Sickness and McDonalds

All that learning about germs got to us I guess, because we caught some germs ourselves.  Enough to cancel science.

So contrary to what the title implies, McDonalds didn't make us sick.  But it felt like it.

We studied McDonalds for history because I think it represents pop culture quite well.  We went to a McDonalds (the closest one is an hour away!!!) and got happy meals.  The boys LOVED this activity.

And here's the part of the activity I thought was fun.  We bought an extra hamburger and fries.  Experiments here we come! HEHEHE!!! I've been wanting to do this forever:

Two days later, we learned about preservatives. We made our OWN happy meal from scratch.  Nothing but potatoes and oil for fries (lots of oil---oops), and nothing but the basics for homemade buns.  I made the hamburger from a meat that's completely preservative free: moose.

At this point, the McDonald's happy meal was two days old.  Stay tuned for my update in one month.  It is my secret hope that the McDonalds one stays exactly the same, and that the homemade happy meal is disgusting with mould. 

And now:  an update about reading, writing, and arithmetic:

Maxwell is, of course, awesome with math.  I didn't do "RightStart" while we were in Idaho or most of Dec. and so we are behind, but we are catching up and Maxwell gets it all.  Here's an assessment test he got 100% on recently:

Hyrum is doing quite well with math.  I was worried about him and math awhile ago.  When he turned four, he couldn't count to four, but now I think he's about at the level any five year old should be at.

Maxwell's writing has improved tons since we did "Handwriting without Tears."  From this example, I know it looks imperfect, but honestly, it is WAY better then it would have been if we didn't do the program.  Trust me.

Hyrum can now write all the Capitol letters correctly.  

Maxwell's reading had undergone a back-tracking.  Granny Wendy says "confidence is the habbit of past success" and we weren't having as much "success" as wanted, so we are reviewing courses.  Little by little, right?  I'm so glad I know so many other boys who had trouble reading when they were little who are now very successful in their education.  Maxwell is very smart.  It will come.

Hyrum is doing better then I thought he would (of course.) He was slow to talk, so I was worried about reading, and have been taking it really slow.  He got excited about "Explode the Code Online" and now three letter phonic words are very doable for him.  

Reading, writing, and arithmetic are the things I worry about most.  I know I only mention science and history on this blog most of the time, but in actuality, that's just the frosting on the cake.  They are just fun to post about.

It's reading writing, and arithmetic where I start to doubt myself and wonder if I'm a good teacher or not.  I constantly need encouragement from moms who have been there and homeschool kids who are in college or beyond. 

It will all be okay.  Better Late then Early.  That's a book title.  I should read it.