Not Back to School Potluck

Today, along with six other homeschooling families, we celebrated not going back to school. A potluck gathering meant lots of fun and socializing to be had, for kids, moms and dads alike! Among this setting, there were groups forming to act out the Boxcar Children, a children's army, petting and caring for the goats, dress-up, water play, trains, LEGOs, and archery.



It was really a great way to continue our summer past the arbitrary school calendar cut-off. It was a hard transition to leave for pretty much everyone. Luckily, we'll see almost everyone again tomorrow (most dads will be back to work, and miss our fun trip to the owl sanctuary!).

Leo Building: Mars Base

K and P collaborated on building a Mars base, complete with green houses and tunnels from building to building.

Lego Building: Banks

P built a bank today, complete with teller desk, ATM, alarms, and an air conditioner. He then proceeded to rob it. But the police caught him.

City of Ember

"P" and "K" listened to the audio presentation of "City of Ember". Later, they discussed sections of the book with us and incorporated some of the scenarios of the book into their creative play.

Circle Camp Finale

After two weeks of our peace talk-themed summer camp, the kids put on an amazing performance complete with drumming, dancing, singing, and skits. Lots was learned in terms of talking with others compassionately and getting to feelings and needs instead of blame and hurt.

Amazing Butterflies

Went to Butterfly Rainforest and Amazing Butterfly Exhibit.

Maypole

For K's BD, we researched a traditional maypole design and looked at examples in P's medieval knight and castle books. Cut and sewed together ribbons and tied them to a hoop around our sycamore tree, which the kids used to do several different rotations and styles of circling the tree.

Hoggetowne Medieval Faire

Visited the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire today. P and his dad participated in a fencing tournament, which P won. P and K rode the hobby horses and looked at dioramas of medieval life. We watched demonstrations of weaving, armor-making, using weaponry, and acrobatics.

NUU Years Eve

On New Years Eve, P and K participating in an arts, crafts, and activities evening. P played chess, and P and K took turns playing dress up. Crafts includes collages and making representations of themeselves by having someone draw their outlines on oversized sheets of paper which they then colored and decorated

PK City

P and K spent much of today creating PK City. Copious time was spent perfecting animal life locations, arranging buildings, walkways and train tracks in relation to existing roads, and having nice spiders around to catch bugs.

Farm animals are found in pens, with guard dogs:


Water animals are located on the largest body of water:


A small lake is populated by a sailboat:


Traffic includes car, train, and pedestrian:


There is a town square, complete with a clock tower:


Even fictitious creatures, like dragons, have a home here -- lying in wait to destroy!!:

Drawing Play

P and K both decided to make some art today based on some of the creative play they had been involved in this morning.

P's drawing involved rolling hills, trees, houses, and an airplane.

K's drawing was of a cactus in the desert.

Nursery Rhymes and Aesop's Fables

We have the books What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know and What Your 1st Grader Needs to Know, and inside each of them are some literary pieces that are "essential" for children to be exposed to, including Nursery Rhymes and selected Aesop's Fables. We read virtually all of them, some for the first time ever, but most were familiar to us. P and K put on shows and skits using hand puppets and stuff animals reenacting the stories, fables and rhymes heard in the books. The two favorites were "Jack Be Nimble" and "The Tortoise and the Hare".

Co-op Day: Drama.

We made a little play cottage out of a large box, painting and decorating as desired using tempera paints. We read fairy tales, particularly those that center around a house--such as Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks or Baba Yaga -- and acted them out, taking turns.

Peace Camp: Day Ten

The kids spent much of today planning ahead for the Variety Show that they put on for family and friends, but this morning they got to learn how to "toss a pie" by Gainesville's own Satchel. They got to enjoy it, too!!

During the Variety Show, P's camp counselor gave out "awards" (which I felt rather uncomfortable with philosophically). They ranged from "Best Line Leader" to "Best Smile" to "Most Fun to Be Around". The one that P received was "Most Positive" -- considering the others, this was a "good" one, though P did say he wished that he were the "most fun to be around" or "most athletic" like his friends were. And this is why awards are actually punishments.

Today's theme: "You Don't Have To Do It Alone."

Peace Camp: Day Nine

Today's theme: "You Don't Have To Do It Alone."

Peace Camp: Day Eight

Today's theme: "Let the Beauty You Love Be What You Do."

Peace Camp: Day Seven

Today's theme: "Let the Beauty You Love Be What You Do."

Peace Camp: Day Six

P's activities were: Chess, Kickball, Board Games (?)

Today's theme: "What We Know About God is a Piece of the Truth."

Peace Camp: Day Five

P's activities for today: Where the Wild Things Are, Ultimate Frisbee, I U We Can Talk It Out (?)

Today's theme: "What We Know About God is a Piece of the Truth."

Peace Camp: Day Four

P's activities today were: Board Games, Marbles, and Chess.

In addition, P is learning typical "socialized" behaviors, including lunch sharing, name calling, and general potty talk. We discussed in depth the importance of being Kind First, thoughtful and respectful of all, and that some language just are generally inappropriate for people in general (and kids in particular). We also discussed healthy food options based on nutritional values, and made sure to get more input on what we included in his lunch.

Today's theme: "It Matters What You Do!"