100 Books-A-Month Challenge

We have read 50 books so far to the kids. This doesn't include reading books over, chapters in books, books read to one child, my books, books Austyn read to himself, or reference books.

Reading is our main form of education here. I think that is my excuse for our reading habits. For the last couple of months we've not been following a curriculum outline. Reading is one type of education the kids love. So, we read a great deal.

Another Lego Creation!

This is one of at least three things he built today. He also is working on re-creating a game he built last night that was inspired by the game "Mouse Trap". What a talented kid I have on my hands!

"What makes people smart, curious, alert, observant, competent, confident, resourceful, persistent - in the broadest and best sense, intelligent- is not having access to more and more learning places, resources, and specialists, but being able in their lives to do a wide variety of interesting things that matter, things that challenge their ingenuity, skill, and judgement, and that make an obvious difference in their lives and the lives of people around them."~John Holt~ Teach Your Own

Christmas Cards!

 

We finally got to our Christmas Cards. I just set us up and they jumped right in. Whenever I'd ask if they wanted to do Christmas cards they didn't want to, but once they saw all of the supplies spread over the table they were game. I thought that hand prints would make it personal. So, they each chose a Christmas colour and the largest hand was first and the smallest on top. So Austyn went first.

After they dried I showed Austyn how to stamp the letters for "Merry Christmas". Him and I got to work stamping and Zoe got busy stamping herself and her paper. Then I printed in large letters at the top inside the cards the names of the people that the card was addressed to and Zoe traced the letters. They both signed their own names. Austyn keeps trying to do fancy letters but when he saw how many cards he had to sign that cleared up fast and he just printed his name neatly.

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”~ Pablo Picasso

Wii are Fit!

A home-school friend reminded us that we could be using our Wii Fit for Physical Fitness on the days that we are stuck in our house. So here are the kids doing their exercises.

“A child who does not play is not a child, but the man who doesn't play has lost forever the child who lived in him and who he will miss terribly.” ~ Pablo Neruda 

A New Tool!

Zoe took this picture, by the way... ignore my messy desk.

From reading The Unschool Manual I got the idea of letting the kids use MS Word to learn reading, phonics, whole words, spelling, etc. Zoe is on my computer a great deal and while she is on it she types her name and the word "up" in any text box she can find. So I thought I'd offer to sit with her and I could tell her how to spell different things and give her practice to try some on her own and find that letters on the keyboard. She loved it! Later Austyn tried it and did well. What a great tool!

I do however think that it's time to set up a computer just for the kids. I work on my computer for our business and have had issues with the kids messing around with files and settings that I don't want them to.

“It is as true now as it was then that no matter what tests show, very little of what is taught in school is learned, very little of what is learned is remembered, and very little of what is remembered is used. The things we learn, remember, and use are the things we seek out or meet in the daily, serious, nonschool parts of our lives.” ~John Holt~ How Children Fail

Cookies with Friends

We have done our Santa lists, read Christmas books, did some Christmas crafts, and we made cookies with friends. So far our December Christmas theme is great.

“What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus? Claustrophobic." ~ Unknown

Book Sharing Monday

 

This is a beautiful book. I picked it up a few years ago at a second-hand store. Holiday Traditions by Debbie Mumm is a great book to give you ideas to create your own special traditions for your family in your home. It's full of stories, songs, recipes, crafts and other ideas. What I like most about it is that it's not biblical. It's more just about giving and traditions set by your family. It is very customizable with areas set up for your own notes and your own special holiday recipes.