Category Archives: Homeschoooling

School Business

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I had a few really cute photos to post today. The only problem is, the photos were in my head. As in, I didn’t actually take them. I just planned them out and imagined how cute they  would be and what I’d write.

But look, I have a couple of Instagram photos!

I spent the morning loading Judah and Tilly’s brand new laptops with their Switched On Schoolhouse software.

Oh, and trying to get caught up on laundry since we’ve been having washer issues for a few weeks. 

Next, I called the local elementary school (they just opened their office today) and zipped over with three of the cutest kids you’ve ever seen, to pick up enrollment papers. The kids were thrilled with going. We poked around the school a bit, though it was pretty deserted.

Being at the school actually made me feel a bit better about sending them. It really is a nice school. It’s small and welcoming. I know these three will do fine academically and have a great time. They will be supervised and learning, even when I’m at one of Apollo’s appointments. That’s a very comforting thought.

Honestly, my only concern is that they have challenging enough work for Hezekiah. This spring I administered our yearly testing I chose the California Achievement Test. You could say I was a bit shocked with the results…He scored halfway through twelve grade (12.5) for reading comprehension 11th grade for vocabulary and 9th grade, 7th month for language expression.

He’s 8 and will be entering 3rd grade.

Jubliee also scored ridiculously high and Tucker didn’t get tested, since he hasn’t started “school” yet. He’s now devouring chapter books.

I spent several hours this afternoon filling out the enrollment papers and plan to send along a copy of their tests scores.

Eleven more days until they start school…

 

Hunger Games Party {Food and Games}

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And what’s a good party with no food? We had a ton of fun brainstorming and coming up with fun Hunger Games themed foods. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of several of my favorite themed foods, so you’ll have to use your imagination!

We had Thresh and Rue’s Fresh Picked Fruit, Gale’s Squirrel on a Stick (meatballs), Katniss’ Goat Cheese Snacks, Peeta Bread, Pickle Spears…

cornucopia Crescent Rolls, Peeta’s Cheesy buns. We divided the food into Districts, each reflecting the food that particular district would have provided in the books.

We had Capitol Spirits (punch) and nightlock (fresh berries) as well.

Finnick doesn’t come into the story until the second book, but we still had Finnick’s Sugar Cubes and Finnick’s Fish (Goldfish Crackers). I didn’t get a good photo, but on the right you see a Tracker Jacker Nest (Cheerio Treats formed into a wasp nest shape, with paper wasps  Tilly drew).

Girl on Fire Cupcakes, made by Devon (the 15-year-old who did Adalia’s make-up. She’s very talented!)

As everyone showed up, we put their name in the jar for the Reaping. If they were in costume, they got their name put in twice.

For decorations, we hung 16×20 posters I made from these Hunger Games photos and we made aluminum foil parachutes to hang from our dining room counter, along with several themed posters (sorry, I forg

Tami and Abigail.

We know how to party…just invite a friend with FIFTEEN kids over!

Judah, Tilly and Enoch came up with an awesome obstacle course (training for the Hunger Games, of course!) Everyone who finished received a chocolate bar…and got their name put in for the Reaping one more time.

Here are two short video clips of (part of)  the obstacle course: the girls and the boys.

The “little kids” lined up for the obstacle course.

The “big girls” ready to race.

Hezekiah and Isaac.

Apollo was literally scared of his siblings all dressed up…who can blame him, with all of the blood and gore and Adalia’s scary get up. Poor guy.

Haymitch Hezekiah.

We also had a “training center” set up where the kids could sword fight (with swords made out of pool noodles) and archery. Everyone who participated got their name put in one more time for each game. This was a great way to encourage everyone to join in. The very last activity was the Reaping. My mom drew a  name out of each jar (one for the boys and one for the girls)….

This was Devon’s reaction when her name was drawn…I love the look on Adalia’s face! She was reluctant to claim her prize (which was actually a $10 gift card, not a fight to the death) so in one totally unplanned twist of the evening…

Kalina yelled out, “I volunteer as Tribute!”

So I handed her the gift card…which we of course, gave back to Devon.

Enoch won for the  boys, and that was the end of our fabulous Hunger Games Party.

Plastic Surgeons, Knives and Post-Hospital Doctor’s Visits…

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Photo by Tilly…who is an incredibly talented nature photographer. Check out her nature photos all taken with a Canon Rebel and kit lens!

Ah, yes, all in a day’s work for a busy homeschooling mom, right?

It started Monday night when a child alerted me to the fact that a certain third grader brought a knife home from school. It is large-ish, unfolds like a pocket knife, but actually folds out into a box cutter. His “friend” gave it to him. If you don’t live in the United States, just let me tell you, we have a zero-tolerance policy in schools for any weapons.

So yesterday morning, when I called to say Mordecai wouldn’t be at school because he had a doctor’s appointment, I also had to mention he came home with a large knife. Ahem. 

And then after cleaning up and getting kids started on school work, I had to head to the plastic surgeon with Mordecai. I’ve mentioned a few times that he was born missing some of his fingers and toes (he had surgery on his hand twice as a toddler). Well, he has a fingernail really bothering him where he has only part of a finger, and so it was time to head back in.

The thing about a plastic surgeon’s office is, well, they do plastic surgery. And let’s just say not all of it is to improve mobility on partially missing fingers. It’s an odd place to sit with a nine-year old boy.

We were, of course, called back nearly forty minutes past our appointment time. I won’t bore you with the details, but Mordecai will be having surgery again in the near future.

After that appointment I rushed home to eat lunch and get Apollo down for nap…so I could wake him up for a post-hospital visit with our family doctor.

Dr. H was thrilled that we finally had answers to Apollo’s health issues…and even more thrilled with the doctors from Children’s he talked to. He said, “You really met some nice people down there. I was so happy to read their notes and realize they had really listened to you. I had a great time talking to them. I got the sense that Apollo was a kid they just really, really care about…”

Just exactly what I needed to hear. He is in full agreement that the feeding tube is the right choice for Apollo. Toward the end of the visit I said, “So, I’m assuming you have other patients with g-tubes, right?” He looked and me and grinned and said…no. I said, “So I assume you’re really excited to learn about them, right?” To which he said, “Yes, I’d love to learn about them”. He said he has worked with patients in the past with g-tubes and is more than happy to be a resource for Apollo.

Then I rushed home, fixed dinner early so the boys could go to Scouts.

And this morning, I’m running around like crazy, getting ready for yet another stay at the Children’s Hospital.

At the Zoo 2012

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Yesterday the kids and I (along with Hilary, and two of her kiddos) headed down to the zoo. If you know me at all, you probably find the idea of me going to the (outdoor) zoo in January quite remarkable. Well, the weather has been so very mild this winter…and I’ve been running in the cold almost every day, so when Hilary suggested a trip, I decided it sounded like a fabulous addition to our school week.

Tucker, age 6. Doesn’t he just have the best smile?

I was under the mistaken impression that since I ran in the cold and kept sorta-warm, I could walk around at the zoo (in 45 degree weather) and stay kinda-warm…I actually froze, but that’s okay, we had a great time. But see that red in Tucker’s fingers and his nose? It was definitely chilly.

Avi was delightful the entire day! It did this mama good to see her cope so well. Because it’s January, the zoo was practically abandoned, so there wasn’t a crowd. Avi gets very overstimulated in crowds. It was wonderful to see her enjoy herself.

Tilly (13) gets credit for this and the rest of the photos. I was busy and had to hand the camera over to her.

If you follow me on Instagram (littleearthling) you may recognize Apollo’s sweater. I finished it the night before we headed to the zoo- just in time! It turned out exactly how I wanted it: roomy enough to layer, but not too big to wear. I am hoping he gets a full year out of this.

Adalia (15) at the penguin exhibit.

Hilary’s son, Gideon.

Avi, Hallie and Hezekiah.

And here are a couple from Instagram:

Apollo calls Enoch I-noch….yes, as in iPod and iPhone. So Enoch has been trying to teach him to say “Enoch”. He’s been telling him, “penguins say ‘eeee’ then knock on the door”. So Apollo has been repeating him and saying “eeeee-nock”. Because of this, Enoch was eager to show Apollo the real penguins. When Apollo saw them he started saying, “eeeeee-nock”. Now, if you ask Apollo what a penguin says, he’ll say, “Enoch” and he still calls Enoch I-noch…it’s absolutely hilarious. Oh the joys of learning to speak!

Avi and Kalina at the top of th world!

Homeschool Biology

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This week was our first week back at school after some time  off for Christmas. Imagine my delight when I stumbled onto this scene in our study hall. All three of my Biology students completely engrossed in  their assignment. I don’t think I’ve seen this level of enthusiasm yet this school year. They were supposed to collect water from a pond, makes slides and identify the little creatures (or should I say organisms) swimming around. I don’t think they had any idea how many critters were in the humble waters surrounding our house.

They were so enthused, in face, that first thing the next morning they were back to making slides of anything they could think of. Go check out Tilly’s post about it here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those of you wondering, we are using a combination of  Biology a Self-Teaching Guide and Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Biology. The self-teaching guide is written at a college level, so much of it goes over my student’s heads as this is their first study of Biology. The Apologia Biology is wonderfully well written, full of photos and thorough. I recommend it without reservation.

This year has been on of transition for my older students as they dive into High School and their work load has been heavier. It did this mom’s heart good to see them enjoying their work so much.