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When visiting family last year, we were introduced to a whole new world of pumpkin carving.
I’m normally a ‘triangle and jagged teeth’ type, when carving faces on pumpkins, but I had no idea how creative the professionals could get.
My sister-in-law was born on Halloween and now celebrates it with a vengeance. Family and friends come over the whole week before Halloween, carving and carving and carving . . .
(Tip: And I learned that if you want an early pumpkin carving to last a few extra days, one trick is to get a big tote full of water and immerse the whole carved pumpkin for a nice ‘plumping’ soak, and it’s as good as new.)
I just sat down with my 4-year-old on my lap and had a great time running through a few of the counting videos – Counting Sheep and Super Simple Song’s version were his favorites.
Do you have suggestions for online learning videos? A website or technique you use? Thank you for the ideas!
A couple of years ago, we filled a few bird feeders, perched them on the railing of our deck and had a great time watching the birds come and go. I was at a loss to figure out which birds were which until we checked out this great bird guide from the library that is perfect for beginners. I love that it is organized by color, so when the kids saw a yellow bird, they would flip to that section in the book and then search for ‘our’ bird.
Another amazing resource I just discovered is What Bird.com. This site has so much bird information it can be overwhelming. For a start, check out some of these links:
Browse through birds sorted by everything from location and color to bill shape and what they eat.
Build your own custom bird guide – free to include 5 birds of any family per book. What a great final report for your unit study! You can even add a custom cover and bind it. (A $25/yr subscription offers unlimited birds and books. )
Enjoy!
Do you have any fun bird-schooling stories or favorite bird study resources? I’d love more ideas. Thanks!
The Homeschool Post is having their annual Homeschool Blog Awards, and I’d love to enter the competition for one of their “Best . . . Homeschooling Blog” awards.
So, if you like what you read here on my blog, feel free to nominate me.
Scroll down the page and choose a category. I was thinking “Best Eclectic Homeschooling Blog”, “Best Homeschool Mom Blog”, or “Best Crafts, Plans, and Projects Blog”. But, feel free to pick the category you think fits best.
Since we’re pretty eclectic homeschoolers and tend to follow what works for our kids and what they’re interested in, I’m always looking for good ideas.
Melissa Wiley has a great archived blog article: Things to Buy Instead of Curriculum. It’s a great list full of ideas you can use next time you’re looking for a ‘fun’ teaching idea or right now lots of them would make great ‘non-toy’ Christmas gifts. Check it out.
Do you have favorite ‘non-curriculum’ teaching tools you use? I could use some new suggestions!
Being homeschoolers, we can pick up and leave for a vacation late in September, and enjoy cheaper flights and emptier museums. Even luckier, some of our public-schooled cousins are on year-round school and had a couple weeks off to play with us.
Here are a few highlights from where we’ve been for the last few weeks:
A backyard trampoline was the main attraction of the trip and outshined the museums, fun centers, and aquariums.
Lots of wonderful girly girl cousin time for our princess who loved getting away from her brothers.
Gardening and quiet chats with Grandma – we miss her!
Silly time with Grandpa – even balloons can be made into swords. (Thanks Aunt Heather!)
Best friend cousins
Dad joined us with a week to go, and here he is helping with the ‘fun’ task of maneuvering a family of 7 and all their stuff through the airport on the way home. You should have seen the looks I got doing it on my own on the way there.
And here are a few ideas to while away the boredom while waiting for your meal at a restaurant. (It’s not like your mom taught you anything about manners – at least that you can remember.)
We loved seeing all our family and I so enjoy seeing my kids play with their cousins and get to know all their aunts and uncles! What a fun vacation!
The mishaps – there are always a handful.
The first mishap on the third day of our trip - I broke my pinky toe on the leg of a couch! My husband laughed over the phone and said, “You mean to tell me you spent 20 years doing karate without ever breaking your toe, and now you broke it on a couch?!”
Good thing my sister-in-law had some comfrey growing in the backyard. I simmered some and then draped the hot leaves over my toe. It healed in a couple days instead of a week.
That same day, the baby got a fever that spiked over 104 and stayed high for 3 days prompting a visit to the Urgent Care, a blood draw that missed the first time (so sad!), and nothing found after all. Just a virus as I thought. My 6-year-old followed with his own fever the very next day. With 10 kids in the house, we felt lucky the fever only spread to 2!
Oh, and on our first morning back, I and Alex were knocked flat by a vicious stomach flu, fever, muscle aches, and other yuckies! I’m just glad it didn’t happen on the flight home. One of these days, we’ll have an illness-free vacation (fingers crossed).
I have a question for you larger homeschool families: Do you have any tips or tricks to make traveling with a big family easier? How do you keep the whole age range interested and having fun? I’d appreciate any good ideas!!
Thanks!
