Thursday, October 9, 2008

horses and trains

last week the kids had another opportunity to do some life schooling.
this time they went to traci wolter's house to learn about horses!

josie who is graduating from sentences to paragraphs wrote about her time-

"I went to Traci Wolters house. She has two horses. She taugt me about horses.

I learned about body parts of a horse, and to brush a horse, and scoop poop, and feed it hay.


This is how to ride a horse. Frest you put on the saddle. Secent you ride it ot the track."



while they were with traci, i had 3.5 hrs to do as i pleased. i needed the quiet, but what i really needed was that moment when i picked them up. i saw them- i saw their excitement for life, and for learning new things, their friendly personalities, and the way they care for each other. i saw that they are GREAT kids, and i am BLESSED!

always being with them is both the sweetness and sacrifice of homeschooling.
it can be hard to seperate who i am as mommy from who i am as teacher. yes, the two are so much intertwined, and should be, but sometimes i want to strip off all the hats i wear (teacher,taxi, nurse, referee, cook, maid, accountant...), and wear only the one that says, "mommy."


on tuesday we took a field trip with our homeschool academy. we traveled by train to california's state capitol in sacramento. we also visited the california history museum. it was a full day (traveling from 5:30 a.m. till 12:06 a.m., ahhh!).
if you live in ca. and have the opportunity to visit sacramento, i also recommend visiting old town sacramento, and the train museum.

what field trips or activities do you enjoy with your children?

do you recall a favorite childhood field trip?

12 comments:

  1. Wow Denise, your one busy mommy, looks like the kids had a great time, i love horses, i always wanted one when i was a kid,and i love old town haven't been there lately, love aunt vivi

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  2. Looks like the had an awesome time! I am really praying about homeschooling and timing for my family...I really think this may be the way we are to go in the very near future. You are my hero for doing it!

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  3. I love the train museum! Your kids are sweet and truly a refection of Christ. My favorite field trip...I loved them all but, my favorite would have to be Monterey Bay Aquarium!!!

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  4. They are so cute! I love it!

    My dad use to take me on all kinds of little trips..ice skating, skiing, hiking..what great memories!
    -Sandy Toes

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  5. Those are great pictures and what a wonderful opportunity for them to spend a day with horses learning something they might not normally be around.

    Since my only child is only in Kindergarten we haven't done many field trips yet but I'm really looking forward to them! Our favorites so far are usually the zoo and the children's museums.

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  6. The zoo is a favorite over here, though we've been to two farms recently and like your kids, they loved it.

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  7. Glad you got to refresh and see the kids through new eyes! :)

    I love old town Sac and the train museum is great!! My oldest was a huge train enthusiast! He's into robots and super heroes now!

    Here, we like to frequent the Avila Valley Barn for fruit picking, feeding animals, and hay rides. We also like to explore the dunes in Oceano.

    Growing up in L.A. I used to like to visit gardens. The Arboretum in Arcadia, Huntington Library in Sierra Madre (I think), and Descanso Gardens in La Canada.

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  8. I love that she learned to 'scoop poop' -- too funny!

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  9. absolutely beautiful!!! the kids look like they had a great time!

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  10. So cool, Denise! You are doing an awesome job with your kiddos! If I was a homeschooling Mom and lived in CA, I'd definitely want to "hang" with you ;-)

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  11. My favorite place to go with the kids is the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the San Francisco Zoo. In Colorado, we loved going to the sheep shearing weekend at the live history museum at Garden of the Gods. Seeing a little wrinkled woman who stands 5 feet tall and weighs 90 pounds shear a complaining sheep, now that's a sight to see!

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  12. the field trip into Sacramento sounds awesome.

    the pictures from their lifeschooling are great - what a super fun day.

    i think our field trip to the TV station last year was definitely a high light.

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