tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47783139657071856172023-11-15T09:00:00.696-08:00Our Life of LearningCarlaMom2AnSnMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15143319848953147819noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778313965707185617.post-56449808899805419382012-08-21T16:59:00.001-07:002012-08-21T16:59:43.261-07:00Blog Hop ~ Student Photo Week...and MFW ECC Wk 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Week #3 of the Blog Hop! This week is student pictures, so I'm going to work this in with our first week of MFW ECC :). I already posted our first day of school <a href="http://ourlifeoflearning.blogspot.com/2012/08/first-day-of-5th-2nd-and-prek.html" target="_blank">here</a>, so this just goes on from there. This first week is all about learning about maps/globes. We love maps and globes, but there's always fun to learn with them. For example, I never knew the differences between the quality of a globe vs a map. If you don't know what I'm talking about...look at the size of Greenland on a world map, vs the size of Greenland on a globe. HELLO! So, to see how hard it is to make a round world onto a flat piece of paper, we did our own transformation of sorts. We drew the earth onto oranges, and then peeled them apart and attempted to put them back together. All sorts of space in the middle that the mapmakers contort to fill space. Seems kind of nutty to me, but that's why they're screwed up! Anyway, here's a few pics from that:</div>
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Also, yesterday was the day that local public schools went back in session. Last year, as a selling point of sorts, I told the girls that they could go to the beach on the first day of public school. Well...they would NOT let me forget about it this year again! Good thing we love the beach and there's never a bad reason to go :). We were wanting to go a new beach that we've never gone to, but we got a tip from an old friend that our old standard was having whale sightings very near the shore, so we decided to head that direction. So glad we made this choice! The weather was perfect (of course...it's the beach LOL) and the wildlife we saw was wonderful! Apparently there are feeder fish that are migrating through the area and it has brought about some beautiful sights. We saw whales AND dolphins, about 100 sea lions and HUNDREDS of pelicans going nuts all over the water! It was so cool! We spent a good 4 hours doing nothing but hanging out on the sand. And NO ONE complained about having to go to the bathroom (something that would normally happen as soon as the restrooms are out of view). Here's some fun pictures from that day:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was one of about 10 "presents" Mir gave to me. I had to unwrap them by taking the rocks off the top, then dumping the sand, and that gave me more rocks on the bottom...which I then had to unwrap as well. I never could quite figure out if I was doing it right, but she seemed happy that I was playing along :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mir DESPISED the piers. She did NOT like being able to see the water underneath her feet and this was at the end of the day, after walking to the end of 2 piers...TWICE. She was DONE, so her sister gave her a ride :). Love sisterly love (just wish it showed up more often LOL).</td></tr>
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And then one final group of pictures. At the beginning of the summer, we got a new-to-us trailer for the family. Very excited about being able to go camping again. I realized we hadn't been camping since Sav (now 7) was an infant! That's just too long! We went up to Frazier Park. It's only about an hour from us and was such a wonderful weekend! Auntie and cousin Jade came with us for some of the trip as well. The girls honestly had no idea what to expect. Mir didn't want to have a campfire because it meant that we would have to go outside of the trailer, and Aly was going to go nuts without any electricity, but we all survived and had a wonderful time!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playing a goofy game where they get to guess what it is that's on their head, thanks to clues the other players give them.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mir LOVING her GIANT s'more! Who knew how large marshmellows could come! Next time...normal size please! These were crazy big!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As part of our MFW Curriculum, we're supposed to go on a weekly nature walk. Because of where we live, and the number of hours we have in the day, I'm guaranteeing that we won't get this done every week, HOWEVER, when we do, I wanted a little more of a guide, than just a blank piece of paper. I'm not good with blank pieces of paper ;). Anyway, came across this "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0967245915/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0967245915&linkCode=as2&tag=3098234-20" target="_blank">My Nature Journal</a>" and got one for each of the older girls. It's WONDERFUL. It's separated out into different types of nature you may be in and has writing prompts, fun activities, q&a, etc for these areas. We were in the "Woodlands" section and they got to answer questions like "What do you see that's smaller than your thumb?" "What is older than you?" etc. They loved it and I can see how it's going to be a great thing to look back on through time to remember specific trips we've been on and the different things we've seen. I HIGHLY recommend it.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And here, is true Mir fashion. Aly just drew the Old Maid card so in all her manner loving self, Mir had to make sure she knew how happy she was for that poor choice. LOL. Sportsmanship is on our list of studies ;)</td></tr>
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Hope you enjoyed the pictures!!</div>
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CarlaMom2AnSnMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15143319848953147819noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778313965707185617.post-30573769151952266652012-08-19T21:43:00.000-07:002012-08-19T21:43:21.752-07:00The last day of "summer"...<br />
Friday was the last Friday before the public schools are back in session. We went to a fun "end of summer" swimming playdate where the majority of people there did NOT know that we were homeschoolers. As to be expected on this day, the topic of school came up. There were the multitude of, "Are you guys looking forward to school starting?" (when we've already been going for a couple weeks) and, "Are you glad summer vacation is finally over?" (when we're planning our beach trip for the day everyone else is going back to school) and of course the, "Are you looking forward to a quiet house?" (when that NEVER happens LOL). These are understandable questions and ones that I probably have even asked of friends in the past. They seem almost foreign now though! I thought I would just walk through a few of my answers for these questions and how they have changed since we began homeschooling.<br />
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"Are you guys looking forward to school starting?" Of course!! We truly love school. But it's a different love now. Before homeschooling, Aly loved going to school to see all her friends again, but the idea of doing all the "school stuff" was definitely not loved by her or me! NOW, as homeschoolers, both girls love doing the school stuff! You should have seen how excited they were, on the first day of school, when I told them they were going to get to take a pretest for Geography! Aly voluntarily told me that she wants to take her MATH WORK with her to work on the car on the way to our beach trip. Okay, really?!?! Math was her most despised subject before we started homeschooling and now she wants to voluntarily do it on a day I'm giving her completely off?? To be totally honest, I doubt when reality sets in that she'll even crack open the book on our trip, but the point is that she knows she enjoys learning it now! Who knew?!<br />
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"Are you glad summer vacation is finally over?" Once again, I would answer, "Yes!" to this one, but for different reasons. Instead of being glad summer vacation is finally over so I finally get the kids out of my hair, now I'm glad summer vacation is over so that we can get back to our routine and dig into our new studies! So yes, I'm definitely glad summer vacation is over...but not for the same reason as most. Now the end of our summer vacation marks the beginning of our learning about the creatures that swim in the ocean, and the different cultures that make our world great. We get to practice new writing skills and learn new math functions. And we actually enjoy a large portion of it :)<br />
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"Are you looking forward to a quiet house?" Well...yes...but not in the same way. Don't get me wrong, I love my silence just as much, if not more, than the next mom. Anyone close to me knows how precious those nap-time hours are to me and knows how I stay up far too late in the evening because of the pure silence it offers me. The difference for me now is that I appreciate the silence I get even more, because it's not quite as available as it used to be. It's kind of like that wonderful bag of M&Ms (plain, thank you very much). I love a bag twice a year at Christmas and Easter and at the occasional movie theater thrown in the middle, but if I were to have a bag every.single.day it would really take the joy out of their sweet melt-in-your-mouth goodness. I never realized how accustomed I had become to the silence. It was so much so that the break in the silence (ie all the kids being home) every afternoon and all weekend long was becoming harder and harder to handle. I see now that we were losing our powerful skills of relating to each other as a household, simply because we were away from each other during more waking hours than we were with each other. Please don't think this means that I don't still cherish my quiet time because I ABSOLUTELY do. It's just that it's more of a privilege nowadays, instead of a right.<br />
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I never thought (nor still think) my previous answers were wrong, but man how my answers have changed in one short year :). Bring on this new school year!<br />
CarlaMom2AnSnMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15143319848953147819noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778313965707185617.post-56991878946465405402012-08-13T09:40:00.002-07:002012-08-13T14:46:20.783-07:00Blog Hop ~ School Room Week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's week 2 in the 2012 <i>Not</i> Back-to-School Blog Hop. Last week was Curriculum Week where I listed what curriculum we will be using this year. This week is School Room week where I get to show you where we do a lot of our schooling. Because it's specifically School Room week, and we're blessed enough to have a school room in our home, I'm showing it off. HOWEVER...I don't want you to think that this is the only place we do school OR that a school room is necessary to homeschool your children. </div>
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We did some rearranging in our home to create our school room. It used to be our main family room. The room where we hung out the most! Luckily, we had one of those "formal" living rooms (which was incredibly un-formal) at the front of the house that was rarely used, so we moved furniture, re-routed some cable lines, and began using the front room as our main family room and it gave me space for a wonderful school room! The absolute only reason this room is well used and functional as a school room is because it is in the same area of the house as the kitchen and laundry room. It is actually wide open to the kitchen, but we put up some shelving to give it a little bit of a wall space. The kids are able to work in the school room and I'm still able to work in the kitchen and do laundry, and still be within ear/eye sight of them. Plus, we still use our whole house as a learning center. The kids' computer sits on the bar in the kitchen, science and art projects take place at the kitchen table, nature walks happen out doors, the trampoline makes for great PE workouts, etc. My point is, while I'm very happy to have a school room, we're not stuck in it all day because I want to make sure that we're learning from real life, just as much as we're learning at our desks :)</div>
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Now for the pictures!</div>
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Okay, so first I'll take you on a clockwise tour around the room...</div>
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Now around the room, clockwise, with a few details...</div>
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This is the <a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80208652/#/60208648" target="_blank">Ikea Expedit</a> and it is fabulous!! It has so much space that I can just organize to my heart's content! The cubes are so versatle and Ikea has some wonderful things to go in it! The tan boxes came from Ikea, along with the drawer inserts, door inserts and magazine holders. My only problem with this piece of furniture was that I kept forgetting which cube I had what in, so I resorted to my label maker and just made up some labels. Amazing how much that helped my feeble mind :).</td></tr>
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Next is our first of three bulletin boards. We made these boards out of a sheet of underlayment that we picked up from Lowes. It was less than $20 and we cut all 3 bulletin boards out of it! Last year we covered it in fabric, but the fabric I chose, while I liked it, was just too busy for a bulletin board. This year I went the standard classroom route and used paper and borders. Much more "school" looking, but the girls had fun choosing the board/paper combinations :). Also in this picture, you can see the first of many inspirational quote posters (above the bulletin board) that I picked up from the dollar store, a rocket poster that our rocket-launcher-cousin gave to us and my great-grandmother's rocking chair. This chair is where I sit in the mornings to do our first morning group-time type lessons. Love that it has such family history with it and is included in our daily lives still. This bulletin board has our memory items posted on it right now. It will later include math concepts that need more practice, vocabulary words that we're working on, or anything else that needs some extra reinforcement.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nJxzFt_K3B0/UCkKc_FdziI/AAAAAAAAAYw/8SfObBDGcNI/s1600/DSCF1169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nJxzFt_K3B0/UCkKc_FdziI/AAAAAAAAAYw/8SfObBDGcNI/s640/DSCF1169.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Now is my best find in the whole school room. I was looking for a white board, but didn't want to spend a ton of money on it. I posted a "wanted" ad on my local <a href="http://www.freecycle.org/" target="_blank">freecyle</a> list and a local private college contacted me. They were remodeling their school and had 1 white board left. It's conference room style, so it's this on the outside, but both doors open up to have a nice open white board space on the inside. When you google it, these styles/size are upwards of $1000+!! I got it for free :D. It was quite an adventure getting it in my SUV with my 3 girls assisting me - that sucker is HEAVY, but we got it and absolutely love it. It's a white board that takes away absolutely NO wall space because I use the outside for all our morning discussion pieces. The calendar and weather pieces for from the local teacher store, there's several more inspirational signs (a theme for our school room LOL) and our virtue from <a href="http://www.wechoosevirtues.com/" target="_blank">We Choose Virtues</a> that we're working on at the time (Contentment at this point). </div>
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Just a quick pic of one side of the white board opened up.</div>
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Next is our bookcase and game shelf area. The bookcase desperately needs to be sorted through and we need about two more game book cases, but it's what we have for right now. The small table in front is a very old, well used kid's table that the kids like to sit at to play games, color, etc. It's just kind of a fun place to go and it's so beat up that I really don't care what they do to it.</div>
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Next is our story couch and "book basket" space. Sorry for such a bad picture - I didn't close the blinds until after I took this picture LOL. We used to have a couch from our living room in here, but it was very fluffy with too many pillows, and I just didn't like it. So, we went to Ikea again ;). I wanted something compact, but that had enough room for us to sit and read stories. We decided on the <a href="http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S49898143/#/S59873038" target="_blank">Klippan Loveseat</a>. Since it is technically a love seat, it won't fit all of us forever, but it works great for now. I don't like that it is a slipcover, but other than that, it fit all my other requirements, so we went with it. The slipcover does slip, and get wrinkly and everything that goes with that, but it's not HORRIBLE, so we just deal with it. The rain gutter book shelf behind the couch holds are "book basket" books. These are a selection of [usually] library books on whatever topic(s) we're studying at the time. It's filled with Olympic books right now :). The kids can sit here and read to their heart's content :).</div>
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This is my desk area. The desk is the same kind the girls have in the middle of the room. It's here from <a href="http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Writing-Table-Ebony-Ash/16401708" target="_blank">Walmart</a> and was cheap, so it works :). The bulletin board (not one of our homemade ones) holds pictures of my girls, along with all the creations that they make me. In the corner is our telescope. On the floor are 2 black crates. These crates hold our school work for the entire year. The one on the outside of my desk has folders for the first 8 weeks of school (one folder for each kid, per week) along with all the books that we'll be utilizing regularly during those 8 weeks. The one under my desk, against the wall, is the rest of the school year. I'm loving this folder system so far! I can have the year planned out, and add things as I come across fun ideas or things to do, and yet don't have to erase anything to do move things around. More details on the system I use later :). The bookcase next to my desk is filled with my office supplies and the rest of books/supplies that I want to use this year, but am not using at this time. On the desk are pen/pencil/clip holders that my girls made for me for christmas, a ceramic pencil holder that I painted when I was just a kid myself, and in front of my desk is a globe that my brother-in-law donated to our school room :)</div>
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This is our tv/wii/map area. When using <a href="http://unitstudy.com/Olympics_Study.html" target="_blank">Amanda Bennett's Olympic unit study</a>, we plug my laptop into the tv and were able to watch all the video links and such on there. It was great and I look forward to using this more in the future! The green basked is where the kids turn in all their completed papers. The mirror on the side is just because I haven't found a good place to put it yet ;). The red baskets on the bottom hold the Wii games and accessories so the kids can still play the Wii in a room other than our main living room. I love the map right here because the kids climb up onto the coffee table (bad mom) and examine the heck out of the map. I will often find Sav in there just sitting there, seeing what new place she can find. <br />
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This is our 3rd bulletin board (currently displaying our Olympic medal count chart). Under the bulletin board is another rain gutter bookshelf for library books that aren't necessarily related to what we're studying. The drawers to the right of the fireplace are Mir's workboxes (without the labels because we just switched to these drawers and I haven't put the labels on yet) and the black crate on top holds her <a href="http://www.mfwbooks.com/products/M50/10/10/0/1" target="_blank">MFW preschool toys and activities</a><br />
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Here's our solar system from our Astronomy Studies of last year. We like it so much we still have it displayed. I'm sure it will come down eventually, but for now, everyone enjoys it. The little yellow spots you see on the ceiling are stars with sight words on them, to help reinforce some reading skills last year and they just haven't been taken down yet :)<br />
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Well...I think that's it! I hope you've enjoyed looking at our school room as much as I enjoy looking at everyone else's! Let me know if you have any questions and I'd love to hear any comments or suggestions you have on it! I have fun adding new things to it :) See you next week for "Student Photo Week"!</div>
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CarlaMom2AnSnMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15143319848953147819noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778313965707185617.post-27985513550643975672012-08-11T14:40:00.000-07:002012-08-11T14:40:51.818-07:00Summer vacation really is over...The final day of swim lessons makes summer vacation's end official. We've been taking swim lessons from Miss Vicki for 6 or 7 years now. We love her to death and enjoy our twice a week trip to her backyard. This year Mir was swimming twice a week, Sav was swimming once a week and Aly was just goofing off while sisters were taking lessons.<br />
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We just had our last lesson and it's amazing to see what they've been able to accomplish in 9 short weeks. Sav is a champion backstroker. The girl LOVES this stroke. She would lay on her back and do it for hours. Of course, in Sav fashion...she doesn't do it quickly LOL, but she definitely does it with perfection. Mir, at 4 yrs old, received one of the highest rewards from Miss Vicki. She earned the whole pool! This means that Miss Vicki was confident enough in her strokes and with her confidence in herself, that she could now swim anywhere in the pool all by herself...even the tall water (ie deep end). Mom wouldn't have minded if she didn't earn this treat until next summer, but alas, she earned it fair and square. Mir proudly looked at me, as I nodded my head with confirmation, that she could indeed swim with the big girls, in the tall water, without Miss Vicki near her. Of course my eyes never left her sight, and my anxiety level rose tremendously, but she still did it...and LOVED it!!<br />
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Miss Vicki did something she's never done with us before. She ended their session with a series of Olympic swimming competitions. There was a tube race, a 'kickers' race, a bubble race, a gliding race, and so much more. Aly, with a 3-6 yr advantage over her sisters, won most races (except for the ones Miss Vicki participated in herself), but all the kids had a blast! We'll see you in 10 months Miss Vicki!
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sav in a cannonball competition<br /></td></tr>
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<br />CarlaMom2AnSnMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15143319848953147819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778313965707185617.post-64840566004873596392012-08-09T18:03:00.000-07:002012-08-09T18:03:09.699-07:00First Day of 5th, 2nd and prek!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We had our first day of school this Tuesday and it was great :). Aly was slightly hesitant due to starting when many of her friends are still on summer vacation, but we're just starting back part time (they spent the entire next day sewing with their aunt LOL), and we need to stock up some time for when we have to take some time off for my consignment sale event. </div>
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We're very excited to be going with <a href="http://www.mfwbooks.com/" target="_blank">My Father's World</a> this year. I really wanted to do it last year, but going with a "box" curriculum has such a stigma attached to it, and the cost of it seemed so high, that I just avoided it. I thought I could do better for cheaper. Well...I wish I wouldn't have done that, so this year, MFW it is! We're starting their 5 year cycle by using Exploring Countries and Cultures. This will be a full year of world geography where we not only learn the locations of countries on a map, but we truly learn about the culture of the residents of many of those countries. We will also learn about the different religions in these regions and how we, as Christians, can pray for their lives to benefit them the most. We will learn how they eat, live, work, etc. </div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0064460495/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0064460495&linkCode=as2&tag=ourlifoflea-20" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51w30EfSMIL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1932805915/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1932805915&linkCode=as2&tag=ourlifoflea-20" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51xA87dj7HL._SL500_AA300_.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="text-align: center;">We started by reading the book </span><u style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0064460495/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0064460495&linkCode=as2&tag=ourlifoflea-20" target="_blank">Maps and Globes</a></u><span style="text-align: center;">. It's actually a Reading Rainbow book so we're going to be watching the episode on it soon as well. We then read the intro of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1932805915/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1932805915&linkCode=as2&tag=ourlifoflea-20" target="_blank"><u>Window on the World</u>.</a> From there, we went on a walk through the neighborhood as we prayed for our neighbors, showing us that no matter what we're doing, where we are, or who we're with, we can pray :).</span><br />
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The girls then had to fill out an application for their passport for this year. They filled out the application, wrote the check for $80 and addressed it to the passport official (Daddy). The Passport Official told them that unfortunately there was a 3-5 week processing time for getting their passports, so now they're just having to wait. It's like torture.</div>
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Mir loved working on her preschool work. She feels like such a big girl when she gets to do this. Her sisters enjoyed it too because they each had their time when they got to work with her on her MFW Preschool toys while I was working individually with the other sister. Love seeing them all work together...and enjoy it!<br />
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Besides the fun stuff above, they also did the 'boring' Grammar, Spelling and Math. No fun stories about that...just something we all have to do :). We ended up getting more done for the first day than I had planned, so that was nice. At the end of the day, when I asked how the first day back to school was, I got a resounding, "GREAT!" Makes for one happy Mama :)<br />
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<br />CarlaMom2AnSnMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15143319848953147819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778313965707185617.post-51842268444830863652012-08-08T17:18:00.002-07:002012-08-08T18:13:34.116-07:00Blog Hop ~ Curriculum Week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
August is the start of the 4th Annual, Not-Back-to-School Blog Hop and I love seeing a peak into everyone else's homeschool so I thought I'd join in the fun. This is my first ever "blog hop" type post though, so go easy on me. Hope I don't screw it up too bad :) </div>
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This week is Curriculum Week. We actually just started back to school yesterday, so this is a good time for me to post our 2012-2013 plans. All plans are subject to change of course ;), but I'm feeling pretty confident with most of them right now :). I'm listing these with a few corny, at the front door, type pictures :). We always did this picture at the beginning of the school year, as we walked to school. It seems rather silly now since we just turned right around and went back inside LOL, but I've kept it up so that I always have a good reference point for their growth each year :). </div>
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Aly, 10 years old</div>
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Geography, Bible, Art, Music & some Science: <a href="http://www.mfwbooks.com/products/M50/40/10/0/1" target="_blank">My Father's World, Exploring Countries and Cultures</a>
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Science: <a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_63" target="_blank">Apologia Swimming Creatures</a></div>
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General Language Arts/Grammar: <a href="http://www.clp.org/store/by_subject/3" target="_blank">Christian Light Education, Grade 5</a></div>
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Writing: <a href="http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/sicc" target="_blank">Institute for Excellence in Writing, Student Writing Intensive Continuation Course</a></div>
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Spelling: <a href="http://spellingpower.com/" target="_blank">Spelling Power</a></div>
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Math: <a href="http://store.mathusee.com/catalog/general-math/epsilon/" target="_blank">Math U See Epsilon</a> and <a href="http://www.clp.org/store/by_subject/4" target="_blank">Christian Light Education, Grade 5</a></div>
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Reading: Ummm...lots ;). </div>
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Sav, 7 years old</div>
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Geography, Bible, Art, Music & some Science: <a href="http://www.mfwbooks.com/products/M50/40/10/0/1" target="_blank">My Father's World, Exploring Countries and Cultures</a></div>
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Science: <a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_63" target="_blank">Apologia Swimming Creatures</a></div>
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Language Arts/Grammar: <a href="http://www.welltrainedmind.com/store/language-arts/grammar.html" target="_blank">First Language Lessons, Level 2</a></div>
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Writing: <a href="http://www.welltrainedmind.com/store/language-arts/writing/writing-elementary.html" target="_blank">Writing with Ease, Level 2</a></div>
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Spelling: <a href="http://www.rodandstaff.info/samples/2/spelling/" target="_blank">Spelling by Sound and Structure</a></div>
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Math: <a href="http://store.mathusee.com/catalog/general-math/beta/" target="_blank">Math U See Beta</a>, <a href="http://www.clp.org/store/by_course/46" target="_blank">Christian Light Education, Grade 2</a></div>
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Reading: Ummm...lots ;). </div>
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Mir, 4 years old</div>
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Preschool fun: <a href="http://www.mfwbooks.com/products/M50/10/10/0/1" target="_blank">My Father's World Preschool Package</a><br />
Preschool Papers: <a href="http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/letter-of-the-week" target="_blank">Letter of the Week</a><br />
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A few notes about these lists. Aly & Sav are also going to be testing out <a href="http://commonsensepress.com/covers.htm" target="_blank">Learning Language Arts through Literature</a> and <a href="http://lifeoffredmath.com/" target="_blank">Life of Fred</a>. I didn't want to commit to them, but got them at a good price and really like the looks of them, so we're going to play with them this year to see how they go. When it comes to the math, the girls love Math U See, but I don't think it's "sticking" as well as it should be, so I'm adding CLE to it. Hoping to use CLE as the core with MUS as a conceptual supplement...we'll see. Also, Mir goes to a wonderful <a href="http://www.bakersfieldparentnursery.com/" target="_blank">co-op preschool</a> 3 mornings a week, so her items will only truly be used 2 days/wk and in the afternoons if we're still working after her nap. </div>
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I think that's it!! Hope you've enjoyed looking at my list :). Now I'm off to clean off my desk in the schoolroom so that it's presentable for next week's post :)</div>CarlaMom2AnSnMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15143319848953147819noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778313965707185617.post-73054105607885613732012-07-08T22:18:00.001-07:002012-07-08T22:18:10.396-07:00The last yearOkay, I warned you on my first blog post that I'm horrible at keeping up with journaling. At least I know my weaknesses ;) Now be prepared because I'm going to talk for awhile to make up for it.<br />
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11 months ago, I created this blog as an easy way to "out" myself as a new homeschooler. I didn't want to have to deal with the same conversation over and over again where I explained how we came to this point while I defended our decisions. 11 months later I'm very happy to say that I am definitely a homeschooler, very proud of it and will talk anyone's ear off about it! This last year has been amazing! Don't get me wrong...it hasn't been perfect. My educational vision has evolved multiple times, the girls and I have had our share of power struggles, I've been ready to pull my hair out when my husband got home in the evening (even more so on the evenings when work kept him away), my housekeeping skills appear to have been taken over by a 6 yr old child and yet, through it all, I still say that it has been amazing!<br />
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For those of you that like specifics, I will give a quick listing of SOME of what we studied last year and what curriculum we used to guide us through those studies: <br />
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As a family, we learned in surprising depth, about space and what is in our sky, using <a href="https://apologia.securesites.net/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_60">Apologia's Astronomy</a> course. We also went through many different areas of history using pieces of <a href="http://www.biblioplan.net/">Biblioplan</a>, <a href="http://www.welltrainedmind.com/store/history-and-geography/story-of-the-world.html">Story of the World</a>, and <a href="http://www.truthquesthistory.com/store/products.php">TruthQuest</a>. Aly went through all facets of single & multi digit division using <a href="http://store.mathusee.com/catalog/general-math/delta/">Math U See Delta</a> and Sav went through single digit addition & subtraction using <a href="http://store.mathusee.com/catalog/general-math/alpha/">Math U See Alpha</a>. Aly began the <a href="http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/twsid-a">Student Writing Intensive</a> course from the Institute for Excellence in Writing while also using <a href="http://www.clp.org/store/by_subject/3">Christian Light Education's Language Arts</a> books to work on her language arts and grammar skills. Sav made amazing progress in her reading using <a href="http://www.hookedonphonics.com/">Hooked on Phonics</a>, while she did Grammar from <a href="http://www.welltrainedmind.com/store/language-arts/grammar.html">First Language Lessons</a> and Writing from <a href="http://www.welltrainedmind.com/store/language-arts/writing/writing-elementary.html">Writing with Ease</a>. They also did some handrwiting books, made several lapbooks, did art projects and read more books this last year than they have read their entire lives. Miranda still attended our awesome co-op preschool 2-3 times a week but when she joined us at home, she adored doing her <a href="http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/letter-of-the-week">Letter of the Week</a> work, playing all sorts of fun file folder games, and just generally tagging along with what everyone else was doing.<br />
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So, why has this year been amazing? I don't want to negate the fact that the learning they have done has been phenomenal, but that honestly hasn't been the best of it. The growth they have made emotionally, socially and spiritually is what has made it all worth it. For anyone that is concerned about the social aspect of homeschooling...well...it's crap. Sorry, just putting it out there, but it is! This last year has shown me exactly what the difference is between "socializing" in a 5 day/wk regular school environment and socializing in normal, every day environments. <br />
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I can see the difference most clearly in Aly, simply because she was in the regular school system for longer. The peer influence of regular school which caused my then 3rd grade daughter (8 yrs old) to constantly discuss the continuously changing cycle of what boy she liked, what boy liked her, how large a male classmate's boy parts were (yes, really), and so much more, is now practically non-existent. Don't get me wrong, she still has her crushes. The difference is they are now normal, 9 yr old crushes. Not the obsessive, my-life-revolves-around-this type of crushes. She has, on her own, picked up on the difference between those friends who exhibit virtues that she agrees with and those who she still may enjoy hanging out with, but she doesn't necessarily want to emulate. She has learned that her sisters aren't the enemy, they truly can be her friends. She has learned that her mom and dad are available for any off the wall question she may have (and boy does she have a lot), no matter how personal they may be. And best of all, she has learned that God isn't separate from life...God IS life! <br />
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Since Sav is younger, and only went through kindy in regular school, I don't see the amazing about-face like I do in Aly. Instead, what I see is a tremendous growth in the confidence she has in herself, her love of Christ and her patience with her sister. She is growing into a wonderful young girl, who doesn't have the 7 hr/day, 5 day/wk influence from other immature children. Instead, her main influence is a woman who is confident in who she is and very confident in who her children are becoming. Unless things drastically change, Sav will always be the quieter one. She's more reflective, more introspective and just darn sweet. This isn't getting squashed by 30+ loud and overbearing 7 yr olds. Instead these qualities are being enhanced by a mom who can see exactly how to work with it and bring out the good parts of these traits.<br />
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Let me also clarify all of this by saying that I am NOT their only influence! I'm just their main one, the same way I have been since their birth. They still have tons of interaction with their peers through enrichment classes, tennis lessons, dance classes, play dates, field trips, church activities and so much more! Whoever came up with the term "home"schooling really should be slapped because it truly gives an incorrect picture of our day. We are anything but just home! I've put more miles on my car this last year than in quite some time...and I'm enjoying all of it :). It really isn't anything like most people imagine!<br />
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So, while I have loved watching the learning take place, and loved seeing them grow to new potentials, the thing that really has made me have that amazing year is to see who the kids are becoming as individuals. I get to see that just because they hit school age, all my years of being a stay-at-home mom don't have to be thrown out the window. It's an amazing sight to see and I'm very happy to say, we will be proudly continuing this adventure through another year (and hopefully more). I've changed some of our curriculum around (and am VERY excited about the changes...more on that later) and I've kept some the same. Very anxious to see where this next year in our Life of Learning will take us!<br />
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<br />CarlaMom2AnSnMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15143319848953147819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778313965707185617.post-36202482357920571812011-11-10T19:04:00.000-08:002011-11-10T19:04:06.108-08:00Well...That was a nice 2 month break from blogging. I think I made it a whole month before I took 2 months off. That must be a journaling record for me ;) LOL. In all seriousness, the reason I wasn't blogging during this time was because my insanity time hit and every spare second was spent focused at the priorities in my life...unfortunately blogging wasn't one of them. BUT...I'm back :)<br />
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For those of you that don't know me, you may not know that besides being a wife and now homeschooling mother, I also own a semi-annual consignment event for children's items (<a href="http://www.littlefeetrepeats.com/">www.LittleFeetRepeats.com</a>). Our fall event was in October and I'm finally getting things back in order around here from that. We took a couple weeks off of formal schooling (started 3 weeks early in the summer to prepare for this time off) during my event, but the rest of the time of my blogging absence, we have been schooling up a storm :). Aly has finished her grammar book (<a href="http://www.rfwp.com/package/mct-level-1-complete-homeschool-package">Michael Clay Thompson Grammar Island Level</a> - more details on this program later) and can now very successfully do a 4 level sentence analysis on most any sentence I give her. She has moved onto the study of poetry and loves it - she keeps begging to do more poetry! Crazy kid ;)<br />
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We have been learning about Mercury, Venus and the stars, plus we took a wonderful field trip to the Bakersfield College Planetarium. We've studied in depth the European explorers, Jamestown, the Pilgrims and more. <br />
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Aly attended History Camp for a week at the Kern County Museum where she was transported back in time to the days of the Pioneers. She learned how to cook in a dutch oven, dig for gold, make candles, line dance and so much more. <br />
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Sav has memorized several adorable poems for her English program and has read her first 2 chapter books. She also wrote a very cute story all about birds in a nest a few days ago :)<br />
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Mir is being the spunky little 3 yr old that she always has been, and loves to do her preschool lessons while her sisters are doing their big kid lessons.<br />
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I'll have more posts on details about everything we've done soon, but in the mean time, I just wanted to say that I'm back and hadn't vanished forever ;) <br />
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See you soon!CarlaMom2AnSnMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15143319848953147819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778313965707185617.post-68781145372011260932011-09-18T11:51:00.000-07:002011-09-18T11:51:45.667-07:00Don't look directly into the sun!We always heard that growing up. I even say it now that I'm a mom. I never knew exactly why this was though, despite the old adage that it can "damage your eyes". Our science studies went from learning about the solar system as a whole to a study of the center of our universe - the sun! During these lessons, we learned WHY it truly can be damaging to your eyes to look directly at the sun for too long. The lenses of your eyes are shaped similarly to the lens of a magnifying glass...and we all know what can happen when you take a magnifying glass in the sun to a leaf. The kids didn't yet though ;). We went outside, armed with a simple magnifying glass and some curious children, on a hot, sunny day. We were lucky enough to actually find a leaf floating around from a neighbors house (since we have practically NO trees at our house LOL). After a little bit of practice (because I have to admit...I had never actually done this before), some focusing of the heat from the sun into one small spot onto our leaf - it started sizzling, then smoking, and soon had a hole in it! <br />
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I gave all "safety first" lessons, but even after that, Aly was still a little too eager to show her newfound discovery, to her Auntie. We then let things be known with NO questions about it, that ANY sort of play with fire, no matter how simple it may seem, can lead to disastrous results. It's nice that I was able to be around to see that she might not understand the magnitude of the original "no playing with fire" speech, so I could nip that in the bud right away. <br />
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So what did we learn from this experience? 1) The lenses in our eyes act very similarly to the lens of a magnifying glass, and it could be fairly simple to do big damage to our eyes; 2) Despite the fascination, even a small smoke can lead to a giant fire, so DON'T MESS WITH IT.CarlaMom2AnSnMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15143319848953147819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778313965707185617.post-82673141556050436422011-09-04T15:42:00.001-07:002011-09-05T09:02:49.535-07:00The Solar System<div>When I got into the whole homeschool world, one of the things I loved was that I would have the ability to put more emphasis on history and science for my children. Unfortunately, with the No Child Left Behind act, and the California school systems in the budget crisis that they are, History and Science are 2 things (among many) that are being left behind, in favor of focusing more on the subjects that the end of the year test (STAR test) surveys them on (only reading and math for the lower grades). These subjects are of course, very important, but so are all the rest, so I was really looking forward to digging deeper into both history and science with the girls. I knew that since I had control over what they learned, I wanted to teach them a Creation Based science, while making sure that they understand all of the rest of the theories out there, but also understand why I feel this is the truth for my life. I chose to go with <a href="http://www.apologia.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1">Apologia's science curriculum</a>, but then I let the girls pick which area of science they would like to study this year. They chose (after some negotiating LOL) Astronomy, so Astronomy it is!<br />
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We're loving Apologia so far! The girls each have their own age appropriate notebook where they take notes, do crossword puzzles, have copywork, make mini books, write summaries, etc of the things they are learning. It should be a fun thing to look back on at the end of the year to remind them of everything they did in this course. The first thing we started learning about was the planets in the solar system. Right off the bat, this was all new for me, so I went right along learning with them. We learned about the order the planets rotate around the sun, we learned about Copernicus and Galileo and what they brought to this field of study, we learned gravity and how the planets all stay balanced in their position, and so much more. The girls made up a silly mnemonic phrase to help them remember the order of the planets. The cool thing I like about this is how they brought in the Magic Tree House audio books we've been listening to in the car, in their phrase: <u>M</u>organ <u>v</u>isits <u>e</u>verywhere, <u>m</u>eans <u>j</u>ust <u>s</u>ome <u>u</u>gly <u>n</u>ew <u>p</u>lace (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune & Pluto...more discussions later about Pluto's planet status removal).<br />
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Our first science project for this year was to make a model of the solar system out of balloons. This is obviously not an exact process, but is more of a fun, hands-on way to get a feel for the difference in sizes of the planets, along with the order that they rotate the sun. We did this project on a weekend, so that Daddy could be there to do it with us. It was so much fun for the girls to bring him into their school lessons with them. There was measuring of planets involved, decorating of planets using markers and construction paper, and lots and lots of blowing up balloons. Normally our science time is done when Miranda is napping so that we can focus a little more on the actual studies, but we wanted to make sure she got to be there for the fun of this project also. This just meant that there was a little more spit-swapping in the balloon department than we might have had otherwise, but she loved it so that was what it was all about. Here's some pictures of our first project:<br />
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</div>CarlaMom2AnSnMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15143319848953147819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778313965707185617.post-84789081308281914912011-09-04T15:14:00.000-07:002011-09-04T15:14:03.571-07:00NOT Back to School DayOne of the awesome perks of homeschooling is that we don't have to go on the public school's schedule. We started 3 weeks before the public schools started, so when it was time for the public school to start, we decided to have our own "NOT Back to School Day". I will out myself and say that this was a little perk that I might have mentioned to the girls when they were up in the air about homeschooling ;). A bribe...nahhhh, but a nice little perk :). <br />
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For our Not Back to School Day we decided to take a trip to the beach. We had been so busy that we hadn't actually taken the kids to the beach all summer long :(. We are normally Central California Coast folks but we decided to change it up this time and head south. In our new found Life of Learning, I couldn't just let this be a regular ol' beach trip...I wanted to make it educational in the process. Leading up to the trip, I found a very cute little <a href="http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=48688&it=1">preschool beach unit</a> for Miss Mir. It had some fun math, writing, matching, cutting, sorting, tracing, etc projects in it. We did some leading up to the trip, some during the trip, and even some after the trip. She loved it :)<br />
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For the older 2 girls, I wanted to find something that taught us about the beach itself, not necessarily the ocean life, but truly about what you experience at the beach itself. What the sand is made out of, how the shells get there, etc. I found a <a href="http://www.currclick.com/product_info.php?products_id=7905&it=1">great study</a> with wonderful book suggestions, art activities and more. It gave the kids a whole new way of looking at the beautiful sand beneath their toes and a wonderful appreciation for God's gorgeous creation.<br />
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My sister is a teacher at our co-op preschool, but the first day of school wasn't until Tuesday, so she got to go with us, and of course she brought my cutie patootie 2 yr old niece also. Unfortunately Daddy didn't get the day off work, so it was a just a girls trip this time. Since we were at a new beach, we wanted to see everything that it had to offer. We started off at Redondo Beach with a goal of a paddle boat ride or a glass bottom boat trip. After some back and forth and a little drama that comes with 4 kids, we decided on the glass bottom boat ride through the harbor. It's just a little boat and not a long trip at all, but what fun it was! When you were in the bottom of the boat, the driver took you along the rocks so you could see some beautiful sea life. I wish I knew all the names of the fish...but alas...I don't LOL. I know one of them is apparently the California State Saltwater Fish (or something similar)? I didn't even know there was such a thing, but we saw it ;). The boat also drove us to an old abandoned dock that has become home to a large number of sea lions. The guys were so crowded on it they were laying all over each other and fighting to keep their position on the makeshift island. It was fun to see :)<br />
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Auntie & Aly</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SZvXjrzhAR4/TmPyjd6M75I/AAAAAAAAACY/Qivbpgh5iBg/s1600/IMG_2137.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SZvXjrzhAR4/TmPyjd6M75I/AAAAAAAAACY/Qivbpgh5iBg/s320/IMG_2137.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Miss J</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_Ajdtb47w9g/TmPyqYwQlCI/AAAAAAAAACc/z-87L_4XVNc/s1600/IMG_2138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_Ajdtb47w9g/TmPyqYwQlCI/AAAAAAAAACc/z-87L_4XVNc/s320/IMG_2138.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sav</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EnCTp7Kq6HA/TmPzB1tqPZI/AAAAAAAAACs/5UHcQqqaGRg/s1600/IMG_2145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EnCTp7Kq6HA/TmPzB1tqPZI/AAAAAAAAACs/5UHcQqqaGRg/s320/IMG_2145.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sea lions</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kVvYYYfffuc/TmPywoLfajI/AAAAAAAAACg/X1bgAit-ldo/s1600/IMG_2139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kVvYYYfffuc/TmPywoLfajI/AAAAAAAAACg/X1bgAit-ldo/s320/IMG_2139.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Aly</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QRIfMkg1S4Q/TmPzRFxii8I/AAAAAAAAAC0/mlnE9rJXE0o/s1600/IMG_2161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QRIfMkg1S4Q/TmPzRFxii8I/AAAAAAAAAC0/mlnE9rJXE0o/s320/IMG_2161.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Fish everywhere!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qu9S9oCetmA/TmPzJnhpXUI/AAAAAAAAACw/88aYG9ZAvug/s1600/IMG_2154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qu9S9oCetmA/TmPzJnhpXUI/AAAAAAAAACw/88aYG9ZAvug/s320/IMG_2154.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Watching the sea lions</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DxU3WMhgjcU/TmPy4bcDjTI/AAAAAAAAACk/bxGdCOWC6a4/s1600/IMG_2141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DxU3WMhgjcU/TmPy4bcDjTI/AAAAAAAAACk/bxGdCOWC6a4/s320/IMG_2141.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Miss Mir - This sums up her mood for a large<br />
portion of the day</div><br />
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After walking along the pier, we then headed next door to Hermosa Beach for the sand-castle-building-play-in-the-sea type fun. That waves were much stronger than we were used to, so it took all of 3 seconds for the first kid to eat a face full of sand, and maybe a max of 5 minutes before 3 of the 4 had done the same. They were tough and kept on playing...some a little more cautiously...some not a care in the world :). We had sand castles being built, shells being gathered, naps in the sun, arts & crafts on the beach, and just general fun :).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OQnPWOi6QZs/TmPzXDtvUjI/AAAAAAAAAC4/g9PYDAciFSY/s1600/IMG_2197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OQnPWOi6QZs/TmPzXDtvUjI/AAAAAAAAAC4/g9PYDAciFSY/s320/IMG_2197.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Right after eating the sand</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qoVURT6f76U/TmPzeu0QHUI/AAAAAAAAADA/BeMrRUnRyYQ/s1600/IMG_2198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qoVURT6f76U/TmPzeu0QHUI/AAAAAAAAADA/BeMrRUnRyYQ/s320/IMG_2198.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sav in the water</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CbjTP6jov4w/TmPzmTfC8UI/AAAAAAAAADE/eFOMfEIxObg/s1600/IMG_2221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CbjTP6jov4w/TmPzmTfC8UI/AAAAAAAAADE/eFOMfEIxObg/s320/IMG_2221.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Mir's feet</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hqnyYhU-CCI/TmPzvGocyAI/AAAAAAAAADI/J6iU1mMTYIo/s1600/IMG_2230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hqnyYhU-CCI/TmPzvGocyAI/AAAAAAAAADI/J6iU1mMTYIo/s320/IMG_2230.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sand castle building has begun</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v9qOmzKMKZw/TmPz2W2mydI/AAAAAAAAADM/4rrwYBZlcPc/s1600/IMG_2231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-v9qOmzKMKZw/TmPz2W2mydI/AAAAAAAAADM/4rrwYBZlcPc/s320/IMG_2231.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sand....everywhere....</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vNvCnnzoIqQ/TmPz9gBbpxI/AAAAAAAAADU/PP_FMBM2A-w/s1600/IMG_2240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vNvCnnzoIqQ/TmPz9gBbpxI/AAAAAAAAADU/PP_FMBM2A-w/s320/IMG_2240.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Well there's a little smile!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_lpzM308gtw/TmP0EoureoI/AAAAAAAAADY/tqzh4eboZkc/s1600/IMG_2246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_lpzM308gtw/TmP0EoureoI/AAAAAAAAADY/tqzh4eboZkc/s320/IMG_2246.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Naptime with Mom</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8qcFp0FUJq0/TmP0LwRFwpI/AAAAAAAAADc/KMFVc-AzMUU/s1600/IMG_2247.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8qcFp0FUJq0/TmP0LwRFwpI/AAAAAAAAADc/KMFVc-AzMUU/s320/IMG_2247.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sand art</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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Despite the 2 hr trip home taking 3+ because of traffic, we had a wonderful day and maybe this will be a tradition started for the future :)CarlaMom2AnSnMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15143319848953147819noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778313965707185617.post-15592542465990642202011-08-25T13:55:00.001-07:002011-08-28T16:27:00.424-07:00Would you could you at the park?We would not could not at the park, not in the car, not in a tree...<br />
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Wait...yes we could (okay, maybe not the tree...yet). One of my goals with homeschooling was to instill the love of learning for the kids, no matter where they go or what they do. What I didn't realize, was how versatile we could (and would have to) make our school days. As the mom of 3 kids, the wife of a busy husband, and the business owner of a local event, life can get a little crazy sometimes. Add homeschooling to that and I knew life would be busier than ever. <br />
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We have created a wonderful schoolroom in our home (posts on that later) and it is a great place for us to learn, but variety is nice! We do some schooling locations out of necessity. For example, the car is a fabulous place to work on division flashcards and read (for the 50th time) Green Eggs and Ham, while driving little sister to preschool, or taking our weekly trip to the library. Other locations are just for fun. Fun was my goal was with our "school at the park" day we had recently. <br />
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Mir goes to our co-op preschool 3 mornings a week, so this gives me a couple hours with just the older 2, 3-yr old free. We decided to spend one of these mornings on a picnic table, under the shade, at the new park near our house. This park has been incredibly busy since it opened at the beginning of the summer, but it was peacefully quiet this day. There were a few moms there with their toddling little ones hanging out, but other than that, it was a quiet place to do our work. Something about doing spelling words and math problems in the fresh air of a summer morning, made our entire day wonderful. It also gave us a fun playground for recess time :). <br />
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As it got closer to noon, the park got a little busier, the weather got a little warmer, and the kids got a little more distracted, so I knew it was time to go (nevermind the fact that it was also time to pick Mir up from preschool). We're definitely going to make this a habit for our school days...at least until the weather turns yucky.CarlaMom2AnSnMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15143319848953147819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778313965707185617.post-61860338931341279712011-08-19T18:35:00.000-07:002011-08-19T18:35:55.689-07:00The pride through the phone...Yes...I'll admit it...I eavesdrop on my kids' phone calls. I'm sure I won't be able to get away with it forever, but for now...it's no problem :). Today is the day the kids from the girls' old school got their teacher assignments. The 9 yr old girl phone calls began. It seemed that everyone wanted to know who each other had for their 4th grade teacher. The gossiping began...about the new teacher...about the old teacher moving grades...about who isn't going to have their best friend in their class. Aly wandered throughout the house, but settled in her room during the phone calls, so I decided that it was time to straighten up her little sister's bedroom (next door to Aly's) so I could listen to how the phone calls were handled. I have to say....the 1 sided conversation I heard made my heart smile :). <br />
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Some friends already knew about our new homeschool adventure, for others this was new information. Through all of this, I heard nothing but excitement and joy in my 9 yr old's voice. She was obviously being hit with a bunch of "who, what, when, where and why" questions and she was handling them like a pro. She took the news of several of her friends having the teacher she would have had (her teacher idol), amazingly well. She was genuinely happy for her friends, yet not disappointed for herself! I was concerned that this day might cause reality to hit and true colors of sorrow to show through. It was the EXACT opposite! She bragged about all of the cool classes she's going to get to take through her charter school, about how her schooling doesn't last as long as theirs and about how many more field trips she's going to get to go on. I'll admit, it was on the verge of gloating, but she still kept her friends' feelings in mind. She even comforted their disappointment of not being able to play with her at recess, by setting up playdates for after they get out of school. <br />
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I knew she APPEARED to be enjoying homeschooling so far. I knew she had TOLD me she's happy with this decision. I knew that she SEEMED excited about the future of our adventure. Today just showed me that it wasn't all an act. She really is happy, and in fact even proud, of this new step in our lives. Made for one happy Mama :)CarlaMom2AnSnMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15143319848953147819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778313965707185617.post-79823239585869725042011-08-17T13:45:00.000-07:002011-08-17T13:45:07.704-07:00Note to hubby...Change the time for the sprinklers so that "recess" time isn't ended early with wet, giggly kids. Hmmm...oh yeah...that's one of the cool things about homeschooling...the memories :D<br />
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CarlaMom2AnSnMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15143319848953147819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778313965707185617.post-47507781216713229592011-08-16T21:31:00.000-07:002011-08-16T21:31:25.976-07:00Final day of swim lessonsAs summer is nearing the end, our schedule this week is a little crazy. Today we had our final day of swim lessons. For the last 4 or 5 summers, we have visited Miss Vicki's backyard for 10 straight weeks of swim lessons. Today was our bittersweet last day until next summer. While I dread sitting in the heat watching the numerous "Wonderwoman Spanks" and "Big Arms" every Tuesday and Thursday, when I see how much the kids have grown over the summer it makes me wish it wasn't ending. Today was no different. Sav rocked the butterfly stroke so much that Miss Vicki couldn't even come up with <i>anything</i> to correct her on. Mir FINALLY, after 10 weeks of lessons, blew bubbles during her swim. Seriously...we've been trying to get her to do this ALL summer long (actually...last summer also LOL). She, of course, waited until the last lesson to show off her newfound talent (or at least to finally give up the stubborness). Miss J (my niece) waited until today to finally decide it was more fun to comply than to fight it (and unfortunately Mom had to miss it...video camera to the rescue). It was a great final lesson and I will be looking forward to sweating in the heat in 9 months.<br />
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CarlaMom2AnSnMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15143319848953147819noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4778313965707185617.post-20867914741222260292011-08-15T10:52:00.001-07:002011-08-15T10:53:59.380-07:00So here it is...A new blog. We'll see how I do with this. I've always loved the idea of a journal, but have started and stopped at least a million of them. I especially loved the early high school one I recently came across. Unfortunately, because of my lack of follow-through on journal writing (and my miserable memory), I'm not exactly sure why my crush on the school rebel ended, but the pages that I DID write almost 20 years ago (eek) sure were entertaining!<br />
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</div><div>I love reading blogs, but because I'm well aware of my weaknesses, I've always hesitated entering the blog world. Despite that, here I sit, typing away at my first blog post entry.</div><div><br />
</div><div>What would bring me to this point?? Nothing but some major changes in our lives and with those changes...</div><div><br />
</div><div>The pressure of entering a whole new world.</div><div>The idea of going completely against the "norm".</div><div>The idealistic theory of showing off a little of our life in order to dispel judgement of the unknown.</div><div>The love of looking back and seeing how much we've grown.</div><div>and I'm sure many others...</div><div><br />
</div><div>So what are these changes in our lives? As of the 2011-2012 school year, our family will begin homeschooling. Okay technically, as I've learned in this process, the state of California doesn't consider it "homeschooling". We have transferred Aly & Sav to <a href="http://www.valleyoakscharterschool.org/">Valley Oaks Charter School</a>, through the Kern County Superintendent of Schools. There are several ways you can homeschool in California, but we've decided that the best option for our family at this point in time is to go through Valley Oaks. It is a school through the public school system where I, as their mother, am fully responsible for their education. We are still able to us our tax dollars on our children, and yet we have amazing power in their life of learning. We are held accountable to their education by regular visits with our resource teacher at Valley Oaks, which includes samples of the work the children have produced through their schooling. We also have some amazing perks by going through the school. While the curriculum we use is 100% our option, if we wanted to, we could have the state funded curriculum provided to us for free. The girls will have the opportunity to attend weekly enrichment classes which include things such as cooking, sewing, arts & crafts, gardening, farming, etc. This is an opportunity for them to hang out with friends and get to know others that are in this new world with them. There are also TONS of field trip opportunities through Valley Oaks, plus normal public school activities such as Battle of the Books, science fair, etc,. In addition, there is also a per child allotment to local vendors who provide extra-curricular activities such as dance, swimming, gymnastics, etc. The perks are simply too numerous for me to list here. When I first visited the school, I left there saying, "Wow, this reminds me of our co-op preschool [which I adore], but for older kids." The sense of parental involvement is amazing. The idea of making learning personal is everywhere. The feeling of learning and fun being practically equal is abundant. I fell in love.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Of course, this decision has not been an easy decision. For those of you who are interested, I will give you a little insight into how this all got started. If you'd rather not listen to more rambling, then feel free to stop reading here :).</div><div><br />
</div><div>Soooo...this whole adventure started with me looking for a program to help Aly keep up the math skills she'd gained in 3rd grade, throughout the 12 long weeks of summer. Math has been proven to not necessarily come naturally to her and I wanted to give her as much advantage in 4th grade as possible. A friend of mine, who happen to be jumping to the homeschool world for her own son, mentioned a <a href="http://www.mathusee.com/">math program</a> that she had found. I checked it out and loved it for Aly. It happened to be created by a math teacher, for his own homeschooling students. Some who know me, know that I am a research-addict. When I'm curious about something, I research it ad nauseam. Seriously. It's like an addiction that I can't give up. It doesn't normally cause me to make life changing decisions, it just gives me insight into the way others think, feel, live or believe, which generally makes me stronger in my own thoughts, feelings, life and beliefs. This time was different.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Through this research addiction, I began to enter the virtual homeschool world. Now, you have to realize, I've known several homeschool families through the years, so the concept is definitely not a foreign one to me. I've always thought the idea was great, but I had never had a need for it because I loved our public school and was very happy with our situation. The crazy thing is...that still hadn't changed!! I still loved our public school and was very happy with our situation, yet I just couldn't get this homeschooling thing out of my mind. I kept reading the blogs, visiting the internet boards, talking with the friends who do this, and it just went on and on and on. Before I knew it, I was exploring the girls' learning styles, figuring out how that meshes with my (previously unbeknownst to me) teaching style, reading books galore on all the different ways people homeschool and just filling my mind with the amazing new world this information seemed to open up. I learned that I loved the idea of a <a href="http://www.welltrainedmind.com/classical-education/">classical education</a>, but with a <a href="http://simplycharlottemason.com/basics/what-is-the-charlotte-mason-method/">Charlotte Mason</a> feel to it. I also learned that Aly's brain is not designed for spiral math, that history can be amazingly interesting and thought provoking when studied through living books, not random ol' text books, and that life is FILLED with learning opportunities everywhere you turn, but my kids couldn't see that full potential when they're in a room with 4 walls, 30 kids and 1 teacher, for 30+ hours a week.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Soon I was ordering some amazing curriculum, I was rearranging our home to provide space for a room of learning and fun, and I was feeling the girls out on this new idea of mine. Sav was a "go" from the start. She had only had 1 year of kindergarten behind her and while she enjoyed it, it wasn't something that she was attached to. It took a little more to win over Aly. She had been at her school for 4 years and that is alot to leave behind. Nevermind the fact that she was inline to have a repeat of her incredible 1st grade teacher (her teacher idol...and mine too), now teaching 4th grade. She had been looking forward to that for the last several years. Because I wanted to make this new adventure a fun one, not one that she resented me for, I left the option open to Aly. For a while, she was still going to go to her old public school this year and would try homeschooling next year, but after a visit to Valley Oaks herself, and a visit with some homeschooling friends, she came to me and said she was ready to make the jump herself. It was a big step for her...a big step for any 9 year old. A step into the unknown, away from what was familiar and comfortable. I'm happy to say that it's a step she's VERY proud of now! Within 30 minutes of our first visit with our resource teacher, she already had the name and phone number of a new friend, who was visiting with her resource teacher also (whose dad happens to be a Vice Principal in our school district).</div><div><br />
</div><div>Both the girls are incredibly excited to be starting this new adventure. We've committed for the 2011-2012 school year. We'll see how it works for our family and reassess our situation at the end of the year. In the mean time, we're having a blast getting everything started.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I could (and will) say TONS more on this subject, but I'll leave that for some other long-winded posts. This isn't something that I think everyone should do. I don't hate public schools, nor do I hate the school the girls' were previously enrolled in. I love teachers and think they are AMAZING. I just truly feel that everyone should make the right decision for their own family (in regards to EVERYTHING) and public school has been that right decision for us for the last 4 years. This new adventure is right for us at this point in time. For now, all I ask is that you keep an open, non-judgmental mind, and know that this is not a decision we made lightly, but it is one that we are very excited about :).</div><div><br />
</div><div></div>CarlaMom2AnSnMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15143319848953147819noreply@blogger.com4