Homeschool on the Run!

I suddenly realized that I am starting homeschooling in two weeks.  I can’t believe it.  I was lost in this summer fog and now suddenly I am juggling activities and tweaking curriculum, ordering last minute materials and rearranging my classroom.  I’m nesting!

It’s nice to start a new year.  I remember starting school.  I remember coming home from school on the first day with pads of writing paper that were stapled at the top.  We had to cover everything in brown paper. I remember the smell of the paper and the fresh, white appearance of a new pad, full of promise. I remember the rolls of brown paper and the Clag glue!  I used to be excited about starting school.

I decided to start school August 31st.  We will establish a routine during that first week and then join 400 other homeschooling families in Disneyworld for the week following.  Disneyworld is hosting a homeschoolers program, complete with classes at all of the parks.  This will be Speed’s first time in Disneyworld and he doesn’t know about it yet!  Last year I would have been worried about missing a week of “school”. This year I know better.

I am excited.  I am far less concerned about the outcomes as I was last year. They will do just fine.  Bring it on, world!

August 12th, 2009 | Category: Family | Comments (6)

Finally we had a ninety degree day and humidity.  Just like a regular summer.  It’s particularly hot for me because I’m not into shorts…or actually any summer attire, especially not bathers.  That’s right,  I’m in jeans and I’m staying that way.

Of course I chose today to build the Lego League table. 

We got the Lego League mat, a 4 x 8 field mat where our team is going to display and run their robot.  It is very cool.  This year the team will be designing a smart car/vehicle. The theme is Smart Moves and we don’t have the actual challenge yet so we are in getting ready mode. The team will have to do a research project and build a robot…but first things first, the lego table.

For me this meant 2 trips to Home Depot. I was a 2 x 4 short and needed an extra can of spray paint when I got home from the first trip.  The Lego table is designed to hold the Lego field mat at waist level whilst the children demonstrate their creations in competitions.  It is basically a 4′ x 8′ sheet of plywood, bordered by 2×4’s painted black.  Underneath are stiffeners that can be attached to a pair of saw horses so the table is secure at the correct height.  Then you build a structure to install 2, 4 foot florescent lights that light up the table.  I will take a photo when I am done.

I didn’t get too much help doing this from Chuckles.  She wilted after about 3 minutes in the hot garage. I forgot how toxic spray paint is in this no wind, tropical situation.  She spent time making Lego accessories for the Lego challenge instead.  They are very cool.  There is the crash test car, ramps, sensors…. very easy for the parent to take over here….but I resisted. I really wanted to make the crash test figure.

 It’s all good and I am happy for us to get started on our little Lego adventure.

August 10th, 2009 | Category: Family | Comments (4)

Chuckles is my animal loving child.  She loves animals intensely and desires to be surrounded by them.  As a baby she befriended  large, scary looking dogs.  People have been scary to her but not animals. So when she wants a new animal in her menagerie, there is almost nothing that will stop her.

My initial reaction to having a new pet is no, definately not.  Well, we acquired two guinea pigs 3 weeks ago that my husband promised her when she became ill and he always gets her a pet when she is sick.  He promised her a horse if she could swim the length of the lake (where our country house is) and she did it. When a pet dies we replace it.  If we see a underfed gecko in the pet shop we rescue it.  All of these animals are quite a handful to take care of and as she isn’t the only one doing it…I thought it was time to say NO to the rabbit.

Well…she was on a play date the other day and it turns out that the neighbor of her friend needs to find a home for his rabbit. 

“They are moving to Maine and it desperately needs a home, Mummy and it is soooo cute.  I knew when I saw it that I have to be the new owner to take care of it.   It’s name is Pip.”

For the last week or so she has become rabbit obsessed.  She has taken out 7 library books on rabbits, 3 of them from the adults section and she had been reading them cover to cover.  She has drawn up a care plan and measurements for making a new hutch, worked out quantities of wood required, wire, latches and so on and so forth.  She is begging me to take her to Home Depot to get supplies.

“It is already 9 years old, quite elderly after all. It may only have a year or two left.”

Finally yesterday after being worn down by her constant pleading and desire to have this rabbit, my husband gave in.

“She has really worked hard for this one,” he said.

Last night, I was reading her Tuck Everlasting.  In chapter 3 (I am guessing)  there was a quote saying:

“Things are only interesting to you if you don’t own them.”

We pondered this little saying.  And then she said: “….but I still want the rabbit.”

August 8th, 2009 | Category: Family | Comments (2)

I woke up this morning and my husband was talking in a nonsensical way. 

Husband: Go and get the uh … uh…boat! Go get the …..?

Me: What boat? What are you talking about?

Husband: uh.. uh… I don’t know..

This continued for a while and after a minute or two I decided to call 911, thinking he’s having a stroke or something.

He was completely normal otherwise.

They came in droves, first the police and then paramedics, then the ambulance…then the neighbors! My husband was horrified at all this attention thinking it was overkill and maybe I could have quietly taken him to emergency. He was asked a zillion questions and tested before being put on a stretcher and taken to the ER room for a CT scan.  By the time he was in the ambulance he could speak a lot better.

Meanwhile my son was completely oblivious and wanted to play on the computer and my daughter asked a couple of questions and played hopscotch on the driveway.

It turns out that he had a complex migraine without the headache which came later. They gave him IV fluids and a narcotic for the pain which knocked him out for the day.

So I have been wondering why he got a migraine and I think it’s because we have been staying up late these last couple of weeks.  We discovered that we could take out TV series at the library, several seasons worth at a time and we have been watching them marathon style.  I have been watching McLeod’s Daughters and he has been watching The Closer.  Luckily he has just finished the fourth and last season and can now go to bed early. I have another 3 and a half seasons to go.

August 7th, 2009 | Category: Family | Comments (6)