Mulan Jr!

This fall we became theater parents for the first time.  ;-)  Nate auditioned with Center Grove Fine Arts Academy in August and was assigned a role in Mulan Jr. as a Son/Chinese Solder. It was a big commitment for him, and for us. Rehearsals were 2 days a week for 3 months.

 The cast was made up of wonderful kids and the directing team was incredible. I was amazed at the vision and execution they were able to have in a children's production.

 

One of the families posted their camcorder recording of the last performance of Mulan Jr on Vimeo. Click HERE to check it out.
 

 We were so blessed to be a part of this wonderful group. And were incredibly honored to have so many friends and family attend the show in support of Nate. Thanks to everyone who came!!

Pinterest Science

I'll admit this year has been a little lacking in creativity. I have had very little energy for crafts and science projects for/with Nate. So on the last official day of school Nate had a friend over and we tackled a couple of fun science experiments that I found on Pinterest ages ago but hadn't gotten around to actually doing.  Here is what we did:

Marshmallow Catapult 

This was pretty successful. Though some of the marshmallows were a little on the soft side and had a hard time holding the skewers. But they did have a good time catapulting the mini marshmallows across the room.  ;-)

Optical Illusion

Each boy drew two pictures that went on opposite sides of a pencil. They would spin it between their hands and (ideally) they would be able to see both images together. Originally they drew with colored pencils and we found that it was too light to see when spinning. So, they went over their pictures with crayons to darken it and that made a big difference.

Milk Science Experiement

This involved making food coloring move around in the milk. The boys loved this one so much that in the end their bowls were a murky mess of colors!

Popsicle Stick Chain Reaction

We kept having premature chain reactions... but it was still pretty cool. 

The boys had a great time with all of the experiments but I will say that they didn't take up near as much time as I thought they would. Because we had just the two of them, we kind of breezed through them quickly and eventually they ended up playing games on the Kindle.  

Thankful for good friends!

Love Your Local Library

In honor of National Library Week I wanted to share about how we use our local libraries.

Here are links to our most used library resources:
PLAC card - our Public Library Access Card allows us to get a library card at any library in the state. There is a fee for this card but since we homeschool I feel that it helps me have to buy less books and is very worthwhile.

Hoopla - Borrow free video, music, and audiobooks with your library card.
Enjoy on your PC, tablet, or phone. This was particularly helpful when we had a road trip last fall. We loaded several great audiobooks onto my husband's smart phone and we listened to a couple of classics on our long drive.

Evergreen - Is an open source integrated library system that includes more than a hundred libraries in Indiana. It has been a great resource to me in the past school year since we started using it. I can go on the website and search for books, videos, etc related to the topic that we are studying in school and it will allow me to put a hold on books from any library in the system and they will bring them to my local library and then notify me when the books are ready.

Throughout the school year local libraries often have programs on a variety of topics and subjects for all ages. Library summer reading programs are a great way to encourage kids to keep reading through the summer months.

It has been our experience that most library staff is very helpful and Nate has gotten pretty comfortable asking the librarians to help him find this or that. At times I have gotten great suggestions on new books for Nate to read. Different series of books that I hadn't heard of that are similar to ones he has already read.



Simple Homeschool shares how she used their local library early in their homeschooling years.

At Your Library featured an article sharing 60 Ways to Use Your Library Card.

Our Journey Westward has a printable scavenger hunt to help your kids get to know your local library.


How do you use your local library?

Homeschooling and My Heart

Homeschooling is an ever-changing creature in our house. We have tried different curriculum, workbooks, texts, websites, you name it... but what we had been needing to change was not the books.  It was me.  I was really struggling to stay on track with homeschooling because my head was in a million places at once.  If you know me or have read the blog much you probably realize that I have a lot going on (but don't we all).  And in an effort to clear my head I would escape it all through media.  I was spending too much time online - occasionally it would be on something important... but usually it was time wasters like facebook, Pinterest and Netflix.  I am NOT saying those are bad things.  But the way I had been using them was.

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.- James 3:1-5

Recently I read an article from the Multi-taskingMom about why they quit homeschooling.  Only it wasn't what you would think it would be about.  She just shared how their family went from trying to duplicate public school in their home to relaxing and turned the focus to creating a learning environment for their children.  And I love SimpleHomeschool's honesty in her post "What about Me?".  She opened up about how frazzled she had gotten trying to juggle it all amidst poor time management and a lack of prioritizing.  And she shared a couple of steps she took to make things more manageable for her and the whole family.


Mom's Mustard Seeds shared how she was quitting homeschooling to begin discipling her children. Oh, how I needed to hear that. She mentions how sometimes the world (even inside our homeschool or church communities) can be vindictive and tries to tell you to do things this way or that way, pulling you in all directions. Regardless of all the fuss over curriculum, teaching methods, etc... when it comes down to it, our primary purpose in parenting is really to lead our children to the cross.

But what to do?  Habits are so hard to change.  Seriously, when you are in a rut it is so hard to create new patterns of behavior. I have been in a deep rut.  One full of mud and muck that is keeping me from moving forward.  But its not going to be this way forever. I know that balance in my life is important and even thought it isn't easy, I am doing something about it. I am working on spending more time connecting with my children than connected to the internet. I am taking my focus off of reading about the various teaching methods and actually devoting time and attention to what my son is interested in learning. I've cut back on things that were a burden and am trying to do more of the things that fill me up. Little by little I am working on developing new, healthier habits for myself that will benefit me and my family.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. -  1 Corinthians 10:13

Homeschool Co-op Lego Class Part 1

In our homeschool co-op all the moms take turns teaching classes.  I have done different story/craft classes for the younger grades before but this time I took on something a little different.  I wanted to find a subject that would really (hopefully) get the kids to engage.  With the plan to teach Nate's 3rd grade class I offered to do a Lego Class.

Thanks to Pinterest I have found tons of great Lego learning ideas that I have been able to use in our class.  In this post I will share what we did in our first three class sessions.  I will have a follow-up post with the details on our last three sessions next month.

Week One - we helped the kids cut out and assemble their own Lego minifig paper box (a printable found in this birthday party kit)

Week Two - the kids played Lego Bingo and then had some free-build time.

Week Three - the class had fun wearing their Lego masks.

 

A few of the kids had recently seen the Lego Movie and were all singing the "Everything is Awesome" song.  So they had to make "Everything is Awesome" out of Legos. ;-)

Its been a pretty relaxed class.  Its extracurricular, the kids are having a blast.

Craft Playdate

We had some friends over one beautiful afternoon last week for a craft playdate.  Nate picked out a few Dollar Birdhouses at JoAnn's and we just let the kids go to town with the paints.  They all were pretty serious about their painting.  ;-)

It was a laid back visit.  We had a snack and played Quirkle...  Not over-planned.  Just hanging out and enjoying being with our friends.  What a blessing!

Great Products Tshirt Review and Giveaway!!

I was recently contacted by Great Products to do a review and giveaway of one of their tshirts.  I debated on whether to get one of the awesome shirts they have for moms or to get one for Nate...  I figured most of my other giveaways have been ones that related to me, so I decided to let him pick one.  He was so excited to browse the wide selection of cool t-shirt designs but he picked the one that I had predicted he would.

If you can't read it, it says "Homeschooler by day, Ninja by night".  I mean, what 8yr old boy doesn't want to be a ninja?  ;-) Nate loves his shirt and would wear it every day if I didn't have to wash it every couple of days! Seriously.

I was impressed with a lot of the cool designs that Great Products has available.  They have Christian and homeschool specific designs too.  And the prices were surprisingly affordable!  Especially with their $5.99 tshirt special going on right now!


So,  don't miss out on this Labor Day giveaway!  There are several ways you can enter to win a Great Products T-Shirt via the Rafflecopter below.  Giveaway ends at midnight on Labor Day.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*the shirt was given to us in exchange for the review/giveaway but the opinions shared are my own.

Back to School...

Joe was the first to go back to school.  While we had a pretty good summer I think it was a little underwhelming for Joe.  I could tell he was really excited to go back to school.  And frankly, I was excited too.  He is a lot to handle 24/7.  Its nice to have a break from him during the day so the rest of us can get some things done uninterrupted.  We are thankful to have the same life skills teacher as Joe had last year.  We are looking forward continued progress toward Joe's goals throughout this school year.

Christine returned to developmental preschool a couple days after Joe.  Its nice that she has the same teacher and therapists that Joe had in devprek.  I'd be a lot more uneasy if it wasn't for the familiar faces. Christine is doing well in her class. Although she definitely seems ready to see me when she gets home.  This is the first time we've had her ride the bus.  Its a little bittersweet for me... she's my baby! 

Nate and I have taken advantage of a little time alone with a few fun outings to kick off the school year.  We have started to make a tradition of going shopping to pick out a "back to school outfit".  Its a stereotypical thing to do for most kids... except that he's homeschooled... and we're going to Goodwill.  ;-)  We've tackled Chuck-E-Cheese, gone hiking at the 100 Acres nature park at the IMA, the library, and had a lunch playdate at the park with some friends. 


For me there are mixed feelings about getting back into the routine of the school year.  While there are a certain amount of freedom available in summer that we'll miss there is also a bit of comfort in the routine that we will soon settle into.  We were pretty relaxed this summer, lots of late breakfasts and lazy days around the house... getting up and moving bright and early is proving to be a challenge for me.  I'm going to have to start adjusting my bedtime.

On the upside, I'm hoping the time alone with Nate will allow us to do some fun things together and tackle our new curriculum.  Nate can be tricky sometimes.  While he is very intelligent, he flip flops between being frustrated at something being too easy and then being frustrated when something is even a little challenging.  He is very critical of himself and gets down if he struggles with learning or remembering anything.  Which makes things hard on both of us at times.  One of many things we will be working on together this year.

Proverbs 3:5-6  -  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.

Well Planned Day Giveaway

Well, whether we like it or not we have to give some thought to what the fall semester will hold for our family's home school.  I have been working on getting a plan together for Nate's upcoming third grade year.

We have used Heart of Dakota since Nate started pre-K.  It is a great choice for beginner homeschool families because it has every day preplanned for you so there is not a lot of lesson planning, which can be very intimidating at first.

But we felt it was time for a change for us.  So the new school year's daily routine will look a little differently than last year's.  I am planning on using Singapore Math 3a&b (its what we have been using since be started homeschooling and we have really liked it), All About Spelling (heard great things from other families and we're going to try it out for the first time this year), and Nate will also be doing Easy Peasy All In One Homeschool for the rest of his subjects (science, English, history, bible & music). I've blogged about Easy Peasy before when sharing free homeschool resources.  It is a curriculum using nearly all free online resources from one homeschool mom.  I think Nate will really enjoy having school on the computer and I will like having most of the planning already done for me.  ;-)

Every family is different and each child is as well.  What works for one homeschool family may not be the best choice for another.  Its good to have a plan but its also a good idea to be flexible and be willing to make changes to your plan if you need to.  Curriculum Choice has a good post on How to Make an Overall Plan for The Year.  The Clutter-Free Classroom posted tips for planning short and long term goals.

Since I'm doing some mixing & matching with our curriculum this year its not all laid out for me in a teacher's guide as it has in the past.  I am going to have to be more diligent about planning and managing our school days.  A great way to organize your lesson planning and family schedule is with the Well Planned Day homeschool family planner.

Organize your busy days all in one place with this beautifully-designed planner. The Well-Planned Day is a family homeschool organizer, designed especially for moms. This effective, yet easy-to-use format will ensure that each day at your home is smooth and profitable.

I am new to Well Planned Day myself but I found this post from a fellow homeschool mom on how she uses her WPD planner to be very helpful.  She goes through and shows you exactly how she uses the planner to schedule and record family activities and homeschool information effectively and keep their schedule and school organized. I am looking forward to using it for our family's upcoming school year!

The flexibility of The Well-Planned Day is one of its greatest assets. - See more at: http://hedua.com/blog/how-i-use-the-well-planned-day-planner/#sthash.EDWWQWNw.dpuf

Now for the fun part!!  One lucky Wani's World reader will win their own Well Planned Day family homeschool planner.  Check out the Rafflecopter below to enter to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



This is a sponsored giveaway that includes affiliate links.   But all opinions are my own.  Thanks!  ;-)

End of the School-Year...

Its that time of year...  when every mom (whether homeschooling or not) is slowly reaching melt down.  Its been a long hard year and lets face it, we're at the end of our rope.  I loved Jen's post expressing her end-of-the-school-year-angst.  She said: We are limping, limping across the finish line, folks.  I totally agree!  I have been counting down the days until we can say "summertime is here"!

We started the school year using (and liking) Heart of Dakota.  But by Christmas break Nate and I were both a little bored.  We have been supplementing through the spring semester and doing a lot of "unschooling" things.  I have researched and settled on a curriculum that we've been trying out for next year.  We are going to be using Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool.  Basically its one mom's attempt at putting her children’s school assignments online.  She uses almost exclusively free online resources. She is sharing it to make it available to other families as well. While it helped her family's school days run very smoothly, the grander goal is to help other families, especially anyone feeling like they couldn’t homeschool because of time or money pressures. 

Joe completed his kindergarten life skills class. He has made some really good progress this year, especially gaining strength in his legs and getting better at walking with his walker.  I have really appreciated the efforts his teacher has made to include and challenge Joe in her class. Yay for being in Miss Sarah's class again next year!

Christine was approved for CSHCS to help supplement her medical and therapy expenses.  She adjusted well to the MWF developmental preschool for the last month of the school year.  All the therapists and teachers love her.  I mean, how could they not?  She is the cutest!

We're looking forward to having a laid back summer.  I feel like our life is so scheduled sometimes... all the drop-offs and pick-ups, the therapies and doctor's appointments...  summer will be a refreshing slower pace.  But frankly, I am glad that our school system is on a modified calendar and summer break is only June and July.  To be completely honest, its difficult to have all my kids all the time.  I hate to pull the special needs card but I'll do it.  It is seriously hard to have two kids who require so much from me.  I'll miss the bit of a break I get from having Joe in school.  It makes outings more challenging when I'm juggling Joe and Christine on top of all the other stuff life throws at me...  but the break from routine is good for all of us and we have some fun things planned this summer that will help pass the time on the long summer days.