I taught Kate the phrase Artsy Fartsy. Definitely regretting that one. She is using quite often. Mostly to refer to me.
This is a little portrait Kate did of me and her...adorable.
Below is my watercolor picture of my orange mixer. I love that appliance. Technically the color is persimmon which makes all the difference.
it was neighborhood garage sale day and Kate was up bright and early to man her lemonade stand. there is only a tiny bit of chocolate on her lips bearing witness to the sprinkle donut she scarfed for breakfast.
kate and her friend nate - he lives across the street and his mom sold gourmet cupcakes on our side walk - because you just have to have lemonade with your cupcake :)
Kate did a REALLY good job and made quite a bit of money. more than I expected. she definately has the entrepreneur spirit.
Brad asked Kate how her day was and Kate said "Great, we didn't do any of that boring school work!"
I came to a full stop and Brad looked at me quizzically while I mimed that we DID do school that day and I had no idea what she was talking about. After a little chatting I realized Kate has completely flip-flopped on me. Remember how I was thrown for a loop when she really liked and wanted worksheets...if it didn't have a worksheet she didn't consider it schoolwork. She also LOVED math and HATED science.
Well, now she complains that she hates MATH and loves science - and worksheets are awful because they make her hand hurt.
She also had come to the conclusion that because we play math games and did all our school work around the house that it wasn't the boring stuff.... which she says is anything she has to sit at the desk to do.
Oh, My how the tables have turned. She such a typical kid now.
Despite her claims, she is doing really well in math and conquering all the concepts solidly. Her reading is going great and her handwriting is smoothing out. Her confidence in writing is building.... and it's all coming really naturally.
I would say the hardest part right now is just the everyday parenting that happens. She has a mind of her own and idea or plan for everything. Clashing happens often - especially since we are both very independent. But even that - as exhausting and frustrating as it can be is a joy. I am glad I am able to clash with her and work through our days together. We are challenging each other and it has nothing to do with academics - yet we are learning LOADS.
This is my favorite math assignment so far.... every time she had to write the number 6 she drew 'a party' around it because she turns 6 at the end of October. We giggled for a full minute over this when she brought it to me.
recently I took kate to the library for an after school activity - Lego Lab. We stood in line and then all 50 kids + parents piled into a room when the doors open. The kids swarmed the legos spread out on the tables and the parents sat in chairs around the parameter. Kate jumped in and started building - the kids were not really talking to each other just building ... maybe enjoying doing it among other people. There were instructions on how to build things on the table but most made up their own creations. Kate finished her object, wrote her name on a piece of paper and turned them in to be placed in the glass cabinet display until next Lego Lab.
Kate loved it.
I felt lazy. I mean - I just sat there. She didn't want my help and she didn't talk to others. I bothered the other moms around me - who honestly were happy their kids were occupied and slightly irritated that I was chatty. Yet, Kate played with the legos and built something fast - with more enjoyment than she had ever done at home.
There was something to this. So I let the idea ferment in my head and then sent out some invites to...
my very own LEGO LAB.
We have a bazillion legos and friends that I would like to chat with. Why not have it at my house.
Better yet, why not take photos of the kids with their creations - have themes to build or even work together on one big lego project.
yes, this was an idea to try.
So we did it and it was great. kids built - kids played... kids ran through my house giggling and squealing. I was happy. It was nice to chat with my friends too - people who I am not annoying!
Definitely doing this again. Watch out.... ideas are spinning in my head.
this is a jail/police mobile - it goes on land and water...there is jail cell and the two motorcycles can detach and chase criminals. nice. made by Tyler
this is also a water/land/air mobile...which I believe time travels due to all the men from various time eras. made by Grant
this is a cute couple on a date - i think they were watching the sunset - I love the motorcycle leaning over with the helmet hanging off the handle bars. awesome Jenna.
Right hand photo is of a James bond type guy on his speed boat.... or plane. by jon.
Kates cracks me up... something about a bunch of horses dying and then this guy fell off and they put him on a stretcher and the doctor is coming to see him. that is... if the henchman doesn't get him with that axe.
More of jon's awesome creations...Van with lifting door...space ship - I really like that one.
Josh's Police mobile!! We went to a police department tour that morning so Policemen were on the brain.
Sweet Grace made a Laundry Mat with a washing machine!! too cute.
I missed getting photos of the three other kiddos but they all together made a fantastic bunch of kids.
and they cleaned up the massive box of legos we have before they left...Oh they can come over ANYTIME!!
Kate and I have been gathering up our large acorns from our Red Oak tree. I loving these big acorns. I have always seen acorn around here in Texas but they were longish and small. Growing up I just figured 'real acorns' must come from northern states where they get snow and pine cones.
I am just thrilled that our new how has these big acorns - it's like fall magic for me.
Kate decided to make a match game out of the acorn hats. She painted pairs in the same color and let them dry. We also have been using them to practice our counting by twos.
yay for fall.
Here is a link to another version of Acorn Match game:
Source: homemadeserenity.blogspot.com via Carrie on Pinterest
Sea World offers an Annual Homeschool Day where homeschool families can enjoy the animal exhibits and educational programs during the off season. Thats a long sentence to clarify that the roller coasters & dip-n-dot stands were closed when we visited the park on Thursday.
The minute I heard about the Sea World Homeschool day I was sold on the idea of a day trip to pet dolphins. At the last minute Brad was unable to come with us so we asked Aunt Rach if Hunter would like to ditch preschool for a day and join us. His answer : I love Kate.
It was a busy day. We had only a few hours to see all the open exhibits before lunch. At lunch time the exhibits closed and the afternoon was set aside for the educational "shows". We walked a ton! I am so proud of these kids with their short legs.
We wanted more dolphin time and ran all the way back to the front of the park to see them instead of going to the flamingos at the last minute. we were able to spend 10 minutes of good time with the dolphins with out the pushy crowds.
Swinging by the souvenir shop for an Orca shaped ice cream bar...kind of like DQ dilly bar....we headed back to the far side of the park for lunch and the shows.
By this time we are hot and sweaty and aunt Carrie has little to no photos proving we were at Sea World. Let me repeat: we are hot and sweaty....and cranky. When I asked for a quick photo the kids were not inclined to oblige. So I said, "Can you go over there and look cranky?" this is what I got....
Stinking cute.
The day was a success.
Kate and Hunter both loved the shows and were just amazed by the beluga whale. One of my favorite parts of the day happened at the beginning of the Beluga Whale show. The Announcer came out and asked "who here is home-schooled?" and everyone raises their hand...
The look on Kate's face as she looked around was priceless. Her eyes were wide and she exclaimed about how many kids were home-schooled like her. It was like I was watching her brain make the connections right in front of my eyes.
At the same moment I was very aware of my nephew who is in preschool and not raising his hand. He looked at Kate and then me - right at that moment the announcer asked, "How many of you are here with your family?" It was perfect timing. I said, " Thats you Hunter! Your here with me and I am your family" He giggled brightly and jumped up and down waving his hand in the air.
The announce then told the kids to thank their families for bringing them to Sea World and making the choice to homeschool - He also said, "Isn't it awesome that you have this special opportunity!?! While all the other kids are in a school classroom today, you are out in the world. The world is your classroom to learn in and today Sea World is your classroom."
Kate really keyed in on this and repeated it in her stories about her favorite part of the day. It was such a sweet moment for me to see her so excited to be home-schooled and Hunter to be so giggly about how we were family.
Kate has decided that she still wants to be a veterinarian - and ocean veterinarian.
Enjoy the photos from the day.
hunter waited a long time for people to move so he could see these poisonous frogs. kate and hunter found a little nook that no body else found - here they watched the new seal pups play + fight.
This is Kate incredibly excited for the Seal who is learning to do tricks. The Seal missed the first two signals but got it on the third and Kate started clapping wildly for her.
Oliver the baby beluga is only 4 years old - just like Hunter.
"Mom, I want to learn about how food turns to poop."
This what Kate declared when I introduced our new theme last week. There was no way to "weave" poop studies into the Community study I had planned. After many more through questions it was obvious that Kate was VERY interested in what was going on in her body and could care less about the postman's role in our community.
I took a moment and then declared our new study unit to be the Human Body... and off we went to the library.
It's been really interesting and fun to see how our bodies work. I am amazed at the intricacies I often forget - Kate is simply astonished by the littlest things, things I take for granted and forget that she doesn't know.
On this day we made a skeleton with moving parts to go on our "felt Kate." Since this day we have added the heart, lungs, liver, and small+large intestines.
The funniest thing we have done yet is watch a small portion of a video in the human body from National Geographic. The graphics are awesome. So awesome in fact ... Kate gagged when we got to the digestive portion. It seems they have cameras that can go all the way into the intestines and view the food as it comes down and is digested. Kate acted like it was a scary movie by hiding behind the couch pillow and peeking around the edges. She did not want to turn it off but it made her lose her appetite for sure.
On a positive note - there has been a dramatic drop in the poop talk/jokes around the house.
Since the trip to Florida KAte has decided she hates math. From love to hate in the blink of an eye. The lessons are a little more challenging now but nothing she can't handle or do well. She just has decided. As equally surprising she has decided she loves science. Pre- Florida trip she hated science. Her hate was unfounded since she loved the projects we did, they were just not called science projects. Now she ADORES science.
This has made life more challenging for me. I have to pay a little more attention to Kate's mood and need for breaks. I tend to break up her subjects more and put a little math here and there. I have gotten creative in where or how we approach the Math work. Sometimes it is simple a matter of doing it first so we can move on to other things.
Last week Kate in the middle of math and just had a melt down. Technically the melt down had nothing to do with math. It was trigger by her foot falling asleep. But "it was all Math's fault" was her battle cry.
Of course dear, Math made you sit on your foot and cut off the circulation. not.
Thankfully I kept my sarcasm to myself and convinced her to follow me downstairs for a snack... and then outside to chalk-out our math work. It worked. A little spike in the blood sugar and some brightly colored chalk and we were back on track. Whew.
This week it is all about jokes. When she finishes her Math work I teach her a new joke. She then repeats her joke to EVERYONE we see that day. She loves it when people laugh - she just beams.
We hit Decimal Street this week in math and Kate is excited about the challenge. It's all about place value and little units who live in a house. Kate says she wants to live in a "tens house" when she goes up ... which is surprising because the hundreds house is like a giant castle or mansion. But no she really likes the 'tens house'.
We are using Math-U-See and I find it extremely funny how engrossed Kate is when watching the 3-5 minute instruction segment at the beginning of each new lesson. There is a guy wearing a blue shirt and a tie standing in front of a white board. He is not a young whipper-snapper out of college either but Kate loves him. He says a few funny things but it's generally math humor - no silly voices or cartoons or special rapping (so far).... just a guy and a white board. He is an excellent math teacher and I am thankful he kicks off our lessons before Kate and I dig in.
I can't tell whether I think this is totally funny or whether it's annoying but.... Kate has been telling a story with each of her math problems. I guess it's because the Math-U-See guy did a little story while explaining why the units can only have 9 in their house for a party...because if the tenth one comes they have to move to the tens house. Well, Kate now has a story line for EVERY PROBLEM. At first I giggled.
Now I am just chomping at the bit to move faster. I am like " who cares how many came to the units sleepover!" but I manage to just say they in my head. It's nice to hear her processing and I know she is having fun but OH MY GOODNESS it takes up so much time. I tried to explain she could tell the 'abridged version' but she reminded me about how I told her earlier in the week that I would not buy her the book Black Beauty because it was abridged. She said "You used that word momma and said that you wanted to have the whole story - I like whole stories too."
Well there you have it - nails in my own coffin.
In other news we are headed to a the beach!!! And more exciting it's not a Texas beach.
There are planes and luggage involved and we are all so very excited. It's mini-reunion/vacation so I am sure there will be lots to tell you afterwards. Only adults...which means kate and I will be on the beach - ALOT.
We made sand from crackers today and talked about where sand comes from. OH, and sea stars.... lots about sea stars. Kate would like to see a real one eat - she is intrigued by the fact that it's stomach is in the middle of it's body and it's eye holes are on the tips of it's "fingers".
Our ocean theme is in full swing. These are some moment from the first few days filled with shells and water. We spent more time than I expected on ocean currents and how sand comes to be... Kate has more questions than ever and we haven't even jumped into the ocean animals part yet!
The bucket of shells is our favorite past time right now. We have sorted by shape, then by color, by size, by type and by general prettiness. We hovered over a book identifying then types of shells. Kate decided on her own to make a giant piece of paper be a "sand mat" which she colored like sand and then arranges the shells. She keeps taking the bucket of shells into her room so her Zoobles can go shell collecting.
Next we talked about ocean currents... Whats and ocean and where is it? Our fingers wandered the metal globe and then colored maps. Which led to conversations about weather and the equator.
We looked at some amazing footage of the earth from space and how the water moves and heats up. We played with water - blowing and moving it, placing objects in the way and seeing the effects. Currents were WAY more exciting and involved than I had originally thought.
I find myself underestimating a lot lately. Underestimating Kate's interest in something. Underestimating my interest. Underestimating just how much we are learning or how much we are capable of learning.
At first I was really wondering - How much of this is she retaining?
But then I stepped back and realized that it doesn't matter. Even if she is just getting a taste for later...even if she forgets that the oceans current take warm water to Europe preventing it from being a frozen land.....thats not the point. She is LOVING learning. She pointed to the globe and asked if it was cold like Antarctica there.... and then asked why.... and then we looked up the answer and marveled and God's amazing design. That's the point.
