There aint no cheesy snow days when you homeschool. You dont have to worry about your child being in an unheated school bus, with no seat belts, sliding on poorly plowed roads, riding for HOURS.

I used to walk through hip deep snow to the bus when we lived in Iowa. Frozen pant cuffs cutting my ankles then thawing and coating the same ankles with freezing water all day at school.

The only time we didnt go to school there was when it got down to MINUS 50 degrees F real temp and MINUS 80 F windchill factor. They didnt want us to breathe the cold dry air so we didnt go to school that day. Iowa can be more cruel than Alaska (lived both places).

Nope, we just snuggle up and go on with our day like its just another day (which it is).

White out! Its now snowing at a rate of 3 inches/hour.

Alls clear, a foot of snow and then the sky cleared, sun came out, and then the sun set. Kids got to play just a bit.

Writing (SparkNotes Daily Spark)

We do our DailySpark every day. A recent page was on foreshadowing. It asked Q to write a paragraph. She didnt stick to the suggested topics (inheritance of a fortune, downfall of a corporation, or the discovery of a crime) but did one on politics.

She wrote:

“A storm gathered as they walked to the rally. When they got there they waited and then they protested. Then someone broke out a mob. Then someone started a fire. They fed it until it was an inferno. It wiped out the whole city. Finally, the storm that gathered put it out.”

Powerful huh? Depending on which side of the political spectrum you are planted, you will see this differently. I think she is hooking into a vision of a rather violent social correction for a corrupt system. She mixes real world experience (rallies and protests) and sims game experience (mobs, catastrophies, etc) to come out with something that is rather interesting.

Today, we broke open a new science kit that related to the polymerization of several chemicals including polyvinyl acetate (opaque laundry starch), polyvinyl alcohol, and sodium tetraborate (borax) (the polymerizing agent).

First Q examined the liquid qualities of polyvinyl alcohol and then she added the sodium tetraborate. She watched it change and become a very goopy and interesting goop.

Next she added the sodium tetraborate to the polyvinyl acetate, watched it change, and then got an opaque goop that felt more slimey than the previous one and it was slower to goop about.

Finally, polyvinyl acetate and polyvinyl alcohol were mixed and then polymerized. Q saw that it didnt form a new mix but rather that each chemical polymerized to itself, bringing each out of solution seperately.

This was a great kit and we have lots left over for out-of-the-box experiments too!

We have been working on breaking through some barriers and I think we are closing in. One thing about working with and around children, you KNOW they are NOT adults

One beautiful thing about childrens’s minds is that they are NOT adults and can be much more flexible about things.

Sure, tantrums can happen and oppositional behavior of all sorts can make your days hot with angst but if you remain constant (thats only fair), calm (hot headed mommas only get hot headed kids), and cognizant of the fact that its a continuum, both parent and child will likely move through rough patches without too much blood loss and with having learned a bit more about themselves.

On a lighter note, we are looking down the barrel of a Nor’easter this coming Tuesday. We are pretty much ready for anything, with our woodstove and wood pile. Power outage is better in the winter because we just take the food out of the fridge and put it in the vestibule, nice and cool in there.

Today we got about 4 inches as a pre-storm dusting. (Think of it as that crumb layer of frosting you put on a cake before the main frosting job).

Not all is cool and white, our christmas catcus has blossomed and is so very lovely.

Hope you all have a beautiful Sunday and see you next week.