La Vida Bella

Today we spent a wonderful day at a nearby state park. We attended Nature Circle, and the theme was a log's life. DD got to examine a log up close to see what kind of critters she could find. She found ant and lichen; it was so neat to see her using a magnifying glass to get a closer look.

We hiked the trail again and she made it nearly the whole two miles before needed a break in the wagon. We saw tons of deer again: several doe and fawns and even a young buck-so young we could still see the fur on his antlers. We saw a crane in the water fishing for its lunch. It's such a peaceful way to start the week, and I felt so grateful to be out in the beautiful sunshine with my daughter, just watching the wheels go round and round.

Blood, blood

It's too bad I can't convey the proper Count Dracula accent in the title. Yesterday we read a book about blood and one about the heart. This morning, she drew several pictures of blood and wrote some descriptions. She remembered a good deal from the book, which was exciting to see because you know what's going in, but you don't always get to see what comes out, educationally speaking.

She had a playdate with a friend this morning, and they had a great time jumping on the trampoline and cleaning up their clubhouse. I told them they were welcome to take that act inside anytime. It's great to see her with her friends. She is a good hostess, letting her friends suggest the activities and offering them first pick of toys, etc. She definitely plays well with others.

She also worked another puzzle today. Unfortunately, it was a puzzle from the pile of toys designated for an upcoming yard sale. I left the pile in the attic, but I should have taken the extra precaution of covering it with a blanket. I thought this after I saw her on her chair peeking into the attic. Oh well. If I can manage to sneak the rest of the stuff out, we'll be quite a few possessions lighter, which will make me feel better.

She later wheeled the office chair into her bedroom so she could reach some things on the top shelf of her closet. She wanted to have a sale. I bought a bracelet, a bookmark and a plastic ring for $2. Pretty good considering one necklace was $6 billion.

She also hoodwinked me into playing Barbies today. She knows I am no good at making up stories, so she now directs the show and provides my dialogue. All I have to do is hold Tinkerbell, Snow White, Aurora or a black-haired Barbie known as the Witch and do EXACTLY what she says. As long as I have my cup of tea, I can handle that.

Trustful Parenting

I was made aware of an interesting article today:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/200908/trustful-parenting-may-require-alternative-conventional-schooling

This is the type of parent I would like to become. Right now, I am the quintissential helicopter mom. I have, however, started asking whether she wants my help, so perhaps I am taking baby steps towards trustful parenting. I like to think so. I'd like to be the calm, relaxed mom who accepts the chaotic nature of learning (and life) and teaches her daughter to respect and enjoy that aspect. In reality, I am the Ms. Clean of the universe, constantly scrubbing surfaces with her handy dandy Magic Erasers (which are truly fab, by the way. I can't tell you all the surfaces I've shined with them.)

We read all these delightful picture books and my favorite author/illustrator is Kevin Henkes. He draws the type of family I would love for us to be: relaxed, disheveled, busy, creative. Unfortunately, I have a long-standing disagreement with dishevelment. Somehow, I think homeschooling is going to teach me more than it ever teaches DD.

She is as busy as ever, writing stories and signs and advertisements for her ever-expanding art museum. I've made a real effort to read more picture books this week (somehow the day was getting by without reading any. Horrors!) and we've discovered the magic of the Magic School Bus. Long live Ms. Frizzle (soon to become another of my heroines, I think)!

Whoa Nelly

I can tell we've been running too much when DD asks me "What are we going to do today?" before breakfast. These past few days have been so pleasant. We've just relaxed and played and read. I'm finally easing into a routine that feels comfortable for both of us. We usually start our school day around 10 AM. This includes reading, games that involve math, etc. Lately, she's been playing barber shop, which involves setting up her princess tea tray as a barber's tray with various implements of torture. She then "fixes" my hair. One bonus is that I do get to read during this, so I've managed to finish one book and get far into another over the past few days.

She also completed more work for her art museum today. Two more pictures went up, and the sign was finished as well. She now wants Daddy to get up on the ladder and post art museum signs all over the house, as well as a sign at the corner pointing to our house. I can see I'm going to have to orchestrate a gallery opening soon. I suppose I could serve a nice apple vintage with some Mini Moo string cheese. Very elegant.

She also wrote a story today entitled The Love Book. It was not written to me or Daddy. Quelle Suprise...

Round and Round

We've had a whirlwind few days: birthday party at Monkey Joe's, Girl Scout info meeting, a trip to the county fair, Nature Circle and dinner with Uncle Tom who is in town on business. We're pooped!

DD had a great time at the fair. She rode all the rides she could and enjoyed all but one. The spinning, centrifugal force ride proved to be less fun than the others, and unfortunately, she was treated to a bonus ride when the ride operator FORGOT TO LET THEM OFF AND STARTED THE RIDE AGAIN. Her poor little face was frozen into a grimace and her friend was patting her shoulder throughout. After one mom argued with the ride operator, he finally stopped the ride and let them off. To my great surprise, she didn't say much about it. She just went on down the midway, looking for the next thrill. There's a metaphor for life in there somewhere, but my head is still spinning too much for me to figure it out.

We learned all about rocks today in Nature Circle and then we went on a two-mile hike around the lake again. This time, our friends went with us and the kids walked nearly the whole way. We saw several deer, one buck, a couple of fawns, a turkey and a turtle. Bonanza!

Tomorrow, a quiet day at home is on tap. We have to rest up for soccer season. Her first practice is tomorrow night!

You've Got to Have Friends

We spent a lovely day at the zoo this afternoon. We attended the first homeschool afternoon class for the fall. The kids learned all about the five senses and how different animals make sense of the world. We met some terrific homeschool families and DD was able to make some new friends. Hooray!

This week has been a good one for us. Now that life is settling down a bit (the amazing 5th year celebration is finally drawing to a close), we can hunker back down into our rut, I mean routine, and learn, baby, learn. Disco inferno!

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

I've been trying to maintain "office hours" to give myself some much needed discipline and structure. It helps to focus the day. I'm still pretty loosey goosey in terms of planning right now. We pushed so hard last year that I am loathe to go down that road again. Of course, it's always possible I'm overthinking.

We ended up reading tons of books today, simply so we could (finally) return them to the library. DD is really interested in her puzzles again and she has a renewed interest in art. She added a few more pieces to her art collection.

In spite of lingering clouds, it turned out to be a beautiful day. We made it out to the library and the park this afternoon. She shocked me by not wanting to introduce herself to some kids and play with them. She told me later that she was afraid to ask them because they already had enough kids for the game. It's time to join the field trip group. Now.

I Just Had Another Fabulous Idea

We had a very productive day today. Dd slept later than usual (making up for lost zzzzs over the weekend), so we had a nice, relaxing morning. So glad that I recently read a blog on inventive play. It eradicated any lingering guilt the old me would have felt for not interrupting DD's fairy tea party at the beach in order to "do school." Here is the link to another interesting article about play, kindergarten and pressured kids.

Later, we drew one circle on five sheets of paper and decorated their faces with chips. Ideally, we would have had some deep discussion regarding the total number of chips needed for eyes, nose and mouth. Possibly we might even have developed some unbelievable intricate patterns. None of that stuff happened. We did, however, have a great time making the mouths especially and talking about how many circles we had, how many eyes we needed, etc. DD was very excited by this game and had lots of fabulous ideas for expanding it in ways I hadn't dreamt of, which is sort of the point, mom. Duh.

She read me a story of her own accord, listened to several stories and proceeded to begin work on transforming our home into an art museum. Excellent.

We ended the day with biking/running trip on the greenway. Not a bad Tuesday.

Do Snails Like Spaghetti Sauce?

We don't know the answer to this puzzling question. Yet. However, we do know that at least one snail likes tomatoes. We found one burying himself (herself?) alive in one of our tomatoes. One of our finally ripe tomatoes. It's only taken the whole summer for them to bloom, grow and ripen. Oy! We're going to have a bumper crop of tomatoes, though. That is, if the snails don't get them first.
We went to our nature program this morning and learned all about otters. Afterwards, we went to the park and hike the trail for a bit. We didn't see many animals at all, possibly because of the decibel levels of the kids, but as we were leaving, we were rewarded by the sight of a doe and her fawn.

We came home and worked our new puzzle. It's a map of the world, which DD received for her birthday. Thanks friends! DD had a great time putting it together. It's a far cry from the 500 piece puzzle we are slogging through in the dining room. I guess I just wanted to add an extra layer of complexity to our lives. Really I was going for a sort of On Golden Pond warm homey feeling, but I need to remember that I am more Henry Fonda than Katharine Hepburn.

Another riddle

Here is DD's latest riddle:
What is smooth and soft and you have to dress warm?

After several incorrect guesses and the hint about dressing warmly, I finally arrived at the right answer: snow.

We read lots of books today, including the entire George and Martha collection. Shew! It's a good thing those stories are so short.

She made some elaborate patterns with her pattern blocks, built some houses for Ariel and Sebastian, played a mean game of driveway tennis (until it got too hot) and choreographed a ballet sequence to Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody. For real. (We just happened to turn the radio on at the right time.) It feels like a pretty educational day.

Happy, Happy Birthday

DD turned five today.

Her to-do list:
Breakfasting in bed - check
Lunching at Chik-fil-a - check
Making homeade birthday cake - check
Eating Dad's Famous Salmon Stew for dinner - check
Receiving Tinkerbell's Teapot House - check
Watching The Wizard of Oz - check

She sang to herself all day: "I'm 5. Happy Birthday to me. I'm 5" in rocking Hannah Montana style.

All in all, a terrific birthday for us all. I just can't believe my baby is 5!

One Deer, Another Deer, Another Deer

Today was Nature Circle Monday, and the theme was Totally Turtles. DD learned a good bit about turtles and even got to see a couple of live box turtles and some old empty shells. She made a cute turtle craft out of a bowl, some green and brown tissue paper and construction paper head, tail and legs. It turned out really well and no meltdowns were experienced during the making of this craft.

We brought the wagon with us today so that we could make the two-mile hike around the lake. I also thought to bring the camera! We saw lots of critters today. However, I keep getting a 404 error when I try to post them. I'll try again tomorrow. Good night!

Officially Official

Our official letter ratifying our homeschoolness arrived in the mail today, so we are well and truly in the system. I thought it fitting that it arrived on the last day of our first week of true homeschooling, which went pretty well. DD is reading more than ever: incidental phrases on cereal boxes, Dr. Seuss books, snippets of sentences out of my books. We're working on identifying coins and their worth, bills and their worth and basic addition, courtesy of her piggy bank and Monopoly, Jr. (which I highly recommend). We finished listening to Cheaper by the Dozen, and my new heroine is Dr. Lillian Moller Gilbreth--mother of 12 children who earned her Ph.D after she married and started her family. Her experiences put mine into perspective. We started listening to Matilda, which I am enjoying, but DD is not. She doesn't like the prevalent use of "Shut up" and thinks we should tell the librarians to throw it in the trash. However, she does want to listen all the way through.

All in all, our first week has been very productive and successful, and we've still managed to enjoy being with friends, having summer fun.

Feed the Worms, Tuppence a Bag

Only the net mesh cost a tuppence. The rest of their meal was entirely free.

This appetizing feast consists of leaves secured under a mesh cover, which in turn is secured by using paper clips. Ingenious! Today is day 1 of our experiment. Hopefully, in a few days, we will begin to see the leaves decompose as the worms chow down. We went on an unsuccessful worm hunt to improve our odds, but alas, our yard is so dry, no worms were to be found. It's raining outside now, so hopefully a few will emerge by morning. Then, we can capture them and relocate them to the buffet.

DD sketched the leaves and we'll continue to draw and photograph each day. She selected a circular pattern so that we can see the decomposition more clearly. That's the theory at least.

DD also did quite a bit of reading today. Interestingly, she read most when I was out of the room. What does that say about me??? But I was glad to hear it. Very glad to hear it.

School Daze

Nature Circle resumed today after a two-month summer holiday. Today the kids learned about worms: where they live, what they look like, what they like to eat and why gardeners love them. The kids also worked on a great craft; each child received a laminated worm with holes punched across the top and fishing line to be strung through the holes. The fishing line represented the seatea, or bristles, of the worm. It's what help them grip the soil in case they are being attacked by a predator. That last part really made an impression on DD.

After class, we spent a lovely few hours wandering through the park. We saw a mother turkey and her babies, a lizard sunning itself on a limb, hundreds of tadpoles (some were even beginning to resemble frogs), minnows and a fawn. The kids spotted the fawn in the undergrowth off the trail. I looked and was ready to tell them it was just a log, when the log turned and looked at me.

We came home and read several books and played a couple of card games. It was a great way to end a wonderful day, and the whole day was a wonderful inauguration into what I hope will be a very productive and educational school year for the both of us.