Saturday, October 29, 2011

Well you all know we have lived in a few states, and they all have fun and weird things we have enjoyed. But I have to say Nevada has one I have never even considered but is actually a really cool thing EVERY state should do in my simple opinion!


NEVADA DAY!


What is Nevada day you ask? Well it is the day that Nevada was accepted into the Union. It is a state holiday, technically is is on Oct. 31 but they choose to have Friday off this year so we went on an adventure!



A homeschool group here planned a fun Nevada Day field trip to the Capitol. So the kids and I drove down to Carson City, it's about a 45 min drive through beautiful Washoe Valley!
We had a fun picnic, getting to know new homeschoolers and then one of the parents planned a little Nevada art project (I'll share that soon). The sun was warm and the kids ran until they could run no farther! Then we went into the Capitol building.


Leili was fast expiring, but we pressed on...


The first and second floor were open to walk through, we saw the Assembly room, Senate room, everything was just beautiful!


This is what is painted all around the ceiling of the first floor, and there are paintings of all the past governors (even the "Territorial" governors!


And my cuties (and unhappy babe) on the front steps of the capitol. It was great to learn a little bit more about this state that is our current home!!




And a couple of great articles to share! HERE and HERE!!


Friday, October 07, 2011

There are many activities we do as a family that I am sometimes not sure where to post them, family blog or schooling blog! But I have to say that is one of my FAVORITE things about being a homeschooling family! I see it as our own little homeschooling family culture.

I recently took the plunge and bought the book All Year Round, I have wanted a book to learn more about and incorperate festivals in our home but I have always been afraid of picking the wrong one. Silly right! So I bought this book and got a couple ideas for Michalmas! It was a fun evening, I made this dragon out of beeswax on the candle and then at dinner we read about the war in heaven and talked about the plan of salvation and of course what Michael did. We then lit the candle and have each night for dinner since, the kids love to think about Michaels sword being the flame as it vanquishes our dragon. We also talked brefly about vanquishing our own dragons, it was a fun evening!

I have been thinking a bit about this quote from Mark Twain, "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education". And also, "... they didn’t have to wait for me to be ready to teach them something." from a recent post at Simple Homeschooling.

What thoughts do these give you?

Tuesday, October 04, 2011



Today I bought a Children's encyclopedia. The catalyst today was Riley's interest in this crazy way mom use to have to look something up (because I did not have the internet)! The funny thing is that he has had his nose in it quite a bit of this evening, or in Encyclopedia Brown. I mentioned this to my mom and she asked if I had the old children's encyclopedia set out, I don't but I was instantly taken back to caring around the blue one. It was about gems and minerals... I love rocks.

It seemed a little funny to be a homeschooling mom of this long and to not have a current encyclopedia, but really up to now my kids were not that curious. My answer to their questions was sufficient. Now that Riley is getting the hang (and enjoyment) of reading I can see that he may really enjoy getting an answer for himself!

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Last week was a review and relax week for us, Riley needed to finish a project after reading Stuart Little. I also saw the week coming, schooling has been good this year so far but it is much more intense for two reasons. 1. Riley's studies have jumped up a notch and 2. I have 3 kids with school work (that is not kindergarten)! And because of that we have gotten behind on life! Winter clothing needed to be gone through and supplemented, drawers needed rotating, and then their is the canning... It was a good week and now we are jumping back into our studies refreshed and more warmly clothed!

This week Riley has started his new book (Encyclopedia Brown), and likes it so much that he read an extra chapter tonight just because he wanted to! Stuart Little was just a tad bit too challenging for him to finish in 3 week, Encyclopedia Brown is a good reading level for him but he likes it so much I am not sure it will last 3 weeks! :) What a nice problem to have! When I was trying yo decide on a couple book choices for Riley I pulled out the book, Great Books for Boys by Kathleen Odean. My friend Cherish scored a copy for me at a library book sale a few years back and since I have no experience as a boy or what boys like to read this has been great. The funny thing about this time while looking through it was I discovered that it has a whole chapter named, encouraging your son to read. I have used this as an excellent reference but I think I may need to read the rest of it!!

I also mentioned, Home Learning Year by Year before. Well I finally bought a copy to have for myself which is especially nice since I no longer live next to a library who has it! It is another great reference for books, although it is categorized by grade level and subject.

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Have a great week!