Ghetto Spelling

"Mommy, how do you spell 'eyeballs'??" Evan asked me as he filled in the MadLibs "plural noun" line.

"Break it down, hon. How do you spell 'eye'?"

"E. Y. E. ??"

"Yep. Now how do you spell 'balls'?"

(from the office, before Evan can respond, Patrick exhibits reason number 1,784 why he is NOT the teaching parent...)

"N.U.T.S. !"



Nothing but class over here, folks. Straight up, hardcore, CLASS.

Kinda getting the hang of this...

The lessons for Justin are planned for the next 2 weeks (He does well with a firm plan of what is expected of him every day and likes to get most of it done as soon as he wakes up). He is LOOOOVING his Painless Life Science and will be starting the Painless Algebra book next week.

Evan's stuff for the next week is loosely inserted into a folder (he does better with a less rigid schedule). He is improving on reading due largely in part to his love for the Jigsaw Jones book series. His imagination never fails to astound me and his new love for all things athletic is pretty cool, too. I mean, how many 7 year olds do you know that can do over 100 sit-ups?

Corinne's desk was freshly cleaned off and I noticed just how much writing and math work she has been doing without my knowledge. She is well past the pre-school stuff and almost past the kindergarten curriculum! I am amazed at just how quickly she is absorbing the concepts behind the reading/writing process and the mathematics that she comprehends is also something to make me shake my head in wonderment. Is she really only 4 years old? Go Baby Girl!

We have Corinne's ballet class tomorrow morning, so I have the boys' schoolwork all packed up and sitting beside the front door so that they can do some of their work while she tiptoes around in her ballet slippers. (they each have a clipboard and clicker pencils. Ultimate in Coolness, apparently). The boys may grumble about having to go to ballet class, but they no longer feel as though being homeschooled isn't the same as being "schooled." It's nice to watch them help each other out and BE with each other on a daily basis. It's just nice to be with my kids every day and not feel rushed on our time together...

I kinda sorta almost feel like I have a handle on this homeschooling gig...

Which, of course, means that very soon, something will fall from the sky and disrupt all of my diabolical plans. Until that day, I plan on appreciating this moment of organized chaos in our school routine...

Should I be worried?

So, after our trip to the Museum of Science and Industry last week, Evan's mind is still filled with information on cloning, DNA and genetics. His brilliant idea tonight was as follows:

"Mommy! I had this great idea! You could take a human cell and put animal DNA into it and make a mixture of the two! Wouldn't that be cool? You could mix black bears, wolves (which I am, Mommy) vampire bats, and cheetahs! And then the animal-humans would attack the scientists and EIGHTY scientists would be killed and the animal-humans would escape!"

Ummm... Should I be worried? And also, doesn't this sound familiar?


Maybe I'm raising the next H.G. Wells?

A cozy, happy morning...

It's 10:52 am. Most of the schools near us are closed today or will be closed tomorrow. You know, a few (or 12) inches of snow and they get all wimpy about opening their doors. ;) My kids have been doing their work since they got up and are taking a late breakfast break of bacon and eggs and a kid tv show. This break follows Evan's own P.E. regiment (I do believe he can do over 100 sit ups and 50 push ups. HE'S SEVEN.), Justin's cookie baking break, several chapters of Jigsaw Jones read by Evan on the couch (in our jammies) and 15 minutes of absolute bliss where I stood by the stove frying bacon, listening to Justin explain a worksheet to Evan while Corinne colored paper doll clothing. All of this happened before 11 am and includes the two youngest kids following me into the snow drifts at 8 am to "help" clear the fluff off of the driveway before it piles up to my waist. And even though the house is quite messy and the laundry is beginning to form legs of its own and I probably won't get a shower in before the baby that I watch in the afternoons comes over, I am quite happy in my cocoon...

Today? Today is a good day.

Off and running!

Justin did half of Monday's work tonight before bed so that he could have more free time tomorrow.

Love it. LOVE IT.

I am really excited about a new book I picked up at a Borders that was going out of business. It's called Painless Life Science and seems to be written in such a way that Justin can cover a chapter a week and we can do a review and/or test at the end of the week to see how much he retains. It was 40% off (score!) and looks to have enough chapters for the rest of the year's curriculum. Plus, I was able to read the first few chapters and understand it without "knowing" everything. To me, that means that Justin will be adequately challenged without being overwhelmed. As I looked for a link for it, I saw that the author has several other books in the series. I am DEFINITELY going to keep it in mind when I look for new curriculum for the kids! I'll let you know how it works out!