Friday Feb. 27th--enough with the boat building already!

This morning I had to nix the boat building and get back to our regular curriculum. What happened is that Connor decided that after he built a few boats, and he has is plans figured out now with the materials list, he is going to then build a hang glider and a hot air balloon. He will test the aerodynamics by jumping out our patio doors. When he has built enough things that float and things that fly, he will sell them all on ebay, or better yet, build a website of his own. Enough already! To appease Connor, I set up an appointment (Sunday at 10am) to consult with an expert. John has been working on his handmade boat (a 24ft. Mahogany Zimmer) for 10 plus years!! Connor can tour John's workshop and ask him all his questions (a zillion) and perhaps learn the reality of boat building. After that issue was settled, ("NO, more boat building today! And NO, you can't jump out the patio doors to test your theories!)we left for morning mass. This time we went to St. Marys in Geneseo. Father Ed always speaks about the history of the church traditions. Today the homily was about fasting,repentance, Yom Kippur, Jewish customs and how it all fits into Lent. Can I list this under the study of History? When we got home, Connor reviewed his vocabulary words in preparation for his Unit 1-3 exam. He scored 91% on the test. This vocabulary text is difficult, even for me. At 10:30am we left for Chess. Connor takes a chess lesson with a group of homeschoolers every Friday. After Chess class, we moved to Math, Science (chemistry), writing, guitar and reading. I copied and administered a test off the internet for the book Huckleberry Finn, now that I finally finished the book myself. Every book that Connor reads, I read too. In this way, I can ask him real questions about the book, rather than the canned ones, as we drive to Rochester. We spend at least an hour a day in the car, and we find car-schooling productive. The canned questions I print, and have Connor answer, just so that I have something on paper to put in his portfolio to show NYS Dept. of Ed. if they should ask. The real thinking and learning I have a hard time documenting. How do I document Connor running down our hill with a big plastic bag held up high over his head? He was testing the pitch and wind for his proposed hang-glider. I'm sure the mothers of Einstein, Edison, Ansel Adams, Mark Twain, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Agatha Christie and many others who were homeschooled didn't have to document learning. Oh well;it is what it is. I console myself with the knowledge that if nothing else I can show Connor this blog when he has a child of his own. Unless of course, he remains celibate and fulfills his dream of becoming a priest. Sigh.