The TAG Project

I haven't blogged here in quite a while, but some recent activity on TAGMAX email list prompted me to go to The TAG Project website again.

There are several things about my boys that are challenging. One is education. In many ways I see myself in them. I also see their uniqueness and how they are not only different than me, but also how they differ from each other.

10 Days of Blog Hopping

I ran across this blog post about 10 days to a peaceful home. Not surprisingly, I can't find the original source again. That's what happens when you follow hyperlinks on the internet. In characteristic "web" fashion, that post has several links of other "10 Days of" bloggers. So here is the list that I want to follow for the next 10 days. Some of them are homeschoolers, which is why I am posting here, on LILLILY.

Heart of the Matter - the organizer. 

• 10 days of Character Studies | Confessions of a Homeschooler
• 10 days of Christmas Countdown Ideas | Milk & Cookies
• 10 days of Creative Writing | Chocolate on My Cranium
• 10 days of Crockpot Meals | The Happy Housewife
• 10 Days to a Godly Marriage | Women Living Well
• 10 Days of High School Homeschooling | Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers
• 10 Days of Growing Leaders | Mom's Mustard Seeds
• 10 days of I Wish I Had Known | Fruit in Season
• 10 days of Keeping Your Marbles | The Tie That Binds Us
• 10 days of Kid-friendly Food | Planner Perfect
• 10 Days of Language Arts Lesson Planning | Jimmie's Collage
• 10 Days of Learning Apps | Daze of Adventure
• 10 Days of a Mason Jar Christmas | Cajun Joie de Vivre
• 10 Days of More JESUS in Christmas | Preschoolers and Peace
• 10 Days to a Peaceful Home | Raising Arrows
• 10 Days of Raising a Life-Long-Learner | Bright Ideas Press
• 10 days of Science with Math | Blog, She Wrote
• 10 days of Teaching Values | Our Journey Westward
• 10 days of Winning your Child's Heart | I Take Joy

Boys being boys

My new favorite blog is Skipping School. A recent guest post titled "Boys Will Be Boys—Even When They’re Unschoolers" caught my attention enough to share it with anyone who actually still reads my blog after almost a year of inactivity. (Hi Cindy!)

I don't like fighting. Or arguing. So when my boys disagree in voices that sound like arguing to me, I get upset. It also bothers me that their favorite Wii game is Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It's a fighting game with Nintendo characters, but you can fight against another player, not just CPU players. Some of the characters use special Nintendo powers, and some use bombs and guns. My boys also like any game that blows up things or creatures. I'd prefer they stick with virtually blowing up things, not creatures, especially not creatures that makes noises and squirt red when they die. But I'm not a boy! 

However, I was a tomboy. (Is that term even used anymore? It's certainly not PC.) I pretended a bent stick was a gun. We played cops & robbers, kidnap, and many other imagination filled games as a kid. I was sometimes the bandit/kidnapper/thief and sometimes the cop/sheriff/rescuer and sometimes the victim. We used to tie each other up to the fence, a tree, or the pole in my friend's basement. It was great fun. Even considering my "macho" games as a young girl, my boys are different than me.

Of course they are different than me! They are wonderful unique individuals. In each of them I see aspects of myself. He is his mother's son. He is like his dad. He is who he is!

A Sample of Building School

DS1 is going to get a sample of "Building School" next week! He is participating in Camp Invention at his cousins' elementary school. (They will both be there also.) It is 5 days of 9:00-3:30 structured science fun. I am very sure that he will enjoy the content, but I'm not sure how he will react to a full day of "school" with so many kids for 5 days in a row.

This spring we were at "Monday School" (WWHM) from 10:00-2:00, an hour of which was lunch and play time. He has been to scout camp that was all day (and overnight), but it only lasted 3 days. I'm actually very excited for him.

DS2 and I will have Monday through Wednesday together, then on Thursday and Friday he will be at Cub Scout day camp with Dad. I'll be all alone Thursday and Friday!

When does school start?

That question is difficult to answer when you don't ever really stop.

We have less structure and fewer scheduled outside activities in the summer. Today most of the public schools in our area started. The one that affects us the most starts on Friday. So when do we start our new "school year"?  Today? Friday? Next Tuesday when PE starts? The Monday after Labor Day when Scouts starts? Or when I get our supplies, plan, and schedule at home set up?

In the past our marker has been HANCK's Not-Back-To-School party. There isn't one scheduled yet. That is partially due to so many different schedules in the area, partially due to the weather being so hot last week, and partially because no one has said, "It is at (this) park on (this) date."

Caterpillars

We have some swallowtail caterpillars! I got several a few days ago and thought I starved them, but 2 started moving when I put dill in their container. Add today's 2 or 3 and we might end up with quite a flock of butterflies in 3-4 weeks.

The boys seem quite interested. We have talked about their food, the life cycle stages, and different types of butterflies already. We googled to find some pictures and information about how to keep them. (Plastic baggies won't be sufficient for very long.)

It's That Time of Year Again

Back-to-School sales have been going on for a couple of weeks now, and my year-long discount at Sonlight is about to expire, so that must mean it's time for fall school planning.

The boys have really been enjoying listening to fiction lately. Both audio books and Daddy reading at bedtime have been quite popular. That's good because we will be doing more read alouds this year than in the past. Math has been more formal lately, too. We have some new supplies that will work well with our workbox-like system for organizing our day. And I plan to go shopping for cheap notebooks, paper and markers today or tomorrow.

The only activities that are definite at this point are Cub Scouts for DS2 & ALEKS math. Almost definite are Scouts for DS1, WWHM for pre-Lego Robotics, and PE somewhere. Sonlight will play a big role again; I will attend the monthly fellowship, and I'm sure we'll go on many of the field trips (that will be planned next month).

We have been doing PE with Angels Academy for the past 2 years and the boys have made some friends there, plus Coach Dave is really great. This year they will be in the same class, so we would only be there for 1 hour, and I would most likely have the time to myself. YMCA Homeschool PE is on the same days, and since I don't really want to double up, I have a dilemma. At the Y I will be able to work out, which I need to do, and it is much closer to our house. The cost for the Y even comes out slightly cheaper since it is twice a week all the time for both boys, plus my workouts would mean that our Y membership is getting used (unlike during the past several months).

Also, there is HANCK. I'm sure we will have plenty of opportunities for park days, field trips, and playdates with our HANCK friends. We usually start the year off in August with a Not Back To School party at one of the parks with fountains on the first day of public school.

What we've been doing

A couple recent discussions have led me to want to make a list of what we have been doing for educational activities. Some of the following are at home, some are with formal outside classes, and some are informally with friends.

DS1's "2nd grade"

• Sonlight Introduction to World History, Part 1 (Core 1) for History, Geography, Literature, and Bible
• Handwriting without Tears
• Sonlight Readers
• ALEKS Math (3rd grade Mathematics with Quick Tables)
• Singapore Math (1B and 2A)
• Math - various other critical thinking, logic, and gifted workbooks
• Sonlight science books & other Usborne science books
• Science projects & experiments from various sources
• PE - weekly classes, Track & Field meet
• Sports camps (6 weeks each) - cricket, soccer, dodgeball, tennis, gymnastics
• Photography camp (1 week)
• Dance - fall - intro to tap, jazz, and ballet, with recital
• Music - fall & spring, with recital
• Spanish - fall & spring
• Chemistry - fall (Real Science 4 Kids - Pre-level 1 Chem)
• Global Art - spring
• Cub Scouts - Earned Wolf rank & many beltloops, pins, & arrow points
• Bowling - spring
• Kid Zone (weekly Bible school) - fall
• Classical music study
• Banking, budgeting, and money management
• Technology - typing, word processing, spreadsheets, graphics
• Holiday celebrations
• Community Service - monthly Grocery Relief / Angel Food distribution
• Sleepovers (here, at a friend's, and camping out in a tent)
• Treasure hunts, codes, and mazes: both creating for friends & figuring them out
• Field trips (some might have been last year (1st grade), I'm going by memory not my calendar): Kansas Air Museum, a tractor factory, a bakery, the zoo, Exploration place, Pumpkin patch & corn maze, Cowtown, Wichita Historical Museum, Boise Discovery Center, Great Plains Nature Center

A mom comments on Davidson Young Scholars Program

I need to get around to filing our paperwork with Davidson. This past September we had both boys go through some testing at the Gifted Development Center in Denver.

Great Pains Nature Center field trip

The Wichita Sonlighters group went to Great Plains Nature Center today. We had a wide age range and about 10 families, so the group was split.

While Nathan took the older kids outside, Patty took the younger kids to a classroom for an up close and personal view of snakes and other reptiles and amphibians. (Later the groups traded places.) The kids got to touch the snakes, salamander, and lizard. Did you know that GPNC has no poisonous snakes because there are none native in this area?

Outside, we looked for wildlife. Our group saw a turtle, a woodpecker, a great blue heron, and many ducks. Everything else has started winter preparations. We also learned how to tell a male fir (or was it spruce?) from a female. The female is the one with the little blue seeds.

Inside, my kids enjoyed the Habitat Hall with its many hands-on displays about the great plains. We also picked up the current free "Faces of the Great Plains" poster of Colorful Songbirds.

My boys had been to the trails before, but never inside. This was my first time there. We will definitely come back again!

A positive story

I found this story, Home schooling the cast of Snoopy the musical : The New Yorker, via a homeschool email list. It's about homeschoolers and it's completely positive, wow!

Plans for this year

Today has been a big day for prep work! First I ordered Core 1 and LA 1 from Sonlight late last night, then this morning I went to orientation for new Wichita West Homeschool Ministries members.

I've been mapping out our fall schedule, and I can't believe how "booked" it is. But I actually think that is going to be good, especially for me.

* Monday morning is a new co-op for us. DS1 will have RS4K Pre-Chem & Spanish. DS2 will have FIAR & Music.
* Monday evenings are Scouts. DS2 wants to be a Tiger, and based on age we could let him do that. If he were in public school he would be in K this year, but since he will be 6 in September, we might be his First Grade year, in which case he would qualify. This COULD be a really good thing... a quiet evening at home alone for me!
* Tuesday morning is PE.
* Wednesday may be another music and/or art type of class. Last fall DS1 did dance & music at enCompass, but didn't want to repeat the dance. If they had something like music theatre for 7 yr olds, he would love it. They don't have their fall schedule out yet, though.
* Wednesday evening we have church activities
* Thursday DS1 will have sports camps. They are 6 weeks at a time, but he's only doing 3 of the 12 for the year, so most of the time we will be at home. These are with the same coach as PE.
* Friday may be a gymnastics or rock climbing class at the Y. The homeschool schedule isn't available yet, even though the regular Y class schedule is ready.
* Saturday morning is going to be "Science experiments with Dad" time. DH really wants to do it, so I'm good with that. We'll be using last year's Science K from Sonlight for now, then I'll order Science 1 when they either get finished with K or get bored and want new books and experiments.

Other curricula include Handwriting Without Tears and Math On The Level. DS1 is finishing up Math-U-See's Primer, but I think we will forgo Alpha and keep doing real-life math instead. That seems to work well at this point.

I've come to the conclusion that we will do AT MOST one more activity. DS1 took a photography class at City Arts in July, which he really enjoyed, so that's on the table, too. If I'm smart, we'll hold off and add something in the spring if we're itching for more, either art, music, or something at the Y, but certainly not all 3!

We also have Sonlight Family Fellowship field trips once a month. Those have been very enjoyable this past year, and I suspect we will participate in most of them.

Plus, in case we are ever just want to play with a bunch of friends that are not part of Sonlight or WWHM, HANCK (Homeschool Activity Network - Central Kansas) has people organize play dates sporadically yet frequently.

Postcard Swap followup

Since we are just about ready to start a new school year, I thought I'd post a followup to our Sonlight Postcard Exchange. It was mid-spring before we got the last of our sent out. We received cards from all but 13 states (and DC). It was loads of fun, and I'm sure we'll do it again when we are actually studying US history with Sonlight. :-)

Free Range Kids

I think I just found a new favorite blogger. This is about Life and Learning, so here's a link to go read -- I think it fits here.

My boys get to play outside without me there, but I do check out the windows often. They go to the mailbox without me to take "outgoing mail", but since they can't reach all the way to the back of the box, I have to go with them when we are getting the mail. We have a small park a block away. I can't see it from my house. So far we all go together, but there are 2 ways home, and I have let DS1 go "the other way" and meet us there. I can see the day when I will let them play at the park without me; maybe next fall when school is in session... it will be "recess" for them. :-)

Roadschooling, day 8

Day 8 was only on the road when we were returning the RV and running other errands, but we did have a very interesting conversation about language arts. DS2 asked, "What is the subject of Geronimo Stilton? I know that Mr. Morton is the subject of the Tale of Mr. Morton." (Mr. Morton is the subject of the Subject/Predicate Schoolhouse Rock grammar song.) We defined and discussed subject, characters (main characters and supporting characters), setting, and plot. I really think they both understood because we used various TV shows and books as our examples.

Roadschooling - days 6-7

Day 6

DS1 learned how to "break camp" this morning. He helped Daddy get things ready to go before we left, and he helped with the checklist, also. We spent a lot of time driving today. We had a couple of nice visits with DH's relatives and got 2 free meals, too. DSs got a bit antsy at both places, but they amused themselves fairly well. At DH's aunt & uncle's they invented a card game, using a cribbage "29" score board to keep score. At DH's cousin's, DS1 taught our hostess how to play Black Box, which is a logic/geometry game. Both boys also enjoyed playing a verbal game they call "Guess Why". It's based on the book Q is for Duck by Michael Folsom and Mary Elting. A sample is, "E is for food, guess why? Because you eat it."

Our only touristy activity was stopping at Carhenge, an amusing replica of Stonehenge, near Alliance, NE. After we found our campsite at Enders Reservoir state recreation area, we tried out DS2's telescope. I think something inside was out of place, because we couldn't see anything through the telescope. We could, however, see many many stars with the naked eye. Even without a star chart DH and I were able to identity several constellations. The boys recognized the big and little dippers.

Note to self: If driving an RV, stay on paved roads after dark OR check out the park/campground before spending 2 hours with relatives around dinnertime.
Another note to self: When backing an RV in the dark, on a narrow, bumpy, dirt road (because doing that is less treacherous than going forward), the outside guide needs a flashlight to shine on herself so the driver can see her hand directions.

Day 7

This morning was beautiful. We got to see the campground, too. :-) We ate breakfast outside and took our only family pictures (of all 4 of us) with our camera's timer. DS2 got to push the button because he could run fast enough to get into place. We had a picnic lunch at a rest area in NE and also stopped to run and play at our favorite I-70 rest area near Ellsworth, KS. Entertainment today consisted of Black Box, several different card games, and the CD Rhinoceros Tap.

Now we're happy to be home. The food (of which we took too much) is put back in the frig and pantry. Blankets are back on our beds. Everything else is in the living room, waiting for tomorrow.

Roadschooling - days 3-5

We are finishing up our 3rd day in the Black Hills, so even though I know Blogger will let me change the date on a post and I could do all 3 days separately, I'm going to write them all together since this is the first time I've had internet access since my last post. (All the campground manager had to do was reboot the DHCP server; I wish he would have tried that Saturday night.)

Day 3
Our morning in Scott's Bluff, Nebraska was rainy. We enjoyed the visitor's center at the National Monument, however the view from the top was practically nonexistent. Now we know what it's like to be inside a cloud (just like fog on the ground, really).

Both AAA and our GPS recommended going through Wyoming to get to Custer, SD, so we took that route. I drove that leg, and activities in the back of the RV included reading about the Pony Express, playing a game about the Pony Express with Daddy, and DS1 doing his new 100 piece (2-sided) jigsaw puzzle. We missed the last tour inside Jewel Cave, but the guys walked the Roof Trail in the drizzle anyway. I stayed inside and looked at the exhibits. DS1 recognized that the blackened tree trunks on the ground meant that there had been a fire. The Jasper Fire was in 2000, and the damage was still very evident. We discussed wild fires and "prescribed burns", one of which likely saved the Jewel Cave National Monument Visitor's Center.

The day ended by finding our campground, a campsite, and the playground. It was very muddy, but they boys had a great time anyway (of course)!

Day 4
Using a rental car, we were able to drive Needles Highway to Mt. Rushmore National Memorial. In Custer State Park we saw a herd of big horn sheep. Admission to Mt. Rushmore is free, however you have to pay to park in the garage. We saw a "remote parking" area on a map, however I didn't see any signage on how to get there as we arrived, and I don't know whether it is free or for a fee also. First we had lunch at the cafeteria, then we took the Presidential Trail which goes quite close to the base of the mountain. We left without spending time in the gift shop, due to thinking that the Crazy Horse Memorial would be closing early. It was open until 7, but it probably was a good thing to avoid a gift shop. At Crazy Horse we took a van ride to the base of the mountain and learned a little bit more about how it is being constructed. DH and I were there in 1995. At that time Crazy Horse's face was not complete. The guide said that in 5 years (or so) the general shape of the horse's head would be recognizable. DS2 seemed most excited by Crazy Horse and DS1 really liked Mt. Rushmore. It's really great to see them excited about seeing these places in person after having watched videos and read about them at home!

Day 5
Once again we missed the time for our planned cave tour. The trouble with computers, and in this particular case, a GPS, is that they only do exactly what you tell them to do. We put in "Wind Cave National Park" as our destination this morning, and that's where it took us. However, what we really wanted was the south entrance/visitor's center. So we took the scenic route, which turned about to be great for seeing wildlife, but it got us there past the first tour start time. So in exchange for seeing marmot, wild turkey, deer, bison, pronghorn, and prairie dogs, we got to change the order of the day's adventures.

After buying our Wind Cave tour tickets, we headed to Hot Springs and visited The Mammoth Site. I had packed food for a picnic lunch, but since I forgot the bread we opted for lunch at a local burger joint instead. Next we went to Evans Plunge, the world's largest indoor pool filled by natural warm springs. The springs were originally used by the Lakota Souix, then the pool was built over the springs in 1890 by Fred Evans. It was an expensive hour of swimming, but we only had to share the entire place with 2 other family groups. Ahh, the joys of "vacationing" when most people under 18 are in school! DS2 and I went down the water slide together. Even with a life jacket and practicing "going under", we both still came up coughing and sputtering. It didn't help that we started to lose our mat near the end, so I was more concerned with helping him back to the surface quickly than with keeping water out of my nose and mouth. DH got him up and out before he went down a 2nd time, but it was still more than he liked and he cried for a while. Ever resilient, he was ready to play and go down the kiddie slide just a few minutes later. Finally we returned to Wind Cave for the Garden of Eden tour. DS2 was particularly fidgety during the standing/listening/waiting part of the tour. Our guide let both boys lead the way a couple of times, and he also let them turn on/off the lights when we were in one of the rooms.

Dinner was back "at home" in the RV, then School House Rock DVD, and the last Milly-Molly-Mandy story for bedtime. Tomorrow we break camp and head south.

Roadschooling, day 2

Day 2 of our RV adventure started with a pajama breakfast, then getting dressed and a visit to the office/store. I think we were the only ones at the RV park last night, and the owner was quite chatty with us in the morning. She was nice enough, but the conversation reminded me of all of the well-meaning unsolicited advice that I got when pregnant the first time.

We packed up and headed west. I started reading Seaman's Journal to DSs to give them a little "westward expansion" background information. We stopped at Great Platte River Road Archway Monument near Kearney, NE and really enjoyed it. Did you know that all 4 of the major westward migration trails followed the Platte River through mid-Nebraska? The exhibit reminded me of Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City, OR, except the one in NE has information about the Oregon, Mormon, and California trails, plus the Pony Express. It also has information about the Lincoln transcontinental highway, the railroad, and fiber optic communication. Plus, since the monument spans I-80, there are radar guns upstairs and you can see how fast the traffic is going. DS1 chose a smashed penny for his souvineer, and DS2 bought an airplane.

The rest of our day included driving in rain, seeing Chimney Rock from the road (we missed the visitor's center by about 10 minutes), and meeting relatives in Scotts Bluff for a late dinner. We will spend time at Scotts Bluff National Monument tomorrow before heading north.

Roadschooling, day 1

We left KS this afternoon for our weeklong adventure in an RV. This is a test run, to see if we all like it as much as we imagine. DH and I have dreamed of travelling in an RV for years. Our boys started asking about it after watching a Caillou episode (on PBS Kids) that included an RV a year or two ago.

This morning they built an electric train track at my sister's house while DH and I had the walk-through at the RV rental place. Then we all met at home and packed up the RV. We had been staging things in one room for about a week, and we all set out clothes last night, so except for the kitchen supplies and food it went very quickly.

We bought some new car games as well as some maps and travel/map games to bring along. We have already spotted 10 state license plates! Each boy chose some books, dvds, and toys, too. Tonight for bedtime we read from one of our Sonlight books, Milly-Molly-Mandy, that is usually a breakfast story book.

Today has been a very good birthday for me!

School Lately

We have been doing formal "schoolwork" a bit more lately, so I decided it was time to post an update.

We have a daily schedule (no times, just a list) that we use about half of the time. It includes several times of "Sonlight - read books" (which are me reading aloud), handwriting, math, DS1 reading to me, a physical activity break between some of the seat/table work, and lots of play time. We also go to outside PE and dance/music classes for DS1. (DS2 was enrolled but has not participated... maybe next year.)

DS1 seems to particularly like using the list to go through things during the day. He gets to choose which Sonlight books we read, then we often have an "extra" non-SL book, too. Currently he is on a Geronimo Stilton kick.

Having the list helps me, too. I am planning on using the SL Instructor's Guide a bit more and have added a "Sonlight - Mom chooses" item to our list. I don't think we'll completely convert to using the Sonlight schedule (at least not in the near future), but adding a bit more structure is going well for everyone. DS2 is even sitting with us for reading sometimes, and he has done a little in his handwriting book (Pre-K HWT) and Developing the Early Learner.

Life around here was very unfocused for a while after Grandpa died. Adding the school day structure has helped stabilize us and give us focus.

Roads to Learning

Roads to Learning has craft and activity ideas that are good for supplementing Sonlight cores. If we ever feel the need for things to "do" to go with our Sonlight books, I will take a look here.

Gravity vs. Anti-gravity

We had a rousing game of "Gravity vs. Anti-gravity" this afternoon in the driveway. To the uninformed bystander it probably looked similar to a make-shift game of field hockey.

Gravity defended the garage, and Anti-gravity defended the street. (I was back-up to Anti-gravity to reduce the time-outs needed to retrieve the ball from the street.) Tennis rackets were used to hit a soft ball back and forth on the driveway. A line going across the driveway divided it into sides. The grass was out-of-bounds. No score was kept, but each side rejoiced when a goal was made. Good blocks and good shots were also celebrated by both sides.

My boys came up with the names based on the slope of the driveway and who had gravity on their side and who had to hit against gravity. I thought it was so clever!

Death

Our last week has been spent in a field study of Christian American customs surrounding death and funerals. My dad, who lived with us, died last week. The funeral service was today. I spent a lot of time the past 2 weeks at the hospital, and the boys came up for a visit the morning that their grandpa died. We have had local family over a lot, many friends have brought food, and out of town relatives stayed with us last night.

When we went to the mortuary for a viewing Sunday, both boys wanted to see Grandpa's body. (I wasn't sure they would since DS2 did not want to see him in the hospital, and DS1 just looked in from the doorway.) DS1 asked where his legs were. (The casket was closed at the foot half.) DS2 opened it to check; I guess he didn't believe me when I told him they were down there in the rest of the box.

DS1 seems to understand in a little more mature way than DS2. DS1 asks about which parts go to heaven and which parts go in the ground, trying to get a grip on what death means for body and spirit. On the way back to the church from the cemetery DS2 said, "I want Grandpa to come back," so at least he understands the part that Grandpa isn't coming home again.

My sister told me that she used an analogy of an empty turtle shell to tell her girls about our dad's body in the casket. It looks mostly like the person, but it's not the same because they are not inside anymore.

I think we will be taking up the many offers from our local homeschooling friends for play dates. Some will be for all of us, and some will be just for the boys since I am executor of my dad's estate and will have some business to do in the next few weeks/months.

Subjects and schedule

It's been a long time since my last update, but of course we have all still been learning!

Today we worked on labeling some magnets that came with a schedule board. It had some pre-labeled subject magnets, some blank subject magnets, and a lot of blank white "time" magnets. We are going to use the time ones after the fact. We labeled one "daily" for things DS1 or I want to do everyday, one "Monday" for Scouts, one "Tuesday" for PE, and one "Wednesday" for Kid Zone (our church program).

Our plan is to put all of the non-specific ones in a column, then work through it at our pace (using the arrow). When we get to the bottom we will perhaps change the order, perhaps not, then start again. This way we will have a little more structure and be sure to touch on everything in some time frame. DS1 had lots of fun coming up with other "subjects" to put on the colored magnets and also in deciding how to arrange them on the mini-frig in our basement.

His first REPORT

Today several homeschooling families that we know went to our local zoo. We were later than the set meeting time, but we happened to find some of them anyway. After we got home, I asked DS1 to write a report (or story) about our trip. This was his first ever report. He dictated it to me, and I typed it in Word. It was difficult for me to not correct some grammer and sentence structure, but I didn't. The parenthesis are all at his direction, and most of the sentence ending/beginning places are also. I tried to make paragraphs as he was dictating, but he didn't like that. He said I could change it when we were finished, but by then I had decided to leave it as one. Names have been changed because it was just to awkward to use initials or something else as a privacy measure.

The Things We Saw At the Zoo

By Jack Smith
November 12, 2008

We saw some of our homeschool friends, Laura, Vic, Donna, Doug, and Lisa. We saw them on the bridge to the Children’s Farm. We went to the penguins. Brad was a teeny bit taller than the King penguin. I was taller than the King penguin but shorter than the Emperor penguin. After the penguins we went to the Reptiles and Amphibians (it was really Amphibians and Reptiles). I saw green A’s (with a frog hole in it) and red R’s (with another strange hole that I can’t remember). We found buttons that made mini movies and sounds. We saw some flaps to see what was different and the same about humans and reptiles. Mindy and Brad went outside before me and the others did. Brad got to climb and play on the Komodo Dragon statue while me and the others looked around a little more. We stopped by some things that we have already seen before. A little while later we finally went out and found Brad on the Komodo Dragon statue. Then me and the others got on (not the grownups, though, they were too big anyway). There was no room for Brad once all of the other kids got on. Mindy suggested he could sit next to me on the tail, but he didn’t want to. It looked like there was no room on the tail anyway. Next we went to the jungle building it was right next door to the reptiles and amphibians (just like the reptiles and amphibians was next door to the penguins). We saw a giant hole in the ceiling with water coming out of it like it was raining (the hole was not the whole ceiling). Under the hole there was a rock. There was the most water falling in the middle. When Brad went through the exit he went straight to the entrance without waiting for Mindy to come and him telling her. Me and Mindy went looking for him. I ran and he started to walk so I caught up to him and held his hand so when he got to the exit he wouldn’t go through again. I tried to make him sit on the bench after I let go of his hand, but he ran too fast and almost went outside, but one of the other moms caught him. A little while later Mindy came through the exit of the jungle (that was not the exit of the whole building). After the jungle we went to North America (it was not far but not next door). We saw the grizzly bear statue. I almost climbed onto the head but the back was too slippery and I couldn’t reach its ears to help me. Next we found ourselves at the boat dock. Vic and Laura had a snack. I thought we could feed the ducks and fish. Mindy didn’t have a quarter; Donna had a quarter but only one and she used it on the box on the left bridge. We walked past the giraffes. The others went through the Australia and South America exhibit while we headed toward the playground. Mindy and Brad looked at the hippos while I looked at the map. After a little while I stopped to see the hippos. Mindy told me that Brad had seen the hippos over the water and under the water two times. Then we started to go to the playground again. We saw that there was a dead end. When we came back we saw the elephants just coming out of their indoor home. The others were probably at the lions (because Laura wanted to see them). Mindy didn’t want to go to the lions but we went to the orangutans and chimpanzees anyway. After that we went to the exit (or you could call it a gift shop). We looked for a get well gift for Grandpa. We found some grabbers but Mindy suggested we better get one next time we go to the zoo.

Records

It's a good thing that we live in a state with few homeschooling requirements. If I had to document everything (like the box-checker side of me wishes I did), then we'd be in trouble. I have 4 places that I sometimes use to describe school: here, my Sonlight Instructor's Guide, Home School Tracker + software, and our A Record of the Learning Lifestyle book. My last post here, on 10/23, was the most recent documentation that I have done. But never fear, we have been doing some awesome learning! Life has been interesting, exciting, and yes, sometimes even boring, but a day hasn't gone by where at least one of us, if not all 5 of us, haven't learned something.

In no particular order, here are some recent activities and topics of conversation:

• Homeschoolopoly - money counting, financing (borrowing & interest), percentage
• vocabulary - often from listening to books on tape such as Geronimo Stilton and Magic Tree House
• a 1880's county fair
• science (particularly physics) on a playground (several times)
• reading (them, not just me)
• School House Rock Jr live performance
• Tiger Cub Scouts
• "What's a coffin?" which led to quite a discussion about death, the body and soul/spirit, and heaven
• "Is heaven in outer space?"
• dancing
• a Halloween party
• making music with various household items not originally intended to be musical instruments
• watching plowing and planting
• watching houses being built
• meeting and welcoming new neighbors
• creating a maze
• trip to a pumpkin patch with a corn maze and a milo maze
• decorating pumpkins for Halloween
• coming up with a "not scary" costume
• trick-or-treating
• helping Grandpa with his wheelchair and walker regularly at his weekly outpatient appointment and at the dentist
• standing in line for 20 minutes (and staying fairly calm and well behaved!)
• recycling
• calling a friend on the telephone
• memorization
• discussing even and odd numbers
• building levels in a computer game
• taking photos
• having our portraits taken
• eating out at a fancy restaurant
• measuring and pouring ingredients for lunch
• discovering a new channel on TV (Discovery Kids)
• helping at a book fair
• staying in church instead of going to the nursery
• Wednesday night Kid Zone (without a parent anywhere near)
• jigsaw puzzles
• printing
• I Spy books and computer game
• creating elaborate train track layouts
• loading and unloading the dishwasher
• setting and clearing the table
• putting away clean clothes
• finding a lost remote control
• playing well with kids they'd never met before
• Speed Stacks (stacking cups)
• negotiating with each other (to avoid Mom taking the toy, TV, etc. away)
• picnic on the trampoline in the basement
• movie night
• spelling
• creating a Game Club (with rules and signs)
• teaching an uncle how to play Sorry!
• inviting people to eat with us
• P.E. class
• video games
• wishing on the first star of the night
• dismantling the bedroom furniture (We're still working on putting it back together and making the bed!)
• Giving Mom the best hard job in the whole world!

Food Pyramid

This evening at dinner, DS1 taught me about the food pyramid. He learned about it at Tiger Cub Scouts Monday evening. We hadn't talked about it since DH and he discussed it on the way home Monday night. DS1 told me the names of the different food categories, how many servings were suggested in each, what foods went in the categories, and what the shape of the category was on the pyramid. I asked him to draw it for me, so he did, including labeling each place with the initial of the category as he told me the category name. He also analyzed dinner, telling us in which category each food on the table belonged.

I am so pleased and impressed that he remembered so much detail from something that he learned 2 days ago and hadn't discussed since. I'm also very impressed with how well he articulated that knowledge, both to me and to Grandpa later in the evening. I am pretty sure that this was his first exposure to the food pyramid. If I am wrong on that, then it was at least 2 years ago when he was attending daycare when he was 4.

When dinner was over, I told him that we had just had a science lesson, and he had been the teacher! I wrote on the back of his food pyramid diagram, describing the discussion, and I will save that one for his "records."

P.E. class

DS2 participated in PE class today! The past few weeks we have had PE outside at a park, and DS2 was more interested in the playground equipment than the class. However, it rained very hard on Monday, so the coach decided to go to a gym this week. We were the first ones there, so the boys had a chance to just play around before class. I asked DS2 if he wanted to play games in PE class with the other kids or stay over to the side with me, and he chose games. I reminded him that he needed to listen to Coach Dave, do what he said, and play nice. I was so proud of him! He was a little distractable at the beginning, but by mid-class he was playing well, following directions, and no more distracted than any of the other 4-6 year olds. Yea!

What a great day

We went to Old Cowtown for a 1870's style county fair this morning. The boys liked the midway games, bowling, water pump, sack swing, and May Pole the best. They also noticed/saw an organ grinder, the blacksmith, a seamstress, the saloon, upstairs bedrooms over a shop, the carpenter shop, a hand-pump train car, the telegraph office, the Wheel of Fortune, the Tent of Wonders, and the modern fire trucks.

We had a map and used it to find a few specific things, then the boys circled all of the places that we visited. Before we went in, they did a good job of staying close to me and out of trouble while I was collecting money and checking in the other homeschoolers in our group. After we were finished we stopped by the funny airplane/cow "barnstorming" sculpture near the parking lot.

We drove through McDonald's to pick up lunch and ate a picnic in the basement. In the afternoon they taught me how to play SuperCow, which is a pc video game that we got from Nick Arcade. Later in the afternoon we played outside, drawing in the driveway, then shooting hoops, then we created a bowling game. The target was the bricks between our 2 garage doors. Then scoring rings (expanding diameters) were added. The scoring and rules became more interesting and complex as we went along. The best part was that they were cooperating! They were being active and creative and cooperative, all at the same time.

When Daddy came home, they explained the game to him, and all 4 of us played a round. DS1 wrote down the scores in columns (some individual scores were several added together because if you got a double digit hit, then you got another turn), then added all 3 numbers together.

After dinner we had "movie night" with Toy Story and popcorn.

If we were a "subject area" focused HS, I bet there wouldn't be an area that wasn't touched today.

Tiger Cub Scout

DS1 is now a Tiger Cub Scout.

He and DH went to their first pack meeting tonight. (We went to a picnic this summer to meet some of the other people.) Apparently there were quite a few more people there than the leadership expected: 47 boys plus parents. Tigers always have a parent attend with, but the older boys attend den meetings on their own.

There are 8 boys in DS1's den. We were told that they like to keep it around 6, so if any more boys join they will probably split into 2 Tiger dens. The den leader is a man. Several of the Tigers had moms with them. I'm glad it was a mix.

DS1 was very excited to show me his new neckerchief. He seemed to have had a good time tonight even though the first 30-45 minutes were announcements and awards that didn't really interest him. The next several weeks will be den meetings. The pack meets as a whole once a month, usually.

I remember attending pack meetings with my dad and brothers when I was quite young. My dad was the Cubmaster at that time. He has served the Boy Scouts in just about every role in the troop, I suspect. I hope there are some things that are appropriate for younger siblings to tag along. I'd like to introduce DS2 to Scouting a little more over the next 2 years as DS1 gets going.