When life hands you Lemons, go to the Apple Store

There were lots of disappointed boys and girls when the LEGO store ran out of lobsters for the monthly free build. So, what to do now? Cody knows, you go to the Apple Store and let the beautiful technology wash away your frustrations. The Apple marketing people must be doing something right because I think they are building customers for life. All it takes is computers set up for the shorter crowd and parents who like to drool.

Peter & "Love"

Will I make it to the gym tomorrow? The kids love the child care room. Peter always seems to befriend a girl, fall in love, and draw her a picture. It's amazing how much Peter can experience during the length of one work-out session. . . . .

I'm wondering if Peter's plan to marry Genevieve will change his flirtatious ways. Apparently Peter and Viva are going to have 2 children, and as long as they are nice to each other, Peter says Viva will be glad to be married to him. The hug they shared today was precious - it was lingering and gentle (read: a hug that didn't turn into a wresting grip). Very sweet, and if this did actually happen, I know I'd like the in-laws.

Hsing FREE Resources - Thanks to The WTM & Heather

Whole Curriculum:

Ambleside Online Ambleside Online

Old Fashioned Education An Old-Fashioned Education

(Preschool and some elementary) Brightly Beaming Resources

Puritan Homeschool Curriculum. Contains many subjects but is religious. THE PURITANS’ HOME SCHOOL CURRICULUM

Core Knowledge. Teacher jargon outline is at the beginning of each lesson. Scroll past this to get to the actual activity pages of the lesson. Core Knowledge Lesson Plans

Math:

Ray's Arithmetic Ray's Arithmetic - Google Book Search

CSMP Materials. Grades k-6. CSMP Materials

First Lessons in Arithmetic Math

NC Public Schools DPI Instructional Services: Mathematics: Grades K-2 Resources (2003 SCS)

Centre for Innovation (UK) Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching - Mathematics Enhancement Programme

Living Math History (Lesson Plans on Right side of Page) C1 Outline and Booklists

Math Drill:

(Online) Math Magician Oswego City School District Math Games

Printable Math Sheets Free Math Worksheets

(online) Math U See Math·U·See Drill Page

Math Worksheets to create and print http://themathworksheetsite.com/

Phonics:

Word Mastery http://donpotter.net/PDF/Word%20Mastery%20-%20Typed.pdf

(online) Starfall Learn to Read at Starfall - teaching comprehension and phonics

Blend Phonics Blend Phonics

Literature/Reading Guides and Units:

Novel Study Guides Novel Study Guides for the Classroom Teacher

Reading Units by Gay Miller. Awesome resource. Book Units

Garden Of Praise Reading Units. Many popular 2nd and 3rd grade reading level titles. Literature Based Reading Lessons

Glencoe Literature Guides. Lots of popular titles. Glencoe Literature: Literature Library

Literature Activity Guides by Nancy Polette. These are samples, but are in depth enough to test if your child understood the story. Literature Guides

SCORE Cyberguides. California Schools. http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/SCORE/cyberguide.html

Free Books:

Classical Education Library Classical Education Library

Kids 4 Classics. Read Free Classical Literature Online at Kids4Classics

Project Gutenberg Online Book Catalog - Overview - Project Gutenberg

Online Library of Liberty. You could spend a lot of time on this site. Online Library of Liberty - Groups

Google Books.Tons of books to read for free. Google Book Search

The Baldwin Project. Lots of free Classic books to print or read online.The Baldwin Online Children's Literature Project...Bringing Yesterday's Classics to Today's Children

Planet ebook Free section. Lots of Classic literature available to print or read online. Free eBooks at Planet eBook - Classic Novels and Literature You're Free to Share

Spelling/Vocab.:

ZB Spelling Connections Spelling Connections - Practice Pages

Splashes from the River Free Spelling Course

Webster’s Spelling http://www.donpotter.net/PDF/Webster...ook%201824.pdf

(online) Spelling City Online Spelling Program*-*SpellingCity.com

Merriam-Webster. Daily Buzz Word. Merriam-Webster's Word Central

Handwriting:

ZB Online Zaner-Bloser FontsOnline 0.6.4

Writing Wizard Make Handwriting Worksheets - ESL Writing Wizard

Custom Tracer Pages Custom Tracer Pages

Nice Writing Paper printables Patterned Paper Index Page@2Learn.ca

Grammar and creative Writing:

Harvey's Grammar Elementary Grammar and Composition - Google Book Search

Young Novelist Workbooks. There is a workbook for elementary, middle and high school. Designed to go with national novel writing month, but can be used any time. Young Novelist Workbooks | NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program

English Banana Elementary Workbook. For individual pages go to: englishbanana.com - Print Your Own: Big Grammar Book > Free Worksheets for English, EFL and ESL Lessons For complete download go to: English Banana.com's Big Grammar Book - Reviews and free English Banana.com's Big Grammar Book downloads at Download.com

Scott Foresman Scott Foresman Reading: Teacher Resources

Kiss Grammar The KISS Grammar Site -- Main Page

Daily Grammar Daily Grammar Lessons Archive - Comprehensive archive of grammar lessons

History:

Scripted People of America History Lessons. Home School Curriculum | Free Home School Lessons for Beginners

Little City Kids. Kindy or 1st grade world history and geography. Little City Kids : Daily Lesson Plans

American Heritage. Uses teacher jargon, but is complete. Curriculum

Mosaic Introduction to World History Free Lesson Plans: Mosaic Introduction to World History Part 1: Myths, Maps, and Marvels

American History American History Curriculum

Geography:

Countries and Cultures around the world. Elementary age. Countries and Cultures of the World

Sheppard Software Geography (Online) World Maps - geography online games

Discover America State by State. Uses the C is for...... book series. Gale . Discover America Series . Find Out More . Student Activities

Outline Maps Outline Maps

Current Events:

TIME for kids. Time For Kids | Classroom

NY Times Learning Network. Updated daily and many archived lessons. The New York Times Learning Network

Science:

Engineering for kids ages 8 and up. Single subject lesson plans. Nicely done and easy to understand. TryEngineering : Lesson Plans

Earth Awareness Curriculum for Middle Schoolers NSTA Source Reduction Curriculum

Life Science Curriculum http://www.eequalsmcq.com/Thank%20yo...%20Science.htm

Otter’s Science Homeschool Science Curriculum

K-12 Science Curriculum MSNucleus

Computer Science:

Blender 3D animation creation. blender.org - Home

Computer Programming Course Alice.org

Computer Training Courses Free Computer Training at GCFLearnFree.org

Computer Animating and Design Scratch | Home | imagine, program, share

Art:

Dick Blick Lessons Search ALL Blick Lesson Plans by... - BLICK art materials

Meet the Masters http://www.getinvolvedineducation.co...ram-Manual.pdf

A Lifetime of Color A Lifetime of Color - Lesson Plans By Grade

Typing

Online typing Course FREE ONLINE TYPING COURSE

Dance Mat Typing BBC - Schools - Dance Mat Typing - Home

Touch Typing (Online) online free touch typing program | keyboarding tutor | Free Typing Games

Kiran's Typing Tutor. Free Typing Tutor

Foreign Language:

BBC Languages BBC - Languages - Homepage

Elementary/Middle School beginning Spanish. The first book listed is a free download. National K-12 Foreign Language Resource Center - Iowa: List of Standards-Based Thematic Units

Greek and Latin Textkit - Greek and Latin Learning Tools

FSI Language Courses FSI Language Courses

Live Mocha This is a social site, so you may want to monitor your kids closely on this one. Livemocha: Learn Languages Online - English, Spanish, French, Italian, Mandarin, å*¦ä¼šè‹±è¯*

Home Economics:

Future Christian Homemakers. FCH Lessons Index

Virtual Field Trips:

Take a field Trip. Take A Field Trip - UEN

Meet Me at the Corner Meet Me At the Corner, Virtual Field Trips for Kids

High School and College age-ish (Online):

HippoCampus Free Courses http://www.hippocampus.org/

Mixed Courses in many subjects Free-Ed.Net

Printable Courses in all subject areas. Not sure who funds this one, but I like how the curriculum is laid out. http://www.pass.leon.k12.fl.us/Speci...t%20Areas.aspx

University of Berkley Courses. Tons of Free Courses available here. webcast.berkeley | UC Berkeley Video and Podcasts for Courses & Events

Yale University Open Courses. Nicely done and easy to access IMO. Online Video Lectures and Course Materials — Open Yale Courses

University of Washington free courses. OpenUW Free Courses

M.I.T. open Courseware. Tons of completely free courses in many subjects. Free Online Course Materials | Courses | MIT OpenCourseWare

Unit Studies/Notebooking:

A Journey Through Learning Inventor unit study and lapbook. Click on Free products. We enjoyed the lapbook. ajourneythroughlearning.com

H.I.P. Pocket Change. Several Lesson Plans revolving around money. H.I.P. Pocket Change™ Web Site - Lesson Plans

Various Unit Studies Free Homeschooling Unit Studies

Oceanography CurrClick - Christian Cottage - Oceanography - try me for FREE!

Various Subjects: S.C.O.R.E. Language Arts CyberGuides

3 Curriculums about Eyes Ophthalmic Heritage & Museum of Vision

Take a Cloud Walk http://www.nostudentleftindoors.com/...alkMar31LO.pdf

Birds Notebooking pages CurrClick -Notebooking Nook.com - Nature Study ~ Birds ~ Notebooking Pages

Canada Unit Study Canada Unit Study

Planning/Forms/Papers/Worksheets:

Online Lesson Planner, Scheduler, and Tracker Homeschool Skedtrack - Online Lesson Planner, Scheduler, and Tracker

Super Teacher Worksheets. Lots of well done worksheets for all subject areas. Grade level 1st-4th. Super Teacher Worksheets - Free Printable Math Worksheets, Grammar Worksheets, Word Problems, Creative Writing Prompts, and More!

Donna Young DonnaYoung.org: Printables and Resources for Home, Homeschooling, and Classrooms

Free Forms Free Homeschool Forms & Worksheets by Cindy Downes

Highland Heritage Forms http://highland.hitcho.com.au/Forms.htm

My Favorite Freebie Sites:

HSLaunchHomeschool Networking and File Sharing

Homeschool Helper Homeschool Helper

Homeschool Freebie of the day. If you Sign-up for the weekly email, you will receive additional free resources. Freebie of the Day

Currclick. They feature a free product once a week to download. It usually changes Monday afternoons. CurrClick - Curriculum in a click! Affordable curriculum, lapbooks, and homeschooling resources

Freely educate. Lots of great links here. Freely Educate

Hoagies Gifted. Tons of Free high school curriculum links. Hoagies' Gifted: (Free) Online High School Courses

Homeschool Share http://www.homeschoolshare.com/

Education World I really like the lesson of the day feature. Check out the Lesson Plans Page. Education World® The Educator's Best Friend

Internet Activities to coordinate with each grade and subject. Avon Maitland District School Board - Getting Students Connected

ScholasticOnline Activities and Interactive Learning for Students in Grades PreK-12 | Scholastic.com

Softschools Free Math Games and Online practice

He's NOT Bernie Madoff

We're driving in the car today and listening to "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" audio CD, and we started to discuss how Edmond lied to his brother and sisters. After a bit of a discussion how exactly Edmond "sinned" (and yes, it has to be that specific word in Rushton boy speak) and the consequences he faced, Lex asks "Did he steal anyone's money?" Peter answers in reply "No Lex, Edmond didn't steal anyone's money. He's NOT Bernie Madoff you know."

Lex ALMOST gets and Iphone

Greg and I take Lex to the Apple Store to cheer him up after Peter left to go with my parents. Lex was so sad and crushed when Peter didn't come home with us, my heart was breaking for him. So like any good parents, Greg and I bribed him with a trip to the Apple Store and we told him he could stay up late. Let's just say Lex's sadness seemed to evaporate at that point, and he declared things were just fine without his brother.

So, we get to the Apple Store and Lex is trying out all the devices. He is in 5 year old heaven at this point because we let him touch all the displays. Eventually Lex finds an Iphone that he just has to have . . . now when your 5, if someone lets you touch something, it's as good as your own. Lex decides to just pull off that pesky cord that's holding the phone to the table, this way he can walk around with the phone and do what he'd like. The security alarms are going off quite loudly in the store and EVERYONE IS LOOKING AT US! Lex has no idea that his action caused this alarm to sound. The Apple staff comes over and disables the alarm and promptly removes the phone from display.

As I am explaining to the staff in the store that my 5 year old just really wants one, and it wasn't Greg and I that set off the alarm, Lex is walking around saying "I don't steal things, I thought I could have that phone, I thought I had enough money to buy it, I did just find a quarter on the floor."

All I want for Christmas

If ever anyone asks me . . . . "what do your boys want for Christmas?" PVC pipes, 2x4 scraps, saw dust, clamps and vacuum parts is the answer. Yesterday at Erin and Dave's house, Peter and Lex turned their left over construction scraps into a cannon. It's amazing how fast you can turn random items into a weapon. Thank you so much Erin and Dave for giving the boys a chance to create.

Five Foam Swords

This is why I am the BEST mother in the world. . . . I bought the boys 5 (yes five) foam swords. Why 5??? Well if friends come over, we need some for everyone. The boys are having a riot "killing" each other with the swords. "Mom, I think you'd better step back, we don't want to kill you with the swords."

Today is our first play-date since we bought the swords, and we will see just how it pans out. Hopefully all goes well and we don't have any hurt feelings.

Passports In Waiting

We just submitted Passport applications for Peter and Lex.  I honestly thought that Lex was going to have to write his name on the form.  Phew, that was a close one.  

We should have the documents in 4 - 6 weeks.

Now Peter and I are about to start the math that he wouldn't finish in the morning.  Augh, I really wish he'd just have a good attitude.  We still have phonics and logic to get to as well.  We officially finished First Grade Grammar last night.  We finally hit lesson 100 in First Language Lessons.  It's nice to have met a goal.  Now for the hard part . . . getting there.  Wish me patience. 

I'd Like to Sell My Swing Set

Lex wants to sell his swing set and use the money to buy himself and iphone.  I never really noticed that he wanted something like this.  I have no idea exactly what he thinks the iphone will do for him.  Yesterday when Greg got home from work Lex asked Greg how much money MIT gave him. Lex wanted Greg to hand over some cash and head to the mall.  All this so he can "afford" and iphone.  Have we brainwashed our children?  They love to go to the store with the apple that has a bite in it.  

The Grass Isn't Greener . . .

Three days in a row of work is enough.  Honestly, I always fantasize about working more, but I'm much happier at home.  Seriously, the commuting, the productivity, the paper work, documentation, etc is daunting and exhausting.  It is so much work homeschooling the boys, but I'd rather be doing it.  Yes, I'd rather spend my days perseverating over math programs and repeating myself 1000 times about the same things.  I am so guilty of the "grass is greener" syndrome.  I always ASSUME that my life would be more perfect if . . . .  

I WANT to be with my kids all day! Sometimes it helps to go to work to know that this is what I really do want.  Yes, I have made the choice to stay home, which includes homeschooling.  I will have to re-read this post several times over the weeks and months to remind myself that no matter what choices we make, there is no such thing as "perfect."

Worked Today . . .

I worked today, the second of three days in  a row.  I was at the Ellis in Norwood.  It is a beautiful facility and staffed with such wonderful people.  I got a chance to experience treating one patient at a time all day, it was so much more relaxed.  Tomorrow is Monday, so I expect the facility to be a bit more hectic.  There were less patients with orthopedic dysfunction opposed to neurological dysfunction.  I'm a bit rusty with neuro and prefer the more cut and dry approach with ortho pts.  I tell you, I am tired!  It's was a full first day at a new place.

Mom, I need a baby sister.

Yes, you've most likely heard me tell this story before.  Lex wants a baby sister.  He's got several reasons why he would like a sister, and they all make perfect sense to a 5 year old.  You know since God made the world in 7 days, we should go to "God's House" to pick up a baby.  I've explained that you need a mama and a papa and God to make a baby so Lex is encouraging Greg and I to spend as much time together as possible.  I've let Lex know that the mama and papa need to be alone to make the baby . . . well, Lex will leave the room and shout from the play room something like "okay, you're alone now."  He's been praying for a sister.  He's been begging for a sister.  He doesn't understand why I just don't stick one in my belly and pop it out when it's done growing in there.  

I wish it were so easy.

Tired at Costco

Peter and Lex have officially inherited the gene from me and my dad - this gene would be the one that encourages you to eat all the free samples at places like Costco.  My dad used to take Winifred to BJ's on Saturdays for lunch.  Well, here's a photo of Lex "relaxing" after too many snacks in a wholesale warehouse (on a glittered animal print pillow and wearing a hibiscus bloom tucked behind his ear).  

Grandpa and Winston

Here's my dad and my "brother."  Yes, finally my dad has a child that LOVES being on the boat, and I got a brother.  My kids are supposed to call the dog "uncle" winston.  Gotta love it.

The real housewife in Randolph, MA

I'm addicted to the "Real Housewives of N.J."  Nothing really to say about that except it was bound to happen and it really blows my mind that someone really has that many $100.oo bills in their pocket. . .  

We made it to the free LEGO build tonight.  Can't believe that 1/2 the families at the LEGO store were from our homeschool group.  It was nice to bump into so many friends even if it was for just a little bit.  I bought Peter his first Brick Journal Magazine.  I'm hoping that he's upstairs reading something in it right now.  Lex was able to afford a little power miner set . . .  the only reason he had any money you ask?  He "won" $5.00 because he got all the vomit in the bucket.