Rat is to school as distraction is to children...

...or something like that!

Miss Monique came to school today!

Not sure why, but the kids decided Monique would enjoy learning about analogies and angles today. So while we were doing this matching game...

...and measuring these angles...

...our little "Miss Neeka" was having a snack.

We did a bit more practice...

...while Monique went back in her "home away from home" to enjoy her pretzel.

But by the time we got to our poetry lesson...

...Monique was bored with school and ready for her nap.

Rats really do make wonderful small pets for kids. They are friendly, curious, and easy to care for. Miss Monique is nearly three, which is pretty old for a rat. If you have a kid begging for a pet and you can't have a dog or cat, a fancy rat would be a good choice.

However, they aren't big fans of poetry!

Busy week at the Super-Awesome School

Whew! We've had a busy week here at the Super-Awesome School. We finally got around to setting up our calendar for the month!

We finished this fascinating book and we read several others about the Puritans, the Mayflower's voyage, and life in the early colonies.

We practiced our division skills and learned that "Ducks May Swim Backwards."

Played a few rounds of division bingo.

Learned new songs...

...and practiced old favorites.

We read A Very Improbable Story by Edward Einhorn...

...and played this cute Pet Shop Probability game from Really Good Stuff.

We're enjoying The Fallacy Detective; it makes for some very lively discussions!

Add karate, scouts, spelling packets, poetry, creative writing, drama class, winter clothes shopping, a couple playdates, and all that other stuff we call daily life, and you get one busy week!

Hey, Dude, what are the odds that next week will be just as busy?

Enjoying some family time

We're still here! Got lots going on, most of it good: homeschooling, karate, piano and guitar lessons, Cub Scouts, working out and keeping the bills paid. Not to mention keeping everyone fed and in clean clothes.

In addition to the usual, we're working on a new project. Actually, we've been working on it for months, but I haven't mentioned it here because I was kind of superstitious, I guess.

But National Adoption Awareness Month seems like a good time to announce: we're adopting a little boy from South Korea!

We're finishing up the homestudy process now, and hoping to get a referral for our Little Guy early next year.

So...there's lots of paperwork, meetings, training, reading books, and shopping, not to mention dreaming about Little Guy and wondering how on earth we're going to do it all with a toddler in the family!

We're trying to do lots of fun stuff with Super and Dude now since it's hard to predict the initial impact that Little Guy will have on our daily lives.

We hope to be focusing on the bonding/attachment process by this time next year. Which probably means a little less freedom to spontaneously decide to take in a movie, go out to lunch, or toss school out the window and go for a hike.

Still, life with a toddler will bring its own joys. I can not wait to sit on the floor and do puzzles again! And build block towers, just to knock them down! And finger paint! And play Candy Land!

And laugh hysterically over nothing!

Oh, wait...we already do that!

Hope you're having a beautiful fall!

Quick Update

Goodness, I have neglected my poor little blog! We're still here, just ridiculously busy in spite of our intentions to slow down...

We traveled in New Mexico two weeks ago, then focused on academics last week. Here are a few highlights...

Hope you are having a fun, beautiful autumn!

Classify!

How can we sort these marbles? By shape? Nope, they are all spheres.

By size? Sure, there are a few big ones and a lot of small ones.

By color? Yup, we've got light blue swirls and black with speckles.

Let's classify them by color.

The light blue swirls go over here, no matter what size they are. The black with speckles go here, big and small.

Can we classify them further?

Sure! Let's separate the black speckled ones into smaller groups, classified by the color of the speckles. (It's hard to see, but there are blue, green, yellow, red and gray speckles.)

Can we classify them even more?

Yup! Here are two marbles with red speckles, but look--one is mostly black and one is mostly red.

This activity was part of our science unit study--we're learning about how and why scientists classify things. Today we read about the Linnaean Classification System and talked about why Latin is a good universal language for scientists.

In our Marble Kingdom, there are two Phyla: Blue Swirl and Black Speckle. The black-with-mostly-red, and the red-with-mostly-black are different Species in the same Genus.

More on our science unit study later...Hope you're having a great week!

Homeschooling Questionnaire

Fuel for this homeschooling momma!

Melissa at Bugs, Knights, and Turkeys in the Yard tagged me for this homeschooling questionnaire--thanks for including me! Anyway, I'm very late posting my responses, so I'll just get right to it...

One homeschooling book you have enjoyed:

Do I have to name just one? Not possible.

The first book any new homeschooler should read is Take a Deep Breath--You Can Do This! by Terrie Lynn Bittner. I can't begin to express how much that book helped me when we were just starting out.

Once you have boosted your confidence and are ready for some inspiration, you must read Free Range Learning: How Homeschooling Changes Everything by Laura Grace Weldon.

Other favorites: You Can Teach Your Child Successfully by Ruth Beechick, The Ultimate Book of Homeschooling Ideas edited by Linda Dobson, and What's Math Got to Do with It? by Jo Boaler.

One resource you wouldn't be without:

My laptop and an internet connection. Is that too obvious?

I could spend all day blog-hopping and collecting wonderful ideas from other homeschooling families. In fact, I did just that several times during the summer. I don't have that kind of time now, but I still frequently stay up waaaay too late and visit my blog buddies.

Oh, yeah, and so the kids can do research, too.

This isn't actually my laptop, but how cute!

If that answer seems lame, I'll name something else: my local group. There is nothing like a group of supportive, friendly people to keep a homeschooling momma sane. We do field trips, co-op classes, game nights, playdates, teacher nights, you name it. Can't imagine homeschooling without them!

One resource you wish you'd never bought:

Hmm... Even when something isn't a good fit for us, I still usually manage to use it in at least some capacity, even if it's just for practice or getting ideas. Trying something out and finding that it doesn't work is always a learning experience, and it gets us that much closer to what does work.

That being said, we made a very expensive mistake last year. We decided to get a computer for the kids. It was going to be the school computer, and it would be just for the kids' stories, educational software and websites, and typing practice.

Now, I lovelovelove my Mac, but obviously, that's a bit of a budget stretch for a classroom computer. Instead, we bought a lower-end model from the brand that rhymes with mow-shee-bah.

Also not actually my laptop. But I've been tempted...

What a total waste of money. It's been to the Geek Squad twice now, and it still won't accept software. Or it pretends to download it, and the next time you try to use it, it's like you never loaded it. The screen is impossible to read at any angle, the battery holds a charge for about five minutes, the cheap plastic keyboard rattles every time you type on it, and it occasionally shuts down without warning and for no apparent reason.

Needless to say, the kids do all their computer searches, games, and typing practice on my computer. I practically have to make an appointment just to post on this blog!

One resource you enjoyed last year:

Last year was my first time to use TeacherFileBox.com. I liked it a lot, especially for math practice games and worksheets. This year, I'm also using abcteach.com and TeachersPayTeachers.com.

One resource you will use next year:

We'll be starting Latin in January, and we're planning to use Lively Latin. I'm looking forward to it! I'll let you know how it goes.

One homeschooling resource you would like to buy:

Pretty much everything from Beautiful Feet or Acorn Naturalists! Or maybe this...

I can think of sooooo many ways to use this organizer. I'm thinking: math games, country studies, animal-of-the-month, etc. The top bar is a little white board surface so you can label the files. Neato!

One resource you wish existed:

The perfect history curriculum. We're inventing one as we go. If it's good enough, we'll share!

One homeschool catalog you enjoy reading:

All of them.

One homeschool website you use regularly:

Enchanted Learning, abcteach, TeacherFileBox, At Home Science, wikipedia. And homeschooling blogs!

I'm supposed to tag some other bloggers out there, and to be honest, I always hate having to pick favorites! I have so many!

So...if you are reading this and would like to participate: Tag! You're It!

Back to Home School

Bad attitudes all around today (including me.) Maybe we feel icky because we got flu shots over the weekend?

Anyway, sometimes you just have to plod your way through the day...

Started with geography and the continuing adventures of Paddle-to-the-Sea. My kids love drawing, but not coloring, so our maps are still a bit drab.

Dude went a bit farther than just labeling the state of Wisconsin!

Practiced cursive in the salt trays.

German camping vocabulary seemed appropriate, since we just got home from a camping trip!

Reviewed equivalent fractions, did a couple of worksheets, and played this game from The Mailbox. Normally my kids love math games, but we were all cranky today.

Here is Dude's acrostic poem for September.

And Super's poem. It's almost like she has something on her mind...but I can't quite figure out what it is...