Green Eggs and Ham

Son loves Dr. Seuss' classic Green Eggs and Ham. About two weeks ago I finally made green eggs and ham. We had delicious nitrate-free ham and I had green food dye in my drawer. All I did was squirt some green dye on the egg yolk and Son ate it. It would be more uniformly colored if I had scrambled it, but in the book it was made a la sunny side up. Here Son is smiling while eating his green eggs (which in the end he was distrustful of -- ha). On the other hand, he devoured his ham slices really fast. Why is the color green not easy to take when it comes to food for most people, especially kids?

Favorites

As the year draws to a close for us, we've gone back to basics -- math, reading, copywork. We're also finishing up Science. I've been thinking about our favorites for this year. For me it would have to be:

Tanglewood's Really Reading Program (Son is a great reader!)

Let's Read and Find Out Science Books (love this series! Son reads these on his own now)

Miquon Math (adventures in math discovery)

Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding K-2 (the name says it all)

MCP Math (solid presentation of concepts and TM teaches me to teach)

Poems to Read to the Very Young (ruined our old copy, bought a new one)

Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting (clear results)

I can't say enough about Tanglewood's Really Reading program. Son went from knowing all his letters and sounds to reading simple words within a few weeks after starting this simple program. Not bad for a free program, eh? In a few months he was reading really well, with intonations and everything. After he completed the program he was reading happily, and reading at a third grade level. I'm not sure where he is right now, but he sure is improving daily. He reads for an hour before bed, and that's not counting all the times in the middle of the day when he picks up a book and reads. I'm so happy. It makes my heart sing that he loves reading so much. I hope the love of books and reading will always stay firmly planted in his heart and mind.

An Algebra Odyssey

As of late, I've been contemplating a lot. Yeah, and not blogging. Sorry! Our school year is actually one day away from being done, and we're going to visit Aruba in July! I'm excited. I haven't been in seven years, and my extended family don't even know my kids! What have I been contemplating? Life, revisiting my goals, looking at where I'm heading not only as a mother, but as a woman -- a person. All this in between all the stuff I have to do in "real life" with homeschooling, the kids, and managing time in general! Dh and I are probably done having children, and I would like to travel again. This time with the kids. We feel complete as a family, and there's so much to explore and learn! 

That said, I started thinking about going back to school and getting my graduate degree in Psychology, most likely in the area of Developmental Psychology. I need a better math background than I currently have, including an undergraduate class in inferential statistics. This got me thinking. I have never taken statistics, but I've never been great at algebra. Okay, that's an understatement. So I thought, Why not review Algebra? I'm an adult now, a mom, and I think I can work through some algebra problems in my own time. I wouldn't want to take my GRE until I know I'm ready to attend university, which won't be until the kids are older. With my homeschooling schedule, probably quite a bit older. However, I have this time to work slowly towards my goals, and I better not waste it.

I borrowed Algebra The Easy Way from the Library and I'm looking through it. I finally got the rules of fractions down! So simple, but I guess they perplexed and confused me as a child. Besides mathematics, I also want to read some Great Books for my own pleasure and education. I was happy to discover I have read a number of great works already, but not enough in English. I created a list of works from Ancient Times through Modern Times from the excellent book The Well Trained Mind.

First work on my list? Homer's The Odyssey. I snagged a free copy at the library and off I am! Some time I need to write how much I enjoy doing Miquon with Son.