The Homeschool Mother's Journal: June 25 - July 1

In My Life This Week

With J's friend T in tow, the kids and I drove to the island to spend the week with my family. And the chicks stayed behind. Guess what THAT means? Yup! We need a coop! Oh! And does anyone want a rooster? They're REALLY cute! LOL 

The Rocky Atlantic Coast

Places We're Going and People We're Seeing

Day 1 - We picked S up from his weekend sleepover with at my ILs. We stopped to see Eartha, the Guinness World Record globe at Delorme, and shopped at LL Bean, eating a picnic lunch by the big Bean boot. We visited 3 different state parks, played on playgrounds, walked some trails, saw a lighthouse, explored oceanside, and stamped our passports. And sampled fudge at Perry's Nut House.

C, S, T and J Getting Stepped on by the BIG Bean Boot

My Monkeys on the Playground

Fort Point State Park

Day 2 - EARLY morning! We dropped C off to horse camp and headed to the fort to explore and have a picnic lunch. We braved going up 420 feet in an elevator on a bridge to see beautiful ocean views! After picking up C (who mucked out 5 stalls, curried horses, learned about the English saddle, and got her first riding lesson), stopped for ice cream. We made pizza for dinner and had birthday cake (for my parents) and then spent the evening at the rocky ocean beach, swimming, searching for crabs, playing in the sand.

420 Feet Up THERE!

The View

N Reading About the Fort

S Sitting on the Canon Balls

Day 3 - C headed back to horse camp. The rest of us walked the bog boardwalk. (Was it hot, humid!) We had lobster rolls or hot dogs for dinner then headed to the beach again. I read a Kindle book (on my Mom's Kindle) and the kids swam, explored and climbed rocks until the mosquitoes swarmed.

J's Inuksuit at the Beach

Cousin N Exploring a Bog Flower Seeds

S and N Searching for Frogs in the Bog

Day 4 - A day without busyness! The kids were ASKING to stay home so Mom and Dad headed off with C to drop her off at horse camp and the rest of us, including my niece had a lazy day of reading, watching TV, playing video games, and drawing. We headed off island to watch "Mr. Popper's Penguins" after dinner. Unfortunately, I felt sicker and sicker throughout the day and decided to go to the ER after the movie. It turns out I have a sinus infection AND infections in both ears.

Day 5 - C's horse show! On her final day of camp, she showed us all that she learned - putting on an English saddle, riding, balance skills, a parade routine, and even the beginning of jumping! Her instructor said, "She's a natural!" and invited her back in July to ride with them in the town parade! I spent the rest of the day resting while the kids went swimming with family and C and S spent the night with my sister.

Isn't She Cute in her Riding Uniform?

She was VERY Serious About Riding

C with her Ribbon and Trophy

Day 6 - Relief already! I'm feeling better! Antibiotics are a GOOD thing! C has a friend over playing this morning. N is over for the day. And the older boys are still sleeping! Another slow day before trekking back home tomorrow. Laundry!

 

My Favorite Thing This Week Was

I was QUITE proud of all that C accomplished at horse camp this week! I had wondered if she was learning to ride because it sounded like she was doing A LOT of mucking out of stalls, but she did AWESOME!
 

Questions/Thoughts I Have

When we return, I NEED to finally order the rest of our curriculum for next year. I'm anxious! I want BOX DAY too! LOL

A Photo, Video, Link, or Quote To Share

Moose Point State Park

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The Homeschool Mother's Journal: June 18-24

In My Life This Week

We had FEW scheduled activities this week! I can't remember a week THIS YEAR that we didn't have an activity, usually a bunch EVERY DAY, to run too! Of course we weren't "couch potatoes" all week (even though I was tempted), but it was WONDERFUL to come-and-go as we pleased. 

In Our Homeschool This Week

Did you see that our new baby chicks hatched? The kids were SUPER DUPER excited! They even got to see one pop out of its shell! 4 mostly browns, 3 mostly blacks and 2 mostly yellow chicks joined us. 3 eggs were not fertile which made our hatch rate 100%! I believe we have 5 hens and 4 cockerels, so we'll be finding homes for the roosters. And the kids PROBABLY have us talked into keeping the hens. So, where to get a coop?

Some of Our Little Cheepers

C and S spent some time drawing.

S's Cartoon Alien

Isn't C's Shark Awesome?

S put together a 100 piece Scooby Doo puzzle. Puzzles are VERY difficult for him because of his visual tracking difficulties, but he stuck with it with a little help and encouragement.

The kids are off to a roaring start with their library Summer Reading Program goals! They spent A LOT of time sitting in the mottled shade under the evergreens inside Cheeper's wire run while Cheeper dug and searched for bugs to her content.

C Reading Sounder With Cheeper Digging and Exploring in the Wire Run

Seeds, Seeds, Seeds by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace inspired seed exploration by S. I'd HIGHLY recommend it for preschoolers through Grade 1 for Botany, Garden or plant studies. There's activities right in the reading to bring the information alive. S created his own labelled seed collection just like the Buddy in the story!

S's Seed Collection Poster

We had some "serious" trivia game competitions with Brain Quest: America. Even I'm learning some facts that I didn't know! (Shhh! C spends time reading the questions and answers so that she'll be better prepared between games!)

 

 Places We're Going and People We're Seeing

• C had her Softball Championship game on Saturday. Unfortunately they lost, but their season ended with a record of 7-3 and that's GREAT! On Monday we - PARENTS - played against the girls to celebrate. Guess who won?
• We went to my ILs to celebrate Father's Day Saturday night. FIL is the grill-master, grilling turkey for us! And the chocolate fondue MIL made with C wasn't so bad either!
• We spent an afternoon swimming at the lake.
• S finished up T-ball on Wednesday, getting his participation trophy and popsicles.
• The kids spent Thursday afternoon playing at their friends' house.
• At the library the kids each got their own small zen garden, complete with sand, rocks and a mini rake! We also go LOTS of books, a couple videos and a book-on-CD for our road trip this weekend.
• I dropped S off with my ILs for the weekend to play with his 5-year-old cousin. They have LOTS of fun things planned that he's excited about. And I picked up J's friend T who will be staying with us for the week.

My Favorite Thing This Week Was

Watching the kids play with the new chicks and seeing how excited they are were my favorite things this week. Their calm, caring manners with the animals are wonderful!

J Rubbing Cheeper II As it Sleeps in his Hands

J Rubbing Another Chick to Sleep

I Call This One Ewok! LOL

What's Working/Not Working For Us

I don't know why and I'm not going to question it, but having a Chore Competition gets my kids rollin' with cleaning! The kid who properly completes the most chores from the list gets $2.00, but to encourage ALL the kids, 2nd place gets $1.00 and 3rd place .50 cents. It's TOTALLY worth the $3.50 for me! (What's $3.50 for getting 35 chores completed in a couple of days, freeing up our days for taking the kids to the lake?)

 

Questions/Thoughts I have

Have we turned into a crazy CHICKEN family?! LOL The kids can't get enough of this new experience! I'm sure it'll wear off over time, right?

 

A Photo, Video, Link, or Quote to Share

I'm linking up to The Homeschool Mother's Journal, Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers, Forever, For Always, Not Matter What, Hip Homeschool Hop, Sunday Sunday, No Ordinary Blog Hop, and Fun Tuesday Hop. Join in for homeschooling fun!

The Homeschool Mother's Journal: June 11-17

 

In My Life This Week

Our baby chicks are starting to hatch! We have 4 pipped eggs! "Pipped" means that the chick has made a small crack or hole in the shell for air. They will rest after pipping and then begin chipping around the entire shell and finally push their way out. This process takes approximately 6-24 hours. Check back in a few days to see how many of our 12 incubating eggs hatch! The kids are SO excited! There are NO plans for sleeping tonight! LOL

 

C and I went on a nice walk one evening together. It's WONDERFUL to bond over nature! I snapped a bunch of photos for her project while we strolled along. 

A Bumble Bee on a Red Clover

C's Favorite Wild Flower - Daisy

An Inch Worm on a Leaf

The Beautiful Red Ladyslipper

C, S and I created a new, bigger brooder for Cheeper, using a cardboard box. We even added a roosting stick to the corner, which she LOVES.

Cheepers New Brooder (Missing: Wire Top and Reflector Light)

Cheeper (3 Weeks Old) on Roosting Stick

In Our Homeschool This Week

C decided on her 4H poster theme: Backyard Botany. We talked about what she would include on her poster - local plants, flowers and trees, a diagram of flower parts, types of leaves, and evergreens vs. deciduous trees - and how she would put it together over the summer. What will the boys do?

C found a dragonfly stuck in the garden netting and brought it inside. She and Sam spent a while looking it over with a magnifying glass and trying to determine what species it was. They were fascinated with its compound eyes!

Dragonfly - Species Unknown (for now)

S continues to draw pictures and copy words into his Do-it-Yourself Diary of a Wimpy Kid journal. It's exciting to hear him sounding out words, although I have to say the first 4-letter word he Spelled correctly was a BIG surprise. ((sigh)) But he IS spelling!

The First 4 Letter Word that S Spelled - The A is backwards

Did you know that a frog's skin needs to be kept wet or it can not get enough oxygen despite having lungs AND gills? I didn't! We spent some time learning about frogs this week in anticipation of getting to the Audubon center and catching frogs in their pond (which they encourage). We also made origami jumping frogs from Enchanted Learning.

Places We're Going and People We're Seeing

• J spent the weekend camping at the lake with Boy Scouts
• C, S and I had a picnic dinner at the lake and then the kids swam - BRRR! - and played in the sand 
• S had T-ball (in the rain) 
• C had softball practice and a play-off game (win!)
• We joined a LARGE group of homeschoolers at the state park to swim, play, and toss around ideas for a new EARTH SCHOOLING co-op in the fall 
• We went swimming with friends at 2 different public swimming beaches 
• We visited the library to sign up for the Summer Reading Program and get new movies and videos

The Lake on a Cloudy Early Evening

S Swimming with his Board

C Getting "Waved"

And a Mallard With Her 10 Ducklings at the Lake

  My Favorite Thing This Week

J and I drove to the bowling alley for our first Kids Bowl Free games! It was nice to go out with my "big kid", chatting and exploring the town, leisurely playing a couple of strings (and joking about our terribly low scores), visiting the library nearby, and "hanging out".

 

 What's Working/Not Working For Us

Don't get me wrong - we DO love our activities - but sports and weekly Girl and Boy Scout meetings ended this week until September and it's WONDERFUL to have more time for other things. THERE IS NOTHING ON THE SCHEDULE NEXT WEEK UNTIL THE WEEKEND!

 

 Questions/Thoughts I Have

What will we do while visiting my family the last week of June? And will Cheeper come with us to live with Mom or is it coop buying time?

 A Photo, Video, Link, or Quote to Share 

A quick, sneak peak! You can hear Cheeper in the background at the end, cheeping at the little ones. She's not sure what to think of them! LOL

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Puffins and Pemaquid

Have you ever seen a Puffin? They're really cool looking birds, but we've never actually SEEN one until yesterday! 

Check Out That Beak! Photo Credit by www.oddanimals.com

J, C and I joined our friend and her grand-daughter for a 2 1/2 hour drive up to New Harbor, ME, joining a group of homeschoolers from around the state on a Puffin cruise. Despite my, um, navigating "skills", we arrived early and had time to stretch our legs and explore around Shaw's wharf.

J as a Lobster

C as a Happy Clam

Once on the boat, J headed to the top deck with some boys we know, while C stayed on the first deck with the rest of us, meeting some new homeschoolers from the Bucksport area. (We knew it was going to be SUPER chilly up top and opted for the more sheltered botton one.) We cruised to Egg Rock Island in search of Puffins.

The Boat We Went on

On the Way We Went Past This Little Island

And Here's Egg Rock With an Scientists Hut (for Observations) and LOTS of Birds

Our ONE Puffin...Who Flew Around and Finally Landed

We headed back to the dock after seeing some Harbor Seals, walked to the parking lot, and headed to Colonial Pemaquid. We had a picnic lunch on tables by the bay then joined a smaller group of homeschoolers for an educational tour of the fort.

A park ranger explained the ruins seen by the museum and the history of the area, which included French, English and Native American.

Perhaps a Jail or Animal Stockade?

Most People Living in the 1700s Grew Herb Gardens Outside Their Front Doors

And These Gardens Had a Variety of Plants

A man dressed in period clothing conducted the rest of the tour. He was a hoot! Although his stories and information became long at times, the kids were attentive and enjoyed him!

The fort itself has been rebuilt and renamed several times. It was named Charles for the English King for a while and then William Henry, another king, and then Frederick, a general. The current fort was built to replicate the original William Henry.

Some Part of the Fort that was Found

French, USA, Maine, and England Flags - French and English are 1700s

The Story Goes That Enemies Hid Behind this Rock so the Fort Was Built Around it

The bay and the outlying island are named for John Smith - Pocohontos's John Smith - for when he explored this area: John Island and John's Bay. Interestingly, John Smith also coined the phrase "New English" according to our guide.

I think the kids favorite part was learning about tinderboxes and seeing our period-dressed guide shoot his musket. (J got a cool video on his cell phone, but I can't seem to get it uploaded.)

We had a GREAT day! We headed out at 6:45 in the morning and arrived home at 5:30pm - a full, fun, educational experience!