The Absence of Solitude

First Day of School

Today was our first official day of school for this year. Ethan and Lauren were so excited and kept asking me this morning when we were going to start. Yesterday, we took the day to organize and get ready for today. This year they each have a drawer for their own supplies. I have never seen them go nuts over their own scissors, glue, crayons, folders, notebooks, etc. as I witnessed yesterday.  Even Simon put his crayons, paper, and a few books in his drawer. Another thing I did differently this year is type out and laminate a schedule for them. I did this mostly to keep us on task and for each of them to know what they need to be doing while I work one-on-one with the other. I did make sure not to put any specific times so we aren't tied to it completely. Ethan asked if I could print another one for him to hang by his bed. Lauren keeps saying, "I need to go look at my schedule. What am I supposed to be doing, Mom?" Who knew these two little things would be such a big deal. We'll see how long the enthusiasm lasts.

A couple pictures of the morning...

                 

Ethan telling us the date and weather. (This calendar is also new for this year and they both are looking forward to changing it everyday. I got it mostly so Lauren can learn the days of the week better.) Lauren leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Right now they are each having individual reading time and Ethan is working on history. A good start to the year so far.

finally found them

Books that Ethan actually wants to read, that is. I have tried so many series with him hoping to find something that will peak his interest in reading more. He will read non-fiction all day long but I wanted to find some enjoyable fiction for him too. I finally found two series the last couple of weeks. He has read four books in about a week which is unheard of for him. The two series he can't get enough of are: Encyclopedia Brown which is a detective/mystery series and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series which he thinks are hilarious. He finished one of the Wimpy Kid books in a day and a half and its over 200 pages, granted some of it is kind of like a comic strip.

When Ethan would rather read than watch a movie, play outside, or play a video game or with his Legos, I know I am on to something!

 

It's done.

I just finished writing up all my reports for homeschooling that I have to submit to the local school district. All the red tape and bureaucracy over homeschooling in NY is a bit out of control. One of my friends said if there is a law, tax, any kind of hoop to jump through, or red tape to manuever, NY has it. So true! I went from one of the most lenient states for homeschooling to one of the most strict. I fretted over the paperwork for days but its finished and I couldn't be happier about it. What a relief!! Now to enjoy the summer...

Cinco de Mayo

It's a week late but I am posting it anyway.

Last week we studied Cinco de Mayo for school.  We learned about the Battle of Puebla and the origin of Cinco de Mayo. (It is mostly celebrated here in the U.S. as a celebration of Hispanic culture.) The kids learned the basic colors and numbers to twelve in Spanish. We also played "Simon Says" in Spanish so they could learn parts of the body as well. We made paper flowers, bean and seed mosaics, and sopapillas. I was a little hesitant about the sopapillas actually puffing up, but they were so good.  Ethan said, "Mom, I think we need to make these all the time for a treat!"  Ethan and Lauren also listened to some Mexican music and watched some people dance the Raspa. We had a fun week and ended it with a fiesta and a meal of fajitas, beans, rice, chips and queso.

             

Easter Festivities

I don't have to time to write any details right now so here is our Easter celebrations in pictures.

Easter activities for school:

 

Ethan's Easter pictures:

 

Lauren's Easter pictures:

 

Simon's Easter pictures:

 

Before church:

            

Peter Rabbit

Another home-school post...

Last week our book was Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. I know this sounds kind of strange, but honestly I don't think I had ever read this book in my life. I had seen pictures of Peter and the other animals and had heard about this book but never read the story. It's a great little book and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Ethan loved the science portion of our week that we took from the book about gardens, seeds, and rabbits.  Lauren loved painting with watercolors and repeating the story and the names of all the characters, especially Flopsy and Mopsy. We also made mud pie for dessert one night complete with worms, enjoyed nature, planned a garden, and watched a movie version of Peter Rabbit and other tales by Beatrix Potter. It was a perfect book to talk about obeying rules and listening to your parents, something my kids really needed. Overall it was a good week. I didn't get to cover everything as in depth as I wanted so we might have to use this book again next year.

 

the latest

Its been a while since I have posted anything about our schooling. I have a few posts in draft form and should really finish them but for now I will go with the latest goings on in school.

Last week we used the book St. Patrick's Day in the Morning by Eve Bunting. I was a little unsure how my kids would like it but they LOVED it. I think Lauren enjoyed it a little more and one day she even "read" it to us. She did such a great job remembering the story! We learned about Ireland and its flag, St. Patrick, we mixed colors to see what two colors would combine to make another color, did and activity on the five senses, tasted ginger-ale for the first time (The little boy in the book drinks a bottle of it), watched Irish dancing and they both think they are experts now, learned about the different symbols of St. Patrick's Day (shamrock, rainbow, and leprechaun, the color green, etc.), listened to Irish music, wrote stories, made a graph, and did an art project. We had a great week with this book and once again, I think I learned just as much as they did.

                      

 

                     Testing colors, Irish dancing, tasting and smelling ginger-ale

Inauguration Week

Last week for school we focused on the Inauguration. We started off the week learning about our new president. We also learned the parts of a letter so we could write to him. We witnessed history unfold together as we watched President Obama get sworn in as the 44th president. Allen was able to get the kids each an inauguration souvenir since he was in Baltimore last week. We took a virtual tour of The White House and learned some interesting facts about it. I was surprised at how intrigued they were about all the different rooms.

             

Tuesday night the kids got to stay up a little late and we took them out to the TSTC airport to see President Bush as he landed in Waco on his way to his ranch. Ethan was so excited to see Air Force One and the helicopter that took him to the ranch. We saw President Bush and Laura get off the plane and wave to the crowd. It was a great experience to add to the week.

The kids imagined with Aunt Leigh what they would have in their own Oval Office and they had some funny answers. Ethan would have a picture of a Chinese Emperor's house on his wall and a stack of one thousand-one hundred dollar bills on his desk. Lauren would have Barbies on her desk and would be in meetings with Gracie often and would have a flowery couch. We also learned about the seal of the Presidency and made a graph showing the ages of each president at the time of their inauguration (54 was the most common age.)

                

                                  

Friday we decided to go to the George H.W. Bush Library and Museum. I had never been and want to go back without kids. We just hit the highlights but the kids had fun and got to see some of the things we had been talking about all week. Lauren especially loved sitting at the desk in the replica Oval Office and Ethan was really interested in the CIA exhibit. It was a great week!

To read my past post go HERE.

Snowflake Bentley

Last week for school we used the books Snowflake Bentley and Snowflakes in Photographs. Snowflake Bentley is a true story about Wilson Bentley. He was the first person to photograph snowflakes using micro-photography (a microscope with a camera). He was seventeen when he finally convinced his parents buy him the microscope. It was really interesting to read how he finally figured out how to get just the right picture. Every winter he was out catching snowflakes. He is the one that discovered every snowflake is unique when he realized he had never photographed two snowflakes that were the same. He also found out that nearly every snowflake is a hexagon shape, is formed by tiny water crystals, and each branch of a single snowflake is a duplicate of every other branch on the snowflake. He died a few months after his first book of photographs was published. He was walking home in a snowstorm to take more pictures and got pneumonia.

Ethan just loved the story. It was right up his alley with science, microscopes, and the persistence of Bentley to get the answers he wanted. It fit in perfectly with decorating tree and teaching the kids how to cut out paper snowflakes. We also did a really fun science project of making crystals on pipe cleaners shaped like snowflakes. The kids thought it was AMAZING! We ended up making them into ornaments to hang on the tree.

The bottom right corner is a picture of some of Wilson Bentley's photographs.

 

Here are the instructions for making the crystals:

String or twine

pipe cleaners (White will look the best but you can use any color.)

Boiling water

Borax laundry soap

a chopstick, popsicle stick, or pencil

a quart mason jar

Cut pipe cleaners in the 3 pieces of equal length. Twist the pieces together in the middle so you have a six-sided snowflake base. Tie the piece of string to the end of your pencil and then to the end of one of the pipe cleaner sides. Make sure your snowflake will easily come out of the jar and that it is not touching the bottom of the jar. Fill the mason jar (about 2 cups) with boiling water. Add the Borax 1 tablespoon at a time. Stir the Borax until dissolved and then add another tablespoon. Continue to do this until you have added 3 tablespoons of Borax for every 1 cup of boiling water you put in the jar.

When the solution is ready dangle your pipe cleaner snowflake in the jar. Rest the pencil on the top of the jar so the snowflake is floating. Within a few hours you will see the crystals start to form. The following morning you will find a fully formed crystal snowflake.

(taken from Five in a Row Holiday)

Curiosity

The other day while outside playing, Ethan found a Praying Mantis crawling up the neighbor's house. It was probably the biggest one I have ever seen. Right away Ethan's curiosity starts kicking in and the questions start coming.

Why it is called a Praying Mantis? Why does its back look like leaves? What does it eat? How do you think it might have lost one of it's back legs? Where does it live? Is it lost? Does it have a family or does it live alone? Is it a little too cold for it to be out? Is it poisonous? Can I touch it? Will it bite? Does it fly? What are its predators? Why are his eyes so big? AND ON AND ON AND ON...

             

He ran in to the house to get my camera and asked me to take a couple pictures of it for him. He finally left it alone but would continue to check on it the entire time we were outside. He even checked on it the next morning and surprisingly it was still on the wall. I think it was a highlight of his week.

Ethan's curiosity and subsequent persistence in getting answers can be very overwhelming for me. He has so many questions and thinks I know everything. Or at least I feel like he is always asking me the questions, maybe anyone around Ethan feels like that. I know there are times I just tell him I don't know and leave it at that, hoping he will let it go, when I really should be saying, "I don't know but let's go find out." 

This is one of those moments I realized that he was excited about the Praying Mantis and really, truly wanted to know the answers. So we got out some of our books on insects, checked on-line, and went to the library to find out as many answers as we could and we both learned a lot about this little creature.  His curiosity will serve him well in life, I am sure. 

While on the subject of Ethan I want to share two funny things he said yesterday.

1. We were in the parking lot of a store and he and Lauren were getting buckled. They began bickering over something and I said, "The elf just might have to know about this arguing." As soon as I said that I got a text message and I started to reply to it. Ethan saw me and immediately said, "Mom, are you texting Santa to tell him I was fighting with Lauren? Please don't!!" Oh, I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. A texting Santa...my how times have changed. No need to call him any more, just text him. 
2. He said the blessing on dinner last night and this was part of his prayer, "Please bless the elf that he can go back to the North Pole safely tonight and make it back here by morning. Let no harm come upon him and bless the weather that it will be good for him to travel."  So, so, so precious!!!