I wanted to homeschool Keilee since pre K.† I was scared.† She was in her first week of 2nd grade and I picked her up one day and said, “How would you like to be homeschooled?”† The rest as they say is history.

I was drawn to unhomeschooling from the beginning.† I was scared.† [familiar theme† here?].† What if…she never wanted to learn Math? or read?† or learn anything??

So we never did it.† It has still hovered in the back of my mind.† I read about unschooling and child led all the time.† I read unschooling blogs, I read unschooling books, But would it work for us???

I mean Keilee drives me crazy at times; complaining about work, hating Math, doesn’t want to read…. How could I trust her to learn ANYTHING!!!

Then I had told her about what Theresa did with her girls; asked them to make a list of 10 things they would like to learn more about.†

I asked Kei if she would try to do that in the next few days. She did it that day!† And the things she put on her list blew my ever loving mind!† Here is her list.† *The ‘red’ are my comments.† I would have just taken a picture of her list, but you wouldn’t be able to read some of it..seriously.† *See #16, at least she knows her shortcomings. 🙂

1. Renaissance
2. Gypsies/Magic [about Fortune Tellers, their history]
3. Algebra† [WHAT?? Really????]
4. Italy / history of
5. Robotics
6. 1950 America† [She LOVES the 50’s for some reason]
7. Africa animals, plants and wild life
8. Famous historians
9. More Geography
10. Architecture
11. Mechanics [how cars and electronics work]† [HELP!!???]
12. History about Girls [she wrote ìHERSTORY about girlsî]
13. Space; the alternate universe.† Like that guy in the wheelchair believes. [She means Stephen Hawking; Where does she come up with this stuff?????]
    
14. Geometry† [Again..REALLY???]
15. Proper writing skills† [She loves to write but hates anything about the proper way to write so this surprised me]
16. Spelling† [SPELLING?? Hates this too.]
17. Mysteries in history that have not been solved
18. UFO history, sightings, theories and documentaries
19. Light, understanding how light works and travels
20. Horrible happenings involving weather throughout history.
21. Lost City of Atlantis
22. String theory† [What ??? What???† HELP AGAIN!!]

This just made me giddy!† Seriously. Who knew she wanted to learn about all of these things?† Where did she even hear of some of these things??

I have been struggling so much with just letting go.† Just letting her do what she wants to do.† My friend at The Mournful Cry of the Laundry said to me the other day, ‘Just give her a year and see what happens”.† GULP!† A year??†† What if her ‘Child Led” leads her to the couch to watch TV or nothing but knitting???

But,† I am doing this.† Starting today….† Sometimes you just have to…

L
E
A
P

I remember getting this bike; her feet didn’t reach the pedals.† Wasn’t that only yesterday?

UNschooling Rocks?
Karen

“Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I’m through with playing by the rules
Of someone else’s game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It’s time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes: and leap!”† ~Elphaba from “Wicked”

Happily Linking with† Make Life Meaningful

 

 

Friday after Skate Day we had a get together at the park for our very first Homeschool graduate.† It was a great day filled with food, fun and friends.† We are so proud of you Evan!† Gosh our kids are growing up so quickly.† But they still run and play all through the playground. 🙂

After the park Chan came home with us Friday and stayed until Tuesday.† The girls had some serious talking/playing/creating/laughing time.† I loved watching them play.† It reminded me of all the posts and pictures from so many of my blog friends who have 2 girls.

1.† Hours of Dogopoly.† I am so glad because Keilee loves Monopoly, Dogopoly, Fairyopoly, etc. and I DESPISE them.† Like a good Mommy I play them with her but I am not thrilled.

2.† 10 Days in the USA.† This game continues to be a favorite of ours.

3.†† Making plans and just talking.

4.†† Snack creations.†† Strawberries with grapes inside!

5.††† Lots of iPad playing.

There was also kite flying, badminton playing, back yard scavenger hunts, movie making, picture taking, Webkinz playing, TV watching, dog playing and more girlie good times.

Saturday morning I pulled their butts outta bed at 6:00 so we could go to a HUGE Community Yard sale in a neighboring town.† We found some deals…not as many as I expected but several.† Keilee loves yard sales, I tolerate them.† I do love the deals, I just hate driving all over the town for them.† That is why I LOVE Community sales.† You park your car and just walk from sale to sale.

Keilee got a World Puzzle that the man assured us had all the pieces.†† Keilee spent hours putting it together.† Once she finally got it, we played a game where I would pick a country from a list and we would see who† could find it first.

As you can see it did NOT have all the pieces.† Notice the iPad in the background.† We are still watching the Red Tailed Hawks and they still haven’t hatched!

We got to attend a college production of “Much Ado About Nothing”.† It was awesome.† I made Keilee and Chan look up the storyline and tell me about it.† I just think you should have some sort of background when seeing Shakespeare.† We packed a huge picnic lunch; bagels sandwiches, strawberries, pasta salad, grapes and more.† We sat on blankets under a huge white tent to watch the play.† It was so great.† We also watched this version later in the week to see how they compared.

I think it is so amazing that Keilee already has such a great knowledge of this play.† She knows Beatrice, Hero, Claudio, Benedick and more.† I had no clue of anything Shakespeare when I was in the 6th grade.

What would we do without Nomad?† For some reason Keilee is sure that he is happier with a blanket over his head.† He is completely fine with this and many days we find him trailing it behind him like Linus.

I found a great resource this week.† It is my Favorite Resource of the week.† It is a magazine published by Homeschool Girls FOR Homeschool Girls.† They take submissions and Keilee is excited about maybe submitting something.† It is all free and you can get the latest issue and all back issues here.

I just keep repeating the same thing over and over, but I love our life.† I feel so blessed to be able to homeschool.† That I can work from home and stay with Keilee.† That our classroom is our world.† Isn’t that just the greatest thing ever?

Happily linking with

Susan at “Favorite Resources“

and

Kris at “Weekly Wrap Up“

Homeschooling rocks!
Karen

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. ~ Anais Nin

“There was a star danced, and under that was I born.”
– William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, 2.1

 

I suwannee [that is a southern word we say instead of “I swear”, Actually I don’t say it, but it just seems fitting]…anyhoo I digress… We have been so busy going places that I am plum tuckered out … and I have no clue why I am typing in ‘Country Southern’ ????…..

It is like that for us every Spring.† I think people are so tired of being stuck inside they go ‘field trip’ crazy.† At least homeschoolers do!

We had a blast this past week.† And we even learned too!

We took a field trip to the Courthouse.† We sat in on a “County Commission” meeting.† All of us got a copy of the minutes and Keilee even marked how they voted.† All the councilmen came and talked to us afterward and it was really awesome.† Then we got to go into the EMA [Emergency Management Agency] located in the basement.† That was SO COOL!† The man that spoke to us told us all the procedures for emergencies and how they had vamped it up since the April 2011 tornadoes.† Keilee really loved it.† She even said she thought working there would be really interesting.

Keilee is working on a stop animation movie that she is making with paper toys.† These are the city of Paris and we found them here.†

One of Keilee’s play friends has really bad allergies.† She is a 2nd grader and Keilee found out she had to wear a mask when she went outside to play at home or at school.† So Keilee made her a BEJEWELED mask!!† Isn’t this awesome??† Maggie loved it.† One of our dear friends 2 year old daughter has leukemia and spends so much of her time wearing a mask.† Keilee told me she wants to make Ava a mask and also make a bunch more for Ava’s Mom to take to the Children’s Hospital for the kids that need them.† I love Keilee’s heart.

This is our left over knit pieces that we hung outside for the birds.† We are impatiently waiting to spot a colorful bird’s nest made from them.

Keilee found her first ever 4 leaf clover.† I am sorta the Queen of finding 4 leaf clovers and she always gets all bummed, but she finally found one!

We also had Field Day.† Does your homeschool group do this?† We have a blast every year.† Look at the bottom right picture.† This is the mile run.† What did these homeschoolers do as they were about to cross the finish line?† Joined hands and crossed TOGETHER!† How cool is that?

In our ‘school week’ we did 3 Teaching Textbook lessons [thank you ONCE again Theresa!], did our Botany lesson, learned about Joan of Arc and watched “The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc“, this is rated R for violence as in ‘heads getting cut off’ but we really enjoyed the movie. I always love to find a movie about what we are studying.†

Keilee is reading her 3rd Poison Apple book. She actually likes them.† Not enough to read more than her 2 chapters a day but she doesn’t complain.† Thank you Jessica for this recommendation!

We also did a Robin Study and decided we are going to dig up some worms for our Robins!† Keilee sat in her treehouse and observed them for an hour and drew in her Nature journal.

We also have had practice for “The Princess and The Pea”.

My “Favorite Resource” is one Keilee spent HOURS on this week.† You use beautiful drawings to make your own stories.† You can then ‘publish’ them to the site.† The site is called “Story Bird”

Finally, with everything blooming and so beautiful I just had to take pictures.† My girl is growing up too fast.† I wish I could stop time some days…

Happily linking up with

Mary at “Collage Friday“

and

Susan at “Favorite Resource“

Happy weekend!

Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen

I realized that if I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes. ~† Charles Lindbergh

“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” ~ Kahlil Gibran

 

What better time to study Botany than Spring?† Everything is blooming and beautiful and just there for you to see.

We did a really cool experiment to tie in with our Botany Unit.

Keilee did this entire experiment herself and took ALL the pictures.

GARDEN IN A GLOVE

Here’s the Materials You’ll Need:

†Plastic glove

Permanent marker

Five types of seeds

Cotton balls

Water

Pipe cleaner

Scissors

Soil

Small cups

Step 1 of 5:

Use a marker to write the name of the seeds on each of the glove’s fingers. Write one seed type per finger.

Step 2 of 5:

Dip the cotton balls in water and wring them out. The cotton balls should be slightly damp.

[*Note: That is marker on her fingers, not blood or dirt, although she has had both on her fingers at times] 🙂

Step 3 of 5:

Put two or three seeds of the same type into each cotton ball. Put a cotton ball inside each finger of the glove. You may need to use a pencil to push the cotton ball all the way to the tip of the glove’s finger. Make sure the type of seed matches the label written on the finger.

Step 4 of 5:

Blow a small amount of air into the plastic glove and close it with a pipe cleaner. Tape or hang the glove in a warm place, like a sunny window. Keep an eye on the seeds over the next few days – you should start to notice something interesting!

[Note- See the pink on the sprouted pumpkin? It is from the marker which was written on the OTHER side of the glove.† Isn’t that cool?]

THEY GREW!!

Step 5 of 5:

Replant in little cups to transplant outside in the garden!

Information:

Each seed contains a baby plant that will start to grow under the right conditions. All a seed needs to begin growing is warmth and water. The first stage in seed growth is called germination, which is when the tiny root emerges from the outer seed covering. Once the seed starts sprouting, it needs soil, room for the roots to grow, sunlight and water.

Now she is about to replant them outside and watch them grow, or get eaten by the squirrels!!† [I’m betting on the squirrels!]

Peas, Pumpkins, Broccoli or Squash anyone???

Happily linking with Theresa and Susan at “Look What We Did”
Go check them out, they have some fabulous resources!

Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen

ìWhy try to explain miracles to your kids when you can just have them plant a garden.î ~ Robert Brault

ìNature never hurries. Atom by atom, little by little she achieves her work.î ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

We had a great Easter weekend.

Saturday our church had a city wide Easter Egg Hunt.† We hid 25,000 eggs and had 75 brand new bikes to give away.† It is so amazing to be able to serve our city.

The 25,000 eggs were 90% gone within 30 seconds.† I am NOT joking!

Entries for the bikes and all those shiny new bikes all lined up.† You should have seen the faces of the happy winners!

The JV kids gave away free drinks.† Keilee loved working the booth.

Keilee with her Easter basket.† We didn’t do much this year because I have been laid off for a couple of weeks. I should be back to receiving my check in a week or so, so all’s good. 🙂

The other 2 pictures are her at Epic and in front of our red roses.† Aren’t they gorgeous?

This is what Keilee made me for Easter.† It is a beautiful knitted tree with crocheted flowers, butterflies and a little green worm.† She worked on it for a couple of weeks.† It is almost 20″ high!† I love it!

We went to church twice this weekend.† We had a service Saturday at 4:00 for the Dream Team.† This is the group of people who serve in some way.† It was amazing. It is always a different vibe in these services.† Everyone is just so geeked to be there.† Then we also went Sunday morning at 9:00.

Our AMAZING worship band dressed in 1930’s clothing and performed “Nothing But the Blood”† Please watch it here if you have time.† This was just shot on a camera but it is so good.† I got chills when they performed it.

After church we headed to Daddy and Marlene’s for Easter dinner.† We had tons of food and afterwards the kids played “Jarts” and had an Easter Egg hunt.

All in all a lovely day was had by all.† What a blessing our church, our family and friends and just our lives are.† Even though I have been laid off and had NO money, everything just seems to always work out.† The Grace of God…

Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen

‘Twas Easter-Sunday. The full-blossomed trees Filled all the air with fragrance and with joy.í ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

We finally started Botany this week. We had planned this in September and I decided to wait until Spring.† Keilee is really liking it so far even though we are only in the 1st Chapter.†

1.††† Banagrams.† We played lots of games this week.† We love Banagrams.

2.††† Kei working on the cover of her Botany notebook.† I thought this was SO creative!

3.†††† We stopped on our bike ride for Kei to take some stop animation pictures.† She knew where there was a perfect patch of clover!

4.†††† Celebrating G’s 8th birthday.† Kid’s love playing on the trampoline.

The weather has gotten just a wee bit cooler this week.† It is still gorgeous and we have been spending so much time outside.† We have been riding our bikes around 3 miles each day.† These flowers are all ones we saw on our ride.

Wednesday we went to see the ballet, Cinderella.† It was the first real Ballet we had both seen.† Afterwards as we were taking pictures of the kids, a couple of dancers had to get into the picture!

I love the way our weeks flow.† I love how each day is filled with possibilities.† Where anything can happen.† I feel so incredibly blessed to be able to live my life this way.†

I decided to start something on Fridays.† I want to post a few of our ‘Streaming’ Netflix choices.† This is some of what we watched this week.

We are both fascinated with loggerheads.† We watched this amazing documentary about them and loved it.† I had just re-read a book called “The Beach House” that is interspersed with true facts about the loggerheads.† I would read the prelude to each chapter to Keilee.† We would love to be “Turtle Ladies”!!!

“Dr. Who” is something that I have wanted to watch for a while.† I have seen so many people mention how great it is.† We are really liking it!

“Billy the Exterminator” is something that Jessica recommended.† We always manage to be watching this one at dinner time it seems!† We have learned so much about pesky animals and insects.† Every time Kei sees a wasp now she says, “We need to call Billy!”

“Switched At Birth” is something that Kei just stumbled upon.† It is a really good show about teenagers with a really good storyline.† Also several characters are deaf and Kei has learned so much sign language!

We just love Netflix Streaming.

My Favorite Resource this week is the Live Cam of the Red Tail Hawks at Cornell University.†† We have been watching several of them. It is just so awesome to be able to watch things like this.† The Red Tail Hawks camera is so clear and also it has a chat bar and you can talk to other bird lovers all over the world.† We have been tuning in for weeks.

Red Tail Hawks at Cornell University.† These are supposed to hatch around April 13th!† I so hope we don’t miss it!

Happily linking with

Mary at “Collage Friday“

and

Susan at “Favorite Resource“

I hope everyone has a blessed Easter.

Homeschooling Rocks!

Karen

“Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day – like writing a poem or saying a prayer. ” ~Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I wasnít raised attending church every Sunday.† We did go, just very sporadically.† My Daddy worked very hard to provide for us and on Saturdayís he played golf.† [AND every afternoon that he didnít have baseball/football/basketball practice with my brother]†

Sundayís were for 2 things; us all going to the town he was raised in to help his Daddy and Mother [some of my VERY favorite memories] and taking us on ìSunday Adventuresî where we explored woods and took walks in Nature went on ‘let’s just drive and see what we find’ trips and had picnics.† We always believed in God, had prayer before meals and knew the Bible.† We just didnít go each week. My Mother was one of the most spiritual people I ever met.

As I got older I visited several churches in my area.† They all seemed to just not fit with my idea of church.† I didnít dislike them, I just didnít fall in love with them.† I am a huge dis-liker of “Let’s be good on Sundays but the other days don’t matter” kind of person.

Fast forward several† years.† Keilee and I visited churches from time to time but didnít find one we loved.† I read her Bible stories, we prayed, we talked about God and Jesus.† Then one day I got a flyer on the door about a new church.† It said, ìNo Perfect Peopleî allowed.† Well there you goÖthat was ME!

When we started going to Epic there were about 30-40 people.† Now there are over 1500.† We have 5 services each Sunday plus our iCampus that people from all over the world watch.† Seriously, they announce every service who is tuned it and it is not only everywhere in the US, but Africa, Germany, China and more!†

Our church is an amazing place and it has made a huge difference in our lives.† We have an incredible preacher.† He keeps things very real.† He never wears shoes when he preaches, he loves football and is a true Southerner through and through.† He and his wife Bene’ have changed Keilee and Iís life.† Bene’ is the best person I have ever known.† One of those “REALLY GOOD and not just talking the talk” kinda people.

Another thing we loved about Epic was all the community service we do.† I have always loved volunteering and wanted Keilee to experience that at an early age.† She has done SO much volunteering at a very young age.

Keilee was baptized in this church.† When she got baptized over 4 years ago there were about 8 people that got baptized with her.† The last time we had baptism [which we do every 3 months] there were over 100!

One thing I love about Epic is we live by 2 ëRulesí.† Love Jesus above all things and Love people.† And love on people we do!† Epicís campus is a little metal building.† Our kids buildings are trailers that have† been totally pimped out.† We spend money on our community.† They are always doing something.† ALWAYS.

We have done:

Donate toys to families at Christmas

Free Gift Wrapping at Christmas

Serve and deliver Thanksgiving meals to 1500 people and serve over 500 inmates.

Epic volunteers at EVERY event that happens in our city.

We delivered fresh baked goods and conversation to the worst parts of our city.

We gave land to Lexi House which is an organization for unwed Mothers.

We sent people and supplies to Joplin, Missouri after their devasting tornadoes.

After the horrible April 27^th tornadoes our church was everywhere!† We cleaned up, took people tons of food, loved on people, paid bills, found tents for immediate needs, bought trailers for families, opened a Store with donated items for anyone who needed it and so much more.

We have a ministry at Tent City, the place where many homeless people live.† It is amazing!†

And so much more!!!!

This week is LOVE Week.† We have it every year the week of Easter.†

Monday was ìTeachers Appreciationî Day.† We delivered over 3000 candy bars and handwritten ìThank Youî notes to the schools.† [Keilee told me she would buy me a Butterfinger ;)]

Tuesday was ëPay it Forwardí day.† Where you went to a fast food place and paid for the personís order behind you.

Wednesday was ëEpic Gives Gasí.† We swarmed some local gas stations with gas cards and gave them gas.† We didnít only pay for it, we pumped it!

Thursday morning we delivered 1500 chicken and biscuits from Chic Fil A to local firefighters and police officers.

Friday will be ëCook Your Neighborî a meal day.

Saturday is our City Wide Easter Egg Hunt.† We will hide over 15,000 Easter Eggs for the kids of our city to find.† Also we have 75 brand new bikes to give away.

I am so thankful for Epic.† It has made us kinder, and more giving.† Our lives are enriched so much.† So many wonderful things have happened since I have let God take control.

The thing that is so ìGod is in Controlî about all of this is we started going to Epic in January of 2008.† In February of 2008 my Mother got sick and died in May.† I know that God knew I was going to need something more than I had.

So today, on this day before Good Friday, I am thankful for Epic.†

Happily linking with Theresa at ìThankful Thursdaysî.

Homeschooling Rocks!

Karen

†Epic iCampus† Click on ìiCampusî ñ Join us some Sunday.† Services are at 9:00, 10:30, 12:00, 4:00 and 6:00.† Central Time.† If you watch the 9:00 service, look for Keilee and I.† We always sit front and center. 😉

I love this quote and this is what our church tries to do every day.î

I think if the church did what they were supposed to do we wouldnít have anyone sleeping on the streetsî. ñ Michael W. Smith

I am not† a huge fan of ‘sweets’.† I know, I know, I’m weird.† Just have never liked them.† And I really don’t like chocolate at all!

I do like them more than I used to and Keilee likes them but she isn’t a huge eater of them.† She would rather have broccoli or spinach than chocolate.† Seems like whenever we make a cake or dessert, I end up throwing most of it away.

Now that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a great dessert recipe.† I was reading a novel and in it the girl describes a dessert she made with Krispy Kreme donuts.† Well I had to find that recipe.

I turned to trusty Google and found one from Paula Deen but it wasn’t the same as the girl in the book.† Finally I found it and I am going to share it with you all.

This is SO GOOD!† I think if you ate the entire thing you would go into a sugar induced coma.† We shared it with neighbors and my Daddy and still had to throw the last little bit away.†

Here, for your tasting pleasure is “Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding”.† Make it…trust me…MAKE IT.

Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding

†††† 1 dozen Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

††† 1 small can sweetened condensed milk

††† 1 tsp cinnamon

††† 1/2 tsp salt

††† 2 eggs

†Butter Icing

††† 2 t. Vanilla Flavoring

††† 1/4 butter or margarine

††† 2 cups powdered sugar

†††† Cube doughnuts in bowl.† Pour sweetened condensed milk over doughnuts and toss lightly to evenly coat the chunks. In a small bowl whisk eggs, cinnamon and salt; pour over doughnut chunks. Stir until evenly distributed and set aside. Let set for 10-15 minutes to absorb as much moisture as possible.

†Bake in an oven safe dish at 350 degrees for approx. 30-40 minutes; until slightly crisp on top. You want the bread pudding to be moist, but no raw egg.

While baking make icing:

†In a microwave safe bowl melt butter. Add Vanilla flavoring and stir well. Slowly whisk in powdered sugar working out lumps.† [I had to add a little more butter to get the right consistency]†

Pour over hot bread pudding. Serve immediately.

This is RICH! †So sweet.† So good!† Yummy.

You will all love me! I promise 🙂

And to all my Roamies…next get together, I am bringing this.† You all are the first people I thought of when I saw the recipe. 😉

Happily linking up with

Lisa for “Try a New Recipe Tuesday“

and

Kellie for “Adventurez With Kids in the Kitchen“

Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen

“Stressed spelled backwards is desserts.† Coincidence?† I think not!”† ~Author Unknown

“Seize the moment.† Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.”† ~Erma Bombeck

 

Keilee loves to take pictures.† She will go months and barely touch the camera and then just go on a shooting [camera that is] spree.† Here are some of her latest pictures.† I love the way she sees things. She also really likes ‘macro’ shots.

We did lots of learning this week and it mainly seemed to revolve around botany and nature.† I think the amazing weather had something to do with that.

1.†† Lovely glass bottle set my brother got at a garage sale for $1.† As soon as I saw it I begged him to let me have it.† Keilee made all sorts of flower potions this week.

2.†† Keilee’s drawing of the parts of a plant.† We also did a really cool experiment that I plan to share later.

3.†† Keilee sitting in her tree reading one of our† “National Audubon Society Field Guides”.† I think this one was “Birds”. † You have to get these books if you don’t have them.† I got mine as a Secret Sister gift in our homeschool group a couple of years ago.† We love them!

4.†† Tuesday was Nomad’s 2nd birthday.† Keilee made him a peanut butter and carrot ‘cake’.† We also bought him toys.† This is the hat he wears on each birthday.† He has worn it several times because Keilee used to make us celebrate every ‘MONTH’ birthday!

5.†† Keilee and Nomad ‘cuddling’.

6.†† Keilee planted broccoli and peas in her garden.† She has decided the reason nothing ever grows is because it isn’t HER garden exclusively.† She worked for hours on this.

7.†† Keilee’s miracle potion.† She rubbed it all over my legs and arms!† Someone needs to polish their fingernails; I’m just sayin’.

My favorite resource this week is a good one!† It is a YouTube channel called “History Teachers“.† They take current songs and write songs that talk about all sorts of history events.† Let me tell you after listening to the one below Keilee will NEVER forget that ‘fleas on rats’ caused the Black Death!† *Disclaimer, the videos we watched were all appropriate but I think these are for ‘high school’ so view at your discretion.

Happily linking up with

Mary @ “Collage Friday“

and

Susan @ “Favorite Resources“

and

Kris @ “Weekly Wrap-up”

Happy weekend!

Homeschooling Rocks!

Karen

ìReading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God.î ~ George Washington Carver

“. . . the more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us the less taste we shall have for the destruction of our race.“† ~Rachel Carson

Do you have a passion? Something that moves you? Something you can not live without?  I don’t think I do.  I mean, I have many things I love, many things that make my life better.

Reading? Maybe reading is my passion.† I do love to read. I can’t imagine living without it…so I suppose reading is mine.

My child’s passion is acting. She loves being on the stage more than anything else in the world. She first auditioned when she was barely 6 and sang, “Tomorrow” from Annie. I was scared to death for her. She wasn’t nervous in the least.  She has never been nervous…ever…not one time. She wishes she could practice every day. She wakes up excited if she has practice that day. She practices her lines over and over and over and you get the picture. 🙂

1. Her 1st role – a bee in “Jungle Book”. Everyone called her “Queen Bee”.  She had to stay on stage the entire time. She was adorable. No lines, just songs.

2. Her 2nd role.  A Chihuahua in “101 Dalmatians”. She had her first lines in this play. I think she had 3.

3.A flower in “Enchanted Sleeping Beauty”. She was in 3 scenes. She had a ballet dance that began the show, a scene where they gave Sleeping Beauty her gifts as a baby and when Sleeping Beauty married her Prince.

4. Meeko in “Pocahontas” She did a little dance and was in 3 other scenes with Pocahontas.

1. and 2. This was for “Wonderland”.  She had 2 roles; a red pawn and a Dixie Chicken that was Humpty Dumpty’s back up singers. She had to change clothes down to her tights and a wig; in about 2 minutes! Freaked me out, but she did it every time.

3. Cindy Lou Who in “Seussical”. She loved this role!

1. She was in “101 Dalmatians” again with a different theatre company. She wanted the role of Horace so badly and got it! Her first time playing a ‘boy’ role.

2.† She was a maid in “Annie”. She had 2 dances. We loved doing this play.

3. Scout in “To Kill A Mockingbird”  217 lines! She did such a great job. This is one of her favorite roles.

4.The Wicked Witch in “The Wizard of Oz”. She did evil very well. A little boy in the audience had to be taken out and he wouldn’t come back in! She felt really bad and also giggled just a bit.

Now we are working on play number 11. I get exhausted at times. Plays are a lot of work and not just for the actors. I always help back stage and of course I have to provide transportation. I don’t really mind, I love it too.

Who knows where this will lead Kei. She already knows where she ‘thinks’ she wants to go to college. It is a college with a wonderful “Theater Arts” program. She may change her mind before the time actually comes  But she usually makes her mind up and sticks to it.

Passion…

What do you do to inspire and nurture your children’s passion?

Homeschooling Rocks!

Karen

“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” ~Nelson Mandela

“One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested.”† ~ E. M. Forster

“There is no greatness without a passion to be great, whether it’s the aspiration of an athlete or an artist, a scientist, a parent, or a businessperson.” ~ Anthony Robbins