What We’ve Accomplished Today…09/07/10

The day is early yet...and we've gotten only a few things accomplished but better to write what's been going on now than forget.

So my marshmallow experience was not too pleasant. Oh, the marshmallow stuff tastes yummy enough. I used honey instead of corn syrup. It's so neat that when the marshmallow goo is dissolved in water it is a caramel color. It killed my mixer, I think I posted that last night, and I cannot get it off the aluminum foil this morning. That is why I am not very happy with my experience with making marshmallows. I know that the directions call for parchment paper, which I do not have, but aluminum foil can be substituted, which I do have. I oiled it well, I thought. But it just will not come off! We've been picking it off in bits and pieces...not a good breakfast? Don't worry, we had actual food not just marshmallows!

I finally got the free Lego Education kit today. It seems that it took a long time. I don't recall exactly when I requested it but anyway. The kids love Legos! It was fun to start with because the colors are ones that Fox does not have in his collection. Lee doesn't have Legos...she gave them to Fox but she still likes to build with them. One of the activities that is suggested is called Back-to-Back. The two kids sit back to back (hence the name lol) and one builds something. After it is built, it is taken apart and instructions are given to the other person (who has the same set of Legos), step by step, on how to build it. The point is to see if the instructions were given well enough so that they can be followed to the point of a duplicate item being produced. They enjoyed that most of the activities. Fox has a bit of trouble vocalizing how to do certain things ('put it there') and Lee was easily irritated ('I don't know where 'there' is!) so I had to step in and help Fox clarify his directions and smooth Lee's ruffled feathers. :) But it was still enjoyable.

Fox: so far

Bible: Matthew 24

Verse: 1 Peter 3:15; read it, wrote it, recited it (sort of...he tried to do it from memory...didn't work as well as he hoped)

Math: LoF: Chapter 29 (oops missed that somehow) and second try on Bridge (missed 3 of 10 on first try and in order to continue to the next chapter 9 out of 10 have to be correct)

Reading: Age of Fable, Abraham Lincoln's World, Passion for the Impossible

*Updated

Writing: My Access... working more on If I Never Slept... He still has some points to work on but I believe his writing is improving. It is difficult to move up with this program!

Spelling City: games... he is going to have dictation later in the week from the words that he has been 'playing'

History/Geography: Story of the World, chapter 8. Rails, Zones, and Bulbs & Meiji Restoration. Filled in some dates on the timeline- Yay! When we look back on what we've filled in it is neat :)

Lee: so far

Verse: Hebrews 10:24, 25; read it, wrote it, recited it

Logic: Fallacy Detective- Generalizations (I'm thinking she is simply rushing through this and we will definitely be going over the book when she is done..perhaps when Fox gets to it)

*Updated

Writing: My Access... What Makes a Good Friend... I think. She does very well with writing but still is low on some areas.

Japanese: Read Romanization in Kanji and Kana.

As far as other things, she says she is having one of those days when she 'can't concentrate'. I consider it a day when "I don't want to do it..." Either way, it'll be a long day~

Today in the mail I received a book, No Girls Allowed: devotions for boys, for review for Tyndale Publishing. It looks like a good book for Fox! I still have to finish proofreading it but will let him have it soon. They want a review posted by Sept. 17th. You can check my other blog for the review on that when the time comes (and others I've done). *Updated: I have finished my proof of the book and have let him have it. He is enjoying it and I hope that it is helpful to him.

Also in the mail, addressed to "The Parents of Lee Barden", was a letter from People to People. It says that Lee has been selected to travel and study in Italy, France, Switzerland, and Austria in the summer of 2011. The strangest thing about this letter is that no one calls my daughter Lee except for me and some of her friends. Who would know that to send a letter such as this?

I went searching online about this "People to People" organization and I must say it looks intriguing. But expensive I am guessing. There is a 'local' information meeting in October that I signed up for but the location is TBA. I think it could be just about anywhere in Wyoming and I'm not traveling hours to just find out that it is something she can't do. Honestly, it looks like something that would be an amazing opportunity but at the same time, terrifying! I think it is for 19 days. Yikes!

Alright, off to get more stuff done! Update later...

*The rest of the story...

Fox did his military history. I am having him start on doing actual written narrations. I ask for 1 paragraph per page. If you've read some of our previous WWATs you might have seen "written narration" on certain subjects or books but honestly, they usually became oral narrations. Anyway. Well, we've got a bit to go on that! I am amazed, and bewildered at the same time, how he finds it fairly easy to do oral narrations yet his written ones are so simple. I have to read up more on CM narrations (CM in general...am going to do that right after I finish updating this post!) but it seems that both of my kids do good oral narrations but written ones are full of holes that aren't present when they say them. Why is that? He still is supposed to write down the vocabulary words from science...

Lee, well, in an attempt to keep this positive...she was having a difficult day concentrating..ahem. She did not get the rest of her work done that she was to do on her own without prodding and uh, persuasion. Eventually she did read her Bede's work (finally did write down words that were 'unfamiliar' to her so that we can work on spelling and dictation) and worked more on math. She said that the math was too difficult for her because she couldn't remember the formulas to use for each problem. After being reminded that she has written down the formulas before on 3x5 cards she agreed and went to find those cards. Hmm, she didn't find them and so began more cards with formulas.... Organization isn't our strong suit here sigh. She also did her Bible reading in Matthew; chapters 21 & 22. And right now she is at ballet... girl will probably be sore when she gets home! An hour and a half of that kind of exercise is something she is definitely not used to.

I think I'd mentioned it would be a long day... and we didn't get to Chrysostom today like I had hoped. Fox wants to skip him and go to Saint Jerome because he has a temper (Jerome, not Fox!). We were supposed to do Foreign Language today- didn't happen. They both helped with dinner for tonight and dinner for tomorrow night (chili using the Chili Mix I received from Geno's Camp 'n' Kitchen) very nicely :) It is so nice when I say, "Will you please do..." and they do it right away, even if they do not want to, and without complaining. I just love that :) Lee is the one that made the 'pizza sauce' for our personal pizzas tonight (she had to measure and follow directions- HAHA always find 'learning' taking place!).

Alright, I think that's enough for "What We've Accomplished Today..." :) Now that the day is coming to a close...it was a good day. & I love my children...& I love that I can homeschool them...