A Chilly 78 degrees

This week we've been back on track. Having our schoolroom be a bookshelf in the kitchen is working out so much better. Being downstairs in the kitchen is where the hubub always is anyway, so having papers, crayons, books, etc. right there makes things very convenient. Before every meal I have at least six pictures Isabel has drawn that I have to clear off....which is great! I guess I need to have a special place that she can put all of her drawings, but the point is that they are getting into drawing, maze making, letter writing and whatever else on their own because it is all right there. The Signing Time dvds are great. Isabel learns so much more from that then from me trying to teach her from a book. We have been making flash cards of the words we've learned and the stack is getting thick! Here is a great ASL dictionary online.

I planned that today after they finished all of their chores, school, and piano, we would go to the pool, but since it is an oh so chilly 78 degrees outside, Sylvia and Luke helped me make cinnamon muffins and we read Little House on the Prairie together.

Captain Cries A Lot

I finally got up the nerve to go to the library this morning and pay for the two missing paperbacks. They didn't yell at me....phew. I got a few picture books, Magic School Bus DVDs (Isabel's request) and Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, for Luke. I really think that book will be way too old for him, just that he wont get it, but who knows, he is enjoying Inkheart by Cornelia Funke right now and I didn't think he would get that. As you can tell by both those books, he loves Science Fiction and Fantasy. When we got home they made Mother's Day cards for their grandmothers while I read Little House on the Prairie out loud. Oh, here is another Safety Nerd moment:  In the book, Pa holds his nails in his mouth while hammering the roof.  It sure took a while to get back on track reading the book because Luke had to point out all of the reasons why holding nails in your mouth is, yes, once again, VERY DANGEROUS.  Afterward, Luke made new Xtreme Boy books with a new character, Captain Cries A Lot. Isabel did a Math worksheet while Luke had his piano class.

Isabel and I are learning food signs now in ASL. A friend suggested a PBS program called Signing Time. I checked out our library website and requested a few of them. We shall see! With Isabel, any opportunity for someone other than me teaching her (like these DVDs) is great. She is less likely to say, "I can't do this." or "I'm tired."