"Red on Yellow Kills a Fellow, Red on Black, Venom Lack"

Coral snake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Behavior:

Like all elapid snakes, coral snakes use a pair of small fangs, which are fixed in the front of their top jaw, to deliver their venom. Due to the time it takes for the venom to take effect, coral snakes have a tendency to hold on to a victim when biting, unlike vipers which have retractable fangs and tend to prefer to strike and let go immediately. Coral snakes are not aggressive or prone to biting however, and account for less than one percent of the number of snake bites each year in the United States. Most coral snake bites occur because of accidental handling of the snake while engaged in an activity like gardening.

Danger to humans:
New World coral snakes possess the second most potent venom of any North American snake, behind some rattlesnake species. However, few bites are recorded due to their reclusive nature and the fact they generally inhabit sparsely populated areas. When confronted by humans, coral snakes will almost always attempt to flee, and bite only as a last resort. In addition, coral snakes have short fangs (proteroglyph dentition) that cannot penetrate thick leather clothing. Any skin penetration, however, is a medical emergency that requires immediate attention. Coral snakes have a powerful neurotoxin that paralyzes the breathing muscles; mechanical or artificial respiration, along with large doses of antivenom, are often required to save a victim's life. There is usually only mild pain associated with a bite, but breathing difficulties and ptosis can occur within hours.

It's all about the Break and Snack time!

On the days we have Gunter at our house , the 2 boys bug me about every 10 minutes about the time. (The schedule says 10:30-Break) Maybe I need a clock on the wall...anyway.

They were very excited today when they came inside from playing with Ryan's cousins (who also homeschool) and we had a snack on the table for them.

Who knew a bunch of boys would get so excited about animal cookies, frosting and some left over sprinkles from last Easter? The creative juices started flowing as they each designed their own individual little animal cookies. It was a challenge to get a picture of the finished project before they popped it into their mouths.

I thought about making it a math story problem, as we homeschool moms often do. After considering it would have to be addition for some, multiplication or fractions for others and probably some Algebra for one, I re-considered and just let them enjoy!

We did work on manners...OK not really but we did make them say "please" and "thank you" to each other. Licking the knives and fingers were allowed today.

"Home's-Cool"

I have been homeschooling since 1997. Jamie was in 7th, Robin 5th, Kimberly 1st, Jonathan P-K. Kaitlin was just 2. Now Ryan, who is 8 (6 years younger than Kaitlin) is the only one left still homeschooling. The older three started going to either private or public school as Freshmen. Jonathan went to public school as an 8th grader (football); Kaitlin went to public school as a 7th grader (band). I hope to hang on to Ryan until 8th grade. Sometimes I substitute at the middle and high school and my friend also works occasionally. So we switch back and forth. We are both using mostly ABeka so we have planned our lesson plans to coordinate with each other, so the boys can work on history, science, language and spelling together.