I guess its been decided

we will no longer be dancing on water. off they go to school.

daily I struggle to decide

keep them home or send them to school. Eric really wants them to stay home. I really do too but I am running out of energy to deal with it all. There are few good secular curriculums out there. There are online schools for the older ones and maybe thats a possibility. but they tried that once and didnt like it. As for Ethan getting him to do anything is difficult. he is distractible and onery. Maybe he needs a med increase. wonder if that would help anything. I just go back and forth daily. ten times a day. keep them or send them. send them or keep them? Once we get the H1N1 out of the way I can send Sophie and Ben to preschool with Maia. I could put Ben in K but he is nowhere near ready for that. and he would end up missing a lot of school anyways due to upcoming appointments and healthcare for his AMC. I want them to stay home. but I waant them to learn. and the way things are going. they are home but not a lot of learning and I am only one person and can not entertain little ones while simultaneously teaching older ones. I just dont know. I might send them and they hate it. I might send them and they love it. I might keep them and they hate it. In asking the kids what THEY want ethan doesnt want to go to school on some days and some days he does. but he doesnt want to go to K he wants to go to PreK. no. that wont work. Chrysta wants to but doesnt want to go. cody absolutely doesnt want to go. so that leaves us one nay, one yay, and one possible yay or nay. not helpful in deciding!

second verse ...SAME AS THE FIRST!

I had an entire page of words about whether or not to send the kids to school and it all disappeared. so I will just post the reasons I came up with NOT to send them

lice
flu bugs
stupid rules for the sake of rules
learning bad behavior from other kids
less than brilliant teachers.
sophie and ben would miss a lot of school as we deal with their problems.
school will acommodate them to the bare minimium.
drill drill drill
kids are governed by constant rules, rules for everything
work is at level, not above or below
fashion divas
drama llamas
added stresses
miss out on beautiful days

reasons to send
break
stress
be with other kids
allow me to focus more on the two little ones
allows more for trips to shriners
I just dont really want to do it anymore
Im tired

bookit from pizza hut

http://www.bookitprogram.com/enrollment_online/homeschoolform.asp
you can sign up your homeschool family and get free pizza reward coupons when they read enough books. You can request up to 5 kits(like if you have more than one child)

to school or not to school

I am once again looking to next year. As much as I liked the oak meadow I think I liked doing our own thing better. I have also been working with the little ones. They love the workbooks I got from the dollar store for them. They are doing math(addition and subtraction) phonics, learning to read, and time and money workbooks. Eric is so funny about hs. in one breath he is saying I dont think they are learning enough. they arent doing enough. and then when I mention school he says no, I dont think thats a great idea because_______. I suppose I ought to get them a standardized test but I dont really believe that is the best evaluator of what they know. Eric however believes in them wholeheartedly. I think Cody especially wouldnt do great on a standardized test. chrysta could probably do fine on it. It isnt that cody doesnt know anything but rather he doesnt pay attention to details like if it says which one is NOT the correct answer or if he misses one answer row and then the rest of the test is off because he is answering question 23 on line 24 or 25. makes a difference. I considered public school. but the randomness of their rules really irk me. like you cant play on the slides when its wet or snowy. umm yeah thats like 3/4 of the year here! so they have this big playground just taunting them but they arent allowed to play on it? yeah THAT makes sense. and I know there is a lot of bullying that goes on and I know one girl in particular that tends to thrive on drama and who knows what she would come up with. add to that the fact that when I went to kindergarten round up last year to consider it the teacher said boughten. as in if you have already boughten this or that. Doesn't say a lot about the caliber of the teaching. And since they are already learning reading and addition and all that they do in K they might as well not go to K. So I am looking towards next year while trying to focus enough on this year to keep working. Spring fever tends to set in for me about now. I want to be done with school and I am scheduled out. I KNOW I am so tired of the scouts schedule. and 4H and gym class and museums and keeping up with the schooling too. If we moved I might consider them going to school. but it doesnt look like we are moving any time soon. so I better find a way to continue.

dick and jane

Ethan was reading dick and jane again tonight and wow! he did great! i need to get some more of these! he doesnt realize he is reading because if I point to a word and say what is this he shrugs as if he doesnt know and then says it. funny.

A little of this a little of that

last night Ethan was reading dick and jane. he always amazes me. He is biologically 6 but I think he is more like a 4 or 5 year old due to the early years and lack of stimulation. so I am always amazed at the things he learns mostly by himself. With a little guidance he just grabs information and remembers. Maia is doing a little workbook and has done half the book in just this sitting. I struggle with sending them to school for a moment of peace but they learn so well at home. How many other 4 and 6 year olds got to watch the inauguration. I never saw one in my entire life. never in school even! and my kids got to watch the entire thing. This was a historic day as well as the beginning of a new chapter in our country and they witnessed it. They sure as heck wouldnt get that at school. I worry about the older kids. they dont seem to enjoy learning like the younger ones do. Chrysta wants to go to school and Cody doesnt. If/when we move they could do PSEO perhaps. They are doing oak meadow but sort of loosely. it satisfies husband that they are studying enough subjects. since I have cut back on tv and computer time Cody seems to have picked up several intersts and projects. He has the aquarium ready for fish. he took care of all of it. from moving it to filling it and putting together the filter and adjusting the heater. It is totally his baby. He got some books at the library about coins and about wood. So maybe there is hope for him to have SOME interest outside the computer.

honey

I dropped the kids at preschool and on the way home Honey, by bobby goldsboro was on the radio. I cant remember a time I didnt love that song. but it makes me sad. it makes me miss the many people missing from my life. I miss my Carlie, I miss Gramma Peg, my regular gramma, grandpa John, grandpa Grapes. I cried all the way home listening to that song. but honey I miss you. and Im being good. Id love to be with you. if only I could.

its cold, its winter, im melancholy, im lonely, im depressed

we played crazy 8s and go fish this morning. ethan is getting better about taking turns. needs that constant reinforcement I think. Then we made homemade playdough and that kept them entertained for a good hour. Probably ought to get some writing in one of these days.