Year of Learning - RECAP

Welcome 2018!

Our Year of Learning in 2017 was a great success. There wasn't really much to measure it by--we didn't have specific challenges or adventures to check off, but the overall goal for the year was to pursue learning and education, and we certainly did that!

Kate started homeschooling, which was a big learning experience for our whole family. She is officially a kindergartner, enrolled with Inspire Charter school, where we do most of our learning at home, and personalize her other classes based on her interests. She attends an Enrichment Academy once a week which is like a few hours of "regular school". It's all homeschool kids and they work on reading, cultural projects, math, writing, and art. They have recess and bring backpacks, etc. Kate also attends the Love of Learning homeschool co-op here in Rocklin once a week where she takes a Kinder Creators class and a Learning with Legos class. She LOVES her teachers and has been making new friends. Between homeschool and primary classes at church, Nora and Avery are the friends I hear about the most.

Edwin isn't officially in school yet, but he homeschools right along with us. :) I make projects that will go along with Kate's but be more at his skill level. Edwin likes watching Kate work on her ABC Mouse or Math Seeds lessons (online subscriptions for learning games). Counting, tracing letters, art, cooking, and gymnastics are just a few of the things he really enjoys participating in.

Jon started off this last year looking for work. We had just moved back from Idaho and needed something desperately. He found a job at Placer Title in May, and has mainly been focused on working there since. He did begin a PhD program in September of 2017, but priorities were quickly shifted and he withdrew his enrollment a month later. Learning full-time through a formal program is just not where our family needs are at right now. We were disappointed that he would have to give up the PhD, but the individual learning, reading, and growing from home can always continue. Jon just finished designing the fourth issue of the  From Sac literary journal, and has a full non-fiction novel draft in the editing process.

Steph started off last year working two part-time jobs and working out at a gym, doing yoga and trying to pursue a teacher training program. While at the gym she was able to participate in a nutrition workshop and learn how to meet her goals of becoming a nutrition coach. She signed up for Precision Nutrition's certification program in October, and has not been able to complete a chapter yet. It's been very discouraging. Thankfully it's a "work-at-your-own-pace" online program.

During the summer of 2017 we moved into a different rental house, living with Steph's mom, we started homeschooling, and Steph has been working part-time on and off all year. Family budgeting changes and time management put the serious yoga pursuits on hold (going to a studio/gym and paying for a teacher training is just not feasible), and while Jon has continued to look for better work, we are sort of stuck, making do with what we have.  It has slowed us down, but hasn't completely squashed all hope for educational progress.

I think we learned the most this year personally, and about our family. 2017 was a hard year of just "getting by". It didn't feel like we were really moving forward in any direction. Maybe a little bit backward, and laterally. It felt a lot like scrambling to survive. But landing in a stable place was ultimately the goal. And we're in a place where we can develop routine, so that's nice. We're looking forward to 2018 getting back to goals and being able to focus on something else other than where we're going to live and how we're going to pay for it.

Steph has some potential sewing classes in the works and gets her braces off in a few months! Hopefully a YTT will turn out to be accomplishable before December. ;)

Jon is teaching Paper Arts one day a week at the Love of Learning center and has a Creative Writing collaboration class coming up in the fall. We're excited about getting more involved with the homeschool community we have found.

Kate has told us that she is never ever going to quit gymnastics (although she has seemed to recently develop a fear of heights) so we will see where her interests continue to grow! She is getting better at writing and reading--all at her own pace! She has also told us for years now that she wants to play the drums, and thankfully we know a really good local teacher. ;)

Edwin is finding his loves and growing a ton. He is comfortable at gymnastics, which has been a huge breakthrough! He has also recently reverted back to taking a nap every day, which NOBODY is sad about! He will be 4 in a couple months, and I can't believe my baby is so big. :'( His "most favorite" present from Christmas was a "little bee-tar" (little guitar, aka ukulele). We're excited for music lessons in Kate and Edwin's near future. :D

Thanks for following along with our little family while we figure everything out. We hope you all are having a beautiful start to the New Year!

Family Theme of 2018, announcement soon ;)

Monterey Bay

This past week we went on our first homeschool field trip to Monterey!

I loved watching the kids discover the ocean and all the life it holds. Such an amazing beauty.

Through our charter school, they will occasionally offer group field trips. There is always something happening, and we can opt in or out anytime. There are limits to the number of people that can go, so we kind of have to act fast when one opens up for registration, but when I saw the posting for a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium I was like, "heck yes!" I hadn't been since I was a kid, but I remembered LOVING it. And, the greatest part of being part of the charter homeschool community is that our admission was FREE because it was included as part of the school funds for the year! All we had to do was drive ourselves down there (a feat in itself, let me tell you...) but we were able to be in the comfort of our own car, we could be on our own timeline (except for where we checked in as a group) and we could stay as long as we wanted and travel home at our own pace! Definitely worth it.

It's a pretty long drive, being in the South Bay. (3-4 hours depending on traffic), so my mom came with us while Jon was at work. :) We were so glad to have Gram share the day out in Monterey!

It was a GORGEOUS morning in the Bay Area! I love living just a couple hours from the Pacific Ocean.

Edwin was having a lot more fun than he looks. ;) He's making that zoned out face on purpose. I'm not sure why he wouldn't smile, but we laughed about it right after this picture was taken:

The Aquarium has GROWN since I was a kid. I mean, it's been like 20 years since I was there... but still.

They have an "Ocean's Edge" display building complete with animals and creatures that live close to--you guessed it--the EDGE of the ocean near the shore. This would be tidepools, reef dwelling animals, kelp forest fishes, and birds. The next building over has the "Deep Ocean" fishes and animal life (jellies, larger schools, and tentacled creatures). They also had a whole "Baja California" display highlighting tropical fishes and even some land animal life in Mexico (desert tortoise, tarantulas, and a really cool snake that I can't remember the name of).

When we entered the aquarium, the first animals we checked out were the otters. :) :)

This was one of my favorite parts. I let the kids watch the sea otters swim as long as they wanted. They got to be right up at the glass with the otters twisting, turning, diving, and swimming in front of them!

Oh my gosh, hearing their giggles and excitement was the best! I loved that I could watch the otters be adorable, and ALSO see Kate and Edwin's faces reflected in the glass. :) I could have stayed there all day.

Next, we checked out the touchable tide pools:

Edwin was way more into this than Kate was, which surprised me! He doesn't always like to get messy, but he is more interested in details and how things work than Kate is. We got to see hermit crabs, get our fingers hugged by a sea urchin, and play with kelp! We also checked out a decorator crab (they camouflage themselves with bits of sea grass and such to stay away from predators on the ocean floor) and abalone.

The best part of starting here in the Ocean's Edge building was getting to see how the aquarium works with the natural ocean it's built on top of. Pipes bring water in from the ocean and filter it right back out, so these rescue animals and creatures are getting nutrients and environments as close to their natural habitat as possible while they are studied.

Some HUGE tanks were in this section of the aquarium, showing tall forests of seaweed and the fishes and sharks that hang out there. Some of these guys were REALLY big. I was surprised.

One of my favorite parts was a glass "tunnel" that a wave would crash over every minute or so. It was incredible to stand underneath and watch the water burst between you and the sunlight!

I loved how hands-on much of the aquarium was. So kid friendly! and I don't think I've ever been so up close to some of these fishes and creatures. They even have little bubble glass sections in some of the displays that you can walk right under and see animals like puffins and penguins.

By far the coolest experience for me personally was getting to touch the Bat Rays. I did not expect them to have much personality and sort of just meandered by when we entered the tide pool area, but HOLY COW. They were the cutest and most playful little things! We got to pet their fins, and when they saw us walk up to the edge they would glide by with the tips of their wings out of the water, and one of them even came up and poked his nose out of the water at me to give my fingers a kiss! We definitely had a connection. ;) It was incredible! I mean, I'm already pretty set on my patronus, but I think that maybe in another life I might have been a Bat Ray. New favorite sea creature for sure.

When we had spent a good couple of hours at the Ocean's Edge, we switched gears and headed over to The Open Sea exhibit. When you first walk in to this area, you are directly underneath a gigantic school of fish circling above you. Somehow Kate timed it just right to run ahead of us and be the only one walking in, so I was able to catch this quick picture. I just LOVED it. Her genuine awe, and wonder at the beauty of the ocean in a way she had never seen before was just so cool.

There was a darkened corridor of jellyfish tanks of ALL sizes. They were just fascinating to watch! Kate especially loved the window where you could turn off the black light and see how transparent the baby jellyfishes really are in the ocean. We are so lucky to be able to see them up close this way in all their amazing detail!

The kids each got to pick out one small toy at the gift shop (they each picked a spinning light up wand) and we were able to see the puffins be fed. I loved watching them dive into the water! It was hard to get good pictures because these guys move so fast.

There was a trainer there explaining how they feed the puffins and what sort of diet they prefer. We got to ask questions afterward. Edwin loved it! I took some videos but they are too big to upload.

The kids also got to each color their own fish on a cool touch-screen station, which was then uploaded to a virtual fish tank. They got to watch their creations swim around together!

Ok, last but not least, THIS TANK. It was the hugest tank of water I have ever seen. I don't even know how many thousands of gallons it must have held. And pictures cannot do it justice. When you come around the corner, it takes up the WHOLE WALL. I couldn't even fit it in one picture. It is immense. and Stunning. I literally gasped.

There was a school of fish circling at the top, and other huge fish and creatures that would swim around and occasionally interrupt the flow of circling traffic. It was amazing to see the group break apart and then come right back together.

Being here at the aquarium was such a spiritually humbling experience. I was so reverenced by the beauty of the ocean and the animals that are in this world and we don't get to experience like this every day. There is so much mystery and incredible power in these creations of our Heavenly Father. This world is amazing.

I am incredibly grateful for the work and time put in by these volunteers and scientists who have brought together the Aquarium for us to come and be part of with such ease. We learned about animal life in the ocean and how to take better care of our Earth. It was life-changing for me, and I hope for Kate and Edwin too.

When I asked them questions about our field trip, here is what they said:

Where did we go?
Kate: To the 'quarium.
What do they have at the aquarium?
Kate: Animals! Penguins and fishies, and some other animals.
Edwin: Sharks, and lizards! And other colored fish!
Kate: There's otters there, and bat rays! And at the aquarium they had a spider!
Edwin: Yeah, it was a baby spider--he was so fuzzy.
Kate: And I saw a snake, and his skin had come off inside out and was sitting on a rock, and he had new brown skin.
Edwin: Yeah, and there's a little tunnel of creatures that were just to look at.
Kate: And the aquarium has crabs.
Edwin: Yeah, and we use two fingers to pet softly. Not to pinch. That would hurt them. We have to pet them to be soft.
Kate: And they have water that comes in from the ocean and then goes back out! There's a little pipe.
Edwin: The anemones like to kiss you a lot!
Do you remember what they call a group of puffins?
The kids didn't remember. But it's called a circus ;)

They had so much fun and were worn out on the way home!

Much needed. Thanks, DePaolas!

We're so grateful for these awesome homeschool experiences and can't wait to go back again!

Our Year of Learning

This year is 3/4 of the way through, and our Year of Learning has been a great success so far!

This year's theme is not as structured as themes of past years. We don't have set days or months that we do certain things. But that wasn't the point of this year. The goal was to focus on cultivating a family culture of learning and progressively engaging in lifelong education.

For instance, our homeschool method has been pretty organic and guided by what Kate and Edwin are interested in learning. Some days Kate works on her Alphabet Workbook:

Recognizing letters, being able to write them, and sounding out basic words is pretty standard in Kindergarten, but we're not pushing Kate to learn to read in any certain amount of time. She pulls out her book whenever she wants, and on her own does a tracing or matching picture a couple times a week.

In the meantime, we read a TON. The kids are always bringing me stacks of books, and we visit the library every week. I love when I find Kate and Edwin reading together. :)

Even when we go to the park they love to read with friends!

Edwin, Kate, Liz, and Caleb reading a library book at Night Ridge park in Rocklin

While Kate is at her Learning Center on Wednesdays, Edwin and I go to the library for story time. This week was all about DINOSAURS and they even got to make their own fossils!

Edwin was in heaven. He was so focused and worked on his clay footprints longer than any of the other children.

The stories we read direct the lessons and projects we work on. For instance, this week Kate brought me a book about volcanoes. We read about types of volcanoes, and where they are in the world. Then Kate and Edwin used our World map to mark the Ring of Fire (a border around tectonic plates where 452 of the World's most volcanic activity can be found). Afterward we watched some YouTube videos showing lava flows and the volcanologists who study them.

We also read about deep sea creatures and marked on our map where all of the oceans are and named them, largest to smallest (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, and Southern).

Sometimes our craft projects turn into great opportunities for learning! With all the pumpkin painting and Halloween decorating we've been doing lately, Edwin had asked for a spider project this week. Thankfully we have an abundance of paper and crafting materials in our house, haha! Together we cut out spider bodies and legs with black cardstock, and practiced our scissor skills while we talked about how many legs spiders have.

We practiced counting, and learned about fractions and sets of numbers, then Kate asked where on spider's bodies they have their eyes, so with the National Geographic Kids website we watched some spider videos and learned that spider bodies are VERY fuzzy, and many spiders have eight eyes. :O We learned about black widows, tarantulas, jumping spiders, and peacock spiders, as well as where they live and what they eat.

Cutting, gluing, crafting, cute holiday fun, and a science lesson all-in-one!

As a family we also focus on daily gospel learning. Reading illustrated scripture stories together has become a stronger habit, and we recently started indexing name batches with the kids (as part of a stake conference goal, but also just a good excuse to help Kate and Edwin understand family history and genealogy work.)

The kids get to practice letter-recognition, basic reading, and typing skills, while we help process records for family history research. :) Win-Win!

The homeschool chart has also turned out to be an awesome visual representation of our day. The kids love pulling cards to see what we've done and what we can still find to do, and they love helping with family work along with other projects. They are my little buddies, always by my side, and we build our day of work and learning together!

The Year of Learning hasn't been reserved to just kid-focused learning either. Jon started his PhD studies this month, focusing on neurological research to fuel his critical analysis portion of a 3-year Creative Writing doctorate.

The kids love looking at daddy's "brain book" with him, and it's fun to see how much the kids notice and pay attention to the learning that Jon is doing after work each day.

I also started a program this month for certification as a Nutrition Coach!

This course is a jam-packed guide to nutrition science, the design of the body, and how to work with varying individuals to meet their specific nutrition needs (managing disease, stress factors, and other issues that may complicate the overall balance of nutrients and maximum wellness).

The kids helped me set up my study schedule and carve out some daily school time:

Edwin, however, was more interested in when we would be eating lunch. ;)

Even working on this blog post today the kids helped me type, upload pictures, and arrange everything together. :) It's awesome to see their little minds at work.

I'm so excited to see how our Year of Learning has evolved in ways I never would have imagined back in January! It makes me hopeful that homeschool will keep growing into a lifelong love, and that we'll never want to look back. I also hope that when our kids remember their childhood they will see colorful experiences, lots of family outings, and opportunities to learn with constant creativity.

I'll leave you here with Kate's name that she typed out all on her own:

kate alston/