My poor kid

Woken by crying at three a.m. DS had his first charlie horse. Now I don't know about anyone elses children but...of all the kids in the world I almost fear my son's anguish. He's so vocal that he is screeching like a howling dog. I love him but really he needs to tone it down at three a.m. I console and or rather try to console. Like most men my son already has a independent streak in him that makes it hard to console him. He's had it since birth. He resists all attempts at comfort and reason. By 3.30 am I tell him he should just lay down next to me till the pain subsides. Apparently he was...

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High Time!

I figured it's high time I posted something. lol. Time has been busy with nice weather and good health. The kids are getting restless so I have decided summer play will be reduced and educational activities will be added.The home ec cooking seems to be a bit more then they can handle at this time. Or perhaps more then I can handle. I shall have to rework the requirements for that.School store remained closed this past week because neither of them earned any money in the preceeding week. So it should work to their benefit to return to lessons. A few days off and already DD has forgotten how to...

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Ooops sorry Mom it's out there now ;0P

I have been reading so much since I started homeschooling eight months ago. I have come across some pretty interesting information. But for now I just wanted to share my early childhood. (yes Mom I am revisiting this tale toned down for you twenty odd years later. Forgive me.)My parents were hippies the nature loving kind :) And so they built our home from the ground up. We homesteaded before it became a catch phrase. Mom grew an immense garden of veggies and tried her hand at various fruits something that was harder at the time due to the zone we were in.Our home had no television or anything...

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Yikes!

So being sick with bronchitis in the humidity we have here has been really rough. Which means loads of laundry that weren't put away for awhile. So before my kids starting going naked I decided since I can breathe better today I should make the effort. Well, apparently although they have been playing together beautifully part of that is making gigantic messes. So back to shovelling out the rooms. I went through three bookshelves, after the books were gathered from hither and yond. And put away four laundry hampers of clothes. DS has been on a growth spurt lately bulking up before the big upward...

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Terminology, Confusion and Overload.

I am relatively new to this homeschooling lifestyle. And admittedly have been reading for the last several months as much as I can online from forums, blogs, web pages and so on about homeschooling. What I have found is a number of terms that left me stymied for the most part and looking for more information. My journey so far has left me feeling a little like I did when in high school, I went to PS, I decided to take a 'easy' business course and the teacher used so many terms within terms that my head was literally spinning for the sheer lack of comprehension of all of it. Gifted, Spatial Learning,...

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Today is Home Ec Day 1

Day one of Home Economics for kids. Back in the day when I was in PS we occasionally got to experience Home EC although for the most part it was already being phased out. Well I for one think it's vital for kids to learn how to cook and to learn to think about meals more in depth other then 'what's for dinner Mom?'. So to get them to work cooperatively on the project I pulled out cookbooks. I have a lot of the Company's Coming cookbooks with pictures which helps them to decide. They had the choice of making it together or choosing to make the dinner and desert separate. Well DS is making pizza...

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Saturday Treasure Hunting!

Well treasures abounded this weekend :). As I said we love yard sales. This city has a lot during the summer months. We wake up early load up and take off for five hours or so to treasure hunt. This weekend I found a estate sale that was a artists treasure trove. I picked up three super large sketch books unused. Their value in the store is well over $50. I could have been greedy and picked up more but they hadn't listed the asking price. So I was hesitant to ask. Very happily I paid for these great sketch books for a whopping $3!Then off to a sale with kids clothes and toys. Always a favorite...

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Paycheques for kids?

Having read over what feels like a hundred ideas from other people we have come up with our own version of school finance lessons. Since DD is five and not learned coins yet too much I printed out Canadian coins on paper, oversized. We will give the kids each their own paycheque for the school money that I printed. They earn money for their weekly paycheque based on how well they attend to their lessons ie, no excessive whinning, procrastinating etc..Each lesson is worth twenty five cents. I keep track of the lessons earnings with tiny stickers on the bulletin board. If they are really bad during...

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Heat, Humidity and Bronchitis

So my plan to keep teaching through summer is being quashed with me being down with bronchitis. Boy am I ever sick of coughing. However the kids surprised me with a lovely artwork involving a blue sleeping bag as the backdrop. They then took all the sea animal stuffies they had and some real shells and made a lovely composition. Not bad for amusement from a five and seven year old. :) And yesterday DD took all of the lego people and lined the ring that goes around the globe with them and we made up a lovely song about people being different. Even ones with pumpkin heads, one of the lego people...

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Warmth and Goldfish

Finally the sun has returned to reveal nice weather for this country's birthday! Happy Canada Day world. The kids and I caught more goldfish from the pond and put them into a small tank in the house. They are starting to show some colors which is nice to see. And certainly we have no need of hundreds of fish in our pond. As far as urban ponds go it's a good size but not so large that it needs to be teaming. Already the warm weather is bringing out the hair algae. But I know the water is still good because we have swarms of damselflies and skeeter bugs. And to top off knowing the pond is a healthy...

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