Still not in school

I realize that recently my blogging has become more of a “where have we been” display throughout the summer months. Jon said last night that it looked a bit like Vladimir Putin Action Man: “here is us in Stratford”, “here we are with ice cream”, “and here in front of Mt. Hood”, etc., etc.

The truth is, it was a crazy, whirlwind of a summer. We were gone more weekends than we were home, and even our longer respites in town were filled with various community activities. It wasn’t planned that way; things just kept coming up, and what started as a summer with two trips planned quickly got a tad out of hand. The last few weeks have been our longest stay at home in months, and they've allowed me at least a little time to try and catch up in the garden and the house, but we have one more trip up our sleeves.

In the past we've been year round schoolers, but this year was a little different. When we first started homeschooling we were aiming for a very unschooling environment, and our summers were little different from our falls, winters, and springs, excepting, of course, for the weather. But in the past few years, as our methods have undergone a slow but decided evolution, have found ourselves more on the side of classical schooling. Now, in the fall, winter, and spring, our mornings are often spent at the kitchen table or a like place, studying or creating together. In the summers we continue to start our days with a little dabble of math and Spanish, but the rest of the day is often spent outside doing one thing or another. I guess you could call the cooler months our classical time, and the warmest months our unschooling time.

The truth being, though, that we still live the life of home learners who find "education" in everything we do.

So this fall, with one more trip still waiting in the wings, we are waiting until October to begin our classical learning months, and we are using the first couple of weeks of September to review a bit, and to plan the months ahead. Rather neatly, Calvin is right at the end of several books—Spanish, math, science, and grammar—meaning that when we get home and pick up classical lessons in October, it will be like a fresh start.

But until then, finishing up, reviewing, previewing, and planning ahead.

Inseparable

We got new neighbors, about a year ago. They have a little girl close to Calvin in age. Last year the two kids eyed each other with interest across the lawns, but they crossed the property lines only once or twice. Even this summer there was very little mingling going on, until this week. This week, on Sunday, the neighbors had their inflatable pool set up and asked Calvin to join them. It was a fun afternoon, and the next day the girl came over and asked if we'd like to go to the park. Since then, they've played every day. They usually play in our front yard, riding bikes (it was thanks to her encouragement that Calvin took off the training wheels), drawing with chalk, and playing some totally imaginative, totally absorbing game. They've been inseparable. Her parents have started calling her Hobbes.

Summer

Detroit Zoo

Our time at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago made us miss our own zoo. So, with just a few days between travels, that's where we went. Some may wonder how we can stand to visit the same zoo so often, but if you really spend time with the animals while you are there, you'll find that while the exhibits are fairly much the same from time to time, there is always something different to see. This trip we thought it would be baby otters, but it turned out to be a number of other things, from the Black Crowned Night Herons nesting in their rookery, to the polar bear performing for a crowd. Yes, it's always a different place for us.

What did the turtle say to the cormorant?

that is one sleepy camel...

This is Talini, the polar bear that was born the year before Calvin.

Making a big splash