In Which We Bunny Party

Logan is OBSESSED with bunnies.  He always has been.  He pretends to be a vava (that's 1/2 dolphin, 1/2 bunny for those of you unfamiliar).  There are red vavas and blue vavas.  Red ones live on land and are good.  Blue ones live in the water and eat little kids.  I like to think this is a result of my years of training him to be a republican ;)

Anyhow, one day we came across this little gem on youtube:

And ever since, my sweet baby Logan has made me listen to that silly song 1,330,023,404,239 times.  He's also been asking for about a month to have his own Bunny Party.  With Hurricane Irene threatening our outdoor plans, including football, we invited Uncle Kevin and Miss Lauren (the love of Logan's life), and Gram and Papa over for a bunny party.  On the heels of getting home from New York, this involved some substantial laundry-doing on my part, but we got it done.  Logan worked very hard on everything from plates with construction paper ears to bunny-shaped foods.

 What a nosh, huh? There's chocolate fondue with strawberries and brownies, in the bunny ceramic there's Annie Organics Bunny shaped fruit snacks, there is a very lovely carrot centerpiece, crudite, chicken wings (I have no clue, but he insisted bunny parties have them), bunny pizzas, bunny pear salads, chips and salsa and veggie dip.

 This picture hates me and will not rotate, but it's 1/2 a canned pear in juice, well drained, with 2 sliced almond ears, 1 raisin split in half for eyes, and a dollop of cottage cheese for a tail.

Bunny pizzas! These are a split english muffin, the top half cut into two ears (leaving a middle triangle which I am using for breadcrumbs).  The ears get just a line of sauce, the "faces" get a pepperoni triangle for a nose and green pepper eyes and smile.  I think they're cute, and Logan was able to do it all by himself, minus cutting the ears.  He especially enjoyed smushing the ears onto the faces before adding the toppings, which really did work to make them stick!!

And, of course, there was cake for dessert.  Logan made this (minus the cutting), too! It's 2 round cakes (one 8 inch one 9 inch) the smaller of which was cut to make ears.  The remaining piece makes a bow tie if you so desire, but Logan did not.  The eyes are kissed, the nose and ears are strawberries and the smile is bunny fruit snacks.  The frosting turned out surprisingly good since I couldn't find my MASSIVE bottle of vanilla from BJ's wholesale ANYWHERE, and I ended up using Bailey's Warm Vanilla Toffee coffee creamer.  It was actually really good! (Note: the coffee creamers are non-alcoholic).

Gram and Papa brought Bun Bun Steve over in her cage, and a fun time was had by all.  Logan was so cute instructing us in the way of the bunny party, and after we put the kids to bed (We Finished Treasure Island!! My least favorite read-aloud ever because the kids insisted I do pirate voices and laughed at me all 34 chapters!)  the adults enjoyed some games....which, although not bunny themed, were quite fun!

In Which We Live and Let Live

One of the things I love about the concept of what we're going to be doing is that it gives us a great deal of time to explore when we're done with our core work.  And there's oh so much to explore. 

Meet Charlotte:

(Photo courtesy of Logan).  She's an ENORMOUS (probably a good 3.5-4 inches from leg tip to leg tip) black and yellow spider who has taken up residence on a hosta bush at grandma's house near the pool.  Also called writing spiders because of the distinctive zig-zag central line they draw in their webs, these scary things are harmless to humans (other than scaring the bejeebus out of you if you find one on yourself!) which was good news for this spider since the kids were certain it must be poisonous and wanted to kill it ASAP.  Now that she's non-venomous to us, they're fascinated with her.

These super neat spiders are different than almost anything in nature we've read about because the females are both larger and more colorful.  Males are small and brown.  Riley argued with me that I had it backwards and gave me specific examples of every bird we've spotted this summer.  Cardinals, blue jays, orioles, the boys are bright and the girls are ugly.  I liked that he remembered :)

The spider also eats the center of its web every night to recycle the chemicals used in web-making and then respins the center and the zigzag (called a stabilimentum).  The kids spent the night at grandma's last night and armed with the knowledge their would be a new web this morning, Logan was outside at the crack of dawn to take a good picture.

:)

In Which We Wonder....

How in the heck do I put this all together???

In the process of preparing to homeschool I believe I have over-educated myself.  It was clear VERY quickly that we are classical education adherents.  I read about unschooling, de-schooling, Montessori, Charlotte Mason, A Bekka, eclectic model, everything I could get my hands on.  But it was obvious that everything about our approach to parenting, and to life, firmly planted us in the classical school.
Why? Well, the highlights are:
We ask our kids to reflect.  
When our children ask us a question, I am infamous at playgroups for responding "Well, what do you know about that?"  This is especially true if I'm caught off-guard and need a moment to "chew it over" without a Twix :) When we read books and they ask us why a character did something, we ask them "Well, what do you think about that?"  When they tell us something like "I'd like there to be a president of the whole world" we ask them "Why would that be good?" and follow it with "Why would that be bad?"
We don't BS our kids.
Within the limits of what they need to know, when our children ask us questions, from the very youngest age, we give them real answers.  I have never EVER told my children that the rain is "Angels Crying, Sweetheart".  When Riley asked about September 11th as we passed the memorial going into DC, I didn't tell him about my experience watching on live TV as people lept to their deaths, but I also didn't tell him it was "just very bad men doing very bad things on a very bad day". 
We use big words.
We give our children the grammar they need now when all words are new so that later they won't be scared of it.  It's pretty funny to hear them sometimes, especially Savannah who'll toss out words just to try them out.  Lately it's been "Essentially".  "Essentially, what I'm saying is that I want to go and play with my doll."  When we talk about the leaves changing colors, we tell them it's the chlorophyll disappearing and showing the real color underneath, and we expect them to remember and use that vocabulary.

As we've gone on researching what that path really means, I've discovered subsets.  I believe in a Thomas Jefferson Style Education, or TJed.  I believe that by mentoring and encouraging rather than indoctrinating and stifling, we can create a better generation of leaders in anything from being a mom to being president.

I've read The Well Trained Mind, Amusing Ourselves To Death, Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning, A Thomas Jefferson Education, anything at all I can get my hands on.  At the same time, I was educated for 13 years in public school.  I also am deathly afraid of failing my children by taking them off the "conveyor belt".  I want them to have math and language and putting it all together using all the things I've read is scary. 

I think that what I need to do is start giving myself a little grace, and realizing that because I care so much, I necessarily have to do a better job than many of the teachers that I had growing up.  Because I want my kids to have a great education, I'll figure it out, even if there are hiccups.  But it's scary for someone, like me, who doesn't like to mess up.  It's hard to mesh all these genius observations in the books I've read together into a lifestyle and a plan that make sense when I'm taking us down a road that I can barely concieve of given the way I was educated.  But I think I see a light at the end of my mental tunnel- I just hope it's not a train :)

In Which We Figure It Out

Our CC Materials (well, most of them since some were on backorder) arrived this week which meant we could start CC! I started on Tuesday morning since we got the stuff on Monday :)

So far, it's going awesome.  All of one day ;) Riley loves Story of the World, which I bought on CD so it reads to them and I can rest my voice! I need to find a used copy of the book, though, because he asked if there was one for him to follow along in, and I make a rule of not denying my children words!! The memory work seems really easy and fun for them, and Savannah plays along, too.

We're on Cycle 3 Week 1, and that's Columbus, 4 types of tissue, Latin Prepositions, definition of an infinitive, 5 states and capitals, tracing the US Map, and skip counting by 1s and 2s.  The Columbus song is stuck in my head on repeat a la "It's a Small World", but hey, I definitely know that Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin 1492 Columbus took the first of 4 trips to the Carribbean on 3 Spanish ships, the Nina, the Pinta, the Santa Maria.

Riley even memorized epithelial tissue.  I need to buy us a good kid's anatomy book- the resources I found online aren't cutting it for me.  Today at the library we'll pick up some reinforcements for the time being for history and science.  Our real math continues to plug along and Singapore materials should arrive on the 9th.

I drafted my NOI (Notice of Intent to Homeschool) letter and I'm a little frustrated by the process.  I went to PWC Schools so I don't see why I need to pay them to mail them a copy of my high school transcript- they should really just be able to look it up!! And, I don't see why I need to turn in a copy of Riley's records, because I feel like they should have those, too.  Oh well, I guess I should get good at jumping through hoops- it's not going to stop :)

I did writing samples with the boys for the beginning of the year so we'll have something for comparison in addition to their test scores and I'm in the process of finding someone to test their reading levels so that I can compare those, too.  Annnnnnnd.....well, and that's it.  It's going well, still, we've added in our real curriculum (mostly) and I'm still really excited.  Crazy.

Oh, and it probably didn't hurt that I supplemented our learning with a little blast from my past where memorizing the states and capitals are concerned....I believe in QUALITY educational materials people.  (Logan almost peed himself he thought this was so funny)

In Which We Sum Up July.

I'm being a bad writer.  Keeping up with vacation and camps and VBS and school and my writing I do here and here is really getting the best of me.  For the first time in my entire life EVER I would really like to get back to a regular schedule.
I know.  Crazy.

In the meantime, here's what we've been up to:

First it was the 4th of July.  Riley's cub scout pack made a float and Logan came and helped.  Savannah and Logan made red, white, and blue strawberries for the barbeque at grammy's house and thoroughly enjoyed the parade.  After, we went to our local baseball team's game and got to watch the fireworks.  I watched Logan- he was adorable staring up in awe.  Savannah still hates them.

Check out our cub scouts! Their float turned out great and Riley enjoyed riding.  I walked in the parade with him and some other moms and had fun chucking candy at people :)

After the 4th, we left on a trip to Hershey Park and Amish Country.  My parents joined us and I picked possibly the WORST HOTEL EVER! It was such a good deal (because it was in the middle of being renovated) but it did have a pool, so the kiddos were happy! We did a horse and buggy tour of Amish Country and the kids got to make "Amish" toys.  Hershey Park was a big hit, especially the roller coasters for Riley! He's definitely as much of a thrill-seeker as he ever was!

On our way home, it was essential that we go to Tony Luke's and get cheesesteaks in Philly.  We drove to the city and toured the Liberty Bell and Constitution Hall in the rain.  Everyone else donned rain apparel, but Logan walked the entire way getting poured on and was the happiest I have seen him in his entire life.  He was soaked and smiling ear to ear.

A park near our home has a reptile show every year with (I'm pretty sure) the same guy who has been doing it since I was a kid.  At the end of the show he lets the kids come up and touch an albino python.  I took pictures.  I felt very proud of myself.  Yes, that is my daughter in her pajamas.  They match her Bitty Baby.  No, she's not wearing shoes.  Don't judge.

The boys also touched the snake.  You'll notice they are both dressed and have shoes.  Well, maybe you won't "notice" the shoes from the picture, but they did.  If their sister would sleep at night so that she wasn't getting dragged out of bed in the morning, maybe she'd be cute, too.  The cutest part of this experience was the herptologist showing a python shedding and saying "If you ever found one of these in your backyard, you should call me." Savannah, with a totally serious look, turned to me and said in the most concerned voice "We need his phone number!"

We've done a lot of swimming.  Sometimes Uncle Kevin comes.  The kids also got to spend the night at his house with Ms. Lauren and Uncle Kevin while I went to Ohio (more on that later).  They think he's super cool.  They're young.  They'll learn he's just an annoying younger brother.....

Maybe not.

We've of course ventured into DC.  (Yes, this is all one month) We went in to check out the annual folklife festival on the mall.  On our way from parking we stumbled upon the DC Farmers' Market and the USDA Children's Garden.  They let the kids plant and make crafts and had some great tents for us to picnic under.  It was really awesome.  Your tax dollars make for my kids' fun, people.  Keep paying up!

Let's see.....this is getting long.  Okay, so Riley went to an awesome art camp, Savannah and I got lucky enough to join Kyla for her birthday at American Girl Place (which she loved!), we've hiked and caught butterflies and made ice cream.  I got to have a mommy-day celebrating Jamie's birthday at Quattro Goomba's winery, we enjoyed some bounce time on a particularly hot day, the boys got to go and pick up Grammy and Uncle's new lab puppies in Pennsylvania, aaaaaaaaaaaand, the kids made me breakfast when I got back from my trip.  Not in this post, because it just happened today, we competed in our first cardboard regatta, which will get its own post as soon as I have pictures :)

In Which We Shatter Paradigms

My poor little Riley.

He was so disappointed today when he realized our "trial run" of homeschooling was going to last all summer.  He thought it was just a week where we proved to Daddy we could do it and felt like it "wasn't fair" that his friends don't have to do anything all summer but have fun and watch TV.  Granted, we haven't watched TV, but we've been to the pool AND the park every day this week but one (and it was just no pool, still the park).  We talked about adjusting his view of "school" to "learning" but he wasn't really emotionally on board for some kind of exestential BS on education, so finally, I told him life isn't fair and he'd have to put on his big boy panties and deal with it.

He responded with an eye roll and a "ugh, fine!" and did his work.

We also got to have lunch today with some former neighbors of my grandmother's.  They had such neat stories, especially about old DC, and it was great to visit with them.

I need some serious inspiration on the dinner front, in other news.  I'm tired at the end of the day, and hot, and I'd rather serve watermelon and popcorn every night than cook.  I haven't been hungry but that doesn't mean my family isn't!! Tonight I threw together some pasta and sauce with green beans and mandarin oranges (both from cans) and called it a day.  It was a huge hit though since Grandma showed up with a surprise peach cobbler. (Go team Grammy!!)

In Which We Refuse to Say It's Going Well....

Lest we jinx anything.  It's only been 3 days, so that's really not enough to make a judgement call.

I finished "A Thomas Jefferson Education" and it was fantastic.  I confirmed that we are a "classical model" family when I compared the book list in the appendix to our selections from the library.  Definitely classical.

Tuesday we did another hike and the kids spent most of their time in the creek.  We really need some knee-high boots.  We made it further since there was no banana bread in the oven and found a portion of the creek where there are tiny fish and an enormous tadpole!! Logan was sad because he didn't get to see it since he was moving at Logan pace and Savannah threw some sand into the water and startled the tadpole before Logan could see it.  The kids found a peninsula and an isthmus and an island- good geography as far as I'm concerned :) they also found a few mini waterfalls and were quite pleased with the whole morning.  Our reading for the day included more on the Aztecs, which they listened to for an hour straight, more on Abraham, the first chapter of John, several library books, and their math, literacy and spelling work that we do every day.  We didn't go swimming because grandma's back and shoulder were bothering her, but we did go to Chick Fil A for lunch and to play in the playplace. 

The fun part of this has been really seeing the types of learners the kids are.  Riley has amazed me with how self-motivated he is.  This morning, he woke up when Austin left and got all of his "standard" workbooks and completed the typical number of pages (typical after 2 days anyway) and woke me up at 6:50 with his completed work asking if we could skip straight to history.  Our last few days have taken us from 7-4, so today we only went until 12, and then we went to swim and play at the playground.  Daddy met us at a local steakhouse for dinner and then we did our journaling and started "Trumpet of the Swan".  Reading it reminded me how sad I am that they read Junie B. Jones in school when there is such rich children's literature out there.  Riley loved it and requested 2 chapters, which I read despite the fact that it was already 9:55.  Riley also did another letter for his state project and Logan continued with his reading and workbooks.  Riley's still recovering from his tonsillectomy and he didn't feel up to a hike this morning.  I think that his tummy is upset from all the antibiotics. Our cultural literacy piece was "Chicken Little" and I had the kids draw pictures, but they were very upset there were no masks and dramatic reading, so apparently that's coming back for tomorrow.  I think I have all the costumes that we need to do a full-on production of Anansi and the Tiger, so we might go that route.

So far I'm pretty happy.  The kids were rambunctious and a little silly today, but we still accomplished everything we needed to, and they were good about reigning themselves in when I reminded them to.  I definitely noticed a difference in their energy level without our morning walk to make them simmer!!