The Fun Stuff of Homeschool

Last week we had our first Kids' Book Club for the 2011-2012 school year.  We have two book groups this year--- the 8-11 year old group and the 12 and up group.  The older group is the first Tuesday of the month and the younger is the third Tuesday.  The younger group will function very much like it has for the past two years, and will contain many of the younger siblings of the original group.  The older group will be heavier on the book discussion, but still have some fun as well.  Also the older kids will take turns leading the discussion and planning the games.  I've become quite attached to these kids and am so happy to have a few newbies joining us this year.

We read Across Five Aprils, a historical fiction about a farm boy in Southern Illinois during the Civil War.  We always read the book club books aloud and Clark and I really enjoyed it.  I think it was a little above the girls, but I purposely picked books that would be a bit more challenging for the older kids.  Clark was in charge of planning the game and a rousing game of capture the flag seemed the obvious choice.  They used the whole yard-- front and back and of course the teams were the North and the South.  Generals were chosen to head up the teams' strategies.

  The Rebs.  A formidable opponent.  Even though the boy in the white shirt is obviously the only one who knows how to stand at attention for a photograph.  He better know--his older brother is in the military.

The Union soldiers.  We had the numbers, but we we definitely lacked the speed of our countrymen to the South.  I don't know what overcame me when I requested if there was a spot for me to play as well.  What was I thinking?  It was really fun, but I am embarrassed to say that I was super sore for the next three days.  I tried some very gutsy maneuvers, got caught every time and went to jail more than anyone else.  And then when I was guarding our flag it was stolen and the South won the war.  Oops.  I guess I won't be invited to participate again.  Besides, I did trash talk some of the kids.

Another fun thing the girls are doing this year is "Lady Bug Dinner Club".  It is so simple, but I think it will be a wonderful thing for Bethany and Elinor.  We just got a few of our home school friends together for a once a month dinner club.  There are 8 girls in the club, but a couple are missing in this picture.  The idea is for each girl to have a turn planning and preparing a yummy dinner and hosting a dinner for her friends.  It's just once a month and the great thing is that it won't take much work for the moms to do-- just a dinner once a year and then the girls get to rotate around to the other houses for the rest of the year.  After dinner the girls can stay and play games for a while. 

I love activities that are simple, but are very useful in many areas-- this covers learning to cook, hosting a dinner party, practicing good manners, time spent with mom planning and preparing the meal, and fun time with good friends.  That is my kind of activity.

Bethany was our first host and she prepared turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy.  Why start small?
For a few years now I have had groups of kids playing over at my house.  Sometimes they have been all boy groups.  Much of the time they have been mixed--boys and girls-- because Clark and Bethany are so close in age (only 20 months).  But I haven't had too many times with just girls.  And let me just say that it was D-E-L-I-G-H-T-F-U-L!!!!!  Talk about cooperative, nurturing play.  As I washed the dishes I looked out the kitchen window and I loved watching the older girls grab the hands of the younger ones and run off together.  They played the same games as the boys--capture the flag, cops and robbers and such, but with a very different end goal.  For the boys it is ALL about winning and every man for himself.  The girls were so darling as they whispered to each other their plans and screamed with excitement.  They were having so much fun it made me wish I could go out and play with them.  But then I remembered I was almost incapacitated after the last game of capture the flag.  I decided to just wash my dishes.