Easiest birthday party ever
I am all about making things easier for myself these days out of pure selfishness. There’s a great deal on my plate with homeschooling and everything that goes along with that. So, when it came time to celebrate my daughter’s birthday with her friends, I suggested a Girl’s Night Out. There was no prep work that had to be done by me!
Here’s what we did….My girlfriend and I took my daughter and 4 of her girlfriends out to dinner at a local eatery. From there we went to Justice, a girlie clothing store. They were each given an allotment to spend at the store. Once the girls finished shopping there, we drove to Jo-Ann’s, a craft store, where they purchased matching cloth fabric bags with various iron-on appliqués with their given allotment. Our last stop was to Barnes and Nobles where the girls used their final allotment to purchase a book. The night ended with the party eating banana splits at my house. FYI-giving them a certain amount to spend encouraged them to think about math in a practical sense. They had to decide if their purchases were within the parameters I had set. Of course, I had a hard time saying “no” to any of them, but they really did a good job working within their boundaries.
They already had their goodie bags from their purchases, so I didn’t have to get those together. I didn’t have to entertain them because the different shops provided their amusement.There was nothing required of me except to keep them safe and happy. I don’t think I’ll ever plan a traditional party again.
Simplify your life-love it!
Discovering your child’s personality type
I’m up late (2:00 a.m. with green tea and tostitos) reading on the 8 types of personalities according to Jen Lilienstein of KidzMet. I downloaded her book tonight, The Parent’s Playbook for Learning and am going through the types that I think my oldest 2 kids are. Her book gives insight into choosing appropriate extracurricular activities based on their specific personality characteristics. This is an area where I’m struggling. I’d like to help them find areas that interest them, and that complement their traits. I think doing so would really enhance the experience for them and may lead to other areas of interests and expertise development down the road.
Lilientstein’s book is a manual of sorts. I’d recommend reading it and consider purchasing based on what I’ve seen so far. Her insight is giving me a sense of direction for future choices. Of course, check your local library first to see if they have a copy. But, what a great concept to think about as you are teaching your child and trying to get them plugged into areas of value.
https://www.kidzmet.com/content_pages/view/about-us
www.amazon.com/Parents-Playbook-Learning-Jen-Lilienstein
Fostering a love of reading
My oldest son has discovered the “Hardy Boys” series. Something special, he is actually reading my husband’s books that he kept from childhood.
My son is flying through these books and was actually reading in bed tonight with a flashlight. It’s wonderful to see him engrossed in a book, but I told him he’s got to stop to sleep! Of course, I can’t really say a whole lot on that subject. If I could skip on the sleep thing, I would.
How do you spend your Friday night?
I’m meeting next week with my co-leaders to help lay out the curricula for next year’s homeschool cooperative. We’ll spend hours on this. It’s a lot of work, but it’s work that is very exciting. To see what the students will be exposed to in their studies is motivating for a teacher. Somebody asked me tonight what I do that keeps me up so late on a Friday night. Planning out our educational map is one of them. How’s that for excitement?
Seafood and such..
We enjoyed seafood dinner in Myrtle Beach before we took our babysitter to the airport. My daughter decided to take home all of the mussels and clam shells from the restaurant after we’d eaten the insides-oh yeah:(. Intermixed with that was put-put golf, chores around the house, and a trip to the computer store. As always, academics were integrated into the daily routine, va-ca or not.
Some topics covered: subtraction, volume, area, Joan of Arc, Lincoln, Fort McHenry, the Hundred Years War, and spelling with SWR.
Ivy League Homeschooling 