Last weekend, we went back in time to 1863.
We participated in a local Civil War
battle reenactment in honor of the sesquicentennial
anniversary of the battle.
A. and M. both took turns assisting the surgeon as he tended
to the wounded during one scene,
and they danced at a party with
soldiers in another scene (just before the party is surprised
by an attack from enemy troops
and their dance partners are carried away as prisoners)!
The cool part is that all of this really happened...
right here in our town
150 years ago.
I love that the girls got to experience just a taste of what life was like back then...
the difficulties and the sacrifices that people experienced.
They danced, acted, interpreted events, served other volunteers, and answered questions from both children and adults.
What a fantastic learning opportunity!

Oh, and I had a part too:)
I was a lamenting lady...
I believe that's Southern for "a lady who complains a lot".
The other ladies and I reflected back on what life was like before the war.
It was fun!

Thankfully, the rest of our week was spent in 2013:)
Here's what we did:

Garden planning and planting
Theater practice and play prep- both girls helped with props and costumes, M. found sound effects, and A. created the program
Lettering
Piano
Adam of the Road (read aloud)
Pilgrim's Progress in Modern English (M.)
Hattie Blue Sky (A.)
Making videos for Seven Cool Homeschoolers
A visit to the Emergency Children's Shelter to take donations and supplies
Presidents...M. found flash cards and quizzed the whole family:)
Khan Academy- equivalent fractions, the flu, the heart, Robert E. Lee's surrender, Abraham Lincoln's assassination...all kinds of good stuff!
Archery
Writing newspapers
Babysitting
Egg Business
Sign language and choir performances

Hope your week was great:)
Linking up with friends right here...

I had an interesting conversation with a gentleman this week.
I ran into him on one of our outings into the community.
He felt it necessary to express his opinion (in front of my children, no less)
that homeschoolers are too sheltered
and not learning the skills that they need to be successful in life.
Really?!
Obviously, he hasn't met too many homeschoolers!
I bit my tongue at my first response (which wasn't going to be kind)
and took a deep breath.
I explained as sweetly as I could
that his idea of homeschooling might be a little skewed.
I invited him to look around at the homeschoolers in our group
who were visiting the air and space museum.
They were busy actively learning all around him.
I talked to him for about ten minutes
and explained a little bit about how and why we homeschool
and how we stay active in the world around us.
I didn't have to do that,
but I wanted to show him that there's more to homeschooling
than his narrow point of view.
I hope I made a positive impression on him,
I really just wanted to say,
"Really?!  You've got to be kidding me. Clearly, you've
never spent any time with a homeschooler!"

Here's what my sheltered children did this week...I doubt any of this will help them be successful in the real world.
Just kidding;)

Thomas Jefferson bio
The Indian in the Cupboard- we finally finished it...so good!
Crafts- for AG dolls and also creating puzzles for each other (this took a couple of days, but ended with each of them creating an original seventy piece puzzle of artwork for the other to try to put together- pretty cool!)
Civil War reenactment- We are participating in a local battle reenactment in honor of the sesquicentennial anniversary of the battle. Love Living History and the opportunity to be a part of it.
Woodworking- Daddy helped the girls repair and restore their AG doll beds.
Junior Electrician's Kit- a favorite this week, but always right before bed for some reason...probably part of a plan to stay up all night;)
Adam of the Road- still reading aloud just a few chapters a week, but enjoying it
Gymnastics- the girls created a "vault" from the ground up to the trampoline...not sure if I should be worried or not:/
Math games
Puzzles
Seven Cool Homeschoolers on YouTube:)
Episodes of Fetch
The Brain unit study
Field trip to the Animal Safari- a great day trip with friends, lots of fun, and loads of animal science. Definitely one of the best things we did this week:)
Writing- family newspaper, a play, and short stories with Storycubes
Video Star
Another road trip to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum trip-Wow! So much learned in one day...parts of an airplane and function, flight simulator- Cessna 172, forces of flight (lift, drag, gravity, thrust), parts of the instrument panel, centrifugal force
Planetarium- the highlight of the Tulsa museum for all of us. I had never been to a planetarium before. M. said that it was "amazing"!

And now, please excuse me. My sheltered children are participating in a local Civil War battle reenactment as part of a living history demonstration.

I love homeschooling, even if some people just don't get it!

I don't do lesson plans.
We don't follow a set curriculum.
But I love it when things come together:)
We've been reading about Italy,
which led us to a bio on Leonardo da Vinci,
which led us to read about inventors, painters, and sculptors.
We followed that interest to an art museum in Fort Worth
and a science museum in Dallas a couple of weeks ago.
That's where we came across this space exhibit.
We came back home and checked out a few library books on space,
watched this cool video tour of the International Space Station,
and continued reading our bio of Leonardo da Vinci.
The girls were really interested in his drawings,
so there has been a lot of drawing by both
and at least one invention created by M. this week:)
A. also worked on photographing shadows,
which led us to a kit of light experiments.
We ended up here this morning...
Reading about lasers and how Mona Lisa went to space this week.
I just love it when things come together.
And I love interest led learning:)

Our week in photos-
1. A.'s been working on cartooning skills. She's been reading Calvin and Hobbes too (one of my faves:)
2. We played math games...this one is Zoom, a pretty fun card game.
3. The girls drew house plans. I think they inherited my love for house plans:)
4. M. studying horses:)
5. A new game...love it! A fun way to build vocabulary for all (even Mom and Dad;)
6. Love some Trivial Pursuit family
7. A little wii fit anyone?! I've committed to thirty minutes a day when the weather is too cold to get outside and walk or run.
8. Science Wiz Light Experiments kit, by Penny Norman- a cool hands-on learning kit. We used the Chemistry kit a couple of years ago and enjoyed it.
9. One of A.'s shadow pics
10. I posted about Time yesterday:)
11. This is my table by the end of the week...and we even cleaned it off a couple of times already.  Oh, well!

Linking up with friends here! Join me

So, we pretty much just played all week long...
and guess what?!
We learned a whole lot too.
Our days were busy, happy, and full.
Our learning was
fun,
meaningful,
interest led,
hands-on,
and
family centered.
And that's why we do what we do;)

1. Road trip to Missouri with family and friends- M. being sworn in as a Junior Ranger and Civil War Historian at Wilson's Creek National Park.
2. A.'s art journal page- "Love"
3. Relaxing by the woodburning stove with a good book and a kitty
4. Two games at once- floor checkers and Story Cubes (one of our favorite things:)
5. Bubble Talk- a new game we got for Christmas...think Apples to Apples but with hilarious (and borderline appropriate;) photos that you match to captions. We have played it every day since Christmas!
6. Life- another Christmas present that has seen a lot of use since we opened it:)
7. Pico, Fermi, Bagel- a fun game to play with pen and paper (and a kitty of course)
8.-9. The girls trying out M.'s new junior bow and arrow set. She saved her money from her part of the egg business to buy it.
10. Our road trip to Missouri took us to Branson to see Joseph. The girls were quite impressed!
11.-12. My sister got 18 inches of snow, while we only got a dusting. So, we took off on another road trip to see family, have a little Christmas, and play in the snow. We taught the cousins how to play Fox and Rabbit and had a huge snowball fight.
13. My sister caught a picture of my evil laugh just just before I pegged my nephew with a snowball...haha. Before you feel too sorry for him...this kiddo may be small, but he has an arm! He was hitting us right and left with snowballs.

Not pictured-
lots of reading...
Shel Silverstein,
biographies,
and chapter books.
Crafts,
baking,
drawing,
painting,
and music video making-
with a touch of History Channel and
Food Network thrown in while
visiting at my Mom's
house;)

Whew...no wonder I'm tired.
And tomorrow we are off to Dallas to see family.
Wishing you a wonderful week!

Linking up with Mary today. Come join me:)

Some of the doll crafts- 1. A. used a glue gun and created a hammock from fabric, yarn, and popsicle sticks. The campfire was made from a cd covered in paper. 2. A. saw this one of these somewhere and had to recreate it...a campfire. The base is a cd covered in paper. She used rocks, sticks, and paper to make the fire. The little marshmallow and S'more are made from foam. 3. The video camera is a small box covered in paper with foam for the buttons and screen.

A beautiful day at the corn maze!

1. Paper Christmas trees 2. Fabric scrap ornaments- I'll post how-to make them tomorrrow;) 3. Our take on an Advent calendar

1-4 These are A.'s photos. Love the fall leaves and the one of M. running through the yard (it captures her perfectly!)

5-7 Art journaling- I'm pretty sure A. did a new page every day this week. My favorite is the string art, though I'm not sure she's even finished with it yet.
8 A not-so-spooky treat from our local bakery:)
9-12 Making "pumpkin" pomanders using oranges and whole cloves

13 Our quirky pumpkin family
14-16 Hayride and bonfire with our church family. M. was a cowgirl, I was Pioneer Woman (but I forgot to bring my cookbook), and A. was a basketball player. Hutch went as himself:)

1.-2. Wii Kid's Dance Party with friends
3.-7. Impromptu art session with friends:) Love that
8. This girl is always in the kitchen!
9.-10. New cake decorating books from Wilton!
11. Making my own alcohol free hand sanitizer. Here's the recipe.
12. A little one who's not feeling to well:( Her dog is right by her side.
13. A. was baptized on Sunday!!