Back to School Countdown

I have homeschooled my little girl for the past 4 years and loved most minutes of it.  Last year we had her audition for a public magnet school that focuses on the creative and performing arts, thinking that if she got in we would consider sending her to public school.  Well, she got in for violin, and we decided to give this public school thing a try.  She started last week and, so far, she is enjoying it.  It helps that she gets to go to lots of arts classes and the people she is there with also love the arts, so she is happy.

To help get her excited about going away to school (and to give her some extra love and advice) I started a back to school countdown for her.  Each morning for the 10 days before school started I left a note and a present by her bed.  They weren't big presents, but they were meant to remind her of certain things which the notes explained.  A lot of them had to do with spiritual things, thing to help comfort her when she was in a new situation.  She was getting a bit anxious during the weeks before school started, so I was trying to help her out.

Here's a list of some of the things I gave her, along with why I gave them to her:

pencils - to remind her she's writing her own story

mood necklace/ring - to remind her that she can choose her mood

erasers - to remind her that it's okay to make mistakes

gum - to remind her to stick to her principles

lip balm and life savers - to remind her that prayer can be a lifesaver and be a balm to a worried soul

colored pencils/markers - to remind her that it's good appreciate all kinds of friends. Everyone is different and unique in their own way and together make things beautiful.

a box of "bottle caps" candy, which I changed to "thinking" caps - to remind her that she'll need to focus and work hard.  You could also use smarties.

For more back to school survival kit ideas, click here.

 So far, she's doing pretty well at school, although she does lament her lack of free time.  It's definitely been an adjustment and we'll reevaluate at the end of the year if we want her to continue at this school or come back home.

first day! We sure miss her at home. 

Kids' Book Club - "Joyful Noise" by Paul Fleischman

This summer we decided we wanted to do a summer book club for the kids with our friends again.  The only problem was that we were really busy, and moving, and people were on vacation, so we didn't quite do as much as we had originally hoped.

We started by getting everyone together and discussing dates for book clubs and which books we were going to do.  The kids' input was considered, but they mostly just played while the moms talked.

We decided to try and get together every 2 weeks to discuss the book and do related activities. Each family was in charge of hosting one book club at their house and planning the activities for that book.

The books we did this summer were a book from "The Riot Brothers" series, "Joyful Noise", one of the "Geronimo Stilton" books, and "The Borrowers".

We were in charge of hosting the "Joyful Noise" book club.  I admit my kids did not choose this book, and they were not that excited about it, but I was excited.  It's a great book of poetry, written for 2 people to speak different parts out loud at the same time.  It was difficult at first for the kids to read in rhythm with another person, but they ended up enjoying the challenge.

We started the book club with a poetry reading of course.  We took turns saying the poems with a partner and then we talked about which poems were our favorites and why, etc. . .

Since the poems are all about bugs, I had planned some simple bug related activities.




The first was an art project.  We talked about symmetry and then with a black oil pastel we drew one half of a bug.  We then folded the paper and pressed down to make a complete bug.  The kids had fun filling the outlines in with bright colors.

After the art project, I think I had planned to do some kind of bug movement games, but I don't think those ended up happening.  Instead we skipped right to the treat.

The kids decorated cupcakes with candy and pretzels and sprinkles to make bugs on top.  They each made a couple so they would have one to eat right away and another to take home for another time.  The kids had a lot of fun with this activity.

It was a good book club.

For book club activities we've done in the past, click below:

"A Pizza the Size of the Sun" book club

"Cam Jansen" book club

"How I Became a Pirate" book club

Where's the summer gone?

This summer has flown by and my blogging has gone the way of the ducks.  (I don't really think that means anything, but I just wrote it down.)

Other than taking care of the 4 kiddos, we've been busy packing up a house and moving into a new one.  So, that's my excuse.  I haven't really been a fun mom.  I've mostly sat the kids down in front of the tv so I could pack and then unpack.

Here's a short summary of our summer in pictures

swimming with cousins and friends

some kids needed summer haircuts
(I do miss his long hair though, so we're growing it out again)

attended some magic shows

packed

unpacked
(thinking of the best way to get the piano up the porch stairs)

dressed up with friends and cousins
(and yes, Christopher is the little mermaid) 

went to watch Maren sing the national anthem with her choir group
at a minor league ball game

Maren singing (she has the white headband on)

sometimes the summer wore us out

We did do some fun activities, which I will post eventually.  We already started school for the year, and Maren is now attending a public school, which has been both bad and good, but more on that later.