We had a little visitor!

Sophie, my 6 year old, went to Lego Camp at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham the other week.  On the way home during one trip either there or back, I spotted a helpless little box turtle walking the yellow line of the road.  I have a soft spot in my heart for turtles.  They just can't win!  They move so slow and cars move so fast....it's just sad.  So I pulled over on the side of the road and rescued the poor helpless little box turtle.

 




               It was love 
at first site for Sophie!

Sophie is always so good at helping her sister, who has Batten Disease experience the things that she, herself, enjoys.  Here she is helping McKenna touch and feel the turtle since she cannot see it.


After all this fun, and after some research, we decided to take the turtle over to Lake Lynn and release him amongst some turtle friends.  It turns out that box turtle numbers are dwindling due to cars and other factors.  We also learned they are very temperamental to keep as pets often developing respiratory problems.  Not to mention I didn't exactly feel like going and buying a heat lamp and a tank and having one more pet to care for.  It was a fun activity and learning experience even if just for the day.

Those unsocialized homeschoolers!

If you homeschool, you've been questioned.  "Aren't you worried about socialization????"  Why YES I am.  That's WHY I homeschool!  Really?  You think kids (as a whole, generalized group) in the classroom at a public school are the example of behavior and social skills that you want your children to emulate?  Yes, there are some wonderful children in public school, but we all know kids learn their poor social skills from the classroom.  Is a classroom the only place you want your child to get their social skills from?  Why should that be the number one source?  Homeschoolers certainly have access to all the other sources of socialization:  church, neighbors, friends, sports, scouts, book clubs, playground groups, parties.......need I mention more?  Contrary to popular belief, we do not lock our children up in a closet and throw away the key.

Check out these unsocialized homeschoolers!

Scouts!!

Park time with FRIENDS!!!

Birthday parties with FRIENDS!

Snakes!!!

 

Tea Parties with FRIENDS!

Field Trips with lots of other "unsocialized homeschoolers!"

Eventually, we have to say NO to all the unsocialized activities.  We do need to do some school work on occasion.  Or, we find ourselves at summer time with some school work to wrap up while we should be going to the pool!  I wouldn't know anything about this of course............

Limericks and Haikus about homeschooling. CUTE!

I found this blog that can have some really cute posts on it.  I especially enjoyed this one.  It has some really cute limericks and haikus about homeschooling.  Some are quite funny!

Fruit In Season

R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey - LOVE IT!

Last year I looked and looked for a science curriculum and just could not find anything that "floated my boat".  This year I finally found the R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey series of science books and fell in love!

Pandia Press R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey

The pages are very clear to read, written at a kid-friendly level, and not cluttered and confusing.  The one thing I love the most is the fact that the book has the whole school year mapped out already for you.  It has a breakdown of the entire book on a week by week basis.  The Suggested Weekly Schedule page shows what is covered and the supply list needed for each week and then breaks THAT down into Day 1 and Day 2. You cannot get any easier.  Thank you Pandia Press!!!  My planning is DONE! ....at least for science.

Planning for the next "school year"

We are just about finished with 1st grade.  We finally finished our Ancient History textbook and have to update our timeline.  Wrapping up the last reading book and comprehension lesson.  The last thing to wrap up will be the core subjects:  math and language arts which are nearly finished too.  The remaining subjects are kind of ongoing.

Next task for me is to get 2nd grade mapped out.  That is a rather time consuming task but is very exciting.  It's fun to see all the things Sophie will be learning and remembering back to being a child in school and having fun learning these same subjects.  We have a lot on the horizon!