Some behind the scenes before the big reveal of the lab space downstairs!

Must sleep.  Will write tomorrow.

Attempting to allow for an uninterrupted nap, we put a sign outside the door today, turning away those seeking to play.  Lily was in charge of hanging the signage and she added her own to direct people’s attention to the right place.  I didn’t find it until later in the day as I took down the sign.  My first reaction was to feel a little bit scared but then I thought about what she must have been trying to do and later on I asked her about it.  She said she wanted people to look over there (to the left of her sign) so she wanted to write it so they would look that way.  I think it is amazing how our minds work.  My spatial reasoning is way behind the 8 ball, so it would be really hard for me to write this…she wrote it down perfectly, the first time, while sounding out each word.  Just incredible.

Look over here <—

While Emmy and I took a quick trip to the farmer’s stand nearby, I happened to glance back at her (sitting in Lily’s seat) and she was singing away, without a care in the world.  She is the sweetest thing ever.

And its too bad I didn’t get to spend much time with the other kids; they are just on the go every day from one house to the next.  Its like they are big kids.  In fact, today Landon gave Ollie a new backpack with wheels and he think s he is the bee’s knees!

who didn’t stop smiling the entire time she had her first swim lesson!  

SayMore on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

Some ideas from a course I am taking on mentoring self-directed learners:

Family culture isn’t a choice we make about whether or not we want to indoctrinate our kids to follow our beliefs. There’s no choice — we have a family culture whether we want one or not. And people who think it’s possible to avoid communicating what they believe and what they value to their children are fooling themselves. Everything you do, everything you say, how you spend your time and your money, what you lavish attention on — these things exist and they communicate your values to your children. If you want your children to become individuals with their own opinions, then make that part of your family culture.  (which makes me pretty happy that we have some solid values surrounding reading and learning new things and developing new hobbies and interests around here!)

[A]lthough organized sports have lots of advantages, the choice in favor of Little League is a choice against other things. It’s no accident that suburban ‘Soccer Moms’ aren’t ‘Reading Moms,’ or ‘Free-Play Moms.’ We need to be conscious of our choices and we need to make these choices with care. — Lucy Calkins

Mastering self-directed learning means breaking down big goals into smaller goals, then further into tasks, and finally, figuring out what you can do today.  (This goes along with what I mentioned in the beginning of the summer with setting out goals and working steadily towards them.  A new thing for me.)  As you help your children master this, you are mastering it yourself.

(taken from Project-Based Homeschooling-The Master Class)

I love these kids even more as they get older.  I am surprised by this because they came to me so new and soft and totally lovable.  But I just love who they are becoming even more.  It is fascinating to see what parts of their personalities remain with them as they move through life. For example, Lily has always been an observer but she is becoming quite gun-ho and fearless in new situations and starting to advocate for herself.  She says what she is feeling (her truth) though I hope she learns to temper that–and she will! 🙂 Ollie is just amazing me with his gentle but enthused way of interacting with the world–he really reminds me of Brent in that way.  And my Em.  Gosh she is so silly and kissable and demanding!  She never stops her conversation with herself and all the people who happen to be in her general vicinity.  I just adore them through and through!

…what Ollie just claimed his spoon is after a thorough licking.

Emmy and Ollie played harmoniously this afternoon while Lily went to Landon’s to work on their clubhouse. While those two were down by the swings, I sat on the deck reading. For a very short time. After a few moments, Ollie called up, “Momma, we need a little company down here.”  I didn’t refuse such a sweet request and joined them and caught a little bit of their play in photos:

I’ve been busy this summer attending online workshops/webinars concerning different aspects of home education.  For the last 5 weeks, I have been studying project-based homeschooling.  It is a mix of maker philosophy with mentoring thrown in.  For the most part, I agree with what I am learning and I hope to carve out some project space in our schedule this fall in a deliberate way.  A huge part of learning how to support your child in project learning is to identify the deep interests by observing and  having conversations.  I have kept a journal to help me pay attention to what they play, questions asked and materials that may be needed and those specifically requested to move forward on a project or library ideas.  This morning, as the kids played yet another session of “Hamsters” (not to be confused with “Cats” which was played tonight), I wondered if I should record this play as showing a deep interest.  What could that interest be?  Softness?  Furry things?  Certainly not pet ownership.  At least not the furry kind.