J is for Journey

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J is for Journey

June and July has been months of adventure for our family. IntelliGent, Dr. Dad and I have travelled over 6,500 km and seen many members of our scattered family.

IntelliGent has proved to be an excellent traveller and is already asking when we'll go on our next "long ride."


Virginia

The first of our adventures took us to the south of Virginia to spend a week with Dr. Dad's sister, her husband, and their new baby. It was interesting to see IntelliGent interact with his new cousin. He was a sweet boy, wanting to hold the baby right away, then was gentle with her throughout the week. I was anticipating some jealousy as I held the baby, but IntelliGent was more curious than anything. He loved sharing his toys with her, and spent some time examining her toys as well. He has already declared that the baby is his best friend.

Pennsylvania

On our way home from Virginia, we stopped in Pennsylvania to visit Dr. Dad's brother and his family. Once again, IntelliGent enjoyed a chance to be with his cousins - this time a group of four older boys. It was a blessing to see the loving interaction between these cousins. The cousins - wowed by IntelliGent's script of questions - discovered an unfortunate truth: IntelliGent does not preform on demand. I discovered the fearlessness of IntelliGent as he handled his cousin's salamanders and frogs. It is nice to know he is a true boy.

Ottawa

We were only home a day before driving into Ottawa for my Canadian citizenship ceremony. This was the culmination of a long process - starting with my wedding vows over six years ago. What a blessing to have our whole family be duel citizens between the USA and Canada. Yesterday, my Canadian passport came in the mail. Our whole family can travel with the same country's travel documents. Dr. Dad and IntelliGent took me out to a nice restaurant to celebrate the accomplishment. I celebrated by voting the following day in the provincial elections.

Sudbury

Less than a week later, we were on the road again. Dr. Dad had a science conference in Sudbury, ON. IntelliGent and I spent four days enjoying Science North - a wonderful science center in Sudbury. We saw butterflies, beetles, cockroaches, turtles, flying squirrels, owls, beaver, porcupine, and snakes. While I love biology and could spend all my time studying the different animal exhibits, IntelliGent proved to be more like his father. He gravitated toward the different Physics interactive displays. His favorite was the gravity well - sending various size metal balls spinning around the circle and down the hole. He kept many of the "Blue Coats" entertained with his antics.

Michigan

IntelliGent had been looking forward to visiting Granma and Granpa in Michigan for weeks. He loved being outside with Granpa. Most of all, he enjoyed camping with his cousins from Washington. My parents enjoyed having all the grandchildren together, and the kids did so well playing with each other. IntelliGent learned a few things from the girls - like how to say "I love you" with no prompting. While playing at camp, he was a feisty two-year-old. While I love the scholar, it does my heart good to see the little boy at play.

Our summer journeying is now finished and it is time to get back into our schedule and routine. IntelliGent spent the morning begging to do school.

I obliged.

G is for Garden

Over the next few week's I'm blogging through the alphabet. I'd love for you to stop by my other homeschool AtoZ posts and leave a comment. Ideas of topics you'd like to read about are also appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to visit and read.

G is for Garden

Spring is finally upon us in the Ottawa valley. After a winter I thought would never end, the snow is gone and the temperatures have warmed. To my great delight, planting time is upon us.

I am not a fantastic gardener, but I do enjoy digging in the dirt and watching things grow. The spring after IntelliGent was born, I started a new kind of gardening. Instead of the traditional row planting, I now use the square foot gardening method.

Square foot gardens - July 2012

We began planting our gardens today. This is the first year that IntelliGent has helped. He loved the idea of planting his own vegetables. Of course, he is still of the opinion that he'll be eating carrots from the garden this evening for dinner.

I look forward to watching my son enjoy the growth process of the plants. While it took longer for IntelliGent to assist in the planting (and I had to get my own perfectionism under control when the seeds were not in perfect lines), I believe the extra time was well spent.

We have a lot more planting to do, but I plan to allow IntelliGent to help as much as he is able. Won't he be excited when the first of the crops are ready to harvest?

Square foot garden - August 2012

I'm Just Speaking French

8 months old and proudly Canadian

I grew up in the US where Spanish was the second language of choice. I did well in Spanish class and later taught the language to children in preschool. Then I married a Canadian and moved to the north where my Spanish skills have gone to waste. Instead, I've been shown over and over again the advantages of having a working understanding of French.

With IntelliGent at an impressionable age, I want to introduce him to foreign language. From experience, I know how quickly children can pick up on new words and a new language. But I don't know French. In honesty, I don't have an ear for the language at all and to this point have shunned any opportunity to learn.

That prejudice is changing with Dr. Dad's example and encouragement. While I have not found a curriculum suitable for helping IntelliGent learn French, we have started watching his favorite shows in the language. He loves it.

Today he brought me Curious George. "Let's watch it in French, Mommy." 

And so we did. 

Later, after the movie was finished. IntelliGent came up to me and started muttering something I didn't understand. I asked him to repeat, which he did, but the words were still unintelligible.

"What are you trying to say?" I asked after the second repeat.

"I'm just speaking French," IntelliGent replied.

Photo by Dawn Scott

I can neither confirm nor deny if he was indeed speaking French. However, I think it might be time for me to take a look at that Rosetta Stone program Dr. Dad has been using. I can't let my language prejudices get in the way of IntelliGent's learning.