So, the update on the homeschool front - it's going great, but if anything, we're erring on the side of working her a bit much. We'll slow down. :-)

This week included the routine calendar/time/weather, math facts, and some spelling/grammar work. It also included nutrition, chemistry and math in the form of baking, some history, geography and social studies in looking at John Cochrane (Johnny Appleseed) and his migration of the apple tree from Pennsylvania into the midwest, some library exploration and the start of a very elementary research project, and finally some math puzzles from Phil.

In our world we're trying not to drive, on the whole. The bare minimum is driving ONE direction (to or from school) if necessary, and making sure we have other trips to link to it. So this past week was a comedy of errors in Piper's world in riding to/from kindergarten.

Day one, we were going to ride/walk/something-other-than-drive, except I had an appointment at 12:30 after an 11:45 drop off time, along with staying long enough to help her adjust to the classroom etc etc. So we drove there, and I took Phil and Phoebe back home (Chloe was at preschool, which I had ridden her to) and dropped them off and ran to my appointment. Piper was upset at going in the car. Then I picked her up on the tandem, with Phoebe on her solo bike, which made her pretty happy, except that I'd had to turn away the popsicle they were handing out to the Kinders in congrats on their first day of school for fear of artificial color (there wasn't, they were Breyers, and the colors were all natural, mia culpa). So she was down about that.

Day two, she insisted on riding her little pink princess bike to school (now mind you, the lower traffic route we were taking goes around a little further, to about a mile and a half one way. About 7 blocks from school she had to take a break because she was hot (it was all uphill a little on the way there too boot), and about three blocks from school she had to hop off and walk the rest of the way. She begged me to drive to pick her up, and so I did. Well, somewhere in the finagling to get her to ride the rest of the way to school, she had internalized when Phoebe said that the way home was all downhill and SO much better, so of course, when I picked her up in the car (with about three errands to run, and her little sister to pick up all in one run), she was upset.

Note, here, that I'm three for four directions in making her UNhappy about the way we're getting to school so far, and on the one day that she WAS happy about the mode of transportation, she was unhappy about something else. Ugh.

So, Friday, day three, I leave enough time to get her to school by tandem, and not enough time for her to try riding her little pink princess bike again. So she's upset about that because for some reason, she really wanted to try riding herself again - which in theory, I"m all for, but in reality, we did NOT have time. So, despite her unhappiness, she climbed aboard the tandem and we got her to school. This time, I KNOW I have an appointment in the afternoon and that I'll be driving to get her, so I give her that heads up, and she's okay when I do so.

I'm not doing so well in that regard. Of course the adjustment to kindergarten has been a little hard on her, I think, and the heat hasn't helped... we'll find our rhythm, for sure.

No, the two aren't really that closely related.

The update on artificial colors is that we've really hit the jackpot!!! We're still minimizing other preservatives and additives, but the big big big one does appear to be the colors. We have children who behave like children now. Further, I'm finding that I like being AROUND my children more. It was sad feeling like I needed a break from, well, the one screamer, on a regular basis. It did a disservice to both her and the rest of us. She deserved to be enjoyed as much as her siblings did... and now she is.

Homeschooling has begun. Phoebe didn't realize she'd started school, but she started low-key "schooling" yesterday. This wasn't the sit-down and work school, this was the "let's chat about what nutrients are in your lunch" school, the "how high do you think your bike seat would be if we raised it by one foot", the "so you have 20 dollars, and the material you want costs $2.50, what bills would you give the cashier and how much change would you get?", and the "what kinds of shapes would you like to make your quilt out of, shall we draw them into the big square", and the "Piper cut her finger, let's talk about how blood clots and wounds heal" kind of schooling. We're getting into the habit of making everything count.. and she's sliding right into it.

Further, I got an e-mail from the school Phoebe will be attending next year, and they are going to help us get our hands on the curriculum they are using for 3rd grade so that we can be sure to hit the same standards and major topics in order to have her on track for 4th grade next year.

So far, so good on the schooling front... and the school year technically starts tomorrow, so that's when we get to start working on what will be the daily routine and some more workbook style learning.

No more tantrums. None. She's been tired, she's been cranky, and still no tantrums. Grrrr to artificial colors.. grrr to ingested chemicals...

I learned something today, though. Not all foods of the same brand and type have the same ingredients. I bought whole fruit popsicles today. Strawberry did NOT have artificial colour, and yet, lime did. Rats. Piper wanted lime... and still, no tantrum. She understood why she couldn't have lime. That's my girl.

Another thing that has happened this week is our decision to homeschool Phoebe next year. Piper got a slot at Bullis Charter School (BCS) and Phoebe was bumped to first on the 3rd grade wait list. It didn't happen. Okay, wait, let me copy and paste from my e-mail to the family on this one:

We all felt very trapped by the idea of having to send Phoebe to the newly designated school for her, which was not the school she attended last year, rather one located inconveniently across town in the wrong direction from where Chloe goes to preschool/daycare. When we realized what our schedules meant, this would be dropping off, or picking up, someone every two hours throughout the day.

Further, she was not thriving in the public school environment. She was worked up for learning disabilities last year, and she continues to struggle with the worksheet style curriculum that is standard across this district - so the new school would not be a change from her school last year.

Lastly, she was expressing that if she went on to Covington (the new district school), she would want to stay there, rather than move again in a year, and we had every intention of having her attend the charter school for 4th grade. She is guaranteed a place there next year (they open up 10 slots in the 4th grade because of the teacher/student ratio increase that is a state regulation). In addition, if a slot opens up at the charter school, it is fully our intention to move her during the school year.

So, not only were Phil and I frustrated, Phoebe was as well... until we remembered that we had another option. We had explored the homeschooling option for Phoebe before she even entered kindergarten, and we revisited it as an option now. Phoebe was ecstatic to learn she had another choice. We made it clear she'd have to focus, and be receptive to when it was "school time" here at home.

It was so crazy, it just might work! Phil and I alternate days working from home so that someone is always available to pick up the kids, either on schedule, or in an emergency, so enforcing an educational period just meant that we'd have to work all the harder during that time - and Phoebe would have to understand and work WITH us.

So today, I informed the school district that they would not be having the pleasure of Phoebe's company this year for the 3rd grade.

This is a one year solution, but one we're growing more and more excited about. We will use the local music and art school, as well as find a Mandarin tutor for both Phoebe and Piper as well as their friend, Megan.

So there it is. Thank goodness for the internet for helping us find the way to go about all of this...

Day three isn't over yet, it's mid-afternoon, but I thought I would update.

We've not been perfect on the allergen avoidance, but we HAVE been perfect on the artificial food avoidance.

Yesterday Piper had an enormous tantrum, completely with screaming, kicking, wailing, and complete loss of control. It lasted about 30 minutes, and was kicked off when I told the girls it was time to turn off the tv and come to lunch. It accelerated when I offered my hand to walk her downstairs (Chloe had the other hand to steady herself on the stairs), and she refused to take it, and so I went on down the stairs without her.

I have to remember that it does take two full weeks to clear ones system of food offenders... but she also had some applesauce, which is likely to be high in salicylates, which the Feingold program had warned could be a potentiate of behavioral problems. So now I'm studying more on that, and trying to steer her clear of those foods high in salicylates as well - though buzzing through the lists, that might be hard to do - there are a LOT of them.

Today has been amazing. No whining at all, no fussing, even when she's been disappointed. She and Phoebe are getting along very well, and are currently playing pretend while Chloe goes with Phil to the bike shop.

Which reminds me, I need to go update her food diary.