Cable T.V., The Poor Defenseless Children & the Iditarod

I have cable television. It is a left over from the days when I worked outside of the home. I often complain about the high price I pay for the little amount of channels that I watch, but the features that I do use: ON Demand and the commercial free Music Choice, keep me hooked. The children do not get to watch television freely. They are only allowed about 3 -5 hours per month. I know, I know... they need a lawyer, the poor underprivileged things. I try to preview what they watch, so we use the ON Demand movies on weekends. I see it first... which means I see it twice. Sigh....What dedication!!

Last week, we started a unit on the Iditarod and it has been a hit. On Thursday, I was not feeling well and decided to have a pajama, flex-day. We stayed in our pj's and they could pick the classes they attended for that day. The t.v. was on as I usually use the Music Choice channels to play Jazz, Classical or Holiday music during school time. On this day, I hit the guide button just to see what was on during the day. One of the first channels I came to was an educational channel that was showing a series called Japan Land Journeys. It caught our eye and we watched what turned out to be the last 20 mins. of the show. It was interesting and as the children were thanking me for the morsel of television, the preview for the next show began playing. It was a documentary on a very well known (of course I can't remember his name now) photographer for the Iditarod. What a great show that ended up being as the children got to see video and grand photography of the mountains and terrain of Alaska. It was right on time for a great pajama, flex-day.
:)De

Haiku by Jeffrey and Jordan

Rain - by Jeffrey

Splashing, splattering
Teeny tiny trickling drops
Splashing splattering

Writing - by Jeffrey

Writing down small words
Words that come around to me
I remember them


My Chair - Jordan

My pink party chair
Wheels squeaking, spinning, rolling
Pulling up and down

My Dog - Jordan

Light brown bushy eyes
Black, sharp, scratching cutting claws
Light brown and dark black

Our Classroom

When we first started homeschooling, we were at the dining room table. After 3 years we decided to move class to the living room because it was bigger and it cut down on having to clear and reload the table for and after meals. It is great to have so much space and it really gives us a separation of school life and home life as the children do not use the living room in the evenings. So far, the only down side is the fact that we cannot hang things on the living room walls like we did in the dining room. All of our posters, time lines and bulletin boards are hung up in the dining room still and I miss having my chalk board hung on the wall. I do have a nice easel that I use... so that helps. In the 2nd picture, you will see our new locker were the kiddos keep their laptops, folders and most prized school supplies. (Smile!) ( oh, but don't pay attention to the fact that whoever had the chore of sweeping the wood floors that day did not go anywhere near the locker! LOL) The kids really like their new locker and so do I. Anyhoo...Welcome! Take a look around.

The Fourth Grade Pink Party Chair
Ninth Grade Big Dawg!

"Peace Bloggers!"

The Student w/ Perfect Attendance

"Matthew" by Jeffrey

9th grade had to write a short paragraph on the disciple Matthew. The question was: Write a short paragraph about Matthew’s life before and after he met Jesus.

“Hello my name is Matthew; I was born in Galilee. Alphaeus is my father. Some people call me “the Levi” but then Jesus changed my name to Matthew. Matthew means “the gift of Yahweh”. I started off to be a tax collector. I had some problems. I took money from my own people and was very greedy. I was not an honest man when it came to money. I was already making enough money for me and my family, but I still charged people extra for their taxes and kept the money for myself. Then one day, a man I did not know told me to become his disciple. He looked me in the eye and told me to follow Him. So I stopped what I was doing and followed Him to be a disciple. Some people think that I was the author of a gospel called Matthew. I first did my writings in Greek and wrote mostly to the Jews. The last thing I did was to preach for 30 more years after Christ died.”

Fractions and Woodshop

My fourth grader is really understanding fractions. While making lunch today, she was using terms like "halves, quaters" and even decided that she was going to eat "1 and 3/4 of a sandwich." All of this was unprovoked conversation while spreading mustard and laying down bologna. I was beaming...what a nice show of progress.


One of the memes that I read asked where people homeschooled. After seeing all of the many pictures, I decided to add another bookshelf to our "schoolroom". Our books are stacking up pretty high and we are gaining more and more books weekly. My first grader (whom we will homeschool as soon as the adoption is final) is reading more everyday, bringing in more books. He will also need a locker soon. So...off to Kmart, Walmart and Target we went to shop for shelves.


We found a great deal and even received a break on a better shelf for the advertised sale price because the sales assistance did not feel like going to the back of the store to get the one we came in for...giving us a nice cherry wood one for the same price... WooHoo! My 9th grader is really looking forward to putting it together, calling it "Shop Class".



:)De

An Admitted Copycat...

I love reading the blogs of others. As mentioned before, I have learned lots of great info. I have seen great post and decided to copy one of them. On a post called 50 Toes, there was a picture that inspired me to pull out our piggies. So here is our rainbow; or "toebow" as we are calling it.

And because we are the Rotties, she could not be left out...

And finally....

The Handbow!

We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties....

My 4th grader's laptop has been dead for over a week now. The keyboard just stopped working. Oh well, Ebay to the rescue. While she has enjoyed her relaxed mornings (doing lapbooks, practicing cursive, etc...) I am pleased to have found a replacement laptop.