April 2014 Things we did part 1

April is a busy month. Here we go!

I was lucky to get to attend several exclusive concerts by these musicians:

Puzzles and games were played quite often. The game closet was a well used source of fun for the kids.

 Baby continued to grow cute and adorable. His baby hair became blond and invisible to pictures. Siblings continued to love to hold and cuddle him.

  Here's that castle Princess started coloring last month, now almost finished.

 Dinoguy practiced beautiful music on his violin.

We enjoyed our zip line. Little guy found out he loved it once he was willing to give it a try.

We watched LDS General conference and did lots of crafts.

 Baby was at the age to sit in a bumbo to be part of family fun. Here he is learning about his brother's silliness.

 Family breakfast for conference of chocolate waffles with strawberries.

 Examining the resemblance to mom in a selfie.

 Dinoguy was in a small orchestra accompanying a choir. It was a long concert.

 Wonderful spring weather meant lots of walks. On this one, the kids decided they needed pictures taken.

Violin Trio

Back to catch up posts tomorrow, today I want to share my boys playing in a violin trio with their teacher this past Sunday at the church for which I am the pianist. I love listening to them practice, they are getting so good! They love to perform and were happy for the opportunity. Enjoy!

Mayan Art

We traveled to the art museum for a special Mayan exhibit yesterday. It came with an audio tour phone that was a lot of fun for the boys. Trainboy insisted on seeing each numbered exhibit in order. There was also a fun interactive table that taught you about different symbols in mayan culture and art and writing that involved swishing your hands on a big flat table. It was very neat.

Of course, no photographs allowed in the exhibit. I tried to get a group photo outside but Munchkin would have none of it. :) Munchkin enjoyed it a bunch too. She rode in her stroller looking at things, and enjoyed the interactive table.

Ask Dinoguy what he most learned about the Mayans, and he said "That they had a giant green toilet seat they decorated." I had wondered why he was laughing at that item. Potty humor is in full force here.

I really enjoyed seeing them walk around looking at the art, listening to their tour phones. They are so cute. Of course we were the only kids there since it was during the day. But my kids do so well with being polite with adults and interacting with them. I may be a bit biased about how wonderful they are though. :)

Then we had violin lessons and the first group class lesson. I was exhausted by the time we got home. Huge reminder that I am very pregnant. I have had to rest most of today.

Today was the first day of the home school group classes we do. Dinoguy & Trainboy are taking geology and history heroes in addition to a kids club. Today they "mined" for chocolate chips in soft and hard cookies, learned about the Wright brothers and made model planes like the first plane and built octahedron boats out of straws and twine. Of course they didn't want to leave and go home for lunch!

Munchkin was quite independent after we first arrived. She participates in a "littles club" and learned about penguins. They made penguin eggs to carry around in their feet, played with clay, decorated and ate peanut butter playdough, had outside time, story time, sign language time... I was helping out with Dinoguy and Trainboy's class and she was off in her group, happily doing her thing. She is growing up so fast. 

May Song Duet

Dinoguy and Trainboy play May Song as a duet - Dinoguy plays the harmony, Trainboy the melody.

This years' home school plan

April 2010

I have spent the past month making a homeschooling plan for the year. It started with receiving a catalog from a well known homeschool curriculum in a box type publisher. Oooohhh Shiny! Me want! I am a sucker. Keep me away from sales presentations. Seriously.

So reading and investigating further, I realized that I would change just about every aspect of what they sent which kind of kills the whole "you don't have to do any planning" part of the sales pitch. I sulked for a bit because I had my reasons for wanting an easier way out. Pregnant and about to have my fourth child pretty much topped the list. But eventually I got over it and in less than twenty minutes had laid an outline of things I'd like to do in homeschooling this year. Then I slowly worked on expanding that outline as time allowed. I'm pretty excited about the things I have planned to try with the kids.

Of course, it is just a plan, and not a set in stone structure. I told Dinoguy we were studying ancient native Americans soon and he replied that he wanted to study Norse mythology! So that's being added in as soon as we get back to the library. As a guide to help me figure out what was age appropriate and sequencing for topics other than mathematics, (because I've got that one covered), I used the book Home Learning Year by Year by Rebecca Rupp. which I was able to get on Paperback Swap. (I LOVE Paperback swap by the way!)

It is an overwhelming book if tried to take all at once. If I was reorganizing it, I'd do it by topic instead of grade level, with suggested grade levels along the way. But anyway, it gave me ideas of what topics kids usually hear at each grade level. Overall it just reassured that we are doing great, but in some things it helped me out a lot. Besides outlining what usually comes in a grade and topic, it gives many suggestions for resources and curricula, varying from free websites, to books and curricula to buy and how to get them. Since it is ten years old, some of the links weren't working. But it was a good starting point.

Two excellent quotes from the book:

"Homeschoolers can design their own curricula, assembling resources and using approaches that best suit their own children's needs. You child is enthralled by marine biology? Invent a curriculum that builds upon this interest... When it comes to curricula, kids should always come first.  It's not what teachers teach that's important; it's what children learn - and what children learn best is what interests them, what they want and need to know." (emphasis added)

June 2010

"Our long experience in homeschooling has shown, time and again, that an intense interest in anything inevitably leads everywhere... Kids are natural learners, and each will find his or her own best way to learn. There are many roads to an educational Rome."

So here is my monthly plan outline. I have broken it down further into weeks and resources, but I'll spare you that. Anyway, it might all change. The beauty of homeschooling is that we can (and will) immediately change anything that isn't working.

	History General Topics by Month
September	Ancient Native Americans, American Indians, (Scandinavia and Norse mythology!)
October	Mayas, Aztecs, Incas
November	Columbus, Conquistadors
December	Early American Settlers
January	American Revolution
February	American West Expansion
March	World Geography
April	Asia - China, Japan, India
May	Medieval Times Survey

Create a big time line on office wall! Read interesting books related to topics 3X a week as selected at library. Investigate in other media (movies, computers) as well.

	Science General topics by month
September	Magnets
October	Human Body systems/ 5 senses
November	Life cycles of animals and plants, needs
December	Sounds - waves, light and shadow
January	Water cycle, basic composition of earth
February	Season changes for animals, living vs non living
March	Weather
April	Simple machines, basic physical characteristics of objects
May	Physics- motion, force, friction

Do simple experiments and investigations related to topics 2X a week. Discuss scientific method. Mathematics Games Themes September Numbers & place value, even/odd, rounding, estimation October Fractions November Graphing/patterns December Addition/Subtraction January Multiplication February Money March Measurement April Time/calendar May Geometry

Art Investigations September Pencils October Tempera November Collage/mosaic December Printmaking January Watercolor February Weaving/crochet/fibers March Pastels April Modeling clay/pottery May Chalks

Visit Art museum monthly or every other month. Use great works of art from historical period as inspiration for creating projects. Also use project idea books have on hand. Discuss color wheel and other topics as appropriate, checking out how to type guides at library.

Language Arts Plan
Handwriting with out tears
Penpal - write every two weeks to HS penpal, write grandparents as well.
Memorize a poem every month and present to audience

Phonics 3X a week - word study games from Words Their Way
Vocabulary 2X a week - discuss words from books we are reading, do word games (word search, crosswords, Scrabble, etc)
Reading - Read aloud 30 min. a day from list of related reading books to history topics. Have books related to history topics from list available for reading. (I created lists of 30-40 books each for reading related to topics and also for reading aloud.)
Grammar and other topics I have a weekly list of ideas that will be presented.
Short story writing sometimes, try out journaling as well.

Music Plan
Continue Violin lessons and daily practice. Continue piano investigations as desired. Listen to great classics in car for musical exposure. Add musicians into history studies.

Languages
We will continue ASL probably at the co-op and Dinoguy might add Spanish there. Any other language needs will be met thru our libary, which offers online language lesson access as well as CD's and DVD's. 

March 2010

So there is the plan for this year. I know that tons will be added to it by the boys interests. But having a plan helps me immensely feel more organized and ready for our new addition in two months.

How can I have a plan and still say I follow my kids interests? They have asked for more structure. They have asked for help learning to write and everything else. Learning is still the reward. There are no external motivations or bribes. History topics I view as presenting possibilities (or strewing as some call it.) Dinoguy says history is his favorite subject and he loves all the history books I bring home.We are using interesting texts and books by people passionate about the topics. Mathematics, science and music and art are things they ask to do and enjoy.

Again, I am just hoping the plan will help me be a better mom at providing options to them. I am not tied to the plan as what we have to do, but it gives me a starting point each week and each day. Last year I did weekly planning based on what interests I was seeing and it was tiring and overwhelming, and easily led to burnout. I will still be doing some planning each week to prepare and modify, but with the overarching yearly plan, I hope to save myself some of the burnout, tiredness and worry if I am providing enough.

March 2010

Jolly Old St Nicholas on Violin

The boys participated in a Christmas concert by learning Jolly Old St Nicholas on their violins. Here it is on video.

Please excuse the out of focus picture for the first 20 or so seconds and any shakiness. I'm holding the camera in my hands while Munchkin climbs on my legs.

Violin Spectacular!

While we were in Arkansas, we went to a children's violin concert at the local library with our friends. The recital was kind of like a tipping point for us and the boys decided that they definitely wanted to learn to play the violin and I was convinced we (as a family) could take on the commitment of lessons now. They've been talking about learning some instruments off and on for some months now and I decided to go with the fervor of interest expressed and start lessons.

I happen to have a Suzuki Violin teaching friend. She is awesome with young kids (has 3 of her own!) and is an amazing Violinist as well. She was happy to help us start learning the violin (or the violin game, as it is sometimes called in her house). That was last month.

This month was her students' recital at the local library and while the boys are not ready to perform on their own, they happily participated in the finale song where everyone played Twinkle Variation A. (They played the rhythm on the E string, we aren't quite to fingerings.) Plus they got these awesome violin t-shirts to wear! Dinoguy counted down the hours on the clock all morning until it was time to leave for the recital. Trainboy came up to me afterward and said "Mommy I did it!" They are proud of their accomplishment, (as are we!) as playing with the group on the rhythm (practicing with a CD recording) took a lot of practicing. They are excellent practicers, and we have had a lot of fun learning all about Violins!

Here is the video of the boys violin debuts! :)


Same video, youtube version for better quality?

Toot, Whistle, Plunk & Boom

I mentioned to Fixitman on the way home from Six Flags that Trainboy was fascinated by instruments right now. His mind went to this old cartoon and Sunday he pulled it up and watched it several times with Trainboy. Big hit! Trainboy laughed at things and also tried to get right up in the screen to get closer. Again! He declared. :)



Hope you enjoy it too. :)

Saturday

Lots of morning cuddles and watching the movie Ratatouille. Dinoguy asks if we can open our own restaurant and feed rats. Make sweet potato waffles.

Hang Christmas lights on the outside of the house. Boys sing impromptu songs and help joyfully.Trainboy in front of the lights this evening

Lunch and then we drive to drop Dinoguy & Fixitman off at the super secret location of Dinoguy's (late) birthday surprise with dad.Fixitman doesn't want to deal with a camera. So here they are when we dropped them off.

Trainboy & I go and find a letterbox then come home and make saxophone cookies (and other instruments and Christmas ones too!) Watch videos of Thomas' Christmas and Toy trains at Christmas.
I also got a saxophone, drum & piano concert. He is asking for a flute and guitar now too!
Prepping and freezing produce from cheap sales earlier in the week. Snacking on leftover pie, salad, cheesecake...

Took Sarge for a walk/looked at the Christmas lights in our neighborhood.

Checked out Bembo's Zoo and Classics for Kids games with Trainboy. He likes Vivaldi's Four Seasons: Spring better than Handel's Water Music. Though he did say it sounded like Water. He wrote his own Spring songs in their compose your own music area afterward.

Time to go pick up Dinoguy & Fixitman. (They were at Six Flags with the free tickets Dinoguy won this summer.) Lovely day.

Trainboy sings for you

Happy Memorial Day!

We had a busy and fun memorial day this year. The boys & I went to the arboretum first for crafts and a children's concert. I got confused on the time it started and so we got there way too early.






Here is Trainboy sitting on a stone. I didn't get the camera out fast enough as he spent a few minutes lying on the face of it carefully reading the letters written on it to himself.


Dinoguy made friends with three grandmotherly women who were also there early and had them teach him a little bit of canasta and then Trainboy joined in and they just had the three ladies wrapped around their finger they loved talking with them so much. The ladies kept telling me how well behaved and polite my boys were as well. Here he is trying to help adjust the umbrella for one lady to help keep her shaded.

Right before the concert began, Dinoguy saw some kids with umbrella hats and wanted one badly. He went down and asked how much they were and came back and told me, "Mom! They are only two dollars! Can I please have my wallet!" So he went and bought himself an umbrella hat, which of course meant Trainboy had to buy one too. He determined it was a much better rocket than hat though.









The concert finally began and we enjoyed it for a while but the boys were tired and it was HOT so we left a bit early and headed home for some rest before going to the pool with Dad. The singer was Sara Hickman, and she brings her daughter to concerts and has her participate - that's who is next to her. There were several cute songs and the boys did like it for a little bit, but if it had started at 11 am like I thought it did (and I'm know that's what the paper published!), they would have enjoyed it more, since 1 pm is much hotter and later in the day and we had been outside playing already for several hours!

Dinoguy is really into swimming and we already spent all of Saturday at the pool - well, I spent a few hours with him and then when I was tired came home and sent Fixitman with him. Trainboy refused to go to the pool on Saturday. On Monday he originally didn't want to go either but changed his mind right before we left and ended up having a blast and being very brave and jumping in and all sorts of swimming escapades.

Fixitman & I were a bit surprised but glad to see he is not as fearful of water as he used to be. The beach later this summer will be another interesting adventure with water since last summer he refused to go near the waves and didn't even want me to go in them and only played in the slues (little ponds on the beach depressions).

I love their new rash guard shirts we got from Lands End - I really feel it will help keep them safer from the sun and icky sunburns this summer. They wear them with no problem. I think they will become even more common here in the USA now as they are in Australia and the rest of the world. Here is Trainboy PUTTING HIS HEAD UNDER RUNNING WATER willingly in the splash park area of the pool. And then he did it again! And was laughing! In the bath that night I ask him to put his head in the water and he did it then too! He is growing so fast I can't believe it.

Well we had a wonderful Memorial day, even though we didn't go to any of the memorials for the soldiers, I did mention it to the kids. I hope you had a wonderful memorial day too. :)

Christmas Ballet

Though the thought of taking very active boys to a normal ballet where you are supposed to sit very still sends me into anxiety attacks, a friend arranged for us to attend a daytime performance aimed at local schools. We were given the front 2 rows for our "homeschool" group. Since it was public school kids, being quiet wasn't an issue. Our kids were amazingly well behaved in comparison. :P

L loved it and thought it was awesome. H wasn't excited to attend and used the camera (without flash) as a toy to keep him amused. So I have a lot of photos of the dark. But he did get some shots of the dancers, though they aren't super clear. Artsy really. :D

Afterward another romp at the park in the wonderful Texas weather completed another wonderful day of fun this week. Did I mention we love Texas? It has so many fun things to do, we've made friends, the weather is awesome...it is a nice place to live. :)

8 Things About Me Meme

Stephanie at Happy and Free tagged me for this meme.

Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the
game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.
At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their
names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them
know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Here goes:

1. I love doing family history work, because I view it as a giant logic puzzle about my family. I do several volunteer things with it, including Find A Grave photos, The Obituary Daily Times indexing for the local paper, Family Search Indexing, and The US Census Transcription Project.

2. I have run 2 half marathons, but haven't done a full marathon yet (my goal). I keep getting injuries in my knees/ankles/feet. Le Sigh

3. I was in the newspaper on Wednesday for a cooking article: Salt Lake Tribune

4. I'm growing my hair out, wearing it curly and happily learning to style and care for it, thanks to all I've learned at The Long Hair Community

5. I love to play The Sims 2, and other simulation games.

6. I had to look up the word meme to really know what it meant. (My guesses were pretty accurate.)

7. I played the Tenor Saxophone in high school and also play the piano. My three favorite genres of music are classical, jazz & country.

8. I am crocheting my first afghan!

Okay, I tag Jessica, Kimber, Widdison, Brandvolds, Linda, The Rob, Hope. That's all I've got. We'll see if they do it!