Busy, busy, busy! (And a little bit lazy...)

Holy smokes!!! We have nearly completed our first trimester of homeschooling using the Charlotte Mason method and I am FINALLY getting around to updating this blog! I have often thought of doing so, I just haven't taken the time to get myself to the peace and tranquility of the library - without my kiddos- in order to get it done. So now that we are enjoying our family vacation in Myrtle Beach, I guess I have a few moments to do so.

(By the way, here is the view I am enjoying as I write this:)

We began our school year the first week of August, only about two weeks prior to the public school district. I can't tell you how amazing and wonderful it is to homeschool my kiddos! I absolutely love it! There hasn't been one day when I said to myself, "Boy, do I wish I hadn't decided to do this!" I actually thank my Father in Heaven each day that He inspired me to begin this journey all those months ago. It truly is a journey, too. If you don't look at it through that perspective, then it could easily and quickly become burdensome and frustrating. For example, when I teach Connor a mathematics concept, and he just isn't catching on, it would be so easy to just want to throw a white board eraser at him, and perhaps if he was falling behind in the public school system I would feel more pressure to push him along. But instead, we just take a break and come back to it later in the day, or another day altogether. It's so freeing. That's really the best way to describe it: FREEING.

So what have we been up to all of these many months? Here's a quick synopsis:

MONDAY: Composer Study

TUESDAY: Handicraft; Co-op Group Meets

WEDNESDAY: Artist/Picture Study; Library Day

THURSDAY: Hymn or Folksong Practice; Ballet

FRIDAY: Nature Study

Everyday: 

-Mathematics

-Copy Work

-Reading/retelling

-Poetry

-Bible Study

In the next few days I will give you a more specific update on what we do and have been learning. If you find it interesting and/or inspiring, then check out this website for a complete run-down on our year and the materials we use: www.ambelsideonline.org

FLORIDA AQUARIUM: September 2013

"TALK LIKE A PIRATE": September 2013

DISSECTION OF A MILLEPEDE: September 2013

Week In Review: May 28th - June 1st

Oh my goodness! What a busy week! I really feel like I'm starting to repeat myself here. There always seems to be more things to do than days to do them in. But I absolutely LOVE homeschooling! Connor and Amelia love it too (so far anyway :).)

This week I decided to unplug the cable jack from our TV. I think it was really more for me than for everyone else. I'm pretty addicted to anything "Bravo" related so I thought it would be a challenge. But do you know it was actually a seamless transition. I ended up pulling out my guitar and playing for the first time in close to eight years. I also sat in front of the piano and started practicing the hymns in our Easy Hymnal. Jason recommended a FREE app for my iPhone (not surprisingly originally recommended by Jared), similar to Rosetta Stone. You can learn German, Spanish, French and Italian. So I started working on German earlier this week, and then thought, "Maybe I should relearn Spanish." So I switched to Spanish. Wow! I forgot A LOT! Maybe that's because I never truly learned it in the first place.

On a side note- I really love homeschooling because it is more focused on mastery than just memorizing. I love the idea that my children will be filled with knowledge. I know I wish I had acquired more of it when I was in school. Luckily, I get to relearn everything through my kids (and a few things I never learned in the first place.)

Alright! Alright! It's time for the week...

IMPROMPTU SCIENCE LESSON
Check out this bug we found at the park during our co-op meet-up. I love accidental lessons! We discovered (thank you smartphone!) that it's called an Eastern Eyed Click Beetle.

This is the underside of the beetle. Notice that all of its legs are tucked in. This is because it's playing dead as a defense mechanism. 

Here is the top of the beetle. Notice the two large "eyes" on the top of its thorax. Obviously this is where its name comes from. The other half of the name comes from the clicking noise it makes when it flips itself over. I wish I had it on video. It completely FREAKED EVERYONE OUT! (Including me!)

For more information on the Eastern Eyed Click Beetle, check out these websites:

http://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Eastern-Eyed-Click-Beetle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WJPIU7QVa4

BAKING LESSON

The kids were REALLY hungry earlier this week ;) so I said, "Let's do math and make some chocolate chip muffins!" So we did some measuring and talked about math as we mixed up some breakfast. Definitely a super yummy lesson!

Taking turns mixing. (No Amelias were hurt or injured during the making of this video :)

Separating into tins.

It's a messy job, but Connor's gotta do it!

Ready to go into the oven.

The final product.

Enjoying the final product. It was a tough lesson ;)

OUR FRIEND

This is one of our bird friends. We have a whole family that lives in the backyard and eats the bugs out of our gardens. We haven't been able to identify which type they are yet, so if anyone knows, please feel free let us know!

NATURE WALK & SKETCH

We found a REALLY cool specimen to sketch during our nature walk this week...

I think nature walks are my FAVORITE homeschool activity. Thank you Charlotte Mason Theory!

CRAZY ART

Honestly, I have no idea. The picture speaks for itself.

KARATE LESSONS

One of the local karate studios offered our homeschool co-op a special rate for being able to have class during the day. So we signed them up. I was a little worried about Amelia because she didn't seem like she would be that into it, but it was at the same time as Connor's class, and I AM SO GLAD I SIGNED HER UP! She followed the directions perfectly! Connor really enjoys it. 

We got there at 10:00am. Unfortunately, class didn't begin until 11:00am, so we went to the park, played on the swings, and had a Spanish review. I had Connor counting and identifying the colors of items on the playground all in Spanish.

Amelia doesn't look thrilled, but she LOVED it!

Learning the proper way to fall.

Up and down. Up and down.

SCIENCE OF LIGHT

It was a lazy and rainy Friday afternoon and Connor specifically requested a science lesson. So what do you do? You talk about light and put on a shadow puppet show!

AND FINALLY ... SOCCER TOURNAMENT SATURDAY!!!

It was a bittersweet day this weekend as our soccer season came to an end. Amelia FINALLY ran around the field without Jason by her side. She loved her trophy and carried it with her for the rest of the afternoon.

Amelia falling...and getting right back up!

Amelia kicking the ball.

Water break!

Connor scored a sweet goal in the championship game. He apparently lifted it and shot it over the goalies head. I say "apparently" because I missed it. I decided the middle of the game was a good time to pick up trash :) UGH!

Jason nicknamed these three the "triumvirate." They were the movers and shakers on their team.

(left: Craven; middle: Maxwell; right: Connor)

Receiving their 2nd place trophies.

The full team.

Trophy kids. Amelia isn't smiling because she wanted to take her picture on the stairs. Whoa momma were we in trouble!

Can't wait to see what's in store for next week!