working with her

After her school work was done I set Boo free to play. She visited the rope swing behind the chicken coop composing a few new songs as she glided back and forth through the air. She spent some time petted Owen. Then returned to the house to play with her Pinterest stables...or if we lived in a state which required me to account for our learning I would check it off as creative writing, reading, and spelling. 

What she is doing: Boo has invented a whole series of stable stories to go along with photos of horses. Created and named at least a dozen riders and horse all with unique personalities, back stories, and show names. Organized and documented on the various charts she generates each time a new rider or horse is added to the stables- so let's check off penmanship as well.

I will let you in on a little secret behind the origins of that incredibly complex, imagination based creative writing project of hers. It came out of allowing her time to be bored. It emerged out of unlimited Kindle screen time. Hours of shows like Kicking It With You and Kitchen Nightmares. Eventually she found a way to actively entertain her own mind.

 The point of all of this is we spend 2-3 hours learning (for now) my way, with books, structured games, and papers. And the other 12 hrs or so of the day are hers. (Well, plus or minus the 4 hrs she likes to spend at gym) 

Yesterday after school ended we dug up the last of the potatoes, we washed them, baked them, and ate them for lunch. Boo's idea sparked from reading about potatoes earlier in our science lesson. Where do you file experience like that? Science? Nature? Agriculture? Nutrition? Home Economics? Lunch?

All of the above. Home school :)

Time is the key to learning. Not just taking the time to learn something but providing the time and space for learning to organically grow...just like a garden- space, love, light, energy, and time.

  

...may I have just a minute of your time?

The sunlight falling in through the back window of the gym glints off her glasses like a beacon.  It is the biggest lie I have ever told her and it constantly is glaring me in the face.  “No glare lenses 39 dollars extra, hmmm“ >count money in hand<, “yeah, we don’t need those, it doesn’t matter, no one will ever notice.”
Of course I don’t need the extra landmark to spot her in the group of gymnasts gathering 10 minutes to workout.  Of the girls gathered Beach is three sizes smaller- it looks ridiculous, at least to her mother it does.  Eventually she won’t look so out of place, eventually a few, 3 to be exact nearly as small as Beach will join her- but funny gym factoid only her mother would bother to note: she is the smallest, but not the youngest, optional gymnast at our gym.

...And at our gym we have reach the point where we will need to start fundraising for her.  We could have already started but I am worried about failing and losing the dream that others see the value in what she is accomplishing and want to be a part it too.  That others will be able to open their hearts and be willing to help her on her unique journey.

I am afraid to test my network based on past shows of support for Beach. It might surprise you to know that 98% of her meets I am the only one (outside of other gymmates & their families) there to see her.  Don’t get me wrong we have amazing friends and family who are rightfully busy with their own kids, own struggles, and lives.  We are all busy.  I wonder if part of it is simply it is believed she doesn't require support because she is so capable and self driven- and I am here to say it isn’t true, she would love to know you care.  And there are so many ways to show it!!! In fact, I can't even begin to thank some of the adults in her life for all the love, support, and generosities they have shown her, most of all her coaches.
I have really tried to be supportive of the kids in village because I believe they are what matters most.  I am hoping the universe and the village is as kind to mine.

If you have ideas or past experiences with fundraising or would like to help us in anyway please share, we would love to hear from you!

“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thank you for your time~

spelling, reading, and writing- more fun with the poetry word grab

 We each drew 5 words from the basket at random and the poetry competition was on! Out of three rounds Boo had the ultimate winning poem.

 The Winner:

Make each better than all the rest

Color them

What will your mind think of next? 

On a side note: If you are wondering about the way she writes her double L's in 'all' & 'will', it isn't that she forgot and had to write the second L in after it is how she writes them so she can see them.  L's, T's and I's are so tricky for her eyes especial when they are next to each other.  Just yesterday she was copying the word 'milk' if you look at it you can understand how she wrote 'miillk'.  Eventually the stacked double L's will fall out of use as the period (verses using a space) between each word did, but for now they stay.
 

And the 2 Runner-Ups, by her mother

the first Monday morning in homeschool summerschool

“I want to get all this done but I feel like I have already done a lot of work.”  She said looking anxiously around the piles of books on the table.

And she was right, she had done a lot.  We had mapped out & reviewed all our school work for the week, set aside the days and times to get it done, then started right in.

Using two balloons tied together watch what happens when you 'charge' them (aka rub them on your shirt!).  Then try adding a piece of paper between them to see what happens. 

What I am trying to do is introduce time management while avoiding the battle of me enforcing school time over the wild and crazy summer months.  If she knows what needs to be done she is a driven enough child that age 9 finishing a job well and on time is enough of a reward for her.  But I see right away I’ve introduced deadlines and stress, which is an unfortunate part of life, *shrug*. 

The two negatively charged balloons will repel each other. 

We started with physical science and a lesson on static electricity, electrons, protons, and neutrons (about 45 minutes).  Handwriting, which was not in the plan but she suddenly felt the need to work on it (about 25 minutes). Moved on to Reading (about 30 minutes) followed by a page of Reading Work (about 15 minutes): The page was Dive into Diction, where you had a list of words to look up to decide whether you should a.) cage it b.) eat it c.) wear it d.) plant it.  Have to say she has great dictionary skills and I have no idea why or where she would have learned them.  She had a blast too!  After that she needed a break to count her money, walk to the store to buy a chocolate donut, and teacher her brother all the stuff she learned about static electricity.

They are attracted to the positive charge of the paper and come together.

Left unfinished 3 sheets of 4^th grade math and a little US history reading.  Admittedly I have set our math goals a bit high the original plan was to do 12 sheets a week.  I might need to rethink that but for now I want to see how she does balancing the work load between playdates and gymnastics.

BENDING WATER WITH STATIC ELECTRICITY:

Take a 'charged' balloon and hold it close to a small stream of water to watch it bend.

Highhill Homeschool

side note: learning about time zones

Did you know it was the Railroads that were responsible for creating Standardized Time in the US?  Learn something new everyday!