Magnets, Dinosaurs and Pennies

May was the month of field trips.  We have done several this past year, but mostly with the Daisies.  I haven't done too many with the homeschooling group this year.  Mostly because I have a four year old with a fierce independent streak and a two year old that is a runner.  Both boys make field trips a tricky proposition - so I have to be very selective about what I can do at the moment.

Jordan went on a trip to Rawhide Power Plant on his birthday with his grandma.  Little ones were not allowed on the tour, so it was (mostly) just kids 10 and up.  I'm glad he got the chance to go - but this month has been such a whirlwind that I haven't had the chance to ask much of anything about the visit or what he thought of it.


We chose to do Little Shop of Physics this year because it is a perennial favorite of ours, and there is enough to do to keep even Colin occupied.  LSOP is hosted every spring and fall by the Physics department on the Colorado State University campus.  They have four classrooms dedicated to housing all sort of hands-on experiments.  My memory is lame, but each room has a theme - something along the lines of electricity, magnetism, something and something else.  (See?  lame.)  There is a ton of cool info on their website, so check it out!

Notice I didn't get any pictures of Jordan.  He asked for permission to hang out with a friend and travel through the rooms with her at their own pace.  I guess we've reached that stage... it's no longer fun to hang with your siblings... but I can totally understand, and am glad that he feels comfortable doing that.

Next up was a family trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  We were supposed to go to Homeschool Family Day at Elitch's Theme Park, but it was cold and rainy that day, so we went to DMNS instead.  We had friend Abbi along with us, and it was such a nice way to spend the day.  No agenda, no time constraints... just fun.  Jordan and Abbi enjoyed an hour of exploration time in the museum on their own, and they had a good time.  These little tugs of Jordan's at the apron strings are much easier to handle than a hard jerk, so we let go and give permission when it feels good to do so.  They loved a little dose of independence and they did great!  While they were off exploring, we went to check out the dinosaurs.

We also checked out the temporary snake and lizard exhibit.  The kids had fun looking at the different animal exhibits and playing with the props in the theater section.

Jordan and Abbi 'snake racing' on their bellies



Then it was off to the DNA lab to don some lab coats and do some experiments....

Last field trip for the month was a visit to NCAR, or National Center for Atmospheric Research, in Boulder, CO.  This was last Thursday, the day after Jordan left for his summer visit to Oklahoma.  Rylan was already missing him terribly.  I signed up for this field trip since it was a class that was geared towards her age group, and I thought she would enjoy it.  It was also her first 'class'/field trip like this.  When we got there, we waited with the others for several minutes to see if any more of our group was going to show.  Unfortunately there were a few who didn't... :(  Our guide opted to do the tour first and then the class.  Our guide was great - he really knew his stuff and gave a very in-depth discussion into our atmosphere and everything in between.  Maybe...a little too in depth.  After 60 straight minutes of talking, combined with a respectable amount of showing - enough to keep an adult engaged, but not a 5-6 year old, Rylan decided she was *done*.  Both of the boys were *done* after the first five minutes.  And then it was me chasing, shushing and chasing and shushing....and chasing and shushing before I decided I was *done* as well.  And we hadn't even got to the real reason we came - the class!  Rylan could not be persuaded to stay - and well, I admit it, I was relieved.  I didn't know how much longer I could stand trying to keep the two little ones under some semblance of control.  So, at least I know where we stand.  A successful field trip for Rylan must include very limited grown-up talking time and a lot of doing time.  I will know what to look for in future field trips, now.   Rylan is a lot like her older brother, in that respect.

This was all they wanted to do - watch the pennies go down the whatchamacallit.  Hundreds of them.  Well... okay...about 30.  40 tops.



Living Slowly

A couple of weeks ago, Tsh, over on Simple Mom, wrote a post about living slowly.  She asked her readers to ponder some questions:

1.  What does living slowly mean to you?  How would you define it?
2.  What is one thing you would add to your life if you had spare time?
3.  If you could say 'no' to an obligation, what would it be?

So this post has been percolating in my mind for awhile, since I had no time to sit down and write all that has been going on in my life until this very week.  This post was meant for me!!  This May has been the craziest one yet - yet living slowly is all I want - it is the key to my personal happiness.

1.  How would I define living slowly?

Not living by a schedule.  Oh how I wish I didn't have to be a slave to a schedule.  I'm not talking about the internal family schedule - like doing chores and schoolwork - that is what keeps our family life sane and gives us structure.  It's when the busy outside schedule messes with the internal schedule, that all hell breaks loose.  The outside schedule is the classes, meetings, field trips, errands that have to be done by such-and-such a date, appointments, scouts, playdates, MNO's and so forth.  Don't get me wrong - each and every one of those 'things' are important in their own right.  But lately it has been too much of a good thing.

I relish the days that we can move about our day with no need to be constantly looking at the clock.  That if we want to meander, we can.  If I want to deviate from our plan of action for the day, we can.  An exceptionally beautiful day means that we can ditch the books and go enjoy some time outside.

Living slowly means that the kids can have long, extended play sessions (where true creativity and problem-solving happens).  That I can get lost in a book.  That I can do a load of laundry and see it all the way through - from start to finish.  That I can bake an impromptu batch of cookies.

2.  What is one thing that I would add to my life if I had spare time?

Art classes.  I have no artistic skill, but that is not what I am after.  It's the way I get lost in what I am doing that I lust after.  It sort of feels like a drug.  When I am painting or sculpting or whatever, I am completely and utterly absorbed in what I am doing.  When I live 99.9% of my life with the constant distraction of multiple things going on at the same, a chance to focus on a single task is my mental refuge.

3.  If I could say 'no' to an obligation, what would it be?

Laundry?  Dishes?

Seriously, if I could say 'no' to something it would be scouts.  And I just did that - so I hope things get better.  I can't even begin to relate how frustrating it is to coordinate a group of individuals who all have different levels of personal commitment.

Another obligation that I have considered saying 'no' to was our homeschooling group.  We have been through a very rough couple of years.  Out of our current membership of 150 families, I am in regular contact with about 10?  15?  The rest we never see or hear from unless there is something they don't like.  I resent the apathy in our group.  We have recently gone from loosely organized to incorporating into a non-profit and forming a Board.  I am now on a board of nine members as one of a team of two that manages the membership aspects of the group.  This will increase my time commitment, but it will be no where near what scouts was requiring.  It also means that I work with just the board - all ladies that I know pretty well and have a great deal of respect for.  And we have a common, unified goal - and we are all pretty committed to pulling our group up by the bootstraps and creating a better entity in the interest in serving our local homeschooling community.  That is something I can truly commit to without resentment.  But I wholeheartedly say 'no' to the obligation that our board has to organize and 'entertain' the membership.  I won't do it.  Lots of the families are in the group for only one thing: social opportunities for their kids.  In and of itself that is not a bad thing, but it's the ones that EXPECT things to fall into their lap.  There is no initiative on their part to plan things or create things for the kids to do.  I organized several field trips a few years back and then just burned out.  It was too much work and homeschoolers are notorious for signing up and then not showing up.

So on this day I am glad to put the busiest month of the year to rest.  I am so thankful that June is here, and we can look forward to living more slowly.

How about you?  How would you answer these questions?

Adding with Cuisenaire rods

As we have been working through Rylan's lessons (she is midway through Year 1 of MEP), she has been having difficulty readily identifying number partners when adding.  When we hit the practice pages for adding up to six, it was time to have her use some number strips.  Instead of printing out and cutting up a bunch of strips, I just pulled out our box of Cuisenaire rods, and wrote their 'value' on them with a Sharpie.  And then I helped her build these patterns to help her see the partnerships better.

But.  I didn't tell her what we were building.

And I know we got somewhere with this because all of a sudden she exclaimed, "Wait!!!  I see something!  I see a pattern!".

Bingo.