Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

That's what homeschooling boys is made of....

Especially on a cool spring day when we take it outside to play with bugs and slugs- then call it Science. No complaints from the kids today.

But I do have to remember it was my idea when my favorite garden spot has been turned topsy turvy.....

Live exhibits for the Animal Kingdom poster?

Remember those nature journals from 2008? We are still using them. The little pine sapling and strawberry plant do make nice additions to the Plant Kingdom entries. And how often does one find a gecko vertebrate thin enough to fit between the pages?

We tore the nature sketching pages out of the workbook to include in the Science journal.

Even in my best Aussie accent,

I could not convince this little critter to turn pink...

Time to wash up. All slugs must eat on the patio.

Only humans allowed inside for lunch.

I love my little garden retreat. And I can't wait for the rest of the flowers to bloom and fill in the bare spots.

Wanderlust

Wouldn't it be fabulous if home educators could receive the same tax payer funding as the public school system? With that kind of money per child, we could go to Egypt, Greece, and Rome while studying Ancient Civilizations. Since it was always more of a daydream than a possibility, we visited those places in our imagination with the help of living books (lots and lots of books) and internet resources. It definitely spurred a wanderlust in all of my children. I think they also an inherited the travel gene from my Dad's side of the family. As a teenager, his father took an unexpected journey as a stowaway on a slow boat to China (literally), which in a VERY roundabout way led to a career in Aruba, where my father was born. As an adult, my dad joined the military and raised his family across the USA, with 4 year stint in Okinawa. Last count I had attended 16 different schools before finishing high school. Don't ask me to recreate that count. My memory isn't what it u...

Drug Problems?

Hat tip to Wanda!

Waldorf What?

When the link to Homeschooling on a Shoestring was published , there was some discussion about the overview of teaching styles. A friend of mine, who happens to be a very talented artist, was curious about the Waldorf Style. We hadn't heard of it before, at least not under this label. According to the post, it is a teaching style that integrates head, heart and hands. It involves art, faith and lots of hands on activities. While there are many elements of Waldorf philosophy that are not compatible with our Classically Catholic teaching style, we have occasionally borrowed ideas to make our curriculum more colorful and whimsical. Follow this link to Serendipity for free downloads of creative lesson plans and charming stories about fairies and gnomes that will make language arts and math the favorite subjects of the day. Since the author is all about keeping it Catholic, you will also find stories of the saints beautifully woven into the presentations. I imagine our summer will b...

Classically Catholic

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