ftmks

My kids love playing the "punch bug" game when we're out and about. R got tired of waiting to see one only to have one of her siblings call it first, so she decided to start calling PT Cruisers. Now we all call PT Cruisers as well as Punch Bugs.

We've had to set ground rules because there were way too many fights over who was calling what and when and "moma, s/he's trying to call one I already called!" Our rules are:
1. We have to be in a moving vehicle
2. The car being 'called' must be moving and not parked
3. At least one other person must see the 'called' car to verify its existence
4. The counter for how many you 'have' restarts every time we get in the van

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

R: Man, I wish I could call that punch bug police car.
Me: R, there is no such thing as a punch bug police car
R: There is in my world

FTMKS

I was just putting L down for his nap and he asked me to lie down with him. After a minute or two:

L: Mama, doe way (go away)
Me: L, that's not very nice
L: (in his sweet voice he reserves for me) Mama? You pea pea doe way?


Pea is his word for please. He always says it twice.

All about school

This coming school year will be our 4th year homeschooling. Every year it seems I get more lax on some things and more strict with others. I love that my kids love homeschooling as much as I do, and I love that they're doing well.

We recently got achievement test scores back and I was blown away. There are several things (like vocabulary, reading, and math concepts and application) that B, the 5th grader, scored an 11th grade equivalent (read about grade-equivalent (GE) scores here). In Social Studies the test showed a 12+ equivalent. In vocabulary, reading and math he got Stanine scores of 9!

O, the 3rd grader, scored grade-equivalents of 5th and 6th grade. Her highest Stanine and National Percentile was in Spelling, which is no shock to me. She is an awesome, natural speller. Her Social Studies score showed mid-6th grade.

Social Studies tests their knowledge on geographical concepts, economic dimensions, historical perspectives, government, citizenship, sociological patterns, and applications of concepts. I have the History/Geography curriculum I use (Sonlight) to thank for their high scores in Social Studies. They know exponentially more about the world than I did at their ages.

I am so very proud of them both. I also feel like I can exhale a bit. This is the first standardized test they've taken since I've had them home, and it's confirmation to me that I'm not doing them a disservice. I didn't really think I was hurting them by keeping them home, quite the opposite really, but there's always that voice of doubt that says I'm not good enough and they'd be better off in mainstream school.

We're wrapping up our school year, and in just a few days I will have a 6th grader, a 4th grader, a Kindergartener, and a preschooler. Wow, that seems impossible! I've never homeschooled Kindergarten before, so this is new territory for me. I pulled the older two out of public school after their 2nd and K years.

I'm reading _The Well Trained Mind_, by Susan Wise Bauer and it has completely rocked my world :-) After reading only what I have so far, I've learned that the most important thing I need to be doing with her this year is teaching her to read and preparing her for 1st grade. I'm not so intimidated anymore, even though teaching to read is still one of my least favorite things ever--right behind teaching to tie shoes lol.

This is what our curriculum looks like for next year:
Sonlight Core 4 Their reading and books I read aloud to them are included in the core.

(Based on placement tests, I am jumping each of them ahead a year in Math. Achievement test scores confirms to me that I made the right choice). If the concepts are too hard, we'll just slow down the pace. That's the beauty of homeschooling.

Saxon 8/7
Saxon 6/5

Easy Grammar 6
Easy Grammar 4 and 5 (older version, but same content as Easy Grammar 4)

Editor in Chief

Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW)

Wordly Wise Book 6
Wordly Wise Book 4

either Sequential Spelling or Spelling Power

Sonlight Science 4

and a Latin program. I'm still doing research trying to figure out which one will work for us.

For R (K), I had contemplated getting Sonlight P4/5, but money (and timing with when L will 'enter' school) changed my mind.

We're using Phonics Pathways and Bob Books to teach her to read, and Horizons Math K.

And of course, we'll go to the library a lot.

FTMKS

L has been hitting and biting and just being too rough and tumble lately. He was playing with B and must have done something to him. B was pretending he was mad and told L that he was going to tell me what he had done to him. L began screaming and crying hysterically not wanting B to tell on him. His last resort was:

"Bubba! NO! You're my favorite!"

FTMKS

J: (with insistence) R, BRUSH YOUR TEETH
R: but I did daddy!
J: When?
R: uh, when you weren't looking?

- - - - - - - -

L singing his abc's:
"a b c d e def c 8 i day tay I-don't-know p"

- - - - - - - -

At dinner tonight R wasn't eating. J was talking to all 4 kids:

J: "If R doesn't eat dinner, R won't get an Oatmeal Creme Pie"
R: "Will R get one if she does eat?"