I really hate February. I am so ready for spring to come. I want to be outside. I want to not be cold.
School has been going well. This week there is no violin so I had two full days to teach without interruption. Nice!
We had a quiet weekend. Haley was sick so we could not go anywhere. Except for her being sick, it was nice. I set up a table in the basement to do my scrapbooking. I haven't done any since September 2005 or maybe before that, too long ago to remember. I finally finished the scrapbook of our Disney vacation from September 2005 and am now getting caught up with Haley's scrapbook from her 3rd birthday on.
It feels good to get organized. I want to spring clean. I just cannot get up the energy to do it so I will just keep on scrapbooking.
We have been waiting since October to hear whether or not the Supreme Court of NJ will grant my husband an accidental disability pension. I can't believe it takes so long for them to decide cases. All the waiting will be worth it if they decide in our favor. If they don't, it will all have just been torture. I feel like our life is on hold until they decide either way.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Saturday, February 03, 2007
What a week!
Well, after 3 days in bed with pneumonia/sinus infection I am finally feeling a bit more human. Thank goodness for antibiotics. I think maybe I just should listen to my body and start to take it easy before I am completely sick.
Besides being sick, I sort of enjoyed not having to go anywhere for a few days. Haley got to practice a lot of violin, often standing on the bed and playing for me. We also got to read a a lot together and snuggle a lot together.
Besides being sick, I sort of enjoyed not having to go anywhere for a few days. Haley got to practice a lot of violin, often standing on the bed and playing for me. We also got to read a a lot together and snuggle a lot together.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
What a Day!
So, today the kids and I drive into Philly (not my favorite activity) to meet with a violin maker because Haley is outgrowing her violin. Her violin is a 1/16th size (supposedly, but it was not bought from this maker) and the next size is a 1/10th size. We get there with no problems, I find parking, and the man gives us two 1/10th violins to take to her teacher to try. I try to find my way back to NJ but somehow end up going the opposite way I came but after a few minutes of internal panic my good sense gets us to the other bridge to NJ. (Not the bridge we went over on the way there but okay, we are headed back to NJ.)
We go out to lunch then to violin lessons. The 1/10th violins are way, way too big. The violin teacher and I talk to the violin maker and he asks if I can bring Haley's violin to him so he can see the difference between it and the 1/16th violins he has. So after lessons, back to Philly we go. I find a quicker way to the parking garage and there is no traffic. We exchange the 1/10th violins for two 1/16th violin because Haley's is very small compared to them. Then I find my way back home across the bridge I went to Philly on--a very big accomplishment for me. And thankfully, there is no traffic on the way home, even though it is 4:30 which usually is about the time rush hour starts.
Now after an entire day in the car or walking around the city, I am off to wrestling practice with Newt and I get an hour and a half to read a new book I just received. My own peace and quiet time!
We go out to lunch then to violin lessons. The 1/10th violins are way, way too big. The violin teacher and I talk to the violin maker and he asks if I can bring Haley's violin to him so he can see the difference between it and the 1/16th violins he has. So after lessons, back to Philly we go. I find a quicker way to the parking garage and there is no traffic. We exchange the 1/10th violins for two 1/16th violin because Haley's is very small compared to them. Then I find my way back home across the bridge I went to Philly on--a very big accomplishment for me. And thankfully, there is no traffic on the way home, even though it is 4:30 which usually is about the time rush hour starts.
Now after an entire day in the car or walking around the city, I am off to wrestling practice with Newt and I get an hour and a half to read a new book I just received. My own peace and quiet time!
Monday, January 22, 2007
Wonderful concert...
Okay, so after some decongestant, Haley did a wonderful job at her concert. She did, however, fall asleep shortly after playing and slept through the rest of the concert. Not that she does not enjoy violin music. The combination of a cold plus decongestant added to a lot of excitement and a 2 hour concert was just a little tiring I guess.
Tomorrow we go to buy a larger size violin. Her teacher thinks that she is finally outgrowing the 1/16th size and needs to move up to a 1/10th. So we are off to the city and after that to violin lessons. Home from there and then to gumdo then wrestling. We have had a couple easy weekends with no wrestling tournaments but this weekend we have one Saturday and another Sunday. We have two weeks like that then wrestling will slow down again.
Tomorrow we go to buy a larger size violin. Her teacher thinks that she is finally outgrowing the 1/16th size and needs to move up to a 1/10th. So we are off to the city and after that to violin lessons. Home from there and then to gumdo then wrestling. We have had a couple easy weekends with no wrestling tournaments but this weekend we have one Saturday and another Sunday. We have two weeks like that then wrestling will slow down again.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
It figures...
Poor Haley has been healthy since last fall, a wonderful accomplishment for a kids who spent her first 2 years of life fighting something. Now today she has not only her violin concert but an awful cold as well. I guess she will have to play in between sniffles and maybe the medicine I gave her will keep her nose from running off her face when she can't wipe.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Our Curriculum...
Our curriculum can best be described as eclectic. I would consider myself more of a classical homeschooler. I love The Well Trained Mind though I do modify it here and there.
My 5th Grader's workload includes:
Saxon Algebra 1 (we are halfway through then will be doing Algebra 2 and Geometry together)
Gelfand's Algebra (we do this once and awhile for a change of pace)
Analogies Book D by Scott Greenwood (for critical thinking)
500 Key Words for the SAT by Charles Gulotta
Wordsmith by Janie B. Cheaney
My 3rd Grader:
Saxon 65 (3/4 through the book then will start Saxon 76)
Wordsmith Apprentice by Janie B. Cheaney
They both are doing:
Language Arts with Guiding Reader's and Writers by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell and also Writing Power.
Science: Biology- Human Body right now using various books as references including Real
Science 4 Kids, Rainbow Science, Usbourne Human Body, and others too numerous
too mention.
History: World History-The Human Odyssey by Jackson Spielvogel (used as a spine with
various other books as references)
Mythology edited by C.Scott Littleton
Languages: Spanish and Japanese (my worst subject because I can't pick one and stick with it)
Spelling Power
Haley's "curriculum:" (4 yo)
Singapore 1A math
Adventures in Phonics
Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization by Andrew Pudewa (her favorite subject)
A handwriting book- she is almost finished and doing great writing on the lines now so will start
to do copywork with quotes from good literature.
Listening in on her brother's science, history, and languages work.
Lots and lots of reading- her reading and being read to. (I am amazed with the speed at which
her reading has improved the past few weeks)
All 3 kids keep a journal and a nature journal that we take on trips to sit and draw from.
This spring I am hoping to plant a garden and begin our study of plants, do experiments from "How Nature Works" by David Burnie
My ultimate goal is to be able to take a month to travel and go to Wyoming. If that happens in the near future, this summer or next, we will study some earth science (rocks and minerals) to go along with that.
My 5th Grader's workload includes:
Saxon Algebra 1 (we are halfway through then will be doing Algebra 2 and Geometry together)
Gelfand's Algebra (we do this once and awhile for a change of pace)
Analogies Book D by Scott Greenwood (for critical thinking)
500 Key Words for the SAT by Charles Gulotta
Wordsmith by Janie B. Cheaney
My 3rd Grader:
Saxon 65 (3/4 through the book then will start Saxon 76)
Wordsmith Apprentice by Janie B. Cheaney
They both are doing:
Language Arts with Guiding Reader's and Writers by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell and also Writing Power.
Science: Biology- Human Body right now using various books as references including Real
Science 4 Kids, Rainbow Science, Usbourne Human Body, and others too numerous
too mention.
History: World History-The Human Odyssey by Jackson Spielvogel (used as a spine with
various other books as references)
Mythology edited by C.Scott Littleton
Languages: Spanish and Japanese (my worst subject because I can't pick one and stick with it)
Spelling Power
Haley's "curriculum:" (4 yo)
Singapore 1A math
Adventures in Phonics
Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization by Andrew Pudewa (her favorite subject)
A handwriting book- she is almost finished and doing great writing on the lines now so will start
to do copywork with quotes from good literature.
Listening in on her brother's science, history, and languages work.
Lots and lots of reading- her reading and being read to. (I am amazed with the speed at which
her reading has improved the past few weeks)
All 3 kids keep a journal and a nature journal that we take on trips to sit and draw from.
This spring I am hoping to plant a garden and begin our study of plants, do experiments from "How Nature Works" by David Burnie
My ultimate goal is to be able to take a month to travel and go to Wyoming. If that happens in the near future, this summer or next, we will study some earth science (rocks and minerals) to go along with that.
A little about the beginning of our homeschooling journey...
When Newt was 4 yo and being a terror in his preschool class due to utter and complete boredom, I was in a panic about what to do with him the next school year. He was too young to enter public school kindergarten.
I had already searched every preschool/kindergarten in the area to find the best one and the one he was in went to 8th grade and supposedly taught each child as an individual (a nice concept but not put into practice). This school said they would take him into kindergarten early but since they had not done such a great job in preschool (and cost $8000 a year), it was not a good choice.
My only other option was homeschooling. A hard decision for someone who was not used to going against society's norms. I had gone to school, was valedictorian and home-coming queen, went to a decent college, and had a job I loved. On the other hand, I had never felt challenged by school and once I got into college, was placed in the gifted classes so got to see just how many people had been challenged in high school and were so much more prepared than I was. I didn't want my children to be unchallenged or their talents stifled or worse, wasted.
I researched homeschooling for months. Read books, looked at different curriculums, talked online to other homeschooling mothers, etc... It seemed like the only good option. My husband agreed to let me try it on a year by year basis. Seven years later and we are still at it.
I know my time is limited with my oldest son. He is a wrestling. He wants to wrestle in high school so he must leave me in another 3.5 years. The second son will probably want to be in school once his brother is and he would probably do well in school with a few modifications like advanced math classes. I am hoping to homeschool my baby girl all the way through high school but that will have to be decided as time goes on.
I had already searched every preschool/kindergarten in the area to find the best one and the one he was in went to 8th grade and supposedly taught each child as an individual (a nice concept but not put into practice). This school said they would take him into kindergarten early but since they had not done such a great job in preschool (and cost $8000 a year), it was not a good choice.
My only other option was homeschooling. A hard decision for someone who was not used to going against society's norms. I had gone to school, was valedictorian and home-coming queen, went to a decent college, and had a job I loved. On the other hand, I had never felt challenged by school and once I got into college, was placed in the gifted classes so got to see just how many people had been challenged in high school and were so much more prepared than I was. I didn't want my children to be unchallenged or their talents stifled or worse, wasted.
I researched homeschooling for months. Read books, looked at different curriculums, talked online to other homeschooling mothers, etc... It seemed like the only good option. My husband agreed to let me try it on a year by year basis. Seven years later and we are still at it.
I know my time is limited with my oldest son. He is a wrestling. He wants to wrestle in high school so he must leave me in another 3.5 years. The second son will probably want to be in school once his brother is and he would probably do well in school with a few modifications like advanced math classes. I am hoping to homeschool my baby girl all the way through high school but that will have to be decided as time goes on.
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