5-15th ~ Back to School & UNIFORMS!

What an AMAZING and BUSY September 5-15th !!💖

I decided to go with uniforms for many reasons.  When we travel the globe, uniforms are everywhere.  They help bring children together in a sense of belonging to the same school. I wanted my children to have that same sense that homeschool IS school, and that when they are in uniform it's school time. So far, it's worked like a charm👌

Here's what they kids want to be when they grow up. Ellar's has changed to FireFighter or RCMP already ~ lol so it'll be interesting to see their last day of school 😆

Our little classroom is a work-in-progress and we have created a space that we enjoyed spending our school day together in.  I'm very grateful for this time & space we share with each other.

Let me share with you all the wonderful things we've done in JUST TWO WEEKS!!!  Believe me, we have plenty of down time, too.

 Ellar & Greta went Elk hunting with their dad, sister, and Zander. They went far north up the Kechika River.  The river boat is rigged up with a wood furnace.  It's what they sleep in. Learning survival skills are a daily habit.  The days and nights were autumn chilly. They spent 6 days in close quarters having quality time with family and hiking through the dense bush, elk cow calling and listening for a bull to bugle back! It's what dreams are made of, my husband would say 😍


While Ellar & Greta were up north, Connor, Astrid, and I travel south to Fort St. John!  Connor was going to audition (1st ever!) for a spot on the Junior Dance team with Peace Fusion Dance Company. He was nervous and danced a solo contemporary piece he'd just learned. He didn't make the team. There were 10 auditioning. 8 spots available. And only 6 dancers earned a spot.  Connor took the news easier than I did! He knew his skills weren't as advanced, technically, as some of the other dancers. He is excited to try again next year. Dancing is his passion ~ I'm glad he didn't take this to heart!

I always tell the kids ~ Don't let compliments go to your head or criticisms go to your heart ~ Stay humble.  And know your true, authentic self. And you'll do well in life.
 I'm very proud of his maturity in dealing with rejection. Bravo, my boy!

The greatest damage rejection causes is usually self-inflicted. Just when our self-esteem is hurting most, we go and damage it even further.


👍GROWTH MINDSET✊

I've taken on the task of earning my Montessori Upper Level Education Diploma this year while I teach the kids from the Montessori curriculum.  VERY excited about this.  Here are the books for my 1st of 3 terms!

Connor started a new instrument this year. He had a bit of trouble deciding between the flute, trumpet, and alto saxophone.  He tried various instruments...and finally settled on the SAXOPHONE!  He could have chosen any, he finds them all easy to play.  But he suits the sax!  Jazzy and classy.
 

He has already taught himself to play songs like Mary Had a Little Lamb, Oats Peas Beans, and Ode to Joy!  It's going to be a MUSICAL year!


Connor's first day in Mr. Johnstone's Grade 5 band (at the FNSS)

First week back the kids did various activities and this was a fun writing assignment!
All About Me!

Ellar & Astrid were on snack duty week 2 :) They LOVE making healthy snacks for their sibs!


HOCKEY SEASON BEGAN THE 1ST WEEK OF SEPTEMBER!!  The kids are members of BC Minor Hockey Association.  Ellar is playing in the Novice league and Greta is playing in the Atoms.



ARTWORK!!!  Thursday is our Arts day.  Here are 2 projects we did.
We drew pictures (large, general shapes) with pencil.  We then covered the area with white glue.  After that, we sprinkled a generous amount of table salt. Using either watercolour paint or food colouring, the kids watched how they gently touched the salt with the colouring and it spread like tie-dye!  The white glue dried clear and these are what we were left with.  Sort of a STEM art ~ salt dissolved and carried the colour!  Ellar "E", Astrid "Jellyfish", Greta "Hot Air Balloon", and Connor "Lightbulb"


And of course ~ fun with tracing our hands, fingerprints & paint!  SO many projects can be done using those 3 materials!!  Here are our fall trees ~ cut-outs of hands & forearms and then using fall colours, red, orange, brown, and yellow, the kids fingerprinted falling leaves 💛



Some cool work samples I threw together.  Astrid and Ellar will track their printing progress in various ways ~ one way is writing their name monthly to compare!


Every morning the kids do their "Morning Work".  They have workbooks I add different activities to monthly.

Connor & Greta have Calendar Math as a part of their daily workload.  They're learning A LOT about numbers this way 😎 Is it a prime or composite? Even or Odd? What are the arrays? Factors? Write 10 equations that equal the number. Statistics using the number. Mode, Median, Outlier, & Range. Round to nearest...Written number, expanded form. Fraction &  can it be simplified? Write in decimal form. Here are a couple of examples...(G5 is a bit more difficult than G4 work)



We write S.M.A.R.T. goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timed) at least monthly.  This year started with "I can" statements.  Here is an example of the 1st week goal planning (Greta's).



The Skeletal System

Connor has started The Human Body unit in Science.  We spent 2 weeks learning the various bones in the human body!  Here is some of the activities he did...he made a casting & wrote a

To the tune of ~Twinkle Twinkle Little Star ~

Connor auditioned and was cast in this year's Community Musical ~Madagascar~ as MAURICE!! I'm looking forward to this!!  He's been waiting for YEARS to be eligible to audition!  It's a HUGE time commitment ~ but he's SO looking forward it!

I volunteered to help coach Homeschool Basketball & Volleyball once a week through September!  The kids learned skills like traveling, dribbling, pivoting, overhead passing, chest passing, 2-point vs 3-point shots, the court, players, how to shoot a basket properly, defensive slides, explosive jumping and various warm-ups for cardiovascular health such as Ten 10s (10 explosive warmups such as jumping jacks, burpees ~ 10 times each) wall sits, plank, reverse plank, plyo lunges, plyo squats...it was a fun couple of weeks!

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Connor's homework ~ I asked the kids to draw and label the basketball court

And of course...we start our everyday with YOGA sadhana.  Asana, meditation, and pranayama. Yoga is a lifestyle and works for us, feeds our mind-body-soul with balance and mindfulness.  

And this is what I'll end this blog of our first 2 weeks back to school.

😇Namaste🙏