And she said

Last night as I was putting Madeline to bed, the following conversation took place.

Madeline: I might be a whale or a dolphin.

Me: Really? When?

Madeline: Maybe when I'm older, say 5 or 6.

Me: Well, honey, you're a little girl, and you'll always be a girl.

Madeline: I might.  I hope you don't be disappointed at me.

She's such a hoot!

And that's a wrap...almost

I thought it would be fun to participate in Darcy's weekly Sweet Shots linkup.

There's no theme to the linkup.

However, this week she's celebrating her 100th Sweet Shot

and encouraged those linking up to participate in the 100 theme.

So I tried.

Congratulations, Darcy!

So what's my contribution to the 100 theme?

A "100 flat" from our base 10 math manipulatives.

Next week, we will be finishing up our core homeschooling year.
Hip hip hooray!

We have thoroughly enjoyed using Ambleside Online.

Last fall, we got our feet wet by incorporating some Charlotte Mason principles

and a few of the suggested readings for Year 1.

By the beginning of this year, however, we dug in deeper.
And I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I've learned quite a bit this year as a result.

We spent a fair amount of time watching birds.

We set up two bird feeders and a bird bath for our viewing pleasure.

We see blue jays, cardinals, and mockingbirds every day, plus grackles, doves, and red bellied woodpeckers.

We placed the bird bath right outside our living room window.
These shots were taken from inside the house (through the window and screen.)

As I've mentioned in a previous homeschooling post, Caleb has wanted to learn to type.

So he's using Typing Instructor For Kids.

Because of his brachial plexus injury, he types one-handed.

Although the typing program is intended for two-handed typists, 

he's doing very well.  He uses a child-size keyboard, which is necessary
due to the added reaching required to type one-handed for anyone.
Really, I find myself typing one-handed at times, and it's a stretch.
Try it.

Anyway, now that summer is here (at least, here in Florida, it's felt like summer for a while now!),

we will be transitioning to our "light school" schedule.

We will regularly do math and reading, while

throwing in some nature study, writing and whatever else interests us.

We keep this schedule because I believe it is important to teach that learning can happen

anywhere and anytime, not just fall through spring, or Monday through Friday, for that matter.

In the fall, we will begin Ambleside Online's Year 2.

However, we have already been enjoying the free readings suggested for the year 

because we just couldn't wait.

So there you have it...

a readers digest version of our year in review.

I'm sure I'll be sharing some of our summer schedule highlights 

as we move into the real summer months.

And after three years on this homeschooling journey, I have to say 

that we wouldn't have it any other way!

We love it!