Try and Try and TRY until you get it!

I remember reading an article or blog post not so long ago about how much a parent really learns through home educating their children. This was not just about learning facts and figures in books or studying topics, but be aware of things that one thought they were not capable of doing and suddenly they get it. I mention this because over this past week I have had a break through - a momentous break through really!

A few years ago I taught myself to knit. I picked up the needles and book and figured it out really quickly. Shortly after this I tried to crochet, but just could not get it. I tried on several occasions and just could not get past a single chain. A few months later I decided to try to make an edging around a blanket that I made by crocheting and I figured out how to do that because I could identify where the stitches where because I had knit the portion I was now crocheting into. During that same week I tried to crochet a scarf again and just COULD NOT do it! I tried and tried and tried, but couldn't do it. Over the last few years I have picked it up several times to no avail. This past weekend I picked up an easy crochet book and was flipping through it thinking how nice it would be to make these projects. I flipped to a page with a really cute mesh shopping bag and said "Ya, know what I am gonna try again." -----

I can't tell you how many times I have said "I can knit, but I CANNOT crochet!" Well guess what I CAN now! If I had not been persistent and just given up I would never have been able to do it. Instead I kept trying and when it was the "right time" I just got it!

Piquing Interest in Learning

In an attempt to engage the teens in the house today in a project that I thought they could really get into, I picked a topic that I knew they both would like and added a bit of constructive as well as destructive properties to it.

They began on Brain Pop! watching a video on crystals and completing the quiz together ~ they had one answer that they did not agree on and they both turned out to be incorrect! Then we went to the experiments section and decided to try it out. For a competitive twist I gave KM sugar and DN salt, so they can see whose crystal forms first and what property differences they might have. I also choose to veer of course a bit from the original instructions -- I had them use nearly boiling water, so that it would dissolve to a solution better and they would not need to "shake" every so often. There are plenty of variations of growing crystals with sugar and salt all over the web, just be sure to check the sites before you send your kids there!







Once the jars were set aside to begin growing, I took out some geodes to bash! They had a good deal of success and got out some of those pent up teenage frustrations!

With DN here for the week and learning more about how our household works on a regular basis, this was the perfect opportunity for him to engage in an educational activity where he was interested in the subject and did not feel intimidated by the process or institutional feel of learning. He asked some really great questions and when I wasn't sure on an answer he saw that we could find the answer together. Although he has difficulty admitting it, I could tell that he was enjoying himself and learning at the same time.

Sometimes in order to engage the learner, all you have to do is take advantage of an aforementioned interest area. Paying attention to the actions of a child can pay off in so many ways. Even a child who is extremely resistant to any form of "schooling", "learning" or other educational jargon will give you hints about what might interest them. You may notice that when they are walking to the car and they tend to kick the rock ever so slowly, they always seem to be staring at the ground, you find rocks in the washer and in piles in next to the bed. This is a HUGE indication that for some reason his child is interested in rocks, geology and earth science. Now your challenge will be to present it to the child in a way that will really catch their attention.

Don't push too hard and when the child is done - THEY ARE DONE! Sometimes that means that they will stay on a topic for months and sometimes that means that they are only there for a few days or even hours. Pushing them to continue a study that they are no longer interested in or that they have learned enough about is not going to do anything, but make them more resistant the next time you try a learning sneak attack.

Good Luck and PLEASE feel free to post any helpful tips or ideas for encouraging the resistant learner!

Another Camper Update

In the little bits of spare time CJ has had lately, he has been trying to get the camper finished. There have been some vast improvements from it's original state...

From the new LARGE sink to the fresh coat of paint and tiles it feels like a new space. I have to finish up the cushions and curtains and he needs to finish up a few odds and ends and we will be ready to go...where I don't know, but I am sure it will be an adventure.

Some Science Projects -

We are using the Thames & Kosmos Milestones in Science Kit to incorporate some extra science projects into the Story of Science Series by Joy Hakim. This week we showed how the universe expands with a balloon and made a telescope that showed everything upside down as the first telescopes didn't have mirrors in them -

History Projects -

We did two fun history projects today from Story of the World. First we built a cannon that after several failed attempts ...

did finally work...

Then we built a Black Plague Doctor's Mask using recycled paperboard instead of foam----

that she then wore around the house like a crazy chicken for the afternoon!

Update on Camper Project

I got an email this morning from a long time reader that was wondering how our camper remodeling project has been going as I had not updated on it quiet a while. It is ironic as CJ went to Lowes last night to get the floor tiles -

KM hasn't been able to help with the project as much as we hoped as she was having issues with the dust and dirt agitating her asthma, but we are almost to a point that she can start helping again. On the exterior CJ has removed the awning, caulked all the seams and seal coated the roof as there were a LOT of leaks. After he was sure the leaks were sealed he was able to reinforce and straighten the outer walls. He removed all the 70s orange shag rug and will be working on painting the interior before installing the floor tiles. Once it is all painted and the floor is in, we will be reinstalling the refrigerator and installing the larger sink where the stove was - we NEVER used the stove when we camped - except for more storage, so I felt the bigger sink would be wiser use of the space. The last and most daunting area will be the bathroom. We are hoping to be able to salvage the shower and sink unit and just have to get a new toilet as the bathroom units are rather pricey.

I will be sure to post pictures once the painting is done, I really think that is going to make such a huge difference!

The Ocean Floor

KM has been awaiting the DisneyNature Film Ocean since she saw the trailer for it LAST YEAR at the DisneyNature Earth. We will be going to see it next week with some families from our homeschool group and she is VERY excited. When we started see the trailers again for it back in January KM decided that she wanted to do an elective study, so we have been doing a little here and a little there over the last few weeks.

This week we had a double whammy with it since she is study Earth Science and was on the unit that covers plate tectonics and how the ocean floor is created. This led her to wanting to try to make a model of different features of the ocean floor and I think she did a really good job on it using some recycled materials and model magic -

Also thought I would mention this is my 500th post!!! Pretty cool huh! I was poking around trying to find something unique to post about for it, but I thought no lets just post something that really shows what are homeschooling life is all about! Hope you liked it!!!

Upcoming Geography Fair - Antarctica

Our local support group is having a Geography Fair at the beginning of April. KM decided to study Antarctica. After our wonderful Penguins unit we did a few months back showed the incredibly unique features of Antarctica she began to become really intrigued by it.

Here are some of the resources we will be using -

• Antarctica - An Adventure of a Different Nature
• Encounters at the End of the World
• You Wouldn't Want to be a Polar Explorer!
• The Antarctic - Water Worlds
• Antarctica: The Last Wilderness
• Discovering Antarctica - The Future
  
• Discovering Antarctica - The Land
• Discovering Antarctica - The People
• Eyewitness: Arctic & Antarctica
• Brain Pop - South Pole
• Brain Pop - Glaciers
• National Geographic Expedition
• Antarctica Middle School Lesson Plans

If anyone else has any other suggested links or resources, PLEASE let me know! I will be sure to post our final project when it is completed!

Our latest family - homeschool project ----

Every fall we do some sort of improvement or remodel in the house. One year we put in hardwood floors, some of you may remember last year we remodeled the entire kitchen area, another we replaced a window, front door and slider. Luckily CJ is a super DIY guy and I am the super saver shopper type - so between the two of us we have done it all on a really low budget!

Once we started homeschooling we tried to get KM involved, she is really not big into manual labor, but has been getting much better about it, especially since she is getting older and feels a bit more confident with certain things.

Well this year there really wasn't any pressing things that needed to be done around here, so CJ got an idea, but first you have to have the background...it all started back when the gas prices skyrocketed up over the $4 mark and his work truck was guzzling about half of his paychecks that he decided to get a little compact car. So he purchased a little KIA Sophia for about $1000. He used it all that summer and then he got in an accident with his truck and thankfully we had the KIA as a back up because just as his car was getting out of the shop I got into an accident and needed to drive the KIA.

I will say that it was a little putt-putt car, but it got us from A to B and several points in between when need be, but when gas prices started coming back down, both our vehicles were fixed and back on the road and winter came it didn't make sense for us to have the 3rd car on the road anymore, so he put it out front for sale. Usually things get snapped up off our front lawn but the KIA just sat and sat and sat ~ No one apparently wants to drive a manual around her! ~ So he decided to list it on Craig's List and very quickly got an offer that someone wanted to trade him a quad for the KIA. ~ Now just in case you didn't know how much of a JEEP/ATV/4 wheeler of any sort freak CJ is I can refer you to this posting and just say that if it has to with mud he is there! ~ So he traded the KIA for a quad and spent all summer zipping through the woods. He had a great time and KM and her friends loved taking rides on it.

We have had discussions over the last few years about getting an RV again and how much fun we had when we could just jump in and go! So CJ was always checking craig's list for feasible possibilities, but I could just not justify spending the cash on it and there was NO way we were going to get a loan for one. However he managed to work out another trade when he saw the words "willing to trade for ATV".

Now it needs some serious exterior work and minimal interior work, but considering it is older than CJ it realy isn't that bad -

It runs great, is pretty good on mileage considering it's age, has TONS of storage, I can drive it and it sleeps 6!

We are planning on taking the stove out completely and putting in a bigger sink there, since we always use a grill when we are camping. The bathroom needs to be redone. We are thinking of using some leftover flooring to get rid of the orange carpeting. The outside will be powerwashed and painted - there was some talk of bedliner on the exterior, but I am trying to push away from that one. I would be happy if we could also find a bit bigger fridge, but I am not holding my breath on that one.

All in all we will be doing a lot of work, but we have all agreed to do it together! It will be a fantastic project that we will be all be able to reap the benefits of it in the long run!
I will keep you all updated as things progress!