Music Performances

Holidays give us plenty of performance opportunities.  Haley took full advantage by performing in 2 recitals and 1 competition - all for piano.  The harp recital had to be canceled due to the ice storm.  

Spanish Story time

Learning Spanish will enhance the children's education!  The local library has Spanish Storytime - so we decided to check it out.

And this is a testament to the value of practice!!

Philanthropy: Kids in the City

Holiday giving to local charity that serves to benefit local children via toy drives with Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated.

JFK lecture - 50 years later

At the local library attending Uncle's talk on JFK - 50 years later.  Haley controls the powerpoint.  Lots of learning - AND discovery of the library!!

Fall Festival

Painting, games, snacks at the Fall Festival at school.

Piggy and Compassion.

Haley and my mom had this agreement. During her visit with us in June, with Haley's insistence, my mom agreed to take the "most calmest stuffed animal Haley had" from her collection...and in exchange she bought Haley a brand new "rambunctious" blue-nosed stuffed animal. "See," my mom told Haley, "I'm an old lady...and I cannot have all that activity around me anymore."

Haley said "okay Grandma, take Piggy then. Piggy likes to sit around because she has sand in her bottom."

My mom agreed. And took Piggy from Texas this summer, back to California.

My mom died in August.

When we arrived to her home in Los Angeles for her funeral, there Piggy sat...on her shelf...calmly.

Haley immediately spotted Piggy, and at the Viewing of my mom's body, Haley slipped Piggy into her casket.

"Here Grandma, Piggy is calm, and she will keep you company for as long as you need her to..." 

http://www.confessionsofadrmom.com/2013/09/what-children-can-teach-us-about-death/

What is MY motivation??

Me: Haley, having an education is vital if you are to have the life you envision for yourself. Your motivation for completing your schoolwork has to come from your deep understanding of this fact. Not a trophy, or a letter grade..but rather because you understand that being uneducated will not yield the human experience you desire.

Haley: I intellectually realize this fact, Mommy. And I will say, 80% of my motivation is based on this fact alone. However, 10% of my motivation stems from the fact that do enjoy getting As. And another 10% is my desire to avoid the negative consequences you impose upon me if I fail to follow your rules. 

I'll take that. 

I wonder...

...if I want my Goldendoodle puppy to learn to interact with humans (have manners, behave appropriately) would I "socialize her" with a bunch of other puppies all day? 

If I want my children to learn to interact with humans (have manners, behave appropriately) would I "socialize them" with a bunch of same-age kids all day?

Typical homeschool reading assignment.

Ian starts harmonica

Physical activity has to be placed on hold because Ian has a pain in his hip.  So, we drop horse-back riding, martial arts, and start harmonica.  Thinking about restarting swimming as well.

Avoiding trouble talk for Youth

Preteen and teen youth learn about what happened to Trayvon Martin, and how to avoid inadvertently getting into these (and other legal situations).  

Haley asked the criminal defense attorneys that came to talk to the children about "being smart and avoiding trouble" some EXCELLENT questions:

"So, what if I'm WITH someone who is smoking weed and I breathe the smoke, can that affect me? And if it is found to be in my system, how can I let the judge know that I didn't actually smoke the weed myself?" - Haley age 11

Did you know...that if a 13 year-old takes naked photos of herself and texts them to her 13 year old boyfriend...they both COULD be charged felony child porn charges if...say a school teacher confiscates the phone and happens to see the photos? And felony child porn conviction = registered sex offender for 10 years for a child under 17!! Who knew...

Visiting the Pumpkin Patch at the Arboretum

Little projects

By Haley

By Hana

Homeschool study day - at her desk

Little plant and soap sculpture

Ian made a botanic environment.

Hana carved a fish in a bar of soap.  So creative.

Quizlet

We discovered Quizlet.  Wonderful homeschool tool!!
We are using it for Spanish, and Life Science review.

Field Trip: Henrietta Creek Orchard

Thoroughly enjoyed our field trip to Henrietta Creek Orchard where the children learned about farming, making clothing from cotton (from the plant, to making thread, cloth, etc).  Bees, pollination, farming, and homesteading were the cornerstones of this experience.  

Teen leadership conference and JIGGY youth project - with Jack and Jill

The children attended the Jack and Jill conference at the University of North Texas Dallas.  There they learned about healthy living, exercise (although Ian had to sit it out since he has been having right hip pain thought to be transient synovitis*) and peer interaction.

*Ian had to put martial arts, horseback-riding, and afterschool PE on hold until he's all healed.