Crazy Second Year of Homeschooling

OK, so this is our second year of homeschooling. You'd think we'd have it down pat by now, and that we'd have some time of routine. You'd be wrong, but that's the way we like it. Although I value structure, and I believe that children need structure in their lives, we do not follow a strict schedule with our kids. Sure, we are using various curriculums to make sure that they get their prescribed reading/writing/arithmetic skills. However, we have had so many opportunities for our children to learn outside of the home and out of their seats, that we have not had a chance to truly delve into history, science, or music in the home-setting. We hate to give up these opportunities just for the sake of keeping a schedule.

So far we have visited the following places & done following things:

• LBL-Hummingbird festival


• LBL-Elk and Bison Prairie


• Ethne does Ballet at MSU


• Attended several MSU football games


• Elijah is a Wolf Cubscout with Pack 73


• Evelyn does Story Circle with the Library once a week


• Civil War Days at Columbus Belmont


• Cane Ridge Meeting House


• Lincoln's Homestead


• Lincoln's Boyhood Home


• My Old KY Home


• Natural Bridge State Park


• Cumberland Falls State Park


• General Burnside State Park


• Mammoth Cave National Park


• Markplace 29 AD


• Watched "The Lion King," "Dolphin Tale," "Winnie the Pooh," and "The Smurfs" at the movie theater


• Ant farm project


• Butterfly project


• Charles & Elijah did a campout with the Cubscouts


• Various singings on Friday nights at area congregations

...and this is only the stuff I can remember off the top of my head. Needless to say, we've been busy and we've only been hitting the school stuff hard since the end of August. The hands-on experience my kids have had the past few weeks beats anything that they would have gotten out of a book. I love history and science, so I have hated how they are both presented in schools--as a boring-in your seat-lecture type thing. I am so happy that I can approach these subjects as topics into which you can emerge yourself. We discussed Barton Stone and the Reformation in Kentucky, and then we visited where it took place. How awesome! I feel so blessed to be able to do this with my kids. Please, continue to keep us in your prayers as we continue to embark on this educational journey with our precious children.

Trip to Nina and Pinta

The Pinta

The Nina

Elijah on the top deck of the Pinta.

Ethne at the "helm" of the Nina.

Well, we've had about three weeks of schooling, and we've already had 3 major field trips. We haven't really planned it that way, but opportunities have just presented themselves--so we've taken advantage of them. Being a homeschooler, it is amazing how differently I look at things now. EVERYTHING is an opportunity to teach my children. I knew that before, but now I REALLY KNOW IT! I no longer tend to view mowing the lawn as just a chore, or even a way to prepare my kids for independence in their future adult lives--we talk about how grass needs water. If you mow it too much--you'll kill it, how grass grows only in warm weather, how there's different types of grass, all grasses make flowers, etc. Everything becomes a lesson. My kids are naturally curious anyhow, and they are constantly asking me questions.

This past weekend we were privileged to be able to see replicas of the Nina and the Pinta. For Elijah, this was a dream come true. He is currently obsessed ships (outerspace and jets as well). When he draws, he draws ships. He's been building ships out of legos, rubber bands, sticks, basically anything that he can get his hands on. So, Friday was AWESOME! We took all the kids to view the ships (which were docked at Green Turtle Bay in Grand Rivers, KY). All the kids enjoyed it, but it took awhile to pry Elijah away from these beautiful vessels.

An Explosion of Independence

The past two weeks have really been testing my patience, and I am afraid that I have fallen short in my display of "slow-temperedness." Part of it has just been the trial and error that is homeschooling. However, a big part of it has been my youngest's demand for independence! She has been getting into EVERYTHING. Nothing is safe with this little whirlwind on the loose. I find her curiosity endearing, but her destructive powers have earned her the name "Destructo Baby." She has been unwittingly driving me crazy by undoing everything that I clean up. She empties cabinets, drawers--basically anything within her reach.

However, despite this new unending vortex of demolishment, I've found some exciting and wonderful happy moments. Evelyn told me for the first time (on Wednesday) that she loves me. Ever since she figured out how to say it, she's been saying it frequently. It's wonderful!!! Evelyn has also figured out how to say "apple," "bible," "no way," "I did it," and several other cute little things. However, nothing beats "I love you" coming from that sweet little slobbery mouth.

So, no matter how much trouble and work my little baby with a gift for chaos might cause, I am still in love with her. She is helping me to see the method to her madness. She just wants to learn, and as a fellow curious person--I admire that. So, I am striving to be more patient and not get as frustrated with Evelyn's little explorations. I'm looking forward to her next little discovery. I included some of Evelyn's "firsts" from this week below.

Evelyn really wanted to try Ethne's pink tricycle (which is way too big for her). We got out Ethne's old Dora trike for her to try. She loves it. She can't pedal yet, but she sits on it and scoots. VERY CUTE! Oh, and she is so proud of herself too!

Last night I was trying to get the floors clean throughout the house. Evelyn decided she would help. For the most part, she did an excellent job for a 16 month old. I know--I start them young.

The Death of Barbie

We've had a pretty good start to our little homeschool, but we have been very busy (and I've been a bit stressed) trying to figure out how to juggle it all. Charles is preaching as well as working full time at night, and I'm running kids to violin lessons, Cub Scouts (starting Tues.), library hour, and speech therapy as well as planning/teaching their regular school work and trying to run a household. (That was pretty much a horrible run-on sentence, but I don't care.) We've had lots of little bumps throughout the past two weeks, and nothing has gone as I would like it to go, but that's perfectly fine. However, I was greatly frustrated on Saturday morning.

I had gotten up early to go to a yard sale that benefited Amy Boggess Rose, and as I pulled out of my driveway my eye was drawn to a dark mass on the road. My heart sank, because I knew almost instantly what it was. It was Ethne's cat, Barbie! Saturday was supposed to be our fun day. We were going to Peggy's to pick up Elijah and Ethne and eat breakfast with the family, then we were hosting a birthday/swim party for our cousins, and then we were having dinner with the family at Brass Lantern. Full day, but FUN day. I did not look forward to telling Ethne about her cat.

Thankfully, we were so busy on Saturday, that she did not notice that Barbie was gone. However, I could not avoid telling her on Sunday. She took it pretty well, but she wanted us to bury her in the yard and "put a stone" on her. So, this morning we said our goodbyes to Barbie the cat.

I must say, it was hilarious for a "somber" occasion. The kids asked lots of questions like, "Will she come back someday? Will God make her alive again?" But the best part was the funeral we had for Barbie. We each told something we liked about Barbie or something that we would miss. Elijah said he would miss her being nice to Ken (our other cat). Ethne said she would miss her and that she didn't want her to be dead. Then Elijah suggested that we sing a song. I asked him what type of song was appropriate for a cat's funeral. He said (without batting an eyelash), "Well, I think a church song would be good." He immediately started singing, "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart..."

We sang that happy song with much gusto, and gave Barbie a happy send-off. I have to admit that I laughed really hard at Elijah's choice of song, but it was oddly very appropriate. Although, I do not believe that any part of an animal lives on after its death (because they are not made in God's image), we do. If we are Christians, and serve God all of our days, our death should be the best thing that ever happens to us. I pray that Elijah is able to sing "I've got the joy..." when I pass on, because I won't be sad. I'll be with my Lord, and what could be better?

Our Second Field Trip

This past Saturday my family went with Peggy to the Nashville Zoo for our second field trip. In our science class, we have been studying living vs. nonliving, the six characterics of living things, and animal vs. plant. The kids' mission was to take several photos at the zoo and to first classify the objects in them as "living" or "nonliving." Once they did that, they were to classify the living things as "animal" or "plant." They took most of these photos (just not the ones that they are in). Can you determine what is alive/nonliving and what is an animal/plant?

Statues of the Great Chief Paduke

Last Thursday, the kiddos and myself created some statues of Chief Paduke. Mine was purely created to use as an example (and because I like to play with clay). The kids were pretty good for little ones who have no experience with air-dry clay. I was proud.

The above photo is what inspired Ethne's work below.

Elijah's statue (below) was inspired by the Chief Paduke statue (above). I think that you can see both have an outstretched arm. Pretty good for a first timer.

First Field Trip

Charles was excited about the wasps' nest in Chief Paduke's nose. I'll let you decide what it reminds you of!

Me and the kids with another Chief Paduke statue. I actually remember watching the sculptor do this one. The sign says that he "hand chiseled" it. That made me laugh, because I distinctly remember him using a chainsaw.



Evelyn discovered the sprinklers downtown.

This is Elijah with Gen. William Clark

Ethne with Chief Paduke himself!

This is one of the many beautiful murals on the floodwall downtown. They're packed with history and are also neat to look at. We are definitely coming back to look at them in the future.

This statue is in the median of Jefferson ST at it's intersection with North 19th. I've always wanted to see it close up. It's really amazing. It was carved and dedicated in 1909. This dude is over 100 years old. The kids liked that the statues we looked at were all made out of different materials, so we've been discussing how they were made. Who knows if they will remember any of it, but they seemed interested for a little bit.

Today we embarked upon a small adventure. We had our first official field trip! Evelyn had an ear checkup in Paducah, so we decided to make a morning of it. We have been studying the history of Chief Paduke this week. We viewed the three monuments of him in Paducah, as well as the flood wall mural in the downtown area. It was great. The kids were so excited to get out and see these statues that they had seen pictures of this week. Elijah informed Charles that Chief Paduke died of malaria because he got bit by mosquitoes. I know that's random, but I was proud! Tomorrow, the kids are going to make their own sculpture of Chief Paduke. I'm looking forward to it.