Sir Ken Robinson follows up his 2006 talk....

This is a must-see for parents, whether they homeschool or not.

http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html

Busy, busy, busy

I have a list of things to do a mile long.

I need to prioritize, LOL.

My son is still fighting reading. He still pretends to read, still has a great interest in books and being read to, but isn't big on the effort required to figure it all out.

My daughter on the other hand finished all her 3rd grade curriculum books already. Sigh. I should have known that would happen.

The dove either evicted one of her chicks yesterday or he fell out. Either way he was on the ground and we're giving him a big berth so he won't feel compelled to run into the yard next door (dogs) and today my daughter chased a cat out of the yard. Can't have a cat back there right now.

The Eggs Hatched

The dove in the tree on the side of the house has chicks now. Not sure when they hatched (there are 2) but they must grow FAST!

Wordless Wednesday

A Call to Arms

I've been reading a great deal lately about public school lunches and the push to improve them. I graduated in 1983, a great deal of things have changed since then (and believe me, I'm not saying that "then" school lunches were wonderful, fresh, nutritious meals - I don't think the concept of salad bars in schools had even been thought of yet - but they were tolerable, and I had the option of taking something from home if the offered menu wasn't tasty). I wish I'd known then what I know now, in more ways than one.

I see what's documented on this blog:

http://fedupwithschoollunch.blogspot.com/

and I'm floored. Those poor kids!

Then today there was this article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36664612/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition

that taught me a great deal. I didn't know that school lunches originated because new military recruits were undernourished and the military encouraged the government to solve the problem. Now it appears the kids are overnourished - fat. And in all likelihood on their way to conditions brought on by obesity that will further tax the health care system (doesn't matter which one, Obamacare or whatever).

My kids are homeschooled, so obviously none of this "directly" affects me, or them. But MY kids aren't the only kids I care about. Not all families have the option of homeschooling or even of sending their kids to school with a healthy alternative to the school's lunch packed and carried along with them. The more I read, the more upset I am. How are today's kids supposed to learn when their bodies are fueled by this junk?

The Books Are Here!

The books for the next school year are already here. Not the DVDs, just the books. In the wee small hours of the morning I was checking the content of 4 big boxes against the packing list... and I had to skim through some of the books. Our daughter is going to LOVE this year! It's the first "real" study of geography, and she loves maps.

They saw the boxes, of course, and want to start NOW.

She's already finished 2 of the readers. The rest I hid, LOL.

Our son is still wishy-washy on the whole education thing, but it'll come. It has to, at least by August!

Our Little Helper

Needs to wear his gardening gloves, LOL.

Have a blessed weekend. : )

Set for the Next School Year

This week we signed up for lessons for the kids' next school year. Our son will start first grade and our daughter will tackle third. We use Abeka's video program.

Why? Simply put, I'm boring. We tried a video-less curriculum on the first go-around with our daughter, but I couldn't keep her focused, she didn't learn much. The presentation style on the videos is far more entertaining than I could ever be, LOL, and keeps her focused and learning, and when she does get stuck, I've been listening so I can expound on what the video teacher said, or sometimes say it in a different way so that it "clicks."

It's a bit of an expense, but it's worth it to us to see her learning so well and to be so EXCITED about learning on top of that.

Most days. She has a few days where she'd rather be left to be creative in some medium that's consumed her rather than do seatwork, but overall the programs really work for us. And the little one, well, if SISSY did it....

Teaching and Gardening Together

Behold the humble beginnings of the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. Starting from seed under a grow light in our dinette, which doubles as part of the classroom.

I've read a lot about getting kids to eat vegetables. Hiding them in foods so they don't know what they're eating, dressing up the food to make it fun to eat, but I think that getting kids involved in the growing and preparation of their food is likely the most honest way to get them eating veggies. My kids, even the littler one who can't read yet, know about germination, hardening off, transplanting, polination, and they're not afraid to get in the dirt and get involved. Works up quite an appetite, too.

Speaking of appetite, my son is still off and on with wanting to learn to read. He wants to do Headsprout, and Starfall, and talks incessantly about beginning first grade this year, but he doesn't really want to talk about, say, "V" and what it "says." But repetition is the mother of retention, and he'll learn.

This week Abeka is having a seminar, we'll be getting our order in to get the goods required to start 1st and 3rd grade in the late summer.

Spring Snow

I'm delighted to report that it snowed Saturday... and Sunday. Snow on the first two days of Spring, and quite a lot! As long as I've lived here (nearly 17 years) I've never seen snow later than early February. It snowed more this season than in any other since I moved here. I'm not complaining!

However, snow DID dampen our weekend plans. We were going to remove sod to expand the garden. We wound up doing some painting, some planning, and some starting of seeds indoors.

On another subject, our son is still on a roar to learn, finally grabbing on to the basics of reading willingly rather than reluctantly, so we did some phonics work this weekend as well. And Monday afternoon we got our taxes done. That wasn't as painful as I'd feared, LOL. We followed that up with lunch at an Indian restaurant we used to visit frequently when we lived in the city. Delicious, as always.

Hope you're having a great week!

Wild Weather in the Forecast

It's 70 degrees out today, sunny and beautiful. A perfect "day before" the first day of Spring.

Tomorrow's forecast includes the possiblity of 6 inches of SNOW!!

Fortunately nothing we have planted right now should suffer from a little snow on top of the soil, especially since it will all be melted by Sunday, if it really snows. We have carrots, beets, green and red leaf lettuce planted, along with some marigolds to help ward off bugs, as we keep the garden organic.

The kids did well in school today, our daughter's math skills are above-grade level (she'll start 3rd grade later this year but is done with her 2nd grade work so we're in review and prep), and her penmanship is really improving (she's a lefty) as she works on her spelling - and what thrills me now is that she cares how great it looks, it's not just an exercise because because "Mommy says so" anymore. Our son is finally exhibiting interest in writing, so I'm hoping that will spur more of an interest in phonics. He's a little ahead of his sister, who was still resistant at 5, but now at 8 reads on a 6th grade level. I don't mind them moving at their own pace as long as they don't wait "too" long to be ready and stay generally at or above target for their grade level. Right now they're both doing great.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I'll admit... I'm hoping it snows, LOL.

Wordless Wednesday

Prepping for August - Blackberry Vines!

In 2004 we put in 3 Doyle thornless blackberry vines. They started out as tiny little things, not even a foot long each. The first 2 years they were in, we got very few blackberries. The third year.... we had to give some away! We couldn't eat, cook, or freeze them fast enough (I've been thinking about dehydrating fruit, especially if we have success with blueberries this year, it'll be our first try with those). The pic is part of last year's crop (that's a half-dollar, LOL).

That's what we're doing this week, prepping the blackberry bushes - cutting the excess growth off to promote new growth, and uprooting some of the new vines (they self-propogate if they hit the ground and stay a while) to give away to some friends who have expressed interest.

Later this week I'll take some of last year's crop out of the freezer and tweak a cobbler recipe I have. It's quick, easy (only takes one bowl!), and delicious. I'll take a pic and post the recipe when it's done.

I think of it as planning for summer, LOL.

Getting Started - Spring 2010

I've been a blogger for ten minutes. It doesn't seem so bad!

Hi. : )

I'm a stay-at-home, homeschooling, vegetarian, money-saving (I try, LOL) mother of two, an 8 year old girl and 5 year old boy who keep me on my toes.

I'll be using my blog to share our experiences with gardening, cooking (vegetarian and vegan), homeschooling, home remodeling, and saving money where we can.

I hope you'll join us often and that we can learn from each other.