The Danger of Complacency

Whatever endeavor we embark on, if we are astute enough, we will be aware and present. The commitment may be there in spirit, but many people are exhausted on both the work and home front. This coupled with the distractions of the latest technology leave us moving and thinking in auto pilot mode, doing the minimum and rationalizing this is enough. The screens are attractive because they offer an escape from our manic work world and oftentimes makes us forget our responsibilities, at least for a little while - or a collection of little whiles which amount to more than we'd like to admit.

However, to succeed, we need to reach beyond the boundaries of complacency and be willing to be uncomfortable, to focus our mental energies in producing that which will lead us to our aim. We need to believe our goals are not merely the stuff of fuzzy dreams but the realities of a planned set of behaviors which will lead us there.

As much as for myself as for those who are reading this, the cliché of stepping out of our comfort zone is not merely a saying but a truth. To really grab hold of our dreams and make them our realities we need to press the off switch to the auto-pilot mode and grab hold of the steering wheel to maneuver us there. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Oh, Paris.

Oh, Paris. Your heart must be broken. Your city violated as is your sense of security. I mourn with you the loss of life, the loss of human beings innocent and exuberant in living their lives. They were shot down within an agonizing half an hour, too terrible to contemplate, never to forget. I'm so sorry for your great loss, families of victims.

My heart hurts for all the people who survived and witnessed this horrific event, images indelibly but reluctantly etched in their memory. I pray they are not forgotten and properly taken care of in counseling sessions.

Paris, I only visited you for a few days nearly twenty years ago, but I remember you fondly. I wish your people strength as you face this faceless enemy and I pray you are protected as you go about your daily lives.

We stand by you.

Check out our Kickstarter Project: Hula Girls Art Book

It's been so busy around here I have hardly had time for this blog. My oldest son, who's 12, has recently started Band at the local public school where he's learning to play the clarinet. He's been invited to be in the Elite Band to play the keyboard and glockenspiel as well, which means he's away for two hours each morning! To top this off my youngest has started preschool in the afternoons. Luckily I've devised a crazy little schedule which will keep all our ducks in a row, or at least afloat!

The reason I haven't been on this blog is because I've been writing a book for my husband. He asked me to write a book to accompany his awesome hula girls art. He's an island artist who paints and draws anything from religious icons to nature to hula girls. He's mostly fond of anything to do with the islands. We do, in fact, live on an island.

The book is titled "Hula Girls - The Hula Art of DePaula". The book is accompanied by amazing hula girl paintings by the talented artist William De Paula, aka husband and father extraordinaire. The book is a hula dancing pin-up art book with all original artwork by him. In writing this book, I researched the history of hula and its place in Hawaiian and pop culture. It was inspired by our honeymoon visit to Kauai and Maui 15 years ago. The Hawaiian islands' magic and lore continue to enchant us.

Please check out our Kickstarter page and consider funding to help make publishing this book a reality and share with everyone you know (pretty please?). Any donation -of course - would be so much appreciated as well!

Thank you in advance for viewing our book and especially for your support.

Five Things You Should Consider Before Buying A Planner

Remembering things have never been my strong suit. As my life gets busier, I know I needed more than the nearly constant beeping - mostly ignored - of my cellphone. Digital has its advantages, but it's not for me. A big picture gal, I need to see everything in front of me - writing, chores and errands. I have a satisfactory working system for my homeschool planning which means I only need guidelines and "the next thing" and we're ready to go, but after I'm done I'd like a place to journal about how the day went. I'm planning on using my planner for that. My week needs to be defined, but I still need plenty of writing space. Also, a long section for a to-do list. I decided to go back to paper planners. I haven't used one in years. Being a homeschool mom of three kids of varying ages and starting a freelance writing career, I'm busier than I've ever been.

A quick Google and there's a whole universe of paper planners, from scrap-book style to bare-bones day-of-the-week from thirty years ago. What I thought was going to take half an hour turned into an epic quest rivaling Indiana Jones'. Days and many hours later, I have found my planner.

I found searching for the right planner involves more than choosing from one list at one site. The first step is to consider what kind of planner you prefer. This involves asking yourself some key questions and visualizing what you're going to be using this planner for.

Here are five things you should consider before buying a paper planner:

1. Which style suits you best?
Ring-bound with refills, wire-bound, book-binding. Does a gorgeous cover and personalization à la Erin Condren matter to you? Could you care less about decorating your planner, do you just want some empty lines on good paper? Do you want to buy a whole new one, or keep reusing a cover and just buying refills like Franklin Covey?

2. Which format?
Monthly at-a-glance style planners, weekly vertical, weekly horizontal, plenty of space for to-do lists? Maybe you need to pare down your to-do list and need more space for appointments. Perhaps you're a free spirit and don't mind customizing your own bullet journal?

3. Which budget?
Some planners sure are pretty, but they can cost you a pretty penny. How much are you willing to pay for a paper organizer? Is it worth it if you are motivated enough to use it day in and day out? If it's going to frustrate you because it's so expensive and you're not using it nearly as much you thought you would, you'd be better off starting off with something simpler. Remember, presumably you'll need one yearly. Sometimes it takes a few years to find out which one is your ideal planner.

4. Do you already have a cover lying somewhere in your house?
Chances are, you may have bought one in the past - Day Timer covers and others work with other refills just fine. In my case, after searching around in my own home, I found two covers - one compact one and a Franklin Covey Classic (5.5" X 8.5"). Looking at how small compact was, I knew I couldn't use this. My handwriting is large, and I like to write plenty of notes. I'm keeping the little cover around in case one of my kids wants to use it in the future. It's black and imitation leather, and very usable. The Classic is nice - dark brown and leather, and more importantly, the right size. I decided I needed to at least seriously consider the possibility of using Franklin Covey refills.

The best part is, you may not have to commit to your cover's manufacturer. You could search on Etsy and google "printable planner refills" to build your planner the way you want to.

5. Search on YouTube for planner videos
You'll see people giving reviews of their planners and showing you how they use it. Short of seeing it in person, there's nothing better for size and style comparison than seeing someone holding the planner you're eyeing. Oftentimes the reviewer will show you how he customizes it to fits his own needs. She will show you her categories, how she organizes the planner, and sometimes how to break the rules. Hint: You don't have to write neatly in the space provided, and you can use the margins to jot down quick notes.

All these tips helped me in my discovery of my chosen planner. I haven't received it yet, but realizing how valuable all the information contained in the videos were, I'm thinking of creating my own video showcasing it.

The Wonder of Boys

I only have one son. He's 11 now and growing up faster than should be allowed. He's gratefully slow to mature; in many ways he's still a little boy. Every once a while, though, I'll watch as he solves a problem in a more grown-up way, or have an insight that surprises us all.

For many years I've heard of Michael Gurian. He's known as the expert on boys, and his "Wonder of Boys" book has been patiently sitting on my shelf for years. I finally picked it up, and once I started reading it, was glad I did.

As much as I thought I understood boys and men, I gleaned valuable information. I agree with Gurian when he says that the particular brand of feminism from the sixties and seventies, although valuable in its time, doesn't serve us anymore. To make a dramatic change from the then status quo, male patriarchy, it was necessary to use drastic measures. However, now that we have made great strides in women's rights it's time to dial back a little and see the world as it is.

In this world and this time, men and boys are not necessarily privileged and favored above girls. Boys are not monsters who need to be hemmed in and controlled left and right. Our nation's over diagnosing of ADHD is an example of this. The staggering number of men and boys in trouble - either homeless, mentally ill, promiscuous or in jail, makes us pause. Have we, in our zeal to correct a wrong - women's discrimination- gone too far the other way? Have we neglected our boys, or failed to see that bringing up boys the way we bring up girls is not the answer? That *gasp* nature may play as big of a part as nurture?

Michael Gurian posits this and many other interesting points in his Wonder of Boys. He not merely presents us with the problems, but offers doable solutions we all can work on to help raise our boys. Even if you don't have boys, you are part of the people raising boys. Gurian says the phrase "it takes a village" applies especially to boys. Boys need a combination of family members (Gurian says father and uncles - I say mothers too), mentors, and media to teach them.

Gurian spends a lot of time telling us that moms need to let go of their sons. I can see Gurian's point about enmeshment moms can get into with their sons, particularly single moms. However, as one with a supportive husband, I feel that I'm capable enough to have a healthy relationship with my son without completely letting go and having Dad take over. Yes, I do agree that Dad is the primary parent now in shaping his moral character and mentoring him, but I'm as involved as Dad was our son didn't want anything to do with him. Just as my husband didn't step aside out of the nest and have me raise my baby son alone, I'm not stepping aside completely but I'm still valuable and very much present in my son's life.

Yes, I do let go, and I do so consciously and carefully, not letting go too early or too often. It's a balance, like it is with everything. All that said, thank you, Michael Gurian, for writing an insightful and instrumental book in helping us mothers deal with our boys whose changing bodies and minds sometimes perplexes us.

On Finding Balance

As I sit here typing with a crick in my neck, I imagine a colonial mother carefully dipping her quill in an inkwell and moving her hand fluidly across the page.  I am her, she is me. We are both mothers, writing. She at least partially educated her children at home, so do I in the 21st century. Poetry and verse tend to bring two mothers and writers together.

For a long, long time I believed that I had to be a mother. Solely a mother. I don't like to say "only" a mother, as it implies diminishing this all-important, encompassing role. However, in being a solely a mother I forgot myself. Yes, I tried to do some things here and there to find myself again, but the demands of three children was alive and real, and my life was all about the kids. I still put them first, but now it's different.

I matter too. And I'm not being petulant about it or passive aggressive. I've learned to watch the kettle and see when the steam is about to rise. I turn off the switch and make some tea.

A wise, older friend told me this years ago. "Take care of yourself," she told me. "Don't feel guilty for taking some time off. You can take even more time off as you're with the children all day." Even though I understood in my mind, I didn't completely understand in my heart. The heart has to be swayed, swept away. A few years later I understood. It took the image of the mother on board an airplane putting on her oxygen mask before she put one on her child to really reach me. How could I be the best mother I could be if my resources were depleted?

So at thirty-eight and with children 11, 7, and 4, I'm seeking balance. It's a funny thing, this seeking balance. Once you start taking care of yourself a bit, your worldview expands and you enjoy life more. You keep seeking balance in everything - your relationships, your homeschool day, your spiritual life with God. The crucial matter is I let God take care of me now.

I know He does, He always has. Just like a toddler who shouts impatiently, "me do it myself!", I used to think that I could handle everything on my own. But now when I feel overwhelmed I stop and listen - I step out of the way and I let Him. I let Him help me. Balance. It makes all the difference.

Mockingjay

I'm going to hand my eldest son, 11, at the moment, The Hunger Games book when he's 12. After all, that's the age at which children begin to be included in the reaping for The Hunger Games.

Mockingjay Part I is coming out on the 21st! I'm excited, and want to watch it with someone who has read the books and cares about the characters. Here's the trailer - I can already envision discussions about these books when son is a teenager.

Tweaked School Schedule - 2014-2015

Our school days started again back in September. We had returned from a whole week at Disney World, spent, but with big grins on our faces. The hub and I felt like children again ourselves. Our children - 11, 7, and 3 - all had a blast and could enjoy something different.

Then Monday hit. Like a wall that pops up in front of you when you are cruising happily on a bike, it hit me. It hit us. We are definitely going to need some down time after a holiday like that. I expected whiny children. What I didn't see coming were the changes in the schedules and the cranky, griping teacher. It was back to the drawing board when it came to the schedule, which was way, way too long. We were doing school from 9 in the morning until 4 or 5. With my new schedule, which we tested out the following week, we could be by 2 if we started at 9. Since we like to stay up later and sleep in, we tend begin at 10 and end at around 3, depending on how many snacks we've had.

At my house it's all about the food. Something about mental effort makes my children extra hungry. That could explain why my youngest -who's not technically homeschooled yet in the traditional sense- is not on the hunger craves bandwagon, but my oldest two are. Oldest is in sixth grade and middle is in second. They are at different levels, but our schedule is so smooth now that everything has its own place.

Here's the basic idea why our schedule works. I'm sharing this in hopes this can help someone who's tackling their school schedule.

Group work:

Calendar, Poetry, and Geography on M, Tu, and Wed
Calendar, Poetry, Art Appreciation on Thu
Calendar, Poetry, Music Appreciation and Nature Study on Fri

Oldest: Independent Work
Middle: One-on-one work with Mama (about 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours)

Exercise break and piano practice for both (youngest joins in exercise activities)

Oldest: One-on-one work with Mama

Middle: Play with younger sister - also read to her

My youngest, who's three, also participates in table work by working on her Kumon tracing and mazes workbooks.

My Husband's Space Octopus

Space Octopus by artist William de Paula

My husband designed this rad T-shirt for a contest at Threadless - check it out and vote! You can also get it and wear it. If he wins, he'll get $20,000! That's a lot of money for homeschool books - hehe..

Writing & Rhetoric Narrative II

Primary Language Lessons (PLL) seemed to have worked well for Builder (10), but I don't think Intermediate Language Lessons (ILL) is working so well. He seems to need more guidance and finds ILL tedious and most of the time dull unless it asks for an original composition. I'm still trying to decide whether to skip ILL in favor of Writing & Rhetoric (W&R) or not. He liked the Narrative I samples. He found it interesting, but he feels he needs to finish ILL. I tell him ILL still needs another year, and he groaned. That's probably my cue, right? He actually asked if there was any more from W&R coming, and I told him no, the sample was done. It seemed easy for him. He seems interested, which is a lot to say for him. This kid doesn't like writing, he has told me that on multiple occasions.

Writing this, I think I will have him start Narrative II samples and see if he does well with it. I'm looking for something that is at his level, not too easy or too hard. Above all, I'm looking for something that sparks his interest. The aesthetics of this program and its interest level look right for him. I also like the fact that this particular volume works on outlining stories and summarizing from a longer narrative. Here we come! 

The End Is Near - Of School, That Is

The signs are all there. When we step out of the house, you can hear children's voices - other children's voices. When we go to the pool, the lifeguards are anxious and have duplicated themselves. They shout, "No running!" until they are hoarse as countless heedless children scurry on the moist blue padded floors around the pool. Our school district has finalized its lessons.

We, on the other hand, will not be done until the end of July, which coincides with my middle's birthday. Our month off will be in August, two weeks before the public school kids start school again. Our school begins again in the second week of September.

My kids are dragging their feet. I'm waning. The heat is palpable as soon as you step outside, a wall of humid heat that you enter like a spoon in jello. The air-conditioning that usually shuts off is always on, whether it's set on 85 or not. Schoolbooks are getting done one by one. A few more weeks, a few more weeks.

As excited as I am about showing my eldest the Superstar Student DVDs I got (from Great Courses), I'm not going to do it now. I'll wait until that first week or two of school, when the idea of the new school year is still fresh and he is much more likely to be receptive.

This July has been intensely hot. Good thing I had the World Cup to divert my attention. Now that it's over we still have the AC - and the pool. Bike rides followed promptly by cool showers. Nothing else will do.

RIP Tadpoles

The tadpoles didn't make it. The amount of lettuce we gave them must have exceeded the amount recommended for the amount of water they had inside the bottle. I was sadder than the kids were. They basically shrugged their shoulders and said that that sometimes happens. This from the kids who created fingertip-sized drawings for the "baby frogs" to enjoy, and a few hours long of entertainment. But so is the thing with kids. They move on - and rightly so- faster than we do. RIP, little tadpoles. Swim and hop around in froggy heaven.

The Newest Member of Our Homeschool

Dreamer (10) has been obsessed with reading Calvin & Hobbes for many weeks now. He decided that if Calvin had Hobbes, he needed his own buddy (apparently siblings don't cut it). After digging in his closet he chose his buddy in the form of the Sleeping Beauty dragon his uncle gifted him when he was four. He gave him a new life as Drago, and Drago now sits beside him during his schoolwork. Dreamer has assured me that Drago is fully rehabilitated and no longer bent on destruction. Furthermore, he is not actually the reincarnation of Maleficent, but transformed in a gentler male form. So far he hasn't caused any problems, but I'm keeping the family dog a safe distance away from him just in case. Here he is, hamming it up for the camera.

New Pets: Tadpoles

Not a very clear photo, but there is a tadpole here! A dozen shots later and this is the best photo I got. In a few weeks these little swimmers are expected to sprout legs and think themselves into frogs. We are all excited, but Nature Girl, 6, is beside herself. She even painted minuscule pictures to paste on the side of the bottle so the little creatures could enjoy some art :) I removed them for the picture, of course. It was hard enough to get a decent shot. We have four tadpoles, picked up from a park an hour away. Dreamer and Nature Girl scooped them up with pond water and algae for them to eat. At home we read the section on tadpoles in our book "Pets In A Jar" to make sure we had all our bases covered. I cross my fingers they will all survive!

A New Writing Program To Try

This year we started out with Wordsmith Apprentice, part of a plan that includes Wordsmith Apprentice in 5th and 6th grades, and beginning Wordsmith in 7th. The plan is to finish off with Wordsmith Craftsman in 9th grade. I have noticed however, that Wordsmith Apprentice is relatively quickly to get through, and we already started on Part II. We only work on writing as a formal subject on Fridays, a double period where Dreamer (age 10) works on his assignments almost independently. To round off his English/LA program, we read aloud and discuss, he reads good books independently, reviews grammar - first through Grammarland and now through Voyages in English 3 - and we work through Intermediate Language Lessons (second part).

To slow things down a bit, I decided to pause Wordsmith Apprentice and try the shiny new program everyone on The Well Trained Mind Forum has been talking about: Classical Academy Press' Writing  & Rhetoric. Looking at the samples, I see that Narrative I may be easy for him, and Narrative II more suitable, but easy may be a good thing. Dreamer doesn't enjoy writing unless he gets to write whatever he wants and following a bare minimum of rules and conventions. This may teach him while giving him the structure he needs, albeit in a simpler form. I would love to see him grow in his writing more and enjoy it instead of dreading it. I'm going to try the samples from Narrative I for the remainder of the year. If Dreamer likes it and learns from it, we can also try the samples from Narrative II (Book 3) and see how he does with that. Since we homeschool until August, we should have plenty of time to finish the samples and see if we would like this style. If he doesn't click with it, we will just return and continue with Wordsmith Apprentice.

Writing & Rhetoric looks like an appealing program that teaches the writing steps in a gentle, but yet effective way. I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Susan Wise Bauer's Audio Lectures: The Next Best Thing to Attending Her Lecture in Person

Even though I've been homeschooling for six years, I have yet to make it to a homeschool conference. Yes, when my oldest was two I went to a tiny local pseudo homeschool conference that ended being more about being a submissive wife, canning, and home finances than actually homeschooling. I don't really count that.

Why don't I go? Well, whenever I look at the speakers at my gigantic local state conference (5 hours away) I go.. Oh. Not worth the money, time, and expense for me. Now if Susan Wise Bauer were the speaker at my local state conference, I can tell that I will go. I'm waiting, Ms. Bauer (hint: I'm in Florida).

Now that we've established that I don't attend homeschool conferences, let me tell you what the next best thing is. Susan Wise Bauer's audio lectures. I'm not a classical homeschooler, and I don't intend to be. I do homeschool in the Charlotte Mason (CM) tradition, which is in and of itself with a pretty classical bent, but I'm not classical. However, there is much to glean even if you are not CM or classical from SWB's lectures. She has an approachable style, and she has experience both as a lecturer, college professor, and homeschool mother. I also own and use her Story of the World history books which have been the cornerstone of our history curriculum.

What I appreciate the most about Ms. Bauer's Peace Hill Press publishing company is her Well Trained Mind forum. It has been and continues to be an invaluable source in my homeschooling journey. Thank you, Ms. Bauer! I know I am one of many, many homeschooling moms exceedingly grateful for this top-notch forum.

It is on this forum that I got note of Ms. Bauer's lectures. If I'm not attending homeschooling conference, I can listen to valuable homeschooling advice at home. She gives this and more. Her lectures are lucid, illuminating, and leave me with a concrete plan or worthy insight into not only educating, but understanding my son (wait, I mean my children). Here she is, college professor and author of books, and she has also been frustrated with her kids sometimes.

I downloaded Homeschooling The Real Child and A Plan for Teaching Writing: Focus on the Middle Grades and couldn't have been happier. I could be listening to this in my underwear, drinking a mug of milk and eating a plate of cookies. I can do it again and again. Homeschool conference? Nah. Unless it were a Charlotte Mason conference. I do want to go some day to the one in Boiling Springs, NC.  Or a Well Trained Mind conference, which doesn't exist - yet.  Until then, I may as well stay home and tackle teaching writing while I snack on some cookies.

Of course, this is the way I really want to be listening to an audio lecture:

Second Grade Plans

As time-consuming as the logic stage is becoming, I also have Big Girl to think of as she's starting second grade next fall.

This year she has come along nicely in her reading, writing, and math, which I feel are important skills to focus on along with the enrichment she gets from art, music, and history through discussions with her older brother.

Sometimes I think it's funny to be calling my eldest daughter Big Girl, as she's got close to zero percent fat on her 45-pound frame, but she is the Big Girl in our family as she has a younger sister, Little Girl, who's 3 years her junior. As for Son, he's my only Son. Basically I'm writing these for convenience and distinguishing one girl from the other. If I had two sons, they would have been Big Boy and Little Boy. But I digress.

Here is what I have planned for Big Girl so far:

Reading/Phonics: Noah Webster's Reading Handbook, Harriet Taylor Treadwell's Second and Third Readers. Many books after that depending on her level. She enjoys the Magic Treehouse series, so she'll probably be enjoying it next year.

English: Serl's Primary Language Lessons (PLL) and Natural Speller

Math: Math Mammoth 2A and 2B

Literature Read-Alouds: Little House in the Big Woods, The Blue Fairy Book, The Railway Children, Tikki Tikki Tembo, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, The Mouse and The Motorcycle, Stuart Little

Reading: Living books

Natural Science: Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BFSU), Christian Liberty Nature Readers 1 and 2

Nature Study: Nature Connection and Nature Smart

History: Story of the World (SOTW) Volume I: Ancients plus Activity Guide ad relevant historical fiction and nonfiction

Spanish: Rosetta Stone Spanish, Muzzy Spanish, The Easy Spanish Jr. K-3, Duolingo

Penmanship: Penny Gardner's Italic: Beautiful Handwriting for Children and/or Getty Dubay Italic Character Italic

Poetry: Poetry for Young People Series: Edna St. Vincent Millay and Robert Frost (with Son)

Music: Piano, Usborne Introduction to Music

Art: The Usborne Introduction to Art, focus on Ancient Art

Sixth Grade Plans

Son is going to be 11 this fall! I can scarcely believe it. Here is our plan for next year, which will be sixth grade. I'm excited because we're cycling back to the study of the ancients after a little more than four years.

This is our list for next fall:

Mathematics: MM 5B and 6A
English: Serl's Intermediate Language Lessons (ILL), Wordsmith Apprentice, English From The Roots Up
History: Dorothy Mills' Book Of the Ancient World, Book of the Ancient Greeks, Book of the Ancient Romans using Kfamily's Mind in the Light curriculum, The Human Odyssey: Prehistory Through The Middle Ages, Landmark biographies, What Life Was Like, a great selection of living books
Literature Read-Alouds: A Christmas Carol, The Call of the Wild, White Fang, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Play: Shakespeare's Twelfth Night
Natural Science: Finish BFSU 2 Elementary Science Education, BFSU 3 Middle School Elementary, Behold and See 5 and 6, Exploring The Way Life Works, a nice selection of living books
Reading: Around the World in Eighty Days, Gentle Ben, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Incredible Journey, North to Freedom, A Wrinkle in Time, Cheaper by the Dozen
Geography: A Child's Geography: both Explore the Holy Land and Explore the Classical World, selections
Spanish: So You Really Want to Learn Spanish Book 1 (finish up) and Book 2; Duolingo Spanish, Rosetta Stone LatAm Spanish Homeschool Ed.
Latin: The Big Book of Latin Volume 1 - Lively Latin
Poetry: Millay, Tennyson, and Frost using Poetry for Young People series, Teaching Poetry Yes You Can
Art: Usborne Introduction to Art and for skills not sure yet. Daddy's in charge.
Music: Classics for Kids, Usborne Introduction to Music
Bible: The Children's Bible
Spelling: Natural Speller and Spelling City 

MM: Math Mammoth

BFSU: Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding

For history, I have created a reading schedule that coordinates each of Dorothy Mills' history books (Book of the Ancient World, Book of the Greeks, and Book of the Romans) with K12's The Human Odyssey. We're concentrating on Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome. Everything else we get to is gravy. I'm combining these with A Child's Geography: Explore The Holy Land and Explore The Classical World focusing on Egypt, Greece, and Italy. Big girl, who's six, will be joining us for the geography studies. She is going to be working on Story of the World Volume I: Ancients.

Building a Bird House

Fairchild Challenge 2012-2013 Awards Ceremony

As part of an environmental awareness program for schools and homeschoolers, Fairchild Botanical Gardens organizes Fairchild Challenge. Fairchild Challenge is comprised of a series of six challenges that schools complete, from art to writing. They are fun and educational. We were the only homeschoolers participating, and even though the other schools could choose the top three of each class, my kids won medals in three challenges! We didn't participate in the latter two challenges either. 

My middle daughter, 5, on stage as part of the acceptance of her owl mask award.

Here she is showing off the winning mask.

So proud of her!

Accepting her award for poetry, where she also won first prize.

My eldest won second in the category for the mask in his grade range - his was a snake mask.

It was a wonderful experience, and the kids learned to compete and I was very happy that they won - all by themselves. I was their coach, but they deserve all the credit.