Finally, we're over a week of sickness. My poor son, he is so susceptible to every cold that comes down the pike. My daughter, however, is much tougher.

Got the schoolroom in fairly good order. Went through all my books, and was amazed by what I already have in hand. DD has expressed desire to do Calvert again this upcoming year (she did it two years ago). Hated it at the time, because it involved a lot of writing.

She suddenly has decided she loves writing, and wants to try Calvert again. I think she also liked the testing service, which gave her another "teacher." I was hoping to do Sonlight Core 3 with the two kids, but perhaps we'll just modify. I'm not crazy about Calvert (I think it's great academically, but it's awful dry. Don't like the history much, either, so we'll substitute)

DS is just in first grade, so nothing too fancy for him. I have lots of fun books and worksheets for him to use. Hope to do much reading aloud with them both.

I am Woodstock!

Which Peanuts Character are You?
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And the scary part is I still have boxes to unload. Not to mention organize. I was able to clear out a filing drawer for all the stuff I have wedged into folders (unit studies, various worksheets, curriculum ideas...). Holy cow, what a mess. Good thing I have the summer to get ready.

One thing the kids' school does is Morning Work.

When they arrive in the morning, they sit down and have a page of things to do. It can be a puzzle, word search, math problems, quiz, etc.

But it gives them an easy start to the day. I think I will incorporate this, especially if one is waiting for the other to start or finish breakfast or talk to Mom, etc.

Was thinking for Ian (who will be in 1st) that I would pull pages from old Highlights magazines for picture searches; I'm sure I can find lots of other quick things, too.

Am debating whether to do Sonlight Core 3 for the both of them. Ian would be just "auditing" it. Corinne has expressed an interest in returning to Calvert, since it involved lots of writing, and she now loves that. But it was so dry! However, she also liked having a "teacher" to send grades into. Maybe we'll do Calvert and just do history our own way with Sonlight .... Too many choices!

The kids want hs'ing to be "more school-like." Hmm. I know that the one thing they DO like about public school is the structure. They love knowing exactly what they're going to be doing every day and at what time (not really my strength in previous hs'ing years!).

And now that we have a dedicated schoolroom, maybe I'll give this a try. It will involve a lot of planning ahead of time for me to stay on track. We'll see if it works...

Some ideas:

* weather station - a log book by the window; thermometer outside; rain gauge outside

* listening station - tape recorder w/ headphones. The question is whether I could find enough books on tape at the library that would suit.

* computer station - this would be good for one kid when I'm working w/ the other. I don't think I'll have internet -- maybe just load our learning games onto our spare laptop

* Corinne's vocabulary - in school this year, they do spelling. Most of the words she can already spell (I've; laugh; station, etc). I'm thinking of racheting up her spelling with really tough words next year (lugubrious, virago, fiesty). I'll take a page from her teacher: Monday would be write the word, look it up in dictionary and write meaning. Tuesday, write it in a sentence. Wednesday, write it in "stairs." Thursday, write it three times. Friday, test by first writing the word then writing its definition. I'd limit her list to 5-8 words at first.

   Somewhere (maybe on one of the great blogs here!) I was reading how kids' vocabularies are just dismal, compared with 90 years ago. Someone had a McGuffy reader from 1915, where the 4th-grade spelling words were amazing - I'd never even heard of a couple of them. I'd also like to start work on the Latin roots.

  Any other suggestions? I need to keep thinking. Wish I had a computer in the shower --- that's where I get my best ideas!

Here's are some fun sites to celebrate. I think we'll have to have green eggs and ham for dinner.

http://www.seussville.com/seussentennial/participation1.html

http://homeschooling.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=homeschooling&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.seussville.com%2Funiversity%2F

http://www.vickiblackwell.com/seuss.html

One thing I just love is a timeline. We started last year with the Sonlight Book of Time. Nice book, but it's hard to grasp the enormity of history when you're paging through. Next year I want to start one on a wall, and really make it fun.

On one of my (too many) yahoo groups, I saw this info. Some of the sites look cool!

1. How to Make a Timeline
http://www.dohistory.org/on_your_own/toolkit/timeline.html

2. How to Make a Timeline Part 1: Timeline Basics
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/howtomakeatimeline1.htm

3. Your Timeline
http://library.thinkquest.org/C008179/local/timeline.html

Free Timeline Makers
1. Time Line Maker

http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/materials/timelines

2. Create a Timeline (Of 5 to 140 year span)
http://www.ourtimelines.com/create_tl_2c.html
http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/materials/timelines

Timeline Worksheets
1. Timeline - a worksheet for kids from Tracey's Create-A-Book
http://www.tlsbooks.com/timeline.htm

The New Yorker's cartoon website is wonderful. I always find something there to brighten my day.

Corinne just read a book that really affected her -- Stone Fox. It's about a sled-dog race, and it has a sad ending (just to warn you). It's a quick read. The ending brought up some good topics for discussion.

Ian, meanwhile, asks me, "Well, if God made everyone, who made God? And who made that person? And who made that person???"

Those questions, alas, weren't as easy to discuss.

Ian, bless his heart, is his own man. He doesn't do break rules loudly, like his sister. He just does what he thinks he needs to do, and sorry if the rules are in the way.

Yesterday, he got a "frowny face" at school. The kids are supposed to take only one paper towel after washing their hands. He thought he needed three, so he took them. Then -- bad thinking -- he told his teacher he only had one. Sigh.

The school has tons of silly rules (and how I long to pull them out now, instead of waiting to start next year). But rules are rules, and he needs to follow them.

He actually is a very good kid. But if he thinks something is absurd, then he is not going to do it. He'll find a work-around.

Corinne is still shocked that she can't go to the bathroom whenever she wants. Her teacher, who really likes Corinne, told me she understands, but if she let all the kids go when they wanted, the classroom would be constantly empty. And as I explained to Corinne, the teacher can't go when SHE wants to, either. (what a bummer; with my bladder, I'd never make it as a teacher!)

There are fewer than 70 days left of public school.

Corinne CANNOT wait until 3rd grade is over. Every day she asks if she can homeschool again. She thinks it will be so much easier.

However, while she will be able to sleep later (who on earth thought of a 7:50 start time?), she's proven exactly how much work she can do. And I want to keep that momentum. But the beauty of hs'ing is that she'll be doing lots of learning, about things she needs and things she wants to know.