Happy Holidays, Merry New Year!

I'm back!  Two weeks of new puppy has brought me to the verge.  He's pretty darn wonderful, but boy - you forget how much 'watching' they require!  It's all a blur, really.  Up and down during the nights, sleeping a lot during the day with all that growing he has to do.  At six weeks he weighed in at 11 pounds; at eight weeks he's up to 16 pounds already.  He grows like bamboo.

We managed pretty well to get some school work done, too.  I am passing the buck more and more to Max as far as responsibility for his work.  That's my job, isn't it?  To teach him to take responsibility for his life.  So, here we go!  We still read a lot together, but much of his seat work is being handled by his ever-expanding brain.  I have more to say about this in another post and will - but right now sleep is beckoning.  That wonderful puppy is going to be up in a few hours and he'll need to visit the stars outside.  We get lots of fresh air lately!  Here's a pic of Max and Coby from the week.  Learning all about leash training!

Have a safe, extra fun, grateful holiday and we wish you well in the New Year, too! 

Coby, eight weeks of age.  Yes, he's on the carpet!

Great Dane Puppy

He's home!  He's loud.  He's cute.  He's got us all charmed.  Meet Cobus! 

Coby is six weeks old and weighs eleven pounds.  His little puppy brain is kind of overwhelmed - new house, new dogs, cats (gasp!), and a new schedule.  We were up most of the night last night........lots of screaming on his part.  He's pretty young to bring home, too.  Generally it's better to bring home a puppy at the seven or eight week mark.  He's the youngest guy we've ever had!  Today is already a step in the right direction because he's settling down in his pen and seems to be going with the flow more.  Whew.  Puppies are undeniably wonderful, but they come with some quirks, don't they?

I wonder how much homeschooling Max and I will be able to do next week! 

More Fantastic Horrible Science

This book makes for a good overview of the big concepts in science.  We are halfway through this entertaining endeavor; Max sure enjoys making up different voices for each of the miniature scientists as they encounter various 'horrible' situations.  Crawling around in someone's bacteria-laden mouth filled with bits of food and protists is well, kind of gross.  But these little scientist guys are up to the task and they 'teach' in an engaging manner.

Stunning Science

The concepts start out very tiny size-wise (big bang to elements to atoms to molecules to proteins, etc.), so it's a logically presented order of how everything around us is put together.  It's ooey, gooey, microbial, slimy, stinky, disgusting...........and laughter-inducing.  The concepts presented here form a very nice spine for an overview of basic chemistry, biology, human anatomy, physics - - basically the big overriding umbrella that is SCIENCE.

I'm enjoying reading this one aloud together; it's helping me to tick off the things we can cover as we continue to learn about science.  As we go I'm having a greater appreciation for the way something is presented - order is making a lot of sense (who'd have thunk?)  I learned much of this material in college, but it was not offered, or at least I didn't perceive it, in an orderly manner.  Thus sometimes I feel like the bits and pieces are still floating around my brain, but have yet to be laced together into a big picture.

Maybe I can do a favor for Max and help him to see the big picture that is science in all of its wonder.  He is simply flabbergasted that our bodily atoms 'float' over the atoms making up, say, a chair because at an atomic level, the electrons are repelling each other.  He can't get over that one!  I love to see him discover new things!  And every day I wish that every child would have the same opportunity to discover.  Homeschooling certainly isn't perfect and it's dependent on several variables, but overall (there's that big picture thing again) it can offer an entirely different way of being.  And that's something that's worth investing energy into.