Getting better

I walked around a bit today without my boot on.  I figure I only have a few more days until I see the doctor, no reason not to try it out.  I ran some errands this morning and I wore it since I would be doing so much walking.

When I got home, I took it off while I worked on school and did the laundry.  I got to sit for most of the afternoon because the kids went off to sled at N and C's house.  They have a super big backyard with a huge hill so they sledded there.  I had to call them home at 5.  They didn't sled the whole time.  It was strange to have them out of the house for so long.  The house was very quiet.

I did get a lot of work finished though.  I am changing our schooling for 2013.  I am just not motivated to do COVA anymore.  I don't feel like it is benefiting the kids, we are tied to them and can't seem to go off on our own interests.  The girls really dislike school and I think COVA and the curriculum is partly to blame.  The other part goes on me because I can't seem to make it interesting for them.

Just asking the kids how they wanted to change school was eye opening.  Cairn said she wanted to play more games and she knew how to adjust the games for everyone to play together.  A great idea because I love games, we have many many games and educational games are everywhere and just regular games can be made more educational.  For example, we have Pay Day.

Cairn has been playing a lot with N.  This is a good game for Andrew to practice counting 1 to 1 correspondence, Skylar to practice counting/adding money and Cairn can write checks for the bills owed and keep track of her money on a check register to practice adding and writing checks.

Cairn also loves to play Speed (the game my friend in Germany made).  Skylar has learned how to count by two's so now it is time to add in Speed for her to learn how to skip count other numbers.  We will try it on Andrew and see what happens.

Skylar suggested more science experiments and reading aloud.  Both things I can do fairly easily.  I have a membership at The Happy Scientist to help us with our science experiments and don't forget I have Magic School Bus subscription for this year.

We will be doing COVA math and art for the girls.  I have a lifetime membership to Always Ice Cream and Clever Dragons   These sites will help the kids with a whole variety of things but I plan to have the kids learning typing here, playing Spanish games, practicing states and capitals and other games as they become available.  I have a book called English from the Roots Up that we will be using for spelling and vocabulary.  I already have lots of curriculum pieces and units that I have purchased through Curr Click.  Plus we have Girl Scouts and 4H plus all the things that our homeschool group does plus...plus....too many things to list.

I feel excited again and I know that rubs off on the kids.

Just a good day

We seem to be falling into a really good routine these days.  The kids are working on their schoolwork everyday and we are getting to do some of those extra things.

The last 2 days Cairn has been working on finishing up her Literature unit on King Arthur.  She made a lapbook instead of doing worksheets and she has had a great time.  She has a couple more things to add and then I will take pictures to add to the blog.  She is also working on her writing.  She has such a negative attitude about writing that we have just been doing some very simple writing assignments just to get her in the habit of writing.  She has improved tremendously in her attitude.  After doing several assignments, this week I am having her edit some of them and then I will have her rewrite one into a final paper.  Then next week she will start working on writing to a prompt or question.  I hope she has more confidence now.

Skylar is finishing up another unit on subtraction.  This week we have been concentrating on word problems and trying to decide if you should add or subtract.  She is still enjoying her Draw, Write, Now books and draws a picture everyday.  She doesn't like doing the backgrounds so much but she likes to learn how to draw new things.

Andrew has been focusing on piano and learning the rest of his letters.  All day long I get, "what does this say?"  Skylar suggested he start doing Reading Eggs and since I don't want to pay for it since I get it for free from the school, we had Andrew start at the very first map and lesson of Skylar's account.  He LOVED it today.  He was so excited about learning a letter we hadn't covered yet and being able to "read" words on the computer.  He didn't really read them because the computer said it but he could match the words to the pictures after the computer said it and he felt like he was reading.  Doesn't matter to me - he was happy and excited.  As always Andrew is around when Skylar is doing her math.  Over the past 3 days he has answered every question correctly that I have asked Skylar in regards to "do you add or subtract in this problem."  So while he was outside riding his scooter today, I asked him a couple questions and he still got them right.  Maybe I should be doing her math curriculum with him

Everyday the kids have a list of the assignments they are supposed to get finished (I print them off of Homeschool Planet-I am part of their beta test - I love the program).  I took Science and History off of their list and made a list for myself.  As soon as I see the kids need a change or when they finish their work I pull out my list and start working on it.  It seems to have helped with them not feeling overwhelmed.  In history, we are learning about Thanksgiving and why we celebrate it.  In science, we are working on our Air unit from the Magic School bus.  I have introduced the periodic table again also.  Yesterday we did an experiment with a glass, water and a piece of cardboard.  We filled the glass with water, put the cardboard on the top and then flipped it over.  We got it to hold one time and the kids thought I was doing magic.  Then we talked about the real reason.  We also talked about how scientists make observations before they make inferences.  That little discussion has also helped with some behavior stuff too.  Now, when someone says, "she is mad at me" I can ask them if they are inferring that.  It has made them stop and think a couple times and then realized that the other person wasn't mad but busy or frustrated at something else or some other reason.

Our Scientists and piano player

I recently purchased Cairn a subscription to Magic School Bus Science Club.  We got our first shipment - Water!!

So we started the day out with science experiments.

We talked about what materials float and sink so we could start talking about submarines and why they can float and sink.

 Cairn hypothesized that the sub must have some plastic or wood built into it to make it float.

First, we filled the sink with water and emptied a sprite can.

We filled the can with water to make it sink (we could never get it to sink completely) and then we filled the can with air and made it float.

 Pretty cool!!  Now the littles were not interested at first, not until Cairn started blowing the air out and getting excited and then we had 2 extra kids!!  That's fine with me - then it was their choice and not mom made me.

After that experiment, we made solutions or tried to make solutions with oil, salt, sand, and food coloring.

After solutions, we learned about chromotography paper and capillary action.  We learned about the molecular structure of water - H2O and the periodic table.  Cairn was thrilled.  Then later in the day as I was going through her lessons I found a lesson that we covered - solids, liquids and gases.  All the kids learned about the states of matter and atoms today.

After science, we did some other schoolwork and then got ready for Andrew's 2nd piano class.  He was ready to go as soon as he woke up.

He had another great class.  He is very on task and he knows so much already.  After class, I was talking to his teacher about how his little fingers just can't maneuver on their own yet - he can't make his fingers move independently of each other and this is totally developmental - there is nothing wrong with him.  She said that will come in time and he may struggle with the first couple songs he plays on the piano but it will come.  She was actually more concerned that he couldn't sit through an entire class - he has blown her away because he can easily!!

After piano we returned home to finish up the schoolwork we didn't finish in the morning.  Since our science experiments took up so much time they didn't get much else finished plus Skylar didn't finish but one assignment at piano.  The girls take some of their book work to Andrew's piano class so they can sit out in the hallway and work quietly.  Cairn did a fantastic job of finishing most of her assignments and she even commented at home how good it felt to have spent her time wisely.  I also found out at class that there is another boy in class who homeschools (he is 4) and his 2 older sisters will be joining my girls in the hallway.  Oh boy - more friends!!

Tonight, I ran some more errands while the kids stayed home and played outside.  It is really getting to be fall because I remember the sun setting so late and tonight when I came home at 8 it was already SOOOO dark.

Here is our silly Jewel - she loves to cuddle when she sleeps.