Multiplication, Music and More

Look at this poor little doggie.... this is our very tolerant guy, Gizmo. Anna did this to him with a little bit of free (and unsupervised) time she had yesterday! He looked completely dejected when I opened the door to Anna's room and saw him decked out all ready for Mardi Gras! I had to laugh and then take some pictures. Children are so creative!

Now, on to today......

Wednesdays are always the busiest day in our week. After getting Grant to school Anna and I homeschool for the rest of the morning, and then she goes to a homeschool PE class at Home Plate . I love to see her running and having fun with other children... I was worried (unnecessarily so) that she would have a problem with socialization once we began to homeschool. This is perhaps the biggest MYTH about homeschooling there is.

We made a trip to the Peachtree City Library and stocked up on resources for the next week and then headed to church for our Wednesday evening Music and the Master. Right now the children are preparing to go to the Chorister's Guild Festival in Atlanta in February. I am particularly excited about this because a fellow classmate of mine from Southern Methodist University is going to be the guest conductor. If you are a parent, check out his website. He was a talented and creative young man when I first met him, and now he is publishing his own music and working in a large church in Ft. Worth. My kids love his song "Brainfreeze"!

Ahhhh.... on to the multiplication section of this post. Why is it that I never enjoyed math and now I'm afraid my daughter is falling into the same trap? We are working on our times tables now and I'm trying to jazz it up a little to make it more fun. I ordered a CD called "Multiplication Mountain" by Hap Palmer and I'll let you know what it's like.

I must go start the chocolate chip pancakes and sausage we are having for dinner (notice this is not a blog about nutrition!)..... I hope you took some time today to thank God for your blessings and then help someone in need.

ARGH!!!!

I just put my heart and soul into a post and somehow lost it! I bet it will pop up after I finish this one. :-0 So, here's what I said in a nutshell

1. It has a been a lovely day!

2. Homeschooling was great today... from math, writing stories, to John Smith and monkeys

(yes they do relate somehow!) The morning ended with a picnic (it's sunny outside!)

3. I am going to make a conscious effort to BLOG more.

4. Here's the resource of the day: Whacky Mother Goose book If you have an emerging

reader this is a great resource... both of my children love it and read it together!

5. I need to take more pictures!

To Blog or Not to Blog?

SEE, I TOLD YOU I WOULD FIND THAT MISSING POST!!

I am wondering whether or not it is worth the precious little free time I have to spend it blogging or not. This morning I kept thinking, "This would make good material for the blog". Today has been one of those picture perfect days for me, and unfortunately when days aren't "picture perfect" for me I tend to get a little out of sorts. I NEED TO WORK ON THAT.

After breakfast both children happily engaged in math activities... Anna working in a workbook she had picked out, and Grant working on his dry erase board. After taking Grant to preschool Anna and I came home and had a wonderful morning of learning -- she began with generating some great ideas for a story we are working on, and we ended by getting sidetracked on National Geographic Kids learning about monkeys and John Smith in the settlement of Jamestown. Hmmm.... believe me, it all tied together believe it or not! After picking Grant up from school we had a scooter ride/dog walk and then a picnic in the front yard, followed by the kids reading together out of a whacky Mother Goose treasury. I would really recommend this series of You Read To Me and I'll Read to You books for emerging readers. Well, even my proficient eight year old loves them because she can help her brother learn to read. It warms my heart to see them snuggled together reading. I'll have to take pictures of this!

My mind is swirling with ideas for the upcoming Homeschool Literature fair (Anna has chosen a Pocahontas story to report on) and also excitement for our trip to Florida in just a few weeks. We all need a vacation desperately!

Today is Tuesday, which means giving piano lessons - the kids go to our neighbor's house while I teach seven students. I love this day because it reminds me how much I love music and teaching.