Spring

On our way home from library story time, we stopped at this old building for a quick photo shoot test before it started sprinkling. Sofia in her new pants (Old Navy), old shirt (Old Navy) for Spring, old, old rain jacket (Gap), and hand-me-down rain boots.



Duckies crossing the street.

Midyear Doldrums

I don’t know how it works, but apparently there is an internal calendar telling kids that they’re half-way through the school year and they’ve had enough (even when the school year starts in January). Or maybe, it’s just spring and that sun that just keeps staying up later and later disturbing the piece of home schooling. So, Sofia is in a bit of a rut. All she wants to do is watch movies and eat candy.

I don’t really have many creative school tricks up my sleeve (I have considered getting a yard stick), but when things get old, I generally try to come up with something new. As small as it may be, if it’s new, it usually helps to breathe life back into her. I already did the A Tooty Ta dance a couple weeks ago. Today, I coaxed her in to The Study with a new puzzle of Europe I was saving for our countries study in the fall. There’s nothing like masquerading educational activities as a let’s-waste-our-homeschooling-time-doing-something-fun activity. I love it. It makes me want to do one of those ridiculous, evil laughs.

Anyway, she was excited to do the puzzle, but she was super delighted when she got to the very last piece and discovered that the capital of Bulgaria is “Sofia”, with an “f”! She kissed Bulgaria many times.

Butterfly Lab

For our Life Science studies, we did a butterfly lab where we got to see the butterfly life cycle from egg to larva to pupa to adult unfold before our very eyes!

(Somehow, I think I managed to lose the larva pictures)

There were ten tiny caterpillar that grew very quickly.  (I neglected to read the direction that said you were supposed to move the chrysalids to the butterfly pavillion after they were formed, so one of the butterflies hatched out in the little jar before we even realized it). Ironically, the rest came out of their chrysalids within the next 48 hours and we managed to miss every single one of them emerging!  Even when we had them propped on the table right in front of us. They're awful quiet, I guess.

We then quickly moved that one into the pavilion along with the other chrysalids.

We fed them carnations and Sofia renewed their sugar water supply daily.

After several weeks, they came to the end of their life span.  This one died in captivity so we decided to take out our yet unused microscope we got for Christmas to take a closer look at it. Sofia was sad of its passing. 

As soon as it was warm enough outside, we let all the others out into the garden.  At this point, they were a bit old and so they were also quite docile.

Sofia encourages this one to hop onto a rare bloomed flower.

I think he (she?) liked it. R.I.P.

[Also, I now have a new excuse to buy a macro lens.  My all-purpose one struggled to get this picture.  I love homeschooling and the school supplies it requires].

Princess Tea Party

Classic Sofia

Today Sofia got all dolled up for the Princess Tea Party at the library. Unfortunately, Sofia isn't exactly the type of girl that would have a collection of Disney princess costumes. We tried a princess-y dress we got for a costume party when she was three but alas, it didn't fit. So we were forced to take out the big guns. The "wedding dress" as she calls it. Technically, a flower girl dress she wore a few years back. It fit! We curled her hair, then she asked about make-up. So we did a tiny bit of that. We had some time on our hands so we even painted her nails with pink finger-nail polish. I lent her some jewelry and she was all set for the ball. Or so she thought.

The tea party was quite the full event, about thirty or so girls. On the way, she had asked if there would be some princes there. I told her probably not but there might be a couple. And there were three. She had a good time despite the look on her face. Large groups of girls are just not her cup of tea. (Yes, pun). She was excited to get a stamp on her hand in return for her entry ticket and the tea party treats of course which she recounted to me in great detail -"One cookie, two strawberries, and one piece of banana. Oh, and tea [juice]".

On the way home I asked her how she liked the event. She said she liked it fine but it wasn't what she expected. "Oh, why is that?", I asked. "Because, I would have liked Marcelo to have been there so he could have danced with me". I have to agree. Where was the ball? And drinking tea on the floor from a paper cup is not very lady like. She wasn't impressed by the absence of real tea cups. But what can you do.

Sofia was so tired on the carriage ride home, she had to rest her face on the wheel.

I tried to console her suggesting maybe Marcelo would dance with her when we got home. She didn't think he would, "He never wants to dance with me". She was right. I enlisted Dad to step in. She finally cracked a smile. After a few minutes, Marcelo stepped up as Sofia's prince.

For Achievement In ...

To congratulate Sofia's completion of her first year's math curriculum, I presented her with an achievement award and a small prize. I thought her own wallet might be a good gift. She has a small collection of cards that need safekeeping already and this might give her a chance to have some responsibility over her moneys. It was well received. She was excited to find her school ID card, library card, Build-A-Bear card, and Princess Tea Party library ticket in there, as well as a dollar bill and a note from Mami. But Sofia is Sofia so she asked me if she could trade the dollar for some coins because apparently she finds them much more interesting as far as money goes.

Later she commented to me that she couldn't wait to finish her reading program because she would probably get ANOTHER wallet! Note to self -spend more time on logic.

The ? bone is connected to the ...

We are super lucky to have a highly intellectual and well connected benefactor in our home school endeavors. Tio Pedro has made several donations to our "study" -our new space housing all things to further the intellect- including books in art and literature as well as our entire "fossil collection" as I like to call it.

Sofia highly enjoyed this activity which went well into the night. Trying to piece together dinosaur bones is even harder than it already seems.

Kid's Club

Sofia has been going to Kid's Club at the local library for the past few months. It's an hour long activity, once a week for kids age 6 to 11. She loves going. In contrast with last year's summer camps, she seems to have outgrown the initial shy/awkward phase about entering into a new social activity. (I now have a better understanding of those issues and their source. But that's for another post). She's more confident and I think she feels important being part of this diverse aged group. It's been a positive socializing venue. It seems to give her just the right amount of extracurricularness in her homeschool routine. The summer Kid's Camp will be shorter and not as exclusive, but we'll continue to go as it's a great free resource.

Sofia Does Soccer

We're taking a break from gymnastics now that the indoor soccer season has arrived (and I didn't forget to sign her up this year).  Sofia has been anticipating soccer with much excitement.  We had to get some new sneakers, Puma, of course.  She's into wild cats, what can I say.  And although, I tend to hold on to the idea of Sofia as tough n' rumble sort of girl from her baby/toddler years, as the days got closer to the start date I gave in and bought her some shin guards even though they're not required for 1st grade soccer. (Technically according to the public school year, she really should have been in the Kindergarten team).  I guess, I've come to realize that she is developing more into a little girl and she no longer overtakes her peers by weight and head butting prowess, so I better do a little more by way of protecting her (especially now that she has finally developed the ability to feel shots at the doctor's office).

Anyway, she was super excited for her first game and wasn't shy at all as she tends to be sometimes when starting something new.  She ran right over to the coach, was so excited to get her "Green Dragons" shirt and start hopping around and acting all athletic-like.

She's been to four or five games now. This was the last one.

This is what she looks like out on the court most of the time. She stays on the outskirts waiting for a pass?

Here she got to kick the ball in after it went out of bounds. She reved herself up for it for several seconds before releasing the thunderous kick. Actually, the ball barely moved, but the preparation for it, I'm pretty sure frightened the other team.

Sofia finally gets control of the ball.

She was not very happy that her own team mates knocked her on her butt and came over crying to me. But it wasn't as bad as the boy that got the ball kicked straight into his crotch.

Not sure what is going on here. I just hope she made contact with the ball and not that boy.

Techniques for increasing brain power

1). Wear designer optical glasses, of course. Even if you don't need glasses.

2). Suck your face in to obtain higher levels of number crunching chemicals in the brain.

3). Bend over backwards. Duh.

4). And, the time-proven --put a monkey on your back. (And, your thinking cap).

Unschooling

[Disclaimer:  Don't read if you are easily offended, very polite, a fan of Dr. Laura, or find denim mini skirts offensive.]

Although we have made the decision to homeschool Sofia, the approach I'm taking is not unschooling.  Ray, on the other hand, appears to be a firm believer of unschooling.  (Ok, I just thought that would be funny to say).  First, it started with the vowel sounds when she was in preschool.  It took him five minutes to unschool her the long and short vowels sounds and four weeks at Challenger to get her back on track.

Today during lunch, Sofia commented that she preferred black olives to green olives.  Let me preface this by saying, no one in our family eats green olives at home (although we do use olive oil exclusively, but that has nothing to do with this). I replied that green olives are actually healthier than black ones, and it is the green olives that are used to make oil. She said she didn't like them because they were hot.  I thought that was weird and told her that olives aren't hot.  I admit to never eating a green olive.

We then have an enlightening conversation about where olives come from, olive trees, seeds, etc. etc. Very educational.  Sofia wanted to know more.  I told her we would talk more about seeds in our science lessons.

The previous conversation resumes. She tells me it is the red thing on them that is hot.  In my ignorance of olives, I tell her there is no red thing in green olives.  At this point, Ray pipes up, "Oh yes, there is too a red part in olives".  To which, I retreat and admit that I did not know this.  He follows this with, " .. it is called The Pimento".  Hmm, "That's odd.  Pimento means 'pepper', like a red pepper", I say questioning.

Then, after I think he's checking his e-mail on the kitchen laptop, he enthusiastically (I'm learning to use nice words) offers this to throw in my face from Answers.com (an authoritative source of the world's most important knowledge), "It IS the PIMENTO".

I stand corrected and somewhat confused.  But who am I to argue having no first-hand empirical knowledge.  Later, I go to check my mail and read the page he pulled up.

What is the red thing in olives?

It's a pimento, a type of red pepper. It isn't a natural part of the olive... it's put there as a flavor enhancer, to counter the natural bitter taste of a freshly-picked olive.

Not being a fan of literature, apparently he only read the first three words.  Sadly, even the next two words, had he read them, might have given him pause to stop from making a donkey of himself.  But such was the need to put me in my place on a topic of great importance not only to me, but humankind, that he could not wait a second more.  So he declared himself the winner of his self imagined throw-down with the same description of "pimento" I had given him.  It boggles the mind.

Homeschool education is going to be tougher than I thought.

Hopefully Ray's Math Minor will be of use when Sofia is in high school seeing as my BA.s' focus was of the liberal arts (foreign language to be specific).

Trilobite Cookies -Yum

To preface this post, I have to admit to being a bit of a pack rat, but only a tiny bit. Sometimes, I cannot throw something out even if I haven't used it nor plan to use it in the near future just because I see some kind of value in the object, even if its value doesn't manifest until I'm 90. You know -I could need it one day.

So I was very happy with myself for not only saving, but more importantly, being able to find this ancient cookie press that I think I lifted from my grandma when I left for college. It was in the deep recesses of my kitchen cabinet behind every seldom used appliance known to man.

Sofia and I made trilobite cookies to go along with our much anticipated prehistory lessons. When they came out of the oven, I tasted one and in a flash, I remembered why I had put this device away and never used it for the last decade of my life. Butter trilobite cookies are not only educational but they are also SO freaking good!

Welcome to 1st Grade

We had a small celebration to welcome Sofia to the 1st grade. Not that she needed it. She has been telling anyone that will listen (and also those that won't) that she's in the first grade since the beginning of the year.

We had planned for her to recite two or three poems she had learned but somehow completely forgot. I think it was the schultütes. They were well received. I had to make one for Marcelo too after he asked me where his was when he saw me making Sofia's. (And although they are a German, first day of school tradition, I was surprised that Ray had no idea what they were. Also, he keeps calling our school name Me-mee instead of Meme like "gene". What has happened to culture? The irony is killing me.) Aside for the cone treasures, she also received a gift certificate to Build-A-Bear to get clothes for bunny and a new hat.

And the pulled pork sandwiches were quite good, I must say. Mmm, I could eat one of those right now.