Recent Developments

Here's what we did today (and we squeezed a little Girl Scouts in between):

Untitled from Unlikely Schoolhouse on Vimeo.

Untitled from Unlikely Schoolhouse on Vimeo.

And here they are with their bling:

Fourth Grade Is Starting to Take Shape

Now I know why so many people say they take the whole summer to plan. It's very difficult to plan AND finish off the school year! But we're plugging away. Science is going to wrap into fourth grade no matter what, so all I'm really feeling pressed to finish are math, history, and WWE, and we can make it happen. Anyway, next year is going to be jam-packed. Here's the Tall Oaks Academy curriculum for the 2011-2012 fourth grade year:

• Math: RightStart Level D

• Logic: Logic Countdown and whatever I can squeeze in via this free resource I downloaded a long time ago (Brainy Acts, or something?)

• Science: We have to finish Winter Promise Animal Habitats - Ecology, Flora & Fauna and The World Around Me (yes, we're doing both, that's why it's taking so long)--when we're done, we'll start Elemental Science Biology for the Logic Stage.

• History: Story of the World : Middle Ages

• Geography: Evan Moor's Daily Geography Practice, Grade 4

• Writing: Writing with Ease 3 and The Writer's Jungle

• Grammar: This one I'm still not sure about--probably Growing with Grammar 3, but if I can get my act together, I'll try and implement Michael Clay Thompson's Island Series

• Spelling: All About Spelling (Bella doesn't really need this, but Julie will enjoy, and Bella will benefit from listening in anyway)

• Literature: Mother-Daughter Book Club (Bella and I will do mini-discussions off a book list that I still need to put together)

• Vocabulary: Dynamic Literacy Foundations Level

• Latin: Latin for Children A (for Bella) and Song School Latin (for Julie mainly, but they both love the songs, so it might just be a fun thing they both do)

• Bi-weekly or monthly artist and composer studies (very light, just for exposure--I already have a bunch of materials and picture study has been a huge hit in the past).

(Disclaimer: I'm not an affiliate for any of these programs; I just like links and find them helpful on others' blogs.)

I still have to pull together my Book Club reading list and the stuff for the artist/composer studies. I'm also currently trying to unravel the Gordian Knot that is Homeschool Tracker Plus in the hope that it will help me stay sane next year. I'll post more as I put those things together. For now, the list above is the culmination of hours and hours of research and decision making (and For Sale board trawling!).

Stay tuned for more...

It has been a very long three weeks

Julie's behavior has been absolutely horrible these last few weeks. For awhile I'd felt like we made a turnaround, and then things just slid back downhill. After talking with my mom for awhile about it today, I realized that she was on pink and purple liquid fever reducers for a few days, then pink antibiotics for over a week, then it was Easter (candy galore, even though I tried to monitor), and then we just made the mistake of allowing a few things we shouldn't have (tiny pink marshmallow bunnies, anyone?), and then my mom accidentally gave her Triscuits (TRISCUITS?! Why do Triscuits need food dyes?!) that had red in the seasoning. All in all, it has been a very, very long few weeks.

There have been a lot of studies on the effects of artificial food dyes on children, dating back to the 1970s. Some showed that food dyes could cause behavioral problems in children, and others didn't. But a few years ago, an analysis of 21 of the most conclusive studies found compelling evidence that, indeed, artificial dyes could contribute to hyperactivity, restlessness, and attention problems in some children – particularly those with ADHD. What's more, the studies suggested that removing dyes from those children's diet was a quarter to half as effective in reducing those symptoms as giving the kids Ritalin or other stimulants. In other words, certain kids with ADHD might not need drugs if the artificial dyes were removed from their diets.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-500803_162-4151130-500803.html

Another Almost-Wordless Wednesday: A Rare Moment of Camaraderie

I was taking too long to get to them at bedtime (coincidentally, responding to a WTM post about bizarre and humorous ways of dealing with sibling squabbling). When I finally headed into J's room, this is what I found:


B was reading to J--something she rarely does--from Miss Spider's Treasury. It was a welcome change of pace!

(Just pretend you don't see the mess in the background, mmmkay? Thanks!)

Almost-Wordless Wednesday: Fun with Leaf Blowers

I looked out the window today to find D and B doing this:


Hooray for spring!!! :-)

I've joined the ranks

I'm now pathetically obsessed with the Twilight series. I finished the third book on Thursday, but the library hasn't received my interlibrary loan copy of Breaking Dawn from the lending branch yet. I'm in withdrawal...

UPDATE:

I just checked my library account online for the 456,921st time today and IT'S IN! Of course, now I have to go settle up my $456,921 in fines, and then I can have it. No worries. But boy, is our house going to be messy for playgroup tomorrow *sigh*

Bow to your master

Untitled from Unlikely Schoolhouse on Vimeo.

A Mandate for Change

I am proud. I am awed. I am overcome with relief and so filled with hope for this country's future and its relationship with the rest of the world that I am practically bursting at the seams. I bow my head before the next four years and believe with every fiber of my being that we are walking toward the sun.

My Hero, Zero

After many years of complete stupidity, and many more years of only mild stupidity, and then a few years of actual self-restraint and hard work, we have...paid off all our credit cards! They're done. Multiply our stupidity by zero and you get, at long last, zero. What a relief. Celebrate with me by having hot dogs for dinner instead of going out to Baja Fresh like I'm dying to do!

In honor of the day, I offer you a bit of nostalgia. Zero is indeed a wonderful thing.

Where have I been?

To Jupiter and back. For anyone who hasn't heard the news, my company has been acquired. We're in the process of merging and have to finish off our editorial calendar--which consists of an insane number of reports and which would, in a normal year, take us until March or April of the following year to complete--by 12/31 to fulfill our current contracts. I've agreed to go back to working 40 hours per week until the end of the year.

Things have been very difficult for the past few weeks, but we seem to have come out on the other side of this tunnel--at least for now. I hope that I'll be able to resume our regularly scheduled programming shortly.