Pinewood Derby

William started Cub Scouts the past fall. He is now a Tiger cub and won 1st place in his Den for the Pinewood Derby. He also won 2nd place overall!

William's car is #7. Waiting with all of the other cars.

William sitting with his Den.

The scoring was done electronically. There is no arguing with a computer. :)

Eyes on the track.

After waiting 2 hours, William's car is ready to race!

Round 1. Number 7 in the lead.

Round 2. Number 7, second place.

Round 3. Number 7 in the lead.

Round 4. Number 7 winning by a mile!

Round 1 of the Finals. Number 7 in the lead.

Round 2 of the Finals, Number 7 winning by a mile!

Round 3 of the Finals. Number 7 in first place! During the finals, the winner of each den competed. Each car raced 3 times. There were about 12 cars total that raced in the finals. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners were selected by the best tiems on the track, generated by the computer.

Posing with his car after the races. Some older scouts from nearby Boy scout Troops assisted the Cub pack in their pinewood derby. The Boy Scouts brought their own Derby cars to race on the track for fun. William raced them and won!

Cookie Day

Today was a 'day off'.The weather has been cold, cold, and we have been working hard, hard on our school work. On our 'day off' I decided to have Hannah pick a treat from our Boys and Girls Betty Crocker Cookbook. She picked molasses cookies and she and William made them with little help from me. Hannah is learning fractions in her math and she has been struggling a bit. This chance to bake enabled her to apply what she has been learning. She struggled to realize that the measurements didn't just read in fractions, but they also included fractions of different measuring devices such as cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons. During the cooking making she came to me and said, "Mom, look how much Cloves the recipes wants." She showed me a 1/4 cup measuring cup. :) I directed her back to the recipe and instructed her to read 1/4 of what? We giggled at that.

A new student

Today, William joins our home school family! I had originally given myself this first year as a time to just teach Hannah, with Audrey on the side. After this initial 8 weeks, I feel like I am getting in to a groove. In the past weeks, William's teacher has expressed to me that his reading is not up to grade and that more time at home was required to bring him to grade level. After spending the morning with the girls, it was a lot to have to spend my afternoons with William's homework and then extra tutoring, on top of my mother responsibilities. When I asked William if he would like to be home schooled, he was excited! In these past few weeks he would often be bummed that he was missing the fun stuff his sisters were doing. So I have decided to bring William home, and out of public school. Today, in celebration of his joining us, we are going to Chuck-e-Cheese and meeting with one of William's soccer teammates who also home schools!

Day 9 - More Writing?

Today there were more complaints from Hannah(H). She didn't complain about her hand hurting, but she is taking for ever to finish her assignments. When i told her she had to be finished in 20 minutes she respectfully asked, "Or else, what?". Stumped by her direct question, I tried to recover by responding, "Or else, you will scrub the bathroom floors and then come back and finish." She finished, but I need incentives for her, not consequences. I personally operate based on obligation. If it doesn't HAVE TO be done, I don't like to do it. I am on a quest to find what motivates H and myself. :)

I introduced Elizabeth(E) to blanket time today. He response was, "I, don't, like, blanket time!" I explained to her that it was not time-out and that she could play with a special toy the next time she sat on the blanket. When the five minutes were up, I congratulated her and gave her a big hub and kiss and the she said, "I want my treat now." *sigh* I told she didn't get a treat, just hugs and kisses. She seamed to be okay with that and then ran off excitedly to tell Audrey that she was done.

Day 8 - Normal?

I successfully alternated in between the children's lessons today! Right after breakfast I started Hannah (H) on her spelling and Vocabulary words. While she was writing I started Audrey (A) on her first few math lessons, which consisted of introducing her to different math manipulatives. Elizabeth (E) enjoyed it too. When the little girls were finished playing with counting bears, I gave them letter D writing sheets and then started H on her next math lesson. H asked if we could do math all day and skip writing. :) Smart girl. Smart girl who is going to learn to spell and write better. :) Then we all sat down and read together.

I have been reading the book 20 and Counting, by Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar. Today I put into practice the 'playpen in a purse'. In a nut shell, this is a method of teaching children self-control and also a way for mom to have a little break with out the children feeling like they are being punished. I sat H and A down in a chair at individual times and talked to each of them about sit-down time. For five minutes I talked to them about being quite, and places that required them to be quiet such as the doctor's, or church, or a waiting area. I told them that sit-down time is not time-out time. It is not punishment time, but they much sit on their bottoms and no their knees or stomachs. Five minutes when by quick for me. A said it was long, but she didn't complain. H said it went by really quick. For E I will sit her on a blanket. We will practice this as often as we can and gradually increase the time to 30 minutes.

Day 7 - Half day

A half day means, H did half her work, b/c I had phone calls to make during business hours. We still did our opening exercises, and then H practiced for voice lessons, and wrote her vocabulary words. Her hand writing has improved greatly, and so has her speed and accuracy. She didn't complain about having to write her words and definitions! A was content drawing pictures and coloring her abc's as always.

Day 6 - We have Saxon books!

I am ecstatic that the girl's math books and math manipulative sets have come! We started the morning with our opening prayer, the pledge of allegiance and the Sing, Spell, Read, and Write song. We went studied the letter sounds flash cards, and then I let A study them on her own. I thought the morning was going pretty well, until my 3 year old nephew had a #2 accident in his underwear. BTW, he is potty training with E. As soon as that was cleaned up, my 15 mo. nephew had a stinky diaper. After that was cleaned up, H and I started on her much anticipated books. She and I breezed through the first 2 lessons. For art, she designed the cover of her math notebook. Then it was time for writing vocabulary and spelling. H does NOT like writing. It took her 1 HOUR to write 11 words and definitions. She drew pictures on her paper. She played with anything in her reach. She asked if she could do the rest for homework. After reminding her that we had a play date at 12:00 and she had 15 minutes left, miraculously she finished 5 words and definitions in 15 minutes.

Our play date was with another homeschooling family that I had met on a walk in the park earlier in the week. I grow more confident in my ability to homeschool when I talk to other seasoned homeschool moms and they encourage me in my efforts and let me know that I am doing well.