Middle School Homeschooling Archives

A Horse Education

January 7, 2009 By Laura 4 Comments

After a nice long Christmas break, we’re happily back to our familiar (home) school day routines, with some new experiences for all of the kids getting thrown into the mix. There will be more on the other kids coming up soon, but this happens to be another post about {A}.

{A} has always loved horses, about as much as I did when I was her age. I have always wanted a horse. As a kid, I had horse posters all over my side of the room walls. I can’t remember if that was before or after the Shaun Cassidy posters. (My sister, preferred Parker Stevenson, so I think she didn’t mind the horse posters as much.) Back then, I was getting a great horse magazine subscription called “Horse, of Course”, or something like that. In it, there was a lot of great horse photos, articles, and stories, and a pull out poster in each! So {A} and I definitely share a love for horses. But she has already had the opportunity to be with horses more than I ever did at her age. We have a friend who owns a horse rescue farm, where we go from time to time, and {A} hopes to work there some, as soon as she’s a little older and strong enough.

So for Christmas, on Christmas morning, we gave {A} a gift certificate for horse riding lessons, with an experienced trainer, Pamela Ring, at Dreamer Stables. When {A} opened that envelope and read the certificate she pulled out, she let out a big “WHOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!!“, even startling some in the room, who weren’t paying attention at the moment. She about knocked us over with her hugs, too!

A couple of days ago was her first lesson. The wonderful thing is, she’ll be learning a lot more about horses, than just how to ride them. She’s learning all about them; how to interact with them, how to care for them, and how to dress and undress them, which she’ll be needing to do herself before and after riding riding. She has read so many books on horses, and knows quite about them, and their gear. But nothing beats hands on experience and spending time with these magnificent and beautiful creatures. She was beaming at her first lesson.

Now before moving on here, I just have to say, first…. that these are some of the absolute worst photos I have ever taken. Ugh. But..I was very limited in what I could do to get better shots. Despite how the photos look now, the stable was actually very, very dark, with horrible hanging lighting. I lightened them some, but a little flash would have been ideal in this case, with very little natural light source (and none in the arena.) But, flash is not allowed, as to not possibly startle the horses, or something. So….that’s the end of my excuses about the lousy photos. Here we go…..

{A}, brushing twice, with 2 different brushes.

Using an ice pick tool, to remove ice and any rocks (or what-not ; ) from their shoes.

Learning how to dress the horse properly, layer by layer, for riding.

Getting comfortable riding, and learning all of the commands.

One happy rider.

Unbuckling buckles to remove the horse’s bridle off of his head.

She can’t wait to go back next week. Horses are in her heart, much like chipmunks and training them are, along with good handful of other things that mean a lot to her.

One of the many, many reasons we decided to home school our kids, is to give them an abundance of free time. Time to imagine and create. Time to listen to, and follow their own hearts, and explore what calls them. Time to have lots of experiences out in the real world, hands on, and be educated through them. Time to discover some of their passions, and follow them if they choose to. Time to be with themselves, enough to focus on themselves, be who they are, and develop into all they want to be. Time to hear the whispers of God in their heart. Time is such a gift, for anyone! But more time to just be a child, whose heart and mind may not yet be inundated with wordly stuff, pressures and distractions, is a gift all it’s own. It’s these kinds of experiences out in the world, at a young age, that will certainly be remembered, and influence the rest of their lives.

Speaking of time, it’s time for my nightly routine before bedtime. Thanks for dropping by once again. We hope you all find that 2009 is going pretty well for you so far!

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Last Frog Released

December 1, 2008 By Laura Leave a Comment

This special day is actually from back on October 25, when {A} released her last frog. Festivities, other events, and work sort of prevented this from being posted about in a timely manner. Nonetheless, we couldn’t let November end, and get into all of the special times that December holds, without sharing this milestone moment with you. Especially if you have been with us from the beginning, with {A}’s ambitious mission to study bullfrogs this year. If you have not, you are welcome to catch up, if interested, with the help of these links in chronological order:

Now just as a little background info, our neighbors, who have a Better Homes and Gardens like yard, created 2 ponds. One was created for fish, but it ended up to be quite the frog haven. The kids had been invited to come visit the frogs whenever they want, and {A} takes full advantage of that invitation. : ) It’s a beautiful little pond, with a large frog statue on a bench, and frog stepping stones. It’s a Frog Paradise!

It even has a waterfall. The sound of the trickling water is probably what beckoned the escaped frogs in that direction.

SO!….The day came in October when she decided it was time to let her last frog go. As I said, some had escaped her observatory months prior, and found their way to the neighbor’s pond. So when it was time to let this last one go, {A} decided it would be the best new home for it. Complete with long lost family!

So first she brought the frog container out of the sanctuary. This very home-made, make-shift pond, was just part of their home. They had the entire sanctuary to hunt and hop around in. (There are lots of crickets, bugs and spiders!)

Then she had to find her (the frog) in the water, because she had hopped off her favorite rock she spent MANY HOURS on. {A} assures us this one is a girl.

Got her!!

Peek-A-Boo!

Here’s a really good look at one of the beauties {A} raised since she was just a little tadpole.

Like a Mama not wanting to forget the details of their babies, {A} gave her a good last look over. And I photographed even the sweet little foot. Lord knows how big these flippers will grow to be someday!

Possibly their last portrait together.

Eskimo Kisses!!

The long good-bye. (I thought I would step back and give them some privacy for this sad yet proud moment.)…

Letting her go….

Can you see her?

Home Sweet Home!

{A} thinks they’ll winter well here because of all of the mud at the bottom, and she’ll see them all again in spring. It was a very rewarding and educational experience to catch all of these amphibians back at the break of spring, feeding and caring for them, and recording their metamorphosis. It’s also nice to have such a fancy new home to be able to release them to, so close by.

We hope you enjoyed {A}’s frog adventures and updates along the way. I’ve already heard she has big plans for this coming spring once again. I know she misses her wild creatures throughout the winter months, but the winter season holds traditions, adventures and experiences of their own, that she enjoys so very much, and I am sure it’ll pass the time quickly enough until the earth springs anew with fresh life, and her little creatures wake up once again.

We’ve been very busy preparing hearth, home, and hearts for the Christmas season upon us! Lots of decorating, creating and gift making going on here, of which we’ll share what we can. As tomorrow brings us the first day of December, visit us often to see what we’ve been up to, and feel free to comment to say hello or share your thoughts or experiences with us.

The REAL Science Field Trip – Mass Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary

May 19, 2008 By Laura 2 Comments

The kids finally had their real science field trip, to the Mass Audubon Society Wildlife Sanctuary, on the RIGHT day. Michael and I were not as excited to go anymore, feeling like we’ve ‘been there, done that‘. But the point was to meet and experience a homeschool co-op that was having a day there, and the kids were all for going again. So we went, and were all really glad we did. I must say, the weather wasn’t quite as nice as the mistaken day, which was so warm and sunny. This time it was on the cool side, and pretty cloudy and grey out. Rain was expected later that day. (And it indeed started sprinkling before we left.)

But what a great field trip it was anyway! As I mentioned in the post about our accidental trip, the place consists of tons of conservation land, which includes various kinds of habitats: grass plains, marshland, and ponds. These habitats are home to all kinds of birds, animals, reptiles and amphibians. There were experts there from Mass Audubon, who took us in groups and taught us and showed us so much.

I didn’t really get any great photos. Again, I would have needed that big tele-photo lense for some really fascinating shots. But also, our kids were always in groups with other people who may have not wanted their photos taken, and it wouldn’t be right to post them on my blog with their faces showing, (without permission either)…..so my camera did a lot of resting. Although I did get a few simple photos, one of course of the boardwalk bridge, which I probably took one similar last time too.

boardwalk bridge

The first thing we did was go out on a tractor-pulled wagon hayride with a group, and a very nice and informative woman who was a wildlife expert, right out into the grasslands, where she taught us much about the birds that habitat there. The little ones enjoyed the ride, and learned quite a bit just listening to the talk. {A} brought along her notebook and sketchpad. Remember I told you {A} was ‘a bird expert as far as I could tell’? Well, she’s a bird expert as far as a bird expert can tell, too! lol. The woman had large laminated cards of various kinds of birds, not all the kind we see every day in our own yards. The woman often started with ‘Does anyone know what kind of bird this is?’, and {A} always did. She also knows more about their behaviors than I even knew she knew. The woman was impressed! Some of the birds we saw and/or learned all about were Osprey, Red-Winged Blackbirds, Swallows, Bluebirds, Flycatchers, Bobolinks, and Orioles, as well as red and grey fox, raccoons, and some rodent of which I forget the name of or what it really looks like. (Maybe on purpose. lol) ) We saw LOTS of Bobolinks darting around, there was an Osprey there as well, and we learned that Orioles fly all the way to and from South America every year! (Wow!). We have seen them in our yard several times in the past couple of weeks, and I just LOVE them. The woman said if we put a string out on our deck, the Orioles will take it to build a nest. If we put one out every day for them, they just may build there nest in your yard and stick around for the whole season! I definitely want to keep them around….so we did just what she said today. But it was still there last I checked.

When we got back from the hayride, we learned about bird-banding Tree Swallows. The woman explained how they catch the birds, how they harmlessly band them, measure their wing span, weigh them, record all of that info, where they send, and why. She had different strings of leg bands, as shown below, each of all the same size, but with different identification numbers on them. It was fascinating to hear the woman tell us how some years she would have birds she had banned the year before come back, or get notice in the mail from another sanctuary that a bird she had banned had been at their habitat thousands of miles away.

After that little information session, the kids moved on to learn more about bugs and insects. They even went into the tall grasses to catch some in fabric nets, put them in containers, and learn more about exactly what they caught. (You can bet I did a tick check after that little activity!) After {A} transferred what she had in her net, into a container, she discovered she caught syphrid flies, aphids, a spider, beetles, and ants. Did you know there is a difference between bugs and insects?

There were games to play, a bubble blowing table, and a little craft table as well. The kids made these dragonflies out of pipe-cleaners, beads and tinfoil. Pretty cute, huh? I don’t think they’ve much put them down since.

All in all it was a fantastic day. We all learned LOTS, had FUN doing it, and met so many wonderful people. There’s another co-op field trip coming up soon too…….a tide-pool study at the ocean, with more Mass Audubon experts there! We have a few of our own field trips planned as well, but I am sure we’ll be sure not to miss the co-op tide-pool study! The kids will really, really LOVE that, and so will us big kids! We love the beach and ocean, and feel so blessed to have a private beach within walking distance of our home.

The next day, {A} had a parish youth group activity planned. They were having a beach clean-up, and then gathering at the parish center for a cookout and some volleyball. It initially was cancelled that morning because it had been raining and was still drizzly. But some kids showed up anyway, so the leader called {A}, and she was happy to go and help. I did not take photos activity either, because I didn’t go. Michael took her. But I did some shots of her ready to go (one of which is below) with her own trash poker stick, and one to share. She had a really great time, despite how the weather was less than ideal at first. Of course she makes everything she does fun. The sun did break out once they were done cleaning up. As if God was pleased with their work. : )

The rest of our weekend was spent doing some work, some house-cleaning, and some shopping. You have no idea how excited our kids can get over bubble wands and water-shoes! Good golly. We are all knee-deep in enjoying this warm weather season, and still have so much exploring, learning, relaxing and FUN to look forward to.

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