Zoology

Let's say you wanted to study zoology for a few weeks with an 11 year old and a 7 year old. What would you choose to put this unit together?

Contestant number 1 is a pile of zoology-related books from Noeo Science Biology II:


I don't have the Instructor's Guide for Biology II. I'd have to purchase that. It would include botany, which we aren't interested in at this time (I''m following Kid1's lead on what she wants to study when). But, of course, we could save it for later, and eventually maybe do it. Also, I'd need to buy the experiment packages from Young Scientist Club. Also, I don't have the books on the human body in this pile, since we'd rather do an in-depth study of that later.

The problem is, I think the books shown are ... well, the Usborne Science Encyclopedia is an encyclopedia. Which is okay, if you want an encyclopedia, but if you want a book to read to learn about zoology, it isn't the most engaging. The Mystery and Marvels book is interesting, in sort of a factoid way, by which I mean that it seems to reduce all zoology to unconnected factoids about various animals. Great for Trivial Pursuit, not so great for getting a "big picture" of zoology. I suppose it would be handy for memorizing lists of facts (as would the encyclopedia). And the microscope book looks intriguing simply because it has to do with microscopes, which we haven't much worked with. I could picture it turning into drudgery to slog through day after day.

The question is, how does Noeo put it all together. Do they have engaging activities that make us want to leap out of bed in the morning crowing, "Hot diggity dog! Today we're going to study zoology"? Because, really, with books with a boredom potential like this, that's what we're going to need.

We have all of Noeo Biology I, the complete package set purchased straight off the website. And, let me tell you, I'm underwhelmed. I don't particularly like the books they've chosen. The assignments are drudgery -- read 2 pages, then summarize, read another 2 pages and summarize. The experiment kits aren't matched up well to the reading. Frankly, the experiment kits are sort of dippy, and I've found better experiments on the Internet, using household items.

Put it all together, and I don't have high hopes for this being a zoology curriculum we'll have fond memories of. I picture getting to the end of the unit (or block) and wanting a T-shirt that says, "I survived our zoology unit study".

Contestant number 2 is the lovely Apologia book:


It really is lovely. The text is engaging. The experiments look fun. The God-talk doesn't give me hives, at least at a cursory read-through (which is to say, it isn't incessant, it isn't smarmy, it doesn't remind me of certain people in my past that I'd rather forget -- not all Christian curriculum can make those claims).

As nearly as I can tell, you can do the first section, then you're free to do the other sections (birds, insects, flying reptiles, bats) in whatever order you choose. This implies that we can skip the insects and flying reptiles totally, since we have no current interest in them.

Of course, that leaves you with birds and bats. And, really, do we want to spend weeks and weeks just on birds and bats? I mean, there's plenty of interesting stuff there to learn, but when Kid1 says she wants to learn about zoology, she's thinking a little more broadly. You know, stuff like companion animals and zoo animals and wild animals outside our door.

Finally, contestant number 3:


Which is an out of print book on mammals (Man and Mammal by Schad), and a beat up copy of Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study. These represent the concept of a homemade curriculum, based on the idea of the Waldorf zoology block entitled Man and Animal. This block is usually presented in Class 4, which is 9 and 10 year olds.

At first I thought, "No way! That's way too much work!" But then I discovered that this homeschool family is already doing it and blogging about it. I started looking up suggestions in From Nature Stories to Natural Science and also in Path of Discovery, to read about how others approach the block. I scoured the yahoo groups that deal with Waldorf homeschooling, getting ideas from them. And, I discovered that the city library here actually owns a copy of Schad's book.

So I quickly put in an Interlibrary Loan request, got the book, started reading, and was totally swept away. So. Much. Fun. (In a geeky sort of Goethe-esque, biological way.)

We are forging ahead with Man and Animal, relating the animal kingdom to humans. NB: This is Man and Animal in a non-Waldorf household, filtered through GailV.

More later.

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

I try to update our adventures on Tuesdays, although sometimes it doesn’t get done until Wednesday. And sometimes we really haven’t done that much math, so I skip it entirely.


RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 93 Angles of Incidence and Reflection

Okay, this was a really cool lesson. It’s sort of like that thing you did back in school when your teacher shone a strobe light on an air hockey table and you shot the puck around the table and watched the patterns it made -- remember that?

You pretend to shoot a pool ball, draw the angle of reflection when it hits the side of the table, find where it will next hit, find the next reflection, draw the trajectory, etc. etc. until the ball finally goes in the pocket. At the bottom of the page of the math book is an Internet link that I can’t get to work; I think this is the link they meant to put there.

Lesson 94 Lines of Symmetry

Kid1 feels there is a mistake in the answer sheet. She is filling in a chart that asks for the maximum number of lines of symmetry for a rhombus; she feels the answer should be 4, just as it was for the square, since, “well, Mommy, a square is a type of rhombus, you know, and they’re asking for the maximum.” I can’t find this on the errata lists, but the errata lists aren’t in lesson number order (which is really, really annoying, let me tell you).

I look at her worksheet later, and discover that she’s written “I’m right” in flourescent pink ink next to her answer.

The lesson introduces the sign for infinity. This holds no mystery for Kid1, possibly due to our School House Rock DVDs, in which Figure 8 is one of my absolute favorite songs.

Lesson 95 Rotation Symmetry

Another misprint: this time the text reads, “in the center figure above...” when there is no center figure. However, this one I can find in the errata. Of course, I don’t find it until the next day, mostly because that’s when I finally got around to looking for it. Kid1 is able to complete the assignment having never seen it.

Lesson 96 Symmetry Connections

This lesson consolidates the previous lessons on symmetry. The student looks for line symmetry, point symmetry, and rotational symmetry in several shapes and figures, also noting degrees of rotation. A fairly quick lesson, given that there’s not much drawing.

UFO Ressurection, Project Spectrum

Kid1 and I had many discussions about Weasley sweaters. Many, many discussions. Until finally last fall I ordered some Dalegarn Falk, charted a letter for the front, and cast on, around about November.

(I'm skipping the part where she changed her mind about which house's colors she wanted without telling me, and also the part where I got a different yarn for the sweater, swatched it up and realized that it was a really, really bad choice. Let's just focus on the fact that we're both happy with the current yarn and the color.)

I cast on in size Massively, Laughably Huge; it's going to be big enough for ME, for pete's sake, let alone for an 11 year old girl. I wasn't sure about this -- on one hand, the this big size meant huge swathes of stockinette on size 4 needles. On the other hand, it meant that she could wear the sweater for years and years, since, you know, Dalegarn Falk! This sweater will last forever! And, you know, she can layer it this year so it won't look quite so baggy.

I commented that it might not be done for Christmas. I didn't have any Christmas knitting planned, per se, but it's a busy time and I wasn't going to guarantee that I'd be knitting like a mad woman in December, trying to finish up projects. As a matter of fact, I was feeling pretty smug about my lack of holiday knitting -- no pressure to finish anything by the Big Day! Whee! Except then, of course, there were sudden urgent calls for thrum mittens and a black cotton non-chemo-cap. And another project that I cast on, and never mentioned here, and will be a future UFO Resurrection (if I continue to match up UFO Resurrections with Project Spectrum, expect to see it in June/July).

Then after the flurry of the holidays I realized I had an urgent need for a camisole for a party we were going to. And then, after that was finished, I finally had a chance to cast on the Hourglass Sweater I've been meaning to knit for the past 2 years.

So I started swatched up the yarn, then started casting on. Kid1 looked up and asked, "What's that you're working on now?"

Oh, just a sweater for me. Isn't this a nice yarn? Isn't this a pretty color?

"Oh. Another sweater for you."

(Long pause while we all have a chance to contemplate that I have just completed a project for myself and have now immediately plunged into a second.)

"Well," sigh, "I'm just worried that I'm not going to be able to even wear that Weasley by the time you finish it because it'll be too small."

Uurgh...ummm...ah...well. Yes. She has suddenly popped up to being about my height. We're quickly reaching that trading-clothing scenario. So. Yep, better get back to work on that Weasley.

(At this point Kid2 -- who is forever petite -- piped up to assure us, "Don't worry -- I can wear it!" which inspired a huge fight about letters and house colors and whatnot. We'll also skip that part.)

So, here's what I'm carrying around to dance classes and swim classes and piano lessons and choir and Friday night pizza-and-a-DVD-at-home, racing against the growth spurt:



My Project Spectrum blue knitting for February (I really wanted to be knitting something else blue, a specific other item, but we'll also skip that part because linking to the picture of it would just leave me heaving deep sighs for how inutterably cool it would be to knit). One more sleeve and a collar to go!

January Books

Making a Good Brain Great by Daniel Amen
Swimming with Scapulars by Matthew Lickona
Troll Bridge by Jane Yolen
Creating Sacred Space with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston
A Field Guide to Evangelicals and Their Habitat by Joel Kilpatrick

Major Read Alouds (the ones I can remember):

In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord
Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield
Little House in Brookfield by Maria D. Wilkes
Gwinna by Barbara Helen Berger
Sir Cumference and the First Round Table by Cindy Neuschwander

Tuesday Teatime

(With bonus Project Spectrum pics!)

Okay, I didn't want to call it Tuesday Teatime. Tuesday was impossibly busy, so we had Teatime on Wednesday. Kid2 said, "No problem, we can just call it Wednesday Teatime." Ack! No! There's no alliteration in that title. I must have alliteration! So I wanted to call it Cocoa Club, a title I picked up at the beautiful blog of By Sun and Candlelight . I thought it was perfect -- alliteration! we're drinking cocoa, so it fits! did I mention the alliteration?! But Kid2 wandered off in disinterest. And I've decided that for the sake of my blog lables I shall stick with Tuesday Teatime.

Our theme was snow. I read some of the huge selection of snow poetry I've accumulated from resources such as A Child's Seasonal Treasury . Then we read The Story of the Snow Children. This book had been on my Amazon wishlist for ages, but when I saw that Dawn had it on her sidebar as a book they were reading, well, I had to get it. (Possible alternate title for this post: "I Try to Pretend I am Dawn of By Sun and Candlelight").

Afterwards the kids colored pictures from Ruth Heller's Stained Glass Designs for Coloring Snowflakes, and also inquired why we were doing a snow theme considering the ground was bare. Hey, the forecast called for snow! NOT MY FAULT! (It did finally snow overnight, so this morning I am vindicated.)

Our refreshements included cocoa, of course. As I was heating the milk I realized that I should've made Mexican Wedding Cakes for cookies, as they look like little snowballs. Whoops! The kids bailed me out by finding a box of Lemon Cooler Girl Scout cookies from the freezer (stuck there from last year's sale). They were sort of round, dusted with powder sugar, and frozen. Sort of snowball-ish.

I had been too busy making decorations to mess with cookies:


(The photography at By Sun and Candlelight is so much better than mine. Sigh.)

I think I've posted the snowball babies before. I was making a King Winter, then, over the past couple of days, but the household vote was to make it a Snow Queen.



There were some rumblings that if we got tired of her as a queen we could take off her hair and add a beard.

Most important is that she is white and icy blue, qualifying her as my first Project Spectrum project.

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

I try to update our adventures on Tuesdays, although sometimes it doesn’t get done until Wednesday. And sometimes we really haven’t done that much math, so I skip it entirely.


RightStart Geometry:

Frankly, little geometry has been done around here lately. We had The Week Everyone but Mommy Was Sick (which stretched into 2 weeks by the time MrV caught The Dread Disease and was hanging around the house). And we had a week of doing other, non-Geometry math stuff.

During The Week Eveyone but Mommy Was Sick, I had time to think about what we’re doing in various subjects, and consider tweaking our programs. I also had time to read emails, particularly from the RightStart yahoo group . Lo and behold, I started reading that we were supposed to be doing Challenge Math concurrently with Geometry. Huh. Somehow I had missed the boat on that! We own Challenge Math, but haven’t done anything with it since we worked through the first chapter last year.

I ended up going to the RightStart website , and browsing around. Looking through the bulletin board , I found all sorts of recommendations -- you can do Level E and Geometry concurrently for an older student (really, several of the lessons repeat ... I don’t think my 11yo would’ve done well with this system, partially because I would’ve found the redundancy annoying for me and confusing for her, but I could see it working well for another family). For younger students you can work through Challenge Math and Geometry. For older students you can work through Geometery, the make sure to complete all the fraction games in the game book. It’s all about customization.

Well. The problem with customization is that the parent (that would be me) actually has to think. Ew. So much easier to use a boxed curriculum and blindly follow it, know what I mean? Or else just copy what someone else says they're doing for their kids (no names mentioned, but there are certain homeschoolers whose blogs I read very carefully, taking notes on what is studied when).

We ended up spending a few days on some of the final fractions lessons in Level E (and also a day playing with the final Moebius strip lesson, cutting up paper strips and looking at various Moebius scarves and baskets I’ve knitted).

When we returned to Geometry Kid1 wistfully remarked, “I really liked doing math together.”

So, I think we’ll be going between Geometry and Challenge Math. Who knows, maybe we’ll throw in some Singapore math.

By the way, I also found an errata page for the Geometry book, which I printed off. I then promptly lost track of where I found it, so no link. It was fun reading through and saying, “Hey! I remember that problem! And how we figured out it was wrong!”

Lesson 91 Finding the Center of Rotation

On the worksheet the student is to figure out what circle the oject should rotate around, then draw the images of the object. Kid1 claims the last problem is impossible because not enough information is given. I suggest she just give it a whirl with whatever seems likely: “Why don’t you try rotating point R over to point T?” The downside is that she could possibly do a bunch of work and not have it come out perfectly the answer, then (heaven forbid!) have to re-do her work taking into account her new knowledge. She really, really does not want to do this -- doesn’t want to explore until she come up with the right answer. She wants to do this quickly and get it over with.

With a heavy sigh she tries rotating point R to point T ... it comes out okay. Whew! I feel like we’ve dodged a bullet.

By the way, this lesson used the mmArc Compass. I finally got around to getting one at Hobby Lobby, using my 40% off coupon (really, though, it only costs a couple of dollars).

Lesson 92 More Double Reflections

It’s been awhile since we’ve had a fit about math -- the sort of day where the pencil is hurled across the room, the paper is grabbed in that I’m-about-to-rip-this-to-shreds manner, the choked sobs of , “this is impossible; I hate this” are heard.

I suggest stopping and coming back to it later. Go play the piano. Then come back to it ... today, or maybe tomorrow. Maybe it will make more sense then.

And the next day it does make more sense.

What we're up to these days

Current read alouds are Little Town at the Crossroads(yes, we continue our journey through all generations of Little House) and Wind in the Willows.

Kid2 continues to listen to The Easy French, and is now in the second semester of the program. We haven't been doing much written work in it, since her ability to read and write in English took precedence. So this is mostly a listen-and-speak program for us.

Kid1 decided to learn Spanish, and has been using Rosetta Stone homeschool edition to accomplish this. I have little to do with this except to pass by and comment, "When they're saying 'se esta cepillando' she's doing it to her own head, and when they say 'esta cepillando' with no 'se' she's doing it to the little girl's head." We like that the homeschool edition figures out what to do when, and even has her use the parts she wouldn't normally choose for herself.

For spelling Kid1 is using Spelling Power, and is now at level G. The longer we use it the more underwhelmed I am by it, but I am learning to keep my mouth closed about it. I think she wants to slog through the whole thing just so she can have a sense of completion.

Math is, of course, RightStart, Geometry for Kid1, Level B for Kid2. Somtimes we go off on other tangents, of course, reading other books about math or otherwise taking a break from the curriculum. Kid1 is at lesson 92 in Geometry, and Kid2 is at about lesson 42 in Level B.

Kid2 is whipping through Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, and is up to lesson 162. For the most part she can already read everything in the book, although she is occasionally caught up short by a word like "plague".

We follow up on OPGTR with First Language Lessons. We're into introducing the parts of speech (around lesson 50), which I think is stiflingly dull, so we spice things up with ideas from Montessori. I've been meaning to write a post about that ... maybe this week I'll get to it.

We read through Introduction to Classical Studies at lunchtime, and discuss the questions. Kid1 is breathtakingly good at synthesizing the information for the Honors Questions, particularly the Bible topics. On the other hand, no one can ever remember the names of ANY of the Famous Men of Rome, let alone what areas they're currently conquering.

Kid1 is working through Classical Writing Aesop, and has made it up to week 12. But, you know, I feel like it's not quite right for a writing program, so we use quite a bit of Bravewriter alongside (bonus: many Bravewriter ideas can be used for a 7 year old, so Kid2 can play along). She also practices on Mavis Beacon typing, the better to type up those CW Aesop essays.

Supposedly they're listening to Jim Weiss read The Story of the World and organizing activites on their own, but that doesn't really happen.

As for Latin, Kid1 has completed MInimus, and is back to slogging through Latina Christiana II, which she despises. Kid2 has started Prima Latina, which she's thrilled with. The Latin portion of our day desperately needs a revamp. It stinks. It's hard to say, "Oh, we use a Latin-centered curriculum," with a straight face when I know we can't stand the Latin program we're using.

They want to start a block on biology. I'm putting that together now. In the meantime, today's science lesson is making cream into butter.

As for extra lessons out of the house, there's dance twice a week, piano, choir, and swimming. We take walks, and spend time singing most days.

UFO Resurrection Challenge

I've been in a de-cluttering frenzy all week. As the latest inspiration, I've joined the UFO Resurrection Challenge. I hope to do something with some of these odd little piles of yarn and knitting. I also hope to learn how to spell "resurrection" on the first try, given that I'll be typing the word at least once a month.

January's entry is from the Dulaan sock-making frenzy of last October-Socktoberfest. I made a massive boo-boo in pairing up the yarn and the pattern. So, now you see it:



And now you don't:



I'm not quite sure what to do with this yarn now. It's worsted weight, and I have about 4 ounces. For now it's going in a ziploc and getting stuck down in stashland (also known as "that cedar closet in the basement").

Discovering How Much Time Being a Homeschool Mom Takes

Since everyone is sick I've had a chance to do other things.

Obviously, I've made about a thousand cups of chamomile tea, another thousand cups of kudzu-apple juice (recipe in this book ; I love this book, and sometimes fantasize that the author is my mom and will come take care of me when I'm sick), wrung out cool cloths to put on hot foreheads, fetched more pillows, and read books aloud (although at a certain point yesterday the vote was to just flip the television on to Star Trek reruns).

And cleaned the house, even taking the shower doors apart to get that little place you can't get to otherwise. And dragged the fallen tree limbs from the ice storm out to the street for pickup (we had a pine tree that lost about half its limbs; I never realized how big pine tree branches could get until I was wrestling them out of the dirt and ice where they'd impaled themselves).

But I've also received the latest issue of Ottobre , and picked out something I can make for Kid2 out of pink velour.

And needlefelted little snowball babies (thinble added for size comparison):



And made curtains for a child whose idea of "beautiful" means it's pink and it involves Hello Kitty:



And read tons of crafty blogs, to the point that I've recklessly signed up for Project Spectrum 2.0 , apparently believing that I always have this much time on my hands to sit around and think of interesting things to do.

(It has helped that no one has felt like eating, so the whole fixing-food-washing-up business has also been pretty much nonexistant. MrV is in Mexico, so he's not here expecting meals either.)

Today's plan is to scrub floors, sew cute little outfits for Waldorf dolls, and think of more books to request from the library. Today's reality will probably be much different. It always is.

Mysterious Illness Sweeps Through School; All Classes Cancelled

Administrators Fear Teaching Staff May Be Next to Fall Ill

Yes, there are still sick people here. Kid2 is on the mend, but Kid1 is still wrapped in blankets with a fever.

Have you ever told people that your homeschooled kids are sick, and gotten a, "gee, I wonder where they caught it?" with a strong hint of unspoken, "since you keep them isolated from the rest of the world," hanging there in the air?

So far this week we have missed homeschool day at the Science Museum, dance class, homeschool day at Skyzone , a dance class they had received an invitation to try, and a piano lesson. I was starting to get a touch of cabin fever from all of this at-home time, but I think I might be coming down with some stomach thingy, so I'm sort of looking forward to spending today at home.

We had stocked up on books over the past couple of weeks, so if you need us we'll be cuddled up on the couch reading.

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

On Tuesdays I upload an update of what we did in math for the week.

RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 85 making Wheel Designs

As it says in the book, this is similar to Lesson 114 in Level E. Kid1 noticed some nuance of variation.

Lesson 86 Identifying Relfections and Rotations

We are hitting a segment of lessons which are done quietly, with a simple, “well, that was easy,” as the books are reshelved. Really, I don’t have much to say except that they’re easy. If math is a struggle, look to this segment as a breather.

Lesson 87 Translations

“Translation is the mathematical name for slide.” Still in the easy segment, folks.

Lesson 88 Transformations

The worksheet reminds me of something out of a book of drawing lessons, but Kid1 comments that if it were drawing the figures would be slightly flattened (due to perspective and vanishing points, although she doesn’t use those words).

The materials list leaves out a couple of items the student will need. Other than than, very straight forward.

Lesson 89 Double Reflections

The only reason she isn’t flying through these lessons is that she’s taken to reading comic books on the side while she’s working them.

Lesson 90 Finding the Line of Reflection

Worksheet question: “Connect each point of the triangle with its corresponding image using a dotted line. Then construct the perpendicular bisector of each line. What do you observe?” Answer I find written on worksheet: “That this is a lot easier and more fun than I thought it would be.” Verbal comment: “It’s so obvious that it’s going to be the line of reflection that it isn’t worth saying that.”

LIttle House in the Suburbs

We have spent months and months and months reading the Little House books. We've worked our way through from Little House in the Big Woods to These Happy Golden Years in the original series, reading one chapter per day. Then we started in with Laura's great-grandmother, reading all the way through the Martha books, the Charlotte books, and now are in the Caroline books.

So it's no wonder we tend to refer to them often in conversation, and draw parallels between those stories and our own lives. And no great surprise, then, that when the power went out during an ice storm one night and we suddenly found ourselves with only the light of the fireplace (having lit a fire earlier in the evening) I exclaimed, "Hey, this is like when Caroline and Henry-O came down the stairs to see what her mom and Joseph were doing -- remember how they talked about the firelight and candlelight when they opened the door to the stranger? This is how much light they had!"

We gathered up blankets and tacked sheets over the entrances to the room to help preserve the warmth within that space. The kids drew pictures and worked on magic tricks. I knit. MrV commented, "Yeah, this really is the way it would've been -- the kids playing something simple, the mom knitting, the dad ...." Well, in our case the dad was griping about the power outage occuring on the one night that the local cable was playing Purdue basketball. And I sort of doubt that the moms in Little House were knitting with bamboo yarn on Addi turbos.

But the power came back on within a couple of hours. We watched the end of the Purdue basketball game, told the girls that they couldn't camp in front of the fireplace overnight and went to bed. The kids were strongly in favor of doing this on a regular basis -- having power-free evenings (although we have no control over the streetlights outside, so it wouldn't be quite so authentic).

As I write our power is flickering again ... I have a child with a temperature over 102F ... another interesting day in store, it seems.

Knitting Progress

Chickami. Oh, my poor little Chickami.

I started it on Jan. 1st, and whipped through it up to the split for front and back in about a week. I reached the upper edge of the back, where I needed to switch needle size. The needles I needed were upstairs. I was downstairs. I just. couldn't. do. it. I couldn't go up and get them. For 2 days.

(Keep in mind, they were in my bedroom, a room I went in and out of many times per day, and spent hours in each night. The needles weren't even put away -- they were just laying on my dresser. But I couldn't grab them while passing.)

Chickami has been reduced to total guilt-knitting. I'm only finishing it because I know if I don't finish it now I never will. I must finish it before I start something new.

It's a super pattern. I have so little left to do. The Bamboo yarn is wonderful to work with (except for a glitch in the current skein ... I wasn't paying attention, and suddenly realized I was knitting with thread ... I had to tink back several stitches to where it was normal, and cut out the offending few inches from the skein ... Kid2 asked, "Are you going to call them and tell them there was a problem with the yarn?" which hadn't even crossed my mind ... I wonder what would happen if I did).

But this week it's COLD. We spend our outdoors time walking to the pond and poking at the ice with sticks, speculating on the bubbles we see frozen under the smooth surface. We make glowing fires in the fireplace and roast hotdogs and toast marshmallows for supper. It is time for hats and mittens and wool socks and sweaters, not for slinky little bamboo camisoles. Warm weather gear is so ... so ... last week!

Tuesday Teatime

I was given a copy of Poetry for Young People: Robert Frost during the Fall Fairy swap at MDC this past fall. The book is divided into seasons, with several poems for each. Given that the weather has turned cold and wintery here (we even had some flakes of snow yesterday morning!) this seemed like a perfect time to pull it out and raed some of Frost's winter poetry.

We had hot chocolate with candy canes (yes, Christmas remnants) along with Candy Cane Jo-Jo cookies from Trader Joe's (also Christmas remnants). (It occurs to me that our candle was even a remnant -- the stub of our Advent candle . Hah.)

I read through the winter selections: Now Close the Windows, Wind and Window Flower, A Patch of Old Snow, Good Hours, The Wood-Pile, Storm Fear. The book has a couple of lines of explanation under each poem -- perhaps setting the mood, perhaps explaining some of Frost's imagery.

After reading the poems we read the introduction, which told about Frost's life. We're currently reading Understood Betsy as one of our many read alouds, and I thought it was fun to see that Frost was writing about the same region that Betsy was set in.

Overall, it was a wonderfully cozy teatime.

Games for Skip Counting

These are gross motor games to practice some of the skip count sequences. I didn't invent these -- someone else posted them years and years ago, and our family tried and enjoyed them. Every once in a while the subject comes up on a message board and I endeavor to find my old printout or notes or posts from other message boards. I'm putting it here in my blog so I can more easily point to it when I want to tell people about it. I've not kept track of the name of the original writer, and have probably changed them somewhat from their original form anyway.

Walking skip counting

Typically you take this stuff up to a pre selected target number, then backwards to one. The backwards part can get pretty hilarious, as trying to count backwards, remember your skip counting and also doing the correct steps can be a challenge for most ages.

2s: Your’e going to march single file or 2-by-2. Everyone starts on the same foot. You count the steps, whispering the odd numbers and shouting out and stomping the evens. So, step left/whisper “one”, stomp right/shout “two”; left/”whisper”three”, right/shout”four”, etc. all the way up to whatever number you choose (2 times 12 -- 24 -- is nice) then back down to 1.

3s: Simple version would be to step-step-LEAP while counting the steps. So, right-1, left-2, big huge step or jump-3.

OR (lots of fun, but more complex -- crosses the midline!) use a long line on the floor (the original suggestion used a curb on a street, but obviously that’s not going to work in a house). All of the multiples of 3 will be stepped to the LEFT of this line, all of the rest of the numbers will be stepped to the right of the line (but sometimes it will be the right foot stepping to the left, and sometimes it will be the left foot stepping to the left!) (Trust me, it’s really fun.) Stand to the right of the line, single file. Step left-one , right-2, now cross left foot over to step to the left of the line while counting 3, then back over to the right side of the line for right-4, left- 5, now cross over to the left side of the line again for right-6 (in other words you’re crossing your right leg in front of your left), then back to the right for left-7, right-8, left foot steps to the left of line for left-9, etc. etc. all the way up to your target number (perhaps 3 time 12 -- 36) and then back down to 1.

4s: Can revisit the 2s, but whisper all the numbers that aren’t 4s (so every other even will be whispered).

OR, step left-1, right-2, left-3, then step BACK on right while shouting 4; left-5, right-6, left-7, then step BACK on right while shouting 8; etc. up to target number and back down to 1. Either of these could be walked in columns of 4 across to add to the 4ness of the experience.

Bean bags

You’ll be using one beanbag per person. Beanbags are handed to the person next to you on the skip count number (that is, if you’re doing 2s you’ll be handing a beanbag to someone else on every multiple of 2). As the beanbags are handed from one person to the next, it is the respoinsibility of the “giver” to make sure the “receiver” gets it safely and securely. Each person is both “giver” and “receiver”, but this rule helps establish that we don’t carelessly hurl them at the next person while concentrating on getting our next beanbag. At home we generally do these seated on the floor, which cuts down on the height issues as well as the general rowdiness.

Remember to count backwards for each sequence, too.

If you don’t have enough beanbags, how about Beanie Babies?

2s: The beanbags are going to steadily journey around the circle to the right. Start with beanbag in your left hand. Whisper “one” as you transfer it to your right hand. Say “two” loudly while handing it into the left hand of the person to your right (at the same time, the person to your left will be placing a beanbag in your left hand). Now everyone again has a bag in their left hand.

By the way, it’s possible for 2 people to do this (or any of these beanbag sequences) facing each other. On “two” each would cross over to place in the partner’s left hand.

3s: The beanbags are going to move back and forth. Start with beanbag in your left hand. On “one” transfer to your right hand. On “two” transfer back to your left hand. On “three” hand into the right hand of the person to your left, while receiving into your right hand. Now everyone has a bag in their right hand. On “four” transfer to your left hand. On “five” transfer to your right hand. On “six” hand to person on your right while receiving your original beanbag into your left hand. Now you’re back where you started, ready to repeat the sequence with 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

5s: Start with beanbag in your right hand. On “one” touch your left knee with beanbag, on “two” touch your right knee, “three” touch your left shoulder, “four” touch your right shoulder, “five” hand to person on your right. Now you have a beanbag in your left hand. You’re going to mirror what you did before: on “six” touch your right knee, “seven” touch your left knee, “eight” touch your right shoulder, “nine” touch your left shoulder, “ten” hand to the person on your left.

6s: Variation of 5s -- with beanbag in right hand touch left knee-1, right knee-2, left shoulder-3, right shoulder-4, transfer to your left hand-5, hand to person on your left-6. The beanbag is in your right hand, so simply repeat sequence.

Weekend Wrap-up

Knitwise

ChicKami was not finished in time for Saturday's evening out. This turned out to be okay, as I put the rest of the outfit together and the whole thing turned out to be a massive Fashion Mistake. So, just as well I didn't try heroic efforts to get it done. I will continue on it at an enjoyable pace -- it really is a simple, fun knit.

Otherwise

I spent Saturday signing up for January's local homeschooling events. All of the cool stuff falls in a one week period; the rest of the month is void of interest for us. Perhaps this is a signal to start a 3 weeks on/1 week off schedule. Eh.

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

The Christmas tree is out at the curb.

The house has been pretty much de-Christmased, except for the manger scene. I've noticed that the Wise Men are crouched behind the stable; I keep imagining them jumping out tomorrow yelling "SURPRISE!"

Knitwise:

Much post-holiday knitting has been going on, but the most significant has been work on a Chickami in black Bamboo. I started this on New Year's Eve, sort of (mostly I was busy being exhausted from the trip home from Indiana, the unloading of the van -- in addition to all of the Christmas presents we had also gained a complete set of the works of Sir Walter Scott, and also the Harvard Classics Five-Foot Shelf of Books, not to mention some multi-volume history set, all of which have been in the family nearly a hundred years ... my brother took the complete sets of Kipling and Stevenson, which somewhat bothered MrV, although I haven't a clue what the heck we're going to do with all of these boxes of book anyway [other than start reading Ivanhoe sometime soon, since that's why Kid1 wanted to get the Scott books -- she likes the bit in the Charlotte-years Little House books where they read Ivanhoe in the evenings] so why we needed even more is beyond me -- and a quick trip to the grocery; we barely stayed awake for our New Year's toast taken at the appropriate moment for some time zone east of here). I have been plugging along all week, and have about reached the point where I split for the front and back (it's worked in the round up to the armholes). I had fleeting fantasies about wearing this Saturday night, but those dreams are fading before my eyes. It's easy, mindless knitting, the sort you can do while reading a book or walking around, but even the easiest knitting is impossible while packing up the Christmas dishes or mopping the floor. Plus, Im not sure how accurate my guage swatch was, what with being goony with exhaustion, so I really need to go try it on before I get much further.

Homeschoolwise

We started gearing down back at Thanksgiving, and went into total sloth-mode during the past couple of weeks. Dance class started back up this week, as did our read alouds (we've made it up to the Caroline years in Little House; although Kid1 commented yesterday that she doesn't like the writing as well as Melissa Wiley's in the Martha years and the Charlotte years; I replied that maybe we should give it more that 4 chapters before we make such judgments) (although, really, I had been thinking that myself). We're also reading Understood Betsy, and MrV is reading In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson for bedtime reading, the latter being the current selection for Bravewriter's Arrow, which I am So Glad I subscribed to this year (more on that in a future post).

And Thank You cards, which I count as educational. Kid2's involve copywork (we discuss what to say, and I write it out for her to copy), they draw pictures on the front (we use blank cards -- not for us those printed Thank You cards from the store, oh no! we're after the total thank-you-experience here!).

Kid1 even did a lesson of math, which is truly amazing when you consider that she received a copy of Eldest for Christmas which is sucking up most of her time.

We discussed what new things they might want to do, things that we hadn't done in the fall. Kid1 wants to head into biology, or maybe zoology, or maybe life science ... "what would I need to study if I wanted to become a veterinarian?" So I've ordered various and sundry books on the topic. And Kid2 wants to do spelling, although now she's decided she wants to complete her phonics book first (Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading; honestly, she can read everything in it, including the scripts for the teacher, but she craves the sense of completion, I guess). During our old-book bonanza she found an ancient, tattered McCall's Speller which she snatched up as her prize, and dragged around the house for several days reading.

Resolutions

No resolutions to report, although perhaps a resolution to not use quite so many parentheses in my writing would've been appropriate. I have vague ideas of things I want to accomplish over the next few months (clear out a bunch of junk in the basement, get more bookshelves, sew a bunch of stuff) but nothing that seems very resolutionish. I had meant to think about joining in on the Project 365 , but forgot to think about it (mostly I wanted to think about what the heck I would do with all of those photos since I don't scrapbook or otherwise organize all of the photos we currently take anyway), and now I'm already 5 days behind. Which means it was a New Year's resolution that was broken before it was even made, depending on what you consider the deadline for New Year's resolutions. Is there a deadline?

Almost to the Finish Line

The Advent Candle is down to 22, 23, and 24.

There is only one more homemade Christmas card left to send.

The chocolate advent calendars from Windel Candy have just a few doors left to open (Grandma and Grandpa picked those up in Europe this fall; I'm sure the kids wish this could become an annual tradition at our house).

Only 7 thrums to go! I'm sick of thrummed mittens. They're so un-portable, what with all the little bits of wool (the thrums-to-be) to carry around. Plus the temperatures have been steadily in the 50s for the past couple of weeks, which isn't exactly thrum weather. Having said that, I'm alread considering my next thrum project, possibly thrum socks by Fleece Artist for my mom, who was quite impressed with the thrum concept and has perpetually cold feet (plus, bonus, if I'm ordering a kit from Fleece Artist anyway I'd have a pretty good excuse to get a Goldilocks shawl kit for myself).

Waldorf doll to finish. Kid1 decided she wanted a Waldorf doll for Christmas, but she wanted to make it herself. This is all her work so far. I'm going to crochet the wig cap using the mohair yarn the doll is propped up against, but that's the extent of my involvement (well, except answering questions -- I've done plenty of that, too).

And today features baking coffee cakes for neighbors. Also, joyously receiving package ordered from Magic Cabin OR driving to their order center (Ohio? Wisconsin?) and throttling the person who said I should select standard shipping to receive it in time for Christmas (it will be late afternoon before the UPS truck hits the neighborhood and I know which I'll be doing).

Merry Christmas, everyone! I'll not be back until sometime in the new year!

Butter Cookies! (or, Why Santa Likes to Visit Our House)

This is the standard Santa-fare at our house, left out on Christmas Eve.

Quality of ingredients makes a huge difference! I tend towards white spelt flour and unsalted butter, mostly because those are a little fresher in our local stores.

2.5 c. white flour
1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tblsp orange juice
1 Tblsp vanilla

In a 3qt mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, butter, egg, baking powder, orange juice and vanilla with an electric mixer. Beat at low speed, scraping sides of bowl often, until well mixed. Cover, chill 2-3 hours or until firm enough to be rolled. Roll out dough 1/3 at a time on a well floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut with 3 inch cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake near center of 400F oven for 6-10 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Cool completely before decorating. (Sprinkle colored sugar on before baking; add food colouring to dough before refrigerating.)

Frosting (enough to cover gobs of cookies, possibly 2 batches):

4 c. confectioners sugar
1/2 c. butter, softened
3-4 Tblsp milk
2 tsp vanilla

In a 1.5 qt. mixer bowl combine all ingredients. With an electric mixer beat at low speed, scraping sides of bowl often until frosting is fluffy. May be spread or used with decorator. Add food coloring as desired.

Two things that occur to me as I type this up: first, I still haven't found my good marble rolling pin a year after moving; second, I wonder if Santa has gone all gluten-free on us. I guess we can cover the GF issues by setting out some meringues, too, bearing in mind that if Santa chooses the meringues that leaves more butter cookies for me.

Tuesday Teatime

To eat: Trader Joe's Patisserie Twists in cinnamon flavor. These are so sweet and sugary they were overwhelming. Kid1 said they reminded her of the little cinnamon twists from Taco Bell, but higher quality. Whatever. Not something I would purchase again.

To drink: Choice of tea. Kid1 chose Black Cherry Berry, while Kid2 opted for Rasberry Zinger, both by Celestial Seasonings.

To read: The Winter Solstice by Ellen Jackson (the book, not the website; unfortunately I didn't find the website until just now while looking for a link for the book; it looks pretty cool, doesn't it?).

When I got to the pages about sticking toothpicks in an orange to show how the earth rotates towards and away from the sun Kid2 commented, "I read those pages and didn't understand them." So we decided to skip reading over them again, and come back to it later when we had some citrus fruit around to work with, having eaten all of the grapefruit and clementines in the house.

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

On Tuesdays I upload an update of what we did in math for the week.

RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 84 Rotating

The lesson explains what rotation means in a mathematical sense, then has the student draw various rotations.

On one hand, the directions say to “measure only the 2.5 cm line,” deriving the rest of the lines and angles from your knowledge of how to draw geometric figures. On the other hand, the directions say to “construct every line accurately. Don’t guess.” Well. Tears of frustration ensue during the final rotation, which for some reason is wonky. I know the feeling from various projects I’ve done.

I am not allowed to help. I think she’s caught on that it takes me awhile to get up to speed on these lessons, as she’s journeying to places I either haven’t been for a long time, or perhaps never visited before. It occurs to me that it would’ve been a good idea to go through all the lessons myself a bit ahead of her.

In Sickness and in Health

Saturday night we went to see The Big Guy. The line was and hour and a half long.

Santa chatted with every child for 3-5 minutes. He had a wonderful, deep voice -- as soothing as Jim Weiss, but lower. He exuded calm.



He's telling Kid1 that she has a very important role in the family, that of big sister, with a little sister who looks up to her. And then he discussed the true meaning of Christmas with the kids.

Kid2 put it all together -- the Old World look, his demeanor, the attitude he radiated, the way her feet and legs (which hurt from standing on bricks for an hour and a half) stopped hurting as soon as she stood next to him, possibly the way the elves were still cheerful after hours of dealing with the public. She whispered to me, "This is really St. Nicholas! That guy back in Ohio was just dressing up as Santa Claus to help him out. This is the real thing."

Cool.

Sunday morning the red velour Christmas dresses debuted in all their glory. Except I forgot to take pictures.

Sunday night Kid2 put hers back on, Kid1 dressed in white on top/black on bottom, and we went to the Christmas Concert at our church (Kid1 was in it; her choir sang with the adult choir and orchestra, who were all in Black Tie). It was startlingly good. Really.

Afterwards was a cookie reception. My contribution was Peppermint-Chocolate Chip Meringues (naturally gluten-free!):

4 large egg whites (if they have any yolk at all they won't whip well; just sayin')
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
pinch of salt (I used coarse)
1 cup granulated sugar
6 candy canes
1/2 cup mini-chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 225F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Unwrap candy canes and place in large ziploc bag. Beat with pan until they're crushed into small pieces (ideally, assign this task to children and insert earplugs).

Beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt with a mixer until soft peaks form (about 2 minutes). Reduce speed to low and add sugar 1 tblsp at a time, beating a few seconds after every addition. Increase beater speed to high, and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form. Fold in crushed candy canes and chocolate chips.

Drop by well rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, about an inch apart (these don't spread while baking). Bake both sheets for 1 hour, then switch positions in the oven (top rack to bottom rack) and bake 1 more hour. Turn off oven; allow oven to cool completely before removing (I left them until the next morning since I was busy and didn't need the oven). Store airtight. Makes about 32-36 crunchy, sticky mouthfuls of peppermint and chocolate.

And this morning? Small child with sore throat and 102F temperature. I think the late nights and sugar intake might've had something to do with that. So today's agenda includes lots of chamomile tea, snuggling up for stories, and watching Miracle on 34th Street.

Drowning in a Sea of Red

In the lower right corner: a card from my Secret Pal, which also had a sweet little charm inscribed with the word "Inspire" (perfect sentiment for a mom). (And, yes, I finally figured it out after she pretty much said, "Yoohoo, it's me!" while waving wildly.)

Then, of course, are the mittens. Mitten number 4 is on the needles. Fourth mitten syndrome has set in. I only work on this when I'm away from home. Because when I'm away from home I can't sew....

Yes, the main pile of red is 2 velour dresses which should have been completed 2 weeks ago. Since taking the photo I have wrestled them down to the handwork of hemming (sorry, no machine hemming on bias-cut velour in this house -- I'm not that crazy). I've alternated between loving and hating this velour. I'll be sewing along thinking, "Ooooh, so soft! Pretty, pretty softness! I must making myself something out of this," and vowing to never put another zipper in velour again in my life (I have done at least 5 zipper insertions between the 2 dresses; mind you, each dress only has one zipper, but the velour kept squirming away from it's designated spot in spite of massive amounts of hand basting).

Company coming for the weekend tomorrow. I am up to my ankles in little velour fluffs. Think it can pass as Christmas decor?

Happy St. Lucia Day!

Cool link with more info about St. Lucia here.

And, check it out, at the bottom of that page is a link to this crown of candles. Let me tell you, Kid1 would adore having one of those crowns. Of course, the whole idea is that the daughter rises early in the morning before it's light out, puts on the crown and serves her parents coffee and lussekatter. Problem with scenario (other than the fact that I can't stand coffee and have no interest in whipping up a batch of lussekatter due to lack of time and saffron): Kid1 never ever gets up that early; Kid2 is erratic about early morning. It is currently 7:45a.m., the sky is light and bright, and not a daughter is stirring.

So. I think our St. Lucia festivities will occur at tea time. We will have hot chocolate and cookies (something from Trader Joe's). We will read about St. Lucia/St. Lucy. The girls will probably dress in white, but we will not put candles on our heads.

Shipping

The Cap That Is Not a Chemo Cap is on its way to Mexico now. It's flying on a private jet, which is a pretty nice way to travel. I'm not sure what mail service is like between here and Mexico.

I can tell you this, though: mail service between here and Canada is certainly interesting. I can send a Secret Pal package to New Zealand in less time than it takes to get a package to Canada.

For example, this ornament just went out yesterday:


for the Secret Pal swap over at TheDenimJumper. Who knows when it will get there -- one week? two weeks?

Obviously, this is blowing my Secret Pal cover (if my Secret Pal reads this blog, which who knows; the SiteMeter stopped working when I switched to BloggerBeta and I've not worked up enough of a caring attitude to change it), but what the heck. The official end of the swap was yesterday. Plus, I have this uneasy feeling it will be mashed to perfect flatness somewhere between here and there.



My kids were so excited when I started working on this. "Hey, are you making another fairy?" It's been years since I got out the painted beads, the pipe cleaners, the wool felt and roving and embroidery floss. These days I also need to pull out the magnifying eyeglasses and a strong light. Sigh.

The basic idea comes from Sally Mavor's Felt Wee Folk , except without an acorn cap. Instead, she has a halo of crocheted metallic floss, and a metallic thread loop going up through her head for hanging on the tree. Also, in a bold move (for me) I didn't wrap her legs in floss. I used strips of white roving. Not that you can see it under her skirt, but it's there, and it looks all hazy and angelic.

So, if you receive a package that contains this little angel, or something that looks like maybe it used to be this little angel, then ta-da it's from me.

Road Trip

This past weekend we went to visit MrV's family, who live about this far away:



Cap of Rowan Calmer in black, knit on size 5 double points. Actually, the ribbing and a few inches of the body were done; I just finished the body and did the decreases on the trip. The cap is for a friend on MrV's in Mexico who has cancer and has shaved his head, hence the cotton yarn. (For the record, it isn't a chemocap. MrV was very specific about that. Not A Chemocap, got it?)

We stayed and visited for about half a thrummed mitten:



plus time spent eating, going to a Christmas show , eating, opening gifts, snacking, playing games, grazing, etc.

Then we came home, a trip that took the rest of the mitten and on into the next one.

Now it's time to set the needles aside and send out the cards, wrap more presents, mail more presents, finish some Christmas sewing, and make some cookies.

Counting the Days

Just to give you insight into how things work here ...



When it's your turn to take the figure out of the pocket and put it on the picture, should you be allowed to put it anywhere. For example, should you be allowed to put a cow up in the air over the stable? Or does your freedom to do this intrude on your family's freedom to enjoy a somewhat normal-looking Christmas scene?

O Christmas Tree!

The lady behind me commented, " 'Tannenbaum' is Latin for 'Christmas tree'. So now he knows another language -- Latin!"

I couldn't help it. I just HAD to turn around and correct her. "No, it isn't Latin. 'Tannenbaum' is German."

Because I might be bad at Latin and clueless at German, but I know my Christmas carols.



Kid2 is in the middle of the photo in the red outfit.

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

On Tuesdays I upload an update of what we did in math for the week.

RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 83 Reflecting

This lesson zips by quickly and painlessly. We do not have the optional Reflecta or Mira or GeoReflector. I suspect that Kid1 was able to visualize what would happen if she had used them.

Frankly, my only contact with the material is hearing Kid1 tell Kid2 that it’s an easy lesson. The drawing portion is much quicker than the tangrams of earlier lessons.

December! Snow! Advent!

We've had about a week of sunny days with highs around 70F (21C). We were out playing softball and running around in Tshirts. No holiday mood at all, not even a little. But now that it's December, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! High of about 25F (around -12.7C, I think). Snow! Time to get out Christmas stuff!



We got out the Advent candle (half way down the page if you follow the link), ready to burn down another number each day. We got out our copy of A Light in the Lantern (second book on linked page), ready to read.

And, I'm still knitting frantically on the thrummed mittens. They were to be a Christmas gift, but with the current weather, well, they're needed now. We've already been sledding twice today (yes, my kids that can't get up before about 9am, who sit around in their jammies half the morning, they were over at The Big Hill by 8:30 this morning, making the first runs down the hill).

We have worked on Christmas cards. We have Christmas CDs playing. We've been watching ... umm, well, we've been watching Star Trek Next Generation and Deep Space 9, but we have gotten out the Christmas DVDs and videos, so, you know, we could maybe watch one if they play an episode we don't like.

Must go shovel snow.

Feeling the Secret Pal Love

Part A:

Last Friday Kid2 took me for a walk in the woods, showing me the places they like to go. When we got back home I found a card in the mail. No return address, but I thought the handwriting was pretty obviously my friend Christine's (although it wasn't postmarked from Indy, which struck me as weird).

I opened it and found a sweet card from some non-Christine person, containing this quote from Jimmy Carter:

"It is good to realize that if love and peace can prevail on Earth, and if we can teach our children to honor nature's gifts, the joys and beauties of the outdoors will be here forever." Signed, Your Secret Pal

Wow, what a great thing to read after being out in nature with your child! What a pick-me-up.

Part B:

Yesterday there was a box on my doorstep. I opened it to find an absolute extravaganza!



The points are mine, but she had used red bubble wrap. Did you know there was such a thing as red bubble wrap? Am I the only one so clueless about how to ship Christmas-themed prezzies?

From left to right we see:

Jamaica Rumbonen by van Dungen -- chocolates filled with Jamaican Rum. These are a hoot. Again, something I'd never know existed.

Domino magazine. I'm a magazine addict. Buying glossy magazines at the newstands is my current self-soothing behavior. As a matter of fact, Sunday (after the relatives left) I went to Barnes and Noble and bought 3. Not this issue of Domino, though! Woohoo!

Stash Chamomile tea, beloved by our family, and an excellent choice.

Huge tower of treats. At first I thought it was all butter cookies, because there was a picture of butter cookies on the label, and also because I mentioned butter cookies about 27 times in the "things I like" part of the Secret Pal survey (subtle I'm not). But, wow, it's all sorts of treats -- 2 kinds of cookies, candy, and hot chocolate mix.

Handmade ornament, in this case a darling crocheted snowman. A handmade ornament is required for this swap, and this one is wonderful. I picture hanging it on our tree for years to come, and thinking back to TheDenimJumper and all the gang there.

A Terry Pratchett book, Witches Abroad . Tery Pratchett is one of my favorite authors, and I get giggly every time I even look at this book. I can't wait to read it.

A box of bonbons from Stam Chocolaterie , which are sooooooo good I thought my mouth would explode with pleasure. Really. You know what was really clever about this whole thing? That huge stack of treats caught my kids' attention, so they wanted to open it right away (we've been shovelling the butter cookies in our mouths like popcorn). And they totally forgot about the little box of Stam bonbons, so they didn't try to wangle one away from me (which would probably turn into an ugly little scene, if you know what I mean, because these are NOT going to be shared; I don't care if Santa himself appears at my doorstep this very moment and says, "No presents for you, Gail, unless I get a Stam bonbon," he's just going to have to drive his sled to someplace that sells them).

I am absolutely floored by the coolness of this Secret Pal package. Hope yours are equally fun.

Knitters who Homeschool, and Homeschoolers who Knit

I was thinking about Mk.Km's comment about finding a knitter who also homeschools. My first thought was that, gees, there are tons of homeschooler-knitters. After all, I hang around with ... with ... well, okay, I can only think of one homeschooler-knitter in real life, and maybe I don't actually know her name (although I know all of her kids' names and ages, what they're up to in homeschool, what's the next knitting project she's thinking about doing, and, of course, where her daughter takes dance). And I have a friend who homeschools and crochets, but she's in Ohio. So. Ummm. Maybe the homeschool-knitting thing isn't quite so popular right here in St. Louis, or maybe I haven't gotten to know that many people here yet.

On the Internet, though, AHA! I can definitely find homeschooler-knitters on the Internet. The first that spring to mind, of course, are Poppins, JoVE, and Mary, who blog about both topics (and more).

Then there are the bloggers who maintain separate blogs for their knitting and homeschooling. This is more organized than I could ever be, but Penny manages it here and here. I've noticed that her friend ZooMom does the same.

I know this list isn't exhaustive by any means. I'll often be reading a blog about homeschooling and find mention of knitting, or a blog about knitting and realize that the family homeschools. Any other favorites out there?

And, a gratuitous knitting shot, since the temperature is supposed to drop about 40 degrees F on Thursday:



Thrummed mitten kit from Camilla Valley Farm Weavers' Supply. The yarn is Peace Fleece in Ukranian Red. The kids wanted red mittens like Laura and Mary had in Little House in the Big Woods. The thrums were my idea. I'm using a combination of the pattern that came with the kit, and the pattern in Interweave Knits. I wonder if I'll get them done by the time it snows.

Thanksgiving Recap

I love reading the blog posts that have all the wonderful pictures of Thanksgiving -- beautiful shots of food, decorations, family and friends.

However, we didn't take any photos at all. So, it's just a verbal recap around here.

Cool things we did:

Archery target shooting
Walks in the woods
Kid2 learned how to play 4 square
Playing catch and softball (wow, AuntD is talented at softball! She should go pro!)
Playing Uno Attack
Eating lunch on the back porch for 2 days in a row, since it was sunny and in the 70s
Moving the piano into the living room over the new wooden floors without dinging them
Raking up 2 huge piles of leaves to jump in

And, of course, the usual Thanksgiving day stuff of eating lots of wonderful food with relatives we rarely see, followed by sitting around knitting a sock while engaging in family gossip.

Now everyone has cleared out of here, and we can reconnect with reality.

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

On Tuesdays I upload an update of what we did in math for the week.

RightStart Geometry:

Leson 80 Pizza Problems

The lesson looks at unit costs. It also looks at ordering pizza based on cost per square inch. Of course, this is a silly way to order pizza, since no one eats it by the inch. Better to figure the price per slice, taking into account the relative thickness of the crust and how generous the restaurant is with the toppings. But I suppose it makes for a fun worksheet.

Lesson 81 Revisiting Tangrams

We love tangrams, and have 2 sets of plastic ones. These problems are simple, yet tedious in that the student needs to draw the various parts of the tangram set. It is much easier to work through the lesson with plastic tangrams, by the way, instead of copying of the shapes onto cardstock and then trying to manipulate the cardstock tangrams.

The second worksheet shows shapes, then asks for several ways to form each shape. The answers on the answer sheet are not exhaustive by any means. I notice Kid1 struggling to come up with a final solution for the pentagon. I pause while passing by and say, “Why don’t you try this?” While she protests, “Mommy, that’s not going to work!” I come up with 2 more solutions (MrV has told me if I ever need to re-enter the workforce I should consider package engineering).

At the end of the worksheet, the student is asked which shapes cover the greatest area. The answer is based on the tangram shapes used to make the various shapes shown. Fun lesson!

Lesson 82 Aligning Objects

Working again with the shapes of the tangrams, this time learning to align right, align left, align top, and align bottom. It’s an easy concept, but all the drawing is very tedious. I suggest to Kid1 she split it up over a couple of days, since it takes over an hour.

Coveting

I was getting dressed for church yesterday in a black skirt and white top, and it occurred to me that I should wear something gold (because, after all, Purdue had just beat IU in the Old Oaken Bucket game on Saturday, so it would be very appropriate to wear Old Gold and Black, particularly since there are IU alums attending this church). A gold shawl would be just about perfect, y’know. Except that I don’t have a gold shawl.

So, I wore the same ol’ Morehouse Merino Melody Shawl in the Waterlilies colorway.

And when we got to church, there was Mrs.S in a new shawl -- the Bird’s Nest Shawl from Cheryl Oberle’s Folk Shawls , which she had knit in a beautiful silk/cashmere blend. So, you know, I have the same ol’ shawl on, and she has this swanky shawl on, all shiny and new.

And it’s sort of fun having someone in church that Knits, y’know. But, on the other hand, Mrs.S is one of those people who can be discussing something innocuous like sock patterns and yarn shops, and all of a sudden she’s ferretted out of you that you played tenor recorder in a Renaissance ensemble way back in college, and did you know that a group of them sometime play as an ensemble for church? And she poo-poo’s the news that you seem to have lost your pearwood soprano recorder several household moves ago (no problem; she has a rosewood soprano and a pearwood soprano, and a pearwood tenor, and an alto, too, for that matter, just in case you want to learn alto, and you’re welcome to borrow one) and also poo-poo’s the news that the only ensemble you’ve played in is a homeschool co-op group of kids that you taught to play stuff like Mary Had a Little Lamb, because, y’know, how are you going to get back in the swing of playing more advanced pieces unless something forces you to make the stretch (since she’s just decided we should all get together and work up a number for Easter; and I’m already starting to feel queasy at the thought).

Ugh.

So, in the meantime, I was looking at the shawl Poppins is knitting. Hmmm, I had thought about knitting one of those last spring, but Colorsong Yarn (my favorite Fleece Artist vendor) didn’t offer it in a color I wanted. But, check this out -- they do have it in gold of all things. Eery coincidence, right? Almost like it’s waiting there for me to swoop in and buy it?

I’m still deciding. Right now we’re busy filling our Heifer Ark:



We’re putting in “found” money (mostly change, but I also found a $5 bill in a parking lot). We counted the number of faucets in our house, and put in a quareter for each one to show our gratitude for running water. We counted the pairs of shoes we own, and put in a dime for each pair (this was prompted by the pictures of barefoot children on Ryan’s blog; the dime each was to help make it affordable for Kid1 and Kid2, who get a skimpy allowance). Today we’ll count the electrical lights in our house and put in money for each, as a way of giving thanks for electricity.

It sort of seems like maybe I should put in some money for each shawl I already own, and get over the Shawl Envy, y’know. That’s what a big person would do. I'm just not sure it's what I will do, though.

Small accomplishments

Dulaan socks, finished this week:



I was proud of fnishing them, until I read that some knitters believe we should be knitting a sock a day.

Oh well. They're made from Lopi Lite, and are just a wee bit small for Kid1 (who tried them on as a test, and declared them wonderfully snuggly).

On a background of red velour from Sewzanne's. I had this wonderful idea that I would make Christmas dresses for the girls using my new serger. I didn't factor in that a) I wouldn't have time to mess with sewing, considering we're still trying to finish up floor-related renovations, and b) the fabric choices around here suck. Sewzanne's to the rescue! I'd never ordered from her before. This stuff is really beautiful, and arrived here promptly. Now it's just a matter of finding time to sew it up.

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

On Tuesdays I upload an update of what we did in math for the week.

RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 78 Finding the Area of a Circle

TYPO ALERT! At the end of the lesson is a box which has various values for pi. The student is to compare the accuracy of these values. One of the values given is 335 over 113; it should read 355 over 113. The correct values are mentioned in the lesson, so it’s pretty easy to catch.

Other than that, the lesson deals with finding areas of squares and areas of circles. Morgan makes a return appearance, setting a round watering system in a square field -- what percent of the field is watered? (This is a good time to see how well your student remembers how to calculate percents.) I continue to believe that Morgan needs to get over this obsession with sticking circles in the middle of things.

Lesson 79 Finding More Areas

TYPO ALERT! On the second worksheet, problem 5 says to “Find the length of a side of a square that has twice the perimeter of the square below. Draw the square.” Then problem 6 says to “Find the length of a side of a square that has twice the perimeter of the square below. Draw the square.” Problem 6 should read “a square that has twice the area of the square below.”

Also, we could not get the answer on the answer sheet for problem 2. Using the same measures and values, we came up with a percent covered by the design as 70.7% rather than 70.1% (unless we set pi as 3.17 ... yes, out of curiosity, I worked the problem backwards).

No new information is presented in the lesson. It’s just a bunch of problems. The problems are well written (other than the typos). Kid1 remarked that she would like a calculator with a pi key. MrV has one, of course, but I think for now we’ll keep tapping in 3.14.

The Anti-NaBloPoMo

Ever since NaBloPoMo started on Nov.1 I've had an overwhelming urge to not post. I think the NoBloPoMo bloggers are sucking all the creativity out of my brain as I sleep.

However, many of my favorite blogs continue to have wonderful posts (perhaps the writers of those blogs wrap their heads in tinfoil at night, or perhaps they are simply so creative that they have oodles of create-ability to spare).

As a matter of fact, By Sun and Candlelight has a wonderful Loveliness Fair going on, with link after link of creative Christmas crafting ideas. Oo la la! You really must visit it!

Martinmas, the condensed version

This tends to be a busy time of year for us, so Martinmas get short shrift. We just do a speedy version. No lanterns will be made.

I count the St. Louis-style Trick-or-Treating as Martinmas-based. The kids in south St. Louis county traditionally tell a joke or recite a poem or sing a song for their treat. I suspect that custom comes from the German immigrants long, long ago -- their Martinmas traditions probably melted into the US Halloween traditions.

We will eat ham sandwiches. We usually don't eat pork, much to the chagrin of Kid2, so this counts as festive. I will not be fixing goose. My understanding is that pigs or geese are the meat of choice for the day.

I have been busy looking through the MotheringDotCom Holiday Helper database to see where I can donate "half of my cloak", so to speak. The kids have selected some gently used toys (actually unused) to send to other kids. I have selected some yarn to send to a mom-in-need. And we have discussed what items will be appropriate to purchase for the family we're sending stuff to. We also found a family who requested homeschool books ... oh, my! A chance to clear out some of the excess curriculum and books!

No Comment

Lately I have been unable to comment on Blogger blogs. I realize there's the entire Beta issue, but I haven't even been able to make anonymous comments.

Yesterday Blogger wouldn't allow me to make a comment on my own blog. Well, now, hmmmm.

To answer Weaver's question, I can plug both the serger and the sewing machine in, but I can only fit one at a time on the end of the table. So I use the serger, move it off the table to the floor, pick up the sewing machine (which weighs a log, let me assure you -- it's an old Vigorelli, built like a tank), use the sewing machine, set it back to the floor, pick up the serger, etc. etc. It sort of makes a little weight-lifting routine built right into my sewing. Yeeha!

I find I don't get interrupted any more often when I break flow like that, by the way. My family interrupts me right smackdab in the middle of whatever I'm doing anyway. For example, between typing the word "anyway" in that last sentence and typing the period after it, I had a three minute conversation about the possible location of the good magnifying glass. I will now attempt to click on "publish" before any other interuptions ....

Still recovering from the latest home improvement project

After 3 days of severe pounding, we have a floor.

We have no baseboards. But we have a floor. We have no furniture moved back into the empty rooms (because of the baseboard situation) but we have a floor.

I would dearly love to get going on sewing the Christmas dresses, but the dining room table seems to be missing. I usually cut out the fabric on the dining room table. I also use the end of it for the sewing machine and serger. But, alas, no dining room table, so no sewing.



On the other hand, it makes a great area to lay out Base 10 cards in nice, neat rows. Oh, baby, you can really stretch out and do some 4-digit addition now!

(For the record, the floor isn't on such a wild slope. The photographer was maybe skating across the floor when she took this picture.)

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

On Tuesdays I upload an update of what we did in math for the week.

RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 73 The Amazing Nine-Point Circle

“In 1822 a German mathematician, Karl Feuerbach, showed that the nine-point circle is tangent to the inscribed circle. [....] Because of his work, this circle is known in Germany as the Feuerbach circle.”

So, folks in Germany apparently sit around talking about the Feuerbach circle, eh? Shoot, I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of this before. Given all of the history (two Frenchmen did the original proof) I’m not sure how I missed out. Hmmm.

Kid1 has problems keeping track of what she is looking for. I am called upon to explain that XO is a line segment rather than an angle, for example. Over the course of the next few lessons she will get better at this, I’m sure.

Lesson 74 Drawing Arcs

Kid1 is content drawing hearts, interstate signs, radiation warning signs, and a gothic arch. Math meets art. What could be better?

Lesson 75 Angles ‘n Arcs

The lesson teaches inscribed angles and intercepted arcs. It bandies terms like “chord”. I’ve never been too terribly fond of this stuff, and Kid1 seems to be following in my footsteps. Mostly I hope she figures it out and doesn’t ask me too many questions.

Lesson 76 Arc Length

Problem 1 on the worksheet involves finding the length of an arc to the nearest tenth of a centimeter. Both Kid1 and I measure the angle from the center of the circle to the arc ends repeatedly; we do NOT get the measure shown in the answer sheet. This means that Kid1 can NOT get the same final answer for the length of the arc as the answer sheet.. Her work shows the same steps, though -- the answer sheets give the steps for figuring out each problem.

Problem 2 features a gothic arch. I sort of blanch when I see it, but Kid1 acts like everyone knows the way a gothic arch is formed, for heaven’s sake. She explains it to me; I immediately forget.

Problem 4 is finding the distance from Earth’s poles to the equater. It reminds me of something out of Challenge Math, or some other such math book. It takes a moment for Kid1 to “get” that working in 3D isn’t too terribly different from working in 2D.

Problem 5 is a landscaping problem. I tend to dislike these, mostly since I studied landscaping in college and find myself questioning why the heck someone would want to put that in their yard. I mean, really, why would Morgan want to put bricks around a circular garden? Why not something else? What type of bricks? Will she be interplanting moss between the bricks? Will she be levelling these so she can mow easily around it? And how did she end up running out of bricks? Did she not plan? If that’s the case (that she didn’t plan for how big a circle she needed to make) it’s entirely possible that she did not plan well for plant spacing (a pet peeve of mine).

On the bright side, Morgan is working with the metric system, so when she runs short by .7 meters it’s easy to figure out how many bricks she needs (although Kid1 points out that the inside of the brick circle is a different measure than the outside, since bricks aren’t actually wedge shaped -- woohoo, that’s my girl!).

After finishing problem 3 (trefoils and quatrefoils, which are apprently as easy as gothic arches; problem 3 falls at the end for Kid1 because of the way the problems are laid out on the page), there is an option of writing a paper on the metric system. We have discussed the metric system some during the course of the lesson. Kid1 declines writing a paper.

Somewhere in the course of this lesson I realize that she needs a refresher on multiplying fractions.

Lesson 77 Area of a Circle

For the second work sheet the student figures out the width of a parallelogram as it relates to the diameter of a circle. The width is equivalent to half the circle’s diameter, but Kid1 is mortally offended that the width is therefor pi r. She says it’s just plain wrong -- she agrees that it is half of 2pi r, but feels that saying “pi r” is somehow vile and unnatural.

You can imagine what happens when she has to cut up the circle and lay it on top of the parallelogram ... the parallelogram has a height of r ... she is supposed to give the area of the circle ... sure enough, she writes” r pi times r”. She refuses to call it pi r squared. Whatever. When she was young she was mortally offended that the indefinite article used before a word that begins with a vowel is "an", and vowed never to use it as long as she lived, and to strive to convert others to her way of thinking. This is likely to be another such case.