homeschooling

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Mini Golf

There is a local mini golf course that I had yet to try, so on one of the hot days this week, I took T.  We had a great time.  It was a little pricey for mini golf so won’t be something we do regularly.  $6 per adult and $5 per child over the age of 4.  It was hot and there are little shady spots and a pagoda to sit and relax half way through the course.  The fairways were challenging and fun.  “Mom, I like the driving range better. ” says T.  “Why?” says I. “Cause hitting harder is easier than hitting softly.” says the child.

LOL!   I then went into explaining that he should work harder and do m ore things that are harder so that he is equal in ability in both ways.  He accepted that.

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Day 2 Faerie Festival; A Midsummer Nights Dream

Saturday, was dry and sunny!!!  The Faerie Festival was waking with the sun and wonderful performers were popping up everywhere.  The vendors were happy and the faerie folk were out to play!  The Homeschool Players were ready and I am pretty sure most parents were ready for this last performance to be done.

Still moist but warm and sunny, the children went on as scheduled.  The performance was fun and well played.

Afterward the families dispersed amongst the fair and found all sorts of interesting fun events to participate in.  Body Art, Faerie Fashion show, Jousting between the knights of the Holly and Oak Kingdoms, and great music. We even had a performance from a few friends from Musica Universalis before the play.  And we were fortunate enough to have been at the beginning of the Green Man march.  What great costumes!

Enjoy the pictures, again!

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Memorial Day Celebrations

Beginning on Saturday we were prepping for the Annual Rayne Family Memorial Day Party.  This is always a great celebration hosted by a truly fabulous family.  No matter how hard things are for them or busy they are, this party is something they grace our community with.  Putting this event together is always a large challenge and I am so thankful they put in so much effort to make it happen every year.  It very much reminds me of the family parties I attended in my youth with my family, with the exception that these folks are my homeschooling community and friends, rather than  family.

Much winter clean up happens during the week prior to this fun event and I love being apart of it.  Getting dirty is not a problem for me.  It is fun!!  Even if it means cleaning up in the process. LOL  When it is all done, everything looks so shiney and new again.  A great beginning to the growing season!  Did I mention that this event happens on a working farm!  This family raises pigs, sheep, chickens and goats.  They have pleasure horses and assorted fowl whom reside and  play in the pond.  The care of all these animals year round is a fulltime job!!  Somehow between children, the house, church, community, jobs and more they find time to run everything naturally and with gentility of Saints!  I am always in Awe and find so much inspiration from this family.

I had somehow managed to injure my wrist so wasn’t much help in prep this year, but I finally got a picture of the pig for the pig roast.  😛  You’ll see!!!  We had a great time being outside working again as we hadn’t done much of that this year yet.  I don’t even have my garden going yet.

On Sunday, S. arrived back at their home to put the pig on at 6:30am.  It was a long day for these men, but it was worth it!!  The pig was finished before guests arrived!!  It tasted delicious!  And everyone, even the hosts actually got to have fun and particpate in their own party this year, rather than cooking etc..  It was a fun filled day with several performances through out the day.  Even my son B. played a few songs on his guitar.  There was a professional band that played two sets, called Voodoo Highway.  The lead singer is a homeschooling mother from our local group.  The bassist works at BAE with S. so he was pleasantly suprised.  A Highway Poet Motor Cycle Club member that we are friends with read some of his peices for the crowd.  Great stuff!!  And, of course, our lovly local fabulous musician, Jacqui Rayne, herself blessed us with a performance.  And More!  It was just an all around good time.  Hundreds of people from all over arrived and joined in the fun.  The night fell and the bonfire was lit.  Twenty foot flames arose and the heat was blazing hot.  After it settled down, smores were to be had!!  Before it got too late, we headed out to hit the sack.  We were all a little wired still, but were soon all asleep.  I wish I could have gotten more pictures, but my camera card ran out after videotaping Jacqui and B. performing.  Maybe next year I will come prepared with an extra memory card or some such.

The next day a hair came across our butts and our own procastrinated barn cleaning needed to be done.  I walked in and checked on all the mamas and found that whilst we were playing all day prior one of our mamas had a beautiful little doe.  I checked her all over and everything was well.  Good job little Mama!  We had some serious cleaning to do and we just cranked it out.  I was very glad to be done by 3ish in the afternoon.  Now each goat mama had a stall all to her own and the bunnies stall was all cleaned out.  Our compost pile is just massive!!!!  I wish I had a bulldozer to turn it every few weeks.  My parents came over that evening and we had hamburgers, watermelon, chips, mushrooms, baked beans, and hello.  Yum, giggly Jello!  We just sat around chatting.  It was relaxing.

I hope you had a good Memorial Day and found some time in your celebrations and such to honor those whom have passed with the designation of Vetran and any other family/friends that could use some remembering.  I know I am truly thankful for all that I have and know it is only possible due to the many who are brave enough to join our armed services.  Thank you!

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First Swim of the Summer!!

On Friday May 22nd, we were very fortunate to have the most fabulous weather yet!  We were also very fortunate for having been invited to join another homeschooling family in swimming in their families pool.  We traveled to PA to meet them.  We had a great time.  I brought knitting to relax with and games so the kids could play when they were taking a break from playing in the water.  I met some really lovely folks and got to swim a little whilst the children weren’t looking!  It was fairly relaxing.  Of course, T. was still T. so we had to deal with swearing and hurting himself per any outing, but it was mostly a good afternoon.  I am very thankful as this really helps set the tone for the rest of the season for me.  I really just love being poolside/lakeside and relaxing while the children swim.  One of my favorite activities.

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Corning Museum of Glass

On Sunday we swung over to the Corning Museum of Glass to see what all the hype is about.   We found some spectacular art and had a really great glass works show.  What an example of being able to let things go.  Make this beautiful vase in just a few short minutes and then after seeing the finished product, dash it in cold water and shatter it in a million pieces.  Just heart stopping.  I choked.  My camera died, but I think that might have been a good thing.  I would have been in there for years trying to catalog all the wonderful pieces I found the spoke to me.  We even enjoyed some craft time and learned a little about my favorite drawing technique, Stippling.  I particularly enjoyed taking the shuttle to the museum.  Not that the walk was far and I know I should conserve, but there is something about taking little bus rides that makes the trip seem so much more fanciful for me.  The science exhibit of telescope lenses and window glass exhibit and manufacturing bottles exhibit were all really the best part for me.  Really hands on and playful.  Definitely worth the hour and a half drive and the admission fee.  We are planning another trip to enjoy a Hands On Create Your Own glass art project later this year.

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Seventh Grade Happenings

We finally finished the IOWA testing.  Now, I sit here and wait for the results to show up at my door.    We have been concentrating so much on Mathematics lately, that most everything else has been put aside.  Decimal, Algebra, Geometry, and Fractions have mostly been what we have been working on.  B. has continued to attend rehearsals for the Homeschool groups production of  “A Midsummer’s Dream”.  He is Bottom.  It fits his personality to a tee!!!  He has his lines down, but needs to work on cues.  They will be performing this play twice. Once for a friends and family show and then we are invited to perform at the  http://www.nyfairiefest.com/index.php Faerie Festival.  Our dear friend Bill Thorpe is the spear head of this festival.

B. is also beginning to attend Creative Writing Classes held at the Bundy Museum, taught by our friend LC.  He is going to enjoy this class I think.  If he can let go of spitting out facts and actually try to write fiction that doesn’t involve dungeons and dragons. LOL

We have continued on our Middle Ages studies.  We are beginning to enter into the Era of the Renaissance.    We are still trying to understand how to make Main Lesson Book pages of Beauty rather than boy mess. Sigh.

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Third Grade Happenings

We have been working on our Main Lesson Book for Third Grade Studies.    We finished up our Old Testament Main Lesson.  T. actually enjoyed many of the stories.  I would have liked to have gotten in many more stories, but I think we got as far as we needed to.  Oma, the Jewish Grandmother was returning to her home.  She had been gone far too long from her own home, but loved sharing her stories with the children.

After we finished, filling in our Main Lesson book with drawings from each of the stories we had read through, T. received a letter from “Grandmother”.  A Native American grandmother from our container story through, A Journey Through Waldorf’s Third Grade Material by Melisa Nielson at http://www.alittlegardenflower.com.  The letter told him he was to expect her to arrive shortly and enjoy new stories from her ancestry.

We are only focusing on the New York tribes.  The  League of Five Nations, Mohawk, Oneida, Seneca, Onondaga, and Oneonta.  Please excuse me if I misspelled these tribes or got them incorrectly, since I don’t have my notes in front of me and am guessing a little from memory.  We opened our study with a weaving project.  We have heard a couple creation stories from, “The Keepers of the Earth” book.  We read a book all about Mohawk Indians.

I will also be incorporating a Shelter Unit with in the N.A. study by using the various types of shelter used by them.  We began that part today.  We started with the plains Indians, tepee’s.  It was fun.  We have much more lined up for this unit.  I hope to  have all sorts of projects completed from this study.  If I am lucky I will find a reservation that we could tour and possibly have a presentation of their “ways”.