September 2013

My favorite month!  Actually, at the end of August I stopped in Michael's and got some autumn decorations.  I couldn't wait.  September is the month I can have all the windows open and there's actually a wonderful breeze coming in.  B is looking to start making soup in the crock pot and Halloween is next month!

W was all ready to register for basketball, when he said he might want to try MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) instead.  So, I found a great place with a great reputation.  We went down for a free trial.  The first day was a consultation to see what W's fitness level was like.  He did a circuit of rowing machine, sit-ups, pull-ups, bench pressing, and jumping onto this huge tire.  Bottom line - he's incredibly strong with great form.  They said to try both the kids and the teen/adult MMA classes to see which would be a better fit.  Being 12, W is right on the outskirts of both age groups. The kids class was ok.  There were kids of all ages, including several 12 & 13 y/os.  He did fine.  Then he tried the teen/adult class to see which he prefers.  The older group is much more skilled and focused and I think that's what W needs.  It was a Muay Thai class (a form of kickboxing).  After warming up, they immediately went into sparring and combat.  W seemed to take to it pretty well and would like to continue. The owner of the gym and 2 teachers agreed that he would do better in the older class.  He now goes 3x a week.  We just got him his own hand wraps and boxing gloves.  I'd love to see where this takes him.

A new season of CCD and Boy Scouts began last week.

We started 7th grade this month.  Saxon 7/6 we're almost done with - probably finishing up by the end of October.  Lightning Lit 7 is a hit so far.  W loved Rikki Tikki Tavi and enjoyed the literary discussion about it.  We watched the cartoon on YouTube, too.  Now we're reading Tom Sawyer.  He still does narrations and I ask questions, so I know he gets it.  I do worry about the dyslexia, but so far it hasn't been too much of an issue.  I am noticing it more lately, though.  When he reads, he gets so physically exhausted in such a short amount of time.  I read that children with visual dyslexia and visual processing disorder exert so much more energy getting their brain to translate what they're seeing - no wonder he gets tired.  I am so thankful that we live in the 21st century with things like audio books, digital recorders, spell check, etc.  Even though he reads and writes every day, I'm glad those things exist to help him in the future.

The K12 Human Odyssey for history is just continuing from last year.  We're still learning more about Sumeria. The new geography program is great, too, so far.  It's a fun read.  A lot of the stuff we're learning can be reinforced with a few field trips, too.  And we're moving along nicely with Apologia General Science.  We did a few experiments this month and learned about experimental variables, surface tension, control groups, placebos, and blind and double-blind studies.   Here are pictures from our experiments:

Soap can propel a cardboard boat

Surface tension floats a paper clip

We visited the Sony Wonder Technology Lab a couple of weeks ago.  We haven't been there in a few years so it was all new again - they also had a huge renovation since we'd been there last.  W created cartoon characters, programmed a robot car, performed virtual open heart surgery, and played some cool PlayStation games.

 

J is now a senior at LaGuardia Arts!  She is taking English, Government, and Math, and 2 double periods (4 classes) per day of dance.  This semester includes: Classical Ballet, Modern (Horton), Modern (Graham), and Career Management.  This is going to be a crazy year filled with performances, applications, auditions, prom, and graduation.

Also this month, J:

• Went to several hip-hop master classes
• Stood on line from midnight at Good Morning America in Times Square to see a band called R5.  One member is Ross Lynch (from Disney's Austin & Ally and Teen Beach Movie) who J is in love with.  Only 25 people were picked to watch them perform live in the studio and be on TV.  She, K, and her best friend were all selected.  The got pictures with several band members (including Ross!).  I DVR'd the show and got to see them.  
• Got her senior pictures.  She looks gorgeous.  I still can't believe she's a senior.
• Is getting ready for the new dance season.  Lots of great things are in store.

LoFro & the U.N.

The week started last Sunday when we took J out to Long Island for a dance workshop with none other than the Season 7 winner of So You Think You Can Dance...LAUREN FRODERMAN!   The workshop was from 12pm-5pm.  Lauren taught 2 classes - jazz and contemporary.   Another class was taught by a special guest choreographer... KC Castellano from Born to Dance!  They were both really nice and gave a lot of great tips and information.  Lauren did a Q&A and autograph session at the end.

K will not be taking the assistant manager job at the health food place.  It turns out 2 of the stores are closing, including the one she's in now and the one she was going to.  She's not too broken up about it - she got a heads up about the stores closing a couple of weeks ago so she went right back to the place she applied for  over a year ago - the laundromat.   They had no openings, but all of a sudden the manager called K the next day to say they decided to make some changes and she's hired!  So she starts next week and is really looking forward to it.  This is where she wants to be.  Yay!   


I went to J's parent-teacher meeting today.  She's doing wonderfully in school and her teachers love her.  Her Social Studies teacher said she writes really well and always does great on her essays.  I will sing the praises of homeschooling on that one.  Never a formal writing lesson, yet she's always praised for her writing. 



W's academics this week included reading more of The Princess & the Goblin. Michelangelo, and American Tall Tales (Pecos Bill).  We still doing a review of long division with a lot of practice problems (which we may continue into next week), and spelling exercises ( words ending in -ed and -ing and the rules that go along with it). I never realized how hard the English language is.  So many rules and inconsistencies.  There was also the big Halloween party and bake sale at Scouts.  


On Wednesday, we went with the homeschool group to the United Nations.  What a great trip!  I hadn't been there since elementary school, so it was new for me, too.  All the kids were 10 and 11 years old and the parents got to come along.  We had a tour around most of the building.  The guide spoke in a microphone clipped to his jacket and all of us wore a headset to hear him.  That was cool - it kept the kids focused and we didn't have to strain to hear what was being said.  The kids were very interested in everything - they asked and answered so many questions.  It was a beautiful day to be in Manhattan.  The following pictures are from inside the U.N.:

W volunteered to be Canada

Scout Camp Weekend

W had an amazing time camping with the scouts this weekend.  The weather was perfect.  Friday night was a bonfire and Saturday was a full day of activities.  These weekends are for the whole family.  I'd probably go along, but my girls have too many weekend things going on, and besides W gets to do some male bonding with his dad.  Unless, of course, his friend's cute sister wants to follow him around and admire his shooting skills.

We are zipping through the Flash Kids Math 5 workbook this week.  My new favorite thing in the world is Khan Academy!.  I love it and cannot say enough good things about it.  W watches a 10-minute video, we discuss it a little, and he does math problems in his workbook - there are math problems he can do on that website, too.  I may even show the site to J for her high school math.

This week's reading so far have included :  A Child's History of the World, Marco Polo, The Princess & the Goblin, and Science Lab in a Supermarket.  And he continues with Spelling Skills every day.  That book has done wonders for his reading ability.  He does several pages of activities for 40 new words and 2 pages of grammar each week.  The best part is that he loves it!  I also pulled out the HOP Master Level.  There are 4 levels of difficulty - blue, green, orange, then red.  Each one is supposed to be more difficult than the last.  We first got the program in November of 2009 and at that time he was struggling through the blue level, which is the easiest.  We put it away for a while and then last week I pulled it out again to see what he could do.  I grabbed the last story card from the 4th and hardest level (red) and he read the card with no problem.  WOW!  I mean I knew his reading improved since I recognized his dozens of dyslexia symptoms and we jumped into a multi-sensory reading approach, but the strides made in only 2 years are really incredible.  I love homeschooling.

Paley Center for Media

Our instructor holding the screech box

Yesterday we had a great homeschool group trip to the Paley Center for Media - which used to be called the Museum of Television & Radio.  The class was all about sound effects used in the old radio programs.  The kids listened to several programs and discussed how you can tell so much about what's going on with only the background sounds.  Then they got to go onto the stage and try out a bunch of different items and devices that make the sound effects:  A wind machine (essentially a vacuum box sucking air in through 2 small cylinders and had a speed control dial), coconut halves (horses trotting), a screech box (cranking the handle moved nails over glass and made a horrific screeching noise that could be anything from subway brakes to a park swing), a cowbell, small, heavy mats (for any "thud" sound), tied-together corn stalks (when shaken it could be rain, wind, or fire), and a large sheet of metal for thunder.  Most of these things were donated from the 3 major networks.  The instructor had the kids use the items to make the sound effects for a story she read out loud about a stampeding heard of cattle on a dark, windy night.  At the end of the class we watched a behind-the scenes 1940s clip of a radio show being performed.  It was interesting to see a whole crew just for the sound effect devices and just a handful of actors being dozens of characters.

After the class we decided to check out the library on the 4th floor.  It's a huge room with several TVs on each table and your own set of headphones.  Here you can pull up almost any TV show going back to the 1950s - and watch it with the original commercials!  A member gets 3 hours at a time.  W watched some old episodes of Pee Wee's Playhouse and All That.  I watched the Magic Garden, The Judy Garland Show, and Father Knows Best.  My friend was so excited to see the very first episode of General Hospital, lol.  W and I signed up for a free 1 year membership and will definitely be back.  Great trip!

This week's academics was our last week doing multiplication and division drills.  It's all about it being second nature.  Now we can get back to the 5th grade review book.  I may even do the Flash Kids 6th grade review book before hitting TT7.  I'll see how it goes.  The readings this week included more of The Heroes, The Princess & the Goblin, Science Lab in a Supermarket, A Child's History of the World, and Michelangelo.  Spelling Skills, a page a day, is also still going on.  So, nothing really new and interesting with the academics.  We're just plugging along at a nice pace.  Soon we'll be outdoors a lot more - a new skate park opened up about 10 minutes away in one of my favorite parks!  It's the opportunity I was looking for to get those nature studies in.

W is going camping this weekend with the scouts.  He's so excited and looks forward to this autumn one every year.

Math & Spelling

Am I completely crazy for absolutely loving the $6 Barnes & Noble math and spelling workbooks from Flash Kids?  I keep trying other programs and workbooks but always end up coming back to these.  The 5th grade math book is just for review and to make sure W knows what's what before moving on to TT7.  We plan on zipping through it quickly.  It's touches on everything without being tedious and annoying.  This week we took a short break from the workbook to really nail down W's multiplication and division skills.  I really believe it's important to have these memorized.  It makes the higher math easier.  So, Times Tales was first, and then we spent 2 more days going over the problems in the book - several times over.  W loves playing a speed game with facts.  He loved it when learning to read (the sight-word flash cards were a huge hit) and he still loves it.  By Wednesday I started using multiplication flash cards and doing the speed game with those.  It has everything from the 0 to the 12 times tables.  Yesterday it took exactly 11 minutes to reel off the correct answers to all the cards.  I'd like to spend more time on this next week as well, focusing more on the division end of it.

The spelling book has been a true Godsend.  The word lists and activities have helped him so much with his reading and writing.  There's a nice list of 20 words (all related in some way, either by sound, spelling, or other similarity), fill-in-the-blank-type questions (definitions, antonyms, rhymes, analogies, etc), proofreading paragraphs, and grammar lessons all in one chapter.  It's enjoyable and we spend about 3 days on one chapter.  Listening to W read aloud now, it's hard to tell he's dyslexic.  He's come so far.  One of the issues has been that every word to him is a sight word and it he memorizes them in order for his reading to flow.  Phonics and sounding-out plays a minuscule part.  That's why the Dick and Jane (and Dr Seuss, and Fly Guy) books were great since they repeated words over and over.  Hey, whatever works for him.  And it does seem to be working!

Other stuff this week included reading/narrating Paul Bunyan (from American Tall Tales), some Science Lab in a Supermarket, a chapter about John Cabot sailing to North America a few years after Columbus (in This Country of Ours), and some more Marco Polo with mapwork.  CCD and Scouts also started up for the year.

K has been busy with work and college - both are going great.  J is doing very well in school, hobnobbing with various celebrities, and just enjoying every minute.  At dance, she's gearing up for a new competition season.  Most of her group are at the top of their age category this year, so a lot is expected from them.  She has a bunch of workshops, master classes, and conventions on the schedule, too - starting next month.  I'm looking forward to a great year.

New Car, Fishing, & Babies

Great week.  Wayfinders had a 6-hour adventure day on Tuesday, we bought a new car, B & W went on their annual Fishing Derby camping trip with the scouts, and Sunday was my sister's baby shower. 

Our new car is a 2012 Mazda5.  It's a "micro-minivan" that seats 6 and has a perfect amount of storage room.  It's silver and the interior is black.  I love it so much.  I'm so glad to get rid of the Nissan we had - the tires were bald, the transmission was days away from breaking down altogether, and the whole inside and outside was a mess.  Now I can drive without worry in something I think is really beautiful.  It's smaller, better gas mileage, and one of the highest rated for safety.  Yay!

The Fishing Derby this year was a lot of fun.  Now that W is a webelo scout, he got to sleep in the lean-to with his friends the first night and in a tent the second night.  No more staying in the cabin with dad.  He loved it.  The lean-to was scary, since it had cracks and it looked like it was going to rain.  He was with 3 of his best friends, so that made things a lot better.  The tent was waterproof so he was happier the 2nd night.  After the very long day of fishing and running around, the boys were out cold pretty quickly.  I was worried about it, but B said he was only nervous for about a minute.  I'm so proud of my son.

My sister's baby shower was in this beautiful yacht club right on the water.  I bit the bullet and actually got a haircut and manicure.  I planned on getting the pedicure, but chickened out.  I can't stand people touching my feet.  LOL. I'll get over it.  Pedis really make your toes look awesome.  A mani-pedi and eyebrow waxing costs only about $25.  I think I can make time for these.  Anyway, my sis got just about everything she registered for.  The baby girl is due in about 6 weeks.  This baby has enough clothes to last til winter.  I will be spoiling this kid rotten.  I love little girls. 

This week J has finals.  She's spending any free time in the school library studying.  K is still gearing up for prom and graduation. And I am sooo ready for summer to be here.

4/9-4/15

Tuesday's Wayfinders was rained out, but he enjoyed time with friends the whole afternoon anyway.

Wednesday was an all-day set of classes on the Upper West Side.  W checked in at 9:30am and started his day with Cake Decorating.  He learned a lot of new words (like "fondant") and got to eat what they made.  After that was Chess.  It was great that he finally had some good, formal chess instruction.  He plays well, but loved learning some new strategies.  After that was lunch, then Photography.  I gave him my small camera to use in the class.  The instructor showed them how to center a photo, cool things a regular camera can do, etc.  The last class was Cartooning and Graphic Design.  Needless to say, this was his favorite.  The kids came up with ideas for their own comic books and W said he learned some great things.

I spent the whole day in the nearby Barnes & Noble.  6 whole hours to relax and read and browse.  Ah...heaven.  It was Educator's Week, so I got 25% off my purchases.  I got this really cool science book, 2 new novels for W to read (at around the same level as his current book), & 2 Flash Kids math workbooks.  The math workbooks are basic review.  I want him to go over all the 4th grade and 5th grade math.  We still love TT5, but he'd like to switch it up a bit.  We'll go back and forth.  The novels I got for him are:  Hatchet by Gary Paulsen (because he's been on a survivalist kick) and Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli.   The listed reading levels for these books are 6.3 and 5.4 respectively.   This is right where W is right now.   I'm so proud of him.

Friday's music class was called "Mock Rock Band".  The kids got to alternate playing bass guitar, acoustic guitar, and drums trying to make some sort of music with those, lol.   W thought it was really fun.  He's still leaning toward the bass guitar as something he'd like to maybe continue with. 

At Cub Scouts W is working on his Athlete Badge.  There are 20 activity badges for the Webelos to earn - 4 in each category:  Physical Skills, Mental Skills, Community, Technology, & Outdoor. W has already earned most of these.  In the fall he'll move up to being a Boy Scout. 

I'm looking forward to a full academic week.  The girls are off from school, so I don't have too much running around.  W has Wayfinders and a science class scheduled, K will be working, and J has some dance stuff going on.  I can't believe summer's only 2 months away.  This school year went extremely fast.

Football, Scouts & Dance

It's been a nice week off so far.  The girls are enjoying the break from school, and W gets an almost-free week as well.  Last Saturday, W wanted to give football another try.  He loved it a few years ago.  It's really rough and tumble, with full-on tackling and brutal practices.  For not being there a while, he got through the whole 2.5 hours of off-season practice.  He was hurting for a few days afterward, though, and isn't sure he wants to get back into it.  We'll see.  His Boy Scout Blue & Gold Ceremony was on Friday and W is now officially a Webelo.  At next year's Blue & Gold, he will be a full Boy Scout.

J has been so busy with dance.  The weekends are filled with pointe class, teaching new babies, and 3-4 hours of perfecting the new choreography for the upcoming competitions.  On Monday and Tuesday this week, She was one of six kids from her studio to get to go to the High School Dance Festival at Hofstra University.  Both days went from 10am-5pm with classes in Modern, Ballet, Jazz, & Hip Hop.  On Tuesday they got a nice dinner at 5:30pm, then were part of a performance from 6:30-7:30pm.  B, W, & I went out to see it.  They performed a routine from each of the classes they took.  It was impressive.

Weekly Recap

This week W and I read a few chapters each from:  Pagoo, Seabird, An Island Story, A Child's History of the World, A Cricket in Times Square, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood ($0.99 on the Nook!), & Joan of Arc.  W is half-way through the 4th grade Spelling Skills book, still loving the proofreading sections.  He also did dictionary skills, analogies, and definitions.  Math was money (decimals) word problems and subtraction (regrouping/borrowing) with 4 digit numbers.  Copywork was from a few different poems.

He spent time with his friend next-door, went to Cub Scouts, and got a "new" Game Boy Advance SP (old school, lol) with a few games.  He's made lots of drawings and videos with his Flip.  He's training one of the parrots and creating flying machines with his Legos.  He spent $5 on 3 new mini Nerf guns that he already modded to shoot faster and farther.  We watched a few scary movies together and he decided his new favorite shows are Dog, The Bounty Hunter and Man vs Wild.

J's new school (spring) term began so all her classes have a "2" in front of them now.  School is still awesome, she says. Today J and her friend S were the paid entertainment at a 10-year-old's birthday party.  They taught dance moves and basic choreography for an hour and made $30 each.  Now J is at another birthday party (as a guest this time, lol) and having a sleepover.  Last night I met her at school (with my mom and sister) to see the Senior Dance Showcase.  It was amazing, as I knew it would be.  In junior year there, the dancers do a "Junior Project" where they choreograph their own numbers with all original movements and based on a certain theme or idea.  Several of those were performed as well - the kids originally performed these last spring.  The talent these kids have is mind-blowing.  Then we walked around the Lincoln Center area and had dinner at Ollie's Noodle House.  So beautiful over there.

K is currently on her senior trip.  Paintballing, snow tubing, rollerblading, dance clubbing, swimming, and having a blast with all her friends.  She's ready for summer - and college.  We should be getting the college letters sometime this month.  Eeeeek. 

Busy Busy Busy

Beautiful pink winter sunrise on my block

I haven't posted our homeschooling schedule since the beginning of December.  This is the one W thought of and we've been using it.  I still love it and so much gets done.  Here's how it's laid out:

Mon, Wed, Fri
Math
Spelling
Read-to-Me
1 AO Reading w/narration
1 Free Reading
Poetry
Copywork


Tue
Read-to-Me
Artist Study
Composer Study
Dictation
Spanish
Nature Study


Thu
5 AO Readings w/narrations
Spelling
Read-to-Me

W's duct tape wallet...and what his work table usually looks like

And W's new "Read-to-Me" is A Cricket in Times Square.  Yes, that's right.  He picked it and he is actually reading 2 pages each day out loud to me from that 6th grade-level book.  I cannot tell you how proud of him I am.  Backtracking to an easy reading book then up again to something harder tends to work with him. 

W chopping onions.  He did wash his hands, but the paint wouldn't come off, lol.

W has planned and made his meals for his scout project.  I did one with him.  He knows a lot about cooking.  Besides that, he has been modding Nerf guns, making new crossbows, and even made himself a trifold wallet out of duct tape.  All the while he continues to make tutorial videos about cartoon drawing, Super Mario Bros. on the Wii, and different ways to change-up Nerf guns - I should suggest making a cooking one!.




J had finals this week at school.  Then today her English quiz was to perform a monologue from "Fences".   And tonight is her school dance.  Thankfully, she enjoys keeping busy.  Tomorrow is her 9am pointe class, then she teaches her new baby class, then there's 3-4 hours of solo, duet, and group numbers rehearsal with her dance team.  After that, she grabs a quick lunch with her friends and heads to another friend's house to spend the day.  I'm exhausted for her, lol.

Scouts

At scouts last week, W has another cool project to do.  He is working toward getting his Family Badge (or something like that).  He has to plan out 3 meals, make a shopping list for those, and prepare everything himself.  He knows how to do this already, having done it a few times, but now it includes writing things down and thinking of whole meals instead of just one dish.  He's excited to get started.  Since B is the chef in the house, they will be doing everything together (there's never enough dad and son bonding).  I hope I remember to take pictures.

The scouts also went ice skating yesterday.  They went to a brand new place that was just created this winter.  It seems like they just sealed off an area, filled it with some water, put some plastic railings all around, and called it a rink.  Simple, yet so nice.  There's a mall across the street and a huge cemetery across the other street.  They had the whole place to themselves and had a great time.


I re-organized my entire apartment (again, lol) and I'm so please with how it looks now.  We threw out so much stuff - it looks so much bigger in here!  An open, clutter-free home does wonders for my motivation.  I have so many plans brewing!

December!

We are having a fantastic December.  W is getting so much reading, writing, and math done.  He decided that he wanted to try Spanish again, so while at Costco last week I found this knock-off, Rosetta-Stone-like program on sale for $18.  It comes with a bunch of CD Roms and you can record yourself saying the words.  It's fun and he likes it so far.   We're half-way through TT5 math now - right on track to finish it by the end of 4th grade in June (then we're doing TT7 from the beginning of 5th grade to the end of 6th grade).  I find that it's best for us to stretch out the math.  W retains it better that way as he isn't inundated with too many new math concepts each month.  We do math 3-4 times a week (sometimes once or twice a week - December slows us down a bit, lol).  The schedule that W made has been working well - actually better than anything I came up with. 

W had a party and awards ceremony at Cub Scouts this month, too.   He was presented with a bunch of patches and badges he's earned over the last half-year.   In addition to the patches in the picture below, his 4 activity badges were:  Citizen, Readyman, Outdoorsman, & Artist badges.  He got a patch, pocketknife pledge card, and badge for the Whittling Chip.  The badge states that W "has earned the right to carry a pocketknife to designated Cub Scout functions", because he demonstrated knowledge and skill in its use and completed the safety requirements and promises to abide by the Knives Are Not Toys guidelines.  He's proud of that one the most, I think.  We also got our Pinewood Derby car to build for the big race in a few months.   This is such a wonderful pack and troop of scouts.   

W's New Cub Scout Patches

 

We have also been going to the pool hall in the West Village every week.  I'm so glad it's that time of year again!  For a few hours W gets to play games with friends and moms get to relax and chat and listen to some good jazz music - usually being played by various bands who use the space to rehearse.  It's a dark, gritty, oh-so-cool atmosphere that just drips the essence of New York City out of its walls.  W and I really look forward to this every week.

W and Friend Playing Pool

As I mention every year, NYC is the most incredible place to be at Christmastime.  The kids and I decided to walk around the mall in the Time Warner Building at Columbus Circle.  This is where we were a few years ago when we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade go by.  For Christmas they have these beautiful hanging stars that light up to the beat of the Christmas carols being played.  The kids loved it.

Christmas Stars in the Time Warner Building

K, J, & W under the Christmas stars reflected in the window

A Tree in Columbus Circle

Scout Camp

B took W camping this weekend with the scouts.  It turned out to be a beautiful few days with great weather.  The trees are starting to turn colors and it was just chilly enough to really enjoy the campfire.  W is a webelo scout now and he was so happy to finally earn his whittling chip.  This means he can now bring his pocketknife to all the scout camping trips.  He sailed through the whittling test with lots of kudos from the scoutmaster and few other kids.  W has been using a pocketknife for a while, though, carving and whittling any piece of wood he could find.

The rest of the weekend was filled with fun activities, games, and playing, which included:  pumpkin decorating, archery, target practice with a fire hose, running in and out of a big pirate ship, and hanging out in the cabins. 

LEGOs & Science

We kicked off the new school year with a few awesome classes.  On Thursday, W had a class on Lego Robotics with other kids ages 8-13.  It was in the East Village in a quaint old building on a beautiful city block.  I haven't really been in the East Village in a long time.  I used to shop with my friends there when I was in high school, but nothing too much as an adult.  Walking down Astor Place and St Marks Place was so fun.  There are tons of restaurants, jazz bars, and funky boutiques.  I forgot how much I love that neighborhood.  I called B right away and said we have to move here, lol.

In the class, W and his friend F worked on making a Lego car with some wires coming out of it and used a remote control to make it move.  This was a basic lesson on robotics and he loved it.  They also watched a video on how it's done.  The instructor is this great guy who is passionate about robot building and is really good with the kids.  I sat with a few other parents chatting away while the kids built their cars.  Afterward,  W and I grabbed a few slices of pizza with our friends.  I found a place that gives you 2 big slices and a can of soda for $2.75 (no tax).  How cool is that? 



On Fridays W is taking a series of classes at a science museum in Long Island.  The drive is only about 20 minutes from home, which I love.   The 6 weeks are focusing on Earth Science and the first class was all about rocks.  He's in with other 4th-6th graders.  They had buckets of different small rocks and had to match and glue them next to their descriptions.  They also made an edible craft.  W learned so much in that hour (and even told me about it!).  After the class he went and played with a bunch of other kids for over an hour.  He is looking forward to next week - and next Friday he starts his Cub Scout meetings again!  He's a Webelo this year!

Super Saturday

W:  Cub Scout sleepover at the Hall of Science complete with Bubblemania show and ice cream.  (And a great birthday party on Friday for best friend in Brooklyn)

J:  A surprise "Alice in Wonderland"-themed birthday party at Jekyll & Hyde's in Manhattan followed by same-themed house party in Queens.

K:  A surprise 17th birthday bash on a party bus for best friend. 

I'd say it was a fabulous weekend.

Cub Scout Camp, YEAH!

The boys just got back from camping with the scouts. They left on Friday afternoon and got back tonight. They normally stay til Sunday morning, but both W and J have CCD in the morning. W had such a great time. Friday night was barbecue, roasted marshmallows, and running around with friends. Today was a day full of activities. W did some BB gun shooting, went on a hayride, played on a big pirate ship, decorated pumpkins, and played a ton of games. It was supposed to be a rainy weekend, but it was perfect.

Happy Autumn!

So far, so good with AmbOn2. We are reading An Island Story, Child's History of the World, Tales From Shakespeare, The Little Duke, The Burgess Animal Book, Tree in the Trail, Pilgrim's Progress, Understood Betsy, and Mr. Popper's Penguins so far. W is enjoying them all, but really loves the history stories. We're learning about the Duke of Normandy, The Battle of Hastings, and the Dark/Middle Ages. We're also learning about mammals, insects, and invertebrates. W is reviewing 3- and 4-digit subtraction before taking the big plunge into multiplication and division. We read poems every day and he still prefers the daily copywork to be in cursive. We have been learning about Raffaello Sanzio, how to understand and make a floor plan, and how "ph" and "gh" can sound like F. He has an outside class and his first Cub Scout meeting of the season this Friday.

J is reading Little Women, doing some pre-algebra review, revisiting early American History, and has just started on Life Science (biochemistry) this week. Writing will soon become more regular as well. She has 10 hours scheduled at the dance studio this week with a guest choreographer - who comes in from California twice a year or so to work with the kids. Next week she'll be starting a piece for her school auditions and she's still trying to come up with a vocal selection for this season's competitions. Things are moving so quickly this year.

Happy Autumn!!!

Life, Curriculum, and other Miscellany

It's Friday. The week just flew by...again. K is done with school next week - just 2 regents exams the following week. I can't believe summer is already here.

J took her standardized test last week. Now we're just waiting for the results. Then I'll send in the paperwork and it starts all over again. I'm sure she did well on the test. I just don't believe a test like that can even attempt to show what my kid knows. It's all bs and no one really cares how well they do anyway. I tell J that it's just a formality we have to endure so the people in the office can add another checkmark to her file. She doesn't worry about it. And for that I'm glad.

W and I went to the Queens County Farm Museum this morning. We went with the homeschool group and W loved it. We went on a hayride, visited and learned about all the farm animals, made some butter, and planted radish seeds (that we took home and W fully intends to see these actually grow into radishes). A mother duck just hatched about 10 ducklings yesterday and they were jumping out of the tree "crook" where the nest was, hit the ground (unharmed, oddly enough) and formed a group by their mother while waiting for the others to arrive. They were so adorable, yellow, and fuzzy. I love that farm - especially since it's only 10 minutes from my house! Thanks G for a great trip.

This evening W had an award ceremony for cub scouts. He earned a camping badge, a fishing badge, and a few other ones. It was so nice. They had a slideshow going of all the activities and places they went throughout the year and dinner for everyone. W enjoyed hanging with his friends and getting his badges. This is a great pack/troop of kids. 2 are becoming Eagle scouts this year.

J has been out with a friend all day. They hung out at the house, then at the park, then stopped at the school to see another friend's graduation ceremony, then over to the mall. I wonder if I had all that energy at 12 years old, lol. Tomorrow J is performing at a piano recital - she was asked to dance her musical theater solo. A mom of a girl J dances with teaches piano, voice, and flute and asked 5 dancers (her dd's friends) to do their solos. J is excited to have been asked and is looking forward to it.

I'm waiting for the last shipment of books for AO Yr2. I got a bunch on paperbackswap for free last month and the rest on amazon. Some used, some new. I think I've spent about $140 total so far. He wants the new Teaching Textbooks Math 3. It's supposed to come out in the fall. I almost would prefer the cheap workbook route we've been using. I find elementary math very easy to teach. Does he really need a $100+ program? I mean, not only are 3rd (and 4th to 8th) grade math concepts pretty cut-and-dry, but that kind of math is EVERYWHERE and can be learned completely in context. So, I'm still mulling that one over. We were also thinking about continuing with the Live Mocha Spanish and the Outdoor Hour Challenges (at handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.com) for our nature study. These are FREE to use and W likes them a lot.

J decided she wants TT-PreAlgebra, some classic literature, to do the nature studies with W and me, and a writing program. So I looked at various things with her and she seemed to like Writing Strands. Other things she's thinking about include labwork at the science center, classes at history and art museums, and continuing being the assistant teacher to her "babies" at the dance studio. She wants to be fully prepared for high school if she's accepted.

Both kids have chosen their own curriculum. They have interests, have things they enjoy, things they want to learn, and I facilitate as best I can. They both told me straight out they prefer a schedule and it is my job to research with them what looks good. They each spend less than 2 hours each morning on the academic seatwork, but endless hours exploring their world and pursuing their interests. Throw in the abundant myriad of classes, trips, and outings we do throughout the year in this incredible cultural mecca that is New York City and how can any other education compare?

A-Camping-They-Have-Gone

Another great camping and fishing weekend away with the cub scouts. B drove up with W on Friday evening. They had dinner and W ran around with all his friends for hours. They slept in a lean-to with their sleeping bags and thankfully it was nice and cool out. Last year, it was so hot. Saturday was spent fishing. B bought W a new pole, but he didn't catch anything this time. W loves fishing and we really have to go a lot more this summer. They also played baseball, roasted marshmallows, and played a huge game of manhunt. On Sunday morning they ate breakfast, packed up, and were home by noon.

W marched in a Memorial Day parade on Sunday with his cub scout pack. It turned out to be a beautiful day even though the weatherman said rain. He had on his scout shirt and neckerchief and was given a small flag to carry as he marched. B and J were invited to march with them too. I stayed on the sidelines taking pictures. Afterwards, we met back at the lodge for hotdogs and soda. W had a great time running around with his friends. J's friend from dance was there, too, so they hung out together.

Monday it was nice out again so B took W to a different playground by the dance studio. There were lots of his cub scout friends there and parents that B knew. B got to sit and chat with everyone. W rode his bike around. They both decided that was their new favorite park.

J has been all over the place with friends this weekend. I swear that kid is never home, lol. I think she was at 4 different friends' houses in as many days. We've made plans this week to redo and clean up her bedroom so her friends can come over too. She hates messes and won't have anyone here until it's clean. Today she's at dance for 3.5 hours. Her first class is where she teaches the little ones. B was watching her last week and said she's so cute in there and the kids love her. She stretches with them first and then she mainly demonstrates steps and technique. She even has a shirt that says "STAFF" on it.

K is back to school today. She really had a great week off. Work is wonderful. We visited her on Friday afternoon (we were already in the area running errands) and everyone there really is nice. They gave us free pizza and ices. I can see why she loves it so much, lol. She got paid on Friday and it was way more than what we both thought she'd get. She's on cloud 9. She put away 1/2 the money and is budgeting the rest for the week. She already got her hair cut on Saturday and went out to dinner with about 7 friends last night. When I picked her up she said it was so amazing to actually have her own money. I'm so proud of her.