Try, Try Again

Emperor recites a poem about perserverance it took him all of five minutes to memorize.  :/

First World Problems

"Do you want a cutie with your pizza rolls and cookies?" I asked Elf.

"I want an apple!" he told me.

"I wan it apple!" Woodjie chimed in.

"Well, I only have one apple," I told them.  "Here.  You can have the apple, Elf.  I'm just going to chop this slice off for Woodjie."

"Aaaahhh!  I hate it when that happens!  And you always take a big slice out of my apple!"

"You're right, Elf," I consoled him.  "I'm sure the children of the Sudan are weeping for you..."

"No, they're not," he said matter-of-factly.  "I'm just weeping for myself."

Kindergarten Curriculum!

That's right!  Little Rose will be joining our homeschool next year.  Tucked between all the chess books are her ABeka readers.  She's sounding out words and ABeka really works for her.  You simply can't beat the systematic way in which it teaches children letters, sounds, sound blends and fluent reading.  Rose is now midway through the first grade readers.  She can read far better than she can write.   I've ordered a cute phonics book that goes with the series, so we'll see how she does with that.

I got all kinds of half-used books at the thrift store for about 50 cents each.  I figure throw these in with the Dick and Jane stories and our Handwriting Without Tears books, and we're set for a good while.  PS.  If you're glancing at the Everyday Mathematics books and wondering, no, I will not ever ever ever teach math the Everyday Math way.  There will be no calculator except to check our answers in the upper grades.  She will learn "standard algorithms."  She will be math-fluent and enter high school unfamiliar with the lattice method.  (Look five minutes into the video.)  This is my pledge to humanity.

She'll write her name on this book on her first day!  Earlybird Mathematics is an early version of...

... what she will do when she reaches a first grade level.  Singapore Mathematics!

I saw this at the homeschool convention and just loved it.  I bought it DESPITE the fact that it is "Aligned to State Standards," not BECAUSE of it.  Mostly?  The cute drawings inside and non-cluttered method of presenting simple problems to little children.

I'm looking forward to starting the school year with her.  She is such a big girl now!