Extra to extraordinary

I can’t tell you how much the littles and I are enjoying Sonlight’s Core 4/5. It truly has been the perfect speed for my combination of ages and stages. Stories and topics ranging from simple to complex, hands-on ideas, engaging characters to fall in love with– it’s all there. I was among the biggest scoffers when Sonlight announced programs for the younger set years ago, so this is me eating crow right now when I say that if you have kids in this target age, check it out. It may be a good fit for you, too.

But it is winter. And in the PNW, winter is grey, and long, and dull, and marked by a terrible inability to just go outside already. Now, left to my own devices, I would weather the long, wet dark quite well. I have a library card, a tea drawer, a yarn stash, and access to ravelry. What more could a girl want? If she’s the mother of children wiggly in both brain and body, a lot.

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I usually gear up some sort of something this time of year to keep hands and minds occupied. Maybe I whip out some amazing audio adventures I’ve been saving until just the right time. Maybe I purpose to get them all hooked on origami or quilling or finger knitting. Whatever it takes. I’ve learned to cast a wide net and be creative when it comes to reeling little ones in before they become bored. Because, as my incredible grandfather-in-law used to say, “If you let them get bored, shame on you.”

This year felt a bit like a gimme. It’s an Olympic year, folks. Can you ask for anything more thrilling for a bunch of high-energy, snow-deprived kiddos? I don’t think so. Hockey. Skiing. Skeleton. Curling. I know … it’s a kids’ paradise. I did a little digging, started pinning ideas on my pinterest board and promptly realized that while this was all well and good, the reality is that this Momma really needs a plan laid out for her in this season of life. Enter Amanda Bennett’s Winter Games 2014. Vóila! Now I can seem like Supermom to my kids, while still only really planning a handful of things when it works for me.

Yes, yes, yes!

We started off with a bang, adding our Olympic study to our other work. While it’s been a heavier load, since it’s all supplemental (and I’m only really targeting my kindergartener and preschoolers), I don’t feel any pressure to check boxes or even “keep up.” As expected, though, Jack (11) and even Mary Hannah (16) have been gravitating towards the explanations of certain sports, and even Mathaus can’t resist the videos outlining the scientific theories that make winter sports work.

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I did make one slight misstep here, lest you think it’s all roses and gold medals over here. Amanda was offering a free lapbook to coincide with the study, and I bit, forgetting that I loathe lapbooking. My kids, of course, don’t share this sentiment. They’ve been outrageously delighted, cutting out little flip books and coloring tiny cards to fit into miniature pockets. I’ve been gritting my teeth and cutting out this, that, and the other for those who can’t get their scissors to behave and sniffing glue stick fumes for hours. Hey, at least they’re enjoying it.

The real payoff, however, has been watching my kids do exactly what I’d hoped they’d do: engage. John Mark has been excitedly drawing steep mountain slopes and plotting downhill courses complete with trees the size of semis. Jack has been finding the most obscure rules to the games and delighting in them. Mary Hannah is enjoying recounting the time she went to a Winter Olympics event and stood behind Bonnie Blair in the line for the women’s loo. Phin and Birdie think the sports are fun.  Mathaus has been asking more questions about the physics of ice than I can answer. And then, there’s this: four kids, from 11 down to 3, lined up on my couch and pretending that they’re part of the US bobsled team.

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They’re not fighting. They’re not running amok. They’re not whining, “When will it stop raaaaaaining?”

They’re playing. Constructively. Together. I call that a win.

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Let the games begin!

Shared at:
Joy Focused Learning

3 thoughts on “Extra to extraordinary

  1. I always enjoy your thoughts, insights and pictures of life at the Schwarzen house! May God continue to bless all your endeavors as you look to Him.

  2. ha! Love the photos of your kids there. I agree with you about the yarn stash and weathering the long cold winter just fine. :) The Olympics must provide a lot of fun ideas for kids and learning.

  3. We LOVE Sonlight – we are in our 5th year of it! We are using Core C with my oldest 2 and P3/4 with my youngest – I am so looking forward to doing P4/5 again next year!

    (I’m not a lapbooking fan, either).

    …that photo of your bobsled team is wonderful :)

    I hope you have a blessed weekend!
    ~Lisha

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