Country Kids

Well gosh we're lucky.

Nothin' better than haven all yer friends mosey on down to visit. 

Not all the mommies were ecstatic to find a creek ran through the park ;-)

But the kids were all about getting wet.

This is 7 of the 8 that were there.

And with promises of apple muffins and apple crisp ... the boys climbed the ladder and brought down what was needed.

Turbo

This guy is really a trooper. We came back into town for an orthodontist appointment that was supposed to be quick and easy. However, he ended up having a new wire put in, old springs taken out and these new things called 'turbos' put in. The idea is that it will push his upper teeth in front of his bottom teeth. 

Oops

I sat down to update and I've just realized I forgot my camera!!
Now you'll just have to wait until we get back to the big city for an update.

If you just can't wait check out my mom's for updates.
 http://dknallen.blogspot.ca/

Still Schooling

For the first time in our homeschool career we're using a prepared curriculum for Social Studies/Language and Science. The first unit is on Explorers and Ocean and Wind Currents.

We have studied exploration before but ... the older they get the more in depth we are able to go. This time we are focusing on the motivations of specific explorers. Why did they want to go where noone had gone before?

It's not often I crack out the craft supplies but we did paint up some mini globes this week. They were supposed to be used to cut into, demonstrating the hemispheres. But after working so diligently to accurately represent the placement, shape and size of the continents they didn't want to ruin them.

So we ended up having to make a third 'dummy' earth to cut into hemispheres.

It was suggested that we try the Dragon Speech program. The idea being that you speak and the computer translates it into text. It takes some practice to regulate your cadence and enunciation to the program and to learn the commands for capitalization and punctuation but it's quite effective.

We had several humourous errors.

For example, "When you left did you have a big ship?", became, "When you left did you have a big sh*t?" Whoops!

Distracted

We had an unexpected but not unwanted guest for a few hours today.

She had a good time having lunch with her cousinE.

And since we had the animals out to play with we decided to recreate the battle between the Narnian animals and the humans in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

 

After the cute little girl left we got down to business .... well school actually. I was able to download compasses onto each of their ipads and they used them to locate various things throughout the apartment.

We Are Family

It has been 13 years and two kids since we were last at the Orillia waterfront.

The beaches, water and parks were super fun for the boys.

 

And our hosts were game to try a train ride around the park. 

When I straggled out of bed this a.m. I found the boys congregated on the dock.

The weather looked questionable but our gallant captain still offered us a ride.

 



I just don't think there's anything these Bboys love more than a boat ride.

 

On our return the boys worked with the neighbour's grandkids in an attempt to catch minnows and crayfish.



That gave the four of us the chance to get in a little more visiting.

Thank you muchly to our hosts for the great weekend visit.

Next time .... our place ..... sushi!

 

Zoo-Friday School Day

Yesterday was the last school day of our first week and I really wanted to focus on some specific Ontario Curriculum Objectives.

After some extensive research I decided on the skills listed below

1.2 use adaptive, management, and coping skills to help them respond to the various challenges
they encounter as they participate in physical activities and develop movement competence
A1.1 actively participate in a wide variety of program activities according to
their capabilities, while applying behaviours that enhance their readiness and ability to take
part
A3.1 demonstrate behaviours and apply procedures that maximize their safety and that of others
during physical activity
A3.2 describe common precautions for preventing accidents and injuries while participating in different
types of physical activity
B1.1 perform a variety of controlled static balances and transitions between balances, using a variety
of body parts and shapes, at different levels, individually, and with partners and equipment
C2.2 apply a decision-making process

It seemed obvious that the best place to challenge the above skills was at the Gorilla Climbing Structure at the Zoo. 

  

  

And since we were already there we threw in a little Science Curriculum.



3.1 demonstrate an understanding of habitats as areas that provide plants and animals with the necessities of life

Behind the Curtain

When M heard he would be going to school for a year in another city .... we followed along behind him. Luckily for us his school is very supportive of the families that tagged along and today they had an orientation and Meet and Greet.

 

The kids loved seeing where M sits in his class, the library space and the briefing room. He gave them a personal tour and we pretended to be giving our own briefing.

 

There were 50+ kids there and they played a rousing game of soccer after dinner. A good time was had by all.

On another note .... we finished the Narnia Series. I can't remember exactly when we started but it was probably just over a year ago. I committed to reading the boys pages from the Narnia books each night. With seven books, and a forced hiatus while M co-opted reading time with a book of his choosing, it has taken us until now to finish. What do we read now?

Other Me

You see this picture right here?
This is the real me.
Exactly how I would choose to spend pretty near every minute of every day. Quietly reading some giant tome on some significant person/place or time. Bliss.

It's not that I don't like people. It's just that I don't like a lot of people for a lot of time. And I'm not particularly fond of meeting new people.

(You would think that having moved so often and been so fortunate to make such great friendships that I would learn to adapt .... nope.)


However, I'm a mom and I'm a homeschooler. And that means it is my responsibility to 'get these kids out there and get them socialized'!

With that in mind I have been putting out feelers and looking for people in our area. Luckily there are people who like people and I've had some responses. Tomorrow we have a park/library 'date' with two other homeschool families.

Wish me luck as I put away the 625 page auto-biography of Nelson Mandela I'm currently reading and venture out. Picnic lunch packed and a smile on my face ..... it's time to make some friends.

Uncles

We have had extraordinaryily nice weather since we arrived at the beginning of the month.

All the better to enjoy the garden and our company.

 

And who's that hiding behind the polka dotted girl?

UncleM. He's a sucker for this girl.

 

But who wouldn't be ..... look at that face.

Or maybe there's something about uncles.

Back in the Day

September2009

There they are above on one of our first homeschool days ever. 

September2013

Starting our fifth year now.

The adventure continues.

Lost(?) and Found

And the search was on. We needed to find a local park.

Some green space, swings, somewhere in the shade to picnic lunch.

On our way North we came across a lot of grates, cars and people.

About 1.5km up the road we were feeling a little discouraged. So we stopped for tea and cookies.

The 1st picture is how the kids wanted to pose. The 2nd is how I wanted them to pose.



We decided to veer off the main road and go a little east.

Eureka!!!

Less than 1km from our building.

We found out what we need.

Swings, green space, shade and a picnic area.

Smiles.