Erm…Helllo? March 15, 2009

Is anyone still out there?

Probably not huh?

Oh well. I get what I deserve I suspect.

Life once again exploded here at The School Down the Lane (work issues for W, medical for me and B) and to add to that issue there really hasn’t been that much to report owing to a long. cold. lethargic. winter. As is usual during times of crisis and laziness my blogging suffered.

Sorry!

To get myself going again I decided to steal an idea from a fellow blogger and list my top tens. These are more of our favs them the most valuable books we’ve read so take that into account. Please pardon the lack of authors, I can never remember and will be back later when I’m not trying to get three children and two dogs ready to go to the heart-worm clinic!

School Down the Lane’s Top Ten……

Picture Books

-All the Places to Love
-Good Queen Bess
-The Seven Silly Eaters
-Beowulf by Michael Morpurgo (my kids love Beowulf!)
-Northern Lullaby
-Magic School Bus (series)
-The Young Reader’s Shakespeare (series)
-Oh the Places You’ll Go, Dr. Seuss
-Robin of Sherwood
-Horatio’s Bed

Novels

-City of Ember and sequels
-Unwind
-Inkheart (series)
-Harry Potter (series)
-Phantom Tollbooth
-Peter Pan in Scarlet
-Sherlock Holmes (series)
-Coraline
-Sacrifice (the one about the Salem witch trials, be back w/the author)
-Septimus Heap Series (Magyk, Flyte, etc)
-Dragon Son

Non Fiction

-Giants of Science (series)
-Children in History (series)
-Children Just Like Me
-Biology for Every Kid (and others)
-Zoology coloring book (and others)
-A Cartoon History of the US
-Horrible Histories (series) also, Horrible Geographies, Horrible Science and Murderous Maths
-Lies My Teacher Told Me
-Darwin for Beginners
-Usborne Time lines in History (I think that’s the title!)

I’ve got three words for you…. November 29, 2008

I. Did. It.

 

Hopefully this means there will be more for you all to read here at the School Down the Lane now that Nanawrimo is no longer controlling my life So sorry about that, I had no idea how time sucking time consuming this would be!

TT 5-meet my characters November 13, 2008

I am knee deep in my Nanowrimo writing. Since word counts are my world at the moment, I wrote up some character bios and thought I’d share them.

Thirteen of my nanowrimo characters 1. Jordon-13, homeschooled, likes soccer, hip hop and video games 2. Bella-13, Jordan’s best friend, always has the latest news, dances ballet 3. Jacob-12, Jordan’s closest male friend 4. Jollie-17, Jordan’s older sister 5. Roman-3, Bella’s little brother 6. Eva-13, new girl in town, homeschooled, living with her aunt 7. Tom-12, soccer teammate of Jordon’s 8. Nathan-13, plays soccer with Jordon, likes to torment him 9. Mrs. Nelson-town librarian 10. Mr. Poole-42, teaches the creative writing co-op class 11. Mrs. Paulson-teaches the science co-op class, Eva’s aunt 12. Ms. ? (don’t know her last name yet)-art teacher 13. Mr. Colton-children’s librarian, mentor to Jordon

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Nanowrimo no mo (please?) November 11, 2008

I’ve hit the wall.

This is my first year doing Nanowrimo and what they say about the second week?

They speak the truth.

UGH

I’ve set a goal for myself to write 2,200 words a day and although I’ve made it almost everyday I’m not really excited about it the last few days. I’m struggling with where the plot is going, I’m not liking what I’m writing and instead of a steady stream of words I’m getting a hundred or so and stopping short in frustration.

UGH

Just had to say it again.

I decided to put aside the actual novel and write a plot synopsis.

Yah. OK.

I…can’t….do …it.

*sigh*

OK, done whining now. Behold my word count widget!

I didn’t sign up until the 7th in case you were wondering why all the red. It mocks me.

I like this one better….no red.

and it has my name on it!

K elected not to sign up for Nanowrimo this year which I think was a good decision. She was sorely tempted to, since her friend C did, but in the end decided not to. Although she could, as a youngster, set her own word goal, she felt that having just started the essay portion of her writing class she was better off trying to concentrate on that as well as keeping up on the writing projects she started on her own. Since time management has been a bit of an…er….issue with her this fall I think she showed good judgement.  She’s thinking maybe next year.

Thursday Thirteen Number Four! In Honor of Movie Night November 6, 2008

Winter usually means the beginning of movie nights around here. We have a subscription to Netflix and a DVR so we don’t buy many movies but those we do buy are favorites we watch again and again. Here are the top 13!

Thirteen Movies I Own (and watch over and over) 1. Little Women-With Susan Sarandon and Winona Ryder 2. Bring It On-You knew there had to be something with cheerleaders, right? 3. The X-File Movie-the old one 4. Accepted-Watch it only if you can tolerate foul language…and thinking outside the box. 5. School of Rock-I love this movie! 6. Lady in the Water-A modern day fable. 7. The Village-The good old days? Maybe not. 8. Elf-my favorite goofy holiday movie. 9. Harry Potter I-V-Not the books, but still good. So far IV was my fav. 10. A Christmas Carol-with Patrick Stewart, my favorite non-goofy holiday movie 11. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind-a must see considering today’s ecological concerns. A masterpiece! 12. Spirited Away-started my obsession with Miyazaki. 13. Pirates of the Caribbean-Johnny Depp as a pirate…enough said. The fact that the story line is actually good is a bonus

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Trick or Treat! November 1, 2008

We went trick or treating at a local living museum last night. Despite a few false starts; not being able to find K’s purple hair color, forgetting our gloves, having to park almost a mile away, we had a great time!

I forgot the camera in the car so I don’t have any pictures (and yes, that earns me the bonehead award). Instead of have this lovely picture of the map to show you!

I love the note stating that all adults must be accompanied by a child LOL! Unfortunately you can’t see it because it’s on the other half of the map >:(  I have no idea why this picture won’t post as a thumbnail!!!! 

Anyway………..

The kids really liked the hay ride because it had *real* horses (as opposed to a tractor) named Red and Jeb We got a seat right up front and the driver explained things to B and M which they thought was pretty darn cool!

They also really liked the kettle corn stand because they had a huge kettle to cook the corn, a big cooling table to cool and salt the corn and a whistle they blew whenever a batch was going from the kettle to the table. The man cooking the corn would yell *corn up!* and the lady would blow the whistle. Like I said a big hit. I got no pictures of it, but here’s one of the kettle corn in a bag:

It’s VERY good kettle corn and completely gluten and casein free!!  We enjoyed some of it around the bonfire with apple cider chaser and some while watching Harry Potter in the outdoor movie theater.  

I can’t say that about all the candy, not would I expect it. They got a LOT of candy though, so even after I weeded through M’s bag she got plenty. Here’s what I picked out of her bag:

I thought the hay maze was a blast too.  It was not all that big, but they did it inside the barn and made it so you had to stoop through most of it and crawl through some of it.  I was laughing so hard be the end I almost fell over trying to get out!

The kids wore the same costumes they wore to the Halloween Walk and I went as Static Cling (I attached some socks, a pair of panties and a dryer sheet to my sweatshirt with safety pins and stuck my hair up with hair spray).  We saw some great costumes there too; a 6ft Garden Gnome, a candy corn and (my favorite) a kid dressed as the buyout with a a big check slung over him sandwich board style!  Too funny!

We stayed until they closed (which I think explains the large amount of candy as they kept giving the kids hand fulls as we passed) and were out way too late but it was a nice end to the Halloween season.

Now to pack up all the decorations and costumes for next year!

Happy Halloween! October 31, 2008

We had our annual Halloween party tonight! It was a blast! We had food, fun and even entertainment. Here are a few shots from the evening.

Our Make Your Own Carmel Apple bar…..

Before:

and after:

It was so easy to do the apples.  I melted the carmel in the crockpot like Stephanie did and the kids had no trouble coating their own apples.  I had several topping put out for them to roll their sticky apples in; chopped candy corn and Indian corn, chopped nuts and sprinkles and they used them all!

There were several other Halloween themed food as well…..

These are the preserved eyeballs (aka cream cheese mints) and store bought mini cupcakes,

For non sweet foods we had: Pus with crunchy dipping bats (buffalo chicken dip w/tortillas cut out in bat shape) and mummy eyeballs (olives in puff pastry),

Mummy dogs and bloody guts (chili),

And here is a picture of M playing at the potions table.  These potions were not really to drink, although they were non-toxic in case someone got brave   It was really more of a science experiment then a cocktail bar.

K and her friend C put on a play with the help of B and then they did a dance. They called the style *Lazzhopping* because it was a combination of Lyrical, Jazz, Hip hop and Cheerleading LOL! We also had The Nightmare Before Christmas playing in the living room.  We had K’s friend T over, along with her little sister and they seemed to enjoy the evening too.

I had a lot of fun assembling the ingredients for the potions table.  We had Red Blood (red cabbage juice), Truth serum (vinegar), zombie virus (sugar water colored green), embalming fluid (baking soda and water), rat poison (baking soda), sulfuric acid (wine), spider venom (tea) and liquid phantom (cola).  The favorite potion was one that involved combining Red Blood and Truth serum and then adding a scoop of rat poison.  Can you guess what it looked like?

The only guffaw was that I didn’t realize that T didn’t eat meat.  Oooops! She did eat some mummy eyes and a mini cupcake and her little sis enjoyed making her carmel apple and eating it I hope she eaten dinner before coming over!

TT #3-Confessions of a TV Addict October 29, 2008

This is a day early because I will be out of the house all day tomorrow.

Thirteen TV Shows I Love 1. House-is it wrong that I find such a selfish man sexy? 2. Monk-I love that guy 3. Psych-a modern Sherlock….if Sherlock had ADHD and took speed 4. Bones-I read (and loved) the books, I love the show too 5. Challenge-the ultimate food fight 6. NCIS-I just discovered this one 7. Good Eats (look, one that doesn’t have a one word title!)- Food and science, genius! 8. X-Files-an oldie but a goodie and I’m still in love with Mulder and want to be Scully when I grow up 9. The Secret Show- If you only ever watch one children’s show, it should be this one. Victor! Are you still alive? 10. Sponge Bob-my guilty pleasure. I’m ready! 11. The Tudors-history rocks! 12. Cheerleader U-and so do cheerleaders 13. Ace of Cakes-and cake As you can see my choices are heavy on the blood, crime, violence and general drama with the odd cooking show and cartoon thrown in there. Of course there is a cheerleader show too

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What My Taste in Art Says About Me October 29, 2008

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test…

Traditional, Vibrant, and Tasteful

Islamic art is developed from many sources: Roman, Early Christian, and Byzantine styles were taken over in early Islamic architecture; the architecture and decorative art of pre-Islamic Persia was of paramount significance; Central Asian styles were brought in with various nomadic incursions; and Chinese influences . Islamic art uses many geometical floral or vegetable designs in a repetitive pattern known as arabesque. It is used to symbolize the transcendent, indivisible and infinite nature of Allah.

People that like Islamic art tend to be more traditional people that appreciate keeping patterns that they learned and experienced from their past. It is not to say that they are not innovative personalities, they just do not like to let go of their roots. They like to put new ideas into details and make certain that they will work before sharing them with others. Failure is not something they like to think about because they are more interested in being successful and appreciated for their intelligence. These people can also be or like elaborate things in their life as long as they are tasteful. They tend to prefer geometric patterns and vibrant colors.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

Would you send your child to school? October 24, 2008

I was recently asked this question:  If I could find the *perfect* school, would I send my children? 

This is actually a harder question then it seems.  At first I wanted to say *if I found a school that held my same philosophies, was flexible and had small, mixed age groups…then sure.”  But then I thought weeelllll….maybe not.

Why not?  Because any school, by it’s very existence, takes charge of a child’s education.  It assigns and assesses and directs.  Not that I have anything against those things, after all we all need some direction every now and again, I’m just not sure I like an institution having that kind of power over my child’s future with little to no input from me (and in some instances none from my child either).  I prefer to leave that control in the hands of my children and, when requested by said child, myself.  I am not against getting some input, and the odd class (or two or three) in subjects I am not skilled in.  I’m not even against learning most of your subjects in a class setting if there is no coercement involved and by that I mean not fear of *failing* the class and getting a mark on your permanent record. My kids take lots of classes but if they don’t like them they can quit without having to explain it to their college admissions interviewer someday.

Not that I encourage quitting. I pretty much require them to finish what they started unless the situation is irredeemable, but I also don’t require them to take classes. If K isn’t interested in taking the writing class offered by the homeschool group? No problem. If she is interested and finds it more difficult then she thought? I expect her to try her best and finish. If the teacher is verbally abusive and not taking into account her LD? We can then discuss quitting after talking with the teacher and seeing if we can fix things. If she ends up quiting? Also no big deal. No *incomplete* on her transcript. No failing grade. No inability to sign up for the next class that’s offered.

This is quite different from a school setting where K would be required to take English 101 as a freshman no matter what her interests. Her teacher would be chosen for her and we would have little control over whether said teacher treated her fairly. If she was to fail the class, or be unable to complete it because of this it would be there on her permanent transcript ……..forever.  That’s a lot of pressure for a just turned 15yo (and she would have been a freshman last year if she’d stayed in school).

Maybe it’s my seemingly inborn tendency to buck the system, or maybe it’s my deep belief in redemption, but this whole idea that a single grade can ruin your future is just not something I can personally get behind. More and more I am finding that I have serious problems with how school (as an institution) is run. 

We are even finding that we are having serious issues with M’s school this year and may well be bringing her home at some point in the near future.  They seem to have a real problem with making realistic accommodations to an autistic child that falls outside the typical child with autism and want to hold her blindly to school policy.  They keep making promises that they aren’t prepared to keep and are being sneaky at best (and outright dishonest at worst) about the issues we have brought up. There is a lot of blame placing, sweeping under the rug and shirking of responsibility.  *sigh*

So would I send my child to the *perfect* school?  Nope.  It doesn’t exist for one thing and for another we are doing just fine at home.