April 19, 2010

Ben seems to really love me, but he can be annoying sometimes. This morning, we went to church, and we found out that it was closed. Instead, we went out to breakfast. The diner we went to was called The Geneseo Family Restaurant, and it was nice. The tables were really small. Of course, Ben had to have the whole booth, and he sat in the very middle. I was pushed up against the wall. Ben was REALLY hyper, and for the first time this month, I was glad he went to school.

On Sunday, we had our family over because it was my dad’s birthday. John and I got into a fight, and he whacked me with the ping pong paddle. Luckily, my Tae Kwon Do reflexes kicked in, and I managed to block the hit. That’s about it for now, but I will post again soon. Bye!

Pros and Cons

I have been thinking about going back to public school, which you probably know from recent blogs. I am actually leaning towards on going back, but to help me decide, I have put together a list of pros and cons about going back.

My List Of Pros and Cons
By Connor Peters

Pros:
1. I will know about changing classes so when I go to McQuaid I wont be lost.
2. It will give me a base on what I will be learning at McQuaid (kind of).
3. I will be able to be with John when he goes to school.
4. I will end at exactly 2:30.

Cons:
1. The subjects with be 44 minutes long, and I might get bored.
2. I will probably miss homeschooling.
3. I will only be able to go to Tae Kwon Do twice a week.

4. I won't be able to do guitar.

Well, that's about it for now, but I will try to think of more. Comment on if you think I should go to public school or not.
Connor.

Hey! I Am Back!

Hey everyone, I just got back from China! That is why I haven't blogged in a few weeks. If you have noticed, I have been blogging on my moms adoption blog. My family has just adopted two boys, Ben (6 years old) and John (13 years old). You have probably already learned this from my recent blogs. Ben is so cute and he is very naughty, in a funny way. John can be pretty annoying, but can be a good companion. I am so happy to be home from China. Lately, the boys (my new brothers) have been home while I have been schooling, and they have been preventing me from getting much work done. I don't have much to say, but I have been thinking about going back to public school next year. Mom is probably going to make me do some more writing, but that is okay. See you later, Connor.

Grounded...

I just got grounded today from TV, computer (except school related stuff on the computer) and reading. Can you believe Mom was mean enough to ban reading until Sunday? I mean, who gets in trouble for reading (except for me, of course)? It is going to be a boring four days. I think what I got in trouble for wasn't fair, because I got into trouble for something I did the day before. Mom told me to go fold some socks and underwear. I think I was on the computer, so I took the laundry and threw it into my shelves. Well, I was meaning to finish it, but mom caught it before I could. I miss reading! Even though it has only been a few hours since I got into trouble, I still am really upset. These few hours have been very boring without the casual reading I do (I read while I eat, wait for food to cook etc.) I can only imagine how boring it will be tomorrow and on Saturday.

Small Thing...Big Impact.

I went upstairs today to tell Mom that I had finished my Chinese. Of course, she was on her email. I accidentally saw an email with the title: It is illegal to home-school in Germany. I feel bad for the Germans. I feel lucky that I live in America, able to believe any religion I want, home-school and make any other choices that affect our lives. I am also glad that I am able to help to orphans and bring them to our home, America. I wish that my family and I could do more. It would do my heart good to see every orphan brought into a nice warm home in America with a family. There are tons of orphans who are unable to have the warmth of a loving family, even if they have a mom that yells, or a brother that gets rather annoying. I think it is best to try to be the best people we can possibly be and make the world change into a better place to live. If there were more people like my mom or dad, the world as we know it, would change for the better. I know I am going to be the best person that I can be.

RSFBP

Today was an average day. You know, I finished a book, did some math and now I have to go to Tae Kwon Do. I also have guitar today. Same as every Wednesday. I think I am getting really good at guitar and Tae Kwon Do. My mom says that she can now actually stay in the same room as me when I play guitar. = P . I just went on ANOTHER book buying spree. I bought ten books. Mom says I can't read any of them until our trip to China. Good thing we went to the library before the bookstore, and I got seven more books. Last time I went to the library, I checked out eighteen books and read them all in three weeks. Man, either I am a really fast reader, or I have a TON of time on my hands. Or I have both. :) . I have decided that I am going to make MY OWN blog. You maybe saying, "This is Connor's blog", but I have restrictions on this blog. For instance, mom checks all my work so that I have correct grammar. The new blog, I am going to say whatever the heck I feel like saying, without worrying about my spelling or grammar. I think it will be called: RSFBP- Random Stuff For Bored People. Sounds good? Well, (look at my watch,) it looks like it is time to go to Tae Kwon Do. See ya!

Average Day at School

Well, you can probably figure out what this blog is about from the title. An Average Day at School! Today, my math/biology tutor couldn't make it to our house because she went to Boston for the weekend, and on the way back to Rochester, one of her tires popped. That meant that instead of math with my tutor, I got to finish my book! I managed to read 120 pages in 45 minutes! After that, I took a John Hopkins math test online. On Friday, I did the John Hopkins 5th Grade Test, and scored only a 77%. I don't know who was more mad, me, or my mom. To make up for the stupid mistakes that I made (all careless errors from being in a hurry), I did the 6th Grade Test today. I scored a 91%! wO0t! w0Ot! I was really happy because I can now to do Honors Pre-algebra, if I want. I cannot believe that I did so badly on a 5th Grade Test, but then did so well on a 6th grade test today. It may have something to do with that it took me 21 minutes to do the 5th Grade Test, and an hour and fifteen minutes for the 6th Grade Test. I am thinking about doing another course online, but last time, when I took the computer course, it was a pain in the butt! Another thing, I finished my math at exactly 10:00 AM, which is when my math tutor usually finishes. That means I was right on time. Then I finished my Guitar at 10:30, also perfect timing. Now, I have to finish my Writing at 11:00! I am mad that I finished my book. It was the end of a 2 book series and they were REALLY good. At least there is a movie. I guess I am going to have to see it. The series is called Arthur and the Minimoys. At least that is what the first book is called. The second book is called Arthur and the Forbidden City. Well, that is about all I have to say. It is time to study my vocabulary words. Zaijian! (good-bye in Chinese).

My Wish Upon a Star...

Homeschooling is awesome; don't get me wrong, however, I wish that mom let me read a bit more. She is always nagging at me to put my book down and go do some Freerice . Freerice is a educational website that donates rice to poor people. Back in Abe Lincoln's time (Abraham Lincoln was home-schooled) all he did was read books. He didn't have a fancy computer to use; no, he just read. And look how he turned out! He was one of the best presidents America has ever known! I want more reading! I want more reading!

My Day #1

Today was a busy day, but I still managed to end at around 1:00. I guess from this blog, I have managed to be more time efficient. Well, that's the point right? Today, I woke up at around 7:15. Got up, had some eggs. Mom is making me have protein with each meal now. She claims it makes a big difference in how I behave. I also had some cream of wheat (didn't have any "Diet" oatmeal). Then I had my math tutor from 9-10. Chinese tutor from 10:30-11:30. I then had to finish all my school work.

Mom has been chaotic about the adoption lately. She has been to the mall every day since Saturday for the boys, Ben and Jack. My brother and I want Jack to be called Josh, but mom doesn't. Ben is six, Jack/Josh is 13 almost 14. My mom has been so nervous, she has been getting mad for no reason. Mom also just bought a Polaroid photo printer (not the old fashioned ones, but a new one about the size of a Blackberry). It was only $40, what a deal! It prints the pictures when ever you want, not just when they are taken. Amazing the technology now. Signing off...

Moms a bit grumpy wouldn't you say?

Today mom was really mad at me. I don't quite remember why she said she was mad at me, but I do remember that she said that going back to school may be better then homeschooling. She later admitted that she was grumpy and that she was really nervous about adopting Ben and Jack (we finally named them). Well, just because you are nervous and grumpy, doesn't mean you have to yell at me every minute. I feel sad. Logging out...

Chinese Project

Today I went to my third grade teacher's classroom to present My Chinese Project. Originally, the project was supposed to be for 45 minutes, but it ended up taking an hour and 15 minutes. It was fun, and I think I did well. I had a power point presentation and a ton of Chinese artifacts to show. I also taught the third graders some Chinese Characters, and they seemed to enjoy that. Mom keeps on saying that I did awesome, and I couldn't have done better. Maybe so, but I still forgot the Chinese character for 7 and I felt like an idiot. I don't have that much to say, except that I felt good to see my old teachers again. I also felt awkward seeing some of my old classmates. They even asked for my number so that they could call me! It was great fun. I have to say though, it took an awful darn amount of practice to be able to do it well. I spent at least 8 hours making my presentation. Then at least 2 hours practicing it. Now I am wiped out! Well, that is pretty much all. Signing out...

Guinea Pigs: Who Knew?

Today I am going to get a guinea pig, named Max. Max is a friend's guinea pig, but she just found out that she is quite allergic. That means I get a free guinea pig! We once babysat Max, and he was actually fun. I just learned that you can actually train guinea pigs to do tricks. Who knew? I spent a lot of time on the internet researching guinea pigs. I learned what to feed them, how to train them, that type of thing. At first, I wanted an otter. I read a story that had an otter as a character, and it seemed like it would be a cool pet. I looked on the internet about otters, and found out that in order to get an otter, you need to get a permit. Also, they will attack you for no reason sometimes. Then I wanted to see if I could get a mink. That was a no-no too. They have the same problems as otters. Then came the idea of a ferret. I learned that ferrets actually make good pets. Well, they make good pets if they like their owner, and have a good attitude. Mom would not agree to get a ferret. They stink too much, she said. The funny thing is, right after I did all this research, I went to a friend's house for dinner. Guess what? I got a guinea pig while I was there! I guess mom likes guinea pigs and not ferrets. God works in mysterious ways, but still, I did not expect this! I'm a new pet owner!

Tip #4: Curriculum

A curriculum is a big part of homeschooling. I have already talked about making a list, and checking it twice, but you should have a curriculum to use as a reference for your list. For instance, most of the books that I read are on the John Hopkins Reading List. Sure, I pick some of the books that I read, but I have good idea of what I should be reading. Thinks of it as a tower. The curriculum is the base, and what you do for the day is the body. Every structure should have supports. Every essay should have examples. It is just like life. Wait, let me rephrase that; it is life. I am not saying to go out and buy a curriculum to use. Try looking at my curriculum, and use it as an example. Every kid is different. I mean, that is what homeschooling is about. Don't home-school blindly. Some help is nice!


P.S. I will try to put a link to my curriculum. I can't promise anything though. Hope this helps!

Tip #?

Today mom has got to go to work even though it is only Monday. The semester is done for Mom, but Thursday was canceled due to bad weather. Mom just needs to go to work to grade everything. I am going to be home most of the day. I'm free! Just kidding. I have quite a bit of work, but most of it is on the computer. Five out of the eight things are on the computer and things on the computer take only a little bit of time. Sadly, the rest not on the computer, takes a long time. I try to categorize my work. For instance, since I have a lot of computer stuff, I can do it all at once without moving. By categorizing my work, I get things done twice as fast. Well, I have to go, and finish my work. See ya!

Music

Whenever I go on the computer to do something, the first thing I do is go to Pandora.com . Pandora is a website that generates music. When I listen to music it seems like I am only doing something for 5 minutes, when I am actually doing it for an hour! Music kind of rests my mind. I can focus on something even better when I have some music playing. Besides, the music gives me good ideas to write about. For instance, I wouldn't be talking about music right now, without it playing. My favorite song is playing right now. Down by Jay Sean and Lil Wayne. This might seem like an irrelevant topic to homeschooling, but it helps me a ton! Sometimes my mind just go blank, but for some reason, I haven't stopped typing this post since I started. Usually I have to stop and pause after every sentence. The music keeps me alive. Music helps me when I am studying, why not you?

Essays

Today mom has a lesson plan for me. Oh-no! She wants me to write an essay. Write an essay about what? I don't know. I am secretly hoping it is only one essay, but sometimes Mom goes overboard and gives about five essays for one day. Then it takes me until 7:00 to finish all of them. I guess I should practice writing one for this post. You know what? I think I will. Here goes nothing.

Snow

by Connor Peters

Today, at about 6:20 a.m, I heard hail. Call it what you want, sleet or rain, but I am sure I heard hail. I heard it pounding on the roof as if God himself wants to break inside our house and take me away. I took a peek out of the window. What did I see? Naught, but snow covering the ground like a sheet of of ice covering the racing river. I could see the icy white color of the snow. I could almost feel the damp snow covering me as I built an igloo. Oh the snow!
I could smell the icy air being sucked into my lungs. The smell of a blanket of snow covering the old country terrain filled my thoughts. I would, not for anything, want to give up that smell. I could smell it playing with my nose, swirling around my head, even from my bedroom window. Ah! Snow.
As I lay there in my bed, I felt that today nothing could go wrong. Even if I got in trouble, not even the screaming rampages of my mom, could drown out my Holiday spirit. The snow, December and Christmas carols are all a sign that Christ is being born, again after 2009 years. Christmas is alive.


How was that? I think it sounds more like a poem then a essay. *Sigh* I'll get it soon enough. I am excellent at creative writing, but when it comes to an essay, I struggle. I know how essays are supposed to be written. Introduction, three examples defending the point I am trying to make, then a conclusion. But I just don't seem able to do that.

Travel

On the 26th of November, my family flew to Florida to see my grandpa. We just got back last night at 11 o'clock. This is my chance to write. I think traveling is very educational, even if you are only going another city nearby. It is good to go to other places you have never been before, because you might be around other people of a different race or people speaking different languages. It is good to see things you have never seen before.If you don't travel , you will never be able to meet new people and never be able to try new food. As I always say, it is good to spread out. And besides from that, if you go to a historical place like Gettysburg, or Washington DC, you will learn tons of stuff from that! It is awesome to learn historical stuff, although it does get kinda boring after a while. My point is, it is good to travel. I know I have said this before, but get the most out of everything! Even those seemingly endless plane rides can be educational. That is where books come in handy.

Jobs

I think that jobs are good for you. By doing jobs, you learn lessons. It teaches you how to be independent, and it is a good way to repay your parents.
Chores teach you how to do important things. These things include, cooking and cleaning. You need to know how to cook. Also, you need to learn how to clean because you don't want to live in a pig sty. It is also important to learn how to fix things. Say, your car broke down and you are stranded in a forest. You need to know how to fix your car, and how to cook until your car is fixed. Chores teach life lessons.
By doing different jobs and chores around the home, you can help repay your parents. Your parents give you everything, such as, shelter, food, clothing. I bet they like it a ton when you vacuum the floor without being asked. Repay your parents for everything they have done and are doing for you. Do some chores.
Being independent is how you will survive adulthood. If you rely on your mom for help all the time, what good is that? Jobs and chores help you become independent. When you are an adult, and you have a guest come over for dinner, you probably wouldn't want your mom to be there doing all the cooking. Doing chores teaches you valuable things.
P.S. My mom made me write this blog in essay style, that is why it doesn't sound like my writing.

It Is Okay to Ask

Sometimes in homeschooling you need help. It is okay to ask. If you are having trouble with something, ask for help. I admit, that sometimes I am stubborn, and I figure that I can do it myself. But a lot of times I can't. If there is no one home when you need help, I look what I need up in the internet. Aren't computers great? If you don't have computers, there are always books. Or you could always wait until someone comes home. There are people smarter then you. Take the time to ask.
P.S. I do realize this is a short blog. This is because this is a short topic.

When mom is mad and you are in trouble!

My mom is really mad right now, so I think this good topic for my post. The other day, I went to the Life Science Center at University of Rochester ( U of R) and apparently, I was being an idiot and disrupting the class (I don't think this is true) and they don't want me to come back. Consequently, now my mom is really mad at me. When your mom is mad, then you should try to avoid her as much as possible. "But my mom is my teacher," you say. "It is really hard to avoid your teacher." Well, yes and no. Say, for instance, that you have trouble with a math problem; ask her to help, then when she does show you, try going outside to do your work. Then you get your work done AND get to be outside, away from mom. If it bad weather outside, try going to your room or do your work with your dog/cat if you have one. I find that if I act as if I am not worried when I'm in trouble, then my mom calms down too. The best tip of all, is, try not to get mom mad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Being Social

In homeschooling, you have an advantage. Your mom is your teacher and she knows exactly what is good for you and what you need. This is also a disadvantage. By experience, I know my mom can get fed up with me, being around me all day and teaching me all day. It is good that you have someone who loves you enough to teach you, and yet, well, let me put it this way, it can be bad too. You also need to have someone else teach you. That is why it is good to go to activities and be social. If you are anti-social you will never be able to talk to an audience and get a well-paying job. It also isn't fun being with a mad mom all day. Sometimes you need to spread out and be with someone besides your parents. I go to a chess class with a group of homeschoolers my age, Tae Kwon Do classes three times a week, guitar lessons, and horseback riding lessons. You should find activities with other kids too.

Authentic vs. useless learning

The title of this blog relates to what I learn in homeschooling, versus what the school teaches kids similar to me. You see, I learn useful things from homeschooling; that is the "Authentic" part of my title. The school often teaches useless things; that is the part of the title "Useless Learning. I am learning how to write in HTML, and that can get help me get a really good and high paying job. I am learning Chinese not because a language is required, but because we are adopting two boys from China and I want to be able to talk to them. When I was in public school, each year we went to the local playground on a field trip and that took up most of the day. What good is that? The playground is located right in the village, and most of us have been there a million times! Also, in school, they made me write essays about practically nothing. For instance, the teacher made us write stories about a peacock. Isn't that stupid? In homeschooling, I am writing a useful book, that I hope will be published for the whole world to read. Now, that is authentic learning! One big difference is that when homeschooling you can pick what it is that you want to do. If you pick a useless curriculum, then you might as well go to public school. My advice is to find useful things to study, and try to have all your learning be authentic. It really isn't that hard.

Choices

Homeschooling is a choice. You don't have to home-school. It is a privilege to be home-schooled. If you have a bad day, try to think about what it would be like at school. If there was a teacher you didn't like when you were in public school, think about how lucky you are at home to have a teacher who you love. Sometimes homeschooling is a bore, like when I have to read my Social Studies textbook for an hour, but MOST of the time, regular school is a bore. Think about what good things you have, while you still have them. For instance, if I went back to public school I wouldn't be able to take guitar lessons, I wouldn't be able to go to Tae Kwon Do three times a week, and I wouldn't have half of the knowledge that I have now. When you graduate from home-schooling, you will realize what a tremendous impact home-schooling had on your life. I don't know about you, but I am grateful for my mom who is willing to take the time to give me a good education. Appreciate home-schooling. It's a choice.

Entertainment.

Sometimes you get really bored and you need to entertain yourself. For some reason, it seems that lately our house has been infected with boredom. Whenever I have free time, there is nothing to play. We rarely watch TV, play on the computer or play video games in our house. Mom saves those activities as a special reward for when we do something great. Normally, there are really only three things I can do for fun. Either A. play K'nex, B. go outside or C. read. After a while, playing K'nex isn't fun anymore. I can always go outside, but I don't really like the weather this time of year. It isn't snowing yet, and it's too cold to play with squirt guns and water balloons. Luckily,there are books. It is never too hot or too cold to read. I think the book was the best invention ever invented. It is better than the wheel or the computer. You might say, well, it is not really an invention. I'll bet back before Christ, people thought the book was an amazing new thing. I guess my advice on this blog is to entertain yourself by doing something useful instead of playing video games or watching TV. Read a book, play K'nex or build Legos. Do something constructive, even when you're playing.

Mentos and Coke.

I tried to post a video of my math/science tutor and I doing the famous Mentos and Coke experiment, but I can't get it to work. This is what happened. My math tutor and I explored the science behind spraying Coke using mint Mentos. The Mentos HAVE to be mint. This is because the mint type has a harder and more rough texture. This reaction occurs when the Mentos react with the carbonic acid, the aspirate, and caffeine in the Coke. Carbon dioxide is created, spewing the Coke very far.

I love it when college kids are my tutors. They are fun and motivated. I love my tutors. I think having tutors is a big part of home-schooling. For instance, Mom doesn't know Chinese. Who is supposed to teach me then? That is when a tutor comes in handy. Sometimes, Moms can't teach us kids all by themselves. They need to branch out sometimes. Having tutors is awesome!

Negativity/Motivation

Two huge things that I haven't gone over yet is motivation and negativity. You need to stay motivated. In school, the teachers give you candy or recess to motivate you. Homeschoolers need to motivate themselves. Give yourself rewards too. The only reward I can think of is getting my work done. I think you should try giving yourself a thing that you normally wouldn't have. For instance, eating chocolate. You might say to yourself, "Hmm, if I get this question right, I will give myself a piece of candy. If I get it wrong, I will not get candy next time, even if I get it right." Then there is temptation. You might need to ask somebody to hide the candy, and check your answers for you. At the end, you get the candy. We don't use candy as a reward in our house because my mom is overly careful about what we eat. Instead, the reward is playing on the computer, or watching M.A.S.H on television.
Now, the other part of this post was about negativity. If you are always negative, no one will get along with you. My brother seems to have an illness called negativity syndrome. Don't let it happen to you! If you are negative all the time, you won't enjoy home-schooling. That is a big part of homeschooling. You need to stay focused and optimistic. But, on the other hand, if you are too happy, you will get too sure of yourself. Try to stay positive, but don't get overly sure of yourself.

Keep Cool

One thing that gets me really frustrated is that everyone thinks I don't do anything. For instance, sometimes I go to a friend's house, and he only wants to watch TV. When I ask him if we can do anything else, he says, "No. I am tired. I went to school all day." People say things like that as if I didn't go to school. In fact, I am in school right now. It is 4:52 and I am still doing work. Yesterday, I was in a lab at University of Rochester doing science experiments all day. I hope people will respect home-schoolers a little bit more. We are busting our butts, trying to do work, when other people just play during school. I just want to say, "Well, if you were in school, where was I?" This really upsets me, but it is best to keep cool because you represent all home-schoolers. People will judge home-schoolers by your actions.

Multitasking

Multitasking can sometimes be good, and sometimes bad. Multitasking is good when I am typing my blog. I am learning how to type, how to write, grammar, and computer programming all at once. Multitasking is a bad thing when mom is cleaning and burns the garlic bread at the same time. (This really annoys me). I am learning more from typing this post than from any typing class would teach me. If you multitask correctly, it helps a ton, but... if you burn the garlic bread, that is a waste of good food. I always hear mom say that only girls can multitask. I disagree. I think that if anyone tries hard enough, they can figure out how. Well, to wrap this up, a lesson learned, multitasking is a very useful tool, but the results depend on how you use the tool.

Text box writing.

I am going to be talking in this text box today. You can erase it if you want. Today one of my tutors canceled. I have extra work because he canceled. Now, I have two extra hours of time to do extra work. My list today consists of computer programming, typing, writing, reading, geography, SAT prep, Chinese, and math. I finished the SAT prep, I am writing, and doing computer programming right now. That leaves me with typing lessons,reading and geography. My math and Chinese is with a different tutor, later this afternoon. Don't you think it is cool that I can type in html? If you want, you can erase what I have typed, and type in anything you want. The next time you come to this page, it will show what I typed. Pretty neat, huh? A big problem about homeschooling, is that sometimes you finish all of your stuff really quickly, then you just play for hours. To fix this, you need to schedule your to do list with times,by estimating how long something will take. For an example, your list might be: math, science, Spanish,lunch, then writing. I would make my list similar, to this: math from 8-9, science from 9-10, Spanish from 10-12. Then lunch from 12-1 and writing from 1-2. This helped me because you might say to your self. I want to end at 3. I need one more subject. It helped me. I think it will help you too.I just realized that you can't use more then 1 html tag inside my text box. How strange.

Me, Rambling.

I am just rambling, but soon my advice will come to me. Sometimes you need to just empty your feelings. Just say what you are thinking. This is happening to me right now. I just went to my grandma's yesterday because my mom works. I really appreciate all of Mom's students giving me new ideas and support. I love it when people comment. I would like to start a band with all of my friends, but none of them seem to play instruments. Music is an important part of our life. It gives you ideas and really gets you thinking. It would be nice if everyone in the world could play an instrument. I just learned a new song last week. Every Wednesday I go to guitar lessons at 2:15. I also have Tae Kwon Do before guitar, and horse-back riding after guitar. What a busy life I lead!
A downfall of homeschooling, is that it can sometimes be hard stay in contact of your old friends from school. For instance, I have two REALLY good friends. One is home-schooled, the other is in public school. I can see the home-schooled friend whenever I want. He is coming over tomorrow to sleep overnight. My friend who attends public school, on the other hand, can only come over on the weekends. My friends that are just acquaintances, can never see me anymore. That is one thing that I don't like about homeschooling. If I really wanted to keep in touch with my old friends, I could call them or send them emails. But I've found that I really only need two or three best friends. That is all humans need. If you have a 20 regular friends, you can't really tell them your feelings or feel close to them. A way to fix this, is to, similar to me, get a few best friends. This makes life easier, and it saves you from typing 200 emails a day like my mom.

It just gets harder.

This year I think I have pushed myself a little too much. Between doing computer programming 5 hours a week, and Tae Kwon Do 12 times a month, things get chaotic. I should have planned it a little more carefully. It is funny how things never get easier, only harder. I had some trouble with my online classes, and that led me to writing today. I think I am trying to grow up too fast. Ten year old boys don't need to have college credits already. Well, I am stuck with it now; I am going to try my best to push myself. It is just like running. It just gets harder. Try to push yourself, but not until you are worn down to nothing. Homeschooling takes great patience, and patience is a virtue. Plan carefully and use all that I have taught you, my young Padawan. Lead your life to its fullest, and be the best you can.

Procrastination-Elimination, More About Procrastination

When you're home all day, and you want to play, get your work done. Procrastination is a bad illness. Once you do it once, it repeats itself. If you want to play or do something, you think, well, I am home all day, I will do it later. But the problem is, you won't. If you do all of your stuff, you will have time to do all the things you want to do. Right now is school. If you were in the middle of school, would you just get up and walk outside? No! Of course you wouldn't. Why is it different for homeschooling? It is not. You need to fight the temptation to go outside to play. Use the reward of going outside as a tool to get your schoolwork done. You will get your work done faster if you get to do something fun after. Look at your to-do list, get it done, and then you can play. The trick is, to go into a different room than your toy. Once that is done, the temptation is gone. Don't think about it. One time, my mom gave me a list: History, Typing, Computer programming, Math, then read. She then went to workout and run errands. I started eating my breakfast, and I read my book at the same time. I finished my breakfast, and continued to read all morning. After awhile, Mom came home and found that I had done nothing except read my book. My list took me until 7 o'clock that night! I learned my lesson that night. Do not procrastinate!

Try not to get your mom mad about cleaning.

Today, after I got home from horse back riding, Mom made me clean the house. When I started cleaning my room, she went on and on about how it was a mess, and how I didn't clean up the downstairs(which I did). I started cleaning up. I realized that almost everything was where it should be, it was just piled up or disorganized. In homeschooling, there are times when you need to clean up your desk or your books. Why didn't I pick up when I was done with my things? I did. I might have put them where they were supposed to go, but I just shoved them there. Try to make sure, that if you are using something, you know where to put and how to put it there. Homeschooling is all about organization. You figure that since you are home all day, that you will do it later. Procrastinating. Don't do it. Be organized.

Church

Usually, when I start homeschooling, I go to church in the morning. I did this today, and I just got home. I think going to church is very good for me considering that I want to be a priest. Church is not mandatory, but then again, neither is chess. Mom puts church down as religious studies on her reports. It is an easy way to get a few hours of history, every now and then. When the moon becomes full this month, the feast of the Tabernacle is started. The Jewish celebrate it for eight days.I enjoy church; for me, church is fun. For others, church is punishment. Some people don't even go to church. My mom and I do stuff that are not in the NYS curriculum, and then we put them down as subjects.My mom says church is history. I think I learn more from things like that, then taking classes on it.

A present for you.

Today I went to Tae Kwon Do. Last time I went, I stretched a little too hard. That's it! In order to home-school correctly you need to be stretched. What I mean is, you need to do somethings that you have never done before. Don't do the same thing twice. Try to think up new things. Think of home-schooling as a competition of who does the most different stuff everyday. It is sometimes good to do the same thing over and over to master it, but if you do only that,then what are you learning? As I said in earlier blogs, expand your creativity. Try something new. If you do the same old thing everyday, you won't be successful. Life is a gift. That is why it is called the present. Life is a present in a box for you. In order to unwrap it, you need to fulfill life. Do your best. Challenge yourself and try new things.

A typical day.

Surprisingly, I don't really have a topic for this blog. I will just tell you my average day, and then you can see what you will learn from this. Well, today I started out with all the computer stuff. As I always say, start from the hard stuff, and work your way down. This is understandable to me. When you are done with the hard stuff, all you have to do is the easy stuff, and that takes five minutes. If you don't do the hard stuff first, it hangs over your head all day long. Anyway, I did my computer programing from 7:00-8:30. After that, I ate breakfast and emptied the dishwasher. That took me until 9. I went downstairs with my math tutor. At 10am, I charged upstairs, eager to practice my guitar. I just learned the song Beck's Bolero. I did my laundry and started to read. If you know me, once I start reading, it just sucks me in. Just like the computer. My mother's treat to me, is to give me time to just read. I read until 1:30p, finishing my book, The Lightning Thief. This is the fourth book I read this week. Then, I went outside and played around until my Chinese tutor came at 2p. I was with my Chinese teacher from 2-4. Then I was finished with my school! Thursdays are easy days for me, because my mom is not home and I home-school with tutors or work independently.

Another day, another pile of work. Sigh...

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I am sorry to say, my life is run by home-schooling. Today I had all my school work, then Tae Kwon Do at 1:00, then guitar. After that I felt like doing something else. How about nothing? But no, I have horse-back riding. Finally, at 5, I get to come home, relax, and play the guitar for a half an hour. Wait a minute... Another tip for homeschooling: Give yourself a time period where you are finished with school. For instance my time period seems to be never. I think yours should be about 3:00. Give yourself lots of work, but the second it turns your time period, you stop whatever your doing. I don't know; it is just a suggestion.

Where I went wrong.

Today, similar to every Tuesday, I went to my grandma's house. I do this because my mom has a teaching job every Tuesdays and Thursdays. A few minutes ago, I made the fatal mistake of printing almost thirty pages of information about capitols. You see, I have been learning the capitols, and I needed to make flash cards for every one. Consequently, I needed some information about the capitals and I accidentally printed lots of pages about it. A lesson learned. I just realized that another tip is to avoid the computer. Granted, sometimes you need to use the computer for home-schooling, but I made the mistake of taking an online college course this year. So now I am spending about three hours on the computer every day. I am not saying not to use the computer, just don't get sucked into it like I did. Try looking at books instead. Be on the computer only from a half an hour to an hour. More then that is bad. Be smart; don't let the computer suck you in.

Exercise

One major problem in home-schooling, is getting your exercise. I do Tae Kwon Do three days a week. Doing exercise helps me with my concentration and makes me do better at my school work. What do you do? I suggest doing something with a teacher or a professional, because if you do something with the wrong technique it could hurt you. An easy way to get your exercise, without paying, is to have your mom measure a distance with her car. Then you can run a few miles every other day. Make sure you report what you are doing for exercise to the school. Without exercise you will not be focused as well. This is because exercise sends blood to your brain and helps you think more efficiently. If you do exercise, it will help you in the long run.

Tip #3 Books and hooks

This blog is about books. You see, I really only like fantasy books. That is what I am hooked on. Hint, hint, books and hooks. Well, anyway, my mom and I have a deal. Mom picks a book for me to read, and I pick a book to read. If you look at my book log, it has a classic book, then a fantasy book, with a title such as The Revenge of the Shadow King. Then after my fantasy book, I read The Iliad. This helps me with different book genres because I read the book I want, and the book my mom wants. My mom picks the books off the John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth book list. I will add the link later. I think this helped me because you cannot read just one series of books (even though I want to). You need to enjoy classic books and different genres or else when you need to read a text book, it will kill you to try to force yourself to read it. It has happened to me, and I don't want it to happen to you.