Saturday, August 30, 2008


It's not exactly "breaking the CK barrier," but I was very excited to have a little something in the In Your Words column in Creating Keepsakes this month. I wrote about my substitute teaching experience from October to January this past school year. Now I just have to make sure everyone at school sees it so I get all the good gigs!!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Nature Journal


We've started a nature journal with Esme. For now she's dictating what she wants to say and copying it into her journal to record her thoughts, but we're hoping that as her writing and spelling improve she'll be able to do more on her own.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

I can take one class for free every semester at an Ivy League college. I am super bummed that yet again this semester, I cannot find a class to take. Classes are geared toward people who live on campus which is understandable, but I am bummed that there is nothing that I could remotely apply to my life offered in the evening that isn't filled immediately. It seems like such a waste not to take advantage of this opportunity, but at this moment the only thing I could take would be Riding I. Not sure this is the perfect time in my life to start horseback riding with no prior experience. I so want to go back to school, and there are many things I would like to take including environmental science, sociology, education, religion, etc. It's sad that I can't make this work!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The Nebraska Exchange

Project Learning Tree's Activity #20 is to be paired with students in a different region of the country, and send each other a box of things that tell about your local environment. A couple weeks ago I signed up to be paired for the exchange, thinking we would probably be paired with a class somewhere. I was delighted to get a call last week from another homeschooling family who'd received our name and was interested in swapping boxes. The family includes three elementary aged girls and one older schooled brother. They live right in the middle of Nebraska. The mom and I talked for a while and decided to send biographies around Labor Day, a Summer/Fall box at the beginning of November and a Winter/Spring box in mid-May. We are so excited about this project! Esme and I are having a great time choosing items to include in the box. Anyone who has ideas please email me! We'll update the project here on our blog. Since Esme is in the beginning stages of learning to write, I decided to do her biography as an interview. Here are some of her answers:

How old are you?
Five. And a half.

Where do you live?
At home - in a house.

Who is in your family?
My mommy, daddy, and me.

Do you have an extended family?
Nonna, Grandma, Auntie Lisa, Dylan.

Do you have any close friends?
Sarah.

What do you like to play?
I like to play princess dolls and legos.

Do you have a favorite game?
I Spy Bingo.

Where are some of your favorite places?
Friendly's, Nonna's house, Mount Tom

Do you play any sports?
Soccer and swimming.

Do you do any other activities?
Daisy Girl Scouts. Lego League.

Do you have a favorite movie?
Yes. Ariel and Enchanted.

Do you go to church?
Yes. And Sunday School.

What makes you laugh really hard?
Talking funny.

Do you have a favorite dinner?
Spaghetti and [turkey] meatballs.

Do you have a favorite color?
Yes. Orange!

What is your favorite time of day?
Reading time.

What is your favorite season?
Fall. Do you know why? Because I can jump in piles of leaves.

What are some of your favorite books?
Fancy Nancy, Seymour Makes New Friends, I Spy, Super Completely and Totally the Messiest, Paddington

What do you like to do with your family?
Go out. I like to eat at restaurants. I like to go to the Family Restaurant.

Do you like to take trips? Where have you been?
Yes. I have been camping.

What do you want to do when you grow up?
I want to buy clothes for grownups. I want to be a hairdresser.

Do you want to have children? How many?
Yes. I want to have two. One girl. One boy.

Do you have any pets?
I have Pekoe.

What is Pekoe?
A kitty.

What do you like about homeschooling?
I like doing my new math. [first curriculum]

What is something you're good at?
Swimming.

What is something you're not good at?
I'm not good at writing twos.

Is there anything else we should know about you?
I play Barbies every day.

Monday, August 11, 2008


This layout is soooo old! I'm not even sure which summer these photos were taken. I remember it being a super fun day, and that I was so excited to scrap it right away. Then when I got home I printed the pics, got the layout about half done, and put it in a drawer. Over time I have slowly added additional elements, making it a strange mix of my old and more developed styles. It's finally done! (Except I still have to go back and look for that date!)

Monday, August 04, 2008

Next time you see Esme....

Ask her a basic difference between a deciduous and coniferous tree. I did my first full Project Learning Tree lesson with her this weekend. We searched for pine cones and found several different ones on the ground at camp. We compared and contrasted them and used them to identify two local types of trees. We started her nature journal - she both copied words into it and illustrated.