Thursday May 28

"I think today I'll finish my vocabulary book," Connor declared at 7am this morning. Self-directed, student-led learning. What a concept! "After my vocabulary book, I am going to finish The Hobbit, correct my Math pages and work on my story about pirates." Yes, he sets a plan for himself now, writes it down and gets down to business. I would never have envisioned homeschooling in this manner. I am a teacher, and I make the lesson plans--NOT.

Wed. May 27

Hey, this is Connor speaking. Is this thing on? Testing, testing. Mom wanted me to blog, and you know, what mom says goes. So here I am blogging. I recently started writing a story, and it is about pirates. What inspired me to write it, is that I just read Treasure Island and bought a new book about pirates. Then, I decided to write one. At the end of my blog I will include the first two paragraphs of the story. Email me at sandyanddavid@epals.com if you want to read more. Notice the email is different than my mom's email. Anyway, I am trying to write a chapter a day, but today, after I was finished writing, the computer didn't save right, so what I wrote today is lost.
Some builders are building a deck. I like watching what they have to do. Today, they ran into the problem. The hottub won't fit into the door. Now, they have to tear down a wall and start again. What a bummer. Well, that is really all I have to say. My story is below.

Chapter I
Pirate's Soul, Lost at Sea.
The ship's port side was carved to look like a cutlass slicing through the air. The poor craftsmanship made it look like a pointed stick falling from a tree. On the starboard side of the Viking ship the same thing happened. Yes, the Sharktooth was a Viking long ship. At least it was made to look like one. The Captain was a retired pirate named Black-Handed Bill. The crew, a sad sight to look at, were sailors and various types of Navy commanders. No pirates. Or so they thought.
"Ello, I am Terris Long-foot. I would like to join the crew." an elderly man in rags spoke to the Captain. By the looks of things, he was a killer.

Tues. May 26

Connor finished his Math curriculum today!! Whoo hoo! A whole year's worth of Math completed in 5 months, and a grade level higher than what he was doing at Geneseo Central. He's also half-way through the book The Hobbit, and he went to Chinese class too. Of course, some of our day was dedicated to the puppies!!!

Thurs and Friday

We did our usual school things, Math, Vocabulary, Reading and Writing, plus we took care of puppies all week. Wow, the puppies are gorgeous! Connor had a guitar lesson and a horseback riding lesson on Thursday, and Chess and Tae Kwon Do on Friday. He's almost done with the second Math workbook, and Xiao has been teaching Connor basic trigonometry. If I haven't mentioned it before, having Xiao here has been a huge blessing to this family. He plays Risk and Chess with the boys, and he teaches them Math and Chinese all the time. I will be sorry when he returns to China next month.

Connor's blog

This time of the year has been hard for me because I have to make a choice between going to school next year, or staying home-schooled. I do not want to disappoint my friends at school, but to be honest, I love home-schooling. I think I am going to stay home-schooled until seventh grade when I go to Mcquaid Jesuit. I think home-schooling is really good for me is because I want to go to church and learn about God. At public school I would not have a chance to do that. Also, I learn a lot more in a half a year, then two years at public school, and I feel good about that. The only bad thing about home-schooling is that even when I'm on vacation Mom still makes me do work, and that gets really annoying. When the puppies were born, all the kids were calling me lucky because I got to stay home with them. But I am doing as much work as they are, and you can't consider me "off" from school because I'm ALWAYS in school.
Mom is going to let me take an online course at MCC (Monroe Community College). I have not started yet, but I am pretty sure I am going to be able to take one this summer. I know I would not be able to do that at ten years old in public school. At first, I was browsing Google for free online courses on how to design video games. I came upon a free course at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Mom said that MIT is way not right for a ten year old. What I want to do is: (this sounds hard) is get an Associates degree at MCC,then go to Notre Dame for a Bachelors degree. Last, but certainly not least, I want to go to a seminary for however long that is, and get ordained as a Priest. I have high goals, but hey, my brother wants to go to Westpoint.

Wed. May 20

We didn't go to church this morning because Connor slept in until 8am. I was up 3 times with the puppies during the night, so I didn't feel overly motivated myself. The puppies are gorgeous and Maggie is simply amazing. She is the best mother!! While I showed off puppies to various friends, Connor completed his math pages. The lesson was about calculating the volume of a prism triangle, and it was confusing even to me. Eventually, I told Connor to skip that problem and wait for Xiao to get home. Xiao is brilliant at math, and he often helps the boys with their computations. After math, Connor created 20 flashcards and completed a unit in his vocabulary book. On Tuesday night I was driving Austin and his friend John to their Civil Air Patrol meeting, when John found Connor's vocabulary book. He thought it was Austin's (which it is in a way, since Austin is using the same book at McQuaid) and John commented that the vocabulary book is a grade level higher than the one he is using in the same series. John attends a private school in Lima and he's in the eighth grade, so I found that interesting. Anyway, after vocabulary Connor revised the essay he wrote on why he wants to be a priest. At 1p we went to Tae Kwon Do. I was extremely proud of how well Connor stayed on task during the class. He's never been that quiet and focused for 45 minutes. This is progress! After Tae Kwon Do, Connor had a guitar lesson. On the way home from guitar, I had to call the vet to find out the cost of the 1st and 2nd shots for the puppies. Connor was trying to figure out the economics of breeding. Of course, he found out that there isn't that much profit in the puppy selling business, although it's better than not being able to cover the costs. We got home from guitar and Xiao helped Connor with the rest of his math. Now they are playing Risk, a board game. The boys play Risk for hours.

Tues. May 19

Puppies, puppies and MORE puppies. Our dog had puppies Monday night (all night) and that is consuming our every waking moment right now. Of course, Connor did his math, vocab. and Chinese today, but primarily we took care of our dogs. Whew. I'm pooped.

Monday May 18

Well, the big news today is that we think Maggie might be in labor! She dug a hole in the kennel, and laid down in it and refused to come in the house. We finally dragged her in the house at 4p, and she's been acting weird ever since. But back to homeschooling, Connor took his first official group Tae Kwon Do class today. He is doing great already. Very focused, which is unusual for him. Of course, we went to church this morning, and he completed his math, read (The Last Lecture) and responded to essay questions on Treasure Island. He also installed a new program for writing web pages (and video games). It's called Alice, and he read about it in the book The Last Lecture.

Sunday--a changed perspective

I wanted to take a moment to blog about how home-schooling has changed my perspective on learning. Earlier in the week, I put our old Oreck vacuum cleaner into the car to drop off at the local Orek dealer to use for parts. I've had the (very, very expensive) vacuum cleaner for 15 years, and I decided not to spend the money to have it fixed yet again. I bought a cheapo vac at Wal-mart instead. Then Connor found the discarded vacuum and declared it a national treasure. If you read last weeks' blogs, you saw my comment about Connor taking apart the vacuum and researching how to make motors etc. He wants to use the motor to make a rotisserie for the grill.In Myrtle Beach we ate pineapple cooked on a rotisserie, and he's sure he can duplicate the recipe if only he can build the right motor.

Yesterday, I stopped by my dad's apartment to load up the van with junk the tenant left behind. After I dropped off the junk at the dump, Connor lamented that I didn't let him keep the old bi-fold closet doors for his fort. Oh yeah, that WOULD have been cool. Why didn't I think of that?? I've never been one to hoard stuff, and I hate junk with a passion, but now I finally see its value as an educational tool. On Mother's Day, Uncle Charlie was loading scrap metal into his truck to take to the metal recycle place. While the other kids decided it was "work" to help Uncle Charlie load up, Connor found great pleasure in going through the junk. He came home with an old metal saw, a copper planter, assorted wire, and other interesting stuff. To the budding inventor, these are treasures! Though I cannot change my perspective overnight, I am at least starting to see the world through my son's eyes; it's a cool place to be.

Thurs. and Friday May 14-15

Thursday we had the babies here again. We went to Mass, and then Connor did his normal things (Math, reading, vocabulary, Chinese). At 2p I took him to his Tae Kwan Do class. The instructor is rather intimidating, and I am surprised Connor likes the class as much as he does. Don't get me wrong; I think the discipline is just what Connor needs and I'm happy he wants to sign up for 6 months of lessons. The instructor expects a "Yes, Sir" answer every time, and Connor is simply NOT allowed to interrupt with questions. Connor's favorite thing to say is, "I have a question." It turns out that the dojo has a day class scheduled 1-1:45p M W and Fridays that Connor can attend. The other attendees of the class are adults, and I hesitate to have Connor join a class of adults; however, the instructor ensures me that the class is based on ability, not age. The junior class (for kids his age specifically) is at 5:30p, and I told the instructor we are NOT going to get back into running around every darn night. Our supper time and evening time together is simply too important. We have enough running around with Austin's sports. So it looks like Connor has yet another activity on his plate. At least boat-building and Impact Academy are finished now, and we'll be done with this session of Chinese in a month. I did tell Connor that he will have to eventually choose between horse-back riding and Tae Kwan Do because of the costs involved. We're currently spending as much on homeschooling Connor as we do for Austin's tuition!! On Friday we went to Chess class, in addition to our normal school things. Yes, we could go, go, go and have Connor in a class every single moment of the day, if we so desired!

May 13th Wed.

Connor spent most of the day completing the standardized tests required by NYS. It was boring,unproductive and a complete waste of our day. At 1pm, we went to check out a Tae-Kwan-do class. Connor took an introductory class with the instructor for 30 minutes, and then we watched a group class for an hour. He is going to take another introductory class tomorrow, and then we will decide if Tae-Kwan-do fits into our life/curriculum/goals/budget. From there, we went to a Dr. appointment to get Connor's stitches taken out. Kids heal so very quickly!!

Tues. May 12th

I just found this on another blog: "WHY WE HOMESCHOOL: We have seen the village and we don't want it raising our children! God gave them to us. We'll take the job." We did the usual activities today: church, math, vocabulary, and writing. We focused most of our efforts on writing. I want Connor to write a concise essay with organization, but it must have his voice and personality too. I gave him the topic "Chores" and he wrote a great essay arguing that chores are important to teach children pride in their work and responsibility. In the afternoon, Connor took apart our old vacuum cleaner. He researched motors online and found a way to make a simple motor with a magnet, wire and batteries. It consumed most of the afternoon. We went to Chinese class at 3p and arrived home at 5p.

Monday May 11

Well, today was an interesting day. First of all, both Connor and I slept in today after our busy holiday weekend (with the four kids here), and we missed church completely. Then we found out that Maggie IS pregnant afterall. Last week when the vet did X-rays, he told me he can't see the bones of puppies until 45 days. I calculated her heat date, and said, yes she should be 50 days or more. I was wrong. Today he saw 3 (possibly 5) puppies on the X-ray. We are ecstatic, really,even though we need puppies like a hole in the head. As for school work, Connor spent most of the day on writing an essay. By 2:30p I had ripped up his essay and made him start over again entirely. After reading the Catholic Courier (featuring the new ordinations), Connor decided to write on why he wants to be a Priest. His essay was both formulaic and BORING. Some teachers love an organized, "I want to be a Priest for these three reasons" 5 paragraph essay; I do not. I tried to give him suggestions for improvement, but since he wasn't able to fix the essay in the editing stage, I simply ripped it up with great drama and a little bit of yelling. Again, I am not like his previous teachers who think (or at least pretend to think) that Connor is brilliant and wonderful. I ripped up the essay and told Connor that his essay lacked personality, voice and was boring. He needed to tell a story instead. After a break, during which Connor disassembled our old vacuum cleaner, he wrote a new essay that was a hundred-percent better. Of course, he also practiced Chinese and did his Math pages. Tomorrow, more writing exercises!!!

May 6-8

We have been working on more of the same. Church, Math, vocabulary, Chinese, PE, writing and reading we do daily. This week, because of Connor's stitches, he didn't play guitar, horse-back ride or use power tools. Connor did write an essay about WHY he wants to be a Priest, and he spent a fair amount of time gardening. We built a raised bed garden and planted vegetables. It's not as easy as it sounds. After Chess on Friday, Connor's friend Ezra came over. The boys built a tree fort and played the strategy game Risk. Then the kids that I watch (all four of them) came to stay with us for the weekend. We hiked, planted another garden, played games, went to church, and played outside. I'm just pooped. We love having the children here, but I will admit that it is exhausting too. In addition to the four kids I watch, Ezra stayed the weekend, my nephew Nick was here Friday night to Sat. afternoon, and Johannes (a German exchange student) was here all day Sunday. Tomorrow we have a busy day with Mother's Day and visiting two sets of parents. School day on Monday will seem like a break with only Connor here.

Tues. May 5th

We went to 9am Mass today at St. Matthew this morning. I am beginning to get tired of Connor's passion for religion. So very tired, in fact, that I sent an email to our Priest asking him if I ought to be concerned, or if he felt that way as a boy too. Connor's interest seems sincere, but he drives me crazy. Last night Connor was searching for another web design book online, when he came across a Latin Bible for $59.00. He begged and pleaded with me to let him buy it, with his own money. When I pointed out to Connor that he knows very little Latin, he brought me our Latin dictionary and tried to convince me that he could LEARN Latin by comparing the English Bible translation to the new Latin one. Again, I tried to talk him out of it, and I promised to take him to the bookstore today. So, after Math, Chinese, and vocabulary, we headed to Barnes and Noble. On the way, we listened to cassette tapes of Basil Rathbone reading Edgar Allen Poe's short stories. Connor found the set in my bookcase, and he really loves the British accent and the short horror stories. Hmmm, Latin Bible or The Mask of Red Death. Tough call. At B & N Connor found two cool looking non-fiction books to buy, instead of the Latin Bible. The first book is about pirates. Connor and I are both (concurrently, not out loud) reading Treasure Island, and we need to learn more about pirates to understand the book. The second book is about the Knights and castles of the 16th century. He did ask the woman at the bookstore if they had a Latin Bible, but when they didn't, he found (what I think) are more appropriate books. We also picked up Connor's canoe from the YMCA today. Neil, the instructor, said that 3 kids took it out on the creek last week, and she performed beautifully. After the bookstore, we went to Chinese class. Connor drives me nuts there too. He knows all the phrases and answers, and he cannot contain himself long enough to give Austin or me a chance to answer the questions. He just blurts out the answers. I know that it's a lack of maturity, and he will get better as he ages, but by the end of the Chinese class I was frustrated. Being his mother and not a politically correct teacher, I blasted him when we got in the car. "Shut up, Shut up, Shut up! If I can teach you one thing it would be to shut up!" Not so nice, huh? But it's what he needs to hear sometimes I think. Connor is so used to being right and knowing all the answers that he doesn't know how to be quiet and listen to others. Or in this case, give others a chance. Sigh. Tomorrow is another day. God grant me patience!

Monday May 4

Because Connor had a long night Sunday night, we didn't go to church Monday morning. He wanted to go to pray for healing, but I convinced him sleeping late would help the healing. Having one finger out of commission has affected our plan for this week. I had to cancel Connor's guitar lesson, two appointments with the crossfit trainer, and the horseback riding lesson. We are also finding that it is difficult for Connor to type without the use of his left hand. After studying Chinese, Math, vocabulary and geography in the morning, I had to take Connor for a tetanus shot. This too shall pass. We took the dog to the vet and found out that she is NOT having puppies. It is a hysterical pregnancy. We are disappointed, but relieved too because she is only one year old. A stop at the bank was instructional today. Connor has a savings account, and before I home-schooled I would do all the banking for him. Now, I take him to the bank, have him fill out the forms and present himself to the teller. The teller asked about Connor's injury, and that led to a conversation. Within five minutes, the teller is impressed with something Connor said (I think he told her he is withdrawing money to buy a Latin Bible) and she compliments his intelligence. That leads to Connor explaining that he's home-schooled. A few months ago we were like thieves in the night, hiding our little project from the public for fear of ridicule. Now, every chance he gets, Connor brags to people that he's home-schooled. Inevitably, he gets to tell the curious person that home-schooling allows him opportunities to do "cool stuff" the other kids never get to do. Although Connor got bored when we spent an hour printing and editing photos on the Kodak machine today. He is an expert at photoshop now though.

Look on the brightside, Mom, at least I LEARNED SOMETHING!

Oops! Today Connor almost sliced the top 1/3 of his finger off with his new pocket knife. We spent 1/2 the day in the emergency room, and after a few hours of reviewing Chinese words while waiting, Connor commented, "Well, look on the brightside, Mom, at least I learned something today!" Incredible!

Oh Joy! Puppies!

We just realized that our Golden Retriever is going to have puppies!! Oh joy! Now we're frantically researching how to make a whelping box and the care and delivery of puppies. Try to duplicate all THAT learning in science class...We also have the economy of selling the puppies for enough money to cover the vet costs. Today Connor built the whelping box with David, and next he will create a spreadsheet for puppy data (weight, sex etc.)

Sunday May 3rd

It's amazing how other people come into your life briefly, and then inspire you to tackle great things. For instance, I decided to train and run NYC marathon after a 2 second conversation with another runner at the Oaktree 1/2 marathon. A five minute chat with my brother-in-law's brother's wife at a family function(follow that relationship?) inspired us to adopt a special needs child from China. This winter I met a woman at the ski lodge who was struggling to find a school that could meet her son's educational needs. At that time, I had been homeschooling for less than a month, but we chatted about our sons and exchanged email addresses. Her comments led me to seek out professional testing for Connor, and I found that beneficial.Yesterday this virtual stranger contacted me because I inspired her to at least consider home-schooling as an educational option. We've now exchanged several emails, and I'm now newly motivated to blog everyday! It's nice to know that someone DOES read all my ramblings!! I cut and pasted her comments below:I was able to read through your whole blog yesterday afternoon, and while you may find your entries becoming boring, it was great for me on so many levels. 1) You opened your home and life with Connor to me. 2) It gave me at least a peak of the type of schedule and expectations you developed for your day to day travels through his curriculum. 3) Your asides, especially about Connor’s passions had me laughing out loud. 4) It was refreshing to understand the flexibility that you learned both in growing Connor’s autonomy and in striking a balance of workload and activities. 5) The way you carved out time for yourself without sacrificing Connor’s progress (I’m freaked-out that I’ll loose myself in all of this.) 6) Your willingness to try new things (like morning mass) perhaps grudgingly at first, but then embraced as a unique learning experience for yourself as well. 7) The frustrations you experienced with bridging the gap between what’s right for your family and what the state requires and the disconnect between the fact that even when the district can’t provide what he needs to grow appropriately, all the money remains with them anyway. And more.

Thurs. Apr. 30 and Friday May 1st

Thursday was a good day for Connor. We decided not to go to church on Thursday morning because we want to have at least one day of the week where we don't rush out the door. Connor managed to get all of his school work done by 1p, and he had time to play outside for awhile before his horseback riding lesson. The weather was nice and he was happy. The best thing was that the YMCA called to tell us that Connor's name was drawn to win the boat that the group made in the boat-building class. Oh joy! Friday was less eventful. We went to Mass and then to Chess club. After Chess, Connor had a headache so he slept for 45 minutes. Then he did his math and spent two hours taking the placement tests to see what level of PASS test I should administer. At the end of the year, I have to administer (and pay for!) a standardized test. This particular test packet requires I have Connor do a placement test to determine what level of the standardized test he should take. It seems like double work to me, but next year I can just skip the placement test and jump up one level. The tests are for 5-8th grade. As always, Connor rushed through the multiple choice questions and he made a few silly errors on the easiest problems. The pre-test score chart indicates (because of the mistakes) that I should give him the 7th grade tests. I'll have to start the end of year testing next week to allow time for the test company to grade the exam and create their statistics. What a bore. After the tests, Connor practiced guitar and his Chinese.