Three years have past...

since we started down this road and I don't know where the time has gone.  Looking back to my first few posts about homeschooling I am amazed at how our family and life has changed since taking KM out of PS in December of 2007. When we started out we were much more of a "school at home" family, I didn't know any better, as the only learning format that I had ever been exposed to was the public school system. So when I abruptly took KM out of PS midyear of 5th grade, I knew I could educate her better than they were, but it never occurred to me that she would be such an independent learner and I would become more of a research assistant and event coordinator than a "teacher".

We have had so many fantastic adventures and I cannot imagine where we would be if CJ and I had made a different decision. I am so grateful that we had the confidence to make this choice and I can't wait to see where the next year will take us!

Curriculum Picks for Fall Session - 7th Grade - Everything Else

This is the list of everything else that we will be covering!

Foreign Language - Latin
We will be continuing our Latin study at least through the fall and maybe into the winter...

• Learning Latin Through Mythology - two of KM's favorite things rolled into one, where could you go wrong with that?
  
• Minimus Secundus - KM really like the first level of this book, so I figured we should go for it again!
  

Art -
KM loves art and is very excited we are going to be starting Meet the Master which I got another great deal on through Homeschool Buyers Co-op!


Music -
Another one of KM's favorite areas so we have multiple resources here -

• Piano Adventures Series - this covers her lesson books, artistry and technique, theory, performance practice and her favorite - Christmas songs!
• Music Alive!
• Classics for Kids
• Voice Lessons To Go

Health -
We will be continuing to use the free curriculum supplements from NICHD publications. When I found this resource, just over a year ago, I thought it would be just some small little packets or pamphlets. I ordered almost everyone and nearly fell over when they arrived! These are full sets all ready to go into a 3 ring binder and some come with CD-Rom games and online interaction!
We also will probably be using a few of these websites -

• KidsHealth in the Classroom
• Learn to Be Healthy
• Safe Kids
• BBC's PHSE site
  

Term Elective - KM picks a subject area each term that she would like to know more about!
With the newest baby around so much lately KM has become very interested in learning about child development. It is rather tricky to find information for Middle School at this level, but I did manage to find a few things...by searching under Babysitting Skills!

• Babysitting Handbook - American Girl
• 4H - Child Development Set - I was sooooo excited when I found out that you could just order the 4H curriculums and use them at home!
• REAL LIFE BABY IN OUR HOME 2-3 DAYS A WEEK!
• REAL LIFE TODDLER IN OUR HOME 2-3 DAYS A WEEK!

CO-OP Classes
We will be attending our co-op for two classes this fall, as well as a Theater Group with our local homeschool support network. Our first co-op class will be Geography and loosely based on the Trail Guide to World Geography for the mapping aspects and different parents will be responsible each week to provide the cultural aspects that go along with it. The second class will be on Algebraic Reasoning using Family Math for Middle Schoolers and LOTS of math games. The theater group is the same one that she participated in last spring and they will be continuing to do some work on Shakespeare, as well as some monologues and some skits on famous historical times and people.



I think that is it for our fall session line-up. If you missed any of the previous posts just head to the top of the screen and type in curriculum picks and they should pop right up! Don't know how much we will get done or how many times we will change things around, but we are hoping for the best!

It may be quietier around here for the next few weeks as we take a bit of time off in between sessions! Be sure to let us know how your fall is starting out!

What to do, what to do?

I think as we move forward in our homeschooling journey, we have begun to discover more and more how much learning takes place outside of the daily "school hours" of 8 to 3. However as I am looking ahead I have been struggling with the combination of what to sign KM up for and what to pass on and hope to do next year. I think that it can be VERY enticing to sign up for great classes that are being offered during the day that are geared to Homeschoolers and also to feel very thankful that these classes are available, but at the same time it can be good to step back and think about what our priorities are for our children and how we can best accomplish our learning goals.

I have made a commitment to work on our local coop program and I really feel like this is something that I need to stick to for the coming year. I have also been looking at one or two other things that I would like KM to participate in, but I need her to make the decision and the commitment for herself. She also needs to understand that some things may have to be sacrificed for others to happen. I think she is old enough to make the decision of where her priorities need to fall. She needs to understand that the commitment has to come from her and she must do the work in order for it to be a successful and worthwhile endeavor.

We had a very long discussion about what she wants to accomplish and what her goals are going to be for the coming year and I think that she really is starting to understand that her education is based on what she wants to make of it. We have both come to realize that in order for something to be truly learned, it needs to be much more ingrained into your being - to have content and connection to the things around you, rather than just random facts memorized in order to fill in the correct bubbles.

As we get farther and farther away from our old ways of thinking and that tape that constantly plays inside my head seems to get quieter and quieter - she seems to be learning more and MORE. Of course not just learning it for the moment, but really retaining and recalling the information in situations that relate to it. The transformation has been so amazing to me!

Over this summer we will be working on a more independent study approach to things. I will not be reading right along with her or standing over her shoulder until it is done. I need to know that I can give her an assignment and she will complete it. If this can be done, then I am more than willing to allow her to commit herself to more classes and outside activities in the fall. If not than we really will need to look at what sacrifices she is willing to make in order to obtain the goals that she has set for herself...not sure how this one will turn out, but I am truly keeping my fingers crossed for it!

Another Great Hike

First Hike of the Season

So yesterday was our local homeschool groups first hike of the season and we had such an incredible time!
My absolute favorite thing about homeschooling events is getting to see all the different aged children interacting with each other. It is just amazing to me having come from the PS world were children are so segregated from one another all dependent upon where their date of birth happens to fall. Two children born a week apart from one another and living on the same street could never be friends just because one is in 1st grade and the other is in 2nd - why is that? What makes people think that is okay?
ANYWAY - before I go on a tyrannical rant - here are some of favorite pics of SC and KM on the hike ----oh and I just have to mention that this was a two mile hike, the first mile SC was very content in the backpack, but then I decided I needed a break, so I took her out and SHE HIKED THE LAST MILE all by herself!!! WOOOHOOO you go girl!

Shhhh...Craziness has slowed down a bit!

Well things finally feel like they are getting back to an even pace, of course an even pace around here still means we are going at warp speed most days, but hey we will rest when we are dead - right?

KM and the other kids from the coop did an UNBELIEVABLE performance of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" on Monday night! We were all blown away by their performances. Hopefully I will have some pics by the end of the week, as of course I forgot my camera and our camcorder died out about a minute and a half into the performance. There were lots of others taking pics and video though, so we should be able to get a copy soon. The kids were so proud of themselves and had a fabulous time, but it was EXHAUSTING!

The weather has been gorgeous this week and finally feels like spring is here to stay so we will be spending a LOT more time out and about in the warm sunshine!

Well I am going to go enjoy the quiet for a few minutes before we head outside to finish reading The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White.

Be sure to find some time to enjoy the day!

Maple Sugaring Field Trip

We went on a fabulous Maple Sugaring Field Trip today with our local homeschooling group!

We learned where witch hazel comes from!

and that the first sign of spring in New England is the Skunk Cabbage ~
which you can make perfume from!!!

The syrup bubbling smelled SOOOOOO good!
They also had llamas and the kids had a great time feeding them!

The weather turned out beautiful and we had our first picnic of the season!!!
It was such a great day and we were all very happy to be able to support such a great local resource!

The Year in Review

As I went along my merry route through my blog list today, I noticed that quite a few people were reminiscing of happenings from the past year - of course this led me to think of all the things that have transpired during 2008.

I would say that here at GCK Homeschool the word for the year would have to be:
revelations - an enlightening or astonishing disclosure

The first revelation would have to have been how wonderful homeschooling can be! We began our jaunt into Homeschooling in January and we will never turn back! She really has blossomed over the last year. Of course we have had some challenges, but that has generally been more about getting our rhythms and schedules in order, than any kind of reluctance or lack of interest in learning - in fact her love of learning has been reignited! She gets truly excited about what we are investigating and experimenting with. Anything hands-on is better than sitting in a classroom reading about what you could be doing - right! The favorite experiment would have to be the growing crystals:

The second revelation would have to come from the fantastic local resources that we had been missing out on while KM was in PS. We have had some wonderful field trips with our local homeschool groups and on our own, for that matter. I have been trying to think of what my favorite would be if I had to choose one and I would have to say that there were 2 favorites. The first one would be our trip to Concord's Orchard House - to see the home where Louisa May Alcott grew up - and Walden Pond - where Henry David Thoreau went to the woods -

Running a close second would be our day going to the Big Top Circus and the GIANT Build-a-Bear Store in Faneuil Hall!
The third revelation is one of our familial codependency. Our family has become extremely close during the last year and though we have had some sadder moments, the trials and tribulations have brought us to realize how important we truly are to each other. We lost some wonderful family members during the year and had some close calls with some others. I tried to stay on the lighter side of things here, but I felt I should mention it so that no one thinks it is all just sunshine and textbooks around here. Real life events and experiences can be so much more intriguing than anything you could read about in a book. We have had a lot of anatomy lessons come about from some simple explanations of illnesses!

I have never really been big on New Year Resolutions, as I have seen so many get forgotten within days - sometimes hours - of the ball dropping. However this year I am resolving to put our family's true beliefs into practice, to create our own traditions, and to be a united front against anything that stand in our way! We have become a better family and we WILL continue to keep moving in this direction!

My Favorite New Years Quote :

This bright new year is given me

To live each day with zest

To daily grow and try to be

My highest and my best!

By: William Arthur Ward

Best Wishes for a Bright and Happy New Year!

Week in Review!!

Lots went on this week...

here are some pics!First day of coop - busy busy!

A day with my nieces! OR will be 2 in about 2 weeks and SC is 16 mo.
They had a great afternoon playing together

Then my brother got home from school and all h@@@ broke loose!

SC learned how to use the stool to help with the dishwasher...
she has been fascinated by it since she could crawl -
don't know why, but I am not going to complain!

CJ had Monday off due to rain, so he had time to make an awesome gate
to keep the dogs off and SC on the back porch!
This will help with my sis's fears a bit!
(not of the dogs, but of SC running around the house and out into the street!)

Since it has been so wet in the mornings we also decided to put the house on the deck for the season, this way it will dry quicker and we won't have to deal with the soaking wet grass in the morning either.

Although our trip to the zoo started off with a bang...
or it was more of a crash really...
none of us were hurt and KM and I got some great shots of the animals.
The gorillas come right up to the windows and start posing as soon as they see flashes going off!

KM took this one of the wildebeest.
I absolutely love the lighting through the trees!
When we came out of the gift shop this peacock was just strolling around.
The leopards were a bit tricky to get and I am surprised, due to the lighting that these came out at all.
I had to share this one because we never knew that the giraffe's had to spread their legs like this in order to eat from the ground.

So my thoroughly exhausting week is over and done with - nearly, of course MC will be over in a bit to take KM out to get her nails done and go for dinner (part of her bday present), so CJ and I will be going out to eat as well, I still have to go to the insurance inspectors tomorrow to have pics taken of the car, we never got to our election studies or music theory for this week so we will have to do catch up on those tomorrow, KM has her best friend sleeping over for the weekend, I have lesson plans to get done for next week,.... and about 50 other things I can think of off the top of my head - does it ever really stop? Does the "To Do" list ever really get completely finished?

Well, none the less, I will be taking it at a bit of a slower pace as we will be down a vehicle and since CJ's truck is still in the body shop from his accident last month, we will actually only have one drivable car! We haven't had this happen for years! Oh well things happen for a reason. I am most thankful that there were no injuries and we have insurance to cover everything. KM's only concern after the accident was whether we were going to still get to go to the zoo! Gotta love the minds of kids!

First day back at co-op!

It was our first day of fall session with our local coop group and we had such a great time! It was so nice to see everyone and meet lots of new families that have joined. We had the most wonderful brunch - if there is one thing us homeschool moms know how to do, it is feed people! - the younger kids got to play in the wonderful space that we are so fortunate to have available to us and the older ones started their economics class for exchange city.
We are so fortunate to have this wonderful supportive group of families around us! It is such a diverse group, but everyone is so warm, welcoming and open!
We are very excited about our upcoming sessions!

Monday Hike

We went on a fantastic hike with our homeschooling group today!

After the crazy amount of stuff we got done this weekend, I was so exhausted and almost skipped out, but I am so glad that I didn't!

We went to an area that I have never been before and it was so much closer than I would have thought - or even mapquest thought for that matter - It is amazing how many places are so close by that I have never been to and I have lived in the same area my whole life. I was mentioning that to a friend a few weeks ago when we were at another field trip and she says it is probably because I am from here that I have never been to any of these places- but anyway...

I am even more exhausted, but it was worth it! The weather was perfect, the company was wonderful and the kids were amazing!!! Our hike host had planned on us only doing half the trail, but the kids wanted to push on - and push on they did - all the way to the top! I was so impressed with the little ones - 4 & 5 - hiking to the top and scrambling over the rocks. It was a wonderful day - we even got to throw some science in by stopping by the weather observatory on the way. One thing that I thought of SEVERAL times while we were hiking was I am ever so glad I did not have SC on my back! I don't know how those dad's did it today!

Congrats to all who made it to the top today!