This is school?

I had a random idea to set up a little tea party for the kids.  Alison had asked for pumpkin bread and thank you Trader Joe's for making that super easy for me.  When the bread was done, I made some hot cocoa and got out our china.  Then I turned on some "fall" music, lit a fall smelling candle and grabbed a book.  I called the kids in for our special snack time and they LOVED it.

I read ,while they dined.

Alison said, "I wish we were English and could do this everyday."  I told her that we could do it every day (just not with pumpkin bread), but reminded her that she doesn't like tea.  She said, "You're right.  I like our "Shearish" way better."

{It cracked me up how Maya could not be left out and laid their quietly next to us }

At the end of the day, the kids all said this was their favorite part of the day.  I said, "I'm so thankful to hear that school was your favorite part!" and Alison said, "THAT WAS SCHOOL?!?"

Goal accomplished.

Did you hear literature?  yes.

Did you hear classical music? yes.

Did you engage in a conversation about what you were hearing?  yes.

Then you just learned something and that my friends, is what we call "school".

I don't have a concrete goal for us this year yet...our fall is so busy that I might wait until the new year, but I do have a goal that they would enjoy learning this year; to break the idea that school fits in a box and is boring.  Even for myself, this is the first year that I haven't filled out a year long spreadsheet of what lessons need to be done when.  I've been doing this long enough that I know about what pace we need to take.  I left all those boxes blank and told the kids that it didn't matter how long it took to finish to books or how many chapters we got done, it matters that they learn it.  What point is it to fill out the pages but not actually know it?

We did have another tea party and continued on our reading.  This week, I'm going to have Alison bake some cookies (i.e. cooking class) for our tea party :)

Clearly busy

I promise we're alive...clearly we've been busy starting our new school year, as that's pretty much all I have to document of this last month.

Colin has some news.  He went on a date with Daddy and loved every minute.  They got hamburgers and milkshakes and then went shopping for some new clothes.

We make it a point to get Colin a hamburger and shake every once in awhile because he will devour it and it's kind of like our calorie insurance plan for him :)  I asked him what he wanted for breakfast the other day and he said, "I'll just take some carrots."

 Colin helped me cook dinner the other night and it made my day!

Lego Star Wars Imperial Base

Created by Eli Shear

This is a Lego Star Wars Imperial Base.

This is the landing pad.

This is the hanger.

This is the motorcycle parking and can also store stuff.

This is the shield generator.

This is the training room.

This is the meditating room.

This is the factory where they make weapons.  They send it to the storage when it's done.

This is the break room.

This is where ships park.

This is the prison.

The grey pillars are doors.

Humongous Star Wars fleet

Created by Eli Shear

This fleet contains a lot of old Lego sets, such as the Millennium Falcon, a Tie fighter, Obi-Wan Star Fighter and an Imperial shuttle.

School on the beach

Clearly life is pretty rough over here ;)

Why do school on the beach?  I'm glad you asked.  There are many reasons.

First, it's good for my soul.  

If you haven't read Sarah Mackenzie's book, 'Teaching from Rest', do it now.  I can't think of a better, more relaxing way to teach, than by the ocean.

Second, I loved the idea of doing a little work, then taking breaks to find sea glass or look for crabs or jump in the waves. 

Third, I want to break the box in my kids' minds of what learning looks like.  I want them to know that learning can happen ANYWHERE not just at a desk at a certain time.  I also want to give them tools to figure out what works for them...I often encourage them to pair learning with something they love, like listening to music or ,just to keep it real, munching on gummy bears.

Third, we're studying sea life in science this year and I am A-okay with spending lots of time by the sea to get a hands on experience of what we are learning.

Fourth, I wanted to carve out time to make a dent in this book. It's an extremely fascinating read.

Finally, because we live in California!  And this is what my homeschool dreams are made of!

Field Trip to the Getty Villa

 The Getty Villa

When I asked if I wanted to go on this field trip, my first answer was "NO".  I had zero desire to drive into LA by myself.  Then Ben reminded me that I might be missing a great opportunity simply because I didn't want to drive there.  Point taken.  When near LA, I should probably do some LA things.  The drive was stressful, but once we actually got there, it was worth it.

Our homeschool group was divided up and I went with the younger boys.  Alison loves art and was excited to go, but I had to prepare the boys that even though this wasn't the most thrilling thing to them, they still had to participate.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much they actually loved this experience.

I did not take enough pictures to do this place justice, but I felt rude having my camera out during the tour.

This is walking into the main house:

This was a replica of Julius Caesar's father-in-law's house.

Our tour guide was a little old lady and it was clear that English was not her first language...but props to her, because she presented all of the history to the kids at their level and they got so much out of our time with her.  

After our official tour, I took the kids (plus Lily) back to the gardens, because it was just too beautiful not walk around in.

If you stood in the center of this circle and talked toward the seating, it amplified your voice and was a shocking experience.

I am so glad we went.  It sparked a lot interest in Roman history and we had some great conversations in the days following our trip. 

First day of Spanish class

This is a big year for Alison!  She will be taking Spanish 1 and Jr. High Language Arts through CASA (Christian Academy Support Association), the homeschool group that we have joined.

It is a support group for homeschoolers and they organize things like field trips, park days and make yearbooks/student IDs.  The also offer things for parents like help planning the jr. high and high school years to get ready for college and help you make transcripts.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they rent out space in a local church and offer classes.  What I love about the classes is, it's a not a co-op and it's not a school, it's simply the parents getting together and hiring a professional tutor for a specific subject.  Options like this will be vital as we enter the higher grades and we get into subjects that are out of my expertise.  Point in case: Spanish.  We have tried 3 online Spanish courses, all fine and well, but Alison wasn't learning anything beyond simple words.  I thought for sure living in Yuma would make Spanish really stick, but that proved wrong.  She requested to take this Spanish class and I am SO glad we agreed.  One class in and she has already gotten WAY more than any online program could offer.  There are 3 other girls around her age in her class and I'm praying and hoping some great friendships come from this adventure.

While Alison was in class, the boys and I camped out at a picnic table. #perkoflivinginCA.  This is a pretty good real-life picture of school...Eli pretty much always snacks on nuts and dried fruit while he works on math. 

 

I was sitting here thinking how amazing it was that we could do math out here every Tuesday and Thursday.  And then my bubble was burst.  Out of no where, Eli started screaming and threw off his shoe.  Tears started streaming down his face and it took me way too long to figure out that a bee stung his foot!  Stupid thing, crawled into his Croc while he was calmly sitting there and stung him!  I knew then that he will never want to go to that spot again.

First Day of School

Because I couldn't pick just one favorite, you get two :)

I told the kids to put on whatever they wanted for pictures and to pose wherever they wanted.  What's the point of homeschool if you can't have pictures however you want...because I don't know a single person who loves school pictures and actually likes the result.

It's going to be a big year!  I'm already taking some deep breaths.

 

Colin was the only one who got a printed page before our printer decided not to connect to the internet.  Some day I really need to upgrade that little white board.

San Diego, day 2

We stayed over night in San Diego, which was a smart decision because we all crashed after a day at Sea World.

The next morning, Ben and I ran together.  We may live close to the ocean, but I don't get to run by it often and when I do, it's my favorite!

Before we checked out of the hotel, we spent some time in the pool. Colin thought it was hilarious that he could carry my legs.

 

 Then we went to the beach to look for sea glass.  Alison has really been into collecting it and we read online that the Del Mar beach was a prime place...we didn't find any, but it was a fun adventure.

 

On the way home, we stopped in Santa Monica.  We've never been, so it was fun to check it off our list.  

 

First stop was dinner in downtown.

Then we went to the pier.  Colin didn't want what everyone else had...I can't remember what it was called, but it was basically giant sushi, so he got a hot dog on the pier.

It was pretty busy, and that was on a regular Tuesday night, so I can only imagine what this place is like during peak summer days.  I'm glad we went, but wasn't overly wowed by it.

I think Ben was the most wowed by all the super fancy cars EVERYWHERE.  It's definitely a different experience living in an area where celebrities live.