I've been on the go almost non-stop for the last couple of weeks....  Darci's graduation open house is this Saturday.  I've been baking cookies like a mad woman, (42 DOZEN!  ) plus baking angel food cakes, a white & chocolate cake, & making buttercream frosting.  I have a bunch of fruit & veggies to prepare too.  I'm kind of excited about the whole shindig.... It's my first graduate! 

The kids have been doing a lot of PS2, Runescape, & StickRPG.  (Especially the boys anyway...)  Darci's been working alot.... doing summer camps at the gym as needed.  She worked 7 hours today & was exhausted!  She, John, & Caitlin went out tonight & it wouldn't surprise me a whole lot if she falls asleep at the movies.

Caitlin's working on her art, plus she's still writing her book.  (She has a Xanga site specifically for her book.)  She won't let me read it yet, though.

Guess I'd better go..... think I'll go rest!

My kids would finish that by saying "Teachers let the monkeys out!"  No, wait.... maybe that's what I'd say!  Anyway.... We are officially done w/ our required days for this school year.  All that's left is for me to get everything logged & host Darci's graduation open house!

I keep thinking I'd like to be just a bit more structured next year, but we all love the unschooling lifestyle so much, it's hard to think about changing it.  However, the kids occasionally say they don't think they've learned much.  I've been thinking, if we throw some "unit-y type studies" in, or more "major discussions", maybe they could see how much they're learning.

Taryn is so close to probably being able to read, I think it would just take maybe of week of concentrated effort & she'd have it!  She was riding in the car w/ Darci one day & they pulled up to a stop sign.  Taryn immediately said, "S-T-O-P spells STOP!"  Darci was flabbergasted!  She started working w/ her on different words, so now she can spell horse, cat, dog, obviously stop, & I'm not sure what else.  She can finger spell as well as write at least some of them.  She's even been learning to tell time on a digital clock!  She'll be 5 in September, so I know it's about time.  She loves to be read to & "do schoolwork", so as long as that interest is there, I should milk it for all it's worth!

We'll see about adding some stuff w/ the bigger kids next year too.  I'd like to do a few experiments so they can see & do, rather than just read about it.  Caitlin is thinking about graduating at 17 also.  Darci's still not sure what she wants to do next year; right now she's really focused on photography.  Probably the best thing for me to do over the summer is to work on a "curriculum" of my own for each kid.    The things I think they need to know & how to get to that point.  For the most part, my philosophy of education is - as long as they know HOW to learn, WHERE to find answers, & WHAT kinds of questions to ask to get there, I've done my job.  Facts are just that....  I graduated 10th in my class of 360something, loved school, but I sure don't remember much of what I learned there.  (I'd have to go back & relearn anything to do w/ math & science especially.  )  History?  Some dates I remember, just b/c it was something "personal" to me.  One of the things I LOVE to read about is Russian history.  (Yeah, weird, I know...)  Did I get that at school?  Nope!  Hmmm.... not sure where I did pick that up.....

Anyway, I'm rambling here so I'm gonna stop for now.  I'm really gonna try to log some things over the summer so I can remember what we've done.

Ciao!

The 4 big kids went to the Fort the other day & decided to bring me home a birthday present....  A snake & a fish!    What a great present, huh?  Unfortunately, the snake later decided to finish eating the fish, then made a break for it.  We haven't seen him since Tuesday evening....

We've been really busy around here.  We're having a graduation open house for Darci on June 10 & decided to paint the entire downstairs, stairway, landing, & upstairs bathroom.  It's a nice, calming "Blue Pearl".  I'm still working on getting everything back together.  Caitlin cleaned up a bunch last night b/c she's having company over this weekend.  She did a very nice job!    There's just a few things left to find homes for.  (We got rid of one of our big cabinets...  It ended up being more of a place to stash whatever we couldn't figure out what to do w/.)  I'll post some pics.... (Keep in mind it's still not completely done!) 

  There's still a lot on my desk & the kids' desk that needs to find a home, plus we still need to get the kids' computer back in here & set up.  (It's in the girls' room at the moment...)

  I think Flame really likes it this way.... he can lie down right in the middle of the floor & totally stretch out!  It really opens up the downstairs again... makes it feel spacious & roomy!

Now, I just need to finish up the invitations & get them addressed & mailed, buy some good quality document paper to print up the diploma, & get started on the food stuff.  I'm thinking I'll make some stuff up ahead of time (as much as I can anyway) & freeze it so I'm not trying to do everything at the last minute!  Should be fun stuff!  (Of course, I can't believe I have a daughter old enough to graduate, anyway!   )

Well, I must be off.... things to find homes for, bathrooms to clean, laundry as always!  Have a wonderful week!

Ciao!

Just a thought here....  We happened to be watching Maury today (which we very rarely do) & the whole show was about overweight kids.  A 3 yo who weighs 70 lbs?  A 5 yo at 212 lbs?  Some of them were medical issues that the drs had yet to find the cause of, but a couple were just overindulgent mothers.  (Whatever my baby wants to eat, (s)he gets!)  It opened up a whole world of discussion about parenting here.

Even the boys said they'd be a better parent than they were!  They (all who were watching) said if it was their kid, they'd just tell them no.  I told them parenting isn't giving the kid whatever they want, but saying "no" for the kid's sake.  How can people live w/ the child ruling the home?  *shakes head*  (No one in our house likes bratty kids...)

I thought it turned out to be a very interesting topic, although I still won't recommend the show.

Darci's been playing w/ John's new digital SLR camera today....  The thing that amazes me the most w/ our homeschooling journey is the fact that the kids are not afraid to try/do anything.  She got out the book, started changing settings, & snapping away.  She got some really interesting & amazing shots!  One of these days I'll figure out the camera enough that I can upload some on here.  (I'm chicken - I hate to change settings b/c I'm afraid I'm gonna mess something up.)

Yesterday was insanely busy... but the boys have been reading - real books!  Casey was disappointed that he had to go to P.A.S.S. Training, b/c he wanted to spend the day reading!    He read the whole trip up there & the whole trip back.  I'm not sure, but he may have actually finished his book before bed last night.

The biggest thing the boys like to do is play Runescape.  I had them explain the whole game to me one day.  They did very well, & I'm not quite so .... hesitant.... to let them play.  They're learning how to deal w/ other people, trade for things, keep track of things, & I could see many different educational values in what they told me.  (That was one of the reasons I had them explain it to me, too.  *Shhhhh*)  However, that said, I am sooo excited to see them reading!

The kids have been watching alot of PBS shows.  I happened to hear them while watching.... I don't know what it was... but the characters had to add, subtract, multiply & divide w/ fractions.  It was so funny.... the kids kept hollering the answers & saying "Come on, people!!!  It's not that hard!"  Made me feel good about how well they can figure out fractions!