Adventures in Homeschooling

So, it's been nearly a month since I updated. Life goes on, but I just haven't felt like blogging, I guess.

Homeschooling has been kind of fun most days. We only have a meltdown (hers or mine) about once a week. Those days, I just try to kind of back off and we make it up somewhere. We usually start around 9 am, and finish about 1 or 2. She does some work in the car when we have to run errands, or when I have to be somewhere else. Or we use that time to discuss her social studies or science. I have a friend with a degree in creative writing that is coaching her with some other homeschool kids for her writing assessment. Another friend, who is an artist, is having an art class at her house once or twice a month. We have PE at the park on Tuesdays (when it's not raining). Meghan taught them how to play her funny little "poppy ball" game and one of the moms is teaching some of them how to play tennis.

So, a few pics of our adventures so far.



We went to a beach where the ocean is chipping away at a cliff, exposing seashell and sea critter fossils. You are allowed to pick up stuff that's already fallen, you aren't allowed to help the ocean erode the cliff. We got a few great samples, then Meg did the research to find out about them. They are about 2-3 million years old and were probably deposited after a storm, then covered in mud/silt/sand which hardened into rock.

She was studying the ancient Roman Empire in social studies. So, we did a little research on what the ancient romans ate and had a toga party, ate reclining on the couch, mostly roman (ish) food. Since the Roman Empire was pre-pasta, pre-tomato, etc, it wasn't as easy as you would think.



Don't you love our Roman Empire-era purple plastic cups??? And Meg's paisley toga.


Meg (and Bodie Hardy) making like Jackson Pollock in her art class. (See here for actual Pollock paintings) Frankly, I think she's better.


Last week, I played piano for the Hidden Valley Institute of the Arts Elderhostel. Retired people (mostly over about 70) come and spend a week in Carmel, learning choral music and a bit of dance, and they have a concert on Friday night. Meg went with me, of course, and was doing her schoolwork while I played. She even got to practice her piano on that gorgeous Steinway during the breaks (which she LOVED). A couple of days in, the director asked her if she wanted to sing. He had brought in some of his college students to help, also. I think she had a good time, and now has all kinds of extra grandma friends.

Oh, and we used Jenny's Hunger Games competition as our reading project last month. Our Educ Svpr was impressed by Jenny's bookclub, blog and contest. And, that we tied for first.

I've had lots of people tell me how "brave" I am to homeschool, but frankly, it's easier than I thought it would be. It certainly beats the crud out of begging her to do her homework every afternoon. I'm learning stuff, too, which is kind of cool. The Educ Svpr is very helpful and my other homeschooling friends have banded together for some fun classes. All in all, it's been a pretty positive experience. Someone asked Meghan if she liked homeschooling and she told them she did. Of course, I was sitting there, but it's not like she's tried to spare my feelings before. :0)