7 Quick Takes (Sunday): Homeschool Edition

Joining Jen for 7 Quick Takes Friday!

1. Many of my friends have chosen to enroll their kids into preschool, and their kids are learning French and coming home with crafty fall art projects.  In the past when people have asked where G will go to school, I've said that we plan to home school.  Now that she's three, I'm feeling the pressure to say that we DO home school.  And that I need to have something to show other than that "Um, she counted out potatoes for me for dinner" (and got to "eleventeen").  So, here are some things we've done in the past weeks for her education.

2. We took a field trip!  A replica of the Nina (the most accurate ever built) was docked in Pittsburgh's North Side for a few days prior to Columbus Day.





It's quite small, compared to today's ships.  But for being guided by a tiller (not a wheel), it's large.  The crew of 24 men used to sleep on deck, as the hull was full of food, horses and extra rigging.

Grace's fav part was trotting up and down the gangplank.

I found out about this event because I joined the Catholic Homeschoolers of Pittsburgh listserv.  All kinds of home school points!

3. We went apple picking.  This is our third year going to Simmons Farm to pick apples, and I love that we have this tradition.  I saw a preschool group there and realized that this totally counts as a field trip.

The tractors on the farm were not G's fav part.

4. We did something with construction paper!  In The Well Trained Mind, Bauer recommends Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready as "a preschool curriculum in itself", or something like that.  There is a weekly activity for children from birth through age five.  G's age-approp. activity was fishing.

We are learning colors and counting in fun ways.

5. We checked out a Theme Bag from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.  (Incidentally, this has to be one of the best libraries in the nation.  Is that obvious? They probably have lots of awards. I'm just talking from personal experience.)  A friend recently recommended Theme Bags, which are intended for teachers but (apparently) anyone can check them out.  We did the Silly Songs and Nonsense bag which had 11 books and some cloth figures.  My favs from that bag: Silly Sally and Donna O'Neeshuck was Chased by Some Cows.

6. We have magnet letters, and they're on the fridge.  Our very cool library gave them to us (along with a backpack of other fun items) and I selected just a few and review them with her (almost) every day.

7. Gettysburg--another field trip!  We drove through Gettysburg on the way home from DC.

The look of a mom who still has miles to go before she sleeps.

Actually, though, Grace was too engrossed in her (non-educational) TV show to get out of the car.  Fail.  But Sheldon liked it.

One afternoon, when our girls were toddlers, my friend and I put them in separate clear Rubbermaid bins (sans lids, of course).  We tossed some toys in there, and the girls were quite content and out of trouble.  I joked that we should open up a daycare and call it "Le Petite Bucket."  So far, the ad hoc nature of our home school reminds me of "Le Petite Bucket."  We're totally making this up, and it's probably fine for now.  :)

Great Race

We did it!  Oranges and "funny face" cookies, as Gracie calls them, for the victors.

My sweet friend Jeanne and I ran the 5K segment of the Pittsburgh Great Race last Sunday. She had a goal of running the whole thing without walking. I wasn't making any promises, but I wanted to keep up with her. (This was a good goal, as we both stopped at about week 5 of the "Couch to 5K" program--which means we were off the couch and out the door, but not running for long.)

I don't think I would have even shown up that morning if Jeanne hadn't arrived at my door at 6:50 a.m.  We had gotten home a little later than planned from our weekend in D.C., and the baby had woken up a few times that night.

But that just made success that much sweeter!  :)  36 minutes, 14 seconds: I was in a college PE class when I last ran that many minutes consecutively. There's just something so great about running with all those other people (15,000 registered for the 35th annual race) and a sort of euphoric high that carries for days after you cross the finish line.

There are family members of mine (and of Jeanne's) who run 5Ks as a warm up to their morning run, so I am keeping this in perspective. But, I'm still pretty happy that I can do it, and maybe KP will run one with me (at what would be a trot for her).

After the race, I felt like a true urbanite as I caught a bus from downtown to Squirrel Hill and walked home. The family cheered for me when I came in, and David made a delicious dinner that night in celebration.