Last night we stayed up late (9:30pm) to watch the total lunar eclipse. It is really fun now that the girls can actually understand what's going on. We used our binoculars to watch the shadow of the earth slowly move over the moon.
Although it has its moments, I love staying home and learning with the girls. I captured some of the good moments on camera today. Some of you not familiar with homeschooling might wonder what we do all day. Well I thought I'd share that tonight:)
I like to do reading, math, and writing everyday with them. They both have to spend time reading aloud to me and we do math orally or written most of the time using the Math-U-See curriculum. For writing we alternate between a course called "Draw, Write, Now" that uses drawing to teach handwriting, and a curriculum called Explode the Code. The girls enjoy most of this time but we do have moments of frustration when I know the girls could be doing more but are not. That is one of the hardest parts of homeschooling for me--knowing my child's potential and trying to encourage her to press on even when it is not fun. I want them to enjoy learning and they do now so I'm just trying to keep it that way:) After we get all this stuff done (which usually takes 1 to 1 1/2 hours) we have the whole rest of the day to do art or science projects, visit museums, go to dance and gymnastics and most importantly for the girls go to playgroups!
We are all learning about growing a vegetable garden. Here are a few pictures of what it looks like right now. Some of the plants were started from seed but we did get a tray of broccoli, chard, kale, and lettuce from home depot this weekend. We also have 3 trays of seeds inside with tomatoes, peppers, greens, flowers, beans, squash, eggplant that we check on and water every day.
Lettuce, Kale, Chard
Garlic and a few broccoli
More broccoli and greens.
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3 comments:
i am so encouraged. i love hearing about what you all are doing. you do a fabulous job, jen.
the girls look so happy and content.
your plants look really good. can't wait to see more.
hope to chat soon. :)
Oooh, I am so excited. Thanks for posting these babe. I love the documentation of the floral variety through drawing and painting. It's so beautiful. They're (the girls) so beautiful.
And thanks for posting your thoughts on homeschooling. I think this is really useful for others to get an insiders look at the struggles, hurdles, gaps, and questions as well as the successess and pleasures.
You and other homeschooling moms are cultural creators in the truest sense. You are charting territory that has been replaced by the art of public education. This is not easy work but I think the type of dialogue and questions you and others engage in is invaluable.
Daniel
Hey Jen,
Great update. I love to hear about your days with the girls.
I have a gardening question for you - how do you keep your seedlings from getting leggy? Our toms and broc are so tall and leggy and yours look perfect and strong. Do you put them outside each day or put a fan on them?
Thanks.
Love, Les
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