Oops, forget Facts of the Day

Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) was a comic actor, writer, director, and producer in motion pictures. His father was a music hall entertainer and his mother was a singer. Charlie made his stage debut at age five, filling in when his mother lost her voice on stage. By age eight, Chaplain became a professional entertainer when he joined the Eight Lancashire Lads, a clog-dancing act. Chaplin improvised an outfit with a too-small coat, too-large pants, floppy shoes, and a battered derby - plus a postage-stamp mustache and a cane as a prop. His screen alter-ego, the Little Tramp, appeared in the second of the Keystone comedy films (1914).

Verrazano
Giovanni Verrazano 1485-1528), an Italian navigator and explorer for France, was the first European to sight New York and Narragansett bays. In early 1524 he sailed to the New World and reached Cape Fear, then sailed northward, exploring the eastern coast of North America. He made several discoveries on the voyage, including the sites of present-day New York Harbor, Block Island, and Narragansett Bay, and was the first European explorer to name North American sites after persons and places in the Old World.

Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual foot race. It starts in Hopkinton, Massachusetts and goes eight cities and towns to the Back Bay section of Boston, a distance of 26 miles, 385 yards. It was first held in 1897 and is run on the third Monday in April - the date picked, basically, to honor the 1775 ride of Paul Revere. In 1972, it became the first marathon race to officially admit women runners.

Switzerland
Why is Switzerland the site of neutrality in time of war? The nation's geography determined its role as the guardian of Europe's natural trans-Alpine routes. The country's neutrality was sanctioned by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 and reinforced in 1919 at Versailles and in World War II was the only democracy in central Europe to be left alone by Hitler.

Caddy
In France, military cadets carried golf clubs for royalty. Some speculated that Mary, Queen of Scots, who grew up in France, brought the custom to Scotland, where the term evolved into the word "caddie/caddy." However, the Oxford English Dictionary finds the word for golf player's attendant in writing in 1857 - and Mary, Queen of Scots, lived from 1542-1587. Though Mary's existence coincides with the origins of golf, it does not coincide with the recording of the word "caddy" in English.

Facts of the Day

Tour de France
The Tour de France, the most prestigious road bicycle race in the world, takes place for three weeks in July. The Tour de France was established in 1903 by Henri Desgrange and covers some 2,235 miles, usually in 20 stages of one day each.

Edible Flowers
Which flowers are edible? Among the most common edible flowers are peonies, pansies, carnations, chamomile, chrysanthemums, dandelions, daylilies, gardenias, geraniums, gladioli, lavender, lilies, nasturtiums, primroses, roses, squash blossoms, sweet violets, pot marigolds, and yucca blossoms.

Scrabble
Scrabble, originally called Criss Cross, was developed by Alfred M. Butts, an out-of-work architect, in 1931. It was redesigned, renamed as Scrabble, and marketed by James Brunot in 1948. A Macy's executive saw the game being played at a resort in 1952 and the store (the world's largest at that time) began carrying it. Manufacturing of the game was turned over to Selchow & Righter. Scrabble has 225 squares on a board and 100 letter tiles, each imprinted with a point value for different letters, approximately corresponding to the frequency of occurrence of the letter in English words. More than 100 million sets have been sold, in 24 languages. It is considered the world's most popular word game.

Khaki and Chino
Khaki (from Hindi 'dust-colored') is light brown fabric used primarily for military uniforms. Khaki uniforms were introduced in 1848 for British colonial troops in India. Chino (from American Spanish 'toasted') is a cotton twill fabric, usually khaki in color.

American Dictionary
The first dictionary of American English was published in April 1828. The two-volume dictionary was written solely by the American lexicographer Noah Webster. He began work on it in 1807 and finished in 1824-1825. It contained 12,000 words and 30,000-40,000 definitions that had not appeared in any earlier dictionary. The rights to the dictionary were sold in 1843 by the Webster estate to George and Charles Merriam.

Facts of the Day

Pirate
"A pirate or buccaneer was a person who seized a ship and took the property aboard. They stole from any ship that came by and disrupted the trade of many nations. There are many tales - tall and true - about pirates. The stories go back 4,000 years, but we are most familiar with those who were active between 1500-1800 - Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, Anne Bonny, and Jean Lafitte. Pirates used small, fast ships that were easy to maneuver. They had lots of weapons and cannons. There are still pirates today - especially in the South China Sea close to Vietnam. Pirates are often confused with privateers who have the blessing of their nation to seize enemy property. Famous ones were Sir Francis Drake, Sir John Hawkins, and Sir Walter Raleigh. True pirates only stole for themselves. Pirates often buried their stolen treasure in secret places and some drew up treasure maps and charts marking the spot with an X."

Happy Birthday
Mildred J. Hill, a schoolteacher born in Louisville, Kentucky, composed the melody "Happy Birthday to You." Her younger sister, Patty Smith Hill, wrote the lyrics. The song was first published in 1893 as "Good Morning to All," a classroom greeting, in the book Song Stories for Sunday School. Mildred Hill died in 1916 without knowing that her melody would become the world's most popular song, but her sister Patty did not die until 1946. The lyrics were amended in 1924 to include a stanza beginning, "Happy Birthday to You." It is now sung somewhere in the world every minute of every day. Though its writers earned very little from the song, its copyright owner earns about $1 million a year. The song is expected to enter the public domain upon expiration of the copyright in 2010.

Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace document signed at the end of World War I by the Allied and Associated Powers and by Germany in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, France. It took effect on January 10, 1920. The population and territory of Germany was reduced by about 10 percent by the treaty. The "war guilt clause" of the treaty deemed Germany the aggressor in the war and consequently made Germany responsible for making reparations to the Allied nations in payment for the losses and damage they had sustained in the war. The Treaty of Versailles was revised and altered over the years, mostly in Germany's favor. Numerous concessions were made to Germany before the rise of Adolf Hitler, and by 1938 only the territorial settlement articles remained in effect. The harsh treaty and its lax enforcement are blamed by many historians for Hitler's rise and his militarism setting the stage for World War II.

Leap Second
June 30 is one of the two times (the other being December 31) when the addition or subtraction of a second from our clock time is allowed to coordinate atomic and astronomical time. The determination to adjust is made by the International Earth Rotation Service of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures at Paris. A leap second is an intercalary, one-second adjustment that keeps broadcast standards for time of day close to mean solar time. Leap seconds are necessary to keep time standards synchronized with civil calendars, the basis of which is astronomical. The announcement to insert a leap second is given whenever the difference between UTC and UT1 approaches one-half second, to keep the difference between UTC and UT1 from exceeding ±0.9 s. After UTC 23:59:59, a positive leap second at 23:59:60 would be counted, before the clock indicates 00:00:00 of the next day. Negative leap seconds are also possible should the Earth's rotation become slightly faster; in that case, 23:59:58 would be followed by 00:00:00.

Postage stamp
The first postage stamps were issued for sale by the United States Postal Service in 1847. The 5-cent stamp depicted Benjamin Franklin and the 10-cent stamp depicted George Washington. Prior to this date, stamps were issued by private postal services.

Facts of the Day

Baby Boom
After World War II, many industrialized countries experienced a "baby boom." Four countries in particular - the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand - experienced sustained and substantial rises in fertility from the depressed levels of the prewar period. In the U.S., for example, fertility rose by two-thirds, reaching levels between the 1950s and 1980 not seen since 1910, before World War I. Some even demarcate the Baby Boom period as being January 1, 1946-December 31, 1964 - in which over 77 million births occurred.

Tornado
Tornadoes are violent windstorms that are also called twisters or cyclones. Extremely fast, rotating columns of air descend from cumulonimbus clouds and the winds can either cause explosions within buildings or sweep objects up into its eye. A tornado sounds like a thundering train coming through. Tornadoes occur all over the world except on the two poles and are the most common in the U.S. A tornado over water is called a cyclone. They occur in unstable air, as that caused by a thunderstorm. In the center of a tornado, winds can get to 400 miles per hour (650 km).

Typewriter
In 1867, the American inventor Christopher Latham Sholes read an article in the journal Scientific American describing a new British-invented machine and was inspired to create what became the first practical typewriter. His second model was patented the next year and "wrote" at a speed far faster than a pen. Though the first typewriter was crude and large, it underwent improvements each year and in 1873 Sholes signed a contract with E. Remington and Sons for its manufacture and the machine was soon named a "Remington." It wrote capital letters only; the first shift-key typewriter (Remington 2) appeared on the market in 1878 and could write uppercase and lowercase. There was a serious problem with jamming, so one of Sholes's business associates, James Densmore, suggested splitting up keys for letters commonly used together, thereby creating the slowest keyboard arrangement possible. This arrangement - known as the QWERTY keyboard - is still used in almost all computers today. Mark Twain purchased a Remington and became the first author to submit a typewritten book manuscript.

Custer's Last Stand
The Battle of Little Bighorn, otherwise known as Custer's Last Stand, was fought at the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory between federal troops led by Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer and band of combined Indian tribes. Custer and all of his men were killed. The outcome of the battle was so upsetting to Americans that government troops flooded the area, forcing the Indians to surrender.

Korean War
The Korean War started out being between North Korea and South Korea. After World War II, Korea was hurriedly divided for administrative purposes at the 38th parallel. Almost immediately, the Soviets began a short-lived reign of terror in northern Korea that quickly politicized the division by driving thousands of refugees south. An independent South Korea became UN policy in early 1948 and southern communists opposed this, so warfare began in parts of every Korean province below the 38th parallel. The war became international in June 1950 when North Korea, supplied and advised by the Soviets, invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal participant, joined the war on the side of the South Koreans, and the People's Republic of China came to North Korea's aid. In 1953, Joseph Stalin died, and within weeks the Politburo of the Soviet Communist Party voted that the war in Korea should be ended. After more than a million combat casualties on both sides, the fighting ended in July 1953 with Korea still divided into two hostile states.

Facts of the Day

Watergate
Watergate is the political scandal involving illegal activities on the part of the incumbent Republican administration of President Richard M. Nixon during and after the 1972 presidential election campaign. The first inkling of the scandal was the arrests at Democratic Party Headquarters in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., of five men who broke into the headquarters - which eventually led to Nixon's resignation in August 1974. So much did the Watergate scandal affect the national and international consciousness that many scandals since then have been labeled with the suffix "-gate."

War of 1812
"The War of 1812 was fought between the U.S. and Great Britain from 1812-14, though some fighting continued after the Treaty of Ghent was signed in December of 1814. Most of the fighting took place along the Canadian border, in Chesapeake Bay, and along the Gulf of Mexico. After the American Revolution, the U.S. was anxious for the British to withdraw from American territory and their unwillingness to sign trade agreements with the U.S. The British were keeping the U.S. from trade with themselves and with France, with whom they were battling (French Revolutionary Wars, Napoleonic Wars). They captured U.S. ships and took hostages and goods and, by 1812, the British had blockaded America's coasts, ruining American trade and finances. So, the U.S. attacked the British colony of Canada. There was fighting on land and at sea - and though the Americans were not prepared at first, they started to gain power. There was strong opposition to the war from its citizens. In 1814, Britain defeated Napoleon and France. They could easily have turned all their force against the U.S., but they were tired of war. They signed the Treaty of Ghent (Belgium) in December, in which neither side gained anything, but the war ended. The War of 1812 marked the first time the U.S. got involved in foreign affairs and it was the beginning of its movement to becoming a world power."

Wagon Trail, Wagon Train
In U.S. history, the most famous wagon trail was the Santa Fe from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was an important commercial route (as were the Oregon Trail, Smoky Hill Trail, and later the Southern Overland Mail route) between the 1820s until railroads took over around 1880. Merchant wagon caravans traveled in parallel columns and when they were attacked by Indians, which was often, formed a circular line of defense. A wagon train was a caravan of settlers emigrating to the American West. One type of wagon, the Conestoga, became famous as a freight wagon and as part of wagon trains, and its descendant, the prairie schooner, was the most common vehicle used by settlers in the opening of the American West. Wagon trains tended to follow a fixed daily schedule from 4am rising to 7am departure, then 4pm encampment.

Ed Sullivan
The "Ed Sullivan Show" premiered in 1948 - but was first called "Toast of the Town" (till 1955). It became the longest-running variety show (through 1971) and showcased all types of acts. Thousands of performers made their television debut on the show, among them Fred Astaire, Irving Berlin, Victor Borge, Walt Disney, Hedy Lamarr, and Jane Powell. The largest audiences were attracted by the Beatles and Elvis Presley.

Wimbledon
Wimbledon, England, is the site of the All-England Championships in tennis. The tournament, first held in 1877, is now one of the four grand slam events in professional tennis. Wimbledon was originally played by amateurs but the championships were opened up to professionals in 1968. Women joined the tournament in 1884, mixed doubles and women's doubles in 1913. Rod Laver of Australia and Billie Jean King of the United States won the singles events in 1968.

Facts of the Day finally!

I missed a couple of days because our computer was messed up. Hubby had to restore/rebuild it. We think a cd game we bought from Best Buy (hate that place!) corrupted our cd drive. That's the only thing we can think of since we didn't have ANY problems before we tried to install that game. Of course no one is at fault for this (only the designer and manufacturer!) and we are out $30.00. When I tried to explain to the geek at BB, all he wanted me to do was bring my computer in for a diagnostic. Well I'm not so stupid that I will let some else work on my computer and my husband for sure isn't going to let someone else mess up the computer when he can do it all by himself! lol! From what I have read on the internet, you don't want to take your computer to BB to have them check it out. All they'll do is mess it up even more. Sure wish I could take that game cd back to them and have them try to install it on their computer. Then they'd find out that it was bad and refund my money!


Okay, so here are some Facts of the Day:

Mint
The first U.S. mint was established in 1652 - in defiance of English colonial law - by John Hull, a silversmith in Massachusetts. The first coin issued was the Pine Tree Shilling. The initial issue consisted of simple round planchets with NE punched on the obverse and the denomination on the reverse. John Hull's share in the profits of the mint was fifteen pence out of every twenty shillings and he rapidly amassed a fortune. With the exception of Maryland, where Lord Baltimore struck off a few silver coins, Massachusetts is the only one of the 13 colonies that had a mint before the American Revolution. The mint in Philadelphia was founded in 1792 and still makes the majority of the coins used in daily circulation in the United States. The mint in Denver, founded in 1906, also produces general coinage. The mint in San Francisco, founded in 1854, discontinued making general coinage in 1955; but was reestablished in 1965 to make proof sets of coins for collectors. The mint at West Point, New York, is now used primarily for gold minting.

Baseball Hall of Fame
The National Baseball Hall of Fame was dedicated in Cooperstown, New York, in 1939. The year 1939 was chosen to celebrate the supposed centennial of baseball as it was then believed that Abner Doubleday had developed the game at Cooperstown in 1839 - a story that was later discredited. Of the 25 immortals who had been elected to the Hall of Fame up to that point, 11 were still living; and all of them journeyed to Cooperstown to attend the centennial celebration. Selections to the Hall of Fame are made annually by two groups: the Baseball Writers' Association of America and the Baseball Hall of Fame Committee on Baseball Veterans. More than 200 individuals have been inducted into the Hall of Fame and the first players chosen (in 1936) were Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson.

Flag Day
A Presidential Proclamation (1335) was issued in 1916 by Woodrow Wilson declaring June 14 as "Flag Day," but it was not until 1949 that President Harry Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14 of each year as National Flag Day. The idea started in 1885 when BJ Cigrand, a schoolteacher, arranged for the pupils in the Fredonia, Wisconsin Public School, District 6, to observe June 14 (the 108th anniversary of the official adoption of "The Stars and Stripes") as "Flag Birthday." In 1983, the world's largest flag was displayed in Washington, D.C. The flag, which measured 411 feet by 210 feet, weighed 7 tons and each star measured 13 feet across.

Magna Carta
In 1215, King John of England sealed the Magna Carta (Latin for "Great Charter") - the first charter of English liberties and one of the most important documents in the history of political freedom and human rights. It became a symbol and a battle cry against oppression. It guaranteed the freedom of the church, restricted taxes and fines, and promised justice to all. Four original copies of the 1215 charter survive; two are held at the British Library while the others can be seen in the cathedral archives at Lincoln and Salisbury.

Golf
Though the Dutch game of kolf has been claimed as the origin, the first undoubted reference to golf was in 1457 when the Scottish Parliament deplored its popularity, since it took young men away from archery practice. At first, golf was played on seaside links with their crisp turf and natural hazards. Later, play on downs, moorland, and parkland courses began. In the U.S., golf balls and sticks from Scotland arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, in the mid-18th century, but not until the late 1880s did the nation's first permanent courses and country clubs get started, mainly for elite white males.

Facts of the Day

Drive-In Movie
The first drive-in movie theatre was opened in 1933 in Camden, New Jersey by Richard M. Hollingshead, Jr. Hollingshead designed it for his mother, who complained about the uncomfortable seats at theatres. A drive-in would allow her to enjoy the comfortable, plush bench seats of a vehicle of that era. Then known as an "automobile theater," the drive-in had room for 500 vehicles and charged a rate of 25¢ per person or $1 a car. The sound was provided by a public-address system with a single large speaker mounted on the projection booth. After the locals complained about the noise, Hollingshead tried other solutions before deciding to install smaller speakers mounted on poles at each parking spot. At the height of their popularity (1958), there were more than 4000 drive-in movies in the U.S. Now, only a few hundred still exist.

Volcano
"A volcano is an opening in the earth from which molten rock and gas erupts. The molten rock (magma) forms a hill or mountain around the opening and the burning gas, ash, and hot lava may explode out or pour down the sides. The explosion of a volcano is called an eruption and can do much damage, as seen in Pompeii and Washington state's Mount St. Helens. There are about 800 places in the world where volcanoes are active, including 80 below the sea. There are belts were there are volcanoes, including one large one circling the Pacific Ocean and others running east-west in Indonesia and the Mediterranean Sea. The materials deep underground move around and push up to the mouth of the volcano. The theory of plate tectonics says that huge plates of material making up the Earth's crust shift and volcanoes erupt where the plates meet and push together. Some can be dormant for years and then suddenly erupt. Others become extinct. Mauna Loa in Hawaii is the world's largest volcano. The study of volcanoes is called volcanology."

IMAX
IMAX is a cinematographic technique which produces an image approximately ten times larger than that from standard 35 mm film. The name is probably "i" as a representation of "eye" or "image," plus "max" as short for "maximum." It is a trademark for a giant-screen, large-format movie and motion-simulation entertainment complex, with a motion-picture screen that is eight stories high and compatible with 3-D technology. The first IMAX film was demonstrated in 1970 and first system set up in 1971 (in Toronto) on which was shown North of Superior. Film types are usually described by their gauge, or approximate width. The 65-mm format is used chiefly for special effects and for special systems such as IMAX and Showscan. It was formerly used for original photography in conjunction with 70-mm release prints; now 70-mm theatrical films are generally shot in 35-mm and blown up in printing. With some exceptions the 35-mm format is for theatrical use, 16-mm for institutional application s, and 8-mm for home movies.

Hong Kong
A lease was signed by Great Britain in 1898 for the 400 square miles of Hong Kong. The 99-year lease expired in 1997 and Hong Kong's sovereignty reverted to the People's Republic of China. Hong Kong Island was originally ceded by China to Great Britain in 1842, the southern part of the Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters (Ngong Shuen) Island (now joined to the mainland) ceded in 1860. The New Territories, which include the mainland area lying largely to the north, together with 230 large and small offshore islands were part of the 99-year lease. The name Hong Kong (in Chinese, Xianggang) means "fragrant harbor."

Pens
Reed was the first real "pen" (c 3000 BC) and the first inks contained a gelatin derived from boiled donkey skin, which gave the ink its viscosity - but also a very unpleasant odor that had to be perfumed with musk oil. Around the 6th century BC and for more than a thousand years thereon, the quill reigned as the standard writing instrument for people of many civilizations. Swans, turkeys, and geese's large wing feather made the best quill pens. Archaeologists discovered bronze pen points embedded in the ruins of Pompeii but not until the late 1700s were steel-point pens used. A century later, fountain pens were developed - the name chosen because the ink of these pens flowed continuously, like water in a fountain. L.E. Waterman, a New York stationer, devised the practical ink reservoir system. Lazlo Biro relied on improved methods for grinding ball bearings for machines and weapons and produced the first ball-point pens suitable for writing on paper around 1944. The Pentel, introduced by Tokyo's Stationery Company, was the world's first felt-tip pen, c 1960.

Facts of the Day

Spelling bee

The Scripps National Spelling Bee was actually started by The Louisville Courier-Journal with nine contestants in 1925. In 1941, Scripps assumed sponsorship of the program. There was no Scripps National Spelling Bee during the World War II years of 1943, 1944, and 1945. Co-champions were declared in 1950, 1957, and 1962. The word "bee" as in "spelling bee" is not referring to an insect but to a community social gathering at which friends and neighbors join together in a single activity (sewing, quilting, barn raising, etc.), usually to help one person or family. The first attested use of the term in writing dates to 1875.

Bahamas

"The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is a string of about 700 islands (and 2400 uninhabited islets) in the West Indies, spread across the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south of and north of Cuba. It is believed that Christopher Columbus first stepped on San Salvador when he found the Americas in 1492. The Arawak Indians were the first inhabitants of the Bahamas. Many of the islands are uninhabited and the rest are flooded with tourists looking for beautiful beaches. The main islands are New Providence, Grand Bahama, Eleuthera, Abaco, Andros, Cat Island, and San Salvador (Watling's Island. More than 80 percent of the 230,000 people are black, having descended from slaves brought to the island. The Bahamas were a British colony until 1973 when they became an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The capital is Nassau and there is approximately 5,380 sq. mi. of land."

Battle of Midway

The Battle of Midway, June 3-6, 1942, was one of the decisive Allied victories of World War II. The battle, fought mostly with aircraft, resulted in the destruction of four Japanese aircraft carriers, crippling the Japanese navy. The Yorktown, which was damaged at the Battle of Coral Sea, was the U.S. carrier lost at the Battle of Midway at the hands of the Japanese carrier Soryu, which was also destroyed in the battle. The Battle of Midway brought the Pacific naval forces of Japan and the United States to an equal standing and was the turning point of the military struggle between the two nations. The islands are now administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square is an open square in the center of Beijing, China - one of the largest public squares in the world. It was originally designed and built in 1651, then enlarged to four times that size in 1958; it now covers 100 acres and each flagstone is numbered for assembling parade participants. The square gets its name from the massive stone Tiananmen ("Gate of Heavenly Peace"), which was once the main gate of the former Imperial Palace.

Pulitzer Prize

The Pulitzer Prizes are annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for outstanding public service and achievement in American journalism, letters, and music. The prizes, originally endowed with a gift of $500,000 from the newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer, have been awarded each May since 1917. Currently there are 14 prizes in journalism, six prizes in letters, and one prize in music. The first prizes for letters went to Laura E. Richards and Maude H. Elliott for the biography Julia War Howe and to Jean Jules Jusserand for the history With Americans of Past and Present Days. The only U.S. president to win a Pulitzer was John F. Kennedy (1957) in Biography for Profiles in Courage.

It's getting closer!

The new school year is getting closer. My son finally picked up one of the novels he was suppose to have already read, and has started reading it. He still has to read "Antony & Cleopatra" and do the book study on "Hans Brinker". All this I want done by Aug. 1st. Think we'll make it? I'll make sure of it, even if it means cutting him off from the computer. He seems to think that I'll just let him carry over his work from this last year into his next year just because "we homeschool". He's got another "think" coming! Bwahahaha! lol!

I filled in and faxed the letter to the publisher of the biology book I wanted. I only ordered the teachers edition because my son is suppose to be able to access the book online at their website. I'll get the code when I get the book. That not only saved us money but I don't have to worry about having another book on my bookshelf. He'll be able to read his assignment online, then do whatever activities and tests he is required to do. If the internet is down for some reason, he can always use the teachers edition for that day. If the TE is like the others I have, the text will be the same but the answers will be in a different section.

I have already changed my mind on one of the books I had planned to use. After looking through the student workbook, I realized that I did not have the answers to the worksheets. I could probably figure out what is right or wrong, but just in case, I don't want to have him think it is correct (plus I don't want all that extra work!). Since I decided to discard that book, I decided to not do any of the lessons suggested in the teachers book I have too. It's not really necessary for me to use these books. He will already be doing a writing program that covers what was in these other two books. I'll have to throw in some vocabulary and maybe some grammar, but that's no big deal. I'll probably just go into that when he writes out his lessons or posts things to his journal/blog.

My next project is getting his assignments written up and all the other paperwork done. Since we have decided to go with a weekly assignment chart for each individual subject, I have to figure out what I want him to do when. That's not really that big of a deal. I did it when I had all of the subjects on the same chart. My problem is, he has two algebra books and he suggested that he do both at the same time. I'm a little concerned that he'll be going over the same topic at the same time and get bored, but then again having him go over the same thing might be a good idea since he had such a hard time last year with algebra. I just have to figure out how to assign these two books so that he doesn't go into overload. I'm thinking of doing it "2 on 2". Do two days out of one book, then the next two out of the other then just start over again. What I have to do is figure out how many pages/chapters he'll have to do each day. Then I'll have to divide up his schedule so that he does each book on different days.

I'm kind of trying to go by a regular 6 week, 2 semester schedule. I don't want my son to be in the middle of a chapter or lesson, then have the next week or two off and have to come back to what he was doing. That would mean reviewing what he had been doing which would take time away from his new stuff. That's part of my problem in this scheduling. I want to try and stay on this type of schedule because I want him to get use to it so that when he goes to college, it won't be that new to him. But we are also flexible and as long as he gets what I want him to get done before the "next semester", then I'll be okay with it. My schedule though is a little bit weird. I have him on a 6 week, then one week off type thing. I decided to put a week break in there just to have a kind of "vacation". He won't actually be on vacation. It will be for him to work on other stuff, catch up on work he hasn't completed, watch instructional videos, etc. It'll be time for me to have him do projects that don't actually follow what he's suppose to be learning this year. But it will be more relaxed (as if we aren't already relaxed!).

I am going to make myself be more involved this year. Last year I was kind of ho-hum in my involvement (slacker was more like it). I started off the year by checking his work and making sure it was correct but after a while I quit doing it. It just became too much work and I just didn't have the energy to do it. I'm sure that his answers were not what they were suppose to be on his lessons but hopefully he actually learned something. If not, then I'm in trouble! EEK! I'll especially have to be on top of things when it comes to his writing. I'm suppose to go over his writing and make sure he's doing what the lesson says he's suppose to do. That will be hard for me because I have such a hard time comprehending anything and I'm finding that things are just not clicking as fast as they use to. I'm going to have to rely on my husband to check some of these things. Thank goodness for the internet. I can type in my sons writing and email it to my husband to read. He can give me his opinions and suggestions. A homeschool friend is doing the literature class using "Movies as Literature" so I won't have to worry about anything there. I may have to help him format his reports or essays or whatever he decides to do but she'll be the main person to help him with all that.

Most of his work now is just reading the information and then telling others in some format that he knows what he just read. He's pretty smart about some things but it's his mechanics that need work. He has a hard time articulating what he has to say. That he will be working on this next year not only in that literature class but also in his theater and chorus class. He's also going to be doing Y.A.G. which is "Youth and Government" through the YMCA. He'll have to get up and speak in front of other people and that will help him in that area.

I'm also looking at some type of grading system. I'm not really keen on grades but I think he needs some type of good/bad, pass/fail type of thing. I may look at percentages. This will not only let him know what he's doing wrong, but will help me to know where he needs help. I'm not so interested in the grades for his transcripts though. I've already covered transcripts in another post so I won't go into that here. It will be just another little helper for me to gauge where he's at and what he needs to do.

Oh did I mention that my son took the exit exam for the Texas TAKS test? He passed all of them except the math which was no big surprise. I was really proud of him (am proud of him!). That told me that he was on track with the public schools. Now we are just filling in the blanks where his schooling is concerned.

It will be a busy year but I think it will be one of the best.

Facts of the Day

Buddhist Holidays
Buddha is Sanskrit for "the enlightened one," and he is regarded as the founder of Buddhism. Buddha's given name was Siddhartha, the family name Gautama, and the clan name Shakya or Sakya. Three major events of the Buddha's (c 563-483 BC) life - his birth, Enlightenment, and entrance into final nirvana - are commemorated in all Buddhist countries but not everywhere on the same day. In countries observing the Theravada tradition, the three events are all observed together on Vesak, the full moon day of the sixth lunar month, which usually occurs in May. Among Buddhist holidays, the birthday of the Buddha (Day of Vesak) is the most important.

Barbershop Quartet
Barbershop quartet (or barbershop) is unaccompanied male singing, with three voices harmonizing to the melody of a fourth voice. The voice parts are tenor, lead, baritone, and bass, with the lead normally singing the melody and the tenor harmonizing above. The musical arrangements usually use syncopated ragtime and nostalgic song styles. The exact origin is uncertain, but the style dates from a time when barbershops were an important social/neighborhood and, also, musical center. Barbers through history had a tradition of singing.

Memorial Day
Memorial Day was originally set aside to honor the Civil War dead from the North by decorating their graves with flowers and it at first called "Decoration Day." In 1866, the first commemorations were held in Waterloo, New York, and in Columbus, Mississippi. The American flag was flown at half-staff and a veterans' parade marched to the village cemetery, where patriotic speeches were given. The first national Decoration Day was held on May 30, 1868 by Union Army veterans known as the Grand Army of the Republic. The May 30 date was close to the date of the final surrender of the Confederate Army (May 26, 1865). The Southern states started remembering their soldiers on a Confederate Memorial Day on various dates. After World War I, the American Legion took over the observance, renaming it Memorial Day, setting it for the last Monday in May, and dedicating in honor of all those who died in U.S. wars. Some southern states continue to observe a separate day to honor the Confederate dead.

Copyright
President George Washington signed the first U.S. copyright law in 1790, which gave protection for 14 years to books written by U.S. citizens. Copyright developed out of the same system as royal patent grants, though the purpose of such grants was not to protect authors' or publishers' rights but to give the government revenue and control over the contents of publication. In a major revision of copyright law in 1976, the U.S. Congress specified that copyright subsists in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression. The general term of copyright protection is now the life of the author plus 70 years. For anonymous works, pseudonymous works, and works made for hire, the term of copyright protection is 95 years from first publication or 120 years from the date of creation of the work, whichever is shorter.

Heimlich maneuver
In the June 1974 issue of Emergency Medicine, Dr. Henry Heimlich published an article outlining a better method for aiding choking victims. The method up to that time had been sharp blows to the back - which actually pushed foreign objects further into the airway. Dr. Heimlich advocated "subdiaphragmatic pressure" to force objects out. Three months later, the method was dubbed "the Heimlich maneuver" by the Journal of the American Medical Association. The Heimlich maneuver is used when the victim's airway is totally obstructed and he/she is unable to speak, breathe, or cough the object out.

Facts of the Day

Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is the head of the dominant Dge-lugs-pa (Yellow Hat) order of Tibetan Buddhists and, until 1959, both spiritual and temporal ruler of Tibet. The first of the line was Dge-'dun-grub-pa (1391 - 1475), founder and abbot of Tashilhunpo monastery in central Tibet. In accordance with the belief that lamas are reincarnated, his successors were conceived as his rebirths. The present Dalai Lama is the 14th in this succession. He set up a government-in-exile in Dharmsala, India, in the Himalayan Mountains when he had to flee Tibet. In 1989, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in recognition of his nonviolent campaign to end Chinese domination of Tibet.

April Fools' Day

There are several explanations for the origin of April Fools' Day, but here is the most plausible one. April 1st was once New Year's Day in France. In 1582, Pope Gregory declared the adoption of his Gregorian calendar to replace the Julian calendar and New Year's Day was officially changed to January 1st. It took awhile for everyone in France to hear the news of this major change and others obstinately refused to accept the new calendar, so a lot of people continued to celebrate New Year's Day on the first of April- earning them the name "April fools." The April fools were subjected to ridicule and practical jokes and the tradition was born. The butts of these pranks were first called poisson d'avril or "April fish" because a young naive fish is easily caught. A common practice was to hook a paper fish on the back of someone as a joke. This evolved over time and a custom of prank-playing continues on the first day of April.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C (also called ascorbic acid), first isolated in 1928, was identified as a cure for scurvy in 1932. Vitamin C is a water-soluble, carbohydrate-like substance that is involved in certain of the metabolic processes of animals. This vitamin is essential in a variety of metabolic functions, including synthesis of collagen, maintenance of the strength of blood vessels, metabolism of certain amino acids, and the synthesis or release of hormones in the adrenal glands. Fairly large amounts are needed; an adult is said to need about 60 milligrams per day. Citrus fruits and fresh vegetables are the best dietary sources of the vitamin.

Tomb-Sweeping Day

According to Chinese custom in China and Taiwan, there are days in April observed in the maintenance of ancestral graves. The graves are swept, food, wine, and flowers are presented as offerings; and the burning of paper money at the gravesides is thought to help ancestors in the afterworld. People also picnic at the gravesites.

Modern Olympics

The first modern Olympics opened at Athens, Greece, in April 1896 after a 1,500-year hiatus. Thirteen nations participated - represented by 235 male athletes. The architect of the modern Olympics was Pierre, baron de Coubertin (1863-1937) who proposed its revival on November 25, 1892, at a meeting of the Union des Sports Athlétiques in Paris. He was a founding member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its president from 1896-1925.

Behind again but catching up!

I was really hoping that my son would be through with his school work by this time but he still has a few things left to do. He has three books to read. I have downloaded book studies for two of these books that I wanted him to do with them. Now I'm thinking that I will just have him read the books and have him write up his thoughts on the books. Now that's an idea. Have him read the books then write his thoughts on them into his blog. I can kill two birds with one stone so to speak. I've been wanting him to write stuff on his blog but didn't know what. What a great idea! I knew that if I starting writing about something, I'd come up with something else. I know that doesn't make sense. What is something? My old 11th grade English teacher used to get on to me about using the word "thing". She always asked what was that "thing". I still do the same "thing". lol!

But back to the school year. He has completed most of his school work. He's still working on the computer lessons but that isn't any big deal. Mostly it's the books. I am trying to get him to read more. I wasn't into reading at his age either. It wasn't until I got older that I started reading. Now that I am older still, I find that I can't keep my mind on my reading and end up losing interest in it. I have so many new books that I really want to read and finish but I just can't get into them like I use to. That makes me sad. But I'm getting off subject again.

We will beginning our new school year in a few weeks (Aug. 1st). I would really like to get these books read before then. I guess it's not a big deal except it will mean that he has extra work to do. Instead of concentrating on his new school year, he will have both years to do. I don't think he will care if reading these books will overlap into the new school year. He's pretty flexible about it. I guess I should ask him. I know he'll say to just let him skip reading the books (and before I have discarded some of the lessons) but I really want him to read them. I think it's important for him to read these books not just because they will improve his literary knowledge but it will help him in his reading ability.

It's partly my fault. I didn't make sure that he was on task. I got sidetracked again by other people in our lives when I shouldn't have. I should have been concentrating on him and his school and I didn't. Now I'm paying for that mistake.

I've been working on all the preparations for next year. I'm getting all the forms I'll need printed and filled out. Now I've got to sit down and start working on lesson plans. We both decided on a chart that is for each individual subject but covers the whole week. He'll have individual binders for each subject, so all he'll have to do is open that binder, and there's his chart showing what is to be done for that week. Each chart will cover 6-weeks so it will be easy to keep track of when the next break/grading period is. I really think this will be easier for him and me too. I will only have to just take the binder I need to look at and will be able to go right to the work that needs to be checked. Before I had to look through several pages in order to find what I was looking for. Plus the chart has lots of room for me to write his assignments. Most of the pages have separate columns for the books or materials we will be using, so I will be able to write in exactly what he is to do from just that book. He said last years assignment sheet was just too small. There wasn't enough room for me to write assignments in that didn't make it hard for him to read. I'm going to type in his assignments this year but I'm sure there will be times when I have to handwrite something in.

I've got all of his curriculum except Biology. I am planning on contacting the publisher of the textbook I want to use to find out info about accessing the website. The book itself looks pretty good but there is stuff for him to do on their "classroom" website that I want him to be able to do also. If that is only accessible to public school students, then I will have to find another book which I don't look forward to doing. He's not into science but I want this year to be more interesting than previously. He did mention that he'd rather be doing chemistry but I don't want to get into that until his 11th grade. I'm trying to stay along the same lines as the public schools when it comes to what they study when. I know last year I ventured away from that when he took Earth Science but it was one of the suggestions from another place. He is also doing Algebra I over again. Not because he "failed" it but because he didn't quite grasp it. I just feel that he needs more practice. If he zips through the Algebra and finally understands it, then we will move on to Geometry. He will have a lot to do this coming year but I don't think he'll mind too much. He won't be bored that's for sure! He will have several books to read along with doing the literature study called Movies as Literature. I think he'll like that class even if he doesn't care for some of the movies. Maybe after watching the movies, he'll want to read the book to find out what they left out! His history is just a continuation of the book we used last year. He said he didn't mind this book. We will add some other supplements to the course. Then there's Geography. I've got the Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide that I have been really trying to use since I first got it a couple of years ago. I am going to use the country study that's in it for this year. Then in 11th grade, I will use the history section to study U.S. history. I don't plan on buying an actual textbook for that. He's already learned so much U.S. history over the years that anything he does now is just a refresher. We can delve into a topic that piques his interest at anytime. I know he has an interest in wars...Civil War, WWI & II, Vietnam and quite possibly some that he has heard of but can't remember. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The UGTG has got a good country study section. He doesn't know the location of most countries (and I can't tell you the names of some of them since they have changed since I was in school). He will also be learning about manners and etiquette. He is kind of rude at times (what teenager isn't?) but he also needs to learn how to act in different situations so that mom isn't embarrassed! lol! He'll continue with his theater and chorus at Arts Fifth Avenue. He was so wonderful in the play he did and he has come so far in his socialization skills. I'm so proud of him. A friend is suppose to be starting a Y.A.G. group for our area and I think he'll really enjoy that too since he has mentioned becoming a lawyer (what happened to being a writer?). Y.A.G. is "Youth and Government" and it's sponsored by the YMCA. He'll be learning about all aspects of government and will get to use the house and senate at the state capital! Woohoo! He has also stated that he'd like to learn Italian now. What happened to Japanese? He said that Japanese is too hard although he still wants to learn it. Italian is fine by me. Maybe my friend Judy can help him with that. I'm not too good with learning a new language but having lived in Italy for 2 1/2 years, I can kind of understand some of the words. Once we get logged in to Rosette Stone through our library, he can study any language he wants. Just so he sticks with a language for longer than a few months. It would be more useful if he learned Spanish, but not necessary. He is also going to learning more about the computer. His dad brought home a CD on Visual Basic. I want him to also learn more about html and designing web pages. In this day and age almost everyone can make their own web page. I showed him how and where to past codes into his MySpace. He picked it up pretty easy but then it is pretty easy to post stuff to your MySpace. Designing a web page is different unless you use a premade page. So we will look into those two things. The Visual Basic may be something that he and his dad can do on the weekends. Only if his dad lets him do it instead of making him sit there and watch which is what he normally does (how did his dad ever become an instructor for the military??? lol!).

Well my computer keeps bringing up this pop-up window wanting me to restart my computer so the updates can go into affect. It's really starting to bug me so I guess I'll let it do it. I'll write more later on my progress with pre-school year preparations.

First Five Facts

I will try to post five facts each day. Here are the first of those five facts:

Crosswords
A crossword puzzle consists of a diagram, usually rectangular, divided into blank (white) and cancelled (black, shaded, or crosshatched) squares. The first crosswords appeared in England during the 19th century. They were of an elementary kind apparently derived from the word "square," a group of words arranged so the letters read alike vertically and horizontally. The first modern crossword puzzle was published on December 21, 1913, in the New York World Sunday supplement, constructed by Arthur Wynne. By 1923, crosswords were being published in most of the leading American newspapers.

Old New Year's Day
In Great Britain and its North American colonies, this day was the beginning of the new year up through 1751, when the adoption of the Gregorian calendar changed the beginning of the year to January 1. On this day in 1857, the first photograph of a solar eclipse was taken.

Board games
The earliest game boards and pieces that can be positively identified were discovered during excavations at the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur by British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley in 1926-1927. The artifacts date from c 3000-2500 BC. Evidence suggests that they were racing games with rules similar to Parcheesi. Boards and their pieces have also been found in Egyptian tombs and depicted on wall paintings, mostly from c 2000 BC onward.

Rocket and cow
In November 1960, an American rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, went off-course and a piece of debris fell in Cuba, killing a cow. The Cuban government gave the cow an official funeral as the victim of "imperialist aggression."

Pencil and eraser
The first pencil with an attached eraser was patented by Hyman L. Lipman of Philadelphia in 1858. The pencil had a groove into which was "secured a piece of prepared rubber, glued in at one end." Erasers weren't always called erasers, though. The item was originally referred to as a "rubber," because the tree resin it was made of "rubbed out" marks made by a pencil. To eraser manufacturers, those little erasers on the ends of pencils aren't called "erasers" at all. They call them "plugs." More and more of today's erasers are made from something other than rubber. While some of the "pink" erasers you find on pencils are made from synthetic rubber blended with pumice (a grit that enhances its ability to erase), an increasing number of erasers are made from vinyl, a type of durable, flexible plastic.