Political Cartoon

Niles created this cartoon, for the Revolutionary War, based on the phrase "We must all hang together".  Blogger will not let me turn it the correct way, sorry. ARGH

Building a Sukkah

Our synagogue holds a build a sukkah event every Sukkot.  This year we went to a family that also has chickens, ducks, 2 dogs [one being the biggest dog I have ever seen in person - think Clifford. Seriously.], rabbits & I think it was frogs in the aquarium.  I was too busy trying to get my kids steered outside & away from big dog.  Anyhow, here's a couple pictures.

Reading Next

Luca and I are now reading Chocolate Charlie and the Factory by Roald Dahl.  I love that this is a copy I had in 4th grade.  I know this because I diligently wrote my name and "4th grade" after it. ;)  He is looking forward to watching not one, but two versions of the movie with me once we are done.  I haven't seen the Johnny Depp version, so I'm curious how it will be.

Revolutionary War Poem

I found a great workbook on CurrClick which shows examples of all different types of poetry by giving examples related to the Revolutionary War.  Hence the War Haiku posted previously.  Since we are studying the Revolutionary War, this gives me the chance to work in an English Lesson, along with History in his journal. ;)

Here is another poem that he wrote.  It was supposed to be an alliteration, but he only used the "w" twice, so we'll give it another chance today.  But I do like this, as it shows his creativity so I'm posting it as well.

War can come as easily as war can go.

Haiku by Niles

War has no kindness

Soldiers like to win all wars

It is a bad sight

L'Shanah Tovah!

We wish for you a very sweet new year! May this year hold an abundance of joy, peace, and well- being. May we see the blessings in our lives, cherish them, and help them flourish.

So far so good

Our school year is really taking off and I'm very proud of the hard work the kids are doing.  Niles has really taken to the work box system and will start without prompting on most days.  He is now reading The Hound of the Baskervilles for his reading time.  I picked that because he likes mysteries and he likes ghost stories.  A good classic to work his way through this month. Niles seems to be excited about chemistry, even though they haven't "blown anything up" yet.  I've also signed him up for part two of the class so he'll be all set for science until January.  It's a great program and I look forward to more things in the future.

Luca is reading!  It is so awesome! He was finally ready and is just taking off like a rocket.  I am so excited for him.  When I put down the BOB book for him to read, he said, "this one is hard, I hate it." And promptly read it to me!  I said, "I don't think hard means what you think it means." And he laughed!  This is the child that fought me tooth and nail last year whenever I'd want to do it.  I credit two things: him being ready and the new program.  Knowing that he was ready is half the battle, giving him the time to get ready was a struggle for me. Especially with all the "is he reading yet" questions I get from family.  But it was worth it, because now that he is ready, he has no associations of frustration with it.

You know you're a homeschool parent when....

...you are making scrambled eggs with your kid and he starts asking questions about eggs that you can't answer [how does it form inside? what is the name of the clear part?] and you go find him a lesson which contains the info while the eggs are still cooking!