Homeschooling

Today was one of those days when interests and supplies fell right in line. Eamon has been mentioning an interest in the periodic table and elements lately. With this in mind, I picked up a few books on the topic from the library. That was a few weeks ago. They have been sitting relatively undisturbed in our book basket.

Then the topic came up again today. I reminded Eamon of the book, and he came back a bit later with a big book tucked under his arm. He carried The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe around for the rest of the day (a big thanks to Roberta and her blogs for the recommendation). While I worked in the kitchen, he quizzed me on the symbols, and was quite impressed with my recall. Aine joined him, and the two reviewed chemical properties trying to stump each other with their knowledge.

As they were talking I remembered a PBS special on the elements. We headed into the other room and after a quick search of PBS were watching Hunting the Elements. When this initially aired, neither were interested. This time around all three kiddos sat mesmerized by the dialogue (note to other parents, there is a discussion of a chemical bomb and a few photos of the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing). There was even talk about watching it again.

At dinner, we again talked about the periodic table. The recounted many parts of the PBS special and again the book was brought out. I think it may be time to pull out some more of our experiment supplies. I think the elements will be the topic of much discussion for the weeks to come.

An Old Time Smithy

Homeschooling provides our family with so many opportunities to meet interesting people. I especially enjoy meeting people who do what they love each and every day. People who have a passion for life and show this through their work. On Friday we joined many other homeschooling families on a trip to visit one such person. We visited Bill Smith, a blacksmith in our community.

I think initially we surprised the artists at Cattletrack with the size of our group and the eagerness of the children, who ranged in age from preschool all the way to high school. After splitting our tour into two groups, we made our way into Smith's shop. It was full of all sorts of tools of his trade. He answered questions from the kiddos smiling as he told of the age of his anvil and hammer (Benton asked about the anvil). He showed the piece he was currently crafting. It will become a brand for a rancher; he was currently working on the "B." Smith explained how he began his career in Scotland, making horseshoes and shoeing horses. The kiddos were amazed to see the size of one of his horseshoes intended for a Clydesdale. They were equally impressed with more of his current work which includes bed frames, swords, flowers and door pulls.

I think the best part for my children was watching this quiet man in action. We watched as he fired up his furnace, which uses coal just as it has done for years. The hot coals of the fire heated a piece of steel to a red hot color. He then fashioned that rod into a ring with several blows from his hammer. As Benton remarked loudly to him, "That is so cool!" That single statement summed the experience up quite well.

Prolific

A few months ago, I stumbled upon an art project I really wanted to do. I cannot remember the initial blog, newsletter or book that inspired me. I can only remember thinking my kiddos would love it. The problem was that we were living out of state, so my fall back art supply was blick's. I checked online, and the store was sold out of what I needed. So I waited and eventually forgot about it. Then a few weeks ago, Amy, at mamascout, posted about the same art project. My interest was renewed, and with glee I  found the paints in stock. We were set to do some sumingashi or Japanese marbling.

The Innovation Marbling Kit paints used for this project are special dyes which essentially float on the water. With bins I picked up at the dollar store, the kiddos and I set about learning this art method. I filled a palette for each of the kiddos and handed them toothpicks and paintbrushes. We found regular printer paper worked best for us. I had mistakenly bought calligraphy paper when finding supplies. This paper did not work at all. It tore easily and folded onto itself. A couple sheets of watercolor paper were also used with success. Eventually I would like to buy copperplate paper, but it is a bit pricey for us when purchased online. I will need to see if I can find some locally.

With the knowledge gleaned from an online video, we set to creating. Initially the kiddos used the brushes and toothpicks to place the inks onto the water. They blew the paints, used the paintbrushes to swirl the colors and made concentric circles by alternating colors. We experimented with the amount of ink on the brushes finding that those prints with more ink made more vibrant colors. The kiddos also used the floating dots included with the kit to apply drops of ink directly from the bottle. This created amazing results.

Piles of prints cluttered the floor as they created. Eamon was the most enthusiastic churning out paper after paper. He perfected his technique and enthusiastically raised the paper from the water to see the result. He would then meticulously blot the creation and lay it on newspaper to dry. Aine and Benton even stopped at one point to watch him. Everyone had such a good time with this art medium. We now have a large stack of paper to create books, pictures, notecards and greeting cards. There was even talk of teaching grandma to do it. I foresee many more days spent doing sumingashi in our house.

Happy Pi Day

Today we celebrated Pi Day with our friends. For those not in the know, today's date corresponds to the first 3 digits in pi (March 14 = 3.14). We feasted on pizza pie, lemon pie and apple pie. We also had snacks to share in circular dishes.

For a little circle fun, I had each of the kiddos search for a stick. Our family did this a little over a year ago with another group of friends. The results were similar. Discovering how to make the final circle didn't take as long, since a few of the children caught on quickly or were told by those who had done it in the past. 

I shared a few books on circles and pi with everyone. Our family really enjoys the Sir Cumference series (for today we focused on Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi ) for its wit and creativity. Each story deals with mathematical principles and involves a quest. The characters enjoy names such as Sir Cumference, Radius and Lady Di of Ameter. Eamon has read them all several times, yet he picked one up again today to read. They really are enjoyable.

Books shared space with necklace and bracelet making. Each colored bead represented a number, With string in hand, several kiddos diligently strung beads corresponding to the digits in pi. They marveled at the random sequence. We talked briefly about non-repeating decimals and the unique characteristics of this "magic" number. (The colorful pi wheel shown here was crafted by one of our homeschooling friends. She created a visual for everyone that showed the equation circumference/diameter = pi).

Soon everyone scattered wearing their bead jewelry to enjoy the park, chalk and the beautiful weather. 

Holding Back

Earlier this week, the kiddos and I showed up at our weekly park date to someone commenting on our unschooling ways. One of my children wore no shoes, another monster slippers and the third a costume. I let them choose what they wear and most of the time run little interference. My kiddos have a lot of choices in their lives, and I like it that way. This is not always easy for me. I cringe sometimes when I see what my kiddos plan or what they want to wear. I take a deep breathe and then let it go.

This weekend Aine was invited to a birthday party for a friend. We talked a bit about a gift for her friend. Aine's eyes lit up as she claimed she knew exactly what she wanted to give her. She ran into her playroom and came back with a little dog and carrier. I hesitated a moment while my thoughts collected. I looked into Aine's gleaming eyes and said that would be a great gift. But as I said it I wondered if I shouldn't buy the child a gift at the store or give a gift card too. Was a handed down gift acceptable? Would the other family think us odd? Was my continual mantra of handmade, handed down or hand picked too much? Did it really matter what I thought?

Aine proceeded to gather the dog's accoutrements together. With a newspaper end roll at her side, she sat down on the kitchen floor and wrapped her gift. She could only find black electrical tape from her brother's bin, so she used it. A quick note was written with a birthday wish. She used notebook paper instead of the stacks of construction or craft paper. Again she knew she wanted the paper to have holes, so her friend could hang it.

As we walked into the skating rink for the party, Aine was so proud of her gift. She confidently carried it up to her friend wanting her to open it right away. Instead we set it on the table with the other pink, purple and glittery gift bags. At the close of the party, her friend opened her gifts. She opened the gift from Aine first after much urging from my little girl. It was a huge hit despite the wrapping and the lack of a store box. Aine knew her friend would love her gift, and she was right.

{this moment}

{this moment} - Joining Amanda in a Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Zoo Season

With our temperatures dropping, our outdoors activities are soaring. We suffer from hibernation mode during the summer. By the time fall arrives we are itching to get back outdoors. Recently our homeschool group visited the zoo. 

The kiddos were eager to run around the treehouse and explore the small creek that runs under it. As they played, excavators worked on the surrounding area. It seems our zoo is continually trying to improve and upgrade the environment. A new orangutan exhibit just opened in the past few months and the kiddos were excited to check it out again with their friends. We stopped for a few snacks while watching a video about the apes and reading the signs. The new enclosure is such an improvement over the previous cement exhibit. The four apes have a bigger area as well as several interior rooms. They even have grass now! 

Benton and Eamon were surprised when the baby orangutan swung down to the inside viewing window to watch them eat carrots. Baby Kasih just watched them eat and appeared to want to nibble the offered food despite the glass separating her from Benton. It was heartbreaking and fascinating at the same time.

More monkeys were the plan as we then visited monkey village and the squirrel monkeys. Everyone enjoyed watching the small run along the ropes and explore.

This was the end of most of our animal viewing. The children started stroller and wagon rides along the walkway outside the exhibit. They hooked together a couple wagons to form and train and enjoyed themselves immensely. They also played at the adjacent rock cave.

With tired bodies and short fuses, we decided to take a trip on the train since one of the moms had a free pass for the group. It was just what we needed to refuel. The same mom offered carousel rides as the grand finale. All three kiddos climbed onto the carousel animals. Aine stuck close to the other mom and her young son, while I stayed near the boys. We even attempted a photo in the carousel mirror. It didn't work so well.

After our carousel rides, we were sad to find out the zoo was closed. Heading out to the car, I discovered the new exit requires that you walk through the gift shop. This did not please me, but we all did well. Eamon even told those in the group that it is marketing by the zoo to get you to buy more stuff. It was truly a wonderful day with friends, and I think we all had a pretty good time!

Playing Games

As a family we love games. We play board games, card games, video games and dice games. Everyone has their favorites, but we will play just about anything.  I get many ideas for new games from my favorite blogs as well as from our homeschooling friends.

Recently I heard about the game, Blink. Aine loves it and is quite good at the fast paced game. We decided to share it with our homeschooling group. We are fortunate to have a vibrant homeschooling group with which we share our love of games on a weekly basis. The children range in age, but everyone plays together. The kids loved Blink. Each could play on their own level. We decided we need a few decks, so more kids and adults can play at one time.

Other favorite games for the group are: Sequence, Sorry, Twister, Bananagrams, Dice games, Apples to Apples, various card games, Connect Four and Blokus. Each week new games are brought as well as old favorites. The games are shared and some even find new favorites. One of our friends loved our Blokus game so much that his mom bought him his own.

I love sharing new games with the group and hearing what games they love. Do you have any favorite games for us to play?

Outside the box

Very cool kid's site

Children

As an American educator, I cannot help but be struck by certain paradoxes. In America we pride ourselves on being focused on children, and yet we do not pay sufficient attention to what they are actually expressing. We call for cooperative learning among children, and yet we rarely have sustained cooperation at the level of teacher and administrator. We call for artistic works, but we rarely fashion environments that can truly support and inspire them. We call for parental involvement, but are loathe to share ownership, responsibility, and credit with parents. We recognize the need for community, but we so often crystallize immediately into interest groups. We hail the discovery method, but we do not have the confidence to allow children to follow their own noses and hunches. We call for debate, but often spurn it; we call for listening, but we prefer to talk; we are affluent, but we do not safeguard those resources that can allow us to remain so and to foster the affluence of others. — Howard Gardner