Apple Picking

Sweet Crabapples - an oxymoron, but true!

I wanted to take the kiddos apple picking after spending a week immersed in our book. My plan was to go on Friday of our first week. Alas, that did not happen as the orchard we were going to visit took a three-day holiday starting Friday. So, Monday it was.

Hmmm, I sure do wish I could remember what Fish was explaining:)

The day was great. We spent some time letting the boys walk quickly (did you know there was no running in the orchard?!), pick until there hearts were content, and taste testing (yum!). The boys loved a tree full of crabapples, partially because the limbs were perfect height for a three, five, and six year old to reach. Normally crabapples are tart and nearly inedible (unless they are jammed), in my opinion, but these ones were very sweet and the kids chomped on them as they picked. I even added some to the applesauce I made later and I think they were the ones giving the sauce such sweetness even without sugar.

Here are the boys, all together (Pillbug was a patient gal, hanging out on my back, munching on her very own crabapple):

First Week

Ben and I decorated the windows for our first day of homeschool!

We spent the first week of homeschool talking about apples. It was not a bad week, in my opinion!

Our curriculum is pretty loose. We are doing a lot of reading, mostly from a book recommended to me from a friend called Five in a Row. I am LOVING this book. It recommends wonderful, full of life stories for us to read, as well as some great activities (I use this word loosely) to take learning further.

So, our first book was How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World. About a gal who decides to make an apple pie but finds the market closed. She then travels to different countries finding the finest ingredients for her pie. We read this story once each day and then took a part of the book a little further in a lesson (geography, art, science, etc.).

Reading makes up the largest part of our curriculum. Hmmmm, maybe that isn't quite the truth. Training Fish to play on his own without destroying things may actually be taking precedence right now. Oh, the joys of an active, to say the least, three year old.

Next comes math. We are working through Right Start Math which is awesome for Treefrog at this point. I have planned through Lesson 10 and there is only one worksheet in those first ten lessons. It is, obviously, very manipulative based and that has been great so far.

Handwriting is a combination of copywork from books that we are reading or that he chooses (thanks for that great idea, J!!) and pages from a book we started working on this summer.

There was a lot of time for Treefrog, Fish, and Pillbug to interact (which I love) throughout the day. We had breaks to change diapers, get snacks or drinks, clean up messes, go for a walks, help a friend in crisis, etc. Though the week was tough, it is what I thought it would be - a LOT of family life with a bit of school. The tide will turn one day and family life will focus more on school, but for now, I'm going with the flow.

The obligatory "First Day of School" picture:

Alphabet Soup

Boiling water
Bag of letters
Cooked til almost done

Tomatoes smushed, pureed
By a man named Trader Joe
Thank you, dear man

Mix together
Still too hot, put in frig
Serve warm

One tired Mama
Two satisfied boys
Homeschool lunch

School, Really?!

In reading some of my other favorite blogs I noted that kids were already starting back to school! Geez, I can't believe how fast the time went this summer. I think with all of our traveling and basically missing Ben's vacation the end of summer just crept up on me. Since we live in the Northwest, though, we don't start school until September 2. So, I guess maybe I'm lamenting a little too soon:)

But, the whole back-to-school thing got me started thinking anyway. Treefrog is three (has been since April) and his doctor asked me this summer if we were starting preschool this year. Ben and I have talked about homeschooling, public schooling, and private schooling to see where we stand, what we want our children to get from school and us, and how we believe each of those options fit into our lives. I feel so blessed just to have this choice of how to school our children. This blessed choice, however, makes life a little stressful. I have been back and forth in my mind for so long trying to figure out if we should go the public school route or the homeschool route (private school is not an option right now due to lack of funds). With the impending adoption this year, the decision has been even harder. Last night, I was up late doing research on homeschooling. In my heart, I believe the decision has already been made. I have spent so many hours on the homeschooling and unschooling websites that I think I could tell you verbatim what is said on each one. This is where our lives are taking us.

Ben works for a university so our life is not guaranteed in stability. One small way I can offer stability for my children is through school - not having the pressure of changing schools time and time again due to changes in jobs (university life is pretty volatile for those of you who are unaware). I want my kids to have the best education possible. That may or may not be available through me, but I also see social skills, moral education/influences, and physical activity being part of education. Those things are things that Ben and I can provide our children much more effectively than any public or private school I've encountered. Education is so much more than reading, math, and science. Education is wholistic - every part matters. I want my children to experience life and learn in a way that they simply can't do sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day.

Homeschooling isn't a final decision yet. I want to send each of the boys to preschool (starting when they are four) and I want to visit the school where they would attend if we decide on public school. I hope to keep an open mind as I do these things - looking for both positives and negatives, trying to see the big picture, looking for how our children would fit into the public school system. I know they will thrive with any choice we ultimately make because both Ben and I will be involved in their education both inside and outside the classroom. I pray that I continue to remember that as I critique the public system here and as Ben and I reach a decision on schooling.