Finding The Quiet

I had an opportunity to get away with my husband for a couple of days. We get away a few times a year for a marriage conference, but the last time we were actually alone together for more than an evening, was a year ago when we celebrated our 25th anniversary.

I was actually pretty excited about this trip. He has a hotel for work, so it meant that I could have some uninterrupted time to work on projects, without a big financial expenditure. You see, when I am at home, I don't want to be staring at a screen. If I am not looking my children in the face, I have lots of little organizing and gardening projects that I need to look at. And don't even let me get started on all the laundry and cooking. Even with several older children, it still requires one person to manage it all.

So life at home is very full, and the first day alone in the hotel room felt pretty amazing. I worked on my computer for a full five-hour stretch before taking a break. It was a whole new experience.

By day two though, the quiet was starting to wear on me. I missed my crazy life. I missed the excitement and intensity of managing my busy household. I missed the hugs and even the refereeing that is such a big part of my days right now.

Sure, I could FaceTime my kids, and do a silly check on teeth brushing and schoolwork through the computer, but there is nothing so wonderful as being around these amazing humans that my husband and I birthed together. 

I am thankful that my husband and I still love each other, after 26 years of marriage. I am thankful that we enjoy being together because I know that someday it will be him and I without all of these children at home. I am also thankful for the quiet times that I have at home. My morning routine of reading my Bible in bed, while I sip my first cup of coffee has given me just enough of a respite to keep me going on those busy days.

But I really love being around my kids, and I am so grateful for the many extra hours that homeschooling has allowed us to have together.

Some of the things that I love doing with my kids;

• Watercolor painting

• Reading aloud

• Nature Study

• Science projects-

Tinker Crate has been a great resource for us this year!

• Cleaning 

• Picking fruit

• Baking

What are your favorite things to do with your kids?

This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for clicking through and supporting this blog.

Summer Science Fun

We have been having a sweet mix of school and summer fun here, spending a couple days a week reviewing our math facts and then swimming with friends or heading on an adventure the other few days.

As I was discussing what we would use for school next year with a good friend, she explained to me that she planned to use Tinker Crate for science with her elementary student. I got excited about the idea also, because I have felt a strong inclination to start making more of our science learning project based, in order to get my boys more engaged with the idea of science as a career. I had even ordered Snap Circuits as a coming home present for my boys, an out of character splurge for me, as I don't often buy gifts (aside from thrifted books) in between birthdays and Christmas.



The boys were thrilled with the Snap Circuits, so when I started looking into Tinker Crate, I got excited about getting a subscription, and using it for our science studies.

Our first box came midway through June, and coincidentally contained a constellation project and other projects related to astronomy. I say coincidentally, because my favorite homeschool resource is Wild and Free, and this month's bundle was all about stargazing. We were able to combine the two resources to really delve into a fascinating short study of the constellations, while also giving my children a beautiful introduction to fiber optics, and some extra skill with wiring electrical circuits.

There were several other science experiment ideas in the "Tinker Zine" that came in our crate, but by far, the fiber optic night sky that we created using the materials that were contained in the crate was our favorite.

Really, any activity that gets my sons off the computer, and into hands on learning, is a hit with me, and I loved that this engaging activity didn't require any convincing to get them excited about completing it.

You can sign up for Tinker Crate here,



They have a few great specials right now, including 25% off the first month of any subscription. 

You can sign up for Wild and Free bundles here (Wild and Free) The Stargazer bundle also has all the beautiful audio from the recent Wild and Free conference. I have listened to the talks several times, getting new ideas with each listen, and I can't even tell you how encouraging the spoken word by Danielle Bennett was. I could listen to that every day.

A few other things we are doing to stay busy this summer;
1. Swimming in a lake
2. Visiting a beach with friends
3. Making lots of jam
4. Planting an herb garden
5. Hosting a graduation party
6. Going backpacking
7. Taking a quick mission trip to Mexico
8. Reading lots of picture books
9. Eating ice cream
10. Sleeping in a tent.

What are your favorite hands on science resources? How do you keep your kiddos busy and off the computer during the lazier days of summer?

This post contains affiliate links. I appreciate your support of this blog by purchasing through my links, and I strive to support your efforts to live sustainably by only reviewing products that I would actually use. 

Homeschool Co-op How To

I have had some form of a homeschool co-op for many of the 17 years that I have been homeschooling. I love being around people, and I love the accountability and enrichment that homeschooling with a co-op has provided. 

Although space limitations have kept our co-ops very small, I dream of one day being able to meet in a facility where I could join with more families in my community to learn together.

In past years, we have only met once a month, but this year with no baby nap schedules to worry about and with fewer students to manage, I have two co-ops that meet every other week. This means that I have a co-op meeting each week. My children and I never have to go too long between an inundation of time with friends. Hooray for that!

One co-op is especially geared towards teaching writing and science and I am having a great time teaching the Apologia Flying Creatures class to my students. We scavenge for feathers, build bird feeders, and mostly draw, paint and read books. It is loads of fun. Meanwhile, friends who are better at teaching the upper grades are doing biology and general science with my older kids. It is a wonderful situation where we all get to see our children learn and have fun.

I recently joined Periscope, a very interesting app for live broadcasting, and my son and I have been making videos, with my broadcasts or with iMovie. The video here is a broadcast that I did on Periscope which explains exactly how to start your own co-op.

Some of the specific steps that I talk about in the video are;

Find a group to co-op with

Pick your subjects or classes

Meet together to create a schedule

Designate who teaches what and where you will meet

Then, just do it!

It isn't too late to start a homeschool co-op this year. It could be as simple as a play date with a particular theme, or as complex as hosting multiple classes. Book clubs, sewing bees and adventure clubs are all wonderful ways to get families together for fun and learning.




If you don't have a group of homeschoolers to gather with, check out the Wild and Free groups page here, or look up your state's homeschool association. Somewhere there is a group of families waiting for you to join them and learn together!

If you have questions about how to start a co-op, feel free to post them here, or e-mail me at jennpepito@yahoo.com

This blog post also has some great detailed advice on starting a co-op.

If you want a comprehensive book that explains how to start a co-op, check out this one.






This post contains affiliate links.

2015 Curriculum Plan

   

                   

            

As we soak every moment out of summer, I am simultaneously planning and purchasing for our upcoming school year. This year I will officially have five students, although my oldest student is only in my school this year, because I discovered through trial and error that trying to get scholarship funds to a Christian college is much easier if you are applying as a freshman than as a transfer student. For this reason, my oldest son will do one more year of high school to better prepare him to transfer as a freshman, and hopefully get some financial help with his schooling. I will update next year, with the results of this experiment

I will also be sending my other high school student to community college with the oldest three. This is another experiment. Only time will tell if it is a good one. He took an online class at the community college last year and scored well, so I feel it is worth a try to let him take two days a week of classes with his older siblings. Although I am presently not willing to send my children to public school (aside from my spiritual objections, I feel that high school wastes a lot of time) I do believe that older boys especially might benefit from the instruction of someone other than their mother as they grow. Especially this mother. I love teaching the younger years, but because I tend towards being a little better at relationships than consequences, having the experience of a classroom with a teacher who doesn't love them, might benefit my kids as they grow. So far, it has worked well for my students, and we will see how this one does.

Without further explanations, here is the plan.

                              

1st Grade Boy

Math Mammoth, Level 1

Prescripts Scripture Cursive

Spell To Write and Read/All About Spelling

Explode The Code Book 2

    

Rod and Staff Reading, Grade One, readers only

Mystery of History, Ancient Times

    

Apologia Flying Creatures

    

4th Grade Girl

Math U See Delta

Bible Copywork

 Jr. Analytical Grammar

I.E.W. Ancient History Writing Lessons

Spell To Write and Read

    

Memoria Cursive

Ancient History Reading List

Mystery Of History Ancient History

Apologia Flying Creatures

8th Grade Boy

Life of Fred Algebra

                                             

Bible Copywork

Jr Analytical Grammar

 (I will do this as a class with the younger sister,

 followed by Jr. Analytical Grammar Mechanics or R&S Grammar)

Theme Essays with Co-op

I.E.W. Ancient History Writing Lessons

Ancient History Reading List

Apologia General Science

Studies in World History-Stobaugh

                                             

  

10th Grade Boy

Algebra-Community College

Theme Analysis with Co-op

Ancient History Reading List

Beginning Painting-Community College

Philosophy 1 (audit Community College class with older siblings)

English 1A (semester 2)

Studies in World History-Stobaugh

Spanish 2-BJU

12th Grade Boy

Study hard for SAT

Chemistry- Community College

Geometry- Community College

U.S. History

The children also do martial arts and ballet for physical education, as well as music lessons, for, well, music.

For science and history, we will focus more on notebook pages with illustrated and written narration than on using tests or worksheets to assess their progress. We will do experiments and hands on work in our co-op.

For Bible, I am using Long Story Short and The 18 Inch Journey as my curriculum. We will also be reading through the Old Testament and copying Bible verses. 

                                            

    

This post has affiliate links. 

Nature Journaling

I have always tried to include nature journaling in my homeschool. I have a photo of my children, taken ten years ago, of them at a historic site journaling their lovely surroundings. Old notebooks are filled with drawings of trees and whales from those early days of nature journaling, and nature guides such as the Golden Guides were frequent companions on our forays into the wilds.

Our nature journaling has gotten a boost in the last few months with the addition of just a few amazing resources. 

The first resource that has helped us in our nature journaling efforts is the amazing artwork of Kristin Rogers which is featured in the bundles from the Wild and Free homeschool community. Kristin is a photographer and artist from Southern California who is an avid nature journaler and homeschooler. Her artwork has inspired more nature journaling in my homeschool, but it has also inspired me to take the time to nature journal. My artwork is pretty basic, and I often want to pass it off as that of one of my youngest children, but I have so enjoyed sitting with my children and visiting together over paints and paper, instead of just giving them nature journaling as an assignment while I go on with other tasks.

The other resource that has made nature journaling more fun in our homeschool is the beautiful resource from Simply Charlotte Mason, "Journaling A Year In Nature". This is an amazing resource which has given us some great prompts to guide our nature study. The journal is spiral bound card stock, organized by season. The hard cover and spiral binding make it very convenient for travel, and the heavyweight paper holds up well to watercolor painting. The journal is organized by season and has pages specific to different kinds of natural wonders. 

My son and I drew crabs in the section on animals and insects, and my daughter and I painted tall trees in the section on trees. The journal also includes inspiring quotes to give you "something to think about" while you are journaling. We took the journal on our recent ten day family camping trip and filled it with drawings and paintings of the natural treasures that we found.

We saw so much natural beauty on this trip; soaring trees and wafting ferns, tiny crabs hidden under rocks, and beautiful rushing waterfalls. I took lots of pictures, but we also enjoyed sitting quietly in the trailer after a day of exploration and recording our finds in our Simply Charlotte Mason Nature Journal. 

We have incorporated drawing and painting into every subject of our homeschool. We do written and illustrated narration in place of book reports, draw and paint narration for history subjects, and paint our way through science studies. Resources that help us become more proficient at recording what we are learning, such as "Journaling A Year In Nature" are a welcome addition to our homeschool.

If you are looking for some supplies to go along with your nature journaling, these have been recommended by artists that we follow.

This post contains affiliate links.

Homegrown With Children

I have always loved gardening. It could stem from spending my early childhood on a farm, where my siblings and I would race through acres of peas, harvesting a few for a snack, or, crouched together in the weeds, watch our mother gather in wispy stalks of dillweed.

Even as a young wife, we had a garden. My strong husband gathered chunks of broken concrete from the side of the road that we proceeded to fashion into a patio, complete with a beautiful slab of harvested granite that we used for a bench. Soon, baby tears and moss filled the cracks and a lovely plum tree grew in the corner of the small, fenced in yard.

Whether we lived in a condo, a suburb or on sprawling country acreage, we grew a garden. It might have been simply a few pots on a terrace, but always we have grown a little patch of food and flowers.

It has been natural to involve my children in the process. Sometimes it is a chore in exchange for a reward; "You fill up this bucket with weeds, and then you can swim", are words I have uttered many times. Sometimes though, their excitement about the process takes over and they stake a claim on a spot of land in order to plant some of their own seeds.

Seed planting time is upon us again. For a fraction of the cost of buying plants at a nursery, I can start tomatoes, peppers and eggplants from seed, so that when the days get long and warm, the plants are ready to put in the ground. My two youngest children saw the box of seed packets come out of the cupboard and eagerly joined in the fun.

I used empty egg cartons as planters for them. The type made from paper are ideal, as they will simply dissolve when planted, leaving the roots of the small plant undisturbed. The foam carton is fine also though, it will just take a bit more finesse to transplant.

I had some extra seeds which I gave them to plant. Some years, I will let my children start a variety of seeds, but with the time we had available I simply gave them each one type. They may have shared a little which will make the sprouting a fun mystery. I think I can tell cilantro and chamomile apart. I hope.

We typically plant open-pollinated seeds. This means they are not GMO. This also means that I can save my seeds and replant next year. I often have squash and tomatoes volunteer from previous years,  and my poolside becomes a small jungle of cherry tomatoes which have volunteered from previous years.

The only caution on using open pollinated seeds is that my squashes seem to be cross breeding. I started the year with zucchinis and pumpkins and by the next year I had a strange monster of a cross that we nicknamed pumpkini and promptly shredded for zucchini bread. We also planted melons and cucumbers but then ended up with some strange, sweet vegetable that looked like an oversized armenian cuke.

Aside from the discovery of new breeds of vegetables, there are so many benefits to be gained while gardening as a family. My children love vegetables. They love tiny carrots fresh from the dirt, and home dug potatoes, discovered like buried treasure. We learn to work as a team, and we see the wonder of Creation on display in so many lovely details.

Gardening can be hard work, but it is work that is so rewarding, and the rewards multiply when you have a few small friends to work with.

Our favorite seed companies;
Bountiful Gardens

Peaceful Valley Farms

A Great Book on Gardening With Children-
Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children 

This post contains affiliate links.

Fun With Apologia's Swimming Creatures

Our little friend's amazing ocean box

We recently finished up our year long science study using Swimming Creatures by Apologia. This was my favorite year so far! Although I loved the Botany studies we did last year, and my sons really enjoyed Astronomy, it was amazing to learn about all these crazy creatures that inhabit our oceans. 

The shark, it had been out of the water for a while.

As a finale for our year, we did a few crafts with the younger kids, displayed the ocean boxes that we had worked on, shared reports and even dissected a shark. 

The other two families that we have been studying science with over the last several years, contributed so much to our fun last day, and although the shark brought some unexpected surprises to me, shark brain in the freezer, anyone?,  it really capped off an incredible year.

                         

Aside from working on our Sculpey clay sea creatures throughout the year, we didn't do a lot of crafts, so my littlest student really enjoyed decorating a paper bowl which became his own pet jellyfish, complete with a cutout of a fish pasted into it's "tummy".

                           

We are so happy that we have friends to learn with! Our many years of doing homeschool co-ops have brought so much fun and creativity to our lives.

Click here for a slightly more sophisticated jellyfish craft