The Backpack of Holding!

Okay, so no big secret I'm a gamer. My preference is for RPGs, be they tabletop or MUCK/MUSH. This means that, quite naturally, a bag of holding was hugely attractive to me. Skeeve has the original Bag of Holding messenger bag, and I've come to inherit a Backpack of Holding from him. My geeky heart sings.

Unit Studies are Born!

Ever since Mad Natter was a bitty infant, we've been driving long-haul multiple times per year. Eight hours each way kind of long haul, from when he'd sleep through the entire drive, right on until he got his MobiGo, then Innotab, now his 2DS. This is the first time we've come out of a trip with plans for unit studies.

Virtual Field Trip: Brookfield Zoo!

While we were in the burbs visiting with Hammie and Buppa, it seemed we were never really in one place - unless we were sleeping! As a result, I have another virtual field trip for you, this time to the Brookfield Zoo, unsurprisingly located in Brookfield, IL.  We managed to pick the perfect day for the trip - it was a Friday, and the day before we went, there were tornadoes through NW Illinois, so many people stayed home fearing another rainy, cold, yucky day. It was gorgeous, and I'm actually surprised by some of the things Mad Natter learned!

Box Day!!

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Oh, how I love box day! We put our orders in when the tax return comes, but because we're in Mooselandia, shipping is a... well, a moose. So, we ship everything to Hammie and Buppa's house, and then go visit for long enough to cover the cost in our customs declarations. So box day is a Big Thing, where not only do we get to visit our family, but we get curricula as well!  And so, here is where I fill you in (because everyone loves a good box day!) on what we got!

Ages and Stages of Being Gifted

We see so much about giftedness through our own lenses. But for this hop, I wanted to branch out a little, and get some perspective from other people - even those who don't necessarily feel connected or part of the Gifted Community. Since there are so many different ages and stages this could cover, I wanted to hit on as many as possible. As such, I took to interviewing, and today I get to share my results with you.

Virtual Field Trip: Museum of Science and Industry Chicago

Mad Natter and I recently spent about a week and a half visiting with Hammie and Buppa in their suburban Chicago home, and while we were there, we had a lot of great opportunities.  From visiting with some of his cousins to spending days playing baseball with his Buppa in the yard, we had a lot of fun. We found a lot of fun things to do that were good field trips, too, and so I want to take you with us!

Hit Point Math!

So, I've mentioned that Mad Natter hates review. With a passion.  So, what do you do when you have to do math, which is mostly practice after the initial learning, and a kid who hates doing exactly that? It sort of sprouted naturally, as all the best things do - we combined it with his love of video games, and added an element of story problems!

Mother vs Mother

Being online, and connecting with other parents - either of gifted children, or who homeschool, or sometimes both - means I get a decent amount of contact with other mothers. Sometimes fathers, yes, but mostly mothers. Generally, talking about this garners only one response: "ugh, the Mommy Wars..." I have to wonder why that is.

All the Best

Mad Natter and I have been away from our Mooselandia home the past week or so, visiting with family. It's the first time we've been in since Mad Natter started his meds, and everyone noticed the difference, nearly immediately. We were lucky - before we left, one of my cousins invited us over for an afternoon to color eggs for the holiday with her son, and some of their cousins (Mad Natter and Mister Love refer to each other, and the other kids in their generation as their cousins, despite the fact that they're actually either second cousins, or first once removed, I never know the right terms).

Secular Science Curricula

I think I've said this before, but we're not a particularly religious household. In our house... well, the most religious of us is a Secular Humanist, another is an Atheist entirely. This puts us pretty well outside the scope of the pre-existing homeschooling demographic. What this also means, though, is that it's ridiculously difficult to find a decent history curriculum - most history is tied up in religion, and whichever religion came out "on top" is the one that wrote the stories, so that's where the slant is. But even more difficult than trying to find an entirely secular history curriculum?  Secular science.

The Benefits of Our Less-Stressed Household

On March 13, the weekly #gtchat on Twitter was about homework.  If you haven't checked out #gtchat yet, please, please do! It's held every Friday night, 7E/6C/5M/4P, and it's a wonderful conversation. Anyway. I somehow managed to come out of a conversation about eliminating homework... with homework. I'm not sure if that takes talent or idiocy, and for the sake of my sanity, I'm choosing not to explore that any further than I have.  All it took was one tweet.

Review! "The Family Library" series by Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley

This post contains affiliate links to materials discussed. Purchases via these links help support our family at no additional cost to you. Thank you for choosing to support my little blog. Read my full disclosure statement here. 

Having Mad Natter in the house is often an exercise in mitigating what he's emotionally able to handle versus what he's intellectually ready for. Nowhere has this been more evident than in his determination to understand every single thing about how the human body works - including all its parts (both variants!), and the reproductive process. This is all well and good, and I encourage a whole lot of curiosity, but there's only so much I'm willing and/or able to tell my then-four-year-old about human reproduction. As a result, I turned to the children's book section of Amazon, did some flipping through of books, and went on to find what would work for us. It turns out, that starts with It's Not the Stork!: A Book About Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families and Friends (The Family Library).

When the Worry Gets Overwhelming

A lot of people talk about gifted children having anxiety. And, truth be told, I see some elements of this in Mad Natter as well.  But the place I see it most?  In myself. I'm raising this outlier, and I'm the sole person responsible for his education. As a result, this more often than not brings about a huge volume of anxiety.