Mesa Arts Center 3/11/11

I just wanted to take a minute to jump back into last week. Some friends invited us to the opening of a light and sculpture exhibit called Amococo ate the Mesa Arts Center . The news was going to be filming a segment on the opening of the exhibit and they wanted some homeschoolers with theater experience, so we showed up. It was a really cool exhibit where you could walk through this blow-up hive-like tunnel that was lit by outside light only but was full of bright colors on the inside. Hard to describe but very cool.

After that we went through the art gallery there. Jem had been begging for quite awhile to go to the art museum so this got me off the hook for awhile :) The kids took pics by some of their favorite exhibits. When we left there, there was an activity set up where they could weave strips of material along the fence that surrounds the top of the gallery.  Pretty artsy day :)

Of Salsa and Dragons! - 3/25/11

Today was a full day out!  I knew we wouldn't be home to do school, so learning my lesson, I warned Freddie ahead of time that we wouldn't be doing much school today because we were going on a filed trip!  Our Girl Scout troupe had planned a trip to a salsa factory. Only problem was that it started at 10:00am and was about an hour and a half away, so I had to have everyone loaded up, including lunches, snacks, school to do in the car, video games, waters, etc, by 8:30. All went pretty well. We were actually the first ones there! That was unheard of! The little kids traveled really well. I brought some of their Tot School worksheets in page protectors with dry-erase markers and erasers attached to clipboards so they could work on them on the way if they chose to.

 The salsa factory was fun, but kind of short. They got to go into the cold storage area and wear funny hats. The highlight was getting to go home with their own tub of salsa and bag of chips which we all chowed down on  on the way home!

From there, we headed to our homeschool park day. On this day we had a special program called Deb's Dragons visiting to talk to the group about reptiles and insects. The kids got to hold snakes, Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches, a Bearded Dragon, a Blue-Tongues Sink, and a Tarantula.

   After the reptile show the little kids went home, and my kids and I stayed for our regular park day for a couple of hours. Then it was off to Winnie the Pooh rehearsal and then Family Night with our whole big family. A long full day, but a fun one :)

Back on Track - 3/24/11

Today I knew we had to be out a little bit, so I made sure we started off the morning with school!
They started off with some free play with peg board puzzles and color sorting bowls and bears. I think I am going to start a lapbook with them. I haven't decided exactly the theme yet, but I printed a few things that will work with whichever theme I choose, so I started them on a few things for that and had them work on those. Then we worked on some letter B materials from this great site I found!! I am so excited because it looks like a goldmine of ideas and printable materials.  It's called 1+1+1 Tot School.  So far, the kids have enjoyed the materials I have used from there, and it looks like they have plenty for them to grow with.

 On Thursday's we meet "Gramps" for lunch. He is my grandpa, the kids great-grandpa. We go somewhere different each week. My cousin and her two kids usually go with us. Sometimes other family members join us. This week my dad met us. We went to Peter Piper Pizza. The kids had fun. So did Gramps :)  I'm so thankful that my kids will have good memories of spending time with their great-grandpa.

 Our next activity was to go to the park and join our homeschool "Tenders" group (Ten and Unders) for some old-fashioned games at the park. We played "Red-Rover," "Button-Button, Who's Got the Button," and "Duck, Duck, Goose."  Freddie got right in there and participated. Flossie was a little more hesitant. She was willing to be there and be part of it but didn't want to take a turn in any of the games which was fine. She was the youngest one who was actually playing. I think they both had fun playing games with the group.

  From the park we went home for short naps and then the kids had time for a little bit more "school" play. Freddie put together a free-form Lego puzzle. K did some work with Unifix Cubes and pattern cards. It took her a little while to figure out the idea of continuing the patterns, but she was getting it by the end. This is something we will keep working on. Sequencing and patterning are important for later work in reading and math and in developing thinking and problem-solving skills. I found some other great ideas here that we'll use in the weeks ahead.

"We Didn't Do School You Know!" - 3/22/11

Today was one of those long days out for us. Both kids had doctor appointments at Phoenix Children's Hospital. This was our first day of having to take Flossie and Freddie with us to our doc appointments. Snacks were packed, as were video games and entertainment for the car and entertainment for the waiting room. Of course, this was the day Joshua's doctor had an emergency so she was almost 45 minutes late to her appointment. I don't know if I was feeling stressed or just tired from lack of sleep. It also could have had to do with what I was there to talk to her about, but I ended up getting teary during his appointment. Luckily Scout was done with her appointment by then so she was entertaining the kids in the waiting room by then. Anyway, the long and well, LONG of it is the kids did great and were really good even though we had a long drive there and back and they had to wait there almost 2 hours. I am thankful for waiting room tv and snack crackers!!!

    We had lunch in the car on the way home. Everyone was starving and needed to eat by then.By the time we got home, it was time for the little kids to go down for their nap. While they slept, I got some school done with the older kids, and when they woke up, it was time to drop my oldest off at work. That was another 20 minute drive there and back. As we were driving home, Freddie, the 4 year old said, "We didn't do school you know," with a disgusted frown on his face. I could see he was ticked about being in the car all day. This wasn't what he signed up for. There was no way I could explain that some days are just like this. He wouldn't understand or even want to hear it. I said, 'Well, we had to be in the car a lot today and I'm sorry. We'll just have to do some car school today."  With my big kids, we often do car school when we are on the road. It usually involves me quizzing them on spelling words or math problems. Sometimes we do geography or history questions - whatever we are working on at the time. So, that's what we did. With Flossie and Freddie I asked questions like "Name one word that starts with B. "What sound does a cow make?"  "Name one animal that lives in the zoo."  "Let's see how high you can count."  "Tell me your mommy's name." 

     As we pulled onto our street, we could see their mom's car waiting for us in front of the house. "But we didn't do school!" Freddie grumbled. I rushed in to get him some "homework" hoping to make up for the lapse in his school day, but it was clear that nothing would really make it better. He left that day with a frown on his face. Now I know I am going to have to make sure to get some "school" in every day no matter what else we do, or at least make sure I warn him in advance!

First Day of Preschool -3/21/11

Our first day went great! The kids showed up with big smiles on their faces, lunch bags in hand. Mom said they were so excited to start "school."  We started the morning by reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See? by Eric Carle. We talked about the colors in the book and about the letter B and the "b" sound. I used my Handwriting Without Tears materials to show them how the letter B is formed using the wood shapes, the Roll-a-doh board, and the chalk board.

After that we did a little painting and gluing, and then had to get ready to go out for brunch with Grandma!
The great thing about homeschooling is you can always drop what you're doing for an impromptu trip to IHOP!!

 After we got home, the big kids did some school while the little played with puzzles. Jem couldn't resist helping during his break. We love puzzles at our house. They are important for learning critical thinking, patience, problem solving, working together, spatial awareness, organizing time and space, and good old stick-to-it-ness.  We have all kinds of puzzles from easy toddler board puzzles to large floor puzzles to teeny tiny ones. On this first day, I noticed Freddie jumped right in and took charge of doing the puzzle. Flossie watched. She picked up a few pieces. Put a couple together. But mostly just let her brother take control. On day two, I put the same puzzle out, and during a quiet moment, she went over and did it by herself.  :)

One of my favorite things about today was getting to see Jem in the role of an older sibling. He is always the youngest. He never gets to be the teacher, to show anyone how to do something or to take care of anyone. Today he did :)

What Now?

     If you haven't already guessed, I am a student of the Now. "What on Earth does that mean?" Well, it means I try to be present every day in the current moment. I try not to dwell on the past, to worry too much about the future, to insist that my present should somehow be different than what it is. I can tell you that I am not a great student. On some days I barely squeak by with passing grades. On really good days (those seem to be long gone) I was the teacher's pet! These days I am an average student. I'm doing my best. Trying to get back to basics. My textbooks are Eckhart Tolle's Power of Now series. Every time I read them, I learn something new about myself and about life, and I think I become a better person.

    I am a homeschooling mother of 3. I love to read. We all do, so for the purposes of this blog I'll give them the names of some of my favorite characters: Scout for my 10year old daughter, Jem for 6 year old son, and Bella for my 17 year old daughter. We have been homeschooling for 10 years. I have learned a lot during those years. Practiced a lot on my poor 17 yr old! But got some right too :)  She is doing really well in community college. She consistently got some of the highest grades in her English 101 class, and her teacher told her it was an honor to teach her. This was my child who hated writing even a sentence, had terrible handwriting, and quit reading almost as many books as we started. But we kept on plugging along. We found out what she liked. We never gave up. Homeschooling works :)

     We have lots of challenges we're facing this year. Our youngest was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Our middle is struggling with OCD. But if we can just remember to stay in the present moment, to enjoy each new day, each new discovery, we'll make it through ok. 

      Along the journey of our homeschooling, I have been lucky to have benefited from the generous efforts of many homeschool bloggers over the years. I have always considered doing one myself, but never felt I had the time or the motivation. I finally have a reason to start!  My niece and nephew are going to be homeschooling preschool with us 4 days a week now. (We'll call them here the Bobbsey Twins, although they are 3 and 4 - Flossie and Freddie.) I know if I was their mom, I would want to know what they were up to all day! I am taking lots of pictures and need a place to share all of the fun we are having.

I am hoping that by starting this blog, I can share what we are doing not only with their mom and dad, but  with others out there who might be looking for ideas.  I'll be posting not just about them but about the older kids too.  Hopefully there will be something of value here for someone to use.  If nothing else, it can be a chronicle for our family of our year of homeschooling :)

Wendy