Almost Wordless Wednesday: Some Kids Never Grow Up

Here's what my 11- and 14-year-olds were doing during their breaks today.

Just think about all the fun they'd miss out on if they went to school.

Weekly WrapUp: In Which We Go to the Other

(For some reason, I can't seem to grab the WrapUp button today. You'll have to do without it. Sometimes I like HSB better. This is one of those times.)

For the sake of expediency, today's Wrap-Up is going to be bullet points. Short ones. You laugh, I know. 

The highlight of our school week just past:

*We made a family visit (our second) to the Henry Ford Museum, which you probably think is a museum dedicated to the history of the automobile, but is actually a museum dedicated to the spirit of American innovation, ingenuity, and freedom. It does have a really big section on automobiles, though. Hubz the Morning Person insisted we leave before 7 am. I was annoyed about this, but later I was glad. Our 5-hour round trip involved several cups of coffee, a great many Mad-Libs, and a stop at Smacker Barrel on the way home.

How was that for a reasonably short bullet point? I know, I know-- you want to hear about the 5-1/2 hours we spent in the museum. The problem is that I could not even begin to describe this place if I am to finish this post in a reasonable amount of time (not that I ever do anyway). I will just say that it is well worth the visit, and here are a few reasons why: Several Presidential limousines, including the in which JFK was riding when he was assassinated. The chair in which Lincoln sat when he was assassinated. The bus on which Rosa Parks took her famous stand. The Oscar Mayer Weinermobile. The one and only Dymaxion House. Are you impressed yet? The plane Richard Byrd flew to the North Pole. The first successful helicopter. Humungous steam engines-- the ones that pull trains and the ones that power factories...

With all that, the kids' favorite exhibits seemed to be the K'Nex design-your-own-car station, the poseable crash dummy, and the be-on-MTV exhibit. Although Fuzz did list the 1950's diner as her absolute favorite.

Now that the Henry Ford Museum has managed, not surprisingly, to hijack my WrapUp, here are a few other mildly interesting occurances and tidbits from our week:

*American history conquered for the moment, we turned our attention back to late 20th-century world history, specifically that of Africa. We read from Story of the World.  We revisited a map we'd made last year featuring the continent with its European Colonial borders and an overlay showing the present-day country borders, and the kids labeled each country with the year it gained independence. I found a youtube video of Nelson Mandela's inauguration speech and played part of it. Both kids' literature focused on South Africa and apartheid as well.

*Spaz wrote about apartheid and Fuzz about the Hutus & Tutsis in Rwanda, using the outlines from Story of the World Activity Book. I don't always like the way those outlines are done, but this week I was very glad to have them. They were helpful. So were the IEW principles we learned last year, which I always incorporate into assignments like these.

*Fuzz and I worked at the library's used book sale-- she because she really really wanted to, and I because I could neither refuse such a desire nor be outdone by an 11-year-old. It was not a highly exciting endeavor, but it felt good to do something different. Needless to say, we came home with a stack of books. (Yes, we paid for them, same as anyone else.)

*I prepped one of my square-foot-garden boxes and got my cold weather veggies planted! This really has little to do with "school" as the kids did not even help me. They are "discouraged" by gardening, with good reason. My thumbs are pretty brown, and the last couple years I haven't even made much of an effort. However, I am back at it with renewed determination and hope (or would that be delusions?). The fact that I actually remembered to get cold-weather stuff in while it is yet cold is a first, so I am somewhat encouraged. That's why I had to mention this here even though the kids were not very involved. (I say "not very" because one of them watched me for about three minutes and even put in a few seeds.)

*We watched a History Channel show about how the states got their boundaries. It was hugely interesting, totally unplanned, and of course highly educational, so it merits a mention here. Of course, the show started with the most interesting state of all.

*Frustrated with dawdling students (singular, usually) sabotaging our day, I decided to crack down and be a little stricter with the schedule. I'm not a big fan of strict schedules in homeschooling, but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. For example, it used to be that if someone hadn't finished his math in the ample time allotted, that would push back morning break time, which would push back our history-together time, and so would go the day. Now, break times are when they are, and they're over when they're over. If the major things (math, writing, piano practice) aren't finished on time, their completion spills over into break time and break time is thereby shortened or even eliminated. And if they still aren't finished by the end of break time, they need to be revisited later. This has worked pretty well.

*In conjunction with the above, I began a new credit/demerit system to replace our old one. I know, I know, but some kids need them, and Spaz is one of those kids. Without going into a great deal of deal, I will mention that at the moment, my method of keeping track of things involves removable vinyl stickers on my zip hoodie. It beats having to keep track of a piece of paper or run to a chart all the time, as the hoodie is always with me. I couldn't find enough rubber bands around the house to do the rubber-bands-on-wrists method, so this works for now. The downside is the distinct and highly likely possibility that one of these days I will leave the house on an errand and forget that I have stickers all over my hoodie.

I'll leave you to contemplate that. More WrapUps here.

Weekly Wrap-Up: In Which We Go to One and Not the Other

This post was supposed to be entitled, In Which We Go to the Ford Museum Times Two. However, we were flexible and went to only one Ford Museum this week. We’re heading to the other one bright and early tomorrow, so I need to keep this short and sweet. (That is a really nice thought, albeit an unrealistic one.)


Yes, there are two Ford Museums in Michigan. It really isn’t all that confusing; just stay with me. The big-and-famous Ford museum is the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn (near Detroit, about 2-1/2 hours from us). We’ve been there once before, six years ago, and the timing is right for us to go again. Why? Because among the many fascinating things we’ll see there are the limo in which JFK was riding when he was assassinated and the bus on which Rosa Parks made her famous stand. If you’ve been reading my wrap-ups all along, you’ll know that the kids and I studied both of these events fairly recently. How could we not go see these things?


The other Ford Museum is the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, a mere 20 minutes away. While not nearly as large, exciting, or fun as The Henry, The Gerald does have some things relevant to what we’ve studied over the past few months and weeks-- namely, a temporary exhibit on the Cold War, a small display about the Vietnam War, and a Watergate room. These, too, we had to see; thus saith the Mom.


So I’d planned field trips to both of these places for this back-to-school-after-spring-break week. Not because we needed to ease in with a not-so-normal week (although that was a really nice bonus), but because that’s really how the timing worked out.


Except that it didn’t, exactly. We did, in fact, take two field trips; however, we didn’t quite follow the plan. Read on…


Monday being not just Monday, which is bad enough in itself, but also our first “school day” in ten days, I quite understandably approached it with much fear and trepidation. I punctuated our morning with such cheers as, “Hooray, hooray, it’s school again today!” and, “Yippeee!!! We get to do school again today!!! Oh, happy day!!!”


It didn’t work. Oh, the kids were fine. We did Monday Lite as usual, and other than the usual dawdling issues with Spaz, their work and attitudes were great. The pep talks were for me. I think I finally acclimated to the day around dinner time.


Meanwhile, Hubz was busy putting out his back while lifting heavy bundles. Since our HFM field trip was planned for Tuesday, and since it was going to be a rare family field trip, meaning Hubz was going with us, this was sort of a problem. We decided to postpone the trip to Thursday and have the kids & I do our Gerald trip on Tuesday instead.


So Tuesday we did math and piano practice and then headed to The Gerald. (Nobody calls it that, by the way. I am just differentiating and trying to be a little funny at the same time. You may pretend to be humored.) Unlike the Henry trip, this was going to be an “academic” field trip rather than a “fun” field trip. In an uncharacteristically schoolish move, I actually armed the kids with clipboards, complete with pencils on strings and research worksheets downloaded from the museum’s websites. They were not thrilled, but were somewhat placated by the premise that the worksheets, if done neatly and well, could afterward be redeemed for menu items at Snake ‘n’ Spake. I figured I’d better make it a little fun.


Fuzz dutifully completed her research sheets on Watergate and Cold War Diplomacy and even did the optional cartoon analysis sheet. (I figured I should throw a somewhat fun one in there.) I loved seeing her sitting cross-legged on the floor, brow furrowed in concentration, busily making her notes. Spaz, meanwhile, dawdled and complained and even tossed his clipboard on the floor at one point, but managed to get the job done. Although I’m not normally a big fan of worksheets, these were good ones. They forced the kids to investigate and find information and process and record it. I really think that those investigations and worksheets were the best thing we did all week. I also think that I am a pretty clever and nice mom for coming up with the idea to redeem the worksheets for treats afterwards.


Oh, and an unexpected bonus: the clipboards tipped off the clerk at the admission desk that we might be here for “school purposes,” and so she let the kids in free. Can’t argue with that.


Wednesday was a pretty normal school day-- the only one we had all week, in fact. And like the days before it, it was on the cold side. Friday would also be cold. In fact, the only day that wasn’t going to be cold was Thursday. You know, Henry day. Thursday was going to be 80 degrees out, and we were going to be inside a museum all day. Hubz, who needed to do some yard projects, grumbled about this a little at dinner Wednesday night.


“I bet,” said I to Hubz, “that if I bribe Fuzz with the promise of a zoo trip tomorrow, she won’t throw a fit about postponing the Henry trip yet again.” Fuzz, who was sitting between us, gave enthusiastic affirmation. She’d been clamoring for a trip to the zoo. Spaz was okay with this as well. And so we changed plans again.


After basic school stuff was done Thursday, Fuzz and I headed for the zoo. (Spaz had decided to opt out, and Hubz had promptly conscripted him to yard project duty.) The zoo is really not a big thrill for me, as I think I have been to the zoo enough several lifetimes’ worth in the past 22 years. To fend off boredom, I forced myself to take pictures at different manual and semi-manual camera settings. This way I got to be a good mom and do something slightly enriching all at the same time.


Meanwhile back at the ranch, Spaz and Hubz were busy at the pond fixing a dam leak. Thanks to the resident muskrats and recent heavy rains, the dam thing was in bad shape, causing the pond to flow out into the creek more than it should. The dam project took them all afternoon and into the evening, but they managed to get it built back up. Spaz, who does not normally count diligence and hard work among his traits, really rose to the occasion and exhibited a great deal of both. He even kept Hubz going when Hubz was ready to call it a day, and they worked til the job was done. Hubz says he was the best dam helper he could have asked for. I think Spaz was pretty proud of his work. I love that homeschooling allows him to do things like that. (And I'm rather enjoying the feeling of getting away with something here. ;-)

Friday brought yet another adventure, as Spaz spent part of the day with his friend at one of the local Christian schools, which was running a “Bring a Homeschool Friend to School Day.” Great marketing ploy, eh? Since it is one of the schools we are considering for him for next year, I stayed for a while as well, touring the school and talking with the principal. Insane price tag aside, I’m very comfortable with it, but I think the cost will be prohibitive. I did find it interesting that, although the school doesn’t have a dress code apart from requiring neatness and modesty, it does have a “hair code” for boys. Spaz’ is definitely too long.


Back home, Fuzz and I read about mollusks, made cards for a mollusk-matching game, and played the game. Then we picked up Spaz and donuts, ate the donuts, and worked on her quilting squares for a girl’s club project.


That was our week. You can read about other people’s weeks here. (Have I mentioned that I should get some sort of a creativity award for that fabulously innovative ending?)

Weekly Wrap-Up: In Which We Break and So Does the Refrigerator

It's taken me long enough to make my first post here, you think? It’s like I’ve been afraid of it or something. This Think Too Much stuff is a serious illness, I tell you. And what's worse, it's lately been accompanied by Can’t Get Enthused About Anything. Not exactly a great combination, and certainly not a recipe for productivity.

So it’s time to just jump in. Even though the header isn’t the way I want it and this and that isn’t the way I want it. We’ll fix things as we go along, eh?-- and maybe we’ll pick up a little enthusiasm while we’re at it.

I really did not want my first post here to be a Weekly Wrap-Up. Then again, it's not really a normal Wrap-Up anyway, since it wasn't a normal week. (I know, I know: define "normal". Later.) It's more about coffee makers and refrigerators and puzzles and giggly girls than it is about math or history. So I think we're okay.

There was no schoolwork to speak of at our house this past week, because I decided that we’d take a Spring Break along with the rest of West Michigan. I hadn’t been certain that we’d take the whole week off; I’d thought maybe we’d do a few “light days” of school and then take Thursday and Friday off, or some such mean-homeschool-mom thing. We’re thinking about taking an out-of-state vacation in May, Just Because We Can-- that is, IF I can get myself enthused about planning it and IF we can justify spending the money, both of which are big ifs at this point. So I wasn’t sure we should take a week off in April, even though I have been More Than Ready For a Break for some time now.


Then we learned, barely a week ahead of time, that the mom in charge of the teeny little girl’s club Fuzz and I belong to (note: it’s the club that’s teeny, not the girls) had obtained use of a cottage for a couple days of spring break week and was planning a little retreat for us. So that settled it; we were having Spring Break. Can’t say I was too disappointed about that.


The retreat was Tuesday through Thursday, so I, Compulsive Homeschool Mother that I am, had told the kids we’d do math and a little history on Monday and then declare Spring Break. Fuzz, however, was invited to spend Sunday night at Grandma’s with her cousins and go to the annual Butterflies Are Blooming exhibit at our local botanical gardens on Monday. I, Impulsive and Flexible Homeschool Mother that I am, said of course. We can’t let schoolwork get in the way of field trips and relationships, now, can we? So Spaz did math and some leftover work from the previous week, and no one did history. I’m rather surprised that Spaz didn’t pull the “Fuzz doesn’t have to do school today and I shouldn’t either” card, but he didn’t. I suppose he figured that since he was getting rid of both me and schoolwork for a few days, he could put up with a little algebra. (Besides, he doesn’t want to have a lot of math left to do over the summer.)


Tuesday morning we dropped Spaz off at his friend’s house, picked up our own friends, and headed for points north. 


At the retreat…


*The five girls (ages 11-15) crammed into the upstairs loft room, leaving two bedrooms for the 3 moms. My friend and I shared a room (but not a bed, thanks goodness) and left the other room for the mom who likes to sleep with the room temp at 55 degrees.


*A lot of giggling came from that upstairs room.


*It rained most of the time and snowed briefly. (This is typical spring break weather here. A few years ago we had a blizzard during spring break week.)


*We climbed dunes at Lake Michigan. Well, the five girls and I did; the other two moms opted out for physical reasons. At nearly 45, I am the junior mom by 4 years and felt up to the challenge. I congratulated myself on my energetic youthfulness as I ran up and down the first dune with the girls, then wheezed and panted for the next ten minutes. But hey, I did it.


*We all walked the wet pier “at our own risk” and reached the lighthouse.

*We walked to downtown Ludington and the girls bought ice cream cones.


*We forgot the chicken and so had sliced-up hotdogs with our fried potatoes and green beans the first night. The second night, we made hobo dinners.


*For lack of a campfire (it was WET out), we cooked our hobo dinners and banana boats in the oven and our s’mores on the stovetop. No one felt terribly deprived.

*The girls made bacon-egg-&-cheese sandwiches for one breakfast and pancakes & sausage for the other. We made pizza sandwiches for lunch.


*I drank lots of coffee from the beloved thermal-carafe coffee maker I’d brought along, because I am spoiled and won’t drink coffee that’s been sitting on a burner. We used the cottage’s coffee maker for hot water for tea and hot chocolate.

*We had devotions multiple times. I guess that’s part-and-parcel of a retreat.

*I barely touched my laptop (which I’d brought because I couldn’t imagine spending two-and-a-half days without it) but spent lots of time with my head in my puzzle book.

*Fuzz started a 500-hundred piece puzzle, and I, Good Mom that I am, tore myself away from my puzzle book and sat down to do it with her. After twenty minutes or so, she wandered off, while I, Compulsive Puzzle Finisher that I am, continued to work on it… and work on it… She did come back to check my progress every so often, as did everyone else. There were many oohs and ahs when it was finished. Meanwhile the other moms had done productive things like knitting, sewing, and reading.

*Fuzz and I played several games of Set (she always beats me; I am too analytical to be any good at Set) and some of the others played Blokus. Since it is a 4-person game and there were four others who -wanted to play, I, Self-Sacrificing Person that I am, opted to stifle the urge to declare my affinity for Blokus and pretended to be more interested in my the puzzle.

*Someone, perhaps two someones, replaced the roll of toilet paper twice. (Eight females, one bathroom-- you know how that goes.) Both times I, Compulsive Toilet Paper Correcter that I am, had to re-do it so it would hang the RIGHT way. I began to question my involvement with these people who obviously do not know that toilet paper should hang over the TOP of the roll. Sheesh.


Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

*The refrigerator died shortly after I left. Oh. Yes. It. Did. Hubz, having determined that it was beyond repair, broke the news to me by calling on his way to the appliance store to ask what I wanted in a new refrigerator. Then he picked it out all by himself.

*Hubz threw out all the food that was in the old frig, except for a few pieces of old-ish fruit that probably weren’t worth saving. Everything else got pitched, even the ketchup and mustard and butter. He did not think to put anything in a cooler, not even the stuff I had just bought the day before I left. He can be a little rash when frustrated. I, having at long last learned to keep my mouth shut when prudent (and actually remembering that principle on this occasion), did not make a great deal of comment on this. In his defense, he did put some of the freezer stuff into the garage freezer, including the box of ice cream drumsticks. Priorities, you know.

*Spaz called his youth leader and asked if she would make him a lunch for their group outing Wednesday since there was no food in our refrigerator. I do hope he explained a bit.

*Spaz went bowling with his youth group, after which it stopped raining long enough for them to head out to the beach as planned. Spaz, being Spaz, ended up in the water with his clothes on. No one was surprised by this.

*Hubz drank lots of coffee from the beloved thermal-carafe coffee maker that remained at home, since I had taken the spare. Yes, we have two identical thermal-carafe coffee makers, and we bought them both ourselves. I know that is a little scary. (I enjoyed getting to use the lesser-used one that does not have sticky buttons.)


When I got home from the retreat on Thursday afternoon, we picked up our new May vacation refrigerator and got it up and running. Friday, Hubz made a trip to Aldi, his Second Favorite Store in the Whole World Barely Behind Menard’s, to “replenish” the fridge. He bought cheese and more ice cream treats. Period. *Sigh*He and I each made another grocery run Saturday afternoon, and yet another Saturday evening. It’s amazing how much was in our fridge that I took for granted, only remembering it when I went to use it and it wasn’t there. I think we might be set now, though.

That was our exciting week. Next week it’s back to math and writing and… and a couple field trips to spice things up a little. But you’ll have wait til next time to hear about those. Meanwhile, you know the routine.