Year Four: You Blink and Suddenly, It's December!

Exploration really is the essence of the human spirit, and to pause, to falter, to turn our back on the quest for knowledge, is to perish.

~Frank Borman

Y'all, I don't know what happened. I swear that yesterday was late August or mid-September at the latest. But no, it's December. Last you heard, we were traveling. Luckily, we survived it all! I can't even tell you everything that's happened since because I barely recall what all we did last week! 

Let's do a quick recap and call it a day, shall we? Great!

First up, September:

 My sweet world traveler! This was only the beginning of our adventure!

 Just because Mommy is away at school doesn't mean Mr. Sidekick gets a vacation! Although, school with Mimi seems much more fun!

 Tasty too. 😉

 We managed to see the first home game for Sooners before we headed back home. It was bright and hot but we got a win!

 Our travel adventures continued with a cross-country road trip! 

Schooling still got done!

 I cannot express how much joy it brings me to show him amazing things around the world. Above, is the Biltmore. Y'all, amazing. No other words. Oh wait, yummy! That's one because the food was fantastic too!

 Finally! Back at home and back to semi-scheduled days!

 We definitely needed some down time after all our travels!

 Yes, I'm still in school too and sometimes, we work on our school together!

This allows me to sleep at normal hours.

Non-computer learning happening!

 And then, October: 

 We spent a weekend at Myrtle Beach with Grandpa and Nana! It was an amazing and much needed trip for the whole family! 

For a little boy who doesn't like to color, he does wonderful things when he puts in a little effort.  

 Robotics! He got to help print this 3D coin and he's even printed a batarang for his Daddy since! He's learning about capacitors, current, power, voltage, and other words that I couldn't explain if I wanted to. He loves it though!

 Sometimes, we don't quite make it to the table to work in his workbooks! Haha!

His handwriting is slowly getting better! It's like coloring, with effort, it's great. We'll get there. 

Ok, more of October and November coming up soon! (I hope!) With our classes wrapping up, I will definitely have more time to devote to other things. Can't wait to show you more!

Year Four: Nice and Easy? That's Not How We Roll

How nice to meet someone so undeterred by things like…reality.

-The Lorax

And so it begins. We've waited for this day and spent the years before this preparing for this wonderful moment in time. 

KINDERGARTEN! 

I will admit, my little sidekick was disappointed in the beginning because we were continuing his education at home. However, I have made some changes to our plans and he has adjusted quite well. 

Not having to wear shoes to school is an obvious plus. 

First things first. My kid is a potato. His words, not mine. Oh to be five and ever so silly!

Now, for those big changes I spoke of. We are actually a part of the public school system. (cringe) BUT, we are online. I researched schools in the area and found none that met my (probably high) expectations. So, I switched directions a bit and searched for online schools in the area.

We settled with K12. It is still early days with it all so I won't give you my full opinion (yet). 

He does have a wonderful teacher and we are doing well keeping up with the schedule and curriculum. 

The boxes from the above picture were organized into the red drawers you see here. I had to make some room, please do not judge me from the looks of my closet! 

Now this, is more or less what we use on a daily basis. Seems like a lot but it really isn't so bad.  

 This is our schedule. Yeah, it made my eyes go big like that too.

Being a part of the public school system (still a little cringe) we are supposed to work a minimum of 6 hours a day since that is comparable to the hours he would spend in a physical school. 

Let me tell you a little secret: he doesn't spend that long on any of these projects so far. SHH!

You see, because I have homeschooled him since before he was 3, he knows just about everything we have covered so far. Because of this, he finishes his work with extraordinary speed. Which is okay with me because then we can play! 

And before you ask... No, I'm not having him moved to a higher grade and I don't want to because I feel as though he needs to mature a little more and I don't want him to be in a place where he'd be uncomfortable if/when he does begin school in a physical classroom. 

Moving on! Here is some of what we do with our school day:

Most subjects have an online and an offline activity. It gives us plenty of wiggle room for breaks when necessary and taking extra time when needed. 

Oh yes. We still play. 

 Sidekick is learning to focus, listen, have patience, and general ninja skills! No big deal. :)

Starting in October, he will be taking a weekly class in Robotics! I don't even know what all he will be learning but in his trial session, he played with robots, magnets, and computer bits to make lights and sounds. He's very excited!

 We have some traveling coming up next week. Mimi will be in charge of making sure he gets his school work done while I have an Intensive and attend class from 8-5 for the week. Like a "real" job. That's going to be a lot of adulting and I am unprepared. HA!

Once we are back home and settled, I will make sure to fill you in on the happenings. 

It's always an adventure!

Year Three: Week Seven: It's TIME!

A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.

Salt from My Attic (1928) ~ John A. Shedd

We have had some beautiful weather! It has been so nice to get outside with my sidekick and our pups and enjoy the sunshine. After my week away for my own school, we had to catch up and get back into routine. I just want to praise my mom for a minute; without her, we never would have survived our week apart. :)

We got to have some fun exploring (and eating) before our Mimi headed home. 

 Like I said, we got some gorgeous weather! We walked to many parks in the past couple of weeks. 

 When I asked my sidekick what he wanted to learn about, he asked to learn to tell time. So here we are! There is only so much you can do with time, so I did the best I could! We also have a flashcard pack (Like $1-$3 from Target!) that has both analog and digital clocks on the cards for extra practice. Sidekick got it down in days and now tells me the time everywhere we go. 

Yeah, so I spent some time texting with my kid while I was at school.... 

 20 books read, y'all! That's what this face means!

 I was going to wait for the dentist until after our move but, then I didn't. Sidekick did great and we are looking forward to finding our new dentists in our new town. 

 This would be our album cover...if we could sing... 

But no, we are just enjoying more sunshine! 

 He just makes me so happy. I was here at the computer and I heard him banging stuff around behind me. I kept an eye on him without him seeing me and this was the result. I love that our busy boxes still work and get put to good use!

 He set up a breakfast date for us. Be still my heart!

He's had a bit of an independent streak. Every now and then, I'll get him a Lunchables and do his own thing for lunch. This was him, giving me all the directions as he made his pizzas. He's getting so big!

Alrighty! That's all for now. We've got more in the works! See you soon!

Year Three: Week Six: Here We Go!

I recently learned something quite interesting about video games. Many young people have developed incredible hand, eye, and brain coordination in playing these games. The air force believes these kids will be our outstanding pilots should they fly our jets.

~Ronald Reagan

My sidekick loves Mario. As in, Super Mario. You know, Luigi, Bowser, Yoshi, the whole gang. He can do all the voices, we make up Mario Imagination stories, his room is decked out with Mario, half his wardrobe includes these guys. He's a little obsessed. However, he's adorable so it's okay. 
When talking with him about what to do for our weekly theme, I should not have been surprised that he wanted Mario (and all his friends). So, I used all my creative skills and scoured the internet for ideas and here you go. Our Mario week of homeschooling! 

Ok, this isn't Mario themed. But one special thing that him and I get to do is go on "dates". We do coffee dates, donut dates, book dates, park dates, ...the list goes on. It's a time when I remember to stop our busy day and just enjoy his company. We already do so much together but this little bit of time is relaxed and all about him. They are some of my favorite memories. 

The sidekick wanted nothing but Mario things for Christmas. That's what he told Santa and that what he told anyone who asked. So me and all my elves (love my family!) searched 3 states for all the Mario we could find. He got action figures, board games, clothes, stuffed characters, the works! He was so happy! This was a Mario Memory game. He made the voice of the characters as he matched them. It was very amusing!

Again, this isn't Mario BUT it's a great scrabble game! This side has words on the board and the other side is blank for when he's older! So fun!

This is one of his Mario imagination stories. We also tell each other stories such as this after story time, in the car, and even whisper them to each other when we are in not fun places waiting for an appointment of some kind or another. I absolutely love fueling his imagination. 

For this one we did use Rory's Story Cubes. We bought ours at a bookstore but you can also find them on Amazon. They are a great way to make him think a little harder about where the story is going to go as he tries to work in all the cubes. 

Ok, no judging my drawing skills! I can only do so much in a rush! This was all my idea though! No Pinterest for this one. I took some of his favorite characters, attempted to draw them, and had him fill in the blanks as we learned about vowels. He had to sound out each name to figure out which vowel was the correct one. It worked really well for a spur of the moment idea!

So upper east coast got some snow. A lot of snow. More snow than I've ever seen without being on a mountain. 

Another Christmas present! Yahtzee! He doesn't quite get the entire concept of the game but, that didn't stop him from beating me. 

I saw several ideas using pipes. However, none of them seemed to be what we needed. So, I made these. Even and odd numbers 1 to 20. Sidekick did great and still reviews them as we continue on.  

This. This ya'll is big. My sidekick is reading more and more! To entice him to read more we came up with this: For every 10 books he reads we will go get a special treat of his choice. A new book, frozen  yogurt, pancakes, whatever he decides. We are already on our way to 20 at this point but I am so happy with his progress!

You are now caught up! We are taking a couple of weeks off because I have to concentrate on my own schooling for a bit. However, this is not the end! We will back in full force soon!