From the beginning I desperately wanted to install the love of reading in my son. I bought his set of Dr. Seuss before he was born. I've always read to him. My husband has finally stopped looking at me like I'm stupid for buying him books instead of toys for Christmas and Birthdays. You know that look that says, "Yeah right, like a kid wants a book for a present!" accompanied by the sarcastic eye roll. I remember his Kindergarten Sunday School teacher was so impressed with how well he knew his Bible stories. "Well, duh he had only had me read his whole Toddler's Bible to him a few 100 times!"

He has always read well enough but preferred me to read to him. This was mostly due to his desire for meatier novels that were above his reading level. Together we've read Eargon, all the Chronicles of Narnia, all the Harry Potter books (well, almost finished with book 7), 5 of the Redwall series books, and Black Beauty plus a few more books here and there. Lately when different friends or family members have heard Brandon ask me if I will read to him I've been getting this response, "Why doesn't he just read it himself. He is old enough!" I'm thinking that they think he can't read well on his own which is not the case. He has read several chapter books on his own and even a couple of larger novels. However, that is not the point. We enjoy the time together. He enjoys being read to and I like the books too! Has it bothered me that he doesn't read much on his own? At times. But I felt it would come with time. And it has....

Some of our new curriculum has forced me to look high and low for books to supplement our lessons. So first to our local (very small) library. Here he got two very decent sized books all his own even though he was still only half way through the last Harry Potter book. Then to a larger library in a near by town where he got two more books. Lastly we went to a used book store where I remembered I had some credit. Here he got 8 more books. Actually he gathered up 14 and I made him cut back a bit. Now these last were Goosebumps books (not exactly quality novels) but hey the kid is excited about reading.

Yup, I've installed the same love of reading that I have myself. Why, I was up until 1AM myself last night just because I couldn't put my book down without finishing it. I woke up a tired Mommy and decided I just had to suck it up and do school any way. After all I knew I had to get up early and I stayed up reading anyway! So, I had my bagel, sipped my coffee and bravely woke my little students up ..... Only to discover that my boy decided to stay up until around 3 or 4 (he's not sure) in the morning reading!!!! So, I have installed the love of reading. It's nearly 11 and my son is still in bed. Now What? I guess we'll do school when he gets up. You can't educate a zombie.

This year we are using Diana Waring's Ancient Civilizations and the Bible. So far I'm spending quite a bit of time worrying that I stepped way outta our league. We've always done the formula of read, do vocabulary and worksheets kind of history. And because of this we've always hated our history curriculum. So, I stepped out on a limb and got a curriculum that requires more from us. One of my biggest challenges is finding the additional sources and materials for him to use. I've always used curriculum that had all we needed to avoid this problem. We have a very very small local library. They don't have a single thing we need and when I asked about them borrowing from other libraries she said, "Well that is usually so slow you'd be better off going to the other library and getting it yourself." Hmmmm.... alright.

For Brandon the hardest challenge has been no worksheets. This curriculum is all free thinking, logic, researching, and writing reports. These are not Brandon's strong points. So either he will fail history this year or he will develope these valuable skills by the end of the year. He has plenty of imagination. This is more about learning to harness it into something useful and workable.

Four weeks into the school year and we are still in Unit One which covers Creation and the Flood. It basically starts out with an article, then we listen to a couple of CDs (What in the World's Going on Here? and True Tales) with interesting information, then we have a discussion, Research and report (He wrote a paper about the Behemoth and his belief that it is a dinosaur), then more researching and reporting (Writing is not his favorite past time so instead of a hand written report this time we got the information off the internet and he attached it to a large poster board for a presentation. It was over metallurgy.), then there was indeed some vocabulary, then a time line and a map, then it goes on to add Art, Science, Music, and Cooking into the picture, ending off with Phase 4 which has the children express themselves in any way they chose in order to get across what they learned in this Unit.

We've only gotten as far as Art. To go along the same path that he was already on with his Metallurgy presentation we chose to work with copper. The point to this project was that with actually working with the material he would think about early man and how clever he would had to of been to be able to make things with copper, bronze, and iron. Much less consider that they first had to mine these metals. Again, I am not so sure how much thinking about early man Brandon did while working on this project but he did learn that working with metal wasn't as easy as he thought it was be. He started very enthusiastic, thinking this was going to be all fun and games. He was going to make all kinds of things. Being Mom I quickly crushed his dreams and pointed out all the problems he would encounter with each project he proposed. As I said great imagination very little logic going on. He'll do great things one day when he gets those two skills to line up. I finally got him talked in to a project I thought doable. He didn't seemed too thrilled starting out to abandon all his wild dreams that he had for the copper. However in the end he seemed very proud of the work he accomplished.


I wish I had remembered to take some before shots. I always forget that! Any way for the basic idea Picture a really old mail box hanging off (nearly falling off) a old rotting post with the numbers clumsily painted on so that the UPS guy can find us. So first he went out and took a few swats at the mail box to knock it off the pole. Then I painted the post dark green to match our trim.


He hauled the mail box up to the house painted what we couldn't cover. Then covered the box with copper sheeting using screws, nails and prayers. The trickiest part was removing the old flag set up and building and adding the new flag. The stage shown in the pictures was Bran's favorite part. He torched the copper to make it different colors.

After we finished the mail box we started to paint new numbers on the post but then decided that it would look better if we made them from copper wire. Let me tell you the copper wire was pretty thick and not all that easy to bend! If you attempt this let me advise you that the number 4 is hard to make! LOL Believe it or not reattaching the mail box to the post was the hardest and our least favorite part! But we got it done.

However, before I show you pictures to that... I want to give a heartfelt plea not to look at the un-kept yards shown in the pictures. One is the neighbors so I can hardly be blamed for it's condition and our's well....I worked on a mail box all weekend with my son instead of the yard. I'll mow, weed eat and such some time this week I promise!



Yes, I know the post leans a little. (OK ALOT) First off on the other hand it is firmly in the ground. Second off I didn't want to dig it up to straighten it. Third I have no post hole diggers with which to dig another hole to replant it. And Fourth in Brandon's own words, "I kinda like it leaning, Mom. It matches our house. It wouldn't look right if it was perfect and I don't really like perfect anyways."

So we have a new mail box... kinda. And it is now firmly attached to the pole... that is leaning a little (a lot).... And we love it!

No dear friends and family members I haven't forgotten to post about Brandon's birthday. He turned 12 on Sept. 14 and yes, I did take pictures. Happy Birthday my precious first born son! What a little man he is turning out to be! I had little video of him blowing out his candles but I couldn't get it to load this morning. Grrrr...it bee's that-a way sometimes, ya know? I'll try again later.

He seemed to enjoy his birthday. I'm sure his favorite part was trying to open the presents I wrapped with masking tape! Muahwahahahah! LOL


He too got a home made cake. This time it was marble cake with white icing. I tried to make it special for him. Don't laugh I'm no baker and HE liked it which is what counts!

Ok let's evaluate this week in a nutshell.....

Monday- Emily's birthday, nothing much (school wise) accomplished

Tuesday- My Mom came over, Emily did school,
Bran only did math...no mom can't come on a day we are already planning on taking off that would be entirely too convenient for me.

Wednesday- So far today Emily has finished school for the day. Today was a really hard day for her. We are getting past the easy stuff that was review and touching on new concepts like time, money, adding, and learning new words that don't end in -at. Not automatically knowing the answers and getting a few these wrong really seemed to derail her. Poor Hopie being a big girl is tough.

Bran has only gotten through his journal and math. We are taking a lunch break. When I get off here I plan to try to do about three days worth of Science, History, Spelling and Reading with him to get him back on the schedule I want us to be on.

Thursday- I plan to go to story time at the local library at 10 AM. I know, I know that will get us started late on school work for the day but we haven't got any field trips or other homeshcool events planned for this school year yet.

Friday- Bran's birthday. No real plans to school this day either.

Not a stellar week of Homeschooling but then I figured it wouldn't be with two birthdays in one week. So I don't know why I'm disappointed. I just I just don't want to start slacking off so early in the school year. Plus, I know both the kids have some really challenging work to do this year that would be better learned applied daily not here and there. Am I the only one fretting so soon? Why is kindergarten and 6th grade stressing me out so much more than past years? This year just seems so pivotal for both of them to me. Emily will learning adding, subtracting, how to read and so much more this year. Next year Brandon will be starting what is junior high in public school. Is he going to be ready to be work at that level by the end of the school year? Is he writing at 6th grade level now? Do I coddle him too much? Can he work independently on a project without Mommy giving him step by step advice and instructions? (short break for complete nervous break down here)

(Now in getting a grip mode.) It's not really that I doubt my ability to teach them or their ability to learn, it's ... it's.... oh what is it... my fear of too much slacking off or not enough dedication...? I can't put it in to words...OH, I know! It's being a mom. A worrying mom. A not praying enough mom. Put it on the alter mom! Give it to God and move on! It's only the second week of school for crying out loud! Alright, I'm OK now. Don't worry about me.

Uncle Bobby joined in singing Happy Birthday over the phone.





She seemed to really like her gifts.




She asked for a home made cake. Chocolate on chocolate with sprinkles.

I don't know if it is being raised in the south or growing up poor, but I hate to spend money on something I think is unnecessary. When something breaks I just can't stand the thought of throwing it out and buying a new one with out first at least trying to fix it. My cheap little southern mind just can't wrap around spending a couple hundred on something new when you may be able to fix the old one for just a couple of dollars (sometimes just a few cents)! I mean really that money could buy....like...shoes and hair stuff! LOL

Which finally brings me to my newest crisis in which my husband was going to spend money that I didn't think was necessary. Not being blessed with central heat & air we cool our house with window units. A couple of days ago we had a slight cool front with the rain and all so I turned my bedroom unit off for a little while. BIG mistake. When I turned it back on it commenced to make a rattling sound and shoot water out into the room. We've had problems with water not draining out of this unit properly before so I assumed that was the problem.

Well, I spent the next few days telling my dh that we needed to take the unit out of the window to clean it out and was getting all the response of talking to a brick wall. I could see the writing on the wall. He had written this unit off. He was going to spend money on a new one with out even trying to fix this one. This is his normal response to broken things. This goes against every fiber of my being. I was raised in the lap of southern ingenuity. I swear it's like no one ever introduced this poor boy to duct tape and bailing wire! Since with no air it was too hot to sleep in my room I spent three nights sleeping in my dd room which was a huge drag 'cause I just now got her to stop sleeping in MY room. Any who, I just couldn't take it any longer. I knew I was going to have to fix this problem on my own before he spent money that.... well, could be better spent on me. (Just kidding we have 4 kids with birthdays this month.)

So.... I tried to turn it on one more time. May be it fixed itself, right? LOL

OH MY LORD IN HEAVEN THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO LIVE THROUGH THAT STENCH! I kid you not, I've smelled dead things, litter boxes and hundreds of other filthy things that did not smell that awful!! (Pardon me here while I say, "OH HELL NO! This thing had to go!") With Brandon's help I got the unit out of the window and slipped out out of it's casing. I will not get into details here but I will say that something definitely was rotting in there. I deserve like...House Wife Of The Year or something for cleaning that thing up. After a liberal use of Lysol and a power hose I finally felt that it was clean enough. I turned it over all different directions to make sure all the water was out and leaving the casing off I plugged it in. As I wasn't about to haul this thing back up into the window if it wasn't fixed. Sure enough it now was blowing cold non-stench like air without throwing water but... the rattling noise was still there.

I thought the rattling noise had been caused by the fan hitting the water in the bottom but that didn't seem to be the case.... The noise was more near the front. Sooooo... I leaned over and sure enough encased in that compartment in the front there was yet another fan and it was rattling. "Well, you've already taken it apart this much what's a little more, aye?" Getting this compartment open actually involved unhooking a wire and moving the digital box off to the side a little. Hey, I figured, "It's already broken what more damage could I do, right?" You would not believe what I found in there. It stopped just slightly short of being as gross as whatever the rotting thing was..... NO WONDER I have to have allergy shots sleeping in a room where the air came from this evil source!!!! OK More very liberal amounts of Lysol and power hosing. Turning and dumping water out..."Opps, I think water got inside that digital box... Yep, it did. OK open the digital box. Really what have you got to lose now?" I ended up blow drying out the digital box plugging in again and...

Ta Da it works beautifully! It runs just as quite and cold as a new one. I nearly killed myself trying to get it back in the window....But hey it's fixed and didn't cost a cent. I tell ya if anyone can figure out how to fix things things themselves to save a buck, Southern Gals Can!

I have to tell you I was very nervous about teaching Emily to read from scratch. Brandon learned to read in PS. I didn't start homeschooling him until 2 grade. So, I just improved his reading. But Emily .... Emily is all my responsibility. What if I don't give her a good foundation in reading? I mean really, in my mind, if you can read you can do just about anything! The how-to is only a book or internet site away! Emily has known all her alphabet sounds for ages. I've just put off actual reading while I tried to figure out the best way to get started..... I had bought How to Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. But she hated it. So I sold it.

This school year I was still floundering and just had her working over some kindergarten workbooks. Finally I pulled out the Explode the Code and Bob Books that I've been sitting on for a while and decided to start her on those. OK like 2 days into them and she reads her first book all by herself!!!! Not only that but she read it over and over and over.

"Mat.
Mat sat.
Sam.
Sam sat.
Mat sat. Sam sat.
Mat sat on Sam.
Sam sat on Mat.
Mat sat. Sam sat.
The End."

OK, not Shakespeare, but hey it's her first book!

Then she demanded to read the second Bob Book and when I told her she wasn't ready to read it yet...she ignored me and read it anyway. Could she read it? Yes! She stumbled in a couple of places but she did read it! I guess it is time for momma to get out of this child's way and accept that she can do anything once SHE wants to do it!








Love Them! Love Them! Love Them! They go great together! I already have the Explode the Code books 1, 1 1/2, 2, and 2 1/2. I only have set one of the Bob books (that I picked up at a garage sale) but as excited as Emily is about being a reader I think I'll need to look into buying the next few sets soon!

We are using Apologia's Zoology 1 Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day for our first semester of science. I am doing this with both Emily and Brandon. Even though Emily is just in kindergarten I thought she'd enjoy learning about animals. However it starts out way over her head with classification, air pressure and aerodynamics. I was glad today was something she could get into a little.

Today was experiment day. We made two planes exactly alike except one had long narrow wings and one had short wide wings. Which plane will glide further?

Brandon and I hypothesized the wide wings because we thought it would have more surface to get lift. We were wrong. It was the long narrow wings because it experienced less drag. Either way at least the kids had two planes to decorate and play with and that is what really matters, right?




PS Ever notice how serious and pouty Brandon looks in school pictures. You'd never guess he is really a playful ball of cuddles. Must be the deep thought he is putting into his studies! ROFLOL HA! I slay me!

Keeping presents secret has always been hard on me. I hate buying presents way ahead of time because I always find myself wanting to give them early. I got these for Brandon. They've already came in the mail. Now I just got to wait for his birthday to give them to him! I just hope he full appreciates what a wonderful mother he has! ROFLOL

Amazon.com review

Equal parts droll and gorgeous nostalgia book and heartfelt plea for a renewed sense of adventure in the lives of boys and men, Conn and Hal Iggulden's The Dangerous Book for Boys became a mammoth bestseller in the United Kingdom in 2006. Adapted, in moderation, for American customs in this edition (cricket is gone, rugby remains; conkers are out, Navajo Code Talkers in), The Dangerous Book is a guide book for dads as well as their sons, as a reminder of lore and technique that have not yet been completely lost to the digital age. Recall the adventures of Scott of the Antarctic and the Battle of the Somme, relearn how to palm a coin, tan a skin, and, most charmingly, wrap a package in brown paper and string. The book's ambitions are both modest and winningly optimistic: you get the sense that by learning how to place a splint or write in invisible ink, a boy might be prepared for anything, even girls (which warrant a small but wise chapter of their own).

Book Description

The bestselling book for every boy from eight to eighty, covering essential boyhood skills such as building tree houses, learning how to fish, finding true north, and even answering the age old question of what the big deal with girls is.

In this digital age there is still a place for knots, skimming stones and stories of incredible courage. This book recaptures Sunday afternoons, stimulates curiosity, and makes for great father-son activities. The brothers Conn and Hal have put together a wonderful collection of all things that make being young or young at heart fun—building go-carts and electromagnets, identifying insects and spiders, and flying the world's best paper airplanes.

The completely revised American Edition includes:

The Greatest Paper Airplane in the World
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The Five Knots Every Boy Should Know
Stickball
Slingshots
Fossils
Building a Treehouse
Making a Bow and Arrow
Fishing (revised with US Fish)
Timers and Tripwires
Baseball's "Most Valuable Players"
Famous Battles-Including Lexington and Concord, The Alamo, and Gettysburg
Spies-Codes and Ciphers
Making a Go-Cart
Navajo Code Talkers' Dictionary
Girls
Cloud Formations
The States of the U.S.
Mountains of the U.S.
Navigation
The Declaration of Independence
Skimming Stones
Making a Periscope
The Ten Commandments
Common US Trees
Timeline of American History


From School Library Journal

Gr 4-8-Beginning with a warning that "this book is downright disgusting," Masoff presents a delightful compendium of facts about things that are gross, putrid, and stomach turning. Covering more than 50 topics from A to Z, she reveals the truth about some unsavory mysteries of the human body, such as acne, body lint, eye gunk, farts, halitosis, snot, and vomit. Odious creatures such as cockroaches, lice, maggots, rats, and slugs are also discussed. Other subjects include "Cannibals," "Gross Grub," "Mucky Medicine," and "Toilets." Ranging from a couple of paragraphs to several pages, the entries offer a great deal of information in a hilarious tongue-in-cheek manner. The author also provides pronunciations and definitions, historical perspectives, and advice on how to deal with each of her revolting topics. Amusing cartoons and well-chosen, black-and-white photographs with humorous captions support the text. A section of "X-Periments" (e.g., build an exploding pimple, mix a batch of make-believe mucus) makes an appropriate conclusion to the book. Guaranteed to improve the quality of the lunchtime chatter of all but the most squeamish, this delightful volume will be enjoyed by fans of grossness everywhere.-Cynde Marcengill, Horry County Memorial Library, Surfside Beach, SC

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

If you have read my blog in the past you may have read about some of my misadventures with what was supposed to be an science experiment. It all started when I bought a tadpole for Bran to watch it's metamorphosis in to a frog. After which I intended to set it free. Little did I know it would turn out to be an African Clawed Frog which is aquatic, can't be set free, and is the subject of several posts. So with many froggy experiences already under my belt I was tickled pink to read my blog buddy Marsha has had her own little frog adventure that only a little boy can give you! You should click over there her boys are just too cute!

Her story reminded me of something that happened here once...

*insert harp music and a fuzzy spinning fade away to days of long ago...

It was before the carnivorous escape frog and Brandon was may be say 7...

I'm in the laundry room taking clothes out of the washer to put in the dryer. I've grabbed a hand full and thrown them in to dryer already and reach in to grab another hand full... and let out a scream...not that I'm scared of frogs...I was just startled to find one sitting amongst my freshly washed laundry in my washing machine.

Brandon came running in (ever my little hero)
Brandon: "What happened Mom? Are you ok?"
Mom: "Yes, I'm fine. I was just a little startled. There is a frog in the washer!"
Brandon: "OH, so that's where it went!!!"

Apparently at one point it was in his pocket??? And I must have grabbed it when I got his laundry.... And I washed the poor thing!!!! Any way it seemed fine... and ... well rather clean when we let it go in the flower bed.