Enzo was recalling the run-in his daddy had with a flock of birds (seagulls I think) in a Target parking lot one weekend. 
* my phone needs a better camera
Category Archives: homeschool
Lesson of the Day
Don’t fix what ain’t broke!
Mummy or Butterfly?
Enzo craves being snuggled, squished and rolled…some days more than others. So when he asked to be rolled up in this crazy soft blanket, it was a welcomed request on this particular morning. Yes, our day had barely started and we were more than ready to be squished. He has his pj’s on to prove it! Oh what a day! =) Btw, his choice of pj’s is another post for another day.
So he was telling us a story as I rolled him up. He said he was like a caterpillar in a cocoon – spinning and spinning. Then one day struggle to come out as a butterfly. Although half way through his story he remembered a story we listened to for history (Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer). King Tut was carefully wrapped with cloth and ‘smell good stuff’ – his mummy. But in the end he decided he was a butterfly because King Tut didn’t come out of his mummy cloth.
He can tell me his story any way he pleases as long as he comes out ready to start his day!
As the bell rings…
So we don’t have a school bell, but our holiday slacker and vacation days are over. It’s nice to be back to our normal routine.
Although I can do without our “flustered with Pre-Algebra so I flip the pages furiously” routine.
This is what Lizzie does after school. She’s practicing. We should probably worry.
ps. We’re definitely not learning about Global Warming in our school day…it’s crazy cold around here BRRRR!
Family Life
Ethan’s English assignments this week was all about him and his family. The final part of his assignment was to bring all the assignments together in some autobiographical form. So he chose to write a song and turn it in to his teacher via YouTube.
UPDATE: His teacher loved it!
Save the Forest!
For science today Enzo picked the sloth to learn about. The sloth is one of his favorite animals because it’s “his daddy’s” favorite. We did our usual – sit on the couch, mom reads from a book that we picked out from the library while discussing interesting facts about the animal, and of course looking at pictures. Lizzie always seem to gravitate to the pictures of the animals with their babies while Enzo looks for the biggest (and fastest). So while flipping pages and discussing facts about the sloth, Enzo came across the giant ground sloth and was excitedly letting us know he wanted to draw it for our narration assignment. We continue through the book and get towards the end of the book where it talks about how some sloths are extinct and others are ‘endangered species’ and why it’s important to save tropical forests (sloths live there you know!). which then brought us back to the ‘giant ground sloth‘ and why they are extinct.
Why didn’t I see what was coming next?! OH SAVE THE FOREST MELTDOWN!
Enzo was so upset that people are so mean to cut down the forest because the giant sloth lost his home and starved to death. Not to mention the mean momma sloth that doesn’t go back to rescue a dropped baby. (Momma sloths carry their baby on their belly for months, if the baby loses grip and falls off, they don’t go back to rescue their baby in fear of their predators. Did you know that??) So by this time Enzo is frantically pacing the house and trying to figure out how to save the baby and how long it would take him to get to South America since he was just a kid and I wouldn’t take him right this minute. MELTDOWN. Lizzie was lost, she had no clue what Enzo was talking about because she was still glued to picture of the momma sloth carrying a baby sloth.
So we talked about how some people help by letting others know about the importance of saving the rainforest. Enzo’s drama finale went down like this:
Enzo is pacing and crying in between, visibly upset (and frustrated, because he said so himself)
Enzo runs to the sliding door: “Wait we have a forest! We need to save that maybe the sloth lives there!” (We have a preservation behind our house, no sloth lives there)
But of course I had to point out they don’t live there so he was still upset.
Enzo walks past Lizzie and me shouting: “SAVE THE FOREST! SAVE THE FOREST!”
Enzo: “See I only told 2 people, now I’m tired of yelling SAVE THE FOREST, how am I gonna tell EVERYBODY??? I just CAN’T!”
?!?!?!? I was soooo OVER saving the forest! We eventually calmed down after lots of talking and brainstorming ways to help save the rainforest, at least until someone else brings up that sloth again!
Educational? VERY, maybe more so for me than Lizzie and Enzo. Will I do it again??? OH PLEASE LORD HELP ME! Why didn’t I think to stick with this giant ground sloth? Maybe he wouldn’t have caused such a ruckus!
The Prey
Enzo said the predator got the squirrel so we needed to help it. Then he asked if the prey can eat the predator because he was mad at the neighborhood cat (the predator) for trying to eat the squirrel. Well, we didn’t see the culprit, we’re just assuming the mean neighborhood cat did it.
Enzo was so sad that we couldn’t help the squirrel. So Ethan pointed out the squirrels are wild and might have rabies. We watched this little guy for almost 30 minutes. He looked like he was gasping for air and he really didn’t move very much. We had to leave for an appointment and were hoping the squirrel would still be perched on the fence. When we got back, Enzo and Lizzie immediately ran to the kitchen window but he was gone. He wasn’t laying dead in our yard, although we haven’t peeked on the other side of the fence. Poor squirrel. Mean cats…
For science, we’ve been talking about different mammals – the predators and the prey. The kids love animals, so each week we head out to the library and before they can pick out their ‘fun books’, they have to pick out a couple of animal books that they want to learn about. Well at least I know Enzo is learning something in science, even if he is into the gruesome predators and mangled preys!
2nd Annual Back 2 School Bash
Remember last year when we decided to have a Back 2 School Bash for the kids?? Well it’s that time of year again, and this Ormeo Family tradition is here to stay. Just like last year, we didn’t tell the kids what we were up to or that it was even time for another Bash, we wanted to keep it a surprise.
So after a slow start (another post for another day), we were headed to the beach! Fun in the sun always turns that frown upside down right?? RIGHT except Mr. Sun wasn’t making his appearance!
By the time we headed out to St. Augustine, it was time for another Florida afternoon storm. After driving around for while, we decided to park to figure out our next step. We didn’t want to waste the not-so-short drive out there! But God is good and He knew exactly what we needed to cheer us up and put us back in the mood to party! We ended up at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! where they had a 2 for 1 special for admission, plus a free Enzo, so we decided to drop in!
Our kids are at a really great age right now to do ‘stuff’ and we don’t have to chase anyone down or have to haul a stroller (although once in a while Enzo still opts for it and I don’t blame him, I would too if I could!). PLUS everyone is potty trained! The kids even got to commemorate our Back 2 School Bash with a waxed hand. Each one got a mold of their hand so we can all look back and remember how small and little everyone was!
First they lather lotion all over your hand and have you dip your hand in ice for 20 seconds. Then they repeatedly dip your hand in 140 degree wax until they get the thickness just right. Oh the kids loved it! I haven’t taken a picture of the finished product but Enzo did a peace sign, Lizzie signed ‘I love you’, and Ethan did ‘Rock on!’
By the time we were done, the rain had stopped. Outside the museum, they had a radio station with a few vendors with fun kid stuff. The kids were so excited to get goodies and balloons and they even got to play with djembes!
Mr. Sun eventually made his appearance so off to the beach we went! And the kids were so excited!
This day which started out so grumpy turned out way better than we planned! The kids had a blast, now we’re ready for a new school year. Till next year…
PS. Click here for more pictures from our 2nd Annual Back 2 School Bash.
Ready, Set….Almost!
The past couple of weeks have been spent getting things ready for a new school year. Well, maybe we’ve spent more time getting the house ready for a new homeschool year since t all three kids will officially be ‘school aged’ kids! Poor Toots has carried in more boxes from the garage and attic more than he has in the almost 6 years we’ve lived here.
This year’s homeschool curriculum have been a blessing all around! Between what my sisters and I have used for our kids the past 6 years, and Lizzie and Enzo being able to use the same curriculum (public school and private school meet! Private school K4 actually taught more than public school K but that’s ok because it has been to our benefit!), we really didn’t have to buy much at all! All cost have been kept to a minimum. Thank you Lord for the blessing!
Lizzie is so excited to be homeschooled this year! She has been BEGGING and BEGGING to be homeschooled since last school year. So you can imagine her excitement! Everyday, really every moment she remembers, she’ll pull out workbooks we had gotten them for the summer and sit at the table to do “work”. So while I go through old curriculum, organize our supplies and rearrange furniture to make room for school stuff, she happily sits at this table!
This table was also one of our recent purchases for homeschool! Well, maybe not necessarily just for that, but the kids like having it. I’ve been wanting a small table to put in our living room that would accomodate big kids. So off to Craigslist I went in search of the perfect, but super cheap, table. I finally find the size table I was looking but this table had crayons, glue, and paint ALL OVER it, I figured we could always repaint it. Before buying paint and even setting off to clean up the grime off this table, we decided to try the Magic Eraser. Well after about 15 minutes of scrubbing, the table looked new again! I wish I would have thought about taking a ‘before’ shot, but I really didn’t expect it to get cleaned up! Definitely our $20 well spent! This table is even a good height for Ethan!
Craigslist find – $20
Magic Eraser (with a little elbow grease) – $3
Ormeo children enjoying a ‘good as new’ table – PRICELESS =)
That's the final answer!
So after much debating and discussion and praying and more debating and rearranging our home to accommodate space and books, we have decided to homeschool Lizzie and Enzo! So that’s brings The Ormeo School of Rugrats attendance to 3! Oh boy pray for us…pray for me, better yet pray for my kids!!! My poor kids have no idea what’s coming to them >=D
*MUAHAHAHAHA*
