Wildebeast, Seal, and Chicken

What do these animals have in common? They are all animals in the food chains Esme and I have been working on! This lesson is doubling for both Brownies and homeschooling, as Esme is working on her Eco-Explorer Try-It, while learning about animals.

I let her choose the animals we'd start with for each chain, and she drew inspiration from the Planet Earth miniseries, which we've been watching as a family. I have to say, I was really impressed with her Wildebeast drawing! She did a great job copying elements from a photo.

I start my new job soon, and have to be available for subbing assignments as well, but right now I am REALLY loving being home with her and able to work on these lessons! We are having so much fun together! During this "free" time I am also getting lots of other work in order for her, so that the on the days I'm not home, she'll be ready to work independently, and Ethan will be prepared to give her lessons.

Girl Scouts is in transition this year, and the new Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting will be introduced, so we'll have lots of new awards. I'm letting Esme do as many Try-Its on her own this year since we have this time to transition. Our troop will be concentrating on all the new ones!

Getting Back in the Homeschooling Game

1. Finishing the essay - Esme has been working on an essay about our Brownie trip to New York for what seems like forever. She has a writing folder to help her stay organized, but this morning she couldn't find a couple pages of the rough draft. O..M..G. I did not kill her though, I just insisted she find it, which she eventually did.

2. I have to mail our assessment/intention letter today - I combined them into one long letter this year, and it makes more sense to me that way.

3. Staying organized is a challenge for ALL of the members of our family - I have to sort a huge pile of independent work for her into categories, folders, etc.

4. We are going to our first 4H meeting today - not an official meeting, but a picnic to meet the other people she'll be working with this year. The theme of this group is Science, which is her very favorite subject.

5. We are going to give her a year to really challenge herself and grow this year - if she was in public school she would be in *third grade,* which is the first really challenging year for many kids.

The Esme Update: Sylvester's

The Esme Update: The Dam Cafe

The Esme Update: Outtakes and Bloopers

The Esme Update: Pizzeria Uno

The Esme Update: Ivy and Bean Book Review

Esme in the News.....

Girl Scouts is an important part of homeschooling for us, and Esme got to be on the news last week for attending our World Thinking Day event. She was also in the newspaper.

The Esme Update: Friendly's

Reading Separately and Together

Now that Esme is older and her reading skills have grown so much, we've lost most of the time we used to spend poring over picture books together. Esme still loves picture books, but it is far more likely she'll grab one to read aloud to me than for me to read to her.

However, we have found a new love - chapter books. She's really enjoying them on her own - everything from Encyclopedia Brown to Beezus and Ramona and Ivy and Bean to Horrible Harry. We also love reading them together. I've read aloud Sarah, Plain, and Tall, The Phantom Tollbooth, Charlotte's Web, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Pippi Longstockings, and we're working on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I find I'm MUCH more motivated to make the time for reading aloud together every night if it is a book I really, really love. When I was a little girl I loved Pippi, but I didn't love it as much this time around. I also wasn't so much on The Phantom Tollbooth, but the rest I've really, really enjoyed. Esme seems really, really interested to know what is going to happen next in Narnia.

The Esme Update - Ed's Kitchen

We are really on a roll with these videos - since we were in CT visiting friends the last couple days we had occasion to eat out, and made another installment of The Esme Update.

The Esme Update - Panera Bread

Esme had such a good time making her Bueno Y Sano review, she decided she wanted to do another one. Panera is usually our go-to spot if we have to be out running errands.

The Esme Update - Bueno Y Sano

Writing Projects

We had a big snow day this week! Esme did get most of the day off from lessons, since her dad had to spend most of his day shoveling. I also got the day off from kindergarten.

Esme is starting a new big writing project and given the choice to write about anything she wanted, she decided to write about Barbies. She is writing about playing with them, playing with them with friends, and collecting them. Meanwhile she's gotten in several hours of playtime with the kids next door - luckily she's not trying to call it research.

homeschooling friends, Math lessons, and more

We are excited that we have two other homeschoolers in our Girl Scout troop this year. It is so nice to know that Esme is mixing with not only schooled children, but children having similar experiences to her own.

This year we have been focusing on Math a great deal. Esme's reading and writing are already far exceeding our expectations in second grade. We want to make sure she is at or above grade level for EVERY subject. Ethan is spending many doing Math with her.

I am teaching Kindergarten right now and it is hard to balance teaching at school and getting anything done at home. I go back to part time in early February and I am looking forward to having time to really work with Esme!

We are really, really pushing Math this year. Esme is already a great reader and writer, and we want her to be totally on top of her game with Math as well, especially because she's also so interested in Science and the two go hand in hand.


Time4Learning.com actually offers lots of other subjects as well, but currently we're only using it for Math. It offers lessons with little characters leading the examples, quizzes on each lessons, tests on units, and extras like printables when Esme needs a little extra time on a lesson. She seems to be enjoying Math much more this year and it has also been much less frustrating for both her and Ethan.

So far Esme has covered things like place value, operations, fractions, and money and is doing a great job!

There are so many great Fall homeschooling opportunities! It has turned into one of my favorite seasons since I've been a mother. We went to the Big E, apple and raspberry picking, to the pumpkin patch, a corn maze, a pumpkin festival, we designed and built a Halloween costume together, carved our jack-o-lantern, made pumpkin cream pie, trick-or-treated, etc. And as homeschoolers, we try to make each activity educational, from talking about the life cycle of plants, and to life skills like cooking and using landmarks to find your way.

Esme just finished her first long writing project using the complete writing process, from brainstorming to publishing. She wrote about The Big E and did a wonderful job. I would definitely say it was strong third grade work. She's also been plugging along in Math - she has a lot to do this year, so she and Ethan are working hard to stay on task and even get a bit ahead.

We're very proud of our girl!

Aren't you worried about interaction with other children?

This post is a bit of a rant.

Near the first day of school in our city, a cashier at Stop and Shop, who is probably around my mother's age, asked Esme if she was ready for school to start. Esme said, "I'm homeschooled," and the cashier said, "Oh!" and I paid, we left, etc. Last week the same cashier said to Esme, "How's school going?," then remembered us and said, "Oh wait you're homeschooled." Then she turned to me and said, "Aren't you worried about interaction with other children?" Sigh. If you are homeschooler, you may have had this conversation 1,000 times.

I have many ways of dealing with this question, or the more typical, what about socialization? If someone is not a complete stranger and usually pretty nice, like this cashier, I usually say lightly, "Trust me, she's a social butterfly. She's just fine!" One day a nosy person who happened to be doing my taxes asked me about it and I said, "Well when I want her to be socialized, I take her in the bathroom, beat her up, and offer her drugs. {long pause with hard stare} Just kidding!" Sometimes extremely rude strangers question us - now that Esme is is bigger they realize that other kids her age are in school. Ethan was once accosted by someone about it at the deli counter. For them, I bring out the hard stare, and tell them we're not worried about it.

There is one other thing that people say all the time that bugs me. "You're homeschooling? That's great!!" This confuses me. If it's a stranger, again, making judgments about my life choices although they don't know me, I usually say, "Is it?" Cause why do they think so? They don't know me - maybe it's terrible! If it's someone I sort of know, I usually say, "Thanks, we think it is."

Maybe I am getting more snarky or more bitter? I don't know. I feel like when strangers choose to be that familiar, I have to say something to back them off. I try not to be rude about it (okay maybe I was a little rude to the tax guy) but I don't understand why people feel free to offer their opinions so much on this. I don't offer my opinion on their decision to send their children to school. It would be equally weird if they said, "My daughter goes to public school," and I said, "That's great!!" Maybe it is great - I have no idea!

Okay this homeschooling mom is done ranting for today. I'm off to edit Esme's essay on her trip to The Big E.

Poor Poor Poor Poor Poor Poor Esme

Esme thinks we're working her too hard this year. We have stepped up academics a bit and are focusing pretty intensely on her Math skills. She also had to work with me to create a web of her experiences at The Big E and is now working on a rough draft of her writing assignment. Frankly, we don't feel bad for her. She has no idea about waking up early, going to school 30+ hours a week, etc.


Right now she and Ethan are finishing up The Knight at Dawn and she designed her own coat of arms. She's also enjoying her swimming and ballet lessons.

Homeschooling Open Mic

Esme performed at her first open mic night tonight. They sets were up to 10 minutes so Esme prepared four short songs - One and One Make Two, The Little Brown Owl, The Stinky Skunk, and Ob La Di Ob La Da. She was nervous earlier but really pulled the whole thing together and did a great job at the show!