Tag Archives: unschooling

Drama, Squirrel Pets, Creative Writing and more Drama…

It always amazes me how the days fly by.  Has it always been like this?  When I was younger time passed so slowly.  Now it a month begins and ends in a BOOM!  Keilee thinks it goes by fast too so I don’t know if it is an age thing or not.

We had a great day at Co-op.  My Drama kids performed a white glove routine to “Who Am I”?  It was beautiful.  Several Moms were crying including me, even though I had seen them practice a hundred times.  Several of the kids had never performed before and they were just BEAMING!! 

It was beautiful here Monday and Tuesday so Tuesday I took my writing group to the park.  They did Mapping the World Through Art and worked on their stop animation film here and then we headed off.  It was so awesome seeing kids writing on blankets in the warm sun. 

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Afterwards they played hide and seek.  I LOVE that this group of teenagers did not sit around with their smart phones not interacting with each other at all.  I do so think this is another example of the difference in homeschool kids!

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In other big news Keilee got a squirrel to raise!  A friend of mine called and asked if Keilee would like it and my first response was NO!  Does anyone remember Pippy the Bird?  I didn’t want something else that would end like that.  But she made her points, very successfully I suppose since as I type  this the squirrel is in his box in our house.

She named him Augustus after her favorite book character.  She researched and made feeding charts.  He is the sweetest thing.  One of his eyes actually opened this morning.  Keilee knew they were about to.  She estimates that he is 5 weeks old.  It is so funny because Nomad HATES squirrels.  He barks at them in our yard ALL.DAY.LONG.  He either has no clue Augustus is here or he just excepts him as part of our family.  Keilee does close the door to the extra bedroom where he is at night so Nomad won’t eat him!!  Her plan is to reintroduce him to the wild when he is old enough.  Jenn at Little Homeschool on the Prairie said that she has friends that have a SQUIRREL DOOR in their house!!  That is just unbelievable to me.  We have hundreds of squirrels around here.  Of course Keilee thought that would be a great idea. 🙂

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Keilee had an assignment in her Photography class to take pictures of green and yellow things.  Here are a few of her pictures. 

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1. Drama kids performing “Who Am I”  2.  Making cupcakes for the neighbor ladies.  3. & 5.  They are doing a Theater workshop where she reprises her role as Amy in “Little Women”.  I cannot believe she was 12 when she did this and now she is 14.  Although she was ALMOST 13.  4.  Spring is COMING!!!

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In between the busy there has been a lot of Algebra.  In fact one day Keilee got it and I didn’t.  That has NEVER happened!!  I was so freaked but she was very happy. 😉  I actually did finally get it.  She has a HUGE notebook filled with Algebra problems.  I asked her if it didn’t make her proud of herself and she said yes but she didn’t think she would remember how to do every problem.  I told her that is what review is for.  🙂  We are also doing Chemistry 1 from CK-12.  It is a free textbook and teacher’s textbook.  She is also doing Hank Green’s Crash Course Chemistry along with it.  And John Green’s Psychology too.  Can you tell we are HUGE Green brother’s fans???  We are working our way through “Grammar Girls Presents The Ultimate Writing Guide for Students” and loving it.  We are both huge fans of geek girls. 

Speaking of geek girls, we also continue to play World of Warcraft.   I have always loved online games but playing with Keilee is definitely a new experience.  She is much more fearless than I am.  We play on a PVP server which means “Player versus Player”.  That means any person [meaning a real life player like we are] from the opposing side can attack and ‘kill’ you at any time.  I’ve always played PVP because that is what my online friends have always played but I have never been that good at it.  But Keilee and I are a 2 girl wrecking machine. 🙂  We never have attacked anyone first but if they attack us, well we show no mercy.  No really we scream and run around like chickens with their heads cut off. We die a lot but we also laugh so much at times we can hardly play.  I am using my brother’s extra accounts so it is a FREE way for us to have some fun.  The game is very little killing players and mostly going on quests.  So there is a lot of reading and figuring things out.  

So there you have it, our second week of March.  The next 3 weeks are going to be crazy busy.  Keilee has “Shrek the Musical” practice 4 times a week.  Our Drama group at Co-op is performing a play.  We start practice Monday.  Keilee is MUCH better at directing than I am.  We found a short script and she rewrote it so everyone would have lines.  She also did all the blocking and wrote it down for me.  She is helping me create the program too.  Lots of hands on learning going on there. 

Thank you all for the lovely prayers. The situation hasn’t changed yet but my attitude has greatly.

I hope everyone is having a great March so far and that it is warming up where you are.  I am ready for sunshine beaming down on my face, walks , sitting on the patio and just not freezing all  the time!

Happy weekend,
Homeschool Rocks!
Karen

“No matter how long the winter is, spring is sure to follow.”  Proverb

Linking with
Mary at Collage Friday
Sylvia at Friendship Friday
Kris at “Weekly Wrap Up”

Back and only a LITTLE Broken…

4 weeks I have been blogless.  My friend who always hosted my server had to shut his down and suddenly I had to find a new server!  After researching I decided to use BlueHost.  It was a long process to move 5 years of posts and pictures to a new server.  Thankfully I have a great friend who did it for me.  There were some hiccups and days I prayed that it wasn’t all lost forever.  I started this blog in May 2008; the month my Mother died. Keilee had only been 8 a few months, and I have kept it up, for 5 years.  Everything isn’t perfect.  There are some weird little symbols thrown in, most of them look like little crosses which Keilee and I kinda like.  I can’t fix them all.  It would take forever.  So I am leaving them in.

I can’t cram 5 weeks into one post so I am just going to highlight. 🙂

Keilee had her performance of “Father of the Bride”.  It was wonderful.  Even though she didn’t have a HUGE role it was so funny.  Her “Brooklyn” accent was great and so many people asked her afterward if she was A( From Brooklyn or B( Took lessons!  I am putting her favorite scene on here.  She was in a couple more but they were less lines.  Back story; she is one of the Wedding consultants and has a very bad attitude toward the Banks.  She definitely thinks they are beneath her with her Paris fashions…but as much as you can ‘take the girl outta the Brooklyn, you can’t take the Brooklyn outta the girl’ 🙂 Plus she wore 5 1/2” heels!  I can’t walk in 2” heels!

 

Another exciting thing the last few weeks is Keilee is a part of a new YouTube channel called 7 Cool Homeschoolers.  Theresa at Red Oak Lane’s daughter thought of the idea and the girls each day a day a week and post a ‘Themed’ video.  So far there has been “All About Me”, “A Day In the Life Of” [Keilee did The Wicked Witch!], a Freestyle [check this one out it is hysterical, she randomly danced all over our town!] and a “How Do”.  She is so enjoying coming up with ideas and filming these every week.  It is all her.  She comes up with the ideas and writes the script and films it all on her own.  I got her a  Tripod and it really makes things easier.  Please watch and support all these talented Homeschool Girls!

She has been keeping busy with her ‘Unschooling’ life.  She is constantly doing something.  More in depth on that later on.

Here are a few collages although I have taken very few pictures lately except with my iPhone.

Keilee got a Giga Ball for Christmas and we just got it inflated.  With an air pump it was still a bit of a PAIN!  She likes it though.  Storing it is a huge problem too.  It doesn’t fit through the door of any of our outside storage.

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She spent a couple of hours one night painting all over herself!  It actually looked pretty cool but she couldn’t sit down or anything because it was MESSY!

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Gymnastics and more gymnastics.  She loves this. She is constantly flipping and flinging and throwing herself upside down.  She has bruises all over her legs.  She always says to me, “Mom why did you let me quit Gymnastic lessons???”  Yup…all my fault.

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Spring has SPRUNG here!  Gorgeous days and nice nights.  I am sure we will have some cooler weather but WINTER is gone!  The squirrel was so funny. It was hanging upside down from VERY high in our tree.  We couldn’t figure out what he was doing!  And of course, all these pictures were taken by Keilee!

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Various pictures taken…

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1.  Keilee with her cousin Seth.  He is 6’4″ and had to crouch down!  They were working in the yard.
2.  Hula Hooping in Wal-Mart!
3.  Trying to learn “Call Me Maybe” on the keyboard
4.  Working on her video for “7 Cool Homeschoolers”
5.  Keilee and I Easter morning before church.
6.  Silly Keilee at her Vet internship
7.  Easter basket cupcakes!

So…I feel like the Who’s screaming from their speck, “I AM HERE, I AM HERE!!”  I have missed everyone so and missed posting.

Happy weekend!
Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen

“There’s nothing half so pleasant as coming home again.”  ~ Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

“April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.” ~William Shakespeare

Happily linking up with Mary at “Collage Friday

Faires, Punnett Squares, Beauty, Art Jounaling and Halloween…

Sometimes I feel like those old Timex watch ads….Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.† So no new news on the job front.† Still January from all I have heard.† My boss is trying to find a rental for us at least for a few weeks.† That being said….

This was a very.good.week.† Keilee looked at me last night and said “I almost hate turning 13 [in January] because 12 has been the best age and I have had the best year”.† My heart just about burst…I mean my girl said this has been the ‘best year’ and I have been laid off 6 months of it.† Anyone who thinks that kids only want ‘things‘….WRONG.

We went to the Renaissance Faire over the weekend. It was cold. Seriously cold.† But we braved it out for about an hour and a half.† We have been going to the Ren Faire for years and years.† The wizard in the purple? I have pictures of Keilee with him for about 4 years.

We are both loving our new schedule. I don’t think I will ever go back to full lesson plans.† This makes this ‘unschooling’ Mama and her ‘lesson plans’ daughter happy!† Keilee spent hours one day learning about Mendel and genetics and Punnett Squares. Here are a couple†of resources we used. SpongeBob Genetics† and†Pardon the Punnett† Seriously she worked on it 4 hours.† Then she insisted we go to the library and get books.† I so love days like that.

Co-op and practice was cancelled this week for different reasons.† We reveled in staying at home and having NOT ONE SINGLE PLACE we HAD to BE!

There is this gorgeous tree a few miles from us where I always take Keilee’s picture every year.† It isn’t quite all the way turned but it is still glorious.

See how big it is compared to Kei?

Keilee also did so much Art Journaling this week.† I have tried to get her to do it showing her Jessica’s great stuff but she hasn’t been very interested. This week she did 3 pages and she said, “I thought it was harder than this, I thought you had to be an artist, but I love this Mom”.† She is making “Month” calendars and putting her pages in the month she did them.

Halloween day Keilee and Nomad performed a routine they had been working on all week.† They do one every Halloween.† Keilee also did some graphing and a Halloween Logic Puzzle

Halloween night we went with some of our best friends Trick or Treating.† Keilee was a Punk Mad Hatter and I was something that we never quite figured out.† We went to a few Trunk or Treats, then Brit spent the night and I took the girls out for a little longer.† It was cold, cold, cold and there were people everywhere!
Thursday, which was NOVEMBER 1st, was spent learning about Day of the Dead.†† If I had money I would take Keilee to Mexico to see this holiday up close and personel.† We have both always been a fan of Dia de los Muertos.† She did another Art Journaling page and made some skulls with clay.

This is my favorite picture of the week.† Keilee in a cotton field.† She looks like a cotton fairy.

My favorite resources this week are CK-12.† Have I already listed this? If so forgive my crazy brain. :)† They do have great resources.
My other favorite resource is a book Keilee is reading.† It is The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell” by Chris Golfer.† She is loving it.† She has made maps and NB pages and a world in Eden [app similar to Minecraft] about it.† It is suppose to be Book One is a series.† She said the coolest thing to me last night.† “There just isn’t enough hours in the day for all the amazing things I want to do Mom”.† [smiles]

This is a dialogue between Kei and I.† I adore this child and thank God for her every day.
Me:† Oh my Gosh, They are making “Mockingjay” into 2 parts!
Kei:† What!?†
Me:† Yes they do that sometimes to make more money.† Remember Harry Potter and Breaking Dawn?
Kei:† [outraged] Well they won’t get ONE DIME from us!
Me:† Well I don’t know about YOU but I will be there!
Kei:† Well…[huffy] FINE then!† We will pay with NOTHING BUT DIMES!† All dimes is what we will give them!!
Me:† Oh yeah baby,† that will show them!

Keilee and I are praying daily for the people affected by Hurricane Sandy.† So much destruction and so many lives touched.

So November starts with us very broke and very happy.† Our life is so blessed even though there are nothing but 0’s in my bank account.† Life is funny and wonderful and oh so beautiful.† Hope everyone enjoys this first weekend in November.

Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen

I LOVE this quote! It kinda sums up our week.
Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.† ~Albert Einstein

Happily linking with
Mary @ Collage Friday
Susan @ Favorite Resource
Savannah @ It’s a Wrap
iHomeschool Network @ Homeschool Mother’s Journal
Kris @ Weekly Wrap Up

A mini Rant, of Sorts…

As much as I totally love homeschooling, and I do love it so, I have a love/hate relationship with it at times.† I have a picture in my mind of how I think our lifestyle should look….and marking things off of a list of daily plans is NOT my picture.† I know what I want our days to look like..I can see it…it would be every subject flowing into each other, no lessons plans and check lists… always just lovely learning.

I canít seem to find this in our days.† As some of you know we tried unschooling but Keilee hated it.† She LIKES the plans and lessons but I still feel like her days consist of one thing; checking things off of a schedule. A big black check mark ? that means “I am done thank goodness”. † It seems she has only one goal every day and that is to get ëfinishedí.† She begins around 8:00 each morning and finishes around 1:00.† 8 weeks into this school year, after checking off 8 weekly lesson plans day by day, I am putting my foot down.† I want to try something new.† Isnít that what this journey is all about?† Finding your own groove, your own ëperfectí.† †She has agreed to let me do things my way for a few weeks.

So..we are going to have ëlesson plansí to make her happy but it will be one LESSON a day.† Math one day, history one day, science one day. †She still has Co-op on Monday that lasts for 4 hours. The rest of the time will be filled with ëcreativeí, free time.† Writing on her book, knitting, crocheting [she JUST learned how], reading, writing scripts, making clay creations, painting, making her movies, learning her lines for Little Women and Little Josephine, drawing, and tons more things that she doesnít have time to explore now.† There are so many art projects I want to do but every day is spent doing ëlesson thingsí.† That is going to change.

In Pre-Algebra I am asking her to do 2-3 lessons once a week.† JUST the new concepts.† Not every problem.† Then once every few weeks we will go over the last few chapters and see if she remembers the general concept of it.† I know that a lot of people do not agree with this.† And that is fine.† Some people get their kids to do every problem in Math.† I just donít feel that is necessary.† The ëconceptí is what is important.† One thing I have realized in Math is that I have forgotten how to do these problems.† But you know what? It takes me just a little while to figure it out.† So if she doesnít remember every single new concept she will figure it out if it becomes something she needs.

In History we are going to move ahead in US History.† Explore some† things that interest her.† Watch some movies, watch YouTube videos, do notebooking pages and move on.† Every week I scour the internet finding great videos to go along with what we are learning.† By the time we finish her ‘schoolwork’ there is rarely time for the videos.† Now if she wants to learn about JFK “RIGHT NOW MOM” , then we will learn about JFK.† It doesn’t matter what the ‘next thing’ in the chapter is!

In Science we are going to continue with General Science but skim the information and take what interests her.† Do the experiments because she loves them. †Go over the ìOn Your Ownî questions but not become freaked out if we donít answer EVERY SINGLE ONE.† If we are ‘studying’ force and motion but she wants to learn about fungus and mosses well the force and motion will keep.† By the time we actually ‘get to’ fungus and mosses’ she may be over her interest.

We are going to read aloud more.† We do read aloud now but there isnít enough time to read all the great things I want to read to her. So more reading and less lesson plans.† I want to rediscover the love of learning.† We are going to take more walks and enjoy this weather.† We are going to get in the car and just drive and see what we can find.

Keilee ëdiscoveredí reading this summer.† She spent hours sitting outside or on the couch reading.† So far in this ëschool yearí not so much reading.† Why? She doesnít have time.† Between lessons, Co-op, play practice 3 nights a week, Fantasy Players practice once a week, and filming the movie…she has NO TIME to read!† That is going to change.

I donít know how this will work.† Keileeís main concern is that she wonít learn what she needs to know.† Needs to know for what?† Life? College?† I tell her I STILL don’t know everything I need to know. It is a constant learning process.† She has 6 more years until college if that is what she decides on.† I believe with every fiber of my being that loving to learn is more important than checking off lists and memorizing math, history and science facts.† So here we go.

Maybe I will get this whole homeschooling thing down by the time she ëgraduatesí.†

Homeschooling Rocks,
Karen

“Trust Children.† Nothing could be more simple, or more difficult.† Difficult because to trust children we must first learn to trust ourselves, and most of us were taught as children that we could not be trusted.” ~ John Holt, in “How Children Learn”

 

Princess Diana Ding-a-Ling of DingDong…

Show week…ahhh show week

The
Longest
Week
Ever…

Keilee has had a blast playing a ditzy blonde who can’t sing, can’t dance, giggles like a loon, but is very good at flirting!!!† This Mama has not enjoyed that part very much.† I told a friend this is the most Keilee has touched a boy EVER!† Let’s keep it that way for a few more years Kei, m’kay?

There was almost as much fun to be had backstage and after the show as during.† The younger girls flock around Keilee.†† She also gave her world famous “Knitting Lesson’s During a Play” classes.† It just tickles me all the people she has taught to knit. I love that she is passing along one of her passions.

The actual show is a twist on the classic “The Princess and the Pea”.† It is hysterical.† Prince Valiant takes off on his journey to meet his potential princesses.† They are all a little …strange….for his taste.† There is the very smart one that he doesn’t understand, the beautiful, vain one, the one that is stronger than he is, the alien one, the one who is allergic to everything, the one who is OCD about cleanliness, the Valley Girl princess and more.

Then there is Keilee.† The Ding Dong…

Pictures from Esther Crawford.† I am backstage all shows.† Esther described her role as a ‘poodle on crack’.† Pretty much true..

This is a collage that Esther made of her screeching singing.

Show week is almost non stop however we did find time for a bit of other things.† Keilee and I played a lot of board games, did some art journaling, we watched “The Man in the Iron Mask” which is one of my favorite movies ever, she wrote a story about an alternate version of “Red Riding Hood”, she is learning French, she is working on a Power Point presentation about Life in the 50’s,† we picked up a great outdoor swing that a friend was about to get rid of and have spent tons of time sitting under the trees reading and talking.

She also took lots of pictures.† All these she took with her iPhone camera.† Isn’t Spring beautiful?

So Saturday wraps up the last show.† The bad good news is she starts another one Monday.† Ay caramba!

Deep breaths, Karen, deep breaths.

Favorite resource…

Since we didn’t really do a lot of ‘schoolish’ things I will use a link to a blog that I have recently found and love.† Penelope Trunk is an Homeschool Mom, speaker and has founded 3 startups.† Her posts are intelligent and wonderful.† Check her out .

The other ‘Favorite Resource” is a recipe site called My Recipes.† Now I know there are thousands of these out there, but I really love this one.† Besides having tons of great, healthy recipes, there is another thing I love.† If you sign up [free] it will tell you if there is ANY ingredient in that recipe that is on sale near you!† Love it!

I really hope to slow down next week.† I am hoping for lovely weather, not many commitments, lots of learning and slow moving days.† What could be better?

Happily linking with Mary @ “Collage Friday

and

Susan @ “Favorite Resource

Homeschooling Rocks!
Karen

I love that one of my quote comes from my [coughcough] future son-in-law.
ìWith any part you play, there is a certain amount of yourself in it. There has to be, otherwise it’s just not†acting. It’s lying.î – Johnny Depp

“Acting should be bigger than life. Scripts should be bigger than life. It should all be bigger than life.” ~ Bette Davis