The Start of School Year 2015-16

School is off and running.  This might be our last year homeschooling everyone, as the plan has always been to do something a little more traditional for high school.  The picture above is from the evening of our first day.  All that grad school in the History of Science came in handy in convincing Solomon that there really is a point to factoring radicals.  Thinking big ideas is one of the best parts of high school mathematics, and Solomon, Charles and I are all looking forward to that for Solomon this year.  

These are our unofficial school uniforms for the younger two.  They each have the same dress in purple and matching leggings (Aria is wearing her purple leggings).  Both dresses are reversible. They each have a pullover for when the weather gets colder. Why have uniforms when we homeschool?  My point is not to be controlling, it is to make them more comfortable and reduce friction about what to wear.  My kids often get comfortable in what they are wearing and don't want to switch. Different seams and closures feel uncomfortable.  This way switching only means switching colors, nothing else.  The necklaces were their idea.  We rarely go shopping for new clothes, they were both pretty thrilled with the whole thing.    

Charlotte has been asking to learn Chinese for years.  I blame Aunt Brynn, for giving her a Gordon and Li Li Learn Animals in Mandarin board book back when Charlotte could barely speak anything--that and maybe the Avatar cartoon series.  I say blame only because Chinese is notoriously difficult and we have zero experience with the language.  I am actually pretty excited about it now that we have found a more comprehensive curriculum.   It turns out Charlotte is most interested in learning the characters, though she has been spending a lot of her free time listening to the books on CD and repeating the words too.  Up until this year all the curriculum I could find for young kids ignored written Chinese.  She is excited to get going.

Ariadne's first day of preschool began quite wet but ended in sunshine (both atmospherically and emotionally).  Though she was sad to see me go, she was all smiles when I returned.  Ariadne told me excitedly about her new friends, Libby and Juliette.  Though Juliette and Aria had spent an entire year in the same Sunday School class, it seems they did not notice each other until the first day of preschool.  Libby couldn't help but remind me of my own dear friend Libby, whom I also met in preschool.



Solomon and Nova are both taking fencing at their co-op this year and it has become a fast favorite.  Nova is in the foreground poking her saber at her opponent's stomach and Solomon is in back wearing dark pants and facing the camera.  Their instructor is quite a character, which makes it extra fun.



The girls posed for a picture when playgroup took an impromptu trip to the zoo.  Volunteers were stationed around the zoo to field questions and offer educational enrichment.  The boys (all being older) had gone on ahead.

Charlotte is reading without sounding out the words--her new big thing in reading this year.  It was all her idea too.  She is just at the cusp of taking off.  I remember when Solomon learned to read.  He went from reading the fifth and final set of Bob Books (which Charlotte is reading from above), to reading Lion Boy by Zizou Corder, a long and complicated children's chapter book that even throws in a few phrases from other languages.  He had received the book as a gift from my mom, neither Charles nor I would have guessed he could read it.  We were floored.  Nova, always a determined child, powered through an abridged version of Anne of Green Gables, sounding out the words all the way.  Shockingly she was still able to follow the story.  She got through it all and still has fond memories of reading her first chapter book at age five.  This one had been a gift from my aunt, who also homeschooled her kids.

And now for a little science!  Solomon is taking Biology at our co-op.  His teacher assigned the kids to design their own experiments.  Solomon's involves a classic rat maze.
 

This is Heimdall, running the maze--well, exploring the maze, he never reached the end.  His brother Dasher finished in 3 minutes 24 seconds.  Too bad for Dasher, he will now get played with for half as long as Heimdall for the next week to see if playtime affects results.

We also had some fun with non-Newtonian fluids this week (a.k.a. oobleck).  It is amazing what fun cornstarch and water can be!  Plasma, liquids, solids and gases all came up in conversation as we watched this bizarre matter clump and ooze, depending on how we handled it.

The little girls and I also read Dr. Seuss's Bartholomew and the Oobleck.

Other things going on that don't photograph so well include learning Italian (Solomon) and French (Nova), lots more math, and a whole lot of writing on Solomon's part.  He is working on a novel and it is really coming along.  Nova is taking a combo electronics/mine craft redstone class and ballroom dancing along with fencing.  Solomon's third co-op class is History of Rock and Roll (I am jealous). Suzuki music lessons continue with a slight change--Solomon is now playing viola.  Circus classes have just kicked off and soccer is in mid season.  Never a dull moment!

These transition times always get so full and go so fast.  Fall is my favorite season, I must admit.  I just have to remember to take a little time to enjoy it all.  Kids, while they keep you busy, are also good at reminding you to slow down.  On one of the last days of astronomical summer (Sept 21st?), Charlotte and Ariadne were adamant that we take some time to play on the swing set.  And could pass up recess when it looks like this outside?