I should blog again. . . .

I'd like to start blogging again. If ANYONE is actually out there still reading this, here it goes. I'll post some more tomorrow. I'm off to Karate for the next 3 hours (if I can make it that long). This is my last class before testing next week, so I've got to pay lots of attention to my forms.

The boys went with Greg to get some pizza for dinner, so I've got the house to myself and I'm not very motivated to get off the sofa and work out.

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.