Doing the Heavy Lifting

Physical and Nutritional Education

This year we have tried to be better about P.E. for the kids. Swim lessons, park play when it's nice out, hikes on the weekends, weekly meet-ups at the track... but it is a daunting task when it's so cozy inside with our books and computers. 

Nutrition, although it seems easier to discuss anytime, anywhere, is almost harder to explain. I'm constantly clarifying that food that is baked and not fried still may not be healthy. Is "less bad for you" really "good for you?" I mean, organic doesn't always mean what we think it should mean. So, nutrition always seems to be a lot of consumer awareness education, and not just eat a well rounded meal!

So, it was great to be invited to this field trip to a gym, where a trainer gave us a tour of the gym, weight lifting lessons, and a healthy snack. The kids even got a label reading lesson! It's always great to get information that supports what we're telling the kids on a daily basis.

Spring Fever

The sun is out, and so are we!

It rains a lot where we live, so when the sun shines bright, the whole town comes out to celebrate. We are no different.

The trees are bursting with leaves, the rhododendrons in full bloom, bees buzzing and we are definitely feeling spring fever. It's been hard to concentrate on studies, when the grass is calling for bare feet and the trees are begging to be climbed.

We've enjoyed several days of playing hooky. We know that we aren't in summer yet, so the sunshine can be fleeting. Thus, when it comes out, we call another homeschooling family and head to a local park.

Yay sunshine!

Marshmallow Shooters

Trouble shooting

Today we made Marshmallow Shooters using an Instructable tutorial. I've been wanting to do this for months and just never had the gumption to try it on my own with the kids. Finally, we found the time today and it couldn't have been easier! I just needed to be shown where the saw and vice were, then the shooters were super easy to make.

The interesting thing is that we loaded the marshmallows incorrectly at first. We were a bit disappointed with how our shooters were working (or not working) and we played for a little while. Then we figured out a way to load the marshmallow better and we started getting better results, but intermittently. Then we finally figured out where to put the marshmallow to get the best results and BAM! we were shooting super far with amazing speed. The sounds of the pop were satisfying and we found ourselves laughing amidst our joy and pain (When we got better at shooting and aiming, the marshmallows did sting a little bit when they found their target!)

I'm sure it would have still been fun if we figured it out the first time, but struggling at first and then figuring it out definitely made our success that much sweeter. Our failures definitely led to problem solving, experimenting and learning. Score!

Serendipity Continues

A great attitude does much more than turn on the lights in our worlds; it seems to magically connect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities that were somehow absent before the change. -  Earl Nightingale

I am finding that opportunities continue to present themselves to us. Opportunities that fit right into our lives and what we are doing. It's exciting each time we find experiences that strengthen what we have already studied and take our learning to a deeper level.

While on a trip to Southern California to meet our newest member of the family (baby niece of 5 weeks!) we found ourselves at the Upper Newport Bay Center. This center is a great resource that is free of charge. One exhibit concentrated on the migration of birds. Seriously? We JUST finished our unit on birds and migration. Cool that we were able to finish our unit with a free museum tour!


Then, a friend in our homeschooling community put together a "Brain" tour at the local university. The kids were able to learn about the brain and touch a few different brains! And yes, we did a brain unit just a few months ago!





And then, my daughter asked to study another animal this year. Turtles. She quickly decided to narrow her study to sea turtles. However, through her research, she did learn a lot about all kinds of turtles, tortoises and other reptiles.

In the meantime, I had been wanting to walk around the Delta Ponds near us, but never had. Not in the 6 years we've lived in this town. Someone just mentioned their latest walk around this area and said that they were able to see the turtles. I asked where to park and at the next sunny opportunity, we took off for the Delta Ponds and found no less than 28 turtles (the kids counted). During our walk, my daughter explained to my son and me all about turtles.  What a timely and wonderful experience for us all!

Put On Your Thinking Cat!

Pets become a part of the day.

There is a section in the math program we use (Math in Focus by Singapore) called, "Put on Your Thinking Cap". We alway make a joke when it comes time for this section. We think the title for the section is goofy, so we act goofy when we get to it.

One day, someone posted this pic and we laughed and laughed at the "I've got my thinking cat on" caption with the photo of a cat on a dog's head. Our joke only got more funny and we continue to laugh each time we get to this section in math.

Often, while we are working on our math, the family cat climbs onto the table to look out the window while we work. Other times, she will sit right ON our work. Here, she sat right between my son and the student book, making it nearly impossible to work or put our "thinking cat on!"

I Miss the Hallways

No More Roaming the Hallways

I realized there was something I missed now that we were no longer part of the public school system. I loved walking the hallways just before pick-up and gazing at all the projects on display on the walls. Artwork, snipits of writings and other projects the kids, of all grades, had produced. I think I enjoyed seeing how all the students interpreted the assignment, how some were innocent and simple, others were deeper and thoughtful, while others were completely "not what the teacher" assigned. I loved seeing them all and I no longer got to see them.

So, I created Art a la Carte Gallery for homeschoolers. It's small for now, but I hope participation continues to grow. We assign one concept a month and kids (and their parents) are encouraged to participate in any are medium they desire (painting, poem, photography, sculpture and more). This commitment helps me to make sure we continue to look at different forms of art, tantalize our creative sides and are exposed to other ideas. It's been great to see all the creative pieces of works that are delivered. I look forward to more participants and more months of enjoying other people's works of art. 

Samples from the concept CHANGE:

A haiku from my son.

A poem my son did not want to write on his own. However, when I said I was going to write one, would he help me rhyme the sentences, he jumped in and helped me with great enthusiasm.

 A sample from the concept LIGHT:

A comic strip by my daughter

 A sample from the concept BEGINNINGS:

A poem by my daughter.

Lead by Example

Children Do What They See Their Parents Doing

My daughter loves to create beadies (creations using string and pony beads). She has followed many patterns as well as made some up on her own. The other day she asked if she could lead a class on how to make a lizard.  

As we planned her class, we discussed many details. What age should the kids be? Could a younger child come if a parent promised to stay and help? How long should the class be? Should we limit the number of students we could have at one time? What project should she help them make? Should we charge for the class? Should we include photos with our email invitation? After all the decisions were made, I helped send out an email to our homeschooling community.

Six students participated in my daughter's class. They all made a lizard and then took home instructions and beads to make a firefly at home. The class was a success. The kids had fun. My daughter was proud. I think she learned a lot about the process of teaching a class. A teacher's time isn't limited to the 90 minutes of teaching, but includes a lot of preparation, thinking ahead and even thinking about things after the time is over (What surprised us? What could we have done better? What worked best?)

I'd like to think some of her inspiration has come from seeing dad teach her computer programming, or mom teach her yearbook class, or all the parents in the homeschooling community teaching classes on history, writing, math and more. So a big thanks to all teachers in our lives who "showed us by doing" and inspired her to "do what she saw".