Halfway Day

What does one learn in the smack-middle of the year in eighth and ninth grade in the Miller homeschool, you wonder? 

And it is the smack-middle; Friday last was Halfway Day—which we did not celebrate for the first time in ten years! Partially because we really couldn’t; I had a hair appointment that afternoon (with a new hairdresser—a moderately long story*) and we had a youth culture conference at church that evening; and partially because, well, Halfway Day showing off is a lot more boring than it used to be. It was adorable to show off their preschool projects—algebra test scores, not so exciting.

Liz and Caleb managed to track and actually spot Jed and Maddie’s plane overhead when they flew to Arizona last week

So what are we learning? 

Caleb is learning a list of Latin verbs in the fourth conjugation.

In grammar today we talked about the difference between council and counsel, purpose and propose, and affect and effect.

I corrected his report on Pride and Prejudice. He did a pretty good job on the plot points, except that Mr. Collins did not propose to Mary Bennet!

In logic he’s learning about the relationships of equivalence; meaning that “he proposed” is equivalent to “he did not not propose.”

Caleb is memorizing Luke 24:1 for eventual recitation, a passage much shorter than I usually have him memorize and perform, because this time I’m making him painstakingly write out each phrase in PERFECT HANDWRITING until it’s PERFECTLY LEGIBLE. (I’m tired of struggling to decipher his atrocious handwriting, thus the extra penmanship practice.)

In history, he just read about the early settlements of Delaware.

For free reading, he’s been reading The Three Musketeers.

And his current spelling lesson, which we did not get to today, is covering when ss says sh as in tissue and session.

Lizzy learned about alcohol poisoning for health class.

She’s doing a similar thing to Caleb in grammar—the difference between lay and lie, its and it’s, ingenious and ingenuous.

In economics she’s learning about monopolies.

In our Bible time we’re reading through Acts. Yesterday we read about how the Lord “added” to the church’s number until they established deacons, and then the Lord “multiplied” their number.

I don’t care, because I don’t need to care, what they’re learning in their online math and science classes or Lizzy’s online Spanish. And I can barely remember what community college classes Ada is even taking (biology, art, and history).

extra-special date night on our 22nd anniversary

I’ve finished a couple of thrillers lately in my free time, in between painting endless sets of nails with my new nail art supplies I got for Christmas; and after the last novel left me breathless, I’m thinking maybe I need to read a nice book next where fewer people die. I started reading The Mysterious Affair at Styles—Agatha Christie’s first book—to Jason after we watched Death on the Nile one date night and both enjoyed it. We’re both enjoying it so far and there are seventy-nine more Agatha Christie books when we’re done with this one. And although it is about murder, it’s much lighter than what I just finished. A nice light murder.

I don’t for a second regret getting Ada an espresso machine for Christmas. I volunteer quite often to be her guinea pig as she practices. She’s really mastered espresso shots and lattes and now is working on latte art.

* I’ve been going to the same hairdresser for years because she’s nearby and she does a very good perm. But she’s quite…of a certain age, and I thought I really ought to start looking for a backup for when she inevitably retires or can’t work as much. So then my neighbor across the street mentioned that her daughter does hair also just down the street, and when I asked if she does perms, she said, “Very well.” Despite the biased maternal opinion I thought I’d give her a try as a start for my search. So I made an appointment. While she was doing my perm (which she actually did very well) she asked where I went before and when I told her, she said, “Oh, yeah, but she’s gone now.” And I said what? And lo and behold, sometime since my last hair appointment, my longtime hairdresser apparently packed up shop, put it for sale, and disappeared. 

So I have a new hairdresser. And I really liked her. And she charged half what I was paying before, so I already made another appointment to get highlights. With prices that low, what if she goes out of business? Then again, maybe prices that low are how she drove the other hairdresser out of town.