The First Week of School

Wow, this has been a long week for all of us. Our transition into the school year could have been a little easier, but I still feel compelled to be the "teacher" and my kids do, in fact, need a little more hand-holding than they really want.  For example, we started Beast Academy 3A this week and lemme tell you, it ain't easy.  I have never been a geometry lover and memorizing different shapes' names and attributes is really not all that fun.  We made it through the first 3 chapters this week, but honesty, I'm really not sure we need to know the term "rhombus" or that a Square is actually a type of Rectangle in the future. I call these "cocktail party facts" that only your favorite show-off Geek may actually mention in conversation. Perhaps I'm wrong about that - please post back if you know where that info is potentially helpful!

On the other hand, Life of Fred - Apples has been so delightful.  We worked through the first seven chapters this week and BOTH kids can't wait for the next one, even though this is the very first book of the Elementary Series, meant for kindergarten or 1st grade.  We learned that the first day of the week is Sunday, some basic algebra, and that Archimedes estimated that the universe could hold 1 vigintillion grains of sand, among many other interesting things that included basic addition.

Dreambox online math has turned out to be a success.  Ooka Island reading is kind of "eh" for PJ.  We worked in some writing books to practice our letters and T wrote some fun paragraphs, even though getting either of them to write is sometimes like pulling teeth...

We played The Allowance Game, that earned a big Thumbs Down from The T Man but little PJ loved it so much he had to get dad to play every morning.


We visited the Cerritos Library (wow!) and found some fun reading there.  PJ is a very big fan of "Biscuit" the fictional dog.  He read a couple of those to me while T discovered a graphic novel about "Ug" the stone-age boy genius.  P.E. followed in the fountains in about 90 degrees.  Very fun.  Thanks to my dear friend Claudia for taking us along!  We all have so much fun together.

We are lacking in hard physical activity this week.  It's so hot outside, we're staying under fans!  And while we've had two playdates this week, I'd like to improve on that as well.  Baby Steps...

Moving Beyond the Page is barely moving.  The kids are not crazy about the "Community" topic because they have 1) studied it before and 2) don't find it all that exciting. We reviewed Rural life versus Urban Life.  It was a little lost on the Peej.   I'll be picking out the fun bits and moving right along in it next week.

I never realized that Slime, aka "Gak," could be so much fun.  T was using a straw and blowing it up into different shapes of human organs.  Wish I had caught a photo of that.  He also created a Minecraft scene and made a pretty good looking "Steve" and "Creeper" character out of the awesome non-drying modeling clay from Lakeshore Learning.

Are you exhausted just hearing about this week yet?  I'm not even done!

Life skills were folding and stowing laundry and putting away dishes for little PJ while T was getting handy in the kitchen.  He used the microwave to heat something and then made a new creation: a peanut butter pickle dog with mustard.  I didn't think he actually would like it, but low and behold... he did.  Perhaps it was just because he made it himself...  He also tried his hand at hand-washing dishes since our washer went kaput a few weeks ago.  A green-tinged face appeared at my desk exclaiming "I can't do it! There was CAT food on a bowl!  It just grossed me out!  I'm just too sensitive for that!"  Inwardly I sigh, but I was the same way at that age.  Maybe next year... :-)

It's now almost 5:00pm on Friday and Mama is tired and we are starting our long weekend.  Thank. Goodness.

You are probably thinking about now... Wouldn't it just be easier to drop them off at school?  If you have been reading my blog from the beginning, you know that it wouldn't.

Surprise! School Starts TODAY!

It is a beautiful warm Summer Friday and my foot is still out of order, having twisted it nearly two weeks ago and then aggravating it Monday while squatting down and digging for sand crabs at the beach. (I know, poor me! ;)   It has been a rough couple of weeks trying to keep these boys entertained at home while I use crutches and try to keep my foot up.

This week I was coaxed into purchasing the PC version of Minecraft, the hugely popular video game that the kids have been in love with for months on the Xbox360. I was crossed-armed adamant that this program would not enter my home, but logic won over when our new playmates created a server and wanted to meet online for private building parties. This was safe and T would be learning to type/chat online and get to spend quality brain time with a kid just like him.  A kid that happens to live a good 45-60 minutes away, depending on the infamous Los Angeles Traffic.

So now they've got the full online version of Minecraft and it is much more educational than the Xbox version. It is also infinitely more addictive.

We think we found Lucky's twin!

It's now Friday and here we are on this beautiful Summer day at the park throwing the ball for our fluffy pal Lucky and his presumably twin sister.  As I chat up the other dogs owner about the similarities in the pups, Lucky sniffs his new friend's rear and the boys stand entranced by the workers pouring concrete and smoothing it down on the brand-spankin' new playground. This lasts for maybe 8 minutes and then I've got two little boys hanging on my waist and arms (adding unwanted pressure to my sore foot) and whining about wanting to go home. "Why?" I ask. I am surrounded by lush green grass and fresh air and lovely trees and dogs to play with and throw balls for... what the heck? "I want to play Minecraft." my 8-year-old sulks. Seriously? My eyebrows and #11 frown line queries the child.

Oh yes, we were going home alright. And we were starting school. It is only 11:30 am!

After making a healthy lunch of their favorite tuna salad, I grab up Moving Beyond The Page and their newly decorated Spelling and Vocab books. I gave them 6 words to write and we discussed them with what felt like sheer glee! These kids were into it! So we covered Urban, Rural, Goods and Services, Wants and Needs. Interesting and fun to hear their ideas on these things. We moved onto Community Buildings and identified them on worksheets, skipping the whole "add a sentence" section, as that would probably end up more like the "add some tears" section   Next we moved over to the couch and read "Give a Pig a Pancake" and laughed our butts off. After that, a surprise Mad Lib and then two more because they begged.  PJ is starting to get what a Noun, Adverb, Verb and Adjective is!

T began his online math with Dreambox and found it pretty entertaining and educational, while PJ and I played the card game War and then did some Oooka Island. PJ took at turn at Dreambox while Tommy read some Horrible Science.

Next we made borax-based Slime for T and homemade Play-Dough for PJ and decided we need to hit Lakeshore Learning in the morning. We need a lot more Elmer' Glue because we want to test the degrees of stringiness based on how much Borax we add.

By now it's time for cleaning up the kitchen, picking up the living room and for Mom to start dinner. Minecraft at 4:30?  Be. My. Guest.

While tucking them in that night I asked them what they thought about their first day of school.  They said "It was Awesome!" I'm a happy mom.

Saturday morning and I'm woken with my new (un)favorite query...PJ stands by the bed and asked "Can we play Minecraft?" Oh dear, it's going to be a long day...

10:30 and we grab "Life of Fred: Apples" and cozy up on my bed. We laughed through two chapters and wrote our simple math in a separate workbook.  T can't stay away even though he already knows this stuff. We end up in a tickle attack because a resistent PJ won't recite the Days of the Week for me... Yes, this "schooling" is really stressful and rigorous ;-)

Next stop, Lakeshore Learning outlet where I scored big time on some awesome science stuff and filled the cart with educational games.  $175 later, we're ready to rock this school year.  Oh, darn it, I forgot the glue...

It's now Sunday morning, and Daddy finally has a day off.  T walks in at 7am says "Mom, can we play Minecraft?"  Oy, here we go again...