J asked me if we could have a little more structure. She actually said she wants to homeschool the way our friends do - they use Core Knowledge and are very structured. Of course I'll do whatever she wants, but I know she's not one for formal sit-down lessons. That would never work. She hated it in school and hated it when we tried it months ago. I think she likes the idea of schedules, lists, and being sure she knows things. She gets very uncomfortable feeling aimless and making all the decisions. With the advice of my MDC friends, I have decided to do a bit more guiding and a lot more "together stuff".

She likes following the TCOS from worldbook and we'll try a daily or weekly schedule or check-off list. I'll present the ideas/guideline/lists/suggestions and she'll be the one selecting from that. Today she found an online typing test and played with that for a while. Then she read a few pages in her chapter book and went right to a workbook for some arithmetic and language arts. She was happy I was happy and all was good.

J was out roller-skating today and we picked up W and went to the playground. It was freezing out but as usual, I was the only one who was cold. W is playing with Daniella again - today was tag and duck-duck-goose.

K came home from school with a headache so she stayed home for Musical Theater class. J and W enjoyed it, though. They went over their "Wicked" number and at the end of class applied stage makeup on each other. This week they can wear Halloween costumes to class and next week they can bring a friend. We'll be trick-or-treating on our block this year (we go to mom's sometimes). They can easily get 2 big bags filled here hitting both sides of one block. In Long Island you have to walk around way too much and half the people are never home. I always loved Halloween in the city. T-or-t'ing was always excellent - I'd never have to leave my (double-6-story, 150-family) apartment building and there was always someone somewhere having a party. As teens we would egg and shaving-cream each other and silly-string people's houses and cars. Ahh, memories.