Adventures in Homeschooling

We officially started homeschooling yesterday. Campbell has started a blog in conjunction with that. It will be a way for him to review in his own mind what he has learned each day, and a nice way to teach some computer and typing skills. It will also be a nice way to share with any of you who are interested in seeing what we're learning about. (There's a link to his blog on my page - see under "Friends' Blogs".) I say "we" because I am learning a lot, too. For example, I just learned yesterday that the Chinese are credited with inventing paper. We began our studies with China because that's what C's class was studying before spring break. He will probably not report on every little thing we do, so I want to assure you that we are still covering math, grammar, and other basics, in addition to anything you may read about on his blog.

So, related to the Chinese inventing paper, we recycled paper today by shredding old, used computer paper and turning into our own paper. We also experimented with adding designs in another color. We shredded some black construction paper and used its pulp and cookie cutter molds to create the black shapes you see in the picture below. The one on the left is a black cat. It was our first experiment with this process, so it may not be recognizable, but we know what it is! The one on the right (still on the screen) is a capital "I". Campbell thought it would be funny to make a "black eye". Get it?! I wonder where he gets his love of puns from . . .






Another completely unexpected adventure in homeschooling . . . the kids got to pet a brand-new calf today. As we were outside making paper, I looked over into my neighbor's yard and saw a cow. Come to find out, it has been there for 2 days. I'm not very observant, apparently! I think they're just keeping it temporarily. I'm sure it's against the HOA rules. But for now, it's pretty cute. Her name is Annabelle.