Tonight we made hula hoops. Wow, what a lot of fun. We followed the instructions you’ll find in my links and they worked perfectly! So far we have made three hoops. One is giant and the easiest for Norm and for me. The others are smaller, but still a lot bigger than the ones you see at toys r us. We tried different things to go inside for weight and noise making. Red lentils make a soft sandy sound but we all prefer black beans. (dried of course!)
Amelia is the champion; it’s as if she was created to hoop. If she doesn’t end up being a bestselling author, or a famous cellist, or a fabulous tray balancing waitress… she could run away with a circus as a hooper.
Next will come the decorating. The hoops are black and we got electrical tape in orange, violet, and blue. We might try stickers too. We were thinking about spray painting them but it seems like it might crack and rub off on clothing.
We had such fun out in the yard hooping tonight! It’s still nice out even though it’s dark. It rained earlier today so the air is very fresh and wonderful.
I love unschooling; it’s summer vacation for the school kids. (I think) But learning and fun know no season at our house. (and no time of day either!) I could rattle on and on about PE and science, and even social studies as we talked about hula dancing. But that would bore me before I finished. You know, we had a blast tonight and we made some great memories. I wonder if I’ll have bruises on my waist tomorrow.
Sharon
Tonight was the night Madeline has been waiting for and talking about for weeks. It was the Limelight Awards at youth group. Last week they made music videos and tonight was the award event. As described in an earlier post, Madeline wore a fabulous dress we found at Goodwill. She also had on some very stylish black shoes and a fun plastic tiara she borrowed from her friend. I took some pictures of her but I'm not much of a photographer. I'll post one as soon as I can get my hubby to get them into the computer.
She looked incredible and had a lot of fun.
Sharon
And that is one thing I love about unschooling. One thing leading to another is great. It might look like we lack focus to some, but there is a lot more to it than that. Sometimes we are led to reflect on a seemingly unrelated thing only to bounce off to something else. Often, that is because that thing only needed a momentary inspection. Sometimes it’s just a bridge to something that will hold us for longer. It’s amazing how often one of the girls remind me of something they remember from a brief conversation or something we spotted on a walk. And it must have been interesting and satisfying, because they sure did stick it into their memory! Recently I was reading my friend Lesa’s blog and she posted about children and different movie ratings. Did parents follow the rating guidelines or not, or only situationally. I read some of the comments to my daughters and we talked about it, it’s been a good conversation and it’s moved on to books. Madeline has recently started to read fiction written for adults. I just started to read the #1 Ladies Detective Agency and I am deciding if she should read it. I think it’s fine but I haven’t read very much of it. Any thoughts? Sharon
Amelia, the one I don't write about in my blog, made the President's List! I am so proud of her. She has done really well in college, her gpa is very good and she is really owning her education and her experience there. She'll be graduating this December. I am telling a lot of people about her success, partly because I like to brag, but also as encouragement to homeschooling families. I went to a gathering of parents who are sending kids off to college, some already have one or more who are in college. I was amazed to learn that a lot of kids email their homework back to their parents for an edit before they turn it in. Amelia has NEVER done that. It isn't cheating, you write papers out of class and are free to get input from friends or whomever, but still.
Today Madeline is sick, she was worse yesterday. Yesterday when I asked her if she wanted anything, she replied in a weak, crying sort of voice, "I don't know…" today she got up saying she was no better, but if I go out could I please get her some Dreyers Whole fruit bars, the yellow ones if you can find them. Sounds like she is feeling better, no?
I have a start on my mom's website. I don't know what I am doing so I have been using Yahoo's site builder tool. It's kind of lame. I'm hoping that someone here will help me improve it. The URL is preciousquilts.org. Take a look and let me know what I should do to improve it. The gallery is full of pictures of Prague. That's because it's a template that I haven't customized yet. I am planning to fill each spot with a picture of a quilt available to order.
OK, I think I need to go to the store. Yellow Whole Fruit Bars… remember that!
Love,
Sharon
Filed under: Homeschooling
My youngest has begun taking classes at the local "homeschool center." She is now taking three classes, two are taught by one of my best friends. The other is one where she is teacher's aid with younger kids. She is very happy to be there. In her Lit class they are reading Cry the Beloved Country. She is finding it hard to get into. I think she will like it after she has read more. She is also taking creative writing, each student is writing a book. Her older sister took this class and writing the book was a lot of fun for her.
Today the weather is sunny and it's not very cold out. The daffodils are in bloom and so is the japonica. I'm thinking about making baked chicken and some kind of salad for dinner.
My middle girl is home again after being away all weekend. She was working at a convention for fns of Japanese animation and culture. She is very interested in majoring in linguistics and we are looking into the program at UW. I am hoping she will contact their undergrad advisor today and set up an appointment for us to visit and learn more about the program.
Sharon
Sharon @ home 