Check Mate!

This week has been hectic. I'm not sure we are adjusting so well to our new September schedule. O.K., maybe it's ME who is not adjusting so well. Our family has gone from no commitments to several scheduled classes per week. Naps are far and few between, and consequently, our fragile hold on happy sleepers has been broken. Not to mention Matthew is trying to become a master of the big boy potty, and all this time away from it is disruptive. Having said all this, it's apparent we need to strike a better balance. No one is really complaining but me, but I see it in the moods and sleepiness (and constipation) of my children. Now that I've vented (phew!) Dave and I are sitting down to pare down the family commitments. We'll work up to all this fun stuff...

As for the homeschooling week... Wednesday at Spring Leaves was fantastic! Gym time and epic parachute games then on to... classroom time with exploration of mechanical parts including a bicycle wheel, locks, phones, and other gadgets including a battery voltage tester that Lauren brought from home. Pulling these pieces apart with screwdrivers, and examining the insides was fascinating for us all. Afterwards, we went to the Pender Island Community Garden where the children harvested the wheat and various other grains (Kamut, Spelt?).  The plan is to mill the wheat to make flour for Pizza! It was a glorious afternoon with the warm sun shining down on the children eagerly cutting and gathering bundles of golden wheat. As I surveyed the scene I couldn't help but be filled with such joy to be surrounded by Earth's beauty and abundance. Then to see the children connected to all this beauty and taking an active role was equally touching.  As I drove home that afternoon (with kids zonked out in the backseat) I felt such gratitude and assurance that what we are all on the right path.

Lauren loves Chess. So on Thursday morning (while Matthew was at Montessori) we sat down to play. David taught Lauren the basics of chess last winter, and since she has greatly improved. She knows what all the pieces do, and is now getting defensive strategies down. She is starting to plan out her moves in advance. If truth be told, I don't enjoy the game- partially because I'm terrible at it. So for now my skills are good enough to teach a five year old. If Lauren continues to love the game and improve, her Dad will have to take over!

Later Lauren asked to pull out her Hooked on Phonics kit. It was a gift from Grammie, and Lauren loves using it. This is just one form of 'reading' we do, but since she's eager to use it, I'm going with it. The kit has all the things Lauren responds well to. Workbooks, follow-along audio CDs, a progress sticker chart (she REALLY loves getting the stickers with each accomplishment!), and little books. Lauren learned the AT, AN, AG, AND, and ON sounds. Then with simply adding a consonant sound in front of these, she was reading words and read her first two books. She was very excited (o.k., so was I)!

What else? Lots of art. Currently Lauren is writing a book for Emma's 6th Birthday present. She dictates word for word the story then I write it out. This one we are both illustrating and coloring. It is titled "The Emma and Lauren Pony Story."

Finally, early this week we traveled to Victoria to pick up our order at the Home School Supply store. So we have LOTS of fun workbooks, paint, learning blocks, etc... to supplement the living and learning we are already doing.

Today the family is off for a forest picnic and hike. It is hard to be inside when weather outside is divine. On that note, I'm am shutting off this computer and getting outside.  Happy Autumn!

Random Lessons...

On Friday of last week, Lauren, Matthew and I met with our friends Kate and her daughter Jessie. Seeing that it was a gorgeous and sunny day, we went for a small hike.  The Mount Elizabeth Park trail is the perfect size for little legs, and has an educational sheet available to point out things along the path. The kids ran from number sign to number sign, and Kate read the laminated parks info sheet. It was a good lesson for me in that it appeared the girls were not all that interested in listening to the blurbs of info, since they were so excited skipping and hopping, picking up leaves, feathers, etc... But upon reflection about our hike a few days ago, Lauren remembered 9 of the 10 items. In fact, she is helping me list them now! So these are the nature items we learned a little about and got to observe and touch: Big Leaf Maple, Red Alder, Salmon Berry, Moss Beds, Rocky cliffside, Banana Slugs (however, we did not find any), Nurse Logs, Wind-thrown trees (where we learned about strong winter winds, and root systems), and Sword Ferns.

But what was more remarkable was the imaginative play that occurred when the kids found a 'fort' just off the path- formed by leaning and wind-blown trees. It quickly became the Fairy Forest, and we were all fairies in charge of building a home for the birds. We beefed up the roof with fallen branches, decorated with leaves, wrote 'messages' on leaves and left them for the birds, among other fairy tasks. Because I was the Animal fairy, I was in charge of whistling to the birds what the Tinker fairies (Lauren and Jessie) needed me to tell them. Matthew was the Chef Fairy, who ground up rotten fir log into a fine powder, then mixed with soil, to make wonderful birthday 'cakes'. We practiced being quiet so we could hear the birds. The children decided the birds were very pleased with their new home.  The imaginations of the children were contagious and it was a special afternoon.

Last night (Monday) Lauren and I sat down to do her Mind Map. I asked Lauren what she envisioned her upcoming year to look like, what she wanted to learn about, her interests, or anything else that came to mind. A fun exercise!  Many of Lauren's ideas were predictable, but some were surprising- things we hadn't discussed before. For this reason alone, the mind mapping exercise was very helpful.  If Lauren is going to be an active participant in the direction her education will take, this is a great tool to guide me. I kept her Mind Map in my mind, as I went shopping at the School Supply Store in Victoria today and picked up some books that otherwise I might not have (i.e. Solar System and planets for instance).

For the past month I have kept a small notebook with me, and have been writing down Lauren and Matthew's questions.  Lauren asks a lot of great questions, some I can answer and MANY I cannot. When she was younger, I used to ask HER to try and answer her own questions (Matthew still enjoys this), but now she really wants to know "the truth Mom."  It is amazing how many questions we have written down already. This year, we will pick some of these questions to research and answer. I think this will be fun.

Craft time in our house these days is spent with Lauren 'writing' stories and illustrating pictures. She either tells me word for word what to write, including punctuation, OR she 'writes' the story (we sound out many words together, or I simply tell her what letters to put together when she just wants to be creative and not "all spelly"). She has many words memorized now, 'the', 'I', 'cat', etc... Today she wrote a rhyming poem called Cat. She has learned that by putting consonants in front of 'AT', that this spells many other words. It was an exciting discovery. So then we went on to put consonants in front of 'OG' and so on...

I would like to encourage Lauren to practice her small caps, and number writing. Many of the school books we ordered today will address this. Lauren loves workbook and exercises, sitting down with her pencils, and crayons. We have been using those Kindergarten activity books (found a bunch at Cosco last year) and she loves them.  

Finally, Lauren had her first Monday morning at Montessori. She told me she enjoyed being the oldest kid there, They picked apples, made applesauce, had circle time, movement, and then outside play.

Oh, and last but not least, we rented a fiddle today. Lauren took a few classes last winter and has been itching to start up again. Since a small child she has always perked up at the sound of fiddle music. And so, she will be taking lessons with Denny on Mondays. She has already given us a concert as well as her grandparents one over the phone. We will see if her interest continues, but for now she epitomizes the word 'Keen'. I hope I can keep up to her!

Signing off! Goodnight :)

Sew Great!

Matthew had his first morning at Montessori, leaving Lauren and I the morning to pick an activity. To our great delight, we had Isabella (fellow Spring Leafer sp.?) over for the morning.  The girls worked on their drawings for a good hour- Isabella gently instructing Lauren how to draw trees, while she worked on her own drawing of a fairy, with the most intricate clothing. With the new art taped to our 'Art Wall' we opened up the fabric closet and the girls pulled out fabrics, trim, thread, etc... It was a flurry of activity. With the fabric samples spread out on the living room floor, Isabella went into planning stage- what to sew, how big, which fabric, where to put trim... The girls decided they both were going to sew skirts. Isabella cut her fabric and showed Lauren how to sew (with right sides together) so that the seam is invisible when you turned it right side out. Lauren has used a needle and thread before, but this was her first 'project'.  Skirts were completed, with sashes, tassel trim (cherry twists, they called it), and Lauren even managed to cut and sew a pocket to the front of the skirt. Lots of trial and error, as the seam went through both layers, threads broke, etc... Such patience and determination exhibited by both Lauren and Isabella.

I must say, Isabella's sewing skills, and creativity were a joy to watch. Lauren said to her "you sure have a lot of ideas!" Indeed. But it was an inspiring morning where ideas and creativity flowed.

Tea and muffin break and time to pack up and get Isabella back and to pick up Matthew (whom by the way survived, and enjoyed his first day at Montessori).

First Day of Kindergarten!

Why homeschool? I get asked this a lot (often it comes with that questioning-do-you-know-what-you're-doing look of concern).   I don't have a quick or easy response. I get tongue-tied and hum and haw.  So forget the humming and hawing- here's how it is:  My gut (and my husband David's too) tells us it's the right thing for our daughter. She is a quiet, intuitive child that studies the world around her, slowly and intently soaking it all in. She questions everything and her curiosity is insatiable. And she is VERY sensitive (to loud noises, unkind words, etc...). She is earnest and gentle. While she loves the company of other children and playtime, such events wipe her out and she needs to sleep afterwards.  Stimulation overload!  Naturally, we want to provide her with a safe and nurturing learning environment where we can cater to HER needs and interests. This speaks volumes to me.

The decision to homeschool was made much easier by the existence of Spring Leaves.  It is a group of homeschooling families that meet once a week at the Pender school, and have a wonderful facilitator, Julie, to help us out, and translate our homeschool activities into curriculum speak, provide support, guidance, etc... Or this at least, is my very early understanding of it all.  Today, I received an abundance of helpful information to put my newbie anxieties at rest.

So our first Wednesday at Spring Leaves was wonderful. Our beach picnic was rained out so we met in our school classroom.  After a brief but energetic play in the gym, we ate our picnic lunch and chatted about the various topics and activities the children and parents were interested in exploring for the upcoming year. Lauren expressed an interest in Art (the group came up with many forms of this: dance, yoga, sewing, pottery, painting, calligraphy, etc...) and other topics were discussed as well (i.e. gardening, field trips, outside learning, science, cooking, etc...).

Matthew, the near 3 year old, had a fabulous time exploring the classrooms 'fort' structure, and the many tubs of blocks, lego, and trucks.

Lauren felt at home here and enjoyed the company of the other children very much.  And me? I feel stoked about the upcoming year. This is a huge relief since I was walking into this feeling a tad nervous and a bit sad. Hard to believe my little girl is in Kindergarten. Time moves much too quickly. But after today, I realize that homeschooling will just be an extension of what we already do at home.  As one of the other mom's said today, not to worry "it'll all just FLOW." Thanks Kim.

So here's to broadening horizons and imaginations,  and to new friends. Can't wait to watch my kids eat it all up.