John the Spider

I included a picture of our spider friend at the end of the last post, but since then Suzi has named him John. It makes me wonder if John is male or female. Either way, I am going to be sad when John is gone! I check on him every night, and usually he's there, seeing what he can catch in his web. Whenever I think about it, I turn the porch light on for him so he can get a few extra snacks. Here he is catching a moth while our family watches.

I'd recommend turning the sound off. All you'll hear is my kids marveling at how he "catch-ted" something, and me fussing at them to quit bumping into me because I'm making a video. My voice sounds so annoying in recordings. I really hope I do not sound like that in real life!

I strew their paths and then they strew mine

I can't remember where I first read about "strewing," but there's a good explanation of it here. It involves providing materials to our children that we think may spark an interest. Then you can sit back and see where they go with it. I am especially fond of this concept right now, because Robert is teething and miserable. The time we manage to find for actual instruction, book reading, or mom-led projects is hard-won. When I practice strewing, they have an activity they can enjoy while I nurse Robert for the 30th time in a day!

Last night I was going through my craft room and found a bunch of wooden beads that I'd picked up at various at yard sales. I didn't have a plan for them; they probably came in a box with something else I really wanted. I also had an old silverware organizer, and I knew we had a new pair of shoelaces laid aside in a dresser drawer. So I put together this little work station for Suzi. First you sort the beads (by size or color), then you can decide on a pattern, and then you string the beads on the shoelaces! I placed it on her desk for her to find in the morning.

Of course, if I make something for Suzi, I have to do something for Ivey too! It couldn't be more beads, because Ivey drops things in the floor all the time and Robert could find one and put it in his mouth. But I had a little container and a bunch of small clothespins. Kids love these clothespins, because they aren't clothespins to them. They're little people. So I painted the little people red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple and left them out for Ivey to find. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of them.

They both liked what I made them. Suzi played with her beads for a while, and Ivey shared her "rainbow guys" with Robert. The rainbow guys are now all over the floor, naturally.

I had a bunch of extra clothespins that I didn't find time to put away, and Suzi picked them up. She took them to her desk, asked to borrow a pen, and started making them into unique characters. That was a little accidental strewing!

This is Little Sunshine. He has a black eye because his little sister, Alice, punched him.

We had to have a talk with Alice. She claims she did it because he was being aggravating.

Suzi wants to make these for people for Christmas. Some of them are happy, some sad, some angry. That one on the bottom right is a Suzi self-portrait of sorts, in a bowtie and suspenders. I love that girl.

It's so neat to see what I get back when I give them little things like this to use--aside from the mess in the floor, which is a given. I get to see Suzi's creativity. Ivey shares with her little brother and includes him in her play. I am gifted a little clothespin person to keep me company on my end table. Most of all, I get feedback about what I can do next! I may see if I have some magnet strips to glue on the back of these guys so they can congregate on the fridge. I wonder what other things I have stashed in my craft room that I can use. You probably have some good stuff at your house, too!

Love to Learn Homeschool Conference

Jordan and I signed up in May to attend the Love to Learn Homeschool Conference August 4th. My sweet, wonderful parents agreed to keep Ivey and Robert all day, while Suzi was out of town visiting her Nana and Papa (Jordan's parents). So, that's right, Jordan and I drove over two hours to Charlotte and attended this event all by ourselves! It was amazing--both the conference and our ability to concentrate sans kids.

This homeschool conference is much, much smaller than some. I know there was a big one in Atlanta recently--lots and lots of vendors and curricula to see and buy, probably tons of tempting manipulatives. And that would've been great. But we really didn't have much money to spend and are pretty happy with what we've got curriculum-wise, so maybe it was better that I wasn't tempted. We chose this conference because of its focus on unschooling and relaxed homeschooling, which I wanted to learn more about.

There were a few neat vendors at this conference, but we only shopped at one. I approached a table overflowing with gently used books, toys, games, and manipulatives for awesome prices. It prompted me to ask the lady supervising it if she ran a shop. She said no, that she had children aged 6-22 and these were all things they'd outgrown or that they had extra of. Wow. We bought a few books and several dinosaurs for the kids, among a few other things--a volcano kit, a water science set, a peg board pattern set, and some puzzles.

Then we moved on to the sessions. Several times we ran into a conflict--two sessions we wanted to attend at the same time--so Jordan and I went to separate sessions. The first one I attended was "Always Unschooled." The lady who taught this said that she--like me--started researching and trying to plan when her firstborn was a baby. Then she realized that 99% of the information and skills you use everyday are learned outside of school. (Think about it--what information have you used recently that you learned in a classroom?) Children--and adults--absorb and retain what is relevant and interesting to them. It was especially comforting to hear how her son learned to read much later than is thought to be normal, but eventually did it in a way that worked for him and went on to be very successful as an adult in college. Suzi is not reading yet, and it's easy for me to freak out over this since I began reading at four and loved it.

Next I went to "Organize Your Homeschool," which was a useful session for its practical suggestions even though I thought the presenter's teaching style was too strict for our family. She discussed the best ways to use bookshelves, binders, baskets/boxes, small containers, letter stacking trays, calendars, lesson planners, timers, and... the trash can! There is something about organizing that gets me excited. Unfortunately, my teething baby boy probably isn't going to let me get much done for a while!

After lunch I attended a file folder game make-and-take workshop. The lady brought her laminator and a binding machine and helped us make games for our kids. It was fun! Here's the one I made for Suzi. You find the missing letter in the words and velcro the oval onto the right cup. I'd like to make some more games sometime soon, but I want to figure out a way to use different materials that are durable and yet do not require lamination.

Jordan and I went to a unit studies session that was a lot of fun. The mom who presented it had photos of her kids, right down to the baby with a pacifier in his mouth, dressing up and reenacting the Boston Tea Party off their bunk bed. Hilarious! I bet Suzi would be all over that! This mom also cooked food from each region of the United States for a unit, and sometimes they'd invite grandparents or friends over to see the kids perform and share what they'd learned. What better way to prove to skeptics that the kids truly are learning?

My favorite session took place the last two hours of the conference. I'd already absorbed about all I could take in one day, and my brain was fried. But Jordan and I went together to this one because I knew we needed it--an unschooling Q&A/role playing. Two amazing ladies (the one who sold us all the great stuff and the teacher of the first unschooling session) sat on a desk in the front of the room and answered all our questions. Some of it was deep. Finally I asked my burning questions, the things that held me back and sometimes took the joy out of our learning. The things that scared me and made me double-guess myself. I think I may have to save that whole discussion for another post. But, long story short, I left feeling much more relaxed and hopeful about our upcoming kindergarten year!

Stay tuned for a second and probably third post on this subject. It's just too much for one!

Followby, exercise, and a summer break

Suzi has been enthusiastically drawing rainbows lately. She loves to use markers and draw all the colors in the proper order. The other day she was sitting at her desk, singing a little song and drawing. Then she held up a bluish-greenish marker and asked "Mom, is this followby?" I wasn't sure what she was talking about, so she went on to explain. "You know, like in the song! Red, orange, yellow, then green, followby, blue! Indigo and violet, that's a rainbow soooong for you!"

It's a song she learned from The Cat in the Hat on TV. I explained that it was actually followed by. I think followby should be a color, though. It would be beautiful.

We haven't been doing much homeschooling lately. It just felt like time for a summer break, probably because that's what I always had. I went to public school, and when school let out each day at 2:30 I went to after school care because my parents weren't done with work for another hour or two. But the lucky thing is that my mom was a teacher, so every summer we got to spend lots of time together!

I also got to spend lots of time alone. During the summer I had oodles of time to do whatever I wanted. I loved playing in my room with my dolls. Organizing my extensive troll collection into "families." Playing old records on my Fisher-Price record player and dancing to them. Going out in the yard and using the red mud for clay. Running through the sprinkler. Catching lightning bugs in a jar. Watching TV. Yes, I loved watching TV. But mostly I just ran around playing silly little games I couldn't possibly describe now. Some of my best childhood memories are of this free time, and that's what my girls are having a lot of right now. I don't know exactly when we'll pick up a normal schedule again.

Jordan just cut our grass, so this week will be a good one for running around in the yard playing and looking for bugs. They love to jump some energy out on the trampoline. When they play at my parents' house, my mom gives them each a bucket of water and a paintbrush and lets them "paint" their large concrete walks and patio. It dries right up and they paint it again. They love putting their bathing suits on and playing with the hose, too. Grandma's house is fun!

A few weeks ago I decided I wanted to introduce some unique opportunities for exercise to the girls, so that they can hopefully find something they love to do and grow up developing that. A couple of weeks ago Jordan, my mom, and I took the girls skating and had a good time. Suzi didn't want to go on the big floor, but she had fun on the carpet. Now Suzi has asked for skates of her own. After we went skating, I decided to try out roller derby with a friend--and loved it. So it looks like rollerskating might be an activity that we enjoy together for a while! I'm glad. I love it because it's not only affordable fun exercise, it's also a stress-reliever. Feels like flying. I'd totally forgotten how much I loved it and I hope my girls will come to love it too.

A while back there were some children's yoga sessions at the library, but unfortunately we missed them. Today we turned on a yoga for kids YouTube video for the girls and they had a good time following along. I think yoga could be good, especially for Suzi, since she frequently needs a calming activity. This might become something we do several times a week, especially during those difficult times of day when we all need a little relaxation.

I've been wanting to let Suzi try running, too. It's so hot now, but hopefully soon I can take her out early in the morning and see what she thinks of a short jog. In November I really want to take her to the Color Run. Since it's a fun run and there's no rush to finish, we'll probably take the whole family. Can you just imagine my little followby girl at the Color Run? It's perfect for her!

May 28 - June 2

This is how my kids spent most of their time. Playing, dreaming, creating, being silly. I love that they have tons of time and energy to do this stuff. It is the heart of why we homeschool.

We didn't do a lot of formal stuff this week, because Wednesday was Suzi's birthday and she wanted to take the day off, and I had a party to prepare for as well. I've noticed lately that even when we "take the day off," so much learning still takes place spontaneously, and Suzi initiates educational activities on her own. It's hard for me to embrace an unschooling approach because of my own very structured educational background, but I am starting to see how it works, and I'm thinking of making an effort to incorporate the philosophy more and more.

Math - We worked a little on adding and counting up from a given number rather than starting at one. This time we used the counting bears. I wrote the problems out ("2+1=") and helped Suzi write the answers so she could have a visual of what we were learning. The rest of our math for the week was unschooling. Suzi got birthday cards with money in them--several $5 bills, so we decided to try counting by fives. I'll post a little later about how we are learning that. Suzi did some chores to earn a little extra money, and Saturday we went shopping at yard sales. Suzi brought her own money and paid all by herself. She was so proud. I also made up some Iveybucks to pay Ivey so I don't have to give her possibly hazardous coins. 10 Iveybucks=$1, which I can give her safely. I love helping the kids learn about money. I think money management is probably the most important math lesson a child can be taught. There are lots of math lessons that most people will never really use, but everyone will always need to understand money!

Science - We read our Oak Meadow story, "The Maple Tree." It was about how maple syrup comes from trees. We looked at our little potted maple tree that we brought home from a trip to the mountains, and Suzi and Ivey did leaf rubbings from Treebo, our tree friend in the front yard who is an October Glory maple. Daddy made french toast so we could eat maple syrup on it, but then we realized we were all out! Darn!

Our prisms came in the mail this week. We hung them up, admired the rainbows and connected this back to our science story from last week. We taped little pieces of paper under the rainbows, and I invited the girls to copy them.

For Suzi's birthday, Jordan's mom and dad gave her a bug-catching vacuum, a bug observation jar, and a butterfly raising kit. (My in-laws are really great.) Suzi spent some time at her party searching the backyard for bugs to catch. By the end of the day she had gotten a couple, looked at them through the magnifying glass and then let them go. I went shopping for a little while at Goodwill and happened to find "Bug Safari" by Bob Barner--a fun little read about ants, and at the end there are some fun facts about insects. Suzi liked it a lot and it only cost me a few cents! Right now the girls are on their way out to the backyard, equipped with bug jars and Suzi's "super duper sucker-upper," to have a bug safari of their own.

Reading/Writing - Still reading our easy readers and doing some new sight word flash cards, but mostly taking it easy. Want to guess when Suzi gets most interested in reading and writing? When I stop nagging and leave her alone. I'll probably let her play a while on starfall.com later today.

Social Studies - We are spending a little time each week learning about different careers and important people in our society. This week we read "Mr. Griggs' Work" and talked about how the post office works. We found a short PBS video on YouTube about the post office, too. Then Suzi wanted to wait for our mail carrier to come, so we sat outside on the front porch for about half an hour. It started to rain, so the girls danced in the rain. Eventually we had to go in because Robert was upset, and I told the girls they could watch through the window. Suzi went upstairs to change her shirt, which was wet, and in that minute the mail came! She was so upset that she missed it, but she still got to go get it from the mailbox with me and waved at the mail lady as she drove back up from the cul de sac. Maybe we will wait on the mail another day. This week it was extra important to Suzi because people had mailed her birthday cards.

Health - We read "Mortimer Mooner Stopped Taking a Bath" and talked about personal hygiene. We went over why we need to brush teeth, wash hands, take baths, etc.

Clock - Suzi was getting tired of clock drill, so instead I found this Paddington clock book from my childhood and read it to her. She enjoyed setting the little clock to the time given in the story.

Arts and Crafts - The craft from our Oak Meadow curriculum was to make a "love collage" by cutting out pictures of things we love from magazines. Cutting and gluing--my girls' favorite! They ran out of steam pretty quickly and only ended up getting a few things on their papers, but at least they had fun for a while. The girls always prefer the projects they think of themselves, anyway, and they made things this week just like they always do. For example, Suzi took the box our large prism came in and decorated it to be a gift box for her Green Lantern doll's tenth birthday gift.

What's up next: At a yard sale Saturday, I was excited to find a foam map puzzle of the continents. I'd love to get one of the United States too. Maybe next paycheck. Geography is a huge educational weak spot of mine, and I'd like to make sure Suzi gets a firm grasp on it while simultaneously improving my own body of knowledge. There, um, might be a few states I am unsure of (*blush*). Might have to make a trip to the Learning Safari store sometime soon!

Also, this week Jordan and I registered to attend our very first homeschooling conference! It's the Love to Learn conference in Charlotte, NC. A bit of a drive for us, but I wanted to go to this one because it's inclusive and I felt many of the sessions would be especially helpful to me. There are a few on unschooling, which I desperately want to learn about. I will probably take my netbook with me so I can furiously type notes. I can't believe I have to wait until August to go to this!