using that vocab-game 2, week 8

Last week of Game 2! Good luck everyone!

*gravamen

*empathy

*recrudescence

*affluence

*insular

*dormant

*parsimony

*chimera

*supernumerary

*eldritch

*execrable

*rugose

*atavistic

*ineluctable

*concatenation

*urtication

*lothario

*alibi

winning sentences (game 2, week 7)

Sorry for the delay in judging/posting this round's winners. Blame is fully mine (not Annie's) with equal parts busyness and disorganization involved.

This week's winning sentences:

Alyson stomped her feet and cried at her husband, "Your orange sweater, green pants and purple hat have completely ruined the aesthetic of this room and you will rue the day you tried to dress yourself!" (RaiderGirl3)

Conflate 'lunch' and 'breakfast' and you get my favorite meal: brunch. (RaiderGirl3)

Dude, only someone with hypoxia would think skateboarding down a mountain is a good idea. (RaiderGirl3)

The wolf SUCCORED his mate, licking her SUPPURATING wound to help it heal. (Jean)

I rue the day that I tried to bamboozle the mummy of King Rootentooten and had to suffer the incurable malediction of forever being a peripatetic moron with no sense of the aesthetic. (Rich)

Secret bonus word: malediction. (Carl, RaiderGirl3, Jean, Rich)

I can't believe how close this game is going into the final round! That $10 Amazon gift certificate could go to anyone. Anyway, this week's words should be posted this evening...and we'll try to get the judging done Thursday evening. Again, I apologize for being late this week.

using that vocab-game 2, week 7

Just two more lists before we "crown" our winner. Shorter list of words to choose from this week. And a couple extra days to write. (Judging will take place next Thursday, August 28th.)

*bamboozle

*malediction

*peripatetic

*aesthetic

*rue

*succor

*embroil

*conundrum

*penury

*suppurate

*propitious

*conflate

*hypoxia

*interlocutor

Good luck, everyone!

point winners for week 6

Lots and lots of points to be awarded this week. The winning sentences:

Though you may accuse me of a puerile quibble, the sycophant Big Bad Wolf did indeed prevaricate when claiming that he was not a wolf, but a mere practitioner of the art of lycanthropy…this just before he gobbled up my grannie. (Carl)

Lord Chauncy was feeling a bit dauncy until the adventitious event of a craven raven’s fealty granted his daughter Harriet her manumit. (Carl)

{must be sung to the tune of Ebony and Ivory}
Apogee and perigee,
round and round go the planets,
in harmony,
Near and far pulls the sun,
for infinity. (RaiderGirl3)

"Do you dare to prevaricate on the stand?" the lawyer demanded of the witness, who helplessly howled at the moon as he tried to deny the lycanthropy charge against himself. (RaiderGirl3)

The teacher said my poem about a fish who had a wish that he was a girl named Trish was doggerel, but I knew otherwise. (Rich)

And this week's bonus word was lycanthropy. (Carl, Jean, RaiderGirl3, Rich)

Sheesh, Carl really wracked up the points this week!

As we're headed out of town again in the morning, the next list is going to be posted late. I hope to have them up by Tuesday evening (the 19th), but the judging won't be until the following Thursday (the 28th). Only two lists to go before we have a winner for this game!

field trip fun

Our trip to Gettysburg National Military Park was such fun! Annie loved it so much that she wanted to hit the library as soon as we got home, so she could find some more books about the battle. It was all the more fun because Jean met us there. Not only is Jean just an incredibly sweet, fun person, but she epitomizes a love of learning!

Anyway, here's a few shots from the battlefield and cemetery:














































































































































The Philadelphia Insectarium was interesting. Much smaller than we had pictured, but it contained a lot of cool stuff.


















































































And tomorrow we're off on more field trip fun to see the sights of Ithaca, NY.

using that vocab-game 2, week 6

Since we're headed out of town in the morning, I decided to go ahead and get this week's words posted. And you'll have a little extra time this week as well, as the judging won't occur until Friday afternoon.

This week's words:

*recumbent

*perigee

*doggerel

*ostensive

*quibble

*craven

*sycophant

*adventitious

*manumit

*dauncy

*frisson

*abjure

*puerile

*fealty

*prevaricate

*fatuity

*lycanthropy

And just to let you know, you all (well, with the exception of poor Carl, that is) dodged a bullet last week. I read the sentences aloud to Annie so she can't see who wrote them. (She can, of course, sometimes guess the author of a particular sentence.) Anyway, although I read Carl's sentence to her a couple of times, she didn't quite understand it. Which makes sense to me, as I had to read it to myself a couple of times before it "clicked". Anyway, after the judging, she sat down and read the sentences. And as soon as she actually saw it in writing, she blurted out, "Oh, now I get it. Man, if I had understood that one, I would have chosen it for sure!" And that would have meant 10 points for Carl! Count yourselves lucky! And Carl, count yourself ripped off. :(

just can't do it

Those weekly round-up posts, that is. Boring to read. Boring to write. We'll just stick to the highlights from now on. So what was fun this week?

Still really enjoying Ken Burn's The Civil War, which we're slowly working our way through. Learning about women in the Civil War. Reading The Killer Angels.

Watching two episodes of Life in the Undergrowth (David Attenborough). A nighttime field trip to check out aquatic bugs. This was the coolest find:

It's a hellgrammite (dobsonfly larva).

Learned about a few new forms of poetry, the Kyrielle, the tetractys, and the tanka.

point winners for the week

A little less competition this week. We missed you, Medbie and Awesome! And even so, Annie had a tough time weeding the sentences down to five. But here's what she ended up with:

Samwise Gamgee was every bit as doughty as Gollum was bilious. (Jean)

The pack grew restless at gloaming, awaiting the good hunting the knew the night would bring. (Jean)

In the gloaming, the cat went roaming. (Rich)

The dog was not especially aerodynamic and when he jumped off the cliff after the cat, he fell like a rock into the ocean below. (Rich)

Under a gloaming light, the fox nabbed his dinner from the porch with a surreptitious move. (RaiderGirl3)

And this week's secret bonus word was pariah. (Rich, RaiderGirl3)

We were extremely tempted to give Carl a bonus point for using all 10 words in one sentence, but we figure that wouldn't be fair to "change" the rules in the middle of a game. I admit it, I did have to read the sentence three times before I understood what it said, but dang if it isn't a great sentence!

using that vocab-game 2, week 5

Sorry for not posting this last evening. I have no excuse...it was just pure laziness. Anyone new to the game may want to check out the rules.

*inveterate

*desiccate

*surreptitious

*mendicant

*advent

*pariah

*conjecture

*fastidious

*doughty

*avuncular

*obstreperous

*gloaming

*asceticism

*aerodynamic

*speleological

*bilious

*victuals

*somniferous

Good luck, everyone...and have fun!

homeschool happenings--weeks(ish) 3 and 4

We've been plugging along at a pretty steady pace, sort of have a rhythm going for our weeks. Definitely takes a bit longer to get through some things with the boys around 24/7, but Annie and I both love having them here. The boys each do about an hour's worth of "lessons" each day as well. During that time I get a glimpse of how incredibly hard, and yet how incredibly satisfying and wonderful it would be to homeschool all three of them. But for now, we're playing that one by ear.

So, what has Miss Annie been up to the last two weeks?

Vocabulary: Two more rounds of "using that vocab" with lots of incredible sentences to judge, and more importantly, learn from. We're now half-way through this game, and it's quite a tight race. As usual, Annie also wrote sentences using her words each week, as well as wrote a story each week using at least 12 assigned words. And kicked butt on both vocabulary tests. Our weekly vocab klatches continue to be fun, and even Gray has joined in! And finally, Annie has "donated" another 6,000 grains of rice.

Literature: Lots and lots and lots of poetry reading. We reviewed persona poems, catalog poems, and free verse. A couple favorites that made Annie's anthology: "The Owl and the Pussycat" by Edward Lear and "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe.

Math: Evaluating algebraic equations. Mathematical modeling. Intersections and unions of sets. Subsets of real numbers. More on number lines and absolute value. An intro into using a scientific calculator.

More puzzles.

Science: Making pitfall traps. Lecture on what makes insects different from other arthropods, why insects are so successful, how insects are helpful, major orders of insects and their characteristics, mouth parts of insects, complete and incomplete metamorphosis. Examining differences between bee and grasshopper life cycles. Two episodes of Bug Attack. Continued work on insect defenses database.

































Social Studies: Watched more of Ken Burn's The Civil War. (Along with more highlights discussion, note-taking, and quote collecting.) More reading in companion book (The Civil War by Geoffrey C. Ward). Learned a bit about Civil War photography. Currently reading a book about Matthew Brady (Matthew Brady: His Life and Photographs by George Sullivan). Learned a bit about Civil War spies. Did some activities using a cipher square.

For history through literature, Annie wrote a book review of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

For the geography portion, Annie watched two episodes of Principles of Geography, "Physical Features of Earth" and "Natural and Man-Made Wonders." Lecture and note taking. Finding and labeling physical features assignment. Quiz. Explored website about the seven wonders of the ancient world.

For the government portion, Annie watched "Standard Deviant School: The Constitution." Lecture and note taking. Read article titled "The Constitution and the Bill of Rights." Quiz.

For the document based questions portion, she began packet two by reading the documents and completing the short answer section. Packet two is about early exploration.

For current events, read and summarized article daily from Ed On-Line website. Read chapter 3 in What If We Do Nothing? Poverty. Worksheet. Writing assignment about obstacles to getting a good education in developing nations.

Music: Still fluting. Has now chosen all 10 of her songs for her informal recital in September. Watched two shows (What Is Music? and Is It Music?) about the elements of music...things like rhythm and melody and harmony.

Art: Finished up nature photography class.

Phys. Ed: Finished up the soccer season with the last two games (and their pizza party!).






















Went hiking twice.

Health: Completed four more pages in Health Science. Two more rounds (noninfectious disease and fitness) of Trivia Showdown against Rich. Two more butt-kickings.

She also completed 3 pages in Get Smart About Drugs. Watched The Truth About Tobacco, and completed related assignment.

Practical Arts: Pet care--feeding, bathing, cleaning up after. Shortcuts in the kitchen. Made deviled eggs.























Library Skills: Completed almanac scavenger hunt. Watched The Animated Almanac and The Animated Encyclopedia. Several encyclopedia worksheets.

And that's it for all the required subjects. In addition, we learned about the Spanish alphabet and pronunciations of the letters. Added about 50 words to our Spanish vocabulary. More computer basics, terminology and such. Completed the first chapter in Critical Thinking. Completed a self-assessment in our study skills unit. Made a concept map.

this week's winning sentences

I apologize for the delay in posting this week's winning sentences. Our internet service only continues to get worse. Someone's supposed to be coming to check things out though, so hopefully the frustration will soon end. Anyway, here's this week's point-winning sentences:

After Mutt was accidentally dyed blue, he expected to be ostracized by the other dogs in the town. (RaiderGirl3)

A viand here and a viand there and a banqueting we shall go! (Jean)

I’m often accused of misogyny, but really, I hate everyone. (Awesome)

His adulation of Hannah Montana worried his parents, as he was 42 years old. (Rich)

The dog did not seem contrite when I caught him buying dog treats with the twenty dollars that he stole from my wallet while I slept. (Rich)

And this week's bonus word was contrite. (RaiderGirl3, Rich)

Congrats, everyone!