Random Things

I have been trying to log in here and jot down random things that I want to blog about later, when I have the time.  I just logged in now to jot down some things B said to me this evening and realized I have 8 bullet points and really should just take the time to type.  There is not a cohesive theme throughout, hence the post title, but such is my life!  So here we go...

After replacing B's chair at the kitchen table with a stability ball, he wanted us all get stability balls.  So we did.  There are 3 balls under the kitchen table and they remind me of Papa Bear's, Mama Bear's and Baby Bear's chairs.  B rolls his ball into the family room to watch TV (although he usually ends up standing or bounces on and off the ball) and to play certain Wii games that he will actually sit for.  That ball under him has really made life easier.  I need to sit on mine more often b/c I really feel it in my back when I do.

B asked some big questions over dinner last Thursday.  How come God let 9/11 happen?  How come God does not come down and take out Bin Ladan since we can't find which cave he's in?  He had all kinds of suggestions for finding him.  Some have been done or are being done, some are not possible and although one of his suggestions is actually possible, it would destroy all life on Earth in the process so that's a no-go.  It amazes me the things he absorbs and processes!  We had a good discussion but I know he is going to stew over it and come back again with more questions and suggestions.  I can't wait.

I have gathered some great HS resources and materials so far.  We have tons for science, I have secured an Art teacher for him and keep going back and forth on purchasing a one year subscription to a website used at his school.  I received a message from my computer yesterday that I have just about used up all the space on my hard drive and I need to clear it out!  It's all the free ebooks, and audio lessons and such that I have been saving.  I need to start organizing so I can transfer them to disks.  I have some really exciting stuff I want to do with Ben but I'll need to keep myself in check and not do it all at once.  There is plenty of time.

B's palate is getting smaller and smaller and the issue is texture.  It is so annoying!  I fear I will have to start pureeing more foods to get a variety in him.

B has obviously been thinking about HSing.  While I was cooking dinner tonight he said, he kept repeating, "I love being at home and I kinda like school."  While getting him upstairs for bed he said, "I'm kinda excited about this HSing thing."  Then, after I turned out the light in his room he asked, "Is there going to be homework at HS?"

I know that was only 5 things, but I combined 2, realized I had already blogged about 1 and then decided not to blog about another.  Not exciting, at all, but it's done.  Phew!

Just had to share this video...

I Will Survive - homeschool version was posted on one of the HSing sites I visit, Parent at the Helm, and I think it is very creative.  I had to share it.

The Results Are In...

A few weeks ago, I bought B a stability ball.  He had been standing at his desk or the kitchen table to do homework, but he is getting taller and he has to stoop over to do his work.  Then once he is stooped over, he leans on the table or desk and kicks his legs up in the air over and over.  The table is creaking and wobbling under his weight now.  I thought about getting those bed risers and placing them under his desk to raise it up, but his desk in in the living room and the hubs says B prefers to be in the kitchen with him.  I won't put risers under the kitchen table so I bought B the stability ball.  What a difference that has made!  B "sits" on it to do homework and to eat all his meals.  But he doesn't really sit; he bounces.  His upper body is still and he is completely focused on the task at hand while his lower body is bouncing away!  I wish I could get an extra ball for his desk at school...

B's test results arrived today.  He got 76 out of 80 questions correct.  He definitely passed.  :o)  I knew he passed, b/c I checked the test after he took it.  But we have decided to have B finish out 1st grade at his school.  Ever since I told him that we would be HSing him in the Fall, he has been very happy at school.  He rarely has anything negative to say about school.  He bounds out of school all excited to tell the hubs about everything he did that day and about all of his friends.  I asked him yesterday why he thought he was so happy at school now and he said, "I don't know.  I guess because I know I don't have that much more to go?"  Interesting.  Does he feel like the pressure is off of him since he only has 2 more months to go?  Is he more relaxed since he has another option, that he doesn't HAVE to go to school?  Whatever the reason, the hubs and I are very pleased that B is enjoying school so we want him to have the last couple of months.  We are very happy he will end his school experience on a positive note instead of being pulled out due to an unhappy one.

Administering The Test

I want to apologize for my comments' setting.  When I set up the blog, the default was set so that comments could only be made if you logged in.  I have changed that so anyone can make comments to posts now.


I spread the California Achievement Test (CAT) out.  It has 5 parts - 3 Language Arts and 2 Math - and B took it over Monday, Tuesday and today.  This was the same as the tests I took in elementary school.  You know, those old "fill in the bubble" tests.  Ahhh, we truly didn't know how good we had it back then!  Oh to be back when the worst things I had to worry about were being on Sr. Irene's bad side or whether or not Chris H. would ask me to dance at a party.  ;o)  Anywho, the Language Arts sections were a breeze.  It was fun to see how excited B was in his complete confidence that he was answering correctly.  "I am SO GOOD at this!" he exclaimed over and over.  Math was tougher...on me!


B gets Math and that makes me very happy b/c I get Math.  When I was in school there were 2 kinds of students - those who got Math and those who didn't.  I noticed a pattern in those who didn't - they questioned Math.  There is no "questioning" in Math!  Math is finite.  The formula works, every time.  You don't question why it works, you just plug in the numbers and know the answer is right.  But my classmates who struggled in Math wanted to know why the formula worked?  Who says so?  My friend Rosanna and I had many an argument over Math and I finally had to put Math on the "no talking" subject list.  Actually, more people than not are either English people or Math people.  Ben and I are a minority who are both and the hubs claims he is neither.  "I was a street-smart athlete," he says.  B and I had reviewed double digit, vertical addition and subtraction and he was an ace!  He did it all in his head and I was utterly confident he would breeze through the Math sections of the CAT.  I was wrong.


He knew the answers to the sample questions immediately.  However, when I set the timer and he was on his own to do his addition section, it wasn't so easy.  In fact, it was nerve-wracking - for me!  This was the only section he did not finish in the allotted time.  He came up with answers that were not one of the 4 options or he came up with the reverse answer which was an option.  I guess that means it is pretty common to reverse the ones and tens column.  I was surprised how hard it was for me to sit there and not help him by answering his questions and requests for help.  The only thing I could say was, "If you don't know it, guess.  If you can't guess, skip it and go onto the next one."  Anywho, when he did the double digit, vertical subtraction section, there was no problem at all!  Finished all of them before time was up, got all the questions correct and didn't hesitate on a one.  Interesting...  Mailed back the test to  Seton Testing and now we just wait for the results.


I discovered a negative today for having B at home instead of at school - potty talk!  Any and all words that relate to below-the-belt body parts, bodily noises and bathrooms are hi-LARIOUS to boys B's age.  He knows that we do not want to hear them at home so, evidently, he and his friends get them out of their systems at school.  LOL  Occasionally on the weekends, one slips out, we correct him, and that's it.  But today was day 6 away from school due to Spring Break and he could no longer contain himself!  Once again, oh to be at that stage where all it took was the word "butt", "fart" or "poop" to entertain me...  ;o)