Kennedy: Adventure Club

When I was finding some bones in the owl pellets I found a part of the teeth of a rat. And then I found a leg bone of a rat. And then we went outside and looked at feathers and made hummingbird feeders with Robin. We learned about feathers and about birds. And then we played. I played with Mikenna. And then we went to the Slab to swim. When I was at the Slab I found a good boat. It was a stick. And then we were looking for seaweed for the boat. And then we went and played mermaids. And then we went home. Then we did chores.

Daddio: Wii Night, D&D and Bowling Update

Three quick notes:

1) Last night was Wii night for older homeschool kids. So Connor, Mason and I went over to Nana's house to play Wii on her big screen television. Cameron and Isaac joined in. I was going to set up an elaborate tournament on Mario Kart for them, but right off the bat they all wanted to play Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Well, they played that for an hour and a half, laughing like crazies while pummeling each other on the game. The trash talking was excellent. They played Mario Kart for a bit and then went back to Smash Brothers. Two and a half hours later, the party ended and everyone had a great time. Thanks especially to Cameron and Isaac for coming.

2) Because Gabe's having a sleep over with Elder tonight, we're skipping D&D and instead going to level up the characters. Everyone is moving up to level 5. Avery is a Monk (a martial arts fighter), Connor is a Duskblade (Elf fighter with some attack spells), and Mason is a bard (a spellcasting muscian). They all have a lot of gold to spend, and I don't know what they're going to do with it. Gabe leveled up this character this weekend and decided that his 4th level rogue (thief) was going to start taking levels of sorcerer -- so now he can sneak up behind foes and zap them in the back with spells. Very nice.

3) I went bowling today and did okay. 79 and 102. I improved what I was doing a little bit, so I was happy with my technique, even if my scores don't really reflect it.

Mommio: We're Not Learning Much

Last week I had a chance to ride in the car with Mason alone for a few hours and we had a really interesting talk about homeschooling. He was telling me that since we have not done much "school" lately (with people being sick) that "we are not learning much right now". It reminded me that from the kids perspective our homeschooling is so normal and so much a part of our daily lives that they don't see that we are learning all the time, even when we are not doing the sit down work that they consider "school". So, just for Mason, here is a list of what YOU are learning right now:

• all about Maine
• how to measure by cooking and chemistry
  
• geography through labeling maps and learning words like "cape"
• Spanish (wow- Mason you are doing so great with Spanish!)
• multiplication
• sequencing
• math comparisons
• how to navigate the internet
• how to take pictures
• public speaking (by running for house president)
• lots of problem solving skills through games like D&D
  
• spelling and phonics skills
• reading and sounding out difficult words
• all about religions
• reading comprehension
  
• all about reptiles- especially sea turtles
  
• how to use Powerpoint
• how to grow a garden and all the natural education that goes along with it: composting, mulch, mushrooms, bugs, watering, harvesting, etc.
• how to eat healthier
  
• all about acids and bases and how to safely use a chemistry set
• all about midwives and medieval village life
• how to make dioramas
• how to use clay to make pots, sculptures and reliefs
• how to play the recorder: including reading notes, keeping time and playing a duet
• yoga
• and so many more....
  

Mommio: What We're Reading

Dinnertime Reading- The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman
Lord Of The Flies by William Golding
Max & Jack- whatever books they find around the house
Kennedy- Dick and Jane
storybooks online at Tumblebooks
Marney- Meet Molly: An American Girl by Valerie Tripp
storybooks online at Tumblebooks
storybooks from our collection
Gabe- The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
1000 Facts On Bugs Edited By Barbara Taylor
Thor, Uncanny XMen by Marvel
Avery- Blubber by Judy Blume
1000 Facts On Rocks and Minerals by Chris and Helen Pellant
A History of US: Making Thirteen Colonies 1600-1740 by Joy Hakim
American Girl Magazine
New Mutants, The Uncanny XMen by Marvel
Mason- The Mouse And The Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
Connor- A History Of US: Reconstructing America 1865-1890 by Joy Hakim
Real Science-4-Kids Chemistry Level II by Dr. R.W. Keller
Sea Of Monsters by Rick Riordan
Mad Magazine
Odysseus Escaping Poseidon's Curse graphic novel by Dan Jolley and Thomas Yeates
Order Of The Stick by Rich Burlew
Mommio- The Island Of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
The Physick Book Of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
The Complete Idiot's Guide To Eastern Philosophy by Jay Stevenson
The Lazy Man's Guide To Enlightenment by Thaddeus Golas
Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk
Daddio- The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan
Pathfinder #8 by Wes Schneider
Chem C3000 Chemistry Experiment Manual
Rolling Stone Magazine
New Mutants, Thor, The Uncanny XMen by Marvel

Mommio: What We Did Today

Today was our first Homeschool Adventure Club meeting of the year and it turned out great. It was the first time using Robin's new classroom- which looked very "school like" inside with all the bug reports, display tables, etc. that Robin set up. She really worked hard to get it set up that way and it showed. Tony also worked hard on the property around the school and it looked beautiful. I really appreciate everything they both did and being able to use their place for our family and homeschool activities. What a great place to have a class! Robin and I taught the kids about bug anatomy at this meeting. Go check out our blog to see all the pictures and notes about today's class. The kids loved it all!
On the down side- Max is pretty sick and has had a high fever and cough since VERY early this morning. Unfortunately Daddio toe is out of town (we miss him!) and Nana toe was away for the day so we had no one for Max to stay home with. He survived the morning though and enjoyed some of it. Connor even took him in to Robin's house to babysit him alone for a while when he was feeling really bad. Thanks Connor! We are expecting that by the time Daddio toe arrives home late Friday he will walk into a very messy house full of sick people. Sorry about that.

Max: Doing Class

Adventure Club today. Go in the car. People coming. Bugs. Me sick. Are we going to yoga? Daddy come to yoga. More blog.

Mommio: School Changes

School has gone really well this week...the kids are all in the groove on each of their particular levels and working very independently. Great job toes! Next week we have another big school transition happening here.
Marney will be joining our school day full time. She has been doing a little math, reading, writing, grammar and phonics in the early mornings for about 30 minutes and then joining the "little kids" at Nana's house while the "big kids" do school work. Well, she is now officially a "big kid" and had her last morning at Nana's house today. I know that Nana and Marney are both a little sad about this change, but I think they are excited too (like I am) that Marney is ready for school. Marney will work on all of the stuff she has already been doing and she will also start Saxon Math 2, Rosetta Stone Spanish and she will be joining us for our Unit Study (Buddhism right now).
Kiki will still be going to Nana's house but she will now be on Marney's old schedule: school work (mostly a little phonics and math) for 30 minutes every morning before she can join Max and Jack across the street. I know she is excited about that since she asks to "do school" every day!
The older kids have also moved up in their math: Connor to Teaching Textbooks Algebra, Avery and Mason to Teaching Textbooks Math 5 and Gabe to Saxon Math 5/4. You guys are amazing!

Mommio: What We Did Today

Today was an exciting day! It was our first time having morning school over at the Weaver's in their new school building. They have been working hard to get the building up and running so that we can now use the space for our classes and for Adventure Club. It's great! We also had our first breakfast book club meeting- about The Midwife's Apprentice. It went really well- we discussed the first two chapters and then had the kids retell the chapters and draw pictures to go with them to make a book later. We got to help feed some farm animals this morning, which was a big thrill for everyone. We learned more about the chickens and the goats. We also learned all about ornamental garlic and then potted 35 plants of garlic that Tony will use later for his business and give the profits to the the school there. It was hot, and it was work..so after ten minutes or so most of the kids weren't that interested but we worked through it and got it all done. We are going to be taking time to do things like that around their property each week, there is so much to learn and we are so lucky that Robin and Tony have opened up their property to us as a living classroom.
And, if that wasn't enough- we also celebrated Elder's 6th birthday today with cupcakes and a pinata. What a morning- check out the slideshow!

Avery: What I Learned Today

Today I learned about Hinduism. I learned four of their beliefs, Dharma, Karma, Samsara, Moksha. Dharma is the balance of life. How you keep up your job, how good you take care of your family, and all sorts of stuff like that. Karma means that if you do something bad something bad will happen to you. Of if you do something good something good will happen to you. Samsara is the circle of life. Which mainly means life after death. So when you have a lot of Karma you keep on being reborn as someone or something until all of the Karma is gone. Moksha is after Samsara. So when all of the Karma is gone you will stop living and be dead. I believe in only Dharma, Karma, and Samsara. I love learning about religions!

Mommio: How Do You Know They Are Learning?

People in my family, and friends who don't homeschool, have often asked how I know the kids are learning, after all- we don't test them. No TAKS tests to evaluate how I am doing as a teacher or if they have memorized the correct things to succeed in life. Well, other than the obvious things like children who can read and do math well above their age/grade level who have never stepped foot in a public school the way I can tell is how they play. When we studied Shakespeare the kids would get together and pretend to be all the characters from the various plays. When we read the Iliad and the Odyssey the kids acted it out for months afterwards. When we learned about Pilgrims, their free time was spent on imaginary ships and building houses. For the last several months we have been learning about World Religions. Some of it has been exciting, but some of it has been quite dull and it has gone on a long time because of the excitement of summer. So, I was wondering if the kids were still interested and still learning new things. Or if they were basically just over it. But then, Avery told me all about how her American Girl doll is Jewish and the holidays she celebrates. And just last night the kids were playing hangman and Gabe (totally on his own) chose the word "polytheistic ascetic" on his turn. And then not only did the other kids guess it- they also all knew what it meant! After Religions we will move onto Poe- I can't wait to see how they play with that one.