I have recently gotten a little bit creative with Riley and his school work. Don't get me wrong, I want to challenge him but I don't want to suffocate him. So I change things to pique his interest and draw him in. For example... Instead of making a list of thins that come from trees, I gave him my camera and asked him to take pictures of things that come from trees. He then drew a picture of it in his main lesson book.

And here is a fun project, after reading a story about a family moving west to homestead we got out Grandpa's Lincoln Logs and made a homestead of our own! Too bad all our little animal figures are in a box somewhere that would have been fun!!

Really I have taken to heart the TJed phrase of "love of learning not hate of learning", Riley knows how to write, he is pretty good at it but he just does not enjoy it. If I force it what will I accomplish? Not much more than squashing his enjoyment of learning and damage our relationship. He will write, he will learn to push himself. But he needs to first learn it is worth it!

If you remember the post a little bit past, the "ah ha" post I said that I needed to learn a few lessons, yea well sometimes I have to be reminded. :)

Our lives right now is like riding a roller coaster, fun, scary, wanting to go home... , all experienced day by day or even hour by hour. So an all in one, less books to be homeless with, mom does not have too much brain power kind of curriculum is right for us. But part of my learning was that we should never be a slave to a curriculum or philosophy, ever. So there are things I leave out, there are things I add in, and in truth if life was "normal" I would add or change a few more things. And I can see the hand of the Lord in us knowing this was right for this year, the Lord saw this year coming before we did as always! I enjoy reading other mom's homeschooling blogs to learn, get ideas, and even to just feel "normal"! But I just don't think I could label us as "Waldorf" or "Charlotte Mason" or "TJed", I pick and choose, we are us! I think there are a few labels I might use, nature based, holistic, and gentle are a couple that pop into mind. And you know the couple of mama's who have been inspiring and who I look up to did not have a label, or even a "THIS is the perfect way" because really part of being a homeschooling parent is really about doing what is right for our family and our kids. Isn't that what why we choose homeschooling in the first place?

Anyway, the latest Charlotte Mason Carnival is up, good stuff!! And there is a post about sibling fighting over at Parent Passageway, definitely we are needing this! And look at this fun Montessori catalog!!

Ta-ta for now!!