Opportunities Everywhere

It really has been a wonderful week, with perfect cool but sunny weather and the time to seize opportunities as they come up!

We spent the week writing pen-pals, continuing to learn Japanese words ( which by the way is really really hard but fun!) video-gaming, watching movies and watching all the new season shows like Raising Hope, Glee, Fringe, X factor and of course tonight Terra Nova!

Friday when hubby came home he mentioned a moving sale down the road and said town was full of garage sales so of course we grabbed the puppy and the fam piled into Bronco Bob and we headed out on our treasure hunt!  We managed to pick up an almost brand new bike for Corin for 10 bucks, an ice cream maker, a toaster and a few things hubby needed as well along with a new lamp table to go next to our couch!
Our family LOVES Garage Saling and everyone gets excited when we get to go.

Saturday had Corin asking me to take her on an extended bike ride so we went on a few mile bike ride down a country road. On our ride we came across a baby snake so of course had to bring it home for everyone to marvel just how tiny this little guy was! It was NOT easy holding him in one hand while he wiggled and squiggled while riding bike with my one free hand and NO brakes on my bike. Of course my daughter kept stopping directly in front of me but somehow I managed to always avoid the impending disaster! At home we all got a good look at him, making comments of how little he was and his need to go into hibernation soon as the weather heads into a cold season, then we took and released him back into the wild so he could go about his business.

Without time frames and rigid schedules, we are able to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves to us, one of my favorite things about this life style! It always for a spontaneous change of plan when things come up everyone would enjoy taking advantage of. We do not have to wait for anyone, or worry about being back at any given time, we are free to explore and take advantage going where the day leads us at any given moment. We take pleasure in being able to be sponaneous and free flowing going here or there and watching the contagious excitement of family members as opportunities present themselves. It's AMAZING to not be tied down to calendars or clocks and be free to do whatever, whenever and catch the wave.......

Homeschoolers Don't Learn Anything.............

I hear this comment quite a bit from Non-homeschoolers including my children's friends after only a week before they wished they were homeschooled.

Homeschoolers don't learn anything............WOW SERIOUSLY? That is quite a bold statement and I suppose may be the answer of the parents to the children who run home saying they wished they were homeschooled as a way to stop the argument right there and then. I suppose this statement also may come from those who met ONE homeschooler that really was not learning much and could not tell the difference between a puppy and kitten at age of 16! (UMMMMMM OH YEAH been there done that MET ONE with that exact example!) 

Perhaps that statement also sometimes comes from those who can only understand the type of education that is given through a public school system and if there is one or two things your homeschooled child has not learned yet or has found difficult to learn that their children are learning at this very moment in public school means that homeschooling does not work and a child can not learn. The adults mind is simply to closed minded to see it any other way.

Again, homeschooled children do not learn ANYTHING................ Momma Mia that's a rough statement and certainly leaves a bad taste in the mouth does it not?

How can you possibly learn NOTHING in today's world? How can you possibly not learn ANYTHING in today's world?

Ironically this statement usually comes from people who have NO knowledge of homeschooling whatsoever to base their decisions off of. Ironically this statement I have observed also usually comes from those who are some of the most inattentive parents I have seen. Parents who are quick to scream and yell, kick the family dog, not allow their kids to do anything but spoils them with any new store bought gadget. The kids themselves are spoiled brats, rarely home as they are bounced around from school, to after school programs, to grandmas and where ever else. When they are home the parent is never to be seen while the kid does not even have the know how to stay the blankity blankity blank out of the road and stands there on their bike in the road MAKING THE CARS GO AROUND THEM. The kids do NOT know how to knock on a door and just come over walking on in like they live there having to be told 10 times to KNOCK before entering your home! They do not know a thing about local wildlife or how to treat the family dog properly- cruelty and control are normal and acceptable qualities.

The comments also usually come from people that have never spent anytime at a homeschoolers house or if they have it was a once a year hour visit where all they witnessed was an hour of the kids playing happily and visiting!

I am sorry but can you hear just how stupid that statement that homeschooled children don't learn anything sounds? Do they actually ever THINK about these type of ridiculous statements? Or do they simply fear homeschoolers that heaven forbid their kids may actually want to spend some quality time with them?

My kids certainly will not be learning what their public school counter parts will be learning and all at the same times and grade levels. My kids are always learning though and that is a life long certainty that they will continue to learn as they experience and take part of the world. They learn because it matters to them to learn and is not a bunch of useless facts being drilled into them that will be forgotten the next year. While there certainly is a place for public school it just is not for us but learning is happening just the same, just not the same things! So impossible to go through this life and not learn ANYTHING! Learning is a constant and a natural human trait............

River Walk Picnic!

Nothing beats a nature walk on a beautiful sunny autumn day! With our beautiful days numbered we headed to our local River Walk parks for an active and fun nature walk roaming , running and laughing through the wooded paths with puppy in tow. Our puppy Sophie is a border collie with extremely strong herding instincts already in place so she became frantic when the  whole family split into running every direction they could playing a form of woodland tag through the wooded paths. Sophie would whine like crazy and pull on her leash trying to round up her "flock" that was going every which way! We had a blast though and knowing our puppy would be tired out followed up the nature walk by having a picnic lunch back at the park part of the walk that had a few playground equipment and picnic tables. So while we ate and then watched the kids play, Sophie got a much needed rest and nap!

Later that night we went shopping and all shopped for food and some much needed new clothes which always makes the girls happy! They love getting new clothes and as I said, they really did need some new ones! We also were able to purchase a few affordable movies for our home collection as we sold our whole movie collection when we moved back to Michigan so really have had nothing on hand to watch at will other than our Netflix movies that come in the mail. We bought Zombieland, Barbies the princess and the Pauper, Knightstale, Fried Green Tomato's, The Blind Side and Date Night!

It was one of those days that just really could not of been any better! Pure AWESOMENESS of a family spending time together and enjoying every minute of it!

Autumn Sorrows

While we have had a busy week of bike riding, frisbee throwing, puppy playing, math journaling, learning japanese words, baking apple crisp, and apple pies, copy work, reading about custer and taking notes..............We got the news my Aunt Pat passed away this week.

While I have not seen this aunt in about 20 years..........she was very loved and she has suffered for many years with MS , sugar levels and blood pressure. Lately she has been battling Colon Cancer that they had to stop chemo on due to all her other health issues. Now at least she may rest in peace and her pain and suffering be put to rest.

I have some very fond memories of her as I was growing up and I remember how much I loved going over to her house on Thanksgiving as she made the best and most delicous homemade mincemeat pies in the WORLD.  I also remember one summer where my mom was very very sick and going in the  hospital. It was one of several very scary times where they did not think my mom would live.  I remember we were to go with my Aunt Pat and her children to where she always went camping in the summer.

I remember at first how bizarre it all seemed as her type of camping was vastly different from the camping we knew as we were use to rustic, tent style and she camped at this camping resort with camping trailor and non-stop activities for kids and adults to attend. Once we got use to it, we actually started to enjoy it from all the craft activities and sand castle building and all sorts of things! We were able to befriend a deaf-mute girl there as well and I remember how much we enjoyed her company and how excited she got on the 4rth of July as she could feel and slightly hear the big booms.

My Aunt was a great lady and I never remember her getting mad at thing we did, always loving and laughing, she liked to laugh a lot from what I remember! These fond memories is how I will always honor and remember her. Unfortuantly I will not be able to attend her funeral but I will be celebrating  her LIFE and how I remember her. I do regret not seeing her more in recent years as for the past 13 years we were not living in the area and has only been this past year we have moved back into the area where much of our family lives. But I will celebrate the fact I have GREAT memories of her and how excited I use to get when we would find out we were going to see her and she was coming to see us.

Your memories will always be Cherished Aunt Pat!

On another Note my brother has been spending much time in the hospital. He had emergency gall bladder surgery and now it seems he has his pancrease swollen, running temps and possible pneumonia setting in as fluid builds on his lungs. So my thoughts are on him as well that he gets well soon and the pain eases for him.

Simply Homeschooled

Simply Homeschooled- keep it simple-keep it real.

To be honest, here at Simply Homeschooled I have no clue what this year will bring even though we are all really excited about another year. While I do not like using labels we do tend to largely follow the philosophy of Unschooling. Unschooling is just one of many methods of homeschooling that is largely child focused and child-led learning that is not forced or coerced in anyway but is allowed to flow creatively and naturally.

Simply Homeschooled is kept in simple terms by not spending large amounts of time in planning. While in fact this year I have planned a little bit as far was what subjects we will be starting, those are the subjects of our interest at the moment. These are only abstractly planned as a way of knowing where to focus our financial learning funds at the moment yet is really nothing set in stone and can be adapted and changed as needed.

I do think for this year I may brainstorm some goals for the year and come up with activities based off those goals, not looking for teachable moments of course but just trying to creatively come up with activities my kids will find interesting as well as engaging and entertaining in order to reach our goals for this year. I will have to do another post after I have brainstormed this years goals.

As for keeping Simply Homeschooled real it means just that really - KEEP IT REAL! This means many of what we choose to do or learn this year will have meaningful connections that is applied to REAL life as learning should not be separated from living. Learning and Living Co-exist together in a continual cycle and not separate of each other. That is why for example we will be working on LIVING MATH this year where connections will be made from real life examples of the daily usages math has in our lives.

I think much of my excitement is coming from this antsy build up of energy and a need for action, to be shaken out of our mundane routine and propelled into a world of inspiration, action, new experiences, joyful living and the connectedness we always build as a family on this journey. Not that our life is mundane or anything but for the last year it has seemed to have gone at a slow pace due to circumstances. At times it can seem mundane and too much of a routine for my tastes, yet I have always thrived on change and shaking things up.

There seems to be an excitement for this year that is far more than any other year has brought, I am not sure why but it is there. Not just on my part either but on the whole family, perhaps there is an unforeseen reason for all the excitement that will be revealed in due time. Perhaps it is due to we have gotten through 3 years of being unschoolers and this 4rth year is bringing true unschooling into our lives where we are not worried about others opinions, we are not trying to grasp and understand the philosophy but we can LIVE the philosophy this year. Whatever the reason, this excitement larger than life is undeniably there this year for each member and I know this will be a remarkable year that I plan to enjoy the ride on!

Hope everyone has a fantastic year regardless of the method of homeschooling you do!