Guo Ji Familia - an international family

So #1 and I have finished our first week of homeschooling. So far so good. We lost a little time yesterday afternoon when I locked my keys in the car trying to pick him up in town where he was researching Indian tribes with J. The math program I bought for him is a huge hit, so right now that is his favorite subject. And that is no surprise b/c even though he LOVES to read and has always been very verbal, his mind works in a completely logical, non-imagination sort of way. I thought we'd do one lesson per day, but after four days he's on lesson nine. His Earth Science has been the most work for him so far b/c it is the start of any real science course when it's all about the scientific method and practicing the steps of scientific inquiry. Today he did an experiment that he read about in a book that his cousin W. just got for his bday. Bounce an egg and a basketball together and the egg will go flying off the basketball. One egg we caught in a frying pan, fried it up, and he ate it for a snack break.

He has loved both of the short stories we worked on this week: "Death Speaks" by W. Somerset Maugham and "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell. And the vocab words he has pulled from his readings are pretty big. His definition for "solicitous" is "Nonnie." I told him he can't really use a noun as a synonym for an adjective. (He does have a point, Mom.) :)

The first essay for history about the three tribes upon contact w/ the European settlers had him all stressed out b/c he'll have so much information to cram into three paragraphs according to the assignment. So I told him we'd break it into smaller chunks and worry about one tribe at a time which helped a ton. He's found all the info he wanted for the Iroquois so far. He'd researched them last year b/c he wrote a paper about the history of lacrosse. Over the weekend he'll do his research for the Pequot. I'm going to have him find some background info on the Wampanoug too b/c we are all heading to Plimouth Plantation for their homeschool day next Friday the 16th, and we'll check out the Mayflower II on Saturday.

Now he's outside paying off his new snowboard boots by mowing the lawn since he's done with all of his work for today!