The Great Outdoors

 As I have mentioned before, we live in the most incredible place. Everything we could want (except for the beach) is close. Lakes, ponds, parks, biking trails, rivers, mountains are all very close, most within walking distance or a short drive. It's amazing.

Mostly because Sofi would live outside if she could. She is always playing outside, at least in the summer months. She isn't a big fan of winter. 

So we have been taking advantage of the good days to do our learning outside. We have a lot of smoke right now do to the fires, but not every day is bad. And we have had a drop in temperatures this week.

I have seen a lot of parents have to adjust this last week with the brick-and-mortar schools moving to virtual programs. I am actually amazed at the motivating learning stations these people create for their kids. It is so wonderful to see parents stepping it up to help their child succeed! 

High COVID-five to all you awesome mentors!

K is definitely someone who learns in front of a computer. She will do well this year since her college work will be online. There are definitely kids who can handle it. 

But Sofi does not. She needs to be up a tree.

So we have been studying the planets and this type of lesson can be particularly challenging to a child who isn't able to grasp abstract thought. She can't touch or see the planets, so it's difficult for her to focus on or retain what is being taught. It has to become real in some way. 

So decided to model our solar system at the park!

Here's our sun-

Here's our planets:

Poor Pluto got evicted since I was in school. So now the kids learn-

My Very Excited Mother Just Served Us Nachos

instead of

My Very Excited Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles

We were able to create a model of the solar system using different sized balls to show the significant difference in the size of the planets, and by taking a certain number of steps between the balls so she could compare the distance between them. 

We went to the park so we had lots of space to spread them out. I took photos but somehow the photos didn't make it home. But she loved the lesson. And she was shocked at how far they were apart.

Here she is "warming her toosh on the sun" (more like incinerating)

As you can see, we had to put Mercury on a piece of paper because the ball bearing was too small to see. Oh why did those other photos not keep? Grr. Such is life.

We also made planetary pizzas for lunch:

I really do encourage my kids to eat healthy sometimes. Those photos never make it either.

Another thing about Sofi is that social interactions are very difficult, especially with people she doesn't know, or with large groups. It sends her into panic attacks.  So part of our "learning" is real life learning too. It's important that she have opportunities to learn how to be around people. 

So off to the park we go!

Coco isn't a therapy dog per say, but he is so wonderful. He never barks or growls or tries to run off. He is just there to give snuggles and help Sofi.

As you can see from the photo, the park is relatively empty. 

Or at least it wasn't packed with kids. But this was still overwhelming. 

She talked all morning about climbing the mammoth. But when we go there and she saw kids, she immediately changed her mind. There were other kids on the mammoth. It took a good 10 minutes for me to convince her to just climb halfway up. Again, baby steps. I am glad she tried. 

These are her happy places. Private places. 

With her dog. And rolling down random hills, because, why not?

(Unfortunately she had a massive allergic reaction on her skin that night.)

Of course, we did a lot of other work too this week. I am really pleased at her progress with math and her ability to recognize traits about Mary in our book The Secret Garden. She is learning a lot of new words and asking a lot of questions. She is beginning to journal, learn about sentence structure and practice her handwriting. We have had a lot of fun learning about the US States and trying to come up with silly ways to remember the US Capitals. Like how Californians eat the sacrament with their toes. hahahah.

I love this girl. I love that she's everything outside as an adventure. I love that she teaches me to slow down and notice things. I love that she tries things that are hard. 

Mom the Paparazzi

 We were watching a Bible movie about Naaman and in the movie, his wife is crying. Sofi (who gets really worried when she sees any adult emotion) says:

 "Why is she crying?"

Me: "Her husband is in pain. Sometimes that makes us sad when we see other people hurting."

"Really? Well, daddy always laughs when you're in pain."

Burn.

So Sofi has a lot of workbooks this year, and it has required of me a bit of an attitude adjustment. Yes, moms get set in their ways too (sometimes). 

I have never been a fan of workbooks. I feel like they are busy work to keep kids out the teacher's hair so the teacher can multi-task. And while I am all about teacher's having a moment to take care of the needs of 20 different kids, I personally would not have chosen workbooks as part of our homeschool. 

In general, I am not a fan of any "premade" curriculum. I am pretty much anti-curriculum. Why?

They don't take into consideration the individual child. And I am all about letting the child lead and learn to love learning on their own terms.

Plus they are really expensive.

I rarely pay for anything I use in my schooling. Thanks to the good old internet, you can find anything on line for FREE. I do buy used books because I like my kids to write in the books when they read. But that is about it. 

But, I have to adapt.

Sofi is glue. She sticks to you from the moment she is up. She is rarely able to be alone, as she has massive separation anxiety. So for her, a workbook helps her learn to work independently. She is leaning to read and follow directions on her own, and gain confidence along the way.

Baby steps for her, and for mom.

The other issue is that Sofi leans by touching. By manipulating. So we do a lot of crafts, a lot of coloring, cutting, gluing. Field trips if possible. And the more senses we use, the more she is able to retain. It's a great excuse to make a mess. 

Something as simple as history or geography can be really difficult for her to understand. We use videos, photos, cooking, arts and crafts and other means to help her make it "real." But she still makes comments occasionally that make you realize that she doesn't fully get it.

Like when you are learning the US States and she says "I can't wait until get to China."

Sofi decided today that I am stalking her with my camera.  "You remind of the paparazzi that follows famous people." I thought it was pretty funny. Plus she's my only child left that allows me to stalk her with a camera.

On another note......

Besides making huge messes, one of the best things about being home is the flexibility to work at our own pace. And having a gas station around the corner is a huge motivation to stop and take a break. Every penny that Sofi earns goes to overpriced gas-station snacks.

But who can turn down ice cream on a hot day?

And since she literally brings every penny she owns, it turns into great practice for counting money at the counter while 6 people wait behind us. 

(BTW, She tries to convince me to drive sometimes. Sorry kid, if you are eating junk food then you are at least walking to get it.) 

Some days are tough

Sometimes Sofi is a completely different child. When her anxiety is bad, she is overwhelmed by everything and demands a very rigid schedule and environment. Something so small as her cheese not lining-up exactly right on her sandwich can send her into a panic attack. Those days are pretty hard for both of us. 

Other days are difficult, but are doable as long as we have a lot of flexibility. These are days when I have to re-think everything I had planned and we have to take a deep breath. These are the days that she is in charge and we have hit a road-block in her journey that day. So we just have to stop.

Other days she is happy, motivated child and excited about everything.

I really never know what child is going to show up each day.

Today was a difficult day.

Sofi has sleeping problems related to her anxiety. She has a hard time staying asleep and frequently sleep-walks. At home this isn't a huge deal because the dogs notify me if she tries to go downstairs. On trips however, we have to be careful because she has actually tried to leave the hotel room. 

The biggest issue with her sleep problems is that sometimes she wakes up exhausted. That is what happened this morning. She got up really early thinking it was 10 and started making her bed and getting ready. She then "woke-up" and realized it was still early morning and tried to go back to sleep but it was too late. She was awake.

So with her being extra tired today, school was difficult. We had to take a lot of deep breaths, take a lot of breaks, and choose activities that were simple. Like coloring state pages instead of jumping into Geography online. 

We also made pages for her Bible book she is making. This was mostly cutting and gluing because she just wasn't able to focus on the stories behind the art project. But that is ok. 

We happen to have a movie that talks about people in Nepal, so she asked if she could have some quiet time and just watch that (since we are studying India/SE Asia) The dogs were happy to join her. 

After that and a few minutes outside, she was able to work on some vocabulary and some math.

But with a few tears.

Math is really difficult for Sofi. She struggles with any type of abstract thought. Time, distance, place are all hard for her. She doesn't understand days/years, states/cities/countries, etc. We still explain time in terms of sleeps. Math is super hard for this reason, and we find ourselves constantly having to go back and "restart" lessons that should have become permanent. 

Today was a review on place value and it immediately sent her into a panic attack. Mom had to "stop, drop and roll." Stop talking; drop the original plan; and roll with a new way of teaching the concept. With a bit of practice and these wonderful blocks she began to remember it.

I think these blocks have been the best purchase I have ever made for homeschool. We use them for so many things because she can touch them and manipulate them. They are real.

Lastly, Sofi went to her  private swimming lesson. We found the most amazing swimming instructor many months ago. She understand Sofi's delays and helps her learn to use her feet and arms correctly. Sofi is a wonderful swimmer underwater, but she doesn't swim on top of the water using strokes. She has a hard time crossing midline and so there are some movements she can't make without someone holding her limbs and moving them for her. That is why I love Jaimee. She really sees the issues and isn't afraid to grab her legs and make her body kick correctly. 

I am so thankful for those around me who help navigate the challenges we face on a regular basis. It really does take a village.

First Day of 5th Grade

Sofi has been super excited to start the first day of school...... or so she said. Then she added "I just want to get it over with!" Nevertheless, we are here and we had a wonderful talk about attitude and how it affects our learning experience. 

So of course, we had to do the honorary "1st day of School photo" because I am a mom. No matter how old they get, I think it is great; First they they love it and then they hate it but it doesn't matter because I am getting it anyway.

Some people ask about my homeschool philosophies. Other than a "no attitude" rule, we don't really have rules. If you need a break, you take one. If you don't want to be homeschooled, go to public school. I have set aside 4 hours to be available to teach you. If you don't get it done, you will be working alone, or in the evening with dad, instead of watching TV. So it just depends on the kid. 

I believe in letting kids lead.  I consider myself the mapmaker. I know the milestones my child should reach. I know the state requirements. But the student drives us to get there. We might have delays, stops and detours, but that's ok. How we arrive is up to the student. 

But of course they have to be taught HOW to drive, to take control of their learning. So I find in the beginning there is a bit more organization and prompted learning. And Sofi likes it that way. 

Kelbre didn't. She wanted me to leave.her.alone. 😂 

Isn't it weird how you can make such different kids out of  the same DNA?

So, FIRST DAY!

Our literature selection for this quarter is The Secret Garden. 

I believe in using books as the base for learning. 

So today was all about INDIA, the setting for the first chapter of the book.

Sofi dressed in her "Sari," (which is really just a wrap skirt) but since the child believes in changing clothes every half hour, it didn't last long. 

We mapped India, talked about the things that we already knew (which was quite a bit thanks to movies), googled photos and discussed what things were similar to or different from the U.S.

We talked about "Diwali" the "Festival of Lights." This lead to some discussion about the Hindu religion and different Gods.  We read a short book called the Diwali Gift and then make our own Diyas (The lamps they use during Diwali).

Making the salt dough and forming the lamps:

After they baked for about an hour, we painted them and added lights. Kelbre joined in for the painting. We really like to spread out and make a mess when we paint.

The turned out great! And yes, we are using battery operated lights because after watching 2 brothers go through scouts, she is a bit of a pyromaniac. 

TIME FOR COOKING!

We did some Indian baking by making homemade Naan.

Sofi modeled her new apron given to her by her grandma Centra and personalized by Kathy:

FYI: Sofi doesn't hold back her opinions. Over the years there have been plenty of embarrassing moments where the child said what she should have just thought.

So, the entire time we cooked she reminded me that she was going to hate it. It's a good thing I don't get my feelings hurt easily. My inadequacies as a cook have permanently affected my kids.

I seriously get excited at the sight of risen dough because I know I didn't kill the yeast. It's very satisfying. It's very easy for me to kill things unintentionally. 

Like plants, for example. I even killed a cactus.

They are like thick tortillas that don't have to be round. This is my happy place.

Based on how many I ate, I thought they were pretty darn good. 

My belly, however, isn't so happy. I am not used to eating a lot of bread. 

Notice the lack of cilantro. I HATE cilantro. I get that from my dad. And I am an adult and I so don't have to have it.

The of course came the real test:

Drum roll please........

SOFI LIKE IT! She declared "I made something that actually tasted good."

(She sprinkled cinnamon on hers. I think she thought it was going to taste like cinnamon sugar. 

But it was just straight cinnamon. Still good.)

And of course because I am such a mean momma, I made her help clean up afterward.

This was our "Hands on Learning" Day. We read the first chapter of The Secret Garden together. Well, mostly I read it out loud because with Sofi's learning delays, this book is difficult for her. But I feel the story is worth the effort. And I try to make her read a little bit. 

And now since she is SO EXCITED that her first day of school is OVER, she had a friend over for a playdate. What are they playing? 

School, of course. 😁