STOW: Christianity

Oh yes, we did.

Why not visit the Mormon Temple with the Christmas lights and life size nativity set for our Story of the World: Ancient History studies on the beginning of Christianity.

Truth be told, this was a completely impromptu stop after Marcelo's dance performance at the Salt Lake County Fair Grounds. We didn't want to drive back in rush hour traffic, so to make the most out of our trip to downtown Salt Lake, we went to the new City Creek Mall and as I couldn't suffer through Ray's psychotic episode over figuring out where to park, I told him to drop us off at the temple so we could go see the lights while he figured out where to park in the gigantic city that is Salt Lake. (It's sad when people get old. It really is).

At first the kids were delighted. Then, exactly twelve seconds later, the incredible nordic cold hit them in the face and they were not so delighted anymore. Especially, Peter, whose little experience with the discomfort of the elements prompted him to take it as a personal assault.

The lights were not as enchanting as I thought they would be up close and I had completely forgotten about the nativity set at this time of year. Duh. So, when we walked up to it, naturally, I took it as an excellent opportunity to review the material we had recently covered in Chapter 39.

There were a couple of times when the kids where walking off a little too quickly and I had to refer to the Lord's name and it was quite refreshing that for once, it was an appropriate place to use his name.

When the mysterious voice started telling the story of Mary and Joseph, the kids were actually looking at each other like that was weird, while I thought it was completely normal.  I think they're overall impression was that religious temples are painfully gelid places and one must have the fortitude of body and mind to be able to visit one.

It was a successful little visit despite the cold. The fact that we were able to exit the premises of our own free will is a testament to that, which is more than I can say for Cookie Cutters of Lehi.

Then we went to the mall and had a very expensive meal without thanking anybody except the waitress and ourselves for having earned the money to pay for it. (Ok, that was unnecessary.  But it's true. It's a true story).

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In the mean time Sofia, please stop asking the population of Utah County if they are Christians or Jews.

Christmas Around the World

Field trip with My Tech High to BYU's cultural dances around the world.  Front row seats on the stage floor! Nice. Perks of homeschooling. AND you get to bring your Abuela along without riding on one of those buses back there. Awesome.

Halloween '12

I succumbed to Sofia's pleas since the spring that I dress up as the queen.  I didn't want to spend the time or money on an elaborate costume that would ultimately pull focus from her (she doesn't think about these things), but last minute, I pulled together this velvet cape and threw on my weird upholstery fabric prom dress on backwards. Ta-da!

In the end, I'll do it just to make you happy.

Beijing Dance Academy

First field trip with the Provo eSchool.  Purchased discounted tickets via e-mail.  Allowed to bring extra family members.  Showed up, got checked off list, sat down where we wanted.  Enjoyed the show.  Left in our own car: no long stinky bus ride. Awesome.

Mother nature

As she helps me weed the front yard, Sofia discovers a praying mantis.

Lego Robotics

The distance learning program with Sofia's charter school lasted just long enough for us to borrow a laptop, use it for two days and then take it back. Come to find out, there was another distance learning program available also through Quail Run and an online school, My Tech High, which would provide us with similar benefits, field trips and testing through Quail Run, but the added bonus of financial reimbursements for curriculum. So we switched to the new program. Sofia got to go on one field trip with Quail Run before Quail Run backed out of this agreement with My Tech High. Figures. So, now we are homeschooling with My Tech High whose sponsor school is the Provo eSchool. Yes, many switcheroos. We were sad that Sofia would no longer have any contact with her beloved third grade teacher and wouldn't be able to meet up with her old school friends occasionally, but the freedom from Quail Run's administrative headaches is a welcome relief.

As part of the enrollment with My Tech High, Sofia is required to take a minimum of one online, technical course. Her tech class is Lego WEDO, and here she is building one of her first projects. When she's done, she will connect it to the laptop where she will utilized the included software to design a robotic program. Pretty darn cool!

Preparing for robotics

In anticipation of the arrival of her Lego WEDO kit, Sofia warms up her constructing muscles with building the robot from her Erector set.

And we're off

We're off with the new school year.

Here's our class photo.

She cleans up well, but not without protest.

After some last minute decisions and re-shuffling things are finally set. Sofia will be homeschooling this year and taking one or two classes outside the home for leisure.  We will be working through a company providing distance learning resources which are connected to Quail Run Primary School.  In this way, she is still considered a student of the charter school for which they receive funding, although she won't be participating in any of their programs.

Here's Sofia's homeschool lineup for the 3rd grade.  (We may dial it back a bit if the ADHD, or the Kindergartener, orrrrr the drunken midget, starts to intefere with our time.  This is just the initial plan).

• Language Arts
• Reading:  Who Was ... biographies, books associated with history and science studies
• Manuscript:  D'Nealian Cursive 3rd grade workbook
• Writing:  Writing With Ease Level 3
   Tin Man Press Write Ups
   (may supplement with Winning With Writing and other programs)
• Grammar:  First Language Lessons Level 3
• Spelling:  All About Spelling Level 4, 5
• Latin:  Finishing Song School Latin
• Math
• Right Start Math Level D
• (Summer review with Singapore Math 3 Extra Practice Workbook)
• Logic
• Logic Safari Book 1
• Tin Man Press: Listen Up
• Tin Man Press: Cut Ups
• History
• Story of the World Vol. 1 - Ancient History
• Geography
• Expedition Earth
• Top Secret Adventure
• Science
• Real Odyssey Science Level 1 - Earth & Space
• Language
• Rosetta Stone Spanish
• Salsa episodes
• Song School Spanish
• Art
• Meet the Masters
• Draw Write Now
• Music
• Classical Music for Kids
• Extra-Curric.
• Gymnastics (Lehi Legacy Ctr.)

Self portrait

For the first day of school, we started off with a drawing project, a self portrait.  Sofia and Marcelo really enjoyed being "class mates".  Immediately, I can see a bit of competitiveness ignite in Sofia's eyes, but mostly I think she will enjoy, showing her little brother the ropes.  Homeschool is so tough.

Fishing #2



How to Catch a Fish

 This was our second time attempting to fish with the kids.  Only one fish was caught.  Sofia's reaction: "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!  Get away from me, you fish!"  It was a bit accidental.  I don't think she noticed she had caught him until she had reeled him in and he was smacking her in the face.  When we put it back however, she expressed her disappointment with these words, "But I wanted to eat him".

She was very patient.  We sat there for a couple of hours.  When we decided to take a break, she sat on a bench, pulled out her "Science & Nature" notebook from her messenger bag, and began to document the process of how to catch a fish.  You know, now that she's an expert and all.

I absolutely loved this!  Why?  What's the big deal about this, you say.  Because!  This is one of those weird, nature-loving, homeschooling things to do that I would love for my kids to do, but how to get them to do it? The difficulty of convincing a child to take on such a habit feels akin to convincing them to eat brocolli for breakfast on their own free will.  Sofia's weakest area in school is writing  (only because she's so freaking awesome at everything else).  I've suggested nature journaling in the past but haven't tried to push it on her in any kind of organized way because, like a hermit crab, I figured, she would recoil.  But. I planted the seed.  And the seed sprouted all by itself!  That's why it's so exciting to me.

She brought the messenger bag loaded with her newest "Science & Nature" notebook, plus a bird book and some other nick-nacks all on her own which in and of itself is a big deal.  ADHD kids can forget to bring their shoes on their feet if not reminded several hundred times.  It's these little moments of quiet and tiny victories that make my day.

She don't mess around with no jump roping

And to think the neighbor boy down the street didn't want to play with you because you're a girl!

Go back to your Ken dolls, boy.

Javelin Throw ...

... and Alexander the Great. Current obsessions.

This outfit is not accidental. It is her official warrior outfit. After several suggestions, this is the only kind of javelin I would allow her to wield.

What a cutie



[Hat: Janie and Jack, top: Land's End, pants: home-made Ottobre; shoes: Saltwater Sandals]

Repurposing

--one of Sofia's many talents.

You too can save your avocado bags and donate them to the many housewives in need of hair nets.  It would make a wonderful service project.

Truth be told though, I think Sofia thought it more of some kind of fierce head dress.
[Disclaimer: This is not an obsene gesture. Obviously.  But if you are a middle-aged man whose name may start with an 'R', and with your head in the gutter at all times, you may and are welcome to take it this way.]

Books

It was about this time last year, that Sofia completed her formal reading instruction using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. To celebrate, I gave her the boxed set of Magic Tree House books 1-28. Now, a year later, she has finished them and has picked up a new obsession, the Secret of Droon series. In the span of only a month or two, she has read up to #16 in addition to other books I select for her to read that tie in to our ancient history and science studies. I think there's around forty in the series. They are right below her current reading level which I'm sure adds to her joy and ease of reading them. She can fly through one in a day. She loves telling me about the exciting details.  In fact, now that she doesn't have to go to Quail Run in the afternoon and gets to partake of the regular schedule which includes Quiet Time, she can't wait to go up to her room to get her fill.  Often, she is fully under the covers surrounded by her favorite stuffed animals and blankets, with steam rising from her head.

The only problem now is how to get her interested in more challenging chapter books and classic literature. Maybe I just need to check the them all out from the library so she can get them out of her system sooner rather than later.

Seven Peaks '12

Thoughts on school

Well, we barely made it through the whole year at Quail Run. Despite that three weeks into the school year, I decided to only send her in the afternoons and continue to homeschool in the morning for all the core subjects (it was week three and still there had been no reading at school), we almost didn't make it. I should say, I almost didn't make it. Sofia enjoyed going to school for the most part. Once, in a while she would have preferred to stay home. If she did happen to attend a whole day, she would come home very exhausted and cranky. And it wasn't from the demanding schoolwork she'd been doing.

Sadly, none of the wonderful ideas the school sold itself with ever materialized and I have nothing but bad things to say about the school. Sofia learned many, many things, most of which where bad: attitude, bad words, how to flip people off, how to talk rudely to your parents, how to write like a crazy person, how to deface your own work and body with markers, how to not do any work, how to not be expected to excel, how to not be expected to do anything, how to watch a lot of cartoons and movies in EVERY subject including P.E. On the more positive side, she learned: how to get your lunch stolen, how to deal with bullies, how to be overly affectionate with boy friends, how to almost get run over by cars crossing the street, and on and on.

Since this is a paperless school, I never saw any papers come home. The last week, a few things started trickling in. Here is her art portfolio from the art class she had two times a week. 

Nice title - NOT.

One sticker in her Great Job Chart.  Impressive.  I wonder how many the other kids got.
I like the creativeness expressed in the crayon scribbling all over the bottom and back of the folder - NOT.

Contents of portfolio: one ripped up paper with scribbles, one genuine piece of artwork,
that without explanation, lacks merit from my assessment.

Here is something Sofia created at home[school] for the charter schools' Inspirations Art Contest using a technique and idea from a previous art lesson, of which we've done on average maybe once a month.

Placed 1st at the school level.  2nd place at the county level.

I could write volumes and make many, even more poignant comparisons across other, even "more important" subjects, but why bother.  I've already spent so much time pursuing a good education and experience at this school, making dinners for the teachers, paying for school supplies she never used, going out of my way to attend parent teacher conferences to sit there for five minutes so the teacher could have absolutely nothing to say or show, volunteering for field trips, trying to find out what the hell they were doing all day other than watching movies, that I don't want to waste any more of my time on that endeavour.

So we continue to homeschool.  It's working.  She's learning.  I can manage it much better, than sitting back and watching her sinking in the public school system.  Not sure if she'll attend the same school next year or not.  Not sure if I want to spend any more time looking at other schools.  We'll see.

Princess Sofia

I wish Sofia could look like this every morning at breakfast. 

I also wish we lived in Europe.

Cello and Skin

Today, we returned the rental cello from Sofia's brief orchestra career. It was so brief, in fact, I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of her with it. Probably because I was waiting for her to get better at it so I could post a short video. She started lessons, once a week, at school in January. She insisted on the cello and not a violin like everyone else, of course. I warned her a cello was great but it was a lot heavier to carry than a violin, and I sure as %#&& wasn't going to be carrying it for her. I teach, cook, clean, plan, discipline, chauffeur, but I do not carry stuff for you!
 
She never really got that much into it. She insisted, she enjoyed cello class, but she wanted me to nag her to practice and I already do WAY too much nagging as it is, so again -wasn't going to do it. So goodbye cello. Maybe we'll see you again in a few years.

***No, Sofia has not had the chicken pox. (There's a vaccine for that). The red specks on her skin are from picking. Picking bumps I guess. There's no mosquito bites either. She's been doing this rather obsessively at night. I rarely see her do it otherwise. I only know it happens at night, because her crisp, white, Martha Stewart sheets have revealed it. This could be a side effect of one of her ADHD medications. It's hard to say. So far, I have found no deterrent. Hopefully, it doesn't get worse because I'm getting sick of airbrushing them off of her "nice" photos and I've given up on the sheets.

Solar Eclipse

We made a highly sophisticated instrument in order to safely view a very unsophistiated image of the solar eclipse.  Sadly, it became overcast soon after it began and we weren't able to see much.  But it was worth a try I guess.