Let the crazy summer begin

Tomorrow officially begins our hectic summer schedule. We're heading to Chicago for 3 days on the Amtrak. We're hoping to see the Museum of Science and Industry, the Chicago Art Institute, the Adler Planetarium, and eat some deep dish pizza. It will certainly be a whirlwind trip, but I'm sure we'll have a good time.

Aiden has been very busy preparing for his upcoming Bach piano recital. He was determined to get it in before heading to his grandparents for two weeks at the end of May. That has meant many hours on the piano, some frustration, but generally a very determined attitude. He has also been making programs using Scratch and has developed a fortune teller complete with some very odd fortunes. Once he publishes it, I'll post a link.

Zoë has been busy finding ways to earn money to go to Camp Ondessonk this summer. One of the things she is doing is making the invitations for her grandparents' 50th anniversary party. In order to do this, she has been learning to use Photoshop. It has been a great experience, and the invitations are looking fantastic.

Last week they also volunteered to donate baked goods for a fundraiser through Tom's work. They made a triple chocolate cake (thanks to Aunt Laura's recipe). The funniest part was that they decided there would need to be a trial cake made since they had never baked anything like it before. So the week before, I agreed (who could argue their logic), and they made a cake for us first. It turned out fantastic!

Yesterday their grandpa took them to get fishing equipment and out for lunch (another great perk of home schooling!). They spent the afternoon learning how to ready the line, cast, and catch fish. They had a great time and caught about 8 fish over the course of a few trips to the lake. Their grandma also dug out an old melodica which they have been playing around with.

A Successful Week

Last week was definitely one of those "this is why we home school" weeks. It was filled with challenges, frustration, success, but most importantly child-led learning. It also helped that I managed to squash the little voice that only knows one way to learn, and was actually able to facilitate their learning.

Zoë managed to make 2 skirts and a shirt as part of her fashion project. Her seam ripper got a workout, but she kept at it and is very pleased with the result. She's also working to improve her blog and started reading the first book on her completed reading list. In her downtime she has been learning how to use Scratch (an open-source program put out by MIT to help people learn how to program).

We also managed to find (thanks to one of the gifted homeschooling listservs that I belong to) an online physics program. The kids decided that they were interested in taking the 6 week class on sound. So they split the cost and used their education budget to join the class. They're really enjoying the live webcast and the fun experiments he has them do. They will have to do the last class while they're at their grandparents, but otherwise it fits nicely into our schedule.

Aiden has been busy making a "cat battler" game on Scratch. Originally he wanted to make a Zelda type room using game maker, but by mid week he was completely frustrated. Scratch seems to be more of a middle step between gamestar and game maker. It was still frustrating for him, but he managed to complete his project. He also made a funny illness diagnoser.

Next week is very busy. We're going to the FIRST Lego League Championship, watching the space shuttle launch, having a piano recital, and a day at JET.

Treading New Waters

It has been quite an eventful week in our household. After only a few weeks of hard work, Aiden has already managed to meet his gamestar mechanic goal. On Monday his game "Meso's Adventure (Part 1)" made it to the front page on the top rated games. We all went out to dinner to celebrate. Since then we've started discussing new goals and the idea of balance in learning. I'm all for games as a tool, but I can't bear the thought of it being the ONLY tool! So he is now self-imposing his own restrictions on daily screen time.

Zoë has been preparing for her art show this Sunday. In addition we're starting a new approach to her learning. I gave her a list of about 25 "courses" that she could pick from to study and she narrowed it down to 4. Taekwondo, piano, and French (she decided) will be mandatory. Starting on Monday she will be doing fashion design, blogging, astronomy and an independent study literature in addition to the mandatory things. Each week we will work together to set new goals. Hopefully this balance between help with goal setting and child led learning will be successful.