Tag: SecularThursday

Secular Thursday: Making a Memorable Moment

This story has no pictures because it all starts with “Mommy went to the dentist.” and in the middle there is LilB coming up the stairs from the shower with the words “I fell in the water but not my head” and ends with a small tank a tadpoles, snails and more.

I had a odd hour appointment so I asked Gramps to watch the boys. They were finish up a bit of school work when I zipped off to the dentist. This is where the boys pick up the story. As told by them:

Jr age 8: Grandpa fed us lunch. Then Grandpa said we should go look for tadpoles and eggs. So we got all our stuff on and went down the lane. We looked by the metal tube thing that in the ditch and I (Jr.) found a duck egg! I left it there cuz it might be yucky. Then we remembered we needed a bucket so we went to get one. We looked in the ducklings box. We checked them and gave them water. Then we went further down the lane and to where the geese go to be in the water. I was looking in the big puddles.

LilB age 5: Then Jr. stepded in a big hole and filled his boot up with water (hilarious giggles)

Jr: Yeah. I did. But my leg and foot took up so much space there wasn’t much water. Then we looked more and Gramps saw a scummy spot. So we walked over there then I fell in the water!! I got went up to here (indicates his shoulder).

LilB: Grandpa scooped up some water and found a tadpole!

Jr: then LilB wanted to scoop.

LilB: so I scooped and then I fell in the water! But not my head!

Gramps: He was soaked through (chuckles)

LilB: I tooked off my boots and dumped lots

Jr: Then Grandpa saw a FROG!

Gramps: so I hollered to LilB to toss me his boot.

Jr. and LilB THEN GRAMPS PUT THE FROG IN THE BOOT! *giggles* and chants of FROG IN THE BOOT. FROG IN THE BOOT!

conversation dissolves into various levels of hilarity.

The very wet little party made their way back to the house and into the shower to wash off the scummy pond water. The creatures along with their water went into our tank. We’ve got two teeny little tadpoles for certain. And lots of other small creatures too. There was such excited discussion and chants of best science ever!

Finally I heard Jr. say “You should have been there mama!”  Perhaps but I think it wouldn’t have quite been the same had I been home. I don’t think it would have been one of those memorable moments shared with their Grandpa.

Author name:
Publish date:
April 29th, 2010

Secular Thursday: A Forest Walk

We tossed our books aside this Wednesday for a walk through our forest. First because we needed to take a general survey and secondly because we had acorns to plant.

So we suited up in our forest gear:

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Then we headed into our woods. Documenting things as we saw them. There was a Honey Locust Tree made of nightmares:

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Fungus growing sideways:

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Flat Fungus:

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Evidence that something had been chewing on trees:

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Prints by the creek:

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Towards the end of our trek the boys checked out the creek itself. We didn’t see any fish or turtles though we did see a mallard duck swimming along upstream.

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Sometimes our days consist of things that don’t look anything like traditional school. Yet those days are often ones that stir an new interest or lead to a new question to answer. We came home with things to identify. Projects to consider and the hopes to go back soon for another exploration.

Author name:
Publish date:
April 23rd, 2010

Secular Thursday: Unexpected Benefits

Homeschooling has in many ways been more than an educational choice. Or rather the educational choice to homeschool has made us more aware of benefits within our whole lifestyle. Stealing this idea from Smrt Lernins here are a few of the unexpected benefits we’ve experienced:

Slow Motion Life
Phone calls with my sister often leave my head spinning with how many places to be and things to do they have in one week. Get the kids here. Drop off one there. Pick up the kid here. Run there. Do this. We on the other hand seem to live in slow motion or at least that is my sister’s perspective. But to us slow is normal. Somewhere mixed up in the educational decision was a life decision to step off of the ever increasing merry-go-round of the fast paced life.

Everything is Science
What better excuse can a mom have for bringing in all kinds of weird things to look at or study than the catch-all “It’s science!” Science has made it possible for us to truly enjoy toads, praying mantis, crickets, spider mites, fungus, leaves, rocks and much more. Need an excuse to bring something weird into the house or keep a wild creature for a few days…just tell everyone it is all in the name of science!

Bedtimes are relative
Kids who HAVE to get up to make it to school in the mornings do not get to enjoy 10pm Mythbusters with their parents. Sleeping or rather the respecting of a natural rhythm in my children has been one of the most profound benefits. Very rarely must I endure a sleep deprived child.

Time is up for tonight! The last benefit is the ability to be outside. We were outside for most of the day. We picked violets on the hill. We shooed the geese away from the road. The boys ran up and down the garden plot while I planted a few things. We checked on the ducklings. We gathered eggs. We played with the dogs. We soaked up the sun and watched as the rain clouds came rolling in. This explains why at 10:30 I’m a little sleepy. I’d like to add more but the lovely, long day here has left me just a little tired.

Author name:
Publish date:
April 15th, 2010
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