Zoo Pictures

Here are some pictures Kane and I took at the zoo last time we were there (before summer break). It was a beautiful day and all the animals were out enjoying the weather with us, so we got a lot of good shots. Enjoy!

Our Homeschool Life Catch-Up

Wow...it's been a month since I've posted and we've been doing a lot. So I thought I'd post a quick catch-up today to offer a brief look into what the past month has held for us.

Kane went to tennis camp in mid-July, and loved it! His coach, Jabari, is great with kids and Kane really likes the tennis games he comes up with. Each day of camp was just two hours, so I stayed and watched while they practiced and played. Some days I brought a book to read, or talked to the other parents there. It was nice.

Kane also finished up his swim lessons and is feeling very confident about his abilities. We're going to try to sign him up for indoor swimming this winter to keep it fresh for him.

We (Kev, Kane and I) went on a brief vacation to Columbia to visit relatives and see the sights. We usually go at Christmas and spend the whole time with family, so it was fun to get out and see some of the city. We loved the State Museum and will probably visit it again sometime. We also liked the hotel we stayed in. For this visit we tried the new Comfort Suites and asked for the room with the jacuzzi tub. (Kane and I are both big fans of the jacuzzi!) Well, the crazy thing was the tub wasn't located in the bathroom where you would think a tub would be....no, it was in the middle of the living room! There wasn't even a curtain or partition to separate it from the rest of the room! It was so bizarre. So, we ended up using it, but I went in with my swimsuit on since it was out in the open. I'd never seen anything like it! The hotel also had a nice pool which we swam in after dinner one night. And they had fresh made waffles (among other items) complimentary for breakfast. It was also nice that the hotel is close to the relatives' house, so driving back and forth was convenient. All in all we had a great time. We skipped the zoo this time because it was so hot outside, but we'd been there before and LOVED it, so I know we'll check it out again next time.

After the camps and the mini-vacation, Kane had to settle in and take his standardized test. Yep, per state requirements, it was time for him to do it since he's just finished "3rd grade." I was a little nervous for him because we'd used a practice test a month or so ago and he didn't do well. Mostly because he tried to get through it as quickly as possible, without taking his time to read the directions or double check his answers. For the real test, we used the CAT (California Achievement Test). Our friend, Abbey, suggested we order it through Seton Home Study and, after checking it out, that's exactly what I did. (Here's where I have to say that I was very happy with Seton. Ordering was easy, the $25 cost was more than reasonable, I liked that I could administer the test myself, and they were so quick getting the test to us and then sending the results). I recommend it to anyone who is looking to use the CAT with their family. If you're interested, visit http://www.setonhome.org/testing/default.php.)

We just got Kane's results back yesterday and here they are:

Vocabulary: 94 percentile • 8 stanine
Comprehension: 96 percentile • 9 stanine
Language Mechanics: 8 percentile • 2 stanine
Language Expression: 63 percentile • 6 stanine

Math Computation: 95 percentile • 8 stanine
Concept & Application: 72 percentile • 6 stanine

Reading Total: 98 percentile • 9 stanine
Language Total: 31 percentile • 4 stanine
Mathmatice Total: 89 percentile • 7 stanine

Composite Percentile: 84

(The percentile figure means the child scored as well as or better than that percentage of students who took the test nationally. Stanine indicates a relative standing: 1, 2, 3 reflect below average; 4, 5, 6 are average; 7, 8, 9 are above average.)

The thing he had trouble with was Language Mechanics (which was mostly capitalization and punctuation), so we're going to focus on that when we get back into our "lessons" this fall.

Other than the testing, camps and trip, we've just been hanging out at home, relaxing, watching movies and planning Kane's 9th birthday. We're all going to Nantahala for a few days (with Kane's Grandma Alice and Grandpa Ted) for his actual birthday on the 16th. We're going to go rafting and spend a few days at the village, and then stop in Franklin for lunch with Kane's Mema Morgan on the way back. We're also going to try our luck at ruby mining while we're there. Hopefully we'll strike it rich! :) Once we're back, we're having a birthday party for Kane and his friends. So, there's a lot to do to get ready.

I think that about covers the last month. I'm sure I've forgotten some things (like having our friends Brian and Stine over for dinner, trying out some new restaurants around town, going to see Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.). I'll try not to wait so long between posts next time.

Until then, Happy Summer!

Our 4th of July

Our 4th of July this year was very low-key and relaxed (kind of the theme of our summer, really). We spent the day hanging out around the house. Kevin and Kane spent most of their time on their computers and playing the new Tombraider game on the PS2; I spent most of my day reading a book (which was too good to put down!). We did grab some Mexican food for lunch which was ok, and then back home. In the afternoon Kevin had the great idea of making construction paper flags. So we got the supplies out, set ourselves up at the dining room/craft table and went to work. We focused on making flags from the past (i.e. thirteen stars, thirteen stripes), and as we worked, Kevin told Kane a little about the Revolutionary war. It was a lot of fun. We hung the flags on our front windows and then the boys started on "flags of the future" (i.e. their own ideas of what a future flag might look like). Kane said his flag represents the United Space Federation (I'll post a photo of it later). Kevin's had a space theme as well, but I don't know if he actually named it. I chose to wash the dishes rather than make a future flag, but, as always, it was really nice to watch Kevin and Kane work together. (They have such a great relationship.)

As I washed dishes I saw the bunny in the yard, so we stopped and went outside to watch him for a while. Then we came back in and spent a little more time hanging out until it was time to go watch the fireworks. We got into Decatur around 9:00, and just as we did, the storm rolled in. So, fireworks were a bust, though the lightning was pretty cool to see. We left as the rain started and headed off for the 2nd part of our annual 4th of July tradition -- pancake dinner at IHOP. The place was practically deserted, so we got right in, ordered and had a yummy late dinner of pancakes, bacon and eggs (Kane and Kevin) and a Belgian waffle (me). There's just something so great about eating pancakes and waffles at 10pm. It's that feeling of freedom and being able to CHOOSE to eat pancakes and waffles at 10pm, you know? So, perfect for Independence Day.

All in all, it may not have been the day we would've planned, and we were a little bummed not to have the fireworks, but I think we all ended up happy with how it turned out....spending time together, taking it all moment by moment, and pancakes for dinner. Who could ask for more?

Bunnies!

Over the last few weeks, we've had two hawks, countless squirrels and chipmunks, one woodpecker and a couple of really cute brown bunnies hanging out in our yard. One evening in particular I noticed two bunnies playing in the yard next to our deck. So Kane and I went out and spent about 20 minutes watching them. First they were trying to "make babies" (as Kane pointed out), but the female kept hopping away before anything could happen. Then, they just hung out for awhile eating the clover and wild strawberries that grow in our yard, and hopping around. It was amazing to be able to watch them for so long, and to see how comfortable they were.

Seeing the bunnies is always fun, but the hawks are absolutely gorgeous. Not only do we see them in the backyard, but we've also had one sitting on a low branch (about as tall as I am) in a tree in our front yard -- just about 10 feet from our front door. We hope to catch a picture of him next time. So far we've missed him every time.

The pictures here are from the bunny that paid us a visit last night. I couldn't get close enough to get a better shot without scaring him off...so, these are the best I could do! Maybe we'll have better luck next time!

Kane Can Swim!

After just two weeks of lessons, Kane can now swim halfway across the pool doing the Torpedo, and all the way across the pool on his back. It's amazing -- on the first day he didn't even want to put his head in the water (but he did). By the fourth day he still couldn't swim but was getting more comfortable. Then it just clicked! One minute he still wasn't swimming, and the next minute he was. I can't even tell you how proud he is! :) He's still working on the arm strokes, but I have no doubt he'll get the hang of it soon. And next summer, he wants to join the local swim team! Woo Hoo!

Exploring The Middle Ages

We've decided to keep up with more "formal" studies this summer, rather than taking three months off. Well, I should say, "I've" decided, and Kane is ok with it because we're focusing on history -- which he loves! And more specifically, we're studying the Middle Ages, which we both find really, really interesting.

Before I go any further into what we're studying and how we're doing it though, I want to clarify that my idea of "formal" studies is probably not as formal as you may think. I know that we're constantly learning even without doing any of the sit down, bookwork, so I'm not obsessive about spending x amount of time doing it. But for us, having a little more structure in certain areas has really paid off and has led us to discover things we might not have otherwise. We don't have a schedule or any kind of regimented plan or curriculum, though we do have a fairly relaxed routine. And during the summer we're even more relaxed. We've taken many days off already, so that we could go to the pool and Kane could take swimming lessons (and we're taking many more days off this month for just hanging out). On the days we do sit down and crack the books, we get started sometime after breakfast, do some math, spelling, history and science and we're usually done by lunchtime.

For history we're going in chronological order. Last year it was the Ancients, this year it's the Middle Ages (up to the beginning of the Renaissance). We're using Story of the World 2 (SOTW 2) as our main text, along with Usborne's Internet Linked World History book and many more books from our shelves and from the library. I'd ordered History Odyssey from Pandia Press, and I really like it because it's chock-full of great hands on crafts and activities, but I couldn't wrap my mind around the ordering of their chapters (i.e. studying Charlemagne before getting to the Celts or Christianity coming to Britain, etc...). I also wanted to have question and answer and narration work after each chapter....so I bought SOTW's Middle Ages Activity Guide to go with it. I'm using their ordering of events, but supplementing with all the cool History Odyssey activities. So far, it's working out really well.

At the moment, we're deep into the Celts and how they were driven into Scotland, Wales and Ireland when the Angles and Saxons came to Britain. Kane thinks it's cool that some of our ancestors were Celts, so he's really getting into it. We've been reading a lot of Celtic Mythology and introducing him to Celtic music. Some days our lessons consist of reading and making Celtic/Middle Ages type food. He learned to make porridge and together we made our own homemade butter!! (More on the joy of butter making in a future post).

Tonight we're diving deeper into the Middle Ages by watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's one of many on a long list of movies I've compiled for us to watch that are set in the Middle Ages. And one I know Kane will enjoy. It may not be historically accurate, but it's definitely our type of comedy.

Our Young Photographer

Just a few photos Kane took in our front yard last year when he first became interested in using the digital camera......