The sound of silence!

The sound of silence! I love my kids, I really do! But, they are at their Grandma's for our version of Spring Break and it is nice to sit in the silence! 2 middle schoolers who are opposites in personality tends to make for tight tensions. Not that I am sitting on my butt..... While they are gone, I am tackling their room. YIKES! 1st we had mold, yuck! Almost new IKEA dresser tossed, wipe the room all down and put it back together. Spent a few days looking for a replacement dresser on craigslist, I love CL! Then I upgraded their beds, ordering all the stuff off the internet BEFORE they left! My 8th grader is almost 6'4" so we had to get him more room and my 7th grader will eventually get at least 6'. So, twin xl beds were in order. Mattresses arrived right after they left but bed frames are MIA. GRRRRRR How do kids accumulate SO much stuff. I do not get it. Of course I remember being a kid and having shelf after shelf of stuff!LOL So, Hubby and I added shelving at ceiling height for all their little stuff. Now that the week is ending and they are about to come home.... I think I am MORE exhausted than when my kids are here.. I need a vacation from my kid-free vacation!LOL But, I did enjoy the sound of silence!

2 weeks off!!! WAHOOOOOOOOOOO

2 WEEKS OFF!!!! WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Can you tell Mom is excited that not only are we off schooling for 2 weeks BUT..... the boys are gone to their Grandparents for this whole week!!!
This gives me time to not only breath a bit but play catch-up on lesson planning for the next 3 months of school!!
Because the boys learning styles are SO different(as previously blogged) it makes creating lesson plans a bit more difficult but I love the challenge.
I am hoping to include some typing for the last few weeks. As other things like Spelling and Geography are winding down, I like to fill that free space with other things... like typing. I am on the lookout for some typing games because it always seems that if I find a "game" for the subject the boys are more receptive to learning it. And since I am cleaning the boys room, YUCK.... I am hoping in my decluttering of their room.... that I will also find the missing Nintendo DS Spanish game. If I do, then we will add that as well.
And I need to buy a new notebook... I need to start planning out our NEXT school year. Oldest son will be a 9th grader aka HIGH SCHOOL and we are still planning on homeschooling him so.... all these great ideas floating around in my brain..... well, I need to put it to paper or else it will be lost!LOL
But first..... I am doing the happy dance to have some down time!

Can we just outlaw Math!? Honestly!!LOL

Ok, as readers know.... or may not know.... I have 2 boys, middle schoolers. They are polar opposites in every way! I swear, I do not know how 2 kids came out of the same parents and are SO different!
This makes our homeschool day a bit difficult as they operate in each subject very differently.
Math is especially hard because my youngest son is a MATH lover and my oldest son is a MATH hater! And I know hate is a strong word but when it comes to this.... he would rather do anything than Math, even clean the catbox I think! EWWWWW
So, in order to make our Math curriculum go as smoothly as possible for things that are not on Time 4 Learning(our main curriculum), I try to find Math games both online and hands-on that have several options, multiple grade levels so that each boy can play them for his strong points and at least learn while they do something educational.
This isnt always easy but it does make my time on the computer challenging!LOL
But, I think many homeschooling parents would agree..... we could just outlaw Math and it would make the day go a bit smoother....
Whatcha think? Want to start a campaign?!LOL