Where is that switch anyway!?

This sums up one of my concerns about my son...

"He didn't learn the same. WHEN he learned, he learned FASTER, and deeper than any of the kids we were around. But he also didn't learn consistently like they did. It was like someone flipped a switch and he went from dark to lit up 100 watts all at once. Seeing that he learned so fast really didn't make me worried. (...) What did kill me was waiting for him to get that switch flipped. It never seemed like it was up to me but rather to some random timer switch." from Building Wing Span

Raccoon absorbs information, and remembers it, in amazing quantities, but his perfectionism wars with the flawed repetition necessary for mastery. At this point, I'm not sure when (sometimes I whisper to myself if?) he will speak Spanish (despite living in a fully bilingual home), and many other things that he is not just uninterested in, but actively dislikes. Letters also come to mind.

Summer Days

I have decided that this is our last official summer of Tot School. Raccoon starts preschool twice a week on September 3rd here in the States. Next year we'll be overseas again and starting to homeschool kindergarten, if all goes according to plan. Robin will be starting Tot School at about that time, which is odd to think about now since she's currently 6 months old. At that point she'll be a little shy of two years old. As Gretchen Rubin says, "The days are long but the years are short."

So here's to Tot School and Raccoon's last official post (the pictures are all mixed up time-wise, viva la summer loca!).

Arts & Crafts

My mom gave me these pumpkin sheets when Raccoon 

randomly announced in July that he wanted to make a pumpkin.

He actually wanted to carve one, but was persuaded to do it this way instead.

Thanks to Grama, Raccoon has done many large paintings
this summer, which I have hanging all over the house.

See the tongues sticking out? It's a family thing. Perhaps painting is as well, 

since my mother's father was a painter, among other things. This is the 

beginning of one of my favorites, which I have hanging in my bedroom.

When I see pictures like this, I imagine him as a teen,
long and lean, with his curly hair and gorgeous lashes.


Outside Play

Our wading pool, a yard sale find.

Which became our sandbox, thanks to my mom's inspiration and contributions.

Enjoying play time with his cousins.

 

A lake about 10 minutes from our house. Raccoon calls it the beach.

Mommy and me moments

 

Pensive ladies on shore



Raccoon loves horseback riding, just like his mommy.

 

Raccoon has always enjoyed bouncy houses, but now he gets to play on them
every week at church. This one, however, was outside at the 4th of July festival.



The way life should be.

 
A perfect summer day, jumping on the trampoline in the sprinkler with Daddy and his best buddy, C.

It wouldn't be tot school without a little dress-up.

 River swimming - it's cold!

Building

 

Caleb gathered up a stack of thngs from his playroom 

and informed me that he wanted to make a horse.  

  

I followed his instructions and this is what we built. There 

weren't any spare parts, much to my surprise. It even had 4 legs.

Family

Raccoon's middle name means warrior and he certainly lives up to it with his 

interest in weapons of any kind. His cousin is now his hero for having the 

biggest Nerf gun he's ever seen, and letting him shoot off several rounds.

Grama and Grampa, 4th of July 2013

I think Robin looks so much like my mom.



We are definitely a hat family.

Robin

I like this picture because she glows like the angel she is.

Strawberries to celebrate a long-time friend and SB's turtle,
which has now been chewed on by all three of my babies.

Joy.

 

Teeth!

Robin's first baby doll, a gift from Grandma Millie (90 years old) at church.

Focusing on Strengths

"It is easy for those working with children with disabilities, including their parents, to dwell upon the deficiencies. But if children experience success in their strength areas, they become more confident in their abilities." SENG August newsletter


A social work major in college, I chose the strengths perspective as the foundation of my approach to family problem-solving. For me, it's the idea that everyone brings something to the table which can be used for the good of all. In homeschooling I hope to use my son's strengths - imagination, curiosity, energy, and marching to his own drum - to also improve his areas of weakness. I think we'll have the most success with project-based learning based on his areas of interest, incorporating reading, writing, and public speaking as means to the end.



Coming soon: a summer and book update.  

Museum of the Month

Camlann, a Medieval Village

We watched a longbow demonstration while we waited for the big event - the knights!

 My knight in shining armor

Raccoon loved seeing them in armor, but there was too much talking and 

not enough fighting for him to make it through the 1 hour demonstration.

A real live knight!

Robin, however, was not at all impressed and promptly fell asleep in the baby carrier. 

Raccoon picked me some flowers, my sweet boy.

The highlight for us all (Grama and Grampa came too) turned out to be making
our own beeswax candles by dipping string on a stick into a large cauldron. 

Museum of the Month

The Zoo - July 2013

The highlight for Raccoon was feeding some of the animals. 

He touched an alpaca and a deer.

 

Robin's favorite was a stuffed baboon in their taxidermy shop.

I liked the tiger show they did with their white and golden tigers. 

They fed them treats in order to visually inspect their bodies, so 

the tigers would stand up against the fence. It's amazing how big 

and powerful they are, and so gorgeous.

Of course, I couldn't resist a picture of this. :)

A Book Project, Part I

For about a year, I have been telling what we call "Peter and Jon" stories to Raccoon. For months now, he has been making up the stories that he wants me to tell. Sometimes, he is doing most of the telling and I just interject occasional connecting sentences.

Tonight, I was looking back at the things I've jotted down for Raccoon's scrapbook (on notebook pages ripped out of my journals). I wish I had written down more things that he said. I cannot go back, but someday when he's 18, I know I'll treasure what he said at 3, so I can start now.

To bring these two things together, I want to help Raccoon make a book. He'll dictate the story to me and we'll figure out how to illustrate it together. I got the idea from Eva Ridenhour, but it seemed like he was too young. I thought that I would save the idea for later, but I decided to try it now. We are in-between Tot School and a private preschool in the fall, so I think some book projects might be a good idea. We'll see if Raccoon thinks so too.

(This post isn't very fluid, but it's late and I don't have time to edit so I'm going to publish it as is.)


ETA: Here is Part II.

The Celosia Manifesto

Learn joyfully through play, imagination, and experience.

If it's not working, stop. Failure may be necessary.

Be in love. Teach from love. Love what we do.

Sometimes... don't stop. Create. Flow.

Everyone matters. Connect. Belong.

Jesus loves me. He also likes me. 

There is enough time. Let go.

Live today. Seize eternity.

Pray without ceasing.

Carpe Aeternitatum.

(I was inspired to write my own by the Holstee Manifesto.)