Since it seems that all my online friends have a blog, I certainly have to keep up with the times and have one too. Yes, if they were going to jump off I might too, depending on how high the cliff was.

Today, I have done school with four boys from the ages of 5-10. My youngest just turned five. He wants to do school in theory but not in practice. He really has no use for math or reading other than he wants to "do school" when I'm working with his older brothers. So, I bought him a little math workbook and we started on A Beka Phonics K4. When I tried to get him to do the "I" poem with me, he looked at me as if I was off my rocker.

Here is the poem:

Who's that peeking from the teepee?

   (Hold arms stiflfly above head, fingertips touching, and look through arms.)

Who's in that canoe?

   (Hold arms in same shape in front of body.)

Who's that with the bow and arrow?

   (Hold up one foot and shake it.)

Who has deerskin shoes?

    (Hold up one foot and shake it.)

Who grinds corn to make the cornbread?

    (Pound and twist fist in other hand.)

Who rides horses wild?

    (Pretend to gallop on a horse.)

Who can spear a fish in water?

    (Make a quick jab with a pretend stick.)

It's the Indian child.

    (Cross arms in front of body.)

I did this poem twice by  myself. Do you think my boys do this to amuse themselves? See what we can get mom to do? How far will she go to teach us how to read?  Well, I've played musical alphabet, made sand alphabets with sand and cutout sandpaper, gone through six months of vision therapy with one son, alphabet puzzles, cassette tapes, videos and games, you name it-since 1988 I've done it.  My sons will find I will go to any length to get them to read.