An urchin laugh

Those children o' mine just make me laugh so much.

(Just for reference, we play a game in the car where we call out "JuicyFruit" any time we see a yellow vehicle. It's mindless fun. Try it. You'll never miss a yellow vehicle again. In our version, commercial vehicles don't count.)

SASS: That was a man driving that JuicyFruit.

SPYDER: How do you know?

SASS: Well, he was bald ....

SPYDER: That doesn't mean it was a man. It could just be a REALLY UGLY woman.

Lascaux

We are reviewing prehistory, mostly for Sass because she was so young when we did it four years ago for Spyder. On Sunday we read a couple of chapters and discussed art in particular, so I went searching for the famous prehistoric art at Lascaux.

Oh. My. Word.

The French Ministry of Culture has a fantastic website that is absolutely filled with information. It actually allows you a virtual walk through the cave itself, with detailed information on the individual paintings and engravings.

The site map gives the visitor direct links to information about the geology of the region, the discovery itself, the research on the artworks, and much more.

Even if your students aren't studying the era, the website is well worth a visit.

The new school year

It is amazing how time gets filled. And the best laid plans often have to change. So it is with our school year.

I had hoped to manage a three day week this year, with Spyder working (mostly) independently. That hasn't happened, either one. We are continuing with the four day week, and I am doing direct teaching for both 6th grade and 2nd grade. We are managing, and it's better to continue with the same-old since I know that it will all get done that way. Perhaps we can move into more independent learning as the year progresses.

Add the extra activities -- fencing (twice a week), music class, volunteering at the food pantry, church, art class (twice a month), plus a couple of field trips every month -- and we are always busy and often running like mad. It is a treat to stay home for an entire day, and it seldom happens.

Sass is especially enjoying her studies this year. She hasn't said that she has a favorite. She likes them all. Math is her current #1, but I think that's only because we've been doing hands-on activities for the last week.

Spyder has read every book that I've assigned for this semester. Yes. He has already read all 16 of them. And he read two extra ones that were on the list for NEXT semester. Thankfully, he still needs to write the papers for most of them. I suppose that buys me a little extra time on deciding on more books for him.