pinterest-dd591.htm Oak Creek Academy: May 2008

Friday, May 30, 2008

Something fishy!!

The "boys" enjoyed fishing while in Virginia Beach this past weekend.  Kevin, borrowing Ian's pole, caught a cat fish.  Catch and release though.  He was surprised by it;  his thought was "one more cast and I'll call it quits!!"  

Probably will be a "tradition" to fish at their "southern" grandparents house.  It's something that my dad and children (not meaning Kevin) enjoy doing together.  I hope they'll remember it in the years to come.

HHMMMMM?

My oldest and I visited a used, homeschooling curriculum sale today.  Just couldn't pass it up, even not being a certain which curriculum we'll use this coming year.  Happily left, after spending only $3.00, with one curriculum I've been mulling over; it's Five in a Row.  I really like the concept of it and THINK it might work for my two next year.  The beauty of it, I can experiment in the coming days, before the HEAV Convention, to decide if we like it or not.  Being able to see other options, even if the wrong "grade level" was a good experience.  I've noticed, at least on-line, that the overall format doesn't change, from one grade to the next, in a given curriculum; at least if you are looking at, say 5th grade and you'll have a 3rd grader.  

We're all looking forward to a good summer vacation and awesome school year come fall.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Summer Vacation?!?

Can it really be called summer vacation?  We took a veg day yesterday, before the "summer chores" get started.  Summer chores, for me, are all those things that are just so difficult to get to during a homeschooling school year.  Yes, there are more hours spent at home, but fewer to get things done while uninterrupted.  Getting ready for the day, school, basic chores, library, sports, hikes, shopping, and meal prep seem to take a large portion of the day.

Top of my list today, neglected computer work.  I have the remains of my morning coffee, at hand, and about ready to turn i tunes on.  Will plug away at computer stuff for the day, before swim team and scouts this evening.  May have to make another pot of coffee or some tea.

Friday, May 23, 2008

End of the Year

We made it through our last year of pre-school, for Thing Two. It's nice to have both out of pre-school, but realize school, where ever they go, seems to get more expensive.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Wii Fit

So, we're one of the "lucky", I suppose, and able to find a Wii Fit the day it hit the shelves.  Got to Costco this morning, 20 minutes after they opened, and they still had about 12 (out of an unknown amount).  Was totally amazed that it was $10.00 less than elsewhere, too.  However, Costco does have a way being able to sell things cheaper than other places.

Boys are loving it as much as I am.  Should make raining days easier to burn off some energy.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Graphs and Dominoes

Yes, there is a correlation between the two.  We worked on another graph today.  It was adding up the dots each of the 28 dominoes and plotting on a graph.  Their totals created a nice little bell curve (if the total was o, 1, 11, or 12, there was 1 tile each; if the sum was 2, 3, 9, or 10, there were 2 tiles each; if the total was 4, 5, 7, or 8, there were 3 tiles each; and finally if the total was 6, there were 4 tiles total).

It's amazing how easy it is to have fun, and learn, with stuff found around the house.  Thankfully though, if we didn't have dominoes, Saxon Math had included a sheet of dominoes we could have cut out.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Surfing the Net

Wondered where folks liked to spend their time when surfing the internet.  I posted an "other favorite links" area with some of the sites that I enjoy going to.  Mostly it is for crafting ideas or house plans.  Guess it is my way of designing without buying software.  

Friday, May 9, 2008

TESTING!!

We've successfully finished our first set of tests. It is packaged up and ready to go to the post office. In six to eight weeks the scores come back, telling us how Thing One did compared to other kids his age.

Just a few more weeks of "formal" school and the year will be finished. Yes, it does seem backwards to have finished the tests and still have school work left. In order to get the test completed, mailed, scored, returned, and into the county, the test needs to be completed April or May. If we wanted to be totally finished for the "year" we would have had to start the school year at the end of July or beginning of August.