Strawberry Picking and Nature Study

 We went strawberry picking with some homeschool friends. The kids had a great time! The weather was great for it and there were a ton of berries. Many of them weren't even rip enough to pick yet, but we did well.

While picking we noticed some interesting weeds. One was large and fluffy and the flowers were tall and similar to a dandelion. The name of this one is Goat's-Beard. 

Here is a better picture of the flower. 

"Goat's-Beard shoots are edible raw or cooked, the same way as asparagus, and the plant bases are sometimes cooked like artichokes. Also the fleshy roots of first-year plants have been roasted or boiled like parsnips." ~ Ontario Wildflowers by Linda Kershaw

 This weed is a Tufted Vetch. I know they are weeds but I think that these are so pretty and have even left them alone in my garden before.

 The kids looked for fossils when they needed a break from picking.

 This is a pretty cool one that Austyn found. It's scaly, round and has many circular markings on it. It may be a pleurodictyum. Most of the fossils found here are from the Devonian Period. If you don't know anything about that period, it was a time of large oceans and seas full of sea life. Much of that sea life settled to the bottom and their bodies were preserved in sediment. When the ice burgs were here during the ice age all of the upper layers of the earths crust was pushed aside and this is why we can't find dinosaurs here. The fossils here are much older than the dinosaurs.

 Austyn did some photography while there. Here is one creative attempt. I think it's great!

 He also took this picture of the two containers we brought to fill up.

 There is a story behind this picture that he took. All of the kids were wondering through the berries and Zoe spotted a fluffy thing that looked like a toy. She couldn't resist and picked it up. She started to scream and run with this poor little baby kill-deer. I told her that she shouldn't have touched it and instantly she dropped it in a strawberry patch. I went over and picked it up and it was a good thing one of the kids stayed in the spot where the baby was picked up. I took it over and placed it in the spot where the kids say it was found. The parents were not happy and were flying all around and making a good deal of noise. While I had the baby in my hand Austyn took this picture and it gives you an idea of just how small it was sitting on my two smallest fingers. The parents returned to it after we walked away.

We froze some of the strawberries and with some of them we always make some freezer jam. The best part is taste testing. Fingers always work best for this! LOL!

Hockey's Partner

Yes, Lacrosse can get rough. The kids eventually learn to check each other. Some days, I have to admit, I am a little mixed on what I think about it, but my kids enjoy it and it's a fun game to watch. I think I enjoy watching lacrosse more than hockey.  

 

 Even the little tiny kids, like my youngest, get to play it. Sometimes they are really amazingly good and seem to know what they are doing and yet, they still have those cute little kid moments like the one above, where Zoe decided to sit on the ball right when everyone was fighting to get it.

(as an aside... Austyn took this picture of her sitting on the ball with my camera)

Learning positions has proven to be tough, but the positions and many of the rules in lacrosse apply to hockey. Many kids who play both increase in ability dramatically. They also aren't afraid to be pushed around when the time comes that they are expected to do so. They gain, stamina. They learn to sweat and work hard. Even watching the older kids play can improve skill, especially when comparing what they learn about the rules and positions to what the players of the more professional teams do.

Lego Club

 Recently, I was able to get enough Lego to continue on with Lego Club. As soon as I had my hands on the pieces, I booked a club day the same week. I started to look in September for Lego, but it has taken THIS long to get enough to run it with our own Lego, because nobody wants to give up their Lego.

 I know I've said the benefits of Lego Club before, but it does the obvious, which is inspires creativity and fosters friendships. It is also physics, math, science, mechanics, co-operation, team building, public speaking, and so much more! We have the kids bring their Lego creations from home or a picture. At the end of our time together they share what they have done at home and also what they made at the club. It's like show-and-tell. 

Austyn brought his Titanic that he made at home. We have been displaying it on our fireplace mantle so, even though he made it a couple of weeks ago, it's still in great shape. He changed a couple of things on the boat since that earlier picture. He added a couple of tall stacks and put a string across between them.

 After a little while Zoe got bored of Lego and went to play on the computer in another room and two of her friends followed. 

It's great to have this club, finally, established and open to ALL homeschoolers in our area. Watching the kids together, having so much fun made it all worth it!

Homeschool Skating Ends

 There were only a handful of us on the last day of skating, but this year went well. We had families who came from the surrounding towns to skate. Some of the children have NEVER been on the ice before in their lives!! They have come so far and many of them don't use any kind of support anymore.

 The winter this year didn't give us many days with ice or snow, so it was nice to have the local arena to use during the day when all of the other kids were in school. 

I can't believe how well Zoe is doing. She does cross-overs now and skates so professionally for her age. She wants to take figure skating and hockey in the fall.

Austyn has benefited from the extra ice time as well. While many kids are finished with hockey and put their skates away he was doing 3-on-3 and homeschool skating every week.

I think we will have to organize this again next year!

Homeschool Gymnastics

 Doing gymnastics constantly all day and everywhere Zoe goes is paying off.

 She is going into level 5!!! They said that she has talent!! I'm now super glad that we are in Ontario for gymnastics, considering that the club in Edmonton area wasn't going to move her past preschool level since they were not allowed due to age!

 Austyn is moving forward at a normal pace. He is now in Level 3!! He passed!!

 All of the kids really seemed to enjoy this session of gymnastics. The teachers were great!

 After they got their badges they got to show us some of their moves and let us take pictures.

 Gymnastics is a hit! I can't wait until next fall. I'll be setting this activity up again!!

3-on-3 Hockey

After being on a home team for winter, Austyn decided that he wanted to try 3-on-3 hockey. He loves it and has been getting some great goals! It has been proving to be great experience for him. We may decide to continue on with it instead of signing him up for a hockey camp this summer. Grandpa has really enjoyed watching these games. They are very exciting. I think he hollers more than we do! LOL!!!

Local Homeschool Co-Op

 If you don't know what a homeschool Co-Op is, I can explain it to you. It's where a bunch of families get together to share knowledge with other families or to learn together. There are many ways to set-up a Co-Op. Likely as many as ways as there are of how to homeschool. I've been in a couple of them in my travels and I've read a whole book on homeschool Co-Ops and how to make them work for your family. This particular Co-Op is a Local Christian Homeschool Co-Op. It doesn't completely mesh with us, but my kids are enjoying it regardless. Usually there are more kids than this, but the day I took this picture families were missing due to illness.

 This particular Co-Op is in a very large space. It is in a large church. There are classrooms a kitchen, a gymnasium and even a teachers lounge. The families seem very friendly and open to us, even though we are not Christian. The kids are split up by age range (nursery, 3's and 4's, 5's and 6's, 7's and 8's, 9's and 10's, etc... ), depending on the class.

The above picture is Zoe in her gym class.

 Each class is separated into their own rooms. There are three periods. Classes start at 9AM, right after morning announcements, singing "Oh Canada" and morning prayer. Some teachers have their students pray at the beginning of each class. There are three classes with small breaks in between to get to the next class. The school day ends at 12:30. We go home for Lunch. Snacking is okay during classes and sometimes food is incorporated in the course for a reason. For example, pioneer food is served in pioneer class. 

 There have been fun classes in the past. They even had a flight school come in and teach about flying and airplanes. Some of the students have continued on and got their pilots license. Most of the classes are run by parents and to join up there is a small fee. There is a choice to drop-off kids, the price is much higher. This is the first time I needed a police report to join a Co-Op. I think that this is pretty rare. The more busy classes require a teacher's helper and each parent gets a spare where they can relax with a coffee in the lounge. Sometimes older homeschool students decide to teach a class. This provides them with great experience!

 This Co-Op is a bit too much like school for us. There are classes that are too boring for a busy boy like Austyn. The periods are strictly enforced with a whistle, just like the bell at school. 

The great thing about it is the diversity of courses. There is a kite making class. Math, Messy Science, Map Making, Singing, Gym, etc. The kids usually have at least two classes to choose from for each period. The above picture is called Around the World and Austyn is putting make-up on his Ken Doll for the purpose of mummification when he was learning about Egypt. The picture below he is wearing clogs for Holland.

We will likely attend this Co-Op again, but it would be nice to have an alternative. Maybe not as big of a Co-Op would be nice. One that doesn't incorporate religion into the courses, but is open to all religions or none at all. One where the ages can mesh together for some activities. Maybe it could be more like the mini-Co-Ops that we use to attend when we lived in Ontario before (before we moved to Edmonton). It would be nice to let the kids stay on a subject they like longer if they choose to or maybe they could move around more freely from activity to activity. Maybe the activities could be flexible enough that the kids could alter what is suppose to be done and make the activities their own.

I've been thinking about it since I've lived here. I may, eventually take on the task of starting one up. There is another Co-Op that isn't religious but it's far away. Some of the Mom's have talked about Car-Pooling to attend one whole session of it and get enough information to model it here in our area, if we like it. For them, it's hard to put a Co-Op together when they've only known of the one and some of them have never attended one before. It would provide the homeschoolers in this area some choices/alternatives. Not every Co-Op fits every family, just like not one style of homeschooling fits every family.

Lego Titanic

 Austyn has been interested in the Titanic. One evening before bed he decided to make the Titanic out of Lego. He spent about an hour on it that night and when he got up in the morning he spent a couple more hours. This was the final result! I think it turned out great!

He added many details. One detail was the propeller.

Zoe's 1st Hockey Tournament

Zoe attended her first hockey tournament and got a metal. She scored two goals for her team!

Hockey Tournament

 We sponsored a tournament for Austyn's hockey team. They did great! They didn't make it to the finals but they did wonderful and it was a good experience.

 The girls had plenty of time to play.

 They got a free meal, which gave them plenty of time to chat.

 Zoe really bonded with the sister of Austyn's friend. She is much older, but Zoe seems to like to hang around older girls.

 While waiting for one of the games Zoe did her hair. I thought it was pretty good for a 5 year old!

 A bunch of the kids stayed to watch a game after their games were all done. 

I took that time to get a few pictures.

Birthday Party

 Zoe attended a birthday party this week. My cousins daughter is around her age and invited her over.  Zoe had a great time and behaved well without her brother there. It was interesting to see how she was without him around. They really have been bumping heads hard lately.

It was a good time and well needed.

Our Holiday Season

We have been involved in the French Story Time at our local library. The teacher is amazing and the kids have learned so much. Here is a song they sang infront of a bunch of parents for Christmas. Austyn has taken an interest in singing and was asked to sing a part of the song solo.

 We really never stop homeschooling. Our life is full of learning and educational activities. We learned about Christmas past, other religious holidays, watched movies, made crafts and much more. The kids made these pictures to give as gifts. Austyn ended up liking his too much to give away, but I thought that the concept was creative. I didn't give them the idea to do these pictures this way. They did this on their own. Zoe's is the one covered in tape. She still really enjoys using tape over glue.

 We have been visiting family more since we've been here in Ontario. My mother got a few visits from us. We can't paint in the house we are in, easily so we go to her house to paint and do other crafts. The kids got to choose things around the house to give to people. These two boxes are gifts they chose for eachother.

 What did we do with our Christmas crafts? We decorated Grandma's tree!

 We are still living with relatives, but this didn't mean we stopped some of our own traditions. We made cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. This always includes a great deal of joking around.

 We took the time to write Santa letters and then we also did a letter to keep with the cookies. Zoe did the top part and Austyn did the bottom.

 One of the most memorable gifts that they got first thing on Christmas morning was the Bell off of Santa's Sleigh. Austyn had the great idea of asking Santa for this on his letter because we read about how the little boy got a bell in the book Polar Express.

Above are a couple of the surprised looks they had opening gifts Christmas morning. Nanny, Papa, and Grandpa were all there.

We went to more relatives for supper.

 Zoe enjoyed doing make-up and hair.


Austyn enjoyed singing to everyone.

On Boxing Day we saw more family. This is the first time that everyone was together (except one person) in many years. It was nice.