Holiday Break!

Fisherville Academy is on Winter Break until January 2. Check back then!

The New Student

Last night was their passion project presentations. The kids did a great job "teaching" Grandma and Pop Pop about cheetahs, snow leopards and macaws.

Before their presentations E said, "Grandma already knows all about animals because she works at the zoo. But Pop Pop only knows about medicine so he'll be learning new things from us."

Poor Pop-Pop, being a pharmacist just isn't as exciting as working at the zoo. But at least he now knows something about three animals. Well keep working with him and hopefully he'll learn some more.

Presentations

Today is the big passion project presentation day. Grandma and Pop-Pop are coming over for family dinner and then they'll watch the kidlet's presentations. The kids are very, very excited and have cleaned up the first floor to get ready.

They've kept everything they are doing in their presentations a secret so the excitement level here is high. I'll post tomorrow on how it went. Cross your fingers for them!

The mystery has been solved

I did almost all of our Christmas purchases online again this year so we've been getting tons of visits from the UPS man and our mailman. The mailman puts the boxes by the garage with our bundle of regular mail, rubber banded together, sitting on top of the box. I generally send the kids out to get the mail each day. Lately they'd come in with wet mail and I just assumed that they'd dropped some pieces on their way back from the mailbox.

Friday I found a box by the garage door but no mail. Instead, the mail was in the middle of the front yard. I thought maybe with all the snow and ice, the mailman just sort of tossed it there so he wouldn't slip and fall on our driveway.

Then yesterday the doorbell rang, it was the mailman. He had a box and a bundle of mail. Wet mail.

He said, "Did you get your mail on Friday?"

I said, "Yeah, it was in the yard but I found it."

He said, "Well, that's not where I put it. I think your dog has been running off with it!"

?????

Apparently, as the mailman was placing the box by the garage with the bundle of mail sitting on top, the dog grabbed the mail and started running. Wet mail.... oh, now I get it, doggie slobber.

Lilly, our dog, couldn't have been happier! Everyday this nice man has been visiting her and bringing her a new toy! Not standard dog fare, but hey, she doesn't turn down a gift no matter how weird it is!

The War Is Over

The Greeks won and Troy has been sacked. We finished the Iliad today. The version we read was a condensed kiddo version by Kingfisher. I skipped over most of the gory middle part and today we read the last chapter which was about Paris shooting an arrow through Achilles' heel and killing him.

E was especially fascinated by this. There was a picture in our book of Achilles' mom, Thetis, holding onto Achilles as a baby as she dipped him in the protective waters of the river Styx. The picture clearly shows her holding him by his heel, thereby leaving that area of his body unprotected by the magical waters. E thought of other ways Thetis could have dipped Achilles without leaving a weak spot. It was fun to listen to her creative ideas like putting him in a basket with a lid and dropping that in.

L loved the part about the Trojan horse being pulled into the city with the dangerous warriors hiding inside. Over the weekend I found him sneaking into my office to take the Iliad down and reading it himself. He really enjoyed this story. In fact, they are acting it out as I type this in the other room. N is Odysseus and L is Achilles.

I loved how it gave us a chance to talk about how "Good" guys may not always be good and "Bad" guys may not always be bad. Throughout the Iliad they found themselves rooting for Greeks one minute and then for the Trojans the next. They saw how the heroes and gods had huge character flaws and sometimes act horribly. This was the first book they've read whose characters had a mixed bag of traits like that. Now that is a life lesson!

One of my top goals in their education is to provide pegs for them to hang future knowledge upon. Homer, Greeks, Trojans, Achilles' heel, Trojan Horse, Zeus, Poseidon, Odysseus, Paris, Helen , Hector. CHECK!

Put Your Elf Ears On

As we continue to homeschool there are certain times of the year I feel guilty. I'm sad that they don't have class parties. Isn't that silly? I get like this on Halloween, Christmas and Valentines day.

Thankfully my friends and family swoop in to make me feel better. For example, on Valentine's Day, my good friend Sandy has her kids make my kids a valentine. N, E and L make them a card too and enjoy the surprise waiting for them in the mailbox. Also, our local homeschool group has a big valentine party but we just haven't made the effort to attend. On Halloween, we go over to Shawn's cousins and have fun trick or treating with their family.

However, the biggest event of the year happens today. It is Aunt Patti and Uncle Jerry's Elf party! The kidlets get to spend the day with their Aunt and Uncle and do crafty, holiday things to give Shawn and me for Christmas. I'm so thankful she does this. They are incredibly excited and while they are being little elves I get to attend the Quilter's Day Out program at my local quilt shop!

An entire day around fellow quilters working on my stuff without interruptions. All the while knowing my kids are exploring their creativity and that the HUGE mess they're making is in someone else's home.

Sigh.... heaven.....

Party!

Today RocketMan finished the Beta level of Math-U-See and GooseyGirl started subtraction in the Alpha book! We're going to celebrate by making brownies and watching the Polar Express while the snow comes tumbling down!

We are supposed to get 6 inches today so after the movie party I'll be doing laundry. It is amazing how much work is involved in getting three kids out to play in the snow. Between the piles of clothes to wash and the floor that will have to be mopped after their icicles melt, it is hard to have the childlike enthusiasm for snow when you are a grownup.

Oh, well, I get warm brownies with ice cream tonight while snuggling on the couch with my munchkins. What could be better?!?

Ahhhh, amour!

My girl, E, hates romance. She gets positively embarrassed whenever Cinderella kisses Prince Charming or Belle dances with the Beast. She normally hides behind the couch or puts her hands up to her eyes to shield her vision. Lovey dovey stuff makes her so uncomfortable.

Today after she read her chapter from Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, I noticed she was super squirmy. She finally said, "Mom, I shouldn't have picked that book to read."

When I asked her why she rolled her eyes and started smiling uncontrollably. Her hands started covering her eyes and then she told me. "They fell in love with the King of Spain! They are writing him a letter to tell him that they are American girls and they want to marry him!"

I couldn't help but giggle at how uncomfortable she'd become just thinking about this potentially embarrassing situation for Betsy and Tacy. I guess it shows that she has established empathy for the characters of her book enough to be uncomfortable by their school girl crushes.

It started me thinking about my schoolgirl crushes. I was over the moon for John Stamos. He was on General Hospital and was, in my youthful opinion, the absolute most amazing man on the planet!

Who was your crush?

Abracadabra

I remember the days when we'd choose our restaurants based on the food and wine list. Now we base our restaurant choice on which one has kids eat free night and which one has a clown/magician. Our current favorite is Chili's. Monday night they have a magician who does great balloon animals.

Last night we met Shawn up at Chili's for an enjoyable family dinner night. The food is great, the beer is cheap and the magician is friendly. What more could you ask for?

When the magician approached our table he asked each child what balloon animal they'd like. E answered, "Cheetah". Lickity-split, she had a cheetah. I can see the magician is on auto-pilot. It was probably the tenth cheetah/tiger/lion big cat balloon animal he'd made that night. He turned to L next and asked him what balloon animal he would like.

"A swift.", said L.

"A what?", said the magician.

"A swift.", said L.

The magician, thinking he'd just save that one for last, looked hopefully over at N and said, "What about you? What animal would you like?"

"A kiwi.", replied N.

"A what?", asked the magician.

"A kiwi bird, they're my favorite.", said N.

At that point the magician, looking for some help, turned to me and I looked at L and said, "How about a swan or a parrot, L?" Thankfully he agreed and the magician made a really nice swan for L. You could tell he was still mulling over the Kiwi request so he started asking N what a Kiwi looks like.

"A kiwi is from New Zealand. It is nocturnal and doesn't fly. It has brown feathers and they have a really long beak.", said N.

E then piped up, "They use their long beaks for smelling. They are really good at smelling to find their food."

The magician was still stymied and got out a black balloon. "How about a penguin?", he asked N.

"No, thanks. I want a kiwi", N told him.

So this magician, who by now should win the Kindest-Magician-of-the-year award, somehow takes a balloon and crafts a bird he's never seen or heard of before.

N was very polite and thanked the magician but as he walks away, N says, "Mom, this doesn't look like a kiwi!"

Everyone's a critic, right?

Ho, Ho, Huhh???

We took the children to visit Santa over the weekend. He and Mrs. Claus hosted a doughnut breakfast at Shawn's church and the kids have been making their lists in anticipation of the visit with the big man.

Last year was the first year the kids were really dialed into the whole magic of Christmas thing. Christmas morning they came down the stairs to find the cookies eaten, the milk drank and a HUGE mess in the refrigerator. Apparently, Rudolph and the gang got hungry and started poking around in the frig. There were bits of carrots and celery everywhere! We thought the magic reindeer food we sprinkled on the front lawn would be enough but they must have come barging into the house looking for more. The kids were amazed at the mess and talked about how Santa must not have been watching the reindeer very closely as he was putting that train under our tree.

I really hadn't thought much of it until yesterday when we went to see Santa. RocketMan, my legalist son, was waiting patiently for his turn talking about what he wanted for Christmas. Soon it was his turn and up he marched to sit with Mrs. Claus and Santa. I guess RocketMan was nervous. Suddenly he turned on Santa and started accusing him of severe neglect in a loud harsh voice.

RocketMan heatedly berated him as he said, "Santa, you better watch those reindeer more this year. They made a huge mess in our kitchen and we had to clean it up! It is was not nice! You need to be more careful with our things. The reindeer are your job. Don't let them make another mess this year!"

Santa sat in stunned silence but luckily, like any good wife, Mrs. Clause saved him. She said, "Oh, sometimes they do make a mess but the best thing is to leave the carrots out on a plate for them so they don't get in the refrigerator."

Santa recovered from his shock and asked RocketMan, "What toys would you like this year, little boy?"

RocketMan dismissively said, "You'll get my list. I'll mail it on December 12." Then L walked away.

Luckily the other two children were a bit nicer to this icon of Christmas cheer and didn't make me feel like we had completely failed in my parenting skills!

Note to self: Don't allow RocketMan unsupervised time with magical creatures.

I'm thinking the reindeer need to make an even bigger mess this year as a sort of protest. Maybe carrots in RocketMan's bed? What do you think? Any ideas?

Homer (not Simpson)

Today we started a new read-aloud book, The Illiad. Or rather, a version of the Illiad that is made for young kiddos. It is published by Kingfisher and lives up to the quality of their other books.

As I started reading it RocketMan was sitting in his chair doing a coloring page. However, as we got further into the chapter he kept getting closer and closer to me as he was wound up deeper into the story. By the end of the first chapter he was sitting in my lap in rapt attention. What a wonderful version of this classic story!

GooseyGirl's eyes started dancing when the book introduced us to Paris, Prince of Troy. She said, "Momma, that's how they got the name for that French city... from the Greeks!"

Does anyone know if that is true? I told her I'd have to look it up because I have absolutely no idea if the two are linked.

UPDATE: This is a quote from Story of the World Volume 2 "The land of Gaul, just north of the Mediterranean Sea, was invaded by barbarians called the Franks. THe Franks were made up of several different tribes. And they didn't regard themselves as barbarians. As a matter of fact, they claimed they were descended from the ancient inhabitants of the great city of Troy." However, the city is named after Gallic tribe called the Parisii. They lived there 3rd century BC. Ahhh.... now we can sleep tonight. But it is a cool little connection isn't it?

The important thing about...

We've been working on their Passion Projects today. They've each chosen an animal they are passionate about and are researching that animal in preparation for their presentations. Today they worked on how to distill information down to the "important things" to remember about a subject. I asked them to randomly pick something they loved and write down the important things about it. They were so cute I thought I'd reprint them here.

Here's BirdMan's:
The important thing about birds is that I love their songs. They are so cute. It was so lovely when I meet them. But the important thing about birds is that I love their songs.

Here's RocketMan's:
The important thing about running is that I get some excersise. It makes me feel good. It makes me healthy. It makes my body move. But the important thing about running is it makes me feel healthy.

Here's GooseyGirl's:
The important thing about Cats is that they help me feel better. They are colorful. They have cute kittens. They are soft. But the important thing about cats is that they help me feel better.

What did you learn in school today, honey?

Last night while telling their father about school GooseyGirl saw something crawling across the ceiling. "Daddy, look! It's an arachnid!", GooseyGirl hollered. Sure enough, there was a spider crawling on the ceiling.

Being the man of the family, Shawn got up and attempted to reach this spider but since the ceiling is 9' tall, he was unsuccessful. GooseyGirl brought him a stool and that helped get him a little closer but not quite all the way up there. Keep in mind that spiders make Shawn squeamish... very, very squeamish.

Shawn decides that while he cannot reach the spider himself on the stool, a child sitting on his shoulders WHILE he is standing on the stool, could reach it easily. BirdMan, being the brave little man he is, volunteers for this dangerous assignment. You must remember that BirdMan is the biologist of the family. He tells us he has been born to care for animals. The last thing he wants to do to any critter is kill it, especially something he just studied in school.

BirdMan gets atop Shawn's shoulders. Shawn climbs up the stool. Mr. Spider watches all of this transpiring and starts forming a plan.

This two tiered man-boy-spider-killing-machine approaches the spider and BirdMan reaches out with his little wad of tissue to get the spider which is now directly above Shawn's nose. Of course, BirdMan is simply trying to gently pluck the spider from the ceiling in order to lovingly carry it to a new home outside. He has no intention of killing the thing.

Shawn isn't aware of this aspect to the plan.

The spider goes into free fall right in front of Shawn's face. Shawn tries to stay calm but his suddenly loud high-pitched voice gave him away as he screams out, "GET IT! KILL IT! SQUEEZE IT!"

"Ummm.... where is it, Dad?", BirdMan says.

The other two cry out, "It's on your leg, Dad!"

Shawn got the child off his shoulders and got off the stool in one fluid motion. I never knew he had that talent!

We found the spider dangling from Shawn's pants. I suppose the rapid twitch of Shawn's leg must have convinced the spider to make a run for it because the spider bounced to the floor. BirdMan then spent the next five minutes finding a way to gently cushion the spider in the tissue in order to carry him outside. Shawn's heart rate was still racing as he kept saying to BirdMan, "Just kill it! Step on it! Smoosh it!". But BirdMan was committed to helping Mr. Spider relocate to more desirable neighborhood.

More than once BirdMan would stop, backtrack, find the spider again and pick it back up, only to drop it two steps later. Of course, before we said goodbye to Mr. Spider the kids had to count his legs and body parts.

I should have had the video camera going. We could have won a lot of money.

Arachnid wrangler

Today we started the Arachnid unit in our science curriculum. I had pulled a bunch of books about spiders to show the children the eight legs and two body parts that make up a spider. I was excited about this unit but the photos were about as close as I wanted to get to the real thing. I begin the lesson by explaining that we are going to look closely at a spider to identify it's body parts and start to get out the books and photos I had collected.

BirdMan leaps up and says, "I know where there's a spider!" He walks about two feet from where he is sitting and says, "See, mom, right here!" Sure enough, in the corner of the room was a spider and its web.

At this point I'm seriously considering what this means about my housekeeping skills and nothing positive springs to mind. RocketMan brings me a container and hands it to me expectantly.

That's when it hits me. They want me to PICK UP this spider and place it in a container! I notice my heart rate has just skyrockted as I say to myself, "Well, I'm a grownup, surely I can do this without freaking out and embarrassing my children."

A few minor squeals later, the spider is in the container and three children are armed with magnifying glasses excitedly counting legs and body parts. Not the way I had planned our lesson but forget the photos and books, a real live critter is MUCH better.

Meanwhile, I'm dreading Thursday's lesson on ticks and scorpions. If BirdMan leaps up and declares he knows where one of those can be found, I'm bolting.

The value of a dollar.

A few weeks ago BirdMan decided to climb on the toilet paper holder in order to look the window. Of course, the holder ripped out of the wall and crashed to the ground. This was one of those fancy toilet paper holders that has porcelain trim and it all broke in too many pieces to count.

BirdMan was very sad and was told he'd have to earn some money to pay for it. They've also been told that they'll need to earn some money to pay for the Christmas presents they are buying for their siblings. The warm weather over the weekend gave us an opportunity for them to learn about earning money.

They stacked firewood. Hard, sweaty work for an hour and they each earned $10. They were thrilled with their money but had a new appreciation of how hard it is to earn money for what you want.

Fast forward to Sunday night. GooseyGirl and I go to the grocery and stop by the pet store to look for a Christmas present for her brothers. This new pet store had a beautiful, quiet, well-behaved Amazon parrot. The price, $1500 and then you have to buy the cage, the toys and the vet bills.

We came home and GooseyGirl told BirdMan all about the parrot. BirdMan got more and more excited with each revelation. You could literally watch the sunshine spread from his eyes to his entire body as she described the beautiful parrot. More than anything in the world, this boy wants a pet bird. He checks out books about it, he writes about it, he talks about it, he dreams about it. He wants a bird.

Then GooseyGirl told him the price. It was like someone had hit BirdMan in the head! He reeled back and said, "Oh, no, that will take me FOREVER!" Suddenly that bird looked like a TON of firewood to BirdMan.

But I secretly smiled. The leap was made in his mind for the first time between hard work, money and objects of desire. It clicked.

All was going well until BirdMan said, "Momma, we'll just use that MASTER card to get me a bird!"

Ahhhh.... two steps forward, one step back....

Why Classical Education?

Someone emailed me recently and asked, "What are the advantages of a Classical Education"? I thought I'd post my response here. I really appreciated this question because it allowed me to think about a succinct way to express our educational approach. I could go on for quite some time about this topic but here was my response.

The thing I like about the classical method is that it is goal-oriented with clearly defined progression in terms of tackling subjects chronologically and skill mastery. I think maybe "logical progression" is the expression I would use to best define classical homeschooling. It's a very good methodology for breaking down subjects into learnable "bites" with an emphasis on critical thinking.

Classical education makes use of the three stages, or trivium, in which children (and adults) learn any subject. In the Grammar Stage (1st-4th), the foundation of each discipline is laid. This is a time of gathering facts and developing basic skills.

The second stage is the Dialectic Stage (5th-8th) in which the student learns to reason or apply the basic facts he has learned. In this stage logic is introduced. The student concentrates on the cause and effect, or the "why," of a subject.

The final stage of the trivium is the Rhetoric Stage (9th-12th) in which the student learns to communicate what he knows about the subject at hand in the most convincing way. The child is led to see the interconnectedness of all academic subjects and to apply their skills to synthesize their subjects.

Basically it teaches our children HOW to learn so that they will have the tools of learning at hand enabling them to teach themselves any subject. This approach resonated with me.

Homeschooling is a decision of the heart and the classical education method is my map.

Theseus and the Minotaur

Today in history we talked about Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. The kids loved this myth and proceeded to make a maze out of their blocks and toys for their animals to act out the story. These are pictures of their mazes.

GooseyGirl is holding the Minotaur (Ruff the dog)and RocketMan is holding Theseus (silver the cat). BirdMan built his own and that is his Theseus (kiwi the bird) who will soon fight the Minotaur (Elizabear the bear). BirdMan's maze is surrounded by LAVA! In case you couldn't tell, they had fun today!

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

Today during our grammar lesson we talked about the pronoun "I". The children were asked to dictate a story about themselves to me and I typed it on the computer as they spoke. What I discovered is that they rarely speak in the first person. Instead they speak in a collective voice.

It isn't, "I found a frog". It is "We found a frog".

It isn't "My mom gave me a cookie". It is "Our mom gave us a cookie".

It isn't "I am 6 years old". It is "We are six years old".

The tiny psychologist within me is fascinated by the notion of growing up in a group setting. I was an only child until I was 16 so, as the poem says, "It was I, I, I. It was me, me, me." The proportions of my teenage self-centeredness astound me.

I didn't have to share my toys, share my room, share my clothes. Everything in the house that was for children was there for me and me alone. It took a loving husband and three kids to break the selfish cycle that I lived in. Now, my life is spent on others. I have to remind myself to take time out just for me and my interests. That transformation was a huge life lesson which is why being a triplet is so fascinating to me.

How will their development be impacted by being a part of a collective? What does it mean to consider yourself as a part of a whole? I can see the good and the bad side of this issue. There are many books written about birth order and how that affects your personality on a fundamental level. But there aren't many books about being a triplet and how that impacts your self worth and identity.

The next 14 years should be an interesting ride, eh?

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas? Check!
We spent the weekend shopping for a "simulated" Christmas tree and then putting it up in the family room. Of course, the kids wanted to get all the decorations out and deck the halls. So... we are now ready for Santa! Actually I'm grateful we got the decorating done early. Now we can enjoy the holidays just a bit longer and it gets me in the spirit of things.

This is the first year that the children will be buying presents for their siblings. They are so excited and have spent a great deal of time thinking about each other and what would make a good gift for each person. The hard part will be finding the time to shop individually with each child as they shop for their siblings!

They've been thinking of the gift in light of what each person's passion is. N loves birds, E loves cats, L loves maps and numbers. We've talked about how every person has different passions and how those passions are glimpses into the gifts and talents that each of us possess.

Yesterday we were watching a rodeo on TV. There were men strapping themselves onto the back of a fierce bull and then getting flipped into the air as they attempted to both land and scamper away from the hooves and horns aimed at them. E looked at them and said, "Boy am I glad THAT's not my passion!"

Funny, I thought the same thing and then I thought, "Where's his momma!?!"

Talk amongst yourselves

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." -William Butler Yeats

The Great Worm Hunt

We use a science curriculum that is hands on and requires lots of squishy, dirty experiments which my kids LOVE. This week we are studying worms and Monday we went on our great worm hunt. 6 worms, 2 slugs, a centipede, a purple mushroom and 4 pills bugs were found. The 6 worms were then examined with magnifying glasses in our schoolroom.

Lesson #1:
If you place your worm on the table and then leave to go to the bathroom, it will be gone when you get back.

Lesson #2:
Worms camouflage perfectly in dark green carpet.

After examining our backup worms we then made a worm habitat which we built out of layers of moist sand and oatmeal.

Lesson #3:
When carrying your worm habitat don't hold it only by the flimsy lid.

The habitat was placed in the basement so that we could observe the composting abilities of our worms.

Lesson #4:
Worm habitats stink after 3 days.

Today we held the Great Worm Experiments. First we had to get one of our worms out of the habitat we had built for them.

Lesson #5:
Worms aren't as stretchy as you might think. If you are pulling on one end, be sure your brother isn't pulling on the other.

Using another back-up worm we were able to find out that they like cold, dark, wet places. But I'm pretty sure we knew that when we found our worms huddled in the moist dirt under that rock in the freezing cold three days ago.

Science lesson..... CHECK!

We're back!

We had a great vacation in our nation's capital. The kids attended a soccer workshop led by Uncle Ole and Auntie Juliet. There is a rumor circulating that N scored on Ole but that is disputed by some parties.

Strangely enough, while at the White House, a group of tourists from Japan figured out that the kids were triplets and then asked to get their pictures taken with our children. So there they were in front of a tourist destination, the White House, standing with the "Triplet" tourist attraction from Fisherville. That happened once before in Georgia at Stone Mountain and it was weird then too.

The kids were very impressed with the Lincoln Memorial. They just couldn't believe what a great job the builders did making that memorial look just like the building on the penny!

Now that we are back, we got started with our lessons again. However, this morning when I went down to the schoolroom I found that our big fat cat, Yogi, had been locked in the basement all night long. While locked in the room, he needed to use the facilities. Fortunately, he managed to perch himself on top of the Sheriff Woody hat located in the middle of the floor and pee perfectly inside it. I thought I had really gotten lucky since his mark was true and the hat wasn't picked up by an unsuspecting child and put on the child's head. So, my job was very simple, I thought, empty the hat and throw it away.

Mission accomplished! Time to start our day, right?

However, that wasn't the only present Yogi left for me. Apparently, he also pooped in the corner. How did I discover this gift, you ask? I didn't. N did.

He stepped in it.

Then N panicked and ran to tell me that he had stepped in cat poop which successfully tracked the poop through the schoolroom. At that point his brother, L, who couldn't understand why N was screaming, ran into the schoolroom to determine what was amiss. Can you guess what happened next?

Yes, L then stepped in the poop and he also panicked. L started screaming and running to tell me what happened which made an identical but separate poop track through the schoolroom, right next to his brother's.

This afternoon I'll be shampooing the carpet in the schoolroom. BLEH!

Hiatus

Fisherville Academy will be on fall break until November 14. Check back then!

Happy Halloween!

L was a Knight. E was a veterinarian. N was Peter Pan. They got TONS of candy and are having a ball trading back and forth. "I'll give you a kit kat for M&M's", "I'll give you three tootsie rolls for a sweettart." FUN!!

Just a little off the top?

Today we went to the local Great Clips to get the boys a haircut. The owner of the store was going to be our hairdresser for the day. She put L up in the seat and asked him how old he was. He answered and then proudly said, "So is my brother and sister. We're triplets!"

The hairdresser stopped, looked at me and said, "Oh, my, I feel so sorry for you. You have my sympathies."

I was shocked and I couldn't find any words. She said it right in front of them as if they were a burden to be consoled over!

She then looked at N with his blonde hair and blue eyes and said, "Well, how come you look so different from your brother and sister?"

At that point I was seriously considering grabbing my kids and leaving. However, she had just lopped off the back portion of L's overgrown locks and there was no turning back.

I smiled at her and put my arm around N as I said, "Well, he takes after his Uncle Bernie. He also had blonde hair and blue eyes."

She looked at N and said, "So you're Oddball, you know, like that puppy in 102 Dalmations."

I looked at N and could see an alarm bell going off in the far reaches of his mind. He knew something was strange but he just couldn't pin-point it.

Then she said, "So you all must homeschool."

I said, "Yes."

She said, "Yeah, I could tell since you weren't in school."

I then braced myself for some wildly rude remark about homeschooling and was shocked when she had nothing to say about it. Maybe her internal editor had finally kick started into gear and she was able to refrain from saying anything else idiotic.

I'm still reeling from this encounter. I used to encounter rudeness whenever I ventured out with my children when they were babies. But it hasn't happened in so long that I'd forgotten how much it stings. I think the difference is that I'm not the one getting stung. It's my kids.

Whoops and Yee-haws

Did you hear the whoops and yee-haws emanating from Fisherville this morning? All three kiddos finished their independent reading books today. N finished Mr. Popper's Penguins. L finished Emily's Runaway Imagination. E finished Sarah, Plain and Tall. I think I'm just going to rotate the books to the next kiddo for their next assignment.

We've started reading Harry Potter together. Each child reads a page aloud and we stop frequently to talk about a word they may not know or to talk about what is happening. It is so much fun to share a book like this! The funny thing is listening to E read her page. She changes her voice for each character's dialogue. For example, she uses this low, old creaky voice for Albus Dumbledore. Too cute!

This afternoon is dedicated to quilting. I'm participating in a Round Robin. Two months ago I made a 24" square, that's it above, and mailed it to an internet friend in St. Louis (hi, Sandy!). She added a border and sent it to another internet friend in Puerto Rico (hi, Leora!) who is adding a border. Next it wings it way to Minnesota (hi, Cat!). Can you detect a pattern? Anyway, I don't get to see it until next summer at our annual quilting retreat after it receives 7 borders. I can't wait to see it!

While they are working on my quilt, I'm working on their quilts. I get 6 weeks to add a border to the square I receive and this month I've got a BEAUTIFUL one from a Missouri internet friend (hi, Sally!). I can't post a photo of it because it can't be revealed until next summer. I have to finish the borders I'm adding by next Wednesday so that I can mail it in time for my deadline! So.... this afternoon I'm barricading myself into the sewing room. Wish me luck!

Greek Calamari

Today during science we studied the life cycle of a jellyfish. I had no idea they changed during their lives like a butterfly. They begin life in the polyp stage stacked upside down like nested cups with their tentacles pointing up waving in the ocean. Then they pop off one polyp and turn upside down as their tentacles hang from their body. This stage is called the Medusa stage.

The kids immediately exploded with recognition. We'd been talking about Greek mythology so they recognized the Medusa reference immediately. Their eyes were positively beaming as it "clicked". Then we talked about the simple freshwater hydra and again they perked right up. "The HYDRA mom! Like what one Hercules fought!" They could immediately see why the animal was given that name based on what they know about mythology. It is so cool to see the different subjects intertwine unexpectedly like that!

I was able to finish our logo. Here is the final version. I really like it.

Gifts and Talents.

Everyday this week we are reading Mirette on the High Wire. After we read it we do activities based on the book to explore the characters and storyline. This story is about a girl who discovers her passion is wire walking. She then studies and practies everyday for hours to increase her talent and finally achieves great sucess. The story also talks about the nature of fear and what it takes to overcome it.

I'm using this story to talk about identifying personal passions and interests. We talk about our talents and how we must perservere when something is difficult. We've had conversations about what interests us the most in the world and how we can explore that topic to its fullest. It is such a good life lesson but it makes me so curious about my kidlets.

I wonder how they will use their interests and passions in life. I wonder how I can best encourage and nurture those talents. I wonder what topics they will persue with zeal and which will prove too great a struggle for them.

Our conversations today over this book reminded me of one of the fundamental reasons we homeschool; To provide an atmosphere of learning that allows them to find thier passions and then let them wallow in it. Come to think of it, that's my hope for myself too!

Hmmmm.... wallowing....
Maybe our school mascot should be a pig instead of a phoenix, eh?

Toasty!

Today was the first day this season that we had a fire in the schoolroom's fireplace. Outside our thermometer may have read 40 but inside is was TOASTY! I always feel like Laura Ingalls when I put the wood on the stove in our one room schoolhouse but it does make everything seem more festive somehow. The kids love curling up in front of the fire to read their books.

E finished Strawberry Girl today and was so excited. She had to call Daddy and Grandma to tell them it was 193 pages. It was wonderful to share her sense of accomplishment. She immediately wanted to know what book was going to be next. I think it will be Sarah, Plain and Tall.

Sometimes it is hard to settle on the next book for them since they are reading so well and yet they don't have the reasoning skills of older kids just yet. What I've found is the book list from Sonlight. It is a Christian homeschool curriculum-in-a-box that leans on quality literature to teach each subject. Some of their selections wouldn't fit my family but most of their booklists for reading are excellent.

My latest book is The American Way of Death. I HIGHLY recommend this book. It is suprisingly funny and is an eye opening book about the events and industries that center on the end of life. It really should be required reading.

Dreams but not reality

Yesterday we had an impromptu family "vacation". DH was going to a meeting in Ashland and staying in the local motel with an indoor pool. We packed up the car for their first real road trip. Then it started.

Daddy, how many more miles?

Daddy, when are we going to get to the hotel?

Mommy, how much longer?

Thank goodness for the DVD player in our car! Pop in Toy Story 2 and suddenly all was fine!

I've had this dream that some day we'd pile the kids in the car and carschool. You know, study American History by visiting the cities and sites that can make our history come alive. However, after this road trip I'm not so sure I'd survive! But one can dream, eh?

Goodbye bodies, hello critters!

Today we left behind our study of the human body and moved on to our study of the Animal Kingdom. The lab today involved taking pictures of alien critters and attempting to group them together in pairs. The kids had to pay attention to the critters similarities and differences in order to figure out a way to group or classify them. Then we got the key and saw how they were supposed to be classified. L did especially well working through the logic of classification. E enjoyed coloring all the critters based on whether she thought they were a girl or boy and what type of habitat they'd call home.

They are doing well with piano lessons. I'm taking the frugal/economical route and teaching them the Suzuki method myself! I couldn't believe how much $$ it was going to be for three kiddos to learn piano! I figure if I can teach them to read, surely I can teach them piano. After all, I took piano for a number of years. The fine motor skills required to press the keys in the desired order is challenging them but I'm seeing steady improvement! Today they played Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star by themselves for the first time.

This morning our principal, DH, left notes for each kiddo with an encouraging remark about their schoolwork and their progress. They beamed with pride when they discovered their notes! My heart felt good when E beamed, "Mommy, I LOVE school!"

School logo

The kids decided we needed a mascot! We've settled on the phoenix. I decided we needed a logo. Which one do you like?

What's Happening at Fisherville Academy?

We're so glad you asked!

Books, books, books.
Current read-aloud: Peter Pan
Current independent reading books:
E: The Strawberry Girl
L: Emily's Runaway Imagination
N: Mr. Popper's Penguins

Angela's current book: Briefer History of Time

We wrapped up our visit with the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt today. We spent time today on the discovery of Tut's tomb! Someday I hope to visit Cairo and see Tut for myself! N really enjoyed making detailed colorings on the King Tut funeral mask coloring page as I read aloud a book on King Tut. E was fascinated that Tut died when he was Uncle EE's age. L just liked to talk about how old Tut was when he was made pharoah, how old he was when he died, what year Howard Carter discovered the tomb. Numbers, numbers, numbers!

(L discovered something called Powerball over the weekend. Look out!)

Our Family Team Time, the character education we do every morning, is one of the most critical parts of their education! One of my favorite quotes: Character Education isn't just something else on my plate. It IS the plate!
That comes from the the 4th and 5th R's. For more info on character education in the classroom look at this article.

In the daily course of parenting there are tons of opportunites for character training but many times I feel this training is done as a response to some action that isn't desirable. It becomes correction instead of instruction in a non-conflict time. Our daily Team Time gives me the non-conflict time so that they are more resceptive to the ideas we talk about.

This morning we worked on how to introduce ourselves to others. Little nuggets of info, like how to shake hands and make eye contact. Stuff that I might forget to mention to them until there was some reason to introduce the topic. Now I can pro actively talk everyday about some issue of their social/character development.

Today we delved into the new kiddo nutritional pyramid that was recently released by the government. The one area they are really bad about is drinking enough water. They get one glass of juice at breakfast and a glass of water at lunch. Then they may not drink anything until they get Crystal Light lemonade with dinner. They've got to start drinking more water!! As for the concept behind the eating pyramid, they got the hang of it pretty quickly. There is even an online computer game based on the pyramid! We've got the pyramid hanging on the fridge and at their meals they determined what portions of the pyramid where represented on their plate!

A new outlet?

I thought I'd hop on the blog bandwagon and see how this whole thing works.

I've avoided it before because it always seemed a bit egotistical to me. I mean, do I really believe that my musings might be of interest to the radom reader? Could I possibly be authentic to myself without ticking off someone close to me? Is blogging even a good idea or could some sociopath figure out where I live and cart off my family?

I picked the obnoxious green background because it reminded me of the color my DH painted his bathroom when he was a bachelor. The ceiling was this color as well as all the walls! People teased him endlessly about it but he kept it this color until we met. I like to think that I've married a man who isn't afraid to use color, really, really bright color.