The kids are busy this week with IOWA testing. D was going through the test surprisingly well. I was expecting him to not get the directions, or not listen. But no, he was doing pretty well. At some points when he didn’t know something or completely missed the directions he would say “I think I am going to pick this one” of course the directions say you can’t repeat the instructions or anything else so I would let it go. When he finished the test for the day I went to a page where he said this (I am always curious at his train of taught - he definitely has logic behind his choices) and I asked “why did you pick this one D?” and he said “because I like that the best.” Can’t argue with that. When in doubt, pick letter ‘C’ - in D’s case became when in doubt pick the prettiest picture, lol.

D is doing the Kinder test. I haven’t formally done kinder with him yet (he is 4) but I was curious how he would handle the listening and having to sit for a test. Part of my reasoning is that I need to get a feel of Kinder readiness….his aptitude more than anything else. He misses the cut-off so he is not technically kinder ready. But I think he is more than ready (aside from his craziness and listening issues). I know he is ready academically. The question is, is he ready otherwise……So on to the test. So far the only problem (one I was not even considering) is that we got to a section of the test that had a train as the picture and oh my goodness. He didn’t want to turn the page lol, here I had to stray from the directions for a second and say ‘D, we need to keep going with the questions or I am going to have to put the test away. I can let you look at the train again later’ So he went on but no longer in good spirits - we wrapped it up shortly after.

Every person he ran into yesterday he had to tell about his test. How it was a fill-in the circle test and how it had a train in it. When he went to karate class the instructor told them they have two review weeks before the next karate test and D asked him if it was a fill-in the circle test, lol

I don’t remember if I ever mentioned that D has this thing for trains. He is obsessed with them. He starts every conversation with anyone he meets with - ‘Hi, my name is D. I have trains at home’ or ‘I saw a New Jersey Transit train today’. When he goes to karate class you can see the train tracks from the window - he stops in the middle of class every time a train goes by to let everyone know. When he was younger he would go to anyone that had money out (like paying at a register or putting money in a snack machine) and ask for a dollar for the train. He would basically go up to them and say ‘can I have a dollar? I need it for the train’ Luckily that has stopped. My mom always gives him a dollar when she sees him, he holds if for hours until he gets home and puts it neatly in the ‘for the train’ drawer

G is doing the 4th grade IOWA. So far she’s tackled the reading comprehension and vocabulary sections. No issues with her. I read the directions, start the timer, and she is off. The only thing is that she gets done early and says ‘I’m done’ and I will say ‘12 minutes left’ and she will say ‘I am ready to move on’ and I will say ‘No you are not, review your questions’ lol and half the time she doesn’t, she just sits there…but I just keep the timer going. I remember this same exact scenario last year.

So on to another IOWA day we go. Will touch base tomorrow.

PS…..we are closing on the house on Monday. It’s official.

PS. PS…..I got through the sock matching day.

The cool and wet weather we had all of last week disappeared just in time for the weekend. It was sunny and warm here for the three days, perfect beach weather. Of course, we didn’t get to go to the beach. Not even close.

I spent the weekend packing and doing laundry. My proudest moment this weekend came yesterday evening when I realized I had gotten through the 20+ piles of seasonal laundry that covered my floor. Friday morning I went through all the clothes in the basement (these were all the remaining seasonal clothes, sheets, towels, etc that remained in the basement since the time of the flooding) and got them in neat piles on the floor. while the laundry was in progress I got the basement completely packed, the attic cleared, the garage cleared, and even went through all of G’s clothes and set aside everything that no longer fit.

It was a very productive weekend …. up until John called me Monday afternoon to tell me he was bringing my niece over. I had a panic attack. My kitchen had boxes and papers all over the place. There was absolutely no place to fit anyone in the house….and I had just packed G’s room, including the puzzles, activity books, and toys. I also had no groceries, nothing to put out as snacks, and no vehicle to get me to the store (John took my car). At this point I realized my packing progress had come to a halt. I rushed to shine the bathroom, clear all the stuff out of the kitchen, clean off anything left in the sink from lunch, wipe down the counters, clean the stove, etc….all in the 40 minutes lead time John gave me. I was a sweaty mess by the time they got here. Did I mention it was hot this weekend….and we have no A/C?

And so the poor kid was shocked by all the boxes and went outside to play with G and D. I took my keys from John and ran to the store. The rest of my afternoon was spent cooking, running outside to get the kids drinks and snacks, cleaning the picnic table and chairs outside so we could eat, and of course taking pictures.

We then had to go return my niece and got back so late all I had time to do was put the last of the piles of laundry in the dryer….it was the worst load - the one with all the socks - the one I dread the most whenever I have laundry, even in small scale washings. I am going to spend all day today matching socks. UGHHH! And of course, the weather is back to being its old dreary self.

I just declared day 2 in a row of missing gym due to ‘crappy’ and lazy schoolwork.

Yesterday had me furious when G was still working on reading comp 2 hours into the day (a reading comp assignment normally takes her 6-10 minutes). Math was not even completed by the time we were due to leave - I made the call to the gym.

Today we are back in the same place. Reading comp was average but math has been 4 hours in progress, averaging 1 problem every 40 minutes….and when I corrected it I found 80% incorrect answers, most because she failed to read directions. And so here we sit, working on math and still needing to complete all other assigned work. G is crying because she wants to go to gym and I am sitting here hating my life - Why is this kid getting so lazy? What in the world do I have to do to get her to do her work?

I hate having G skip gym over schoolwork as I find it a waste of money, a huge factor in regression, and it makes for bad relationship with the coaches, but at this point I have had enough. I don’t know what to do to get the point across that the work needs to be completed, without slacking, with effort, and with intent - else there will be consequences. We have not tackled extra activities (cooking, art, crafts, etc) in months because G is getting slower each day with her work. Days like this make me want to throw in the towel. The yearly speech from parents and coaches of the girls graduating gym make all these kids sound like hard-working angels….public or private school AP honor roll students. They all manage to go to school, do their homework in a timely fashion, and do what ever else they are supposed to do. My kid has 5 hours of work (all reading included), no homework, and can’t get all her work done EVER…what am I doing wrong? I feel like the less I give her to do the more time she takes and something still does not get done. No spelling, no vocab, no SRAs, no Thinking Skills, etc - we were doing all these before and she was completing, or nearly completing the work….what happened?

I have tried the praise, the timer, the rewards, etc….but none have worked for us. I’ve made a harsh decision to use gym as a consequence, but I don’t know what else to do at this point. As of right now we have grammar, science, and reading still untouched,and math and reading comp corrections to do….if it is anything like yesterday she will be at it until 11PM….but she will sit there until it is all done.

I’ve had enough.

Who else could I do this to?

He was not a happy camper after the mohawk went away

While the kids were brushing their teeth tonight.

D: Ma!!!!

Mom: What D?

D: My sister is being mean to me.

Mom: Well, what did you do?

D: She is being mean.

Mom: What did YOU do?

D: I was just trying to push her.

Mom: Well, at least you are honest.

Dad and mom had a good laugh

I received this one through a homeschooling list.  I think it looks pretty good….and it’s free:

http://www.englishgrammar101.com

We were back once again at the Mayo Community Theatre, this time for a music field trip.  Beethoven’s Wig was fabulous:

“Who said classical music isn’t fun? Beethoven’s Wig introduces students to the classics using hilarious and zany lyrics to the greatest hits of classical music. Filled with fact and fancy about the world’s most notable composers and their masterpieces, this event opens the door to “serious music” that’s way fun.”

The kids loved it.  Diego’s favorite song, Frank Litzt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, was one of the featured songs.  That made his day, lol - he knows it as Tom and Jerry’s Piano Concerto song.  

There is an excerpt of some pieces (including Litzt’s) as performed by Beethoven’s Wig here.

Another great show….but sadly the last of our planned field trips this year

I can barely contain my excitement tonight.  There is another homeschooling family in G’s gym.  I stayed for a few minutes today at drop off and met a new mom.  Her daughter is coming from another gym and is 9 (a few months younger than G) and they are homeschoolers.

I am so excited to finally have someone else that homeschools come onboard.  I think it’s going to be so great for G to have someone else to talk to about schooling….and for me too.  I can’t wait to learn more about their schooling tomorrow….did I mention how excited I am?

DH is on a roll today….actually, this one is from inside the last link I posted.  Where has this site been the last two years of my homeschooling journey.  The preschool portal is pretty neat:

Wikiversity

This appears to be a work in progress site….but, I think I would love to contribute content as I am teaching it to the kids.  Looks pretty cool.

My DH sent me this link - I love it:

http://www.allmyfaves.com/