Wow, it's a long time since I've posted here. We've been quietly busy.

We followed up our under-the-sea month with some more time at an aquarium (Camden, this time -- it's the first time we'd made it there, and I can see why it's so popular, despite the distance and circuitous route we had to take to get there).

We picked up two nice bags full of books at a used bookstore in Montclair, and we've been doing a lot of reading, going through our new books as well as returning to old favorites.

I've been reading Wrinkle In Time aloud at Fairy Scouts, and we had a lot of fun reading bits of The Universe together -- particularly the What-If bits that talk about what sorts of aliens might thrive on different planets (appropriate, given our regular alien-of-the-week club!).

This week we've been tracking our nutrition using the worksheet provided by the USDA. Mostly -- and no surprise here! -- confirming that we need to work on Sarah's veggie intake. It's also confirmed our recent decision to be a little more careful about sugar intake.

I picked up a few books on puberty and Sarah's been working her way through them, mostly on her own. She particularly liked the American Girl book on the care and keeping of your emotions.

We've been getting into Montclair a lot in the afternoons. Sarah comes with me when I volunteer at GSE, and she enjoys examining all the organizational charts, pretending to be the CEO of her own company (drawing and then X-ing out the employees as she fires them!). Afterwards we walk over to the used bookstore, or up to the fair trade tea shop or library.

I'd like to be getting into the city more, as the weather gets even more beautiful, maybe coordinating field trips with small groups of friends. We still haven't made it to the Met for our gods-and-goddesses visit. Maybe next week.

Today we're doing a math assessment test together, to help us choose our next math book -- Sarah's been asking for more math, and while she and Joe continue to do their math adventures together regularly, I'm thinking I'd also like to pick up some books for us to work through together, during our playschool time in the morning.

It makes me sad that so few people read this. That's not a request for comments -- it's more that so many relatives love to hear about what Sarah's doing or ask questions about homeschooling in general or our approach in particular, but even when I send them the link, I know most of them never come over to read the journal. It's a shame -- it would give them a much better sense of her weeks, and it would be a great place to start a conversation with her about what she's been up to. She and I have been talking a lot, recently, about how to start conversations (she often comments that she wants to talk to people more, but can't think of anything to say). My advice: any time you're going to see someone, spend a few minutes beforehand thinking of a funny/interesting story you can tell, one interesting thing you've learned/read recently, a specific question you can ask about something you know they've done recently, and at least one upcoming plan of your own you can talk about. I used to do that, myself -- maybe I should start doing it again...