Moving Day

We're off to get the truck in just a few minutes. I guess I should pack up my computer now ;) See you when we get settled in our new place.

Michelle

The Far East

We found out 2 weeks ago that we are definitely moving. Most of the last 2 weeks has been filled with finding housing in our new town and other things related to moving. Oh, and my in laws visited and Rand and I took a trip to Chicago (planned before we knew we were moving...) the trip was nice, but I definitely felt like I should be home packing...

Before we knew we were moving, we were making our way through picture books about Asia, so I squeezed in a few minutes in the last few days and finished the ones we had left from the library. We are almost done with our trip around the world via picture books. We still need to get to Russia, the Middle East and Canada. One of the things that is so great about homeschooling is that we take time off when life throws us a curve and just pick up where we left off when life calms down again.

Here are some picture books about Asia that we have enjoyed

China
The Butterfly Boy
The Chinese Siamese Cat
Daisy Comes Home
The Emperor's New Clothes: s tale set in China
Happy, Happy Chinese New Year
Huan ching and the Golden Fish
The Moon Lady
Ms. frizzle's adventures: Imperial China
The Paper Dragon
Ping- Li's Kite
The Seven Chinese Sisters
The Story of Chopsticks

Japan
The Girl who Loved Caterpillars
Grandfather's Story
The Magic Fan
Sayonara, Mrs. Kackleman
Tea with Milk
Tree of Cranes
The Warrior and the Wise Man
Yoko's Paper Cranes
Yoshiko and the Foreigner

India
Anni's India Diary
Baya, Baya, Lulla-by-a
The Story of little Babaji

Vietnam
Grandfather's Dream
The Lotus Seed

Korea
Father's Rubber Shoes
The Name Jar
Peach Heaven

We will be packing our moving truck 2 weeks from today, so this blog may be a bit quiet for a while.

I've learned something about myself

During the last 2 weeks in which I have been fretting over the possible upcoming changes in our life, I discovered part of the reason that I am a neat freak. It is because cleaning and organizing give me control of something. So when I feel especially out of control of my own destiny, I like to clean. Needless to say my house is very organized right now and I have 7 boxes of stuff to ready to give away...

March comes in like a lion and out like a ???

Is March over half over already? Sheesh where has the month gone? My in laws came to visit the first week of the month and I still haven't really gotten back on schedule. I suppose it didn't help that my dh woke me up the morning after his parents left to inform me that he had gotten an email from BYU asking if he would like to apply for a one year position for next year. Yikes! What!?!? We were planning to be in Colorado one more year. We did know that this was a possibility since he is going to Utah to teach for spring session and we though if they liked him they might ask him to teach in the Fall, but we figured it was only a slight possibility.

Now everything is crazy at our house. Or at least I am crazy. I don't mind change. We have moved 7 times in 12 years of marriage, but I don't like it when things are up in the air. Because Rand is going to Utah to teach for spring session we are discussing the possibility of all of us moving to Utah in May. Yikes, that is soon, but he is also supposed to teach at CU in July and August. So many choices and decisions. Of course, he first has to get the job... In the meantime, all of the various scenarios are running through my head. So if you don't hear from me for a while, you will know I am either packing or my brain exploded from all the decisions spinning around in my head.

Yep that's me!

Melissa Wiley posted this quiz and I couldn't resist. It does describe me pretty well don't you think?

You Are An Exclamation Point

You Are An Exclamation Point

You are a bundle of... well, something. You're often a bundle of joy, passion, or drama. You're loud, brash, and outgoing. If you think it, you say it. Definitely not the quiet type, you really don't keep a lot to yourself. You're lively and inspiring. People love to be around your energy. (But they do secretly worry that you'll spill their secrets without even realizing it.) You excel in: Public speaking You get along best with: the Dash

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

Unschooling what comes naturally

Unschooling is a controversial topics among homeschoolers. It think the reason for this is because unschooling is hard to define. I have never considered myself to be an unschooler, but... If unschooling means not going to a traditional school , then we are unschoolers. If unschooling means never requiring your child to do something academic then we are not unschoolers. If mean being entirely child led then we are not unschoolers. If unschooling means provided materials to inspire your children to explore a topic independently, then we have moments of unschooling in our home.

I have discovered that certain subject unschool more easily in our home. And I have noticed that other subjects come more easily to other families. In our family the subjects that are explored without effort are art, music, and literature. Art happens everyday in our house. Without much effort my girls have become familiar with famous artists and composers. (Thanks Little Einsteins!) The girls beg for one more chapter of reading at bedtime and yell, "turn on the book on cd!" every time we get in the car. They don't even consider any of this learning to be part of school.

The girls also get lots of unschooling moments with their dad. He often discusses science topics with them at dinner time. He was so excited to find out they we were going to be learning about geology that he spent a half an hour one evening explaining tectonic plates and the ring of fire. Last night he and Sierra stood by the world map discussing places around the world. One day he explained why the sky is blue. Something about light waves... And he does it all without preparation. Me, I need a book to help me explain most of these things.

So, I try not to get caught up in the unschooling debate. I watch out for and encourage unschooling moments, but I also plan and present topics that don't happen as naturally in our home. But on days like today when I am sick, I try not to feel guilty for not "doing school." When I observe the paintings made from soap water and food coloring (Art AND Science) and the scenes from various Magic Tree House books being acted out (Science and History), I realize that there are times for schooling and time for unschooling in every homeschool.

Oh, and of course

to conclude our Geology unit, we made a volcano that erupted!!