Weekly Wrap Up: School's Out for Summer!

We started and ended our last week of homeschool the same way- with field trips!  On Monday, we went to an outdoor education center with our local homeschool support group.  Once there, the children broke into groups based on age.  The younger group, which included TS 2, went on two hikes and participated in activities using their senses to learn more about the natural world.  He really enjoyed all the activities.  

The older group was divided into two teams, who worked their way through challenges that required team work, problem solving and physical agility.  TS 1 loved it!

If you know me in real life, you know we are not really an outdoorsy family.  We spend plenty of time at baseball fields, beaches and pools, but nature walks and hikes are not really our thing.  With that said, I thought it was a great experience and even had the passing thought that we should try hiking as a family.

On Monday evening, we all headed to RA's school for Kindergarten Awards Night.  It was so sweet and I was choked up on more than one occasion during the ceremony.  Not only because our baby girl is not such a baby anymore, but also because the night represented the last special event we may celebrate at this wonderful school with the beautiful community we were blessed with there.

The test subjects spent Tuesday through Thursday  finishing up their final assignments for the year.  They completed all their academics on Thursday morning, just in time to pick up RA (soon to be TS 3) from her last day of school!

We then headed out to my sister's neck of the woods to watch my niece graduate from Pre-K.  

My beautiful sister and my nephew to be- soon and very soon!

We finished the first book on our summer wish list this morning, Charlotte's Web?  How does one get through the last two chapters of this book without struggling to read through the lump in the throat and shedding a few tears?  We are looking forward to watching the movie soon!


Later on this afternoon, we will tour replicas of two of Columbus's ships, the Nina and the Pinta with our local homeschool group!  Since we studied Columbus this year, this last minute field trip opportunity meshed perfectly with our history work.  Pictures to come next week :)


And that, my friends, wraps up our first year of homeschooling!  


I'd love to have you stop by here tomorrow, if you can spare a moment.  I will have a post up detailing our summer plans.  And, if you missed it, check out the Top 10 Read Alouds on Our Summer Wish List.

What are you planning for summer?  Feel free to post your plans in the comments or a link to your blog post there.  

Weekly Wrap Up: The One with the Bickering

Joining the Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers, Homegrown Learners and The Homeschool Chick...

I'm not quite sure why exactly, but we have had a bit of a rough week here at the lab.  The sun has been shining.  We have enjoyed seasonably warm weather and many hours of time outside for most of the week.  By all appearances, I should be raving about what a fantastic time we have had this week.  Instead I'm here to tell you about how I was this close to sending the test subjects back to school on more than one occasion this week.  It wasn't anything homeschool related technically that caused me to feel this way.  That part of our day has been going swimmingly.  As you may have guessed from the title of this post, it had everything to do with the incessant bickering the boys took up this week.   

Now, I know that all children bicker and I don't expect that to disappear completely in our family life.  However, when I see my children purposely antagonizing one another, driving one another to whining or tears, I have seen enough.  When it happens on a daily basis, I start to get a little whiny and irrational myself.  

I don't really want to send the test subjects back to school yet.  Please don't misunderstand me when I say that.  As I have mentioned here on numerous occasions, I love our school and I would not be surprised if our children returned to school at some point in their academic careers.  It's just that I do not believe that that time has come yet.  I am enjoying the way the boys are blossoming at home.  Our experiment, so far, has been a wonderful success.  On Wednesday, TS 1 asked if he could do a report on Jupiter combining what he is learning in Science with what he is learning in Writing.  DId you catch that?  He asked me if he could do a research report!  

Thursday afternoon we had a serious talk about treating others as we would like to be treated.  While I don't expect all sibling conflict to end, I was clear in communicating that the constant bickering, purposeful antagonizing, whining and tattling was not acceptable.  We talked about how those behaviors are not pleasing to God and discussed how He would want us to handle conflict and moodiness.  I also let them know that if I see that they are consistently unwilling to work on these weaknesses, they should expect unpleasant consequences.  

In a much needed change of routine and environment, we went on a fascinating field trip on Thursday afternoon at a local college's art gallery.  The workshop was entitled Drawing and Neuroscience.  The children were given a guided tour of a small exhibit on this topic and then engaged in various activities to experience some of the ideas hands on.  It was after school hours this time so RA was able to join us :)

Today is a big day for our family.  It's this little man's eighth birthday today! 

Sandwiched right in the middle of a big brother and little sister, this guy is the quintessential middle child: easy going, witty and carefree.  We love him to pieces and look forward to celebrating him this weekend!

The Best Field Trip Ever!

Last week, we went on a field trip with our homeschool group to the local Challenger Center for Space Science Learning.  I really did not know what to expect, but the description of the trip sounded interesting so I signed us up.  Wow, were we in for a wonderful experience!  As we learned, the center is one of many throughout the United States that were created as living memorials to the crew of the Challenger.  The goal of these centers is to "carry on the educational legacy of the Challenger crew."  If you have a center near you, I cannot recommend a trip highly enough!

Here is a taste of what we experienced:

In the lobby of the center, we examined rockets, models of rockets, space rocks and other interesting items as we waited for our "trip" to begin.  When it was time, we were greeted by two knowledgeable and friendly guides who escorted us to the briefing room to get us ready for our "flight."

Our guide first gave a short history of the Challenger Mission and how these learning centers came into existence.  She then moved right into a brief description of our mission and what we should expect once we entered the "spacecraft."  The guide at the center entered the spacecraft with us and remained our main help throughout the mission.  The guide at the podium stayed behind and acted as Mission Control throughout our journey to the moon, communicating with us in real time via the spacecraft's PA system.

After we suited up in our flight jackets or lab coats (depending on our job on the spacecraft), we traveled through the airlock and then entered the spacecraft.  Once inside, each child chose a job and our guide rotated through the stations explaining each job in more detail.  Our mission was to land safely on the moon and test the surface for raw materials and to determine the location's viability for colonization.

TS 1 chose the job of the ship's doctor.  He was tasked with continually checking various vital signs of the crew members to ensure the well being of all aboard the spacecraft.  As part of his work, he entered the data into a computer and electronically transferred it to Mission Control, who responded via the PA system when clarification or further testing was warranted.

TS 2 was our ship's communication's officer.  We had no idea what to expect and chose this job at random, but it turned out to be so much fun!  His job was to communicate with Mission Control all voice messages from the various teams.  It was fast paced and exciting, as the communications were done via a headset that projected his voice over the PA system.  He felt very important indeed!

There were several "emergencies" on board while we were in flight, and through them the children learned a little about what kind of emergencies could occur aboard a spacecraft and how they might be handled.  We watched our countdowns, takeoffs and landings via video monitors inside the spacecraft.

I've been on my fair share of field trips as a mom, but this one was by far- the best field trip ever!  Run, don't walk to your local Challenger Center!  In addition to field trips, our local center hosts public missions every month and is available for private parties as well.

I'l leave you with this adorably cute video of TS 2 as Communications Officer: