Roller Skating

This week Nora Lee went roller skating for the first time! One of our homeschooling groups planned a field trip and we got to spend an afternoon skating and eating pizza. It felt like a big breakthrough day because at the beginning Nora Lee was so frustrated. She said, "I hate skating and you do too! Skating is just about falling down." I realized that she didn't understand yet what the payoff was of learning how to skate. I shared with her that once you know how, you can go really fast and it feels like flying.

After one round on the rink she tried for about 15 more minutes on the rug and then wanted to take off her skates. I let it go and decided to just have fun watching everyone. Soon after, pizza was ready and we went to the food area to chat with some friends. There was a little girl Nora Lee's age that she began playing with and after lunch Nora said, "I'm ready to put my skates on again." She practiced some more of the carpet and then announced she was ready for the rink. By this time, I had taken off my own skates, thinking we were done for the day. I walked her over to the rink to an area where I could walk beside her. She tried that stretch of the rink and wanted to continue alone! I told her that she would need to go the ENTIRE length of the rink by herself. She said she was ready! So off she went, taking tiny, tiny skate steps as she held on to the railing. It took her about 20 minutes to get around once. Then she wanted to go again and said, "You can skate too and I can be near the wall." By this time we had only 15 minutes left of the four hour day but I was ready to skate! I got my skates back on and loved every moment.

Nora Lee went twice around the rink all by herself and felt very successful. She and I can't wait to go back!

Our Summer Garden

The Devil Tomato




We've got zucchini, yellow squash, grape tomatoes, steak tomatoes, and basil growing right now. The strawberries and cucumbers are not happy.


These sunflowers are about 8 feet tall!









This was the first year that the fruit tress that I planted a few years ago are producing. Matt and I had an ongoing (and losing) battle with the squirrels who ended up eating almost everything. We had about 100 apricots and about 30 apples. We netted the trees and everything but they still got them. In our exasperation we were actually considering a BB gun but don't think our neighbors would be too delighted with our missed targets. I've heard hanging human hair and/or moth balls in the trees can work. I'm hopeful that in the next few years the trees will produce enough for us all to share. This is what happens with our citrus trees in the back yard and it seems like a win-win situation ;-)

A Lazy Summer Day at the Creek

Tobey and Nora Lee




Nora Lee, Mila, and Chloe


Chloe


Claire and Tobey






Tobey and Mila


Nora Lee


Mila




Tobey and Nora Lee

A Story

A short story by Nora Lee Young

Once there was a princess. She was picking flowers. She wished that she could fly on the cloud. The End.

School

Nora Lee is 4 1/2 and we are in the full swing of things academically. We are using a Waldorf kindergarten curriculum supplemented by other workbooks that Nora Lee and I find interesting. Over the months an entire imaginary school has been created in our household. I am "Mrs. Quiley" and Matt is "Mr. Cashote" (We have learned that Nora is a gifted creator of names). There are usually three or four other students that are in our class and often one of them is a character from a book or movie that Nora Lee is smitten with at the moment. A few weeks ago it was Omri, the boy from "The Indian and the Cupboard" and this week it is Cedric Digory from Harry Potter.

We all come to class at the dining room table and focus on one letter in the alphabet. We practice writing the letter and discuss "as a class" the sound the letter makes and words that begin with the letter. The Waldorf curriculum also includes an old fairytale that connects to the letter in some way. Sometimes we will explore a poem that also connects to the letter. For example, when studying "P" I would recite the "Peter Piper" poem.

After working with letters we move on to numbers and simple math. Nora Lee is working on counting to 100. She's got all the numbers in between but gets stuck on 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90. We've learned that Nora Lee is really good with geometric shapes. She can create cool patterns and enjoys that type of play.

After this study time at the table we go off into the world to explore. We have fallen in love with a library one town over from us. We were given a library card and we can't stay away! They have an incredible children's section with thousands of tantalizing books and movies. We have been enjoying books on CD for in the car when we drive around town. We did the first three Harry Potter books this way and just started The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Our Season Table

Nora Lee and I decided we are going to set up a small table in our home that we decorate for each season. We went to the beach yesterday and collected natural treasures for our "summer" table. She lovingly washed each rock and shell today and lined them up on a towel to dry. Tomorrow we decorate!




A few days later...



"Summer"

Coloring

As a child I loved to color pictures and I still find it very relaxing. Nora Lee also loves it and we have spent many sweet hours together coloring pictures at the dining room table. We have coloring books on wizards, fairies, princesses, elves, and animals. I'm rather impressed with her coloring skills. She does a good job of staying within the lines.











This is an original Nora Lee piece. There is something about it that I absolutely love. It makes me very happy to look at :-)