Halloween in December

Many of you know that I am a fan of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series. I am also a big fan on his new book in the Heroes of Olympus series, The Lost Hero. While my son enjoys the books, I think I take the fandom to a different level. So when our Nanowrimo kickoff was scheduled for Halloween I knew exactly what costume I would wear. I hastily texted my friend (also an adult...most of the time) and excitedly told her what I was going to be. Grown women jumping up and down in excitement over a children's book is quite a sight to behold. We texted back and forth as I read through the book, like a good mother previewing it for ds. Okay, really I just couldn't wait and I wanted this to be a book Z and I shared together. We have now finished the book, but at Halloween we were just getting started.

Those of you that have read the book will get my costume (thrown together in short order with a small budget). I went as a Roman demi-god. Perhaps my portrayal as a middle aged demi-god will serve as a reminder that demi-gods can safely reach adulthood without dying. I did not take a picture of my full outfit, but along with the decorative t-shirt I carried a plastic sword plucked from the playroom and my 3-foot long stuffed wolf. Her real name is Astrum (yes it's mine. No, I don't need counseling, it was a gift from Tigger). She played Lupa on Halloween. My adult friend got a kick out of it. The cashier at the pet store (where I had to go buy food for my real dog, who is not a wolf) smiled at my shirt and tattoo. He had a real tattoo, but not as cool as my fake one.

This is my fake tattoo. I used a Bic extra fine marker and was fairly pleased with the way it turned out. I was also reminded of those days in school when you would write on your shoes. Then I also thought of those pesky to-do lists that always get misplaced. I have since made a few notations on my hand. Seriously we've were in chaos mode for most of November and there were times I couldn't find paper. This particular tattoo took a few days to wear off.

All good Roman demi-god know who their real hero is.

Although in the book the other demi-gods wear plain purple t-shirts I had to decorate mine. I used a Sharpie to decorate this shirt, which means this ain't never coming out. Again turned out fairly well for having little time and even less money.

While I may personally enjoy Homer as much as Virgil I had to pick sides for my costume.

I had great fun with this. My mythology buddy just sent me an Olive plant for our new house. I have named it Olivia. Olive plants symbolize harmony, wisdom, and triumph. What more could a middle-aged demi-god ask?

Transition, a new science sourcebook, and fleece pants

Our transition is still in process. Today I'm sitting in our cozy bungalow that is 90% completed. Completed as in ready to move into, not that all of our stuff is here. But we now have internet and we'll be able to breath again. Okay, I know living without internet is not the end of the world, but it's part of our educational budget and our entertainment. Especially this winter. This will be our first winter back where it gets cold. By cold I mean you have to sleep in socks for more than two nights out of the year. By cold I mean own a coat and wear it. By cold I mean being thankful for buying the fuzzy Old Navy scarf before we moved.

I had to go buy a couple of pairs of fleece pants. The other day I had on four layers on my torso, tank top, long sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt, and jacket. Yuck! But we're here and I must adapt (or hibernate, which is entirely possible with the internet and homeschooling ;)

Speaking of hibernating today I have been curled up with the above book The Sourcebook for Teaching Science. This was a fantastic find on amazon. It's geared for grades 6-12 and written for science teachers. As the mother of a child who likes science I'm excited about this resource. I just received it today (thank you Amazon Prime!) and have thumbed through the first seven chapters. Not only will Z learn a lot from this book, I will too. There are chapters on the vocabulary of science, reading of science materials, and writing on science. This will be most helpful for developing those skills needed to write a proper science paper. The companion website is also full of links and hints.

An adult who desires to expand their understanding of science could find this a valuable tool as well. If you combined this resource with the book Science Matters, a book on Scientific literacy, you could have a great self-education course covering the major areas of science.

It's warmer out today and so I ventured outside. However, this evening I will probably pull on those fleece pants, settle down in the quiet of my new house, and enjoy my new science book. Tomorrow I'll finish organizing the kitchen.

In Media Res

In the middle of things, that's pretty much our life right now. School is on hold while we move. We did manage to get in a solid seven weeks, all right maybe five of them were solid weeks.

We are transitioning from our ranch style home in the midst of a forest of very tall pine trees to a cozy charming bungalow on the corner. I'm in the middle of Nanowrimo (crazy people writing a story in a month).

I'm excited about the journey that lies before us. I'm excited about decorating a new classroom. Currently we use our former dining room and it's great, but we'll be using a bedroom and it has a door I can shut at the end of the day. That makes me do a happy dance. We have a cat that likes to eat paper and unfortunately now any paper left on the desk gets what Z refers to as "Cat approved".

I'm also looking at themes and colors for our new school. We're going with an around the world and through time type decor. I'll be getting a plant stand from my mother that is extremely cool. It's a swirled carved column about four feet high. Since I kill all plants, even Tigger takes care of his own catci, I'm going to buy a bust to put on the stand. I'm not sure who yet. Homer has given the Generation of Leaves theme that has permeated my life, Shakespeare is a given, and Beethoven would be great for my writing (I listen to Beethoven as I write). Z asked for copy of a Bastet statue he saw as we were studying Archaeology. I found a nice replica at Amazon for a
decent price.

But all of that is down the road, a long trip down the road. We'll get there and I have to remind myself each day we are simply in media res.

Alice's Adventure in Wonderland

Today Z and I discussed Alice. It was an awesome conversation. I didn't follow a literary analysis script, we didn't do busy work. I simply wrote out in marker three pages that held five questions. Then I copied the pages and handed a set to Z.

The first thing I did was draw a circle with 19 circles in a spoke around it. The center was obviously Alice and the nineteen circles were the characters in the story.

We discussed major and minor characters and I had him pick what he felt were the five major players in Alice's Adventure. Amazingly he picked the same five I did. He originally added the Mad Hatter to the list, the stopped and changed his mind. Excellent. Although I felt the Hatter was important I don't think he was in the top five.

This led to a discussion about Alice in Wonderland, the movie of earlier this year. We talked about creative license and pondered whether Lewis Carroll would have been impressed with the movie. We both agreed that he might not. Although we both enjoyed the Tim Burton movie it wasn't the book. It didn't hold all the play on words that permeated the book, it wasn't mocking the children's etiquette of today. We still enjoyed the expanded role of the Mad Hatter.

We also discussed the power and confidence Alice felt while growing and her diminished demeanor when she was small. We even discussed the way the use of drugs has been applied to Alice's trippy experience. He brought up The Matrix and pills used by Neo. I had Grace Slick running through my head.

We discussed the role of the Caterpillar and how the Cheshire Cat seemed to think the whole thing was nonsense.

We've started using Figuratively Speaking as one of our resources (great resource btw) and used the obvious one of personification while we read Alice.

All in all we had a great discussion for one of our first forays into literary analysis. Z had points to bring up, he defended his position well, and brought an interesting perspective to several topics. We enjoy a good play on words, he told me the book was very (T. close your eyes and ears) punny. I'm loving our conversations in school this year.

Rewriting History

I picked a sentence for Z's dictation today. It was from the ________(publisher shall remain nameless) Introduction to Archaeology. After reading and dictating the sentence I decided the sentence was really wonky. *Wonky is a technical term for out of sorts. For an additional exercise, we rewrote the sentence. Again, a rabbit trail turned into a wonderful exercise. Why is it that the things I don't plan turn out better than the things I do plan? Hum..... pondering... There's a whole other post in that issue.

Anyway, the original sentence from the book is:

Damp, soggy, places, such as bogs and marshes,
and the mud at the bottom of lake,
can be very good for preserving organic remains.

Not horrid, but confusing. If you pull the subject and verb and predicate nominative from this you get:

Places| can be\good

Kind of vague and uninspiring. So Z and I rewrote the sentence. Here's the rewrite:

Bogs, marshes, and mud at the bottom of lakes
preserve organic remains well because they are damp and soggy.

We now have a much stronger(compound) subject|verb| direct object.

Bogs, marshes, mud| preserve| remains

So we rewrote a bit of history today. At least we made it more pleasing to read. This may be a week of rabbit trails. I can't wait to see where else they may take us.

The Hero's Journey and a Rabbit Hole or Two

Last week for school we watched Prince of Persia and Clash of the Titans (2010). Both Z and I were pretty opinionated about which movie we liked best. So today I decided to do a Venn Diagram to compare the two movies. It turned into an hour long discussion of the movies, other hero type movies, and technology.

The similarities between the two movies include:
- Heroes' Journey (Z said he is sick of watching movies of this nature, had a discussion of LotR)
- swords as weaponry (which led to a discussion about Star Wars and light sabers, how swords and such make for a more passionate battle of good vs. evil)
- strangers' help him in the quest (more discussion of LotR)
- both raised by an adopted family
- a woman helps them in their spiritual journey (ironically played by the same actress in both movies, which led to a discussion of Odysseus)
- both lost everything they loved
- stood up to evil
- saved the world (which led to a discussion of Percy Jackson)

The differences for Clash of the Titans include:
Based upon Greek Mythology (which led to a discussion on if there is a geek mythology)
takes place in Ancient Greece
His quest is to kill the Kraken
Hades is the mastermind
lost family at the beginning of movie

Prince of Persia differences:
based upon a video game (which led to a discussion about Lara Croft Tomb raider and the graphics on video games based on movies)
set in Ancient Persia
his quest was to prove he didn't kill father, which morphed into stopping his uncle
Nizam is the mastermind
lost family throughout movie

Z decided he thought Clash of the Titans was more realistic. I asked why, playing devil's advocate. He is more used to the mythology. When I brought up Pegasus and giant crabs and Medusa he laughed. We both decided we get a flying horse if they were real.

I liked Prince of Persia more. I think there were more redeeming morals point in it vs. the movie Clash of the Titans. Loyalty, family, standing up to what is wrong, etc.

Somehow we ended up discussing Pokemon and the need for there to be a Star Wars 7,8, & 9. What I planned to be a short twenty minute exercise turned into a great discussion. All that from a Venn Diagram, what a great day.

Week 3 Chaos

This shall be my motto for the next month or so. I feel pulled in too many directions, too much to do, too little time. Or and there is the school thing. ;) Moving, packing, schooling, and life, oh my!

Week three saw a few great days as we explored down the rabbit hole with Alice. We made it through our first list of the year with Megawords and we finished another chapter in Latin Alive! book one.

Even amidst the chaos we have a good flow going to our year. We're working through our subjects at the pace I designed and we'll pressing forward, which sure beats lying down in defeat.

Z is starting to apply him in more areas this year. I hear less grumbling when he has to write and he is more outspoken in class (shocking yes!), I'm talking about the academic part of our discussions, not just talking (which he has always been pretty good).

Among the chaotic things last week I decided I wanted to paint my desk. We use our former dining room table for schooling and I have my own desk for writing, the computer, and sometimes stacks of books or paperwork. It was a dark mahogany stain color and now it is Krylon brand Celery. I'm actually quite pleased with the color. It's a light green, but not minty. It has a real cottage feel that will be great in our new house. I'll post pics soon.

As for now, it's Sunday afternoon. I still need to finalize and print the schedule for this week, clean off the school table, put a few things back on my desk, and at some point pack another box or two.

Week Two Modifications

Welcome to week two and we're already modifying. Ah, but this year I'm ahead of the game, I planned for modifications!! I knew it would happen. That's me staying just a mm ahead of the game.

I'm a planner by nature and have looked at many scenarios for our upcoming years (yes plural). I've been attracted to a modified block schedule for high school. My plan is to spread out the subjects into Blocks A, B, and C. A is Mon/Wed, B is Tues/Thurs, C is Friday. Will it work? I don't know.

I wasn't sure we would need it this year, but as it stands we're going to try it. In fourth grade I felt like we rushed through our day, revolving through subjects like an obstacle course. The end of the day felt like the end of a race, we were winded and worn. Fifth and sixth grade were better as we moved away from doing so much. Sadly, although I planned each subject well, this first week had some of the same rush to it and I could feel myself getting a little tense by the end of the day. Z is doing more written work this year and I feel like we need to allot more time for some subjects.

Block scheduling will allow us to savor our time. At least that's the plan. We will still get through all of our subjects as necessary. I'm only dropping one item, which was a stretch anyway. Latin Fairy Tales. We were going to loosely go through and translate them. However I see it will be too much of a leap for Z's abilities, too much work for me, and in the end would be busy work. We shall return to them later, like a year or two from now.

I'm also working on adding some chapter reviews for Latin Alive!. I think these will be good for his retention. My goal is that it will show him how to summarize a chapter in a text.

So that is our modifications for this week. We're going to give the new schedule at least two weeks and then re-evaluate.

End of Week Won

No, it's not a typo. It's the end of the week and we have won. Week one anyway. Our read-aloud The Ch'i-lin Purse challenged my ability to pronounce Chinese names. Z finished his first book for the academic year.

Latin was tougher this year. We've moved from the Latin for Children series to Latin Alive. Having the DVD available for teaching is such a plus. I'm studying ahead and certainly appreciate being able to lean on Karen Moore's expertise.

Megawords and WWE are returning favorites from last spring. They felt familiar and right.

We have not started math yet so we'll see if LOF algebra is embraced as wholly as the other LOF books we've completed.

Asian Studies has been mostly about geography this week. Z has mapped and colored and is currently finished a report on India. Next week we get into reading on Ancient China.

Japanese has been a hit. Granted we only finished week one, but having video support is a necessity. I had already cautioned Z we would be learning Japanese together. I'm not sure if it's the language or the fact we're learning something together as to why we both enjoyed it so much.

Literature was the final subject we added in this week. We read Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, which tied into our Asian Studies well. I have to admit as we read about Nag my mind journeyed back to the morning I found a snake in the house. Thankfully it did not seem intent upon our doom.

Two things I discovered this week, the cat and dog are a big distraction. The dog was not happy I was using a stuffed wolf as a prop in our Latin fairy tale time. Astrum, yes my stuffed wolf has a name, was standing in for the magnus malus lupus (big bad wolf) in The Three Little Pigs story. My dog kept trying to pull the wolf off my lap while I read. Either she was jealous or she claims Astrum as her own as Astrum sits on a chair in our bedroom and Daytona sleeps on the ottoman of that chair each night.

The cat tried to sit on my computer mouse this week. He bit Z as Z was supposed to be writing and this morning he licked the last grape in my bowl. The domestic creatures may be banned from school next week. Maybe not.

I've already seen growth in ability and effort this week. I'd be giddy, except I'm tired.

Nature Photo of the week

A beautiful cloudy day, taken from the car on one of our recent travels.

Is it Time to Come to Class?

As we are at the end of our last week of vacation we're running into a bit of the above attitude. Hopefully I'll snap out of it by Monday morning. Honestly, Z has been great. He enjoyed an out-of-town work trip with dad and is prepared to start school.

This starts our seventh year of homeschooling and part of my hesitation is that I have the illusion of perfection in my head. I like the way I've scheduled classes, the vision in my head of Z sitting perfectly still to absorb the knowledge I will bestow on him this year. STOP SNICKERING!!! I KNOW it won't happen that way, I know.

Reality sits at our feet and sometimes on the table. We have a cat and a dog to add to our distractions. We have nature outside the door that pulls us away from time-to-time. We have that dreaded H word (hormones) that will show up at some unknown moment. It will make me crave chocolate as I might yell at Z. Z might fall asleep in class or eat all day as his body decides now is a great time for a growth spurt.

The reality also is that we will learn this year. I say "we" because I mean me too. Not like the "we" when your husband would announce "we are pregnant" (which I am NOT) and you'd wonder (with a touch of hostility) if there was some new medical technology that would allow him to experience back pain, swollen feet, and the need to pee every five minutes. Z and I will learn about each other this year. Z will learn academics and I am excited about how everything ties in together this year.

I am excited that there are some unknowns out there in our future. For now I have two more days to stamp my feet and cry out that I don't want to do school. Then Monday morning 10 a.m. we will start on our journey. I'll sit in the big comfy chair and start reading a book to Z. Read-aloud time is always our first subject. Then our adventure will begin, with the opening of a book, as many adventures do.

The Premiere Wakefield Academy Homeschool Conference

I started off the morning with some coffee from my favorite mug. Got to love the bee.

I had a great notebook, some cool writing implements, and I was good to go.

I started Day 1 with some bible reading. My bible is highlighted and notated throughout and I spent some time reading through Psalms. I settled on Psalms 103:15
"As for man his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field, the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more."

I smiled. Wait, you say, smiled? That's not the most uplifting verse. It reminded me of my favorite lines from The Iliad. Book 6 starting at line 146
"As in the generation of leaves, so is that of humanity. The wind scatters the leaves on the ground, but the live timber burgeons with leaves again in the season of spring returning. So one generation of men will grow while another dies."

I blogged about this passage last year. As we currently live in the midst of a forest, it touched me. Many leaves have fallen in our time here, many flowers blown away in the wind, yet there is always new growth. I was reminded that whether we are flowers or leave we are all scattered by the wind. If we have done our job (I'm thinking teaching here) part of us lives on. More flowers bloom, the fallen leaves nourish the ground and makes way for the new generation.

It was a beautiful way to start what was a great conference.

Next I spent some time reading through The Latin-Centered Curriculum, first and second editions. We have followed LCC for the last two years of schooling. I spent so much time reading the second edition I've had to tape the cover. Reading through them both again kindled the enthusiasm I have for classical education. Some of the pointers I received from my re-reading the first edition include to give Latin its due, then judge for yourself what is necessary and know how to adapt classical education, not change it.

Multum non multa has been our goal and I was reminded that means:

• A limited number of subjects taught in depth
• subjects are taught in relation to one another
• The core readings in English & history (classical, christian, and modern) consist of a few masterpieces studied slowly and in depth

Day 1 stretched out longer than I had thought as I listened to Susan Wise Bauer's lectures. I added a nap time into the schedule to allow my mind to absorb the information. I'd read and heard all these talks before, but with focused attention to them I discerned much more wisdom than before.

This is me at the beginning of day 2. A tad tired and sporting my "Educational Anarchist" t-shirt. Day 2 continued to be exciting as I listened to SWB's Literary Analysis lecture. Again, I got more out of it the second time around.

I spent some time pondering our schooling and what it will look like for the future years. I became re-excited about exploring two-track history and truly applying the multum non multa philosophy. I spent some time clearing and categorizing a few things in my head. Like how to keep LCC at the forefront, while utilizing some of the methods from The Well-Trained Mind, adding my own desires for Z's education, and saving time to explore his passions.

I did a lot of pondering while sitting in this chair with the back massager. I think all conferences, homeschool or otherwise, should be held while you sit in comfy chairs receiving a massage. I was fortunate that my biggest distractions were the cat coming to visit and the dog who wanted to share my chair. There are many benefits to holding your own conference, I highly recommend it.

• not missing any of the lecture if you take a potty break
• you can stop to research something right there, no waiting until you back home or to your hotel room. This is why my timing was way off.
  
• if you're inspired to grab another book from the shelf, it's right there. That happened twice as I tried to reference other source.
  
• build in nap time. I highly recommend it. Studies have shown that 30 minutes of lying prone can stimulate creativity. On day 1 I napped for 1.5 hours, not sure if that tripled the creativity, but it felt good.
• you only have to hear the lectures you want to hear.
• there is something about going through all the information in a shorter time frame. It held more resonance.
  

My initial time estimate was 10 hours, 45 minutes. It actually took 15 hours, 10 minutes, and that doesn't include the nap time. A worthy investment and now I'm planning one for other areas of my life, writing and personal.

Excuse Me While I Talk to Myself

Inspired by Jennefer at Smooth Stones Academy, I have opted to hold my own homeschool conference. Seems fitting as our school start date keeps getting pushed back, I'm ready to start, and no one else in the house wants to talk about school. Fine! I'll talk to myself. More likely I'll be reading and listening and organizing and drinking lots of coffee.

I have two fun-filled days planned with my books, my computer, my mp3 player, my red comfy chair, and a bonus of the portable back massage machine and massaging foot bath.

The conference is scheduled for Thursday and Friday of this week. I've even put together a certificate of completion I will hand myself at the end of the day Friday.

Here's my current schedule. I'm stretching myself with an actual schedule as I prefer to fly spontaneously through my organization. I think with coffee and chocolate I'll be okay.

2010 Wakefield Academy Homeschool Conference

Benefits:

• organize and gather final materials for first semester
• provide motivation and encouragement for teacher
• reiterate goals for Wakefield Academy
• relax and regroup before start of school

Materials provided:

• notepad with pens
• all necessary books
• coffee and water
• chocolate
• snacks and lunch
• back massager to be used while listening to downloads
• foot bath at end of day
• certificate of completion at end of conference

Schedule:
Session One

• open with prayer and readings from Bible
• read intro in The Latin-Centered Curriculum (1st and 2nd edition), plus pertinent chapters
• read through portions of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations
• Listen to SWB's Joys of Classical Education
• Organize the following subjects (Memory work, Algebra, Megawords)
• Break 20 minutes

Session Two

• organize allowed music for classroom
• listen to SWB's A Plan for Writing - elementary years
• listen to SWB's A Plan for Writing - middle grades
• organize the following subjects (Asian Studies, English, Art)
• Lunch Break (30 minutes)

Session Three

• Listen to SWB's Literary Analysis
  
• Read through TTC Socratic List
• organize the following subjects (Literature, Reading)
• Review and take notes from The Excellent 11 (Ron Clark)
• Read through Spring 2010 edition of The Classical Teacher
• build personal/team mission statement (www.franklincovey.com/msb)
• Create school plan for upcoming possible move
• Break (20 minutes)

Session Four

• Spend 30 minutes reading from Critical Lessons (Noddings)
• Organize the following subjects (Latin, Japanese, Logic)
• Practice Tai Chi DVD
• Create notes for family meeting (student and school notes)
• Open (for anything else I've forgotten)
• End with massaging foot bath (may have this out beforehand)

This should be a fun endeavor. I plan to be up and dressed and ready to go by 8:30 a.m., which should be a feat in itself. I doubt I'll be as chipper as Doris Day appears in the above photo...and I won't be in heels either.

Educational Planning and a Caution about Boxes

People often try to put homeschooling in a box. It doesn't work. Homeschooling is a lot like parenting, each family has a different take. Even the same actions can look different from family to family. I imagine anyone that sat in our schooling for the day expecting to fully understand what homeschooling is about would be sorely disappointed. We don't fit into boxes very well.

However, a recent (and continuing) conversation with other homeschooling parents has shown me how precariously close I have come to placing my son's education into my own version of a box. We have followed a Latin-Centered Curriculum for the last two years. It has made classical doable for this non-classically educated teacher. Recently I've found myself thinking more about high school, college admissions standards, and how in the world I am going to put this unique child into a mold for the "perfect" student resume. Wait! Stop the presses!! Our intent with homeschooling has never been to mold my child to anything! It has been about developing his education, his person to fulfill his own potential, not have him fit into a mold.

I love what The Latin-Centered Curriculum has allowed me to do. I love the multum non multa approach and it is my hope (perhaps my requirement) that Latin be at the center of our curriculum for the few remaining years of homeschooling. I absolutely see the benefits in keeping Latin at our core, with writing and math not far behind. But as for the rest, there has been a haze around each subject because I am not a fortune teller. I do not know who my son will be as he grows. His interests and passions are circling, but there is not a clear picture yet and that is okay.

I feel blessed because I don't know many soon to be teens (I think teenager is Latin for hungry) that have the opportunity in a traditional school setting to study Latin, Japanese, and Asian History all in the same year. The last two were his request, the first my requirement. I don't know how his education will all turn out. In the end it might look a little bit like this year, some of his requests, some of my requirements.

Someone very wise compared our unique children to a cloud during the course of conversation. "These cloud children are like clouds - hard to pin down, hard to define, growing all over at the same time, or shrinking, but never staying the same." I let out a resounding yes and a sigh of relief when I read that. They are fluid, beautiful, sometimes clear, sometimes grey (as the storm clouds literally roll by outside at the present time), and always changing. That is the beauty I see in my child, that is the goodness in him that would never work well in a box.

As a planner by nature I have notebooks filled with ideas of what his future years of schooling might look like. In the past I created a binder and filled with ideas by grade levels. *snort* That is so not going to work anymore, that is where I have a tendency to want to create the box...we must X during grade Y, because that's what "they" said. So I have created a new way to organize my "educational planning" binder. I was thrilled because it also gave me a use for the A-Z set of dividers that have been sitting around unused for two years. They were a freebie and who passes up free school/office supplies? Not me.

This new system of organization will allow me to keep an eye on requirements for high school and college AND provide the fluidity to allow my child to be the cloud. We've pushed back our school start date (for several reasons) and this will give me time to stare at the sky, contemplate the clouds, and enjoy the changes as they take place.

Here's my new table of contents for my binder. The few blank spots are for those areas I may have forgotten:

A. Encouragement
B. On Education (general)
C. On Education (classical)
D. Open
E. Latin
F. Writing/Rhetoric
G. Logic/Philosophy
H. Grammar/Mechanics
I. Great Books
J. Literature (non Great Books)
K. History (non Great Books)
L. Mathematics
M. Science
N. Computer
O. Japanese language
P. Religion
Q. Fine Arts
S. Community opportunities
T. Misc electives
U. Study skills
V. Volunteer
W. Grade level notes
X. College Prep (testing etc)
Y. Transcripts/Graduation
Z. College

Paula vs. The Snake

The other morning I woke up early. My husband was still asleep, my son was still asleep. Sadly, there was no coffee made. I was just going to let the dog out and go back to bed, mostly because Tigger always makes the coffee and one can not just get up and be up without coffee.

However, my morning caffeine infusion became unnecessary when I peered into the dog's room... First, since you don't live in my house I have to explain the dog's room. It's a former sunroom. There are sliding glass doors between the living room and this room. This room has a regular back door that opens onto the backyard, hence the title "back door". We often leave the back door open and the dog on her cable so she can go in and out. The room does not have ductwork and has its own window AC unit.

But.....the back door has been closed all night. As I peered into the room in my hazy state of consciousness I saw something on the floor. It was thicker than her cable, not the right color for her leash. My first thought was How did that rope get in there? My second thought was Shit, that's not a rope, that's a snake!! My third and fourth thoughts smashed together something like this...I don't see a head on the snake...OMG, my dog bit off the snake's head. OMG, my dog is still walking around, she didn't get bit! OMG, let the dog out of the room while I pick up the dead snake.

Daytona was quite excited when I let her out in the house. I had a minor heart attack when the snake moved. So much for bliss in the early morning as I screamed There's a snake in the dog's room, thereby waking everyone else in the house. Even the cat came to the sliding glass door to see what was up.

(The orange is an extension cord, the taupe thing is not)

The varmit slithered under a shelving unit and I put the dog outside as we woke up. Tigger stated "leave the door open, he'll go outside". Sadly he did not right away. I went in to shoo him out when he was on the window sill (after an hour or more to calm my nerves with, yup, you guessed it, coffee) I would have gotten him out if I had help from more than the broom and if I hadn't been trying to take a picture of said creature. I hastily named the snake Spot, as it Out Damn Spot!

(Spot, posing for his closeup)

He then slithered back under the shelving unit and I stood there sweating as the dog barked to get back inside. Meanwhile the back door stayed opened. An hour later I donned tennis shoes (like I would kick at a snake), leather gloves (or pick it up), grabbed the broom and any other long handled apparatus I could find. I proudly proclaimed to Tigger that I would take care of this.

I'm not afraid of snakes. I had googled and somewhat confirmed this was not a poisonous creature. Now if this would have been a spider I would have watched from behind the glass as I made Tigger take care of it immediately. A snake doesn't bother me, except for when they are in the house.

(me preparing to take on the snake)

So in the room I went. Tigger came in and helped me tear apart the room. We found no snake. Fortunately there isn't a lot of furniture in the room, so it didn't take long. We safely assumed the creature had left, turned the AC on, let the dog back into her room, and most importantly shut the back door.

Two days later I'm still peering through the glass before opening the door. The dog has been banned from having visitors without permission. No sign of the snake. I'm hopeful that he slithered back into the wilderness that is our back yard, telling stories of his overnight stay in the house of the big black monster dog.

I'm giving away a book!!!

To help celebrate our American freedoms I am giving away an autographed copy of An American Walkabout. You can read more about the book, read a short interview I did with the author, and enter to win at my Accomplishate blog. A winner will be drawn at random on July 4th.

Where the Wild Things Are or Guess What's Living in our Yard!

At the end of our driveway is a drainage ditch. It always has some water in it and thankfully we have a long driveway. This week Tigger found this little guy living in the ditch. He's about two feet long and is actually quite adorable, for an alligator. Words I never thought I'd speak.

Before we moved here we lived in the mid-west, where alligators don't. When we started talking about moving here I had nightmares about alligators. I am surprised that the thought of this critter living in my yard doesn't entirely freak me out. Perhaps it has to do with shock of how many other creatures along the gulf are being destroyed because of oil, perhaps it's because we've seen every other form of nature in our yard. The alligator was bound to happen sooner or later.


The advice we've been given by those who know more about alligator behavior than us is to let him be. He's at least 1-2 years old and will wander away in search of food when his supply runs out. His mouth is about five inches big right now, so he's not a big threat. Yet.

I continue to be amazed at the diversity of nature in this state. The only thing we have yet to see is the wild boar that inhabit the area. Yes, wild boar. There are even warning signs on the hiking trails.

Summer vacation, embracing the late morning

Z and I are not morning people. With the elimination of a real bedtime Z has discovered the midnight hour. Staying up and watching goofy movies or Star Trek (which can occasionally be goofy) with Dad. It is presently almost ten a.m. and he's just now rousing. I've even been sleeping in, or getting up early and then going back to sleep.

There is something about the sixth day in a row of thunder rumbling through and the skies darkening that just summons you to take things easy. And at least for a few more weeks, that is what we're going to do. We've been reading, I've been working on school, and besides that we've just been hanging out. We need the mental rest, it's been a weird year.

Random Mascot Shots

We are the Wakefield Wildcats and our mascot is our cat, Speedy. Speedy is very attentive to the needs of our school.

Here he allows himself to be used in the pursuit of pre-algebra. My guess is that he has a soft spot for Life of Fred and really wants to attend KITTENS university.

Here you can see the wink in his eye as sides with the Z on the need for a longer break. There was a certain, "don't mess with the boy!" vibe that I picked up that day.

Here he is now, like five minutes ago, resting soundly in his basket after a long week of school work. You can see the smile on his face. Ah! A job well done.

The Final Countdown

It has begun. We have one to two more weeks of school, depending upon how much we get done next week. The sixth year of our adventure will be over. I've been busily working on next years schedule, and neglecting my blog, and next year schedule looks so serious.

We'll be stressing the development of good study habits over the next two years. My eyes are glancing down the path towards high school already. We're enjoying the journey set before us, so I know I must take my eyes off the forward path from time to time and look around to enjoy where I am at. Sixth grade is almost over and we will not journey this way again.

New Sidebar Photo: Nature Study Photo of the Week

Where we live nature comes to visit on a regular basis. Nature Study is done on an informal basis and seldom do we have to step outside of our yard for the experience. This time of the year it comes at such a fast pace I don't always blog about it. I added the picture on the sidebar so you can see what comes to call.

This week it was a skink. We have skinks all over the yard, but this was the largest and most colorful we have seen so far this year.

Friday Surprise

Earlier this week one of my uncles passed away. The funeral was in the northern part of our state and we were unable to attend. Aside from being unable to attend the funeral I was saddened because my mother would be there and I would not be able to see her. Imagine my surprise when these beautiful ladies showed up at my door today. Tigger had told me a surprise was coming and boy was he right. Below is aunt G. (on the left) and my mother (on the right).

I was so happy they were able to come down in visit. Z was also excited as his Mama is one of his favorite people in all the world. Did I mention they share a birthday? My mother claims part ownership of him and that's all right. We went to lunch and this was one of the many hugs Z initiated.


Posing where we had lunch. Tigger got off work and joined us. He knew about the surprise. What a great lunch.


More posing at our lunch. It was great to see them and show them around town a little, chat a lot, and spend some time together. We live several hundred miles away and this was the first time she or my aunt had been able to visit. I'm sorry my dad, who is at home, missed this. We would have loved to have seen him too.

Why Sleep is Important or Funny Things on a Thursday Afternoon

To be fair, we didn't get much sleep Wednesday night. I awoke around 3a.m. to the sound of banging. The boys had fallen asleep in the living room. I padded, okay dragged, myself through the darkness of the hallway to see what ill might have befallen them to be so d*#@ loud at that hour of the morning. Tigger, my fair knight, had killed a giant hairy spider. Tigger does not possess an ounce of arachnophobia (I have enough for everyone), yet even he was shaken. He made a large circle with his hands when I asked how big it was. He said he could hear it moving on the bookshelves *shudder*. We've had wolf spiders in the house before, but it's been a long time. Me thinks this was a lone scout and when he doesn't return the other spiders will stay far away. Do NOT tell me otherwise, because I'm not listening. Said spider was now deceased, hence the banging, and all three of us stayed awake for at least another hour.

So yesterday at school Z and I had a bit of fun with out new dragons and our Medieval Europe book. Direct quote from Z, "RAWR! Fear me, I am cheap plastic toy."

"Darn these castle walls."

"Hey look, they're learning Latin too!"

"Why are you all screaming, I was just watching the service."

We must have laughed for twenty minutes and never really did recover back to academics. My PSA for today, sleep is important, otherwise you may end up doing great silly things. Then again, maybe the lack of sleep had nothing to do with us being silly, that kind of happens anyway.

(I am now wearing shoes in the house, yuck, shudder, I hate spiders)

Tales from the Backyard

Our backyard holds a sense of magic,

wildflowers bloom,

a dog runs, a boy plays.

A hammock hangs beckoning anyone to come and let the breeze blow you to slumber.

Spring and all the colors of the season are in attendance.

Adventures in Wakefield

I noticed recently that it has been a month since I blogged here. Well we've had a productive month, including doing complete weeks of school. :greenstars: We've had more than our fair share of distractions this year, with illness, grumpies, growing, and what-not.

We've added some new one liners to our repertoire. We went to see Alice in Wonderland and the antics of the March Hare and Mad Hatter have added endless quips to our day, including the famous "You're late for tea!" Although it comes out more as, "You're late for school!". I do not throw the fine china however. I've also decided that I could really do the Mad Hatter as a costume. I have the hair, just a tad (okay a lot) more red, and then I could get the hat, which some book stores and Amazon sell. So I'm ordering the hat, yes I am. I going to wear it while I write, I'll be the mad writer. Go ahead, laugh, it may not be far from the truth.

We're entering the home stretch of our school year. We've finished our study of informal logic for the year and now we have filled its slot with an informal study of philosophy. We are using Philosophy for kids. Granted we've only done two lessons but both led to very interesting conversations which, as is SOP for our classroom, wandered down a rabbit hole or two.

Come to think of it, this year has been a lot of rabbit holes. That can be one of the joys and one of the pitfalls of homeschooling an only. No one objects when we stray off course (we: plural: meaning I love tangents as well) and no one but me will draw us back to center when necessary.
We laid aside some subjects and Z has picked up a few projects of his own, with great gusto. One could argue that rabbit holes allow us to explore ourselves and find out what is truly important. Just like Alice some days we feel sized correctly and it fits, some days we feel tiny and know we've taken on too much. There is no homeschool potion that will grow us or shrink us, but day-by-day we continue to find out who we are and where we belong.

A Review: The History of the Medieval World

As a regular poster on the Well-Trained Mind message boards I was excited when Susan Wise Bauer herself offered a preview online copy of her latest book, The History of the Medieval World, to posters in exchange for a review. Excitedly I rushed off my e-mail to Peace Hill Press with a please, thank you, yes, I'd love a copy.

It arrived and my first words were "Whoa!" or maybe "Wow!" All 741 pages of the proof copy. I discovered a few things in a short period of time.

1. I have a really hard time reading any book online. As a budding (would-be, going to be, hopeful) novelist I even print off my copy to read. As much as I love technology I will be one of the last people to order a Kindle.

2. This time period is fascinating! We are currently studying the Middle Ages and there are many things about this time period I a) never learned, b) have forgotten, or c) wasn't paying attention during that class period. My best guess would be "a".

I should preface my review by stating I received this proof copy free in exchange for a review, good or bad. I should also state that while we have homeschooled for 6 years now this is only our second year using a classical method. Our history programs prior to last year have not included world history. Unfortunately, I can't go back and change that.

I will also state I did not finish reading this book in its entirety. I focused on the areas where we were at in our school studies and then returned to the front of the book, but have not read as far as I would have liked.

If you could rate books on their density this would be a medicine ball not a basketball. The way this book is formatted is great. You can pick a chapter and read from that. I found it most helpful as we finished our study of Charlemagne. I would read about him and then turn to the logic stage materials we are using in class with a greater depth of understanding.

My only concern about this book is the short period of time it covers. According to the table of contents the chapters start at year 312 and the book ends at year 1129. In comparison Story of the World vol. 2 covers a much larger time period.

After delving into this material I can understand why. My only real memory of this time period from high school is people conquering, killing, and moving. This book covers not only the Western Civilization but the Eastern Hemisphere as well. It is a true world history book.

My concern for this comes from those that might be planning a four-year history rotation for the rhetoric level. Although this book is quite readable I can see where some students might struggle to read this book and then continue in another history text all in one year. I have not searched to see if there is an answer to this issue, but I'm sure there is a viable solution.

If you can only order one book on this period of time, I'd recommend this one. It would be a wonderful resource for self-education, rhetoric level studies, or even as reference book. I plan to order a print copy for myself.

The History of the Medieval World is available at Amazon or from the Peace Hill Press store. For a limited time if you order from PHP you can request an autographed copy.

School Expenses 2010-2011

I will keep this as a running total of what I've spent for school. Most of the purchases are for the 2010-2011 school year, a few are for finishing this year. I did not include the cost of items I already own.

for 2009/2010 school year:
LOF pre-algebra 29.00
Coat of Arms (dover book) 4.95
That Crumpled Paper was Due Last Week 11.00
Philosophy for Kids 20.00
Brain Quest workbook 5.00
Origami Calendar 2.40 (love clearance!)
Igniting Your Writing (currclick) 10.00
SWB's A Plan for teaching writing for middle school (MP3) 3.99
SWB's A Plan for teaching writing for elementary school (MP3) 3.99
" A Plan for Teaching writing for high school (MP3) 3.99
" Literary Analysis 3.99
Writing with Ease 19.77
Megawords Book 1 (teacher/student) 20.77
WWE book 3 - 23.07

Latin:
Latin Alive Teacher book - own
Latin Alive student book - 16.00
Latin Alive! book 1 DVDs & CDs - 94.26 (thank you, CAP! Amazing facebook discount saved 28.00)
Latin Fairy Tales - 10.17
Quot Animalia - 2.00

English:
Teach Terrific Grammar (6-8) - 14.96
Megawords 2 & 3 - 31.85


Earth Science:
Earth Science (Tarbuck 11th ed) - used 10.00
2nd copy of Earth Science book - paperbackswap. (PBS) 1 credit (changed mind on Textbook)
Switched to:
The Good Earth: Introduction to Earth Science - 1 PBS credit
" " second copy - Amazon - 6.52
Earthquakes, Volcanoes, & Tsunamis - 11.66
Weather Projects for Young Scientists - 11.66
You and the Environment - 4H project book, free download
Earth Encyclopedia - 9.99

Bible:
Dallas School New Testament study (x2) - 9.95

History:
Spielvogel's Human Odyssey (TE used) 13.00
Spielvogel's Human Odyssey (student) - already own
George Washington's World - 11.38
History and Technology 7 book series 35.00


Japanese language:
Irasshai Teacher Material - 18.99
Irasshai textbook - 29.99
Irasshai workbook x 2 - 18.99 x 2

Asian Studies:
Japanese designs (Dover coloring book) - 4.95
Great Wall of China book (PBS) - 1 credit
The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks - 1 credit
Korea - An Illustrated History - 6.48
Japan - An Illustrated History (used) - 5.74
The Importance of Living (used) - 7.95
Tales of Japan - 10.10
The Samurai's Tale - (free amazon 4/3)
Japan Culture Smart - 9.95
Urashima and the Kingdom Beneath the Sea - 9.95
Life of Pi
Chinese Brush Painting - both for 11.19 (B&N w/discount)
Asian World 600-1500 - (used) 6.86
Teacher's guide to Asian World - 19.95
The Story of Ancient China - 14.95
Ch'l-lin Purse - 6.95
Marco Polo for Kids - 11.53
Exploration into Japan - 4.34
Sign of the Chrysanthemum - 3.77
Ancient Japan - TCR download from CurrClick - 10.00
Art supplies - 12.40

Literature:
Alice's Adventure in Wonderland
Tom Sawyer - both books 7.82
Mark Twain short Stories - 2.50
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (may not use until 8th) - 1.50
Figuratively Speaking - 12.23
Journey to the Centre of the Earth - 5.17

Misc:
Uncle Josh's Outline Map book - 16.86
Planbook software - 30.00
Paper Planner & book rings - 8.00
Far East Scrapbook paper - 17.88
Once Upon a Time scapbook paper - 13.07
Paper and report covers - 11.98
More report covers (I use these in binding) - 4.36
Photo boxes (for organizing supplies) - 6.68

My Self-Education:
Classical Rhetoric with Aristotle - 13.95 (used)
Sophie's World - 4.00
Animal Farm - 2.00

Items to use Later:
Renaissance & Reformation (Miller) - 10.00
Story of Mathematics - 4.10
Shakespeare biography - 2.49
Michelangelo book - 4.30
Antique classic books - 20.00







Total spent to date: 888.13 - 30.10 (book trade-in) = 858.03 + 3 PBS credits

2010-2011 School Year purchases

I've always tried to be frugal in our homeschooling. Next fall will start our seventh year of homeschooling. Some years we've had a tiny budget, some years I've been able to spend more. My spending tends to be done over a period of time in shorter amounts. Then at least twice during the months of March and April I do a few larger orders.

I started keeping track of expenses in November. This includes items for next year (2010-2011) and any items I need to finish out this remaining year.

The current total is listed in the sidebar, a detailed list is also available as a separate post. A few items for next year I already own as I have either been using them for my own self-education. I also invested in a membership in Amazon prime last year. That has been one of the best things for us as I can purchase less expensive items as needed and not worry about the shipping fees. For our family the 79.00 fee has been worth it.

Because our expenses are usually spread out over the year I don't have an exact dollar figure for what I spent last year. It was in the $700 - $1000 ball park. That's where I'd like to keep it, at least for middle school. Part of that budget includes materials for my own self-education, I consider myself a student in our school.

By listing these items I'm hoping to not only see how much I actually spend, but that you can see that homeschooling doesn't need to cost a fortune. Happy research and happy shopping.

Asian Studies? How LCC of You

I recently posted a rough draft of our schedule for next year. It includes Asian Studies for history, geography, and lit. If you also notice we follow the Latin-Centered Curriculum as our educational model. If you are confused because you never read the page about Asian Studies in LCC, don't be, it's not there.

Z is currently fascinated with the Japanese language, stemming from his interests in Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh, and Naruto. He has asked numerous times to learn the Japanese language. Not wanting to waste an educational opportunity I have worked Japanese into our schedule for next year. What about Greek? We started Greek last year and after our experience I had already opted to keep the Greek fun and perhaps work it in at the high school level. We'll discuss Latin in a moment.

Because we entered the classical model of education at the fifth grade level Z missed some of the richness that classical provides at early elementary level. One of those was world history. Our previous curriculum focused on US History and took a more social studies approach to history. We missed many of the rich history of the Asian culture. Last year we focused mainly on Greek and Roman history, this year we are studying the Middle Ages. Next year my goal was to hit the Renaissance/Reformation period and Moderns in 8th. So going back to Asian studies to hit what we missed in previous year seems very in medias res of me.

My current plan is to use a history text as a spine touching only on the chapter on Asian history. We will then take a deeper look at the East Asian countries of Japan, Korea, and China. We'll also finish our three year world geography tour on the Asian continent. We'll also add in art with Japanese calligraphy, origami, possibly silk painting, or wood block printing.

I've very excited and have already picked resources for many of these areas. Pssst - many of these items were already sitting on my bookshelves.

Latin will still be our main language. Latin, math, and composition will still be our core subjects. Following an LCC will actually give us the time needed to pursue Z's current passion. So perhaps it is very LCC of us to take the time to explore Asia.

My Percy Jackson Review

I give the movie a solid B. There were good parts and bad parts. The casting was good. Logan Lerman does a great job as Percy, Uma Thurman is awesome as Medusa.

Camp Half blood is different than I imagined. Some of the dialogue is bad and it seems like the script couldn't decide if it were designed for kids or teens. They introduced aspects of the series is some not so subtle ways like the dyslexia and ADHD angle. They missed some of the subtlety of the book and the genuine emotion of the story seemed forced.

The effects were decent and they changed the story line, but it held up all right, not excellent, but all right.

They sort of combined Ares and Hades, Ares is not in the movie at all, neither is Clarisse.

I've read all the books twice and some of the events have co-mingled in my mind and I've forgotten everything that only took place in "The Lightning Thief". I'll have to go back and re-read it now.

All in all I give it a B because of the solid casting and the setting of the foundation of what will hopefully be the remaining books becoming movies.

Also when you go do not leave when the credits start. There is a great scene part way through the credits.

Percy Jackson Movie Day

I think I am more excited than Z. Today we are taking a field trip to see Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief. I have my camp half-blood shirt all ready, money stashed in my wallet, and gas in my car. Yippee!!

I'll post a review afterward. I've read a few early reviews and I plan to view the movie as a separate entity from the books. Z and I read the series last year, I read them twice.

For now I must consume more coffee and get ready.

Beginning Literature Analysis

After some reflection, contemplation, frustration, and commiseration from certain other homeschooling families I decided to follow the wisdom of someone who was kind enough to share their latest venture into writing. Going back to familiar stories to teach literature elements.

I immediately cried Eureka! at her lightbulb moment and ran through the house and grabbed one of the Z's favorite childrens stories, The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear. It is a most excellent story to help develop a basic lit analysis.

I hurriedly created a lit analysis form, available here. The form was created by referring to the book Critical Conditioning by Kathryn Stout. Critical Conditioning is an excellent reference source for homeschoolers.

So today we discussed the elements on the form, then we read the book. Then we went back and filled in the form. I was impressed with Z's focused attention (a good thing in 12 year olds), his observations of the plot, and how easily he grasped the plot elements.

Tomorrow we are doing a paragraph with Z being able to chose from a few different topic sentences. If you have read the book, these should be familar to you.
1. The Bear never existed.
2. The narrator was looking out for the mouse
3. The narrator was a bully.
4. The mouse allowed his fear to win.

or Z's addition
5. The narrator was a jerk and only wanted the strawberry.

I feel quite blessed to be able to bounce ideas, frustrations off others that are homeschooling. I am also thankful that those that are further ahead of us on the road are willing to be transparent so we can learn from them.

Mid-Year Mix it up & Mayhem

Getting back to school after a long Christmas break has been hard. It's like a good stretch, it hurts a little, but you know it's good for you. We're mixing up a few things on this second half of the school year.

We have finished our reading of Science Matters and have moved into our biology/anatomy study. Biology is not Z's favorite science, it doesn't involving setting anything on fire and he doesn't like looking at dead animals. In the last year we have found a dead dragonfly, bumble bee, and a tiny frog in our yard. Me, being the curious one, have brought them into the house, photographed them, gazed at them under the microscope, and then placed them back into the wild to be a part of the "circle of life". Z made a face, took a quick look, and left the room. He nearly gagged at my suggestion of dissecting the frog, he was already deceased. I opted to delay the lab portion of biology as well and we put the frog back outside in the yard.

As much as I love CW Homer, we have put it on hold for a few months. It was simply moving too quickly for us. We are concentrating on R&S Grammar and a few workbooks on paragraph writing. I'm hoping later this spring to return to Homer and then finish it up next year. I had a brief moment of panic before I chose to take this action. Then I remembered when I purchased the Homer OB book my plan was to spread it out over two years if necessary. Panic attack averted, I'm actually following my plan. :svengo: (that's the fainting smiley code).

Math is progressing well. We are finishing up the LOF decimals and percents book this month and then we will move into LOF pre-algebra (biology). I'm also continuing with the Dolciani pre-algebra book as needed. The LOF pre-algebra book just fit too well into our studies this semester, I couldn't pass it up. We'll meld the LOF with Dolciani for the rest of the year and next year with our Algebra study as well.

Logic is another area where we have changed course a little. I do like Art of Argument, but I'm not sure he's getting the most use out of it at this point. The book is broken into two units and my plan is to finish unit one and then complete unit two next year. Part of that has to do with some long term planning goals and the fact I KNOW this child will need a good foundation in logic and reasoning skills. I still haven't decided 100% what we will do, but I'd like to have a logic/worldview/philosophy course going at all times and I'm still debating on curriculum.

I have seen the waves of maturity coming in for Z. His study habits are getting better. His ability to focus for a longer period of time is hit or miss. I can tell when he's going through a growth spurt and when he's just being a goof. I'm starting to hear a deeper tone of voice come from across the table. He's 4 1/2 inches away from being taller than me, he handed down socks to me, and we bought the same size gloves for our winter trip up north. I'm not sure if that is the mix it up part or the mayhem, but I think twelve is a great age for homeschooling. We keep a growth chart on the door frame in his bedroom. He's grown many inches so far this year. But that's not the only growth, I see it in his papers for school, his attitude towards life, his respect towards his family and himself. It's a journey and I'm glad I get to experience twelve with him.

Field Trip: St. Louis style

Here are some photos from our fantastic trip to City Museum in St. Louis. It was a wonderful place to visit and would be a great place to hang out.

A funky mosaic column

Z watching the turtles hovering under the warming light.

Tigger joining the rat race, round and round and round....

The boys huddling together for warmth. We've been in the south long enough for our blood to thin more than a tad.

The watchful monster outside. What a creative way to do a wall.

If you are interested in seeing more photos you can find them here.