Week 22: What is fungible and what is not?

In case you didn't know, I work full-time for a big computer company and home school.  Sometimes it works well, and sometimes it doesn't.  As a result of my work, my kids have a great understanding of things like databases, firewalls, and cloud computing which is probably not taught in typical elementary schools.

They're also exposed to some specialized vocabulary such as my favorite new word, fungible.  It applies to commodities.  If I borrow a dollar from you, you don't expect me to return the same dollar bill.  Money is fungible.  However, if I borrow your car, you expect me to return the same car.  Cars are not fungible.  For example, I borrowed LB's scissors from her because I couldn't find any around the house.  She told me to return her scissors because they aren't fungible; they are hers and belong in her pencil box so they don't disappear like the fungible ones do.

Monday started out with a warning, LB woke up with a headache.  I should have known to revise my plans. She dawdled through math, crawled through handwriting then got completely distracted.   We took a break for both our sanity.  She raced through spelling then put the brakes on reading.  She whispered, whined, complained and generally made herself miserable.  I put the book away and had her work on art the rest of the school day.    .

LB's ocean painting with the moveable fish.

Tuesday.  Why would I think Tuesday would be any better ?  LB happily went to her enrichment school.  CC had started a new book and was so distracted when she wasn't reading it, that I just called the day off and let her fall back into her book.  She also had art class in the afternoon, but she'd finished the book by then.

LB's bug's eye view of a flower.

By Wednesday, it was starting to look like one of those weeks.  I really understand each individual excuse, but together they make an unpleasant pattern.  Wednesday was CC's cello concert.  She's been terribly nervous and spent most the morning distracting her sister from her work to keep herself from being nervous.   Between the rehearsal and the concert, we were at the school for four hours which actually makes me feel like we didn't waste the whole day.

Very Short clip of CC's concert.  She's third row, center.

Thursday started out wonderfully.  I was working on adding narration to a  training presentation when LB woke up and joined me.  We created a slide show for her with facts about several animals, she typed titles for the slides and wrote captions for the pictures. Then we decided on what she would say for each slide, and we recorded them a few times until she was happy.    After that we had breakfast and watched some Magic School Bus. Then she did all of her school work without a complaint.  She even declared her love for school.

LB's barn

Meanwhile, CC woke up late and made breakfast.  I noticed she had a little cough.  By lunchtime, she was back in bed with a fever and sore throat.

Friday was another good/mixed day.   LB setup a coffee shop in the kitchen and made me coffee - yum.  CC woke up with less fever but a lingering sore throat.  They worked together doing some art and a writing project which had them looking up pictures of nebulae, planets, comets and moons.  Not a bad way to spend a morning.  LB finished her work again beautifully then was rewarded by watching the cutest movie in world with her dad, Puppy Party.   CC was put on light school work which didn't require actual concentration then sent to bed at lunch time.  I still see fever in her eyes and her tonsils are giant and icky looking.


Books:
This week, LB read another Little Bear book.  I read Snow White to her  along with Where the Wild Things Are, The Tarantula in My Purse  and Sleeping Beauty  K.Y. Craft is the most amazing illustrator.  I've been reading Inkheart to CC.  She fell into Fablehaven 3 and spent Tuesday there.  She also read two more from the Warrior series and finished Swiss Family Robinson.  Dad read another Magic Tree House to LB. I read Against the Light, started Mansfield Park, started Moby Dick again, and then discovered In the Heart of the Sea which just might be my next non-fiction.

Just Me:
I have another migraine which started last night so I'm not going to do a good job of this part.  I've been struggling with my vision of homeschooling again.  I think I do this every February.  I got the wonderful opportunity to witness what I'd thought would be my ideal and realize it really isn't what I want.  I also had a great chance this week to see that my working enhances our homeschool instead of just taking time away from.  Additionally, both my girls have a "presentation voice" and know how to use it.