Huhtala Family

Bella today was wearing a long sleeve shirt with a heavy ankle length spring dress. It is 100 degrees outside. I asked her to please go and change and she came back wearing some shorts and a tank-top/undershirt.

Bella: Since it’s hot, I can wear this! (grinning mischievously)
Mom: You wear those tank tops with another shirt or your swimsuit usually.
Bella: But it’s really hot! Can’t I just wear it today?
Mom: Yes, but only because your little. As you get bigger, you need to dress more modestly. (Probably a parenting mistake)
Bella: Well….when I’m all grown up I get to choose for myself, right?

Oh dear….So true.

Every day I feel as if I have failed as a mother. I think that surely my kids have not learned enough…surely they could be getting a better education ANYWHERE but here. I go to bed almost every night, wishing I could have done better. I know that this is a weakness of mine, and that I actually accomplish quite a bit. It is just hard to accept that I might be doing OK! So, today, I made a list of what we accomplished in school. In addition to this list, I did the dishes 3x’s, swept and mopped my floors, vacuumed my floors and did 2 loads of laundry. Oh, also I helped a friend cut some fringe on some scarves for the children’s chorus….

Today we learned:

How Christ fed the five thousand

About Peters Testimony of who Christ was

How we should submit to our parents and God in all things with a cheerful and willing hearts, and seek to find ways to help without being asked.

How Brigham Young settled in the Salt Lake Valley and had Faith that it would be a prosperous place, even though some tried to discourage him.

This led us to geography research about the Great Salt Lake. We learned that it is like a mini-ocean. We also learned that oceans get their salt from rivers that flow in. They carry little bits of salt from the ground, however, oceans do not have rivers that flow out, and so the salt settles. When water evaporates, the salt does not and it gets left behind. That is why the Great Salt Lake is so concentrated with salt. In fact it is so concentrated that you can easily float in it (like a cork).

We practiced telling time in Spanish.

We recited some of our memorization’s to keep them fresh (scriptures and poetry)

We studied in Botany about a few different carnivorous plants and how they attract/capture/and absorb their prey.

We recorded in our journal about the carnivorous plant that we found most fascinating.

Each child did 2 pages in a grammar workbook.

Katrina read a poem and found clues of metaphors, similes and personification.

Payton practiced some 6th grade spelling words while learning about the duck billed platypus.

Payton read the classic “Little Men” for 20 minutes.

Payton did a Math Test.

Katrina pieced together and sewed a scrap blanket for her doll

Payton prepared a family home evening lesson.

Tyson has been cutting strips of paper for over 30 minutes to refill our Montessori “cutting” activity.

Tyson learned about “pairs” and what that means, then he cut out matching pairs and glued them next to each other.

Bella…well, she whined a lot about wanting candy and cookies and I REALLY should have done some schooling with her today….BUT I AM NOT GOING TO BEAT MYSELF UP ABOUT THIS!

Today we were starting a new Shakespeare story, (The Winter’s Tale) and I decided to perk it up a bit. My good friend Shiloh once told me that she had done a Shakespeare “re-enactment” for her kids and they had loved it. Here is how I spiced it up:

1. I read through the story and created a “cast” of characters. I wrote each characters name on a list and next to their name gave a brief bio.

2. I went to the puppet box and picked out a puppet for each character.

3. I printed out the character list for each child, we talked about the list, and then I began the story.

4. I read until something REALLY riveting happened, and then I stopped for the day (it’s always good to stop on a cliffhanger. It leaves the child unsatisfied and wondering what happens next in the story. This inspires daydreaming, imagination, or the child seeking the story on their own to see what happens next). My kids always HATE it when I do this. Usually I get a “NO! Keep reading, please???” Sometimes I do…but most times, I don’t.

5. I grabbed the puppets that corresponded with the characters we had met through our portion of the story covered and headed into the other living room, climbed up on the couch and did a puppet show through the little windows that connect into our other living room while the kids watched from the couch. I can be very dramatic, and my fans were not disappointed.

6. After we finish the story (and performances) we will watch the play on YouTube to even further ingrain the story. And since most videos use the Shakespearean language, my kids will understand more since they are already quite familiar with the play thanks to #’s 1-5 above.

So, the final verdict? They loved this! It helped solidify the story, and helped the little ones understand what is going on. After my performance they said, “Can you read what happens next so you can do another show?” “Tomorrow!”, I replied. They then preceded to take turns for the next 20 minutes doing their own puppet show performances.

“To be, or not to be? That is the question.”

Today for Homeschooling, after the morning devotional, I announced to the children that they could study WHATEVER they chose as long as it was from their “educational” shelf during school hours. Katrina rushed to her Holiday Crafts book and started scheming a morning of that which I dread most…CRAFTS! (dun dun dun)

She picked a Halloween craft, and because we have NO craft supplies (if I don’t stock supplies, she can’t ask to make them…horrible, I know) I told her to write out a list of what she needed and we would pick it up after gymnastics. At Michaels we spent an hour finding plain white masks, ribbon, feathers, sequins, felt and dowels. We spent an hour because Bella had to change her mind every 5 seconds and beg for the most expensive ribbon that I swear was encrusted with diamonds. Finally, after a few fits, we appeased the princess and went home to get crafty!

Once home we began to spray paint our masks and design them on paper while they dried. I was glad I had decided to make my own mask! I felt like a little fairy princess again! (I WAS one growing up you know…except I had wings back then)

Katrina wanted a large bow to be made out of her ribbon. Enter “DADDY THE RIBBON MAKER!” I had not forgotten last Christmas when he tied some beautiful bows for me…

DADDY THE RIBBON MAKER stapled and hot glued many loops, put a pearl in the middle and even added some sequins! Katrina was VERY happy! He also came up with the idea to wind ribbon around the handles. What would we do without him?

The girls were so pleased with their masks that they begged me to let them wear them for Halloween. I was only too happy to oblige