A Few of my Favorite Things

1) Sunshine
2) Waking up with a big hug from DD
3) That fall chill in the air
4) Time
5) Books

Speaking of books, here is an interesting link I received from another homeschooling group:

45+ Free Homeschool e-Books from Sylvan Dell Publishing

Through PEAH (and thanks to the generosity of Sylvan Dell), you can enjoy unlimited access to the entire collection of Sylvan Dell e-books until the end of the 2009/2010 school year - a savings of $49.95!

Learn more about Sylvan Dell’s talking e-books here:

http://www.homeschool-curriculum-savings.com/sdpfree

1. To access the entire collection of e-books, use the following link:

http://www.homeschool-curriculum-savings.com/sdpebooks

2. Copy and paste the Site Code (below) into the field, to make sure it’s entered correctly.

Site Code: MADSU1

*Speaking of a few favorite things, I'm even learning to enjoy playing dolls. Yikes!

Just Keep Swimming

Such a beautiful day here that we spent the majority of it outside. After Nature Circle, we ventured out to the trail to look for the friendly squirrel with camera in tow. Alas, no luck. Then DD asked to go to a different park, so we jumped in the car and headed that way. There were lots of kids and they appeared to be homeschoolers. I encouraged, cajoled, everything but got down on my knees and begged her to make some new friends. No dice. Mean mommy alert: She went around the playground by herself after I refused to play with her. I know, I know.

Later, I saw another little girl playing by herself, but, look as I might, I saw no anxious mother lurking about trying to look nonchalant. Someone gave me some good advice once about parenting. She told me to try to get to know my daughter. I've been working so hard at "molding" her that I haven't tried to meet her where she is. Point taken.

Close Encounters of the Squirrel Kind

Never, in all my born days, have I ever been so close to a squirrel. And I didn't have my camera to record this auspicious moment. In honor of the sun making its glorious appearance today, we decided to hike the lake trail at our nearby state park. We saw the usual: caterpillars, spider webs, a doe and her fawn. Then, it happened. As we were walking along the path, we saw a family lurking over a small ditch, taking pictures. Aha, I thought. Something is there. Of course we stop to rubberneck. It is the cutest baby squirrel in the whole world, and a girl is PETTING it. Now I'm wondering whether her rabies shots are current. We, of course, have been carrying a bag of stale foodstuffs to feed to any and all woodland creatures we see as well as those we don't. DD had been busy littering the trail with broken bits of old ice cream cones as we came along. Note: deer do not like ice cream cones. So, we offered some ice cream cone to the squirrel. No dice. He runs up the tree. He is however pointed downward, so we decide to return for a closer look. The family of the squirrel petter returns with nuts. The squirrel comes out of the tree, crosses the path, and TAKES THE NUT OUT OF SQUIRREL PETTER'S HAND. It was just like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We offer more crushed ice cream cone to the squirrel. He refuses again. He comes up for a closer look, perches on DD's shoe, and starts nibbling. She and Daddy kneel down to pet the squirrel. Unbelievable! He then moves to my shoe, which I am strangely ok with, but then he attempts to climb up my leg. Here's where things get dicey. I don't think I yelled, but I am pretty sure I did some kind of awkward dance designed to remove squirrel from my leg. It worked, and no animals were harmed during the execution of said dance. Whew! We saw his baby brother or sister in a nearby pile of leaves, but never saw a parental figure, so we can only assume that they are orphans. After Nature Circle tomorrow, we may go back with some nuts to see if we can find him again. I will have my camera.

Pumpkins and Stars

We had a soccer game, including team pictures, and a church yard sale today. DD ran a lemonade and cookie stand and made over $20 for the youth group. She was a great little entrepreneur, walking up and down the aisles, hawking her cookies. "Lemonade for sale; cookies for sale."

Later on this evening, we went outside to enjoy the night. It's not raining! We watched the clouds scud across the sky and obscure and reveal the face of the moon. At first she thought the moon was moving, but after a few conversations with Daddy, she agreed that the clouds moving across the moon made it seem as if it were moving quickly across the sky. We strolled down to the end of the driveway and looked at our neighbor's fall decorations: pumpkins, mums and fall leaves. Then she wanted to play a new game. I was the sun and she was the earth. I had to stand as still as a statue while she revolved around me. When we asked her how she decided to make up the game, she said it was because of the neighbor's pumpkins. I can't decide which I like best: the game itself or the reason for it.

Stairway to Heaven

Our field trip group visited the Dyer Observatory today. The kids had a great time learning about the history of astronomy, how a telescope works and even how to tell time according to the sun. I've always wanted to know how to do that!

We even got to visit the Death Star, I mean Star Chamber:

Three holes were strategically drilled into the dome to let in rays of sun. They drilled screws (again strategically) at the points where the sun would fall during each month.

Then we hied over to Radnor Lake for a stroll down Mama's memory lane. The last time I was there, you could drive through the park. It still looks the same, and this time, we even noticed some wildlife.

Most exciting for me was the subsequent trip to the library, where DD selected a few books about planets on her own. Just when I think I need to organize something, she reminds me that less of my input equals more of her learning.

Scurrying at the Science Center

As we woke to another gray, rainy day, we decided to spend some time at our local science museum. We arrived when it opened (seriously!) and enjoyed everything the ASC had to offer (except the planetarium. The show started at 3:30; too late for us today.). I was particularly excited that DD was able to solve the shapes puzzle faster than me. You had to put seven different shapes into the shape of the letter T. I wrestled with it for several minutes and jumped for joy when I finally got the doggone thing together. DD sauntered over, played with the shapes for a bit, put them in the T and left me to struggle with the eight shapes in the square puzzle. Luckily, it didn't have accompanying Cracker Barrel golf tee puzzle taglines, a boon to my self-esteem. I also discovered today that I would weigh 458 lbs on Jupiter. Excellent.

We made an obligatory trip to Walmart (are there any other kinds?), then came home for a quick supper before we met DH at the greenway for biking and running (and some wheezing and walking).

Making Cookies is not as Fun as Real Life

Real life, as in watching Cyberchase. But we did make one batch of chocolate chip cookies for our church yard sale this weekend. One batch down, two to go. DD is planning to have a lemonade stand and sell cookies to raise money for new playground equipment. I'm not sure how we're going to set it up yet. Maybe I'll just let DD set it all up. There's an idea. I won't be awake enough at 6:30 AM to be much help anyway.

We've been halfheartedly trying to identify coins around here. Just your basic penny, nickel, dime, quarter scenario. We read one of Stuart Murphy's books, The Penny Pot, which she enjoyed. Actually identifying the coins, not so much. Turns out she likes to get groups of coins together and ask how much the total is and whether you have enough money to purchase some mythical item, as the characters do in the book. She is definitely not interested in rote memorization.

In honor of the miraculously rain free day we enjoyed, we took a picnic lunch to a local park. We had a great time. I was actually able to read my book (The Freshour Cylinders by Speer Morgan) while she played with a new friend. He was such a sweet little boy and he hugged her when it was time to leave. She wasn't too sure about that, as she has been on a no-boy campaign for the past few weeks. However, today she informed me that all her soccer boys were the best boys in the world and her soccer girls were the best girls in the world. These boys and girls are otherwise known as her teammates.

Poems from the Heart

DD has been composing lots of poems and songs recently, so I asked her where all these great poems are coming from. "From my heart to my brain." Unfortunately, I had no pen or paper to record these gems, but there's always tomorrow.

Food for Thought

I'm not sure I want to delve into Knuffle Bunny this deeply, but I'm intrigued. Definitely intrigued.

http://www.teachingchildrenphilosophy.org/wiki/Category:Book_Modules

We enjoyed a very lazy day today and snagged a few bargains at a half-price day consignment sale. DD selected a very grownup dress (I caved. It was only $4.) as well as some grownup shoes (I caved again. This pair was only $2. Apparently my values have very low prices.). As she grows up, it's harder and harder to find clothes that are not suitable for the Spice Girls reunion tour.

Rain, Rain Go Away

I hate to say it. I really do. I love the rain. I love to curl up with a cup of tea and a good mystery. I happened to have 2/3s of the equation today. I just didn't have the curling up part.

Nevertheless, today was better than yesterday. I did not set off the fire alarm. That in and of itself constitutes a good day around here. We played dolls AND fairies, practiced counting backwards (always a useful skill), read lots of books, including The Magic School Bus on the Electric Field Trip. I love MSB and I'm glad that DD does too. A friend of ours turned us on to the books and we've even seen a few of the shows. I love that Lily Tomlin provides the voice for Ms. Frizzle. It's too rich.

We spread out some of our new art supplies in the garage and got to painting, chalking, coloring and colored penciling. Then she played a great game of Witch with the broomstick in the garage. She popped her head in to inform me that she was a good witch. Good to know.

The rain mercifully stopped for a bit this evening, so we went out for a big wheel ride around the neighborhood and a quick jump on the trampoline. We even stumbled across this in our travels.

It's a spider with her egg sac. We watched her for a bit, but finally she grew tired of us and hid under a rock. I kept thinking about Charlotte and poor old Wilbur.

Feelings. Woe woe woe feelings.

We had a great day up until the late afternoon. In a crafty mood, she selected a project from a math craft book (yes!) for which we had all the supplies (double yes!!). Then, we couldn't find the green-handled scissors, so we were forced to use the cutesy ladybug scissors with the funny patterns on the blade. Problem #1. Problem #2 occurred as a result of DD being unable to write all of her numbers through 12. And write them perfectly. Then came the frustration, followed closely by tears. All for a little old craft project she wanted to squeeze in before supper, during whose preparation the fire alarm went off. Triple yes!!!

Any suggestions on combating perfectionism? I feel like I've backed off a good bit. I don't think I could back off more unless I moved out to the garage. I'm feeling a Trading Spaces episode coming on...

I am the Pharoah. You have to obey me.

Whoa. Firstly, I thought we already WERE obeying her. That is probably 99% of our issue. Secondly, whoa. I'm dying to sit in on a Sunday school class. Last week they were learning what it was like to live before ovens and microwaves, so they made biscuits. Then, as DD related it, the kids had to hide outside while the teachers cooked the biscuits in the microwave. Excellent. Beyond excellent. Before I heard that story, I did wonder how in the world they were planning to cook those biscuits. Thankfully, the sidewalks haven't been hot enough lately to cook anything.

We've been taking it easy (easier?) these past few days. We attended our first field trip with the homeschool group we joined and it was a lot of fun. We played miniature golf and DD drove the bumper boats. She visited with a couple of girls who very kindly invited her to play with them. I was really proud of her. She has decided that she is "afraid" of boys, so I periodically remind her of the many boys we know and love. Somehow Daddy and Grandaddy are outside the realm of boydom.

We're definitely going to exercise our stick-up-for-me muscle (a friend coined it and it is my new fave phrase. so necessary around here). In that vein, we try to go to the park after school at least once a week to practice our social skills. I sure don't want her to end up like Bobby Boucher (see Waterboy - stat).

Dolls, Books and the Tooth Fairy

Who doesn't love a visit from the Tooth Fairy? We went to a storytime at a local library hosted by the Tooth Fairy. She showed the kids how to properly brush their teeth and she even checked their teeth. Turns out the Tooth Fairy daylights as a dental hygienist.

Afterward, we went to a lovely park behind the library, ate lunch and visited with some new friends. I was pretty pleased with DD. She got off to a rocky start, but figured out how to deal pretty much all by herself and by the end she was having a ball. I'm working on stepping back, trying not to tweak every situation. Confessions of a (recovering?) control freak...

Mom, Try to Get Better Sleep Tonight

A direct quote from DD at bedtime tonight. Why did she want me to get better sleep? So I wouldn't be so grouchy tomorrow and hurt her feelings. Ouch. Double ouch. So what am I doing awake at 10 PM????

I did have a major bout of insomnia last night, but I really didn't think our day was THAT bad. In fact, I thought yesterday was pretty bad. Both of us have been going through a phase: sassy attitudes and short tempers. Hopefully, cooler temps and longer nights will cheer both of us up.

We took a pretty lazy day today. We spent a good bit of time down by the lake this morning. We discovered a "secret path," courtesy of DH, that takes us right down to the lake that is behind our neighborhood. I was hoping for a woodsier atmosphere, but it was still nice. We saw a few minnows and threw some rocks and sticks into the water. Will it float or will it sink? Which rock will make the biggest splash? I was getting pretty hungry, so I suggested we leave for lunch (always a draw in our household), but she refused. "No ma'am. I'm going to live here." When I asked what she would do for food, she said "Come home." That's my girl.

I am reading a great book called The Imperfect Homeschooler's Guide to Homeschooling by Barbara Frank. Her blog is here. I haven't finished it, but I'm more than halfway through and what I've read so far really struck me. She is funny and real; this is the first book I've read about homeschooling where I felt like her experiences and feelings resembled mine. Especially after tonight's little night-night reality check. Oh, well. I'm off to bed for a good night's sleep.

Another Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

We spent a lovely day with friends at our favorite state park. Oh, the things we saw: cicadas emerging from their shells, minnows, lizards, spiders, frogs, deer families.


We spent a good bit of time watching the cicada. He slowly wriggled his way out of his shell, stretching his feet and unfurling his wings. It was pretty amazing. Even more amazing was the kids' (mostly) patient observation.

They used those same observation skills to find treasures like acorns, walnuts, snail shells, frogs. The trail runs by a little pond where all the frogs and turtles like to hang out. As we walked along, you could hear the frogs skitter across the leaves and plop into the water. When she wasn't busy scaring them into the water, she was trying to catch them.

It was a day that really reinforced my belief in what we're trying to do: educate our daughter about the world around her. Unconventionally.

Strategery

DD asked if I would rather play dolls or play a game. Naturally, I chose a game. She set up the checkerboard. As DD is now officially a "big kid," I have not been trying so hard to ensure that she wins. Thus, I began the game by resolving NOT to give DD hints about where to move her checkers, blah blah blah. I should have asked her for some hints. In about 20 minutes, I was down to two crowns. I had no more pieces to crown her when necessary. And it was often necessary.

We also read some fun books today and finally finished one of our chapter books (we had to pick up the pace a bit because it is overdue). We worked through an interesting book called Math-terpieces by Greg Tang. There is a picture of a famous work of art on the left side, and several sets of an identifying image from the painting on the right side. For example, there was a famous Picasso painting and several sets of eyes that had to be grouped together in X number of ways to arrive at a specific number. Is this making any sense at all? Is it obvious that math is not my thing? Anyway, it was a nice, basic book that helped DD start thinking in a different way. I'm currently looking for a math book that will help me start thinking in a different way.

Later we went to the park, where she was not happy about the boy/girl ratio. Finally some girls came to play, but she wouldn't have anything to do with them. As I was bugging her to make some new friends, she told me (from a branch in the tree) that she was doing what she dreamed. "Do you understand me, Mom? Everything I'm doing, I dreamed about." Alrighty then. Am I ever going to relax about everything? Probably not, but I dream that I will.

I totally had a clever, pithy title. I really did.

But that was a few hours ago. Now I have nothing. Bupkus. Oh well. I find that I'm not really at my best during the PM hours.

So, today's escapades included an emergency trip to the grocery store: no milk and green bread. GREEN. Do you think ducks will eat green bread? Should they eat green bread?

We came home to unpack groceries and unwind a bit. It's been a hectic few days for us. We read some great stories, put together a map of the world, and of course played fairies. I was not in the mood to visit Pixie Hollow today, but I can't resist the begging. I just know someday she'll be sitting on Oprah's couch saying "If only Mother had played fairies with me more."

We harvested three of the best-looking tomatoes we've had all summer and became inspired to make homemade tomato sauce for our sloppy joe's. I also forgot tomato sauce at the store, but I digress. Anyhoo, it turned out alright, if a little sweet, but that has never been a problem for this household. Then I decided to cook dinner early so we could hang out at the park this evening and heat up supper when we got home. I'm starting to use my noggin about dinner. I definitely have more energy and patience for fooling with food around lunchtime. If I wait too late, you're liable to get a raw hot dog wrapped in green bread.

I had to add a link to this article that I just read. Enjoy!