Whose Round Table?

This one is especially for my father-in-law.

This week, we've been studying about Alexander the Great. After reading a book about him and his army, Hailey, my 8 yo, came to me with this question.

Hailey: Was Alexander the Great a real person?

Me: Yes, he was.

Hailey: Hm. I didn't think he was because that would mean Merlin and the Sword in the Stone were real too, and I didn't think that was possible.

Me (stifling a laugh): Honey, I think you're getting him mixed up with King Arthur.

Hailey, smiling sheepishly: Oh, yeah.

Good bye, Anne. Sniff, sniff

Last week, I finished reading aloud one of my favorite series of books to my girls. 'Course, it only took me over a year to finish it. I am consistently inconsistent when it comes to reading aloud to the girls. I know - I'll probably be kicked out of the home schoolers' club for that. But it is hard to find a time when we don't need to be doing something else and I can get and keep their attention.

I used to try it at lunch, but frankly I am usually starving and want to eat first. And by the time I'm done eating, they nearly are too and need to start cleaning up and the little ones get restless... However, while Kelly has been working swings we've adjusted our schedule to fit his. So we are eating our big meal of the day at lunch and eating sandwiches or leftovers for supper. And somehow it is easy for me to wait and eat after they do at supper now. So while they eat, I read. Then while they clean, I eat. It has worked great! We've finished two books in the last two months - a record for us.

I spent the last year reading the entire Anne of Green Gables series to the girls. These are hands down my favorite books from childhood. In fact, I still love them. We are reading out of my set I was given when I was about 12 or 13 and they are quite battered and ratty looking. The last book might be my favorite. Set during World War I, that book brought the "home front" home to me more than any history book I've ever read. The only problem is that I choke up all the time. I cry in several places in that book every time I read it, and reading it aloud? Well, it was really hard to get through at time. I'll never get a job recording audio books, that's for sure.

But it was sweet to share these books that I love so much with the girls. I think they have caught a share of my love for them as they would beg me to always "read another chapter." It was sad to have it end. But today we started the Narnia series. I read it to the older girls years ago, but the younger set has never heard it, though Brynna has read them. But it won't be the same.

Hello? Is anyone there?

Blog? I have a blog?

If I have anyone left who actually reads this, I apologize. I don't think I've ever gone this long without posting something. Again, it's because we've had so much going on, and some of it is not blog-able, And it's all been keeping me busy and a little crazy. Three big updates today:

1. Most importantly, my grandmother passed away Sunday morning. She has been going downhill for the last six months, but has really had a hard time in the last 3 weeks, and was very ready to go home. I'm sad of course, but mainly concerned for my mom and aunt. After losing Kelly's mom last year, I don't even want to think about losing your own parent. And of course, my mom has been her primary caretaker in that she was the one going to the nursing home every day, making sure everything was taken care of, her hair cut, her doctor appointments made, etc. It will be a big hole in her life.

2. Today, Hailey got her cast off! She had a hip to foot cast for 5 weeks, then a short cast for 4 weeks. Today she got a break boot that she will wear for 4 weeks, taking it off only to sleep and bathe (yay for a real bath!). She is very excited.

3. We started school, have now added in all subjects. It certainly keeps me busy all morning. With a kindergartner learning to read all the way up to a high schooler, I am definitely being stretched this year. So far the two online classes Kora is taking are working well for us. She though she is, she is liking the online class. Go figure.

If you are interested, here's the obit for my grandmother, who will be missed, but who we know is in glory.

Day One

Today was our first day of school. Kelly's working shift work right now, working swings on Tuesday through Saturday, so we are adjusting our school day to match that, taking Monday's off. We are also having our "big" meal of the day at lunch instead of supper so that we can eat it with Kelly before he leaves. Though this shift working job is a temporary one (he was hired for another position, but he is working here until all the security clearances are done), I am thankful that we do homeschool, otherwise, the girls wouldn't see their dad at all for five days in a row once school started.

I've not been looking forward to this school year for a few reasons. Kora is starting high school work, which, I confess, intimidates me. I also have Lauryn with whom I need to devote plenty of time to this year as she is ready to read. I don't really enjoy teaching phonics, and I just came off a three year stint of working with Hailey to get her reading. And now, without a break, it's Lauryn's turn. If she takes three years to learn, I'll have to go right into teaching Ashlynn then, so let's all hope she picks it up a little more quickly. :-) And of course there are three others in between.

Today wasn't too bad though. Of course, the older the girls get, the fewer problems we have restarting the next year. And I always ease into the year somewhat - some courses don't need a full 36 weeks. The ones that do, we started this week. The others will be added in over the next couple of weeks. I also didn't do anything with Lauryn, besides let her watch The Letter Factory, since she had been running a high fever yesterday.

But of course, I also have a two year old. While she always makes life interesting, she fortunately saved the real fun for after nap. When I went in to get her out of her crib, she was lying in the crib with only a shirt on, her diaper in a heap on the floor beside the crib. I got her up and put a clean diaper on her telling her that taking off her diaper was a no-no. Then Lauryn comes in and says, "Mama, there's a wet spot over here by the crib." Yep, evidently the little scamp had climbed out of the crib, taken off her diaper, wet on the floor, and then climbed back into the crib before I came in. I asked her if she had done that, and she smiled at me and said, "Yep, climb crib."

This is going to be an interesting year.

I'll be the one on the ladder

I am done. Almost. As much as I can be. I have done as much school planning as I can. I have one curriculum set that has not been delivered yet - it's brand new and all I have is the Beta version. Once it gets here, I'll need to make photo copies of the tests and such. But other than that, unless I remember something I forgot to do (if I do, it'll probably be at 4 am) I can move on to other things.

Like painting! I still have paint I bought last year for some projects. But because of my tendon injury I did zero painting last summer. The summer of '08 I painted 3 bedrooms and a hallway with a newborn in the house! But last year, zip, nada, nothing. Hopefully I can remedy that this year.

I've also been stumped as to how to paint our stairwell, which needs it badly. But it's two stories tall, for Pete's sake. (Anyone know who Pete is?) Then I ran across this and even though I am a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to heights, I'm gonna give it a try.

You know what the hardest thing about painting is? That I never want to stop at painting. While I'm at it, I want to put in new light fixtures, and maybe new drapes, which would need new curtain rods. Or maybe the shower curtain needs to be replaced which would require new towels, toothbrush holders, trashcans... This is definitely not a new phenomenon for me, so I know I need to watch it. If you know of any cures, let me know. I'll be the one sitting on the couch watching HGTV.

The End

The school year is over. Well, mostly. Kora was still getting over her bout of bronchitis earlier this week, so she missed the first day of the standardized testing. So she still has to make that up. And I have them do at least one lesson in math per week during the summer - their favorite! Our pool is closed on Monday so I try to do it then and get it over with.

I usually do a post to kind of evaluate how the year has gone. I hesitated to do it this year. Not so much because we had a bad year academically. But it was a tough year all around. We've dealt with a death in the family, a fairly serious injury on my part, the serious deterioration of the health of my grandmother, Kelly's uncertain job situation and the emotional angst that entailed, and months and months of what seemed like unending illnesses. Add that to the normal routine of taking care of a family of eight and the homeschooling year should have collapsed under the weight of all of it. But I realized as I look over the year that we had a good year, in spite of all of that. In some cases, school work provided a normality that served as an anchor during some hard times. That doesn't mean that I wasn't ready to "pitch" it at times this year. :-)

As I look over the year, here are some of my evaluation points, both good and bad:

1. Hailey really started to read this year! She struggled more than all the other girls put together, but it finally "clicked" this year. She's reading books on her own and liking it. She's not the bookworm Brynna is, but this is a huge step forward. Hopefully this will translate to being able to read her math story problems, for example.

2. Brynna is really starting to make a transition into being able to work a little more independently. Don't get me wrong, at nine, she still needs a lot of supervision. But this year she was able to move from subject to subject without too much daydreaming in between. She even had a subject with computer cd lessons and she did great with it. She is eating up Latin like Kora does. She will soon be making the transition to Saxon 5/4 and I hope that helps her with her multiplication skills - that two digit multiplication has given her problems.

3. Aubrey is making great improvement in her thinking skills and logical thought. She's on the edge of the "logic stage" of development and it shows (right down to the "pert" remarks). She's always been a math person and she is continuing to excel in that. We are working on her writing/compositions. That did get better this year, but still needs help. She's also a little, shall we say lazy, when it comes to doing things like answering her history questions. Latin is not her "thing" like it is for Kora, but she did get better at that this year as well. Next year we are concentrating on writing and thoroughness.

4. Kora's writing made leaps and bounds of improvement this year, no thanks to me. I enrolled her in a writing co-op class, and it was so worth it. Last year she struggled with math; this year she did so much better. I'm glad that last year we slowed and down and re-did some of the book she was in and really made sure she grasped the material. Yay for the freedom and flexibility of homeschooling! Now I'm not worried about her moving into Algebra I at all. She's far ahead of me in Latin now so we are going to be enrolling her in an online course to help with that for next year.

5. Lauryn, well, to be honest Lauryn is where I really dropped the ball. She turned 5 a few months ago, and with the older girls I was working with them a lot more by this age. I did work with her some, but not consistently. She wasn't terrible interested either, so it was easy to let this be a sporadic thing. Hailey and Brynna's work was very teacher intensive this last year, and so I let Lauryn pretty much have a playful year, her work largely revolving around which princess she would be that day. So next year, my goal is to consistently work with her on phonics and have some fun math activities and games to play with her.

6. Ashlynn started talking and is showing interest in potty training. 'Nough said. ;-)

The "Later" pictures

Halfway through the week, and I'm ready to go back to the river. Our home school group rented a duplex right on the Guadalupe River. Since we rented both sides, we had the spacious deck all to ourselves.

Here's a look at the top level of the deck.

This is how far up the top deck is from the dock. The deck was actually three stories: the fishing/boat dock, the grilling level, and the lazy mommy enjoying the view level.
This is a peek at our wild party. Ignore the comfy pajamas everyone is wearing, and pay attention to the spiral staircase. My bed was up in the loft up those stairs. I had stupidly decided it was a smart idea to pack everything I was bringing into one suitcase: clothes, toiletries, blow dryer, games, movies, shoes, wine. And then I had to lug it ALL THE WAY UP THOSE STAIRS. The other ladies were all laughing at me. Next year, I'm bringing 2 duffel bags instead.
Some moms enjoying the deck Saturday morning, holding babies to give some of the other moms a break.

This is the view we had to look at.

A couple of the moms went fishing. Teresa caught a couple of rainbow trout, including this one. Those of us who like to eat fish but can't stand to catch them were duly impressed.
On Saturday about 5 of us went tubing. We liked it so much that on Sunday we rented a couple of rafts and 7 of us went rafting. I'm in the front in the pink shirt. Our "exit" spot was just across the river from our house so I had one of the other ladies get pictures.
See that raft waaaaaaaay back there? As we were pulling our raft out of the river, the other group was well behind. And they had 4 rowers and we only had 3!

Come on, you guys, hurry up!

Just kidding! Who wants to hurry on vacation?

We are definitely going to have to do this again next year! Next year, we're tubing all the way to Gruene!

Calgon, Take Me Away!

OK, showing my age a little there. I do want to point out that I was a VERY LITTLE girl when those commercials were airing. :-)

This weekend I am getting away - though Calgon (are they still around, does anyone know?) has nothing to do with it. This spring our home school group eschewed the conference we normally attend and decided to organize our own getaway. Though we'll have no inspirational speakers and no book tables to pawn over, I am sure we'll have a great time.

We rented a river house (actually it's a duplex, but we've rented both units) with a huge two story deck. We are going out to eat tonight, having pizza delivered Saturday night and are bringing food for all other times. We plan on eating good food, drinking yummy drinks (both alcoholic and non), chatting, playing, and just generally de-stressing. Saturday afternoon, some of us (the non-chicken ones) are going tubing on the river if the weather cooperates. I've got my sunscreen and bug spray ready to go.

I hope to post pictures next week. Looking forward to a relaxing weekend vacation with the girls!

The Idea is....

Today during grammar, I had the following conversation with Hailey, our 7 yo. This is the child that lives in fairy land most of the time.

Me: We are talking about nouns today. Give me an example of a person.

Hailey: Ashlynn

Me: OK, now a place.

Hailey: My room.

Me: Good, now a thing in this room.

Hailey: A lamp.

Me: Good, now an idea. Remember that an idea is something we can think about in our mind but we can't see or touch.

Hailey: A unicorn flying horse.

There will be days like this, Mama said.

A few weeks ago, I looked around and realized it was very quiet in my house. It was mid-morning on a school day, and it was eerily quiet. Crickets chirping, almost. When I realized the primary reason it was so quiet I had to take a picture.
Now, I post this, NOT to make you think this is how school always is at my house, just like any public or private school is not always going to be quiet. But because it was such an unusual occurrence, I had to commemorate it on film, er uh, digital images. It just so happened that the older four were all working quietly on their math. If they were wearing matching jumpers, this could be the cover shot of a home school magazine. However, usually, this is the scene:

• Kora's in the kitchen doing a science experiment that involves vinegar, pipe cleaners, a comb, and a 1L plastic bottle. Oh, and a nine volt battery.
  
• Aubrey's upstairs on the computer watching her math lesson on cd, and taking notes.
• Brynna is sitting at the table working away, but erasing every other letter because she spelled incorrectly or wasn't paying attention. She's also probably getting in trouble for tickling someone whose love language is NOT physical touch.
• Hailey's sitting with me on the sofa, doing great on the new sounds she's learning in phonics, but completely forgetting all the short vowels she ever learned.
• Lauryn is trying to convince me that everything toy related downstairs is "boring" and that the only interesting toys are all upstairs (where she is not allowed to go during school time on the theory that toddlers and pre-schoolers are easier to keep track of if they are on the same floor as I am).
• And they all need my help at the same time.
  

And Ashlynn? If she's not stealing papers or pencils off the school table, climbing into one of her sisters lap to "help" them with their math, or climbing on top of the kitchen table she's usually doing this:
I'm seriously thinking about changing my Facebook wall photo to this picture.

How much do you know about the Civil War?

In honor of back-to-school, I thought it would be fun to offer a little quiz: how much do you know about the American Civil War? Yes, it really is fun! I promise.

The Civil War is ripe with stories about the fighting. The men who fought it were prodigious letter writers and journal keepers, so there is no shortage of anecdotes about the battles. Almost every major battle had an area or two that forever after the battle was known by a nickname earned in that spot. Or sometimes insignificant little hills or towns became famous for the bloodshed that occurred there.

So you assignment is: take the nickname, name of a town (or building), or geographical place and list the corresponding Civil War Battle in the comments section. For instance, let's say #1 said "Shiloh Chapel" then in the comments you would list "1. Battle of Shiloh." Obviously none of the rest of these will be that easy. Also, since the North and South sometimes referred to the same battle by different names (e.g. Antietam and Sharpsburg) I will take either answer. Some battles will be used more than once. Try to do as many as you can without references.

* My FIL is strictly forbidden to post his answers in the comment section, as he would give away every answer to anyone else who cares to participate. David, you can email me if you must. :-)*

Here we go:

1. Marye's Heights

2. Bloody Angle

3. Little Round Top

4. Hornet's Nest

5. Elkhorn Tavern

6. Ezra Church

7. Bloody Lane

8. Lee & Gordon's mill

9. the Crater

10. Hell Hole

11. Dunker Church

12. Stone wall

13. Mule shoe

14. the peach orchard

15. Missionary Ridge

16. the Sunken Road

17. Hell's Half-acre

18. Seminary Ridge

19. the cornfield

20. Devil's Den

OK, there you have it! Post your answers in the comments! Show me how smart you are!

Why the English Language HAS to be the toughest to teach.

Yesterday during Hailey's phonics lesson, she was sounding out the word "catch." She did not say the proper short a sound, so I corrected her.

Me: No, it's ca. Short a like in apple.

Hailey: Ca. tch. Catch. Why does everyone say it like this?

Me: What do you mean?

Hailey: You said "catch." I say "ketch."

English is hard enough to learn, and our poor kids are trying to learn it in Texas.

So it begins...

So we just ended our first week of school. Surprisingly it went fairly smoothly. I never jump into school with both feet, doing every subject every day from day one. Besides, several of the curriculum I use only have 30-32 weeks worth of work, which allows me a week or two to ease into it. It takes the kids a few days for their brain to get back into school gear after a long break, so a gradual schedule works for all of us.

This week, all the girls did math, all but the 6 yo did grammar, and they all did history/geography. They 8 an 6 yo did handwriting as well. The 6 yo also did phonics. Next week, we'll add in science (for the 12 yo), vocabulary, and maybe Latin. Or I might hold off on Latin until the next week, I haven't decided yet.

The other advantage to a stair step approach of beginning a school year is that it allows me a chance to see what is working and what isn't, especially regarding our routine/schedule, and tweak it more easily than if I dumped everything thing on them at once. I guarantee nothing would be working right then for several weeks!

I'm also still looking into a couple of co-op classes for the fall, so this could be a very interesting semester. Especially since we are starting off in one of the best spots in history - the Civil War. Kids, stop rolling your eyes, it really is fascinating! I promise!

To school or not to school...

I've mentioned before that I have always preferred to school year round - until last year. Before last year, I had always taken about 6-7 weeks off from the end of May until after the 4th of July, and then started the new school year. This allowed us to take more weeks off during the year, and kept kids from getting bored while giving me ample time to prepare the school stuff.

Well last year, I had a baby in mid April. We had schooled straight through the year with few breaks so we could be done by then. I loved the almost 4 month break! Of course it gave me ample time to recover from the birth and adjust to a new baby. And it was just so laid back and relaxing. I also got tons done around the house, including painting 4 of the bedrooms.

So this year I decided to do a long summer break as well, though we didn't finish until the end of May. I am now being reminded of one reason I liked to school year round. I'm afraid the kids - at least in the 4-8 age range - are bored! They would never admit to it of course, but I am sure having more than the normal amount of fussing, arguing, picking on each other, etc from all the kids. It's leading to some really bad attitudes - and the kids' attitudes aren't that great either! ;-) I have one child in particular who seems to be making it her mission to get into as much mischief as possible lately. Sigh.

I'm seriously tempted to start school the first of August (two weeks earlier than planned)- even though I myself am still liking the time off. However, I have some medical issues that I am dealing with, and I'd rather be able to attend to those before we start back. Unfortunately, I am still waiting to hear from two different doctors' offices and can't get answers, so who knows when I can get it dealt with?

So I'm in a quandary - to school or not to school? So when are your kids starting back to school, whether you homeschool or not?

Summer Break

Though I love homeschooling - most of the time - I also love the change of pace of summer break. The first few years I homeschooled, I did more of a year round schedule. We'd take off about 6 weeks from late May through the 4th of July. Then we'd start back the week after the 4th.

This has several advantages. It's too hot here in South Texas to do anything outside besides swim unless you go out early in the day. This also gave me greater flexibility to take off weeks during the school year. Six weeks was enough time to order my stuff and get prepared for the next year.

The last 2-3 years, I have scheduled more of a traditional summer break. Last year, we took almost no weeks off during the school year so that we could finish the year by mid April before I was due to have Ashlynn. I loved the longer break. So I decided to do the same thing this year -though we ended mid May not mid April - for several reasons.

There are many projects around the house that don't get done except during school breaks, so this gives me plenty of time to tackle them. Also, with more kids now school age, it takes me longer to prepare than it used to. Also, as the kids get older, it takes me longer to get some things ready as the classes are more complex. FYI, my school aged kids are entering 8th, 6th, 3rd, and 1st. Plus with more kids, and as busy as our school year is, it just seems to take longer to decompress between years for me. :-) Also, as the girls have gotten older, they get involved in outside activities - music lessons, co-ops, etc. - that operate on a traditional school schedule. In many ways, it's easier to schedule around these things anyway.

So these days, the kids get up (they still get up at the same time as they did during school days, only on Saturday are the alarms not on) eat breakfast, do chores and go outside. I make them stay outside as long as they can stand it. Then they come in and the older ones practice piano. One morning a week, I make all four of the older girls do one math lesson. This keeps them from forgetting everything over the summer. I usually have one or two cleaning projects, like helping me move all the furniture in one room and vacuuming.

The rest is free time for them. They play or do crafts. Brynna and Hailey have been into "scrapbooking" like mad the last 2 or 3 weeks. The other day they all painted. They read a lot. I have "assigned" reading for them every afternoon. They have to read on that for 30-45 minutes and then can read anything they want.

I am spending the time preparing for next year - typing in lesson plans, creating lapbooks, making lists of needs for science experiments - as well as doing other little projects. Right now I'm on the hunt for the perfect bread recipe for the girls and I. I'm nursing my garden along. Last summer I redecorated like mad - some sort of weird postpartum chemical thing, I think. This year, I do want to get a couple of rooms painted and a couple of smaller projects done, but I am trying to keep from going overboard like I did last year. :-)

So what are you up to this summer?

Done. Mostly.

Well, I finally did it. After weeks of planning and researching, I put in my orders today for most of our school needs for the next year.

I have been buying as much used from this website as I could in the last several weeks. If you are not familiar with homeschoolclassifieds.com - and you are a homeschooler - what in the world are you waiting for? I saved quite a bit by buying several things used from other homeschoolers there. It's much better than eBay, and you can buy teacher tooks with no hassle. (For you non-homeschoolers, eBay banned the sale of answer/teacher books several months ago because public and private schooled students might buy them and copy the answers. Of course, you aren't supposed to buy anything on eBay if you are under 18, so does this mean their parents were buying it for their kids? But I digress.)

Another of my perennial favorites is rainbowresource.com. This business is owned by a homeschool family and literally carries nearly everything under the rainbow! I buy much of my new stuff there.

I also put in a decent order to The Bookshelf, the bookstore affiliated with Tapestry of Grace. Even if you don't use Tapestry, they have some great books, as well as other items, like Easy Grammar and Spelling Power. In fact, they are running a sale on these two items that is cheaper than I have ever seen them sell for new, so check them out.

I still have a few things to get from Amazon and half.com, but I am mostly done. By the way, I do not get any kind of kickback from recommending these places to you. I wish I did, since I just signed away my firstborn to buy all those books. Wait, if I signed her away, why did I buy stuff for her???

Show and Tell

Last Saturday, the three oldest girls took part in our homeschool group's "Show and Tell Day." This is a time for our kids to showcase some of the things they've been working on throughout the year. There were static displays as well as oral presentations. We had everything from a harp recital, sign language demonstration, oral reports, and a wonderful skit from The Princess Bride.

Kora and Aubrey both recited verses in Greek and then translated into English. But somehow I didn't get any good pictures of that. They also both played the pieces they have been preparing for the big recital next week.

Brynna recited a poem called "The Year." This was the first year she had participated in this event, and she did a great job!
They all did well, and it was a fun way to conclude the school year.

If only I had a nickel...

I wonder how many times I will have uttered the following phrase before I die:

"The silent 'e' at the end makes the vowel say its name."

A Phonics Lesson with Hailey (Aged 6)

Me: Today we are learning that "ay" says a. Remember when two vowels are together, the first one talks and the second one is silent. Hailey, look at the page, the words are not on the ceiling. What does "ay" say?

Hailey: I don't remember.

Me: Remember, the first one says its name and the second one is silent. So what does this say?

H: Oh yeah, a. [pronounced as a long a]

Me: Very good. Now let's read some words that have "ay" in them. What's this word? [I point to the word "pay."]

H: Puh. Puh. Piiiiiiiiiie. Pie.

Me: No, remember this is an "a." The "a" says its name. What is its name?

H: Oh yeah. A. Puh, puh, paaaaaaaay. Pay.

Me: Very good. (She reads a few more words.) Very good. Now let's read some sentences that have these words in them. (I point to the first sentence: Fay, Kay, and Clay will stay at a home on the bay for two days.)

H: Faaaay. Fay. What's a fay?

Me: It's not a thing; it's a girl's name.

H: Oh. Fay, Kaaaaaay. Kay. What's a Kay?

Me: It's a girl's name, too.

H: Oh, Fay, Kay and Claaaaay. Clay. What's a clay?

Me (trying not to let my frustration come out in my voice): It's a boy's name.

H: Oh. Clay will staaaaay. Stay ate.

Me: No. Look at the word. Does it have an "e" at the end?

Hailey just stares at my nose.

Me: Hailey, look at the word. Does it have an "e" at the end? (She shakes her head no.) Then what does the "a" say?

Hailey: I don't remember.

Me: (Sigh.) Remember an "a" says /a/ (like in apple) if there is no "e" at the end to make it say its name?

H: Oh yeah. At a home ["Very good," I interject.] on the bay. What's a bay?

Me: Its kind of like a lake.

H: Oh.

Me, after waiting for several seconds: Hailey, look at the book, the words aren't on the ceiling.

H: At her birthday party, do you think Piper...

Me: Hailey, let's talk about that later. Let's just finish reading right now.

H: Okay. Bay fuh, fuh ... [I tell her that "or" say or] for two daaaaaaaays.

**********
That was one sentence. One down , five more to go that morning. By this time I am really wishing I was a coffee drinker. Or that I had a Dr Pepper. Or chocolate. Or all of the above.

Homeschool Science: Pulleys

This was actually a couple of weeks ago. Kora was studying simple machines: inclined planes, levers, pulleys, wheels and axles, etc. This project is an oldie but a goodie. And the younger kids were so excited to get to participate in Kora's science project.

The rope wrapped around the broomstick handles acts as a pulley with every wrap. Aubrey and Brynna are trying to hold the broom sticks apart and Kora is pulling on the rope trying to pull them together.

With some effort, Kora was able to pull them together.

Now we wrapped the rope to create two more pulleys. Kora nearly pulled them over, it was so much easier this time.
I couldn't get a picture of it, but then we let Hailey try to pull the brooms together with Kora and I (the two strongest people in the house at the time - Kelly was at work) holding them apart. Hailey could pull us together with 5 pulleys though not with three.

They really had fun with this, being able to be stronger than Kora and I. Sad thing is they probably will all be taller and stronger than I am when they grow up!