Projects for Care Center

Pretty soon it will be time to take the kids to the local retirement Care Center again. The kids always like to to take something along to give to the residents. I think it's a great way to interact a bit. It opens up conversation and gives the kids something to talk about. We're always looking for new things to take besides cards.


This trip the kids will be taking along some Perler Bead projects. These are a couple of their own designs that they'll be taking.

dd6

ds8

Here is a post from last year showing the cards we took once.

One reason I'm thankful that I get the chance to homeschool

I have to say that I sometimes enjoy the "thrill of the hunt" just as much as the kids. By this I mean that when we discover an interesting tidbit of history, for example, I'm just as excited and interested as them.


Sometimes these tidbits are just that--interesting tidbits. Today we learned that the mayor of London during the plague had all cats and dogs destroyed (thinking that these animals were spreading the disease). London rats, then, were able to multiply without their natural enemies and, whoops, they were carrying the fleas which actually caused the plague.


At other times we learn about things that make me stop and think more deeply about life. According to memoirs of the time, there was a Moghul emperor in India who used to weigh  himself or one of his sons yearly. (Some reports say that this was done on a "new year" holiday. Other reports say that it was done on a birthday.) An equal weight of gold, cloths, grains, or other goods would be distributed to the poor. That's an interesting idea! Would I do such a thing today?


Today I'm thankful for this opportunity to share moments of learning with my kids.

Don't Dread Getting Back Into Schoolwork

Whether or not dd6 will be well enough to join us in her schoolwork tomorrow is still questionable at present (see post below). But here is my plan for making the first day back after break fun and not-at-all-dreadful. I wanted to have something special and different for them (and me).


1. We rented a much-anticipated game from Redbox (a small $1+ price to pay for motivation).


2. I broke each of the kids' lessons up into workfolders so that each had certain items to accomplish for the day.


3. For each lesson completed, they will receive one puzzle piece (see picture).

4. When each piece is collected, they will solve the puzzle (written in code, of course, for  my Sherlock and Mr. Watson).


5. The solved code will lead them to the location of the hidden game. Having completed all of their assignments for the day, they can enjoy an afternoon of free time playing it.


6. Can I play, too?

When life hands you lemons...

...you lay around watching movies and playing subdued Wii.


Today is dh's birthday. He took the day off and we planned to spend a day out doing something fun. It was to be the "last hurrah" of Christmas break.


...Enter dd6's 12:30 a.m. trip to the bathroom with very flu-like symptoms...Fun...


I have to just laugh and be thankful that we've been very healthy up until this point in the season. Everyone was well for the holidays and pretty much all of the fall.


Will school start back up tomorrow as planned? We'll see. For now, I'm not worried, but I am washing my hands excessively.

One of the ways I get to enjoy Christmas break

High ratio of creamer to coffee, with a dollop of whipped cream for good measure.

Holly and jolly at the same time.

A bit out of the loop

Having spent many hours this Christmas season listening to different types of Christmas music, I've realized that I'm a bit out of the loop on "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas".


As a homeschool Mom I just can't relate to the line that "Moms and Dads can hardly wait for school to start again".


Not me! I'm enjoying my break from lesson planning and I prefer gathering around the table for a board game rather than for lesson time.


From our house to yours,
Have a very Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year 

Interviewing Skills

After learning about the steps of conducting good interviews the kids spent some time practicing conducting interviews with each other.


*Make an appointment.
*List questions.
*Collect materials.


*Introduce yourself. 
*Listen carefully and maintain eye contact.
*Take notes.
*Ask questions to clarify.


*Write the interview information in a way that can be shared.




I got to thinking how very many people we could interview, just for a short couple of minutes to start with. People have such interesting stories and we, as people, love to talk about ourselves, right? Interviewing is great practice in listening skills and writing key words so you can remember what was said later. 


I've heard socialization described as the ability to be a contributing member of society as a whole. This sounds like a step in that direction.