Up for Some Competition

One of the reasons I love homeschooling is the lack of daily competition children find at school. There is no competing to be the quickest to answer, the first in line, or the one who gets to sit at the coolest seat during lunch. However, competition in general isn't something I am against. In fact, when done well, competition can motivate a child to push their boundaries to new heights.

If your child wants a challenge or would like to try for awards, here are just a few of the competitions available for kids going on right now.*

Outsourcing

I know my limits. I am not an art teacher.

I am creative, artistic, and resourceful, 

but I am not good at teaching art. 

Thankfully, Juli is. I found these classes at ARTLIFE at the beginning of the semester and I enrolled my seven-year-old son and my ten-year-old daughter. It was money well spent. They discussed line, shade, variety, texture, balance, harmony, and color. They worked with lithography, clay, paint, and paper. I got lots of ideas about what worked for them and what didn't. Now I know when stocking up on supplies, paint and clay are at the top of the list while I can save money on other items that are only mildly interesting to my kids. 

Nor am I a physical education teacher. 

I enjoy walking, swimming, and going to the parks,

but know nothing about introducing my kids to sports. 

Thankfully, Jennifer and Tiffany do. I happened on the Road Runners, a kids marathon and triathlon training running club for homeschoolers, this spring also. Neither of my kids were getting enough exercise and I did not know where to begin with helping keep fit. This club offered goal setting, instruction on correct form, and tons of encouragement. Even though neither of my kids are going to do the triathlon this year, my kids have gained strength and endurance since they began. Because it is for homeschoolers, they expect the toddlers, mommies, and kids of all ages. My three-year-old daughter runs along or gets some piggy-back rides. Now that they are focusing on bike riding, she hops on her tricycle and zooms along.

After these great experiences, I will never hesitate to call upon others to help my children when I don't feel quite up to the task.

Five (plus 1) Free Field Trips in Nashville

Field trips don't need to be expensive. Here in Nashville there are several great places to go and things to do for FREE. Some of these require registration while others are pleased to see you just walk in. There is even one that will provide T-shirts all for free.

Junior Thespians

My kids have discovered Shakespeare. We've been reading books from the Shakespeare can be Fun series by Lois Burdett. These books are fantastic at introducing the bard to children. They include the more famous lines and keep the adult content to a minimum. In Romeo and Juliet, they do die in the end which shocked my son. I explained that Shakespeare used tragedy to make us think about things. His drawings have since taken on a very macabre element which he excuses as tragedy. I'd better make a note of that on any that make it into the scrapbook.

Then, they watched a little cartoon on Netflix called Romeo and Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss. Okay, this movie is isn't the greatest and everyone lives happily everafter, BUT! They use the proper names of the characters and adhere to the central story line. I'm happy with it considering my three-year-old now knows Juliet was a Capulet and Romeo was a Montague!

They next ran with the whole Romeo and Juliet idea and decided to organize a neighborhood play. My son was to do the scenery and my daughter would handle costumes. My three year old kept lying dramatically over her stuffed animals saying "I'm dead. Just kidding!" All was going well until they came across one tiny problem: my daughter wanted to be Juliet and my son insisted on being Romeo. Ewwww.

Well, there is always the Tempest or Macbeth. I have no fear, they will have moved on to Robin Hood by tomorrow! 

~~~~~Wordless Wednesday~~~~~ Pictures taken by my kids

Taken by Jelly Bean

button pushed by Gum Drop

Taken by Snickers

Sprinkly Sun ~~~~Chihuly's Cheekwood Exhibit

These would have made for a great "Wordless Wednesday" but today being Thursday, you get commentary too.

 Cheekwood Botanical Gardens had a free day November 2nd. Most public schools were out this day so they could be used as polling stations on voting day. Add to this a final week of a Chihuly exhibit, and we knew we were in for some serious crowds. But, hey! Did I mention it was free?!

 The crowds were only bad at the beginning. Parking was a beast. But once inside, the gardens were not crowded at all. A few places where some major exhibits were centered resulted in an occasional line, but we never had to wait to see anything.

 We topped a hill and saw people playing by a pond. One of the most picturesque moments of my life. It looked like a movie set.

 The kids felt like they were on a scavenger hunt. We would round a bend and hear "Ooooh! Chihuly! I see the next Chihuly!"

Gum Drop (left) first noticed the "sun" in the posters flanking the entrance. She pointed to it then and said she liked that "sprinkly sun" best. When we came to it she would stand and look at it for a long time. She was disappointed we couldn't go right up to it and take a picture of her sitting under it. She told her daddy all about it when we got home. It never fails to stun me how art moves people of all ages.  If you ever have a chance to see Chihuly's work in person, I highly recommend it. Things I learned: 1. Each piece of glass is separate and rearranged for each exhibit. 2. Chihuly visited Cheekwood years ago and made sketches of displays he wanted to do. He then constructed them in his studio, made detailed instructions and had them shipped to the location. 3. Cheekwood has been working on the grounds for a year leading to the exhibit to ensure the plants around the exhibits were complimentary to the art. 4. Only about eight pieces were broken during the shipping and set up of this exhibit.