Saturday, December 1, 2007

So far the CSI Unit Study is going slowly but we have been working on it. Big B has been reading the CSI books I got from the Library and I think his favorite thus far is Never Suck A Dead Man's Hand by Dana Kollmann. Sis hasn't really started reading the books yet but in order for us to continue with the unit study she at least needs to skim them so we're all "on the same page" so to speak. Then again, I can't talk because I've had my nose in Rosalind Miles books the last few weeks. LOL

As I said, I also bought a Fingerprint Kit for us to use and it's been hell trying to keep everyone out of it until we're ready! Even MonkeyBoy keeps telling his siblings to touch something so he can "lift your fingerprints and steal your DNA". *laughing* I'm afraid of what he might do once we get to the hair sampling part. HAHA.

Since deciding to do a CSI Investigation unit study we have developed an addiction. Yes, the older two kids and myself are hopelessly addicted to watching CSI (the original series). The addiction is so bad that not only do we watch the new episodes but we also watch older ones on Spike TV from 4pm until 7pm Monday through Friday. Every once in awhile we actually watch it the whole three hours while throwing food at MonkeyBoy so he'll leave us alone but usually we catch an hour of it a day. Considering this is the only TV we watch, I'm not going to feel too bad about it.

You should hear the language in this house though! This is some of the things said in my house this week...

*Big B to Sis after she entered his room looking for her pen* "Did you have a warrant giving you permission to enter my room? You do know that anything acquired without a warrant cannot be used in court right?"

Sis- "Tell it to the judge criminal!"

*MonkeyBoy to Sis while charging her with eating his cookie*- "I am going to send these crumbs to Trace and you better HOPE nothing comes back on it! I'll take a Qtip and steal your DNA!"

Sis- "I'll bite you if you come near my mouth!"

MonkeyBoy- "I'll send your spit to the lab!"

*Big B to Sis*- "Don't you think my room would look cool decorated in blood spatters?"

Sis- "Whose blood are we talking about here?"

Big B- "Are you volunteering?"

Sis- "MOMMMMMMMM, Big B wants to use my blood to decorate his room!"

Mom- "Big B, that would leave evidence all over your walls linking you to whatever crime you commit against your sister!"

Big B- "That's true...damn!"

Yes, we're a sick bunch but it's been fun!

MonkeyBoy has been practicing writing his letters alot lately. He likes to have you write a word and then let him copy it and he's getting pretty good at it. He also knows most letters by sight now so since this seems to be the way he likes to learn then we'll do this for awhile. He's also obsessed with counting and money as well so it has been quite interesting around here. I reviewed the Jumpstart World 1st Grade CD-rom last month with MonkeyBoy and that has also been his favorite thing to do. Surprisingly he has mastered alot more of it than I expected and it helps me gauge what he needs help with.

Big B and Sis have both been keeping up on their Copywork, Vocabulary, and Reading with a half-hearted effort on Math and Algebra. We all know we need to pick up the pace in that area it's just something none of us enjoy so we avoid it right now. I think the New Year is going to see us buckling down quite a bit though.

I took the reins on the Copywork and Big B is copying Robert Frost while Sis is copying Maya Angelou. I think both are great examples of prose and while I also need to have them do copywork that will teach them proper puncuation, I think it's important for kids to know Poetry and be able to name the authors when they hear the works.

Vocabulary and Reading have of course been centered around our CSI Unit. Sis hates all the technical words I'm having her learn but Big B has completely embraced this and is even talking about going to college for Criminal Justice in hopes of working CSI some day. Because of that I'm making sure that I don't glamourize the work these people do like they do on TV. The kids are learning the truth about crime scenes and all the gory stuff that goes with them.

My being sick has kept us inside alot lately as has the cold weather (no snow just cold) but I'm hoping to remedy that soon with some field trips to fun places. I have some pictures I need to upload from various homeschool endeavors so keep an eye on the Flickr badge on the left there for some new and exciting pics very soon!

Until then, feel free to visit me on Life With Heathens, LWH Reviews, Our Family Village, and hopefully very soon at GNMParents.

3 comments:

  1. Tara- thank you! That is so nice to hear.

    ReplyDelete
  2. How completely cool that you are doing a CSI unit study! We watch and are addicted to CSI also...I was told by a friend that we should be more discerning about our tv selections. yea,yea...but we are learning so much...dirtbag friend!loL!!

    ReplyDelete