Jairus and the Soccer Tournament

This is our second year involved in a local, and rather large, homeschooling group called T.E.A.C.H. (To educate a child's heart).  I really enjoy and appreciate what it offers us, as of course organized sports are not something we can easily conjure up for ourselves.  This year, as last, only Jairus and Honour are old enough to actually participate in the sports programs.  Last year they both did basketball, floor hockey and a bit of baseball.  The program runs for 3 weeks of two hour sessions that they call "skills and drills", and then after that the teams are chosen.  Last year neither Jairus or Honour made any of the teams, but this was understandable because they were both among the youngest of the groups. Well...and because Jairus' main goal was to have fun. :-)

As this new school year started, I saw that soccer was being held.  We missed it last year for some reason.  As soccer is pretty much Jairus' favourite sport, I knew there was no question that we'd go to it.  Verity's gym schedule made it tricky, as she needed to be in Caledonia at the same time as soccer started in Brantford.  We split the difference; Verity was early and we were late.

After the 3rd skills and drills session, we were packing up to go when the coach for the boys team came over to me.  He worked with Jairus last year with no problems, so I was pleased to see him coaching the soccer boys.  As he approached, he had a grin and was chuckling a bit.  He told me that if I thought Jairus would be ok with it, he would put him on the team.  I was pretty surprised, and I guess it was obvious.  He explained that he'd made it clear to the boys that skills were not going to be the only deciding factor to making the team, but that attitude would count for a lot.  He described Jairus' encouraging behaviour with the other boys and said that he wouldn't mind at all if Jairus was on the team.  He cautioned that Jairus may not get much actual field time, but this was something he was telling all the boys.  I was SO pleased, and told him that I'd talk to Jairus and let him know.  Truthfully, I wasn't sure how much Jairus would actually understand; after participating in the sports last year for only the 3 skills and drills each time, I thought he might not realize that these were actually part of the try-out process.  However, that night as he was going to bed I mentioned it to him, and he really did seem to understand--and was pleased and excited.

This past Monday he had his first set of exhibition games, which since I had to work, James took the day off to take him to.  It was a good afternoon and Jairus got a little time on the field.

Friday of this week was the big soccer tournament, attended by the area Christian schools. T.E.A.C.H. is a member of the organization.  

We got there just past 8:30am and got Jairus into his shirt, cleats and shin guards.  The morning was warm and bright, with a strong wind.  Jairus started to get warmed up with his team.

The boys had 4 games that morning and I wasn't surprised that Jairus didn't get to play in any of them.  Happy as he so often is, it didn't seem to bother him.  Often as I checked on him, he'd be hopping around with an extra ball behind the bench, or standing near the coach, like a little assistant.  During the breaks, one of Jairus' friends invited him to play around. :-)

Rain was in the forecast for around lunchtime, and unfortunately the weather man did not lie.  By 12:45 or so, the rain started to fall and many kids took shelter under the big tarp someone had wisely brought.

They had won 3 games out of 4 during the morning but the rain made things difficult.  They lost what was a semi finals game which sent them into a consolation game for 3rd place.  The first half of the game saw the boys let in 4 goals...not so great for the team, but good news for Jairus!  James had arrived by this point and we were both excited to see the coach's wife help Jairus off with his jacket.  He was on the field!

Now that he'd gotten on the field, my next goal was that he'd kick the ball.  Jairus is not terribly aggressive out there and would do a lot of running around a safe distance away from the action.  But finally he was in the right spot at the right time...and gave the ball a good kick (in the right direction!!).  I was just thrilled.  Despite the soaking rain, he had a great time.

Ancaster Fair

For the last few years, I've taken my kids to the Ancaster Fair.  It's close by, and on one of the days it's free for homeschoolers.  Good deal!

Last year as we went through the School Fair building, the kids oooh'd and ahhh'd over all the exhibits.  Art work, posters, needlework, crafts of every kind.  I could tell that my four were wishing they had entered something.

So this year we entered their mosaics.  Honour also entered a small painting she had made and a ball of yarn she spun and dyed with her Grandma Kent this past summer.  As well as her mosaic, Verity entered a baby hat she knitted with her hoop.  Because Jairus and Afton only entered their mosaics, I hoped their pieces would do well.

All but Jairus' entry received a "Prize winning entry" ribbon, which I guess is fourth place.  The lowest placing was a small sticker in the shape of a ribbon that said "Thanks for entering", so I was glad that they at least got the ribbons.  Jairus' clock received 2nd place, which means he gets 3$ while the girls I believe get 1$ for each of their ribbons.

A satisfactory first showing in the Ancaster Fair School Fair. :-)

Autumn Candles

I'm not on Pinterest, and I refuse to be.  However, I get daily emails from this lady (she's got a good thing going there) and a few weeks ago she had one of her homeschool Pinterest parties.  I didn't "attend" but one picture did catch my eye, so I peeked at it, and followed the links to it's original home.  I thought these mason jar candles were SO beautiful, and they seemed fairly simple to make: a good craft for the kids.



http://gingerbreadsnowflakes.com/node/102

So we went out gathering leaves and pressed them in a pad of paper.  We let them dry there for two weeks, just as the instructions said.

Exactly two weeks later we opened up the notepad and each kid chose out a jar.  We seemed to have amassed a collection of mason jars and other dollar store jars.

We set to work pasting the leaves onto the jars using Mod Podge I had picked up at Michaels.  There was some frustration on most everyone's part trying to get the leaves to actually stick and stay on the jars.  We found that the maple leaves seemed to stick down the best, while the oak leaves were quite thick and would only stick in the centre.  With mason jars being square-ish, it was nearly impossible to stick leaves around the angles.  We tried letting the Mod Podge dry a bit to become tacky, but it didn't make much of a difference.  We ended up holding parts of the leaves against the jars, waiting for them to stay down.

Finally we managed to get the leaves mostly pasted on, and let them dry for a couple days.  I think I'll hunt around for some ribbon to dress up the tops, instead of just putting the rings back on.

Discovery Centres! (AKA Lapbooks)

A few years ago, at our local homeschooling convention (OCHEC) I attended a seminar on Lapbooks.  Now, this was a concept I was almost completely ignorant about; I'm not even sure why I attended.  I have a vague memory of watching this lady up at the front, sitting on a chair or stool with this folder...on her lap.  Hence the name. :-)
At the time, honestly, I thought it was a little weird.  Where did this idea come from?  How did it evolve?  Why was it something so fabulously wonderful that it prompted a whole seminar at the convention?  After watching the presentation, I still thought they were a little weird, and I still didn't quite "get" them.  Still, I filed the info away in my brain...and it resurfaced a few days ago.

I now think they are FABULOUS.  SO fun.  Such wonderful organized creativity in one little package.  Love it.  But I still think the name is weird.  So in our house we renamed them Discovery Centres.  The only problem is that the templates I find use the word Lapbook....oh well, no biggie.

Our first foray into Discovery Centres was a few days ago after a little field trip to the Chiefswood Historical Site, the home of the late E. Pauline Johnson.  Since moving to this area early last year, I had driven past the site numerous times and thought it looked like a nice little place to visit and complement our Canadian history lessons.  We scheduled our trip for a few days ago.  We invited a couple other families who live close by, but schedules did not align, so off we went on our own.  I love doing group trips, but I also enjoy getting out on our own, just me and my four. :-)

It was a very nice trip, with a very informative and gently speaking curator who managed to insert just enough questions throughout his presentation that my kids were kept engaged and interested.  This is not the first old historical house we've been to (Laura Secord Home, The Gage house of Battlefield in Stoney Creek) but we found this one to be in particularly good shape, with lots of original artifacts, which just makes it all the more fascinating.  I had prepped the kids the day before with some reading about E. Pauline Johnson off the internet.  I find that having a base of knowledge makes all the difference on trips like this, as the kids instantly connect what they see with what they've learned about already, and this engages them all the more.
Usually after these kinds of trips, I try to have them all make a scrapbook page or two.  This is fun, but I was inspired to try the Discovery Centres.  Verity actually got me thinking about it, as a few days ago she and Afton were spending all their free time catching grasshoppers and crickets.  Wanting to take advantage of this natural interest to promote some further learning and skill practice, I found a lapbook unit (free!) on grasshoppers. (links later).  Verity started putting it together, but then our trip day arrived, so she's not completed it.
I decided they would need a demo to see, in living colour, before attempting to make our own DC's.  So I perused the list of units and downloaded one about honeybees.  Fascinating!  I learned some facts myself!  Here is my demo:

In a nutshell, two (or more, if you like) file folders are refolded and pasted together to form this unit.  Inside, are all kinds of mini books, flaps to open, cards to pull out, cute pictures and fold out 'centres' of information.  A bonanza of easily accessible info for your visual learner! (Verity found this totally overwhelming, lol).

I decided to start a little simpler for the kids and their Chiefswood Visit Discovery Centres, so they just used one file folder.  Behold!

 I asked them to pick which thing inside the DC they liked the best...Jairus chose the fold out picture puzzle.  On the outside of the flaps we pasted a picture of the Chiefswood house and when it opens up; a picture of the antique piano we saw there.  Each kid picked a different picture to go 'inside the house'.

 Verity chose to show her 'matchbooks'.  Simple paper folders with a tab to tuck in, like a matchbook. We posted various pictures inside and they wrote some info about the picture on the inside of the flap.

 Honour likes both her matchbooks and a mini tabbed folder.  It served as the title, with a labeled picture of Chiefswood on the front, and it opened downward to reveal information about the house and its' inhabitants.

Afton couldn't decide on her favourite.  Here she is showing the tri-fold booklet that explains E. Pauline Johnsons heritage (Mohawk and British), with pictures of her parents and Pauline in Native and British garb.

 She also liked her mini tabbed folder and matchbooks.

My favourite, which no one demonstrated, was the 6 petal flower (you can see it in the top right of Afton and Honours, bottom right of Jairus and Verity's).  It folds out to show icons on each petal of the Six Nations.  We made a stop at the tourism centre across the road after the House and learned a little more about this community that we live so close to.

The beauty of these Discovery Centres is that all the work has been done for us!  The grasshopper and honeybee units I found here.  All the templates that we adapted for the Chiefswood DC's were found here.  It's like a treasure trove of awesome resources to make these very fun learning resources.  We'll be making lots more of these!

A new venture

Of all the experiences of the world, horseback riding is right up there with pottery making for me.  I've tried it, back in my early teens, pretended to like it and haven't gone near a horse (or a pot) since. (Ok, I think James took me for a carriage ride in Chicago one year).(and I don't mind painting pots, just throwing them).

However, the horseback riding gene must have slipped through to my daughter, likely through James' mom. When we first started making our trips out to 'the property', Verity spotted the many farms along the way, some with horses in the fields and asked if she could take horseback riding lessons.  I gamely said sure, not realizing a) what our finances were going to look like after moving (a mess) nor how much such a venture would cost.  Needless to say, I put her off for more than a year after getting into the house.

Finally though, I felt I had to follow through on my word, however hastily spoken.  I devised a plan whereby the grandparents would help out with the cost of some lessons for her birthday.  The plan came together nicely and Verity excitedly headed off to a month of weekly hour and a half lessons at an extremely impressive facility about a 1/2 hour away, just west of Brantford. (Burford to be exact).  I was pleased at the advantage homeschooling offered again, as we could have our pick of daytime slots.

She LOVED it.  I didn't think this kid could take to something as easily and enthusiastically as gymnastics, but she did really well with it.  I puffed a little with pride when after nearly every lesson, the teacher raved about how quickly and easily she was picking it all up, and how accurately she was remembering all the previous lessons.

Here she is learning how to care for the horse.

And up she goes!

Doesn't she look like a pro!?  (Sorry, didn't mean to gush...can't help it!)

Verity and 'Pearl'.

She loved the lessons so much that of course, she asked to continue.  12 hours of gymnastics a week, plus the finance aspect of both that and further horseback lessons pretty much forced us to have to say no.  But, hating to disappoint her so, James and I decided that we would take advantage of one of her summer training vacation weeks from the gym, and scrape together enough to send her for day long horse camp in August.  She's already gearing up!  So excited!

Pompeii's got nuthin' on us

Art is a subject that I like very much, enjoyed immensely in school, was passable at, but so far have not done alot with in our homeschool.  My girls are fairly naturally creative and enjoy a basket of craft materials as a gift.  Verity seems especially drawn to sewing, knitting and other yarn/wool crafts while Honour is more likely to be creating something with paper and markers.  She's a good little draw-er, she is.

Both the big girls have been out to some art classes a few years ago that I was quite pleased with, but they were in Grimsby, were not held on a regular schedule (just a term of 8 or so weeks) and they were not convenient to get over to.
Then this past spring we signed up for an outdoor drawing class.  We joined a couple other homeschooling families and trooped along the edge of the escarpment in Dundas, drawing and doodling, noodling and sketching, as the teacher directed.
Partway through this class, I saw an email come through the homeschool list about an art fest and my interest was piqued.  I forwarded the email to Honour and she was interested too.  So I signed them up.  We had a good couple of months to create our pieces for the festival and so I kept my mind open to ideas.
Shortly after, Verity's reader was about Pompeii.  She became (rather eerily) interested in all of those casts of dead people; I was more interested in the mosaics.  As well, we'd run across mosaics in our history studies of ancient times.  Wouldn't mosaics be fascinating to learn and impressive to take to the fest?

We started off with a good ol' fashioned trip to the library and took a BOOK (yes, no Google involved!) out on our subject.  It was a rather good book, with lots of explanations and definitions of terms, etc. It showed lovely pictures of simple projects.  We did break out the Google at one point when the book referred to a man in France who had mosaicked his entire house; actually his estate.  Everything from his headboard to the dog house--covered in mosaics!

Next we gathered our materials, after deciding which project each kid wanted to do.  Jairus wanted to do the clock face, Honour a plant pot, Verity a birdhouse and Afton a serving tray.  I found the bases, tools, grout, adhesive and 'smalti' at Michaels, Home Hardware and Dollarama.

Then, some planning on paper.

Some projects needed prepping, like Aftons tray needed to be painted white.  The others needed a coat of sealant to roughen them up and prepare the surface to receive the smalti and adhesive.  We used real mosaic adhesive as well as some thicker silicone for the vertical projects.  Then, the mosaicking began.

Next came the grout.

It was a little scary to glop that grout over the whole thing, but once we started wiping...

The beauty began to shine through!

They were all very pleased with how the projects turned out, and our display at the festival was well received.  The mosaics are now sitting in a place of honour on a shelf in our great room.  What a great experience!