Feb

22

The Things Kids Say and Do 5

February 22, 2012 | The Things Kids Say  |  Leave a Comment

By: Rebecca Miller
The Sandwiched Homeschooler

The Things Kids Say and Do 5

This morning at the Miller household:
Me (Day 2 sick with a cold and not feeling much humor): “Walter, sometimes you say things that are really annoying to me. You repeat the same statement over and over, as if I didn’t hear it the first six times.”
Walter: “You know, Mom, I feel the exact same way.”
Me: “Oh, really? Like when?”
Walter: “Like when you say to me ‘Do your school work’.”

–Rebecca Miller
The Sandwiched Homeschooler

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Feb

21

It Didn’t Stop the Help

February 21, 2012 | Curriculum  |  1 Comment

By: Rebecca Miller
The Sandwiched Homeschooler

It Didn’t Stop the Help

My sister dislikes that I homeschool my kids; and the exact reason for her dislike of our homeschooling—or the homeschooling idea in general—I am not sure about. She smiles when she talks to me about homeschooling, but it’s the kind of smile that someone gives you when they are just trying to be pleasant during an uncomfortable topic’s discussion. I don’t think that I have ever asked her directly about why she dislikes homeschooling; it’s one of those “gray” life areas that you know is a problem, so you “don’t go there”.

I think she worried over the years, as any good and caring Aunt would, that I was teaching my children the school subjects that they needed. And that they read a variety of materials. And that they were having interaction with other kids. These are, of course, the usual concerns from people who look at homeschooling from the outside. Click Here To Read More

Feb

15

Book Review 1: Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers

February 15, 2012 | Curriculum  |  Leave a Comment

By: Rebecca Miller
The Sandwiched Homeschooler

Book Review 1

Name: Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers
Written by: Susan Kilbride
Price: $16.95 U.S.

Recently I received a copy of the book, Science Unit Studies for Homeschoolers and Teachers (Ages 4-13), from Susan Kilbride to review and I am happy to oblige her request—not only because she asked me to provide a fair and honest review of her book, but because I am constantly looking for resources to recommend to homeschoolers, especially new homeschoolers who tend to be nervous about curriculum and “getting it right” with lessons, supplements and activities.

Ms. Kilbride’s book contains 20 science units on various topics—10 units for children aged 4-7 and 10 units for kids aged 8-13—and each unit provides some overview on the topics which is then followed by experiments to enhance and reinforce the child’s understanding of that topic. Click Here To Read More

Feb

7

The Things Kids Say and Do 4 (Unspoken Truth Poem)

February 7, 2012 | Poems By My Kids, The Things Kids Say  |  1 Comment

By: Rebecca Miller
The Sandwiched Homeschooler

Walter Miller

At breakfast this morning, I said to my son, “During school today we are going to work on some poetry for English; you know, the kind that has feeling, the kind that others will read and think ‘I get it–I feel it’.” And before I could finish my thought, he spouted off with this poem and then said, “Okay, you’re welcome married men everywhere!  I’m done.”

Unspoken Truth
–by Walter L. Miller

Hate.
Mother-in-law.
Tolerance.
Together.
Forever.

–Rebecca Miller
The Sandwiched Homeschooler

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Feb

6

JROTC Color Guard and The Return of the Risky Grasshoppers

February 6, 2012 | JROTC  |  Leave a Comment

By: Rebecca Miller
The Sandwiched Homeschooler

JROTC Color Guard and The Return of the Risky Grasshoppers

“Mom, there is Color Guard in two weeks, and it is merit points; can we go?”
“Check the calendar.” My kids have so many things that they do, I have to keep a central calendar and log everything to try to avoid double-booking obligations.
“Nope. Nothing on there. I’ll tell Colonel we can go.”

I didn’t think any more about the Color Guard. Color Guard participation is generally short—about an hour. The kids arrive early to the location, practice a time or two with the colors [flags]incase the organization wants something a little different; and then they wait until the opening ceremony when they escort the colors—or what I call bring out the flags. Click Here To Read More

Feb

5

Blog Comment Section Not Working

February 5, 2012 | Uncategorized  |  1 Comment

By: Rebecca Miller
The Sandwiched Homeschooler

Blog Comment Section Not Working

I am hearing from people who have stopped by my blog that the comment section is not working.

Until we get the technical difficulties worked out, please feel free to leave comments about my blog messages at: https://www.facebook.com/thesandwichedhomeschooler/

And I hope that you stop back here frequently to see what is new.

–Rebecca Miller
The Sandwiched Homeschooler

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Feb

4

Charlie’s Eagle Project and Yard Sale Clean Up

February 4, 2012 | Boys Scouts or Cub Scouts  |  Leave a Comment

By: Rebecca Miller
The Sandwiched Homeschooler

Charlie’s Eagle Project and Yard Sale Clean Up

This morning started out with what I thought would be a rather simple, organized day.

Thursday morning Charlie received a telephone call from the office of the contractor who is responsible for pulling the permits for his Eagle project. Before the contractor called to have Charlie’s project inspected for the second of the two permits, he was going to have one of his guys meet with Charlie in the morning to do a pre-inspection—to make sure that project was ready for inspection.

Walter, Charlie and Ed working on the project

We figured that this was not going to take very long—an hour or so to do. But when the gentleman arrived and checked the project, it was evident that more needed to be done on the project before the permit could be inspected. Walter, Charles and Ed (who volunteered his time) set to work on the project to reach the level of completion (which we thought that the project had reached—as apparently the work stopped a step or two before it should have) for an inspection in the early part of this coming week.

Walter and Charlie were due to Click Here To Read More

Feb

3

The Thorn of Human Biology

February 3, 2012 | Curriculum  |  1 Comment

By: Rebecca Miller
The Sandwiched Homeschooler

The Thorn of Human Biology

My kids' motto: "There's always tomorrow."

I would love to write and say that this week of school moved my kids closer to finishing their mathematics, English and Spanish; but that is not the case. I’m not quite sure what happened—the kids were a bit more organized for their Human Biology course; and yet, we dropped the ball in the other subjects.

The chapters with quizzes in Human Biology due on Monday are (Chp. 4) Organization and Regulation of the Body Systems and (Chp. 5) the Cardiovascular System: Heart and Blood Vessels. Their professor has added their first assignment to the course also. In checking the due dates, it was noted that one of the quizzes was slated with a due date on Saturday, rather than Monday. That changed the study pattern of everything, it seemed, in order for the kids to be ready by today. (Tomorrow the boys are spending time working on Charlie’s Eagle project and then helping their troop with the end of a yard sale. There would not be time to take the quiz tomorrow with everything going on.) Friday afternoon it was found that the incorrect date was fixed and both quizzes, once again, are due on Monday. I breathed a sigh of relief about this as will give the boys some extra study time for both quizzes. Click Here To Read More

Feb

2

The Things Kids Say and Do 3

February 2, 2012 | The Things Kids Say  |  1 Comment

By: Rebecca Miller
The Sandwiched Homeschooler

The Things Kids Say and Do 3

Today the telephone rings at my house, and my oldest son, Walter, answers it.

He talks for a couple of seconds, and then motions me to come and get the telephone.

I ask him, “Walter, who’s on the telephone?”

Walter: “Grandma Linda.”

I feel like I am pulling teeth. My mother lives with us, so I suddenly have a million thoughts running through my mind as to why she would be calling home.  She had left the house saying that she was only going to run a short errand.  Why didn’t he say what she wanted? I ask him as I am walking toward the phone, “Well, Walter, what did she say?”

He replies, “I said, ‘Hello’ and she said,’Who is this? Oh, I know; it’s my favorite grandson in the whole world—the one who could never be replaced. You’re the one who has my heart string. You’re the one who has a special connection, a special bond, with me. You’re the grandson who I truly love above all others. I don’t know what I would do without you. The sun, moon and stars would fall from the sky should something happen to you. I love to buy stuff for you because you are so wonderful. ‘ Or she may have just said, ‘Hello, Walter, does your mother need me to pick up milk before I come home?’ I’m not sure; they both sound the same to me.”

–Rebecca Miller
The Sandwiched Homeschooler

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Jan

29

The Things Kids Say And Do 2

January 29, 2012 | The Things Kids Say  |  Leave a Comment

By: Rebecca Miller
The Sandwiched Homeschooler

The Things Kids Say 2

Walter with his "84" shirt

Out of all of their school subjects, my kids use to love history and science the most.  As they got older, they modified their subject interests with Walter reading more about military history and Charlie gaining a fascination with computers.   

The subjects that we probably spent the most time with were history and science.  (Math has always been our Achilles’ heel.)

During the boys’ sophomore year, they had to take an exam.  To be exact, it was Abeka’s United States History: Heritage of Freedom, Test 6 (the semester exam) covering chapters 1-17.  Sometimes funny things leave such an impression on you that you can’t help but to remember.

The boys finished up their exam and began to excitedly talk about it.
Charlie: “That wasn’t too bad.”
Walter: “I know.  I figure that I got a B on it.”
Charlie: “And some of the questions were real gimmies (meaning “give me the points, they are so easy”)—especially the question about Jamestown; like who wouldn’t know about Jamestown bein’ the first permanent settlement in Virginia?”
Walter: “Yeah, I know, right?  Only an goofball, that’s for sure!”  Self-confidence is oozing out of him. 

At that very moment I am checking Walter’s paper and reach the question in reference, #47: The first permanent settlement in Virginia was ___?___  Only Walter didn’t have Jamestown listed.  He had 84.  And not even 1784, 1884 or 1984 was written; just 84.  It made absolutely no sense. 

“Oh, really?” I say, “’Only a goofball’ wouldn’t know the answer was Jamestown you said?  Then why do you have ‘84’ written on your paper for the answer?” 

It was one of those moments where you just had to laugh.  We all did.  “I did?  I wrote that?” And Walter came over to the table to look at his paper—and sure enough, there it was: 84. 

For the rest of the week when anyone in the house did or said anything that was goofy the closest person would yell out “84!” just as if it were part of a football count being called out to begin a play: 16!-24!-84!-hike! And we would all laugh. 

It was funny.  It was a careless error in reading that my son made and he was a good sport about it.

It wasn’t too much longer and the swimming season started. The new team t-shirts were ordered and arrived. 

Charlie came into the house first, beaming after a swim practice.  “You’ll never guess about Walter’s swimming shirt, Mom?  Guess what it says?  Guess what number he picked?”

And a second or two later Walter walked through the front door holding up shirt and laughing, “I just couldn’t resist.  They said to pick a number and it was what popped into my head.  I don’t think another number would have worked for me.”

And he was right.

–Rebecca Miller
The Sandwiched Homeschooler

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