Monday, October 19, 2009

Older Kindergarten Week #5 Monday

Well, we are back in the saddle! A weekend ago we went to Leavenworth Washington to enjoy the fall leaves turning. It was really wonderful. We hiked on the Iron Goat trail on the way over. We walked along the Wenatchee River and watched the salmon spawning. This year Oma took us on a horse and carriage ride. With the excitement and the noise of sharing a hotel room, no one gets much sleep, so we took last week off from homeschooling.

Meanwhile, this week we are still increasing on our Michaelmas circle. Baby is almost 2.5 years old and really wants to be down for our morning walk, and since he is slower, Brother and I are going to march in place to keep our heart rate up when we are waiting for Baby. I'm trying to continue to find ways to strengthen Brothers core.

For Story we are reading the Enki Folk tale "The Old Woman and the Red Pumpkin." Brother likes it because it has a pumpkin and is a little scary in honor of halloween.

This weekend when walking under the Oak Trees we found many, many acorns. The West Wind has been ripping through our yard for about the last week. So, we are also reading Enki story "The Gift Of The Might Oak" for our nature study. Brother was a little afraid of the West Wind, but over all he enjoyed the story.

Craft today was baking, so we made muffins. Today's challenge is that Baby skipped his nap, so we laid down together for 20 minutes and then we came downstairs and Baby played alone in the rec room for the rest of the hour or so. Brother stayed up in his room. This unfortunately means I missed my meditation.

Another big change is that we put a bed for Baby in the kid's bedroom. Until now we have all essentially all been sleeping in the adults bedroom. Sure, we put Brother in his own bed at night, but he moves back in with us around 2pm when he wakes up the first time. We need more sleep! So, I am trying to teach the kids to sleep in the kid's room. We have a double bed on the lower bunk, so I am hoping that eventually Brother and Baby will just snuggle together instead of coming in with us. Meanwhile, I am sleeping in the kid's room for now so that Daddy can get a full night's uninterrupted sleep. He is working almost all the time and needs quality sleep to maintain focus. Wish us luck!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

older Kindergarten Week #4 Tuesday

We were up on time and took our walk right away this morning. It was much better, the boys had plenty of energy and we had no problems during circle.

Two official days of homeschooling down for the week. Whoo Hoo!

We babysat an extra hour and a half today, which meant that we didn't get to the beewax. We are going to http://www.leavenworth.org/ this weekend to enjoy Alpine Folk Music and food. I think I'll take the beeswax with us to play with in the hotel.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Thankful

I feel so blessed - lucky - grateful to be able to homeschool. Today I was listening to a poem being read on NPR and I loved it. I loved the pictures it painted in my mind as I heard it, I loved the rhythm. The other day I purchased a book of children's poems by Robert Frost because the seasonal poems were so beautiful. Being touched by poetry is a gift given to me by my children and our path. A few years ago, I truly had no interest in poetry and could not see it's beauty.

Older Kindergarten Week #4 Monday

I can't believe it is week 4 all ready!

I added onto our St. George circle. Brother really loves it and gets sucked in immediately. It is so wonderful to see since he really hated the squirrel and apple circle. Baby isn't so interested in circle right now, but at 2.25, he is only along for the ride.

I didn't remember to start reading and meditating on a Fairy Tale last week. I've been listening to podcasts from Melissa at A Little Garden Flower. She is very clear that if you are not prepared for an activity - don't do it. So, we did not read an Enki Fairy Tale this week, instead I chose an Enki Folk Tale that I have read to myself many times called "The Foxes Proof". On the bright side, Brother asked me to read it two times because it just wasn't enough for him. So, I do know that he needs Fairy Tales now, and I will be prepared next week.

Today was Baking Day. I made 2 batches of Granola with help from Baby, milled 1 batch of applesauce, cooked another batch that is cooling and made 2 batches of muffins. Brother helped make 1 batch of muffins. Baby was asleep so it was much easier. It was so nice spending that time alone with Brother. We don't get much time without Baby. I'm sure that will shift as Baby gets older and can play more by himself.

I swear, I have been cooking almost all day! Back to the kitchen for me. I still have to mill a batch of applesauce and prep tomorrows dinner - And do dishes. Yikes!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

older Kindergarten Week #3 Saturday

Whoever thinks that homeschoolers are locked in the house all day, sitting at a desk "schooling" is crazy! We are so busy socially that I can hardly get things done at home. Anyway, the boys watched daddy doing various house projects today. This afternoon we were able to complete our wet-on-wet painting activity scheduled for Friday. Both boys painted at the same time, so I didn't get to paint myself. I guess it is good that we are not doing led paintings yet! It is so surreal. Brother became lost in the colors today while painting, experiencing color qualities instead of trying to draw a particular object. I did start singing a song about red leaves falling before he started painting so that could have influenced him. Or it could be that we have had a strong rhythm for quite some time now. I am surprised and quite pleased though. It is so exciting to see processes occurring that I have only heard about!

Friday, October 2, 2009

Older Kindergarten Week #3 Friday

Plans were canceled this morning. I took to heart the lesson I learned earlier this week. Replace the plans with homeschooling, the morning rhythm sets the tone for the whole day. So, we did another day of "lessons."

We were invited to join a couple of other like minded families for an afternoon of outdoor, old fashioned games. I did have to cut rest time short, so if this becomes a weekly gathering, I will need to pay more attention to the clock. Anyway, the kids had a great time! Brother watched some games and joined in for others. After the games, the kids played together, really well actually!

Wet-on-wet painting was pushed off until the weekend because we have a family birthday party tonight!

Thursday, October 1, 2009

older Kindergarten Week #3 Thursday



Today we reached our goal of homeschooling 3 days this week. After baby sitting, which falls into social time, we made our craft, Wind Socks. The boys had a great time trying them out in the living room. The crepe paper really makes a neat sound. I hung them out in the grape arbor so that we could enjoy watching the wind catch them without the rain ruining them.