Weekly Wrap-Up

 Last weekend we went to Canada's Wonderland with family.

 We've been observing many insects. Here is a stick bug that Austyn found.

Here is one of the two Stag Beetles found in the basement of this old farm house.

Here is the large spider we found on one of the mattresses we sleep on. The kids caught different insects to see what it preferred to eat and it only seemed to prefer live flies.

 Unlike last week, when we focused on History and Reading, this week we focused on Science. We have been using Adventures with Atoms and Molecules Book 1 by Robert C. Mebane and Thomas R. Rybolt. We did many experiments this week and the kids made a water molecule (not in the book). When Zoe got bored with Science she started to make crafts and just watched from her place on the table as Austyn and I did the activities.

 We enjoyed going from experiment to experiment and Austyn seems to be getting over his balloon phobia. 

 Austyn is really into Finding Waldo lately so a large Waldo book could be found laying around the house even when he wasn't in the room. Zoe placed her crafts on his book (above) and thought it was funny to spell the word "pee" with pipe cleaners.

 Austyn made many make-believe things from the craft supplies I picked up at the dollar store. Here he is looking at one of his bombs and infront of him on the table there is a special gun. He placed guns like this around the house and was pretending that as people walked by they would get a surprise. 

 We continue to observe the behaviour of the farm cats. Here they are all huddled together in their house. It's a cold day and they are able to keep warm by sleeping together. The mother cat still nurses her first litter of this season and one cat babysits and nurses her newer kittens for her when she is busy. 

 The kittens are growing fast. They are now starting to walk around. This one has extra claws so his feet are so big and cute like a teddy bear! They are starting to be more vocal to us and less shy.

Moving to this area there didn't seem to be much support for us so I took over the secular group and have been getting things together to organize events. The first event I organized was park day. We had a couple of families join us this week. The kids enjoyed themselves.

Zoe practiced dance and Austyn practiced singing. This is something they do everyday.

Zoe practices gymnastics at any available moment. Zoe is in Dance Lessons and both kids started gymnastics this week.

Austyn is in Power Skating and Hockey.

Daddy started to dust off the race car. He tried to get it ready for the last race but it didn't work out. We may have to wait until next year.

The great thing about being in the country is that there are discoveries around every corner. Here the kids are observing the sap from a large pine tree and then they found some lady bugs trying to hide.

 They are in two reading programs at the library. One is a regular story time and the other is a French Story Time. They are enjoying them. This is probably the first time they have ever had homework. This is a project for the regular Story Time. They are to write a story about the adventures of a cat named Scooter and Scooter will read it when we return to Story Time.

 They worked on Drawing. I was going to crack out an art project but they weren't interested. Instead Austyn wanted to do a drawing from a How to Draw book that we purchased at a local book store and Zoe wanted to just draw what she wanted to draw.

Austyn did a bit of reading this week, but not as much as last week.


Hmmm... I'm discovering that it's not so easy to do a Weekly Wrap-Up with unschooling since we really don't follow a curriculum or subjects like kids would in school. I'll try this for a little while, regardless, and see how it goes. 

Our Butterfly

Within the first couple of weeks we captured two caterpillars. One was a Monarch caterpillar and the other was a Tussock Moth Caterpillar. The Monarch came out of it's crysalis fairly quickly but the moth is still in it's cocoon. This is one experience we missed about being in Ontario while living in Alberta and I jumped at the opportunity when we came back to Ontario. Here are some more pictures.

Book Sharing Monday - Oh The Places You'll Go!

You may remember this popular Dr. Seuss classic. I just love the wording in it. There are so many inspiring and encouraging words though out this story.

And as always the illustrations don't disappoint. This book is well worth reading whether you've read it before or not.

Adjusting to Change

 Austyn and I have been doing much more school type activities lately. Our homeschooling looks more like school than unschooling sometimes because Austyn has made it clear that that is what he wants. He has been reading from his reader, learning Canadian history, and doing math. Zoe sometimes feels a bit left out so I sit down and do things with her. In this picture she is doing math. She went off track, but this is what I let them do because I find it makes the experience more individual and fun. She decided that she wanted to play X and O's with the tally sticks. She made little pieces of paper and put X or O on all of them and that is what we played for the next few minutes until she lost interest. This is creative and provides confidence. The game itself provides it's own strategic challenges.

 Living with family, they get different experiences. There are many farm cats here. One of them had two kittens and they are kept right outside the door in a little cat house. This little kitten just opened it's eyes. 

 They have been learning to drive because Austyn is going to be old enough to drive a junior dragster. One way to learn to drive is to drive the golf cart and the lawn mower. 

 Zoe didn't want to be left out. They take turns driving with Daddy.

 There are many things to do that they could never do at our past couple of homes. Here Zoe is climbing a tree.

 The hammock provides hours of amusement.

It is very quiet here. We have had the chance to be here on our own for most of our stay so far. We can see far, there are many insects, and many birds. With the land so flat we can see what weather is coming and the sunsets are great.

Our Summer in Alberta

 Austyn tried writing letters instead of just printing letters.

 Watching America's Got Talent sparked an interest in entertainment. Everything from singing, dancing and here they are doing a magic trick together.

 Archery in the back yard. Austyn liked to fill cups with water, place them on a small table and use them as targets.

 While school was out they spent time with friends who attend school. This little boy is Austyn's friend from Lacrosse. 

 We did some science. This is an experiment with house hold items testing them to see if they are an acid or a base. 

 We watched many movies and this sparked play with toys that haven't been played with in a while.

 Zoe enjoyed doing her make-up and painting her own face.

 We watched a couple of hawks in our area and named them. First there was "Prey" (above) and then a much lighter coloured, larger, younger female showed up to spend the summer with him. We named her "Sky".

 They are Swanson's Hawks. We learned that they can be aggressive to humans. We also learned that robins make a cool noise around them that signals to other birds that there is a hawk nearby.

 I arranged for a homeschool trip to the Strathcona Raptor Shelter.

 This is a place we wanted to visit since we arrived in Edmonton.

We learned so much and met more homeschooling families.

 We stayed cool with friends and took advantage of some of the free organized activities put on by the parks program.

 Austyn attended a couple of hockey camps. One was the Oilers Camp. It was a full day for a week. 

 The coaches were a ton of fun. The kids were sometimes carried around under an arm, or placed in a garbage pail. 

 He got to meet a real Oiler, Cam Barker.

He got to play hockey with and learn from a retired NHL Player, Chris Joseph.

 Zoe had fun socializing with the other kids at the hockey camps. 

We were invited to a fun BBQ.

 We met up with Austyn's hockey team at the park a few times.

 We went to Drumheller.

 It was dangerous business, but Drumheller turned out to be extremely educational for Austyn since he is now old enough to take it all in.

 What a better way to learn about Dinosaurs than to go right to the source.

 Since it was a hot day in Drumheller, the kids enjoyed ice cream and a run through the water.

 Movies sparked a new toy purchase and a new craft.

 Lego creations continue. You may recognize this scene from the new Star Trek Movie.

 We finished off our time in Alberta with swimming lessons. 

 Both Austyn and Zoe did great.

 Zoe's naps happened less, but were sometimes needed, especially when we had busy days with friends.

 Zoe learned to braid the hair on her dolls and on her own hair. This is one of her first braids. In the following days she improved so much and still does her own braids when she gets ready to go out.

 Before leaving Alberta I started a North Group and a new Park Day in the North of the city. These days became popular and we met many new friends. Two wonderful ladies took over the group for me since I'm now far away.

 We will miss the free park programs, the free skates, the free junior rangers.

 We met up with a few people before we left. 

The kids found ways to entertain themselves, even in the middle of packing.

Well, I guess that sums it up. We had a good summer and our time in Alberta was wonderful, this time. We planned on staying. It's funny how quickly things change.

Book Sharing Monday - Other Goose

If your children know nursery rhymes this is a fun way to see an alternative story to each. J. Otto Seibold did a great job of re-writing the rhymes.

The illustrations add to the silly, whimsical stories. We enjoyed this book and I have a feeling it'll be a book that we will read again and again.