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!
Continue reading "UK Trip - Day 17 - Gypsy Caravaning in the (almost) Lake District" »
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.
Continue reading "UK Trip - Day 16 - Augill Castle, The Forbidden Corner + A Boar Feeding" »
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.
Continue reading "UK Trip - Day 13 - Highland Folk Museum to Glasgow" »
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.
Continue reading "UK Trip - Day 12 - The Train to Malaig " »
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.
Continue reading "UK Trip - Day 11 - Plockton to Fort Williams" »
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.
Tiny Buns has knocked-out another year! We celebrated his big day with four surprises that could only happen in London!
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!
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.
Six months in the making and we are finally here in London - one of my favorite cities in the world, and one I was lucky enough to call home for a short time in college. I will be alone with the kids for a week, then Hubs is meeting us, at which time we will fly to Scotland and road-trip all the way back down.
We landed yesterday afternoon. Some of us had slept a little, some of us not at all. By some miracle, everyone rallied and powered through. After dropping our bags at our apartment in South Bank, we headed to Covent Garden in the pouring rain, hoping to put some smiles on little faces at the London Transport Museum.
THIS WEEKS BOOKS
In The Car: We finished up a great book in the car over our break, Porch Lies: Tales of Slicksters, Tricksters, and Other Wily Characters. We are now onto Every Soul A Star, and everyone is enthralled.
10yo: He's reading Just A Drop of Water, a book I picked up for him about a boy's experience with September 11th. He also devoured Rifle, although I now see the reviews are terrible. I am reading to him (when he lets me) Hero on a Bicycle. Between the two he fills his free time with Reptiles Magazine.
Beanie: She's reading Night of the Zombie Chickens, and at night I read to her this beautiful edition of A Little Princess.
Tiny Buns: Our favorite books found at the library this week are Mr. Ferris and His Wheel and Don't Play With Your Food.
MONDAY
9:30 - 3:00 Homeschool in the forest! It's a beautiful day but we still bundle them up for the morning before dropping them off. Everyone LOVES Mondays!
3:00 We stop at the library and load up. Here is a pile of great DVDs I find on all sorts of interesting subjects that may (or may not) interest one or all of the kids at once. I also grabbed a stack of books for Tiny Buns that come in an envelope with CDs to accompany. They can be a great way to work on reading.
6:00 I get my way (!) and we sit down to watch Sacagawea. Its poor production quality annoys the 10yo. I roll my eyes at his high production standards and make him power through. We've covered Lewis & Clark before, but I'm a big believer in returning to subject matter again and again to really solidify ones understanding of it.
TUESDAY
8:30 - 10:30 Math tutor for all three kids. Tiny Buns always asks to go first. This week he counted to 1,000 by tens, ya know, just for fun. The kid is all about numbers, counting and math problems.
10:30 - 12:00 Language arts for the two older kids. We've started splitting the time 50/50 and it seems to be working better for everyone. The 10yo is over his *block* and doing much better. I need to write about a post about the trick that worked for him. More to come.
1:00 - 4:00 Prek for Tiny Buns
2:15 - 3:15 Music for the 10yo while Beanie and I take a walk
At home, the kids decide on their own that they want to make signs for their treehouse. :)
6:00 We sit down and watch this documentary on Versailles. I figured it would be great to watch with Beanie - a refresher on our trip. Didn't mind if the boys caught it too. It was what it was. Through the really dry parts I tried to keep their attention by cracking jokes about the hairstyles and how these guys looked like '80's rockers. That carried us through to the more exiting parts like watching furniture restoration, touring the garden, etc.
WEDNESDAY
We wake up and clean our rooms. Lots of organizing and purging. The 10yo is constantly revamping his reptile terrariums. There is always packaging, sawdust and vitamin powder on the floor. For a kid who loves to spend time cleaning his room, his room is certainly not clean enough.
10:00 - 12:00 We sit down together and do a whole bunch of different things - some math, some memorization of Shakespeare, cursive practice, a Tinker Crate, reading, etc.
I want my kids to have good penmanship. The books haven't don't a good enough job for me - it's just tracing the letters, then some dumb sentence. "C is for crocodile" won't cut it for the 10yo. So I had an idea for custom print + cursive worksheets. Of course, a little research and what did I find - a website where you can create custom handwriting pages! This source has been huge for us.
I'm pretty sure I promised myself that we would never do worksheets in homeschool. Oh well, looks like I lied. Tiny Buns is a complete sponge, and he likes to talk about numbers all day long. He begs for math worksheets, and I deliver them with a Star Wars theme.
12:30 - 2:30 Big kids go to their SHAKESPEARE CLASS down the street. All lines are memorized, including one soliloquy each. The 10yo is not as enthusiastic as he was in the beginning but Beanie is loving it.
1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns to Prek
2:45 - 4:15 10yo to art instruction. I'm excited when M. tells me at drop-off that they are going to work on "throwing paint" today. What 10yo boy wouldn't want to throw paint?? They do a little online research on Jackson Pollack and head off to the park. M. sends me multiple shots of the progress and there is a clear progression from the kid's first to last painting. You can really see the difference as he learns to let go.
3:00 - 5:30 Beanie goes to her grandma's house to bake brownies and needlepoint.
5:30 My mom brings Beanie home and we have our (almost) ritual Wednesday night dinner. After dinner we sit down and watch Food Inc. - the second time this week for a few of us. This is a film worth revisiting once a year. (Also recommending tween version of The Omnivore's Dilemma, which we read last year together.)
THURSDAY
9:00 - 10:30 Beanie does art. She too works on throwing paint this week.
9:30 - 3:00 10yo's Thursday nature camp with boys. Pure bliss for that kid! (No pack leader report issued this week.)
10:30 - 11:00 Karate for Tiny Buns
1:00 - 4:00 PreK for Tiny Buns
1:15 - 2:15 French for Beanie. The three girls continue working on their 3D Paris map, which is adorable.
3:30 - 5:15 Beanie does *after school* art workshop
FRIDAY
An early morning trip to the vet is 110% educational in my mind. I asked the vet if the 10yo could go in back with the dog and see her getting X-rays. It didn't work this day but he actually encouraged us to call in at a future date and come down for a few hours of observation. Amazing!
Back home, we start planting our veggie garden. We put spinach, beets, radish and carrot seeds into the ground. Everyone was so incredibly excited that I nearly lost my mind trying to keep it semi-organized and thoughtful. Oliver basked in the sun next to us. Later, the boys took the initiative and propagated our orchids. My heart exploded at the sight!
EXTENDED LEARNING (AKA: THE WEEKEND)
Beanie does a Saturday morning art class with her BFF. The 10yo and Dad build a rabbit hutch for Beanie's new friend. Saturday and Sunday, Daddy and I take turns mountain biking with the big kid. Don't every underestimate the education you give your kids on the weekend! :)
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.
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?)
8yo:
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.
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!
MONDAY
9:30 - 3:00 Homeschool in the forest meets on MLK day.
Pack leader reports:
5yo: N/A
8yo:
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!
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:
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??
MONDAY
9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool in the Forest
Daddy lets me sleep in until 8 and when I come out to the kitchen I witness the 10yo preparing hot, turkey leftover lunches for himself and his siblings. He puts all food, including freshly made hot cocoa, into vacuum-sealed containers for them to take into the forest. I must remember these beautiful moments of independence and reflect back to them when I can't get him to clean his room or fold his laundry. The kid is ten and has it in his heart to prepare meals for the tiniest members of our family. (Sniffle-sniffle)
It's dumping down rain today but the kids still spend it outside. Dropping them off, all bundled in their waterproof gear, just feels right. I'm so grateful we have this program for them to grow with.
On the way out of the park I chuckle at a newt crossing (see the rainbow?) and marvel at young bucks with tiny horns.
Today's report from the leader of both big kid's groups:
*write down and draw the edible plants we learned last week"
While waiting to pick-up the kids at 3pm, I head to the library and stock up on Playaways and books for our up-coming trip to Boston. I often find myself at the library counter, checking-out our typical *pile* of books and audio, reaching for my credit card, only to catch myself. Our public libraries are such a treasure!
TUESDAY We have taken a big leap and decided to bring math and language arts tutors to the house. The driving around all day long was getting to me and suddenly the added cost of bringing someone to us didn't seem so painful. I could do it myself, but it's not easy. None of us are at our best in that arrangement and it would take twice the woman that I am to do it well, with her own kids.
8:30 - 10:30 Math tutor works one hour with 10yo, 45 minutes with 7yo and 15 minutes with 5yo.
10:30 - 12:00 Language arts tutor at the house. Ignore Beanie's head on the table and the fact that this picture makes it look like she's teaching the alphabet to big kids. V is great with the kids and gets the big ones writing creatively.
12:30 - 2:30 Open studio art class for homeschoolers. Beanie is big into building cardboard doll houses and the 10yo paints.
1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns does PreK
2:45 - 3:45 Music class for the 10yo while Beanie and I walk to a cafe and continue reading the classic, Heidi.
WEDNESDAY
8:30 - 9:30 Family tennis class canceled due to rain
10:00 - 11:00 Family Spanish class canceled due to massive tree falling and blocking our long driveway. I post pictures on FB and friends suggest I do a homeschooling project of making furniture with my kids. Ha! In reality their day consisted of *an independent study of the history of animation*. (In other words, three hours of Looney Tunes while I direct tree trimmers.)
1:00 - 4:00 No PreK for tiny buns, tree still blocking our driveway, lower county flooding and traffic around town is horrific!
1:00 - 2:00 No Poetry - see above
THURSDAY
9:00 - 10:30 Beanie's art instruction with M. She loves the alone time with her teacher and I love what she comes home with at the end of the morning.
9:15 - 10:15 Electricity class for Tiny Buns. This kid is mechanically inclined, curious and super focused. When he spent 6+ hours one weekend, building snap circuit sets all by himself, I decided to see if I couldn't get D to give him a little one-on-one on the subject. We will do about three sessions of this to wet his whistle and then hopefully I can get creative with ways to feed his hunger. The video I took towards the end of his class made my heart explode (see below).
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. Report this week n/a.
1:00 - 4:00 PreK for Tiny Buns
1:15 - 2:15 French immersion for Beanie. Her teacher is so sweet and easy. Kids show up and they make gingerbread house, only in French. :)
FRIDAY
9:00 Mis-communication with Spanish tutor leads to no Spanish class today. Instead kids want to paint and make art while listening to Spanish audio discs. We use Living Language Spanish. A fellow homeschool mom recently told me that they study their language via Skype, with a lovely teacher in Nicaragua who charges $8/hr. It gets me thinking that I might just have to re-think this!
12:00 - 2:00 The Nutcracker!
IN THE CAR THIS WEEK
"Who would have believed that a knobby-kneed little colt called Seabiscuit would become one of the most celebrated racehorses of all time? Although Seabiscuit was the grandson of the legendary Man O' War, he was neither handsome nor graceful. His head was too big, his legs were too short, and his gallop was awkward. During the depths of the Great Depression, Seabiscuit won against incredible odds and uplifted the hearts of Americans from the streets to the White House. Ralph Moody recounts the thrilling tale of the plucky horse who refused to quit, the down-on-his-luck jockey who didn't let horrendous accidents keep him out of the saddle, and the taciturn trainer who brought out the best in both."
MONDAY
9:30 – 3:00 Homeschool in the Forest Today was the annual HARVEST FESTIVAL where familes join in at the end of the day. It was a cold, damp morning so they bundled themselves up well, and I packed their lunches with warm meals and hot tea.
Each family was asked to bring one dish inspired by the forest or harvest. Each group of kids worked during their day to prepare one item - like tea brewed from freshly picked forest berries.
The tween boys made truffles from elderberries and cocoa, and formed them into the shapes of various woodland scat, ya know, just for extra credit.
Buckwheat dough was available to wrap on found sticks and to roast over the fire.
After the harvest festival, we headed home to pick up our friend for play time. She couldn't really wait to do homework and in doing so, took on the task of teaching division to my kids. I love it when that happens!
TUESDAY
9:00 - 12:00 Last day in our 8-week series of Drawing out Arithmetic and Language Arts. When I drop them off, D is SO EXCITED to teach them about the Pythagorean theorem. D is the best!
Final message from language arts teacher, sent 11/21:
"I just wanted to say I am proud of your children, and how much progress they have made in a difficult subject area. Writing is hard work for most people (there are a few for whom it comes naturally and easily, but not most!) They learned how to take notes in 2 different outline forms and use these to write paragraphs; to avoid using banned (boring!) words; to use interesting, colorful verbs, adverbs, and adjectives (and how to find synonyms in a thesaurus or online); how to add who-which clauses to add interest and variance to their writing; and have a greater understanding of the literature forms of fables and myths. They also practiced public speaking on a regular basis, and got better at making eye contact with appropriate pauses. Keep up the good work, and please try to continue in these practices in all your subjects as you educate your children! Your children are treasures, and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas."
12:00 - 2:00 Open studio art class for the big kids
1:00 - 4:00 PreK for Tiny Buns
2:15 - 3:15 Music for 10yo. He's back on the piano learning a Christmas song and happy.
10yo comes home and knocks out some math homework, Tiny Buns plays a board game with E, and Beanie pulls out an old Kiwi Crate and continues working on the projects.
WEDNESDAY
It's raining today so our tennis class is canceled. Our Spanish tutor calls in sick. We play around the house until it's time to head to science and poetry.
11:45 - 12:45 7yo science class (while 10yos bake and play)
1:00 - 4:00 Tiny Buns does PreK
1:00 - 2:30 10yo's science class, they review their first semester anatomy work.
1:00 - 2:00 Beanie's poetry class:
3:00 - 5:00 Beanie is at her grandma's house. They bake an appetizer and work on needlepoint.
THURSDAY
8:15 - 9:15 Daddy takes 10yo to 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 on a wild adventure with a great male leader. This week's summary:
"We went to Madrone Canyon (Baltimore Canyon Open Space for a super rainy day - we ended up focusing on shelter. Beyond learning some essentials for rainy day clothing, we found an amazing redwood cave, thanks to Quinn's explorations. We all crawled in and some of us stayed for a song, and some for snack. It was completely dry, making it suprising to come out and see it still raining. A little farther along the trail and we found a partially made debris shelter...well, as you can imagine an hour later, we had a nearly water proof shelter to eat lunch in. Pretty amazing to see everyone working together to bring it to form. C. was stoked (as was I) when we saw an Ensatina salamander walking in the leaves of the big leaf maple (which was our roofing material) Funny how much time we spent building it, ate lunch in it and then took off. As the rain let up, we made our way to Dawn Falls. Since the water wasn't quite falling, some of the boys decided to see what else they could make "fall" over the rock ledge - plenty of sticks went flying into an already giant pile of sticks and logs at the base. I look forward to a return trip when the water is really flowing."
9:00 - 10:30 Beanie has her second private art class. This week her teacher takes her down the street to the local cafe where they work on pen sketching. I set her up with a bagel and hot cocoa before Tiny Buns and I leave them alone for the morning.
10:30 - 11:30 Tiny Buns and I pick up Beanie and together we walk across the street and hang out at the library for a while.
1:00 - 4:00 PreK for Tiny Buns
1:15 - 2:15 French immersion for Beanie. The kids work on building a play candy store and are all so proud to show off their work when it's time for pick-up
3:00 Pick-up the 10yo and am greeted by a soaking wet kid. He loved their day in the canyon but begs to go home for a hot shower and downtime.
FRIDAY
Our county libraries have started stocking these PLAYAWAYs and we've checked a couple out. The kids love them and enjoy listening to them while working on something with their hands, or just hanging-out by themselves.
She's listening to:
9:00 - 10:00 Family Spanish class. J plays Who Is It? with the kids, but in Spanish! It's the perfect game for them at this stage, utilizing colors and facial characteristics.
12:00 - 4:30 San Francisco Zoo! Our sitter has to go for a school project and offers to take the kids for the afternoon. I exercise and do some Christmas shopping.
EXTENDED LEARNING (aka THE WEEKEND)
Daddy set his dusty keyboard up in the 10yo's room for use. He's super into it and I find him practicing without any nudging. :)
Inspired by a catapult she crafted from a Kiwi Crate, Beanie and Tiny Buns build a castle in the playroom.
On Sunday we head to The Dickens Fair for our annual tradition!
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
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.
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!
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:
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!
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.
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:
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:
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!
We've been drilling down into the American Revolution in our studies this past month - books, audio, video, and then this silly doggy Halloween float as our art component. I had the idea for the Boston Tea-rrier Party float last year, but we weren't able to pull it off. In fact, we nearly didn't pull it off this year either having set our sights high on things like - "A super tall mast!", "Boxes full of tea dangling off the sides!!", and "Large feather head pieces for everyone!!!". We were also hoping to make it into an online research project (identifying all the pup parades in town, maping out our attendance, travel, etc.) But it turned out there was only one in town that issued prizes and so that was the only one my kids cared to attend. Last Saturday morning, after throwing the final touches on our ship, minutes before leaving the house, we headed out to the Marin Country Mart for their annual pup parade. The dogs wore little Indian attire, cut, fringed and hand stitched by the kids, puff-painted my mom. Tiny Buns walked around like a colonist, holding a bown of tea backs and dog buiscuts saying "Tea or treat! Tea or treat!". We took first place(!!!), a $100 gift certificate at George, which we put towards a new doogy bed and some toys for Oliver. Someone gave us the great suggestion that we should save the float for 4th of July parades, which we will definately do. Happy Halloween!!!
Last Friday, when we took a studio tour of Heath Ceramics in Sausalito, I noticed a small counter space up against a window. Through the glass, bright morning light came in and danced on the most unusual assortment of colorful ceramics. I couldn't quite make it out (probably because my vision is going south). It appeared to be a hodgepodge, really, and yet, I was drawn closer, squinting the whole way. (I mean, I had to figure out what the heck was going on on that counter). Turns out it was a recently assembled collection of Halloween ceramics, crafted by Heath employees. I was told this is part of an annual tradition there, and the result was adorable. For a relatively reasonable price ($20-30/each), you could pick-up one-of-a-kind Halloween themed ceramics, often made with the recognizable forms of popular Heath products. We were all so smitten with these characters, that we each ended-up picking one to add to our Halloween collection. I mean, really - do they not just put a huge smile on your face?
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:
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.
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. :)
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:
10yo:
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
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!
Meet three of my all-time favorite people: Mr. Noodle, Miss Frijoles and The 8 year old.
