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Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Fun at Music Class!




















So, one of the challenges in homeschooling is to keep things interesting. Mixed up. Constantly trying to make SOMETHING in each unit, class, week, etc. fun, and educational in a DIFFERENT way.

Yesterday we hit the nail on the head in music class. I had heard from the homeschool group that the House of Blues put on educational shows/seminars for children. It's the Blues Schoolhouse and one happened yesterday. It was an entire production on the History of the Blues...and how it affects music today.

So, we're up early and off to downtown Dallas with my giddy little boy (he was stoked about going to the H.O.B.'s mostly). We get there, get seated and I don't know how to express how fantastic this event was.

They had a timeline and a woman talking...about the 1700's and the slave trade. Then they opened up the curtains to an entire band and took the blues through slavery, through the Jim Crow law, through country blues into suburban blues into rock, rap, gospel, all of it. They'd talk, then play an example. Then talk about what the artists were going through when they wrote the songs.

AMAZING. My little guy sat there spellbound the entire time. Listening to the info, then clapping, singing or tapping his foot while the band (who was extraordinary) played the blues, rock, etc.

Days like yesterday make me soooo happy. Make me feel like "yep, we're all good, this is the right path. Everyone is happy, educated, confident...it's all good."

Then we came home...my rockin' little guy all happy...and daddy had to shave off his mohawk for football.

DANG IT! At least he got to go out with a rockin' good time!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

First month of official school...at home!




Just so much has been going on here! I'll try and narrow it down.

We have begun our school year (officially). It is just so much fun and I cannot believe how fast my little guy learns! We will be doing a biology unit where he will dissect: long bone, knuckle, brain, lung, kidney, eyeball and a heart. We are doing environmental science with TONS of projects! Learning about the solar system...as well as spelling, math and literature. We're reading "Call of the Wild" right now. Honestly, we have so much fun every day!!!!

Also, we just got back from my hometown where I got to celebrate my 20th High School reunion. I am so lucky to have such great friends from high school. I was lucky then, I am lucky to have kept those friends, and lucky again to have reconnected with MORE! Such a great weekend!

Football season has started here, too. Back to practicing every day! The kiddo and I both love it. We each get to be with our friends again! ha!

Just absolutely a fun month this month...traveling a bit (2 road trips), seeing family (my 90+ year old grandfather) and homeschooling. OH...we also got to go see "A Midsummer Night's Dream" which was a great and fun night for us, too!

That's about it...just enjoying each day so far and REALLY GLAD that school has begun!!!!

Alright...To describe the photos: We drove through the caprock in west Texas and climbed the cliffs. One photo is looking down as we climbed up...and the last is the rainbow that showed up as we were coming back into the part of Texas we live in NOW!!! It was gorgeous...See why I love my life so much!!?