Recent Crafting

My classes at our last co-op focused on nest building. The kids cheered with joy when the learned they would be making nests.  I don't exactly understand kid enthusiasm, but I'm glad they liked it. After carefully watching a robin build her nest, my little bird scholars totally failed to build anything like it.  We learned a lot in the process, though!



Peal has also been sewing some burp cloths for a special baby cousin and a crisis pregnancy center nearby.  At first she could only cut out the pattern, but now she can cut, pin, and sew it from start to finish.  If only I could control the tension on our wayward sewing machine!

Since we've hit our 180 days and have relaxed on the school work just a bit, she has been sewing and knitting up a storm while listening to her audio books.  She designed and knitted a pair of footies that fit her. The little girls are more dependent on me to craft, which seriously limits them.  We are working on making a Fruits of the Spirit Tree. 

Peal has gone to Boston with her daddy for her first tournament. We thought she might be timid sparring, but the little thing earned a bronze medal in two events. 

Washington DC Spring Break Trip

I took the three girls to Washington DC for three days.  We discovered many things about the big city, and none of us got lost.  They seemed to especially enjoy the metro and the escalators connected to it---the taller the better.

The first two days we spent on the Mall.  Pearl was most interested in seeing the National Art Gallery first, so we popped in there. I had hoped to see a few rooms just as exposure to this type of museum, but they kept catching glimpses of beautiful paintings in adjacent galleries, so we really enjoyed the visit.


I did not realize how many famous painters were on display there. We saw a whole wall of van Gophs, Whistlers, Degas, Monets, Gauguins, and one portrait by our ancestor Benjamin West. Yes we made the docents nervous, but with two little hands clutched in mine, we made it out without damaging any national treasures.

We saw dinosaurs and mummies in the Natural History Museum, then rode the carousel on the Mall.  This pleased their little hearts so much, I was glad we paused to do it.  The next day we visited the Native American History Museum, the National Botanic Gardens, the American History Museum, and the Zoo (and carousel #2).

We did pop into the Air and Space Museum, which rated high on all of the "kids and DC" web sites, but the girls all detested it and couldn't wait to leave, no matter how many fascinating moon crafts I pointed out.  It is as I feared, but could not avoid; we are a wholly humanities household. We made our way to Chinatown both nights for fresh sesame balls and dinner, upon the girls' request . 


On our final day, we visited Mount Vernon.  It is sort of cute to hear four-year-old Ruby talk about George Washington.  No carousels here, but we learned to curtsy from Mrs. Washington and toured the mansion.  They all liked the blacksmith's nail-making demonstration best. Once the noisy school groups left, I sighed with relief as we peeked into the outbuildings and figured out what it took to run a plantation. 

The igloo won (Native American History Museum)

The carousel on the Mall

Chinese New Year 2015

The lion dancers steal the show at the Chinese New Year party.  The children can see the students from Johns Hopkins suiting up in the coatroom, and they begin to hop in their seats. When the lions shimmy their way into the auditorium, the children mob them.  These are very patient lions, so they allow the children to pat them while the drum and cymbal troupe plays an unchanging rhythm on the stage. 

One lion danced past our table and snuffled at Ruby's half-eaten cake.  She paused  mid-pat to snatch her cake from under his fluffy white kuos and cram it into her mouth. 

At co-op this week I led a class on egg anatomy.  Pearl's class told me that they never ate chalazae or germinal discs, parts of the egg we had identified in a worksheet.  When we cracked a real egg, they found all those parts and had to admit they ate them regularly.  Examining egg parts might seem blase, but they clearly enjoyed seeing the details for the first time. 





Pearl also tried ice-skating for the first time this week.  Sapphire spun around the rink, making friends with toddlers and seniors alike, while Pearl built up the courage to glide across the rink.  She did much better than we all expected.

The Chinese Dragon powered by the kids

Delayed Valentines

After two snow delays, we finally met as a co-op, and this meant the delayed Valentine card exchange took place.  All the little ones dumped their boxes and admired their collection of cards and candy during our potluck lunch.  Very sweet.

I am teaching Bird Science to two age groups, so both Sapphire and Pearl take my class.  This week we learned about beak adaptations, and the Kindergarteners made some Baltimore Orioles to take home. 

On the left you see some of the tools we used to replicated bird beaks.  One thing I appreciate about co-op is that it allows us to fully revel in hands-on lab lessons.  No one wanted to be stuck with the eyedropper until I pulled out the sugar water.  Then they were all jealous.

Pennsylvania homeschoolers are supposed to keep a list of the books their reporting age children read.  This week Pearl burned through several audio books as she sewed.  Her daddy and I talked her into giving The Secret Garden another chance, and, even though it didn't have a quest or fairies, Pearl eventually agreed  that Dickon was worth waiting for, and Mary did improve.  Then it was back to sci-fi with The Spiderwick Chronicles and the seemingly endless 39 Clues series. 

Finally, my publisher contacted me to say that they will be putting out a second edition of my book  this coming September.  We're going paperback.

174 Days

While reading stories this morning, Sapphire asked if we could go ice skating.  Four hours later we were on the ice.  As a first-time skater, she did pretty well. She started off clinging to me, but eventually insisted on hurtling around the oval on her own.  I think the last scene in "Frozen" has something to do with this new-found interest. 

I discovered that prayer and ice-skating with children go well together.  We escaped without chipped teeth or concussions.  I had initially feared broken bones, but once we stumbled around the ice for about twenty feet, I knew the real dangers.  We may take a helmet next time we go; this little skater was already asking to go back. 

She thinks she fell about twenty times, but I'm sure it was more like one hundred.

I'll be honest. I fell once.

We had a relaxed sort of school week, but learning happens during these times too. Maybe more learning happens.  Pearl burned through several audio books while she designed some Barbie outfits. You cannot see some of her miniscule seams because they resemble the work of a starved little Victorian child laborer, though that is entirely of her own choice. 

When she wasn't sewing, Pearl learned about baby-care by helping to watch her baby cousin.  So our days of learning are accruing.  By next week, we should complete the 180 required days of education, and we can continue learning off the books. 

Hundreds Chart Scholar

We had a big victory that we're proud to share. After committing to work on writing 1-100, on Friday Sapphire reached her goal.  The reward she had chosen had something to do with motivating her. Of all the things she could request, this little negotiator asked for a pumpkin pie.

Perhaps she thought this would delay her efforts, since she also said that pumpkins are only around in the fall, so why should she work on this hundreds chart now?  When I explained that the grocery store wisely saved a few for the wintertime, she set to work. 

Our family celebrated Valentine's Day over two days, but mainly with a visit to the Indian restaurant.  As she shoveled curry and rice into her little mouth, Ruby said "We should come here again." I agree, though the other two girls are not such big fans.  We did have a nice time, now that they are old enough to feed themselves and stay in their chairs...for the most part. 

A quarterly birthday extravaganza brought my extended family together this last weekend, and we were all stunned by the growth of the littlest, doesn't-look-like-a-preemie-now cousin.  We will hope to see the other grandparents soon. 

The weather is either getting in our way or forcing us to take a break. So far, in the last day, it has canceled co-op, church, and Awana.





Sharing the love in Central PA!

Frigid February

We follow such a regular weekly routine that the last weeks seem pretty boring when I look back on them. That's fine with me though.  The girls have enjoyed the chance to spend time with their little friends, and this is always a highpoint of their week. 

Pearl and I planned a tea party for some of the ladies from church.  We have so many impromptu tea parties here, we thought it would be nice to try something new.  The ladies left considerably fewer crumbs compared to the tea drinkers I live with.

When Pearl was a little girl, it took her weeks to sign all of the Valentines she planned to give.  Even at four years old, her list would be very long.  Fortunately, we started early, and now that has become a February tradition.  This year all of the girls can write their names so well, we finished in one afternoon ...with two weeks to spare.