"All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education."

--Sir Walter Scott

Having a day off at home with sick kids is finally giving me time to catch up on our activities for the past month (I can't believe how fast the time has flown!).

NT has been faithfully watching PBS's Cyberchase each morning and picking up lots of math concepts that are actually geared toward 8-12 year-olds. He loves it. We've almost finished a 1st grade math workbook that I picked up at a bookstore for my own comfort. He hates every minute of it since it's boring and "too much like school", but I can get him to breeze through it during Lizzy's dance classes if I promise to play cards or Connect 4 after only a few pages.

NT has been going through library books like crazy. He has 40-60 checked out from Hennepin County and St. Paul libraries at any one time. Subjects are all over the map--his interests are broad: Tropical fish, chickens, Big Foot, Loch Ness Monster, Bermuda Triangle, Lost City of Atlantis, reptiles, inventions and inventors, acid rain, volcanoes, airplanes, building wooden toys, making space ships and boats, reptiles, UFOs, the Trojan Horse...the list goes on and on!

He has watched DVDs on a similar range of subjects, including reptiles, underwater sea creatures, the mechanics of roller coasters, evolution, the history of the chicken, rockets, and more.

We started seeds indoors in late March and have been watching them grow for weeks. We started seeds outdoors at Dowling in the past week and are keeping our fingers crossed! We discovered an active robin's nest near our patio and found a woolly bear caterpillar while uncovering perennials in the yard. The kids filled the pool yesterday for the first time this spring.

Now that the weather is nice, I've been printing off maps for NT to lead us on walks to "mysterious destinations" around the neighborhood, he's been doing all kinds of science experiments in the back yard, and we've been meeting friends at the park, zoo, and at play group.

NT and John have been busy with Cub Scouts. Most recently NT competed at the regional level in the Pinewood Derby and the Raptor Center visited their last pack meeting. John took NT to visit a television station downtown and NT was just awarded his Tiger Cub badge!

Lizzy has been taking three dance classes a week and NT continues with his ceramics class. We took a family trip to Duluth where the kids spent hours in the pool, threw endless rocks into Lake Superior, chased seagulls, and visited the Maritime Museum. The kids have been building endless forts in the living room and consistently inventing all kinds of contraptions with LEGOs and Magna Tiles.

NT and Grampy went to The Works' "Circuit Play" program in March, and the kids and I toured the State Capital last week with a huge homeschool group. We built airplanes at Leondardo's Basement and attended a "Motion Mayhem" presentation at the Wescott Library put on by the Science Museum. The kids have been swimming at the indoor beach with Grampy and Maria, and NT went kite flying with Grandpa Alan while Lizzy and I recently attended an excellent performance of the James Sewell Ballet company.

We have been so busy enjoying the coming of spring that I have not felt compelled to sit down and write!

Since my last post more than two weeks ago we have had many adventures including NT's last basketball game of the season followed by lunch and medals, the Ballare Rhythm Festival, the Cub Scout Pinewood Derby, Mad Science classes, ceramics classes, and lots of dance classes.

NT and I attended a fabulous music and dance performance of "Carnival of the Animals" at Orchestra Hall with our play group, and we all attended the (modified) winter picnic at Grampy's. We have been to the Minnesota Zoo and the Como Conservatory with friends, and the kids have gone swimming at the indoor beach and out for treats with Grampy and Maria.

We walked with Kiki and learned about reptiles and amphibians (and even touched them!) with other homeschoolers at Wescott Library. NT went to an Irish music concert with Grandpa Alan & Minna (it turned out to be a trio including Lizzy's Irish step teacher and her husband--small world!).

We've watched PBS's Cyberchase and PBS's Reading Rainbow DVDs on birds and manatees and transportation, and a 3-part NOVA series on evolution called Becoming Human. We've researched chicken breeds and brooding methods, collected supplies, met another urban homesteading family with chickens, and ordered our chicks.

We've seen bald eagles and wild turkeys and built tons of stuff out of Magna Tiles, the Zoobmobile set, and toothpicks and marshmallows. We've read books on birds, tropical fish (of course!), planets, and guacamole. We've drawn pictures and written letters and cut up stuff (including pajamas--oops!). We've been digging in the dirt and playing outside a LOT and doing lots of running.

And, finally, yesterday we went to see NT's artwork hanging at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts with Minna & Grandpa Alan, followed by lunch outside on the patio at The Black Forest Inn. Afterward the kids went bird watching at Becketwood and saw the resident owl (and a crow) with binoculars before walking all the way home. The kids played in the yard until it was time for Cub Scouts.

NT was up early for PBS's Cyberchase and then was immersed in his Guppies Today book from the library. He has big plans to breed guppies in his tank...which his parents have not approved.

We had an exciting morning with a flat tire and our very first orthodontist appointment. NT got all kinds of x-rays and pictures taken of his teeth and especially enjoyed playing with the plastic model of a set of teeth.

This afternoon the kids played in the back yard while Grandpa Alan attempted to change the flat (NT was no help, even though he had recently "learned" to change a tire at ceramics class), and then NT got to show off his new guppies to Minna.

NT watched another IMAX DVD on ocean life and then it was off to bed after a very long day.

NT watched PBS's Cyberchase on logic (reasoning and proof again today). Then he was back to the tropical fish book (which I am thinking of hiding for awhile...).

The kids jumped off furniture and built pillow forts in the living room before going outside to play in the sunshine in the back yard. NT watched another ocean life DVD and talked to Maria on the phone about fish breeding for 37 minutes. Lizzy helped me bake a rhubarb pudding cake.

I signed NT up for park board tennis this spring (he can't wait!).

After dinner John and the kids walked over to basketball practice.

NT was up early for PBS's Cyberchase on logic (reasoning and proof). Then it was right back to the tropical fish book (*sigh*).

Lizzy helped me make breakfast and then we all admired the bright pink blooms on the cactus (Christmas cactus??) in the kitchen and discussed how long some cacti live (NT had this information filed away in his brain...).

The kids built forts in the living room all morning and NT watched a DVD called Deep Blue, on ocean life, of course.

We met some friends at IKEA in the afternoon and the kids got to play in the play area. Then it was off to the library where NT checked out a bunch of books on sharks before we dropped him off at ceramics class.

NT was up early to watch PBS's Cyberchase on time/distance/speed and then dove right into his tropical fish book. We told him we wouldn't take him back to the fish store for at least a month, but that does not appear to have slowed him down on researching the next kind of fish he wants.

While Lizzy was in ballet class, NT drew and colored a picture of his fish tank to give as a birthday card to Grandpa Alan.

The kids played and read all afternoon and we figured out how to change out some of the water in the fish tank. Then I dropped NT at Minna's for board games and dinner at the restaurant while Liz and I went to Irish step class.