Gymnastics Performance

The girls had the opportunity to help their provide entertainment at the "Mature Living Festival" at the Expo Center here through gymnastics.  They seemed to enjoy themselves.  It was a nice opportunity for them.

Swimming!

I have been meaning to get some pictures of the girls swimming since they were taking lessons months ago. I finally got around to it.

Hailey spends most of her time in the shallow water. She has gotten braver as the summer has progressed, but she is still unwilling to put more than her mouth in the water.

Madeline loves jumping in these days.

She has even gone off the diving board more than a few times this year.

She can swim the length of the pool and back, but really prefers the doggie paddle.

Isabella is a great back floater, which I really envy because I have always hated to float on my back.

She has figured out how to swim a good distance, but tires easily, and I don't let her swim too far from me because of that. She has actually gone off of the diving board this year a couple of times, but is not really a strong enough swimmer to be doing that. A few more lessons and I'm sure she will be ready to do it without scaring me.

The water slide was by far Hailey's favorite part of the pool this year.

Isabella (and Madeline) enjoyed it too. Isabella always wanted to be caught by the life guard, but unlike the diving board, she was able to swim from the slide to the ladder with little difficulty (not quite as far).

Now I just have to decide what we are going to do this year to keep their swimming skills up. I know that Madeline and Isabella really want to be on the swim team next summer, so I want to be sure that they are ready!

"The Economist" on Homeschooling

The Economist recently published an article on homeschooling. It was exciting to see homeschooling get some publicity at this level, as the article was mostly positive. It focused on a homeschooling family where "every chance to learn something new is eagerly seized." It described the growth of homeschooling and a brief history of it.

I was surprised, however, to see such a narrow view of homeschooling depicted. The piece seemed focused on the premise that the Presidency of Barack Obama may lead more families to homeschool because they would want to avoid the influences the Obama administration may have on education. The homeschools the author chooses to describe in depth in the article are clearly not a representative sample of homeschoolers in America. It seems that although mentioned, reasons for homeschooling beyond religion or "shielding... children from what they see as bad influences" are really just glossed over. The final sentence of the article states "And Mr Obama is far too liberal for most of America’s home-schoolers." I must say, not only do I personally not feel that way, but I happen to know many other homeschoolers who do not feel that way.

The author seized an opportunity to use a portion of the homeschooling community to prove a point, but I think really missed other important components of homeschooling. I think it is just not as simple as the author would have the reader believe.

Additionally, I suppose, given the author's premise, if the Obama administration does make substantial changes to the American education system, then some homeschoolers may return to the public or private schools. If there were changes to to NCLB, a decreased focus on standardized testing, an increased focus on the arts, smaller class sizes, would some homeschoolers return to school?

First Day of Dance

Well, the "fall" has clearly arrived as all of the new activities are starting up. We had our first busy day of art class and 3 dance classes yesterday. We went to the library in between. I was not sure how that would work, but it went surprisingly well. We were all really exhausted by the time we got home though. Oh, and we made a stop at the pool after the dance classes too.

Isabella started her class first. She is in a class that includes instruction in both tap and ballet. I did not get many good pictures. It seemed she either had her back to me or there was too much glare on the window when I got to an angle where I could get a good picture. Here is the best picture I took.

Hailey started her first class, which is "movement," but she insists that she is taking "ballet."

We thought she was holding her breath here, until she told us no, she was being a balloon.

Madeline has moved into the beginning level classes, and has chosen to take ballet this year. She was very excited for class, but when she was done with the first class she said she never wanted to go back. I did momentarily consider trying to change her to tap or jazz, but decided to have her stick it out. When she and I talked about it we determined that she was just not happy that there was no fooling around in the class. Ballet is very structured and the teacher has high expectations. I have no doubt that she can rise to the occasion, but it may be a struggle at the beginning. At the end of our conversation I told her she could choose a different type of dance next year, or no dance at all, and she said, "well, I could still choose ballet again, right?" I think ultimately she does really want to learn ballet. I did not get any pictures of her in class because the only window is in the classroom door, and there were about 10 mothers hovering around the door yesterday trying to get a peek. I will try to get some pictures next week.

Field Trip to Kansas City

We intended to head to Kansas City last Friday, but as I was on my way home from the "not-back-to-school" picnic, warning lights came on in my van. This was not the first time we had had this problem, we have been dealing with this problem for more than a year now, but it was the third time in 2 days the lights came on, indicating that my brakes were not working correctly. So, we took the van in Friday morning, postponing our trip to KC by a day.

So, Saturday we headed to Kansas City to the zoo and for the girls' first Major League Baseball game. We started the day at the Kansas City Zoo. We had been there once before, but it was several years ago. The trip tied in well with our study of life science this year.

This was our first big trip without a stroller. It was so nice to not have to worry about getting through doors and exhibits! Hailey did get a few rides for both Bill and I though.

Madeline took great pleasure in reading the map during our trip!

Isabella really got into the animals.

Many of the birds we saw in the exhibits were really quite aggressive. Three little girls did not scare them.

The kangaroos are in an open area, where they could just hop across the path in front of you.

Hailey found a caterpillar to watch as well.

The sheep were a big hit, too. They were kind of aggressive as well, especially to those with food, but the girls were really not intimidated by them.

The zoo staff brought out a spotted python. The girls could not get enough of Spotty.

We were really excited to see the baby zebra.

And the gorillas were great fun to watch!

After the zoo, we headed off to Kauffman Stadium. Being Cubs fans, we were hoping their first game would be at Wrigley, but it was not. The girls did get cool certificates declaring them "Official Royals Fans," which was nice, and it was hat day, so we all received free hats when we entered the stadium.

Here we are wearing our caps. Notice that Madeline felt the need to wear her crown as well as her Royals cap.

We did not anticipate that there would be very many people at the game, so we waited to buy tickets until we arrived at the stadium. We sat waaaaay up high!

It was quite the trip!

"Not-Back-To-School"

Well, we went to our first "Not-Back-To-School" picnic this afternoon. It was really nice to see so many homeschoolers in one place. There was also quite an age range of kids from pre-k through high school. I am really glad that we live in an area where there are so many homeschoolers. The group we were with today is an all-inclusive group for the area. There are several other groups here as well that we are not part of, mostly religious, so I know there are more homeschoolers out there.

My girls met some new friends, of many different ages. I think that is one of the great things about homeschooling groups. The kids are not stuck socializing with kids who are exactly the same age as they are. They get to meet and interact with kids of different ages. A couple of kids who were probably 10-12 found a monarch, and Madeline hung out with them for a bit talking about monarchs. Hailey played with a group of kids that ranged in age from 3-11. Later, some of the older boys who we had not met before were worried about her at one point because she was standing near an embankment. They hung out with her for a bit to be sure that she was okay and did not fall (I wasn't worried, but they were). It was nice to see them all interacting together.

I got to meet some other homeschooling parents as well, some who are just starting out and some who have been homeschooling for quite a long time.

What a nice afternoon!

Symbolic Migration at Journey North

Journey North will be having a symbolic migration of monarchs this year. Evidently they have done this in the past (this is the 14th annual symbolic migration) and I missed it, not sure how, but I did. The plan seem to be that the children create "gallery quality" butterflies and send them to Journey North in Minnesota. Journey North then send the paper butterflies to Mexico, to children who live near the monarch sanctuaries. The children in Mexico care for the paper butterflies and send them back in the spring to Journey North. Journey North then returns the paper butterflies to the children in the United States and Canada. It appears that you will not get your own butterfly back, however. There is also tracking of this process on the computer.

This sounds like a great way to connect kids to the monarch migration as well as to another country (Mexico). We will begin making our butterflies so that we can have them in Minnesota on time (postmarked by October 13).

Also, monarch related, we release 6 more butterflies today, all males.

Homeschool Program at the Youzeum

I just heard that the Youzeum will be having a Homeschool Program twice a month. I am so excited, but waiting on more information to see if it will be appropriate for the ages of my girls.

You can check it out at http://www.youzeum.org/visit/Homeschool.php

It is always nice to see that the local organizations offer homeschool programs! The other organization that I know does this, and we LOVE the classes there, is the Columbia Art League.

Rain and Illness

Well, it seems like we have been stuck in the house for quite a long time now. After my family left, all 3 of the girls took turns with a nasty cold. Now they are better, but it seems, we are in for quite a few days of rain. I am dying to get back to the pool. Public schools start back up here on Thursday, and then the pool is only open in the late afternoon and evenings until Labor Day, and then only on nice weekends. I should probably be grateful that we did get in one nice day at the pool after everyone was mostly better and when the rain began. I am sitting here listening to thunder and hoping that the storm passes quickly so that we might get an hour or so this afternoon, but I don't think that is going to happen.

So, what do we do on days when we are stuck in the house? Well, I would like to say that we spend the day on school work so that we can be sure to get out and play on those nice sunny days, but that is not always the case. We do some school work, but the girls always find ways to amuse themselves, and it seems that these are the days they take over their own education. First, this morning they decided to examine the Monarchs that we have living in our house in various stages. They checked out the caterpillars and the chrysalides. They actually got to watch one caterpillar change into a chrysalis. They ran outside during a break in the rain to get some more milkweed for the caterpillars to eat. They watched the 3 butterflies we have that we have here waiting for a nice day so that they can go free. We made some "nectar" for the butterflies since they will be staying with us for at least another day. Then, they decided to make their own book about the Monarch life cycle. They drew pictures of each stage, and even included several of the caterpillar instars. I love it when they take on learning for themselves!

Here are Madeline and Hailey looking at the Monarch butterflies.

This is Isabella's Monarch life cycle.

Egg on the leaf.

A small (first instar) caterpillar on a leaf.

A larger (fifth instar) caterpillar. The circles are the holes that have been eaten in the leaf.

A chrysalis.

A flying butterfly.

After they finished their little exploration of the Monarch life cycle, they decided to make themselves and their dolls a cozy place to hang out. They love to make houses and forts from the pillows and blankets around the house. Once they had found their spot (they decided to use the entire guest room as their fort today, they proceeded to have a snack. Then they turned their attention to finding new things to explore. They played with magnets and with blocks.

Isabella and Hailey sitting with their dolls, eating a snack.

Isabella's block tower.

Afterwards, they went back to check on the Monarchs, to find that 2 more butterflies had eclosed from their chrysalises. We had to watch them for a while, of course. It is so cool to watch their wings expand as they get ready for their first flight!

This is one newly eclosed Monarch with a couple of empty chrysalises.

This is the other Monarch that eclosed today. You can see that the wings as still a bit folded. In the picture you can also see part of another Monarch; a chrysalis that has not eclosed yet (green); and the clear, empty chrysalis from which the butterfly just eclosed.

Maybe we will get to my lesson plans later!

New Tracking Program

I have really found it to be helpful to track our homeschooling activities on my computer. The tracking program allows me to see where we have been and where we need to go during the year. I recently made a change in the program that I am using. I have changed to Homeschool Tracker Plus. This program has the advantage of letting me record all of my lesson plans without attaching dates to them. Then, when I need them, I can move them to the assignments section. It has made planning a whole lot easier. This past week my kids have all had colds, and have really not wanted to do anything (other than listen to me read and do art projects - they are rarely too sick for those activities). It has give me some time to explore the program and to get LOTS of lessons entered for the year. I feel so much more organized! I am so glad I made the switch!

Gans Creek

Today, before heading to the pool, I thought we would check out a part of Rock Bridge Park we had never been to before. We went to the Gans Creek area, to look for living and non-living things as part of our science curriculum. While the entrance confused us a bit (guess I should have checked out a map before heading out), we did eventually find a place to explore by the creek.

The girls found LOTS of living and non-living things there. Their list of living things included plants, flowers, trees, tadpoles (or small fish, it was hard to tell because I forgot to bring along a jar to catch one in and they moved fast), crayfish, and insects. Their list of non-living things included rocks (many with fossils), water, sand, mud, and a bridge.

The girls were very diligent about the task. They are always excited to be exploring outside, and today they enjoyed being "scientists," recording their findings. Madeline wrote about her exploration with words, and Hailey and Isabella used pictures. Isabella was especially careful to draw neat little pictures of the things she found.

Here is Madeline sitting in her area, working.

Isabella had a tree and a bridge above her area.

Hailey drew leaves, a tree, and rocks (mostly unidentifiable, but luckily she told me what she was drawing).

This crayfish was hiding among the rocks and leaves in the creek. We saw several of these little guys.

A Visit from Family

Last week we were lucky to have the girls' grandma, grandpa, aunt and cousin come visit. They had a great time spending time with them and showing them around town. We got to share some of our favorite places and visit some new ones.

One of the places we visited for the first time was the Youzeum. It is a museum dedicated to hands-on learning about the human body. Everyone had a great time!

They played with "Organ Ella" in the newly opened area for kids under 7.

Madeline looking at some x-rays.

Everyone like exploring the ambulance!

Isabella the EMT

There were lots of different ways for the kids to "test" themselves. Here is Isabella checking her balancing skill.

Everyone had to have their picture take here!

I loved the hands-on bones!

This piece of art was a big hit as well. They kids were mesmerized by the balls running through it!