Reading from the Math book: "Use a unit multiplier to convert 8 inches to centimeters."
"What unit multiplier will you use?"
blank stare
"Do you know how many centimeters are in an inch?"
Next school year's books have all arrived. Well, all the ones I ordered arrived. I usually end up forgetting at least one book (usually more than one) for somebody.
Ordering in April for the upcoming year has worked well for me. In years past I'd wait until summer to order, but by then it was a much bigger job to remember what everybody needed.
As the kids progress through the grades, we are able to re-use materials, so I'm kind of surprised that the stack of boxes is this high. Part of the reason is that splitting the purchase across various suppliers saves money. Rainbow had the best price I found for Saxon math. Adoremus was running a promo, Emmanuel had cheaper prices for some things, and so on. I was thankful for the ability to keep multiple browser windows open during all of this ordering!
Now to unpack and organize them.
We still have a few weeks left of school. Recently, Laurel drew these doodles during a science lesson. We're currently learning about the circulatory and respiratory systems.
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| red blood cells |
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| blood cells delivering "help" to an exhausted heart |
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| Blood cells responding to the heart's increased activity One little cell seems to have collapsed under the stress. |
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| White blood cell attacking a pathogen |
Three students, ready to tackle second, sixth and ninth (gasp!) grades.
Until our classroom is built, our work will take place at the kitchen table.
We're still missing a few books, but we started the school-year anyway. I actually ordered a new Latin book even though I know for certain that we have one somewhere among the remaining boxes.
Sean is eagerly anticipating the arrival of his new science book. The books recommended for his grade in the syllabus I'm using would bore him to death, I think. So we'll try this one and see how it goes.
We had Wendy's for lunch, to celebrate. Or maybe it was to reward the MomTeacher. Whatever works.
One of the skills my first-grader is working on this year is the ability to re-tell a story. We're beginning with Aesop's fables.
Last week he heard the fable of the Fox and the Crow. This morning he dictated the following:
(I so love his "moral" at the end.)
A crow finds some cheese and wants to feed it to her babies and a fox walks by and thinks, “I want that cheese.” The fox tries to make the crow drop the cheese. He says, “My you look very beautiful today.” The crow did not reply. The fox tried again. He said, “The rabbits say you have a lovely voice, but I’m not sure that that is true. I can’t be sure until I hear you sing a little song.”
The crow did not sing. The fox said, “Please? Just one teeny, tiny little song?” The crow decided to sing a little song. As she sang, the cheese went “Plop!” out of her mouth and onto the ground. The fox ran to the cheese and gobbled it all up.
Moral of the story: Keep your mouth shut.
School, that is. Here are my dauntless scholars in our freshly scrubbed classroom.
This year Holly will be in eighth grade, Laurel in fifth and Sean in first. Liam is too little to care; he just wants someone to give him a writing implement.
Don't they look happy to be back in their classroom? I think they were happier than I was. I had possibly been enjoying a bit too much the whole do-what-you-want-when-you-want lifestyle that comes along with summer.
Not only are we back to school, but back to Everything Else too. It's a lot.
I find that a well-written Lesson Plan for the week makes everyone's day better. Finding the perfect notebook to contain said Lesson Plan has proven a bit of a challenge this year. More on that later.
Meet Renee. 
You may download or print several PDFs here of the various dolls and their wardrobes. 
We're getting ready for a tea party with some homeschooling friends on Sunday. Here's a sneak peak at one of the afternoon's planned activities.
Laurel drew all of the dolls, complete with five or six pieces of clothing each. More to come on this later!
