Out and About In Shawnee

It was a beautiful, sunny day here in Oklahoma. A few days ago when I realized how nice it was going to be I started thinking about where I could take the kids. I didn't want to just take them to the park so I decided we should take a short road trip. So I got out the atlas and opened it to Oklahoma. I took a compass and drew a circle around what I thought was a two hour radius outside of Tulsa. I started looking up cities inside that radius. Some had websites, other did not. After looking at about four cities I settled on Shawnee. I had never been there before and the website offered many different attractions that sounded fun.

We left at 8 a.m. I made a quick stop at QT and then we were on the road. We went through Sapulpa, Bristow, Chandler (which looked neat and we may have to go back and actually stop in), and finally ended in Shawnee. I had a map and of course my atlas but I also have GPS on my phone so I felt confident that we wouldn't get too lost. 

As we arrived in Shawnee I noticed several horse statues in front of different businesses. According to the website they're called "Horse in the City" statues. They are life size fiberglass horses painted by local artists. They are beautiful. I didn't get to see all of them but here are two of the four we did see. I will post the other ones in my facebook photos folder. 

Our first stop was the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art. Its located on St. Gregory's Campus. Which is beautiful! The museum is small but has great exhibits. We saw an Egyptian sarcophagus, and a real mummy,The Mummy Tutu! We also saw a real suit of armor and a Samurai helmet. There were also various Indian and religious artifacts and paintings. In one area they had a room full of pictorial carpets. 

Our next stop was lunch. We were all hungry and Jordan thought we should try to find a diner instead of eating somewhere we could eat here in town. I agreed and headed for main street because I figured there's always a diner on main street. I was right. We ended up at the Hamburger King. We found a booth and looked at the menu which told an interesting way of ordering, we had to order by picking up the red phone in our booth. The food was good as was the atmosphere.

After we ate we went down to The Sante Fe Depot Museum. The Sante Fe Railroad Company built the depot as a passenger station for Pottawatomie County. Passengers could ride from Newkirk, Shawnee or Cushing and then to Paul's Valley before joining the Texas line. They had so many neat things to look at, Native American items, train artifacts and even an old Model-T Ford pickup and a 100 year old horse statue from the St. Louis Worlds Fair. They were also hosting a quilt show and they were gorgeous. On the grounds there was a cabin that was the first home built in Shawnee after the land run. The Beard Cabin was built in 1891. As most of you know Conor loves trains. Located behind the depot was a set of train tracks so I let Conor walk right up to them and check them out. He seemed to be having a good time.

At this point it was getting late in the afternoon and I still had one stop I really wanted to make. I had heard about a local kids park that was supposed to be out of this world. I got directions and we set out to find it. We got there and they were right, it was out of this world. It was called Kid Space Park. It was so cool.

All the kids enjoyed the park. Its really spacious and theres lots to do. We let Emma down and she was able to run around and explore too. Its so much fun to watch them all find things they love about the park. Jordan likes to swing, Conor likes to climb and Emma likes to just be out of her car seat! I walked around taking pictures then sat in the swing with Emma for a bit. After about 40 minutes I was hot and getting tired and the park was filling with older kids so we opted to leave and go get ice cream.

Off to Braums we went. Then it was time to load up and head home. All in all it wasn't a bad day. They kids were happy and I love being able to take all of them on a field trip to wherever we want to go. I'm thinking that Mike would like to go next time so Ill have to plan something for a weekend when he can go too.

Homeschooling and independence  gives me the luxury to do this, and that's what it is, a luxury. I love the idea of just loading up and going somewhere. I am blessed to have a car that runs good, a husband that supports me and the time to do this. We're building memories that will last a lifetime. Stay tuned for more adventures from Morrison Homeschool.

Morrison Homeschool 2012

School time at the Morrison household. Lately we've had some set backs but I think things are going to start looking up. Its hard to put into words the feelings you get when you know that God has asked you to do something. I cant seem to find the right ones. But I keep trekking along knowing in my heart that this is the right thing to do. Its hard I wont lie. Harder than anything Ive done in my adult life. Harder than giving birth, going through a divorce and being a single mom.

Its not like anyone ever said "hey homeschooling is easy". If it was everyone would do it. It definitely not a choice to be made lightly. I never went to college, I dont feel like Im this great teacher. We have days where maybe only one or two subjects gets done. We also have days where nothing gets done. I know Jordan is behind in some areas and I only feel increasing pressure to get him caught up. I wonder if Im doing the right thing. I have doubts. I know this is the devil placing these doubts and I shouldnt listen to them but its hard not to.

Then there is the idea that I will have Conor starting kindergarten in the fall. Now I will have two kids to teach. This scares me. Im not sure how things will go. I have to have faith that God will guide me through this process. Theres a local homeschool service center that offers curriculum and testing twice a week for a monthly fee. Im still looking into this. With some of the problems Ive been having with Jordan this may be the best option. We'll see at the end of this year.

I know this is just a stage in my life and that soon I will be moving onto another stage. For now Im trying to enjoy the moments I have with my kids. To watch them learn and grow. For I know that soon this stage will be over.

Week 10

I realized yesterday that I haven't posted here in awhile and I thought I would give a short update.

We're 10 weeks into school and things are going okay. We've been doing math, language arts, and science. Math has been a challenge to say the least. Jordan gets this bummed look his face when he doesn't get it right away. He does good in English and we're doing human anatomy for science which has been a learning experience for both of us. I have all the stuff for history except the teaching guide so we've been watching history documentaries instead. I'm hoping to have the teachers guide by the end of the month. We've also been learning the states.

All in all things are going pretty good. I was nervous at first about trying to do school with a toddler and a baby around but so far its not too bad. Conor plays with his trains and occasionally is interested in coloring or reading. Emma also plays around us and usually takes a mid-morning nap.

I'm trying to stay optimistic about things. Ive just been trying to take it one day at time. I don't plan to far ahead as things change. There have been days where we don't get anything done. I'm hoping to start Conor on some sort of kindergarten program next year. Ideally I would like to continue homeschooling but only time will tell. In the mean time I will try to update as much as possible.

Week 2 at the Morrisons

We managed to get through our second week of homeschooling despite some crazy days. We didn't have school Monday. I took my mother in law to the doctors and then she ended up having to be hospitalized due to a severe infection that resulted in her contracting MRSA. I spent most of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at home with the kids getting things ready for the weekend. Today I spent the day running errands and cleaning so that tomorrow on my birthday I can lay around and be lazy (although I know myself that will probably not happen).

I managed to track down the instructors guide for Jordans math at a local store for much cheaper than the website I was going to buy it at. I also found the science instructors guide on ebay for over 1/2 of what I was going to pay on the website. I also found a timeline book for cheap. This makes me very happy. Now all I have to do is buy the history instructors guide and we'll be good to go. In the mean time Jordan and I have been watching lots of documentaries on Netflix as a supplement until I have all the history books.

All in all things have been going pretty good. Jordan seems to be enjoying what we're learning and I think its going to be a good year. The next few weeks will be crazy around here. My sister will be in town as will my grandmother. I'm planning a field trip to the zoo for Jordan. It will be the first time we go and I have him take notes and then write about it when we come home. I am looking forward to my grandmother being here. I have a project on Grandparents that I think will be good for Jordan to do and learn about. We also have Emma's first birthday to plan and my 5 year anniversary with my husband. At the end of the month we'll be attending the Tulsa State Fair. I plan on trying to go at least one day during the day so that we can really see everything and then I think I'm going to have Jordan write a story about it.

So that's week two here at Morrison Homeschool. Ill keep everyone posted, those that are interested anyway.

Morrison Homeschool: First week

These are the students of Morrison Homeschool. Jordan, Conor and Emma. Jordan is really the only one doing any kind of what you would call traditional school but Conor and Emma learn just the same. We just completed our first week of school. Jordan is in the 4th grade this year. Right now we've been doing math, English and we've been watching America the Story of Us for history. We watch and I take notes and then I ask him questions to see if hes been paying attention. I have science curriculum but I need the teachers guide to get going. I also have history curriculum to start but again I need the teachers guide. So in the mean time I'm coming up with other things we can do to fill the time while I'm waiting to get the other stuff.

Here's what the schedule looks like so far:
7:30  get up
8:00  have breakfast
9:00  start school
   Bible
   math
   English
   America Story of Us
   reading time
12:00  lunch
Then pretty much free time until dinner while I do housework. Its really loose right now until I get the rest of our books. But then again things here are pretty laid back anyway.

I have decided that year round school might be best for Jordan because I think he loses to much information in the long summer break. So we'll have 6 weeks of school then break for a week off at Halloween. During that week we will study the history of Halloween and do crafts and stuff. Then we'll have school until Thanksgiving and take a week off for Thanksgiving and study the history of Thanksgiving and makes crafts for that as well. Then we'll have school until Christmas and then take a week off for Christmas and study the birth of Christ and the history of Christmas and make crafts for that too.

That's about as far as I have gotten as far as scheduling goes. I'm trying to take it one day at a time. Otherwise I'm afraid Ill get overwhelmed.  Jordan is doing really well with his school work so far. I am optimistic that this year will be a good one.

This is only the beginning of what I think will be a long journey. I have high hopes that we will be able to continue with this journey as I feel it fits us well. Of course only God knows what the future holds.

Update!

Just an update. We have yet to start school. I wanted to be starting this week along with Tulsa Public but finances have held me back. My goal this week is to finish buying the curriculum we need and get started after Labor Day. I almost have everything we need. I am excited to get started and I am looking forward to the new year. I have plans to have school year round but right now Im trying to take it one day at a time. Im going to try to keep the blog updated on a week to week basis so stay tuned.

Morrison Homeschool Curriculum Details

This blog will be about my journey into the world of homeschooling. For those who are interested I welcome you. I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing but I have faith that this is what I am supposed to be doing. I'm not sure how to explain it either to those who don't believe in "that sort of thing" but I do feel a calling from God to do this so here goes.

Jordan will be in the 4th grade this year. I have spent hours finding curriculum that I think will be fun but also is what I think he should be learning. Yes I'm one of those people who wants him to learn the basics, math, science, history, and english all while throwing in other things we've talked about what he might want to learn. Ive also put together some things for Conor to do while we're doing school. Originally I was going to put Jordan into a virtual academy, but after lots of research I decided to just "make-up" my own curriculum. Ive taken some from several sources and I think this year will be lots of fun.

Here's the list for Jordan's 4th grade year:

Science: (Sonlight)

• The Boys Body Book
• The History of Medicine
• Food and Nutrition for Every Kid
• Almost 12
• Improve Your Survival Skills
• The Human Body
• Dry Bones and Other Fossils
• Understanding Your Brain
• The Complete Human Body
• Introduction to Genes and DNA
• Unlocking the Mystery of Life (DVD)

History: (Sonlight)

• The Wright Brothers
• The Story of Inventions
• Bell and the Science of the Telephone
• Diary of An Early American Boy
• George Washington Carver
• The Story of the U.S.A book 1-4
• Old Yeller

I also plan on watching The Story of Us which we started last year but never finished.

English: (BJU) 

• BJU English 4

Math: (Horizons)

Lifepac Bible 

Lifepac Preschool (just as a guideline)

German In 10 min a day

I also purchased The Complete Zoo Adventure for day when we want to get out of the house.

I also purchased a homeschool fitness curriculum from  http://familytimefitness.com/

For Conor I took an idea I read on another homeschool blog where I make Conor his own box and put items into it for him to do "school" with. So far I've come up with these items:

• puzzles
• pipe cleansers
• alphabet stamps
• paper
• crayons
• cloth tape measure
• magnifying glass
• books

That's the curriculum now here's our schedule: (of course all this is tentative)

6:00 a.m.- wake up

6:30 a.m.- eat breakfast

7:00 a.m.- leave to walk

7:30-8:30 a.m.- walk at LaFortune

9:00a.m.- arrive home, have snack, start school

12:00 noon- finish school, have lunch

1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.- free time, cleaning time for me

3:00 p.m.- story time

4:00 p.m. start getting dinner ready

5:30 p.m.- Mike home

6:00 p.m.- dinner

6:30 p.m.- family time

7:00-9:00 p.m.-whatever time (hang out with us or play in room)

9:30 p.m.- bedtime for kids

10:00 p.m.-Mike and Katy time (sometimes with Emma)

10:30 p.m.: bedtime

All in all I think I have a fun year planned. We'll also take field trips to various places. One of the best things about homeschooling is the ability to go where we want when we want. I have lots of places I want us to go over the course of this next year. 

Here are a few:

• Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum
• Oklahoma Aquarium
• Oklahoma City Zoo
• Various museums around Oklahoma
• Kaleidoscope Museum
• Oktoberfest (I know the drinking but if we go early maybe we could avoid that and just take in the German traditions and such)
• The Oklahoma Scottish Games

So there it is. I hope you all will keep up with my journey as I know it will be both fun and challenging.