J and I had a little talk this morning about unschooling. She said it meant "doing nothing or whatever I want all day". Hmmm. I wonder if she thinks that's what I want from her so she has been reluctant to do much lately. I explained that No, that's not quite it. I said Unschooling is not "doing nothing all day", but using what we have and where we are to create your own things to do. I will give you all the ideas, suggestions, help, guidance, and support you need. I said that unschooling was all about asking questions, looking things up, trying things out, and getting help when it's needed (I quoted that). She was like, OH! I think she really believed that she was supposed to just avoid anything that was even remotely academic looking. So she then tells me she wanted to read a new book with me and she grabbed her old math book and wanted to do the pages she saw her friend doing yesterday before dance class (all the public schools use the same books). We started reading a book called The Report Card and we got all the way to chapter 3 with each reading alternate pages aloud. Jeez, I gotta make sure I'm crystal clear about things from now on.

After W was home from school he and J did some arts and crafts. W made a little stick puppet and J made a pencil holder thingy out of popsicle sticks. J made some cream of mushroom soup (she eats it plain, I don't get it) and heated up some leftovers for W. W then "read" his favorite storybook after which he put J's dance tights over his head and ran around being scary, LOL. Hey, this hyperlink stuff is FUN! I put some more pictures in my PHOTO ALBUM. Check it out!

At dance today, J got another costume - this makes 5 now. Recital rehearsal is tomorrow - without costumes - so it will be nice to just sit and watch the whole thing. J is in 4 big numbers and the finale. This is going to be a great recital! I can buy it on DVD, too!

J got a call this evening from the Annie people. She got the part of Tessie. They are actually casting Tessie as twins in this production, so J is Tessie #1. I'm pretty sure K got ensemble, and she's not too happy. I told her that ensemble is on stage way more than the orphans and the director is adding a few extra numbers just for them. She still wants to do the show, though, so I'm glad. I know it'll be fun for them and I am eager for both girls to make some new friends.