Day 27

(It's Day 27 of the charter curriculum -- if you remember, I started back on homeschooling in mid-August, but we took a break after I started the enrollment process, before the materials actually showed up -- so then we started in again after Labor Day).

Kieron got back on track today after his sickness and worked on Algebra (review day), Vocabulary from Classical Roots (unit assessment), Grammar (unit assessment), Literature (started a short story unit), History (about Mark Twain and the Gilded Age) and Art (unit assessment on different artistic elements). He also did a Chinese lesson and some science quizzes at Study Island, which is a place where you practice standards-based content and skills for state testing.

We are still at Lothlorien; I read to the boys about sanctifying grace in Living My Religion book 3.

Paddy wrapped up a math unit (subtraction up to 12) and a phonics unit (ending blends). He did a subtraction computer game which is over here at Arcademic Skill Builders. I decided to bite the bullet and put on the music CD while he was playing the subtraction game. But in fact, he ended up rather liking it and spent quite a bit of time selecting and playing different tracks. Then he asked to watch the Music video. So then he played almost the whole video and tried to follow along with all the games. So I guess we are caught up with our music curriculum. Finally he wanted to listen to the classical music selection CD but unfortunately Aidan had a meltdown at that point because the music was embarrassing him. Life around here. Then Paddy had a meltdown -- too much stimulation for too long. Life!! I feel the headache coming on again as I type. Kieron actually listened in to most of the songs but made teenagery comments, of course.

Then we went through the art lesson which was about seeing shapes in paintings... Piet Mondrian, and the American Gothic painting. We're saving the project part, which involves construction paper and glue, for tomorrow or Saturday.

Then I gave Paddy the map of the Nile and ancient Egypt, but he wasn't interested in coloring it. Instead, he found a picture of Osiris and someone else on the back and wanted to color that with me. So he traced the outlines of Osiris. Did a good job, too. Finally we discussed the map and I wrote labels. Then I read a bit to him about ancient Egypt from Founders of Freedom (Land of Our Lady series). This contained the answer to two of his questions -- one was about where the nomadic wanderers fit in with Adam and Eve, and another was why the Egyptians made the Great Sphinx. Otherwise, it was boring to him, but I think he has the concept of "The Gift of the Nile" down since we've hammered it several times.

I also helped him complete a crossword puzzle review of States of Matter. He thought crossword puzzles were cool -- hadn't seen one before.

Finally, the cursive assessment. No, he can't write the shapes from memory but he was able to write them using mine as a model to copy, rather than trace. This is progress. We have gone through c, a, d, g, i, t, and s so far.

We made peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies, and Kevin took the car into the shop to replace brake pads and rotors. Clare called.

I think we are all in the final stages of the cold, hopefully so, anyway.

I've been trying to keep up with the housework a little better and have revisited this Cleaning Rotation. Basically every afternoon I look at the household area that is on the list for the next day. I make a short list of things I'd like to do to improve/clean/organize that particular micro-zone. Then at odd moments during the following day, like when the kids are having a break or I'm on the phone or between other things, I work away at it. Since the spaces are small I don't get too overwhelmed, though I must admit there is a lot to be done because I haven't really tackled the house on a deeper level since about last spring. It takes about a month to rotate through the whole house by micro-zone, because our house is pretty big. I've also divided the kitchen into about ten small zones and try to work a bit in one zone per day doing detail-cleaning. I usually do this when I have blank moments in the kitchen, like when I'm waiting for things to boil or whatever.