Classic -

I have no idea if these are really something Bill Gates said - so Mr. Gates I apologise - they are however classic... and big reasons that keep me so involved with my children's education. I realize not everyone can or desires to homeschool - regardless of the educational choice, these are great values to instill in our kids - and as parents, we have the responsibility to do it. so here I share with you on this fine Monday:

Love him or hate him , he sure hits the nail on the head with this!

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world doesn't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault , so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

The Leprechaun Trap...

It all started in 2008 while Daddy was off driving the country... we heard a story about leprechauns and their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow... the legend said if you were able to catch a leprechaun, he would trade his freedom for his pot of gold. If we were able to get that pot of Gold, Daddy could come home and not have to work away from his family so we gave it a try...

2008 produced no leprechaun, but he left some treats...and in 2009 although we did not nearly have a pot of Gold Daddy was home working a new job...and Daddy helped build the trap...

No leprechaun in 2009 either.

So this year we bring out the big ideas... we started with a DEEP box...the bugs painted it to look like a flowerpot (you can't exactly leave it looking like a trap can you??)

Daddy built a ramp going up the side so the leprechaun would naturally explore...

We covered the open top with silk flowers so it would look like a garden...

Lauren added this cupcake and note to the path... see the gold flakes (just dried paint peeled from a plastic lid) - those were to lure the leprechaun up to the top...


The Trap... grass painted along the bottom...

Now the real trick was getting the leprechaun to walk over the tissue paper 'garden' so we needed more bait... each bug placed a rock, painted like a gold nugget at the far end of the 'garden'. The leprechaun would need to walk across one thin sheet of tissue paper to get thise 'gold' nuggets - instead he would drop through the tissue paper and be TRAPPED!

Here each bug carefully places their 'gold' nugget.

We left the, um... flower pot... out on the table on the Eve of St. Patrick's Day...

this morning we awoke with anticipation -

SURE we were going to have a leprechaun and be RICH beyond our wildest DREAMS...

instead:

We wake up to this...

A chair on top of the table, The trap torn, the holiday tree tossed aside...

My office chair flung onto the floor...

The couch fliped over and all the bottles of paint on the floor...

Ut oh!!!!!!!

Inside the trap... not leprechaun, but M&M's, fallen flowers, the ... ahem, gold nuggets...and a NOTE!

I don't think the leprechaun was too happy with the paper cupcake...

...so 2010 does not produce a leprechaun either. Darn.

He did leave us this cute hat we can use as a topper for our Holiday tree!!!

What do I need a pot of gold for anyway??? With three clever kids, a hardworking, loving husband and a roof over our heads - we are rich beyond our wildest dreams!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

The invention of the Parachute

Today is the day in history the parachute was invented...so the girls agreed to create their own versions... Douglas, seeing as it is his birthday - thinks video games are more important - alright!

Surprisingly, both parachutes work - the buddies don't crash straight down, they kinda float!

Catching up with the GBA...

There has been a lot of learning going on this month at the GBA, just not a lot of blogging! Forgive my lapse!

Here is a quick summary of our major events:

Feb 3rd - Blah Buster Day... we celebrated with a trip to the park!

February 6th - the first day in history Monopoly was sold... we chose to play the "Star Wars" version.

February 10 - we threw out all our plans and went on a field trip to the SNOW!

February 11 - What can you do with a White T Shirt Day

February 12, Lincoln's log Cabins...Made with an empty milk carton, chocolate frosting, and pretzles. Take a good look at their faces... I think some bugs were eating and creating at the same time, lol. ... can you say sugar rush!

Valentines Day , February 14th of course!

Feb 22 - George Washington's Birthday...

For Washington's birthday I gave the bugs an assignment... Write about what you would do if you were president of the USA, and then paint me a picture of yourself as president... here is what they came up with:

Lauren's Essay: If I were President I would give the jobs money to give the people for payment. If I were President that is what I would do.

Megan's Essay: If I were president I would lower prices and I would give food to the poor and I would like to make toys un - breakable. If I were president that's what I would do.

Douglas' Essay: If I were President of the United States I would give people jobs... the front of his picture says: I am the President at my desk. I am saying, "How are you doing today?". I let the little kid in my desk. The Daddy is looking at the jobs.

TOOOOO CUTE!!!!!






We have some regular type things going on also...


Douglas is now reading. We are very proud for him!

The girls get dirty with Daddy reparing a leak in the kitchen plumbing...

Quackers joins a flock of penguins...

After a long break... mr puzzle is back. Douglas can't get enough of them!

So that's it - February in a nutshell... Get ready for March...lots more learning ahead!

Groundhog Day!

Groundhog is one of the Biggest events here at the Gandara Bug Academy! That's because not only is it Groundhog's Day - It's also Mrs. Crabtree's Birthday!

We started out checking to see if Mrs. Crabtree saw her shadow (a tradition started many moons ago by her mommy)... here she is poping out of her *burrow*

And lookie there- a beautiful shadow... a prediction of 6 more weeks of winter!






These cute groundhogs were created by the talented GBA students... and enjoyed by all!




We decorated our "Holiday Tree" - beginning with the topper - Megan's Groundhog!

All in All it was a fun filled day!

Happy Australia Day!

January 26th is Austraillia Day - and thanks to my friend Kath, we had a fantastic experience! We started out with free exploration - the Bugs simply dug into the package Kath sent. There were too many squeels of glee to describe.

Mrs. Crabtree Started off the lessons with a map of the world - showing the bugs how far away Australia actually is. We also talked about the international Date line and the fact that it's actually tomorrow in Oz!

Next each bug leafed through the travel brochures and picked a spot they wanted to visit. We circled their destinations on a map... Using each bugs' color for easy identification. They had to cut out the picture and write a story about visiting the location. Douglas is all set to visit and asked quite frankly when we could do what HE picked. Hopefully someday!

Lauren chose a big Water Park in Lightning Ridge, Megan wants to hike a rainforest in New England National Park and Douglas found some rocks to climb in Armidale.

We ended our lessons (for today) with a Thank You note. Each bug had a favorite thing to be thankful for - and they wanted to send Mrs. Kath a picture.

Lauren was s thrilled when the tree frog book had a platypus - because she has this giant platypus she uses as a pillow.

Megan's favorite item was the kangaroo key chain - she appropriaely named her's Joey.

Douglas loved the flag and plans to hang his on his bed.

Another wonderful fun filled day at the Gandara Bug Academy! My heartfelt thanks goes out to Kath - whom I simply asked to send postcards - she donated so many educational things - we are truly blessed!

Kid Inventors Day

January 17th was Kid inventors day... I just mentioned it to the bugs and they had so much fun being creative... they didn't invent anything new - but inventing is inventing in my book!

Douglas made handcuffs for my Groundhog...

Lauren and Megan made crutches - cracked me up!!!

Dress Your Pet Day!

Poor Smokey... but this sure was fun.

Penguin Appreciation Day

Today, January 13th is Penguin appreciation day. Here at the GBA we learned that penguins are birds. They cannot fly. Penguins mate for life and the males actually help with the children. HOW COOL IS THAT!

We also created these cool Penguin sock puppets:

They were easy to do... an idea I got from an old Highlights Magazine. Here are the instructions if you want to make some yourself!


...I wonder what Anthony will say when he discovers we used his socks....