Monkey Math

M is a hungry boy, and he eats a lot of fruit. He really likes bananas. He has this habit of bringing me a banana so I can cut it in half, which is fine. However, he eats the top half first, and then immediately comes back and eats the second half. Today I asked him why he always had me cut his banana in half.

I'll spare you the circuitous route he took to giving me his answer, as it can be summed up with his final sentence:

". . . because I can't eat a whole one."

He didn't mean he couldn't eat a whole banana in an uncut state, he meant he could not eat an entire banana.

But he can eat two halves. Of the same banana. Back to back.

N-isms

In the van last night:

J: (talking to N)

N: "Be quiet. I'm focused."

An Unexpected Reaction

You know you're a homeschooler when you mention to your 10 and 9 year old sons you ordered Learning Latin Through Mythology....

and they jump up and down and cheer.

Flashback

Cr reminded me the other day that when L was a toddler, we asked him what his favorite kind of cheese was.

L's response: "Piece of."

School Plans for 2010/2011

Eventually, I will update the sidebar. Until then, here are our plans for next school year.

A few of the big changes:

• The older 4 boys are going to attend a one day a week enrichment program that will provide hands on art, science, technology, and a few other things.
• We're taking a year off from Rod & Staff English in order to really focus on writing, but plan to move back to Rod & Staff for the 2011/2012 year.
• We're also doing 2 years of Sonlight (6 & 7--a two year overview of World History). My hope is that L and Z will be ready to begin Omnibus in 2012/2013.

6th:

• Spelling: Sequential Spelling
• Vocabulary: Dynamic Literacy
• Grammar: Easy Grammar 6, Daily Grams, Better Sentence Structure Through Diagraming
• Literature: Sonlight 6 Readers, Figuratively Speaking
• Writing: Writing Strands, WTM writing, Exploring Poetry
• Math: Life of Fred Pre-Algebra w/Biology (finish), Saxon 8/7, Daily Word Problems 6
• History: Sonlight 6
• Geography: Sonlight 6
• Latin: Continue Latin Prep
• Spanish: Continue Getting Started With Spanish, possibly move into So You Really Want to Learn Spanish
• Logic: Blast Off With Logic books, Critical Thinking Book 1 & Book 2

5th:

• Spelling: Sequential Spelling
• Vocabulary: Dynamic Literacy
• Grammar: Easy Grammar 5, Daily Grams, Better Sentence Structure Through Diagraming
• Literature: Sonlight 6 Readers, Figuratively Speaking
• Writing: Writing Strands, WTM writing, Exploring Poetry
• Math: Life of Fred Decimals & Percents (finish), Saxon 7/6, Daily Word Problems 5
• History: Sonlight 6
• Geography: Sonlight 6
• Latin: Continue Getting Started With Latin, move into Latin Prep
• Spanish: Getting Started With Spanish
• Logic: Mind Benders, Red Herrings, Building Thinking Skills

3rd:

• Spelling: Sequential Spelling
• Vocabulary: Dynamic Literacy
• Grammar: Easy Grammar 3, Daily Grams, Better Sentence Structure Through Diagraming
• Literature: Various books I have on hand
• Writing: WWE 3, Writing Strands
• Math: Saxon 5/4, Daily Word Problems 3
• History: Sonlight 6 w/Story of the World 1 & 2 Activity Guides
• Geography: Sonlight 6, The Complete Book of Maps & Geography
• Latin: Continue with Minimus & Getting Started with Latin
• Logic: Mind Benders, Building Thinking Skills

1st/2nd (maybe I should call it grade 1 1/2?):

• Spelling: Plaid Phonics B
• Grammar: Easy Grammar 2
• Literature: books I have on hand
• Writing: WWE, penmanship instruction, possibly Writing Strands
• Math: Saxon 3, finish Daily Word Problems 1 and start 2
• History: Sonlight 6 w/Story of the World 1 & 2 Activity Guides
• Geography: Sonlight 6
• Latin: Finish Song School Latin, move into Minimus
• Logic: Mind Benders, Building Thinking Skills

K:

• Spelling: Plaid Phonics A
• Phonics: Phonics Pathways, move into Sonlight 1 Readers
• Writing: A Reason for Handwriting K
• Math: Saxon 1
• History: Sonlight 6 w/Story of the World 1 & 2 Activity Guides
• Geography: Sonlight 6
• Science: Be Amazing Blast of Color
• Logic: Building Thinking Skills

Also, we'll continue with Judo & piano, and Cr is teaching the older three trumpet and Visual Basic, and he's teaching us all Greek.

Graphite: RIP

L's hamster, Graphite, died last night. As anyone who has read this blog before knows, small critter death is not terribly uncommon here at the Academy, and while we are sad and tears are often shed when they die, it's also recognized as a normal part of life.

J (he's convinced he's going to be a doctor): "I wonder what his bones look like."

Daddy: "Should we cut him open and see?"

J: "Yeah!"

L: "Uh...I'd appreciate it if you didn't do that."

About 10 minutes later.....

Z (the philosophical one): "I wonder what happens to hamsters when they die?"

J: "Dad says they harden."

M-isms

The four older boys have joined a Public Speaking chapter. It's a Christian organization. They are supposed to write persuasive speeches this time. M still has to write his, and I decided to try and help him come up with a topic.

Mom: "M, what do you want to convince people they need to do?"

M: "I don't know."

Mom: "What's your favorite thing to do?"
M: "Drink."

Mom: "Drink?"

M: "Yes. I want to convince people to drink."

I decided to try again later.

____

M: "Mom?"

Mom: "What?"

M (proudly): "Did you know that sometimes I can sit still for a whole 2 minutes?"

(I think this is a gross over-estimation on his part)

Mathematics

Mom: "I got 10 pounds of guinea pig pellets."

L: "Wow....10 pounds?!"

J: "They must be heavy."

J: "Can we watch Lord of the Rings?"

Mom: "No...way too long."

J: "How long is it?"

Mom: "3 hours."

Z: "12 if you watch all three. 12 hours of paradise."

Funny Boys

The boys and I started our day by running 7 errands. These included Target, Sears, Borders, and the eye doctor.

N made them interesting by proclaiming (loudly) "I am Gandolf!!!". I finally got him to quiet down when I told him the Orcs would hear him.

It was beautiful weather this afternoon, so I let them play outside. Nick came in and initiated the following conversation:

N: "(indecipherable) Legos (indecipherable) little guys (indecipherable). Is that ok?"

Mommy: "What?"

N: "I said (indecipherable) Legos (indecipherable) little guys (indecipherable). Is that ok?"

Mommy: "I don't understand."

N (getting frustrated): "Do you want me to say it louder?"

Mommy: "I hear you, but"

N (interrupting, yelling): "I said (indecipherable) Legos (indecipherable) little guys (indecipherable)!!!! Is that ok?!!!!"

Mommy (taking a guess): "No, no computer."

N walks off.

About an hour later, M comes down stairs and informs me he's marrying M (a little girl from church) if J is marrying A (another little girl from church).

And a few minutes ago, M came upstairs to refill J's water bottle. While filling it, he informed me that J said he could be a prince if M would fill his bottle for him. Someone's learned to work playtime to his advantage.

Brotherly Love

M (bounding down the stairs): "Mom!! J was just really nice to me!!!"
Mom: "Oh, yeah?"
M: "Yeah! He let me use his toothbrush since I couldn't find mine! Wasn't that nice?!?"
Mom: (trying not to laugh)
J (acting all big brother-ish): "Yeah, I did. But just cause we couldn't fine his."

(They both notice me trying not to laugh, decide I'm the crazy one, and walk away)

M (walking away, talking to J): "Well, it was nice of you, you know."
J: "Yeah, I know."