Most of our schooling today was learning about what to do to try to locate the owners of a stray dog. :o) At the start of our Math lesson, Makayla jumps up and yells "Casey, come and look at this dog, he is starving to death!" She had spotted him out the window. They went to inspect. I cringed, cause I KNOW what's about to happen. So, a minute later they come and get me. I heard them beforehand, and I was secretly doing the 'meditation talk' over and over in my head "please go home, please go home, please go home". So, no such luck. Especially since it COULDN'T go home cause Makayla tied him up! And of course we had to feed him. In all honesty, he IS bones. See, I'm not TOTALLY heartless. He seems to be some sort of hunting dog, he looks like a Bluetick Hound to me. His ribs and hip and backbones are showing. With that kind of dog you never know....they are hard to keep due to their hunting nature and he has probably wandered off to far in his hunt. I called the Humane Society and local Vet to see if anyone has called their lost dog. Nope. We made flyers to put up around town, and even posted a couple of 'Found' notices online. Hopefully we will locate his owner and get them reunited. PLEASE GOD. We do not need another animal, nor do we want one. So, at any rate, our school day was interrupted but what do you do? The thing is, every day can be a learning experience, life lessons, no day is lost or wasted. There's more to life than the Three R's.
An update to the 'Scientific Notation' post: I'm happy to report that my nephew made passing grades (varying from 80s -90s from what I have been told) on all of the papers I helped him with! Yayyy! I really am amazed myself, because I seriously wondered if a lot of the answers were right. I didn't quite understand what the teacher expected on some of the material we did, there was a lot to decipher with no specific instructions. It's hard to teach something you don't know when you don't have instructions. He also took the test on that chapter and passed it! One note here though, I've been told that his grade was passing, but it wasn't a high passing, it was a low passing, but acceptable either way. Here's what gets me though, my son said he saw the test and my nephew only missed 5. I think there was 20 or 25 questions. I think he did awesome!!
But, honestly, I see why the 'good' public school teachers are teachers....and why they keep at it, even when the system is failing them and the kids....it's because there is nothing like seeing that 'light' come on when they 'get it'. Especially when they have NO confidence in themselves and feel like they will never 'get it'. I know he got some of it at least, and I love it when my kids 'get it'. Course, I can work with them and pound it into their heads for days if I have to. LOL It doesn't take that long, of course, but I can take the time if need be. So many perks to Homeschooling. I highly recommend it!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
Life this Week -Scientific Notation
Life at our house this week....hmmmm, very busy. When I haven't been consumed with the normal everyday happenings (cleaning, cooking, homeschooling) this week, I've been trying to figure out Scientific Notation and Significant Figures to help my newphew Johnathan. It seems that he isn't doing as 'ok' in public school as his parents have said he was for the past few months. Who is? Public school is a rat race and all of us parents want it to be ok, but it's usually not ok. Parents are afraid to admit when a kid isn't doing ok for fear of everyone thinking that it's a reflection on the kid's intelligence or the parent's ability to see to it that they are getting an education. Neither of those are true though. It is the SCHOOL that hasn't done it's job.....and when you have a kid who is making bad grades, it's the SCHOOL'S FAULT, and when you have one who is making good grades....you better make sure you see the work so you'll know they are actually EARNING those grades and not just slipping through the system. At any rate, I got a call from his mother asking me if I could possibly help him with some Science. He had missed a whole week of school the week before (medical reasons) and had a TON of make-up work to do in his Science class and they were stumped as to how to do some stuff. I thought "sure, it's Science, how hard could it be?" Not sure why they asked me to help, I mean, yeah, I'm a HOMESCHOOL teacher, which means I'm intelligent enough to teach my own children and I know where to find answers when I don't quite understand things myself, but I am by no means a TEACHER with a degree. I learn a lot as my kids learn.
So, we make plans for the next evening for them to come over. Turns out, it's PHYSICAL SCIENCE. Not just Science. And the 'math problems' they were having so much trouble understanding were 'Equations in Scientific Notation'. Big difference, at least to me. Math to me is simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, etc. Those of you who know what Scientific Equation is know what I'm talking about. It's anything but simple (except maybe to the geniuses of the world). So, I had to start from the beginning myself to learn this stuff. Crash course in both Algebra and Scientific Notation. Thank God for the Internet. There are a lot of good sites out there that explain things really well, so I was able to learn a lot fast, and then came the page with adding in Scientific Notation. You'd think it would be simple:
(2.34 X 10^12) + (4.473 X 10^15) =?
Simple, huh? Just add the decimal numbers...and then...uh, ok, what about the 12 and the 15? Hmmmm, do I add them together maybe? Yeah, that's gotta be it. WRONG!! Cause the next part of the example said:
(0.00234 + 4.473) X 10^15 = ?
Ok, where did those zeros come from? WHY did the numbers change? Why does the 4.473 not change? And where did the 12 go in the 10^12? AND, why does THEIR answer have only three digits when mine has a bajillion? Believe me, I was sooooo confused and couldn't find the answer to these questions anywhere. I even sent out an SOS to my homeschool group in the hopes that a veteran homeschooler might have been there and done that and could enlighten me. Instead, I think I scared the one's to death that have younger kids because they thought about having to TEACH that in the upper grades. LOL (sorry about that guys, didn't mean to cause any coronaries there).
At any rate, I worked at it until I figured out the answer to those questions on my own, comparing my thoughts and mental notes to those of similar equations on some help sites. None of them gave an explanation.....but I'm that kind of person. I WILL eventually FIND THE ANSWER or figure it out myself. Just in case you're curious now...
The 10^12 goes away...because you use the exponent with the highest power, which is 10^15 for both addends. Hence, the addition equation that simply has the addends in parentheses and then the one X 10^15 =? at the end of it. The number 2.34 changed to 0.00234 because the difference between the 12 and the 15 (exponents) is 3, so you add that many zeros to that number so the value doesn't change, and the decimal point always goes to the right of the first digit. The addend with the exponent you used stays the same, it's value doesn't change. So, add those addends together, and you get
4.47534. Ok, but THEIR answer says 4.48. Again, confusion. Then I did find the answer to that one.....this is where 'significant figures' comes into play. Your answer has to have the same amount of significant figures (fancy terminology for 'digits') as the addend with the LEAST amount of figures in your original equation. In this case, it is 3 digits (2.34 is the one with the least), so your answer will have to be rounded to 3 digits and the decimal, again, is always placed to the right of the first digit. DONE.
I think I'm writing about this because my own kids will more than likely be doing Physical Science at some point (they just HAVE to now, so I can show off what I learned LOL).
I was able to help my nephew for the moment. Herrrrre I come to save the dayyyyyy!! LOL We'll see what happens this week. Stay tuned. LOL I should write a book when we get through this course called "Physical Science for Blondes". Oops. I'm sorry. That's politically incorrect. "Tips for the Physical Science Challenged"? BTW, don't get offended, I am blonde myself. Hee hee. If you're blonde, when I make fun of you, I'm making fun of me. :o)
What I WILL do though, is post some links to the sites where I found lots of goodies and help......math, scientific notation, algebra.....check the links called 'Great Homeschool Helps I've Found'.
So, that's all for today folks. Yep, see why I don't post but once a week? I post enough in one post for a week's worth of reading. :o) Stay tuned though, I might get a wild hair and write some more this week!!!
So, we make plans for the next evening for them to come over. Turns out, it's PHYSICAL SCIENCE. Not just Science. And the 'math problems' they were having so much trouble understanding were 'Equations in Scientific Notation'. Big difference, at least to me. Math to me is simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, etc. Those of you who know what Scientific Equation is know what I'm talking about. It's anything but simple (except maybe to the geniuses of the world). So, I had to start from the beginning myself to learn this stuff. Crash course in both Algebra and Scientific Notation. Thank God for the Internet. There are a lot of good sites out there that explain things really well, so I was able to learn a lot fast, and then came the page with adding in Scientific Notation. You'd think it would be simple:
(2.34 X 10^12) + (4.473 X 10^15) =?
Simple, huh? Just add the decimal numbers...and then...uh, ok, what about the 12 and the 15? Hmmmm, do I add them together maybe? Yeah, that's gotta be it. WRONG!! Cause the next part of the example said:
(0.00234 + 4.473) X 10^15 = ?
Ok, where did those zeros come from? WHY did the numbers change? Why does the 4.473 not change? And where did the 12 go in the 10^12? AND, why does THEIR answer have only three digits when mine has a bajillion? Believe me, I was sooooo confused and couldn't find the answer to these questions anywhere. I even sent out an SOS to my homeschool group in the hopes that a veteran homeschooler might have been there and done that and could enlighten me. Instead, I think I scared the one's to death that have younger kids because they thought about having to TEACH that in the upper grades. LOL (sorry about that guys, didn't mean to cause any coronaries there).
At any rate, I worked at it until I figured out the answer to those questions on my own, comparing my thoughts and mental notes to those of similar equations on some help sites. None of them gave an explanation.....but I'm that kind of person. I WILL eventually FIND THE ANSWER or figure it out myself. Just in case you're curious now...
The 10^12 goes away...because you use the exponent with the highest power, which is 10^15 for both addends. Hence, the addition equation that simply has the addends in parentheses and then the one X 10^15 =? at the end of it. The number 2.34 changed to 0.00234 because the difference between the 12 and the 15 (exponents) is 3, so you add that many zeros to that number so the value doesn't change, and the decimal point always goes to the right of the first digit. The addend with the exponent you used stays the same, it's value doesn't change. So, add those addends together, and you get
4.47534. Ok, but THEIR answer says 4.48. Again, confusion. Then I did find the answer to that one.....this is where 'significant figures' comes into play. Your answer has to have the same amount of significant figures (fancy terminology for 'digits') as the addend with the LEAST amount of figures in your original equation. In this case, it is 3 digits (2.34 is the one with the least), so your answer will have to be rounded to 3 digits and the decimal, again, is always placed to the right of the first digit. DONE.
I think I'm writing about this because my own kids will more than likely be doing Physical Science at some point (they just HAVE to now, so I can show off what I learned LOL).
I was able to help my nephew for the moment. Herrrrre I come to save the dayyyyyy!! LOL We'll see what happens this week. Stay tuned. LOL I should write a book when we get through this course called "Physical Science for Blondes". Oops. I'm sorry. That's politically incorrect. "Tips for the Physical Science Challenged"? BTW, don't get offended, I am blonde myself. Hee hee. If you're blonde, when I make fun of you, I'm making fun of me. :o)
What I WILL do though, is post some links to the sites where I found lots of goodies and help......math, scientific notation, algebra.....check the links called 'Great Homeschool Helps I've Found'.
So, that's all for today folks. Yep, see why I don't post but once a week? I post enough in one post for a week's worth of reading. :o) Stay tuned though, I might get a wild hair and write some more this week!!!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Monday
It's really Tuesday...but I'm still up so I'm posting about Monday. It's definately been you're typical Monday. We woke up to a booming thunderstorm here this morning.....then pretty much a lot of rain and dreariness for much of the day, although, I do try to see the glass as half full, so on the upside, it wasn't cold!! Still not Spring-like temps, but I can deal with it. Now, tomorrow...I hear it's supposed to be about 70 degrees! Yes! But not to bring any negativity to the post (as I know it will) it isn't gonna be a great summer with all of the bugs that are surviving this winter! I really really hate it, but we DO need a good deep freeze or we'll need mosquito nets this summer. Well, maybe nothing as drastic as that, but we WILL need major amounts of bug spray.
We got a late start on our schooling due my laziness today...LOL. Actually, I wasn't being lazy, I just feel that way when I'm still in my jammies at noon, even though I've been using the past couple of hours constructively.....paying bills that is. I COULD have been lazy though...my house was all nice and clean because it was cleaned over the weekend for Makayla's birthday. Everything but MY own bedroom (I know, it's OUR bedroom, but it's all flowery and stuff because I painted it in Spring colors so I'd always have a 'happy' place to go to). Yep, I'm one of those SADD sufferers that can barely see the light (SPRING) at the end of the tunnel (WINTER) and I get bogged down no matter how many times I tell myself "nope, not this winter, I'm gonna get busy, and stay active so the winter doldrums don't set in on ME". It hasn't even been a bad winter and it still set in. Anyhow, I consider my house warm and cozy (I call my style of decorating 'clean country') but my bedroom is Springy and Airy and Light with it's Yellow and Spring green walls, Donna Dewberry border, and the mural I handpainted in the Donna Dewberry style (it's a scene of a blue sky, flowers bordering a white picket fence, and a big tree with a tree swing, and birdhouses). Just a place where I can go and it's Spring ALL YEAR LONG!! At any rate, I needed to dust the room, and vacuum some, so I did that at 10 o'clock last night. :o)
We got a late start on our schooling due my laziness today...LOL. Actually, I wasn't being lazy, I just feel that way when I'm still in my jammies at noon, even though I've been using the past couple of hours constructively.....paying bills that is. I COULD have been lazy though...my house was all nice and clean because it was cleaned over the weekend for Makayla's birthday. Everything but MY own bedroom (I know, it's OUR bedroom, but it's all flowery and stuff because I painted it in Spring colors so I'd always have a 'happy' place to go to). Yep, I'm one of those SADD sufferers that can barely see the light (SPRING) at the end of the tunnel (WINTER) and I get bogged down no matter how many times I tell myself "nope, not this winter, I'm gonna get busy, and stay active so the winter doldrums don't set in on ME". It hasn't even been a bad winter and it still set in. Anyhow, I consider my house warm and cozy (I call my style of decorating 'clean country') but my bedroom is Springy and Airy and Light with it's Yellow and Spring green walls, Donna Dewberry border, and the mural I handpainted in the Donna Dewberry style (it's a scene of a blue sky, flowers bordering a white picket fence, and a big tree with a tree swing, and birdhouses). Just a place where I can go and it's Spring ALL YEAR LONG!! At any rate, I needed to dust the room, and vacuum some, so I did that at 10 o'clock last night. :o)
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Birthday Day!
Today was the big day! Makayla's 12th birthday. Let me back up though. My doubts about not enjoying myself at the Hannah Montana premier went down the drain quick last night. IT WAS GREAT!! I loved it! And I was sooo glad I was the one to get to share that birthday treat with my daughter. My son, Randy, and his fiance' Courtney, had bought the tickets for Makayla for her birthday, and Courtney was originally going to be the one to take her but she had to work. It worked out that I had to go, and I am so glad I did. Oh, and that one Jonas brother is soooo cute! My daughter got a kick out of me telling her that if I was her age, I'd have his poster on my wall for sure and I asked her why she didn't? LOL But let me tell you, if you have a daughter from very young to an older teen, take them to this premier this week if possible! Girls are lining up for it, and I can see why. Miley Cyrus is wonderful, the concert and clips are wonderful, and the 3-D effects are awesome! I thought confetti was actually falling on me. Serious. I will cherish that memory with my daughter forever...and I hope she does, too.
The birthday celebration went on today.....Makayla had wanted to go bowling, and she wanted a couple of friends and her entire family to go. She got her wish, although her Daddy couldn't bowl this time due to a flare up from an old hip injury. I hadn't bowled in about 3 years and I thought my carpel tunnel was going to kill me, and my games suffered as time went on. I bowled a 139 the first game....the second game was under 100. I don't know what that score was because the screen was cleared before I saw it and I knew I wasn't doing well anymore so I didn't keep track. I had to stop after 2 games because my arm was KILLING me. Bowling ball...carpel tunnel.....not a good combo. But I tried, and I'd do it again!! I love to bowl. So, back to Makayla.....LOL. She had a blast bowling with her two friends, Jenny and Emily. And so tonight is the big pajama party! After bowling, we picked up pizzas and headed home for dinner and then the chocolate cake with white buttercream icing and cookies and cream ice cream! The cake was sooo good and verrrry pretty. Sam's Club does an excellent job on their cakes and they are way cheaper than anywhere else too.
Makayla wanted a new comforter set for her bed, and I couldn't find one in time. My mom found one today at Sear's though, and she snuck off early from the bowling alley to come and fix up Makayla's bed as a surprise for her. She loved it!
Makayla had asked for a birthstone ring for Christmas but it couldn't be bought in time, so we told her maybe for her birthday. She's never had a 'real' ring, only the cheap stuff that turns her fingers green. Well, we bought her a 10K White Gold ring with a heart shaped Ameythyst with two little diamonds on each side from Zales. Very special present. And this is how we presented it to her: She had to go on a Scavenger Hunt!! I handed her an evelope with a paper telling her in a poetic way that she had to hunt for her special gift, follow 12 clues (one for each year) and that she'd find clue # 1 on a favorite school page. She had said the other day that Saxon's way of teaching long division by using 'short' division was her favorite. So that is where her first clue was. It said "you're the APPLE of our eye" (next clue located inside a ceramic apple in the dining room). It said "MIRROR mirror on the wall, you're the fairest of them all". And the next one said "you're such a DEER to us", taped to a deer head in our deer hunting room. That one said "you're as pretty as a DOLL" and sent her to the doll I bought when she was 3 because it looked just like her. Next one said "you sing so good you could be on the RADIO". So the next one was taped to our son's stereo and said "or maybe you should make your own CD" and so the next one was in our CD organizer. IT said "you're so beautiful you could be a movie star on TV". It was taped inside the door of our TV cabinet. That one said "are you getting aggrevated? Maybe you should pray, and read your BIBLE every day". It sent her to her Bible, inside the cover was finally the 11th clue....it said "I hope you're having a SWEEPING great time". Taped to the broom in the laundry room was finally clue # 12 and it said "you're heart is still close to Pa Pa's, and your gift is close to him". She thought and thought about that one, and realized she needed to look around her PaPa's picture.....and there it was, behind the picture!
She opened it and absolutely LOVED it. She had a great birthday, as usual. Birthdays are always special in our family, and I've always done all that I can to make them special for each child, so they will know how blessed I feel to have them in my life.
The birthday celebration went on today.....Makayla had wanted to go bowling, and she wanted a couple of friends and her entire family to go. She got her wish, although her Daddy couldn't bowl this time due to a flare up from an old hip injury. I hadn't bowled in about 3 years and I thought my carpel tunnel was going to kill me, and my games suffered as time went on. I bowled a 139 the first game....the second game was under 100. I don't know what that score was because the screen was cleared before I saw it and I knew I wasn't doing well anymore so I didn't keep track. I had to stop after 2 games because my arm was KILLING me. Bowling ball...carpel tunnel.....not a good combo. But I tried, and I'd do it again!! I love to bowl. So, back to Makayla.....LOL. She had a blast bowling with her two friends, Jenny and Emily. And so tonight is the big pajama party! After bowling, we picked up pizzas and headed home for dinner and then the chocolate cake with white buttercream icing and cookies and cream ice cream! The cake was sooo good and verrrry pretty. Sam's Club does an excellent job on their cakes and they are way cheaper than anywhere else too.
Makayla wanted a new comforter set for her bed, and I couldn't find one in time. My mom found one today at Sear's though, and she snuck off early from the bowling alley to come and fix up Makayla's bed as a surprise for her. She loved it!
Makayla had asked for a birthstone ring for Christmas but it couldn't be bought in time, so we told her maybe for her birthday. She's never had a 'real' ring, only the cheap stuff that turns her fingers green. Well, we bought her a 10K White Gold ring with a heart shaped Ameythyst with two little diamonds on each side from Zales. Very special present. And this is how we presented it to her: She had to go on a Scavenger Hunt!! I handed her an evelope with a paper telling her in a poetic way that she had to hunt for her special gift, follow 12 clues (one for each year) and that she'd find clue # 1 on a favorite school page. She had said the other day that Saxon's way of teaching long division by using 'short' division was her favorite. So that is where her first clue was. It said "you're the APPLE of our eye" (next clue located inside a ceramic apple in the dining room). It said "MIRROR mirror on the wall, you're the fairest of them all". And the next one said "you're such a DEER to us", taped to a deer head in our deer hunting room. That one said "you're as pretty as a DOLL" and sent her to the doll I bought when she was 3 because it looked just like her. Next one said "you sing so good you could be on the RADIO". So the next one was taped to our son's stereo and said "or maybe you should make your own CD" and so the next one was in our CD organizer. IT said "you're so beautiful you could be a movie star on TV". It was taped inside the door of our TV cabinet. That one said "are you getting aggrevated? Maybe you should pray, and read your BIBLE every day". It sent her to her Bible, inside the cover was finally the 11th clue....it said "I hope you're having a SWEEPING great time". Taped to the broom in the laundry room was finally clue # 12 and it said "you're heart is still close to Pa Pa's, and your gift is close to him". She thought and thought about that one, and realized she needed to look around her PaPa's picture.....and there it was, behind the picture!
She opened it and absolutely LOVED it. She had a great birthday, as usual. Birthdays are always special in our family, and I've always done all that I can to make them special for each child, so they will know how blessed I feel to have them in my life.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Intro to Us
This is my first blog post, so first, introducing myself. My name is Kim and I am a stay at home mom of 3, we have two sons, Randy-21 & Casey-15, and a daughter, Makayla-12. We live in Southern West Virginia. My husband is Rick, and we own our own business, an auto repair garage, and we are in our 15th year in business.
I homeschool our youngest two children, and that is the basis for this blog. I wanted to create a way to share homeschool links with others, as well as exchange advice and ancedotes with other homeschoolers, and post our work progress for possible assessment reviewers. However, my blog will not only be about homeschooling, it will be about just about anything I can think of for the day, whatever interests me that I want to share, my endevors, and will be just about wherever life takes us! Everyone I e-mail with says I need to write a book, so I guess this is it. LOL So, hello...and welcome to my blog!
Here is my newest motto(I have many):
I homeschool our youngest two children, and that is the basis for this blog. I wanted to create a way to share homeschool links with others, as well as exchange advice and ancedotes with other homeschoolers, and post our work progress for possible assessment reviewers. However, my blog will not only be about homeschooling, it will be about just about anything I can think of for the day, whatever interests me that I want to share, my endevors, and will be just about wherever life takes us! Everyone I e-mail with says I need to write a book, so I guess this is it. LOL So, hello...and welcome to my blog!
Here is my newest motto(I have many):
I Homeschool Because I've Seen the Village and I Don't Want
It Raising My ChildrenThe formal name for our homeschool is:
Smith Academy of Excellence
Although we haven't attended church regularly like we should, we are a Christian family. Keep in mind, I didn't say "Perfect family". Christian and perfect should never be used in the same sentence. We strive to use Godly morals and values, believe in God's word and try to live by His laws, we give Him all the glory for everything good in our lives, we seek His guidance and help daily, and if we could just remember to always put EVERYTHING in His hands and stop trying to solve problems ourselves, we'd be doing ourselves a huge favor, instead of getting in the middle of a problem, hitting the brick wall and THEN seeking God. So, my message to anyone reading this is.....spot the brick wall, then just pray! How can something so simple be so hard to remember? Include God in ALL things.
Ok, that's the intro and formalities. Here's the dish for today.....tomorrow is Makayla's 12th birthday. My beautiful girl is growing up on me faster than I want her too, that's for sure. That is Makayla's pic at right. She took it herself...she aspires to be a photographer and takes lots of these pictures. To you all that have young children, take my advice.....like the song says...."Let Them Be Little".....cause little don't last near long enough! So, for Makayla's birthday, we (she and I) will be going to the Hannah Montana Premier something or other at the Cinema this evening.....tickets were compliments of her big brother, Randy, and his fiance', Courtney. Makayla says it lasts ONLY for about 3 hours......(please God, say it isn't soooo LOL). 3 hours.....of Hannah Montana (aka Miley Cyrus...hmmm, that's a thought, will DAD Billy Ray be in this thing? I can live with that ;o), and 3D glasses? But, it's for a good cause, my daughter's happiness, so I'll muddle through it. :o)
Tomorrow (her actual birthday...she's a groundhog baby) we will be taking her bowling in the afternoon. She says the entire family has to go. The entire family, for her, is Mom and Dad, Casey, Randy & Courtney, and her Nan Nan and Aunt Kathy. After bowling we'll have dinner (not sure where or what yet) and then we'll have her cake, which is in a horse theme and is chocolate cake with white buttercream icing, and ice cream, of course! THEN a friend is sleeping over for a birthday pajama party. I feel sorry for the boys, and I'm so glad OUR room is in the other end of the house. ;o) So, Happy 12th Birthday to Makayla! Wish her a happy birthday, and wish us luck!
I'm not sure if I'll be able to post daily, but check back as often as you'd like, and post comments! I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments. But please, if you are someone just wandering around the Internet and you just want to cause trouble, go somewhere else and be rude, please don't leave rude or terrible comments on my blog, they will be removed anyway. Have a great day!
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