At Home and Learning

Last week we didn’t do much for learning. I was sick as a dog and unable to even move. So we just took it easy. Thankfully we are doing a “de-schooling” time. It’s a recommended time to re-learn that learning can be fun and doesn’t HAVE to look like a classroom. We still read everyday and try to do some kind of math and writing activity, but I don’t pressure him right now to be perfect. Heck, I’m still learning my teaching style!

We are currently reading The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks – a childhood favorite of mine! We discuss what’s happening (Omri just made a horse come to life for Little Bear) and what he thinks might happen later in the story!

This week we are starting our “Friends Around the World” tour using The Friend magazine. They are highlighting a different country every month.  So this week we will focus on Mexico until this month’s edition comes in the mail. They even have a “passport” that you collect stamps in. Here’s Ethen’s

January was Mexico and since I didn’t have the subscription, we are getting a late start. Today we learned about a family that lives in Mexico, where Mexico is (in relation to the United States), it’s capital city, and what their flag looks like. It was a lot of fun! Ethen painted his own version of their flag for a craft today.

We then headed out to take Boomer for a walk. Boomer did great, of course he wants to stay with Ethen, but Ethen gets drug if he hold him.

We walked about a mile and a half total, stopping at a park at about the half way part for Ethen to play. While there I snapped some pictures of the pooch and this is my favorite!!! Look at that tongue!!!

After we got back, Ethen and I snuggled on the couch and watched Eragon and talked about how cool it would be to be dragon riders! We then headed outside for some fun. We looked for some smooth rocks for tomorrow’s activity and then Ethen was inspired to build – and he kept building! He built a cannon and rocket launcher…

and a parachute… (my little thinker)

He said the parachute failed and he was going to try again and had ideas about what went wrong. Of course that was with some probing and encouraging him to think about what he didn’t like about it!

We started dinner and Ethen wanted to help. Why not – he’s old enough to help peel potatoes! And that’s exactly what he did, then I helped him dice them too!!!

He was nervous about dicing because about 2 years ago he cut his thumb pretty bad because he didn’t wait for me. Tonight he was super careful and of course followed instruction to the “T”. I did the big quarter cuts while Ethen diced them and put them into the pan. After they were cooked he even mashed them! They were so tasty!!! Ethen then had an idea and I said “why not!” We ate dinner by candle light! It was fun and a special moment!

So, Ethen learned about Mexico, how to make mashed potatoes and even learned that failure doesn’t mean the end, you can always try again. Not all learning is ABCs and 123s, yes those are important don’t get me wrong, but there is so much more to learn in life that isn’t taught in a classroom. I am grateful for the time Ethen spent in public school, if it were not for their programs he would probably still struggle with speech, but I am loving being a fulltime mother and teacher to him. It is hard, don’t get me wrong, but I can see the benefits from it all ready!