Laugh or Cry...

As I was teaching this week, one of my pupils made a mistake.  I drew a line through it and asked her to repeat the task...  Instead, I get this answer, "If you're so smart, why don't you solve the problem?"

Also with this student, I'm working on leading her through the steps of thinking out something with questions. "Why do you ask these questions if you know the answers?  You do know the answers, don't you?"  She isn't buying the Socratic method at the moment.

I'll be banging my head against the wall if you need me!

Friday Funnies

Why did God make me so that I don't like lima beans? -Gabby

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That's 'antastic!! -Nate

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Nate: Look!  It's gasoline for the firefighters!

Me: Where, buddy?

Nate: There! (pointing at a hydrant)

Astronomy Text

I have a love-hate relationship with our astronomy textbook.  I knew we would have this issue, which is why this is our first science textbook.

It is dripping with divinity.  Which is a good thing, except when it is stretched too far trying to find something to fit, even when nothing really does.  Or when science is brushed aside...in a science textbook.

It is filled with wonderful activities and experiments.  We got the lab manual because someone local ordered too many, so I got a good price for it.  And it is so easy to pick it up and do it.  I love that.  I've piece mealed our science before, which is a great deal more work.  Most curricula are either 7 day creation (with no room for a discussion of other opinions) or very humanistic.

Since we approach science and religion as not opposed, but in union and believe that in general God works within the laws He created, except those rare miracles, we've had a hard time finding that perfect fit, so we are working with what we have and enjoying the parts we like and sometimes editing out a few words here and there that we aren't ready to discuss or that Justin finds errors in the science of (the benefit of a scientist in the house).

Who knew believing that it didn't matter if creation was seven literal 24 hour periods or if God used evolution to populate the planet, since all that mattered was that He was in charge, would be so much harder than holding one of those beliefs to be absolutely true?  Instead of a man without a country we're a family without a text book!

Burning Chocolate in the Name of Science

We started our astronomy section of science back before Christmas.  We had to wait a week or so for a warm sunny afternoon to do one of our experiments though.  Justin was home on break, so he took the girls out with the magnifying glass and some chocolate, with the goal of melting some chocolate.

I wish you could see it better, but we actually caught the chocolate on fire!  I think it really drove home the idea that the light can damage your eyes to Kate.  I think Gabby and Justin just thought that burning chocolate was fun!

Friday Funny

Me: "Nate, you need to eat your turkey because the protein helps you grow big, strong, and healthy."

Nate: "M&Ms will make me grow."

*Nutrition fail, but he did eat his turkey.*

Flu

Flu, Flu go away.
We don't like you anyway!

Kate came down with the flu at 1:30 am Friday morning.  Never one to miss an opportunity to do things big, she woke after a day of visiting with dear friends, with a temperature of 105.6.  We dosed her with ibuprofen and began cool compresses.  She got up to 106.4 while we were doing that, so we moved her to a cool bath and I dressed for a hospital run.  She came down to a respectable 104 in the tub.  We had her hang out on the couch while we waited to see if the ibuprofen alone would keep her from heating back up. When she reached 102, we put her back to bed.

The next day, we went to see the doctor, since her fever had been so high in the night.  She tested positive for the flu.  She started Tamiflu (which our insurance company doesn't seem to like due to its high price).  After that expense, I looked into making elderberry syrup.  It is touted to have many of the same benefits as Tamiflu  without the need to visit the doctor, the pharmacist, the side effects, and it can be taken before the onset of symptoms, as a preventative.  Plus it doesn't taste like soap, which Kate tells me the Tami-flu tastes like.

We were able to procure dried elderberries (We actually have an elderberry bush planted in our yard, but it is too young to bear yet.) locally and got started with it on Sunday.  Unfortunately (Happy New Year to me!), I've come down with a fever today.  (I was really kind of hoping that the two week long cold I had was part flu so I wouldn't have been sick all three weeks of Justin's Christmas Break, but alas...it was not to be.)  Be it we weren't taking it long enough to prevent it or not, perhaps it will help shorten it--I've read some places where promising studies were cited.  Ours is made with common food items (berries, honey, ginger, and cinnamon), so I figure it won't hurt us, though of course, I'm not a doctor.

We will add less honey next time because we find it very sweet and hopefully in a couple of days I'll be better!

I blame my fever on all the parenthetical remarks.