Renaissance Festival 2020

Pauline
scottsdale homeschool field trip

The Renaissance Festival is always a fabulous time. This year the Cardinals (our homeschool nature and culture outing group) went together on the elementary student day. The festival often has adult type humor so the student day eliminates that and adds a lot of educational type events that wouldn’t be there. Some of the vendors even had reduced pricing knowing that kids don’t come on field trips with endless amounts of money so that was really cool. But on a downside, many of us noticed that some of our favorite Read More …

Midsummer Night’s Dream at Mesa Community College

Pauline
homeschool field trip az

We laughed until we cried! This was so incredibly well done. It was hilarious. The actors wore modern costumes and used modern accents and allusions to bring the play to a understanding we all could appreciate, but the words were all Shakespeare! I’m a very traditional person but I found I didn’t mind the modern costumes or allusions in the least. It actually really helped us understand the language better. I really liked how we all could “get” the jokes because of it. And also, I think just the fact Read More …

Latin Jeopardy!

Pauline
Latin homeschool co-op

On latin review days we love to play games. And the kids really, really love jeopardy! (As you can see from the photo we also had a surprise guest! Mr. Abello brought our littlest Latin student to say hello!) If you every want to play jeopardy with your children it works great for any language class and the directions on how to play are in your Memoria Press Latin guides –but I’ll explain it here as it is very simple. I use a white board and put sticky notes on Read More …

Bartlett Lake Fishing Trip and Hike

Pauline
Homeschool field trip Scottsdale

The day was beautiful! Altogether there were 18 of us homeschoolers out on the lake fishing, canoeing, and enjoying the mild February weather that we call “winter” out here in AZ! My son was even bold enough to jump in and give it a go…it was so very funny. He got about 5 steps in – took a 1 second pause and then did a quick 180 and high tailed it back! It was still just a little bit too cold! It felt like ice water. But for some reason Read More …

Valentine’s Day Party 2020

Pauline
Homeschool co-op valentines day party

There were some things in public school that just weren’t all bad. Some things were actually pretty great. Valentine’s Day parties were one of them. And Valentine’s day parties can be a little hard to do as a homeschooler–especially if you are an only child! Some things you just need a good handful of kids for! And…this is one of many reasons why you need a co-op in your life! (Psst…Did I mention we have an open house coming up? Message me and I’ll send you details!) Growing up in Read More …

Scottsdale Philharmonic February Concert

Pauline
Scottsdale Homeschool co-op

This concert was truly wonderful. It is also so amazing that it is free! While not as big as the Phoenix Symphony it was every bit as incredible. The talent surpassed any and all expectations and it was very family friendly. They played quite a few familiar songs – many of which show up in movies and cartoons. They are always about a 2 hour performance and that was a little long for my 2 and 4 years olds, but no biggie, we just stepped outside and they played. They Read More …

Art Class – Pastels

Pauline

Art is one of those things I absolutely love but don’t make nearly enough time for. There was a time where I was intentionally doing watercolors and oil painting. Every Saturday I’d make me (and the kids) do a little free art time. But then we moved and my paints got packed up and stored. But more likely it was my routine that got packed up and stored. And like most things, life gets busy and it gets put to the wayside. For a short few years of my life, Read More …

The Rosson House, Rose Garden Tour, and Mapping Early Phoenix at Heritage Square + Book Review of “Vanished Arizona”

Pauline
Rosson House homeschool Phoenix co-op

The book above was a recommendation by the docent that gave us the tour and I absolutely loved it. Such an easy and delightful read. Vanished Arizona is about a New England woman who marries an army man and they are stationed out here in AZ to control the indian “problem.” This was while Arizona was a territory and the indians had been forced onto reservations, many didn’t want to go, they would hide in the mountains, etc. They could be very violent to pioneers and military alike, so the Read More …

The Sears-Kay Ruins Nature Outing

Pauline
classical homeschool co-op in scottsdale

The Sears-Kay Ruins hike was just what I was hoping for. A short hike (only 1.6 m round trip–enough that a toddler could walk it holding my hand) with lots to explore and look at and plenty of space to run wild and free. It delivered on all accounts. It was an easy 45min drive from my house in Paradise Valley. But once you got there it was felt like you were in the middle of nowhere. The city was nowhere to be seen and we really got to experience Read More …

Wee Gillis

Pauline
Bag pipes at our classical co-op

Wee Gillis is a story about a little Scottish boy with a love for bagpipes. It is written by Munro Leaf. You might know Munro Leaf! He also wrote Ferdinand the Bull, the beloved story about a bull who did not like to fight but only wanted to smell the flowers. Which…..they made into a movie in 2017 and is totally different than the book! And of course it would be–how do you take a picture book and make it into a full length movie without adding a whole lot Read More …