I love my public schooling friends!

I hope this doesn't come as a surprise to any of my friends, but I love talking about education.  Not just homeschool.  I love talking about all types of education.

Here in California, we are very fortunate to have so many different options when it comes to school choice.  You could send your kid to their "neighborhood" public school, you can open enroll into a different public school in the same school district if you feel that is a better fit, there are charter schools of all stripes (Montessori, Waldorf, rigorous "college prep," etc), there are religious and secular private schools, there are dual-immersion language schools, and then of course if you want to you can homeschool.  If you choose to homeschool, you can either file a "private school affidavit" or enroll with a charter school that supports home education.

I really am in awe of all the options we have to choose from!  Every kid and every family is different.  They all have different needs, talents, interests, priorities, struggles, and learning styles.  It is so great that families can pick whichever path is best for them!

I feel strongly that homeschooling with a charter is the best fit for my family.  And I love to talk to families who are considering it and answer their questions.

But I also love to talk to my friends who have their kids in other types of schooling situations.

I love to hear about dedicated teachers who are making a difference.  I love to hear of schools that are having a positive influence on kids and families.  I love to hear creative and effective ideas.  I love to celebrate with you when your child earns a good grade on their spelling test.  I love to hear about the school carnivals, field trips, field days, class parties, open houses, and movie nights.

I also am interested in the not-so-happy conversations.  I love to hear other people's experiences-the good and the bad.  I will always listen with a sympathetic, nonjudgmental ear if you have a complaint or frustration of any kind about your kid's teacher, school, district, homework, bullying, etc.  Whenever one of my friends is griping about something, I promise I am never thinking in the back of my head, "You wouldn't have this problem if you homeschooled." When a friend is venting or we're discussing something that doesn't thrill them about their school situation, it's important to support them in the way that's most helpful to them!  Homeschool is just one option.  It's not a panacea.

I pride myself on being a good listener.  I hope all my friends know that they can lean on me for support even if we haven't made the same school choices.

Quiet Mint game

I've discovered an awesome game better than the typical "Quiet Game."

1. Buy small breathe mints.
2. Have each child put one in their mouth, everyone at the same time.
3. The winner is the kid who has their mint last the longest.

The trick is they need to keep the mint in one place as much as possible. If they move it around in their mouth in order to talk, it will dissolve quicker. The more quiet and still you are, the longer it will last.

We played it first with Mentos Now Mints and then I had them try Altoids. They refuse to do Altoids ever again. If Altoids stay in one place too long, it really starts to burn. So as fun as it was for me to witness, it was against the point of the game because instead of being still and quiet, there were a lot of shrieks and moans coming from the back seat of the car.

I made up this game because as we waited for the big kids to finish swim lessons, Quartus wanted one of my mints. But he was chewing them up like candy. So I taught him to just hold it in his mouth and suck on it instead and see how long he can make it last.  Then the big kids wanted in on the action.

If we ever go on a long road trip, I think the Quiet Mint Game will come in handy!

Courthouse and State Capitol Field Trip

This summer I kind of tricked the kids into having a "school day." Of course, they had a great day and didn't moan about any of it until we were in the car on the way home and I informed them that what we did constituted as "school" for the day.  Then the playful whines and declarations of "I hate school!  You tricked us!" started.  Bwahaha!  Learning (and school) can be fun, kids!

We started the morning with a trip to the city to visit the courthouse.  An older couple we're good friends with own the cafeteria inside the courthouse.  The kids beg me to take them to visit all the time.  They love to run around the outside of the building, climb up and down the stairs, look out the 6th floor windows at the tops of nearby buildings in various shapes, peek in courtrooms to see if they can find a judge, drink from the gold-colored drinking fountains, and of course eat in Chuck and Mary Beth's cafeteria and say "hi" to them and his seeing-eye dog.

So random.  But they are fascinated!

After that we drove a couple blocks over and visited the State Capitol.  Primus is going into 6th grade and Secundus is going into 4th grade.  I always meant to make a trip to the capital when Primus was studying California history, but it just never happened.  This was a great trip.  We all had a lot of fun.  And while the tour was long and a little boring for children, I think the girls learned a lot and the boys survived without being too distracting to the other people in the group.  I came home with lots of brochures full of info to supplement Secundus' CA history study this fall.

Secundus snapped this picture of the bear statue that sits in front of the Governor's office.  Apparently his nickname is "Bacteria Bear" because everyone who visits the capital touches it.

Summer is a great time for sneaky field trips!

Cupcake Liner Flowers

This was a quick Mother's Day craft I had my 5 year old Primary class throw together.  

I helped them hot glue a salt-water taffy (any colorful candy would work) to the center of a cupcake liner.  Then a popsicle stick was hot glued to the back for a stem.  

I encouraged them to draw on the cupcake liners to decorate the "flower petals."  I also suggested that they cut the cupcake liner so it looked more like petals, but most opted to leave it round as is.  I also thought they looked nicer with multiple layers of cupcake liners.  But again, most kids just left it as a single layer.

Color Scavenger Hunt

We went for a short walk on a bike path near the river.  Before we went I took an empty egg crate and painted each spot a different color.  (One of them was left unpainted and was a good place to hold it.)

He found a leaf with pink on it, a red flower petal, an orange flower, a yellowish rock, a green grass blade, a bluish rock, a white rock, a grey rock, a black rock, a brown stick, and a purple flower.

It was pretty fun.  I think next time we do this, I need to make one for each of the kids.  I envisioned it as a preschool activity but the big kids kept trying to put things in the egg crate for him!  They would probably love to do it again and have their own.

Thank you, Storybots!

Overheard at the Children's Museum:

Tertius playing in the sand: "We made Mount Everest!"

Other Kid: "What?"

Tertius: "Mount Everest!  It's the highest mountain in the world!  I learned that from Storybots.  You should watch it.  They teach you why you should brush your teeth."

Thank you, Storybots, for helping my 6 year old remember a random, impressive fact.
Also, I think it's hilarious that the teeth brushing episode is the one he cites to try and convince the other kid how awesome this show is.

God Created My Circulatory System

On a recent Sunday in Sunbeams (Sunday School class for 3 year olds), apparently they talked about their bodies and how they're created by Heavenly Father.  So they were told to draw their bodies.

Quartus drew this. It's his "blood stream" (circulatory system.)  The red and blue lines are the veins and arteries. And that bow-tie looking thing is the heart.

It makes me so happy when the kids look like little nerds! He learned about this stuff from a Leap TV game called, "The Human Body Game." Best $3 (on sale and with a coupon) that I've ever spent!

Using Hamilton, An American Musical, In Our Homeschool

We are currently obsessed with "Hamilton, An American Musical."  I'd heard my bestie talk about it a long time ago, but I didn't listen to any of the music or care at all.  But then I stumbled upon this video of our favorite sketch comedy group lip-syncing to one of the songs.  I was instantly hooked and then started searching out more songs.

I made a Youtube playlist for all the songs that I like that are also clean enough for me to be comfortable with my kids listening to them.

(I included a censored version of The Reynolds Pamphlet.  It does not have the word "affair" or the description of the situation removed.  Long before I added this song to the playlist, the kids and I had discussed that Hamilton at one time had been a really crappy husband.  But I didn't feel it was important to go into details.  Then when we started listening to this song, as a quick explanation of what his "affair" was, I basically told them that when you're married you shouldn't have a girlfriend on the side, right?  Well, that's what Hamilton did.  I'm comfortable with my kids listening to this song, but I can see where other families would not approve.)

Since then, we have listened to that playlist about a million times and we have most of the songs memorized!  As we've become familiar with the words of the songs, we've been prompted to search out the true history behind the man and events immortalized in this musical.

In order to get kids to love history, it has to be presented in a way that's entertaining, interesting, and accessible.  Thank you, Lin-Manuel Miranda for your work!

(As a side note, when we watched Moana in the theater and they heard the voice of Lin-Manuel Miranda on the soundtrack, the girls started geeking out!  I didn't know he was responsible for the music on Moana and so I doubted them but they were so sure that it sounded like "the Hamilton guy.")

Need Ink! I've got lesson planning to do!

One of my favorite things to do during summer vacation is plan and prep curriculum. Seriously. I was burned out and ready for school to end by the beginning of May (and we officially ended mid May) but at the same time I was anxious to get started on preparing for the next school year!

I bought a new notebook for myself and have been working on stuff for about a week now. But my printer ran out of ink and my order for more won't arrive for another couple days. It's killing me! I have so many things to print and photocopy and I want to do it now!

I'm also anxiously awaiting my curriculum order for the next year to arrive. I'll have to wait another 3 weeks for that. I'm not a very patient person. :)