A Letter To the King

The 4th of July is not far away and I have started to teach both children, but especially Andrew, about the history behind this date.
Would you believe it or not, but I started my lesson out with Disney's Pocahontas. Both children know the movie well and it seemed like a logical starting point for how the people from England came and settled the country and how they later disliked the king and how they wrote a letter to him telling him to leave them alone because they are Americans and they want to have their own country - America.
In the same spirit, we made the 'colonial' lanterns. Both children had fun banging with the hammer. They remember the power outage we had not long ago and how we lit our battery powered lanterns. So, it was not too hard for them to imagine a life long time ago without electricity. Andrew even wanted to read his books by the lantern light before bed. That will not happen, though.

High Five

For a few years now I and Andrew have enjoyed the High Five magazine. It has the BEST recipes ever and every issue is packed with good stories, crafts, games, etc.
Many a times I have found Andrew sitting on his bed with his nose in the magazines. It has even happened that I have found him asleep on top of a pile of High Fives. Now that he is learning to read, the pages have become a tool to practice his skill. Just today, I noticed the High Five audio option in the magazine. I checked it out and we all - Andrew, Saara, and I - listened to the stories being read out loud to us. I must admit, it was more fun than me reading because all the sound effects in the background. Also, it was a nice change to listen to someone else beside Mommy read.

Learning Continues

So far, our summer has been pleasantly busy. We have had most wonderful time at the events the library has been organizing, plus a baseball game that is always fun even though the little ones did not have the patience to stay till the game was over. From my point of view, they have had a nice amount of new experiences and learned new things. Schooling continues. Learning does not disappear, but it transforms (it sort of sounds like the law of the conservation of energy, doesn't it?)

A Happy Ending

Received the long awaited e-mail from the local homschooling association. I am very pleased. Needless to say our memebership dues will be in the mail soon and I am already a pending member of the local homeschoolers network group. Things are moving along.