OK...alright...it's been over a year since I updated my blog. I meant to keep a running record of all the things we do as a homeschooling family, and I just missed Kai's entire 1st grade year! I assure you, it was exciting and fun! I didn't realize how much time blogging would consume. The truth is that at the end of the day, I want to zone out on Facebook, rather than blog. I usually have So many pictures to share, the thought of rounding them up, narrowing them down, and then writing a story to go along with them...just made me say, "I'll do it later." I finally realized that the year had passed, and my blog was still not updated. I'm not one to just give up. I'm going to give this another try. I have much to share about our first month of 2nd grade...later.

The Science Chef

Last October, when we were up in Oregon, we visited the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, aka The OMSI. I've never been so captivated by a museum in my life. We enjoyed every single minute we were there. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see ALL of it, despite having spent 5 hours there. If you ever find yourself in Portland, Oregon, The OMSI is a must see.

At any rate, I couldn't leave the museum without having a gander at the gift shop. Museums always have the best selection of educational material for kids. Since The OMSI is geared towards kids, the gift shop was overflowing with goodies. I could've spent about 3 hours, and $3,000 of everything I wanted to carry out of there. Unfortunately, I only had about $50 to spend. I made the most of that $50. The lack of sales tax in Oregon was an added bonus. I picked up 2 games, a word of the day vocabulary book, and 3 other books. One of the books I picked is called The Science Chef. What a little gem this book is!

When creating our lesson plans for the year, I decided to use this book to get us started. The book contains 100 science experiments, with common household kitchen/pantry items. With each experiment, comes a short list of recipes. This gives me an opportunity to re-enforce the use of fractions, addition, and reading. Kai will also be learning how to cook and bake.

Our first experiment was finding out why popping corn pops. We learned that each kernel contains a drop of water. When that drop of water heats up inside the kernel, it expands. The energy builds up, until.....POP!! We dropped one kernel in the oil to watch how it pops. I don't know about you, but I've never done that before! We watched as the shell expanded. We could see the water inside, boiling with itty bitty bubbles. Then...suddenly....POP! Both kids squealed with excitement. Prior to popping, we dehydrated 1/2 cup of kernels, soaked another 1/2 cup, and left 1/2 untouched. We then popped each batch separately. We observed each batch after it was finished. What we found it that the untouched batch yielded the most pop corn, and best size popped kernel. The soaked batch, we thought would pop up the largest, and yield the most. However, it just proved that too much of a good thing can be bad. Lastly, the dehydrated batch yielded the least amount of popcorn, and turned out the smallest popped kernel. After the kids enjoyed a batch of pop corn, we made popcorn & raisin bars. Sweet, gooey, yummy goodness. Together, Kai and I recorded our findings, as pictured above. I recorded , while Kai dictated.

During our next science lesson, we will learn why onions make us cry....oy vey!

The Top 10 Reason We Homeschool

I have said it before, and I will say it again...I know homeschooling isn't for everybody. It's not the be all, end all of educational options. It's no the "best" option out there. I don't believe there IS a general "best". As parents, we try to choose what is best for our child's individual needs. Homeschooling is the path that my husband and I have chosen. Here are the reasons why.

1. I want my kids to get individualized, one on one instruction.
2. I want my kids to be in an environment where effective learning takes place.
3. I want my children's gifted talents to be encouraged, enhanced, supported, and challenged.
4. I want my son to be able to learn in an environment that is tailored to his needs because he WILL NOT sit in a desk without moving or talking for any length of time.
   
5. I want my kids to learn based on their interests, wants, and needs.
6. The educational methods that I believe work best for my son, are not being used in the public school setting.
7. I don't want 20 kids of the same age "socializing" my children.
   
8. I don't want my children picking up the bad habits and personality flaws of other kids in their class.
   
9. I don't want my children's days to to be consumed with school and homework.
10. I like knowing that my kids are safe, and in my care.

I have to admit that I hijacked this from another blog. However, I changed most of it to suit my ideas. I think many of us homeschoolers have chosen this path for the same general reasons, as stated in numbers 1,2,3, and 5. I just really felt the need to post this today, thanks for reading:o)

First Day of School

Today was the day! Our first day of 1st grade...officially. I woke up a little stiff this morning, needing a stiff cup of coffee. Yesterday I spent the day in the baking heat, standing in lines. Not to mention the 3 hours of screaming and rooting, while holding up signs for Kai's favorite wrestlers. We ended our summer with a bang! I treated Beau (for his birthday) and Kai to a spectacular day of wrestling fanatic activities. They were able to meet some of their favorite wrestlers, get their autographs, and watch a live event.

At any rate, I started off a little slow this morning. I knew I didn't have time to be lazy, summer is over! We were having some friends over that we hadn't seen in so long (more of that, later in this post.) I made us all a nice breakfast of french toast with peanut butter and fruit. Right after breakfast, we started with our lessons. All went smooth, for the most part. I had to stop once and remind Kai of our goals, and our responsibilities to each other. We read the first chapter of "The Wise Enchanter : A Journey Through the Alphabet" . What a fabulous book. Today we learned about a magical book that is to be used to record the journey that we are embarking on. Today, we added our first entry to the book. Kai did a form drawing for the letter A. He decided to do a gnome village. Drawing and coloring are not on Kai's "favorites" list. It took a little coaxing for me to get him to do this, and in the end, he did a fabulous job. He seems a bit excited about this magical book that he's going to create.

After our Language Arts lesson, we moved on to handwriting. We are starting from the beginning as we did last year, with the letter A. It corresponds with our Language Arts lesson, and the form drawing. I'm adding a sentence daily, to his handwriting practice sheet. Each sentence will include the name of an animal. Today it was "anaconda". We then looked up pictures of the anaconda on the internet. Kai was amazed to see a picture of a snake that could swallow him in one bite. It had a head the size of his. Did you know that they have 2 sets of teeth on the top of their jaw, and one set on the bottom. YIKES! Once we finished the handwriting lesson, we reviewed subtraction for Math.

Then it was fun time!! We had our friends over for the afternoon. We used to spend at least 3 Mondays a month with them. However, when her oldest started school, schedules became more hectic, and that meant the fun Mondays were over. What a sweet reunion they had today. They played Battle ground, got wet on the slip and slide, and wrestled. Today I really started to realize that Kai is a growing boy. No longer a toddler, but a KID. EEEK!! I found myself wincing every time he and his friend tackled each other. They were kicking, slapping, and pushing each other, laughing all the while. I had to refer back to my childhood for a moment, and recall all the times I saw my friend's brothers beating up on each other. I've decided that it's a much needed release of energy, and male bonding. Girls get together and talk, act cute, and boss each other around. Boys, they act like little cave men.

I thoroughly enjoyed having some mommy bonding time today, too. My friend Julianna is such a blessing. She's talented, fun to chat with, and crazy in the mind like me! We both talk a million miles an hour, and we understand each other's broken thoughts....meaning, we'll be talking about one thing, change the subject, make a point, and then go back to the subject that got cut off in the first place. We never miss a beat in our conversations!

Lastly, Kai had a minor milestone. I guess it's not REALLY a milestone, but in my mind it is. I couldn't help but mark it, as it's another reminder to me, that Kai is growing up every day. He received his first personal phone call. My phone rings, and I see it's from my friend Stephanie. I answered it as I normally do when she calls, with an enthusiastic "HOLA!" It was met with, "Angie, this is Ben. Is Kai there?" I paused for a moment, smiled, and handed Kai the phone. He didn't know what to do with it. He doesn't talk on the phone. He has the occasional 3 sentence conversation with his Nana, but he isn't a phone talker yet. It was cute to observe this minor milestone of his. He had a rather lengthy conversation about Legos and Star Wars. After they hung up, I learned of plans for a Star Wars battle tomorrow at the park. Kai was instructed to build Trooper Tanks with is Legos, and bring them to the battle. He and his daddy built the tanks together before bed time.

We're totally looking forward to tomorrow. Another day on our journey through the alphabet, and an action packed Star Wars battle. Life is good!

Out of the Loop

Today was Kai's 3rd soccer practice. Beau is the assistant coach, something he swore he wasn't going to do. He wanted to use the first soccer season to feel things out. Unfortunately, our team is in dire need of volunteers, so we both stepped up. Being involved is SO intimidating. Of course, I'm very involved with my kids. That's not the issue. It's being involved with other people that scares me senseless. Most specifically, strangers. I learned early on in life to adjust quickly to change. We moved a WHOLE lot up until I hit 5th grade. I bounced around to different High Schools as well, spending one of those years doing independent study. I made friends well enough, but I was always out of the loop. I never had history with my friends. My home life was almost always dramatically different from them as well. I was always envious of my friends and their connections to family and to each other.  Being an "outsider" always made me feel insecure. When I feel insecure, I tend to recede, and wish for nothing more than the comfort of what is familiar to me.

Over the past almost 12 years I've been married, 9 of those years have been spent in the same home. This is the longest I've ever lived in one spot. This is the only home my kids have ever known. One thing I love about Huntington Beach, is the sense of community. This is a fairly large city, but it's old. Everybody seems to know one another...truly. I see my clients out and about at the farmer's market, or while pumping gas. Everywhere I go, I hear a kid screaming Kai's name...or I have a mom telling me they know my husband and son from the park. It's a odd feeling for me, and it never gets old.

Last year, many of Kai's friends from the park and all of the local children's social gathering areas, started Kindergarten. The parks were empty, and the other social gathering spots were full of, in Kai's words,  "little kids". It was then that I took a moment to question my intentions. It was hard for me to refrain from projecting my own insecurities on Kai. We joined a homeschool group to give him the opportunity to build relationships with kids that are in the same boat. What a blessing that has been for all of us. It fulfills Kai's need for peer interaction, and my need to feel within my element.

Today, I showed up for soccer practice, and there was a new mom. One of the moms lives on the same street as us, so I knew her coming into the team. I had become acquainted with another team mom at the first meeting, and prior practices. Today, there was a new mom added to the mix. I walked up, and I froze. What? I'm 34 years old...grow up already, Angie!! I felt awkward, but I introduced myself after she initiated. Then, she turns and starts talking to my neighbor from down the street. They were talking about school, and parties, and the boys and their activities...blah blah blah. There I sat, out of the loop. I got up and took G to the playground. I talked to myself the whole way...talking myself out of the insecurity. I was receding, isolating myself so I could feel comfortable. I went back and forth several times, forcing myself to go to that place of insecurity.  Eventually, I joined the conversation. 

I have chosen to be a homeschooler. I knew that in doing that, I was going to have to make the extra effort to provide the proper social platforms for my child to grow as a person. I knew that meant I was going to have to step outside my comfort zone. When I set out to homeschool, I really had no idea how it would impact my life, and the lives of my kids. Today, I learned that I've allowed myself to get too comfortable in the bubble I've created. I can't grow and learn, if I don't challenge myself. I can't be an effective teacher, if I can't handle the challenges that come with homeschooling. 

Now, my next challenge is signing Kai up for Boy Scouts. 

The Opposition

I have this client that I see every four weeks. She's a nice enough lady, but a little too self absorbed for my liking. One of those people who acts interested, but once you start answering her questions, you quickly realize that she doesn't really care.

Once she found out I was planning to homeschool, every visit turned into a discussion about homeschooling. She's always the voice of dissent. She's absolutely astonished that people actually homeschool. It's not just something you hear about on the news, or see in a 

movie. *gasp*. She's a university graduate herself, with two grown daughters who are graduates as well. Her oldest daughter is a high school history teacher. She, and both of her daughters were very active in school, and went on to join sororities in college. She's very traditional, in the sense of what is "the norm". We've discussed the social aspect of homeschooling more times than I can count. She's convinced that homeschooled kids don't really get proper social stimulation. If only I had a dollar for every time I've had this conversation with people.

Today she came in as usual, for a shampoo and haircut. Naturally, she asked how homeschooling was going. I told her that since we are in summer break, I was creating my lesson plans, while Kai was enjoying the last bit of vacation. I went on to tell her that I was excited about the upcoming year, because I will no longer be using the K-12 curriculum. I went on to explain that it just wasn't a good fit for either of us, so I decided to change it up. I want to go with the Montessori philosophy of focusing on Kai's strengths. He LOVES Science and Math. Good Eats is one of his favorite shows on TV, so, when we were in Oregon, I picked up this book called The Science Chef. There are 100 experiments that revolve around cooking and baking. This will not only instill a great life lesson (cooking), but it will also teach Kai about fractions. This is highly encouraged within the Waldorf method of teaching...something else I'm very fond of. I was gushing to her about a book I bought called The Wise Enchanter. It's a journey through the alphabet, using folk lore. Each letter has a story. Along with a story a day, I will have Kai do a form drawing of the letter...this is also a Waldorf method. This will be part of his Language Arts, and handwriting. Then this is the most exciting part...I have a book called Little Big Minds. It's a book about how to share philosophy with children. I picked it up last year, and have been counting the days to when I will put this book to use. I am replacing History with this book, and calling it Social Studies. I will be touching on the philosophical topics such as justice, compassion, freedom, humanity, and courage...just to name a few. 

....and this is where I get to the point in this post. When I told her that I wasn't going to be really focusing on actual history this year, she snapped her neck around in shock. "Well, you DO have standards you have to meet, don't you? I mean, he needs to know these things!" I took a deep breath, to clear my head before I spoke. I politely  said, "No, he doesn't NEED to know about the Civil War at the age of 6. It's not important to know who our 16th president was, at 6 years old. There is no lesson in that information. It doesn't help his development right now. There is plenty of time for him to learn that, in the future." Without skipping a beat, she says, "Well, don't you have to answer to somebody? I mean, anybody can say that their child isn't ready to learn a subject, and not teach  them...then what good does that do the child?" Before I go on...I realize that there are some weird people out there that would actually do something like that. However, that represents a very small fraction of the homeschooling community. She continues on to say, "...He needs to know these things to survive and get by in everyday life." Now, I will agree with anybody, that History is a wonderful thing to know. It's enriching in so many ways. In all honesty though, I don't find it to be essential for day to day survival. As snarky and condescending as I wanted to be, I refrained. I will share with you, what I shared with her.

From the moment our children are born, they are dependent on us. Dependent on us to meet every little need they have. We, the parents, are their first and most important teachers. As they grow, we learn to read their cues and translate their language. We teach them how to walk, how to talk, and how to use the potty. We encourage their growth through family interaction, play dates with friends, and one on one time. The things we do and the things we say, impacts every fiber of their being. I believe that the most important years for social development, are happening right now. Knowing the name of the ship that brought the Colonists over from Europe, is the last thing on my list of important things my son needs to know. Friendship, responsibility, happiness, courage, freedom and justice. These are all things that my child NEEDS to begin to learn about. Now is the time to help him examine these subjects, and learn how to put them into action in his own life. These are subjects that will help him build character, and understanding. These issues impact him as a person, and will do so for the rest of his life. Having a solid understanding of responsibility, I would say, is a quality that will impact him in day to day life.  It will impact his survival. So, as far as standards go, I leave that up to the public schools. I know my child best. I know what his needs are. I know what I believe is important in life. I don't need a person, or any educational authority, to validate my worth as a teacher. It is my job as a parent, to make sure my children are prepared for life, once they leave the nest. Every parent chooses to prepare their children, however they see fit. I hope for my children to be self sufficient, independent, educated, confident, and eager to live life.

After all of that, she turns to me and says, "Well, I can understand where you're coming from, but I just think that children need to know the standards."

So, you win some, you lose some. I know that homeschooling isn't for everybody, just as public school isn't for everybody, and neither is private school. I for one, am grateful that we all have a choice.

Granny Glasses

I have had these glasses for years. I don't remember when they came into my life, or exactly where they came from. I wore them once with a costume I made in 6th grade. I've never really thought of why I've held onto them all of these years, until recently. Gidget is a very girly girl, but she loves to get dirty. She loves mud, climbing, digging, wrestling...and dressing up. Shoes are her favorite accessory, with glasses of any shade in a close second. The day she discovered these glasses, she wore them out of the house, and to the market. She'd take them off, stare at them, and then put them back on. She spends a lot of time in front of the mirror, looking at her reflection...talking to herself...admiring herself...and smiling. I now know why I've held onto them all of these years. Simply put, they are just cute! I've always loved old things. I'm drawn to the color, the shape, and the sparkly accents on the corners. I have spent many hours just simply wearing these around when I'm by myself. They were put away for many years, until Gidget discovered them. It's so special to see her getting so much enjoyment out of them. I suppose these glasses will remain a permanent fixture in this household.