It's January Already!?

 Oh man. Forgot all about this again - I guess that means we're busy!

The kids have had a great few months. October flew by with lots of learning, crafts and enjoyment. November was a breeze. December was hectic, but in the best ways possible! We spent each day learning about new holiday related things, working on Christmas-themed work, and of course, making decorations and baking!! The kids had a riot. When I find the camera, I'll upload some more pictures.

 Our days are changing. In September I started with a proper schedule. We had certain topics we'd be covering, it was how I wanted the days to be, and that was that. The kids went with it and there were only minor bumps. By the end of October, they were over that. Going down to the classroom wasn't something they enjoyed - Reese actually pointed out, "You pulled us out of school, now you still make us spend our days in a classroom!". 

 The hardest part for me is accepting that home learning just isn't the same as a classroom - and that's a GOOD thing! I don't want them to feel like they're in grade 1 and grade 3 rooms; I want them to feel like they're LIVING and LEARNING. So, we moved out of the classroom and into the living room/kitchen/dining area/bedrooms/front yard/backyard/coffee shops...really, wherever we feel like learning. We dug a cave in the snow yesterday, and Lauren is hoping to use that for her reading spot on Monday. :)

 We've eased up on our 'forced schedule'. I get the work that I expect for the week ready, and I allow the kids to decide what they're working on and when. That seems a little risky, allowing a 6 and 8 year old to choose what they do, but the kids are surprisingly open to work. They understand that their only expectation at this point is to be successful with their work. They take pride in it, and the improvements are incredible.

 I've also cut back on the paper work and we're encouraging more 'real life' learning. A quick example - instead of doing a worksheet about measurements, we spend the afternoon in the kitchen baking and talking about measurements. It's making a huge difference with their attitudes, and they're retaining information. SUCCESS!

 Without any doubt, the best part of this decision to home school is seeing the way the kids are growing. Don't get me wrong - some days I would love nothing more than to send them to school so I can breathe! We have bad days...but we also have some of the most incredible days I've ever experienced. It's the simple things - waking up to find Reese has been up for hours in his room reading a book (A BOOK!!!! REESE!!! READING!!!), or seeing the joy on their faces when they master a new skill. As crazy as they can make me, I wouldn't trade any of this for anything. They're happy, confident, beautiful little monsters. We'd be missing so much of this if we were passing them off to somebody else Monday-Friday, 8:30-3:30.

 So, next time I hop on the computer I'll add on some work samples and photos of what we've been up to!

 Cheers!!

October Fun...and the dreaded "S" word!

 Hello October!

   This is quite possibly our favourite month of the year! It's always guaranteed to be a lot of fun, and there are so many great learning experiences awaiting us. So many fun lessons, activities and crafts. Bring it on, October!!

   Lauren celebrated her 6th birthday yesterday. It was an excellent reason to celebrate and have fun! We spent the day bowling, eating lots of junk food, and of course the kids made time to play with friends. :)

   Speaking of friends...one of my biggest pet peeves lately...SOCIALIZATION!!! One of the most common misconceptions about homeschoolers is, we don't get out much. Contrary to popular belief, we don't spend our time locked in the house avoiding the world. Quite frankly, the kids have better social experiences since being home than they ever did in the classroom. 
    It's absurd how often questions or comments are tossed out. Everybody always wants to talk to the kids - whether it's somebody at the grocery store, or a visiting neighbor. "Oh, you homeschool! That must be so lonely!", "It's too bad the kids don't get to have friends like normal kids.", "How will they know how to talk to people if they ever go back to school?" The list goes on. And on.
    The truth is, I've never seen my children so happy. They're able to interact with anybody they run into, whether it's somebody younger, their age, or older. They've very diverse, are able to behave appropriately in every social situation they encounter (and if you stop and think, that's literally EVERY SINGLE TIME they talk to another person, whether it's us, the cashier at Safeway, or their friends), and yes, they do have friends! There are playgroups for homeschoolers, there are classes the kids can go to (dance, martial arts, gymnastics)...the possibilities are endless.
    Socialization isn't something you need to be in school to experience. Is it a benefit? I'm sure for some kids it can be. My kids, not so much. With Reese, it was a crappy experience. More often than not, he'd come home upset, spend the night in his room ignoring us, then cry when he had to get up to go back in the morning. He was 'different' than the other kids, the other kids knew it, and he just didn't care that he was. We'd have him home for Christmas break, or during the summer, we'd get him back to feeling confident and happy...then he'd go back to school and he'd be crushed again. Let's face it - some kids are just mean.
    Lauren, on the other hand, LOVED it. She'd come home blabbering on for hours about what she did with her friends at recess, or who she ate lunch with, or what she did with so-and-so during class...she had a great time. Her concern with school was that she's an intense perfectionist, and hates being 'wrong'. She'd do her work, act normally in class, then come home and have a meltdown all night because she printed her 'e' wrong, or she colored outside of the lines.
    Does Reese still encounter conflict during relationships? Yes, he does. He might get upset when he doesn't get his way, or if somebody says something he doesn't agree with. He still has situations that aren't ideal, so he's learning to deal with those conflicts. HOWEVER, we also have the option to redirect, help him solve the problem, or pull him from the situation. He'll face adversity his whole life...why should it be an 8 hour a day, 5 day a week struggle?
    As for Lauren, she's still a perfectionist. She has good days and bad days - meaning, some days she can handle if she makes a mistake, others she tears up her work, throws her pencil and runs away crying. Through her interactions with others, she's learning that life - much like her work - isn't always 'perfect'...sometimes all you can do is give it your best shot.


    Now, to the fun stuff.

We've been working on some home improvements (the 70's house is becoming a bit more modern!). When the front porch came down, JP found a HUGE beehive! I've saved pieces to use for our insect unit coming in the Spring. The kids will love having a hands-on experience. 

 

  The kids have been working on fall art. They're loving the ability to make what they want during art class. While I do guide some lessons, I do allow 'free art time' - whatever materials and item they choose is fine, as long as they make something.  Last week they both decided to work on fall collages.

This is Lauren's. She called it 'Autumn Rain'. Her explanation: "The sky is getting ready to turn into winter, so it's blue and white while the snow builds in the clouds. Since it's not ready to snow, it's raining fall colors in different shapes".

Another of Lauren's. This one was "Snow falling on a big pile of fall leaves that I'm raking".

Reese's is called, "Abstract leaf pile". He goes on to say, "I'm standing by the leaf pile that's growing and getting ready to take over the whole city. The blue lines are frost building on the pile". 

...Halloween has taken over the classroom! I have cobwebs and ghosts all over my storage station!

  The kids are looking forward to spending the rest of the month making spooky crafts and decorations. :)

Pictures!!

 What a week! We're finally in the swing, and things are going great! The classroom still needs some work...but it's an okay space for now. ;)
  Just a quick one with some pictures today. We're heading out to the River Valley for a family bike ride, so I don't want to hold everybody up too long!

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Reese waiting patiently for snacks and learning.

 Reese helped set up our Canada wall. This will be our first part of Social Studies for the grade 1/3 year.

 The bar. The dreaded padded-pleather bar. I haven't had time to work on that area yet (it functions as my desk/storage area right now). The outside will be covered with a fabric, and the wood walls will be white-washed and possibly painted...eventually!

Ready to learn!

Unfortunately, we have more books than I have shelves! Time for some more shopping!!

The disaster zone...aka, my area. It'll get more organized as we go. ;)

Break time centres. Lego, playdough and board games.

 Monday afternoon we had our weekly "Kids in the Kitchen" day. Reese made a chicken vegetable soup, steak, potatoes and beans.
Lauren made a salad, sweet carrots, corn on the cob as well as a strawberry rhubarb crumble for dessert.
 The kids were supervised, but it was up to them to ensure the foods were prepped/seasoned/cooked properly. Nobody ended up sick, so we'll call it a success!

 ...Lauren wanted this one included. While we were working in the kitchen, Luna was sleeping on the table outside.

We began working on our Fall-themed art. Friday afternoon, we used pine cones and cut up apples as our brushes.

Lauren added markers to the mix towards the end of the class. :) This is her haunted pumpkin house, with a zombie ghost.

   

 

                     

               

This was from health class on Tuesday. The kids made "Go, Slow, Stop" food charts. "Go" foods should be consumed most often, slow foods are a 'sometimes' treat, and 'stop' foods should be rarely (or never) consumed.

This was Reese's. 

Lauren's food chart. 

 

Proud of what she's done!

The basement before.

It took forever to remove all of the wallpaper and carpet! 

That wallpaper and carpet...what the heck!?

 
Layer one of the white-wash. The kids had a great time helping with the walls. :)

















And now we're off to enjoy the last bit of nice weather. :) 

Quick update

A bit later than I was hoping for, but we've been busy!

I had planned to take the past week off and celebrate not being stuck in school...but the kids were eager to get back into normal learning. The classroom isn't completely finished (I still have to find the right trim, some area rugs, furniture...ahh!), but it's functional enough for now. :)

 We've been easing into our workload. The first few weeks we're just focusing on Language Arts, Math, and our elective classes (ie: art, health/life skills). Mid to end September we're going to add in Social Studies and Science.

 Reese is taking it really well. Today is Saturday, and we ended up downstairs working because he WANTS to. My son wants to work!!! Lauren is also interested, but she's still programmed for 'real school'. She's really hard on herself for no reason at all - she forgets that she isn't competing against 30 other kids. She has one on one, and she's the only one doing the work at her level. Yet if everything she does isn't perfect, it isn't good enough for her. I'm hoping she'll snap out of that soon...the world won't end if her '2' looks like a 'Z' for a bit longer! Besides, that's why we have tracing sheets for practice. :)

 This is a short one - I left the camera downstairs and the battery died...I'll have to upload pictures this week or next weekend.

Oh man...forgot about this again!

     Oh, blogging. I find myself falling into a terrible habit of updating on Facebook and assuming that's enough. Now that we're gearing up to get back into a formal learning schedule, I figured I should become more diligent about the blog. :)

     We've had a lot going on lately! We bought and moved into the new house back in April. The amount of work going on is crazy! In the first two weeks we renovated the bathroom -- the kids had an awesome time learning how to peel wallpaper. The best part was filling/sanding/priming/painting the walls. I was surprised, but Lauren really took to it and did a great job. Reese put in a great effort, but home renovations clearly aren't his preference.

     In the next two weeks, our classroom will be set up. It's also been a lot of work - peeling more wallpaper (EVERY WALL IN THIS HOUSE.), tearing carpets out, redoing floors and walls...lots of stuff to do. The kids have been incredibly patient - I think they're just loving the free time though.

  
     There have been some great learning experiences, but we've taken a less formal approach. During the school months, the majority of our work is documented. The kids have really enjoyed learning without 'work'. The kids found a few bugs in the garden and were excited to learn more about it. Reese has learned the magic of Google, and taught Laur how to search for info. It was great seeing them spend the day outside with the Ipad...and only using it to read!
     During the nice days we spend our time outside enjoying picnics and painting, or reading. Both kids have found peace laying on the trampoline with a good book. Since July, Reese has read 7 chapter books. Lauren is now reading easy readers on her own.

I have a million pictures and proper things to update with, but it is late, and I need sleep. ;)
In the middle of August I'll pop on for a while with our plans for the upcoming school year...and hopefully pictures of the hard work the kids and I have put into the new class!

Here's a few pictures for now.

Cheers!

 Reese's first attempt at making burgers. He did a great job!

 Lauren's gluten-free/dairy-free/nut-free cupcakes to celebrate summer.

 Reese loves Minecraft more than anything in the world right now. So I've been painting Creepers for his walls. :)

 Lauren being crazy and doing her wheelies!

 Another one! The girl is tough!

 Reese enjoying some quiet time while painting.

 Lauren working hard.

 Our paintings together.

 This one is pretty awesome. It's Lauren's 'Magic Tree'. She's been working on writing a story about it in her free time.

 We camped out in the backyard for the Canada Day weekend - the kids had a riot, and we had the benefit of indoor plumbing just a few steps away. haha!

 Still up and going at midnight! Backyard camping is great.

 We've kept up our River Valley bike rides for most of the summer. 10km on the way there, then we usually stop at a park and run off some steam before heading home.

Lauren is such a little stunt girl!

A bit behind...

 It's been a while since an update! We've been busy learning. ;)

We've wrapped up the liquid unit in science (yay!) and we've moved on. We'll be studying various insects and the like.
I was thinking about ways to make it fun. Reese is a hands on learner - putting a book in front of him isn't the greatest way to get a lesson to stick. We went to the pet store and picked up a few crickets and meal worms to check out. I thought it would be fun to get them under the microscope (it was awesome!), as well as make a habitat for them. Despite his severe dislike of bugs, Reese was okay with it. And then I saw this...

This is Aragog. Of course we had to keep up with the Harry Potter naming trend! He's an incredible tarantula. He loves to be held, he's super active (he moves SO much), and so far he's very patient with Reese.

Aragog is a constant lesson. We now have to find bugs that he'll eat. We can't just let them roam the house (we lost a few crickets on day one...it was a loud night). So we've created a habitat for them so they can thrive and stay alive until Aragog is ready to eat. So, Reese is also getting a first hand lesson about the food chain. ;)

In Social Studies we're still focusing on Inuits. Reese is loving the unit, and keeps asking if we can cover more aspects of it. I've never known him to ask questions about anything he's learning, so it's great to see an interest. We've made mini igloos out of ice cubes and snow, we've made different crafts showing us in proper clothing (pictures on next blog - have to charge the camera!).

Reese and I decided to make an Inukshuk. All of our rocks are buried in the snow, so I cheated and bought stones from Dollarama.  It was Reese's first time using a hot glue gun.

 He actually did a great job. He planned out which rocks would be which part. The only downfall was, the rocks and glue didn't stick as they should have. This one fell apart about 20 seconds after getting a picture. So, we had to try again.

Reese pointed out that the Inuits are being 'incredibly resourceful by using natural elements in their environment' when they build an Inukshuk. He wanted ours to be as authentic.

Off he went to explore our environment. He found my candy stash. ;)
It was a cute idea, and though it wasn't with rocks, he was resourceful and used what he could find in his environment.
We now have about 20 of these around the house. They were A LOT of fun to make though!






 Language Arts is a lot of the same. We're seeing some improvement with his printing. He's taking criticism a lot better. At first it seemed that correcting him would turn him into a wreck. Now he's shrugging it off, fixing the problem and moving on. Progress!!
 A few days ago, Reese blew my mind. Normally if he makes a small mistake, I'll grab his pencil and erase it - let him figure out why that happened (it's usually a 'b' instead of a 'd', or something silly). Sometimes I'll just point to the problem and let him fix it.  But as he was printing a word and totally lost the line - it was curving upwards. He immediately erased it and said, "I can do better than this!". WOW!! It seems so small, but it was so great to know he's becoming aware that he can do better.

He's loving math. If he had his way, we'd spend hours on end working on only math. I'm thinking about adding multiplication in soon, just to keep him on his toes. I think he'd actually enjoy it.

That's all for now! More pictures and work samples next update!