroyed', 'they spent 6 weeks in the hospital', etc)For this assignment they had to have 1 Character, 1 setting, and 1 problem. They could add one more of each and add a solution card too if they wanted help ending their stories.Ki decided to type his on the laptop. He is color coding the phrases that tell which cards he used.

FLIBBERTY KIDS!--Liberty Kids. they have both DVD 5 and DVD 6 from Netflicks.(and then reading time)