Fine Arts Museum

One of the moms in our homeschool group arranged a free school tour at the fine arts museum downtown. There were only limited spots for the tour, but we managed to squeeze in. Photography is allowed in only a few rooms of the museum and I turned off my flash to be safe.

The younger kids got a "storybook tour." The docent led us to three different types of portraits, led a discussion of each one, and read a picture book in front of two of them.


After the tour we went to the nearby gardens for a picnic lunch. It was cold!


Then we got to go back inside and wander around on our own. Sparkle hooked up with one of the other girls her age and they drew several items that piqued their interest.

Glitter's birthday

We had a small family celebration on Glitter's official birthday, followed by a big party on the weekend. I have pictures from the official birthday. However, I don't have any pictures of the big party because I was so freaked out trying to get everything together, and then I had to run out in the middle to get Sparkle to her first dance rehearsal. Wander said he took pictures, but I don't have access to his camera right now.

Anyway, what is in that giant box? Isn't the wrapping paper shinny!


Glitter rode in her her new booster seat . . .


... to her favorite restaurant, Chuck E. Cheese.


Then it was time for bed in her new nightgown.

Valentine's Parties

The girls had three Valentine's parties this February. One for our homeschool group, and one for Glitter's preschool, and another for Sparkle's school.

The first party was the homeschool group's party. We gather in a park and the kids set out their individual boxes. Here is Glitter with her jar that I decorated at the last minute the night before.



When some of the families realized that Sparkle wasn't there, they stuck an extra valentine in Glitter's jar to give to Sparkle. What a sweet gesture! I was planning on asking Glitter to share with Sparkle anyway, but this made the sharing even more appropriate.

Later that day after picking up Sparkle from school, the girls went through all the valentines and shared the candy.




In case Sparkle looks greedy opening one lollipop while sucking on another, she's really opening the lollipop for her sister.

The following week were the school Valentine's parties. Glitter got store-bought valentines to hand out. Sparkle draw a picture for her Valentines, then I scanned and printed enough copies for all her classmates. I also stapled candy to all the valentines.



Sparkle's party came last, and it marked the end of her days as a public schooled student. Yay for returning to homeschooling.

Science Museum, again

I finally unloaded a bunch of photos from my camera. Here are some photos from when we went to the science museum for Sparkle's classes earlier this month.

Glitter and I watched the chemistry demonstration again. We've watched it four times so far and she still watches with interest. I keep waiting for her to remember the answers to the questions. Maybe when we got later this week.



After Sparkle's class, she had a chance to watch the chemistry show for her first time. She figured out that she needed to raise her hand to be a helper. Here she is mixing glue and borax to make a bouncy ball.

Cuisenaire Rods do the trick

I started using Miquon Math and Cuisenaire rods with Sparkle.

I decided to start with the Orange book (the first book). Sparkle could do the initial addition and subtraction calculations in the book due to her background in RightStart. (I haven't started the fractions/multiplication stuff yet.) However, I had the gut feeling that Sparkle had some comprehension gaps that I couldn't quite define. So, I set aside the book and started working with the rods on our own.

As I suspected, Sparkle had a horrible time "finding all the combinations" that make a number.

Sparkle has a fluency with adding numbers that masks a lack of understanding. For example, she can calculate 1+5, 2+3, 3+3, and 6+0 and come up with 6 for all of them. However, she would get confused when trying to determine whether 1+5 equals 3+3. When I asked her to find all the combinations of numbers that equal 6, the only one she could come up with was 3+3. She was close to tears when I asked for other combinations.

In desperation, I found an article about number bonds, part-whole circles, and fact family equations. The article also talked about moving from concrete manipulatives, to pictorial representations, to the more abstract mathematical notation. I discussed the concepts from the article with Sparkle. Then I tried using the C-rods and some blank paper to teach Sparkle.

We worked our way back up to the idea of finding all the combinations that equal six. Here's the basic steps that I had Sparkle go through:

First, select two of each rod, so she had two of every number from 1-10.

Next, pick out a six cm rod to be the "whole" for this exercise.

Next, set aside all the rods longer than 6cm, as a larger number cannot be part of the "whole."

Next, use *all* of the remaining rods to create two car trains equal to 6cm. Then, discard "duplicate" trains with identical rods. Each two-car train represents a number bond.

Finally, record each number bond on paper. Draw the the part-whole circle and rod diagram. Write the equations in the fact family.



Next week we'll do the same activity for the numbers 7-10. If she flies through them, I'll know that she finally understands the concept.

Owie Knee

Three days ago when getting out of the car, my knee suddenly started screaming in pain. I don't know why. After a bit of experimenting I found that my knee felt completely normal when bent. However, whenever I tried to straighten it, the pain returned. I quickly stopped trying to straighten my leg.

I have no idea what happened to my knee. Nothing hit it. I didn't twist it. There was no popping sound. There was no swelling. If I sat for a long period of time, I would forget that it was hurt, only to remember as soon as I tried to stand up. I found that as long as I kept my knee bent, I could walk. So, I decided to wait and see.

The knee improved on its own over the course of the next two days. My range of motion increased. Today, I was finally able to walk normally. Good thing too. I was walking through the parking lot with the kiddos when my shoe slipped and I fell on that knee. Ironically, I fell in the middle of lecturing Sparkle about the importance of watching out for cars in a parking lot. Both girls reacted differently. Glitter wanted to see the boo-boo on my knee and didn't believe me when I said there was no boo-boo and she should just get into the car. Sparkle complained that the people behind us were laughing and couldn't see how it was really a funny situation.

starting Miquon

I started using Miquon with Sparkle today. I didn't use any of the books, but just let her play with the rods on the table. The one rule was that all the rods had to stay on the table, away from the edge. Sparkle immediately started building a three-dimensional house.

Turns out c-rods were one of the favorite math games in Sparkle's old classroom. With a bit of questioning I found that the kids just played with the c-rods and the teacher never gave any instruction in using them. Hum. While I am coming to understand that c-rods are a great math manipulative, I don't think that kids will learn much from them without any guidance.

I'm glad that Sparkle got to play with the c-rods before I started with them. She was already familiar with the different colors and the relative sizes. She build a staircase and identified the number of different colors. However, she did discover that the rods increased in length by one "marshmallow." (Marshmallow being what she called the little, white 1cm cubes.) I had colored a base-10 flat in the pattern of the AL-Abacus and lined up rods along the edge. Sparkle was able to tell at a glance what "number" goes with each rod. Then I built a train and lined it up with the patterned flats and again, Sparkle was able to tell the difference between 14 and 17 cm trains at a glance. I want to get some wooden base-10 rods and color code them, but I don't yet know a local store that sells them.

I'll still be using RightStart math with Sparkle, but now she'll do Miquon as well. Previously I had been confused by people who did two math programs, but now I'm starting to see the beauty of combining programs.

Oh, and I am very grateful to the mom who showed me how she uses Miquon with her children. It helped that she explained that she just goes through the workbook pages sequentially without a lot of other instruction that I was worried about.

a lack of documentation

Our homeschool suffers from a lack of documentation. I hate generating and keeping paperwork, so we don't have much to show for the school we do. It is also easy to forget what we've done. For example, today we went on a nature walk. While the girls were sitting and drawing, I saw a flock of birds swarming around a tree. I pulled out the binoculars and peered at them. I got a good view of several birds lighting on various branches and pecking off the red berries. The binoculars gave a fantastic view - I could actually see a bird grasp the berry in its beak, pull it off, and eat it. However, I sadly thought that I will forget this moment. Sparkle was already drawing a flower in the dirt. I wasn't up to drawing and I couldn't get a picture with my camera.

Earlier on the nature walk we played the observation game. We sat on a swinging bench and commented about the different things we observed - the plants, the pillars, the flowers, the leaves, the wind, etc. I was pleased when Glitter observed the sound of the chain on the swing clinking. Wow. However, I have no record of the conversation that I feel was of great homeschooling value.

When I commented to Wander that I felt that I had nothing to show for the homeschooling we've done, he looked at the kids and gave me a queer look. "How about two smart kids?" he commented. Okay, that will have to do. I won't have cute lapbooks, notebooks, timelines, etc. but I don't really need that. What's important is what's in the kids' heads and hearts, not any paperwork that I might keep.

I guess that this stream of consciousness blog entry will have to suffice for documentation of our nature finds.

Sparkle's art

Here is a picture of two things Sparkle made. The first is a dinosaur from a coloring book that Sparkle colored and cut out. I am pleased with the development of her scissor skills. The second is just a pretty drawing she made. I love her use of color and how she filled the page.


Here is a little story that Sparkle made in her daily journal. The plot is dreadful and there are spelling/punctuation problems, but overall I am very pleased. (I have fixed her mechanical errors to the best of my ability in the version typed below.)

	Once there was a happy mouse family. There was the mom, dad, and kids.
	They lived in a hole in the wall. But every time that they came out, the cat jumped, but never really caught them.
	But one day the cat caught the daddy mouse and ate him. The next day the mom and kids found the dad's bones in the doorway.
	The mouse family was now a sad and daddy-less family. From then on they were an incomplete family. THE END

Toothbrushing timer

Since Sparkle has had two cavities / fillings already, it's important that she brush her teeth. She was already in the habit of brushing twice a day (morning and evening). However, she would brush her teeth for only a few seconds and then want to be done. How was I to get her to brush for the full two minutes recommended?

I didn't want to invest in those fancy toothbrushes with the built in timers. I didn't want to be her personal watchdog. I didn't want an electronic timer that would have to be set each time. I wanted a simple, cheap device that Sparkle could use on her own to ensure that she brushed for two minutes.

I found a cheap sand timer at the local teacher supply store. They had these hourglass timers in intervals ranging from 30 seconds to three minutes.



When Sparkle starts brushing her teeth, she flips over the timer. When all the sand is in the bottom, she's done brushing and the timer is ready for next time. If she is interrupted and really needs to do something else, she can lay the timer on its side.

The timer worked so well that I got a second timer to use when I brush Glitter's teeth. Although Glitter isn't ready to brush her own teeth full time, I figure that I can get her in the habit of seeing how long it takes to brush for two minutes.

One disadvantage of the sand timer is that occasionally the girls knock them into the sink and they get wet. Normally it isn't a problem, and I can just wipe the outside of the timer dry. However, once the sand inside the timer got wet and wouldn't flow properly anymore. I was able to fix it by prying off the plastic cap, pouring out all the sand and dehydrating it, and then replacing the sand. I expect to get years of use out of these little plastic sand timers.

new use for my Kindle

I found a new use for my Kindle.

One shortcoming of the Kindle is that it doesn't support Asian fonts. That didn't affect me much as I don't have any books in an Asian language, and can't read any Asian languages anyway.

However, I am trying to learn Chinese. After two and a half years of Saturday lessons, I have three textbooks, each with its own glossary. Whenever I come across a new word or character that looks familiar, I have to look through the three books to see where I've seen that character before, or if I'm confusing it with another character. I don't like using a traditional Chinese-English/English-Chinese dictionary because my vocabulary is so small and it is discouraging to see so many words that I don't know. I tried making my own personal glossary, adding new vocabulary as I encountered it in the textbooks. However, every week I'd have to add new words and print and bind a whole new booklet. I got seriously behind and gave up trying to update the glossary.

Then Amazon came out with a software update for my Kindle that offers support for .pdf files. Although the Kindle doesn't support Asian fonts in Kindle format, it does support .pdf files with Asian fonts! I can have my personal glossary on the Kindle without printing anything. I can bring just my current textbook and the Kindle to my Chinese lessons, leaving the old textbooks behind. Yippie!

Curriculum junkie

I am definitely a curriculum junkie. I've accumulated homeschool books that I might never use. I've dropped programs after using them for only a week. I've changed what I use for almost single subject. I've even changed to public school, temporarily. And this is with a child who is only in first grade. The only subject where I've stayed with the same publisher is math. And that's about to change too.

I started Sparkle with RightStart Math in kindergarten. Although math is her weakest subject, RightStart Math has done wonders for her mathematically ability. RightStart math does an amazing job at teaching basic math concepts. Unfortunately, it is written as a scripted program that totally drives me nuts. It has you do unusual activities without explaining the point. A single lesson often contains several seemingly unrelated activities. The textbook doesn't differentiate between "extra" activities for enrichment versus key concepts that must be mastered before moving on.

I've been casually looking online at other math programs for a few months. Although some sounded good, I wasn't ready to spend Wander's money sight unseen when RightStart was working for Sparkle. Then I got sucked into an online discussion of cuisenaire rods versus the RightStart Abacus. I started out in defense of the abacus, proclaiming how wonderful it is. Yet the more I learned about cuisenaire rods, the more they appealed to me. Somehow I was converted to the other side. I still love the abacus, but wanted to try the cuisenaire rods. I bought a set of cuisenaire rods and the accompanying Miquon math program. The earliest I could use the program is after Sparkle is out of public school, but I'm anxious to try them out. The only time I've seen the books and rods in real life was at a friend's house and I was mystified by them at the time. In the meantime, maybe Glitter can play with the rods.