Thursday, May 29, 2008

In Which Subway Apologizes

The HSLDA posted an apology letter from Subway regarding their current contest.
http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/200805280.asp

I think they took some heat, and I think Scholastic took a some too but I think the brunt of the energy was directed at Subway as the giver of the contest.

Either way I still need to eat better... and that was the boot in the bottom to do so!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Tadfiles - Day 7

Tad @ 7 days home
Tad continues to grow. His feet are getting bigger, and he is using his legs more... his arms are growing, you can actually see them from the side now where you had to be head on to see them the last couple days.

The only thing that makes me sad is how quickly this time is passing. We've decided that as soon as Tad outgrows his current habitat we we will move him to the Stage 2 habitat and get another Tadpole friend to watch them grow too.

Its insanity I tell ya. I never thought I could be fond of a frog, but this little guy (gal) has worked its way into my heart!

Monday, May 26, 2008

Tadfiles - Day 5

Well Little Tad is still with us!

As I mentioned before when Little Tad arrived s/he already had sprouted the tiniest set of back legs I ever did see. They have continued to grow and Little Tad has started using them. He has also grown somewhat, as his body from head to feet has elongated a fair bit as well! Yesterday we noticed two little nubbies at the back of his head where I guessed his little arms would appear. Our observations this morning yielded a tiny set of arms where those nubbies were. If you weren't looking for them you wouldn't see them, as you can only see them when he is head on looking at you! I wish I could get a decent pic of them. But I can't!

Anyway, that is today's update on the tad files! :)

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Disappointed in SUBWAY and Scholastic Books

So the latest buzz on the homeschool groups is how SUBWAY is snubbing homeschoolers.
Subway and Scholastic books are running a story writing contest. Details of which you can find

http://www.subwayfreshbuzz.com/kids/contest.aspx


Our communities are filled with homeschooled kids. Sadly, they have chosen to exclude our children from this contest! While I don't jump on the bandwagon of Boycotting, this is an outright shot at our children for the choice that isn't their own!

Disclaimer:
Contest is open only to legal US residents, over the age of 18 with children in either elementary, private or parochial schools that serve grades PreK-6.
No home schools will be accepted.

I have sent my note to them already telling them how I feel. I'm beyond disappointed, M is very disappointed as well. As of today we will not be frequenting our local SUBWAY.... and frankly I think I may have to pull my purchases away from Scholastic books too!

Friday, May 23, 2008

Tadfiles Day 3 - Head Down Tail up - Good!

Day 3 has begun of our Journey with Little Tad (who will be renamed to either Leap or Lilly when gender is detected! LOL! until then I will refer to it as a boy... just because that's my nature!) And good news good news.... he's swimming tail up head down just like the literature said it would.

I was pretty worried about it yesterday - little thing just stuck to the bottom of its container like glue, with a lot of unbalanced swimming to the surface only to sink to the bottom in a floppy side to side jerky motion, just like my dad's pig of a goldfish used to do when he was really sick. So at one point yesterday I dumped about 1/4 of the water off the top and put in some different spring water and maybe that helped a little. Like I said, I was paranoid we'd lose him in the first 72 hours, but it looks good now.

I've gone downstairs each morning for the past couple days before anyone wakes to make sure little Tad isn't floating at the top - just so I could be prepared to explain to the girls my findings. I'm not sure how M would take it, despite the fact that I had warned her that it still could happen.

None the less she is very pleased to FINALLY be a pet owner! I have photos of Tad, but they aren't very good... I have pictures of his welcome sign - which is cute.... and as soon as I get my brains and brawn together I will post them.

I'm even contemplating getting another Tadpole, when little Tad has grown... adding to the family so to speak... though dh is worried that they would be boy girl and we'd end up with a whack of spawn... and a crowded aquarium of the things! (ever the practical one! LOL!) But what a learning experience that would be. We'll order our Stage 2 aquarium as soon as we see arm buds... since Tad already has tiny cute little back legs.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Tadfiles - Officially Pet Owners!

Officially Pet Owners! M is the proud parent of a real live Glass frog TADPOLE.

The Little Tad arrived today. It has its back legs already, they're tiny but distinguishable. I'm nervous about this as the mail-person left it in the mailbox despite the markings not to do so. Little Tad (I'm calling him/it - as M hasn't decided on a name yet) is kinda floating on its side. We'll give him 72 hours to adjust and then think of putting in a call to the help center if need be. Pics to follow of Proud Momma and her baby tad!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Grade 2 - The Mostly Final Plan

LANGUAGE ARTS
- Baltimore Curriculum Project

MATH
- K12 Math (Grade 2)

HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY
- K12 History (Grade 2)

SCIENCE
- K12 Science (Grade 2)

LANGUAGES
- Sign Language (need to find better program - maybe Signing Times Videos + more)
- Spanish (is it the right time?? need to find a better program here too!)

I'm not really happy with what we're using here and need to find something better. I'm tempted to let the Spanish sit for a year or 2 and just focus on the sign since we have both an interest and a need for it. That way when S is ready to start "schooling" we can include her in the spoken Spanish lessons and go from there.

ARTS/CRAFTS/MUSIC
- K12 Art (Grade 2)
- K12 Music (Beginning 1)
- various projects
- extracurricular art classes as appropriate

I'm not sure if we will use the K12 Art and music but it seems to fit with everything else we're doing and I have no plan currently in place to cover these subjects. Our library doesn't seem to have the resources I want access to for the breadth of what I want to cover so I'm tossing my hands up here! I can teach crafts like Knitting, sewing, hand embroidery, crochet, etc.... she has expressed an interest and aptitude in sewing (hand and machine) and cross stitch, so we're good on crafts and will just follow interests!

EXTRACURRICULAR
- Brownies
- outside classes as interest deems necessary

You Tube Videos with a Startling Message

One of my email groups passed this little gem along. Thought provoking.

Are we teaching our children the things they need to know to keep them on top of our changing industries?

Education Today and Tomorrow

A Student's Vision of the Future