Back At It

Last night, feeling inspired, Reagan and I jumped back into school. We haven't done much with all of us being so sick. Nothing like a project to really get the juices flowing. For Christmas his Grandpa got him a subscription to Ranger Rick and National Geographic Kids magazines. So last night we found a picture of an animal from another part of the world and set out to learn more about it.

The Saiga are a kind of antelope with funny looking horns and a snout almost like an anteater's. They used to roam in huge herds across Asia. But people have slaughtered them for food, and to use their horns in folk medicine. Now they are endangered. The area in Kazakstan in which they live, is very dusty and can be very cold. Their long noses filter dust from the air and are filled with channels that warm the air before it reaches their lungs. With the help of the local rangers, it is hoped that they will repopulate and survive.

We cut out pictures of the saiga, wrote down interesting facts about them. And we cut out a little map, showing where they roam. After we find a few more facts about the region we'll put them together, and begin making our own "Great Big Book of Everything".

We also dove into Spelling, Grammer, Math, Poetry, and Reading. But Science was the most fun last night. While we were doing that, I also taught him to identify paragraph breaks and discern the main message of each paragraph so that we could paraphrase for the report. I'm always amazed at how much can be brought into one lesson, and actually be learned.

Of course, what I failed to realize was that we had playgroup this morning and are leaving for CA tonight, so we really wont have school again for a week. I'm leaving the kids in CA with my parents and flying back here Monday to go on a cruise to the Bahamas with my wonderful husband. 4 days with sandy beaches, sunshine, ocean, and no one asking me for a snack. Heck, there'll be food there that I'm not cooking!! I love my children very much, and I hope no one thinks I'm the worst mother on the planet for looking forward to this. But in every other profession you get a day off, except mine. I just want these few days to rest, relax, and recharge. And I'd love to focus on my husband. I figure one day the kids will grow up and leave home. I'd kind of like for him to still be there. If you have an awesome husband you should nurture the relationship, right?

Besides, Grandma and Grandpa's house is practically Disneyland. I doubt they'll even miss me. Even Bridget gets excited when she sees them!