New week, new attitude

We are continuing our way down the path the kids have chosen this next week.

Monday we have Girl Scouts and Cairn has her writing class at the library.
Tuesday the girls have science at the library.
Wednesday is our standing playdate day with science included.
Thursday is piano for Andrew and Cairn plus Cairn is participating in a research study with the University of Denver.
Friday we have an art class and piano for Skylar.

We will be working on math, piano, reading and writing at home everyday.  I will let you know what else they fall into this week.

I have been spending the weekend getting ready to consign some toys and clothes. The kids have helped out a lot with collecting toys, carrying things upstairs and putting them on the computer.

We have been staying out of the rain and off the roads and away from the flooded areas.  As soon as the water recedes we will find a way to help out the communities.  This has been very devastating for Colorado and we have been directly hit by knowing friends who have been flooded.  Keep Colorado in your thoughts, please.

2nd week of school

This happens every year but this time I am prepared for it.  This is also why I don't really like to take long breaks from school.

Everyone's attitude toward school is just negative and instead of saying they don't want to do school they misbehave (yes, even homeschooled children misbehave).

We have had lots of fighting, tattling, nitpicking and just general not so nice behavior.  I just keep telling myself that it is the 2nd week of school.  If I can get through this week then next week, my normal children will return.

Last week, they were very excited about all the new things they were going to learn, the new books and materials they had.  But this week, it is old hat and boring therefore I get the behaviors.  Next week, we return to "this is what we do, we homeschool, so let's do it."

Monday - we had our first troop meeting with our much smaller troop - last year was 21 and this year we are starting off with 7.  We had a lot of fun - played games, learned a little and figured out what we want to do for the year.  Cairn and I went to our first Mother/Daughter book club meeting.  It was fun.  We saw some old playdate friends from about 4 years ago (I was actually pregnant with Andrew when we left the group) and made a new friend who homeschools.

Tuesday - Andrew had speech and he is progressing very very well.  He works so hard to improve his speech plus he just loves Ms. Jill.  Then Cairn had a writing workshop and we ran into the new friend we had met Monday at book club plus one of our regular homeschool friends.  She LOVED the class and wants to take a 4 week class next month.

Cairn is such an incredible reader and so creative and elaborate in the stories she creates when she plays that I always thought she would be an awesome writer but she has always hating writing.  Not anymore.  Over the years, I have never pushed her to write, I figured it would come in time if she was really going to be a writer.  Plus, I knew that she would go to college able to write and communicate effectively so I wasn't worried.  It paid off - last night and today I found her hunched over her notebook writing.  No prompting from me!

Wednesday - We did our schoolwork and then went to a friends house to swim and just hang out while we still can be outside!!

I have been busy every night this week with either our book club or Girl Scout leader meetings.  I have 3 this week - Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  Friday night, Skylar has piano.

2nd Day and More Hives

Skylar woke up at 5 AM with itchy legs.  The hives had returned with a vengeance.  I was able to get her back to sleep but I got up to get to work.

I woke everyone but Skylar up at 7:30.  It was a crazy morning for some reason and we didn't get on task until 11 AM.  I was talking to Uncle Mait, Cappy, the doctor, and Girl Scout leaders.  I just need to go back to the rule of no answering the phone during school.

Skylar woke up eventually with hives everywhere - they were thicker and had spread to more places.  I put a call into the doctor and they said the hives will come and go - come in if she gets a fever or becomes sicker.

The hives got pretty itchy so we tried an oatmeal bath.  I had to look up how to do an oatmeal bath - you can either buy them for about $5 or you can make it at home with cheesecloth and oatmeal.  I chose to make my own.

This is a before picture.  I also have one of her butt that looks really painful.

For lunch, Skylar felt up to meeting a friend at the park for a picnic so we went.  Within 20 minutes, she was laying down and refusing to play.  Over an hour, I watched her get sicker and sicker.  I finally got the doctor since it was across the street.  They said bring her in if she has a fever.  I took her home and her temperature was 100.4 - not a real temp according to the doctor's office.  At 5 PM, her fever had shot up to 101.5.  I called back and they said to take her to urgent care.  I tried waiting for Dad to get home so I only had to take Skylar but by 7:30 he wasn't home.  I left Cairn and Andrew with a neighbor and took Skylar.

The doctor says it could be a viral reaction or it could be a new food allergy or a new reaction to her milk allergy.  At this point, we only want to make her comfortable until the hives go away and then we can do a food elimination diet to try to determine what she is allergic too.  I am thinking it may be time to take her back in for some more blood work to check on her immune system.  Her system continues to be weaker.

For school, Cairn worked hard on trying to get enough points to get ahead of Uncle Mait in Duolingo.  She completed her math (within seconds), did a free write for Free Write Fridays, watched part of the science video on astronomy and practiced the piano.  Skylar only finished her handwriting and a writing assignment.  Andrew did his handwriting, math, speech and watched a tiny portion of the science video.

The science video was fascinating - we didn't finish it because we had to stop it a lot and discuss what we had learned.  Did you know that Mercury's day is longer than its year?  Did you know that scientists have sent satellites toward Mercury to study it but the sun "eats" them? (gravitational pull of sun is greater than Mercury's)  Did you know that we have never been able to reach the surface of Venus because the atmosphere is so thick?

Next week is a full week of school and the kids continue to be excited about it.

First Day of Not Back to School

Today is the first day of our new schedule and new school year.  The new schedule starts at 7 :30 for the kids.  I am already up, having exercised, read the news, checked email and made breakfast.

Of course, we had to take pictures of such a big event.

Andrew has been working on Kindergarten since January and should be finished soon - it just depends on how hard he works.  Skylar has a little more math and reading to do and she is finished with 1st grade so before Christmas she will be 2nd grade.  Cairn is starting 5th grade.

After pictures, we went inside and got right to work.
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Skylar is sitting on a towel that is wrapped around a bag of ice for her hives.

 This is Jewel our mascot that always sits nearby so she can make sure mom is keeping them on task.  She is my shadow and until I get somewhere to sit for awhile she follows me everywhere.

The Plan

Andrew 

Finish Handwriting Without Tears (HWT)- Get Set for School and then he will do My Printing Book
Math- Math U See Alpha level
Language Arts - Speech/Oral Practices, FAST reading
Science - Supercharged Science
Social Studies - this 1st semester we will be learning Geography, American History and American Government
Piano - starting his 2nd year

Skylar

Finish HWT My Printing Book and then Printing Power
Math - Math U See Alpha level - almost finished and then Beta level
Language Arts - Brave Writer Jot it Down
Science - Supercharged Science
Social Studies - this 1st semester we will be learning Geography, American History and American Government
Piano - starting her 3rd year
Spanish - Duolingo and Rosetta Stone

Cairn

Finish HWT Cursive Success and then do Copywork to practice handwriting
Math - Math U See Gamma Level and then Delta level
Language Arts - Brave Writer Partnership Writing
Science - Supercharged Science
Social Studies - this 1st semester we will be learning Geography, American History and American Government
Piano - continuing her private lessons with Ms. Flowers

All the kids will be participating in Electives such as Greek/Latin study, The Arts, Group Science, Group Math, Classics reading, book clubs.  The girls will also be continuing with Girl Scouts even though it will look very different this year.  We won't be doing weekly meetings.

At the end of the day, this is what the school area looked like.

Everyone completed what was ready and they had good attitudes.  We had to take Skylar to the doctor for her hives.  They suspect they are hives induced by her virus illness.  She itched a lot until we got some Claritin.  It should last only a couple days and then be gone.  Hopefully, everyone will start feeling themselves soon.

We met some friends at the park to play for a bit since Skylar wasn't contagious.  She didn't have a lot of energy but did have some fun.

I went to an Essential Oils training class to learn more about Essential Oils.  I have become very interested in the healing with essential oils.  I ran into a couple teachers I use to teach with at Alice Terry and I learned a lot.  I didn't get school ready since I was home late so hopefully I will have time in the morning.

Can we start school tomorrow?

Everyone woke up feeling much better today.  No fevers, more energy and appetites returned.

The negative - with the disruption of our trip and not being able to play with friends since they were sick - the kids were bored.  We ran a few errands to get out of the house but they were still bored.

Finally, in the afternoon, the question came - "Can we start school tomorrow?"

I was surprised but not all the shocked.  Even though the kids complain some days about doing school they still like the routine of having something to do and learning.  Since we hadn't been doing school for a couple weeks they were ready to get back to it.  With a few days of having some prep time I was ready to start school - my plans were made, the materials were ready, school supplies purchased and labeled and the classroom had been cleaned for a new year.

In the late afternoon, the girls did a free online book club.  The woman is going through the Magic Tree House books so we have already read them so it was easy to just show up online and participate.  We learned about Native Americans and bison.  The girls also decided they wanted to do the next book.  So we pulled it out and started rereading it.  The woman has several activities to do with the book.

I told the kids we would start school the next day - 2 days earlier then planned.  They were excited.

Senate Chambers

What a day!  I was up early to take a shower and be ready to head out the door by 7:15 AM.  Dad and I were heading down to the Capitol to sit in Senate Chambers to listen to the Senate debate the gun laws that are before the Colorado Legislature

What an eye opening experience.  Thankfully, I couldn't be there all day or I would have split my head open I was so angry.

I was still very naive up until Friday about what happened in Congress.  I wanted to believe they were people of high morals and courage.  Running for office is a tough job but man was I dropped off the cliff Friday.

The behavior that I witnessed was astounding.  When the meeting was called to order, people did not sit down and start paying attention.  They continued whatever they were doing.  When roll was called, they had to call numerous names several times because the people weren't paying attention.  I knew who they were and they were not paying attention.

Then they started reading the bills.  People were still up doing whatever.  Debate started.  Still many people not paying attention.  People reading the newspaper, texting, working on the computer, having side conversations, eating, leaving the room.  Total and blatant disregard and disrespect for what was happening in front of them.

I heard emotional testimony that brought tears to my eyes.  People weren't paying attention.

Note:  the people I am talking about are the elected Senators - not the people in the gallery there to observe.

At one point, the Republicans asked for a layover vote on one bill.  To allow more time to problem solve, come up with a great bill instead of a mediocre bill.  Straight down party lines they voted no.  This wasn't about doing the right thing and writing a good piece of legislation this was about passing whatever they wanted because they have the majority.

When the vote for the layover vote was called, all the people that were out of the room came RUNNING in to vote. They hadn't heard any of the testimony, reasons to lay over.  They had already made up their minds. I was sickened.

I had to leave because Aunt Trish wanted to come see some of the debate too and I had to go to Girl Scouts by 1 PM.  Dad, Aunt Trish and Grandma stayed the rest of the day and heard all of the debates.  I tried to listen on the internet and Trish kept me up to date as much as possible.

2 bills were killed by the sponsor (concealed carry on campus and liabilty for assault weapons).  5 other bills have advanced.  It looks like we only need 1 more Dem to switch and the bills will die.  Advancing bills - online gun certification, gun ban for domestic violence offenders, limits on high-capacity magazines, background check fees, universal backgrounds checks.

But still I am sickened and heartbroken.  The system is broken.  We can whine and complain and say there is nothing to do but I won't.  I will fight, I will write, I will make phone calls.  I will do whatever I can to help bring this Country back to where it needs to be left for my children.

On a side note, Homeschoolers could be in trouble - article #1.
Be careful what your kids are being exposed too - article #2

I was already up in arms on Friday because of being in the Senate but these 2 articles sent me further over the edge.  My children will never set foot inside a public school whether they want to or not.  They can't be exposed to the lies that the PS system is now teaching.  Boston Tea Party was an act of terrorism (but not 9/11) and Paul Revere is not a hero but drug/alcohol/gun smuggler.  People, please wake up!

Catch up

Friday was a gorgeous day.  We went to a rally in the afternoon.  Then we headed out to lunch at our new favorite restaurant, India Oven.  We love their buffet because we can try lots of different things and the kids have many favorites - saag paneer, bindi masala, sweet potato masala, banana pakora and mango chutney.  Grandma and Aunt Trish liked it too.  Skylar and Andrew have already decided that that this the restaurant they want to go to for their birthday dinners.

We had a few minutes to spare so we could stop at home to get Cairn's piano bag before class.  The weather was so nice that the kids and I walked around the little strip mall and checked out all the stores.

Saturday was chilly with snow in the forecast at 2 PM but first the girls had to do a Girl Scout cookie booth sale.  Cairn and I did a shift together and we were super cold but I had dressed for the cold.  Skylar did a shift with a couple other moms but she did not dress for the weather.  She was super cold.  The girls ended up selling 123 boxes over 3 hours.  Cairn had gone home with Dad when he dropped off Skylar and I had stayed to help break down the sale when we were finished.  Then I sat in the car with another mom to chat.  By the time, we got home Skylar and I were both frozen and I just never seemed to get warm again.  It started snowing at 2 PM on the dot but we only got a sprinkling.

Sunday we were out the door early to head south.  First the girls had a card making class to go to run by one of their friends.  The moms and I just sat around and chatted.  Andrew hung out with me.  Then we headed to lunch and found a park to play at for a few minutes.  We were trying to find things to do in town because I didn't want to head home again since we had to be back by 3 PM for 4H.  After the park, we hit the library and finally 4H.

It became quite clear today that 4H is not for us.  I knew that 4H had a lot to do with raising animals and I know that farm animals are eaten but I thought I could avoid most activities about the killing/eating of animals.  NOT so.  Many of the things we talked about today seemed to do with animals being eaten/raised for meat.  Then afterwards another mom was talking about killing a chicken.  It was just too much for me.  Plus, the club we were joining wasn't quite as organized as I would like it to be.  So I am going to call the office tomorrow and withdrawal from 4H.

Cairn was pretty upset about the chickens being killed so she was all for leaving 4H.  The only thing she worried about was learning cake decorating.  I told her we would still do that.  We also talked about that we would rather do more things with Girl Scouts.

Full week coming up.  First thing Monday, I am withdrawing the kids from COVA.  It isn't working for us and there isn't really any reason to stay - I won't be using any of their curriculum so we are moving on.

Girl Scout Monday

Another great day here.

Cairn got to work on her schoolwork all by herself with no help from me - I wasn't even downstairs yet.  She completed her Grammar workbook, handwriting, Always Ice cream games and Study Island. (We were a little behind)  She worked on coloring her skeleton and completing a page of her Colorado History book.  She knew the Governor's name!!  She really pays attention when it comes to politics.  The worksheet had a place to put the Governor's name so I asked her if she knew who that was - "Mom, his name is John Hickenlooper."

Skylar worked on her Reading Eggs and math (skip counting by 5's and 10's to 100).

Andrew worked on reading and piano.  He has a big solo tomorrow so we have put in some extra practice time.

We headed to Girl Scouts after lunch where the troop finished working on their 500 swaps for Thinking Day and their tri-fold board.  I will get pictures at the event.

After Girl Scouts we headed to a friends to play and visit before I went out for the night with Aunt Trish.

Little Changes

Other than the illness at the beginning of the year, this year hasn't been too bad overall.  I keep making little tweaks to the day but the main thing I have done is relax.  I have given myself permission to let go of some things, I have realized that I can't be or do everything and I have to be okay with that.  And I am.  Yes, sometimes I look around the house and think, "OMG this house is a wreck and I must get it cleaned right NOW!!"  Then I look at the kids and they are happily playing or happily involved in a project and I decide, "Nope, this time with them is more important" and I let it go.  I have also let go of trying to win the "Best homeschooling Mom in the world" award.  I don't even know who awards it.  But to my kids I am already the best mom and they tell me that every night now.  But even hearing that isn't what is keeping me motivated - it is the joy that I am seeing in the kids when they are learning.  There is no more fighting about doing school, there is no more complaining about doing schoolwork.

Today, we finished up our thank you notes.  It took us about an hour but that entire time no one complained, no one screamed; I didn't have to beg or threaten or take anything away.  They all practiced their handwriting, Cairn learned some new punctuation rules, Skylar learned to spell some new words by sounding them out and Andrew learned why we write thank you notes.

Tonight, Cairn had to complete her 3 math lessons for the day (long story for why she has to do 3) but she did it without complaining and she totally got it.  She wasn't resistant and when Dad gave her a couple helpful hints she didn't fight him.  I so remember fighting with my Dad when he was trying to teach me math - Sorry Dad!!  But it was so wonderful to see Cairn not fight with her Dad about math.

We finished reading Robin Hood today so I need to go find another book to read but in the meantime we still have our Bible story book to read.

This afternoon, we went to a curriculum swap with our homeschool group.  I didn't take anything because I didn't see anyone with young kids going and that's all I have to pass along right now.  I save everything that Cairn uses for the younger ones.  We did pick up some free books and a game while we were there.  It was just nice to sit and talk with our friends.  But it was also a reminder that we all homeschool differently and what works for one family won't work for another.  Yes, I aspire to be like my friend Liese and go out everyday to some wonderful learning opportunity but my kids would go insane.  They like to go out sometimes but they also need their down time - some more then others.  That's okay.  What we are doing works for us.

Snowy school day

My body and my work still haven't caught up yet.  2 weeks going by without my regular daily stuff getting done causes a lot of back up.  Laundry and cleaning house are still off.  I am still way behind in emails and the blog.  On top of that I am just exhausted by the end of the night - it might be the anxiety of all the unfinished.  I have been heading to bed earlier then usual to try to catch up.

It finally snowed - it actually started late yesterday afternoon so we woke up to about 2 inches.

Every morning, Andrew wakes up and asks if it is a school day so he knows if he can watch a TV show or not.  He is up at 6:30 or 7 AM everyday - I am too but I am not awake enough yet to get him going on school plus I need to make lunch for Dad and breakfast.  Many times, I am on the computer checking my email and the news so why couldn't he watch TV?  Finally, we decided that since he was up so early and he will get dressed right away if you ask him too that he can have ONE TV show in the morning as long as he is up and dressed.  2 smooth mornings later and things are going well.  He asked today for another show but I said no and he was fine - he just needed to test the waters.  As soon as the show is over I am ready to get him going on school and he is ready too.

The girls are doing a fantastic job in Always Ice Cream.  I have started sitting with them to make sure they do one level a day and then switch games.  So now they are attempting a whole variety of games.  Most of them take 30 seconds to 3 minutes depending on how high a level.  Cairn has learned almost all the state locations and has started working on capitals.  I found an Americas location game so both girls started  learning all the countries in South America plus the countries in North America (you know the 3).

In math, Cairn is working on linear equations and seems to get it pretty easily.  In Science, she started building her skeleton today.

Andrew has learned all his letters sounds and names and is wanting to read.  Tonight Cairn asked me how to spell a word and since I don't spell words for the kids (only Dad) I sounded it out so she could hear each of the sounds.  Andrew started rattling off the letters.  It was cool!  Dad looked at me like did you hear that?  So Andrew had to show off a little, Dad named some letters and he made the sounds.  Dad would turn to Cairn and ask if the sound was correct.  He was always right.

What a week!

Wow was this week busy.

Monday started off with school, getting ready for Uncle Mait and our Girl Scout service project at Vi.

Tuesday was school, more cleaning, a party at Andrew's piano class (the first of many).  I went shopping that night while Dad stayed home with everyone.  I walked way too much and had a sore foot by the end of the night but I finished up Andrew!!

Wednesday we were snowed in and didn't go anywhere but we did A LOT of cleaning and worked on school.

Thursday was school, cleaning and 2 more parties.  Cairn, Andrew and I went to my Girl Scout leader party and Skylar and Dad went to her piano party.

Today, we did school, laundry, went to a friend's house to watch Elf (totally cute, feel good movie), Cairn's piano party and then more shopping.

In between stuff, we have had friend's drop by with gifts or goodies, dropped by other friends' houses to drop off our goodies.

School was up and down.  Cairn finished her 4th grade Literature and 5th grade materials are on their way. In math she is working on problem solving  - reading a problem and deciding on a plan of action.  With her reading skills, she gets this - just don't ask her to do the math part.

Skylar finished up her Kindie math, Language Skills, and Literature.  She has 3 more phonics lessons and then she is completely finished with Kindergarten.  Hopefully, 1st grade material will be here in January.

Andrew wants to read so badly he can taste it.  We played a board game today.
Andrew was pretty quick, he beat me a couple times.  He could identify all his letters, rhyme, find beginning letter sounds and find simple 3 letter words on the board.

Cairn working on her Literature in her favorite spot.

Skylar working on Reading Eggs where Mom makes her work so  she will concentrate.

Oreo, too big for the box but his favorite spot to sleep.

Andrew learning to put on his new shoes.  These are a little more difficult so he has been practicing.

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.

New Reality

Everyone is aware that I supported Romney in this election and it has hit hard that he lost.  I am trying to figure out our new direction with the new reality we face.  It is going to be a rough road.  I already have ideas forming and people ready to support me/us so we shall see where this goes.  Details another time when there are more details.

Today, we got right back into the old regular routine.  No more mom making phone calls, checking emails in the morning or checking news sites.  I spent a little time reading some sites but then it was full on school.  With the time change, everyone is up and ready to go by 8 AM so by 9:30 when we needed to leave everyone had almost all their schoolwork completed.

We took Cairn to her Microsoft class and since the other 2 were a little behind we went into the food court, took over a table and got to work.  The kids seemed to like it and they got a lot of work finished and I was even able to assess Andrew on his letter recognition and sounds.  He did great and now I know where to focus.  He is ready to learn to read.  He is always asking me what a word says (1st clue) and he understands a lot of phonemic awareness (2nd clue).

After Microsoft, we headed to Cairn's next class - Ameritowne.  This is a great opportunity for her.  They have so many weeks of classes to learn about finance and money, running a business, getting a job and leadership.  Then the final activity is running the town for several hours.  This week's assignment - read the "Help wanted" ads and find a job you might want to interview for the day long activity.  Cairn was looking at doctor, medical center supervisor and bank teller.

While Cairn was in school, Skylar and Andrew played outside because it was 74 degrees outside.

After Cairn's class we went home to ride bikes and then finished up schoolwork.  Cairn had a great attitude about school today which was refreshing.  Could it have been because mom was more focused?  More than likely.

We are doing a big unit study on Thanksgiving this month.  We love the Learn our History DVD's so we watched the one tonight about Thanksgiving and the Mayflower.  My favorite part was when the Pilgrims (in 1620) figured out that when people were given their share of property and had to work it to survive they prospered but when the group shared everything there was no prosperity.  People gave up and didn't work very hard.  Sound familiar?


Tuesday, November 6th
Andrew's piano class - this was his first class where he had to perform to earn a reward - it was the bird cage contest.  He had to wear his hat too.

Here he is with his reward he chose - a plastic slinky.  The girls had chosen this reward several times and he always wanted his own and now he does.  I think he is so handsome in his hat.

School, Girl Scouts and super sleepy boy

Everyone was  up with the sun since it was up earlier then usual and we were at work on schoolwork by 8 AM.

Cairn worked on her unit assessment for probability and data, did a Spanish lesson, finished  her vocabulary lessons by taking the final mastery test.  She is also working on math facts and writing better paragraphs.  She has also decided that she wants to play the flute after she finishes up her Master's piano class.  I would love to see her continue her music.

Skylar is working on subtraction story problems in math.  She has pretty much finished all her Literature because we have read so much her entire life that she knows all the stories they want her to read as does Andrew.  They both can answer any question about the stories.  Skylar is also working on improving her writing and reading more and more.  She seems to be stuck that every vowel only makes a short sound so when we do long vowel sounds it takes a while because she just isn't as fluent but we will get there.  She is determined.

Andrew is doing more and more work at his desk. He loves having schoolwork and he loves the challenge.  He especially loves it when he can answer before Skylar.  I let him play in between activities especially when I am working with one of the girls but he always comes back as soon as I ask him too.  He is hungry.  Today, he worked on matching letters and making three of a kind, gluing, coloring, counting and matching a number with the groups of objects.  He is also working very hard on his piano.  One day last week he wasn't willing to sit and practice or even let me correct his hands.  I told him he might have to quit piano and he went crazy.  "I can't quit piano!"  He immediately sat back down and got to work and everyday since has been the same and I have seen a marked improvement.

Here is Andrew ready to go to Girl Scouts.  He found this hat in his dresser and wore it all afternoon.  You know he is 3 1/2 now!!

We had Girl Scouts in the afternoon and then came home for dinner.  While we were eating,  Andrew asked if it was almost nighttime.  I told him yes and he said he was tired.  I guess so!!  We were up from 2:30 AM until 4:30 AM and then he woke up for the day at 7:00 AM.

Why you ask?  There was someone in the neighborhood stealing Romney signs.

Speaking of the election - I was responsible for a number of voters to contact and make sure they vote.  My list is 87.7% voted.  I only have a few that I will have to call tomorrow for the last time to make sure they vote.  They were mostly poll people and not mail in - all but 2 of my mail in people turned in their ballots already.  I am hoping to get 100%.  Many of these people I have talked to several times.

Debate, sick kitten, piano and beautiful weather

I woke the kids up at 7:15 AM to get ready to leave for our debate between Mike and Joe (our candidates running for Congress).  The debate started at 8 AM.  I wanted to get there a couple minutes early but we arrived just as they started so we ended up sitting on the floor.

The kids did a great job - I think it was the food - they had a table of snacks so the kids ate lots of fruit.  I was disappointed at the debate because it appeared that they bussed people in.  After the debate I heard a woman introduce herself to Joe and said she didn't know anything about him before the debate but she would be voting for him now because of his stance on women's issues.

I don't understand the big deal about women's issues even though I am a woman.  I wish I could find someone to talk to that could explain it to me - someone who could have a reasonable conversation.  My friend that used to talk to me about the Democratic side is no longer speaking to me so ...

After the debate we returned home to work on school and get ready for piano.

Andrew recently discovered that he is now 3 1/2 so he loves to tell everyone.  He told his piano teacher today (he wasn't supposed to start until he was 4 1/2 or 5) and she had forgotten how young he was so she asked him to play the song they are working on.  He did great!!  I think she was a little impressed that he could do it.

After piano the kids played outside, riding their bikes and N's scooter and just enjoying the 70 degree day.  While I made dinner, the kids played in the backyard.  I made taco salad, peas and brownies.  I had some onions that needed to be used up so I sauteed them and put them in the taco filling.  EVERYONE raved about how good dinner was tonight - the only thing different was adding onions.  I didn't tell them because they don't like onions.  Maybe I should add onions to other things?

Everyone went to bed easily tonight because I had them up so early this morning.  Tomorrow we will have to take Oreo to the doctor because he isn't doing too well.  I am a little nervous.  The last time a kitten stopped being playful and got suddenly sick she died of leukemia.  Fingers crossed.

Almost to the election

It has been a super busy time here at the house.  I have been very busy with making nightly phone calls to my  fellow Republicans (I have a list of over 1000 people) plus I will be doing a couple phone banks for Romney this week.  We have also attended rallies, meetings and walked the neighborhood and talked to anyone I can get to talk.

Plus we did our regular stuff - school, piano classes, Cairn's Microsoft computer class, an art class and Girl Scout stuff and don't forget getting ready for Halloween.  So super super busy but some of it will ease up as soon as the election is over.

On Sunday, we went to a Halloween event (post shortly) and we took N and C.  In the car, the kids started talking about the election - them not me.  N got me into the conversation because he was telling me about what the kids at his school were saying negative about Romney.  He wanted to know what to say back to them because he supports Romney too.  It was a fun conversation and I loved that he was just as interested in the election as my kids.  If nothing else, this has been a great learning experience for my kids.  We have talked about the election process from caucus (because I went) to why we talk to people, why we watch debates, why when we do decide on a candidate why we support him/her and what we do to show our support plus all the reasons why the US has elections and not all countries do.  Hopefully, we will get to talk about elections again and we will see how much they retain.

In school, Cairn has been working on probability and data, European Renaissance and ecosystems.  Skylar is working on subtraction and we have now added spelling to her daily work.  She loves to write so I decided it was time to add in spelling.  She is also learning about Argentina.  Andrew is working on food groups, the alphabet and learning to spell his name.

Four Mile Historic Park field trip

We started a new routine this morning.  Everyone is awakened and they are to get dressed, brush their teeth and hair and make their beds before coming downstairs to eat breakfast.  Then immediately after finished breakfast, they are to get started on schoolwork.  It worked well today especially since we had to be out the door by 9 AM to get to our field trip.

We went to Four Mile Historic Park so named because it is 4 miles from the house on the property to Broadway and Colfax which is where the capital building stands.  Pioneers would stop for food, drink and rest at the house before heading into Denver for business.  The house was built in 1859 by the Brantner brothers.  Eventually it was bought by the Booths who increased the farm to 60 acres and had a large honey and butter business.  Mrs. Booth produced 4000 pounds of honey at one point with all her hives.  Eventually, the railroads arrived and the property was given to the city of Denver and made into a park.

We were there to learn about the pioneers.  First we stopped at the loading of the wagon and learned how kids had to make choices about the things they could take with them across the prairies.

 This was an actual wagon - it seems so small.  I guess I always imagined the wagons to be like the ones on Little House on the Prairie.  The kids also learned that everyone had to walk the entire way since there wasn't any room on the wagon except for the driver.

 Then we got to ride on a freight wagon.  This was everyone's favorite part of the day.

Then we headed over to the fire to make some oyster mash - no oysters inside only flour, egg, butter, salt, pepper and corn.  Then they threw in some crisco to the pan and baked the batter over the flame.  The kids seemed to like - Cairn and I didn't want to try it.  I didn't like the crisco part of the meal.  Everyone got to help stir the batter.  First up Skylar,

Then Andrew, 

 Finally, Cairn.

 Waiting for our turn to try the oyster mash.

 After a snack we headed off to pan for gold.  Cairn was the expert pan handler since we took the class at the Mining Museum back in January.

 No one got wet which was amazing and they all found little pieces of gold.

Our last stop was the teepee to learn about sign language the Indians used on the prairie.  Andrew couldn't wait to go inside the teepee.

After we hit all our stops on our field trip, we ate our picnic lunch with our friends.  It was a fun morning and the weather was perfect.  Not too cold or too sunny, just a nice fall day.

When we got home (around 2 PM), Andrew was sleeping so the girls got to work with few interruptions on their schoolwork and got it finished before Cairn had to go to piano.  Cairn earned 100% on her unit assessment for fractions and decimals.  Skylar earned 100% on her language skills unit assessment too.  Andrew had finished his schoolwork in the morning so I let him nap until we left again.  He went from no naps to falling asleep early in the afternoon the last 2 mornings.  The only bad part about it is he doesn't fall asleep at bedtime and he takes forever to fall asleep too.  Tonight I finally got him to sleep at 11 PM.

Catching up slowly

Today was a nice quiet day at home with lots of schoolwork getting finished.

First, Skylar was working on drawing.  We have the Draw, Write, Now series of books and the kids are finally interested in using them.  Actually, Skylar was interested and then everyone else decided they wanted to do it too.  Skylar works harder and more frequently on hers.  Today she drew a cat.  She also finished up her math unit on addition, finished her first semester of literature and moved into book 2 of her phonics class.  She is truckin' along with her reading.

Cairn drew a cat too.  Then she worked on her Italian Renaissance study, and worked on her fractions/decimals math unit.

Andrew continues to work on learning the letters of his name.  He now recognizes the r and w everywhere.

I had a conference call with Skylar's "teacher" today (I wish they called us the parent the teacher and the other person the learning coach) anyway - she started off with "how are things going?"  Then she must have opened her file and saw that she is almost finished with her kindergarten work.  She then asked me if the work was too easy.  I said yes but we are working through it quickly so we can get her 1st grade work ordered.  She was fine with that.  It was a fast 8 minute conversation because I didn't have any questions and Skylar is doing fine.

We played outside after we finished up school until we had to leave for Skylar's piano class.

School, Mansion visit and Piano

Kids are definitely feeling better because they were ready to go out today.  We got some schoolwork finished and then we headed to the Mansion.  The mansion is open to the pubic on Tuesdays and Thursdays for people to walk around and tour by themselves.  We went to check out the areas that were not open to us at the opening.

We also took some schoolwork so we could sit in a quiet spot and work.  Just a change of scenery kind of thing.

 Cairn wrote a couple letters to friends and worked on her invention notebook.  She had learned about Da Vinci in History.  He kept a notebook full of his ideas for inventions so Cairn started one today.  One picture she showed me was a floating house.

Skylar also worked on a letter to a friend.  I had her sound out each word - it was a challenge, a little different concept for her.

After the mansion, we went to piano class.  We arrived a little early so the girls could meet with their teacher since they had missed class last week.  They got some pointers and things to work on before their own classes this week.

After piano we returned home to finish up schoolwork and then played until dinner and the debate.

Bridging Ceremony and on the mend

Looks like people are finally on the mend today.  After Dad's doctor visit yesterday and starting on antibiotics he is getting better.  All the kids are feeling better and Skylar even has most of her voice back.  Andrew still seems to be lagging a little but I am hoping it is because he was sick for so long.  He finishes his medicine tomorrow.

We also had our bridging ceremony for the troop.  Cairn bridged up to a Junior.  Skylar will bridge to Brownie next year.  It is nice that I only have to buy one uniform a year.  It was a nice ceremony.  (I didn't get to take any pictures because I was the MC - hopefully a friend will send me some)

After we got home from the ceremony, I got a text from one of the mom's.  She was telling me that a couple of the older boys were being mean to Andrew and her son had stepped in and stood up for Andrew.  He is 11 and the other boys were 13/14.  He was telling his mom because he was very upset about how they were treating Andrew. I am very sad that boys in our homeschool group are being mean to other kids but it was a good learning opportunity for me with Andrew and the girls.  We talked about how nice it was of our friend to stand up for Andrew and how proud of him I was and so was his mom.  I asked the kids if they wanted to be the mean kids or the one that had stood up for someone else.  They all agreed to be the nice kid.

After lunch, everyone worked on school.  Cairn is working on decimals, the Renaissance still and recognizing alliteration, onomatopoeia and personification in poetry.  She was very excited about it because just last week she had attended a class on it online and so she breezed through the lesson because she already knew it.  I knew it was coming up so when I saw the class offering I made sure she went.  We had talked about these in the past too but they didn't seem to click until this time.  Cairn's writing is improving tremendously.  I don't know if she has gained some extra confidence or I finally broke through the barrier but she writes with ease now.  It used to be an hour fight to get her to write one sentence.  I think part of it is that I have her typing many of her answers in One Note so when she does have to write she hasn't used up all her writing energy.  The last 2 assignments I sent to her "teacher" for a grade she has gotten wonderful comments.

Skylar is finishing up her unit on addition.  We read the Elves and the Shoemaker today and she is doing better with listening and understanding the different elements of a story - setting, cause and effect, predicting. She is almost finished with her China lapbook.  She seems to really enjoy making the lapbooks as she gets right to work on it everyday.  So today, she learned how to write the numbers 1 through 10 in Chinese.

Andrew floored me last week with his recall of stories that I had read to Skylar and his understanding so I have him working with us when we do stories now.  He knew all the answers before Skylar so I had to have them take turns because Skylar was getting pretty frustrated but it also pushed her to pay attention because if she didn't know the answer she knew Andrew knew it and she didn't like that.  He also named all the letters on a box the other day.  I didn't know he knew some of the letters so today we started working on how to spell his name.  He thought it was pretty cool to see his name written and be able to name the letters.  As soon he can name them all in order, we will start working on writing them.  

Cairn has been working on different ensemble pieces for one of her songs for piano.  Today she wanted to start putting them together so she asked me to come play the triangle.  I had Andrew do it instead because he is learning how to read music too.  He got it right away.  He loved being able to play Cairn's music so then Skylar had to join in and she did really well too.  So the three of them played a piece together.  We will practice some more and then I will get it on video.  We just have to have Cairn slow down a little so they can keep up.  It was fun to watch them all play a piece of music together.