Day 46 / 103 - Spelling Bee

With very little preparation, our local county homeschool association formally registered for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.  As a result, we needed to have a Spelling Bee amongst our community where the winners would advance to the Raleigh County Bee which is held in January.  All of it came together very quickly at a normally rushed and busy time of year.  My children participated in the community Bee, although if you asked them why, they would both probably respond with:  My mom signed me up for this.  I didn't want to do it.

My children were both on the younger end of their divisions, so my intention for them was to participate for experience.  My daughter had 150 words to study, and in a week's time she mastered the 100 for her grade level.  My son had 200 words to study, and in a week's time he mastered the 100 for his grade level.  I didn't require them to learn more.  The words were challenging (panache, derivative, netiquette, etc.).  Most of these words they were unfamiliar with at the start of last week.

I could not have been more proud of their participation.  Of the words that they knew, they spelled each one confidently and correctly.  They were not the winners of their divisions (which I'm sure they are breathing a sigh of relief, because if so they would need to continue onto the County Bee) but they both performed very well in their respective divisions.

However, what I loved the most about our participation in this Bee is seeing my children's ability to learn.  I've mentioned before (here) that I've never used a spelling curriculum.  Never.  I've never given them formal weekly spelling quizzes.  We don't use spelling software games on the computer.  Nothing.  We read.  And, we have the ability to 'go look something up' when we want to learn about it.  My children, in one week's time, taught themselves how to spell 100 challenging words.  My children are discovering they have the ability to learn most anything.  In my mind, that is education at it's finest.

Day 45 / 103 - Tenderfoot

On Monday evening my son earned his Tenderfoot rank in Boy Scouts.  This is the second of six ranks he needs to earn before he can become an Eagle Scout.  He had to complete requirements in many areas including outdoor skills, first aid skills, physical fitness, citizenship, personal growth and leadership.

Day 44 / 103 - Nutcracker 2013

This past weekend my daughter performed in two performances of The Nutcracker along with many others from her dance school.  Once again, we have loved immersing ourselves in all things Nutcracker for the past several weeks months.  Classical ballet.  Tchaikovsky.  The score.

My daughter auditioned for a role as a Toy Soldier back in August and has rehearsed nearly every weekend since then.  She took her small role incredibly seriously, and attended every rehearsal with excitement and without complaint.

I mentioned earlier this year how grateful I am for the dance school that we have stumbled into in Beckley.  Their Nutcracker performance was superb.  The dancers from the school are incredibly talented, and the director brings in professional dancers (from New York, Cleveland, Chicago, and more!) for many of the key solo parts.  With rehearsals, I sat through the performance several times and not once was I disappointed.

However, probably the highlight of the entire event for my daughter was her Saturday luncheon with the professional cast members.  The school conducted a ticket-selling contest for the younger cast members with the Grand Prize being lunch with the dancers, and the autographed pointe shoes of Savannah Lowery of the New York City Ballet who was starring as the Sugar Plum Fairy.  Since we are still fairly new to the school, we weren't exactly sure what it took to win, and to be honest we really didn't work very hard at selling tickets, (Thank you to our CC group if you bought your tickets from us !!) so imagine our surprise when we discovered that she was the winner!  She had a great lunch resulting in becoming friends with the professional cast and has the pointe shoes proudly displayed in her room.

Day 43 / 103 - Starburst Headband

My daughter whipped up this headband in a matter of minutes this morning.  She's advanced from rubber band bracelets to rubber band headbands.  I don't quite get the entire trend, but I have to admit this headband is super cute, and I told her someone would probably pay money for one.

Day 42 / 103 - The Big Muskie

The Big Muskie was a coal mining dragline operated by the Central Ohio Coal Company beginning in 1969.  Notably, it was the largest single-bucket digging machine ever created and one of the world's largest mobile earth-moving machines. While in operation, the huge machine was capable of taking a 320 ton bite of earth from one location, pivoting, and then depositing it some 600 feet away.  Due to environmental regulations and increased operating costs, the Big Muskie was removed from service in 1991 and the machine was broken down in 1999.

However, as a tribute to Ohio Miners and the immense machine, the Big Muskie bucket can be viewed at the Miner's Memorial Park in southeastern Ohio.  To continue with our mining education, we made a quick stop at the park on Thanksgiving Day.  Above you will see my children standing in the bucket of the machine.  The bucket alone weighs 460,000 pounds!!  Two Greyhound buses can fit inside it.  Below you can see a picture of how big the actual machine was during its operation when you see how small the bucket is in comparison.

What disappoints my husband the most (now that he's a coal miner) is that we lived a mere 30 miles from the entire machine while it sat inoperable for 8 years.  We could have seen it in its entirety at anytime.

Day 41 / 103 - What Did You Learn Today?

I attempt to regularly ask my children the question, "What did you learn today?"  I think by rephrasing the age-old question, "What did you do in school today?" this helps to create a continual environment of learning and education.  If you've visited this blog more than once, you know that I firmly believe that education and learning is a lifestyle, and that it doesn't only happen at certain times of the day in certain locations.  We all have an innate desire to learn and discover.  My end-goal as a home educator is to foster within my children that love of learning for a lifetime.

As an experiment, for the month of November I asked my children the question, "What did you learn today?" and wrote down their responses.  This took some organization and discipline on my part (something I learned !!), but I was excited to see how these 30 days would unfold for them.  This post is a little longer than my usual posts, but I think you will enjoy some of their thoughts.

For reference, my son is 12 and my daughter will be 10 this Wednesday.  Also it should be obvious, but I will mention that all of this was learned without my instruction.

1 - Him: Pyong An Oh Dan.
     Her:  How to make a spider out of pipe cleaners and beads.

2 - Him:  Nate's airsoft gun really hurts.
     Her:  I need to point my toes more when I gallop.

3 - Him:  When driving, you need to stay 4 seconds behind the car in front of you.
     Her:  What a fox really does say.

4 - Him:  How to make a tripod.
     Her:  Vanilla is used to make chocolate.

5 - Him:  I have enough money to buy an X-Box.
     Her:  I need to keep my foot flexed while tying my pointe shoes.

6 - Him:  Paintball wars are very tiring.
     Her:  I learned how to memorize The Tale of Custard the Dragon.

7 - Him:  I learned a new side-step defense when sparring.
     Her:  How to start a sentence with a subordinate clause.

8 - Him:  The first half of Bassai.
     Her:  How to make sweet potato bread.

9 - Him:  The second half of Bassai.
     Her:  There are 2720 calories in 3 pounds of bacon.

10 - Him:  Raking leaves is not so bad.
       Her:  How to make a starburst bracelet.

11 - Both:  WWI formally ended on the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month in 1918.

12 - Him:  How to play pinball on my DS.
       Her:  How to make a paleo sports drink with coconut water, molasses, and honey.

13 - Him:  A musical sentence is called a phrase.
       Her:  The body's golden rectangle in dancing.

14 - Him:  How to make a rocket out of vinegar, water, baking soda, a bottle and a cork.
       Her:  How to spell carnivore.

15 - Him:  How to flip a 250 pound tire.
       Her:  How to scale an 8-foot wall.

16 - Him:  I like buffalo chicken pizza.
       Her:  A peanut is not a nut.

17 - Him:  I can find a wetsuit in a trashcan.
       Her:  How to make a pen doodle design.

18 - Him:  How to make a tripod-frame tent.
       Her:  How to braid my hair with a flip-braid.

19 - Him:  The Leaning Tower of Pisa leans 2 inches every year.
       Her:  How to dance a waltz.

20 - Him:  The surface area of Asia is larger than the surface area of the moon.
       Her:  How to make a winter hat out of a sock for my dolls.

21 - Him:  Mars is the second smallest planet in the solar system.
       Her:  Mars has the largest volcano in the solar system.

22 - Him:  Mt. Everest grows a 1/4" of an inch every year.
       Her:  A spitting cobra can spit venom 6 feet directly into its victims eyes.

23 - Him:  How to spell obsidian.
       Her:  How to spell ivory.

24 - Him:  Hummingbirds have really weak legs, which is why they always fly.
       Her:  Not to wear black clothes in a car with a white dog.

25 - Him:  How to order a Butterbeer at Starbucks.
       Her:  More of Pahl Dan Kum Bong.

26 - Him:  How scented Gothic banquet water fountains were used in medieval France.
       Her:  It takes two months to make a suit of armor, longer if it's decorated.

27 - Both:  S'mores in the oven are better than s'mores over a campfire.

28 - Him:  The Big Muskie mining machine weighed 27,000,000 pounds.
       Her:  While the Big Muskie was in operation it moved twice a much earth as the Panama Canal.

29 - Him:  How to play The Arabian Dance from the Nutcracker.
       Her:  How to hook up the sewing machine.

30 - Him:  How to adjust the hot water valve leading to the second bathroom.
       Her:  How to sew a pillow.