President's week

Mom is making me write again. I get frustrated sometimes when I have to write, but Mom thinks it’s important. I would rather play a new game that I learned, called Rummy Roots, during my English time, or read the new book series that I started.  Almost everything is better than writing.  

               I don’t like writing because typing is a subject that I am horrible at. I don’t type fast because I can’t think and type at the same time. Then, I get frustrated.  I still don’t know how to type because the program that I use does not seem work for me. Mom is going to find another typing program, I think. Also, after I write, my mom makes me print my writing. Then, I have to circle every linking verb (was and were) and rewrite the sentence using active verbs. I would rather just read. Today, I accidently deleted my writing, after working on it for over an hour, and then mom made me write the whole thing all over again. She said that mistakes like that will happen over and over again (this is the third time I’ve done that) if I don’t learn to save my work. She said I will not learn my lesson unless I rewrite it over again. I cried when she said that, but then I finally stopped crying and rewrote this blog.  

               Last week, I finished my fourth-grade vocabulary book. My mom did not order the fifth-grade book as she planned, because she decided that I was not really learning the vocabulary words.  I would study the vocabulary words long enough to take the quiz, and then I would forget them. Mom decided that I should learn root words instead of vocabulary words. Mom found a card game using root words. It is called Rummy Roots. When I learn all the Greek and Latin roots, I will be able to figure out long words. We play Rummy Roots the same way that we play Go Fish. After I know all the root words, we will play the game similar to the game of Rummy, except we will play it with root word cards. I like Rummy Roots a lot better than the vocabulary words. I’ve only been playing it with my mom for a few days, and once I played with my dad, and I already know many of the root words.

               Mom took us to the library on Monday, but it was closed because of President’s Day. We never even thought that the library might be closed because we are not taking off a week for President’s Day. On Tuesday, we went to the library again. I checked out a few Greek Mythology Books. I just started reading a new series by Rick Riordan, and it’s about characters in Greek Mythology. I love the series, but I need to understand the myths better in order to follow the books. Mom also chose a book for me called The Secret Garden. At first, I did not want the book because it looked like it was for girls, but now I am enjoying it a lot.

               Yesterday, my friend and his family (and my Grandma) came ice-skating with us. It was the only day we took off school this week. All the grownups watched us kids skate. The ice-rank is a gigantic oval, inside an arena. I was so sore after skating for three hours that my legs hurt that night. We played bumper cars with chairs on the ice, and ate pizza for lunch. It’s been a busy week for everyone.

Catching up!

We had several field trips this year already that I never took the time to write in my blog, so I will do that today.  We've been busy homeschooling during the week, and skiing every weekend. This winter has been exceptionally cold and snowy, which is great for skiers.  To top all that off, we also got the stomach bug in February.

On Friday Jan.31, we attended laser tag for a boring class on lights and optics. A worker presented a slide show on a screen that explained how light travels. She asked questions, but none of the kids would raise their hands to answer. The slide show did not interest me at all, but the laser tag games made my day. The big laser tag arena was dark and foggy. The fog helped us see the lasers so that we could aim and hide. The arena had two floors and a lot of walls so that we could hide. There were mirrors on the walls, so that we could shoot the mirrors and the laser would bounce off the mirror and hit a person.

The first week of Feb. we got the stomach bug. We were throwing up all week. We had to take a bowl into our beds for several nights. Charles got sick first, then Asia and then pretty much all of the family the only one who didn’t throw up is my brother Connor.  What a horrible week for us!

               After we got over the stomach bug, we drove to Sky Zone in Greece, a thirty-minute drive. Sky Zone is a place that is an indoor trampoline park that just opened up last month. A homeschooling family reserved the whole gym for a homeschool group. There were over a hundred homeschoolers there, although it was not an educational field trip. This is the first field trip that we’ve taken that did not have learning involved. I played dodge ball on the trampolines and basketball too. We jumped for a full hour.  We got a lot of exercise, but Conner complained the next day that his legs hurt.

               This winter we have been able to go skiing every weekend. We ski at Swain Ski Resort. We used to be at taekwondo every Saturday, but now that we don’t take taekwondo anymore, we have more time to ski.  I usually go skiing with Connor, while Dad takes Leo and Sam. A few weeks ago, I fell and hurt my knee. The ski patrol came and took me down the hill on a toboggan.  The ski patrol put a splint on my leg. The next day, I limped around, but it did feel better in a few days. We were supposed to go to Holiday Valley on February 3, but that week is when we got sick. We have rescheduled the Holiday Valley ski day for a day in March.

               It’s been a busy year so far for the Peters. I will try to write more regularly so that I don’t have to spend so much time trying to remember all that happened in the past month.  The foster children will be moving out soon, and we will have less noise in the house. That will be better for homeschooling. 

Rochester Museum and Science Center---AGAIN

     I went to the Rochester Museum and Science Center three times this week! Two times we went to the planetarium, and one time to the actual museum. Altogether it seems like we have been to the museum 100 times this year already!

     On Saturday, we went to see a star show. The star show was about the constellations. The big blue projector(named Carl) magically rose out of the floor to display the amazing night sky. I learned how find Orion, Taurus, Sirius and the North Star. Now I know that if I find Orion, I can find Taurus and Sirius easily.

     On Sunday, we went to see a Grand Canyon show. The show was about three families that went river rafting down the Colorado River. The Grand Canyon has many colors because of the different types of rocks. Mostly the movie was about the Colorado River and how the Grand Canyon formed. The show also taught us how to save the waterways.

     On Wednesday, we went to a homeschooling class at the Rochester Museum and Science Center. The RMSC offers weekly classes to homeschooled students. This class was about animals, plants, adaptations and how animals camouflage themselves. After the class, mom took us to see the new exhibits at the Museum. The first exhibit was about construction work and how workers build stuff.  There was an explanation of wiring and circuits, floor tiling and a pretend crane. The second exhibit, Math Midways, displays many ways to solve math problems.  For example, square wheels on a tricycle will work just fine if the biker rides on a round, curvy surface.

    I learned a lot of information that I did not know before I went to the museum.  I know we will go again before the school year ends, but I’m not sure if we’ll attend any more of the homeschooling classes. We go on many field trips and we sometimes have to just stay home and do our workbooks. I had an fantastic time, but going to the museum takes up the entire day and we’ve already been there many, many times. 

Friday January 17. Half way through the school year!

I am creating a project for school. I am making a U.S History time-line. I am researching the history of the United States from the year 1600 to the year 2000. I am learning a lot of new facts. The project will probably take the rest of the year, but I am excited to make a time-line. My time-line is longer than our dining room table that seats twelve people. I will put all the wars, some pictures of the presidents, and other important facts. I might put the changing of technology on it too.
For Geography, I am learning the capitals of the states on the computer. For Math, I am working in my Math book, but it is hard. Today, I learned how to factor and metric measurements. We are so busy now that we have decided not to go to taekwondo anymore. We just don't have enough money and time right now. Also, we can't travel around the United States anymore to go to competitions because of our foster children. I am kind of sad, bu also I like having the extra time at night. If there was a daytime taekwondo class, we might still go, but there isn't and when we go to taekwondo our dinner gets to be too late at night. Instead, now we have time to watch a family movie at night. Last night we watched a movie (called April Morning) that was all about the battles of Lexington and Concord. A few years ago, we went to visit Lexington and Concord. We have a coffee cup with John Parker's famous saying, "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."  That was the beginning of the Revolutionary War. I feel that when I homeschool, we get to do many things that we didn't get to do in regular school. I miss my friends though. I hope that they are doing well. I hope that I can see them in the summer. 

January 6. Back to School

I have not blogged in a.most a month because of Christmas vacation. All the puppies went to their new homes right before vacation. It suddenly seemed quiet at our house. We kept one puppy named Lilly. Lilly is cute. She is also smart. We now have two puppies, Caesar and Lilly, and two grown dogs. I have been clicker training the puppies. It seems really easy to train Lilly for some reason. I use a clicker, and when I click the puppies come and I give them treats. Lilly likes to play outside in the snow, but Caesar does not like the cold.

For Christmas, I got three sweatshirts and some socks.  I also got a remote control car and a rip stick.  After we opened our presents, we got in the car to drive to Holiday Valley to go skiing .  We rented two rooms at the Holiday Valley Inn. My mom did not ski because her knees hurt and she had a cold. I skied with my big brothers . There was a pool and hot tub at the hotel. We played chicken in the pool. There was a restaurant, but the food was expensive so we brought a cooler with food. I had a great time. This is my third year staying at Holiday Valley on Christmas.  I hope we can go again next year.

This week, we went skiing a few times at Swain.  I had a big fall on Saturday. I hit a ledge and flew and I rolled. My skis and poles went flying. This week, it’s too cold to go skiing. It is so cold that schools closed. My school never closes!

On Friday, because it was so cold, we went to play laser tag. I tagged a lot of people. We got to play three rounds. My mom is coordinating a class at laser tag about Light and Optics. That will be at the end of January.  I have a cold now too. 

GCVM December 12, 2013

Today we went to the Genesee Country Village Museum for their Christmas homeschooling days. We have been looking forward to this field trip since October. We were supposed to go there for a Cider making event in October, but it got cancelled because of the weather.  Today, I had to bundle up in layers so that I would be warm enough. It was only 9 degrees outside and snowy. I was so glad when mom told me it did not get cancelled.

 We waited for the other homeschoolers to arrive for 30 minutes. Then our guide took us to an old barn, where we made crackers full of candy, like people did in the 18^th century. Crackers were toilet paper rolls wrapped in tissue paper and decorated pretty. Inside the roll was candy. People from England used to make these holiday treats.

Then, we went to an old house and someone talked about how Christmas began and some of the older Christmas traditions. Before Christmas was ever the celebration of Jesus, people celebrated the winter solstice and the coming of spring. Some people went crazy during this festival. They would go around town and ring bells and yell. We got to do this too!

We stopped into another house next door. There was an old lady there who grew up in Germany. She was dressed as if she lived in the 18^th century too. She taught us about the first Christmas trees and how they were first to celebrate Adam and Eve’s birth. We saw many hand-made decorations.

               After lunch, we went to an old-fashioned General Store. It had a wood-stove in the center, and it was warmer than the other buildings. We all went immediately to the stove to warm up our hands. The storekeeper told us about all the different items that would be sold in a General Store in the 18^th century. They had a lot of stuff there, such as fabric, buckets, marbles, watering cans, wooden toys, and mail boxes. The General Store was also the post office.

          We walked to the church next. We sang Christmas carols and learned some of the carols history. For example, the song Silent Night was first a poem that a man made up when he was taking a night-time stroll on a cold, clear night. His friend came over and made up guitar music to with the poem because the organ in the church was broken.

          Our last stop was an old house from Rochester NY. There, a man read “Twas the Night Before Christmas” to us. A guy was dressed up as St. Nick, the way that he used to dress. We saw some pictures of different ways that St. Nick is thought of in other countries and long ago.

          We didn’t get to do the last activity, which was dancing, because we had to come home to meet the little kids’ bus. I learned a lot about old Christmas traditions today. I felt cold, but I thought it was worth bravi

Today we went to the Genesee Country Village Museum for their Christmas homeschooling days. We have been looking forward to this field trip since October. We were supposed to go there for a Cider making event in October, but it got cancelled because of the weather.  Today, I had to bundle up in layers so that I would be warm enough. It was only 9 degrees outside and snowy. I was so glad when mom told me it did not get cancelled.

 We waited for the other homeschoolers to arrive for 30 minutes. Then our guide took us to an old barn, where we made crackers full of candy, like people did in the 18^th century. Crackers were toilet paper rolls wrapped in tissue paper and decorated pretty. Inside the roll was candy. People from England used to make these holiday treats.

Then, we went to an old house and someone talked about how Christmas began and some of the older Christmas traditions. Before Christmas was ever the celebration of Jesus, people celebrated the winter solstice and the coming of spring. Some people went crazy during this festival. They would go around town and ring bells and yell. We got to do this too!

We stopped into another house next door. There was an old lady there who grew up in Germany. She was dressed as if she lived in the 18^th century too. She taught us about the first Christmas trees and how they were first to celebrate Adam and Eve’s birth. We saw many hand-made decorations.

               After lunch, we went to an old-fashioned General Store. It had a wood-stove in the center, and it was warmer than the other buildings. We all went immediately to the stove to warm up our hands. The storekeeper told us about all the different items that would be sold in a General Store in the 18^th century. They had a lot of stuff there, such as fabric, buckets, marbles, watering cans, wooden toys, and mail boxes. The General Store was also the post office.

          We walked to the church next. We sang Christmas carols and learned some of the carols history. For example, the song Silent Night was first a poem that a man made up when he was taking a night-time stroll on a cold, clear night. His friend came over and made up guitar music to with the poem because the organ in the church was broken.

          Our last stop was an old house from Rochester NY. There, a man read “Twas the Night Before Christmas” to us. A guy was dressed up as St. Nick, the way that he used to dress. We saw some pictures of different ways that St. Nick is thought of in other countries and long ago.

          We didn’t get to do the last activity, which was dancing, because we had to come home to meet the little kids’ bus. I learned a lot about old Christmas traditions today. I felt cold, but I thought it was worth braving the weather.

December 10, 2013

 I found a new program today. It is called Khan Academy. My friend’s mom sent the link to this program to my mom. My brother, Connor, has been using this program, but it is the first time that I ever tried it. The program has YouTube lessons on different subjects. I created the letter H using computer code. I spent one hour, and I learned that I can create shapes using code. I felt that it took me longer than an hour. I had to start over once because our computer suddenly said that it wasn’t connected to the internet. I felt frustrated, but proud that I was able to learn computer code.

 I’ve been also learning Morse code. I read about Morse code in a Science book, and I looked it up on the internet. I want to learn more about coding and different codes. No one can read codes except for the people who learn. When I took my Morse code to taekwondo, I wrote Hi and the other students didn’t know what it said.

Our neighbor brought us a stamping kit today. I like to draw and do other art projects, and we can use the stamp kit sometime soon. Mom bought us stained glass ornaments to paint and to put on the Christmas tree. We are very busy every day.

Last weekend we went skiing for the first time this season. I picked it up again very quickly. There weren’t a lot of ski hills open yet because there isn’t enough snow. We didn’t stay that long. We are going skiing again this weekend. Going fast feels like flying.

The puppies have grown a lot. When I go in the hot-tub room, the puppies chase me. They jump on me and want to play. The puppies do not stay in their whelping box anymore because they have crates. The puppies will be going to their homes soon. Yankee and Frisco leave last because they are flying to California. We will all miss our puppies.