Homeschool Adventure Week #2 – Part3

September 23, 2013 by tam

Waldorf is big into nature and that is great for us because we have a trail near our home where we always make awesome discoveries.

Perfect camouflage. What do you see?

We love moths!

Hmmm…dualities? Before and after? Life and rebirth? Math in nature.

I don’t know what it is about grasshoppers lately but they love sitting on the boys’ hands!

We collected leaves and went home to do some printing.

L had the idea of printing both sides at once.
Ls-double-print-yarrow

This is a most interesting leaf – it is soft and fuzzy on one side and smooth on the other. A wonderful discovery.

Fuzzy side printed.

Smooth side.

I think we may be doing more leaf printing! Do you recognize any of the leaves from these prints?

Today we decided to go for a walk after dinner. Xman wanted to follow the Earth Adventures trail we had done previously and write out the directions for which way to go. L went ahead with Steve and had some great one on one time while X walked and wrote…

and walked again and wrote…

It got pretty dark near the end and we missed the blue heron that a couple had mentioned spotting but we did see a mink with a mouse (or some other furry fellow) in it’s grasp but he was too fast for my little camera.

L and Daddy were happy to spend the time together.

Xman was very proud of all of the writing he did and eager to share once he was finished.

He was very determined to walk the whole adventure trail and write it all down and L and Daddy were very interested in listening to him share it with them.

When X didn’t know how to spell a word we sounded it out together and for those tricky ones I told him how to spell them. In turn, he looked back on his work when he came upon the word again in order to spell it correctly. I told him to not worry about spelling for now but he was determined to spell the words correctly from the get go. I find both boys are picky when it comes to spelling, that’s part of the writing experience for them.

This next pic? It sums up the week and my effort to steer clear of things. (It worked).

Here comes Monday and Week 3! I will try to keep the pics to a minimum but I cannot guarantee anything! 😉

What did you do this last week? We’d love to hear about it!

Homeschool Adventure Week #2 – Part2

September 23, 2013 by tam

The boys are super-big into science and every once in a while the experiment books come out. The following experiment shows how air pressure can keep something afloat or make it sink. Very cool!

X explains what happens below:

I love the way we are learning math because we are looking at numbers in a universal way. For instance, talking about the number two led us to finding pairs in our world, such as two arms, two legs etc. But we also talked about yin and yang, what comes up must come down, in and out, up and down, dualities.

I read a story similar to Beauty and the Beast entitled The Summer and Winter Garden by the Brothers Grimm. There is a garden as you may have already assumed where flowers grow on one side and the other side the garden is covered in snow – illustrating dualities the seasons. L drew this flower to illustrate dualities in our world and the description is below:

“When the lamp flower (in the drawing) turns on, its stocks point straight up. One of the stocks is bigger than the other one. The left lamp glows rainbow and the right lamp glows unrainbow. Yes, ‘unrainbow’ is the colours of the rainbow backwards, of course. L loves to make writing fun. Can you blame him?
$Ls-duality-math$

Xman illustrated the number two by using caterpillars to be found in gardens. The number eight was mentioned a couple of times in the story so he used this in combination with the number two: eight caterpillars divided by two equals four. Then he made a drawing step by step how to draw a caterpillar. By the end we had to agree they looked a bit like jellyfish. 🙂

$X-math-in-2's$

Science break! Did you know that if you fill a narrow necked bottle with hot water and red food colouring and placed it in a larger jar of cold water it makes an underwater volcano? See the red water being sucked out of the little jar? Cool, right?Nature walk time! Onto part 3!

Homeschool Adventure Week #2 – Part1

September 23, 2013 by tam

Looking back on many of the images from my camera from this week, I realized that despite the boys having crazy colds, we managed to do a decent amount of discovering both inside and outside of the house. This was a lovely thing for me to notice and made me realize that perhaps I am sometimes too hard on myself in thinking that we haven’t done enough. Boy, I should have been recording in images what we do every week since I started home educating four years ago! I feel better now. 🙂

That being said, I have decided that I needed to break this week down into parts to make sense of it all for posting sake.

Early in the week we read a fable entitled Little Jackal and the Lion about how a jackal outsmarts the lion who wants to eat the jackals after eating all of the other animals. It reminded me a bit of the story The Gruffalo where the mouse tricks the beast into thinking there is a creature more ferocious and feared than itself. The beast is outsmarted. This is L’s version of the lion looking into a well with the jackals on the other side of the well watching. The lion is convinced that there is another lion bigger and more ferocious and is led to the well where he looks in and sees his reflection. Thinking it is the other lion is jumps into the well to attack. Well, we know how that ends. 🙂 There’s brawn and there’s brains. I like it when the ‘brains’ win in stories and it’s great encouragement for children.

L had fun with the play clay and made two almost identical sculptures.

I have to say that Mama K’s Play Clay is one of the many supplies we ordered this year and it not only natural but smells so wonderful as well. Love it!

Since we are on the subject of play clay I’ll share another creation of the boys’ from this week. I read another Waldorf story entitled Peasie and Beansie – a nature story. It’s about two sisters: Peasie who is thoughtful and generous and Beansie who only thinks of herself.

Xman drew the fire in the story that, upon Peasie cleaning out the ashes before they choked the fire, was given nice warm cakes as a gift. X drew a big pot cooking cakes on the fire.

L drew the buffalo that carried the gifts from Peasie’s father home on its back.

The boys used the block crayons for these drawings. It was the first time using them and I showed them that they could use the edges for fine lines or the wide areas for shading. They really enjoyed using the blocks and I must say they are very cool!

The next sculptures were a bit of a collaboration. I made the plum trees for the boys and they added the fruit.

The story goes that Peasie passed a plum tree whose thorns were all scattered about so she tidies them up. On her way home from her father’s house the tree thanks her by giving her ripe yellow plums which she carries home on the back of the buffalo (he is a very helpful creature!). One boy made the purple plums and the other the ripe yellow.

One things we found is due to the softness (?) of this clay it doesn’t hold well for some things. The tree tended to droop after a short while. I believe this was actually due to the weight of all those ripe fruit. 😉

After using the lovely smelling clay I went out and purchased some lemongrass essential oil this weekend and how wonderful our house smelled! Yes, one of the clay balls is scented with lemongrass, oh my!

I have to admit, having a fine art degree has been tough when it has come to home educating. I had a difficult time bringing art into our lives and now we do it everyday. (insert heart here)

Part 2 up next!

A brace and a birthday

September 17, 2013 by tam

I guess you could say I’m posting this one for me because it may not be of any particular interest to anyone else other than immediate family. For us it was a big day.

Yesterday was Stephen’s birthday. Yay! Happy birthday, my love! You are my most wonderful partner and I am blessed that we were led to each other.

The birthday plan was going to be breakfast out and maybe a café, a nice walk or something in the lovely outdoors and mixed into this was L and the removal of his brace after one year. So we were out to celebrate both. As it turned out all boys ended up with awful colds. So the breakfast, café and outdoor excursion were crossed off the list. Pizza and a movie at home instead. Still fun, just more on the ‘lay low’ side.

But, we did still go into our dentist’s office to have L’s brace removed that has been in place for just over a year now. It’s a different kind of brace from what I have seen before. This one was inserted to help his front teeth grow down and not out. You see, L tends to sleep with his tongue pressing up against his teeth and he does still have a bit of a lisp which is now much better and his teeth have managed to grow down straighter than without the brace. It was awkward for him at first, especially eating as I can only imagine, but he was a trooper for a whole year. Very proud of him.

L said to me yesterday morning that he was going to miss being able to cut through bananas with his brace. It was like a knife in his mouth. Kids are amazing. One positive thought just erases all the others. So wonderful.

So this is L, filled with congestion and looking like he just woke up, getting ready from his brace to be removed. He did a great job staying still. There was some difficulty at first as the brace was cemented on and at first didn’t want to budge.

Ah, there we go!

Ya, we have like the best dentist everrrr….he’s awesome. Really.

Cleaning the cement, well scraping really, the cement off the teeth was a chore and called for a bit of hand-holding by Daddy.Whew! All done! 2013Sep16_L's-Brace_09

“It feels so different in there!” 2013Sep16_L's-Brace_08

My sleepy happy boy.

Still energetic enough to run around with his brother. I managed to get him to stay still for just a moment.

All in all it was a wonderful day.

Happy birthday, my sweet husband, happy birthday.
You all may be been snotty but that doesn’t make the day less important.

Oh, and the cake was so yum (and not just because I made it!). Using coconut oil in place of margarine for icing is amazing, just saying.

Can you guess how old Stephen turned? I had a bit of a scrounge for candles…plus Xman thought to put them on backwards for fun.

Xman wanted to learn to play this for Daddy so Steve figured out the keys for him.

~smile~

Homeschool Adventure Week #1

September 16, 2013 by tam

Happy Monday! Today is my wonderful husband’s birthday and all my boys are down and out with a wicked cold. So here I site with stylus in mouth, hands at keyboard and wine at my side.

I’ve decided that I will be posting every week our ‘happenings’, ‘learnings’ and ‘creations’ during the course of this school year. It’s a great way for those friends and family who do not live close to be a part of our lives and learning as a great way for us to record what’s been going on with The Shards in homeschool land.

This is my fifth, yes fifth year homeschooling. And this year I have decided to forgo the Classical teaching method which for me was The Well-Trained Mind. Although this classic method was amazing and there is much that has been learned I find that it is not the best route for me and my boys. Earlier this year we mixed in a little unschooling and PBHS with our classical and I found the boys were much happier than they were with their workbooks and rote learning. So was I. Totally.

Now we say Hello! to a new way of learning with an entirely new curriculum which I find is more organic and the hands-on side is essential to us all. So far so good! I do still have some changes to make to fit in our writing program and PBHS but for the first week I’d say it was pretty successful, mostly because the boys say they enjoy it much more than the way we did things previously. If they enjoy it they will learn more, this I know.

A great portion of our work will now be hands-on creating which also means more time-based meaning once the ‘work’ is done it’s recorded then discarded/destroyed to make room for more. We use chalk for instance to illustrate stories as we learn, as well as clay and beeswax, paints and other mediums. There is a huge emphasis placed on the earth and nature which was a big draw for me toward this curriculum. The boys learn woodworking, housebuilding (and history of), weaving, knitting, cooking and farming for instance along with math and language arts, history and science.

Here are some samples of what they boys have produced this week.

The boys learned to hand-knit and they were so excited to see how quickly the results came. The green pouches were hand sewn last year and this year we added them to the fronts of their nature bags with their hand-knitted straps. Then we immediately went out for a walk and collected some nature samples for another project. Can you tell who’s bag is who’s?

They did a pretty good job with the knitting and X even made himself a bracelet after he finished his strap.

We read a story titled, “Why evergreens keep their leaves” and the boys created these chalk drawing illustrations. I am going to take pictures of work we cannot keep and at the end of the year print up albums as keepsakes of our schooling year.

I had purchased a Martha Stewart kit for knitting and weaving. I had taught the boys to knit but they were getting frustrated with the time it took and all the stitches they would drop. We started with weaving and Xman made this little blanket and pillow for his Pikachu.

L is making a blanket for his beloved cow stuffy, Milkshake. He is almost done. He just needs to finish off the ends! Not once were the boys frustrated with the work of weaving with this kit. I think it is a kinder introduction to the art of yarn!

I may have to make this now that I have seen what can be done because one cannot have too many projects on the go! Haha!

So for a first week of schooling I’d say we are going pretty well. Goodbye Week #1, hello Week #2!

Any new projects you’d like to share? Be careful! I may have to add them to my list! 😉

Schooling the World…

September 3, 2013 by tam

Oh my goodness…this is good. I have watched this in multiple sittings as there are seven parts but it’s so worth it. Take the time.

Trail spottings

August 23, 2013 by theshards

A short post today while I’m waiting for dinner to cool.

The boys were super antsy and though we have much to do before Nanna and Pappa arrive tomorrow (!) I thought a trail walk was in need for the boys and myself as well. It was a beautiful day with the sun sparkling down through the trees and the breeze blowing gently. Weather like this makes me feel like these are the best moments ever! We all felt much better after taking the time to take time – you know what I mean. 😉

Heavenly.

Have you ever seen a mushroom growing from a tree?

A little inchworm friend.

Poor little grasshopper. What’s he missing? We found this guy on our house when we arrived home. I know there are many cats in the area but I wonder if this one had a run-in with a bird perhaps?

Breakfast!

August 23, 2013 by theshards

Rocks, minerals and fossils, oh my!

August 22, 2013 by tam

Just this past weekend we made a trip up to Parrsboro for the Gem and Minerals show and to visit the Fundy Geological Museum.

The drive was lovely as the tides were in and we could see the beautiful Bay of Fundy just to our left as I drove along the coastal highway. The red earth was so amazingly eye-catching I couldn’t help but catch glimpses as we were driving. We spotted a mound of land sneaking out of the water and the boys saw a bit of an arch of a cave showing just above the surface.

We were all excited to see what rocks and gems were in store for us once we arrived at the show and we were not disappointed! The boys were so excited to buy pyrite and raw rubies as well as sapphire. I must say they are not anything like the cut kind and I think I kind of like the raw form a bit more. We all ‘ooh’ed and ‘ahh’ed at the huge pieces of minerals as the boys were on the search for a big buddha for me. 🙂 I came out with a nice round garnet and an orange half geode. I was tempted by a beautiful turquoise ring but probably a good thing it was not in my size!

From there we went over to the museum and found some great little archeological dig kits for the boys. The kits contain plastic dino bones (miniature of course!) in plaster with a wooden chisel and brush. The boys couldn’t wait to start chipping away! I myself grabbed a geological map of our province and a quartz crystal pendulum that had on its chain the seven chakras in little round gems. I think that’s my favourite find.

I have to say that our gifted museum pass came in quite handy that day and for that we are happily thankful. 😉

Inside the museum we watched a very cool animation of what the world looked like long before Pangea – did you know that Nova Scotia was once where Antarctica now is? – and during Pangea we were part of Africa. There is a beach in Nova Scotia that I’ve been told by a friend has petrified palm trees! We played the video backwards and forwards and watched over and over again how the world came to be as it is today.

Xman and I found a display of fossils and a nearby screen that identified each one. We played the guessing game and after our day at Blue Beach we got a few of them right. I haven’t posted about that trip yet, have I? Okay, that’s next on the list!

L made a beeline for the hands-on archeological dig. We hid plaster casts of rocks with fossils in the raw rice for the boys to find. It was great fun!

Can you imagine that dragonfly zooming by?

By this time the tide was the lowest it would be for the day and looking out the windows of the museum we could see the red earth exposing itself to the sun. It was a beautiful site and a great time to start heading home. And what a time it was! We began our drive with the tides in and now with the tides out we couldn’t help but stop and admire the view. It was amazing indeed!

Remember that mound jutting out of the water? Well, we found a side street that led down to the shore and had an amazing view of this which I believe is called Five Islands.
2013Aug17__Parrsboro48 2013Aug17__Parrsboro51 2013Aug17__Parrsboro54

I like Stephen’s Instagram pic.

Another pano – those are me boys throwing rocks into the mud!

We took a short stop at Mastodon ridge on the way home to update out pic of the boys being chased by the mastodon and Stephen all chummy. So fun!

The boys a couple of years ago. Love this pic! Stephen used his iPhone so it has a totally different look – plus the lighting was completely different this time around. Still fun!

X: Mastadon whatever!

L: Ya, big deal!
boys-mastadon

L: He’ll never catch us!

X: Aaaahhhh!

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Inside the gift shop we found some great sales including this book that I had borrowed from the library and brought with me for the trip. And this book which I fell in love with when we went to Pictou earlier this year. These gems (the book kind!) will be seeing a lot of love from us!

Stephen also found a couple of harmonicas which just happened to be on sale. He used to have one which I believe is somewhere in the vicinity of our home. Perhaps the house elves have taken it! So he bought the boys each their own. Xman is obsessed with it and plays it every day. Video to come.

The moon kept us company as we drove the rest of the way home. Although it wasn’t quite full it was extraordinary to me and Stephen used my wee camera to get a quick pic of it from the car. Ahh, so purty.

L wanted to take a picture of a car zooming by. It took a few tries but he did it! 😉
2013Aug17__Parrsboro88 Once we arrived home the boys wanted to start digging just a bit before bed. Pretty cool finds!

What a wonderful day it was full of discoveries and beauty! Where will we go next?

Pokémon playing, math and writing fun

August 8, 2013 by tam

I have been visiting this website and reading this book as I prepare for the next school year. Lori is amazing and has wonderful ideas to help me along with creative and gentle ways of introducing project work. Dawn has also given me some great ideas for getting the ball rolling for which I am very grateful! Being new to project work it is something that I think will be a great learning and growing experience for us all. It will be part of not only our ‘curriculum’ but our every day living as well (I hope!). The boys have already begun one project involving automaton which they are excited to be creating – but more on this later… 😉

I have been having a bit of trouble getting the boys to do much more than Lego and Pokémon. Okay, not totally true, but mostly. I am a reader and so luckily for me both boys have become avid readers as well for which I am truly grateful. When they are not reading there are to be Legos found underfoot in almost every room we use throughout the day. The Pokémon cards and characters are part of their daily dialogue as well and when they got their first cards from Grandma they were thrilled and have been playing ever since.

I have read much in Lori’s book about play and learning. I know this to be a valuable part of a child’s every day (and I think it should be part of mine too!). After four years of home educating I am beginning to see just how much their learning has influenced their play and vice versa. For instance, math is a big part of Pokémon. Each character has a certain amount of HP or Health when they begin. They can also lose health when there is damage done to them through certain powers during a battle. (I have to say I like the fact that the Pokémon don’t die when they run out of Health but instead ‘faint’.) Not too long ago as I was listening to the boys play I heard Xman ask L, “What is 390 plus 70?”. I started to do the math in my head and before I finished L said, “460”. Kudos to that boy! I realized that not only were they doing well with their math they were faster at it than me (haha!) and I had never really connected how this game makes them use their brains to this extent. It’s not rocket science but it’s learning and fun and made me realize they go hand in hand.

Just a few days ago I found Xman writing on small pieces of paper. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was making cards for their Pokémon game. They each have a ton of Pokémon character cards but the cards X was making are extra powers and damage cards that each player picks to use when it is their turn. He has taken the game further and I am thrilled. I had to make a copy of his cards so that both boys could have their own set – oh, and two extra copies for when Stephen and I have our own Pokémon sets to play someday. 😉

I think X only asked me twice how to spell a word. The boys are not the best at spelling yet but I have seen that copy work can help spelling if it’s in the right context. I found yet again that the spelling workbooks we used weren’t really helping them learn to spell. They were simply copying words down without paying attention to how the words were spelled. It was just another lesson to get through. When they are writing down something that pertains to a game or other interest, for example, they look at game cards for reference in the case of spelling and manage to remember how to spell those words the next time. I also taught the boys to read through phonics with pronunciation rules so they have gotten pretty good at sounding out for spelling – this is still a process we are going through and the more they write for fun the more they remember.

Those handwriting workbooks became a thing of the past earlier this year as well. I’ve found that the boys write more often and enjoy the process much more when they write what they want (another post on that at a later date). Xman worked on these cards for quite some time, something I never would have been able to get him to do if it were in a workbook.

I am finally letting go of that traditional learning/teaching from when I was in school while in turn realizing learning can be done in so many ways and the best way is simply whichever way the child learns best! Whew, I love it!

Now back to the boy who is waiting at my side to help him with his automaton planning!