my facebook status was something referring to compiling the girls 'learnings' for the month of january and how much we've been learning about. my dear friend asked me to finish compiling and share, so...here is what i could remember for the past month. this list is just the scratching of the surface, what i see from my traditionally schooled mind, of the learning that took place. there is so much more.... so much unseen, so many important skills acquired, questions asked, opinions solidified, problems solved, interesting things observed, relationships built that aren't documented. simply so much more that i could never put on paper. so much learning that they, perhaps, are not even aware of. for the charter school we are connected with, each month i put together a 'learning record'. our liaison takes what i can remember and fits it into the right boxes for what the state requires of our children. being involved in this charter for me is a love/hate relationship. they provide so many classes my children love, quality art supplies, books that our library doesn't carry, and so much more. we do jump through a few hoops for this (star testing, organized writing prompts, ect). i don't try and fit my children into any particular box, nor am i trying to get my children meet any standard someone else deems fit. we are simply following dreams, asking questions, finding answers, living together, enjoying our interests and laughing as much as possible. that said, here's a sample of what my children did this last month.

Learning record for
Ocean and Elli :: january 2009
listened to books: superfudge, mysterious benedict society, the voyage of the treader, boxcar children hockey mystery, rowan of rin, rowan and the traveler, little house on the prairie, josephina: an american girl story, + tale of despereaux. wrote letters to a friend, ocean read to phoenix as well as a group of girls at the library, ocean wrote out a favorite poem, elli wrote out words she is learning to read from the 100 most common word list, visited the library at least 3x a week, elli drew and wrote in her journal, ocean started reading charlotte's web, both girls started learning/practicing more cursive, ocean worked on addition, multiplication tables, fractions, telling time, counted money and division. Elli worked on counting by 1's, 2's, 10's. Elli worked on double number addition facts and subtraction, counting by 5's while working on telling time, both measured shadow movement, elli counted her money and payed her library fee, listened to multiplication fact songs on cd from library, compared prices at the market, observed millions of ladybugs,observed and searched for different fungus, learned to identify different mushrooms such as the turkey tail mushroom, started terrariums,went on hikes, found scat and identified it as coyote scat, learned that mountain lions and bobcats always bury their scat, heard and identified a baby owl shriek, dug tunnels in sand at park and beach, picnicked by the sea and observed waves, sea lions and seagulls and swallows, watched a rock slide at the beach, observed pelicans, listened to the american girls josephina story: nine year old girl living in new mexico during 1850's. culture, jobs, people, interactions, customs, celebrations, language, ancestry. Listened to inauguration speech of our 44th president + watched the ceremony/celebration, visited the santa cruz surf museum, visited the farmers market with lots of family and community conversations on local eating and sustainability, local food vs. industrial, bought homemade tamales from a local woman, conversations about driving vs. walking, visited the local egg farm, went to a wedding [etiquette and manners], cleaned bedroom, rigged up rope on playground equipment so everyone could use it, made new friends at art class and the park, read through childrens cookbooks and found new recipes to try, elli helped stack wood outside our house and for the community we live in, learned cross-over jumping rope, ocean made many paper dolls, ocean danced ballet, both girls practiced gymnastics, practiced yoga positions, played at the park, art class [elli finished first program and ocean is working on two at once], watched american top model [my, the learning from this show!!!! wow and eek!] , played dress up, had dance parties, both mastered working computer program itunes and searching online is a cinch, played computer games [club penguin] at the library, built with legos, ocean organized paper dolls by name and number categories, rode scooters, played catch with a ball, watched skateboarders, elli played drums, rode bicycles, and so much more!