Suburban Homestead

How We Homeschool - October 26 - 31

IN THE CAR THIS WEEK

Magic Treehouse audiobooks per the 6yo's request

BOOKS BEING LOVED

11yo read: Half Brother

8yo reading: This week she devoured Cleopatra in Space, finished Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and started Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. 

6yo: working on learning to reading, Mom and Dad reading him Magic Tree House books. 

MONDAY

9:00 - 10:30 8yo has private art lesson with M. This morning is a still life.

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool in the Forest for 6yo + 11yo. When I drop them off, they are discussing what causes fog to lay low like it is on the lake that morning. 

11:00 - 2:00 8yo and I work on math, language arts, and memorizing her CC timeline, following the lessons online. Each time I work with her, we drill down a little deeper and research the subject on one of the cards. Today we did Gandhi, and I pulled up this great song, Ah Ahimsa, by The Deedle Deedle Dees. It was perfect for her and she danced and couldn't stop singing it. To help her memorize the words, and to also work on penmanship, I printed the lyrics out on a custom cursive worksheet and had her copy them. 

6yo Group Report: "Hello Dirt Time parents, We had another beautiful day of dirt time yesterday, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be out exploring on the land with your children. Because it is Halloween week as well as full moon, we planned an extra sneaky day and were receiving strange clues as to poncho's whereabouts through a walkie talkie. We found conch and Dane hidden together beneath the spillway! Our opening game helped us review hazards (naming a hazardous plant or animal was the only thing defense against being eaten by hungry humans), and then, in opening circle, we had a brief discussion about changes that are happening this season as well as a challenge to notice one thing we'd never seen before in this often visited morning circle spot as well as to report back with a new sound we're hearing now that we weren't hearing a month ago. Maybe you will notice some this week! / Some of our group were hungry right after morning circle so we snacked at the picnic tables, sharing riddles and mysteries, and then headed out on our hike to pumpkin ridge. Once we got to a nice woodland at the top of pumpkin ridge, we saw Mia and the 8 musketeers running by us. We decided to try to sneak up and follow them, following them all the way back down the hill to where they were sitting pretending to have lunch and story. At the end of the day we learned, to our great amusement, that they had been sneakily following us all morning up to that point, and gave them kudos on their great stealth! We headed back up the ridge to where our backpacks were and where I had set up a blindfolded string walk. The children got to follow a string through the woods using all of their senses besides sight and trusting themselves, their intuition (and trusting that I had laid out a safe course) to the courses end. Everyone accomplished it without peeking and were also great at remaining quiet so other kids could enjoy the sounds of the forest. / We had lunch and heard a Native American story about birds migrating south and a turtle that convinced them to take him along only to fall from the stick he was clamping in his mouth and end up spending the winter beneath the mud in the lake. We wondered what the turtles that live at Lake Lagunitas will do for the winter. We'll have to watch and see! / We next played a game of coyote trackers in which one half of the group stayed with Dane and the other half came with me to hide as a pack of coyotes. Once we were hidden, we made a call and the trackers had to find us just using sound. Once found we switched roles and found the new group of coyotes. / Many of the children were tired from all of the up-hill hiking and were ready for some down-time and free play. We found a wonderful oak tree with many low branches that somehow fit our whole group, and they organized themselves into an imaginary world of animal friends. It was quite lovely (and funny) to watch how they played, and I was so happy with how well everyone was playing together and including each other. It feels like our group is really beginning to get and become harmonious! / We hiked back with enough time for the children to lead Dane and I in a blindfolded string walk, which they loved, and to have a few more minutes of unstructured play before closing circle."

11yo Group Report: "Greetings everyone, Today was a sneaky day of sorts, drawing upon the energy of Halloween and the full moon, and samhain (festival of the dead, that marks the shift from the autumn equinox towards the winter solstice - more on that next week).  We managed to review hazards for the "hungry humans" during a game this morning, and then headed off into the forest.  A short stroll to Bon Tempe for snack got us going in the direction of our stealthy plan to hide from Mia's group.  There also began the adventure/mystery of the blow dart gun (more details momentarily)... let's just say our crafting for Water Dragon Credits (our new alternative currency for multi-person trades) is expanding beyond Dirt Time to home.  There was much excitement to try blowing the darts, before continuing on our journey.  A quick game at "Dragon Beach" before it was time to hide from Mia's group.  A delay gave us time to eat lunch and plan, until we heard them coming through the walkie talkie.  Covered in mud or leaves or branches, we disappeared into the forest.  It was only our bird songs that clued them in after a good 5-10 minutes, and we slowly got found one by one (except Finn who jumped out screaming - covered in mud, don't forget - to scare them…it worked). / Up stream, we found our way up to a rocky outcropping for a sit spot/chill spot.  After 10 minutes of solo silence we came back together to share observations and feelings - what we heard and how it felt in our place.  By then it was time to make our way back, somehow finding a previously unknown forest of Buckeye - perfect for our fire kits… so we carried a couple dead branches back to work with in the near future."

3:30 - 4:30 8yo has dance class while her brothers finish up their math homework in the car (and on the sidewalk).

We eat dinner out and on our walk home we notice that our local library is open until 8pm!!! :) We stop in and stock-up on all sorts of goodness. While we were planning on reading The Watsons Go to Burmingham, 1963 for our next tween boys book club, I find Half Brother and am instantly hooked by page two. 11yo grabs it from me and won't give it back. A book about a 13yo boy who's family raises a chimp - so perfect for his mindset. After reaching out to the other moms of like-minded boys in our book club, we make a switch. Half Brother it is! 

TUESDAY

9:00 - 11:30 Kids meet one on one with their amazing math tutor - a true kid whisperer. While each on is in the other room with her, I work with them individually on things like phonics, writing a letter to a grandparent/cousin, chores, etc. When I have the two youngest together, we work on our CC timeline song and back up the memorization with short history lessons on YouTube. Because when you have to sing about Mesopotamia and Sumer, it's best to know what the heck it is you are actually singing about! From here I will solidify their learning by quizzing them - "Who invented the wheel?" "The Sumerians!" "Who contributed the arch to architecture?" "The Sumerians!" "Who first spun pottery?" "The Sumerians!"

 

1:30 - 3:30 Drop in art class for the 6 and 8yo.

2:00 - 3:00 Music lesson for the 11yo

WEDNESDAY

9:00 - 2:00 All three kids rotate in and out of Math Club/ Art Appreciation / Maker Science, based on their age.

3:00 - 4:00 Parkour / Gymnastics

THURSDAY

9:15 - 12:00 Classical Conversations for 6 and 8yo

 

9:30 - 3:00 All boys nature camp for the 11yo. The report: 

"We drove up to Azalea Hill, which seems like a little knoll of Bolinas-Fairfax Road.  Once up top, where we walked for snack, the view over the lakes towards Mt. Tam and epic vistas sweeping east to north were amazing.  As everyone ate, I oriented them to our previous trips - from the Labyrinth on Loma Alta to Hawk Hill to Tennessee Valley Ridge to Muir Beach to Rock Springs - wrapping back to the north side of Mt. Tam.  I led them in imagining how a huge water droplet from our van last week would have come all the way down the Rock Springs trail and then down to Alpine & Kent Lakes all the way to Tomales Bay - as compared to the much smaller watershed of Redwood Creek to Muir Beach. / We split in two groups to explore the "Oak-Chaparral" as one of them put it.  While my group descended into the forest edge overlooking Alpine & Bon Tempe to talk about and play a game enacting Sudden Oak Death and some of the ideas around causes (all inspired by a question about moss and lichen on trees), the younger crew stayed high on the hill for a bit, checking out the oaks and even a little swing… / We played in the trees (and tried our best to avoid poison oak) for a while before coming out to an overlook for lunch.  Leaving our packs there, we descended the trail all the way down to Alpine Lake to explore the LOW water levels.  There, frogs were chased and a turtle was caught - good one Nikos.  Exploring the water's edge we came up with the question: How can one tell the difference between river otter scat and raccoon scat, if they've both been eating crawdads? Still a mystery, but I'll bring some books to help that riddle get solved. / With shoes, or shoe-less, we explored the banks of lake and spent a little time chillin with that turtle until it's head came out and we could see that it was a Red-Eared Slider, a non-native invasive turtle who is encroaching upon our native Western Pond Turtle.  What to do? / Meanwhile, the younger crew had practiced stealth skills and then snuck up on us while we were deep in our game.  Embracing their wild, they went unnoticed (except by a couple of us).  As they circled back around the knoll, they found lots of manzanita bushes and gathered up some berries.  They also took on the task of processing some of the acorns my crew found last week - teamwork.  They cracked and pounded them in a mortar & pestle - I've since leached and dried them, so we'll make some sort of tasty treat together someday soon. / We reconvened at the top of the hill under the oaks to share story about our day and our highlights.  Back in the van, we shared more specific stories and sightings for animals and animal sign we saw throughout the day."

FRIDAY

We hosted a weird science party at our house today! I purchased a Steve Spangler Halloween Science Party kit, and invited some of our favorite people over for some creepy experiments. My favorite were the vampire veins, but all of the activities were a huge hit!

 

How We Homeschool - October 19 - 25

BOOKS BEING LOVED

11yo read: The Outsiders (for tween boy book club), The Fort, and into The Titanic. All three books were selected by me, so I'm thrilled he took to all of them. 

8yo reading: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Thank the universe for this series - my daughter's love of reading is now in full force. I am also reading to her, Anne of Green Gables at night. She also listened to a Playaway, Thickety, The Path Begins. 

6yo: working on reading

UK Trip - Day 17 - Gypsy Caravaning in the (almost) Lake District

Last spring, one of the first things I found for us to do on our road trip was a three day gypsy caravan trip in the Lake District with Wanderlust. Having read Danny the Champion of the World with all three kids, it felt like a dream come true!

 

UK Trip - Day 16 - Augill Castle, The Forbidden Corner + A Boar Feeding

One of my (many) goals for this trip was to stay in a castle. It seemed easy enough. It's the UK for goodness sake, no shortage of castles here! Maybe I didn't search it right because for a long time, I couldn't find anything that met my criteria: fun interiors and not a rip-off. (You'd be surprised how many drab hotels are operating out of castles these days. Jeez...) After my hundredth google search I came across the Augill Castle in Cumbria. It was everything I'd hoped to find in a castle stay with a price tag that wouldn't have us packing up and heading home early. We set off from Glasgow on Wednesday and made our way down. 

 

UK Trip - Day 15 - Wordless Wednesday - Glasgow to Cumbria

 

UK Trip - Day 13 - Highland Folk Museum to Glasgow

This post is dedicated to all those incredible humans who get the urge to dedicate mass amounts of time and money to restoring some tiny part of our history on a local level. We owe these folks a huge amount of thanks for their gifts to our cultures.  The Highland Folk Museum is the perfect example. Founded 80 years ago by Dr. Isobel F. Grant, this living museum continues to grow well beyond the collection Grant built in her lifetime.

UK Trip - Day 12 - The Train to Malaig

The town of Fort William isn't anything spectacular, but the drive leading up to it certainly is. (It seems like it might actually be hard to pick a bad drive in Scotland. So far, all have been spectacular!) We came here to catch the train to Mallaig, on the west coast. The ride roundtrip is do-able in an afternoon and boasts some of the best landscape in all of Scotland. We had hoped to ride The Jacobite, made famous by Harry Potter as the train to Hogwarts, but missed the summer schedule and had to settle for the Scotland Rail ticket. No terrible difference really - same tracks, less romantic train, fraction of the price. 

UK Trip - Day 11 - Plockton to Fort Williams

We left our magical town of Plockton today. In our two days of touring the Isle of Skye I've yet to see a town sweeter than this one. Tucked down deep at the base of tree covered hills, and only accessed by a long, winding, single-lane road, this tiny village took good care of us on our first days in Scotland. But before departing, we had to take a seal tour with famed local, Calum.

 

UK Trip - Day 10 - Isle of Skye

 

UK Trip - Day 9 - Isle of Skye

Our first three nights in Scotland were spent in the tiny, picture-perfect fishing village of Plockton, with easy access to the Isle of Skye. Our house, our views, our temporary fantasy world, were all just perfect. I only wish we could have stayed longer and done a little kayaking, hiking, and maybe some relaxing. As it turned out, we spent our mornings and evenings in the house and surrounding village, but during our two full days, we drove down (and up) to the Isle of Skye.

UK Trip - Day 8 - Wordless Wednesday - London to The Highlands

 

UK Trip - Day 7 - A 6yo's Birthday @ Kidzania, BB Tea Bus Tour + Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Musical

Tiny Buns has knocked-out another year! We celebrated his big day with four surprises that could only happen in London!

UK Trip - Day 6 - The Making of Harry Potter at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London

 

UK Trip - Day 5 - Hotel Chocolat Kid's Workshop, Tower Bridge + Medieval Banquet

 

UK Trip - Day 4 - The London Eye + South Bank

UK Trip - Day 3 - Sketch for tea, Charles Dickens Museum, Jamie Oliver's for dinner, Matilda Musical for dessert

Afternoon tea at Sketch was at the top of my *Can't Wait* list for London. I'll go anywhere to see a fabulous interior, and I had read that Sketch was said to have the best one in the whole of London!

UK Trip - Day 2 - London's Regency Cafe, Double Decker Bus, Harrods, Laduree + Churchills War Rooms

This trip marks a new start in travel for me. I decided I couldn't carry my prized 3.5lb, 6D Canon camera around with me all day anymore and invested in a FujiX30 instead. I was very nervous about switching so close to our departure - nervous I might compromise the memories I was responsible for collecting. A friend of mine with deep, digital intuition, heard my concerns and came over to help me navigate my latest *screen*. Within an hour, I felt ready for adventures in pocket photography. So far, I'm very happy with the results!

Here are some shots from our second day in London, starting at the famed Regency Cafe, said to have the best English Breakfast in the whole of London. 

 

Our Winter Break

I hesitate to say we've been blessed with beautiful weather this winter. As much as we enjoyed the past week for all it's warm, spring-like days, it no doubt came with a cost: my East Coast friends are being pummeled with relentless storms. My girlfriend in Boston and I kept swapping pictures of scenes outside our windows. She had a two story pile of snow engulfing her house last week, and complained of all the liquor stores being dry. My pictures were of clear blue skies, and my only complaint was that the rope from our hammock was still a little stiff. Truth be told, us Californians all know deep down inside that this summer will bring a deeper drought awareness than any of us care to acknowledge this month. 

So...like I was saying, we've been blessed with beautiful weather this winter.

We spent our winter break in West Marin with friends, observing the local wildlife and digging in the sand...

...we played on Mother Nature's playground...

...and marveled and the wonders, both big and small. 

We got to boogie board in the Pacific, 100 feet away from a grey whale that was swimming surprisingly close to shore...

 

...and we ran through the tall grass, playing tag and hiding-go-seek while the dogs ran free on the beach (until the ranger came and asked us to put them on leash). 

We hiked everyone's favorite trail...

...and were kicking ourselves that we'd never done it before. 

West Marin was beautiful last week. It's been a tradition in my family for several generations, and we are making sure that continues for at least one more. 

How We Homeschool - Feb 2 - 6

MONDAY

9:30 - 3:00 Homeschool in the forest!

Pack leader reports from this week:

5yo: 

"We had another excellent day with the Pup Pack on Monday.  We brought our Little Bird song to life by making "molasses candy" pine cone bird feeders for the birds, which the children greatly enjoyed. Along our way we discovered "Otter-Slide hill" where the children experienced the exhilaration of being in a body and picking up speed, and we practiced our proprioception and balance on the low fences near the parking lot.   (Who needs playground equipment?)

We did a lot of exploring, near Bon Tempe this time, and were all filled with wonder by the many things we discovered--which cones fell from which trees, what might live deep in the grass, what was making that (croaking) sound, how beautiful are the acorns of the Live Oak tree, and who are all these different birds?  Hummingbird was the one to come and greet the children from up close this week in another magical bird encounter.  

 

We played several games and told two stories during the course of our days journey.  The children all seem to be becoming quite comfortable and happy with the teachers, with each other and with the land.  All in all, we had a wonderful day!"

8yo: 

"We had a great morning out. We practiced our awareness tools of fox walking, owl eyes and deer ears. Humans tend to be sight dominant so we tried to train our other senses. We did a blind fold walk as well. The kids set up one for me as well, which was so great :) I ended up blindfolded in a fort after crossing a bridge that only opened by secret password. 

 

When we weren't blindfolded, we continued our search for wildflowers. We have a challenge going with all the dirt time clans for which clan can find the most different types of wild flowers. This week we spotted hounds tongues, milkmaids, wild violets, thistles and more. 

We came back early to make a fire and dye out of the Jack-O-Lantern mushrooms we found last week. Unfortunately maggots had eaten through them! Yuck! Though Elena, being the sweetheart she is, was able to think even maggots were cute. Anyway, no dye for us and though we attempted making a friction fire, we ran out of time and that wasn't meant to be either. Oh well better luck next time on that. With the rainy forecast maybe fire will happen this Monday."

10yo: N/A

Came home and had a Poke-Monday where we played the 5yo's game based on Pokemon: "Tiny Buns is on a serious self-directed project. It's been so cool to watch him develop this idea all on his own. It's a Pokemon game. He designs and names the characters, and then he has me write down all their info on the card. Two players each draw cards and select an action for destruction. A third player serves as judge and decides who wins each round. Super cute."

TUESDAY

8:30 - 10:00 Math tutor for all kids. 

 

While his sister meets with math tutor for her 45 minute block, he kicks it up on the couch with the a great history magazine. 

10:30 - 12:00 Language arts for the big kids. 

Language arts was a semi-disaster today. Beanz did great, 10yo shut down and refused to get creative. It sparked all sort of discussion and thinking. This set-up may not be working for him and it might be time for a change. 

1:00  Tiny Buns to prek and the big kids and I do a 30 minute walk. These quick circles around the 'hood have proved interesting. Sparked from a last ditch effort to work more movement into my day, I see it morphing into a time of peaceful socializing for the two of them. Their relaxed chit-chat is not an everyday thing. In fact, it's more of a gift, these days. I love that it has been happening on Tuesdays between 1 and 1:30.

2:15 - 3:15 Music for the 10yo while Beanie and I enjoy a cookie down the street, followed by a visit to the local library for more books, audio and videos. 

WEDNESDAY

9:00 - 10:20 Art appreciation for Beanie, where she studies Grandma Moses. The boys go to their *Maker* class where they make these:

 

Art inspired by her surroundings, just like Grandma M. 

10:30 - 11:00 We stop for toast on our way home

11:00 - 12:15 At home, working on math games and cursive

12:30 - 2:30 Shakespeare for homeschoolers, taught out of a neighbors house. Phenomenal instructor! They begin with Much Ado About Nothing, everyone is cast and gets their lines. The production has begun!

1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns does prek

2:25 - 4:15 Private art instruction for the 10yo with M. He was jealous of his sister's one-on-one so he asked for some too. He wants to love art, but get discouraged. I hope the hour-and-a-half with this sweet man helps open him up more to his creative side.

3:00 - 5:30 Beanie to her grandma's house for home economics - baking and needlepoint 

THURSDAY

9:00 - 10:30 Beanie takes one-on-one down the street with a local personality and artist. Today they study impressionism and paint a bouquet. 

All Day The 10yo is doing his second day a week in nature, this one is all boys and they venture out to different areas of the county for hiking and games. While out today, he and his BFF forage for mushrooms which they take home to said friend's house for a dinner of linguine with sausage and chanterelles. It's the first time he admits to enjoying mushrooms. :)

A message from his pack leader:

"This week we made a return trip to Madrone Canyon/Baltimore Canyon. It is a magical place indeed.  With snack by the redwood bridges, we enjoyed simply being in the redwoods - moments from the entrance. 

The redwood cave we found last time turned out to house a full skeleton which a few boys and Daniel assembled for almost a good half-hour, via flashlight.  Out in the light, the rest of us were playing camouflage games in the redwoods and finding staffs.  We ate in our still-standing shelter from our rainy day visit, proud of its durability.  

 

Some boys had "itchy feet" ready to run to the waterfall to check it out, so Daniel went ahead with half the group, while I 'sauntered' with 4 boys, looking for newts (finding multiple Ensatina salamanders) and enjoying a slow pace checking out the land and its mysteries - from wildflowers to madrone staffs.  We finished our walk with an upstream scramble to the base of the waterfall where it trickled over the edge.  I bet it's flowing pretty hard now...

 

We regathered together and began our journey back to our packs.  Some of us stopped in the redwood to check out the work of our osteologists who assembled the skeleton.  A closing circle sharing highlights and we headed to the van...

 

With all this rain we'll  continue our exploration of watersheds and the forces that shape them along with the life that emerges out of them."

10:30 - 11:00 Martial arts for Tiny Buns while Beanie and I run to the library to pick up some books. This class is ALSO just down the street from our new house. :)

1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns to prek

1:15 - 2:15 Beanie does French immersion with two other homeschool girls. After, we run errands before

3:30 - 5:15 Another art class for Beanz. Today it's painting a skier using watercolor. 

 

Above - examples set up before class. Below, Beanie's painting

FRIDAY

We have a free day today! No commitments and so we drive south to visit our nana who is recovering from surgery at my SIL's house. Before we depart we watch a great documentary on how modern art saved a small American town: Downside Up

In the car, each kid has their very own Playaway from the library. The 10yo loves his

Coming home late, we sit in hours of traffic to get back into the city. We stop for some high adventure - we stop for an Ethiopian dinner!

This Is How We Homeschool - Jan 19-23

MONDAY

9:30 - 3:00 Homeschool in the forest meets on MLK day.

Pack leader reports:

5yo: N/A

8yo: 

"We became true fox lizards last week as we focused on stealth walking, which we call fox walking. We practiced this through games and challenges during the day. We will slowly be learning some nature awareness tricks, like fox walking to enable us to get closer to animals and observe more in nature. 

Our adventures last week took us to a gnome home deep in the forest where we found iris and grass that we practiced making cordage out of. We saw so many newts in the forest. On the way back we did a solo walk, where each child gets to walk a safe section of trail alone observing sights and sounds, while the instructors wait at both ends of the trail to make sure everyone stays safe. The kids enjoyed that.

Next week we will be learning about using our peripheral vision and continuing our journey to make crafts out of just natural found items. For that goal, it would be great if everyone could get knife certified."

10yo: N/A

Came home and spend the night drumming, watching TV and playing a family game. 

TUESDAY

8:30 - 10:00 Math tutor for all kids. Beanie goes first while I work with the 10yo on good room-cleaning skills - how to vacuum effectively, where to put folded laundry, how to stack books at your bedside, etc., etc. I love that the morning is calm and I can take the time to cover these life skills with him, even if it is for the one-hundred and fifteenth time. 

Our math tutor is the queen of great games. She always comes with a bag full and leaves them for us to play with all week. 

Our language arts teacher told me to start Beanie on the Explode the Code workbook series, which she swears by. I've come full circle on the worksheets - first I swore them off, now I see their value. Beanie is great with the workbooks, the 10yo resists. But they make it easier on me, of course. So for the most part, no we don't use workbooks, but occasionally, we do (and when we do, I tend to like the results). 

10:30 - 12:00 Language arts for the big kids. Tiny Buns choses to continue working on his Pokemon project/game. 

Tutor works on various things for the kids. Here, Beanie starts by drawing a picture on the white board, and building out a story for there. Her enthusiasm continues long after the session is over and she continues working on her story while eating lunch. 

Tiny Buns is on a serious self-directed project. It's been so cool to watch him develop this idea all on his own. It's a Pokemon game. He designs and names the characters, and then he has me write down all their info on the card. Two players each draw cards and select an action for destruction. A third player serves as judge and decides who wins each round. Super cute. 

1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns to prek

2:15 - 3:15 10yo has music class, Beanie and I walk to the library. It's our second trip to the library today! First one was in the morning (we walked the dogs and checked-out chapter books), here I go crazy with Playaways and DVDs. 

4:00 Come home. Beanie plays in the yard, listening to her new audio book, Magic in the Mix. 10yo watches Everest, Beyond the Limit. I run errands while Tiny Buns plays board games with E. 

5:30 - 7:30 Parkour for 10yo and his buddy. Offered through our community center, it's $20 for two hours, instruction included. Lots of great boy energy going on in there. He comes home and throws-up after what he said was too many pull-ups and swears off Parkour. I tell him it's nothing we need to decide tonight and we'll trying one more time. Fingers crossed - I love the exercise he gets!

At bedtime I read Tiny Buns the cutest book I grabbed while at the library today - Queen Victoria's Bathing Machine. An adorable story that just happens to be true! 

WEDNDESDAY

Have I mentioned we don't do screen time on the weekdays? In our experience, iPads just generate stress and fighting between siblings. On weekend mornings, they get a couple hours of games if they want it, but they don't always. There isn't any content online I've seen that is better than what we find in books, educational programming, or using our own imaginations.  They've got the rest of their lives to be on the computer. Today I want them discover how to navigate all the other stuff. 

9:00 - 10:30 Classes: Art Appreciation for 1-3rd graders (there are two girls enrolled), and a Maker class for 4th-6th graders that only the 10yo was enrolled in. At the last minute, we decided to add Tiny Buns in with his brother and D. gave them special instruction to branch their five year age difference. They got into the shop and began making flashlights out of LEGOS. 

12:30 - 2:30 Shakespeare for homeschoolers, taught out of a neighbors house. Phenomenal instructor! They begin with Much Ado About Nothing, everyone is cast and gets their lines. The production has begun!

1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns does prek

2:25 - 4:15 Private art instruction for the 10yo with M. He was jealous of his sister's one-on-one so he asked for some too. He wants to love art, but get discouraged. I hope the hour-and-a-half with this sweet man helps open him up more to his creative side.

3:00 - 5:00 Beanie goes to my mom's house for a little home economics. 

Note - The 10yo is reading Madman of Piney Woods, I picked it up on Playaway for myself (so we can discuss). Anything by Christopher Paul Curtis is exceptional for all. Check him out!!

THURSDAY

9:00 - 10:30 Beanie takes one-on-one down the street with a local personality and artist. Today he had her work on "stretching the imagination" by drawing a monster. I love her style. 

10:30 - 11:00 Martial arts for Tiny Buns while Beanie and I run to the library to pick up some books. This class is ALSO just down the street from our new house. :)

9:30 - 3:00 The 10yo is doing his second day a week in nature, this one is all boys and they venture out to different areas of the county for hiking and games. Here is shot of his BFF and a giant mushroom he found, picked and brought home to his mama for dinner. I thought that was just the sweetest thing. 

1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns does prek

1:15 - 2:15 Beanie does French immersion with two other homeschool girls. They continue working on their 3D map of Paris today and then teacher A. takes them on a scented tour of the city!  Macaroons, the catacombs, the Champs Elysées, Montmartre, etc., there is a sent for all the famous spots!

FRIDAY

Early morning and I spot Beanie reading to Tiny Buns about the Industrial Revolution from her Appleseeds magazine. 

Everyone works on this week's math assignments which include A LOT of card games. :)

We found one our our eight hens had passed in the night and so we gave her a proper burial in the yard. Beanie decorated a rock with Carmel's name on it. The 10yo did all the heavy labor. 

1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns does prek

As I've said before - I am NOT above putting my kids in front of some educational TV for learning time. Friday afternoon gave them several Mythbuster episodes, which totally counts towards science in my book!

This Is How We Homeschool - Week 13? 14??

I can't figure-out which week this is for us. Our fall classes started tapering off long before the schools let out in December, and our new classes are only just starting to ramp up. We've been keeping busy with lots of great stuff, but I've been terrible about documenting it. Our biggest news is we've moved(!) and for some dumb reason, we did it two days before Christmas. We literally wrapped cellophane around our fully decorate tree, unplugged it, and loaded it into the truck. The dust has finally begun to settle, we are 80% unpacked and organized, but I'm obsessing about paint colors and wallpaper which keeps me from exercise, housework and blogging.  Here is how our last week looked:

MONDAY

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool in the Forest Today was our first week back in four weeks. The kids were so excited! The weather was perfect for January and so I dropped them off in the forest and took a hike with the puppy. Here is a view I catch of them playing a game, while walking the ridge. It's like summer camp all year long. 

3:30 - 5:00 Trying to keep up our routine, we jump right back into picking-up our old neighbor/friend's kid/friend for life, after middle school dismissal, and bring her back to our house for fun time. No one wanted to go to the library this week. She shared with us her personal project of selling origami to raise money to buy her friend a new hamster after his had died. I sit back and watch in aw as she teaches my kids - with great enthusiasm - how to fold, calculate value, raise money, keep a secret, sell door-to-door, etc. I snap this picture and send it to her parents asking them if I shouldn't be paying them for the privilege of having her for a few hours each week. :)

After Dinner  We've been playing a lot of games lately - homemade, card and board. Here we are playing poker, which our math tutor ASSURES me counts as quality math practice. Thank GAWD!!! ;)

TUESDAY

8:00 I wake up and make the kids breakfast. I catch Beanie helping Tiny Buns to read some new pages in his Dick and Jane reader.  I love to see them teach each other without even realizing it. Before I even get breakfast on the table I can cross off *reading* for the day. ;)

8:30 - 10:30 Math tutoring for all three kids. Here, our tutor includes me in a card game that I can play with them during the week. 

10:30 - 12:00 Language arts tutor for big kids while Tiny Buns and I work on an Amazing Science kit he got for Christmas. 

Our language arts tutor is great. She completely gets down on the kids levels. Above, she helps the 10yo craft a report on what he wants - The Hunger Games, a book he just devoured. 

2:15 - 3:15 Music for 10yo while I grab a cookie with the little kids and walk down to an antique store for some poking around. (Tiny Buns home sick from prek)

WEDNESDAY

More card games this morning. Also some math pages, reading, etc.  We've put our Spanish tutor on hold for a bit as I accidentally signed the kids up for Wednesday morning classes without remembering that Wednesdays are the day we do Spanish. Typical me maneuver. It's a partial blessing in that our Spanish lessons were not feeling great for me. Affordable but very stressful. I need a teacher who can strike a balance between teaching my kids through games, while successfully managing their combined energy. 

12:30 - 2:30 The big kids first day of Shakespeare! Eleven kids ages 7-13, taught out of the house of a homeschool family DOWN THE STREET!! 17 weeks with the incredible Kate who will get them performance ready. She is incredible to watch in action and I've yet to meet a single student of hers who does not claim to LOVE Shakespeare! Their first day is spent watching the movie Much Ado About Nothing, where she stops and starts the whole way through, breaking it down, discussing it and clarifying. The kids come out enthusiastic and looking forward to their second session. 

1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns does PreK

2:45 - 5:15 Beanie is at her grandma's house. They bake cookies and work on needlepoint.

THURSDAY

9:00 - 10:30 Beanie has her art instruction with MF. He introduces her to oil paints and painting a bowl of fruit. Hers is on the left, his is on the right. 

10:30 - 11:00 Karate for Tiny Buns while Beanie and I listen to French storytime at the library down the street. (Note: all these activities are just a few blocks from our new house. We walk everywhere now! :)

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool 4-wheel drive

Notes from leader: 

     "Beautiful China Camp held the space for our first Dirt Time Adventures for 2015! It was nice to reunite after the holiday break and we where glad to see some new faces in the group. 

    After opening circle, where we introduced ourselves to the newcomers and tried to evoke some curiosity about local bird-life and their interaction with predators, we explored along the waters edge for a bit, soaking in the fresh sights and sounds the foggy morning had to offer us. 

    While some students collected wild edibles we played a running game with the rest involving the natural history of a local hazard, the Bald-Faced Hornet. 

    We then split up the children into smaller groups, with Dane and I each leading our respective clan, and set off to explore the park. My group was excited about stalking, so we enjoyed some various camouflage and stalking games in which we followed each other, myself, and a herd of Black-Tailed Deer. 

    During our excursion i tried to draw out from my clan a sense of place by asking them about the cardinal directions and where we were on the land in the bigger picture.

    Our groups convened eventually at our meeting spot where we gave a demonstration of primitive friction fire, (making fire using wood without the use of matches). The children helped with the collection of materials, tinder and kindling for the fire. 

    The end of the day found a few members of our group quite dirty from some mud they had decide to have a full-immersion experience in. So after washing up, we had our closing circle each person having a turn to express some highlights of their day. Twas a good day."

1:00 - 4:00 PreK for Tiny Buns

1:15 - 2:15  French immersion for Beanie. A group of just three girls and their teacher, they begin constructing a 3D map of Paris after illustrating it. 

3:30 - 5:15 Beanie takes art instruction in a group setting. This week's project is painting an animal portrait. Looks like cats in suits on canvas is the call. ;)

FRIDAY

I've called off our Spanish tutor for a bit. Scheduling conflicts played a big roll but not sure our tutor is the right fit. Great guy, solid language skills - my kids rule the hour and he doesn't know how to control them. I'm looking for someone with more experience with little kids. Until then, we will be listening to our Spanish language discs in the car. 

11:00 I walk the boys down the street to get their hair cut and leave Beanie at home with E. who works with her on math. I've been carrying around card games in my bag so we can play anywhere we go. Tiny Buns is a junky for games and yik-yaking about numbers. Here he is at the salon playing Old Maid with me. 

1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns to preK and the 10yo begs me to go antiquing. How did I get so lucky as to have kids as interested in perusing old stuff as I am??

How We Homeschool - Week 9

IN THE CAR THIS WEEK

The Phantom Tollbooth "This ingenious fantasy centers around Milo, a bored ten-year-old who comes home to find a large toy tollbooth sitting in his room. Joining forces with a watchdog named Tock, Milo drives through the tollbooth's gates and begins a memorable journey. He meets such characters as the foolish, yet lovable Humbug, the Mathemagician, and the not-so-wicked "Which," Faintly Macabre, who gives Milo the "impossible" mission of returning two princesses to the Kingdom of Wisdom." 

 

MONDAY

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool in the Forest

3:30 - 6:00 Our usual pick-up of friend's daughter ended with us going back to our house for art, instead of library time. This kids get crafty on their own, building a beanie babies house out of cardboard and graphic duct tape. And that counts as art class to me. :)

TUESDAY - Veteran's Day - No PreK for Tiny Buns

9:00 - 12:00 Big kids go to Language Arts and Math/Drawing out Arithmetic classes for homeschoolers. Math class consists of four students (two 2nd grades, and two 4th graders). Language arts is just three students, but content is delivered at appropriate grade level for each, while being in-line with their specific interests. 

12:00 - 2:00/3:00 Open studio art class for homeschoolers. Tiny Buns is THRILLED to joins his big sister and brother as it is Veteran's day and his school is closed. Imagine a fully stocked open room and the freedom to create whatever you want. The 10yo started weaving his first basket, Beanie constructed a dollhouse out of foam core, TB does mosaic. 

2:15 - 3:15 Music for the 10yo (Beanie and Tiny Buns stay late at art)

 

WEDNESDAY

8:30 - 9:30 Family tennis lesson. We all agree - it's super fun banging balls around.

10:00 - 11:00 Family Spanish class. Progress is starting to show. 

11:45 - 12:45 7yo science class (while 10yo bake and play)

Report from instructor:

"potential energy - the amount of stored up energy with the ability to do work

kinetic energy - the energy in an object that is in the state of doing work or is currently moving

 

We built catapults as another example of a potential energy transfer to kinetic energy.  The potential energy is stored in the binder clip when it is forced into the open position.  When released, the clip snaps shut with a good deal of force.  We added the simple machine, the lever, to make it easier to open the binder clip and a surrounding structure to stabilize the catapult."

1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns does PreK

1:00 - 2:00 Beanie's poetry class

1:00 - 2:30 10yo's science class

Report from instructor:

"This week, we constructed a clay model of the heart that included the four chambers, valves, and vessels.  Next week, we will paint the model to show the flow of oxygen through the heart.  

We also made a model of the lung that consisted of the diaphragm, the ribcage, the lung, and the trachea.  Pulling down on the diaphragm expands the space in the ribcage, which lowers the air pressure.  Air flows from high to low pressure areas so air outside the body flows into the lungs.  Pushing up on the diaphragm decreases the space in the ribcage, which increases the air pressure.  Air flows from the lungs to outside the body. "

 

 

 

THURSDAY

8:15 - 9:15 Daddy takes 10yo to math tutor

9:00 - 10:30 Beanie has FIRST private art class! We love the results!

 

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool 4-wheel drive - the 10yo's second day a week in nature. Run by the same organization as Monday's class, this group happens have only boys enrolled at this time, which I love. It's great to see them just go off a wild adventure with a great male leader. This week the boys were taken out to a state park where they volunteered to hand-pull an invasive species/weed. 

1:00 - 4:00 PreK for Tiny Buns

1:15 - 2:15 French immersion for Beanie. 

3:45 - 4:45 Soccer for Beanz

The 10yo stays up late working on his Tinker Crate project - a monthly gift from his Nana. 

FRIDAY 

We have a lazy Friday and skip any ideas of adventuring out. Instead we do our usual Spanish class, 9-10,

and then make candy wrapper art and snap circuits.

We all four bike Tiny Buns to school 1:00 - 4:00 and then the big kids and I stop at the grocery store to buy ingredients for dinner. 

 

EXTENDED LEARNING (aka THE WEEKEND)

Daddy took the two big kids camping with three other dads Saturday night. Tiny Buns and I got some time alone with his grandmas.

Playing bingo with Gamma

Sunday night's etiquette class!

As I always like to say: Don't overestimate the education your kids get in school, and don't ever, ever underestimate the education you give them at home and on the weekends!

How We Homeschool - Week 8

IN THE CAR THIS WEEK

The Phantom Tollbooth "This ingenious fantasy centers around Milo, a bored ten-year-old who comes home to find a large toy tollbooth sitting in his room. Joining forces with a watchdog named Tock, Milo drives through the tollbooth's gates and begins a memorable journey. He meets such characters as the foolish, yet lovable Humbug, the Mathemagician, and the not-so-wicked "Which," Faintly Macabre, who gives Milo the "impossible" mission of returning two princesses to the Kingdom of Wisdom." 

So far, so good! I was excited to learn there is a Phantom Tollbooth movie, which we will watch after finishing the audio. It was filmed in San Francisco!!

Abrahan Lincoln and the Heart of America

MONDAY

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool in the Forest

The scene at drop-off, all games and fun. Unfortunately, at the time of publishing this post, I had not yet received any summaries from group leaders.

5yo: n/a

7yo: n/a

10yo: n/a

3:30 - 6:00 Our usual pick-up of friend's daughter ended with us going back to our house for art, instead of library time. This kids get crafty on their own, building a beanie babies house out of cardboard and graphic duct tape. And that counts as art class to me!

6:00 I take the kids to see Pelican Dreams at The Rafael. (Same filmmaker as The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.) Lovely movie. The Rafael has so many great offerings.

TUESDAY

9:00 - 12:00 Big kids go to Language Arts and Math/Drawing out Arithmetic classes for homeschoolers. Math class consists of four students (two 2nd grades, and two 4th graders). Language arts is just three students, but content is delivered at appropriate grade level for each, while being in-line with their specific interests. 

Summary from Drawing out arithmetic teacher:

"We worked on constructing a square. Both kids learned a lot about construction, especially how to line up their straightedges.  We will be using square grids to illustrate multiplication over the next few weeks."

12:00 - 2:00 Open studio art class for homeschoolers. Imagine a fully stocked open room and the freedom to create whatever you want. The 10yo built a birdhouse and covered it in moss. Beanie worked with clay and drew.

1:00 - 4:00 PreK for Tiny Buns

2:15 - 3:15 10yo has music class. Today's focus was on the electric guitar and learning Rock the Casbah.

Beanie and I walk two blocks to our regular cafe and read.

3:45 - 5:15 10yo soccer practice

 

WEDNESDAY - Beanie is sick today

8:30 - 9:30 Family Tennis Lesson! Our first day. We do it as five. Everyone loved it. What's not to love about hitting balls around??

10:00 - 11:00 In-home family Spanish class.  Because Beanie is sick, she stays in bed, and class is just the boys. Soooo much order and focus with just the two. OMG - seamless instruction. They work on writing down common phrases which we've only spoken up until now. 

11:15 I drop Beanie at her grandma's house to sleep while I run the boys around. 

11:45 - 12:45 At friend's house for science classes, I bake olive oil muffins with the big kids before their class begins. 

1:00 - 2:30 Anatomy of the Heart - Science for 10yo. Report from teacher:

"This week we learned how to measure our heart rate at different points in our body.  We also used a scanner that took the heart rate from our fingers.  After doing a series of activities, we found that our heart rates increased the most when doing more strenuous exercise.  When exercising, your heart needs to work harder to pump oxygen rich blood to all your cells that are working hard to perform the exercise.  The harder the heart works, the harder and faster it pumps.  

 

Since the heart is just another muscle, exercising the heart makes it stronger.  So in conclusion, exercise can promote a healthy heart.      

 

We also dissected a pig's heart that is similar in size and function to a human heart."

1:00 - 4:00 PreK for Tiny Buns 

On the way to PreK, I snap this shot of Tiny Buns working on a letters book. This kid is so fun to watch - he's incredibly eager to learn and a total self-starter. He makes my job so much easier. ;)

1:00 - 2:30 10yo's science class where they dissect a pig's heart. I wish I had a picture!

3:00 10yo works on multiple math assignments due in the morning. 

THURSDAY 

Because Beanie is sick, she misses soccer and French. Instead she peels off the plastic wrap on a new set of School House Rock and watches every awesome song known to man. At one point, she takes time out to help Tiny Buns learn to read. It feels like he's been on cusp for a while now. Then he shows me this:

 

HE'S READING!!! :-D

8:15 - 9:15 10yo's math tutor

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool 4-wheel drive - the 10yo's second day a week in nature. Run by the same organization as Monday's class, this group happens have only boys enrolled at this time, which I love. It's great to see them just go off a wild adventure with a great male leader. This week's report: n/a yet

1:00 - 4:00 PreK for Tiny Buns

  

FRIDAY 

Crab fishing with friends!

EXTENDED LEARNING (aka THE WEEKEND)

Beanie took a Saturday drawing class on perspective.  

As I always like to say: Don't overestimate the education your kids get in school, and don't ever, ever underestimate the education you give them at home and on the weekends!

How We Homeschool - Week 7

IN THE CAR THIS WEEK

The Phantom Tollbooth "This ingenious fantasy centers around Milo, a bored ten-year-old who comes home to find a large toy tollbooth sitting in his room. Joining forces with a watchdog named Tock, Milo drives through the tollbooth's gates and begins a memorable journey. He meets such characters as the foolish, yet lovable Humbug, the Mathemagician, and the not-so-wicked "Which," Faintly Macabre, who gives Milo the "impossible" mission of returning two princesses to the Kingdom of Wisdom." 

So far, so good! I was excited to learn there is a Phantom Tollbooth movie, which we will watch after finishing the audio. 

FINISHED UP

Johnny Tremain  Beautifully narrated, an ABSOLUTE MUST! Having watched Disney's 1950's take on this 1943 classic by Esther Forbes, I wondered if this wouldn't be a bit redundant, but oh no! The book is rich with wonderful details and character development not found in the movie. It took us several weeks to get through it in the car but, I can't wait to do it again, several years down the road when each child will be able to get that much more out of it. By the time the last line was read: A man can stand up, I was in tears! -- "A story of the turbulent, passionate times in Boston just before the Revolutionary War. Johnny, a young apprentice silversmith, is caught with Otis, Hancock, and John and Samuel Adams in the exciting operations and subterfuges leading up to the Boston Tea Party and the Battle of Lexington. As Johnny is forced into the role of a full-grown man in the face of his new country's independence, he finds that his relations with those he loves changes for the better as well."

MONDAY

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool in the Forest

When I pick up the kids today, Beanie was wearing a beautiful new necklace made of freshly picked madrone berries and elderberry beads. 

5yo: n/a

7yo:

"In this week's Halloween edition, we got to become local plants and animals.  In the morning we found costumes for those of us who may have forgotten. We admired the large trout in Bon Tempe and had snack with them. We then headed to Fort Sambucus to make some elderberry beads and flutes. After lunch, we hiked to the top of Medicine Wheel Hill, where we were supposed to meet the rest of the group.  They weren't there yet so we created some Madrone berry necklaces and added our newly made elderberry beads to them. They turned out quite nice.  

Slowly other dirt time clans appeared out of the forest and we gathered together to make a circle of all beings. Determening where north, south, east and west were we sat in groupings by plant, reptile, mammal etc., sharing a message from our species to us.  Some of the messages I remember are squirrel encouraging us to "be alive", deer telling us to "listen" and the swamp creature reminding us not to pick moss. After the circle we played a fun game of capture the flag.  It was such a full day that we didn't even have time to journal."

10yo: n/a

6:00 Big kids work on their language arts assignment, due the next morning. They both hate the idea of it, but one kid powers through without complaint, and the other kid complains endlessly but does a great job. 

Bedtime reading - 5yo is very interested in learning how to read his letters. Beanie is finally reading small chapter books on her own and enjoying it! 10yo just received the first six books in The Hardy Boys collection - and he's devouring them, asking me to buy him the remaining 52 books in the series. :-/

TUESDAY

9:00 - 12:00 Big kids go to Language Arts and Math/Drawing out Arithmetic classes for homeschoolers. Math class consists of four students (two 2nd grades, and two 4th graders). Language arts is just three students, but content is delivered at appropriate grade level for each, while being in-line with their specific interests. 

12:00 - 2:00 Open studio art class for homeschoolers. Imagine a fully stocked open room and the freedom to create whatever you want. They both did so much today! 10you beaded a necklace and an impressive leather and beaded bracelet. He also made an acrylic maze of sorts - for his lizard, I wonder? Beanie worked on props for her dolls at home - a campfire scene. 

1:00 - 4:00 PreK for Tiny Buns

2:15 - 3:15 10yo has music class, currently focused on guitar and drums. Beanie and I walk two blocks to our regular cafe and read.

3:45 - 5:15 While the 10yo plays SOCCER, Beanie teaches Tiny Buns how to count to 100 while rolling around on the field. "10, 20, 30, 40 - then what comes next? I'll give you a hint - fffffffif. Fffffffif. Fifty! Good!! 50, 60, then 70, and 80..." Love, love, love the sibling-to-sibling teaching that goes on. :-D

WEDNESDAY

10yo has an early dentist appointment while little kids watch an episode of The Magic School Bus.

10:00 - 11:00 In-home family Spanish class.  We work on basic addition and subtraction, but in Spanish. We also play a little game of *Spanish Verb Charades*. Lots of giggles. Beanie bailando!

11:45 - 12:45 Beanie and three other 7yos meet for SCIENCE at a friend's home. Meanwhile, host mother works with 10yo to prepare and bake an orange bundt cake. Report from science teacher:

"This week, we focused on learning about energy.  Energy is needed to do work.  We discussed how work was when an object was doing something, moving, or changing.  We introduced two types of energy - potential and kinetic.  Potential energy is stored energy.  An object has potential energy when it has the potential to do work, but is not currently doing any work.  In the case of our roller racers, we turned the straw lever to build up potential energy in the twisted rubber band inside of the racer.  When the racer is released, the potential energy is transferred to kinetic energy.  Kinetic energy is active energy that is doing work. We measured the distances our racers traveled in relation to the number of turns of the lever and the amount of potential energy stored up in the rubber band.  We found that the more your turned the lever, the more potential energy was stored and transferred into kinetic energy resulting in the racer going further."

 

1:00 - 4:00 PreK for Tiny Buns 

1:00 - 2:00 Poetry for 7yos. This language arts instructor doesn't send out reports, and I'm usually driving up or down the hwy at this point, getting Tiny Buns to PreK. But I always interupt things, usually out on the deck and in the sunshine, to take a shot of what four kids are doing. Here is Beanie writing a poem with very dirty feet. I just love that she can do this in whatever position feels more comfortable to her. 

1:00 - 2:30 Science for 10yos - and I just LOVED today's project - constructing a sample of blood out of candy! Update from instructor:

"This week, we constructed a sample of blood that had the correct percentages of each component in blood. There are 5 million red blood cells, 10 thousand white blood cells, and 250 thousand platelets in a pinhead-size drop of blood.

1. Red Blood Cells (candy red hots/red sprinkle circles): 44% of blood volume, carry oxygen and carbon dioxide around body. RBC's only live for about 3 months, but are continuously produced in the bone marrow.
 
2. Plasma (laundry detergent): 55%, syrups, thick, clear, yellowish liquid that carries dissolved food and wastes.
 
3. White Blood Cells (marshmallows): 0.5%, bigger than red blood cells, oddly shaped cells that "eat" bits of old blood cells and attack germs.
 
4. Platelets (small sprinkles): 0.5% -bits of cells and cytoplasm that help clot your blood.
 
Next week, we'll continue with the circulatory system and the heart."

3:00 - 4:30 Beanie goes to Grandma's house for some fun, 10yo and I go on a walk until it's time to pick-up Tiny Buns and Beanie, and head home to carve pumpkins. 

THURSDAY

8:15 - 9:15 I take all three kids to 10yo's math tutor. Tough morning getting everyone out the door on time. The good news is his tutor tells me she's more than happy to start coming to OUR house for lessons, which is huge for me. One less time a week when I need to pack-up and drive somewhere. I love all the great classes the kids do, but the driving is getting to me fast. 

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool 4-wheel drive - the 10yo's second day a week in nature. Run by the same organization as Monday's class, this group happens have only boys enrolled at this time, which I love. It's great to see them just go off a wild adventure with a great male leader. This week's report:

"This week we found ourselves high on the ridge about Tennessee Valley.   On the way up we did some tracking, focusing on the abundance of scat, noticing plum seeds and even strawberry seeds.  After snack looking over Oakwood Valley to the East, we played a round of Sleeping Fawn - as we all practiced our stealth skills and quietness, as they as bobcats tried to find and hide with me, the fawn.  All while Daniel, the mountain lion, was sneaking up on them. After a tiring game, we chatted about what it's really like for deer and mountain lions in these hills, remembering that they aren't just games for the wild ones.  

 

We walked a bit along the Miwok trail, wondering where that name came from, as we found young moist yarrow under the drip line of a pine tree.  Right near other dried up fully flowered yarrow stalks in the sun.  Patterns.

 

High on the ridge, we kept our eyes out for raptors as we sat up on the rocks - looking over the Pacific, we could see the hills of San Francisco all the way the Devil's Slide south of Pacifica.  Above the Haypress Campsite, suggestions arose to camp there in the spring...we'll see where our campout takes place in May, but that's a good option.

 

We had some solo quiet time up on the rock all together after lunch, taking time to witness and draw Mt. Tam from the south.  (Our first week up at the Labrinyth gave us a perfect view from the north).  With drawing and poems shared, we began our descent."

 

10:25 - 11:05 PeeWee soccer while Beanie and I read. 

1:00 - 4:00 PreK for Tiny Buns

1:15 - 2:15 French immersion for Beanie, while I get a quick walk around the town in. 

3:15 - 4:15 Beanie soccer

6:00 10yo does journal entry on day in nature. His handwriting is getting better! :)

 

FRIDAY - HALLOWEEN!

Fridays I try to leave for field trips. Because it is Halloween, I cancelled our Spanish class and take a trip out to the Point Reyes lighthouse. Shocking, but we've never been. 

EXTENDED LEARNING (aka THE WEEKEND)

SUNDAY

We catch a performance of Mummenschanz, then dinner with Grandpa, who gives Tiny Buns a much needed lesson in how to twirl spaghetti! ;-)

As I always like to say: Don't over-estimate the education your kids get in school, and don't ever, ever underestimate the education you give them at home!

How We Homeschool - Week 6

MONDAY

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool in the Forest

Today we did it in the rain!

Rain or shine, the group meets. It can feel a bit counter-intuitive to the modern parent, dropping your tiny buns in the dark, wet forest for a day of un-sheltered fun, but as their pack leader will tell you - the greatest memories tend to be made on rainy days. 

Above is the scene I left at drop-off. Games (lots and lots of games) before breaking into groups and heading out on their own. 

Emailed summaries from pack leaders:

5yo: 

"Monday Oct. 20th started out far colder and wetter than our previous pack meeting, Oct. 13- where heat and fire danger drove us to higher ground. There we could rest on the abundant mama madrones' cool refrigerator-tree branches...  The 13th also provided mossy, lichen-covered large live oaks in which we could try our hand at nest building.  

 

 We returned to the concept of nest building on the rainy 20th, not only with thoughts of shelter, but with questions of how does one make fire when cold in the woods?  Mia demonstrated at morning circle some of the woolly warm garments and rain-gear we should consider prepping for the cold wet winter at the lakes. 

 

As we headed west along Lake Lagunitas, practicing our awareness on the newly wet trail, we came upon someone who had fallen far from their nest with an injured wing.  It was a mysterious bird that the pups decided to sacrifice their plans for, and turn back on the trail so she/he might receive the help it needed in the well trained hands at Wildcare.  

 

BUT, as fate would have it all was not lost as the opportunity arose to see a game OLD to Dirt Time, but new to pups. Monkey-fist!...  was already set up and running with Mia, her foxes, Dane and the Red-tailed Squirrels!   After a rendezvous with the brave transporters of the injured wildlife, otters were spotted in Lake Bon Tempe, taking full advantage of the new kids on the lake... farm raised trout, having just drove in that morning from Sacramento."

7yo:

"The nice light amd warm rain reminded us that it was time to prepare for the heavier rains in the winter. Our fire kits are in no shape to make fires so each group has been given the responsibility of replenishing one part of the kits.  The fox lizards are responsible for the spindles.

During our search we practiced using different senses by first daring each other to not speak any English for about 15 minutes or so. Fun and somewhat frustrating, yet effective. I then challenged the crew to walk blind-folded with only the person in the back being able to see. That was not the groups favorite challenge but they finally figured it out, or almost at least :)

After our morning of sensory challenges we joined with the Redwood Squirrels for a relaxing game of monkey fist. After our game we found a wonderful completely dead elderberry tree, exactly what we needed. We sang to it, asked for permission and gently removed some pieces that may be good for spindles.  We also created a fort under it "Fort Sambucus" we decided to call it, after the Latin name of the elderberry tree. Upon return to the picnic area we journaled the unique bark and leaves of the elderberry. We will work more with the wood of the elderberry next week. It would be wonderful if everyone in the group could get knife certified soon. I am sending along the details in the next e-mail."

10yo: n/a

IN THE CAR THIS WEEK / AUDIO BOOKS

Johnny Tremain  Such a wonderful story. A must read/listen for all American kids.  "A story of the turbulent, passionate times in Boston just before the Revolutionary War. Johnny, a young apprentice silversmith, is caught with Otis, Hancock, and John and Samuel Adams in the exciting operations and subterfuges leading up to the Boston Tea Party and the Battle of Lexington. As Johnny is forced into the role of a full-grown man in the face of his new country's independence, he finds that his relations with those he loves changes for the better as well."

 

TUESDAY:

9:00 - 12:00 Big kids both enrolled in a combined-grade (2nd + 4th grades) locally taught homeschool courses Language Arts + Drawing Out Arithmetic (playing with the ancient tools of compass and straight edge, children will discover the skills and methods employed by the Ancient Greeks to uncover enduring mathematical truths"). Notes from LA teacher this week:

"Today we read and discussed our stories and wrote a  key word outline (KWO).  After completing, we went back and added in an excellent adjective, adverb, and verb.  We went over Who-Which clauses, and they each added one in on their KWO.  I told the kids they needed to add 1, but could add more if they wished in their paragraph to add interest and sentence variety. We finished the class with an adverb game.

Homework is to write a paragraph using their new KWO and the checklist. This week concludes our fable unit, and next week we will begin using Greek Myths to further our writing and grammar study." 

12:00 - 2:00 Open studio art class for homeschoolers. Imagine a fully stocked open room and the freedom to create whatever you want. Today the 10yo continued working on his moccasins, and Beanie did more mosaic. 

1:00 - 4:00 PreK for Tiny Buns

2:15 - 3:15 10yo has music class, currently focused on guitar and drums. Beanie and I run errands.

3:45 - 5:15 10yo soccer

6:30 Kids watch two episodes of LIBERTY KIDS - a fantastic way to get kids on board with the birth of our country.

 

WEDNESDAY

10:00 - 11:00 Spanish tutor. We launch our family Spanish session with a few worksheets. I thought we'd never do another worksheet since we left school, but it finally dawned on me that it might be a great way to keep three kids, spanning five years in age, all on the same page. It did bring a bit more harmony to our hour. Later we branched out a bit and finished our hour with a beautiful story - "La Casa"(which I sadly can not find a link to). 

We have a week off from Science + Poetry today due to host family's schedule.

11:30 - 12:30 We audit the Shakespeare Company's class for homeschoolers. 

This was a stretch - but it worked in my favor! The kids went in kicking and screaming, certain they could never enjoy a theater class, let alone one that revolved around the works of Shakespeare. But they were all entranced and envious of the obvious fun the other students their age were having. The instructor was fabulous and had an obvious gift for this. Each child of mine asked to be enrolled! We will do this as soon as our currently conflicting science class ends. I like the idea of mixing it all up.

On a related note, I've been reading this book and am completely sold on the concept:

1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns to PreK while the big kids and I head home and continue working on our Boston Tea/Terrier Party Halloween float. Yes, I did just type that. ;)

THURSDAY

8:30 - 9:10 Math tutor is canceled again (due to teachers daughter delivering baby) so Daddy steps in and takes over. I love the creativity he pulls out of a hat without warning. 10yo loves math-by-Daddy. Little kids make elaborate patterns with shape tiles.

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool 4-wheel drive - the 10yo's second day a week in nature. Run by the same organization as Monday's class, this group happens have only boys enrolled at this time, which I love. It's great to see them just go off a wild adventure with a great male leader. This week's report: (not yet received)

10: 25 - 11:05 Pee Wee Soccer, cutest 40 minutes of my week! Beanie and I read during most of soccer. After class, little kids play on playground, then we eat lunch before dropping 5yo at PreK.

1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns to PreK

1:15 - 2:15 Beanie to French class

3:00 pick-up 10yo, 3:15 drop Beanie at soccer, 4:00 pick-up Tiny Buns, 4:15 pick-up Beanie

FRIDAY

9:00 - 10:00  The little kids loved writing the Spanish words to their favorite objects, as found in their Spanish picture dictionary. So cute. The 10yo actually said he enjoyed today's class (!!!) based on the fact that his focus was on reptiles. A big shout going out here to our local public library for making this all possible!

10:30 - 11:30 Field Trip at Heath Ceramics. Set-up by a fellow homeschool mom, this was a great way to show the kids the whole process, from clay to finished cup. 

EXTENDED LEARNING (AKA: THE WEEKEND)

We finally finished up our doggy Halloween float late Saturday morning -- just in time to make it to the parade/contest at 11am. Here is a shot of the kids getting ready to show the dogs in our float. (More photos to come in another post this week). Does this wrap-up our study of the American Revolution? Hardly! What's to stop one's interest in learning more?? It's all been SO fun, for all involved. :)

How We Homeschool - Week 5

IN THE CAR THIS WEEK

I love audio books. I can NOT tell you how good audio books are for us. For all that time spent in the car each week, instead of the pop music, we go educational. 

Johnny Tremain  We watched the movie last week, now listening to the book in the car. I wondered if this wouldn't be a bit redundant, but oh no! The book is rich with wonderful details and character development not found in the movie. We are all enjoying reliving the story in this format, often stopping to talk about things like... wonderful detail and character development. ;)  "A story of the turbulent, passionate times in Boston just before the Revolutionary War. Johnny, a young apprentice silversmith, is caught with Otis, Hancock, and John and Samuel Adams in the exciting operations and subterfuges leading up to the Boston Tea Party and the Battle of Lexington. As Johnny is forced into the role of a full-grown man in the face of his new country's independence, he finds that his relations with those he loves changes for the better as well."

Living Language - Spanish Started this as an in-car supplement to our in-home classes (2xs/week). I secretly love it when we are all repeating words and phrases together in the car. Highlight - 5yo: "Oh, mom. Did you hear that one? I just did a really good 'Buenas noches'."

MONDAY

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool in the Forest

5yo:

"Played games with older kids, saw a huge buck, learned about the cooling properties of Madrone trees and laid on top of them."

7yo:

"We were surprised in the morning to find out we couldn't drive all the way up to the lake due to fire danger. But that turned out to be a blessing in disguise as exploring the Alpine area was really great.

 

I took the group to the spot where a bobcat once fooled me and we had snack there. We snuck up to mysterious sounds in the bushes hoping for a bobcat but discovering some towhees instead. Our mission of the day was to find water to soak our acorn meal in before it dried.  It was a hot day so looking for water was very appropriate. We looked for signs of water in the landscape and even tried to smell our way to it. It worked! We ended up following a dry creek to some mucky frog ponds, to some inlets and finally a gorgeous lake :)

 

Our mission accomplished, we looked for frogs, turtles and madrone berries and had a very nice sit spot by a giant rock.  I challenged the group to lead our way back, which was quite easy for them. Way to go fox lizards :)  This week we will be back at Lagunitas, continuing our learning about the animals that share the space with us.

 

Connections for home:

-Look for signs of water in the landscape near your home

-Journal a plant that grows by a creek

-When do deer loose their antlers? What is the rutting season?

10yo: 

"This week, with the gate closed, we explored a whole new region of "the lakes." From the entrance we walked through the Oak Savannah and found the mysterious trees - where two sets of Madrone-Oak are entwined, side by side.  From there we descended into a magical meadow, to play a round of yet another remix of capture the flag.  They just love it.  With more extravagant story and roles, we snuck around and "incidentally" found all sorts of deer bones and feathers (raptor? or turkey?).  It's just a natural way to allow them all to immerse in the landscape on two legs and on four, climbing around paying attention to sounds, smelling the smells of yerba buena as they step over it and activate it's minty smell.  

 

The journey continued along the dry creek until we found Alpine Lake.  Some went for frogs, some for rocks, and some a little of both.  We explored the changes between above and below the high water line, and imagined what it'll be like this winter.

 

A not-so-long journey back and we came across yet another deer kill site (legs with skin and hoof still intact) as we snuck up on Dane's group.  We all walked back together for a story and closing circle...

 

Looking forward to being back at Lake Lagunitas next week potentially with a couple guests - old Dirt Timers who have the day off school...good times."

A typical sight at pick-up - circle time, where everyone is giving thanks for their day. Makes me happy!

Tiny Buns sports his new shirt - a gift from his sister and grandma and their trip to DC. Perfect for him and for current block on the American Revolution. 

5:00 Time for the 10yo to make another journal entry about his Monday experience in the forest. Today's assignment begins with me writing in his journal "Homeschool in the Forest is..." and I tell him he has to give me ten descriptive lines from there. I tell him to highlight his favorite memories/experiences and to craft them with as much detail as possible. I tell him to play it out like bullet points, but that the goal is poetry. I give him a couple examples, but nothing that he can really copy. He gets excited as he feeds me ideas. I love them and show excitement in return. He's off and away saying he wants all his weekly writing assignments to be like this. The final product:

"Homeschool in the Forest is:

Playing games in the noon day sun,

Damming up a steam in the fog, 

It's starting a fire with nothing but sticks, 

taking turns playing mask on a crisp morning. 

Leaves crackling underfoot, 

Catching fish in an untouched stream,

It's catching frogs in muddy puddles, 

And making acorn brownies in late summer. 

It's lifting logs in search of king snakes,

And coming home drenched in sweat. 

Of course we ooh and awe over him. This coming from a boy who used to beg me - "Please don't make me put pen to paper!" He hates to write...except when it's meaningful. So the trick has been to find those opportunities and to jump on them. This exercise worked doubly well for him because he basically got to put his thoughts down in bullet points - and man-o-man, does this kid love his bullet points! Daddy talks with him about the beauty of poetry, how it "has the economy of words" and how in poetry "you aren't bound by the rules of grammar".

Then it's time for dinner and I need the table set. Daddy turns it into a game relating to American history. He picks a leader, talks about strong leadership skills, warns of a rebellion, praises the battle won. The kids assume their roles wholeheartedly to the point that when the 10yo tried to help the 5yo, Tiny Buns shouted: "You can't help me, you're my leader. I'm do all the work around here!"

 

TUESDAY

9:00 - 10:30 Drawing Out Arithmetic ("Playing with the ancient tools of compass and straight edge, children will discover the skills and methods employed by the Ancient Greeks to uncover enduring mathematical truths"). Incredibly enthusiastic teacher, Daniel, developed this class all on his own with the goal of getting kids to touch math and to have a physical relationship with it. I've never seen anything like this and when you see it in action it is super cool! D says this week: "We explored similar triangles. We took a yard long dowel and found the place where the top of the dowel matches the top of the tree from the ground. The distance from the eye to the dowel was also one yard making an isosceles right triangle. We measured the distance from the rod to the base of the tree. Since it was 25 yards and the triangle was isosceles, we determined the tree is about 75 feet tall. Back at the bat cave, I asked each student to draw a representation of our activity. They all did a great job! Finally, we constructed a more perfect model of the tree measuring activity with compass and straightedge. I introduced the term hypotenuse and showed them a teaser of how to calculate it's length."

10:30 - 12:00 Language Arts From the instructor: 10yo "worked on a keyword outline for ancient Greece. 7yo girls read the fable on page 36 in the book and wrote their own keyword outlines on page 37. Then we all added in colorful verbs, excellent adjectives, and LY adverbs to the keyword outlines. They each verbally retold the fable/Greek paragraph to the class adding in their extra words (using only their keyword outlines). I gave them some tips to improve (example to use more interesting words in place of boring banned words such as good or bad. We played an active adverb game at the end."

12:00 - 2:00 Free play art class! Everyone's favorite time of the week. The 10yo begins on a pair a leather moccasins for himself (G. guides him through the basics: pattern making, stitching, etc.). Beanie does mossaic work. 

1:00 - 4:00 PreK for Tiny Buns

2:15 - 3:15 10yo goes into his music class, still focusing on guitar and drums. Beanie and I walk down to a cafe to take turns reading from an easy reader adaptation of Les Miserables. I love these super-duper abridged versions of classics. They give the perfect amount for her, and just about enough for me. They allow us to get the foundation for one story while working on reading skills, allowing us more time to hit other related topics or activities. 

 

We were both thrilled to finally get to the part that takes place underground in the sewer system of Paris! We learned about this while we toured that exact place in March, and it's actually the entire reason I reached for the story to read together. 

WEDNESDAY

Now the 10yo is sick. Such a bummer. The rest of us are finally on the mend and he's the last one to go down. I need to get him in a better mood than the one he wakes in. I make him tea, prop him up on the couch. He asks me to read to him, suggesting National Geographic. He pics the cover story on sugar. 

You know I love reading to my kids. There is just this magical thing that happens when I read out loud to them. No matter what I'm reading, they listen. There we all were in the family room this morning, drinking our coffee and teas, wrapped in blankets and spread-out all over the floor. Even Tiny Buns, forever the engineer, sat building something out of paper clips and rubber bands, listening to me read about the history of sugar, injecting his commentary here and there. It bought us to the map several times, locating the hot spots in the world where sugar can grows best, had us doing math in our head to calculate daily recommended quantities in comparison to those amounts found in soda and candy and even had us touching on the history of world exploration and colonization. All this before toast! ;)

10:00 - 11:00 Spanish Tutor

Today's lesson was just the little kids, myself and the mestro. Because we didn't meet last week, we focused on review and went into colors. We finished with a reading of one of our favorite books, but in Spanish - Si Le Das Un Pastelito A Un Gato (If You Give A Cat A Cupcake).

Teaching children a language is tricky. We are still a bit all over the place and conjegating verbs is nowhere in our near future. Dare I say...we might all benefit from just using some worksheets. :-/

11:45 - 12:45 Beanie goes to science class hosted at a friend's house (sick 10yo runs errands with me). Note from instructor:

"Class Update

We reviewed each of Newton's laws of motion using a set of balls.  

 

Newton’s First Law: An object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by an unequal force.  An object at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an unequal force.

 

The ball has inertia.  It resists moving until acted on by an unequal force.  Moving balls will keep moving until an unequal force opposes the movement.  

 

Newton’s Second Law: Force equals mass multiplied by acceleration (F=ma)

 

When the force of a more massive ball is transferred to a less massive ball, the less massive ball accelerates much faster and goes flying off.  

 

Newton’s Third Law: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

 

In a Newton's cradle, 5 marbles are lined up.  When you pull one marble back and let it fall and collide with the other marbles, a marble on the opposite side pops out as the equal and opposite reaction.

 

To assess the level of understanding of Newton's three laws, the group drew cartoons to demonstrate each law based off of the example activities or ones they came up with on their own."

1:00 - 2:00 Poetry for 7yo

1:00 - 4:00 PreK for Tiny Buns

3:00 - 5:00 Beanie bakes a flour-less chocolate cake with her grandma. They bring it home to our house and my mom, myself and the two big kids head out to dinner and a one-time showing of the documentary  ON THE WAY TO SCHOOL. Grab a box of Kleenex, watch the trailer, and know that the movie did not disappoint. 

THURSDAY

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool 4-wheel drive - the 10yo's second day a week in nature. Run by the same organization as Monday's class, this group happens have only boys enrolled at this time, which I love. It's great to see them just go off a wild adventure with a great male leader. This week's report: (not yet received)

10:25 - 11:05 PeeWee Soccer

1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns PreK

1:15 - 2:15 Beanie does French 

3:00 Pick-up 10yo, 3:15 Drop 7yo at soccer, 4:00 pick-up Tiny Buns, 4:15 Pick-up Beanie, 5:00 10yo makes journal entry about day in nature.

FRIDAY

Spanish lesson is canceled so we can host Tiny Buns' 5th birthday party! Almost one month after his real bday, we eek our an early morning party for the boys in his preK class. I swear that this will be the last party I ever throw. ;-)

1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns PreK

1:30 The big kids and I start watching America: The Story of Us. I watched this series last year with the then 9yo, and it's honestly worth re-watching every year. Still heavy at parts for the 7yo, so I sheilded her eyes and ears multiple times.  

EXTENDED LEARNING (AKA: THE WEEKEND)

We snuggled on the couch, Satuday morning and read a small stack of books from the library. The best one was The Adventures of Mark Twain By Huckleberry Finn, beautifully told and illustrated!

We are LOVING one of the vintage games I picked up on Etsy last week. QUINTO is similar to SCRABBLE, just with numbers. It's a great one with kids still strengthening their math skills. Tiny Buns is ALL sorts of motivated to learn addition. 

On Saturday we begin the paper mache component of our Halloween float. More to come on this. 

I'll close with the above photo because I just love what it represents - child directed learning. I had been outside for a long while, working on our Halloween float, when I came inside to find Tiny Buns creating this marble ramp, and testing the marble's force on a variety of wooden blocks and figures. Who knows what was going through his mind but he kept trying new things with its construction, and with the objects he was looking to hit. When I see my kids in these moment, long and thoughtful, I'm so grateful because I know they wouldn't necessarily have these if they were in school. Like I always say:

Do not overestimate the education a child gets in school, and do not underestimate the education you give your kids at home!

 

How We Homeschool - Week 4

This week was tough. I was sick, Daddy was out of town, and two of my three were on-and-off sick the entire week. We had to miss some of our classes, some of our classes canceled on us, and each day felt like a juggling act. The good part was we wrapped-up our focus on the Rennaisance after attending the fair on Sunday, and we launched into Colonial times and the American Revolution, which will take us through Halloween week when we showcase our Boston-Tea-Terrier-Party-themed-doggie-float at various pet parades. Dork alert! DORK ALERT!!!

IN THE CAR THIS WEEK

I love audio books. I can NOT tell you how good audio books are for us. For all that time spent in the car each week, instead of the pop music, we go educational. 

Living Language - Spanish Started this as an in-car suppliment to our in-home classes (2xs/week). I secretly love it when we are all repeating words and phrases together in the car. Highlight - 5yo: "Oh, mom. Did you hear that one? I just did a really good 'Buenas noches'."

Johnny Tremain  A story of the turbulent, passionate times in Boston just before the Revolutionary War. Johnny, a young apprentice silversmith, is caught with Otis, Hancock, and John and Samuel Adams in the exciting operations and subterfuges leading up to the Boston Tea Party and the Battle of Lexington. As Johnny is forced into the role of a full-grown man in the face of his new country's independence, he finds that his relations with those he loves changes for the better as well.

FINISHED UP

Leonardo da Vinci - Science of Giants Another great one and only 2.5 hours. Lots of fun tidbits to keep kids engaged. (Note: You might want to listen to track 11 + 12 of disc one before sharing with younger kids. Some heavier/sensitive content there.)

Shakespeare for Children: A Midsummer Night's Dream + The Taming of the Shrew, Jim Weiss. These short adaptations are a great starter for any age (40 and over included :). Easy enough to understand in today's modern world, they offer a nice foundation, with just enough original wording to get everyone comfortable in the world of Shakespeare. A great primer. 

 

MONDAY

Because we are down south still for the Renaissance Faire, we decided to skip our Monday Homeschool in the Forest, and spend the day in Santa Cruz, taking our time driving home along the coast. We took our breakfast at the infamous, Gayle's Bakery, and while it wasn't meant to be more than a quick *lesson* in eating snickerdoodle muffins, it evolved into a lesson in fractions after Beanie meticulously removed one muffin crumb at a time, until she was left with a perfect 1/4 wedge missing, and exactly 3/4 of her muffin remaining. What I've noticed with homeschooling is that because we know we are 100% responsible for our children's education, we step-up at every opportunity to teach them. Never does a moment slip when we might be able to awaken their senses to something new. And I just love this.

After breakfast we plopped ourselves down at Natural Bridges State Park and took in the perfect fall day with hundreds of brown pelicans and a pod humpback whales off the coast. :)

 

TUESDAY

Language Arts + Drawing Out Arithmetic were canceled this week. Instead I worked with the 10yo on some of the assignments his math tutor gave him - a math cross word puzzle, making a deck of fraction flash cards and building a dodecahedron out of rolled paper. (This took about three hours to complete!!)

I have Beanie work on her penmanship and she's off to do imaginary play with her little brother. 

Chores: brushing, cleaning, bed making.

12:00 - 2:00 Open studio art class for homeschoolers. Imagine a fully stocked open room and the freedom to create whatever you want. 10yo works leather pieces, cutting and stitching. I forget to ask Beanie what she worked on.

2:15 - 3:15 Music for the 10yo. He's super excited to get his aunt's middle school guitar re-strung and proudly brings it to his lesson. While he's in his lesson, Beanie and I hit a cafe where we order hot drinks and take turns reading Who Cloned the President. I'm thinking this series will be good for her as she just returned from DC and her reading skills are finally taking off. 

3:45 - 5:15 Soccer 

Tonight the 10yo finishes up his latest book - The Boys of Blur, by N. D. Wilson

 

WEDNESDAY

Chores: brushing, cleaning, bed making. 

9:30 Kiddo haircuts, followed by tag in the park, a stop at the library and then breakfast out. I'm feeling guilty about enjoying a quiet breakfast out with my kids and so we go over our manners once the meal arrives. 

12:30 Drop 10yo at a friend's house who will bring him to science class and back. Beanie is sick and will stay with me. Report from science instructor for this week: 

"This week we worked on our review of the nervous system.  We finished our neurons and assembled our spinal cord with the different bones that make up the vertebrae.  We added it to our posters and labeled the different parts.  Next week, we'll connect the nervous system to how the fingers move."

1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns does PreK  

3:00 - 5:00 10yo and his buddy go to Nana's house and fish on the creek. They get nibbles, but no bites. I'm just happy that they are on their own, doing boy stuff. I will always wonder what they talk about, if anything. ;) Beanie and I are at home, I'm super under the weather, she plays in her room. I start reading her an easy reader edition of Les Miserables. We've been meaning to do this since we went to Paris. 

 

THURSDAY

8:15 - 9:15 Math tutor for 10yo. 

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool 4-wheel drive - the 10yo's second day a week in nature. Run by the same organization as Monday's class, this group happens have only boys enrolled at this time, which I love. It's great to see them just go off a wild adventure with a great male leader. This week's report:

"We started our day playing a migration game in the morning, as the "Hawk Watchers" tried to 'catch' the migrating hawks on their journey south (and north).  Our day started warm and sunny, but as we approached Mill Valley we could see the fog lingering...and linger it did, all day long.  We enjoyed some sound exploration in the tunnels up there, and made our way up to the top of the hill for snack, only to realize how cold and windy it really was.  Like animals, we made our way back down the hill to a little microclimate that was protected from the wind.  Some stealth games in the tunnel, with fog rolling in, while I played flute or didjeridoo made for an epic game - that they didn't want to stop.  After a couple rounds, we came back to the warm spot for some raptor journalling, drawing and learning more about the birds we chose at opening circle.  We headed up the hill to explore wingspans of various raptors and see how we measured up.  Atop the hill, we were still in the fog, we we found a place to process some acorns.  Since our last search for Black Oak Acorns, at Azalea Hill, wasn't a success, I brought some from home.  We cracked open hundreds which I've since leached on the stove, using a hot-water leach.  I'll dry out the acorn meal and save it for some autumn treats.  If we had running water, we could have done it that way as well.  Our search continues for more wild ingredients to make some wild foods this autumn."

Tiny Buns has sickness flare-up, stays home from soccer and PreK. Instead we drown our sicky sorrows in comfort food for lunch. 

Meatballs and French fries. 

1:15 - 2:15 French class for Beanie. This is a time when I plan to walk for an hour and get some much needed movement. I am finding that I'm sitting entirely too much with all the driving around I do. But Tiny Buns is with me today and sick, so we just hang out. :(

3:00 pick-up 10yo, 3:15 soccer drop 7yo 4:15 soccer pick-up

8:00 We watch Johnny Tremain, a 1950's Disney movie on the classic, and perfect for the kids. I found it while online at our county library, searching *Boston Tea Party*. I love, love, love our county library and all that it affords us. Every few days I'm on the website, researching subject matter and ordering audio, books and videos to be delivered to our local branch. 

 

FRIDAY

Our Friday morning Spanish class was cancelled due to it being Tiny Buns' birthday party. Unfortunately, Tiny and I have been sick all week and so the party is cancelled. We are home all morning which gives us the perfect opportunity to get started on our big history/Halloween project - a doggie float which we plan to enter into local pet parades. We'll call it "The Boston Tea Terrier Party". More to come on this exciting project. For today, we begin crafting our float out of cardboard, making templates, learning about planning one's project out, mock-ups, pattern making, trial and error. When the kids need a break, I have the 10yo read to the others about the BTP while I keep going. They spend much of the morning crafting a first round of doggie costumes. Despite me throwing my back out during this activity, it was super cute to see them all get so into it. 

Kiddos scrubbing a wagon which will serve as a base for our history project/Halloween doggie float.

The doggie costumes (colonists disguised as Indians!) are coming along!!

7:00 Kids watch Old Yeller. 

 

EXTENDED LEARNING (aka THE WEEKEND)

SATURDAY Soccer games and I'm out with a bad back. Daddy takes kids out to play and eat burgers. These awesome, never before used board games arrive! I found them on Etsy while looking for math games. I'm super excited to try them with the kids. 

SUNDAY Pancake breakfast at the firehouse, a birthday party for one, fishing with Daddy for the other two, dinner with three other families. Phew!

The Renaissance Faire

Last month, when I realized we would actually make it to this year's Northern California Renaissance Faire (I haven't been since I was 13), I began peppering our home studies with books and audio that touched on the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods. This is how I like to approach travel and other areas of interest, from all angles. To be able to oversee this with my own kids, has been an incredible gift. I've realized that while the world is full of subject matter that kids might not necessarily gravitate to on their own, almost all of it will interest them if presented in the right way. Is Shakespeare *the man* really interesting to a child of seven? Methinks not, my lady. But what if that child learns about the playwrite's impact on history, and the English language, by way of crafting 500 year old housewares, creating new words for the English language, or listening to his plays, modified for young, modern ears? One of the many things I love about homeschooling is that we can do this, in depth. We focused on this period in history for an entire month, and then we put on our tacky costumes and topped-off the whole thing with a day at the Renaissance Faire. I LOVE my job!!!

I had big hopes of crafting our own costumes, starting with Beanie's. I might have even made OVERT suggestions that we could "CRAFT IT OUT OF PAPER!!!", just to be super nerdy and annoying. But she didn't bite. So instead we threw a couple cheap Halloween costumes in our Amazon cart and called it a day. I, myself, had big dreams of being Bottacceli's *Flora* (the goddess of flowers + the season of spring), as she was depicted in Primavera, but time was not on my side this year. 

Moving on. The *rides* were a huge hit with the kids, of course.

These guys were amazing with their show on sword fighting. Informative and hilarious, I now know more that I ever cared to about swords. 

 

My kids are now begging to take rock climbing lessons. Weekly. :-/

 

The highlight of everyone's day was the magic and fire-eating show by Broon. 

 

And this guy... what was going on with this guy?? He was our favorite faire-goer, and we were lucky to keep running into him again and again. 

How We Homeschool - Week 3

People are always asking me what our days look like. The truth is, they are always changing depending on the season, what courses are being offered in our network, how we're feeling, and which way the wind is blowing. I love hearing about all the different ways people learn, and how everyone finds their own way through their own education. Unfortunately, I can only seem to find this sort of information through live conversation, with friends and family. I've never really be able to find these stories, in their entirety, online. So while I kept a handwritten journal of our learning last year, I decided to put it online this year, in hopes that it might help others to understand what we do. We are just one family, and for now, at least for this week, this is what works for us. This is how we homeschool:

IN THE CAR THIS WEEK

I love audio books. I can NOT tell you how good audio books are for us. For all that time spent in the car each week, instead of the pop music, we go educational. 

Living Language - Spanish Started this as an in-car suppliment to our in-home classes (2xs/week). I secretly love it when we are all repeating words and phrases together in the car. Highlight - 5yo: "Oh, mom. Did you hear that one? I just did a really good 'Buenas noches'."

Leonardo da Vinci - Science of Giants . Another great one and only 2.5 hours. Lots of fun tidbits to keep kids engaged. (Note: You might want to listen to track 11 + 12 of disc one before sharing with your kids. Some heavier/sensitive content there.)

FINISHED UP

Shakespeare for Children: A Midsummer Night's Dream + The Taming of the Shrew, Jim Weiss. These short adaptations are a great starter for any age (40 and over included :). Easy enough to understand in today's modern world, they offer a nice foundation, with just enough original wording, to get everyone situated in the world of Shakespeare. A great primer. 

Little Town on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder. The one book we were forced to skip in the series due to it not being available when we traveled. I love researching/learning before a trip, but it's also nice to learn more after you return home. Just two different experiences. 

The Shakespeare Stealer, by Gary Blackwood. Picked this one up on the recommendation of the librarian when looking for Renassance relevant content in preparation for the fair. So far, so good. Kids are hooked, and I'm super happy to discover this is an actual series with two more books to go. 

Shakespeare, by Bill Bryson. This one was for me, and my prepping for the Renaissance refresher. But like so many adult books I read or listen to, I feel there is a lot of wonderful information that is perfect for curious young minds. Typically I listen to these while alone in the car to make sure the content is OK for young ears, and then I play it again while they are with me. They always tune in, and I just love that. I don't believe our culture gives kids enough credit for what they can take in. Here is another adult audio book we enjoyed together in the car.  

MONDAY

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool in the Forest

Leader summaries:

5yos group: n/a

7yos group: "Hi there parents of the Lagunitas Fox Lizards,

Our crew picked a name for our clan last week. It took some great consideration, compromising and creativity, but we did it. Actually the process was quite admirable, I tried to stand back as much as possible and let the kids figure out the choosing of the name themselves. So there it is now "The Lagunitas Fox Lizards" a combination of the lake we hike around, an animal we love and an animal we see a lot on our adventures. We are witty, fast and in tune with our environment :)

Last week started in a fun, unusual way. The group was excitedly talking getting to know each other paying much more attention to each other than where they were going.  I decided to test their awareness a bit and quite obviously stepped to the side to stand behind a tree that was right in front of them.  They just kept walking, I wondered how long they would take to notice that their instructor was no longer in front.  Instructor always is front is a rule of ours.  After quite a long while they did realize and then started running.  I was of course following close behind.  Finally I started running to keep up with them and someone turned around to notice me. :) 

Well the theme of our day became lost-proofing. 

We went over some basic lost proofing techniques, and tried to find north from many different spots.  We defined what good landmarks would be and tried ot notice obvious things about where we were. We also looked for acorns and identified the different oak trees we were seeing. We also processed acorns. Of course we also made time for some games of cat and mouse and exploration. We will continue learning about hazards, mapping and start diving into identification of animal tracks and sign.  In Dane's absence, I may take the youngest group next week and have Daniel be with this group.  Daniel is a tracking expert so that might be fun.

Connections for home:

* Find a leaf and acorn of as many different oak trees as you can

* Journal the most common oak trees of the area

* Try to find north and draw a compass rose in as many different places as possible"

 

10yos group: n/a

3:30 - 6:00 Library with former neighbor/daughter of dear friend - a Monday ritual. Pick her up after school and head to library for a weeks worth of fresh reading. We hang-out for about an hour and then head to an early dinner of burgers and fries. Imagine my excitement when I discovered the Spanish aisle and load-up on some old favorites!!!

BEDTIME READING:

10yo: Brian's Winter, by Gary Paulsen

Little kids: Fossil, by Bill Thomson. Love this illustrator's wordless books! We take turns narrating the story, page by page. I encourage them to replace simple words with ones more descriptive.

 

TUESDAY

Kiddos wake-up between 7 and 8. I set berries, yogurt and toast on the kitchen table decorated with juvinile magazines for browsing. We currently subscribe to Ladybugs, Appleseeds, Muse and Dig (as well as Smithsonian, National Geographic, Reptiles and All About History - these for the big kid). We love magazines!

until 8:30 breakfast and morning chores (grooming, clean room, make bed)

9:00 - 12:00 Big kids enrolled in locally taught homeschool courses Language Arts + Drawing Out Arithmetic ("Playing with the ancient tools of compass and straight edge, children will discover the skills and methods employed by the Ancient Greeks to uncover enduring mathematical truths"). Incredibly enthusiastic teacher, Daniel, helps reinforce the priciples of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division by having each of the four students saw one 36" dowel down into 1/2 units. (He also teaches them how to find the center with out measuring :) Using these units (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128) he challenges them to a wide range of math problems. Daniel has put this class together based on some higher-level theories he learned as an adult. I ask him how to qualify it and he hesitates before saying, "You could call it bianary multiplication, but you wouldn't get the right info if you Google that term." He's developed this class all on his own with the goal of getting kids to touch math and to have a physical relationship with it. I've never seen anything like this and when you see it in action it is super cool!

At home during this time, Tiny Bun paints some water color thank you notes, and we watch a video in Spanish about counting 1 - 10. He gets it and can now count 1 - 10 in Spanish. :-)

12:00 - 2:00 Open studio art class for homeschoolers. Imagine a fully stocked open room and the freedom to create whatever you want. 10yo worked on props for his Halloween costume (a steam punk) and Beanie cast her hand in plaster, spun a clay bowl on the wheel, and began knitting a hat. 

Tiny Buns is under the weather and skips preK. Instead he plays with Fimo clay while we are home.

2:15 - 3:15 Music for the 10yo. He's super excited to get his aunt's middle school guitar re-strung and proudly brings it to his lesson. They work on basic guitar beats, and hit the drums for the final 15. While he's in music I'm outside with little kids. It's a mixture of squirrel family games and subtraction flash cards. Beans is good with subtraction, so we focus our energy in teaching the principles to Tiny Buns. He loves it and I can tell he's feeling proud.

3:45 Soccer drop-off, back home, quick walk with puppy, 5:15 Soccer pick-up

6:45 - 8:45 Daddy heads out with 10yo to see a concert of his music teachers students. This is good for the kid - to see the hard work paying off. 

Meanwhile. I'm at home with little kids and begin making Pomander balls as part of our Renaissance block. 

 

WEDNESDAY

We all wake between 7 and 8. Beanie reads to her Daddy. Over breakfast I read another chapter from Shakespeare activity book while kids continue working on their pomnaders. 10yo brushes up on multiplication (per his tutors request), and builds 3D triangle our of rolled paper scraps. 

Chores: brushing, cleaning, bed making.

10:00 - 11:00 Maestro Jason for family Spanish lesson. 30 minutes of crazy, then verb conjugation. Beanie prefers to draw pictures and label them than to just write out words. I love that she can do this freely. 10yo checks out mentally at ten to the hour. I have him go to his room and read. Hubs later mentions it's crazy to even try to teach kids this young to conjugate verbs in Spanish when they can't even always do it properly in English. This cracks me up. He makes a good point. 

 

Off to science and poetry classes at another family's house.

11:45 - 12:45 Beanie takes SCIENCE with 7yos (while 10yos BAKE SCONES with host mom). Report from instructor for this week: 

"This week, we raced cars down a ramp and measured the distance they traveled.  We raced three cars that weighed different amounts.  One car had 0 extra weights attached, one had 5 weights, and the last had 10 weights.   

On the rough carpeted surface, the cars experienced the slowing force of friction.  The more massive cars were able to go farther because they have more mass.  More mass means an object has more inertia.  Inertia is a resistance to change so the more massive cars are more resistant to change.  Since they are already moving, the change would happen in trying to slow them down.  The more massive cars are harder to slow down because they are more resistant to change and are able to travel a farther.  

 

Our results varied on the smooth surface that had very low friction.  In this case, our lightest cars ended up going the farthest.  In the absence of friction or an opposing force, a moving object will keep moving forever.   Our heavier cars must have had some other force acting on them to keep them from going very far."

 

1:00 - 2:00 Beanie (and the 7yos) move over to poetry class with lovely language arts instructor. 

1:00-2:30 10yo+ SCIENCE class. Report from instructor for this week: 

"This week we began our review of the nervous system.  We made a clay model of the four lobes of the brain and the cerebellum.  We attached the functions of each lobe onto our model.  We also began constructing our model of the neuron."

 

While big kids in their classes, Tiny Buns and I hang out and make stuff with stickers. 

3:00 I drop 7yo at her grandma's house for home economics. Today they make a shrimp cocktail appetizer to bring for dinner, and begin cutting out fabric for a quilt. 10yo takes his fishing pole and walks to his other grandmas house (the gmas live about two blocks from each other) where he fishes on the creek for two hours.

 

THURSDAY

8:15 - 9:15 Math tutor for 10yo. A rough session and we realize we need to make some modifications to our math program, if you could even call it that yet. We are still finding our way here this year. Homeschooling all three kids is a whole differnt ball game and everything I figured out last year doesn't seem to apply anymore. 

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool 4-wheel drive - the 10yo's second day a week in nature. Run by the same organization as Monday's class, this group happens have only boys enrolled at this time, which I love. It's great to see them just go off a wild adventure with a great male leader.

Little kids spend the morning playing Legos. I'm good with this and don't want to interupt until I have to.

10:25 - 11:05 PeeWee soccer. Beanie and I do some math on the side. Again, the math part didn't go so well. Starting to wonder if math ever goes well. 

Home for lunch then off to Prek for Tiny Buns, 1:00 - 4:00

1:15 - 2:15 French class for Beanie

3:00 pick-up, 3:15 soccer drop, 4:00 PreK pick-up, 4:15 soccer pick-up

4:30 - 10yo journals about day in nature. I have him write a page then I go over it with him and discuss ways to improve it, starting by replacing simple verbs for more descriptive ones. He then re-writes the entry with his new changes. A little teeth-pulling, but it gets done well.

 

FRIDAYS (ARE FOR FIELD TRIPS)

8:30 Grandpa picks up the 10yo for a day on Alcatraz and at Fisherman's Wharf. 

The little kids and I head into SF for some beach time. Sunshine, seashell counting games, simple math in the sand, the beautiful bay, fish tacos while catching the Giants game on a big screen, and organic, dipped soft serve are just some of the reasons why we homeschool! ;-)

 

EXTENDED LEARNING (aka THE WEEKEND)

SATURDAY soccer games then we drive to Santa Cruz. Dinner on the wharf with family, total surprise that tonight marks the 100 year celebration of the wharf. Fireworks at 9, boardwalk open until 10. Super fun night - cousins have a great time. SUNDAY at the Rennaisance Fair! So much research, preparation and anticipation has gone into the fair over the last month. Kids loved every minute of it. I'll post about the whole day at the fair next.

How We Homeschool - Week 1

This week marked our first official week of homeschool! While we've been ramping up slowly for several weeks, and even though I thing we are always learning,  last Monday was the start of all our remaining classes, and the tight schedule we need to stay on to keep it all going seamlessly. Here is how we did it:

IN THE CAR THIS WEEK

We spend A LOT of time driving around town all week and so to keep them interested (and, quite honestly, quiet) we always have a stack of audio books in the passanger seat. I swap out different ones depending on what combo of family members are present. 

How To Train Your Dragon, by Cressida Crowell. I checked this one out for Tiny Buns but we were all happily surprised to find we ALL loved it. Beautifully narrated by Scottish actor, David Tennant. This one was in preparation for our Renaissance block and the upcoming fair (a stretch, I know. But remember - I got it originally for the 4yo.)

Shakespeare, by Bill Bryson. This one was for me, and my prepping for the Renaissance Faire. But like so many adult books I read or listen to, I feel there is a lot of wonderful information that is perfect for curious young minds too. Typically I listen to these while alone in the car to make sure the content is OK for young ears, and then I play it again while they are with me, driving here and there. They always tune in, and I just love that. I don't believe our society as a whole gives our kids enough credit for what they can take in. Here is another adult audio book we enjoyed together in the car. 

 

MONDAY

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool in the Forest

I drop the boys off for their first day in *the forest* this fall. It's the (now) 10yos second year with the program, and absolutely his favorite time of the week. Today was Tiny Buns' first time ever and he was so, so excited. He'll be in the Pup Pack for 4-5 yos. (Beanie is in DC this week playing tourist with her grandma. Their Monday plans include a tour of the presidential monuments.)

An emailed summary of Homeschool in the Forest read:

“On Monday we went over main hazards and safety protocols in a few rambunctious skits and then split into our groups by age.  Each group went and explored a different place on the land to check in on the plants and animals there. 

My group, which is the middle ages 8-10 group, ventured to *the lake* following a magical map that got a new point marked on it every time the group completed a challenge. The challenges ranged from listening for different types of birds to finding plants suitable for fire making to finding signs of animals.  Along the way we played monkey fist, a game teaching awareness and coordination which the group quite enjoyed. 

We are already starting to get ready for our harvest festival. So if you have any large, non-pointy acorns or see any, please collect them in a bag and send them with your child to dirt time.  We will process them :)"

3:00 - 5:00 Pick-up boys and grab a friend's child from middle school for our weekly trip to the library. We spend about an hour there researching topics of interest, reading to ourselves, as well as to Tiny Buns. 

TUESDAY

9:00 - 12:00 The 10yo (and usually Beanie) attend homeschool courses Drawing out Arithmetic and Language Arts. Their math class is perfect for both of them:

"By playing with the ancient tools of compass and straight edge, children will discover the skills and methods employed by the Ancient Greeks to uncover enduring mathematical truths. Students will learn addition and multiplication and even some division and fractions by drawing lines, polygons and circles. A playful and experimental approach seeds young minds with mathematical ideas that will serve them for life."

12:00 - 2:00 Open studio art class for homeschoolers. Imagine a fully stocked open room and the freedom to create whatever you want. My kids love to spin clay on the wheel, as well as build terrariums and doll houses.

1:00 - 4:00 Play-based PreK for Tiny Buns. I'm just driving all over the place at this point.

2:15 - 3:15 Music for the 10yo. Last year he started classical piano and continued through the year with little passion other than the for the desire to be able to play well. He now studies with a great musician, in an open studio, exploring any instrument he wants, learning any song he desires. It works much better for him and he is now engaged and enthusiastic to learn. This week it was Elenor Rigby on the guitar. 

After music the 10yo is beyond tired, and it's hot out, so I let him skip soccer practice. He comes home, jumps in the pool and craps out on the couch listening to his audio book, Rick Riordan's The Battle of the Labyrinth

 

WEDNESDAY

10yo wakes and listens to audio book in bed before chores and breakfast.

8:00 - 9:30 10yo and I watch and interesting documentary, Manufactured Landscapes. (Tiny Buns entertains himself with crafty stuff.)

"Jennifer Baichwal's cameras follow Edward Burtynsky (1955- ) as he visits what he calls manufactured landscapes: slag heaps, e-waste dumps, huge factories in the Fujian and Zhejiang provinces of China, and a place in Bangladesh where ships are taken apart for recycling. In China, workers gather outside the factory, exhorted by their team leader to produce more and make fewer errors. A woman assembles a circuit breaker, and women and children are seen picking through debris or playing in it. Burtynsky concludes with a visit to Shanghai, the world's fastest growing city, where wealth and poverty, high-rises and old neighborhoods are side by side." 

Movie sparks conversation about consumption, waste and recycling. 10yo vows to never buy another thing. ;)

10:00 - 11:00 @home science block to prepare kid for afternoon (homeschool) class – anatomy/brain refresher, constructing 3D models, watchTed Talk, illustration labeled.

1:00-2:30 Science with J - great homeschool class organized by a fellow mom, and taught at her house to a group of four by a UC graduate student. Lots of great content for these kids - unlike anything they'd be offered at this age in public school.

"We reviewed the parts of the brain while looking at the preserved brain sample.  We identified the following parts.

1. Dura mater - tough outer covering of the brain
2. Cerebrum - the uppermost parts of the brain split into two sections the right and the left
3. Gyri - the large folds of tissue on the cerebrum
4. Sulci - grooves in between the gyri
5. Cerebellum - the rounded structure at the back of the brain
6. Corpus callosum - connects the left and right side of the cerebrum

We also briefly talked about the four lobes of the cerebrum:

1. Frontal lobe - judgement, decision making, reasoning, memory, emotions, motor skills, language skills
2. Parietal lobe - senses of touch, pain and temperature, storing data, spatial relationships
3. Temporal lobe - auditory processing, smell, emotion, memory, speech
4. Occipital lobe - vision

We also began our exploration of how the body processes the sense of touch and began to map out our body's sensitivity.  We constructed cards with pricking toothpicks that were set different distances apart.  If that part of the body could feel the two pricks as two pokes, then it was more sensitive.  The more sensitive parts were able to feel the two pokes even when they were close together.  

 

We will compile our data from our test and make of list of most sensitive to least sensitive areas and assigned each part a number sensitivity based on the distance between pricks."

 

THURSDAY

8:15 - 9:15 10yo has private math tutor. Today was first day, although we did have two trial meetings over the summer. He is terribly reluctant to go. He's certain he will not like it. She opens up the year with a little geometry, and in the hour, teaches him a card trick that helps drive home the lesson. He comes out saying, "Mom, it was actually fun!"

9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool 4-wheel drive - the 10yo's second day a week in nature. Run by the same organization as Monday's class, this group happens to be boys only which I love. It's great to see them just go off to be themselves with a great male leader.

"Greetings everyone,

I had such a wonderful day today - after falling asleep to gentle rain and waking up to clearing skies, I knew it would be a good one.  It was so great to see returning students (and a handful from Monday as well) and meet new friends.  We have a sweet crew of 9 boys, and had tons of fun together.  From our game in the morning working together as squirrels, to our game on the top of the hill (again as squirrels...a theme here around the acorn harvest) it was great to see how well everyone got along and worked together.  We spent the morning reviewing safety in the creek bed (on the White Hill Middle School side of Loma Alta Open Space, Fairfax).  Once the morning rain subsided and we finished our skits, we followed the creek noting poison oak (close, but hopefully not too close), and some edible plants.  We got to know each other a little more with a game of "The Big Wind Blows" as we shared some of our experiences in nature and got to see who else had experienced that as well.  

 

We transitioned ecosystems as we climbed up the hill, finding an epic rock to have lunch on and simply enjoy the 360 degree views of beauty.  We practiced a little distant botany - identifying trees across the valley based on size and color.  Leaving packs behind we made our way to the top for our game, a sit spot, and a walk of the labyrinth.  We looked out on the hills and shared where we want to go and some sharing of what we are looking forward to this season.  

 

A descent down the hill took us past a highlight - a rattle snake a few feet off the trail, tucked in the bushes.  A good reminder to everyone: to let me lead, to communicate with each other, and to keep our distance.  Seeing the beautiful snake from a safe distance was a highlight for many, as we shared at the end of the day.  Nikos suggested we rename it Rattlesnake hill, after a different sighting last spring...we were all safe and learned what to do when we see one - in case our morning skits wasn't enough.

 

We'll be heading to Hawk Hill either this week or next week (based on the weather) to witness the raptor migrations.  Check out their website: http://www.parksconservancy.org/conservation/plants-animals/raptors/research/daily-hawk-count.html

 

348 Raptors sighted in 6 hours on Wednesay! Amazing right?

 

The peak of migrations is late September, so the time is now."

10yo comes home absolutely exhausted and veges out for hours on the couch listening to his audio book.

7:00PM - After dinner the 10yo and I watch the first episode of the first season of BBC's Robin Hood. I checked the first season out at the library in preparation for our visit to the Renaissance Fair next month. Technically, it's a story told in the 12th century, but whatever. I figure I'm setting the flavor. 

I drive to the airport late to pick-up my mom and Beanie. Weeeee!!!  

FRIDAY

9:00 -10:00  First day of Spanish tutor, although we had one trial class. Today was tough...really tough. The two younger kids gave it a great effort, focusing on the written alphabet and noting the Spanish pronunciation of each letter, per tutor's request. 10yo - not so much. The plan is to bake cookies in the kitchen with tutor and to learn some related Spanish, starting on numbers as well.  It all starts to unravel around 9:35 and I wonder if he isn't going to quit us. After he leaves, I have a serious talk with the kids about what happened. I make the 10yo re-write the in-class assignment three more times. He takes about two hours to do it. I'm guessing the lesson has been learned and that he will put more effort forward on Wednesday. He's a great kid, but starting a new school year always take a bit more effort. 

 

While the big kid works on his Spanish, I find Beanie and Tiny Buns playing with all the anatomy models left out from Wednesday. I bought these last year when the then 9yo said he wanted to learn more about the body. After investing in all this blood and guts, he decided he didn't have the stomach for it and instead wanted to focus on nutrition, which we did, starting with this great read. I wondered if and when we'd ever use these again and sure enough, I got to pull them out when his science focus moved to anatomy. I would have never guessed that these would then be so interesting to the others as well. Who knew Beans would gravitate to all this, and yet, she does! I let her run with it and for over three hours (!!!), she assembled and disassembled models, set-up a whole hospital ward, cared for all the sick, skinless patients, she even took *notes* while doing her *rounds*. One of the many reasons I love homeschooling - you just never know what bonuses are about to surprise you. 

6:45 - 9:00 PM  Beanie is too tired to join us, but the 10yo and I take in a little music/American history block by catching the movie Take Me To The River. :)

"A documentary about the soul of American music. The film follows the recording of a new album featuring legends from Stax records and Memphis mentoring and passing on their musical magic to stars and artists of today."