Homeschool Spirit Week, saving dogs, and taking things apart

Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long, but we have been busy, and I was sick last week. Well we are now into October my most favorite time of year! We actually had a little cooler weather here in Texas, but nothing to get excited about. We did get to go to the park and hang out a little bit. It was a beautiful day to watch the Air Force planes fly over. We love watching them!

Reason #3253245 that I love homeschool is that the parks are empty. We get it all to ourselves with the occasional fellow homeschoolers that show up too. I love to soak up the sun and laughter while they play, even at 10 and 14. Gavin loves to run around and pretend he's doing parkour, while Edyn will swing or hang out and talk to me. Precious times.

We also celebrated International Homeschool Spirit Week. We didn't get to do everything because I had only remembered it the night before! Yes I need to remember to write things on my calendar! It is always the 4th week in September and they do different themes for every day of the week. Here's a picture of this year's schedule.

So Monday, the kids got up and I told them they could do whatever they wanted to do to their hair. I mean it was Crazy Hair Day! Here's what they came up with!

Edyn decided to spray yellow coloring in her hair and attach all kinds of odds and ends in it. Great job Edyn! Very creative!

Gavin used a combo of hair gel and toothpaste...yes toothpaste. I DID say do whatever you want. Next time I will be more careful lol!

Tuesday was International Day, and we had a lot to go do that day so we didn't get to really participate. Wednesday was Wacky Tacky Day. This was a lot of fun for them. They really got creative on their looks!

                                                                                                                                       
So Thursday brings us to Retro Day! I did nothing, they came up with everything themselves! I wanted them to get as creative as they wanted to, and it worked well! Yes he made a cigarette out of Legos. He despises real cigarettes and needed it to finish off the look he said. I'm good with that! I'm not one of these parents that think because he made one fake cigarette out of Legos for one special day that he's doomed himself to smoking for the rest of his life. I also have to note that Edyn did all of her own make-up. She is so good at make-up for only being 14, and self taught!

 I love the added beauty mark! 

Friday was Giving Day and since we didn't have anything planned, we decided that I was going to crochet preemie hats, and send them to the hospital for the preemies there.  I can't wait to do that!

Ok, so while it was Spirit Week we decided to go to the library. We love going to the library to just hang out and find books, or even do our reading there for a change of scenery. Is this just a homeschool thing or a reader thing lol?? We pull up and park, and when we get out of our car there is a nice car parked right next to us. As soon as we were out of the car my daughter noticed that there were two small Yorkies in the car with the windows barely cracked. Here's the problem. We live in Texas. That is exactly 2 miles west of the sun. It was at least 90 degrees outside. Of course we were concerned, but it was like ok we just got here, I don't see anyone around, and maybe she's just running her books inside. I didn't like leaving the little dogs, and my daughter was beside herself, but I didn't want to just jump the gun either. I said, "let's go inside, and if they are still here when we get out, I will call the police." While we were looking for books, my daughter could hardly concentrate. She has such love for animals that she was almost in tears worried about them. I told her we could go ahead and go and check on them. Yep, still there. I looked at the time and it had been about 30 minutes. I really honestly thought that whoever owned the car would have been back by then. It's HOT outside...don't they have common sense?? No.  I jump in the car and call the non emergency police number since that's what they say you should do.

They transfer me to Animal Control and tell me that they would get someone out there. I have to give them kudos because within 2 or 3 minutes not only did one truck pull up, but 2.  After they got there they immediately checked the inside temperature of the car. You would think that they would start busting out windows, but they don't. They figured the owner was inside the library, but it still took them another 30 minutes to find her. Other people were watching by now waiting to see what happened. Finally she comes out and has the audacity to be upset!! We were in our car, parked down a little bit because honestly it's a crazy world and I didn't want her doing something in front of my kids. They ordered her to open the door, and she ended up getting a ticket I guess. They gave her paperwork, but it took what seemed like forever for them to let her go. We had a great lesson that day on what it means to speak up for animals that can't defend themselves. When we had gotten in our car from being in the library for 30 minutes...ONLY 30 minutes it was stifling hot in there. I asked them if they could imagine being stuck in there panting and barking for help like these poor dogs. They completely understood how crucial it is to not leave animals OR kids for sure inside of an automobile. It doesn't matter how "cool" you think it is outside, the heat in a vehicle, even with the windows cracked is too much for them. If you have to go somewhere, please leave your pets at home.

Last but not least, Gavin found an old cell phone that he wanted to take apart. I am all about discovery.

I honestly wish I could embrace the unschooling methods more. I have let go a lot, but there are some things that I just can't let go of, like math. Also, I want my kids to have an understanding of history. So instead of the plain old text book method, we decided to read stories on history, and learn that way. We also watch a lot of videos about it. This old cell phone discovery, has opened up an entire new way of learning for him. I think we are going to try and make a "Take it Apart" box. We will collect old things at thrift stores etc, and throw them in the box. I will allow the kids to take them apart and discover what makes them. He is really looking forward to finding an old radio! I will keep you updated on what we find!

Well we are about done with another week here at Anchor Academy. It has been a week of learning about Benjamin Franklin and the human body. They are really loving learning about what makes them up! I hope everyone has a great weekend coming up!

-Tasha