All posts by Nichole

Homeschool

Homeschooling in the infirmary

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home/schoolMy little guys have been sick since Monday, so this week’s theme was Things That Didn’t Require Much Energy. Our “Five in a Row” book was “The Salamander Room,” and it was the first in quite awhile that Poppy was really enthusiastic about. It isn’t that she doesn’t enjoy the FIAR books anymore, but this one? She asked for it every day, several times a day. Since she was under the weather, though, we didn’t do many of the suggested activities.

(PS: A downside to homeschooling? No sick days unless you’re way sick.)

Poppy did a little bit of copy work this week — a line from the “Wonderpets” theme song, and the first stanza of Robert Frost’s “Dust of Snow,” which was also her memorization piece this week. We finished reading “Betsy-Tacy” (and Poppy immediately asked for the next book in the series, so I guess she liked it!), and Poppy read several books for her December BookIt challenge. I upped her page-number target to 200 this month, since she knocked out 100 pages so easily last month, and she’s about 60 pages away from the goal.

We finally got our DSL line up and running again, so Poppy was able to play some games at NickJr.com and PBSKids.com. (We switched to a Verizon MiFi last year, and it was woefully inadequate in terms of bandwidth availability. But the cancellation fee was astronomical, so we had to stick with it.) I also signed up for a free trial of Dreambox Learning, which is a web-based math curriculum. Poppy tried it yesterday and thought it was a blast. I don’t know that I’d use it exclusively, but it would be a nice supplement. It’s kind of expensive, though, and homeschools don’t qualify for their school discount unless there are 24 students. (To which I say: Why didn’t you just say “no discount for you, homeschoolers”? Well, I guess you could sign up as a co-op. But still.)

Anyway, I’d appreciate your prayers regarding this “viral crud” — that was the doctor’s diagnosis — that’s taken up residence in my house. Poppy is supposed to dance in “The Nutcracker” this week, and I’m not sure they’ll want a sick, hacking angel in their ranks. She’d be devastated. Petey hasn’t been able to fully shake the fever that accompanied his “crud,” and I’m coming down with it now, too. So far mine is just the stuffy/runny nose and the sore throat, but I’d really like it if that went away or at the very least didn’t get any worse.

What to know what other homeschoolers are doing? Here’s the Weekly Wrap-Up at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. I’m linking up there, and lots of other homeschoolers have, too.

Bandwagons

Love and neither rockets nor basketball

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www.nataliedee.com
This adorable drawing is from www.nataliedee.com.

This week’s “30 Days of Truth” post was tough for me. Coming up with fodder for a whiny, stuff-I-don’t-like post was easy-peasy. This one, though, took some thought:

Something you love about yourself
30days

So I sat down at the computer while the kids and their sad little colds watched “Dinosaur Train” earlier this week, and I thought. And then I folded some laundry. And then I washed the sides of the dishwasher. And then I went back to the computer and stared at the “edit post” box some more. Then I checked Facebook and Twitter, took the kids’ temperatures and refilled their waters, and told the less-sick kid (again) why she couldn’t go out to play in the snow. And then I decided to stop stalling and write the post already.

And here’s what I came up with:

I love that I can make my kids laugh. There is little better than hearing your children guffaw at your lame joke or your goofy dancing. (Unless, of course, you were sincerely trying to dance. Then it would just be demoralizing.)

I love that I’m not afraid to take on a challenge in the kitchen. I like to cook, and I like all sorts of different cuisines. Once I discovered that most of them just took a specific set of ingredients, I was ready to tackle them on my own. So what if I still can’t make a decent pad Thai? At least I’ve tried. (Repeatedly.)

I love that I’m still my husband’s best friend. We were friends for a long time before we were “an item,” and that friendship is still the bedrock of our relationship.

I’m also rather fond of my ability to make a delicious cup of hot chocolate, which is what I’m going to do in just a few minutes. What do you love about yourself?