Autumn

"Leaves are falling all around,

On the housetops, on the ground. 

Leaves are falling on my nose,

On my head and hands and toes."

The fall colors here have been gorgeous!  I promised the kids that we'd go back to the arboretum once the trees started changing, and we managed it on a perfect day.  The trees had so much color, and only a week later a lot of them had lost their leaves.

We were much more methodical on this trip.  I actually came prepared with paper, pen, and baggies, so we could label our samples.  Once at home, we laminated and labeled some of the leaves, and then hung all of them on our paper tree.

Check out these huge Catalpa leaves!  I thought it was interesting that this tree had the biggest leaves, but wasn't a very big tree!

We also collected a whole bunch of buckeyes, AKA horsechestnuts.  I was hoping we could eat them.  It turned out they are poisonous, though.  Bummer!

Here are some close ups of the colors we found.  The laminating was an experiment because I wanted to see if the leaves would stay nice longer.  I should have realized, though, that I was cutting off their oxygen.  Now, two weeks later, the laminated ones are all brown, but still nicely shaped.  The others are shriveled, but still have most of their color!

Today I hosted a little group with a few kids Annie's age, and we learned why leaves change color in the fall.  That really left an impression on Logan, and he was very creative with his art project to show just how that happens!  We also went outside and played in the leaves some.

We've been doing this little group for a few weeks now and it's going well I think.  At this point, I'm not sure how I feel about co-ops or what my plans are for the future with them; this fits with our goals for now, though.  It's mostly a play group with some fun learning activities.  There are four kids in it (except when it's my turn to host because my boys gets to join in those days) and we actually drop the kids off, so most of the moms get a break during that time.  I'm liking the chance to get to know other families better, one of which also homeschools, and it's always nice to see other ideas for inspiring learning!  

On to another topic.  This isn't autumn related, but we did do it during autumn!  :)  I found myself feeling very patient one day last week, so we finally made the sun.  It was very messy and big.  It's dry now, but I haven't been brave enough to try to remove it from the big ball we used to form it.  Maybe we should add another layer for strength first...

Here are some after pictures of my messy kiddos.

A Positive Learning Environment

As I looked through some newly uploaded photos today they made me think about what kind of learning environment we have in our home.  I hadn't intended on capturing it, but I did in a way.  I hope we have a positive learning environment, and I think we do most of the time.  Some of the important elements for us are: 

WORK
I think learning to work hard is invaluable and working as a family even more valuable.  We do a lot of housework together in our home.  Once a week, we have a cleaning race where rooms are scrubbed, polished, and vacuumed, and everyone pitches in.  It helps everyone take responsibility for our home, and we get the hard stuff done quickly!  The kids actually look forward to these races!  Most evenings we do the dinner dishes together, and when we fold laundry everyone helps.  The kids are happy helpers when we're in it together!  They also love it when we all work in the yard together.

PLAY
Play is very important, too.  Bear in mind that I was a recreational therapist before having kids, so I really believe this (even if no one believes me)!  :)  Even as adults we need time for leisure activities so we can have a healthy balance in our lives.  For kids, play is even more imperative because they learn so much from it.  Mine are all very young still so they have lots of play time every day, and we definitely incorporate play into kidschool.  Yesterday just before schooltime Annie was blowing bubbles in her milk.  Unexpected inspiration came.  So we made a bubble machine for our first learning activity!  (dish soap+water+a few holes in the lid+a straw)  Warning: When using a bubble machine, do NOT suck in!  Unfortunately, all three of them found this out the hard way! 

Alex was pretty covered in bubbles by the time we were done.

BOOKS
What can I say?  We love books and they love us.  I could really use more bookshelves.  A lot of our books are in random cupboards and one bookshelf is stacked three deep.  Anyway, I think this one is a no brainer.  If you want to learn, you need information.  Because we always have books around our kids have loved them from day one.  They always want to know what I'm reading too.  It cracks me up when they 'read' over my shoulder even though my book has no pictures. 

MOM and DAD
Perhaps this is the most important element?  I don't know.  I do know that my attitude and what I am doing greatly affects their attitude and what they choose to do.  I need to be there for them and with them when they are learning.  That's difficult and mundane sometimes, but oh what a difference it makes!  Yesterday after our bubble machine, we stayed outside and studied more on space, and then read for a long time.  It was such a simple school day, but an incredible one!  They had so many questions, and I was very focused on them; we really learned a lot together!  I enjoyed seeing the wheels turn and connections happening.  I would have totally missed out (and possibly they would have too) if I'd instead asked or assigned Logan to study his space cards and looks at books on his own.  I read this quote today:
"Give your children the gift of character-be someone they can admire."  Sandy Hotchkiss
I would love to be good enough to be my child's hero. 

Jim already is.  :)