Flubber

Today we made flubber. Recipe is below and it's super easy!

Reading...

Ben has really been working on reading this summer. I found him in front of the restrooms while camping trying to decode a couple of words, one of which was "welcome". He turned around and saw me, pointed to the sign and said "we'll come!!" with a big smile on his face. He was so proud. I just hugged him for his accomplishment. Since then I've noticed that he will read lots of little words but hide it from me. He is shy about it. So I sat him down today with a little book from dltk's site (that I had printed and put together a couple of months ago) and he read it with no problem! He is interested and motivated to learn more. I am thrilled. He is on his way :)

First day of school...

I think every day is a learning day and we spent most of the summer learning. When does one turn their brain off? And if it is shut off then how will one survive in the world? As adults we are constantly learning new things, and I expect my children to constantly learn too. Summer is a great opportunity to continue to learn, it may be more relaxed and self-guided for some kids but for us it is the same year-round. We don't have more learning in different times of the year. 

I bring this up because at the end of the traditional school year, a woman (who knew that we homeschool) asked me if we took the summer off. I told her that we continue to learn through the summer and treat it no differently than the rest of the year. She gave me some strange look but couldn't understand that kids -all kids and adults- still learn in the summer and why wouldn't we capture those learning moments and make it great and memorable? She rolled her eyes and I never saw her again, I guess she went on summer break.

So, Hannah starts her Kindergarten year and Ben is in his First grade year and we spent our first day of school at the beach :) The kids had fun playing with friends and making a seaweed flavored cake. It was quite the cake! I have no pictures but the day was great. The tide was strong so they played on the side of the water and never got in too deep. Safety is big for us especially if I'm taking them somewhere on my own.

We're looking forward to some good learning experiences this year. I'll try to list what the kids want to learn about very soon :)

Tuesday

We joined a new unschoolers park day group today. We had been once before but it was hard to get to know them because we were at the beach and I was trying to watch the kids by myself. The park was a new park to us (Azalea Park), it was real nice but right on the freeway so a little noisy. There were lots of kids already there and my kids started playing with them right away. 

They explored the park (not the playground at all) and found a tree that made a house. 

There were trails leading somewhere but none of them went on one (not while we were there at least).

They found sticks and played with them. Some were tall sticks and others very short. Not one kid hit another on purpose. Not one parent was concerned with the sticks being played with. I just hate getting the stink eye from other parents on the playground when my kids pick up sticks to play with.

One family brought light sabers and all the kids took turns 'fighting' against each other with them.

We had a great time with our new friends, we can't wait for the next time we see them. I have to say that Noah didn't have fun because there weren't any kids he knew at the park, he was grumpy and really wanted to go home.

The afternoon Ben built with Legos and Hannah played with her Ponyville collection.

Monday

Ben built with legos.

They set up a store in the playroom and played store. They have play money but I don't think they were using it.

Ben and Hannah decided that they wanted to sew some bags with their fabric so they got all their sewing stuff out and got busy. They hand sewed their bags and made a handle for it too. Hannah didn't finish hers. It reminds me that we have to get batteries for her machine so that she can use it again.

They all got out the giant floor paper pads and decided that they wanted to draw. Hannah drew pictures of people that she knows, Noah drew circles and Ben drew a house with all of us inside.

Hannah played with her paper dolls that she had printed online.

Friday

Hannah made breakfast again today. She cracked 2 eggs and poured in a lot of milk. She mixed them up, put them in the pan and cooked them up. She plated them and ate them all. She wanted more so she made 2 more eggs for herself and ate them all up too. Ben made himself some toast with peanut butter and Noah wanted to help make him some eggs, but he got to close to the pan and burnt his finger. His world shattered and he was so sad. Daddy finished making his eggs.

We went to the fair today. We didn't go on any rides, we are saving that for our next trip in a couple of weeks. We went and saw someone practicing for the horse show. The kids really wanted to stay and watch but there's so much to see at the fair!

We watched the pig races, so funny. They raced around the track to get to the Oreo cookie at the end. Some of the pigs didn't race, but sauntered to the end and had to be encouraged to go. One little pig was put into a trough to swim the length, it squealed and squealed. It swam the length and was put into a little towel to dry off afterwards. It was so cute.

We checked out the goats, the sheep, the chickens, the pigs and the cows. We found all of the animals who won ribbons. They watched Charlotte's Web last night so they had a better understanding of the blue ribbons and the fair. 

We watched a cow milking demo and Ben and Hannah wanted to try hand milking the cow but they volunteered a couple of minutes too late. Maybe we'll try next time we go.

We found the sports section and the kids got to try a horse racing video game, a little miniature golf and they pretended to be the winners of the Olympics. See our main family blog for pictures.

We watched the judging of some heifers and saw them awarded with blue ribbons while we took a break and had a snack.

Next time we go... we'll do rides too.

Thursday

Hannah made breakfast this morning. She cracked 6 eggs, mixed in a little milk and poured it into the pan. She was quite proud of herself. She helped plate them up and served them to herself and her brothers.

Ben built a motorcycle with his k'nex. If Ben didn't weigh anything he would actually be able to sit on it (yes, that big).

Went to the park to meet our playgroup and for some fresh air and sun.

Ben found some kids his age to play baseball with, that was nice because at one point he came to me and said "I'm having a sad day at the park today because no one will play with me." That broke my heart.

Hannah burrowed into Ben's backpack while he was playing baseball and found some paper, tape and yarn. She made some kites, then taught her two friends how to do it. They made kites for everyone at the park.

When we got home Ben worked on his motorcycle a bit to see if he could make it stronger (k'nex are little flimsy) so that he could sit on it, but he couldn't figure it out. He did make it bigger though.

While Noah was napping Ben and Hannah played on the computer. Hannah printed out some paper doll patterns and cut them out to play with.