Not Modeling Material

We brought all the kids to see my Grandma again. I wanted to stop and take pictures of the girls because they were looking so cute. Aidan didn't want to cooperate and so I only got this one...

Ainsley, however was quite happy to pose for me. 

"How about this one, Mommy?" LOL

 "Or this one?"  Umm?

"Look, I can wink!!!"

 

This one is my favorite. It reminds me of one of those photos you show to a classroom of kids after asking them to make up a story about what is going on in the picture. My mind immediately conjures up a story about a long-suffering girl and her bratty younger sister.

Sisterly Love

We brought back a horrible virus from Disney and have been miserable. Our days have been spent lying around watching television. Aidan wanted to help Ainsley feel better so she grabbed random books and started reading to her.  

That's my girl!

Sleeping with transformers!

Games

I've been working a few times a week with Ainsley on her reading. Although she does a great job with sounding out and understanding phonetic rules...she does not have Aidan's ability to memorize words from one viewing. She'll sound out the same word many times before she remembers it. Therefore, to review, I'm making up games that'll help her to remember them. (I don't like flashcards)

Our newest game has been a big hit.

"Close the book Ainsley. Okay. Good. *pause* Now find the word funny "

So, she opens the book and searches until she finds it.

"Ding Ding Ding Ding!" I yell out all excitedly.

She just grins.

"Okay. Close the Book. *pause* Now find the word...."

Ainsley loves this game. She has to use her phonetic skills and she gets the review she needs. They'll stick in her mind because she's having to find them on her own. Sometimes, of course, I throw in an easy-peasy word.

 It's funny how simple things can be.

Homeschooling is such fun!

Alternative Schedule

Talks

We're on a break this week and the next because we're down in Georgia. However, the girls and I have been talking about what they want and how they want to do it.

Aidan "really really" wants a schedule. She wants it on the wall, easily seen, and a nice big clock so she can follow the schedule by herself. Pulling things randomly out bothers her a lot more than I had imagined. It bothers her because as she puts it "some weeks we don't get much done and I'd really like to make sure a lot gets done every week" and second of all, she doesn't like things disorganized. (yes, ocd runs in the family)

Ainsley wants free time mostly but she wants to do school with just me and not at the same time with Aidan. "I don't like doing it that way" she says.

So, I've made a schedule for both girls. 

Aidan has two periods of working that is broken up with an hour to free read.  I may make adjustments as we go and have her do only 2 days of language arts and give that slot for more History. However, I am considering writing as part of language arts so we may make use of the time but I'm unsure. Science is on Fridays with Daddy when he visits for the weekend.

During that hour of free reading, Ainsley does her schooling.... one-on-one with me.

So, when we return to N.C. we'll start using the schedules. I'm not really happy about it because the more schooling we've done.. the more I've turned away from the traditional methods. I myself prefer working on whatever we wish to work on.. for as long as we wish (like the Montessori way) However, I'm willing to try it their way.

We'll see how it goes.

My 31st!

Happy Birthday to Me!

The Results

The girls had fun playing with the dried apples... even the moldy ones. We found out that baking soda encourages mold, that epsom salt, with its larger crystals, dries things out better but holds the moisture around the apple, and that plain old table salt does the best job of preserving.  I also jumped into the lesson and pointed out the relationship with the experiment and the Little House series (where they store food for the winter in salt barrels). 

Yummy... want a bite?
 #3 was just table salt








"Why are we doing this, Daddy?"

I Just Don't Know

Today, Aidan gave me a lecture on trying to find her things that aren't "so easy" She patted my arm as she says

"I know you don't know if it'll be too hard for me or not, so that's why you're giving me such easy things, but I'd really like it if you could find harder things to do. I get bored with this easy stuff."

I. just. don't. know. what. to. do. with. her.

I haven't been posting about what we're doing on a weekly basis because there is nothing really to post about. I do work with Ainsley with reading a few times a week. She's doing GREAT and Ainsley does do random math sheets and is slowly working through Explode the Code book 1. However, she only does something a few times a week. Mostly she plays.. as normal 4 year olds are wont to do.

Aidan does school about 2-3 times a week. She finishes everything I come up for her to do too quickly.

 I spend 2-3 hours every Sunday night... copying and making "packets" of work for her.  I make a brain teaser packet, a language arts packet and a math packet.

This last week, I made a packet of 10 front-to-back sheets with word problems, puzzlers, hard mazes, etc and she did them all in 15-20 minutes.

 I made 20 front-to-back sheets with phonics and language arts selections. She did the entire packet an hour and 15 minutes on Monday. (and it was only that long because it had a ton of writing)

I made 15 front-to-back sheets of random math selections (around 3rd/4th grade level). She pulled it out twice this week and the total time spent on it was almost an hour.

Do you see why I don't post?

Remember Singapore math? Well, she finished the entire workbook... a full semester of math... within a week... working about an hour to an hour and half for 5 days. She worked in it by herself and I checked it later. What she missed were just careless mistakes... that's it. I'm not sure if I should just give the whole series to her and let her do it all or not.

I can't decide on anything.

Where is the rule book?

Should I just shrug off language arts and math for now? Or just continue going through the state list until we've completed it all. We haven't covered mathematical transformations yet. That should take up a day or two.

Or...should I just say "okay, you're good" and just spend time reading about things and maybe making notebook pages of what we're learning? I've been thinking of doing that.

I JUST DONT KNOW!!

The danged part is that I can't google the answer! There really is no answer to any of this.

bleh

Yes..... obviously.... I'm feeling frustrated. I thought the packets were working. I was carefully selecting what was in them... what concepts were in them... so that I knew she would know what she needs to know. She may be brilliant but she still has to be told what an adverb is to know it. Right?

Eh... maybe I'm being silly and taking what she said today way too seriously.

Or maybe I need to research grown-up kids like Aidan and contact their parents to ask what the heck they did.

Just call me the second-guessing google stalker

Poor, Pitiful me

:-(

Well, I can officially say that Aidan did not inherit my brains. I am thinking of returning to college next fall and have been looking at the tests I'll have to take before returning. Although I believe that the math questions are easy... I still do not know how to figure out half of them.

One of the top reasons I love homeschooling is that I'm getting the education that I never received the first time around. Seriously, I'm learning as she's learning.

Unfortunately for me though, we haven't yet started Algebra.

Guess where I'm going... whoo hoo!

To the FPEA Florida Homeschool Convention!!

I've been wanting to go to one for years but since my girls were so young I didn't see the necessity of it. This year, they're having it at the Gaylord Palms Resort. I'm so looking forward to it... it'll be a mini vacation with my family!

To see all their exhibitors... click here...

Baseball Season

Back to practices and hotdog stands

 and Saturday games!

What is she planning?

One of Aidan's favorite things to do is "make something."  At least, that's what she calls it but really she constructs things. (I think perhaps quite a bit of her Aerospace Engineer Daddy is in her) Often, she'll take recyclable items and with tape, glue or whatever is on hand... make it into some weird abstract thing that she's incredibly proud of. 

Yesterday, Aidan left this in the living room .. some scribbled list she had made. I keep forgetting to ask her what the list is for but for now... I'm having fun guessing. 

An airplane? 

A dollhouse?

A club house?

This weeks read aloud

 

John and I took the girls this past weekend to see The Secret Life of Arietty. Thus, we are reading The Borrowers. Both girls keep stopping me to point out the differences between the movie and the book. I plan to order the boxed series off of Amazon in the next few days. I'm unsure whether or not we'll read through them all right now but it is a series I'd like for us to own. We're enjoying it.

Coming out of the Closet....

I am thrilled to have a daughter as wonderful and gifted as Aidan is. Daily, I feel blessed to be her Mother. But, oh what a lonely road it is!! Can't I just please... find one person... that doesn't care about what she can do... that doesn't see me giving the facts as a braggart? Or a bad parent? Ugh!

Today, Aidan had her first practice for baseball. Things started well. As all us Moms arrived we smiled and greeted each other. We stood in a group and chatted. But as I always dread... the conversation turned to the kids ages and grade in school and *big surprise* their abilities.

The Moms of the 5 year olds (like Aidan) talked about how their kids missed the cut off date for school and how their kids were smart and ready for K already. One Mom, obviously proud, slipped in how her son was already reading early readers and such.

At times like this... I smile and keep my mouth shut.

But then, proud Mom, turns to me and asks if Aidan was going into K this year.

"Actually, she's home-schooled." I reply.

"Oh, are you doing preschool at home then?"

At this, I squirm, and say something along the lines of "Um, no she's a little ahead for her age."

"Oh, does she read already too?" she keeps on.

"Yes, she loves to read" I answer... pointedly being vague.

"What level does she read?" DANG IT... why does she have to ask?

So, I answer truthfully and then truthfully again when I'm pressed by another incredulous Mom as to what level she is on with Math and writing and such. They asked.. so I answered.

I guess I should have lied.

Because they stood there... staring. An uncomfortable silence ensued. I made some lame attempt at joking it off but when that didn't work.. used Ainsley as an excuse to walk away.

As I turned to go.. proud Mom looks at the other Moms and loudly announces that she "personally believed in letting her kids enjoy being kids."

So, for the rest of practice.. they closed ranks and I was excluded. Friendly smiles from me were not returned.

Again, I should have lied... or changed the subject.. or something.


OH, how lonely I feel!


Yes, lady, my 5 year old can multiply and divide, write beautifully, spell better than her 11 yr old cousin, and *sometimes* act as mature as a grownup... but why does that mean you can't be friends with me?    Why are you so uncomfortable with it?  It is because of people like you, lady, that I feel so lonely... so very lonely. It is because of people like you that make me feel the need to lie and hide the fact that she is of genius level..... ha!... there!.... I said the verboten "G" word.


she looks quickly around and realizes that the world didn't come crashing down


That's right. I'm done pussy-footing around.


Aidan is a genius! 


There, I said it.  


I'm proud of Aidan and her genius little self.


Genius. Genius. Genius.


Ha!