While doing some boring old math drill practice…I notice the comic strip section of the paper has caught my son’s eye…guessing I will need to record more reading then math for this hour! Haha!
Tag Archives: family life
Spunky Summer Hair
My daughter decided to go pink this summer. Every time we go out people compliment her and gush over her hair style and color. How cute, what fun, she looks so good with pink hair, I wish I could get away with that, I wish I could look so cute in pink, I love it, I wish my daughter could do that but school starts in two weeks, it’s darling!, etc..etc..etc..
Then I am often asked: What will they say when she goes back to school?
I can only reply with a chuckle and “not much!”
Of course dying ones hair pink is not the reason why we homeschool, but it is one of the many extra benefits that have popped up over the years. Like traveling in the off-season! So many little benefits to homeschooling one doesn’t even realize exist until you are enjoying a peaceful life as a homeschooler! 🙂
Thursday – Day Four
Well first thing this morning neither child had forgotten I promised a BEN 10 episode, so they started their day off with a cartoon. When the one was over, they were hooked and wanted more, more, more…so I figured if they worked together to clean my daughter’s room (which looked like a tornado blew thru a hoarder room) Then I would agree to another Ben 10.
 A few minutes later they came out and said they were finished. I’m pretty sure this is not the case. I ask, did you really clean up her room in that short of time? And they said, OH I THOUGHT YOU JUST WANTED A NICEPATH THRU HER ROOM…ha ha! So I look, they had neatly shoved everything to the sides so one might have a lovely path threw the disaster zone.
 With a little guidance they did a beautiful job on her room and they also worked on compromise, working together to tackle a fairly large job (giant really for a kid!) I could hear them deciding who would do what. It was pretty cute!
 A few jobs needed to be accomplished before our play dates arrived today.
 We had two separate play dates today and to be honest I got way side tracked chatting with my mama friends to document much of today. I do have photos to share, but not a lot of “homeschooling” stuff other then SOCIALIZING…today was SOCIALIZING DAY! Ha ha! 🙂
 A little dress up time:
Breakfast time:
 My son is researching Ben 10 alien costumes and preparing himself for HALLOWEEN already! He will most likely change his mind a billion times, so we have a rule, I will purchase ONE costume, but if you decide you want to be something else, then you have to make the costume yourself using stuff from our dress up bin….or literally MAKE IT yourself with card board or whatever you have to use.
 Contemplating life I suppose? I wonder if school kids get much quiet time to just think their thoughts. I know when I have a busy day it takes a lot of quiet practice to come down and feel grounded and able to just think my thoughts, so I love seeing my kids pondering life or maybe Ben 10 costumes ha ha!, but just having quiet moments to think their own personal private thoughts.
 Son: Did you know your body is complex? You can eat upside down! (as he puts a handful of popcorn in his mouth upside down…apparently one can defy gravity in some ways)
Play time: (trying to sort out weapons, game rules, costumes…all really important stuff!)
Lunch Time:
 Playing after Lunch…(mama is starting to loose steam and forgetting to document…sorry!)
 Kids came in the room where the mama chat was going on, so I have a few photos of the games they pulled out and played…
Â
Then back to base camp to plot some more weapons, war tactics, game rules and strategies for conquering the other team!
 Little break to jump on the trampoline (and it is hard to see but one kiddo is up in the tree)
 
These magnets are still fascinating to him. He has had three days of processing these magnets. I know more is going on up in his brain regarding the magnets then just positive negative charges…he had that mastered when he was two! I’m guessing Thomas Edison type stuff, so I’m glad there isn’t fire involved and it’s just magnets! ha ha!
A bit later one set of friends left and another arrived…The girls were playing with the doll house and it wasn’t really my son’s gig, so he played this game by himself in more of a puzzly way.
 This is where I failed on documentation miserably today…I was having a nice time visiting with friends and the kids happily playing. The day got away from me…Â
Dinner time…Â
Bath…Â
I took the kids out for an ice cream. As much as I dislike them having ice cream right before bed, I had promised it to them two days ago. I figured we should just get that promise over with and hopefully the sugar crash happens in their sleep. Ha ha!
 I’m going to snuggle up with hubby and watch whatever show he’s watching then head for bed…I hope to do a better job tomorrow.Â
I’ve been thinking about it, I think I will try this again in the fall/winter when we are doing more schooly things then we do during the summer. We do school year round, but we are relaxed schoolers and the month of July we are SUPER relaxed schoolers…lol…might not be the best week, oh well, hind sight is alwasy 20/20 we’ll do it again some time down the road…Â
Good night!
Monday – Day One
I normally wake up early, hours before my children, to ensure that mama quiet time. Sip my cup of tea, think my thoughts, just enjoy the morning sounds before the house is so noisy I can’t hear myself think.
Today was not one of those days, I woke up early and then crawled right back into bed and slipped off into a deep sleep. Woken up by my son, who just woke up himself, asking if he can finish the NATE THE GREAT audio book he didn’t finish last night.
We snuggle up in our jams on the sofa, he is listening with headphones because his sister is still sleeping and I like it quiet until the whole herd is up and roaring. I am facing him, with ipad and iphone at the ready, trying to sort out three different play dates this week with three different mamas. I have an unexpected guest coming, which is exciting, looking forward to her visit, but I needed to see where a fantabulous play date might fit in with this friend. Once all of that calendar stuff is sorted out, my daughter wakes up. She decides she is going to snuggle up with us right smack in the middle on top of us, making both my son and I a lot uncomfortable, so rearranging our positions, ends up with my son off doing something else, my daughter snuggling up with me for a while, but her ultimate goal of conquering the entire sofa for herself is eventually achieved. Ha ha!
My son is outside making lizard traps. Did I mention we bought a terrarium and crickets for the lizard he caught before, but it was too small and had to be released into the wild again…so right now we have about a dozen pet crickets!
While he is hunting lizards, my daughter designs jewelry for her stuffed animals. She announces she will start a stuffie jewelry line and sell these creations to the top buyers! (Watch out Build-A-Bear! Ha ha!)
After my son’s lizard hunt, he’s ready for a little Life of Fred Math. We snuggle up for the next chapter. He moves to the table to write down his answers to the last chapters questions.
As he moves on to earn an egg on Reading Eggs (a computer reading program) My daughter snuggles up on the sofa to practice her reading. She reads a couple BOB books out loud to me. And we talk about sounds and sounding out words and how most of the words in these books can be sounded out, but in some of her other readers you can’t sound out the words easily, you need to learn the letter combinations that make different sounds when they are together, etc…
She then takes her turn on Reading Eggs while her brother tries to get an old lap top working. He wants to put in the circuit board (snap circuits science toy) CD-ROM and create something on the computer. The disk isn’t working, dad will need to sort that out later.
I make lunch.
After lunch we all go outside and play. I sit with a cup of tea (I am a sitter and a tea drinker, eeks, I see thru this blog post, I need to get up and off my arse and exercise! Haha!)
The kids are busy, jumping on the trampoline, riding bikes, scooters, playing with the hose, etc…Some of the conversations I overheard or took part in were interesting:
Kids asked why I’m taking so many photos today…I tell them of the blog. My son says: well I’m sure they are going to think I’m a girl, because I have long hair and a leopard print vest on…but I don’t care because I love my vest! It’s the best vest! That rhymes ha ha! (he loves it so much, he didn’t want it to get wet, so I had to be the vest guardian for a bit)
Daughter: Mom, what time is it?
Me: 12:22pm
Daughter: Well I’m noticing it is shady at 12:22 and I’m guessing it is probably always shady at 12:22 in our play yard. This spurs a discussion on tracking the shade and how the sun moves during the seasons. And apparently now we are going to check the shade out and track it now.
Daughter: Mom, look what I found, I think it is a diamond because it is sparkly and hard…as she brings me a piece of cement I think, maybe roof tile? Not sure…we plan on asking dad what it is made of, I’m guessing glass, not diamonds. Ha ha! Sometimes mom isn’t up for researching when dad can easily answer a question, he needs to be in on the homeschooling gig too. Ha ha! Not to mention the wi-fi didn’t reach where I was sitting in the yard.
Son: Mom, you wanna know what I think was one of the most important speeches during the war against Great Britain…you know that battle on bunker hill, I think the statement “hold your fire until you see the whites of their eyes” was one of the most important bits. What do you think?
Daughter: spraying water out of the hose states, it looks like a butterfly…a wing over here and another one over there.
Son: yeah but butterflies have four wings not two.
Daughter: Can everything go thru water?
Son: No
Daughter: What can’t get thru water?
Son: well I know oil can’t get thru water, so there must be things that can and some that can’t.
Daughter: Mom can you look up what can get thru water?
Me: sure…
Son: wanna know the process of how I make tracks? I run thru the puddles you are making sis and the bike tires pick up the water. When I ride over the dry part the water comes off. Interesting huh?
Daughter: while violently flinging the hose around flinging water everywhere. (I’m hoping she doesn’t drench me and my ipad) she announces loudly…how cool is that mom, what goes up has to come down, it is gravity mom, look!!!
All this pondering and processing took place in about 30 minutes. It is a little before 1:00pm and we are heading downtown to an appointment and the book store. When you pay attention to the random comments the kids say during their play, you realize just how much is going on up in their developing brains. They seem to be learning and processing information non-stop at lightening speeds!
At the book store my son talked me into a couple basher books. We love the basher books.
In the afternoons, we often have a quiet time…not every day, but I aim for a few times a week, especially on the days the kids need a break from one another. I noticed they were starting to debate about more then enough topics on the way home from town. I figured quiet time was needed, so into their rooms for an hour to read, play quietly and relax on their own. Believe it or not, they both actually really like quiet time and have in the past asked for it!
They tidy up the living room first. Then choose a book, grab a snack, and head off into their rooms.
I’m on the sofa with a cup of tea surfing the net and thinking about putting a load of laundry in…
…yes okay laundry guilt is over, the load is in and I also pulled out the ingredients to make the cracker recipe my son has been asking to make…
NOW, I feel I can sit and relax with my tea and surf the net a bit
…(note to hubby who will read this: no comment from the peanut gallery! Ha ha! We all deserve a break during our work day!)
After quiet time:
Son: mom, during quiet time I got pretty good at this! (showing me his harmonica)
Which spurs a little jam session between the two kids…one on harmonica and the other on the wooden frog…we rock out a bit and they decide they want to watch Nanny McPhee Returns. I decide I’m not up for crackers just yet, but I’m not up for tv either…sooooo I say they need to do a little piano practice and then play outside for a while before I will consider a movie. They practice and then bounce outside.
My son apparently took the entry way rug with him and decided to take it up a tree…looks sort of comfy huh? Ha ha! He is that kid that is so creative you quickly realize you will go insane if you worry too much about the little things in life like my rug is up in a freaking tree! haha!
I remind myself often of Thomas Edison’s mother…she is my hero really and I don’t even know her name! But she home schooled Thomas and fostered his creativity that we all benefit from today. Maybe one day we will all benefit from my son’s creation, who knows. I do know I won’t be the one to step on his ideas.
Well looks like crackers have safely been procrastinated a bit further into the afternoon/evening; they have suckered me into Nanny McPhee Returns!
Hubby is on his way home and I am going to a stretching class with some friends. Some of the school reading on our list will either happen late tonight when I get home, if the kids are up and want some story time with mom or tomorrow…
Not sure what adventures dad has in store for the kiddos while I’m away, but I do know my daughter needs to unload the dishwasher. She made a deal to unload it 5 times in exchange for me purchasing yet another stuffed animal for her!
Well I’m back from stretching class. My husband informs me that the kids ate dinner, did some tidy up chores, our son read a few books to his sister, they jumped on the trampoline with dad, did bedtime routine stuff and went to sleep.
I had a great adventure with friends and look forward to tomorrow…figure crackers will HAVE TO HAPPEN tomorrow! They have been on the list for a few days now! ha ha!
I still have a goal of less words and more photos, but after attempting to take photos of our day, I’m guessing as the week goes on, I’ll have less photos and less words by Friday ha ha! I will do my best for ya! 🙂
Good Night…
Our Homeschooling Week In Photos
I was thinking back to the beginning and how I really wished someone would document their week in photos. I needed to see what people did. I read about a typical day. I found schedules and charts. But I needed to see pictures, I needed a visual aid!
I am only one fish in a giant sea of homeschoolers, so I am not saying OUR WAY is the only way or the right way. Each family has to find their own groove. Figure out your families goals and priorities. What works for the different personalities in your family, the different learning styles, teaching styles, etc…
This is OUR family. This is what works for us. I hope it is helpful to see how we go about our days.
For the record: I will not be documenting everything, but I will do my best to give you a good idea of our days.
Hopefully I can convey the sense of peace homeschooling brings our family…but of course because that is my hope, it will probably turn into a Murphy’s Law week haha! Which in itself might give my readers a sense of normalcy and relief they aren’t the only ones having a wacky day here and there…haha! 🙂
Here we go…wish us luck…
I didn’t plan on starting until tomorrow, but why not start now?
Sunday evening
Earlier this evening my son was finishing up an audio story, Sara and Solomon
While he was doing that, my daughter was creating something with play dough.
After a lot of rolling, pinching, smashing, pushing, poking and exercising just about every fine motor skill one could work on, she had created a duck, on a lake near an island with a palm tree. (Must admit she is more talented with play dough creations then her dear mama. I had pretty much only mastered the snake, worm, a ball, and the ever famous ash tray, but not much more haha!)
All that play dough work is enhancing her future writing skills. Great for all ages IMHO.
We sat down to a delicious dinner, ate and then went for a family walk.
My daughter caught bugs (or attempted to) my son mastered his stick throwing skills. My husband and I just enjoyed the walk while the kids ran ahead, hopping, skipping and laughing while the dog begged for another stick to be tossed.
After our walk, everyone snuggled up on the sofa to watch a bedtime cartoon and eat ice cream. (I quietly excused myself after eating ice cream, to the back room and sipped a cup of tea in solitude)
We brushed teeth and did all that bedtime routine stuff, jammies, teeth, etc…and the kids crawled into bed. Because they were in bed fairly early, they asked for an audio story, so I put on Nate The Great audio download (library overdrive option…big fan of free!)
That was our evening tonight, not overly exciting, but it was nice…
…goodnight
Hopefully I will have more photos and fewer words tomorrow. 🙂
Life’s a Beach!
During the summer we often take the day off from school and hit the beach with family or friends.
(Dude, we must be those homeschooler types you hear about that are grooming the next Jeff Spicoli…what could you possibly learn in that vast nothingness?!?)
Well it’s not all boogie boarding and sunbathing…
We dig…
We search…
We find…
We research…
We often stop by the local sea center and ask questions after a productive day at the beach, as well as pet their fishy friends.
They let us use their equipment and microscopes to look at our teensy tiny microscopic finds.
You decide if a day at the beach is worth cutting class.
I think so!
P.S. Did I mention I’m typically lounging in a chair, enjoying the sunshine, the warm sand in my toes and hanging out with good company or a good book. And I also learn a few interesting things along the way!
I mention this because so many parents THINK they don’t have what it takes to homeschool, but the hardest part of homeschooling is making the decision to do it!
Hectic Peace 