Happy Birthday!

I think the freezing cold, snowy NYC winter is finally ending.  I love the cold and the winter, but the snow became too much.  We still got out of the house a lot, though.  W has been meeting up with his friends for go-karts, laser tag and dodge ball, bowling, and for some cool classes, including a seal necropsy at the Riverhead Aquarium.

That was an awesome experience.  A seal was found in the Bellport Harbor (Long Island), having died of some unknown cause.  It was taken to the aquarium and put in a freezer.  It was thawed out for the teens to perform an autopsy on it.  After a few kids started cutting open the skin, they measured its blubber layer.  Then, using scalpels, they got most of the skin off and broke through the breastbone.  The organs looked good.  The instructor cut open the heart to see if there was heartworm (which seals can get just like dogs can).  Then she spent a few minutes feeling the lungs for any parasites or disease.  When she opened the stomach we saw a lot of sand and rocks in there.  This is what killed the seal.  When seals are stressed they eat things they're not supposed to.  It was sad to think the seal was stressed for any reason, but seals really don't belong in Bellport Harbor - or anywhere in Long Island, really.  It was so cool for W to experience a bit of what veterinarians and forensic workers do.  

W made his Confirmation last week!   11 years of catechism classes and now he's got 4 sacraments under his belt.  He started classes at 2 years old since he begged to go - and the third child was free,   It's going to be weird not having classes anymore, but he's glad to have reached the end.  The ceremony was wonderful.  J was his sponsor and went up with him as he got the chrism oil.  At his Christening, his father and I answered questions from the priest on what we believe.  At Confirmation, W was asked the same questions from the bishop and was able to answer for himself.  It's such a beautiful full circle.  We all went out for a great lunch afterwards.  The next day W turned 14.  The years really went by quickly.  8th grade will be over in 3 months and he'll begin his high school years. 

Science, Weapons, and Weather

My homeschool groups are so active and I'm seeing so many amazing classes and trips for teens.  It's so great to see how many homeschoolers in this age group are out there.  Just within the last few months I've seen classes being given for pottery, creative writing, tennis, philosophy, science lab, robotics, debate, string theory, non-fiction writing, drawing, psychology, glass working, comedy improv, ethics, American history, chemistry, digital photography, chess, cooking, ancient civilizations, rhetoric, fencing, video production, song writing, and a ton more.  Plus list upon list of classes for teens (homeschooled or otherwise) given at various museums, galleries, labs, theaters, and parks.  The choices are almost overwhelming (in a good way).  We may not get to very many of them, but knowing they're there is great.  I love my city.

We made a visit to the NY Hall of Science last week.  We haven't been there in so long.  Now that I'm back at my old job, I (we) have the corporate membership to everything again.  They redid the place.  The lower level is all maker, DIY, and lab stuff now.  They have better hours than they used to, too.

Two great homeschool group trips were held this week.  In the first, we were part of a wonderful class at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  It was on weapons used throughout the world from the Sumerians and Assyrians to World War I.  Our instructor is a homeschool mom and also a college professor of history.  You can tell by the way she put everything together (the handout, the tour, the topics) and by the way she spoke that she truly loves history.  Anything becomes so much more engaging when taught by a person so passionate about it.

Met Museum

The other trip this week was to the National Weather Service at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.  This is the office where all of the weather alerts, warnings, and advisories come from.  They are in constant contact with the mayor, schools chancellor, and all the major local tv and radio stations.  They are present for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, New Years Eve in Times Square and for events at Met Life Stadium.  We discussed so many things about weather, including the upcoming snow storms, the major hurricanes our area had, and the recent tornado watches.  We got to see the main area where several people were monitoring a number of computers, televisions, barometric pressure-readers, and satellites, and clocks (set to "z-time").  Our guide was a meteorologist who also does outreach.

National Weather Service at the Brookhaven National Lab

National Weather Service

Getting Back Out There

W, J, and I went back to the American Museum of Natural History last week.  We haven't been there in a couple of years so I decided it would be a good idea to see it again.  My sister and my 3-year-old niece came, too.  It was my niece's first time riding the subway.  Before we went in, we had a nice lunch at Shake Shack on Columbus Avenue.  J always eats at Shake Shack, but it was the first time for the rest of us.  I'll admit, it was a damn good burger.

At the museum, we more or less just zipped through a bit of the first floor and most of the 4th floor (dinosaurs) before spending most of the time in the Discovery Center.  I remember how much my kids loved it when they were little.  I'm happy to say that my niece loved it just as much.  She put on goggles and dug for bones, was fascinated with little clear blocks of various insects, built a totem pole, saw the live Madagascar hissing cockroaches, and really loved the nesting Matryoshka dolls. 

The W 77th Street side

My beautiful niece

 Today we went with the homeschool group to the Vanderbilt Museum and Planetarium in Centerport, Long Island.  We'd gone here years ago with J - W was to little to have paid any attention.  It was such a beautiful day out today for it.  We walked around the grounds and saw the Vanderbilt collection of safari animals, bugs, butterflies, sea creatures, and trophies. Our tour guide was a very knowledgeable and funny guy.  He made everything a lot more interesting.  I don't remember having a tour last time.  The planetarium had a wonderful show on the life cycle of stars.  It's a new building - just put up 2 years ago in place of the old one they'd used for 30 years.  We all enjoyed it very much. W hung with his friends.  It was nice to see these awesome homeschooled teens pay attention and have genuine interest in the exhibits.  It's great that there are so many new homeschooling teens this year, too.

The Long Island Sound is in the background

June 2013

W went on a wonderful trip out to the Brookhaven National Lab again.  This one was a 3-hour "Engineering Challenge".  There were about twenty-five 11-15 y/os in the class.  In groups of 3 they had to construct a column made only of cardboard and tape that both lightweight and strong.  The efficiency formula is E = load/weight.  Most kids made some sort of triangle shape, some made rectangles, some hexagons and octagons.  The instructor used an "Instron" device - a kind of crushing machine that measures the strength of something based on the load pushing down on it.  Another challenge was to make a structure (truss) using longerons, batten tubes, and string.

Brookhaven National Lab

A design engineer from a different building came in to the class and spoke to the kids.  While the other kids were working, he spoke to W's group.  He shook the kids' hands while introducing himself and then talked to the kids about engineering - really listening to them, their ideas, input, future plans, etc.  He treated them with respect, he listened to them, and in turn, the kids responded eagerly and maturely.  I would never witness that kind of mutual respect from a public or private middle school.  Why don't schools understand that??  This is a main reason why we homeschool.  My son gets to experience everything in the real world, with real people, learning real skills.  I'll never understand the artificial nothing-like-the-real-world hot mess called middle school (and many high schools, too, btw).

W had his final class at the Tanglewood Nature Preserve.  This one was on Paleontology.  The instructor was great with the kids.  He was like a big kid himself and very into the subject.  He passed around casts of big fossils and deer and horse bones.  As usual, the kids were interested and engaged.  At the end of the class they sectioned off a big dirt area with string and popsicle sticks to make a grid.  1 to 3 kids dug in each section and unearthed various bones.  They measured, sketched, and described what they found.  What a fun class!  I can't wait to do more of these in the fall.

Digging for bones at Tanglewood

Also this month, W went to this cool art class at the CW Post campus of Long Island University.  This was a 2 hour class (middle-high school level) about color, contrast, focal points, and theme.  The kids discussed many pieces of art from a local artist and then drew similar pieces themselves.

CW Post Art Class  (photo credit: CB)

The highlight of the month for me was seeing W in his theater group's original play.  It was a teen drama all about, well, teen drama.  W knew all his lines and he really does have a knack for acting.  He did get stressed out about the show.  For a month he was terrified he'd forget his lines.  He got more comfortable with it around the final week when there were lots of extra rehearsals.  I'm not sure if he wants to continue acting, but I'm so proud that he gave it a try and faced his fear.

Other things W did this month include going to our homeschool group's annual End of No School Picnic, getting an iPhone, and playing lots of soccer in the park.  I'm so looking forward to many many more fun things this summer!

We are also getting ready for our summer academic schedule.  Year-round just works better for us, but the summer months are definitely lighter.  So, we've decided on doing 3 days/week (MWF), 2 subjects a day.  It will look like this:

Mon:  Math, History
Wed:  Math, Science
Fri:   Math, English

And since I won't be working outside the home anymore, we can get out and explore/experience the city (and surrounding areas) some more.  I want to see how we do with the 2 formal subjects a day thing.  I'd like to maybe continue doing that in the fall, 5 days/week.  It doesn't look like much until you see how it's only a part of an entire curriculum, which includes field trips, documentaries, homeschool group classes, basketball, parkour, CCD, scouts, consumer math, personal finance, computer technology (gaming, coding, creating, and online courses), typing, film-making, agriculture (gardening, composting), engineering, public speaking, health, nature study, art/crafts, music, map/ dictionary/ library/ and research skills, etc.  I love homeschooling.

Ok, the final decisions have been made.  The curriculum we are going with for 7th grade is:
Literature:  Lightning Lit 7
Math:  Saxon Algebra 1/2
History:  K12 Human Odyssey 1
Geography:  World Physical Geography (Runkle)
Science:  Apologia General Science

I wanted to bring something else up.  Ever since W got his diagnosis last summer of dyslexia and processing issues from the Albert Einstein School of Medicine neuropsych research dept, I have changed the way we do academics.  It seems that now (in only a year) he can read fluidly with hardly any pauses (and those pauses are only on one or 2 unfamiliar large words), he can write neatly, and I see no problems with his processing speed in any area.  I don't think anyone would even guess he has a learning disability if they saw him today.  The difference between where he was at age 11 to where he is now at age 12 is like night and day.  He is now more than a grade level ahead in reading!  The diagnosis spurred me to change a lot of things.  I pretty much met him where he was, yet pushed him at the same time.  We used various methods and tools but no formal dyslexia programs at all.  At least 90% of his reading/writing/learning issues have disappeared.  Any thoughts?

4th Quarterly, Annual Assessment, and Letter of Intent for 7th grade mailed.

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J's junior choreography project was absolutely breathtaking.  One of the teachers explained to the audience that this is the first real school performance for most of them (although some have been in the annual musical or the annual Rising Stars talent show) - it's the first time they really "let them out" to show what they can do.  I can't stress enough how talented these kids are.  There are about 60 junior dance majors and there were 21 different dances in the showcase.  One was better than the next.  Now comes senior year where there are even more opportunities and performances.  I can't believe my baby girl is a senior already.

Here's what else J has been doing this month:

• She danced at the Alvin Ailey Theater for a pretty well-known choreographer's birthday showcase gala.  She was put front and center of his all-star hip-hop team. I wish I could have gone to see her, but I had work and this only came up the week before.  Luckily, B went.  He said she was beyond fierce, lol.   
• She was called in for a last-minute rehearsal for a show at B.B. Kings Blues Club in Times Square.  She performed as a back-up dancer for Wyclef Jean and Waka Flocka Flame!  I am still amazed at how quickly this came about.  She and several other dancers were sent a video of the dance and were expected to know it before coming to rehearsal, so they could just run it over and over.  The day of the show, Wyclef met with all the kids, introducing himself, and right before the show J got a picture with Waka.  B went to this show, too (I had to  work again..AARGHHH).  There's no way he'd miss his baby girl dance, lol.  I'm really glad one of us was there to see her.
• She and some friends went to see Maroon 5 perform on the Today show.  They got on line at 3:30am at Rockefeller Plaza...in the rain.  
• She got some beautiful new headshots taken.  
• She finished all her school finals and Regent exams.
• She and B went to see Shaping Sound at the Beacon Theater.

It's going to be a wonderful summer!  

May 2013

I have decided to streamline my posts.  Now that the kids are older and only W is homeschooled  I'd like to try posting just once a month.  So here we are at the end of May 2013.

I already mentioned that W took a wonderful nanotechnology class at the beginning of May.  He also took 3 classes with our homeschool group at the Tanglewood Nature Preserve in Long Island.  The first class was "Forensics".  The kids learned about fingerprints, footprints, DNA, dental imprints, and piecing together a crime scene.

Fingerprints

The second class was called, "Math in the Natural World".  Fibonacci numbers, bilateral and radial symmetry, and the reasons for the various shapes & patterns found in nature were actively discussed.  The instructor took them out on the nature trail to see these things up close.  Examples of these cool math patterns were found in beehives, skunk cabbage, ferns, trees, and insects.

Another month of science classes was completed at the Science Museum of Long Island.   So far he's had classes on:  microscopes, lights/lenses/lasers, types of  rocks/minerals, constellations, and more.   They always do part of the class outdoors with a nice walk around the woods.  W's class has about 8 kids who are all 11 to 15 years old.  One class he especially enjoyed was dissecting owl pellets.  He had done this a few years ago, but he's older now with a different perspective and understanding.

W's find in the owl pellet

A new activity W thought would be fun is parkour.   He's taking weekly classes now.   He is learning how to jump, flip, roll, and tumble on, through, and over various objects.  There are a lot of gymnastics and coordination moves involved.  He loves it.  The instructors are masters at parkour and so amazing to watch.

About a week ago, B took W to a NY Mets game.  They go together once or twice a season.  Citifield is so close to our home.  I dropped them off at the 7 train and picked them up a few hours later.  W has so much fun at these games because there's always something there for the kids to do and he comes home with some cool free stuff.

W getting ready for a dunk-tank pitch

Theater class is going very well.  I think it's the best money we've ever spent.  His reading confidence is through the roof.  Everyone in his teen groups is so friendly and supportive.  W was so worried about his reading - all the mono-/dialogues, memorization, and cold readings, but now, he looks forward to getting picked to read something.  He even requests to read.  I love this class.  I can't wait to see their big performance next month.  

CCD classes are over - his last class of this season was May 19.  He has one more year (7th grade) and then W makes his sacrament of Confirmation in the fall (or winter, maybe) of 8th grade.  He's been going to this class with the same kids since he was 2.  The new season starts at the end of September.


We are making good progress with the academics.  We will be on a semi-full schedule over the summer, so I figure we'll be done with math, spelling, and vocabulary sometime in autumn.  That's when I'm thinking about trying AoPS PreAlgebra... but we do love Saxon.  I'm still up in the air about choosing Saxon 8/7 or AoPS.   Well, we still have a few months to decide.  We have already started our 7th grade science and history programs, so we'll just continue with those.  W has also recently expressed an interest in Latin, rather than Spanish, so we are going to try it out.  I did some research and looked at tons of reviews and samples and finally settled on a program called, "Latin's Not So Tough".  It wasn't until after choosing that program that I noticed that they call themselves "the Saxon Math of Latin curriculums".  That might be why I was drawn to it.  I plan on starting with Level 2, which starts off with a review of level 1 (the alphabet and pronunciations).   Not sure if he'll enjoy it, but it will certainly help him with reading and vocabulary.

J said the shoot for the music video was great.  I dropped her off at 9:30am and they finally finished at around 11pm.  They did her hair and makeup - her hair was kept long and straight and her makeup was dark and almost goth-like.  She had a blast.  They even provided the kids with lunch and dinner.  Even though J hasn't had a lot of training in hip-hop, she has really come into it on her own.  I love watching her dance.  I can't wait to see this video.

She was also in another competition this month.  She is so enjoying the freedom of being an independent.  Nothing is holding her back.  She choreographed another solo (jazz) and just finished 2 days before the competition.  She's using a new studio and renting space as she needs it.  It's fantastic and it's a beautiful space.  She got a Platinum award for BOTH her solos and a "unique style" award for her new one.  One judge told her he could watch her dance all day and another said she loved the simplicity of her costume (a pretty little soft pink dress she just picked up the day before at Forever 21 for $13).  It was wonderful that J got all the recorded judges comment on a thumb drive.  Several of her friends came to cheer and support her - and there were a lot of kids there she knew from school or other studios.  There was no stress, no worries, and I can happily say that competitions have become fun and exciting again - just like they used to be years ago.

K finished up her internship in Manhattan this month and started a new job.  It's still part-time, but she's making more in 1 week here than she did in over a month at her other part-time job.  Now that her money situation is where she wants it (for now), she can focus more on getting her career off the ground.  She has an entrepreneurial mind and once she's determined, she can do anything.  But for now, she's putting away 3/4 of her money for a new (used) car.  

The Start of May

W went to a wonderful class at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island last week.  It was a 2-hour class for ages 11+ on Nanotechnology.  The idea is that materials at the nanoscale, measured in billionths of a meter, behave differently than at the macroscale.  Through several experiments, the kids could tell that nanotechnology is important in future products and technology.  One experiment involved exploding a film canister with alka-seltzer.  They also made a diamond molecule out of connectors and used a solar-panel and an LED to make light.  W really liked that class.  The instructor was great  - she kept his interest for the whole 2 hours.

J is looking so forward to summer.  The music video she is in is shooting next weekend (finally!) and she just got a 285 out of 300 at a dance competition last weekend.  She is competing again in a few weeks as an independent and will be choreographing yet another solo for it.  Over the next few weeks she will be figuring out studio practice time (she has several options for various studio to use) and costume.  Her Junior Project for school is also coming along nicely.  She finished the choreography and just needs to practice practice practice.  We get to view all of the junior class's routines in June.  I can't wait.

W and I are speeding through Saxon 76.  We love the book, but I can see how some families hate it.  There are a LOT of practice problems.  Each chapter has you do a 60-100 problem basic arithmetic drill, then about 10 problems they call "mental math", then you go over the 2-3-page new lesson, then do about 10 problems solidifying that new lesson, then 30 problems that are a mix of the last 10-15 lessons (the spiral).  Whew.  W and I are getting a bit worn out with all of that, so now we only do the new lesson, the 10 practice problems, and maybe 10-15 from the spiral.  It's because of that spiral that W has gotten so good at math and remembers everything, so I don't want to cut out too much of it.  I'll just pick and choose the examples he should do.  We'll move through the book much quicker this way and he'll still retain his love of math.  Any kind of busywork/tedium will kill a love of learning so quickly.  It has to be strategically planned to have the intended effect, but keep the kids engaged at the same time.  Thankfully, we are able to do that!

At theater class last week, W did a lot of cold readings.  He called me when the class was over and was so proud of himself.  He did it and wasn't even that nervous.  He said he hardly stumbled at all.  The other kids and the teachers complimented him on his delivery, too.  This is just what he needs to build his confidence and believe he is great reader.  He has come so far in only a few years - from even last summer!  He's like a different kid.  I am so grateful to be able to homeschool.

Some More Science...

The past 2 weeks of  homeschool group science classes have been great.  I think W is learning a lot.  This week his group was all about lights and lenses.  He's also happy to reconnect with friends he hasn't seen in a few years.  It's interesting to see a new dynamic where they have moved out of being little kids and into being teens and almost-teens.  I'm not seeing the exploring, running, and manhunt games W would partake in endlessly.  This interaction is more subdued and they mainly stand around together chatting.  There's some silliness, some more consciousness about how they look, and a lot more communication.  I like it - it's very cool to watch (from a long distance away, of course, lol).

At the science class

The week was also full of academics.  In science we did an experiment that explained about variables and how an egg floats in salt water.  I notice that a lot of the science experiments we do are pretty simple, but now W is at an age where it's more than just fun to do.  He gets it and writes out nice lab reports (on paper! - but if he'd rather use the white board sometimes, then I'll just take a picture, lol). Math was more stuff with decimals, percents, and fractions, grammar was verbs' present & past tense and present & past participles.  

W is doing lots of out-loud reading at his theater class.  His confidence is growing and thankfully, he's not as self-conscious as he used to be.  Having to "cold read" and memorize for this class is fun and doesn't seem like a chore.  I can't wait to see him in the June performance.  

Wow, this school year is almost over already.

Science Classes

It's springtime, and we're getting our science on in full force.  W has 1-2 classes each week at various places from now until June.   The other day's class was all about the microscope.  The kids put in a slide, manipulated the knobs and powers to adjust focus, and drew what they saw.  They also learned what all the parts of the microscope are called, labeling them on their worksheets.  This was a nice 90-minute class of all 6th-graders and up.  Several of W's friends were in the class as well.  He said he enjoyed it and is looking forward to next week.

W and the microscope

Academics are going well.  Saxon math is great - he is still doing the problems on his white board and it goes so fast.  I love the Saxon spiral with all the review.  W retains the math so much better and is so confident zipping through it.  He's doing lots of decimals, fractions, and percents now.  Sequential Spelling:  this is his favorite.  I write it, he reads it (twice), and every day is a test where he writes the words on the whiteboard.  I realize I only need the teacher guide, rather than any of the student books.  I'll remember that for 7th grade.  His test is on 25 words and he rarely gets any wrong.  This is a spiral program, too.  Every day's list of words are variations of the previous words with a few new ones thrown in.  Some are really simple, like "bats" and others are more difficult, like "splitting" - and both are in the same word list.  It works amazingly well for him.  I'm glad, too, because I keep researching his type of dyslexia and Sequential Spelling seems like the best program for him.  The more I research, the more specific a label I can get.  Dyslexia - Visual Dyslexia - Orthographic Dyslexia - Orthographic Dyslexia/Orthographic Processing Difficulties.  A label helps me find what others have done and various things I can try.

W is also doing very well with Wordly Wise 6 vocabulary.  I had no idea.  He remembers word meanings after one read-through and gets everything correct in the workbook.  I hate that I underestimate what he knows.  Today he read an entire 2-page passage out loud.  He read quickly with hardly any stumbles and had full comprehension.  It was wonderful.  Hake Grammar 6 we just zip through a couple of chapters a week.  He finds it easy, so he neither loves it nor hates it.  It's just there.

Right now he's getting his writing in with History, Science, and Poetry.  With the former 2 he jots things down as we read.  He is keeping a history timeline and is using the student book in science again.  With the Evan-Moor poetry workbook he writes out the answers to the comprehension questions.

New things are going on with my job.  I think I prayed too hard that I wouldn't have to work evenings anymore.  The idea was to switch my shift to the morning (8am-12pm) so W will be able to go back to scouts and start basketball or soccer - all of which include weekday evenings.  Instead, I'm getting laid off in 3 months - along with 120 other people.  It seems my entire department is relocating to North Carolina and Albany.  I'm checking around for other part-time morning work, but my company isn't hiring part-timers anymore, even though it would be an internal move.  If I don't get something else within the next 3 months, I'll be fine with my nice severance package.  I've been there for 7 years.  I love my job.  It will be sad come July, but hey, I'll have my evenings free.

Summer 2012!

I find myself in the throes of prepping my son for public school.  He may begin as early as 8th grade.  He may decide 9th grade is better.  He may dismiss the whole idea of school altogether.  Regardless, we are still prepping.  Mentally and emotionally, I'm sure he'll be fine.  He has no problem making friends, getting along with people, taking instruction, or being compliant.  He even knows how to stand in line and raise his hand (lol).  But academically, I realize without a doubt, I need to bring things up another few notches.  This is mainly to transition smoothly into a public school workload and to ensure that what he knows and what he will be learning over the next couple of years will stick.

It's very hard to feel like I'm fully letting go of unschooling.  I can combat that thought with - well W is choosing to go to school, so as his parent/facilitator I do what I can to help him reach his goal and pursue that interest - Just like I've been facilitating his interests all along.  As academic as we have been, it's all been through W's request.  We continue with what he likes and discard what's not interesting.  I guess we'll still be doing that in a way, but it will be wrapped around a parent-led workload.  He wants to try school.  This comes with his understanding that I am the one who knows how to not only get him there, but ensure he will be fine once he's in.  He will thank me later.

In 4 days we are driving to the Bronx and W will be evaluated for his learning disability.  Finally knowing specifically what is going on will be such a relief.  Then I can readjust accordingly if I have to.  Tuesday can't come soon enough.

J has spent the last 2 weeks way out in Long Island with one of her best friends.  She's been at the beach and pool every day, tie-dying shirts, going to fairs and parades, and hanging out with a ton of other kids.  She came back last Sunday for her theater jazz/tap workshop but went right back out that night.  It's better than camp, lol.  She'll be at the workshop again this Sunday and then home.  She would probably go right back out to the island if it weren't for her Tue-Thu dance classes starting next week.  I love that she'll be doing Pilates.  It's supposed to be great for dancers.  B went out and bought leg bands and an exercise mat yesterday for her.  She has 2 books to read for school (The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien and Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood by Oliver Sacks) both of which I picked up yesterday.  She is also taking an SAT prep class over the summer with her friends and I bought the book for that as well.  She is all ready for her junior year at LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts!

Speaking of camp, W decided against day camp this summer.  They lowered the age range and he doesn't like being one of the oldest kids in the group.  So, we'll be out doing something (almost) every day instead.  Summer in NYC is chock-full of events and activities.  I just wish the thermometer would drop below 90 one of these days.  And since W won't be at camp, we have started to ease into the new curriculum.  3 days a week.  We already started the Saxon 76.  The basic addition review is fantastic and the practice problems in the test book are just what he needs.  He learns best by repetition and what I guess would be considered busywork - but I recently realized that repetition is why I never forgot any math facts.  I am also teaching him how to write proper story summaries.  I read The Emperor's New Clothes to him the other day and asked him to narrate back.  He pretty much told me back the whole story, almost verbatim.  (Ok, so I'm positive this kid has no retention and comprehension issues).  So the exercise was to retell the story back in only 4 sentences.  As I held up one finger at a time, he came up with the 4 sentences in perfect order and form.  Now the trick is to get him to do that with pen in hand.  He gets so tripped up on sentences and spelling and punctuation, that he completely loses what was in his head.  I think if I tape-record his summaries and have him write it down while it's being played back, he will learn to write better, faster, and with less frustration.  Well, that's the plan, anyway.  We'll see if it works.

Today was the homeschool group's annual Back to No-School Picnic! We had about 50 families with over 6 dozen kids filling up the park. What a great day. I met so many new group members and reconnected with old ones. The kids were the best. We were all pretty much in one playground area and even though there were so many kids, there was no screaming, no fighting, no nastiness, and no exclusion. Everyone played with everyone, big kids helped and guided little kids, games were played fairly, and so many new friendships were formed.

Since our group has over 100 families now, 100 was the theme of the day. The kids brought anything representing 100. There were rock collections, homemade cookies, bracelets to hand out, etc. J brought her award bunny that has about 100 dance ribbons pinned all over it. We had a parade so the kids could show off what they brought. I loved it all.

Before we got to the picnic, I stopped to pick up a "new" bike for W. I wanted to get him a brand new 20", but found nothing less than $90. I just can't bring myself to get him an expensive bike when he's still learning to ride. It would get beat up so fast. So on craigslist I found a gently used 20" Magna that was just perfect - and only $40! I picked it up right after I dropped K off at school. He loves it.

J had her first dance rehearsal of the season this afternoon. It was just a once-over of all last year's dances to perform at a local street fair on Sunday. She can't wait til the regular dance schedule begins.

J had another birthday celebration on Sunday with MIL. We all had dinner in our backyard - and cake - and J got some more gifts. MIL got her a whole Puma outfit - pink skirt, sweatpants, t-shirt, and sweatshirt and enough money to have a nice trip to the mall. And I've been reminded daily about how desperately we need to go.

Tuesday night we drove out to my mom's house and had yet another birthday celebration for J. This is just how it goes for us every year with all the kids. We don't have 1 big party where everyone is together at one time. Well, not since they were little. Mom got J an Ashton Drake baby and a Sidekick ID phone. It's a nice phone, so nice in fact, that we bought a Sidekick 3 for K as a starting-high-school present.

Yesterday mom and I took the kids to the beach. One good thing about Long Island is that almost every town on the north shore has a few private beaches on the sound. This means no crowds, close parking, and usually a bathroom and food court right there. It was beautiful. J and W found rocks, shells, and dead crabs, made a few sand castles, and swam. K was happy enough just tanning herself. She did put a toe in the water and deemed it way too cold and sat back down. A bunch of other kids were swimming out to what was a beach version of a scary lake raft, and jumping off of it into the water. I know J and W wanted to go out there too, but were a little nervous as it was way out over their heads. I took pictures of our day there, but on mom's camera - mine was dead.

On the way home we stopped at Target and I spent about $50 replenishing our homeschool supplies. We got notebooks and folders (10/$1), Elmers Glue ($.20 ea), gluesticks, compass, protractor, rulers, looseleaf paper, erasers, pencils, pens, colored pencils, sketch notebooks, construction paper, staples, tape, small pencil sharpeners, and a huge globe (on sale for $10). K picked out some magnetic locker baskets, a pink combination lock, and a bright pink usb flash drive. I love these sales.

Wednesday, the girls went to an hour-long microscope study class at the Science Museum of Long Island. They learned about the many parts of a compound microscope and looked at pond water drops. They also learned about protists and mezozoans. We hung out for a while afterward, the kids played, the parents yapped. Forgive me if I'm city-centric, but there's just something real odd about Long Island "museums". They're not like NYC museums. They're stuffy and musty and snobbish and pretty bare. Ok, I've only been to about 3 or 4, but jeez. Long Island parks are weird, too. There's too many rules involved. You never see age limits on NYC park areas. It's just understood (areas with baby swings and smaller equipment does not need a sign that says "This area for 7 and under only" on it). You never get reprimanded for playing in a certain areas - areas that are off limits (new lawn seed, equipment fixing, etc) are sectioned off temporarily with a fence in NYC. Long Island supermarkets are more expensive, Long Island gas is more expensive, and you can't just walk a block to the deli for a paper and some bagels in Long Island. It's waaaay to dark and scary to walk around in LI, and even if you wanted to walk around, there's nowhere to walk to (except a neighbor's house). So, sorry if I sound cynical. I'm a city girl and can only take the suburbs in extremely small doses.

Friday was Book Club and while the girls were there, W hung out with some other kids in the children's part of the library. He's kind of sweet on another hs girl (BR) who's almost 7. He gets all goofy and show-offy and made a point to ask me if she was coming that day. They played great together for about an hour. Then he disappeared on her when Book Club was over and the bigger boys came out. Isn't that a typical guy thing to do? LOL. After that was Game Day. W played a bit with BR, but mostly with his Brooklyn friend, F. All the kids had a fun time outside in the 80 degree weather with games and scooters.

Today was the big recital rehearsal. We got there at 10am and got home about 4. It went well, and I think we're all ready for the recital in a few weeks. J and her friend M are both in like 10 numbers so M's mom and I will have a dressing room right off the stage for the girls' quick changes. K and W were both naturals on stage today and B's band is doing 3 cover songs during the show (The Who, Elvis, and Queen songs). So this recital is a huge family affair. We found out we're definitely doing the Nationals in Virginia Beach this year - YAY! So exciting.

Tomorrow after the kids come home from religion class, we're heading out to my mom's for the day. The girls have to take a standardized test this year and according to the hs coordinator, we HAVE to have a certified teacher administer the test. Just another completely pointless hoop to jump through. I will never understand why she feels the need to enforce the NY regulations to the fullest extent. We're fine on our own, thank you. Homeschoolers aren't trusted with educating their own kids. The .00001% of parents who homeschool only to hide abuse, have seemingly ruined it for the rest of us. But, hey, I do believe the rulemakers will either decrease regulations in a few years when they see how homeschoolers blow the public schoolers away academically, socially, and emotionally --- or they'll increase the regulations because the utter success and wonderful-ness of homeschooling will threaten everything they stand for. And we can't have that now, can we.

So I found a NYS certified teacher and he will be administering the test to the girls tomorrow. Such a pain in the ass to coordinate some actual free time to do this. At least it should be over quickly and we can still have a nice Mother's Day. I'll mail back everything this week and I should have the scores soon after. Just in time for their 4th quarterlies. Thankfully the reporting for this year is almost over.

I'm looking forward to a great summer!