Week 18 - Choice

Last weekend I had a crisis of confidence.  I decided I am failing at the education of my children.  Saturday, I put the girls on the waiting list for a local charter school.  Sunday, I talked with CC and hubby then felt a bit better.  Then I went to a Choice meeting for our local district to see some new offerings for home school enrichment.  Friday, I am wavering, but still holding.  I think I am more having a daily struggle with my confidence at this point.  I am certain that homeschooling is the best choice for my kids - except maybe for that 40k per kid school which must be better because it is so expensive and so many of their kids are excepted into super cool colleges.  

Read aloud - Land of the Silver Apples, Three Little Dassies, Redwood Coast, The Diggingest Dog, Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening, Are you My Mother, Where the Wild Things Are, Plants that Never Bloom

CC's reading list- A Girl Named Disaster, HP2, Celtic Tales,  HP3

Monday -
I took CC to the office with me.  LB hung out at home.  I left her a stack of work which happily did.  Her handwriting is awesome. 

CC did her math, worked on bar graphs on my laptop, researched WWII and the Great Depression.  She is researching the Y12 facility used for the Manhattan Project.  She had fencing which was terrific, except the bruises which she is getting used to. I read The Lost Tools of Learning by Dorothy Sayers and found some of my inspiration.

Tuesday -
Took LB to school and promptly returned with her.  She had a tummy ache.  She played with her sister, did her phonics (PR still rocks!), listened to CC read Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening, did some Montessori math on the ipad, talked about mountain habitats in science, had a nice little camping trip in a red rock desert, and  made a cardboard box car.

CC played with her sister, read with her sister, read Celtic Tales, started a crystals science kit, learned about crystals that can grow in space and how they might be a future food source for extra-terrestrial humans.  Started a new session of pottery class with hubby.

I went to a choice program presentation by our district and learned about a new outdoor education hs enrichment program.

Wednesday -
LB made muffins and took me on a camping trip in her new car.
CC had trouble getting up.

It turned into one of those days.  The girls played happily as a defense against doing any work.  It started to go awry right before I had a big meeting (in which I got to be smart and was well-prepared).  I unrolled butcher paper on the dining room table and kitchen floor then gave them art supplies.  CC stacked the table with 3 feet of encyclopedias then started researching and illustrating.  LB made a house. 

I managed to catch LB for phonics - which she enjoyed.  CC would rather have not done writing, but she did it with a timer and a threat of more work.  She did great on her math then completely forgot how to do long division half way through her last problem.  We went to a quieter room, redid the problem and then did a few more long division problems just to get her confidence back.
LB became interested in what she was playing and didn't want to go to tap dancing, but she got happy and motivated once she realized that I wouldn't stay home and play Calico Critters with her instead.  CC took a book to my office and read until dinner. 

Thursday -
CC had to commit to a choice for school for next year.  She chose to not continue in her current ps enrichment program.  She will either switch to a new program or go to the enrichment at the classical charter school in town.    She went to school nervous about the results of the class writing contest.  Her teacher told her she loved her story, but hadn't finished reading it yet.  She's only on chapter 4;  however, her daughter read the story and loved it.

LB didn't get a choice about next year, she's staying in her current program.  She created creatures on Spore, made dragons in KidPix, matched states on the ipad, played with Calico Critters in my office and with G-ma and rocked her phonics again.  We will have to review Y.  It's the first letter she's had trouble with. 

I decided to order PR 3 for CC next week.  We're both ready for her spelling to improve.

CC and LB played together after school in G-ma's room.  CC also received a gift from an old and dear friend that lives in Wisconsin.

Friday
LB played with Calico Critters, reviewed her phonics, got a story from Daddy.

CC worked on her spelling.  She's been reading The ABC's and All Their Tricks and copying 25 words per day.  Maybe I should hold off on that big PR buy.  She also did her math quickly - ratio's are easy.  She made delicious chocolate chip cookies from scratch without a recipe.

I packed all of my meetings into a big block so I could take off early.  It is 66 and sunny today so the park is required.  We listened to Pavarotti's Opera Made Easy on the way.  They love opera - it is so much bigger than real life.  BB originally got them interested.  He has a big voice for opera and an ear for language.

BB said that they liked him the day he taught at the Japanese school, and they have scheduled him for a full day of teaching instead of just assisting in the class.  Please pause for a moment to picture my 6'5" son teaching in a Japanese kindergarten.  He said he and his friends are going out for Shabu Shabu  this weekend. He  loves the social food in Japan. I love how much he is learning in and out of school.

My crisis has abated for now.  Maybe next week.
We've completed 96 days of school.

And btw - if you have a kid in college overseas, news  like this bothers you although I usually think volcanic lightning is cool.