The Fourteen Days of Homeschooling

I got this in my email, we all loved it!
"THE FOURTEEN DAYS OF HOMESCHOOLING"
written by a homeschool mom and her kids

(Sing this to the tune of "THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS")

On the first day of home school my neighbor said to me, "Can you home school legally?"
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On the second day of home school my neighbor said to me, "Are they socialized, can you home school legally?"
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On the third day of home school my neighbor said to me, "Do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you home school legally?"
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On the fourth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you home school legally?"
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On the fifth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "YOU ARE SO STRANGE! What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you home school legally?"
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On the Sixth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "How long will you home school, YOU ARE S0 STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you home school legally?"
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On the seventh day of home school my neighbor said to me, "Look at what they're missing, how long will you home school, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you home school legally?"
♪♪♪
On the eighth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "Why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you home school, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you home school legally?"
♪♪♪
On the ninth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "They'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you home school, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you home school legally?"
♪♪♪
On the tenth day of home school my neighbor said to me, "What about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you home school, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you home school legally?"
♪♪♪
On the eleventh day of home school my neighbor said to me, "I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"
♪♪♪
On the twelfth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can they go to college, I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

And the big finish

On the thirteenth day of homeschool I thoughtfully replied: "They can go to college, yes you can do this, they can have graduation, we don't like the prom, we do it cuz we like it, they are missing nothing, we'll homeschool forever, WE ARE NOT STRANGE(or insert my edit here, WE LOVE BEING STRANGE!)!, We give them P.E., and we give them tests, they are socialized, AND WE HOMESCHOOL LEGALLY!

On the fourteenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How can I get Started, why didn't you tell me, where do I buy curriculum, when is the next conference, WILL PEOPLE THINK WE'RE STRANGE? I think we can do this, if you will help us, can we join P.E. and we'll home school legally."

Space Lapbook!!!

Its done its done! Wow, we hadn't realized quite how much info we had amassed. This took longer than expected, there were the ruts of "I don't wanna work on it agaaaaaiiiinnnn." I think the best part was just how proud Z is of it! He decided early this week that it was time to finish it, and, of course, Mommy was "but don't you want to add this...." and "but we need to finish that.....". He said "NO lets finish it!!!" I obeyed. ;) Without further ado, here it is! I'll put a few pictures, and then the slideshow of all the pix; you can click on any of the pictures in the slideshow to get more details(it will popup in a new window), and don't hesitate to ask questions! A few websites we used were: http://www.homeschoolshare.com/twinkle_twinkle_little_star.php http://tenkidsandadog.blogspot.com/2008/04/space-lapbook-and-study-part-2.html http://www.homeschoolshare.com/space_lapbook.php http://www.homeschoolshare.com/marias_comet.php http://www.enchantedlearning.com/ Plus loads of google image searches.

Kids who are different....

I saw the little poem thingy that I added on the side, over there ------>
and then got this video of #4, its all perfect together! It got started by the usual "Mommy, can I have some stuff out of the craft stuff?"

Things like this help me, for the umpteenth time, remember all that I love about homeschooling. :D

"Honest Blogger" Award

Kelley presented me with the Honest Blogger award, asking me to play along and I gladly accept. :D
Hmmmm, ten honest things about myself, that's tough! I am creative, honest, passionate, loyal, loving, giving, affectionate, caring, funny, and of course a little bit crazy!

Joy Behar on The View

GOOD LORD. Joy Behar has been spouting her *un*education yet again, with her very classy, intellectual blanket statement that all homeschoolers and their parents are demented and afraid of other children. Here is the clip, you can fast forward to about 7 minutes in for the fabulous words...



I need not defend our choices, I am quite confident in what we do, and am positive its the right thing for our family. What I am speaking out against is such a public figure espousing such ridiculous, generalized words about a group of people that represents hundreds of thousands in this country. Ms. Behar needs to know she showed her enormous ignorance of this modern, rapidly increasing community.

*CORRECTION* for Walter Reed address

Thanks to Kelley for the correction in address:

Here's a tinyurl for the page with the info.:
http://tinyurl.com/5e38g5

From their website:
"Holiday cards should be mailed to:
Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD. 20791-5456
All cards must be postmarked no later than Dec. 10. Cards should not be
mailed or delivered to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. "
Kelley

Day 2

The main thing I've noticed, is Zach's "bumps" are smoothing out. He has had, since he was a baby, "bumpy" skin. Its been called psoriasis, eczema--but as with many things with Zachary, what he has didn't quite fit either diagnosis. Without a doubt, there is a calming of sorts after taking his Omega 3 supplement. I'll keep you posted! ha ha ha, get it, "posted"?? You know, like I'm posting the results here--man, I am too funny for my own self.

On another note--my dear, sweet, darling Mallory had a meltdown not too long ago. Why, you ask? Hey come on, this is Mallory, is there ever a why? Okay, yes there was this time; she was doing a math worksheet, I saw her struggling for answers and not really there in mind, as in her mind was on her easy bake oven, so I told her to put her pencil down and walk away from it for a bit. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, the horror of it all, Mommy told me to take a break from school work, what is she thinking, someone call dyfus for me!!!

Dylan pointed out the reason he got problems wrong on his math lesson...and no, silly readers, its not careless mistakes. Its because *I* put the wrong lesson letter at the top of his page. It confused him because he thought I said to do 4E but wrote 4F on the top of the page; he proceeded to do 4E anyway. Its totally my fault, darn my trying to help him learn organizational skills and writing the specific assignments, what was I thinking!

And its raining for the like bazillyeenth day in a row, and we have no vehicle. My cup runneth over! ;)

A sweet, old song is playing through my head...."There coming to take me away, ha ha hee hee ha ha hee....the men in the little white coats are coming to take me away!"

Did I mention I'm going to start college courses in a few weeks amidst all the bliss around here? Yes, we are truly living out the title of my blog.

Day 1

I'm going to start altering Z's diet, and thought I might as well keep a diary of it, here online, where you all can watch and either give input or be helped, or neither, whatever floats ya' boat. ;) So today, I've removed milk. Yes, that's all, and only the liquid, not all dairy yet. I really would like to get to where I eliminate all dairy if necessary, or get to gluten/cassein free, but right now, that's too overwhelming for me to try all at once. So, rather than doing nothing, I'll do this using the elimination process. We also started Omega 3 (DHA), these are supplements in gummy form that I found, and Z actually likes them so that makes things easier. Early today, he was very moody, highs and lows; a couple hours after taking the supplement he mellowed. Coincidence? Possibly...only time will tell.

Vote for Chelsea Musick!

Go to http://www.cmt.com/interact/music_city_madness/vote/ to vote for this talented NJ homeschooled teen! Her post most recently:

PLEASE take a few min. vote for me (CHELSEA MUSICK ).. I'm on the right hand side of the pageYou can submit as many votes as you want they don't have a limit.This guy I'm up against is ahead by a lot.The voting link is _www.cmt.com/interact/music_city_madness/vote/_ (http://www.cmt.com/interact/music_city_madness/vote/)

You can "google" search and get to her myspace page to hear much better samples of her music.

My Heritage

I was shopping at BJ's the other day, and of course I found myself browsing the books, as I always do. Most of you that read this and know me know that I do have an addiction--to books. The smell, the sounds of pages rustling, the crackling of a brand new book being opened for the first time, the feelings stirred (or not depending on the book lol) upon reading the first few words shared by another human being. As usual, I digress from my orginal writing for today. There is a book I've been wanting, Jewish Literacy, but I'm waiting for my dear husband to buy it for me because I can't rationalize spending it myself. Yes I could get it from the library, but then its not mine to go back to over and over again. Another book caught my eye, "Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family". That's my maiden name!!! Of course I had to buy it. Little did I know what was in store for me. As I began reading, I realized this isn't only a cookbook--its an anectdotal Jewish history book starting with the 1800's in Russia to the family's current stories here in the US. Understand prior to reading this, I had no idea that Rabinowitz is a very common Jewish name. Growing up as one of two (I think?) Jewish families in Marlton, I certainly didn't think it was common! (yes, Marlton--way way back yonder...) My Mom's mother died before I was born, her father in 1980, and my Dad's mother 1981, his father 1982. I didn't get to know them as an adult, and its a longing, a yearning, that is so deep there are no words to describe it. Even with Aunt Martha, it wasn't until after she passed away that I realized the lost stories that were hers. As I read this family's story in the cookbook, I am feeling this stirring in my soul, as if I'm connecting with the lost heritage of my own family. I don't mean that in the way of hidden heritage, just lost along the way somehow. (Aunt Reba--a book of the geneology research/stories you've compiled is waiting to be written..........) These stories of marriages, celebrations, hardships, pogrammes, emmigration, extermination, loss, love, survival--they are connecting me back to what I know is there in my own family roots. I am determined to build for my kids strength and joy in their heritage, and humor, too, of course! So far I've made cousin Carole's crusty potato kugel, and read Mama Hinda's (my grandma Helen's Hebrew name also was Hinda, hmmmm...) tips on getting the most height from your Challah (I was reading it and exclaimed out loud "so THATS how you do it!", Dylan came into the kitchen asking what?, I told him, he was like "oooohhhhhh, that's how you do it!", so now my challah won't be tipping over, maybe, anymore). Today I'll make Irene's old fashioned honey cake, and later in the week we'll make Aunt Sally's ultra-extra-special noodle pudding with homemade noodles (my mom has told me that Mom-Mom Fay used to make her own noodles). While cooking and baking, I will tell my kids my own stories; I'll share and share, stories they will roll their eyes to the sky because its the 18 millionth time I've told them, or stories maybe they've never heard before. The stories will become ours, rather than mine, and together, we'll build the next generation.

September 11

In our hearts, on our minds--where the memories of the events of 9/11/2001 should be. Time does heal all wounds, but still, we MUST remember, so that it doesn't happen again. As the time of the morning approaches the point when the first plane struck, all of my being is taken back. My heart rate is quickening, hands are sweating, as if it is all about to happen again. I think of Sondra, who was at my house that morning--neither having any idea initially what was going on, until I finally answered the phone, she her pager, and together in horrow we watched what was happening. She sat frozen on the couch as the Pentagon was hit, knowing her son was there. Thankfully, immediately she received a call that he was okay, and she returned to her job, stunned, numb, thankful, yet terrified. I spent most of the day on the phone with Chonny, as together we decided we had to have our kids with us. (Z and M were home, but D and A were at school). Whatever was going to happen, I wanted us to be together. Chonny and I were back on the phone, fearful of whether or not our husbands would be sent off somewhere, trembling each time we heard a plane fly overhead (before airspace was finally cleared), and wishing like heck the President would leave Florida to make us less a target! Eventually, Rodney and Jim were able to come home, we were the fortunate ones. Never will I forget the feeling in my heart and soul that I felt upon the realization of the amount of people killed. Sitting here, I feel it, I need only close my eyes and see the images of that day, and think of each person that lost his/her life, and pray for them and their families.
Remember, reflect. Remember, remember, remember. Our great country goes on. Flawed? Without a doubt. But still we go on, as the greatest free nation in the world.
A moment of silence for the moment of impact of the 2nd plane. I stood, eyes closed. Images of the day flew through my mind. The sick feeling of realization that this was not an accident, it was some kind of attack. I stood here in my living room, wondering how many people stopped for that moment. I am so grateful to God that I could take the moment, a simple minute out of my day, out of my LIFE that thankfully I have.
I'm struggling for the words to explain to Mall what happened that day, to explain it in a way that doesn't terrify her, yet convey the sadness and seriousness of the day. We've been talking, and it seemed sh was picking up on it and processing it. As a matter of fact, she just asked "can we have pancakes since its a special day?". Ah, leave it to children to bring us right back into the present, and right back into joy. ;)
More later, I'm sure.

A funny list for fellow homeschoolers...

For the full list of 25 things, go to:
http://www.secular-homeschooling.com/index.html
Enjoy!

The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List
By Deborah Markus, from Secular Homeschooling, Issue #1, Fall 2007
*posted with permission*

1 Please stop asking us if it's legal. If it is — and it is — it's insulting to imply that we're criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it?
2 Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you're talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we've got a decent grasp of both concepts.
3 Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.
4 Don't assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.
5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a "reality" show, the above goes double.
6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You're probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you've ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.
.
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25 Here's a thought: If you can't say something nice about homeschooling, shut up!

Rodney's New Job

Ahhhhhhhh...that's a sigh of relief. Rodney has a new job, a good one! Its incredibly local, only a mile from where we live, which is TERRIFIC (ya know, I still remember how to spell that by thinking of the goose in Charlotte's Web!), and he likes it, he really likes it! Yes, there's a big hole to dig out of, but we can certainly at least see the sky again. Thanks to everyone who kept us in their thoughts and prayers, and those that did/tried to help with job searching!

Olympics

I just saw the US Womens' rowing team win gold, and cried, again, as our national anthem was played while our glorious flag rose highest in the air. Each and every gold ceremony I've seen, I feel such deep, passionate patriotism. Its the same feeling I get when, on the 4th of July as the fireworks are blazing in the sky, I think about how amazing that hundreds of thousands of other Americans are doing the same thing. Maybe not feeling the love of country in the same way, but still, out and honoring our country. I love the Olympics--the athletes are there because of pure love of their sport, and passion for their country. The skeptic will say not all of them; some are pushed by parents, government, and some aren't proud of the US. I say to the skeptics--sorry you're so sad! Yes, I'm an optimist and a dreamer, I admit it happily! Michael Phelps was beyond anything I could have imagined. I clearly remember Mark Spitz winning in 1972, and that record held for 36 years, to be broken by the child diagnosed with adhd and raised by a single Mom. He broke these unattainable records (as some said....thumbing nose at skeptics), and during interviews, repeatedly was humble beyond description. Last night, as his teammates all fawned over MP, full of praise and love and Phelps-isms, he could only say the same about his teammates. And eight gold medal ceremonies later, still he watched our flag go up with unmistakeable pride. The rowers tonight just really blew me away, it was, to me, a classic show of love of country. Yes, winning gold for the US for the first time in 24 years is and will be incredibly personally satisfying for each of them, but they all only commented on their team and their country. As the National Anthem played, those girls sang their hearts out. Their smiles epitomized to me Olympic Champions. Yes, I do so love my country. Way to go USA!

My favorite quote to say to my children.....

When they say they feel like they're going crazy....

"Of course you're crazy--its genetic!! Embrace it, don't fight it!!"
--Linda Osmun, proud to be the author of that one ;)

Ironing

So, to shorten the story, I hate ironing, don't do it, and everyone knows it.





Okay, there's more. Rodney had an interview and asked if I'd iron his "interview" uniform, as I call it. Otherwise known as shirt, tie, dress slacks (otherwise known as pants). Why are dress pants called slacks? Why don't we use that word anymore? My kids don't know what slacks are, they looked at me like I had two heads. Oh, I digress, yet again. Okay, so I pulled out the ironing board, saying "here's something you guys don't see often", and my youngest comes into the kitchen and said "what in the world is that thing?" Yea, I really don't iron. I told him its an ironing board, and the thing on it getting hot with a point and a button for smoke stuff (his description) was an iron. "What's that for?" Okay, now realizing I really set a bad example. I explained what its all for, and proceeded to iron, having a captivated audience in Zac (by the way, that's how we spell his name shortened now, decided by the man himself), and I was feeling pretty good, thinking why don't I do this more often, look how nice this looks! Well, my moment came to an end 2 seconds later when, as I went to shift to a new spot, the pant leg I wasn't ironing landed in the dog water bowl. Riiiiiiight, that's why I hate it, I'm way too uncoordinated and the minute something looks good it looks bad. Enter darling 9yo. "Whoa, now that's something we don't see often". Did I mention a friend had arrived at that point? I was trying to look natural at what I was doing, trying to get that serene feeling that Mrs. Cleaver seemed to always have doing housework in spite of the dog bowl incident minutes earlier, and in walks M with her truth shattering opinion. Its okay, Jen knows me well enough, anyway to have known the truth. ;)


PS The ironing board is still in the kitchen, now piled with school books, papers, and stickers. Makes a great storage place for lapbooking supplies!!

Foreclosure bus tour

The sign is gone! I'm happy. Because I know it was all cause of my blog. Yep, uh huh, all cause of my 304 person visited website. LOLLOL. Okay, maybe not; okay, totally not, but still, the sign is gone. Yes, I know, rough times call for rougher measures and all, but that just did not seem right to me. Hopefully its not just moved to another street.

Vision Therapy!

Our youngest has been getting vision therapy, today was the 4th session, although the first session was mainly evaluating. We're seeing Dr. Steve Gallop (http://www.gallopintovision.com/ ), and are really seeing progress! I definitely went into this with a good, positive attitude, and I think you'd need that for any type of therapy, whether alternative or traditional, so that you and your child have an open mind to whatever you start.
After the initial appointment, Dr. Gallop found that Z had difficulty with tracking objects and with focusing. His eyesight was not much beyond 20/20, so it wasn't nearsightedness. I had seen this with him particularly when he and I would work on his reading, his eyes always veered away from the words/pages. As I watched him, I could see it wasn't intentional, it was as if trying to focus for too long physically bothered him; this is what got us to finally make an appointment. Something I hadn't realized, that was evident during the exam, was his peripheral vision didn't seem to exist at all! Dr. Gallop explained this to me today--its not that the peripheral vision isn't there, its just too difficult for some people to focus on things in front, let alone all to the sides, so their field of vision narrows. From his explanation, and from observing these sessions, I see how per. vision is CRITICAL to reading, at least to reading fluently. Its something most of us take for granted and don't think anything about, but if you stop and think about it, when reading quickly, its not letter by letter, its word by word and even phrase by phrase, so you need to be able to process to the sides, too.
Z got his glasses at the 2nd visit, which was the first using the "eye gym", as we call it. ;) Dr. Steve called me in to witness something: he had had Z hitting a tennis ball on a string, standing in one spot, and alternating hands. It wasn't easy for him to do. He got his glasses, and WOW, he hit the ball again and again. Was it perfect? No--but he approached it differently, amazing.
I can't say too much about last week's appointment as far as what he did, because I wasn't there. What I can comment on is his reading. He is reading seeing whole words, its amazing and heartwarming to watch this happening. And as Z's reading is changing, he's comprehending the words and sounds so much more, and his speech is improving. Generally, talking to others, he still speaks to quickly and enunciates too little; but at home, he is gradually working on it, doing a lot of self correcting which is incredible. His balance is beginning to improve, also. I have no doubt whatsoever these things are improving because of the vision therapy.
His appointment today was so interesting to watch (as they all are), I'm going to try and be there each time. The things he did today were a lot of hand/eye coordination. He doesn't have difficulty in what a lot think of as traditional hand/eye, but these exercises I could tell were all geared towards working his eyes into focusing. Today, as he did some of the harder exercises, there was almost no bouncing or kicking of the feet, which does usually happen if something is hard or frustrating, or even boring. Dr. Gallop also can see improvement, which was a boon to my feelings, as well!
This is something that is good for all--Dr. Gallop has patients that are adults, as well as very young children (he mentioned one today that just turned 3). Its for people with all kinds of vision difficulties, and its terrific for those with all types of learning disabilities. Terrific doesn't cut it, its beneficial and fantastic, I can't say enough.

Zen Zuu---a new social networking site....

that can actually make you money! The official launch is August, so get in before then to begin generating revenue. I was skeptical and held off for a bit, but have researched and checked and double checked and so far, have found nothing but positives. Let me know if you find anything out yourself--but it appears to be what it says it is, and if so, hey a few extra dollars would be good!

A couple signs of the times

This first one is all too familiar to everyone...crazy rising gas prices. This one was $3.29 in April....

then one short month later, $4.09

************************************************************************

Next, you just won't believe:

cause I know I didn't believe it, its a foreclosure tour bus! Sorry, but this just made me sick to my stomach. Yea, I know, desparate times call for desparate measures, but isn't this ever so slightly on the unethical side??

Men and shopping

Yo, what the heck??? Why is it you can give them not only a list, not just the exact name, not only the aisle number, but even an exact photographic image of the store with the exact location of the product you want, and STILL he'll get it wrong? How does "if you can, before you leave work (which is the mall), will you go to BATH AND BODY WORKS and get me "warm vanilla sugar bubble bath, and we need milk", turn into "go to Target"in his wee wittle mind. Hmmmmmm??? Anyone? Buehler.....Buehler.....Buehler? Anyone? C'mon, someone solve this mystery for me, cause I'm stumped. Twenty years (well, almost), and still I don't get it. I'm trying too hard to solve it, right? If I wait, the answer will come. Oh boloney. And yes, I know I spelled it wrong, I did it on purpose for effect. Aaaahhh, I feel better. I'll feel even better after my bath tonight in my warm vanilla sug---oh wait, right, I ain't gettin no stinkin' bubble bath. Yes, life is good. ;)

as a post script: he went to the grocery store, I gave an exact description of this other bath stuff. (and specifically said NOT the oils) He called me from there, asking me about 27 others. I told him the name. He said "okay, I see the oils". I said, "are you looking at the oils right now?" He said "yea, but I don't see the bath salts". I said "if you're looking at the oils, then look down and you'll see it". Rodney:"you mean way down on the bottom bottom shelves?" (yes, exact quote) Linda:"yes, on the very very bottom". R "I don't see it" L"its a short, fat jar" R"I don't see it" L"okay, then look waaaay up and do you see the envelopes?" R"yes" L"just get me the foaming bath in the little envelope, thats fine" R"are you sure you don't want mineral salts, or lavendar fields, or dreams, or this or that or that or this or the other one?" (okay, some exaggerating there....). L"JUST GET ME THE FOAMING BATH" R"but there's this other stuff L"JUST GET ME THE FOAMING BATH, IT SAYS FOAMING BATH ON IT, DON'T GET ANYTHING ELSE, DON'T READ ANYTHING ELSE". He came home with the mineral bath. I said "oh, you found it." Rodney "yea, it was on the bottom, on the very bottom shelf, not above the oils". So, can someone help me please----------I mean, just hit me over the head, take me out of the oven, I am done with this one.

Horse Lapbook!!

Mallory finished her lapbook, she is very very proud. There is so much we both learned that isn't in the lapbook, mommy could have gone on for a while but since it isn't my lapbook (yes, I'm accepting that fact), I let go of control. I'm all "oh honey, don't you want to put that sticker here to balance the page?" "maybe that mini book should go at the bottom ever so slightly, like 1/16 of an inch off to the right of the center" "want to draw 2 pictures in those spaces?" Finally, I was told, "Mom, its MY lapbook!!" yea yea yea, whatever.

So, here it is, or you can go to: http://s295.photobucket.com/albums/mm148/momluvs4kidz/?action=view&current=22fc33a0.pbw (also, at the bottom of the page, there is the photo slide show of this one, still figuring this stuff out, shoot, posting this took almost as long as the lapbook!!!)

Front cover, without flash, and with flash, it was hard to catch but it was her favorite picture (got it from a clearance horse calendar)

Body Language flap book, and open with one flap lifted

Under top right flap, we added an extender; there's the picture of the white horse with printouts of horse body parts and skeleton, then it flips out completely:

Under the extender, and the vocabulary horseshoe shape book opened:

Horse Gaits book opened

Back cover

Funny Homeschool video--I love this one!

Great Homeschooling Article

Home-schoolers threaten our cultural comfort
Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:50 pm (PDT)
*SONNY SCOTT*6/8/2008 9:39:01 AMDaily Journal
You see them at the grocery, or in a discount store.It's a big family by today's standards - "just like stair steps," as the old folks say. Freshly scrubbed boys with neatly trimmed hair if you've met us, you know our version of neatly trimmed hair is of a different perception and girls with braids that means I'd have to be able to get near Mall with a brush, in clean (ummm, what's that?) but unfashionable clothes follow mom through the store as she fills her no-frills shopping list.There's no begging for gimcracks, no fretting, and no threats from mom. The older watch the younger, freeing mom to go peacefully about her task. okay so maaaaybe not so peacefully, unless you call "No you can't have that No we can't get that Stop hitting your brother Do NOT leave this cart again Please look in front of you as you're walking" peaceful...You are looking at some of the estimated 2 million children being home schooled in the U.S., and the number is growing. Their reputation for academic achievement has caused colleges to begin aggressively recruiting them. Savings to the taxpayers in instructional costs are conservatively estimated at $4 billion, and some place the figure as high as $9 billion. When you consider that these families pay taxes to support public schools, but demand nothing from them, it seems quite a deal for the public. I really hadn't thought about this, wow, how interesting! Most homeschoolers do pay local taxes into their schools, yet don't use the ps at all, and don't want to, really, why have a problem with people willing to literally GIVE money to the school system? Home schooling parents are usually better educated than the norm, and are more likely to attend worship services. Their motives are many and varied. Some fear contagion from the anti-clericalism, coarse speech, suggestive behavior and hedonistic values that characterize secular schools. Others are concerned for their children's safety. Some want their children to be challenged beyond the minimal competencies of the public schools. Concern for a theistic world view largely permeates the movement.Indications are that home schooling is working well for the kids, and the parents are pleased with their choice, but the practice is coming under increasing suspicion, and even official attack, as in California.
Why do we hate (or at least distrust) these people so much? A question I've asked out loud, in emails, and on here already. I mean, really truly, I have personally experienced having people stop speaking to me over this choice. Why?...Sonny answers it pretty well here, I think.....Methinks American middle-class people are uncomfortable around the home schooled for the same reason the alcoholic is uneasy around the teetotaler.Their very existence represents a rejection of our values, and an indictment of our lifestyles. Those families are willing to render unto Caesar the things that Caesar's be, but they draw the line at their children. Those of us who have put our trust in the secular state (and effectively surrendered our children to it) recognize this act of defiance as a rejection of our values, and we reject them in return.Just as the jealous Chaldeans schemed to bring the wrath of the king upon the Hebrew eunuchs, we are happy to sic the state's bureaucrats on these "trouble makers." Their implicit rejection of America's most venerated idol, Materialism, (a.k.a. "Individualism") spurs us to heat the furnace and feed the lions.Young families must make the decision: Will junior go to day care and day school, or will mom stay home and raise him? The rationalizations begin. "A family just can't make it on one income." (Our parents did.) "It just costs so much to raise a child nowadays." (Yeah, if you buy brand-name clothing, pre-prepared food, join every club and activity, and spend half the cost of a house on the daughter's wedding, it does.) And so, the decision is made. We give up the bulk of our waking hours with our children, as well as the formation of their minds, philosophies, and attitudes, to strangers. We compensate by getting a boat to take them to the river, a van to carry them to Little League, a 2,800-square-foot house, an ATV, a zero-turn Cub Cadet, and a fund to finance a brand-name college education. And most significantly, we claim "our right" to pursue a career for our own"self-fulfillment."Deep down, however, we know that our generation has eaten its seed corn. We lack the discipline and the vision to deny ourselves in the hope of something enduring and worthy for our posterity. We are tired from working extra jobs, and the looming depression threatens our 401k's. Credit cards are nearly maxed, and it costs a $100 to fuel the Suburban. Now the kid is raising hell again, demanding the latest Play Station as his price for doing his school work ... and there goes that modest young woman in the home-made dress that would mean I'd have to actually find the foot pedal for my sewing machine with her four bright-eyed, well-behaved home-schooled children in tow. Wouldn't you just love to wipe that serene look right off her smug face?I have to agree with this though, for the most part, I do feel a serene kind of joy. Yea its internal, sometimes really really really deeeeeeeep down buried under that "OW MOMMY HE DID IT AGAIN's", but its there and I love every minute of this Is it any wonder we hate her so? AMEN AND FINIS!

Sonny Scott a community columnist, lives on Sparta Road in Chickasaw County and his e-mail address is sonnyscott@yahoo.com.

My kids are teaching me the "un" in schooling...

For those of you unschoolers out there--now I'm not what I'd call an unschooler, quite yet, LOL, but the more I head towards that path, the more I see it working! We've not done official "book learning" in quite a while, but Mallory is on the write on/wipe off board doing multiplication! We've talked about real life multiplication, this morning it came up when we were talking about how Koala's spend 3/4ths of their lives sleeping. I said "so in one day, they sleep..." and Mall interjected "about 20 hours!". My initial instinct was to correct her to 18, I bit my tongue and said "well, it would be 3 groups of 6", and she replied that "18 is about 20, Mommy!", then proceeded to start on the white board with multiplication problems. The greatest part of this? She's announced to me "wow! I'm really really good at this!" This is an age where a large percentage of girls decide they hate math and are not good at it all; I'm loving every moment of this and am so glad to be homeschooling.

Dinosaur Lapbook!

We actually completed something, whoa, I'm feeling a little dizzy, hold on. Okay, so, we finished a whole lapbook! Zachary did his on dinosaurs, it started small and sure got big, he kept wanting to add things, it wasn't me I swear! ;) Okay, maybe some things were me, but mostly it was him. He is so proud, and me too! Here we go.....

(more pictures to come, having some technical difficulties) Oh, and Zachary took most of the pictures, too!

****here's the link to flikr, where you can view it as a slideshow http://www.flickr.com/photos/26441006@N02/

Front cover

Inside first front flap, is the dino joke book, reptiles tbook, terrible lizard homemade book by Zach, 2 matchbooks

the joke flap book

Reptile "T" book

The blue book was designed by Zach, it has an egg on one page, a baby dinosaur hatched out next, and a grown dinosaur next.

Under the other top other side is a wheel book, dino adjectives, dinoland popup, dinosaur world map (with tabs for continents), and how big were the dinosaurs graph.

Next is under the dino world map side, we attached another folder, with Zach's own dino drawing (an herbivore with a hat) and the Head Games book (read clues, find the right dino head)

Inside the Head Games book

The back cover

Awakening

I just couldn't sleep this morning, too much on my mind that even medicine couldn't quiet, and finally got up at 4:25am. Its such an inspiring time of day to be awake. There's a quiet and stillness in the house. Outside, the world around has just awoken, too, but is so busy already. I love the sounds of the birds, beginning their day, chirping their hello's and warnings to each other, sounds of the branches and leaves moving as they hurry with their work. There's a smell in the air before the sun comes up, its a sweet smell, and so fresh, I feel like I can actually smell the anticipation of a new day. Watching as the sun began to come up again reminds me that each day will come, each with new promise and hope, each with the chance to be thankful for all that I do have.


Now, if I could just get up like this every day! Usually its "Mommy come downstairs and make my oatmeal" or "Mommy can I watch tv til you come down" or "Linda where's my keys" or "Mama can I go to the gym if I get 'abc' done" or, wait, I can't come up with something for Dylan because he is a very quiet, undisturbing morning person. Hey, I don't disturb anyone when I wake up, what's the deal? I should go wake all their little toosh's up...nah, I try not to be masochistic. ;) Good morning, get outside and enjoy today!

PS Please don't call here around 1 this afternoon, I'll be napping.... ;)

My Shiny Sink!

baby steps baby steps...but its happening more and more. Actually have a tablecloth on the table, woo hoo, coming along. Now its timeto get off the computer and do some more flying. Okay, how funny is that, I'm so not flying, I'm fluttering--nah, I'm sputtering. and now I'll go empty the full of dirty dishes sink. Yea, I'm doing, reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal goooooooooooood.

I love homeschool....

The kids were watching "Meet the Robinsons", and there was a scene where the kid told Louis to fix the time machine. Zachary said "Dylan, do you think I could make something like that?", and Dylan said "yea, actually, I do!" (Dylan is convinced that Zach is going to invent amazing things and be like Ben Franklin or Einstein), so Zachary went over to the Legos, went to work and built his version of what was in the movie. Its all about confidence, isn't it, and having people believe in you. I don't see the problem with kids being believed in all the time, why is that a problem for those against homeschooling? Sorry, I don't want my kids to have that one teacher that tells them they'll never amount to anything. If its going to be said to them, well heck, let it be done by me! hahahahahahahahaha...just kidding of course. of course.

Mommy and Daddy's Date nite

Now that is funny!!! Like, we actually thought we'd have a date nite, rotflmao! We had a movie to watch ("Dan In Real Life"--more on that in a bit...), some beer, and even a teensy tiny bit of Bailey's for Mommy. Approximately, oh, I don't know, ummmmmmmm--2.7 minutes we had a knock at the door, it was #3, needing a brush. A marathon of about 8 minutes passed, and #4 was at the door, why can't he watch a movie with his "best bwudder", just because Dylan is watching the Flyer's game? (poor, disillusioned child, hoping for a Philly team not to crack...). We told him he could watch tv for a while in his room with M, or watch the hockey game. He left. He returned. He couldn't sleep on his bed cause there's "stuff all over it!". He left with orders to get the stuff off. #2 arrived about 5 minutes later, for--oh shoot, I don't even remember what he came up for the first time. Now I gave away that he came back!! Of course, in between all these visits, you know who was trying to be, um, how shall we say, romantic? (ha ha ha ha ha, creeped you all out now, didn't I?) No really, he was just being romantic, wanting to cuddle and a few kisses in there, ah he's such a dreamer, isn't he? And I'm like "look, I just want to watch the movie, eat my beer soaked pretzels and go to bed, and we've got kids coming to the door every 5 minutes or so [hmmmm...maybe they get so used to labor that's why they keep knocking--ya know, like when they're trying to get out our uterus--or would it be uteri?--every 5 minutes those contractions keep comin'--okay, back to the topic]. #3 came knocking before I got to finish that sentence (thanks M for proving my point). Back down she went. 10 whole minutes went by, thought we were in the clear, then, knock knock, #2 is back to ask us where the heck that music is coming from (great soundtrack with this movie, btw), he realized it was us and asked us to please turn it down LOLLOL, that's me laughing not him, and to tell R that the Flyers are winning with 5 minutes left. Ah, he must learn the workings of being a philly fan, thow does not sayeth thy team is winningst afore said game has concludedeth. He didn't even get to leave before #1 is at the door, telling us she's home and what a great time she had at work. At this point, the movie was paused; not on purpose, like maybe from trying to pause it then it did it itself and got stuck and then we missed this CRUCIAL part of the movie. Eventually made it to the end, with #'s 3 and 4 sleeping in our room. I know, I know, shock of all shocks. I think we'll take our dates out from now on.....

Life School and a reading breakthrough

Yesterday, Zachary asked me "What do you think is better, life or going to school?" I asked him what he thought (I wasn't really following him at that point....), he said "Life is much better--you get to eat in life, you get to sleep, you get to play, you get to design a space ship, you get to have breakfast, you get to do homeschool...."; so I said, "do you mean life is homeschooling?", and he said "yes!". This little guy has so much to say, he's so perceptive beyond his years. Its hard to see it when first getting to know him, or even if someone isn't around him very much as he gets very shy or acts extremely goofy. I've finally taken to writing at least somethings down that he says because of the intelligence, passion, and lots of FUNNY in what he says!

The reading breakthrough is with Mallory--YAY!!!! She has been very reluctant to read, and if she did pick up a book, often didn't finish. I tried having her journal her reading, tried requiring certain time, certain page amounts, but nothing was working. We were at the book store and a title caught my eye, it was a "big" book, I figured she'd scream in horror at the amount of pages and NO PICTURES. I took a breath, and then laughed out loud as I was bringing it to her, of course she wanted to know what was so funny, I said "oh just the description of this book". She loved the description, and is now flying through it! She doesn't care how many pages, and is realizing reading is fun!! "Mommy, it doesn't even matter how many pages it is, I just check when each chapter is over to get to the next one. Its like SO cool how much I like it, and the story is SOOOOO cool". I do love homeschooling. Today anyway. ;) Now if I could just get these gray hairs covered up that keep sprouting on those other than inspiring days.....I'll take them though, cause these small "up" moments are so worth any and all others.

My excuse....

I'm not talking to myself, I'm having a Parent-Teacher conference!!

thanks Dylan! ;)

Legomaniacs!

I had to put these on here...the boys are getting ready to try and design their own "how to build ____" with Legos, and have been very busy. Zachary has built some amazing things with the Lego's, here's a sampling of all of it...

Zachary's guitar and Goggy playing it

Zachary's RoboRobot

the 12 steps to making "Star Fire"

Mammograms...

Otherwise known as squooshed boobs, LOL! So I just want to tell anyone reading this that it isn't so bad! Apparantly, the lady I had yesterday was brutal, and, in the words of one woman there "she kills you!". Well, I'm here to say, I survived. ;) Seriously, don't ever be too scared to go get it done. Its a quick smoosh and then its over. I sure wish it would have been able to even these whole cup size difference things out, ya know, like when you smoosh out clay or dough, when you leave it it stays in that shape. So okay, I wouldn't want them to have stayed in that shape, no, that wouldn't be good at all: