Still here...

still doing school. I can't believe that I haven't posted in such a long time. We are doing school, I guess I keep forgetting to get the camera out. ;-) We have struggled the past month or so. It's just the time of year where the excitement of school starts to wear off and with the children being cooped up inside more...they just need to run off some energy. I don't want cabin fever to set in already, winter has just started. So we do our best to find things for them to do inside. This picture was taken a long time ago, but this is an activity that Big T enjoys. Beloved's grandfather was a locksmith many, many years ago. When his grandpa passed away Beloved kept many of the keys his grandfather had saved. The children love to get this box out and sort them by size, color and type. (98% of them are skeleton keys.)

The children have also learned how to do without water in the house for a day. The city came in and shut off our water (was supposed to be for about 4 hours). It turned out to be almost 8! Where the guy is standing in the picture (in the hole) is where I usually park. Now our parking area is all uneven and there is a big dip in the road now. Guess the children will learn how to do some yard work to even our parking area out when it warms up. ;-)

Anyway, I plan on taking more pictures of our school adventures during the new year. So I promise I will have a lot more to show. :-) Hope you are enjoying your week and Happy New Year!

Really.....a Month?

I can't believe it's been a month since I posted last. Seems I have fallen so far behind in so many things. I am afraid this post will be just like the one on our family blog. A little of this and a little of that. :-)

First up is Little E. I don't have anything structured for him. He is hard to keep in one place. :-) But he does love to color. One of his favorite things are knights. He usually says, "Mama...I want a knight paper." He likes to cut them out and give them to different people in the family.

Now why would I have a picture of a self-inking stamp? This thing has been a lifesaver! I wish I would have known about it sooner. No......really! I am serious. I am not always good at getting papers put in their place right away and they easily get mixed up. By stamping the children's papers as they finish allows me to put them in order more easily. I sort them by subject and then date. It is so much easier to file things away. I know I could just put them in their proper place every day, but we all know that won't happen. :-) So this stamper is my new school love.

Daily Sweet E hands in her school work with a picture at the bottom just for me. She is so sweet, but sometimes I wish she would just do her work. But I know that one day she won't doodle a picture just for me on her schoolwork. :-( So I will enjoy it for now.

Something I love about homeschooling.......It doesn't have to be in the home! WE frequently go outside and on little field trips. Special K joins in as well. They even sit in trees to do their work sometimes.

The week that we talked about Pocahontas and Squanto we also talked about the different types of homes different tribes lived in. The children made wigwams and tepees.

One warm Friday we packed up our nature notebooks, colored pencils and some water bottles and walked to the river. They had some new scenery to draw in their notebooks and then they got to explore the area afterward. Who wouldn't love having school outside on a rock island in the river?

Whoops!

I even have a video of their first memory verse for the year.

Best Sight....

We all have those moments when you see your children (Or nieces and nephews) and you feel so proud. I have to say that this set of pictures shows some of the proudest moments in my life recently. This time last year I didn't know if Big T and Sweet E would ever learn to read. Now....they LOVE TO READ! I find Big T reading anywhere he can take a book. I love it and I just had to share. :-)

Learning Experiences...

...around every corner. You never know what you and your children will learn today. For example, one day Big T found a teeny tiny toad in our yard. He became a lesson for the children through observation. This little guy was so small I don't even know how Big T spotted him. He seems to have an eye for this type of thing.

Learn to make any and every opportunity a learning experience for the family. That is the beauty of homeschooling the children. So much of the learning is never planned! I have learned (in the short time that I have been homeschooling) to take advantage of every single opportunity. I am so grateful that I have the privilege to teach my children at home! I thank the Lord every day. (Oh, and we have just completed our first week of school. I will post more about that later.)

Back In Session

Sort of. We have started some handwriting/copywork/tracing this week along with math. Next week we jump into Adventures in My Father's World. I can't wait. Since the children are so interested in the Revolutionary War it is perfect timing to be using this curriculum. It goes through American history starting all the way back with the vikings. I don't have any pictures to show, but I will very soon. Promise. :-) As for Little E, he seems eager to do some school work too. (more than he was last year). So that's encouraging as well. Just thought I would give you an update and I will have pictures soon! Blessings to you all!

Hiking and Letterboxing

Our family has enjoyed letterboxing a lot. It teaches the children to follow directions and we get some P.E. in at the same time. We went hiking over the 4th of July weekend and I think, as a family, we hiked 6 miles total. Little E did a great job keeping up with his little legs. I think walking NY and Brooklyn helped him prepare for hiking. LOL We went up to Mohican and I think we found 4 stamps in one day. It was great to have time with the family and have a picnic lunch. We started out at the Nature Center in the campground.

Special K had the best view of all

I just want to say....this thing is a whole lot bigger than you think it is. I can remember climbing the fire tower in Jackson County Indiana all the time as a kid. So I thought, "No problem. I can climb this in a jiffy." NOT TRUE! I think I only made it up to the second platform and called it quits. Beloved said that having children changes you. He is right. My self-preservation instinct has been kicked into high gear! Big T was so upset we didn't go all the way to the top. He wasn't scared of anything.

The first hike we did was very pleasant. We walked about 2+ miles and it was all along the river. It was so quiet. I forgot how quiet it can be. I loved it! The children were sitting here watching the fish in the river.

After the first hike we had our lunch and the children wanted to walk across the covered bridge.

Two of my favorite people

This little girl is so stinkin' cute!

Then of course we had to make a stop at the swings. Special K loved sitting on my lap while swinging. She would get so made at me when I would stop. But I tell you what....those swings are not made for plump bottoms! LOL

After the swings we went over to Pleasant Hill Dam and hiked another 4 miles. I was so tired! But it was a good tired. The children can not wait to do it all over again! Hope everyone is having a great summer! We are starting a light load of school work next week (hopefully).

Staying Busy

We aren't doing any official/structured schooling, but we are always staying busy. One day I needed the children to run off some energy (P.E.). So I pulled an idea from my craft folder for the children to do. All it takes is a piece of paper, a string, and a stapler. You can find instructions for one close to our kites here. It's very simple.

You may trip and fall, but just get back up and try again.

See....you can get the kite to work. :-)

Everyone can have some fun!

And hopefully the children will sleep better at night! :-)

Letterboxing Adventures

Our family has recently taken up letterboxing as an activity. You may be wondering what letterboxing is. Well, these two website will give you a quick overview.

Letterboxing North America

Atlas Quest

It really is a lot of fun. Geocaching is the more popular right now, but if you need something more inexpensive to do...letterboxing is it. You never know where you will find a letterbox. We have discovered a great new place for hiking in the process. We figure that any time we go to visit family or on a short trip we can see if a letterbox is nearby. This is the last place we discovered. It's the Spring Valley Nature Preserve outside of Granville, OH. I had no idea this even existed.

Hey look! The bank were Beloved works helped create the nature preserve.

I don't have any pictures of us finding the letterbox. Didn't think about it, but I did snap this one of Little E playing in the creek. :-)

I didn't expect to find platform tennis courts in the woods either.

Here is a quote from the Granville website about the park:

Spring Valley, once a community pool and recreational area, is a wooded natural area preserved in 2006 as public land through donations from several local Granville institutions, residents and organizations. Located off of Cherry St/Rt 16, Spring Valley adjoins Salt Run Park for a combined area of 97 acres. Denison University students and Granville Middle School students worked together in 2007-08 to clear paths and build rock bridges, Several hiking trails are now completed. The park also includes two shelter houses (rented through Granville Rec), a platform tennis facility, paved parking and portable rest rooms. Future plans are still under development.

So, there you have it. A little info about our newest activity as a homeschooling family. :-)

Our Newest Neighbor

Yes, that's right. A baby snapping turtle is our newest neighbor. I don't know if he has a name yet, but I have been told he isn't an "Einstein." But more of a court jester without the hat. :-) Seems like Fred attracts all sorts of wildlife. He brought a hellbender for the children to see a while back. As long as he doesn't bring a snake back to keep. I think I'll be okay...but ask me again later...I may change my mind. :-) (Not about the snake part)

This is another great thing about homeschooling. Learning opportunities come from many different places and people.