Old Sturbridge Village

After our very brief stay in Connecticut, we headed up to Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.  This is a living history museum.  Visitors travel back to a New England town in the 1830s.  I was excited to share this experience with the girls for couple reasons.  First, it is a place I visited a few time when I was younger.  Second, the girls really enjoy learning about history.  This is especially true of Madeline.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they offer a home school discount.  I was a bit concerned about this since I do not have any kind of "official" proof that we homeschool, but I was told we did not have to provide any.  This was indeed the case.

As we entered, this caught our attention:

It reminded us of the shaduf we learned about when we studied Ancient Egypt.  It is always exciting when we can make connections to prior learning!

We got a chance to learn about several new things as well, including many jobs that were necessary in 1830s New England, like the tinsmith...

the printer (Isabella was impress, or maybe unimpressed rather,  that he could only make one copy at a time, unlike a copy machine) ...

the blacksmith (where my ringing cell phone with a call from Bill from Turkey seemed quite out of place)...

the carding mill (where the girls gave carding by hand a try)...

and the shoe shop.

The girls even tried their hand at making a candle holder out of tin.

It was absolutely beautiful!

And the girls even found a family of geese to watch for a bit!

I think we will be taking a trip back there again when the girls are a bit older.

Connecticut

After leaving Pennsylvania, we travelled to Connecticut to visit my family.  We were able to see several family members I have not seen in several years at a dinner my mother coordinated.  The highlight of that dinner, however, was the kids (my 3 girls and their cousin) writing and performing a puppet show.  It was really great to see the kids working together and having a great time, even though they don't get to see their cousin very often.

Sorry about the poor picture quality.  I forgot to take my camera in, so this was taken with my phone.

Um, did I mention that while the girls and I were doing all of this, Bill was in Istanbul, Turkey?  He did bring back some great pictures, though, including this one of the top third of an Egyptian monolith.  Madeline is looking forward to trying to decipher the hieroglyphs.

Pennsylvania

So, the reason I was delayed in getting so much of our activities posted is because we left the day after the girls' dance recital for two-week trip to the east coast.  Our first stop was in Pennsylvania to visit Bill's family.

While we were only there for a short time, our days were pretty full!  One of the highlights of the trip for the girls was visiting a fish hatchery.  They were even nice enough to let the girls feed the fish.  The girls loved to see the fish come up to the surface for food.  They were very careful to make sure they fed the fish in all of the "tanks."

Madeline was really interested in the nursery where they kept the newly hatched fish.

After the fish hatchery we went for a walk in a botanical garden.  I snapped this shot of Hailey sniffing a flower.  This also happens to be her 4th birthday.

We also visited Baby's Restaurant.  It happens to be the first place I ever visited in State College, many years ago.

Soccer Wrap-up

The soccer season also came to an end in May.  Both Madeline and Isabella enjoyed playing and have decided they would like to play again next year.  Here are a few pictures from their last games.

Isabella was reluctant to tough the ball, but I did snap this one picture of her kicking the ball during the game.  She was also very proud that she had one assist for the season.

Madeline played goalie, and loved it, for most of the season.

She did, however, play forward a couple of times as well.

She was not afraid to get dirty or wet.

This final picture is one of Madeline and a few of the girls on her team attempting to stay warm on a chilly morning during a game.

Dance Recital 2010

The girls finished up another year of dance, well, for Hailey it was her first year.  They all did a great job at their recital.  I was especially impressed with the progress Madeline made this year in beginning ballet.  I think the slower nature of ballet really helped her.  She has decided to continue on with ballet next year, and Isabella will be beginning ballet next year.

Here are a few pictures of the girls during rehearsal and/or on the evening of the recital.

These are both from rehearsals.

Madeline did not want me to see her rehearsal.  She wanted me to be surprised by the performance on the night of the recital, so I do not have pictures of her in rehearsal.  She did provide me with several poses before her recital, however.

I think this last one is the most representative of her personality.

And here are the three of them all ready on the night of their performance.

It was a great night!

First Camping Trip of 2010

I am a bit behind in posting, but I did want to share some information on our first camping trip of the year, which was at the end of March.  We went back to Mark Twain Lake State Park here in Missouri.  The weather this year has just been fabulous, so we decided to go at the last minute.  We really love their camper cabins, and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to camp, even though there was no running water or flush toilets.  As an aside, the pit toilets there were amazingly clean.

The girls were really excited, but I think we might have done better if we had kept the trip a surprise until the morning we left.  The girls were so excited and wanted to stay up late helping us pack.  Unfortunately this lead to some tired kids while we were camping.

Being so early in the season, it was very quiet at the campground.  We were the only residents in the camper cabins the night we were there.  Most of the tent sites were also empty.

We spent a lot of time hiking.  We did avoid the really long hiking trail we took last year, but found several other areas to explore.

Isabella was was the navigator for one of our hikes.

The girls improved their campfire skills, and their cooking skills.

Isabella was the breakfast chef.  I forgot to get a picture of her making the eggs and sausage, but I did get one of her enjoying her meal.

I was impressed that Madeline was able to identify the turkey vultures flying overhead.

The girls also spent a lot of time at the lake throwing sticks into the water and then throwing stones to try to direct and redirect them and speed up their approach to shore.  Hailey eventually did fall in, and let us know that it was really cold water.

They found lots of fossils, including this one.  They always love finding the fossils, and there are tons at this location!

Here are my tired campers.

We are looking forward to more camping trips this summer, including a few with friends!

Another Fabulous Creek Day

Last time I posted about our creek days I had no pictures, so I thought I would post some from today's outing.  What a gorgeous day!

We saw this spider on the walk to the creek, and Madeline insisted I take it's picture.

The group spent a lot of time on this small "island" investigating the life on and around it and digging trenches in the mud.

This is one of several crayfish that were caught on this expedition.  One of the others actually had eggs on its belly, which was very cool!

Isabella dug up this treasure!

A snake was caught on the walk back to the car.  We had actually seen one on the walk in as well, with the same markings, but I rarely touch snakes myself since I can't identify them.  We were with others who were more knowledgable on the walk out, so the kids got a chance to hold this one.  It was identified as a Prairie Ring-necked snake, easily identifiable by the yellow ring around its neck.  It had quite a colorful belly as well.

Here is Hailey holding the snake.

The kids all wanted multiple turns holding it before releasing it back into the woods.

All in all, a great day!

Creek Days - Spring Edition

We are so fortunate to belong to such an active homeschool group filled with wonderful people!  One of the members arranged creeks days for the group back in the fall, and then again this spring.  We have had such a great time learning about all of the incredible things that live around the creeks and ponds in our area.  Today's trip was to a section of Bear Creek, and was by far one of the most exciting adventures yet.  Being spring, the area was just teeming with life.  I really wish that I had taken my camera, but I did not.

What did we see today?  Well...
water striders
different types of tadpoles in great quantity (bullfrogs, American toads)
several different types of frogs (in fact Hailey caught a spring peeper)
a large turtle floating in the water
a couple of smaller turtles
several species of fish
a garter snake attempting to eat a toad, and then giving up after quite a long time and spitting it out
beetles
a lizard
a water scorpion
midge fly larvae

To top it off, we had a PhD student form Mizzou join us who studies aquatic invertebrates.

What an incredible morning!

What Am I Reading?

I wrote a bit about working to become a better parent and a stronger family in my last post.  I thought I would post some of the books I have read recently in this area.  The longer I homeschool the clearer it becomes that our parenting and our homeschooling are intertwined here, and become more and more inseparable by the day.  Some of these books would probably be categorized more as parenting books than homeschooling books,  but the longer I homeschool the clearer it becomes that our parenting and our homeschooling are intertwined here.  They become more and more inseparable by the day.

Here they are:

Actually, I read this one quite a while ago, but it is one of my favorites, so I felt the need to include it.














This is the book I am currently reading and really enjoying.  While I am not totally at the point of raising my children without religion, I think this book has a lot of good points about helping children in their own explorations and teaching them to think for themselves and make their own informed decisions.

This book is the companion to the above mentioned "Parenting Beyond Belief."  I have skimmed it, but am looking forward to a more in depth look soon.

I just recently finished  this book, and while I did find it to be insightful, I did not care for the format.  It is essentially a collection of lectures given by the author.  I recommend it, but I think it is important to note that it is a compilation, not a single work.

I am, however, looking forward to reading this John Taylor Gatto book, which is next on my list.  I have heard fabulous reviews!

More Info...

I just wanted to update my previous post as I just found out that the Parents have a blog at http://www.clanofparents.com/.

Exploring Parenting

I am always looking to explore new ideas in parenting and education in an effort to strengthen our family, become a better parent, and provide a better education for the girls.  Recently, a friend of mine was talking about an upcoming Discovery Health Channel program "Radical Parenting," which included a family that practices radical unschooling.  I decided to take a peak at the program.  I must say, I was a bit disappointed.  First, I wish it had been a more comprehensive look at the life of this family.  I found the segment on this family fascinating!  I was disappointed that the episode also focused on 2 other families/approaches.  I would have loved to have had the entire hour devoted to this one family.  Second, I was disappointed by the critique provided by the experts.  I thought that the information provided by the experts was VERY one-sided.

I have discovered, however, that there is a blog and podcasts, located at http://werhumansbeing.com/.  So, now I am spending time reading the blog and listening to the podcasts to get more information on how this particular family functions.  I am always looking for ways to develop stronger connections and better communication within our family, and I think that this family is a good example of both of these.  I am looking forward from learning more from this family!

Spring has Arrived (or at least the tulips have emerged)

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here the past few days!  The kids are so happy to be playing outside without their cumbersome winter clothing.  And the tulips we planted as part of Journey North's Tulip Test Garden project have started to emerge.

We have been keeping an eye on the area where we planted the bulbs in the fall for the past couple of weeks, and on Friday Madeline noticed that 5 of the bulbs have sprouted.  Today she counted 8!  Their arrival was evidently a signal to Madeline that it is time to get ready to plant our garden.  She spent a long time Friday afternoon clearing the leaves and debris out of the garden.  We are now ready to plant some lettuce (and maybe some spinach if I can find some seeds).

Where Are We Going? And Where Have We Been?

It seems that we have all spent this year adjusting and exploring different educational philosophies to find one that works for us.  I can honestly say that we have not found one single approach that works well for us, but we have found elements of several approaches that do work.  Certainly each of the children are different and there are different things that work for each of them.

Madeline really thrives on structure, but it has to be self-imposed structure.  She has taken things that I have introduced and changed them to make them her own.  For example, the workboxes system was successful for a short time when I was in control of it, but it worked much better when she took control of it.  She decides which things she works on and in which order.  She loves the whole structure of everything being in its place and working through the boxes.  She even seems to enjoy moving the numbers as she completes the tasks.  She likes to see progress and she is eager to learn.  She does, however, go in spurts.  This applies both to her interest in formal "school work" and each individual subject.  There are days when she has absolutely no interest is sitting and doing anything formal, and then there are days when she can't get enough and works well into the evening.  She will also get excited about a particular subject and work for an extended period of time on it.  One day she may complete an entire unit in math, or she may spend an entire week learning about ancient Egypt or dinosaurs or the American Revolution.  Her thirst for knowledge on a particular subject can sometimes seem unending.  Whatever this system is that we have in place for her right now, which I have no name for, works for her.  She amazes me daily!

Isabella has really spent this year recovering for her experience last year and finding herself, in a sense.  She is really the opposite of Madeline in many ways.  She resists structure, either externally or internally imposed.  She likes to make her decisions minute by minute.  She is incredibly imaginative and creative. She is easily frustrated when asked to sit and complete more formal work.  She is a very hands-on learner.  We have tried several approaches with her, but mostly she has spent the year exploring the world her own way and the growth I have seen from her this year is incredible.  She has grown as an individual.  She has figured out who she is.  I anticipate that future attempts to control her learning are going to be met with frustration, and I suspect a more unschooling approach may be best way for her to grow.

Hailey seems to fall in the middle.  She enjoys "school-type" tasks, and does occasionally like to use the workboxes system.  She is still young, though, so play really is her primary means of learning at this point.  Most of the time she is just trying to keep up with her sisters.

So, as I prepare for the next school year, I have been thinking about what we will do.  Will we be using a curriculum?  What type of structure will we have in place?  I have been debating these questions all year.  It seems that in many ways the girls have answered these questions for themselves.  My plan is to continue to let them figure out their own path, but with some guidance and direction from me.  They do seem to all enjoy the Moving Beyond the Page curriculum, so we will continue with that.  Madeline will be moving into the 7-9 curriculum, which she is actually very excited about.  She has looked at the concepts that are covered and is interested in the topics and the literature that is used.  Isabella is slowly working through the 5-7 curriculum.  She has almost completed the first concept.  She really enjoys the creative aspects of the curriculum and it works for her as long as she is working at a pace she dictates.  Madeline has been using Singapore Math for the past 2 years, and she will continue with it this next year.  She should move into 3A as our new school year begins on June 1.  Earlier this year I decided that Singapore just was not working for Isabella, so she and Hailey have been using RightStart Math Level A sporadically this year.  I plan to continue to work with this curriculum with them.  They seem to like it and it is a good fit for Isabella.  It includes lots of hands-on learning.  We have been using both ABeCeDarian Reading and All About Spelling this year with Madeline and Isabella.  I am considering choosing just one for next year, although there really is nothing more I need to buy in either curriculum for the next year, at least not immediately, so I think we may just play it by ear and use what works.  I'm still considering pulling activities in for science and social studies for the Pandia Press curriculums R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey and History Odyssey because the girls have been really interested the lessons we have done from them this year.  Madeline in particular has enjoyed the extra history and Isabella has enjoyed the science.  I am also fairly sure that I am going to introduce Madeline to the Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts curriculum.  I think she will really enjoy it.  I am also considering getting Discovery Education streaming which I found a good price on at Homeschool Buyers Co-op.  What I do know is that we will not be having a set schedule.  They will be deciding what, when, and how they would like to learn and I will be providing them with opportunities.  We will be spending LOTS of time outside and with friends. I am hoping for many field trips this year.  We will continue to try to find the best way for each of them to learn and grow!

Back to History

We have recently returned to our study of ancient history.  We started quite a while with ancient Egypt because of Madeline's interest, but then backtracked when I found the History Odyssey curriculum.  Well, we are now back to ancient Egypt.  I had thought that we would mummify a chicken when we reached this point, but it seems I am not feeling that brave right now, so we settled for making a mummy out of Barbie.  I'm sure we will be studying ancient Egypt again, so there will be other opportunities to mummify the chicken!

This is the coffin we made from a cereal box.

Here is Madeline's complete mummy.

This is a close-up of the death mask she put on the mummy.  We had just finished reading about Hatshepsut, so I think she modeled it after the images she had seen related to her.

A Science Exploration: The Circulatory System

Recently we have been studying the human body with R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey's Life Science Level 1.  We have covered the skeletal system and the muscular system, and today we moved on to the circulatory system.  I thought that the lab we did today was quite neat.  We built a model of blood.  The girls really seemed to get the point that blood is more than just a red liquid.

They all worked had to color and diagram the blood cells.

Stirring the mixture together was definitely their favorite part of the lesson, however.

This was our final product.