What's going on around here....

Yesterday we attended the Not Back to School picnic with tons of other homeschoolers. It was so fun! Esme took off and played with other little girls and made a couple new friends. I got to talk to a lot of other moms, including my friend Laura, and got to hold her new baby too!

Esme has been to three out of five state park visits in our series. I ran a program about trees at the second park including the life cycles of trees, trees that are in trouble, and how to identify trees. We also did leaf prints and solar prints. Last Monday she got to learn about hawk migration and observe the birds.

She started ballet two weeks ago and is enjoying it. She's learned plies, split leaps, etc. It is a nice small class of only four girls. She is also playing soccer again this season. We're back to regular Girl Scout meetings now and we visited the fire station as a troop yesterday. The girls got to see all the different trucks, but the highlight was that they let them get in the rescue boat.

Happy to be a Team

Ethan and I are so happy that we have different strengths and can bring both of them to homeschooling. I am great at planning events, finding activities for Esme to take part in, doing research, attending trainings, and making plans for our weekly lessons. Ethan is great at sitting down with Esme and actually doing the lessons, and is very patient in working with her. As I type this they are working on ordering numbers in our new Math book. I am so glad to have a husband who wants to take such an active role in his daughter's education, and who allows me to play to my strengths while playing to his own.

An Amazing Day

This past Wednesday we had our first trip in our Homeschoolers State Park Series. We were so lucky to have Ranger Betsy as our interpreter. We arrived at the park and she showed the girls her fairy houses, and invited them to build their own. Then we went over to a picnic table and learned about tree cookies. The children counted 14 rings in a small cookie, and 96 rings in a large one. Then they decorated the small cookies and made them into necklaces. Next Ranger Betsy taught them about how owls eat, and we dissected owl pellets, and classified the bones we found inside. I loved how Rangeer Betsy trusted the children to understand take in such meaningful information. We took a break for lunch and the kids had a great time playing on the beach. After lunch we made our own fossils with plaster of Paris, and then went for a hike. We learned so much on the hike - we learned about caterpillar tents, wintergreen, beavers, squirrels, etc. This was one of the best field trips we have been on since we started homeschooling!

Sharing a Favorite Book

Esme and I have been on the hunt for items to send to Nebraska. One thing we're doing to prepare to send and receive a box, is ready a story about a woman who moved from New England out into the prairie. I loved this book when I was a child and Esme seems to be enjoying it now. I am reading her one chapter a day, and every days she asks to hear the next one.

Nature Journal

We've started a nature journal with Esme. For now she's dictating what she wants to say and copying it into her journal to record her thoughts, but we're hoping that as her writing and spelling improve she'll be able to do more on her own.

The Nebraska Exchange

Project Learning Tree's Activity #20 is to be paired with students in a different region of the country, and send each other a box of things that tell about your local environment. A couple weeks ago I signed up to be paired for the exchange, thinking we would probably be paired with a class somewhere. I was delighted to get a call last week from another homeschooling family who'd received our name and was interested in swapping boxes. The family includes three elementary aged girls and one older schooled brother. They live right in the middle of Nebraska. The mom and I talked for a while and decided to send biographies around Labor Day, a Summer/Fall box at the beginning of November and a Winter/Spring box in mid-May. We are so excited about this project! Esme and I are having a great time choosing items to include in the box. Anyone who has ideas please email me! We'll update the project here on our blog. Since Esme is in the beginning stages of learning to write, I decided to do her biography as an interview. Here are some of her answers:

How old are you?
Five. And a half.

Where do you live?
At home - in a house.

Who is in your family?
My mommy, daddy, and me.

Do you have an extended family?
Nonna, Grandma, Auntie Lisa, Dylan.

Do you have any close friends?
Sarah.

What do you like to play?
I like to play princess dolls and legos.

Do you have a favorite game?
I Spy Bingo.

Where are some of your favorite places?
Friendly's, Nonna's house, Mount Tom

Do you play any sports?
Soccer and swimming.

Do you do any other activities?
Daisy Girl Scouts. Lego League.

Do you have a favorite movie?
Yes. Ariel and Enchanted.

Do you go to church?
Yes. And Sunday School.

What makes you laugh really hard?
Talking funny.

Do you have a favorite dinner?
Spaghetti and [turkey] meatballs.

Do you have a favorite color?
Yes. Orange!

What is your favorite time of day?
Reading time.

What is your favorite season?
Fall. Do you know why? Because I can jump in piles of leaves.

What are some of your favorite books?
Fancy Nancy, Seymour Makes New Friends, I Spy, Super Completely and Totally the Messiest, Paddington

What do you like to do with your family?
Go out. I like to eat at restaurants. I like to go to the Family Restaurant.

Do you like to take trips? Where have you been?
Yes. I have been camping.

What do you want to do when you grow up?
I want to buy clothes for grownups. I want to be a hairdresser.

Do you want to have children? How many?
Yes. I want to have two. One girl. One boy.

Do you have any pets?
I have Pekoe.

What is Pekoe?
A kitty.

What do you like about homeschooling?
I like doing my new math. [first curriculum]

What is something you're good at?
Swimming.

What is something you're not good at?
I'm not good at writing twos.

Is there anything else we should know about you?
I play Barbies every day.

Next time you see Esme....

Ask her a basic difference between a deciduous and coniferous tree. I did my first full Project Learning Tree lesson with her this weekend. We searched for pine cones and found several different ones on the ground at camp. We compared and contrasted them and used them to identify two local types of trees. We started her nature journal - she both copied words into it and illustrated.