Friday, August 04, 2006

What's on for today?

I've somewhat scrapped the idea of presenting something each day this week. Yet it's working okay. Ds pulled out an alphabet puzzle yesterday and we talked a bit about some of the sounds he's already worked on. The kids have been drawing after lunch. My niece has been fairly easy going the past couple of days.

We had a little field trip on Wed. to Rutherford House, a local historical museum, the house of a former Premier. I can't go there without some strange thing happening, be it on camera, on tape recorder or just 'feelings'. This last time, it was major tingling in one arm, then I turned the other way and the other arm tingled the same way. I turned back and the first arm tingled badly. Left that hallway and my arm ended up hurting with pain actually going through to my back. And again, as usual, weird stuff in Hazel's room. I was standing in this one spot watching the kids try on the various 1910-ish costumes and hats and it was like energy building up around and in me. Hazel's room is one where the oldest and I found a 'cold spot' one day. The air itself wasn't cold, but we were cold when we stepped in this one spot. It then disappeared and I ended up finding the same intense cold in another part of the room later. I'm not sure I believe in ghosts and hauntings, but I can't deny that there's some strange stuff at that house.

I still want to have something ready for when the boys move into hyperactive. It's like something clicks and they feed off each other while annoying everybody else around them. Probably pulling out the magnets or another science kit would work well. I should review the experiments and the story for the first Great Lesson (Montessori) and be ready to do that on Monday. The boys will love it. Dd, who's already seen it twice, probably wouldn't mind it either.

What's the first Great Lesson, you may be asking? It's about the beginning of the universe, solar system and the Earth. Although the original lesson is entitled "God Who Has No Hands", some teachers change it a bit so it doesn't have anything to do with God. It's kind of a shame because it's supposed to be an impressionistic story, not a religious one. Anyhow, the story involves showing them some experiments to sort of see the science behind some of what went on. One of the experiments is to have a wide bowl of water and you sprinkle confetti-like pieces of paper (I use the stuff from our hole-punch) on the water to see how the particles are attracted to each other. You can find out more here, but warning, it's a bit slow and some of the photos weren't archived. (I'm still sad that Don Jennings has left the Montessori world and his site behind...)

Back to today...

I was going to go grocery shopping, but I hate going shopping when it rains because everything gets wet, plus I'll have the 4 kids with me if I go. I think we'll stay in and I'll pull out the 'construction box' (basically, a box fulled of recyclable/reusable materials like plastic containers, egg cartons, boxboard boxes, etc.) and paints and they can create. And watch a video or let them have some XBox time. Or both. lol. There won't be any sending them off outside or walks with the dog or park time today!

5 comments:

Jane said...

I lived ina haunted house for two years. It was built in 1901 and had an interesting history. My Mum has had several experiences with her Sister who die d a few years back too......I very much believe in spirits and ghosts.......I also believe in Angels but believe they are also spirits of those gone before us....

I've never been to Rutherford House before but your post reminds me I'd like to go there very much!

One Alberta Voice said...

I don't know if I could handle living in a haunted house!

We absolutely love Rutherford House. We went so often one of the girls there finally suggested we get a membership. lol. Hazel's room and/or the master bedroom (where Mrs. Rutherford passed on) give us something each time we visit. Hazel's room has felt different, though, since they painted it. It's still the same colour, but things just feel different.

I think an incident in the master bedroom freaked out the oldest even more than the moving cold spot: a frozen chair. She had been sitting there only for a few minutes but was complaining of being frozen through. Although I was sitting on a chair about 5-6 feet away from her, I was fine. We switched spots and she enjoyed sitting in my warmed chair. Her chair was frozen. My butt started freezing. Then there was this little tickle of cold on my cheek, almost like a really cold feather being lightly stroked around. I got up a minute later, my derriere too thoroughly frozen to continue staying, dd sat down a minute after that and the chair wasn't cold at all. The oldest doesn't like sitting in the chairs anymore.

Visiting the past year and a half has been one of the homeschooling highlights because we're always curious to see what will happen next. Plus the kids have learned a lot about life back then and about Rutherford and his family so other than developing ghost hunting skills, they are actually doing something people in general would consider educational.

Jane said...

Ok Rutherford House is on my list of must sees before the summer ends!!!

The house that I lived in was actually the home that I felt safest living in....and I have lived in about 15 houses! The spirit there was only ever sensed by women (the people before us told us this too). My sister came to stay with us and one evening we were watching tv and we heard heavy adult footstepps walk across the floorboards in the bedroom above us. Yet there was no one upstairs!

Another night I was in the bathroom and I heard someone shout 'Oi' down the hallway......again no one there! Another evening I was sat on the bed writing my journal and I felt a warm comforting hand on my shoulder......again no one there.......but it was such a comforting feeling.

There were cold spots in the house......normally by the cellar door (but no not a draught!) It tended to just be around the bells that were still hanging there from when they had servants in the house. And another sometimres but not always in the front living room.

My husband never experienced anything.

Christopher would talk about the old lady that came to talk to him in his bedroom at night.....he called her the yellow lady.....but he was only 4 at the time so we could never tell if she was real or imaginary.......

One Alberta Voice said...

You gave me the chills!!! Goose bumps all over, especially with Christopher having said that... Kids' imaginary friends are kids or animals or something on that type of level. Not old ladies who come to talk to them at night!

Jane said...

Lol Daisy! The thing is, Chris was always 4 going on 40....he's always been a little old man at heart so having an old lady as an imaginary friend wouldn't be too odd for him ;)

He drew pictures of her...I know my Mom kept one of them....

Who knows!