Poetry Enthusiast

 Our audio book ended yesterday (Bless This Mouse, Lois Lowry), so I got out our poetry book and cd for Conrad. He said enthusiastically, I LOVE poetry!" Anything rhythmic, lyrical, or musical, and this guy is on board! 

September 2015

We've been up to no good this Fall. Just kidding. Let's see if I can remember some of the things we've done: orchard and petting zoo visit, math room additions (just wait till you see it all! So fun!), harvesting gardens--including Trevor's giant pumpkins, helping Dad get firewood, taking turns with Dad at his new crossbow, watching the blood moon eclipse (if baby Soren came that day, we decided his middle name would be "Superbloodmoon"--I hope he isn't disappointed someday), and I can't remember much else right now. Soren sleeps like a newborn--go figure--and besides feeling goofy, my brain is strained right now. Honestly, because it was my last month being pregnant, we spent a lot of time doing boring academic stuff, which my kids actually love. Weirdos. 

Trevor smashed his pumpkins and gave them to the deer before I could take photos, but I'd say the biggest one was as big as a medium-large beach ball. Which tells you nothing because that's pretty subjective. Maybe 15 inches in diameter? Not as big as we'd hoped, but pretty good for basically forgetting about them halfway through the summer.  

We also had a baby. Well, he was born October 3, so technically not September. The day before was spent butchering a deer Sean shot on the first day of bow season with a weapon he'd only practiced with a few times before. I was impressed. However, I did not enjoy the clean-up.  The next two days were General Conference, and Soren was born smack in the middle of it at home. There was no blood moon. His middle name is Atticus. 

Ready for 2015-2016!

Last week was not our official first week of school. Tha actually happened back in August when the kids begged and begged for two weeks straight to start school, and I finally gave in. Really, we were just taking a break anyway, so it wasn't difficult to jump back in. I had decided that with morning sickness and our Florida trip in the spring, and knowing that things could get overwhelming when the baby comes, it would be best to do school like normal through the summer. We usually do school through summer anyway, but I tried to keep up our schedule like the other months as well. I'll have to explain that better sometime. 

Here are a few pictures from last week, since I didn't get any first week pictures. The first two are photos of a 15-family co-op we joined this year.  The kids each get to choose from several different classes. Trevor was sick last week and stayed home with Sean, but this is a scripture and craft class that Conrad and Abigail have together. Trevor and Conrad will also be doing drama together, Conrad has a book making class (learning about writing, authoring, illustrating, etc.), Trevor has a weather science class and a Spanish class, and Abigail has a nursery class as well. 

Full group shot:

It really was an amazing week, and the kids kept asking for more!  For biology we learned about cells, watched a documentary on the beginnings of microscopes (van Leeuwenhoek and Robert Hooke), took out our own microscope and looked at prepared slides. It really got me excited to purchase a more powerful microscope and look at some living cells rather than the prepared slides. The kids would love that!

We also started a new math history book that I've been dying to crack open, Mathematicians Are People, Too. We read about Thales. This book makes me want to go read a full biography on each mathematician!  We're also doing Life of Fred, which the kids all love, of course.  I can't wait to post about our "Math Room" that we've been working on! We just have way too much fun! 

For our actual history class, we read about Justinian and Theodora, and watched a documentary on the Hagia Sophia and how seismologists are trying to keep it from likely earthquake damage. We're also using random scraps of paper to make mosaic art like the inside of the Hagia Sophia.

I've learned so much lately about homeschool scheduling. It's always an evolving concept with needs that arise and kids growing and changing, but I'm getting a better handle on how to get ahead of the needs. 

Hello Fred!!

One of my big goals this year was to do more math. It just so happens that Conrad has a newfound love of math. He has been telling me he loves numbers, so I naturally thought he might be ready for harder math, and he truly is. I bought him his own Miquon books and he enjoys those. And look what came in the mail a week ago!!!!

You know you're a homeschool mom when you ask for educational materials for Christmas! We've been loving these books! 

The Nutcracker

Today we listened to Tchaikovsky's music, read The Nutcracker, did a ballerina snowflake craft, and then joined our homeschool group for The Grand Rapids Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker. We met up with Emmy Liu and her kids and hung out with them the entire time. 

The kids loved every minute of it (except waiting for the ballet to start!).  Trevor's favorite part was the mice and soldiers battling, and Conrad liked the snowflake dance. Abigail clapped so much and just enjoyed it thoroughly. Conrad was so happy to get a chance to walk the city again and kept telling me he misses Minneapolis. I know how he feels!! I think The nutcracker dances really made an impact on him. When we got home, he kept trying to do the same moves and asked me all the way home about getting ballet lessons again. If only I could find them as cheap as we had them in MN! It was a great day. 

Full Orchard Field Trip

I organized a full field trip with our homeschool group at the orchard that included a wagon ride, apple and gourd picking, cider and donuts, food to feed the goats, and the petting zoo.

History Fair

This was such a fun activity. Our homeschool group did a history fair, where each kid studied a topic, made a display, and some even dressed up. 

Conrad especially loved makng his display. He really wanted to do his on the history of rubber. We even made rubber band guns (ahem, Sean made the guns) and a target in the middle of his display so people could try out some rubber.

We had a timeline on the gym floor and discussed dates. 

Trevor did his on the Kraken, or its legend rather. At first he said he wanted to do boats on Lake Michigan, but changed his mind the morning of the fair and said he wanted to do his on a giant squid attacking a ship. Uh, say what? So we looked up sailor stories, talked about those, he wrote his own giant squid story, and since we started reading 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea that week, we added a quote from it. I think some of the moms were worried that he thought it was reality the way he talked about it. It was a really fun day.

Today's Snapshots

Trevor is the same person he was when he was just a little guy. I decided to put up a rough schedule last night and Trevor was so happy about it he gave me a hug. He loves routine and the predictability of a schedule. I like flexibility, but I also like to have some kind of goal. We'll probably be doing this from now on. There's a lot not included on the chart, and we did some other things instead of music today (read on), but just writing down the goals on the board helps as a visual for all of us.

Abigail has been doing an Eric Carle puzzle over and over lately. 

Conrad and Abigail wanted to fingerprint while Trevor did his history narrative in his notebook. It was a special lesson today because it happened to be about the birth of Christ.

Conrad's quote for today: "Mommy, you're supposed to cook beans, not do math with them." I love that boy. 

Trevor sighted a cardinal out the window and grabbed his binoculars, nature notebook, camera, crayons, and the bird cards that Grandma Arndt gave us (the ones she used as a child) and went out to birdwatch.

Conrad with the bird cards. These boys love to be together.

Afterward we read about cardinals. They eat fruit as well as seeds and insects. And they can have 2-3 broods per year! 

As Trevor was gathering his birdwatching gear, I reminded him that when he came back in we still had some school to do for the day, and he said, "Mom, this IS school." 

You are so right Trevor. Just the type of school we want around here. 

Solar Day!

See our family blog for details.

Piano and Pumpkin Pie

Some friends of ours gave us a piano and Conrad is so happy! He had a few lessons this summer and knows how to play some of his favorite Primary song, The Oxcart, which he has been playing frequently. He begged to be able to do music time first after chores this morning. It wasn't difficult to agree.

We read a very informative book about pumpkins this morning and Trevor wanted to go out and pick his two pumpkins right away. He carved the bigger one and wants to make pumpkin pie with the smaller one, and roast all of the seeds to eat. This has been a fun day already! 

I was so impressed with Trevor's diligence and patience staying with all his projects today. He roasted the pumpkin and made the filling. 

He made the filling AND the crust.

And my favorite part was at the end, when the pie was cooled and ready. Watching Trevor take a bite of pie--a pie that started with a pumpkin seed and a garden, weeding and watering, harvesting, reading a book about pumpkins that inspired him to make a dish that I'm pretty sure he's never even liked, and spending hours today making--there are just no words to express how happy his look of accomplishment made my mother heart feel. 

The book we read with the recipes was Pumpkins by Jacqueline Farmer. 

Anderson and Girls Orchard

Last week we took a day and spent it at the orchard. We miss our old Fall Harvest Orchard (which I just heard is being sold anyway!), but it was still a blast. This one was actually also a free petting zoo, which the kids loved. We met Emmy Lou and her kids there. I'm so happy Trevor and Conrad have at least one family of solid friendships here. It is really so much more difficult (for me) to do the social thing in a rural area! I honestly really dislike the initial formalities and small talk of making friends, but I'm trying to suffer through it for my kiddos. The homeschool group we're in has one main click, and the rest of the people we just see at activities every now and then. I'm trying to not be discouraged and to continue to just seek what's right in our family's education. The Lord has always sent me and our family what we need when we seek diligently for it, and I gave no reason to think differently now. But boy, is it ever hard to have patience! 

This was toward the end when the kids were hot and tired and thirsty. Poor Trevor! Playing is hard work!

Feeding the goats.

Art Prize 2014

At Art Prize 2014 in Grand Rapids with our friends from the Greenville homeschool group. Trevor and Conrad are third and fourth from the right in the first photo and far left in the second.

Below, we're stopping to eat lunch. Emmy Lou called before we started our walk through the city to say that she was very late and would try to meet the group for lunch. Who did we happen to see rounding the corner right into our group as we were making our way to our lunch spot? Emmy Lou and her kids!

Yarn art

Magnet Study

I was so excited to find a garage sale being put on by a teacher this weekend. I picked up tons of materials and books and she only charged me $10 for all of it! One thing I picked up was a magnet lab. The boys have been begging to start it and we finally did today.

I had Trevor start a notebook and it reminded me of my AP Bio notebook (which, yes, I still have). It makes me all tingly thinking about it. We really love science here, and learning about the world around us and how things work. 

Italy

Abigail's Italy

Trevor's Italy 

Conrad's Italy