Things to Do on Your Due Date

So today is my "official" due date. I say that with quotations because I've read that statistically only about 5% of babies are born on their due dates. For example, Savanna was born six days after her due date after a four day labour-please don't ask me about that unless you want to be scared to give birth. It's funny that it didn't stop me from attempting a second time, hmm.
After yesterday's midwives appointment I wasn't feeling like labour was imminent and frankly, when have I ever been one to sit around, so I decided to get busy. I had to make a trip to town anyway so I thought we might as well make it worthwhile. Who likes making a trip for one thing? Let's face it with today's gas prices, unless you drive a Smart car, its not worth it.
So anyway, I had been promising Savanna a trip to the local art gallery and today being rainy and wet it seemed like just the time to go. I was pleasantly surprised when we went on our homeschool field trip to the Judith and Norman Alix Art Gallery in Sarnia, just how much Savanna enjoyed it. She patiently listened to the guide and afterword wanted to hear more and, she actually looked at the art-I mean even talked about what was going on in the picture!
Today we took in the museum first. Savanna especially enjoyed the mummy and had a lot of questions to ask about it. She used their kids section to make a paper cut out horse and wagon and went on a scavenger hunt to find the two flying sock monkeys hidden around the museum. The only thing she was disappointed about was that the lady who worked there didn't demonstrate the spinning wheel for us when she asked her about it. She even got a prize for finding the sock monkeys-a t-shirt and a matching button-free clothes are always good.
We went around the corner to the art gallery next. This girl loves her art! She asked the staff questions and spent, quite a bit of time for a four year old, browsing. I was complimented on how much she took in for someone her age. She actually didn't want to leave so I had to explain to her that we had seen everything and we could come back in a few weeks when they had a new exhibit. I think we have a little culture vulture on our hands and I love it!
Lately, she has been helping me make supper. Although it slows me up, it's an excellent opportunity for her to learn. If you think about it there's theres the obvious-learning to cook and bake, and then there's the less obvious things, like math, reading and fine motor skills. Let me explain: math comes in with things like measuring quantities like fractions and whole numbers. Reading is looking at a recipe or the labels on cans and boxes. Fine motor skills are mixing, pouring and spooning out batter, just to name a few.
We've also been big on making smoothies lately and I can't seem to get enough strawberries which Savanna loves mixed with banana and a little yogurt. Here's one of our favourite recipes for a refreshing dessert smoothie. i say dessert because it does call for a little sugar, I've tried honey but it doesn't taste the same. Add two cups watermelon chunks, a tablespoon of lime, (More or less depending on how much you like the taste.) and a tablespoon of sugar. Blend with some ice cubes (Again this depends on how icy you like yours, I usually put in about five or six cubes) and you've got yourself a refreshing drink. Hey, if anything it will remind you that summer is coming and with the weather we've been having we could all use a little boost.

Winter?

I may be the only one saying this, but I am still waiting for a good old fashioned snow storm. Last year, we didn't even have winter, and while in some ways it ways was convenient-no shovelling and scraping-it just didn't seem normal. If you're a believer in global warming I think you would be just a little concerned.
And yet, the year before last we had a true winter and it was a blast! Skating on the crick, sledding down the banks, making a giant snowman.
Now we have this year, a bit of a mixed bag. It was nice to have snow for Christmas, but it seems like as soon as we get any little accumulation, it rains. No outdoor rinks, no sledding on the crick bank, no snowmen. Kind of a drag if you have kids. I did however, take advantage of our latest snowfall to shoot some pictures for next years calendar. Here's a few of my favourites:

Oh the Places You Are From

The other day I decided to check on the stats for my blog. I was amazed and surprised to see that I had 1000 page views! Even more surprising was the variety of countries those views came from. There's the obvious ones like Canada and the U.S. but then there were views from Russia, Germany, the U.K., Saudi Arabia, Sweden, China and Croatia. Too cool! I would just like to say that I appreciate each and every one of you that has taken the time to read about my life:homestyle.
I'd love to hear from you. Where are you from and how did you find my blog? What do you think of it?

Never-at-Homeschooling

I know I've probably said this before but homeschooling should really be called something like never-at-home-schooling. It's only Wednesday and I am one tired momma!
I don't really care for the term homeschooling to begin with-to me it implies a mother (or father) standing over the kitchen table all day long handing worksheets to their children. I personally think that for us the term free range learning or life learning is a better fit. It's still not exactly the word I'm looking for but until something else comes along it will have to do. I don't think the majority of homeschoolers (I'll use that term because its the one people are the most familiar with) actually spend much time at their kitchen tables. The ones that I know are usually quite busy with any number of activities be they geared to homeschoolers or otherwise.
One of my favourite things about homeschooling is that for the most part, it gives you the flexibility to do what you want when you want. Just imagine being able to go to the zoo, the museum, amusement parks, on a Tuesday afternoon. Not to mention the discounts to be had in the off times. If you're like us and travel for both work and pleasure it sure is nice not to be restricted to the months between June and September. On average we probably spend almost five days a week out of the house for at least part of the day. Between gymnastics, soccer, trips to town and visits with friends and relatives we keep on the move and yet none of this effects the time we are able to put into "schooling".
The reason? Well when you only have one student or even four, the time that it takes to teach each of them is far less than it would be in a setting with say, 20 other children. You don't need to stop and change subjects when the bell rings and lunches and breaks are whenever you want. Plus you can do it almost anywhere you are wether it be the grocery store, a car ride or waiting at the doctors office and I love efficiency!
Today we were able to go out for most of the day and still return home an hour before dinner, do a page of phonics and two on math. After supper Savanna wanted to do some pages out of her new Brain Games book she got for Valentines Day from Grandpa and Grandma. She loves that book! If you've never heard of them I highly recommend you check them out. I know they are even available at Walmart. What they are are pages with three or four little exercises from different subjects. For example: What letter comes next? H, I, _? How many things are orange? They are really fun and appealing to kids because they are so quick and varied. I think I know what she'll be getting for her next birthday. By then she'll have done the whole book more than once I'm sure!

Today's photo:
Her new (actually rediscovered) favourite friend taking a break after a wrestling match.

Lessons in Efficiency

Ever since I started doing things in 15 minute time blocks I've been amazed at how much I've accomplished.
Let me explain. With a 4 year old, or at least my 4 year old, I don't think there's any such thing as concentrating past about a 15 minute time span. Sure, there are things she can do for longer like watch TV, but frankly, TV turns her into an angry zombie even in small amounts. I wont start ranting but I'm just not much of a fan of television. But I digress, since we started breaking things up into short little lessons both of us are less stressed and happier. I keep reminding myself that she is only four and what she doesn't get this week just means that she probably isn't ready for it yet. We take lots of little breaks to throw in some laundry, do a few jumping jacks (that's her, not me at this stage of pregnancy), hang up said laundry, bake some muffins, you get it.
I am also constantly amazed at the things that she says. For instance a few weeks ago after her soccer class she pointed up to the sky and said,"There's a planet." She was absolutely right, it was a planet. How did she know? Somehow she learned that that brightest and largest star in the sky is often not a star but a planet. About a month ago she started sounding out the first letter to words like ,"Bb bb ball." We've been working on it ever since. I'm amazed that people who think that children need to be taught everything or they would never learn. Clearly a child's natural curiosity makes them no slackers in the learning department.
I found some new drawings she had done today and I thought they were just too cute not to share.

In the Dark-Well, Almost

Hmm, so here I sit typing by candlelight and the glow of my iPhone. No, we didn't forget to pay our electricity bill, the winter winds have swept through our rural neighbourhood again and I suspect, have wreaked a little havoc.
I thought I'd relax a little and write tomorrows letter of the day on the board before heading off to bed with a potentially sick husband. First, the 24 hour flu (or something) claimed Savanna on Saturday and now my poor husband is feeling less than stellar. I know it's not my cooking though, because I am feeling fine-famous last words I know.
Tomorrows letter will be "Y", yacht, yak, yam, all that good stuff. We've been working on a little alphabet review here for the last three weeks or so. At first I started out with an overly ambitious three letters per day and I soon realized that that was a bit too much so we've tapered it down to one. It's been a challenge coming up with fun ways to review each letter but thanks to the Internet I've made some progress. Today's worksheet seemed to be a hit. Cutting out x's and pasting them next to pictures that have the x sound seemed to be a fun activity. Anything crafty goes over well with this creative daughter of mine-and math, she loves her math. The concept of adding and subtracting took all of two days for her to grasp so I think we are well on our way there. She's happy to pick out her own math worksheets as long as we limit it to about 15 minutes at a time.
Science was today's big hit though. She loves her Bill Nye the Science Guy-grades 3 and up-ha! Storms were the topic of the day, a day late after yesterday's strange unseasonal weather, but still close enough to be relevant. After the DVD we did a fun little experiment with making our own rain in a glass. Take water, squirt shaving foam over top and use drops of food colouring to make it rain. Amusing and inexpensive. I'm sure we will be doing this again soon.
So I think I will sit a few minutes more and enjoy the peace and quiet. Come April, when our new arrival gets here things may not be so peaceful and quiet, but then again, who knows? This one seems pretty laid back so far, not nearly as active as his or her big sister was. Maybe it will like to sleep in like me. One can only hope.


I'd also like to note that Savanna took this picture of our wintery chandelier-I think she did a pretty good job.

Winter Winds

Winter winds are blowing once again and with it they are bringing change.
The holiday season is behind us and we reluctantly surrender to everyday life again. If I could have one wish for the holidays this year it would be to be perfectly healthy. Four weeks later and I'm still battling a stuffy nose, although my midwife assures me that its a normal part of pregnancy. Not one that I'm enjoying much though.
So as for change, with each midwives appointment we get closer to having a new baby in our lives and try as you might, I'm not sure you can ever be fully prepared. Savanna is now walking around saying she is having a baby sister for Junior Asparagus (think VeggieTales).
It seems we have just about everything except for a place for the baby to sleep. To move or not to move, to subdivide and make another room, to have the baby in our room for a while, those are the things on the table right now. Personally, I'm not in favour of room sharing as I found with Savanna that both of us slept better apart. Myself being a light sleeper, I would wake up at every little murmur and mumble.
We are also getting into more of a learning routine. I have started to put a bit more structure into our days. I try to do some math and some language everyday mixed with a few days of science and her gymnastics and soccer. It seems to be working well so far. Savanna loves her math and is at the Senior Kindergarten level-not bad for a four year old. I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of the library books I ordered on math games.
I also noticed something I found very interesting this week. I was getting very frustrated when I would ask her to name letters on a sheet or the whiteboard (I knew that she knew them), she would get some right, some she would guess at and it just seemed as though she had lost interest. So I switched things up a bit and brought in some foam letters, making it into a game-her accuracy went up to about 97%! I don't know if it was the tactile part of it or being a game that it was much more interesting, but I'm glad it worked.
It's a challenge but its greatly rewarding. The great thing is that it only takes about two hours a day (broken up into little chunks) to cover a lot of material and it leaves a lot of time for the most important activity of all-being a kid.