I wasn't entirely sure that we'd (I'd) survive the first week back from break, but here we are!

Today Stormy used HER day off coupon (told you it was a conspiracy to not give me a day off) which actually put me in a bind, because for most of what was on the schedule I would have needed her. But it seemed wrong, somehow, to cancel school and waste her coupon. (Even though I'd been fair and tried to talk her out of it.) So the boys and I had a fairly mellow , play-it-by-ear day, but still got some things done.

1. Meditation/journals
2. Khy finished his drawing and spelling work while Nicky and I worked in his phonics workbook, reviewing short vowel sounds.
3. Khy took a spelling test (missed 0) while Nicky practiced writing the alphabet on a mini chalkboard.
4. Khy read to Nicky from Disney's Scary story book.
5. Khy and Nicky spent half an hour exploring the new educational web portal.
6. Stormy joined us and we made "cheesy straws."

( for cheesy goodness click here )

Pretty easy, and they taste like macaroni and cheese. Honest! After that we added some bologna and fruit and called it lunch. And the kids got kitchen clean up duty, naturally. (This is the real reason I had children.)

Khy was sick today, so the lucky duck got to lay around playing video games while the rest of us did school. He isn't that sick, and I think I could have pressed the issue, but everybody deserves a not-so-sick day once in a while. Besides, I was busy trying to get the weekly housecleaning done early, so that for Shane's birthday tomorrow we can all relax. So I wasn't exactly fully in the game today, either. I had Stormy lead meditation for Nicky today, and while the visualization came out sounding more like a favorite video game battle then anything all that relaxing, I think they did well. For Cooking class we did a Reader's Theatre called "The Pyramid Cafe" that just reinforced the various food groups and their importance to the body. Then we all made "Dinosaur Bones" which turned out to be a cute, fun and easy snack project.

Add 1/2 C. of peanut butter to 1/2 C. of dry milk. (per student.) Add a T. of honey and mix well. Mold into fun shapes, then sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs. Eat.

Stormy aced the spelling test, Nicky was able to name five words that started with a short E sound (one of them was Elvis, cracked me up) and this afternoon we're making a quick jaunt to the library. And the house is pretty clean, so it's been an uber-constructive day, I guess. I have to say, though, with all the cleaning and doing and being and seeing I feel like I sort of experimented with what it's like to be a Super Mom today and I can't say I really liked it all that much. I'm not going to make it a habit.

For our cooking class today we made Halloween candy. A lovely friend of mine sent these really cute candy making kits, which made a lovely seasonal treat. Note how no one tried to use a coupon to get out of today's work. Hmmm... Anyway, that was pretty much the class period. We talked some about the origins of Halloween and what Samhain was really all about, why everyone started trick-or-treating, and why some people think the whole shebang is evil. Then we made the candy, which was a process that went very smoothly. Sort of amazing, really. Three kids and one teacher means someone is always having to wait their turn to do something, and that doesn't always work out as nicely as I'd like. :P But really, everyone kept a pretty good attitude and had fun. Once we finished and stuck everything in the fridge, we headed out to the library. We used to do our weekly library trips on Saturdays, but the place is always a madhouse, half the stuff I need is checked out before I get there (they changed the rules so that now you can't put anything on hold unless it's already checked out. This was playing serious havoc with my lesson planning, let me tell you), and it's just one more thing that adds to the craziness of the weekend. So today we ventured out and it went pretty well. We got a few weird looks which sort of surprised me - homeschooling is becoming so much more commonplace that I'm surprised now when people are surprised to see my children during school hours - but I found everything that I needed and it all went well. And Nicky still even managed to hook up with a few friends for a few minutes. Khy picked up the book of The Neverending Story, while Stormy stuck to picture books. She phases in and out on the chapter books, and it's tricky to find the ones that will really capture her interest. I picked out several books with swords involved for Nicky, and he asked for another Bill Nye video and chose one about inventions.

After lunch the kids ate the candy treats we made earlier, and took a spelling test. The new format for Nicky is working out really well. I had him name 5 words with a short "a" sound and this was his list:
1. Jak
2. Daxter
3. panda
4. alligator
5. arrows

Yes, the first two are from a video game.

Khy and Stormy took their test, and both of them only missed one. Stormy mispelled "companies" as "companis" and Khy spelled "grades" as "graeds." After a month of school, this is the first word that Stormy has missed.

Friday we have what I call "electives" but that’s a misleading name, because I’m the one who chooses what we’ll be learning! I think, at least for fall term, we’ll be switching back and forth between cooking classes and drama classes on these days. Today we started cooking class with an introduction to the dangers in the kitchen, and basic safety rules. In conjunction with that we’re doing a little unit on nutrition that I found through a link from Ruth. (Thanks Ruth!) So we discussed the 5 food groups and practiced assigning different foods to each one. The kids all drew pictures of their favorite food from each group, and we played a game similar to the one on Sesame Street where I would list off four foods and they would have to guess which 1 of the 4 didn’t belong. We finished up by making a real simple instant pudding in the kitchen. They’ve each helped me in the kitchen before this, but this was the first time I pretty much stood back and let them read the recipe and puzzle it out on their own. And afterward, of course, they had a nice pudding snack.

This year I’ve created a Reward system. Part of it was inspired by a book that Khy read over the summer by Susie Morgenstern, where the teacher gave out fun coupons to all the students. Everything from "copy from your neighbor" to "skip a day of school." So I made coupons based on those, but more applicable to us as homeschoolers. Then I expanded on the idea. So now the way it works is this: Every week each kid earns 1 ticket. This they will get no matter what. I have a roll of tickets like the kind they use at carnivals, and this is what we’re using. The kids can also earn extra tickets along the way as well, by writing book reports on approved books. The big kids earn 2 tickets for a fictional book (with written and oral book report) and 3 tickets for non-fiction. Nicky works a little differently since he isn’t reading on his own yet. So for his extra tickets he has to read a book first with one of his siblings, then again with one of his parents. Then he has to draw a picture based on the book. After he’s done this with two books, he earns one ticket.

I can also award tickets at my discretion throughout the year, if I see one of them working particularly hard. So. Each one of those coupons I mentioned will cost them three tickets to "buy." So they can choose to trade their tickets in on coupons, or they can save their tickets and when they reach 25, they will receive a $10 credit to spend on either Scholastic book club items, something from the Discovery store (or similar) or to spend in the craft aisle at Fred Meyer. The kids are totally thrilled with this. By the end of the week Nicky had earned 3 tickets, and not surprisingly he traded them in on a coupon that cancels school for an entire day. So next Friday will be a holiday, thanks to Nicky. I was also really happy when Khy expressed a desire to NOT have Nicky cancel Monday’s class, because Khy didn’t want to have to wait another week to hear more Huck Finn.

We had our first spelling test of the year. Stormy got every word right, Khy missed only 4, and Nicky got all of his right! I was so excited and shocked. I'm learning that there are a lot of times when I feel like I'm not connecting with Nicky at all - which is what I felt with the spelling for most of this week - and really he's just processing it.

All in all it was a good first week. But I'm exhausted and more than ready for the weekend.