Why did they store it there? Tell the story of a favorite Halloween costume being put away until next year. 500 words.

What is your idea of a dull evening?

What is the worst thing parents can do to their children?

Why are you keeping it? Tell the story of a keepsake you own that cannot tell its own story.

What did you see at AWA? What was the most interesting? What was the worst?

What memory do you sometimes wish would disappear? Write about it.

You wake up to the smell of sizzling French toast. You have to have some, but it's coming from your neighbor's house and the two of you aren't on speaking terms. How do you get the French toast? 400 to 500 words .

I’m going to kill my neighbor, Bob. Well, I’m not really going to kill him, but I want to. Generally, Bob and I get along very well – except for that unfortunately incident where his giant German Sheppard ate my three Chihuahuas. But my wife did express some relief that those “yipping little rats” were no longer bothering her. Or the time his three-toed sloth ate my entire vegetable garden – an entire spring of digging and planting disappeared in an afternoon of quiet munching. Even though the garden now grows so much better where the sloth defecated – this time, Bob has gone too far.

You see, my neighbor Bob has this thing for pets. I’m not talking about a dog our two, or the little old lady down the street who regularly feeds 14 stray cats. No, Bob is a zookeeper-wannabe. He always has weird pets. Not just snakes and lizards and squirrels, but more like lemurs and sloths and llamas. If the county would let him, I’m sure it would be lions and tigers and bears! Oh my!

He was telling me last month he wanted to get an exotic pet, as if his current menagerie was far too ordinary. He had decided what he really needed was Meerkats. Meerkats! And, do you think he’d be satisfied with one cute little fuzzy Meerkat? Heck no. He got a whole gaggle, or pride or whatever the heck the collective noun is for Meerkats. Bob must have gotten 20 of those little rodents last week.

At first, I thought – oh, Meerkats, how cute. They’d be up and around during the day, but they were at least quiet at night – unlike the Screech Owl Bob had last year. They’d pop their little heads up and look around, duck down into their burrows. But then last weekend, it happened. They annexed my back yard.

My wife and I decided to get out of town for a couple of days. We didn’t notice when we rolled in Sunday night, but early in the morning she let out a shriek and dropped her coffee as she looked out the back window. I jumped out of bed and ran to see what was going on, and there it was: the backyard looked like a battlefield. Grass popping up and bulging, mounds of dirt everywhere, it was horrible. It looked like the golf course in the last scene of Caddyshack. I knew I had to do something.

I called up my local pest control company just as soon as they opened. With a neighbor like Bob, I keep my favorites on speed-dial. I called the place that a few months ago rid us of the Argentinean fleas that I figure must come from Bob’s llamas. When I mentioned getting rid of Meerkats, something happened and the line disconnected. I haven’t been able to get a call through since – I just get the machine and they haven’t called me back.

Now, I’m going to have to wait until Bob gets home and tell him to get his Meerkats out of my lawn.

Bill

Your neighbor has taken in an unusual pet and it does something unpleasant to your house/yard. Confront your neighbor. Use descriptive prose and dialogue. 500 words.

Louis was awakened by the sound of- what was that? Helicopters? He rolled over to face his Star Wars alarm clock, 5:30am it read. What the hell are helicopters doing outside my window at 5-freaking-AM?! He rose out of his zebra striped sheets and put on a pair of purple chucks and a white shirt, having gone to bed in a pair of bright orange plaid pajama pants. He walked downstairs to his kitchen, pouring himself a cup of the coffee his roommate had made earlier. That’s when he saw it. Oh god, what is Francis up to now? What he saw outside of the large circular window was his neighbor Francis, standing next to what looked like a hunk of scrap metal- well, more like dozens of pieces of scrap metal stuck together to form a mountain of ugly, rusty scraps, some of which were rotating, causing the helicopter like noise. Francis looked up and saw Louis. "Hey neighbor!" He shouted, and Louis took in his odd attire. Francis was wearing overalls, a hard hat, and goggles. It wouldn't have looked strange on anyone else, but with clashed with Francis' tattoos and mohawk. What look is he going for? Punk redneck? And what the hell is that thing beside him? Louis waved back to his neighbor and then walked away from the window. He decided he didn't want to know.

The next day Louis awoke to the same helicopter like sound. He groaned and hit his fist on the headboard of his bed. Why can't I have normal neighbors? He asked himself mentally. He pulled the pillow over his head but to no avail, it sounded like Francis had gotten a jackhammer or some other loud power tool and was hacking away with that. Louis rose from bed and got dressed, deciding to wear a leopard print leather jacket and pink pants. He walked to his bedroom window and peered out into Francis' yard. There he saw something he had not expected to see. It looked like a robot, like the kind you see in Transformers, except much uglier. Louis ran outside and yelled "FRANCIS WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! WHAT IS THAT THING?!" Francis just looked at Louis and calmly replied "My new pet, ain't she beautiful?"
"Um sure Francis, but why did you get a pet robot?"
"To defend us in a zombie invasion of course."
"Um zombie invasion?"
"Yes, Louis, haven't you been paying attention to the news?" Francis asked, pointing to a stack of National Inquirers on his patio table. Louis looked at the top cover which read in large red print "Zombies invade Mexico!" Louis turned back to Francis to tell him that the National Inquirer is known for not being a reliable source of information, but the strange, tattooed man had already walked back inside, singing a song which had something to do about killing zombies by shooting them in the head.

Louis walked quickly back inside, almost running. Zoey, his roommate, looked at him and said "Louis? What's up? You look worried." Louis turned to look back at her and yelled "Zoey! Francis is building a humongous robot to keep as a pet! He said it was to defend him against the zombies!" Zoey just game him a look that clearly said "Louis. What are you smoking?" but just then, they heard a huge sound, like a gun being fired, and saw red light. The frame of their house shook. They looked at each other for a second, shocked into silence, and then both asked at the same time, "What the heck was that?" Before answering each other though, they saw Francis, outside their living-room window, inside the giant robot. "Sorry about that," he yelled, "I think I may have taken a chunk of your yard out! I can't figure out how to aim this damn laser!" Zoey immediately ran for the door, and let out a surprised shout when she saw their yard, it looked like a sinkhole had appeared, and was swallowing half their yard, but before Louis had time to yell at Francis, zombies appeared at the edge of their house, and grabbed Zoey. Louis now always believes Francis, no matter how crazy he might sound.

to be continued?

On the first Monday of each September, we celebrate Labor Day. This holiday was first celebrated in 1882, in honor of American workers and their achievements. List all of the different community jobs in your town and then select the one you feel is most important. Explain why you choose that particular job. 500 words.

If Hollywood Taught Science.

From the Examiner:

Earlier this year the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia granted permission for state colleges and universities to accept applications for joint enrollment from independent homeschool students. These students complete high school without third party oversight, sometimes referred to as accreditation.

However, this change was not a mandate. Each institution must take action to change its own admission policy to allow independent homeschool students to apply.

Georgia Tech is one of the institutions that does not permit independent homeschool students to apply for joint enrollment. We have learned that they will be examining their admissions policy this month.

Math
Biology Coloring Books
Begin Powerpoints
Read
Writing Prompt
Film 101 -- Research director "Mark Herman" and watch "Comic Book Diaries" -- why is "Boy in the Striped Pajamas" rated 4 1/2 stars and the other 1 1/2?

Research Cat Gestation.

• What are the stages of pregnancy in Cats? How long is the gestation? What should you expect when you are expecting kittens?
• What should we do to prepare for kittens? How can you make a room kitten-proof? How can we make the Queen Princess feel secure?
• How long before we should wean the kittens? What is involved in weaning kittens?
• What colorations of kittens can we expect (research cat genetics.)?
• Write a paper or compose a Powerpoint. Include graphs and or illustrations. Be prepared to present to grading committee by the end of the month.

Your neighbor has taken in an unusual pet and it does something unpleasant to your house/yard. Confront your neighbor. Use descriptive prose and dialogue. 500 words.

• For today we have:
• The authoring of a new contract.
• Math workbooks -- perhaps registering for Aleks.
• Write a goals paper -- "This year in HS, I want to study ......"
• Pick out a book to read this week and begin reading.
• Music practice.
• Film 101. (Netflix over the Xbox is wonderful; to quote the blurb: New York University film professor Richard Brown opens up his standing-room-only Movies 101 class for the first time in this AMC series. Moviemaking luminaries such as Jon Voight, Sigourney Weaver, Julianne Moore, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis and Martin Scorsese discuss the filmmaking process, life in the spotlight and the history of the medium.)

Contract:

• We will get up at our own time on days that we are not eating b’fast with dad, as long as its before 10:30 am.
• We must have school finished on or before 4:30, preferably before.
• No using Gamecube, Playstation 2, DS, or Wii during school hours. The Xbox can only be used for educational purposes (mainly movies.)
• No cell phones during school hours.
• 30 mins of chores should be done each day outside of school hours.
• Each student should keep track of their assignments everyday and write them down.
• Each student must understand that they will be graded this year.
• I understand that I must do 22 and 1/2 hours of school each week at minimum
• I understand that we will have regular field trips and I must study beforehand so I can learn from it. (ex: Little White House, Fox Theatre, Fernbank, GA aquarium, high museum, Symphony, plays, Mexico, Lakeland)
• I understand that the big four subjects take precedence.

Days:

Viola and violin lessons TBA.
v Monday:
Ø Chorus at 11am, Orchestra at 1pm. (two hours of instruction)
v Tuesday:
Ø Karate at 7:30pm (45 minutes of instruction)
v Wednesday:
Ø Teen Nights on the Square at 7pm
v Thursday:
Ø Kate has cello lessons at 3pm (one hour of instruction)
v Friday:
Ø Karate at 7:30pm (45 minutes of instruction)

Kate’s goals:

• Finish algebra 1.
• Begin algebra 2 and or geometry.
• Read 30 books by the end of the year.
• Finish world geography
• Begin world history.
• Finish biology
• Begin chemistry.
• Do film 101.
• Do one writing prompt a week.
• Continue with Music
• Drivers’ Education
• PE (Karate)
• Health

Lauren’s goals:

• Cooking classes – Home Ec
• Chemistry in the Kitchen
• Finish Life Science; begin Physical Science
• Finish Pre-Algebra, Begin Algebra
• Read 30 Books and keep list of books read
• One writing prompt a week
• Do Film 101
• World Geography and begin World History
• Continue with Music
• PE (Karate)
• Health

It is stories like this that will cause governmental action.

To quote:

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. -- Deputies in DeKalb County arrested a mother and father on charges of truancy after they allegedly kept their 11-year-old daughter out of school for more than a year....The solicitor general has made pursuing parents who don't send their children to school a top priority. "This is not about the parents. This is about the child," said Solicitor General Robert James.

James said the arrests are about intervening in a child's life and keeping them from becoming a statistic. Eighty-eight percent of Georgia's inmates are drop-outs.

Green first said she withdrew her daughter because she was homeless. She then said her daughter was homeschooled. "I had to take my daughter out because I was out on the streets," Green said.

Laws are abused. It's a fact. The only *real* connection between what I am doing with my children and this story is that we both use the word "homeschool." There was no Declaration of Intent filed nor was their attendance filed.

If the community does not self-regulate, we should expect more zealous DAs and solicitors to pursue mandatory regulation and perhaps some sort of forced schooling. A cautionary tale.

Today I start a real adventure in homeschooling. I have been trying to get the kids to work within traditional mathematics textbooks to little avail. They just can't stand the rote and drill way that we have traditionally taught mathematics. I know how it is -- I used to just speed through the book in class and do all the problems, usually at least a couple of sections ahead of the class (sometimes a chapter or two ahead) and the make up codes with my main dude James V. (who did the same thing.) I took College Algebra when I got to Ga State, just because I wanted to get used to the pacing. I found that I missed math class -- I love math class. So I became a Mathematics Major sort of by accident; I really intended to get my degree in General Science and Philosophy (after I decided against computer programming and discovered that music was just too hard without parental support.)

I wanted to write a Mathematics curriculum for years for thinkers like me -- I love what is usually called the "Discovery Method" -- where the student discovers the entirety of the problem/solution their own selves.

So today, I made a 3 page handout of "everything you need to know in Algebra" because, yes, you can indeed put it on 2 to 3 pages. These things are just tools so that you can "do" math. I have another 3 page handout in the works for Geometry and another for Trig. Then I am going to depart from the beaten path -- I am going to ask the girls to discover math.

Chaos and I got into a big discussion about the Greeks and how they "did" math without Arabic Numerals -- it's mind blowing how the Greeks did it. Math is so much more difficult when you can't use the numeral 6, but have to write out "six" every single time. How the heck did the ancients build what they built without the "tool" of Arabic numbers? We are going to use the traditional Euclidian tools of straight edge and compass and I am going to pull out my big box of Polydrons for them to use and explore.

I believe what is most lost in today's mathematics education is this sense of wonder -- and the fact that most ancient mathematicians looked to math as a way to explore God and Creation. Pythagoras once said something like this: "Mathematics is the ruler of form and idea and the cause of God and demons." He believed that to explore Mathematics is to explore the very nature of the Deity. He discovered the first tenets of today's theory of music as well -- he is the one who first discovered the relationships of ratio to pitch. He believed that all of creation is rational and was so despondent that the square root of 2 is indeed irrational that he committed suicide.
To quote Wikipedia:

One of Pythagoras' beliefs was that the essence of being is number. Thus, being relies on stability of all things that create the universe. Things like health relied on a stable proportion of elements; too much or too little of one thing causes an imbalance that makes a being unhealthy. Pythagoras viewed thinking as the calculating with the idea numbers. When combined with the Folk theories, the philosophy evolves into a belief that Knowledge of the essence of being can be found in the form of numbers. If this is taken a step further, one can say that because mathematics is an unseen essence, the essence of being is an unseen characteristic that can be encountered by the study of mathematics.

The pursuit of Math and Science initially is a pursuit to understand creation -- and thus to understand the mind of God. I want my kids to understand where math begins -- and wonder about how this universe works. So today we start -- who knows where it will lead?

Setting up a homeschool beginning "ritual" -- school is in session when the candle is lit; then a moment of silence. Any other suggestions?

I have ordered some things for my microscope, including a stage and a camera. I'm psyched! We are going to have fun with microscopes later this month. I also ordered some agar and Petri dishes; we are going to swap everything (including the litter box) to see how much bacteria there really is. Then (using proper protocol) we can look at some of the bacteria under the microscope and with the digital camera, capture the images. We also are going to study each head of hair in the family, including the cat. We may also go into the field and collect fur and hair from other people and make some observations about fur and hair.

I have given the kids each an essay to write today; I am at times please and at times shocked at their knowledge or lack of knowledge. Entropy in particular is working on proper form for an essay.

I did received a few more books; Chaos is going to work on the Grammar and Language workbook and write a report on Cakes.

I have orders some Petri Dishes and growth medium, liquid iodine and what not for our biology experiments -- particularly Bacteria Experiments. We are going to see what bacteria there is in all our "germy" places; like my pocketbook, the doorknobs and Daddy's lunch box. I have a good site/resource available so that we can look very closely at the colonies and we can discover exactly what it is that lurks in Daddy's lunch.

I also have a microscope upstairs -- and I'm getting a camera for it to examine the stuff on the computer. What fun! What joy!! I'm excited. Biology, here we come!

National Geographic has some wonderful videos online, completely free of charge. Fabulous quality and good playback. Two thumbs up and I'm adding the link in my sidebar.

We are making muffins this morning. There are a few good resources here and here and here and here. Chaos substituted Splenda for the sugar; the recipe called for a quarter cup honey, but she left it out. Possible explorations:

• How many calories are there in each muffin with the honey and without?
• What is "yeast" and "leaven"?
• How do quick breads rise?
• What is the history of the muffin?
• What is the origin of the word muffin?
• How many calories does the butter add?

This is fun!

Who should Home School their kids?

Children tell you the darnedest things about their teachers, so we had taken most of what Michael said with a spoon-full of sugar and were convinced it was childhood angst and not a problem at school. To my surprise and dismay I was told a different story by Michael's band teacher, and then the horror at having told my son that he was full of beans, sat in. His math teacher—I will call her Mrs. E—had been tormenting my son, not just name calling, but standing him up in front of the class and it had gotten so extreme that kids that didn't like Michael had begun reporting what Mrs. E. was doing to the band teacher.

Read More here.

Pressure to pass standardized tests, shrinking budgets and world competition have lain a heavy burden on American schools, and the victims are not only recess, the arts and gym, but the students themselves. Ask any teacher, and they’ll tell you that behavior problems have drastically increased over recent years, a big part of the problem being the absence of physical activities and free, creative time according to a recent study.
From Truemors

Today will be our fourth day of Homeschool. We are getting a routine -- Math and Science in the morning; Language Arts, Social Studies and Fine Arts in the afternoon. We don't start until 10:00 am and so we don't finish until 3:00 pm. We may have to adjust that -- it seems that the afternoon starts late.

I had a major meltdown this morning after bad dreams last night. Am I doing the right thing? My family tells me "yes" but I am still in doubt. I suppose it just hit me this morning....

I am going to tweek this template more today and add content. I hope to use it as our "jump page" every day.

Edited at 1:46 pm
I've cleaned up the template -- I'm working on getting the titles of the sidebar WHITE and not GREY but not having much luck. I've almost finished the "container" for the content -- content will be next.

The kids have 1) done Math 2) Science 3) Music and are now working on Social Studies as we listen to Yo Yo Ma on the Airport Thingy that is attached to the printer and speakers . I am pleased. They are doing a project about the 44 American Presidents -- a power point each. Should be good -- after President's day we will go back to World Geography and World History. This afternoon they will read their respective books. I am going to plan some Language Arts for next week. They are used to schedule and I'm needing schedule, so this is the plan for the time being.

That I tweeked this template ... and then copied over it and lost all my changes. I am a dweeb. Starting over....

I'm a little better organized today. They had math worksheets printed out at their place this morning -- I have worked on a link list for them on our "new" blog -- "Adventures In Homeschooling." I am pleasantly surprised at how many of the textbooks I have purchased have an online text available with extra worksheets and extra help -- even video components.

We had a bad day yesterday -- or a good one, depending on how you look at it. I had an appointment at noon, so the girls packed up some reading material and carried it with them. It would have been a good day, except that the LH's car had a flat tire. We met up, I purchased him new tires at Sam's, we went to lunch as the tires were installed, we went back to Sam's and did a little shopping while we were there. We had planned to be home at 2:00 -- instead we were home at 4:00 and they did their schoolwork until 6:00; goofed off too much until Karate at 6:45 (to the point we were almost late) and more Karate at 7:30. I'm sore today from standing around and the cold and medicine changes. My arthritis is acting up and I'm just plumb sore. It was good in the fact that it shows we can be flexible; and bad that we had to pack too much into the day.

I need to work on sermon prep this morning and the bulletins. And the house is somehow worse than it ought to be... maybe because we are spending more time in it. But first, more coffee.

Yesterday was momentous. It was both our first day of homeschooling and the inauguration of the first African American President. Yes, a landmark day. For us, the landmark of homeschool was probably more momentous, I hate to admit.

I am concerned about my children's education. I was shocked to find out that they didn't know wo Gerald Ford was -- much less Herbert Hoover. I suppose it's not a horrible thing to not know Ford of Hoover, but it hows the holes in their educatioin.

Entropy was ranting and raving about how the school wants them to be "robots" that are programmed. Chaos and I have noted that the system wants them all to be content cattle, milk cows and beef cattle to be "consumed" by the general public. That questions are not tolerated; nor is creativity.

And they have indeed been conditioned -- they had problems with self direction yesterday -- at one point Chaos just wanted me to tell her what to do -- it's easier than trying to do this on their own. And a certain amount of direction is good; but they must be the engine and they must unlearn that conditioning and find direction themselves.

I feel that my train has jumped track. This is NOT what I had planned for the guture. However, it got the point that I had to do something or my childrens' spirits would be crushed. So here we are -- the second day. We will see how the day goes.

Today is my childrens' last day in public school (for the time being.) So this is my last morning for a while completely alone, except for the romping cats. I am going to enjoy this cup of coffee (Saint's Coffee, Free Trade, Organic and the sale supports orphans at the rate of one month a food per pound of coffee sold).

I have most things in place; ordered textbooks, lesson planning is occurring, educational contract is being written. The decision was not lightly made or easily made, but now there is a tremendous feeling of relief mixed with a small bit of anxiety. I had not realized until I made this decision how I really dislike our public schools. The anxiety comes from them leaving an excellent orchestra program and not having a replacement fully nailed down yet. They are anxious about leaving behind friends -- an anxiety I can fully understand. I have already been in full contact with one homeschool network and looking forward to meeting people in the second homeschool network.

I also have already written my first curriculum. For literature, we are going to read 4 of Shakespeare's plays, starting with one of my favorites "As You Like It." We are going to read aloud to one another every day (diction, vocabulary, poetry). I am going to have Entropy copy a few "lines" every day (handwriting, memorization). The are going to analyze each Act, imagine the staging, costuming. By the end I hope each have created a derivative work of their own choosing. I am also going to encourage them to memorize and stage a scene. We then will watch a couple of movies and go see the play at the Georgia Shakespeare Festival. At the end of the first month, I will re-evaluate, to see if it's really worth it.

So I am going to go an enjoy this last cup of coffee in a completely empty house -- later, y'all.

I dropped Entropy off at school this morning. She has the sniffles, but she's going. I helped into and out of the car. She's been complaining of back pain -- and then it occurred to me that her bookbag weighs at least 40 pounds. Well, duh! (slap myself on the forehead moment) I asked her why her bag was so heavy -- it seems she carries everything around all the time b/c 1) her locker is broken and the school hasn't fixed it YET (reported around Thanksgiving) and 2) the kids vandalize stuff in the lockers.

• Reason Thirteen: IE2
• Fourteen: and this. Georgia has upped the number of kids allowable in classrooms because of the economic situation.
  
• Fifteen: Because of the Draconic attendance policies, sick kids go to school infecting kids who are just getting well in a horrible cycle. Chaos has had surgery this school year so far, about six colds and mono. She's anemic and "run down." But because of the attendance policy, being "run down" is not a good enough excuse to miss school. Entropy had rheumatic fever two years ago and caught strep this year -- scary. Then she had a bad reaction to the antibiotic. No going to school equals less exposure to germs.

• The Methoblogger story was picked up by UMNews. Do I need to pick up the blog like I'd pick up the house for company?
• I'm now friends with Matt Fox on Facebook (of Room by Room fame). For some reason that tickles me.
  
• I've been playing with Google Insight. It's interesting to note that the search term "United Methodist Church" is most used by ... Alabama. Georgia is high on the list as well -- number 2, in fact, with most searches coming from the Atlanta area. Interesting.
• I've been considering homeschool for the kids. There are several reasons.
• First, I believe that they are horribly stressed out and school is THE major stressor. The peer pressure, the pressure to "be the best", the amount of homework. I see my children becoming depressed from the amount of stress they are encountering and I am ready to say "enough."
• Second, gifted children are not encouraged to feed their gift. My eldest could go through this curriculum so much faster than they are giving it to her -- she's not being challenged. If we homeschool, she can self-pace.
• Third, children who "don't get it" aren't given additional time and space to master the subject. If we homeschool, they can self-pace.
• Fourth, I'm tired of homework for the sake of homework. To spend 5 and 6 hours on homework a night that seems to be just busywork -- this is ridiculous. A homeschooler only needs 4.5 hours of schooling day -- or until mastery is reached. It would actually free up a lot of time.
• Fifth, the new Mathematics curriculum is horrible. They are not going to be prepared for college with this curriculum and I'm tired of fighting the system. Opting out seems the only option.
• Sixth, I'm tired of the underlying themes of gangsta culture in our schools.
• Seven I'm tired of the bullying and violence.
• Eight, I'm tired of the kids' lack of self-worth and confidence that is engendered by these schools.
• Nine, it will be much easier to pull up roots and move eventually.
• Ten, field trips.
• Eleven, I get to select the curriculum.
• Twelve, I'm tired of the two hour difference in the beginning and ending of the two schools.
  

• On the flip-side:
• This is indeed going to cost: time and money.
• I won't have any quiet mornings at home.
• It will take a large amount of discipline: both from the girls and myself.
• I have to be very careful to select good curriculum and accredited curriculum.
• I don't know that homeschoolers can qualify for college scholarship or things like All-State orchestra or Governor's Honors. More research is needed.
  

• I would love to hear some other's experiences....