Misc Pics to Share

I am posting a photo album of some pics from early February.  You can look at the comment under each photo to see my comments.

Enjoy

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Homeschooling Ramblings

I met a lady last night who is a public school teacher and thought it was really cool that we were homeschooling. She was full of questions and encouragement. It is not often that I meet someone so positive about homeschooling and yet does not homeschool and especially one that works in the public schools. My biggest critics are usually the current or previous public school teachers. Especially since we do not follow the public school curriculum nor do we have any intention of doing so. I even once had a lady checking us out ask me if I was a teacher and I told her I homeschool and she asked me shocked “They still let you do that”.

My latest joke is that my kids have an IEP (Individualized Education Program). If they were in fact special needs then people would be less likely to question that I teach towards their interests and current level and don’t follow the traditional public education curriculum. I love that we can spend days on their current interest and allow them to learn subjects intermingled (similar to real life) instead of teaching them separately at individual sittings. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for my children’s great health and that they are not truly special needs.

It is amazing now that we call what we do “Kindergarten” how much more my critics are concerned about my children’s school progress. Truthfully it isn’t very different than what we did in December, Arianna was just at the Kindergarten level or higher in most things so we begin calling it Kindergarten in January. I still teach based on her interests and at her current level.

I recently googled some Kindergarten schedules to see what they looked like and how far off we are. It is amazing how we can cover everything and more than the the kindergarten calendars in a fraction of the time. I have read (can’t remember where) that all you need is 30 minutes structured instruction per day and you will be teaching the same if not more than they do in a public school Kindergarten. So much time is spent on other things such as classroom management, potty breaks, waiting in lines, etc. An equation I once read was 6 hours/day divided by 20 students=18 minutes per student subtract: Recess, Lunch, Fire drills, Art, PE, Music, unplanned interruptions, etc. Using that equation, my kids are getting tons more individualized instruction per day than the average public school kid.

I recently read a fellow bloggers post that encouraged me. Check it out at Life In Grace . I have added the book she discussed (Dumbing Us Down) to my reading list. Now if I could only find enough time to read the many books on my reading list…that would be a great accomplishment. Homeschooling does take away a lot of my free time:) Even if I only did 30 minutes/day with the kids, I also have the lesson planning, preparing for the activities, researching, etc that goes into each day. I am not complaining at all, I LOVE homeschooling and seeing the difference made in my kids is priceless!

Just remember that if you stop by my home, you are likely to see a mess! Cleaning tends to take a backseat to homeschooling!

New Band, Video Games and Sweet Dreams

Ari and Ryan were so cute. The music center rarely got used but when I changed the playroom around, it is a well used center.  They turn on a song and then they play and sing to it. 

This is Ari inside of Chris’ sweatshirt and playing her leapster video game.  She had her legs out the arm holes. Silly girl!

Ryan has been asking to sleep with Ari at night.  Here they finally fell asleep together. 

Spoiled

The kids and I changed around our school room the other day.  Before you see the pictures, I want to share my thoughts/disclaimer. 

First, we have way to many toys.  I know that.  Despite going through toys at Christmas and giving away 2 bins and having 4-5 more bins that we put up in the attic for a yard sale, we still have lots of toys.    We got enough toys for Christmas for 2 children’s entire stock of toys. 

With that said, I love our school room.  It is very conducive to self-directed play.  It also is set up in a manner that is organized and usable.  I don’t feel like out kids miss out on preschool because truly they have their own preschool in the playroom.  However I often feel guilty when I show people are school room.  We have way too much. 

Chris and I have discussed limiting the number of gifts that are given during Christmas and birthdays.  We have talked about ways to combat all that our children have.  We try really hard to teach our children to be giving and to share all that God has given them.  We try to teach them to be grateful for all that they have.  We try to teach them to love God and family more than any toy they own.  We try to teach to enjoy the little things such as cereal boxes and coffee cans.  Yet they have more than probably a third world country’s entire population of children combined. 

We do tend to have more educational toys than “commercial” toys.  I call those toys that look pretty in the box and are only played with a time or two commercial toys.  Those are the toys that are marketed on the commercials.  Those toys usually don’t last long at our house and end up in the attic ready to be sold on Craig’s list or the next yard sale.  We much more prefer the toys that encourage creativity and critical thinking skills than the commercial toys.

With all of that said, enjoy the pictures of our changed around school room…

This is the Art/Writing center. 

 

This is the Music center.

This is Library.  The puppet theatre is in the bay window. 

This is Block center/Circle Time Area.

This is Science Center.

 

This is Home Living Center.

This is Math/Manipulative Center.  

Ari worked on labeling things in the school room. 

Later, she brought labels for our bed that she taped onto to each of our corresponding sides:)

Boys will be Boys

While the saying above usually irks me because it is typically used as an excuse for poor behavior, there is some amount of truth to it.  Refer back to my post from earlier this month entitled Boys vs Girls.  Enter into evidence the following pictures…how can one be so opposed to girls and yet so excited to be in ballet class with his sister…not just excited but dressed head to toe in pink.   This only happened once and no Arianna didn’t talk him into it.  He found her tights from the day and was interested in trying to put them on all by himself.  That evolved into Arianna getting dressed up in her ballet clothes which led Ryan to end up in a leotard.  Granted he cried soon after because it was his turn to wear the black outfit.  As I said in my previous post, I am quite open minded to dolls and such but it was a bit challenging seeing my sweet baby BOY dressed in pink from head to toe.  I am glad that in general he has his VERY STRONG opinions against girl things.

9 Happy Years

I meant to post this on our actual anniversary (1/29) but that was a busy co-op day and then we went out to eat that night and then we enjoyed our evening together!:) 

In honor of our anniversary, I thought I would share our engagement story.

We got engaged on July 24, 1999.  We were going up to the mountains of NC to a friends wedding. I thought her wedding started at 4:00 so we had planned to go to the Blue Ridge Parkway and sight see.  On our way Saturday morning, I found out that the wedding was actually at 2:00 and I had to be there early because I was handing out programs.  I told Chris that we wouldn’t get to go up into the mountains.  He was extremely disappointed (at the time I didn’t understand why.) We went to my friends wedding and then went back to my parent’s house for dinner(they were out of town).  Chris cooked dinner while I went downstairs to play with my dog (yes, I was even spoiled then by my soon to be husband!)  All of a sudden Chris asked me to come upstairs quickly.  I thought he might have broken something.  He tells me to look out the kitchen window.  I did and didn’t know what he was so worked up about.  He said “Do you see the red bird (cardinal)?”  I did but I figured a family member of mine had left the stuffed beanie baby cardinal on the back deck so I didn’t think it was significant.  Chris said let’s go outside and see it.  He picked up the cardinal and said “Make a Wish!” (Side note:  it had been our tradition to make a wish when a cardinal flew across our path).  He asked what I wished for and I told him that I couldn’t tell him or it wouldn’t come true.  He said I’ll tell you what I wish “I wish for you to be my wife!”  He got down on one knee and turned the bird around—it had a ring tied to it’s neck.  He proceeded to ask me to marry him.  I said “YES!”

I have an amazing husband who spoils me!  He is by far my best friend in the whole world!  I am very grateful to have someone like him to share a life with!

  We got married before the digital age and I don’t have any pics on my computer from our wedding.  This is the first picture that I could find of us that was digital. I don’t have a scanner so I can’t scan anything in.  The picture is from 2006.

WWF at our home

Ari and Ryan had friends over last weekend.  My kids love to wrestle with Chris.   I join in sometimes but the kids don’t like it as much for me to be involved because they get upset that Chris is hurting me.  He is rough.  The kids love it though and keep coming back for more.  Well last weekend all 4 kids wanted to wrestle with Chris.  These are the pictures from the event.  They wore Chris out!    

Ryan usually gets hurt at least once but then he climbs back into the ring.

Our fun and busy day with other Homeschoolers

On Monday we joined one of the local homeschooling groups in the morning at Langley’s Gymnastics.  Ryan’s friend Aaron joined us for the day.  The kids had so much fun!  Unfortunately you have to miss the photo op of me stuck in the foam pit. I got in to “play” with the kids and got stuck.  It is really, really hard to get out of those things.  I tried to play it cool but finally had to cross over to the otherside to climb on a “boat(mat)” and climb out from that.  The kids made it look so easy!

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That afternoon, we went to the museum with our Homeschooling Group from church.  We went to the Meet the Animals Class where we got to see and pet a live alligator.  The kids had a great time together.

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Whoever said that a disadvantage of homeschooling was socialization, obviously never homeschooled!

Homeschooling Co-op

I have been blessed to meet a dear friend last summer at our pool.  (I joined the pool solely to meet others in our new neighborhood.)  She lives nearby, has kids my kids age and homeschools.  Not to mention, we have similar philosophies of homeschooling. What more could I ask for? On top of that, our kids adore each other. 

We decided to begin a co-op together in January and it is going great!  She teaches my kids one week and then I teach her kids the next week.  The kids look forward to the times together, have the privilege of learning from another adult, and one Mom gets a break. 

I am so grateful for Beth’s friendship and her positive influence on my kids life. 

 

Alana and Arianna made up a story together about a Snow House. 

Playing outdoors together at co-op…Ryan and Aaron nailing nails into a board

Siblings

I love that my kids adore each other!  They are usually quick to share their last piece of food with each other. They usually play so well together.  Ryan says his best friend is Arianna.  I say usually because they also have their times where they fight like cats and dogs. 

In this picture Ari was holding Ryan and I caught the grin on Ryan’s face because of his sister’s love. 

He is dressed up as a knight and she is dressed as a princess.  Ryan is really enjoying dressing up lately!

Lasting Friends

Our Friendship

by Melinda Stankosky

Our friendship started many years ago.
Where the days have gone I don't know,
But when I think of all we've done
I stop and smile because we've had such fun.
I hope you know how much I care.
It's friends like you who create a pair.
I wish I were closer to share your happiness;
But near or far, I wouldn't miss
All the things you have to share.
I hope you know I am always here.
I know it is harder being miles away,
But always remember this when I say,
"Our friendship is a treasure
Well beyond any measure. "

Arianna and Daniella have been friends since they were 3 months old.  Their birthday is just a day apart.  The boys have always been friends since the girls loved spending time with each other.  Their family moved to Connecticut last year and came to visit today. The kids had a blast hanging out!  This is the infamous Zach that Ryan wants to grow his hair out like.  They are an amazing family and we were all grateful to get to spend the day at Planet Child with them.  

More Winter Wonderland

During School yesterday we read The Snowy Day.  We then went outside and tried to do what we remembered from the book.  Ryan walked around and made footprints.  Ari and Chris had a snowball fight.  When we came in, we made snowflake pictures and then dictated a story about our time in the snow.  Today we went out and played in the snow some more.  Ari enjoyed using a stick to knock snow on her head.  The snow was too soft in the morning to build a snowman so we came inside and had some hot chocolate.  In the afternoon we succeeded in building a snowman finally.  Ryan named the snowman “Batman”.  When we came in, we read a book about a snowman (can’t remember the name) and then read The Mitten.  We tried to see how many kids and dogs we could fit into a sweater of Daddy’s (lots of animals climb into the mitten).

I am going to try a photo album to display the pictures.    Not sure how this works so you get to be the guinea pig:)

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Winter Wonderland

God answered my prayer…snow.  We have been discussing winter in school and I wanted the kids to see real snow instead of just reading about it.  We woke up to a beautiful white yard.  

I thought this was funny…we have snow on our back deck and Ari is looking at it in her underwear.  Chris and I are dressed warm and Ari is running around in just underwear. 

The kids had a blast playing in the snow! 

Ari was throwing snow balls at Pandora.  The dogs really enjoyed the snow too!

 

Chris and Ari having a snow ball fight.  This was just before he coated her face in snow. 

 

Ari making snow angels

Frozen Hot Dogs

Enjoying hot chocolate after playing in the snow