OBAMANIA

Our mom told us to write about our experience at the inauguration so this is what I wrote:

On Tuesday, January 20, we went to the inauguration for Barack Obama. Barack Obama is the first black president.
" Yesterday Bush, Today Obama" my grandmother said about 5 times the day after the inauguration. At the inauguration everybody was selling stuff like, Obama puppets, hats, shirts, pins, pens, calendars, mugs, even comics. We were walking a lot. We could've waited for two hours at a gate or walked for one hour to another train station. It was a very big crowd. It was also very cold. Even though it seemed unorganized, IT WAS HISTORIC !

August Wilson

On Monday, yes Monday we stopped going to the Co-op, my children had a guest teacher. I had to go to a pitch meeting to bring some money into the house, so my friend with a Ph.D. filled in. She told the children all about August Wilson, the playwright. He wrote a series of ten plays each from a decade in the 20th century.

Today, our ex-Seton Hall Professor friend brought the girls a tape of the Piano Lesson to watch. They love this play by Mr. Wilson. I am happy to have received such quality teaching for the children. They have to write a movie critique, so it will probably show up on their book review blog.

In other news, I am preparing my 7th grade daughter for the SAT. It will be her first go round. Duke's Talent Identification Program makes it possible for her to take the test. I'll report the results when she gets them

Atlanta Botanical Gardens

We took our first field trip to Atlanta Botanical Gardens about a week before we actually began homeschooling. It was homeschool day and we wanted to see if would see anyone we knew that might homeschooling now. Turns out we did see my youngest daughter's old classmate. His mother is homeschooling group and we are part of the same ning group.

Anyway, we got a shared membership with a nice family I met at Atlanta Botanical Gardens, and went back on a family field trip. My husband took these wonderful images in the Orchid Garden. We all learned so much about succulents, orchids, Orangeries, and even frogs. I look forward to going back at different times of the year to see different blooms.

Electric Company

A few years back I ordered the Electric Company, a 70's child show, from itunes for my youngest daughter to watch on a road trip in the car. Well fast-forward to 2009. She is still into the Electric Company, and it is the weirdest and most delightful thing the see your my child enjoying a show I absolutely loved as a child. What's more is it helps with phonics, an area I still feel she needs help in. It doesn't get any better than Bill Cosby, Rita Moreno, & Morgan Freeman teaching phonics.




...and the big news is The Electric Company 2009 in set to premiere on PBS January 19th. Whoopi Goldberg and other stars will be singing and rapping this time and I think it will surely be a blast! Round up your children 6 - 9 years old and sit them down in front of the tube for the new Electric Company.

Tomorrow Morning

Monday morning we will be joining a co-op. I am super excited because the girls will get the chance to meet new people, and to experience new teachers. The co-op we are attending is very inexpensive, which I can really appreciate right now. It will only be $20.00 in total for both children for all of January and February. If you are in the South Metro Atlanta area, you might want to join. The co-op is called Learning is Wild I'll let you know what we think soon.

Update: We were a little late finding the facility, but it went well the first day. However I did get a nice email about my kids being "talkative and high-spirited." It was attributed to their newly home-schooled status... I am told they will be totally different after being home for a year. I am not so sure because I like my kids talkative and high-spirited, so they will probably remain themselves after a year at home.