Beaten by an 8 year old…

So there is nothing like a thrashing by an 8 year old to put an dent in the old self esteem!  Our school work today was all verbal, math was multiplication and division but since Mr. Magoo is a rock star at math we threw in some fractions.   We also trying to figure out how many homophones there are in the entire world.  This is not my choice….cause there are a LOT of homophones. But luckily that meant we were able to figure out how big the earth is and how many different languages there may be in the entire world!  We also found out what language they speak in Scotland!  We finished off our day with a bribe  game of memory, go fish and then fine motor play with beads. I got my butt kicked at memory cause I’m old and he has a near photographic memory.  Go fish was the same thing…I think he cheated. Check out the pattern on the butterfly!

I love watching this kid learn organically.  Given the opportunity they will easily cover everything they need to learn just out of curiosity.  There are days I have to say, SLOW DOWN, we don’t have to learn everything TODAY!

Time 4 Learning Review!

Okay we are 1 month into homeschooling and using Time 4 Learning. First let me say that I’m a new homeschooler and I really don’t have a clue what I’m doing!! I haven’t used anything but this system so I don’t have anything to compare it to really. As long as it works for Mr. Magoo it will work for me. The ease of the system is apparent from the very beginning. We are focusing on Language Arts for the time being and the interactiveness of the grade 3 LA is perfect for my very easily distracted kid. Mr. Magoo works best when there is repetitiveness and when there is an ability to be interactive. Time 4 Learning give us that opportunity and more.  We would work on it in the morning and by the afternoon we would be talking about idioms, homophones and synonyms.  Even when I try to go back and discuss some of the things we did at the beginning of the month Mr. Magoo has them down packed.

Pros:

1. Easy to navigate for both my 8 year old and I.
2. Fun interactive learning
3. Easy parental controls over the time spent on ‘fun games’.
4. Parent forum with LOADS of information
5. Detailed reporting
6. Printable worksheets

Cons

1. Easy to forget that Mr. Magoo has been on the computer for too long!  At least he’s learning while he’s on there!

I think T4L is a great system for us.  We are using it along with math workbooks and manipulatives, a Canadian Social Studies curriculum and of course, PE and Art.  Its been a great introduction for us to this new world of homeschooling and I’m grateful for the free month trial to really get a chance to see what it’s like.   I was given the free month in exchange for reviewing the product but these are opinions are solely mine!

 

My little homeschooler working on some math.

Our Solar System now hangs in Mr. Magoo’s room!

Ahoy Matey!

Thankfully there is a LOT of free curriculum out there on the internet as I’m a bit of curriculum junkie at the moment.  The other day I heard about a unit study on Pirates for kids ages 8 – 13 and I immediately downloaded it!  Once we are finished with the Solar System we are going to give this one a go!  I  found this one at The Homeschool Mom which is also where I found the Country Unit Study that I’m using for our CANADA unit.

It’s good for any country and perfect for our reintroduction to Canada.   Covers everything from history and art to money and flags.  I think Mr. Magoo will enjoy this one.

As for the house,  I’m into mason jars.  BIG TIME.  I put the square ones that I found at a garage sale on the ledges by the sink. So far I have filled one with garlic.  I could use some ideas from the peanut gallery….so post some comments blog friends!

We are off to the park with some homeschooling friends this afternoon.  Might as well take advantage of the summer-like weather while we can!  In a few months we’ll be huddled in front of the fireplace trying to keep warm.

Oh and I’m TOTALLY posting a pic of my buddy that I took yesterday.  She is cuddling the cutest little monkey and since in this pic you can’t see his face it’s blog worthy!  Yes she really does look this good FOUR days after giving birth. Feel free to hate her.

 

 

Pluto is NOT a planet…

Ok, so things have changed since I was in school.  The Soviet Union is no more, the Wall is down in Germany, Yugoslavia…finished.  I’m pretty up on world happenings so not much throws me for a loop.  Um, so how did I miss that Pluto is no longer a planet??? We are doing a unit on the Solar System.   Seriously, that is a huge thing to miss.  Oh well, that’s why it’s good to do some planning BEFORE you start a unit.   Mr. Magoo picked it as one of the things he really wanted to learn about.  So to start off the unit he made his OWN solar system!  We are following it up with a guided reading of a cool chapter book called STINK Solar System Superhero!  No it’s not  a normal choice but we’re not normal  but it’s about the solar system and it’s a book he’s interested in.

We had the solar system above his bed but since we got his new loft bed and it came with a tent so now the solar system is off to the side.

We don’t have a mattress that fits in the bed yet but the one from the folding bed will suffice for now.

The first night it was VERY hard to sleep in it for Mr. Magoo but since then he’s been able to calm himself enough to fall asleep.  The cool thing is the added darkness the tent give him and the ‘cocoon’ feeling of the tent is really good for sleep.

Miss Thing helped with the yard work.  Here she is shoveling little rocks into the wheel barrow.  She then moved them over to the other side and  smoothed them out.  We are going to rototill 3/4th of the area for veggies.

On this side we are going to have a huge herb area.  The herbs are going to be in tubs and I’m hoping for tomatoes in that area as well.  On the otherside we are building a compost .  Right now I’m busy trying to figure out how to do that….I’m thinking wood and cheap.  We’ll see how that turns out.  The tree that you see on the left side of the picture is being taken down so I think there will be a fair bit of sun into the garden.  It used to be a garden so it should work out okay.  Miss Thing has requested NO TURNIPS.  The purple topped turnips that we’ve been eating from our neighbors garden have NOT been a hit.  I’m hoping for lots of root veggies and squashes. Zucchini and spaghetti squash at least….I have a bag of spring onions that I have to get into the ground before it hardens but that shouldn’t be too hard they are going in a different area.  Hopefully this weekend I can get that done.

We are settling nicely into our new life.  I miss my friends overseas every day.  I miss the anonymous part of living overseas.  The freedom in that kind of living was liberating.   But I’m so thankful to be back in the surroundings that are familiar.   To be here for the birth of my bbf’s baby was something that I’m so glad I didn’t miss.  I’d post a pic but he’s not my kid, suffice it to say he’s the most beautiful baby.  He’s just perfect.  He’s got amazing black hair and his Mommy’s nose.

Anyway here are MY little babies….

I’m learning through facebook today.  A friend of mine posted a quote by Marilyn Munroe that I hadn’t heard before. “I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”

Back to Guided Reading with my beloved monkey.

The school year has started…

AND IT ROCKS!  I am a true believer, I know I had doubts before but I GET it now!  Mr. Magoo is loving the homeschooling.  Our goal is to de-school through the month of September, just ease into it.  I’m allow Mr. Magoo to lead more than anything.  He expresses an interest in a subject and we go from there.  It’s amazing how many lessons you can have in a day without the child knowing that they are learning.  This is our first day….we attended a NOT the first day of School picnic put on by one of the local homeschooling associations.  Mr Magoo was the photographer for the day so that he could meet people without pressure.

 

Today we had such a wonderful time.  We started the solar system unit that he has been DYING to learn about.  The first bit was making our glow in the dark solar system.  We got the first bit done this morning.  We have more to do but  we’ll get to it Monday.

I love the way our day just flows now that we aren’t stressed about the classroom.  We’ve found a natural learning group that we are joining and I’m starting to become a little active in a couple local groups.  What a wonder start to the year.

It’s super hot but I’m in the mood for soup so there is split pea soup on the stovetop.  I can’t have soup without home made buns.  I REALLY need to get a breadmaker again.  In the mean time, kneading dough it is!

Oh and today I zipped over to a little garage sale not to far from my house because I saw an ad on kijiji that said “tonnes of canning supplies”.  Slight understatement.  More like garage full of mason jars!  I scored these adorable mason jars (they are SQUARE!) for a project I’m thinking of….

Re-nest has this brilliant idea up on their website.  I’m soooo doing this!!

Not with the square jars mind you I have another idea for those….

 

 

 

The school year is almost here!

I’ve been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. Time4Learning can be used for homeschool, afterschool and summer skill sharpening. Be sure to come back and read about my experience.

We start school here on Thursday with a morning of Time4Learning and then off to the HLSA’s Not Back To School Picnic! This is the Home-based Learning Society of Alberta one of MANY homeschooling groups that we are checking out this fall.  We are sure to find the right ‘fit’ for Mr. Magoo and myself.

End of term picnic in the park…with SUNSHINE (mostly)

Before I start with the picnic I just have to share.  This is the newest craft magazine on the market.  It’s AMAZING.   Love love love it.

Anyway on to the end of term picnic.

Whatever your thoughts on school uniforms you have to admit that this is the cutest thing EVER.  Mr. Magoo wore his white shirt and tie every Monday, Tuesday and Friday and his yellow NLIS polo shirt every Tuesday and Wednesday.  He did not vary from this unless FORCED by circumstances beyond my control.

He is looking forward to wearing ‘home clothes’ next year but has made me promise that we can still have a PE kit for when we have PE.  So we’ve saved his PE bag for homeschool.

Here he is in his favorite uniform .  White shirt, tie and jumper….oh and he’s holding Ted, the newest member of the family.  Ted the teddy.

This is Elijah’s friend.  He is hilarious.  He has decided that it is his job to make sure Elijah is ok at all times.  He also needs to tell me exactly how Elijah’s day was before Elijah does.  It’s a love/hate relationship….mostly love.

Here is Mr. Magoo getting his present from his teacher.  He loves her so much, it’s amazing.  He gave her a good cuddle at the end of the day.  She’s moving to Kent at the end of July and he has told me that he is going to send her a postcard.   Unless it’s too hard, then he will just send an email.

His teacher got her kiss but he made sure he didn’t look like he was enjoying it too much.

All the Moms trying to get pictures.   My friend Bea trying not to cry.   She is so sweet….

Another school year over and our adventure in homeschooling starts in September.   So glad that we leave traditional schooling on such a high note.  I think that makes a difference.   We aren’t running from anything we are running to something…..There will lots of days kicking balls in the park I hope…..maybe Ted the teddy will join us.

It’s hot as Hades in London today!

30 Degrees in the SHADE!  damn I’m hot.  Okay I understand that there are people all over the world suffering from sucky weather. Slave lake Alberta anyone?  But it has been raining for a MONTH here in London! So upon hearing that there was going to be a heat wave I was delighted.  Saturday was still crappy, so crappy in fact that we didn’t even head over to the Summer Fayre put on by the school. But this morning we woke up to glorious summer weather!!!   So we made sandwiches and headed off to Essex Park!

Mr. Magoo played some football all by himself.  He was really good at kicking the ball around.  Screw you hand/eye coordination!

We set up a nice blanket area for resting and had to keep moving it back as the sun got higher and higher.

Mr. Magoo and Miss Thing had quite a time with the set up of the races.   It usually sounds something like this…”First around this tree clockwise then through the gap then around this tree counterclockwise”…it’s a big convoluted thing.  And yes he always holds her had when he stands next to her no matter what they are doing.

Here’s Miss Thing doing Triangle Pose.  She says she needs to stretch more she’s losing her flexibility. Best start looking for a yoga class for next year for her, she is missing it.

June is such a busy time I’m hoping that next year when we are homeschooling Mr. Magoo it won’t feel like such a pressure filled time.   Funny by the end of the year he is finally relaxed at school not as stressed and anxious as even just a month ago.  After the summer once we have him homeschooling I have a feeling he is going to LOVE IT!

The fact is DH is still a teacher and Miss Thing is still going to be in PS so yes, it’ll be crazy in June and September but maybe just maybe a little less stressful.

For now he’s happy to wear his sisters flip flops at the park and show a ‘fancy’ pose.

Testing testing 1, 2, 3…

Okay I’m the first to say I’m not 100% blogging guru.  So if you’ve come here hoping for some words of wisdom today my apologies.  This post to purely for my own learning.  Trying to make my blog work for me.