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.