Weekly Update - Midpoint of Winter

We are halfway through our winter session and for the most part things are going smoothly for KM. She is really enjoying the choices that she has made in her lessons. Her skype poetry class is finishing up next week and although she is really anxious about her critical analysis essay, she is fully enjoying the class. She is working hard to complete her French by the end of the session, as she would like to move on to Japanese, but wants to finish this book first. She has also started researching cosmetology schools and what it will take to become a cosmetologist. We have started in on the "animal" section in biology and have started our ant observations - check out the page where we are chronicling our discoveries! She is also practicing for the World Education Games and can't wait until the Science practice opens next week.

DN on the other hand - not quite so smooth. He is fully and completely compliant, but I am having a very difficult time getting him to truly understand that learning is part of life. Not something that you just "get done." That is what school is about right - but that is NOT what education is. I am trying to be patient and keep things in perspective as I know that it has only been a few months, but it gets really difficult when I am bending and twisting and feeling like there is no appreciation of the lengths that I am going to. I have to remind myself that hindsight is most effective and the fruits of my labor might just take a bit longer to ripen than I would like.

For a sneak peek of our first day with the ants check out our montage ---

Oh and KM's room makeover is complete ---- 

The green looks a bit more yellow in the pics, but you get the gist of it and KM LOVES IT!!! She was so over all the pink! 

Winter Session Outlined and Ready to Go

I have the majority of our lesson plans ready and outlined for the winter session - PPPHHEEWWWW!!!! As always there is room for change, but I need the guidelines so that I can feel comfortable and ready to go. With DN being here and learning with us now, it really is essential as he wants to know what is going on and when it is going to happen. As I have seen with many deschooling teens, he needs room to find his interests, but if left completely to his own devices I truly believe - and have seen - he would flounder. He has been so set in the path of following orders and completing tasks that are given, that he truly has no idea what to do when he is told he can do whatever he wants. I have heard it said time and time again that they will eventually snap out of it, but I don't always think that is true. I feel it is very dependent on the child and would rather ease him into it, allowing more and more choices as we go rather than to just pitch him into the pool and hope he figures out how to swim.

So anyway....they are covering almost all the same subjects, just at different levels. I have an outline of all our curriculum choices on this page along with our weekly schedule. These are just guidelines and we often swap things around, but again having a plan helps. We will continue to tweak and monitor, especially with DN as he progresses to ensure the proper fit in all areas.  In addition to the outlines and basic curriculum choices, I picked up a few extras to make things fun and fresh!   

All this snow makes it much easier....

to make snowball bunkers!

How much is enough?

I think when you start to loose sight of your yard...it might be enough for a while, but of course we are suppose to be getting another round coming in this weekend! We are trying to still LOVE the snow!!! We just really need somewhere to put it!

Winter is my favorite season!

I know that most people probably think that I am crazy! Who loves winter? It's cold, dark, boring, there is less to do, you are cooped up inside, blah, blah, blah....well I do!

I love looking out my window and seeing the earth covered in a blank of white. I love marveling at the beauty and strength of nature. I love cozying up in front of a fire. I love scarves, hats, and fuzzy mittens. I love staying in my PJs all day and listening to books on tape. I love the crisp frigid freshness in the air. I love to watch the dogs romp around and catch snowballs. I love the desolate quiet when the power goes out. I love to watch the joy on the face of a child as they go swooshing down the hill. I love that CJ gets to be home more. I love that we are able to spend more time together as a family.

As a home learning family we spend a good deal of time together, but it is different in the winter. During the other seasons we are out doing things, going places and being active. However for us winter is a time to come together with those that you love and enjoy each other's company in close quarters. It is a time to really embrace our family.

Another Busy Week Gone By

We got back to book work over this last week and all went well for the most part, although we have decided to do away with the Music Alive Classical Connections to U.S. History, as she thinks it is rather dry and I can't disagree with her on that one. Instead she will be using the Annenberg Media lectures Exploring the World of Music and selecting a composer, musician or group to do a biography on each month. I think this will be much more suited to her interests and style.

Other than that everything else went smoothly... Mon KM got the rest of her top wire on her braces attached and we got some shopping done. Tues KM went skating, visited with a good friend, and in the evening we went to see Gulliver's Travels - CJ even came along! Wed was ice skating again. Thur SC came to visit, as she wasn't feeling up to daycare that day and the afternoon was taken up by Theater. Fri we finished up the bookwork and KM got a LOT of reading done! Saturday KM had bowling, we had to pick up the truck from the shop, and DN got to visit AG's reptiles. Then Sunday was CJ's birthday party- He will be 36 on Wed!!!

As we come off of another super busy week it seems we are all paying for it -

• KM has a wretched cough and I am worried that her asthma might be rearing its' head again, so we will be off to the doctor's first thing in the morning
• CJ is stressed and exhausted from regular work slowing down, the weird hours plowing and the anxiety over his truck being fixed - which has went much better than we expected!
• I just can't get rid of this weird postnasal cough thing and I have begun having some sleep issues because of it.

I feel the need to remind myself that we do truly NEED more rest in the winter and that we NEED to recognize the body's signals to nature's cues. Here is a really good article on some reasons why we need more sleep in winter. So this week I am cutting back A TON and listening to our bodies. For real! I swear we are going to!!!

Here are some pics from the week -

The dust is starting to settle...

...and things are starting to feel like they are getting a bit back to normal around here...or as close to normal as it ever is around here!

We are starting out on a new leg of our adventure and some things have changed a bit ~ mostly for the better.

The biggest change is that I am no longer watching the Littles on a regular basis. They are doing wonderfully on their new adventure and I can feel more like an aunt again! KM misses them, but is really enjoying some of the perks of this change.

One of those perks being a much needed change in sleep schedules - KM had been getting a bit spacey and with all the changes going on with her physically at this age, I thought I would check in with her doctor to see what he thought. His first suggestion was to make sure that she was eating, drinking and sleeping enough! Most kids don't get the benefit of being homeschooled and not HAVING to get up at the crack of dawn, so his first suggestion was to go a few weeks letting her wake up on her own schedule. This at first FRIGHTENED me IMMENSELY - I thought for sure she would sleep til 2 in the afternoon and want to stay up til 3 in the morning, but of course her Dr quickly added, that this should not change her bedtime! She should still try to get to sleep at a reasonable hour and then her body should naturally begin to set its own rhythms. Of course I also began researching on my own as well and found a number of articles that went into great detail to explain the differences in the circadian rhythms of teenagers. - Here is one - and another - and one more!

This really made me think - "Okay yet another INCREDIBLE benefit of homeschooling!" When KM first began homeschooling we had to teach her how to acknowledge the needs of her body that she had suppressed for so long at PS. Simple things like drinking when she is thirsty, eating when she is hungry, etc. rather than waiting for the teacher to say it is time to do those things and you better do them or you may not get a chance to do them again for HOURS!

For the first week there were a LOT of late mornings, but she did seem much more awake and refreshed in the afternoons and evenings, with far fewer "duh" moments - by this I mean, "what did I walk into the kitchen for? oh yeah I need to eat!" sort of thing - I also started to see the natural switch and she is now sleeping wonderfully and awaking refreshed and ready to start at a reasonable time. With this extra time in the morning, I can get more of MY things done like chores and exercise and such, before she even gets up! It also gives her more time in the evening to hang out with CJ and I without feeling so exhausted.

Another benefit is that since we don't have the Littles ~ and all that must be brought along with tiny children ~ to haul around with us, it is so much easier to just up and go whenever the mood hits us! We can go for a snow hike today because it is sooooo pretty out and the weather is just right! We can just pop out to a matinee movie because we put the lessons off until tomorrow. We can scrap the history book for the afternoon and get the grocery shopping done so that we can have friends over in the evening. It is just so freeing! It has felt like we were missing this true freedom aspect of home learning because we were always trying to get the hard core "WORK" done on the days that we didn't have the girls so that when we had them we could play, do art and have fun little kid time. However now we get to have fun "tween" time!

Please don't get me wrong I LOVE my nieces with all my heart and would do anything for them, but it was just time for our paths to split for a while! I will however let everyone know how they are enjoying their new journey.

AS ALWAYS we are also tweaking our curriculum a bit, but we haven't worked the kinks out quite yet so I will have to let you know about that in another post! Anyway, thanks so much for hanging in there while it was quiet and all the great emails of encouragement and concern! My readers are so WONDERFUL!

Busy Weekend Catch Up!!!

We had a wonderful snow storm last night and into today! It made for the perfect weekend and allowed me to prepare for tomorrow's Yule fest!

KM's best friend - AM - got here Friday to go to Edaville Railroad with us!

We had a great time, but of course we had to pick the night that it was literally 12 degrees out!!! KM doesn't remember when we went when she was little and AM had never been so it was great for them to do that together for the first time! The lights were beautiful and the cocoa was FANTASTIC - and helped to keep us warm!!!

CJ napped yesterday and prepared for the storm to come. He got called out to plow at 11:30p Saturday night and has only pulled in long enough to plow half the driveway, pick up some food and snacks and drive AM home, before heading back out again.

The girls were in and out of the snow all day! They are loving the snowball makers, they made little forts for themselves and were waging wars on each other....luckily no one came out with any injuries!

I have been keeping the fire going and baking up a storm. That is my bread rising in the warmest spot! The bread always seems to taste a bit better when it rises near the fire! I think it is more in the symbolism of it than anything!

I have no idea what our snow totals are or will be but it will be fun to see how it measures up to SC tomorrow! If you are also enjoying this wonderful winter welcoming storm be sure to keep safe and warm!