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If we value the pursuit of knowledge, we must be free to follow wherever that search may lead us. ~ Adlai Stevenson

Monday, June 6, 2016

Monday Musings... Metamorphosis...

Susan Seddon Boulet, Dreamworlds, 1990
I think my approach to this blog is shifting. For years, I have put up planning posts, Wordless or Wordy Wednesday notes, Weekly Reports, and so on, and so forth... but it doesn't feel natural or necessary any more. Our approach to learning has shifted so much, and so many times, over the years, that I think it is time this blog shifts a little with it! We've tried classical schooling, Charlotte Mason, unschooling, unit studies, and more, and I like to think we have found our own little path through all of it.

I'll likely still share book lists, as I love compiling lists of books I hope to share with my children. I'll gladly post accomplishments and milestones, as well as challenges and struggles. But there might not be so much focus on what I'm planning in homeschooling, or what approach I might try, as all that has more or less slipped by the wayside.

Oh, we still do math. We still work on writing, spelling, grammar, and more. Just not in such a regimented way, or necessarily as separate from everything else. We also experience life together in so many ways that can't be quantified strictly as homeschooling. I know, I know... that sounds rather esoteric. But I just don't feel the need to separate things quite so much into categories of this is homeschooling, this is gardening, this is playing a board game for fun.


So how about I just post about life?

Here's what we're up to, just living...

With weather in the 80s, it is no wonder my thoughts keep drifting to summer! This picture, though older now, is to me the epitome of summer satisfaction with my children...

Weren't they cute?

Now they're all tall, and older, and all that, though they still love watermelon!

I finish with my secretarial position in a mere three weeks, and while I'll be working at the junior college this summer (starting the week before I finish secretarial work), it will be a lighter schedule, since much of it, at least half, is done from home—the grading, the email consultations/advice, etc. So I've been thinking of fun things to do with the leisure time...

Work on transforming our yard into a certified wildlife habitat

Go to one of my soon-to-be-former coworker's house to swim

Head out to the river for swimming, and the beach for bodyboarding

Take a picnic to Golden Gate Park, where we can visit numerous attractions, such as the Botanical Garden, the Garden of Shakespeare's Flowers, the Japanese Tea Garden, the Conservatory of Flowers, the Carousel, and of course, the California Academy of Sciences (a day's worth of activities on its own), and the DeYoung Museum, another day's worth on its own.

Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, and visit Fort Point

Go to the zoo (we have two in the Bay Area to choose from!)


Play around with The Private Eye 

The Girl will keep playing on Prodigy all summer, and The Boy will be working on math a couple of times a week (still TabletClass)

Spend some time on my own in the hammock M put up in the backyard, reading, daydreaming...

The Girl spends too much time playing with her Kindle, so it will be nice when I am around more and can get her doing other things

The Boy has visited a couple of car shows lately, and is working on compiling videos for his YouTube channel. While I love that he enjoys filming/editing, he's spent a lot of time on the computer lately, and I'd like to curtail that a bit

The house is a mess, as always. When both parents work full time plus, and kids are home all day, that seems to happen. I really want to get a better system in place before fall!

Keep working out. I use our Bowflex and treadmill pretty regularly, as does The Boy, and we plan to keep that up

The Girl might try volleyball this summer, in addition to roller derby

We have a follow-up with the podiatry specialist scheduled June 13th for The Boy, as he is still having ankle pain


4 comments:

  1. Your summer plans sound fabulous. Dh and I went to San Francisco pre-kids and I have such fond memories of doing all the things you mentioned. Beautiful city!

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    1. We're lucky to live where we do!

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  2. It sounds like a wonderful summer (overlap-of-jobs week aside)!
    Could you email me his YouTube channel name? M15 would like to check it out; she has one too and is interested in seeing how he uses his. theusualmayhem at gmail dot com Thanks G!

    Our house is chaotic right now too, and probably will be until fall after we finish with the outdoor stuff like harvesting and canning. I like Flylady's system but the sheer volume of sales pitch emails included drive me batty.....wish there was a way to turn them off and just receive the cleaning & decluttering missions for the day!

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    Replies
    1. Exactly. I tried FlyLady a couple of times, and gave up in sheer frustration.

      I'll email the name today!

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What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
Emerson

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