Celebrate the Everyday

welcome

Why Celebrate the Everyday? I always start my day by repeating to myself Psalm 118:24- "This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it." It's a reminder that even in the midst of the mundane and on the hardest of days, there is always something to celebrate, always something to be grateful for! Join me as I document our family's journey of homeschooling our son.

Hazel Ridge















Our entry into homeschooling has started with becoming part of a terrific homeschool Botany group with 9 other boys around the same age as Zachary. We are going through a very fun but in depth curriculum this summer entitled "Exploring Creation with Botany" by Apologia Science.
All the boys have matching camo t-shirts and they have named their group "Botany Boot-camp."

Today we had our first official homeschool field trip. We had the wonderful opportunity of touring a farm/nature preserve in Bath, MI called "Hazel Ridge". I had no idea what to expect. I did have high hopes since the waiting list to visit is 2+ years long and it did not disappoint!! Our day started with a visit to "Mr. Nick's" studio. Mr. Nick is actually Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen, a very well known children's book author and illustrator. Nick is the first person in his family to immigrate from the Netherlands and with my family background being extensively Dutch that was VERY cool for Zach. Zachary had just recently finished a immigration and country report on the Netherlands and our family. Mr. Nick chose a painting out of one of his books and for over 2 hours worked with the kids on drawing and painting techniques.
Zach completed his portrait and I must say it is awesome! I think the highlight of our time painting was the possibility of being included in Mr. Nick's next book!


















After lunch, Mr. Nick's wife Robbyn (in the green shirt) took us on a 2 hour hike throughout their 40-acre property. They purchased their farm in the mid 1980's and have taken it from nothing but cornfields and developed the land into a breathtaking nature preserve/animal habitat. During our hike we saw deer, bugs, plants, and even were able to dissect owl pellets. The absolute highlight of the day for Zachary was finding a mouse skull in his owl pellet!














The day was awesome and one we won't soon forget!

0 comments:

Post a Comment