Sparrow in a Pine Tree

This is a drawing that Julia brought home from her drawing class this week. She says they drew with a black marking pen and colored it in with crayons. Maybe I should take this drawing class! I don't think I could make a bird look this good!

The Assignment: Make a Contour Drawing

Julia was asked to get a stuffed animal, prop it up on the table in front of her and to keep her eyes following the outside edges of it while her hand drew. Anyone who knows Julia well knows that this in one of her favorite teddies. In fact this teddy was just upgraded from "Daddy Teddy" to "King Teddy," hence the crown.

"James and the Giant Peach"

This was one of Julia's recent art assignments. She was to use only red, yellow and blue watercolor crayons to create something that communicates. When I asked her what the title was she told me, "James and the Giant Peach." I asked where James was in the picture. Her reply, "In the peach, of course!"

What have we been doing?????

For starters, I have been doing a LOT of interference between kids and the new cat. Julia seems surprised that Friday doesn't behave they way her stuffed animals do. There have been arguments, some hissing, a few scratches, etc. I have to watch them very, very closely. Yesterday was an all-time record. Friday sat on Julia's lap for probably 10 minutes and they both seemed content and no one got hurt.

I've been to the gym three times so far this week! Another all-time record. I started taking a yoga class on Tues and Thurs mornings. Kind of strange at first, but I'm sure all the stretching, balancing, relaxation will be worth it. I'm also trying to get in two to three days a week of cardio. Hard to find "extra" time this time of the year for that though.

Saturday is our piano recital. I'm a bundle of nerves. I'm performing Canon in D (Pachelbel)with three other beginners. Two of us per piano. We have been working on it for 6 weeks or so and in the beginning I didn't think there was a chance that I could get my part down, but I have to say that my fingers have really, really improved the last month or so. I just hope my nerves don't take over on Saturday. In addition to the group piece I'm also performing a solo piece, Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (Bach). This piece I started working on in June. It was really, really hard in the beginning. At first I could only do the right hand and it seemed impossible to do both hands together. I left the piece probably in July sometime deciding that it was a longer range goal and moved on to something else. Well, last week my piano teacher told me to pick a new thing for the recital and I picked this piece up again. I have to say that I have worked on it a LOT during the past week and as of TODAY I can finally get through it, without breaking tempo and without mistakes. Now, I'm not sure that in two day's time I will be super confident in performing in front of 100+ people, but I have to say that a few months ago I would not believe that I could play it as well as I can today. Yippee!

School is going ok. Julia is finishing her human body study this week. Then we move on to animal classification and then hopefully some plants late spring. In history we are working on early Roman times. We should finish our ancients book probably in February and then will start in on Medival times. In phonics Julia has just 3 more lessons before the book is complete. She is reading some tough words, even words that she doesn't know (synagogue, etiquette, etc). She is also wrapping up her penmanship book and she and I are considering beginning cursive writing (although her printing is not as neat as I would like. I think she can do it, but she gets lazy).

Everything else is moving right along: spelling, grammar, vocabulary, math. She is currently more in favor of math, but that can change daily.

Our exciting news is that KARLEY IS BEGINNING TO READ!!!!! Karley read her very first two books earlier this week. I think she is pretty proud of herself, but she is at that stage where reading each word takes a lot of work. And after reading the second word of the sentence she has already forgotten the first word. At least she has a good attitude about it.

Karley's dance recital is a week from Saturday. I'm really looking forward to that one (more so than this piano recital!). I signed up to be a parent volunteer to help the girls in her class get dressed, find their way back stage, costumes off and turned in, trips to the restroom, etc. It should be really, really cute.

So, even though it seems as though this blog has been quiet. We have actually been really, really busy! That of course, is not to mention the big holiay at the end of the month with all the bazillion things that come along with it, or the fact that I'm attempting to toilet train the cat, or......

Meet our Friday!

The girls did it! They earned all their tokens and this past Sunday we went to the local SPCA and adopted a terrific cat. Friday is a one year old female. She was surrendered to the shelter as a "stray" either very pregnant and ready to have her babies or with very, very young kittens (I'm not sure which). Friday and her babies were sent to live with a foster family. Her kind foster family made a photo book for us to show us a glimpse of her mothering days. Friday is so, so sweet. She purrs and kneads constantly. She is also very confident and trusting. She seems completely comfortable with the girls and she is fine with Shelby too. If anything Shelby is slightly afraid of her, but only because that is Shelby's nature not because the cat is growling or hissing at her.

Julia is very happy, but is learning that cats are not dogs. Since we have not had a cat in so long and she really only knows dog behavior she is perplexed why the cat doesn't "play fetch", etc. I think in a couple of weeks they will have worked it all out.

Karley adores the cat too, but unfortunately she appears to be allergic to her. Karley has the habit of rubbing her eyes and when she does so without washing her hands after petting the cat, her eyes get red and puffy. I'm hoping that Karley's body will become less sensitive and that Karley will get a little wiser in keeping her hands "clean from the kitty."

Of course a lot more has been going on around here.....Halloween.......Karley's Birthday........Hopefully I will get another short quiet time so I can write about those too (I now have photos).

Blog, What blog???

Yes, its true I have been ignoring my own blog. Maybe its because there have not been too many blog-worthy events lately. More likely it is because I have just not felt like it! It does sometimes feel like it is my own homework assignment and we all remember what it was like when we had homework.

Anyway, to briefly summarize:

I believe after tomorrow we are one quarter of the way through the school year. Things are still going well. We are getting things done and we are still enjoying it.

Julia and I have managed to create a workable arrangement. It means that most of the time when I'm reading to her I'm looking at her rear end. I guess because she is such an auditory kind of kid as soon as she hears the reading rhythm of my voice she almost always goes duck-like on me. We're talking head down in the seat and bottom up in the air. It used to drive me absolutely crazy (and some days it really still does), but if you ask for retention or comprehension she is right there with you. (I do realize this would never fly in a traditional classroom) I guess she does it without really thinking about it because when I'm explaining something to her that she DOES need to see I have to remind her to sit up in her chair. For the most part I've learned to relax about it and allow her to be her goofy self because she is still paying attention. However, I do threaten to draw a big smiley face on her tush so I have something else to look at!

Karley is progressing through her ABC flashcards. It is really strange though. One day she will do really well and only miss one or two, but the next day she might miss 5 or 6. She is much different from her sister and I'm not sure yet how to help her out. She does enjoy workbooks and is making good progress with both her phonics and her early handwriting skills. So far math seems to be fun to her, but she is a bit weary because she has heard so many negative math comments from her sister.

The girls are SOOOOOO close to earning their kitty cat. They have earned a bag of kitty food (ok, so they earned a certificate saying they earned a bag of kitty food) and they are half way to earning the kitty bed. Then it is on to the cat itself. We are beginning to look at cats available for adoption at the various shelters around us. Julia and Karley are getting excited. Ok, maybe I'm getting a little excited too.

A week ago Wednesday the school sent out a recorded message stating that their was a strange odor in the building and that they evacuated the building. Well, here it is over a week later and the school is still locked up and as far as I know they still don't know what the odor is, what the cause of the odor is, or if it is harmful. At this point there is no estimate as to when it will reopen or when classes in that building will be held again. This, on top of all the other things I've previously mentioned, makes for a very confusing, disjointed school year. I'm so glad this is not our first year homeschooling or our first year at PACT. I sure hope they get this whole mess cleared up soon so life can go back to the way we knew it last year.

Oh, another thing that is driving me crazy right now. My fancy, schmancy wireless digital photo card doesn't seem completely reliable and I don't know why. Not all of my photos are making it to the computer. That's the excuse for the lack of photos, and I'm sticking to it.....

Karley's drawing

Any guesses what she drew? Note: she drew this on recycled paper, so you can see through to the other side. Karley is becoming quite the artist herself.

The Respiratory System: Julia's Chest Vest!

Art Lesson: Artists Create from Experiences

In this lesson Julia was supposed to create a watercolor based on a past experience. She fretted for a few minutes about what to create. Karley and I offered suggestions, but suddenly she got her inspiration and was off. This is what she came up with. She says it is the cows standing in front of the barn that we saw at the fair this summer. She calls it "The cow and the barn."

Is This a Complement?

Yesterday Julia and I were going over her history learning. We are working on Alexander the Great right now. I'm reading from the book a line that says something like Alexander died from unknown causes when he was 32.

I say, "Wow. Thirty-two, that's only four years younger than me."

Julia says, "Yea, and you don't even have your wrinkles yet!"

Art Lesson: Still Life

What's New?

Here are a few random happenings in our house lately:

1. Julia earned her first palm blister from gymnastics today! For some reason the rest of her class was a no-show today which meant that she had a private gymnastics lesson for 90 minutes. She loved it. Her coach worked her hard and as a result she has a blister to show for it! I told Julia that meant that she is turning into a real gymnast. She is thrilled! She also "earned" a much-needed, larger leotard.

2. I'm drilling Karley on her ABC flashcards. I have to say that she comes to this task with a much different attitude than her sister did. Karley is a goofball. Even if I try to spur on a little friendly competition with her ("Mommy has more cards. Mommy is going to win!"), she just has a completely laid-back, casual attitude about everything. I'm used to Julia being so determined and competitive and using that edge to push her a bit into learning new things. I can tell that I'm going to have try a new approach with Karley. Any suggestions???? Right now if in doubt Karley will always guess a letter as "Q, W, or Z." Good grief!

3. The girls earned a kitty litterbox today! Ok, not a thrill, I know, but what that means is that they only need to earn a bag of cat food, a kitty bed, and then the cat itself. I added up the total number of tokens needed to accomplish this and it is 160. That may seem like a lot, but when you break it down it means that if they really worked at it they could earn this kitty in a few weeks! They are happy with their progress and the idea that they could earn this furry friend by Christmastime, now we'll have to see how that translates in their behavior.

More to come, but we need to get some work done now.....

Classes Begin

Today PACT classes begin. Normally I would be happy about that, but this year things are just different. For starters our new school which was originally supposed to be up and running for us to use at the beginning of the semester, and then revised for about this time, and then revised for maybe when we get back from Thanksgiving, to probably the start of second semester is now in jeopardy of not happening at all for this school year. I find it very frustrating that the Performing and Fine Arts part of the charter school was allowed to take over our classrooms and space on campus and then not have anywhere for our kids to go.

So the compromise is that some classes will be held in the warehouse where all of our books and furniture and resources are being held until the new home is built. And some classes will be back on the former campus, with a few "minor" hassles. For starters, the regular spaces where these classes normally take place seem to be unavailable. Instead of Julia's music appreciation class (which is very much up out of your seat dancing and making music as well as sitting and talking and listening to music) is not taking place in the dance room as before, it will now be located in a conference room. The small parking lot we PACT parents once occupied is now staff parking. We may not park there to drop off our children or pick them up. We are to try finding a place along the street a block or two away. We must park the car and escort our children to and from class, regardless of the child's age and how familiar they are with the campus (the 8th graders are going to love that!). We are strongly encouraged not remain on campus, even if we are waiting for our child from a one hour class. If we do remain on campus, we have to first check in at the front office and recieve a visitor pass (regardless of whether or not we have our official PACT parent-teacher ID worn around our necks) and then we can only wait for our child in one open outdoor location (should be pleasant when the cold, wet weather arrives).

Tomorrow we set out to navigate this crazy new school world. I drop Karley off first at preschool at 8:30 and then take Julia to the old campus and hope for a place nearby to park so I can escort her to campus for a 9:00 class, then leave, then hope in less than an hour's time that I can find another parking place so I can go get her. Then we will have some alone time before it will be time to retrieve Karley. Followed later in the afternoon by piano. Tomorrow's class is drawing.

Wednesday we go to Tricks in the morning. Eat lunch. Perhaps try to squeeze a couple things in and then I have to navigate that crazy campus again to take Julia to music appreciation class.

On Thursday it is Karley to preschool and then Julia to her first grade class in the warehouse. The only trick with that is that both girls' classes will be ending at 11:30.

But today and Friday we get to remain at home. No waking up early. No rushing out the door. No trying to find a place to park or trying to remember which campus a particular class meets at. Its funny how I used to always want (and NEED) these classes to have some time to myself. Now I'm starting to look at them a whole, new way.

Julia's essay for the Gymnasics Spectacular box seat ticket giveaway

Julia's Art for the Week

The assignment: use watercolor crayons to paint a picture that tells a story. She agonized over this. It is very difficult for her not to draw the cutesy house on the hill with curly smoke coming from the chimney (or a cat). She says this is called "The Sea". When I asked her why she chose for the starfish to be so large and prominent on the page she said it was because it was her favorite sea creature. I believe it is the mermaids birthday. The fish swim around her. There are seashells in the sand. And swimming off the page is the rear flippers of a walrus.

How Karley Keeps Herself Busy...

"Books are like dessert!"

That was one of Julia's quotes from this week. We were discussing books/audiobooks. She says she likes both and she likes any and all kinds of stories. She just LOVES books! Cool, huh?



Other great things from our week include:



1. Karley will be a sugar plum fairy in the production of The Nutcracker that they are doing. She is really excited about the idea of wearing a big, poufy tutu, wings, wand and tiara for her first dance recital. She's over the moon!



2. Julia did 2 consecutive cartwheels and gymnastics this week, landing on her feet! Plus, she learned how to do forward rolls on the beam (2 or 3 feet off the ground!) and a dismount off the bar!



3. We received a thumbs up from our academic advisor. She is happy with Julia's work so far. Can you believe we have completed the first four weeks already???

Weekly Update

The highlights of our week:



1. The ants finally arrived for our ant farm. It looks like we have 21 alive and one causualty. I was surprised when I placed them in the ant farm container how much they reminded me of cats. All of them sat down on their "behinds" and looked like they groomed themselves to get all the yuck off after being cooped up in the plastic test tube they were mailed in. Also, I've been surprised how some of them are quite inactive while others seem to be busy. I've read that they will tunnel and burrow and make rooms, one of which they will use to store their dead in. So far they just bump into the stiff one, back up, and then keep going.



2. Yesterday was Karley's long-awaited first fieldtrip of the school year. I think the girls had a good time and I remembered how when I did this trip with them last year how awful a certain 5 year-old's behavior was. This time we looked like we had the mature kids and it was someone else's turn to have to do all the discipline and time-outs. I guess I've paid my dues on that one (this time).



3. Julia is still on schedule. She is still loving science and dreading math. The funny thing is that it is almost like she WANTS to hate math. She tries to have problems with it but I really don't see it as being all that difficult for her. Her biggest difficulty is not distracting herself from what she is supposed to be doing.

Well, photos were supposed to go along with this, but they seem to literally be stuck on the camera card. Sometimes I hate technology. Hopefully, photos to come in future posts.

Photos from last week

Julia's art project. Assignment: draw and paint something from memory such as a character you have read about. The result: "Black Beauty resting in her stall."
Effie Yeaw Nature Center. Julia as a California Condor.
Karley as a Condor.
Dad as a Condor.
Our plot study near the nature center on the upper bank ofthe American River. Late August is a difficult time to do a plot study in this neck of the woods!

My latest binder cover. We are still using the two I did last year (I just took the pages out and stored them away).

Weekly Update

Here are our highlights of the week. There were a few "lowlights" too, but I won't get into those now.

1. Yesterday the girls and I (ok, mostly just myself) finally got our loft, aka school room in order for the year. The room is almost completely finished. I have a couple more furniture pieces to purchase and some new chairs and then we are done. But right now the room looks much more organized and inviting than it did over the summer. Yeah!

2. Karley is beginning to correctly guess the starting letter of some words. She is understanding that the letters each make a different sound and is showing interest in knowing what those letter sounds are.

3. Julia did her first real cartwheels and kick up to hand stands this week!!! Not only that but she has finally figured out how to do seatdrops on the trampoline! Her strength and her confidence are flourishing right now!

4. I discovered this week that after several months of piano playing my fingers are stonger than John's!!! I can do things with my 4th and 5th fingers that he cannot. Yippee. For once I can say that I am stronger than him.

5. We got to do a science lab in the kitchen. Julia thought it was fabulous.

6. Tomorrow morning we are doing another science lab outside. We decided to wait until the weekend for dad to join us too. Julia is very excited to go on a nature walk and do her plot study. She has our bag all packed.

7. There are only four school days next week!

The First Several Days...

Well, we are off to a good start. We began a week early because Karley was back at preschool and because I thought it would be good to have a few days "in the bank." The very first day was awful. Julia balked when it came time to do math. She managed to stretch it out ALL DAY. But the rest of the days have gone well. I spread our work out during the week and planned lessons in each subject for the first month. Classes on campus will be different this year since the new campus is still under construction. Classes are supposed to begin in about a month. In addition to classes offerred through school Julia will continue with gymnastics and piano. Karley will continue with her ballet/tap class (and hopefully will be in her very first recital in December!).

I'm thinking about posting to the blog on a weekly basis. That way I can share the highlights of our week with you without creating too much more work for me! When great or unusual or funny things happen I'll post those too.

The three greatest moments from last week include:

1. Julia finishing the rest of her math for the week without a single complaint and nearly without any mistakes.

2. Julia finishing all her work on Friday by 9:30 in the morning, that is to say BEFORE her sister woke up! This allowed the two of them the whole day to play, for us to run some errands, and a special afternoon treat for a first week well done.

3. Julia completing her first art assignment (draw a composition) after a rough start and a "go try again" from me. I told her that the reason we did not complete the art lessons last year was because she always drew cats. And that if she wanted to have art lessons this year she would have to do the assignment not just draw a cat each time. Here is what she came up with, titled Baby Teddy with Lemon Drop:

We're Back!

Well, it has been a long, and yet short summer.

There have been many happy times and sad times too.




















We have travelled abroad






















and close to home...



























We have grown.....


















































some of us have lost and grown teeth...






















We have ventured into new physical activities.....


a new, more rigorous gymnastics class for Julia

























and a cute beginning ballet and tap class for Karley.



We also made a special new friend this summer.
















But now, it is time to get back into our routine again. We have had a longish, short summer filled with many memories, but now its time to get back to work (and it feels good).

All Done!

Well, we did it. We completed our first year of homeschooling. Julia is delighted to "be a first grader now." She was hooting and hollaring around the house earlier. I find myself feeling a bit the same, but a little tamer than she. Looking back I can tell that she has/we have made great progress. Her skills have improved greatly in all areas: reading, penmanship and spelling, math, understanding of science and history, art skills, music skills, even her athletic skills.

This summer will be a welcomed break for all of us (I think Karley is ready for the school year to be over too so that her playmate isn't busy all the time doing things that mom tells her to do). We will finish up her animal notebook with a few marine mammals and will continue reading, but I think the rest we are going to take a break from for awhile. As our advisor says, Julia needs time to soak up all that she has learned the past several months. I think my brain could use a break too. Which brings me to the upkeep of this blog. I think it too will take a summer break. I'm looking forward to doing some things for myself this summer (yeah, right! I'll be driving kids around all summer between piano lessons, gymnastics lessons, and swim lessons). I would like to get in some grown-up Great Books reading, some long overdue scrapbook projects, some household projects, and of course planning some fun new things for next school year. So, for now good-bye! As things get going late summer I will resume posting to the blog (who knows maybe even more frequently!). Adios!

Next Fall's Agenda

This coming week I meet with our academic advisor for the final time this year. We will be handing in our last work samples of the year and choosing curriculum for next year. For first grade we are looking at:

1. Reading: We will continue with our phonics-based reading program (we will probably finish this by Christmas break), The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading

2. Spelling: Spelling Workout

3. Penmanship: Handwriting Without Tears (we will probably finish the second grade book by Christmas break)

4. Vocabulary: Wordly Wise (second grade book)

5. Grammar: First Language Lessons (We currently use this book and are about half way through "first grade". It has 100 second grade lessons as well. If we keep at our current pace we might be able to finish this book by the end of the school year.)

6. Math: We will use both ShillerMath and the boring-ish (but much easier to get her to do it) Houghton-Mifflin

7. History: We will continue with The Story of the World: Ancient Times. We are about half way through this book and when we finish in the middle of the year we will pick up the next level: Medival Times

8. Science: We are going to try a new program called Read, Explore, Absorb, and Learn Science (REAL Science). We will do the Life Science level. It will repeat some of what we have done this year with the addition of plants and human body, but it is a hands-on observation, experimental approach (and one that I don't have to create on my own!)

9. Art: We may try Artisitic Pursuits again. I also think Julia will take drawing class again next year.

10. Music: Julia definitely wants to take her Music Appreciation class again next year, and she will continue to take piano lessons.

11. Spanish? She may take this again at school.

12. PE: I think she will continue with gymnastics and group fitness classes at the gym when it fits into her schedule.

13. First Grade Writing Class. I believe she will want to take this class at school too.


I'm also starting to think about preparing Karley for Kindergarten. She and I will start working on her penmanship skills and her pre-reading skills too. We may also do some fun crafty, seasonal things with other younger siblings at school when the older siblings are busy in their classes. I sure hope this is a restful and rejuvenating summer!

An unexpected gift.....

Perhaps she is growing up??????

Our First Piano Recital!

Last Saturday Julia and I performed in our very first piano recital. Julia was much more relaxed than I was. She played a short tune called On the Swing. I played the Sleeping Beauty Waltz. We had fun, we learned a lot, and I think we will be even more prepared for the next recital in the fall.

Homeschool Highlights of the Day....

1. Julia finished the final pages of her dreaded phonics workbook and we were told yesterday that she does not need to complete any more of these workbooks. She took a reading test yesterday and tested between the 2nd and 3rd grade level (she tested at the 1st grade level last November). As long as we continue with her structured reading lessons she does not need an additional phonics program and we are both delighted since it has been one source of major conflict between us.

2. Julia took the Chapter 1 Test this morning in the new math book (1st grade) we have been working in the past few weeks. This is not the fun math that we had been doing, but the boring workbooky math that is published by the same company that produces the California state exam (she won't take this until 2nd grade). The great things about this is: SHE DID IT WITHOUT COMPLAINING ABOUT IT, SHE DID IT WITHOUT ASKING FOR HELP (beforehand
I told her I could not help her on a test), SHE DID BOTH PAGES WITHOUT ERASING ONE TIME!, SHE DID IT WITHOUT A SINGLE MISTAKE!!!!!

3. AND..........drumroll.........

We saw a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis right before our very eyes!

That's right. Our tiny caterpillars got big and fat, formed cocoons (don't know if chrysalises is a word), and today they are beginning to emerge into beautiful Painted Lady butterflies (two made it so far, three left to go!)

And considering that this is Friday and that summer vacation is on the near horizon, I would say that today has been a great day!

Aquarium of the Bay

Both girls really wanted to touch the rays and sharks. Karley INSISTED on touching the sharks, even though they settled in the middle of the pool and I had to lift her OVER the water so she could reach down and touch a shark, getting her sleeve dripping wet in the process.

Field Trip!

This seems like old news now, but two or three weeks ago we went on a field trip with school to Pier 39. We drove to Vallejo, boarded the ferry, and spent the day at Pier 39 with our friends. We took a tour of the Aquarium of the Bay, ate lunch on Pier 39 and then walked to Ghiradelli Square. It was a fantastic day!

Greek Mythology

Recently I purchased a few of Jim Weiss' story-tellings on CD (http://www.greathall.com/). Julia has loved audiobooks for some time now and she insists she needs them to fall asleep at night. Jim Weiss has dozens of CDs from Aesop's Fables to Shakespeare for kids to American folktales, etc, etc. One of the CDs I bought was Greek Mythology partly because we were about to begin learning about ancient Greece. She listened to that particular CD several times, but one night last week as I was tucking her in at night she came alive telling me how wonderful the Greek myths were. She told me that I really should listen to them myself. She said, "They're like history." So I asked her to retell some of the myths to me and her eyes came alive. She told me (and later John too) detail after detail about the Greek Gods and Godesses. She has a good idea of who is married to who and who is the child of who and that sort of thing. She was buzzing with excitement and amazement.

So, playing up on her new interest in Greece I reminded her that she and I have some Greek ancestry. And I also told her that Gma's name is Athena. She was hugely impressed with that. So next week we jump into studying Greece. Looking ahead I see some fun activities to finish up our school year. We may even end with she and I trying out some of Gma's famous Greek recipes. I love it when I get to see her so excited over something (other than cats!). Now, if only I could foster this much enthusiasm for math....

Changing Plans....again

Ok, so the whole North America unit study thing just isn't doing it for me. I have spent two or three weeks (perhaps more) trying to make it work, and it just isn't, so yesterday morning I changed gears....again. Now, Julia is working on a Butterfly unit. This one should be much less intimidating for both of us and we only have 3 weeks left before the project is on display at the PACT Extravaganza. I have been toying with the idea of purchasing a butterfly habitat thing and watch caterpillars grow and turn into butterflies. I had decided to wait until summer to do this, but now that we are going ahead with butterflies now, I went ahead and ordered the thing. I know that we won't be able to complete the life cycle before the Extravaganza, but, OH WELL!

So, now I'm in high gear trying to plan these activites for the project, keep up with our regular school work, plan a birthday party, prepare myself and Julia for our first piano recital, am I missing anything???? Oh yes, clean up after my messy kids and occassioanlly do a load of laundry!

Blog Blues

I seem to have a love/hate relationship with this blog. My days and weeks are busy and it is difficult to find the time to sit down and update how our schooling is going. This was our first week back at school after our 2-week spring break. Julia was ready to start up again, as shown through the school to-do list she left on our dry erase board last week. But, we have had a busy week with more doctor appointments, birthday parties, etc and it has left us at the end of the week, slightly behind. Sigh.

On May 8th PACT is putting on a big show. An open house of sorts with a BBQ, students projects on display, student musical performances, silent auction, kids games, sundae bar, etc. Julia and I are working on (ok, so we haven't offically began yet, its still all in my head really) a unit study of North America. It will include some geography, some demography, some plants and animals endemic to the area, etc. I think it will be a fun project, and someday I think it would be wonderful to make one for each continent, but we (mostly I) are (am) having a hard time getting it started. And then there are other things like math, phonics, reading, etc to keep up with too. Not to mention a certain little girl's birthday party to plan.

The good news of the past week is that I finally accomplished what I set out at the beginning of the school year to do. I took advantage of the girls both being busy in their classes on Tuesday morning and took a pilates class at our brand new gym. And, I went back yesterday and took a second class. I'm really enjoying both the instructor as well as the class itself. I think I can feel a difference already. So, my goal will be to keep up with the pilates classes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings (on Thursdays Karley is at preschool, but Julia gets to hang out at the club in the kid club area---she loves it).

I know I have not posted photos in a long time. Next week I'll try to put some photos up of our progress on our North America project. That's wishful thinking if I ever heard it!

Big Girl Teeth!

I took both girls to the pediatric dentist a couple of days ago. As usual, Julia freaked out and was a nervous wreck. And, as usual, Karley was there to save the day and calm her sister and show her that what the dental assistant was asking them to do was no big deal. Julia's greatest source of anxiety is the dental xray machine. She hates that thing, and there have been many, many times when they simply have not been able to xray her teeth, but have been able to do a cleaning or limited cleaning and exam.

But after watching her little sister go through xrays like a champ and being befriended by a young, good-looking male assistant who coaxed her into xrays, she bravely (or not) climbed up into the xray chair, held still (amazing for Julia!), and bit down on the film casings as instructed. The result:


JULIA HAS GREAT BIG TEETH READY TO COME IN!!!!!


We are talking all 6-year molars ready to break through the gum line AND both her upper and lower center incisors! These teeth look HUGE! Julia has a tiny, little jaw and her teeth, although straight now, are crammed in her mouth real tight. I realize that her mouth and jaw will grow, but by the looks of things, not nearly enough to accomodate some huge changes that will take place very soon.

Yes, soon is right because after seeing the xrays of these monster-sized teeth in my little girl's mouth I blurted out the question, "Are any of her teeth loose now?" Upon completion of the dentist's exam, she took her little probe and gave each baby tooth in question a wiggle and you know what.....


one moved!


So, you better believe we will be taking lots of smiley pictures of our girl before that smile changes forever.

Big Ideas

Last week sometime Julia and I were talking about something (I cannot remember what it was about) and I said to her, "Wow, you have big ideas." I believe she was probably telling me her plans for her upcoming birthday party. She responded with, "Mom, I was born with big ideas!" Go figure.

Kitty Rewards

As most of you know Julia has been working toward earning a pet cat by earning tokens for her good behavior (she has been working on this for an entire year now!). Well, in recent days or weeks we have decided to include Karley in this too. In part because it is taking Julia FOREVER to earn her tokens and also because Karley was beginning to think that she would some day earn tokens towards her own cat and I decided that I would rather they share one cat than each have their own. So, for the last week or so both girls are earning tokens toward the same goal. We have a jar in a conspicuous area and as I give each girl a token they happily deposit it in the communal jar. They are excited watching the jar begin to fill. Julia has not counted her tokens she earned prior to the jar (she has them in her coin purse), but I know that she has earned enough for the next item on the list, and at the pace these two are going, they will probably have the following item on the list too before long. My secret hope is that they can earn this cat during the summer sometime so that the novelty of it will wear off a bit as we begin the next school year. Perhaps I'm just dreaming and the new token jar novelty will wear off soon and it will take another whole year.....

"Sponsibility"

I asked Karley to pick up a pile of discarded clothes that were lying on the floor and to put them in the hamper. I did recognize that they belonged to both girls, but this is what I heard from Karley,

"that's Julia's sponsibility"

as she was picking through the pile and sorting out her own clothes. Who knew 3-year olds knew anything about "sponsibility?"

Smart Cookie

Tuesday mornings are crazy times in our house, and the past Tuesday was no exception. I had Karley sitting on the bathroom counter and I was trying to work through her tangled hair, keep Julia on task and keep an eye on the clock. Julia was near and I asked her what time it was she said, "I don't know" and ran off. Karley looked at me and said, "Mama, just look at your watch."

Oops! Out-smarted by a 3-year old.........





again

Julia's International Penpal!

About three weeks ago I had Julia write a letter to my good friend's (Midori) six year old daughter, Miori. Midori was an exchange student from Japan that came to live with us one summer when she was about 15 and I was 12 or 13. We were the best of friends, and have managed to keep in touch off and on despite the distance. It was a wonderful treat to have her at our wedding.

Anyway, I didn't know if Miori was learning English or not, but I kind of figured that it was something her mom would like (I have never met her father) and that regardless if Miori was capable of reading or even writing her own letter in English her mother could do the translation for her. So Julia sent off her shortish, but cute kid letter to Miori asking her about things like her favorite color. If she had any pets, etc. Julia has been waiting and hoping ever since for a response and today when we got the mail there was a cute, bunny-papered letter address to Julia all the way from Japan! She was beyond excited! We carefully opened it with a letter opener and found not only Miori's letter, but 3 origami shapes, flattened of course (a small box with a couple of tiny trinkets in it, a rose, and a crane) Julia loved them and I could tell how hard Miori worked on them. The small pink crane had been folded and folded many times like she had really worked hard at it. I was AMAZED at Miori's writing!!! Julia read the letter herself with very little help from me. On the back Midori wrote a quick note to me telling me that it was the very first English writing Miori had ever done and that she had worked so hard at it and that it was hard for her to do (hard for any of us to do that!). So after the first four lines Midori wrote Miori's dictation and then Miori went back over each letter with the pencil (and I probably would not have figured that this was the case if she had not told me.....her writing was so, so good!)

After Julia finished reading it she said with great big eyes and much excitement, "Let's go write her another letter right now!" I said, "Maybe we should fine some cute paper to use this time and maybe we can think of some cute little trinkets to include." Julia said, "Great idea! Karley, you go look for trinkets. Mommy, you go look for cute paper. I'm going to go write Miori a new letter....."

Weekly Piano "Recital"

The night before Julia's piano class she likes to "perform" the pieces she has been working on during the week for her family. This night she was keen on trying to teach the piece to her sister.

Pledge of Alligance

Karley's preschool teacher informed me couple of weeks ago that she knows the Pledge, among some other things that shocked me. Here is her "performance" for her family.

Opa!

Today was my grandmother's 85th birthday (and my neice's 6th birthday) and our family celebrated the occassion with an afternoon at one of her favorite Greek restaurants in Petaluma. The first two hours consisted of Greek dancing lessons by this older, semi-grouchy Greek man. He was not impressed with our attempts in learning these dances, but the funny thing is that although he appeared to have normal vision, whenever he spoke to us as a group he did so with his eyes closed. Like perhaps what he was seeing was too much for his eyes to take. It was pretty funny. He also would listen to our feet pound the wooden floor. He was unhappy that we were not in unison and made us repeat it over and over again until finally I shooed the kids away so that we could get out of this drill. It was them that were out of step, I swear. After the lessons the band arrived along with the restuarant regulars. We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening dancing and eating. Happy Birthday Grandma!

Leap Day!

Today, being Leap Day, we headed to the zoo to look for animals that hop or leap. I gave Julia a clipboard and lots of paper and she eagerly wrote down animals that we came to that hop, jump, or leap. The zoo also had a special talk today on frogs and toads (amphibians in general, really) and conservation. We were able to get all of our routine school work done in the morning and spent the rest of the day at the zoo. It was a warm spring day, perfect for going to the zoo. The three of us cheered that we were some of the lucky few that did not have strollers and diaper bags in tow. But of course there were the nearly consecutive five or so trips to the restroom.....

Julia's finds today include....

snow leopard
jaguar
red kangaroo
wallaby
Western toad
dart poison frog
fire-bellied toad
jumping pitviper
Colorado River toad
green tree frog
squirrel frog
Pacific tree frog
chimpanzee
river otter

Mommy, how old are you???

When a young child, particularly a three year old, asks you this question it is usually a safe bet that when you ask them to give you a guess that they will have a fabulous answer like 22 (or maybe even 12!). Unfortunately for me, when Karley and I went through this exchange a few days ago she came back with......35.....my precise age!!!! Ouch!

Ok, ok, I'm sorry....

I know it has been a long, long time since my last post. Heck, I almost even forgot how to find the blog myself! Just kidding. It has been a busy and somewhat eventful month. I can't believe its been a whole month since my last post!!!! To be honest for awhile now I have had things come up that I've said, "Oh! I need to post that on the blog!," but the problem is that by the end of the day blogging about our day just feels like too much work! At the end of a busy day when the kids are finally in bed, the only thing I seem to want to do these days is to curl up in bed with a good book (and John will tell you that I usually don't last too long before I'm in a deep sleep).

Our semester is going well. I am dealing with a bit more attitude the last few weeks, but we are still managing to get work done. Julia learned that one of her friends in several of her classes turns out to be a pretty close neighbor of ours. An added bonus is that she has a younger sister, a little bit younger than Karley. The other day we met them at our neighborhood park and the four girls had a great time running and playing in the sandbox. Why is it always my kid that decides to talk the others into burying her in the sand?? The two of them were sooo sandy that they went straight to the shower when we got home. It took multiple shampoos to get all the sand out of their hair. But I know they had a great time "digging for treasure."

Karley is doing super at preschool. Her teacher told me that Karley knows the days of the week in order and that she also knows the pledge of alligence (home video to be posted soon).

So things are good...we're still here....just busy as usual.

Natomas Charter School Poetry Jam

Last week Julia won second place in the K-2 group at PACT's (one of the four "schools" on campus) Poetry Jam. The top three contestants in each category (K-2, 3-5, 6-8) moved on to the campus-wide competition which was last Tuesday night. Now since only PACT has elementry age students it really only meant that the first, second, and third place winners were competing against each other again, but this time at night, on a stage with house lights, and again with a microphone.

Julia decided that she wanted to try to win first place after the first competition and I told her that I thought she should use her other poem since it was a bit more complex and longer (and she already had it memorized as well). So she worked on Keep a Poem in Your Pocket all week, including memorizing the author's long French name. All was going well. I turned in a copy of the new poem at school earlier in the day only to find out that SHE COULD NOT SWITCH POEMS!!! So with only three or four hours before the big event I had to break it to her that she had to go back to the first poem. She, of course, was not happy about this. We practiced during the short time she had left, including her new intro. She was frustrated because she was saying things like either the wrong title or the wrong author's name.

But when the big moment came, she marched up to the microphone and "forgot" her entire intro including saying who she was and jumped straight into the turtle poem. She did a fine job. Her voice was steady, clear, and not too fast. She really did a great job, but she forgot the intro and so she was docked a bunch of points. In the end she took third place. But she was awarded with a giant white ribbon and her mouth dropped and she squealed, "I won a RIBBON?!" The audience got a good chuckle out of seeing her excitement and true joy. It was a great moment. Of course I had planned to share it all with you, but the darn batteries died just before Julia took the stage..........

New Stuff

This week was our first week of new classes. On Tuesdays Julia still has her Kindergarten class, then off to pick up Karley from preschool and lunch at home, then back to school for her Music Appreciation class. She LOVED the class. She told me that it was a lot like Kindermusik and that so far it is her favorite of the new classes. On Wednesdays she has a drawing class first thing in the morning, then home for some more work and lunch, and then back again in the afternoon for Spanish class. I think she will really get a lot out of the drawing class. All the students draw an object (usually an animal) from an overhead projector image. Julia couldn't believe that the whole class all they did was draw the eyes of a panda! I can't wait to see her finished project. The Spanish class seems to be continuing from the first semester. Perhaps this is the reason that she says it is her least favorite class so far. I think she is realizing that it is going to be a little work.

Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays we have free to get our things done at home. Thursdays Karley also has preschool, so we still have to get up and out of the house early. At home we still are doing math, language (alternating between phonics, grammar, vocabulary, and handwriting), ancient history, and life science. The girls still have gymnastics on Saturday mornings, and next week Julia starts piano lessons.....whew!

PACT Poetry Jam!

The Little Turtle by Vachel Lindsay

This afternoon was PACT's Poetry Jam. Julia participated in the K-2 group, and was actually the very first student to participate. She was a bit nervous and began her poem as soon as she got to the front of the room (I wasn't quite ready for her and that's why the video begins so suddenly and her poem doesn't start at the beginning, plus I don't know how to rotate the video...sorry). There were about 6 or 7 kids participating in this age group and Julia was awarded Second Place! That means that she as well as the first and third place winners advance to the school wide poetry jam on Tuesday night.

Second Semester

Tomorrow we begin the second semester. There are no classes on campus this week and we will find out this week whether or not Julia will get into the next set of classes. She has decided not to continue hip hop, PE or computers for the rest of the school year. Instead, we signed up for music appreciation, Spanish, and drawing (she will still be in her Kindergarten class too). I'm not sure if they will let her into drawing or not since it is a 1st - 3rd grade class, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to try. If they don't let her then we can always pick up the art curriculum that we began at the beginning of the school year (We got away from it because she wouldn't do as the lesson said to do; instead she would draw or make her own thing.)

Big news in our house: Julia and I will begin piano lessons soon. And that also means that we now have a new piano in our house! All four of us are really having a good time with it (and so far the kids have been very respectful of it and following the new "piano rules"). Julia will begin a children's group piano lesson in a couple of weeks. My lessons will probably begin in March. Karley just began a new session of Kindermusik. She is enjoying that immensely.

One "funny" note before I go: Last Friday Julia was having a tough time focusing and getting work done at home. I gave her several time outs because she wouldn't do anything and also because she began to get mouthy with me. I told her that she would stay in her room as long as it took until she was ready to be both respectful to me and to do her work. She replied with "its too hard to do both!"

The beginning of a new year

Even though school doesn't officially start back up again until Monday, I thought I would share some observations I've made over the past few months. Although we stay quite busy during school time, it is still hard for me to see the subtle day-to-day changes. I know Julia has made progress in her skills and knowledge base since we began in mid-August, but sometimes it feels as though it comes too easily. The progress that I have noticed:

Penmanship:
Julia began the school year only writing in capital letters. She was even frightened with the idea of learning lower case. Today she writes effortlessly and often. Occasionally she makes her letters the wrong way, but the vast majority of her writing is clear and easy to read.

Math:
Julia's math learning has been progressing well. The last Friday before Christmas Break she took the first review test of our second book. That means we only have another 25 or 30 lessons left to be where I was hoping we would end up at the end of the school year. There are still somethings that I feel are missing in her math knowledge, but she has been introduced to some complicated concepts already.

Reading/Phonics:
Julia's reading is really taking off. She does not love the drill of phonics learning, but I know it has helped to improve her reading skills. Last night she and I began the first book of the Magic Tree House series. We started alternating pages and I agreed to read two chapters with her. We came to the third chapter and she was hooked. She asked if she could keep reading. I said yes, but that I was done reading for the night so she would have to read all the pages to me. She was about half way through the first page when John handed the phone to me and told me. So I left her with her book. I was on the phone for awhile and Julia found me, book in hand, and asked me what one of the words was. I told her to ask her father. Later I was off the phone and in the living room. At one point, maybe 30-45 min after I had left her room with the phone, she came downstairs with a huge, proud grin on her face. She announced to us that she read the whole book! She was so happy and proud. The book had 10 chapters, 68 pages. After congratulating her we told her she really needed to get to bed. Later when I checked on her before I went to bed I noticed she had the second book out with a bookmark at the third chapter. I'm sure there are words she skips over or isn't reading correctly (although she told me one day that she found if she kept reading she could figure out the hard words by the rest of the story), but I think her reading fire has been lit!

History:
Julia enjoys history well-enough. She doesn't like me asking her review questions about what we have read, but she is definitely getting an idea of the world around her. Much more, I'm sure, than I knew at her age.

Science:
We are continuing our life science notebook with our study of animals. We will continue this into the spring, but may leave the animal kingdom for awhile and do some plant biology. I think we will leave human biology for next year.

Dance:
Julia goes back and forth about whether or not she enjoys hip hop. I think it is fun for her, but it does move awfully fast and just when she feels like she is starting to "get it" her teacher adds to it or introduces a whole new dance.

PE:
Although Julia enjoys running in a soggy, muddy field, she doesn't like her timed runs so much. I imagine she will want to drop PE for next semester.

Computers:
I think Julia enjoys her computer class and will probably want to continue. I can't say that I have noticed a great improvement in her computer skills, but I'm really not worried about that at this point.

So anyway, although I don't see big break throughs day to day or week to week, they must be happening, because when I look back on what we have done so far this school year I can tell that she has grown from a preschooler to a true kindergartener.