hi all!
couple of notes.
Today we had a repair person come to the house to fix the heater (mighty chilly with no heat!). As we passed through the dining room to get to the basement, he noticed my dining table covered with books, papers, pencils, crayons, math manipulatives, etc., etc., etc., and causally asked, “you homeschool?”. I love love love how common and acceptable homeschooling is these days. He didn’t blink an eye. I asked him how he knew, and he said he just sorta guessed. When I homeschooled Jess for Kindergarten, I was often frightened to take her out in public during the day for fear people would ask why she wasn’t in school. Oh the times, they are a’changing. What’s the stats? Last count, several years ago (2003 I think), there was 1.2 million registered homeschoolers in the United States, with some estimates that that number was increasing at rates close to 25% a year in some states…so if that holds true, then now, three years later we have what? Nearly 1.9 million homeschoolers. And that is just the registered homeschoolers. In some states homeschoolers aren’t even required to register (like across the border in Missouri), and in other states homeschoolers are only required to register once, and some states you don’t register until the child is 7. So those state figures wouldn’t include homeschooled kids under the age of 7, would they? SO if we do in fact have 1.9 million registered homeschoolers in the US, what would the figure be with the fringe schoolers that aren’t registered due to age or state requirements? I would have to guess that would bring us up to at least 2.5 million..wouldn’t you say? 
Speaking of school, today Allison said, “Don’t you just LOVE this math book we use?” And yesterday at the office store, she was lamenting about how she didn’t have enough money to buy this game she saw. The game was $10 and she only had $2, and she saw another game package that contained her game, PLUS three other games, and it was $20, so she was talking to the clerk as we were paying for my items (which I had money for, lol), and she told him that she had two dollars but the game was ten dollars and she only needed $8 more dollars to buy the game, or if she would wait and save $18 more she could purchase the package. The clerk raised his eyebrows at me in this approving way, and complimented her. (of course then she asked the clerk if there was any way to make sure that the game wasn’t sold by the time she saves up enough money, lol) ALSO, earlier in that same store, she was looking at something that cost $1.99, and she said, “I know that $1.99 could also be said as one-hundred ninety-nine cents, or we could say one-hundred and ninety nine ones, which are pennies.” Yup. OH, and I almost forgot, as we were leaving the store, she was saying that if she gets $3 a week, she will only have to wait 3 weeks to have enough to buy the game, and then she will have a dollar left over! Boy that sounds like some multiplication/division stuff going on in her little head, if I’m not mistaken! I do LOVE our math book
In other news….we are settling into a few routines round these parts. Meredith started ballet, and LOVES it (big surprise there, huh?). She counts the days from one class to the next, and earlier today I caught her in the kitchen, in her big footed jammies, with her left arm over her head, her right toe pointed out, and her head looking towards her right toe, and she was saying to herself, “look towards the barre, keep your back straight, check in the mirror” LOL. Last I looked, there was no barre, or mirror in our kitchen.
Both of the girls are taking piano again. We found a teacher who comes to our house and the girls LOVE her. I hope we never have to switch teachers again. Sometime in the near future (within the next four months or so) we will look into purchasing a piano so the girls will have that rather than a keyboard to practice on and take their lessons on.
Allison is taking ice skating lessons! I don’t really know that she is learning to skate, but she sure is learning not to fall. The key to not falling is not to move. Just stand there, look like you are moving or at least trying to move, and at some point, a teacher will come and help you move. At the end of every class she beams and says, “I didn’t fall!” – um, you didn’t skate either. Oh well, lol. I think her initial goals of Olympic figure skating have been replaced with new goals of avoiding falls. Aim high little one, aim high.
I on the other hand, could take a lesson, as I am recovering from a fall I had on Friday. I stepped out into my garage and twisted my ankle, falling down the two steps (so yeah, I fell out of the house), while holding the baby (who landed in Eric’s toolbox…not the softest place to land, but she’s ok). My foot is still somewhat swollen, and has some interesting colors running through it, but my ability to walk increases each day.
Ok, back to work…..stalled enough for one night.
Isn’t it great to have the kids show how brilliant they are in *public*? Sounds like some fun classes! We haven’t been doing any around here lately. Glad your foot is getting better!