August | 2012 | The Road Less Travelled

End of Summer

We’ve been making the most of the end of our summer days. We are enjoying the museum heritage programs, and so far have learned about Lebanon and China. We have also been to the outdoor pool, berry picking & making jam, camping in Banff, and taking in all of the community festivals; most notably the Performing Arts Festival which was FANTASTIC. One of Elijah’s goals this year was to learn how to ‘build things’, so Eric and the kids decided to make their own wooden transformers, which are both hilarious, and impressive. Hana had a job for a small part of the summer with a farmers market vendor, but unfortunately the woman had to leave part way through the season. We have one more trip scheduled for the summer to Calgary and then Drumheller, where we hope to visit the Calgary Zoo, the Royal Tyrrell Museum & Hoodoos.

Fall on the Horizon

My attention now turns to the upcoming school year. Hana is very excited to get to back work. Although we loved Christopherous last year, Hana was left wanting more in the form of ‘ work’, so this year, I thought I would give Oak Meadow a try. Others using Oak Meadow have suggested using a supplementary math program, so I have decided to try Saxon this year.I will be continuing with the rest of the materials from last year, and have added in some new stuff to try out. Elijah is very much wanting his own school work. However, he has not yet turned 5, so I have decided to try him with kindergarten materials with no expectations other than fun, exploration, and his own satisfaction – the same goes for Hana. She uses the materials resourcefully with her own unique learning style and by no means are we regimented, or strict about following curriculum! It looks like alot, but translates into reading alot to the children,creative writing, arts and crafts, nature exploration, music and interest based activities. Math being the only exception, and that is because Hana loves math, and is constantly challenging her abilities, so I wanted to give her a program within which she will get that thrill. Here are our materials:

Hana

Oak Meadow gr. 2
Rosetta Stone French
Story of the World book, activities & test book ( we will be creating a wall timeline)
Artistic Pursuits Book 1
Saxon Math Program
handwriting: donnayoung.org
Herbs for kids, Reflexology for kids (BEarthinstitute.com)
Science – Co-op group, Natures children series, Handbook of Nature Study (Anna Botsford Comstock), Nature journal, Childcraft Green & Blue books, Nature crafts, kitchen science experiments
Dance: ballet,lyrical & jazz
gymnastics
yoga
skating
girl guides
volunteer at the shelter
knit,crochet & embroidery (creative arts centre)
recorder & guitar

Elijah

Oak Meadow kindergarten
Rosetta stone French
Story of the world
Science
Artistic Pursuits book 1
Saxon Math program
karate
skating
swimming
yoga
recorder & drums

2012 reading list (not finished): Waldorf Book of Poetry,The Little House series (Laura Ingalls Wilder), Heidi (Joanna Spyri), Robin Hood (Howard Pyle), Mary Poppins (PL Travers), Dr. Doolittle (Hugh Lofting), 5 children and It (Nesbitt), Mr Poppers Penguins (Richard Atwater), Otto of the Silver Hand (Howard Pyle), The Blue Fairy Book (Andrew Lang),Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare (Nesbitt), The velveteen Rabbit (Margery Williams), Charlotte’s Webb (E.B. White), Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carol),The Princess and the Goblin, at the Back of the North Wind (George McDonald),

Festival Schedule: Equinox, Michaelmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Martinmas, St. Nicholas Day, Solstice, Christmas, New Years, Imbolc (Candlemas), Valentines, Easter, May Day, Equinox