"What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate."
-- Thoreau

I would like to take more time to talk to my children about what they think of themselves. Maybe I could help them develop a more positive self-image, if I only took the time.

  ¶ 2:23 PM  

  Yesterday there was no formal homeschool because of Halloween. Instead the kids worked on their costumes (an art project?) and went to Trick-or-Treat with their friends, Shane and Amanda. Cimeron was a golden retriever - she dressed in yellow and added ears, a dog-nose and a tail, along with a collar and leash. Aaron dressed as a soldier going to Afghanistan to search for terrorists.

Today Keith read to them from the World Book encyclopedia more of San Francisco history. After finishing that, they started on San Diego history. They are also using this book:


Eyewitness Travel Guide: California

My oldest daughter, Simoné, sent this book to Cimeron and Aaron a few years ago when she was working for the publisher, DK Books.

They also read the Street Law book and discussed Miranda warnings, the 4th, 5th, and 6th amendment protections, and some aspects of the juvenile justice system. Hopefully they will never get in trouble, but if they do, they should know what to do.

  ¶ 2:26 PM  

  Homeschool today was fun. Keith read to them about the history of San Francisco, from World Book Encyclopedia. We have decided to do a series on the history of California cities, and the history of the state. Next Cimeron worked on exercises in her grammar book and Aaron read out loud to Keith for about half an hour. I worked one-on-one with Aaron for half an hour of math - he is doing multiplication - and Cimeron worked on a website: Trips - practical math applications about trips. I just love that website! She did the first page, about how to calculate mileage per gallon of gas. Then while I was working with Aaron she solved that logic problem (see below). Clue 1 and then clue 3 opened the door to the solution.

  ¶ 2:58 PM  

  This History of Mathematics looks interesting. I may go over this with Cimeron sometime soon. Maybe Aaron too. It gets very complex, very quickly... but they would understand the historical elements. The math, much of it, goes over my head!!

  ¶ 4:54 PM  

  Its Sunday - so the kids are out playing with friends. I thought I'd put in this bit about logic problems, which Cimeron and I have been having some fun with. I looked them up on the internet, because I thought it might help her with math. Anyhow, I made up the following logic problem for Cimeron last night because the ones I found on the web were too hard for her. I'll let you know if she solved it.


This is our pen board today... it is a large sheet of white plastic.
We use Crayola markers on our pen board and then wash them off.
That's so much cheaper than dry-erase markers!
The clues are written on the 5 index cards (on the encyclopedias).

I drew the four girl-faces with books on the pen board for Cimeron to visualize the problem. There are lines for the answers she comes up with. The object is to know the names of the girls, what book they are reading, and what their favorite colors are. Here are the five clues:

1. The girl who is reading "Cat's Meow" sits on the end of the bench. Angela sits on the other end.

2. Holly likes the color green. She is sitting next to the girl who likes the color purple.

3. Jenny is sitting next to the girl who is reading "Dog Surprise" and the girl who is reading "Peter Rabbit".

4. The girl who is reading "Peter Rabbit" loves the color red and is not named Holly or Carrie.

5. Carrie loves the color blue. She is not reading "Rabbit Hill" or "Dog Surprise".

Good luck - if you read this and solve it, please let me know. If you don't think there's enough clues, let me know that too. This is the first time I've tried writing one of these, and Cimeron hasn't done it yet.

  ¶ 1:29 PM