Creative School Supplies

I thought I would share the uses my boys have found for the school supplies that I so carefully acquired for each of them and separated into their very own, labeled school boxes.

Scissors: make great sling shots. Just tie one end of a rubber band to each loop of the scissors.
Pencils: are for chewing the lead out and the erasers off. Somehow they work better that way.
Paper: is for making boats, rockets and flying machines
Markers: are for coloring your finger nails
Rulers: are great drumsticks. The table is a wonderful drum.
Crayons: are for general peeling and breaking. Really there is no other use for them.

Homeschooling tends to show up every ounce of undiscipline that has been let go in the kids. Just like every teacher spends about a week going over rules and getting the kids in a routine, we're spending some time around back tracking and working on basics: come, sit, go, stay...inside voices. Goodness!

Riley is way too smart for second grade math so far, so we are trying to test him out of the first few chapters.

Ian is so eager. He is soooo much fun to teach! Everyday it's, "When is it *my* turn for school?!" He is really annoyed with the sorting and matching and "over, above, inside, outside" stuff that is supposed to be math. He really wants to do "plussing."

Hayden answers Ian's questions about half the time before Ian does. He's such a smart whippersnapper. He'll probably skip kindergarten entirely. I can't believe he has two more years to wait.

Clayton loves to read, but is out of reading material. Recent conversation with the librarian:
Librarian: What have you read?
Clayton: I like the "Left Behind" books.
Librarian: Well there are a lot of those.
Clayton: I've read all 40.
Librarian: What about the C.S. Lewis ones...The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe
Clayton: I've read all those too.
Librarian: What about Matt Christopher?
Clayton: Read those.
Librarian: Magic Treehouse?
Clayton: Read those.

Anyway, she is ordering a new series just for him, but they aren't in yet. Poor kid. She sent him home with two large novels. He read one that day, and the other the next day. BUT, he hates to write, so 5th grade is torturous. Part of this week has involved an intro to journal writing. His first assignment was to write a paragraph of the things he'd like to use a journal for. I insisted that his "paragraph" had to be at least three sentences. So his entry went something like this. "I hate journals. There is nothing I would like to put in a journal. I would never keep a journal." Oh, boy!

It's been a long few weeks with Riley's surgery, Taylor moving, family in and out, school starting, MOPS gearing up to start, cleaning out the house, etc. It seems like so many things are urgent and I just rush from one need to the next. I'm feeling overwhelmed this week at how much I'm needed and how much time I need to re-group to be of any use to those who need me.

I don't have any time to write, which is very much a re-grouping outlet for me. When I go days and weeks without writing, I feel a part of me is missing. Hoping to find it again soon.