Sometimes, when you homeschool on your own, you forget how much you have done and how much you have given your kids. Here's a little review of our year together!
September was a beautiful final month of summer. We explored Green Springs Garden's gorgeous flowers and frolicking turtles.
A NAtive American event at Riverbend Park had us exploring native technology. We loved using the pump drill to create holes in the shell stones to hang from a chord, and pounding dried corn kernels.
And finally, a lovely Eid-ul-Ad-Haa celebration.
During these last summer mornings, Princess Buttercup would wake early, and come downstairs to right her stories. Here, she is wearing her new purple glasses, prescribed for a slight astigmatism.
Nothing says summer breakfast like a shirtless beauty munching happily away.
Princess Buttercut was tired of tangles and tears. And frankly. so was I. So we finally decoded for a shorter 'do. She loved it!
We started a monthly play group. The first theme was Eidul Ad-Haa, so I created stations for kinetic sand, doll play, building a ka'baa with blocks, making cards, and decorating hajji and hajjiyah cookies!
Fall Walk with Aziz...noticing changing plant life and animal activity in Autumn. First up, this squirrel enjoying a pumpkin on the porch!
Next, a lesson in water rights and indigenous rights, as we stood with Standing Rock in their pursuit of clean water for their people!
Autumn is great for pumpkins, of course! So we headed for some fun to Cox Farms, and stocked up on these cute little pumpkins for our crafts and experiments. Here's Honeysuckle blowing air to create a bubble-filled pumpkin!
Next we did rainbow- volcano pumpkins!
Honeysuckle busy baking!
Pumpkin lantern votive (which caught on fire upon being lit!)
Leaf-shaped clay bowls
Leaf-shaped cookies with natural plant dye
Leaf-shaped jewelry, made by Princess Buttercup, the artist!
(Our summer garden didn't do so well. Here is a little cucumber sprout, just at the end of October)
A tour of our classroom!
Visiting an old caboose in downtown Vienna.
Visiting a historic home in downtown Vienna, before grabbing some pizza for dinner!
Aaaaaah, the joys of dry leaves!! Here are the girls, making soup in an old tree stump.
Colvin Run Mill is a historic mill that still opperates on the weekends. PB was NOT a fan of the steep staircase, while H had zero problems with the height!
Trying our hand at the classic loaf of bread! The girls experiemented with different add-in ingredients, like sparkles and seeds. I like mine plain with butter and honey.
Another field trip to Green Springs GArden. What a difference a few weeks makes for the foliage! But there were still many different flowers to enjoy.
Play dough flower fairies of the Autumn. I was totally impressed by PB's creations! H had fun rolling out dough and creating shapes, too!
Redwall Abbey, how we love thee! Here is one rendition of the great castle abbey, filled with brave mice their friends. An almost daily option for these girlies!
Winter Solstice kind of snuck up on us with little preparation. What to do, to commemorate this darkest day of the year? Have a candle-lit dinner and cake, of course! The girls LOVED the intrigue of the darkness. We used real beeswax candles for added joy and authenticity. It was so much fun making scary and silly faces for the camera! Farewell, Autumn, and hello Winter!
Dull Winter hikes mean bundling up, getting as goofy as possible, and enjoying any last pretty Autumn leaves that may have been lingering.
2017 started off active and strong for us. Behold, our little muhaajiba ballerina. The hijab was ALL her idea. I asked what made her add it to her dancing attire. She replied, "so the teacher will know I'm Muslim!" <3
When not taking her first ballet class, PB joined H for royal balls in the living room. Here they're going wild with their princess dresses, jamming to one of my songs.
January and February are months that beg us to bring color to the world!
It was fun to finally paint their room and add some decorations!
Working on their life skills by making their own sandwiches.
I can see my breath!
Our winter classroom:
Two determined girls can make the most of this dusting of snow! They grabbed that sled and headed for the hills, scooting down the barely covered grass. :p
We made it to early spring, then began to lose steam. The days were filled with more baking, library book reading, hikes, dances, and art work. When you are in the moment, things can seem too mundane to photograph, so it looks like I don't have much between late winter and early spring.
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