A Fly On My Homeschool Wall

On a whim one day some months ago, I bought this book .  I keep it next to my blue rocking chair where I feed babies and browse through it for ideas when I have a quiet moment. (Yes, all of these ideas can be found for free online, but I don't like to be on the computer all of the time.  Sometimes a print format is such a blessing.) Since our newest 4 have arrived, I've felt a strong need for some quiet, independent-but-somewhat-directed play for all of the preschoolers/toddlers.  Quiet bins are perfect for this, but I didn't want to go out and buy a bunch of bins--not even cheaply at the dollar store.  I feel that we have so much stuff around our house already . . . what to do?  What do do? On the other hand we've begun to buy birthday ice cream in big plastic buckets; 1.5 quart bricks aren't big enough for our growing family.  We have a lot of birthdays each year, and the buckets have begun to stack up . . . what to do?  What to do? This week...

Today a conversation with E14 about the common core turned into questions and answers about the president and his family.  We had to google some answers. As M12, S11, and J10 joined the conversation we kept talking.  They asked if Daddy could run for president.  The answer to that question turned into a lecture/discussion about how presidents are elected and why some people claim you're "throwing away" your vote if you vote outside the two main parties.  I was amazed to see the lights in the kids eyes as they listened, and I loved the intelligent questions they asked for clarification. By that time we were at the table having lunch, so the little guys were listening.  They wondered how big the white house is.  We googled that one, too.  We clicked various sites until we found one we liked.  Because I was in the room and directly supervising their searching, they were allowed to click on a featured Youtube video that looked promising.  T...

My little girls requested princess books from the library.  Among all of the Cinderellas and Rapunzels we found a copy of The Magic Flute. We've read and read and read it. This morning I found A7 reading it aloud  to H4 and I2. On a whim I did a quick YouTube search for The Magic Flute. First return--a full length version by The Metropolitan Opera House with James Levine as conductor. 2 hours 46 minutes . . . hmm . . . a little long . . . but I gave it a shot. I called my littles to the computer just to see what would happen. They sat, mesmerized, for the whole 2:46 as the opera was performed in its entirety in German. They knew the plot, so they were never lost.  As the final curtain fell, they turned to me with shining eyes, "That was fun!  Can we do more?"