Our Substitute Mr. Nini

Yesterday Nini was the substitute since I had another blood pressure recheck. The girls were so excited to have him in the schoolroom and had lots of fun doing different things, as well as their regular work. They can't wait to have him back.

This is one of Connie and Belle's favorite Math games-
Multiplication Races. All the cards are spread out on the floor and they have to race to find the correct equation that matches the called out answer. They get pretty competitive with it (I wonder where they get that from?)

We had a nice week and got everything on my list accomplished, but there are still some extras that we don't seem to get to each week. We have added some brief Spanish work and a new unit study on WWII. Unfortunately, the first book we chose to base our study on, Number the Stars, makes me cry each time we read it and we're only on Chapter 2. And as soon as I start tearing up, the girls start crying, too. We're a mess. Hopefully in a few weeks, after the baby arrives, the pregnancy hormones will let us get through the chapters with a little more ease, or else we're going to have to switch to another topic altogether.

Monday Morning with Lucy Clare

Lucy Clare and I had another quiet Monday morning doing school one-on-one, which was really nice since it was such a busy and fun weekend and all the girls seem to be having trouble bouncing back on this rainy day. I'm glad Connie and Belle have baby-sitting today since maybe that will "re-boot" their attitudes for school this afternoon.

We have a busy week planned and some new things to add our schedule. Only 4 more weeks until the baby arrives and I have a lot I still want to get accomplished before then. We're starting a new unit study this week based on the book Number the Stars and finishing up Mars in science, all starting new units in Math and tackling New York and North Carolina as our new states.

Lucy Clare had some computer time and contributed to the blog in her own words again. (The translation is below it.)

Monday in Lucy Clare's words.
today me and momy did scool to geder.i did gramer today.i did not do jrnoos.molly hade scool.connie and belle wet to baby siting.avy monday they babysiting.i love to doow scool.i binto the pisbool ofic-my room.i had a math tast. i oly mist 1.

Today me and Mommy did school together. I did grammar today. I did not do journals. Molly had school. Connie and Belle went to baby-sitting. Every Monday they baby-sit. I love to do school. I've been to the Principal's office-my room. I had a math test. I only missed one.

I particularly like the joke about the Principal's office, even though I don't actually know what she meant by it. She's such a nut.

End of the Week Recap

Obviously I need to get much better about posting in a timely matter, but since we still seem to be "tweaking" our schedule each day, we're continually looking for that magic routine that I'm beginning to think just doesn't exist.

We finished the first 10 states this week and I was excited since I had prepared my first test on them to give today. I was anxious to see what the girls had retained and how they did with study skills, etc. Unfortunately, due to poor planning, or simple naivete, things went horribly awry, both for the girls and for me. The very word "test" seems to send them into a frantic, hysterical mode that I can't control and they basically got themselves so worked up, nothing was actually accomplished even though we've been talking about these states for weeks now and they've clearly learned them. I'm going to be better prepared for the next test on states 11-20 and change some of the testing methods, or at the very least be better prepared for the drama and hysterics.

On the other hand, Connie had a unit test in math today, Lucy Clare had a spelling test, and Connie and Belle had grammar tests earlier in the week that were taken with flying colors, and thankfully, with no frenzied turmoil.

Kevin helped out in the classroom one day a couple of weeks ago. The girls love it when he comes down and since I had a doctor appointment and some shopping to do, he did the entire day. They did some fun Rosh Hashanah lessons as well as their regular work.



Playing with clay to avoid the nasty storms that came through a couple of weeks ago. Kevin was out of town so we hung out in the basement where the thunder was much more muted.


Lucy Clare asked us to take off her training wheels this week and even though we were a little apprehensive since she's so timid with new things, and we pictured this being a momentary whim that would scare her away from bike riding for the foreseeable future, Kevin was gung-ho to give it a try. She amazed us with her excitement and picked it up super easily (much faster than her 2 older sisters had, which we enjoyed teasing them about.) Connie was a huge help as always, and her patience with her was adorable. I love Lucy Clare's face in the 2nd picture. She's so proud of herself and excited about the whole process. Luckily, we've had great weather this week and the girls have played outside tons so she's gotten lots of practice.

Our art project this week has been card making (and what a coincidence that it comes just when I need baby thank you cards!) The girls have learned to stamp, emboss, paint with watercolor pencils, and use scrap paper in different shapes and colors as backgrounds. They've enjoyed putting all the steps together and are thrilled that their creations will be used and shared. I like watching the efficiency of my little assembly line and wonder why it took me so long to come up with this idea. Not to mention how to come up with further projects that will be as helpful.

Hiding from the Thunder

So we're back in the schoolroom tonight hiding from the storms. There's been so much rain that our county cancelled school due to flooding. We spent a lot of time watching the news but discovered it was making everyone more upset so we headed down for another craft project. We've already painted today but now the girls are playing with clay while I catch up on the computer.

We had a nice Monday despite the thunder and not much sleep last night since everyone was afraid. This is the last week we'll be working on Greek gods and Connie and Belle will present their projects. We're going to study Maryland and South Carolina, the 7th and 8th states. We have some fun fall activities scheduled since tomorrow is the first day of Autumn and we'll be starting a science unit about the moon. Yom Kippur starts Sunday so we'll be talking about that all week as well as our regular bible lessons.

Everyone started chapters in math after our Math Basics break last week, which was filled with worksheets, games, math races and brain teasers. Connie is working on fractions with measurements, Belle is doing place values in the billions and trillions, and Lucy Clare is working on more addition facts and word problems.

The thunder is down to a low background noise but the storm tracker says the worst is still to come. I'd better think of something more distracting than clay. Everyone is already planning to sleep in my room with me-what a lot of togetherness today!

Catching Up With Connie

It's my turn to write on the blog today and I want to catch you up with Connie. These past few weeks we have been working on a lap book for mythology. I read a series, called Percy Jackson and the Olympians, that everybody in my family loved and it was about a boy who found out that is father was a Greek god. I have also started playing softball at Baycreek park. We have only had two games but they are a lot of fun! I'm mainly playing 3rd base. Today we went to the library and I got to pick up my new books we had on hold. They are a new series I am reading called 39 Clues. We started a new writing thing for school and today we did core sentences where you have to keep adding details to the sentence. We just finished studying the planet Earth. We read about how it is super perfect for life. Me and Belle have almost finished our handwriting book which will be sad because when we are done we have to do copy work to practice cursive. Another thing that will be sad will be when I finish my math because when I am done I go onto something way hard. Our state today was Connecticut. Our state folder is slowly filling up and I can not wait to see it when it is done. Join me next time on Catching up with Connie!

Monday Morning with Lucy Clare

Lucy Clare and I got to spend the morning doing school by ourselves today because Molly had preschool and Connie/Belle helped out in the nursery for Aunt Karen's bible study. It's always special to have some one-on-one time with the girls and Lucy and I really enjoyed talking and doing her work with no interruptions. We have a lot of fun things planned for the week, finishing up the unit on Earth in Astronomy, 2 new states, some more Greek mythology, and lessons and activities about Rosh Hashanah. We're calling this Math Week and we're going to take the week off of our regular curriculum and work on games, worksheets and review about basic math facts to help us with the more advanced things coming up in our books.

Lucy Clare was thrilled that she got to write in the blog today and really enjoyed typing on the computer. She worked hard for quite some time and didn't ask me to spell anything except the cat's names so I've resisted changing anything she wrote (I'm still fighting phonics although it's obviously working for her) but I did do a translation after for everyone. I do enjoy "seeing" how she hears things and she's making great progress in her phonics and reading program, although I have to admit, I enjoy working with her in spelling more since that makes more sense to me.

Lucy's Day in Lucy's Words
today connie and belle needid togo somwew so me an mommy...got to do school by ourselves since Molly was at preschool... (I had to re-write this for her because she accidentally deleted her version and got frustrated.) today i red a scery book.we playd 2games ov math bingo.in gramar i did eqmsh pot. i liek homskooling becos momy gets tobe my techar...and we get to work with sisters all day long...(another deleting problem.) afuoo days ogo we painted and that was fun. Archie and Veronica get to do scol with us. my fafit sojit is hadriding bycos i wateto lern how to wit.

Lucy's Words translated
Today Connie and Belle needed to go somewhere so me and Mommy got to do school by ourselves since Molly was at preschool. Today I read a scary book. We played 2 games of math bingo. In grammar I did exclamation points. I like homeschooling because Mommy gets to be my teacher and I get to work with the sisters all day long. A few days ago we painted and that was fun. Archie and Veronica get to do school with us. My favorite subject is handwriting because I want to learn to write.

Tuesday with Belle

I get to make the blog entry today. I will mostly talk about school which is sooooo cool!!!!! Today in Math I am doing the area of a trapezoid. It is a lot of fun. Or at least it is funner than it sounds. In Science we are doing planets, which we'll be working on all year, but today we are talking about Earth and how it is the most perfect planet in the perfect spot with the perfect amount of gravity. In mythology I worked on my gods and goddesses project and researched Aphrodite. She is the goddess of love and she is the most beautiful goddess of them all. In Grammar I did plural nouns. They are fun to learn. There are so many different rules for plural nouns. Mommy even learned a new way. We also have a new writing book, the guy who wrote it is really funny. He makes the book so much more interesting. We are working on 2 states a week and today we started New Jersey as the 3rd state. We had a good day and I'm looking forward to the rest of the week, especially Skate Day on Friday!

Sincerely,
The A in CALM (Annabelle)

Kevin joined us in the schoolroom today and we had a great time showing him all the stuff we've been working on. We talked a lot about Labor Day and did a couple of little projects about the holiday. Lucy Clare had to go through magazines and make a collage of workers but Kevin, who was helping her, said that my scrap pile of magazines were only Parenting/Domestic ones and only had pictures of mothers in them. I told Lucy Clare that they were working the hardest anyway so she could use them but they did manage to find a few other professions for her picture, too.

Connie and Belle had to come up with an occupation or community helper for each letter of the alphabet and while some of them were certainly borderline (yo-yo-maker and xylophone fixer) they did a very creative job with the task. They also started a new writing program today that we're very excited about.

Journals were more about Labor Day and what they wanted to be, why, and what they need to do to accomplish their goals. Molly, who can only write her name so far, "reads" hers from her notebook and hopefully I can add it below. In case you can't understand what she's saying, she wants to be a builder, a penguin and a ballerina teacher. She doesn't go into much detail on the actual accomplishment part of the assignment, but does point out how much fun it would be to "waddle around in the icey water" like a penguin.

Molly's Journal Entry

Molly reading her journal entry for Labor Day on what she wants to be when she grows up.

Welcome to our Blog

We're finally getting started on our blog on Day 27 of our first year of homeschooling. We hope to update often with our new adventures and plan to let CALM offer their own explanations and stories of what we learn and do.