Nature Exploring

During one of the first few weeks of school I gave the kids a challenge.  We went on a nature walk around the block looking for nature items that could be used to make a person.

When we do these nature walks – there is no rushing.  I make myself promise not to say “Come on kids.  Keep walking.”  I can’t say it!  I let them walk really slow and stop and look at everything they see.  Requires extra coffee on my part and tons of patience!

The next day they dumped out their treasures and explored them a bit.

Then started making a person out it.

Melanie sat in her chair watching us.  She is super easy during school most days.  She is either napping or she just hangs out and watches. 

Here is Max’s person.

Mallory made a face.

Mallory takes her time when working on projects and Max rushes and does it as fast as he can.  When he is done he typically runs over to Melanie and gives her a shake in her chair and harasses her until she has had enough and she starts swinging her arms and yelling back at him.

Then he snuck upstairs and brought down the fixing for s’mores. 

I challeneged Mallory to make a whole person with a body.

The kids ate their raw s’more snack and I talked to Melanie.

She smiles with her nose and I love it!

Spaghetti City

Sometimes summer days are too long.  The kids have no idea what to do with themselves.  They start following me around and telling me they don’t know what to do.  They haven’t discovered the words “I am bored.” 

One day I decided we were going outside and we were going to make a city on the drive way.  Max has all these trucks, cars, farm stuff.  I was very much pregnant the first time we did this and very much lazy.  So I sat in the middle of the driveway with all the city supplies… sidewalk chalk, cars, trucks, tractors, etc.  And I was the store and the kids had to “buy” each item they needed for the city.  Turned out that “game” was a huge hit the rest of the summer.

Our driveway constantly looked like this.

Their favorite part was when there was puddles!  Real lakes!  Sometimes they would have me draw alligators coming out of the “lakes”. 

They ended up getting smart towards the end and using two pieces of chalk to make the roads. 

Even smarter… drawing their “houses” under the camper so the rain would quit washing them away.

Melanie.  She sleeps while cities are being made. 

Their houses and their cars under the camper safe from the next rainstorm. 

Once everything is built they drive their bikes on it.

First Day of School

We started school way back in August.  The last week of August.  I was too excited to get started so I started early.  I also started early because every two weeks we take a day off.  Plus we are going on a week long vacation in late October.  The perks of homeschooling. 

The kids were also excited to get started.  I still had my summer boy (I watched my friend’s little guy this summer) and was so curious about how homeschool works.  He was just as excited as my kids.  He even told his Mom he wanted to come here for school. 

Maxwell!  Age 3!  Max will be working on colors… he knows most of them but he struggles with White/Yellow.  He flips them a lot.  Letters.  Writing his name.  He has perfected the “x” and the two “l” in his name.  Numbers.  Counting.  Memorizing.  Scissor cutting.  Coloring.  He will be doing “school” for about an hour to two hours a day.

I have to be sneaky with Max.  He is very much boy and sitting still is not his idea of fun.  And learning – no way.  So I have to get real creative with him.  He is also kind of lazy.  If a project/activity gets too long or hard he is outta here.  He is also just three so I don’t push it.

Miss Mallory!  Age 5!  Kindergarten!!  She will be working on penmanship.  math skills.  reading.  memorization.  reading comprehension.  arts and crafts.  She does school about 3-4 hours a day.

Her strengths so far are math.  She has figured out addition all on her own.  She likes math a lot.  She also has a killer memory!  Which is wonderful but it can hurt her when she is reading because she will memorize a story… instead of reading the words.  Of course arts and crafts are super fun for her too.  She has some hidden drawing talent that I am very excited to watch grow.  There was a picture hanging up in the basement (that she drew and hung up) and I looked at it and said, “Mallory, is that Doc McStuffin?”  She said, “Yup!”  It was pretty impressive!  So impressive that I knew who it was without having to ask her who she drew!  Maybe she got some of Grandma Connie’s drawing talent!! 

As of right now we are about 6 or 7 weeks into homeschooling.  I can honestly say I love it.  It is so much fun.  The kids like it.  They never complain or whine when I say “Time for school” and we go down to the school room.  They eagerly ask “What do we get to do today.” 

My favorite part is the lesson planning and prep work!  Love that!  It takes me forever… but I am pretty hardcore about it!  Right now it is taking me about 10-12 hours to plan two weeks.  The curriculum I picked for this year has a ton of printing and prep work.  I really don’t mind it though (when I have the “free” time to work on it). 

I have gone from reading parenting and food blogs to reading homeschooling blogs… and being addicted to the teachers pay teachers website! 

I am already plotting and planning the grades to come!