Teddy Bear Toss!

 Our local hockey team holds a yearly Teddy Bear Toss before Christmas. Stuffed animals in excellent condition or new stuffed animals are tossed on the ice when the home team scores the first goal of the game. These toys are given to kids who need them more then we do. My kids went through their toys and found some perfectly good stuffed animals. We also purchased one teddy bear at the game. The proceeds went to a local charity. 

It was kind of emotional to see an almost full house of fans throw stuffed animals of all sizes onto the ice all at the same time. It was amazing!

The camera came in handy after the teddy bear toss. Zoe asked me to use the camera to take pictures of the rest of the game. They both love to use my camera and sometimes they get creative.

Gymnastics Everywhere

 Everywhere she goes she does gymnastics. She practices at home, outside, when we are visiting friends, at arenas, and just about anywhere else that she can think of practicing.

She has taken 3 short sessions of gymnastics in the past. The last session she was bumped up 4 levels and is in a much higher level then her brother. Although some of her moves she was taught, much of it is self taught or I've guided her on how to, since I know a few moves from when I was younger. I can't believe how fast she picks things up. She'll see someone on TV do something and right away she tries and is sometimes successful right away. It's amazing. We all think that this is her thing! She is a gymnast! 

Too bad she missed the Canadian Female Gymnastics Team at the Olympics. She would have loved to watch it!

Here is a sample of what she can do. She can do much more but she is trying to perfect going into and out of the bridge. She can do round-offs and cartwheels into splits.

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!

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!!!

Zoe Playing with Tikes!

After playing in the beginner level tournament and proving herself with a couple of goals, Zoe was asked to be bumped up and help out the Tikes with their game. She loved it, but wasn't plowing everyone out of the way and getting the puck as usual because she was worried that they would give her a penalty. LOL! She wasn't sure if they were more strict in that level. 

She was so happy to be there. I never thought she'd love hockey this much.

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.

The Hockey Queen!

 This is what the rink looks like when Zoe arrives to go on the ice, most weekends. They are on the ice bright an early. So early that they are the first to be on the ice.

 She probably was suppose to be in the level up. She tends to be ahead of the other kids when she skates and when she gets the puck nobody can stop her. She hasn't learned that she isn't suppose to take the puck from her team mates yet, but that'll come. LOL!

I just think that the kids look so cute all lined up on the bench, waiting to play. The girls are so easy to spot, with their pink hockey accessories.

Beginner Hockey Fun!

I think these pictures speak for themselves. 

What fun Zoe gets to have.

First Goal!

 Austyn is doing great in hockey. The coaches seem great. He loves to pose when he sees me with the camera.

 He is already starting to make friends on the team.

I almost didn't get it because I was a bit slow with the camera and it ended up being a bit blurred due to me hurrying. At least I got it on video!

First Hockey Practice

Zoe decided that she wants to play hockey now. She never wanted to before and had almost no interest in skating, but with going to Austyn's hockey practices and starting the Homeschool Hockey and Power Skating in this area, she now wants to play. So, her first practice was at 7AM! Yup!! They were the first kids on the ice. It wasn't easy getting her up but she went out there and was one of the best skaters of her level. Grandpa and Nanny came to watch.

She was a pretty good skater. She is in goal in the picture above.

She enjoyed showing off for us and looked our way often.

Physical Education for Homeschoolers

 Do your kids go to school? Do they do phys-ed? We do! We have joined in with another local homeschool group for gymnastics. Zoe and Austyn love it! Zoe was too advanced for the younger level so they moved her up to the higher level with Austyn.

 We started Power Skating and Hockey with one of the local groups. It's extra ice time for Austyn and Zoe loved it so much that she decided that she wants to do hockey now. 

 I went out and got her some hockey gear. This is her first time trying out hockey with the group.

She really didn't know what to do and skated around everywhere, but it was cute and she had fun.

We plan on doing some swimming soon. There is an indoor pool near us and they have a good deal of public swim time during school hours. 

Some days I feel a little bad because I feel like my kids have an advantage over other kids because my children can choose an activity and do extra classes of it during the day to get good really fast or they can choose many activities and do some at night and others in the day. I see that other children are restricted to only night time and that limits their time on these types of things. But then I think about the fact that kids in school do phys-ed and my kids don't, other than running around outside and whatever they do on their own. So, for us, this is our phys-ed class.  And yes, in some ways my kids do have an advantage. They could choose to dedicate more of their time on a subject or activity that they are interested in. They have a bit more freedom. It's wonderful!

Being the Model

One of the aspects of unschooling is to pursue our interests. This isn't just for the kids. This is a life choice that should include everyone. Parents can model this so that the kids follow their interests as well. I'm so proud of my husband for going after his interest of learning how to play hockey. I must say that a man in his 30's learning how to play hockey for the first time looks much different than a child learning and this makes me even more proud of him. The kids are also proud of him. We all go and watch when we can. 

It's so cute that Austyn tries to tell him how to improve his skills because he sees himself as a much better hockey player than his Dad. It's wonderful to see them give each other advice. They also understand how hard it can get out there. There is a much better understanding between the two of them now that they both play. It's not as easy of a sport as it looks.

Interests are Contagious... Hockey

It is so interesting that when one person in our house becomes passionate about something, it becomes contagious. This has happened a few times in our home. I think that with unschooling this could become more apparent because we are following interests. I don't mean just the interests of the kids but the interest of all of us. Parents could be the model of how people pursue their interests. I'm not as good at this as my husband is. I end up making the needs of everyone else a priority. The point being made here is that when one of us get involved in a particular interest we all end up eventually interested in someway. It could be an interest that moves from parent to child or child to parent.

Austyn has been interested in hockey lately and because of that interest Daddy decided to try out hockey for the first time. We do our best to support each other as much as possible. We all go to practices and games for Austyn even when it`s really early.

When Daddy went to his first practice, it was late at night, but since the kids don`t have to attend school the next day we all went. We likely won`t do it again that late because Zoe can`t handle it, but the point is we did it for support. I think it was important for the kids to see that it`s never too late to try something new.

I'm no hockey fan. I particularity don`t like the fights, but I do my best to support Austyn's interests and use those interests as a means to learn. After all he loves when I do this. I've been reading books to him on the subject and am finding hockey much more interesting than ever before.

Here is a book about the most famous goal, told by a young boy. It`s called The Greatest Goal by Mike Leonetti. It's just one of the hockey books we've read.


Here is a video on the greatest goal. The year is 1972. It`s The Soviet Union against Canada. It`s game eight. All of Canada has shut down to watch. Children watched in classrooms. It was tense and a tied game. With only 34 seconds left, after rebounding twice off of the goalie, Paul Henderson scored The Greatest Goal! People everywhere could recall where they were when they witnessed it! After the game people of all ages left their homes and went into the streets throughout Canada to celebrate together.

So, as you can see, being an interest-led type of homeschooling family can really lead to so much knowledge and life experiences. Now... let's see if my interest in learning Spanish catches on. :)

Hockey Party

 Hockey season is finished and we are well into Lacrosse already. We had a Hockey team party. It was fun.

 The kids had a great time.

 They played together.

All of the players who participated in the games. It was a really great season. They won two gold metals and were undefeated. Austyn got many assists. The coaches, kids and all of the parents were wonderful. I have a feeling we'll be keeping in touch with some of them.

Hockey Tournament - Another Gold!

 Austyn's hockey team signed  up for a hockey tournament. 

 If you remember how his play-offs went. His team won gold. They were undefeated during the whole year.

 These are pictures from the tournament.

 Austyn didn't score a goal yet but got many assists.

 It was great to continue to see the kids and their parents after the season. Everyone was so excited to win the tournament. They were undefeated again!

 Here they are listening to the anouncer talk and get read to give them their trophy and their gold metal. 

 They all look so confident standing their waiting.

 He was so proud of himself!

 The team posed for another picture together. They had so much fun this year and I can't believe that they won gold twice in one season. They all did so well.

 Zoe watched with her friends from the stands.

 Afterward we went to eat lunch with the team. The kids had fun playing in the play area. Look at how red his face got from running around.

Hockey here in Alberta is amazing. The interesting thing is that most kids play hockey and skate all year round. There are going to be some kids growing up in this area who will likely move on to be professional players. I wouldn't be surprised at all.