Brain Dump

1 – Homeschool play group went well last week.  Tyler & his friend, R, had lots of fun together.  Unfortunately due to weather conditions & household repairs on our part (more on that later), we didn’t have play group yesterday.

2 – Tyler, of course, still loves Pet Refuge.  Last week went well, especially since Jenn was back helping us.  And we are counting down the minutes till we go there today.

3 – I finished up my Horsemanship class last Wed.  I LOVED that class.  Next step is riding lessons.  So I’m searching for an instructor.  Went & watched one person give lessons to others.  Some things I liked about her, other things I didn’t.  Want to see other instructors so that I have some basis to make decisions from.

4 – Taught canoeing at camp last Thurs & Fri.  Also helped clean out some tanks that used to house animals, but no longer do.  The canoeing was lots of fun and no one ended up in the lake this time.

5 – We headed over to South Bend on Sat for Art Beat.  Really wasn’t impressed.  Lots of empty spaces and some things are hard for me to consider art.  But it was nice to walk around.

6 – Trent got one side of our garage floor done.  We are using RustOleum’s garage floor covering in the gray color with the blue paint chips.  It looks really great.  This coming weekend he was supposed to do the other side, but that will be delayed (see #7)

7 – Mon night I came home to find the garage door not working.  Turns out that one of the springs broke.  So I got 2 quotes yesterday & I’m getting one later today.  Looks like we are leaning towards just replacing the springs and not getting a new door and/or opener right now.  I know they are original to the house, but wow are they expensive.  So the garage door probably won’t be fixed until next week so Trent will have to finish the garage floor project the following weekend.

8 – Saturday is the Maple City Walk.  We are going to be walking 13 miles, if it doesn’t rain.  Want to support the cause, but I don’t want to be miserable doing it.

9 – Tyler relaxed for most of last week and didn’t do much school.  Don’t know what’d going on except that I know something is in the air because most parents are saying something similar about their kids.  Maybe it is the weather.

10 – My mom is driving me nuts looking for jobs for me.  I don’t think she understands that I didn’t take the job at camp because we need the money, I took it for the experience.  She also doesn’t understand why I’m doing all the volunteering that I’m doing – did you know that I could get a lot more satisfaction from a job?  Still amazing after all these years that she still doesn’t understand me.  I’m also sensing that this is an underhanded attempt to get me to put Tyler into public school.

I do have pics this time!

Black Pine went great on Friday & I’m going to be volunteering there twice a month, starting next month after I finish up this camp stuff.  I’ll be starting out with the smaller animals before working my way up with training to the bigger animals, but I’m totally fine with that.  Can’t wait for my first time!!

Saturday found us exploring Michigan.  We headed up to Grand Rapids to see some of the art work before the big art contest starts tomorrow.  It was great fun walking on the riverwalk and seeing lots of cool art.  I highly recommend the trip, though in some ways it made us miss Denver.  Then we headed over to Holland, not much for us but we did take in a rock & mineral show, so Tyler was super excited.  Then we headed down to South Haven & walked out on the pier to watch the boats.  Then down to St. Joseph for ice cream & more looking at the lake before heading home.  So here are a few pics from the day taken either by myself or Trent.

09-19 Daytrip to MI

Sunday was more of a relaxing day to recover and to get some things done around the house.

Monday was a big day.  It started out with Loveway and this was the first class that the kids actually rode the horses.  I groomed 2 horses & tacked 2 horses.  I didn’t realize how much work it actually was.  Then I lead one of the horses around so that 2 of the kids could ride.  Then the untacking and giving of treats.  Then I took another horse out to the pasture since she wasn’t going to be used in the next class.  But I loved it and it was lots of fun.  The kids just light up when they are riding.  It is great to see.  I also got my necklace back.  It had gotten broken and it took the jewelry store 3 weeks to get it fixed.  But I am so glad I have it back.  I missed it.  Then I went to diabetes class with my dad.  That was very painful.  I couldn’t sit through those classes every week.  I was just filling in for my mom.

In school news, Tyler did look over all the materials that we were thinking about getting.  Well, he looked through the websites & read reviews, etc.  He wants each & every one of those items, which I kind of figured since he had picked them out from the original book based on the descriptions.  Now I have to take another look at them and then start calculating the cost & figuring out some general guidelines of how things are going to work.  I’m really thinking I’m going to wait till I’m done teaching at camp so that our schedule gets back to a more normal schedule and since that is only a few weeks away, it’s not going to hurt much.

Monday was our 100th day of school.  Still don’t know why public schools care about the 100th day, but for some reason they do.  Can’t believe that we are already this far along with the school year.  But I’d say overall that it is going well.

Being Radical

**2nd post of the day**

Tammy, over at Just Enough, had a wonderful post “I’m Radical, but Definitely NOT a Radical Unschooler; I’m Not Even an Unschooler”.  She hit on some of the main reasons why I shy away from unschooling as a whole.  Yes, I do have those leanings, but it’s not a label that I really want to have.

As for being Radical, if you really know me then you know I’ve been radical most of my life.  I have a really hard time following the herd.  Generally because that means that you are not supposed to question or think for yourself and those are traits that I just don’t have.  So being radical when it comes to homeschooling is just natural.  In being radical, I have the room to decide what will work (and what won’t work) for my family and our situation.  I like the freedom.

My wish for you today is that you find one thing to be radical about and experiment with it.  You just might find it fun.

School possibilities

So I took the quiz from the “100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum” by Cathy Duffy on Approaches to Learning to see which styles I think would work best.  My top 3, in order, were Unschooling, Unit Study & Charlotte Mason.  Then I had Tyler take the quiz this morning to see which would be his preferences.  His top 3, in order, Unschooling, Unit Study & Charlotte Mason.  Hmmm… I guess we are on the same page with that at least.  And through the years we’ve already figured out that my preferred teaching style is not his learning style and we’ve learned how to compensate for the differences.  So that brings us to this point.  He really likes the idea of unschooling or relaxing schooling, but he doesn’t want total responsibility for deciding what to study yet, he still wants me to give him guidance in that area.  And I still worry about making sure that there are certain topics that he stays close or above grade level with, like reading and math, to make sure that he is ready for college prep classes when it comes time for high school.

Where does that leave us, you ask.  Not really sure right at this moment.  I know that we are going to keep the flexible scheduling and project-based learning, and we are going to add more field trips to supplement our learning.  In the mean time, we are going to be looking into some resources that will help us with these goals.  So here’s what my plan is:

Reading – I have some great resources already for reading lists and he’s proving his comprehension through taking online quizzes at Book Adventure.  And seeing that he is reading way above grade level, I’m not really worried about this one too much.

Math –  Here, too, I believe that he is above grade level, but I want to make sure that he has a solid foundation for when he moves onto things like Algebra and Geometry, etc.  So I’m taking a look at Math-U-See.

Grammar – This is one of the subjects that Tyler detests.  He doesn’t like writing, so I’m looking for something to help make it less pain filled.  I’m looking into Winston Grammar.

History – For history, Tyler wants to try reading books about different time periods, mainly using real books (not textbooks).  I’m working on compiling a good list.

Geography – I have a wonderful game that is helping us start off on this topic, but I want more than just memorizing where the countries are.  I want depth.  So I’m looking into Ultimate Geography & Timeline.

Science – Tyler is doing great with the science fair experiments book that I got him and he loves doing different experiments, but I want a little more understanding for him.  So I’m looking into Great Science Adventures.

Art – Tyler loves art, but I don’t feel like he’s making much progress and needs a little push on this one.  So I’m looking at Mark Kistler’s Draw Squad.

We’re also talking about Foreign Language, but haven’t narrowed anything down yet.  And, of course, Tyler still needs to look at all these things and let me know what he thinks.  If he doesn’t like it, then it won’t work.  Who knows what will really happen and we aren’t jumping on things too fast so that we make sure that we think things through.

In the meantime, he’s just going to keep doing what we had already planned and get more free time out of it.

School is not hard enough

Actually, I was told on Monday that the reason Tyler hasn’t been taking school seriously is because it doesn’t challenge him enough so he’s bored.  Today is day #97, so on day #95, I finally find out that the reason for all the school issues is because he isn’t challenged enough.  That’s good to know (back of my mind, I’m also thinking that it would have just been easier for everyone if he could have come to this conclusion earlier like I suspected but I am glad he did get there eventually.)  So that finds me searching for a way for school to become challenging again for him.  I’ve got some ideas, but I have to present them to him to see what he thinks.  He’s also supposed to be coming up with some ideas of his own because he needs to take responsibility for his own schooling, not just rely on me.  Hopefully by the end of the weekend, we can have a game plan ready.

I told some friends about Tyler not being challenged and they looked at me like I was weird.  Not surprised, it happens often.  But the reason is because their kids would never admit that they were bored with school because they love not having homework, etc.  One more reason to love homeschooling – my son can figure out what works and what doesn’t for himself & learn at his own pace.

We are off to Pet Refuge today to go play with the cats.  This is Tyler’s favorite activity right now.  He just loves those cats and by the way they act around him, they love him, too.

Oh, and I convinced the troops that a little trip to Grand Rapids this weekend was a good idea.  Not sure our exact plans yet, but I know I do want to keep things flexible so we can follow where things lead us.  Hoping for some great pics to share afterwards.

Week is off to a good start

1 – But let me catch you all up first with a pic of the carpet in Tyler’s room.  It is temporary for now.

2 – Wednesday was hectic at Pet Refuge.  There were more cats & we didn’t have Jenn helping us out since she was at school.  But we managed to get it all done in a reasonable amount of time and still played with all the cats & loved on them.

3 – Thursday & Friday I taught canoeing at camp.  It went well.  Had a couple people tip their canoes, which is really hard to do, but I know that some of them did it on purpose.  Made them swim back & haul their own canoes.  I was tired after all that canoeing.  Kayaking is lots easier, so I’m glad we started doing that years ago.

4 – We got some things done around the house on Saturday and did get some relaxing in, too.

5 – Sunday we ran around lots.  I took Trent & Tyler up to camp so I could show them around, then we had lunch at a drive-in (got to love frosty mugs of root beer), then a stop at Grandma & Grandpa’s (Trent had their key for their treadmill so we had to return that & it was Grandparent’s Day), then we picked apples.  After we got home, Trent made lasagna & I made peach cobbler.

6 – Today was my first day with a class at Loveway.  It was hectic, like most first days, but it was also lots of fun.  The kids are great.  I also got to touch base with all the horses.  Can’t wait till next week to see the kids on horses, some of them were so excited today.

7 – I had yummy leftovers for lunch.  There are some things that just taste better when they are leftovers and Trent is good at making most of them.

8 – Working through Tyler’s 2nd grade stuff, sorting it out to see what to keep.

9 – Trying to work out how I want our school to work.  I don’t think that Tyler is taking it seriously & he agrees that he isn’t.  He is also just breezing through things, which means he isn’t being challenged.  I don’t want it to take too long and frustrate him, but it should take longer than what it is currently.  Not sure what to do about that right now.  Also working through our schedule that shifts around every week.

10 – This week is less hectic than some since I don’t teach on Thurs & Fri.  But Friday we’ll be heading to Black Pine so I can do a volunteer orientation there to see if we’ll be a good fit for one another.  I’m really excited about it!

Time Flies

1 – Wednesday was SUPER busy!  We started out at Pet Refuge.  The cats were a little more stressed than normal, but I found out that they are averaging 5 cat intakes a day and that many of the cats are returns.  Reasons vary but the majority ones are that they don’t have a job/they are losing their house/etc.  Very sad!  Someone had also dumped a box of 15 kittens the day before.  Again, very sad!  Our next stop was a quick lunch then on to our first homeschool playdate.  The playdate was fun!  Tyler enjoyed it and didn’t want to leave, which is always a good sign.  There was also a great group of boys, which is always good.  Then we stopped at Grandma & Grandpa’s to fix their printer.  Then we headed home.  I grabbed a quick bite to eat before I headed to my first Horsemanship class at Loveway.  Go, go, go all day!

2 – Thursday & Friday were my first days at Camp teaching.  I led nature hikes through the forest and fen talking about succession, predator, prey, producers, consumers, decomposers, etc, and what ever else came up during the hike.  The hikes were probably about 1.5 miles long.  I did 4 on Thursday & 2 on Friday.  It was fun, but tiring by the end of the day.

3 – Got a call from my Grandpa Friday evening and my Grandma was back in the hospital with her atrial fibrillation.  So we visited Friday evening, Saturday morning & then again around lunch on Sunday.  She was released right after lunch on Sunday with a new medicine that hopefully will work out for her.  We don’t want more trips to the hospital.

4 – We had borrowed Grandma & Grandpa’s steam cleaner so we could clean Tyler’s carpet due to a nasty smell.  The smell was a cross between mold, mildew & cat urine.  We thought maybe one of our cats had peed to mark territory due to the bunny and we had missed cleaning it up.  So Saturday we cleared the room & steam cleaned.  Sunday we woke up to more of the same smell.  So we pulled back the carpet to find that the padding reeked.  So we tore out the carpet & padding to find that there were a few spots on the subfloor that were an issue.  The good news is that it wasn’t from our cats.  The best we can figure is that the wetness and humidity this year activated the mold and that’s what we were smelling.

5 – We decided to replace with laminate since hardwood floors isn’t in our budget right now.  We found some we could deal with (sorry, we’re real hardwood fans so laminate always looks wrong.)  Then we tried installing that stuff.  OMG!!!  It is a royal pain!!!  I never want to see that stuff again.  We opted to return it and get something else because I swear it would have caused some major fights in our house.  We found a remnant on sale that was just bigger than the room, so we brought that home & had it installed in a few hours.  We are still using the underlayment from the laminate, but it has waterproofing so we’re hoping that any spills or rabbit accidents will be easy to clean up.

6 – Tyler room was reassembled last night and Trent & I are hoping for a calmer week so that we can recover.

7 – Had a great meal with family yesterday.  Pulled pork with coleslaw, baked beans, relish tray, peach cobbler & applesauce cake.  Yummy!!!

8 – I’m working through Tyler’s 1st grade school box to figure out what to keep & what to toss.  I’ve been running out of room & since we are only on 5th grade, I’m pretty sure we wou make it through high school at this rate.  It is interesting to go back and look at the things that he did, field trips we took, etc.  Good memories!

9 – Trent is going to start getting busy again at work.  It is officially budget time, which is one of his main responsibilities.  It is also month-end this week so he’s going to be double busy.  I’m sure with some other stuff going on that he’d say triple, quadruple, etc busy.

10 – We are going to do be doing a 13 mile walk at the start of October.  If you want to walk with us, then check out this website: Maple City Walk We’ve also convinced my dad to walk with us, which is amazing.

Schedule is filling up!

1 – My (our) schedule is filling up fast!  There are just so many interesting opportunities coming our way right now that it’s hard to turn anything down.

2 – Yesterday I got a call from Black Pine Animal Park.  http://www.blackpineanimalpark.com/ I had filled out a volunteer application, but it hinges on my being able to take Tyler with me.  They are willing to give it a shot and I’m super excited.  He can’t be with me when I’m around the animals, but I understand liability stuff.  So we are doing a meeting/orientation in a couple weeks.

3 – Then last night I got a message from another homeschooling mom who is setting up a homeschool play date.  It’s going to be on Wednesdays after lunch in a park close by.  Tyler isn’t sure he’s really interested, but he’s willing to give it a shot to make up his mind.  I think he’ll end up liking it and want to continue going to it, but we’ll see.  So after Pet Refuge, we have to grab a quick lunch so we can go play.

4 – That means our schedule is looking full: Mondays I’m volunteering at Loveway, Tuesdays are our open day with library & TKD, Wednesdays now have Pet Refuge & homeschool play date, Thurs have TKD and sometimes I have to teach at Camp Friedenswald, and Fridays have some teaching at Camp Friedenswald & volunteering at Black Pine (if it works out.)

5 – So we are going to have to go with the theory that “home”schooling does not mean that we are going to be “home” all the time.

6 – Today Tyler is supposed to decide on some field trips that he would like to take.  I’ve been deciding in the past & I think it’s time for him to start making the choices based on what he wants.  Of course, I have oversight, but since he’s been assisting in the decisions for years now, I think he can handle it.

7 – I have my first training day at Loveway today.  I’m excited and nervous.  There will be lots to learn.  I love horses, but know next to nothing about how to care for them, saddle them, etc.  And I have to learn all the responsibilities for helping the kids during their classes as well.

8 – Tyler made an awesome fudge last night!  It is a candy bar fudge.  The 1st layer is a basic chocolate powdered sugar fudge.  The 2nd layer is caramel & peanuts.  The top layer is melted chocolate.  Last night we got it cooled off enough to set, but then we couldn’t cut it because the caramel was too hard.  So today we are going to have to warm it back up to room temp to cut it.  Trent did attempt to cut it & broke off some chunks for us to eat & it was tasty.

9 – I made the crustless zucchini quiche last night.  This time I added some smoked bacon from Yoder’s.  Yummy!!!!  Can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch!

10 – I got Tyler’s Kindergarten paperwork all organized, scanned in & the rest of it is headed for recycling.  I don’t need to keep every worksheet, book, art work, etc.  So I’m keeping a representation of his work.  I think it will work out much better.

11 – And I’m taking a break from Twitter.  Not getting rid of it yet, but just taking a break for now.