Author Archives: Adriana Zoder

Jun 7 2017

Asian Trek at Zoo Knoxville

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Zoo Knoxville has a new exhibit called “Asian Trek”. There are two male tigers and one female tiger, plenty of Asian decor, and a family of white-naped cranes (with a baby!). They kids saw the billboards on I-40 several months ago, advertising the tiger exhibit, so they have wanted to go for some time.

My son high fived the tiger at Zoo Knoxville

My son high fived the tiger at Zoo Knoxville

We finally made it there last week. It was better than I expected. They have a pagoda and Chinese lanterns and music as you go through the Asian trek. Continue reading »

Jun 5 2017

Royal Conservatory Music Development Program

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The Royal Conservatory put together a Music Development Program which is followed by music teachers all over the world. Many famous American music schools are proud to call themselves “founding schools” of this program which began twenty years ago.

Mom and children at Milligan College

The kids and I after their violin assessments at Milligan College in Elizabethton, TN

Our children’s violin teacher recommended that we take the assessments this year, in Level 1 and Level 3 respectively. It is a different curriculum than the Suzuki books and it was fun to step outside of those books and into a different repertoire. Continue reading »

Jun 2 2017

Summer Vacay

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The other day I received an email from a famous homeschool blogger with a list of “summer boredom busters.” I admire that sentiment, but we are not bored yet. In fact, I think I may have run the troops a little too much this year – too much even for me. I feel the burn or the burnout and I just want to take it easy.

Father, daughter and son at the pool

My husband and the kids at the pool

The kids want to take it easy. I want to take it easy. We have our three daily meals and they help with preparation and cleanup. We do a devotional. We run errands if necessary. I leave my annual checkups for this time of the year and they just tag along with their books. They work on Scratch (computer programming language from MIT) because they love it. Continue reading »

May 28 2017

End of the School Year

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It is almost the end of May and this means summer break is here. We do not homeschool year round, although learning never stops. Children are naturally curious and they will learn even if I don’t record it as a school day.

Boy and girl holding homeschool certificates of completion

First grade and third grade certificates

We have some summer camps coming up: art, orchestra, app making, manners, soccer, swimming, archery – all these activities involve learning. I have not yet decided if I should count these days toward their next school year. This past school year, I did. But it almost feels like cheating. Continue reading »

May 24 2017

Green and Pink Smoothies

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Lately, I have had a lot of fun making smoothies for us. That blender gets washed every day, I tell you. That’s because it gets used every day. It is such an easy thing to do and yet it took me a bit to get on the bandwagon of this food trend. You don’t need a cookbook either.

Raspberry and cocoa parfait

Raspberry and cocoa parfait (or smoothie)

A couple of years ago, I read a cookbook about kale. All the recipes included kale in some form. It overwhelmed me. I tried a few kale smoothies and other kale recipes, but I did not get inspired.

Well, something happened this year. Not sure what exactly, but one morning I just felt the courage to get the blender out and here’s what I put in it: 1 cup of rice milk, a cup of spinach, and one banana. Continue reading »

May 8 2017

Learning Chess

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Chess is a game I learned from my father. Chess was very common in Romania. Maybe you recall that the two best chess players in the world in the 80s were two Russians. Romania was never one of the Soviet Republics, but we were influenced by Russian culture to some extent, seeing that we had a long border with them.

Chess board with check mate position

My son check mated me for the first time.

And so lots of children learned chess from their parents. It was part of family time – a board game like any other. There were TV shows about it, too. One lady in particular, Elisabeta Polihroniade, appeared on the chess TV show and taught different moves and strategies. We thought she was cool.  Continue reading »

May 7 2017

Daily Schedule Update

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As children grow, so do the routines and schedules we have with them. Homeschooling looks very different for everybody, but one of the most frequent questions I hear from moms is, “What is your daily schedule like?”

Boy and girl visit the dentist

A visit to the dentist interrupts the daily schedule.

 

We have school days Monday-Friday. We take the weekend off. I sneak in letter writing on an odd Sunday afternoon (they both have pen pals), or a home Spelling Bee or some other “school activity” which is fun for them, but I don’t tell them it’s school and I don’t record it as such.

They get a 10-minute break between subjects – they can play or practice their tae kwon do forms and moves or do something else that is physical (no computer). It’s like crop rotation. We have used the brain, now it is time to tax the body a bit.

So here it is, our daily schedule as of 2017:

8:00-8:30 Wake up, make bed, dress up, start a load of laundry if necessary

8:30-9:00 Breakfast (we listen to their orchestra pieces while eating)

9:00-9:30 Devotional (includes Bible memorization)

9:30-10:00 Language Arts

10:00-10:30 Math

10:30-11:00 Piano Practice

11:00-11:30 Violin Practice

11:30-12:00 History/Science (alternate days) Continue reading »

Apr 30 2017

Museum of Appalachia

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Last week, we traveled to the Museum of Appalachia in Clinton, TN. It is about one hour and 15 minutes from where we live, so it is a commitment to go there. Maybe that is why it has taken us four years to get back there to their annual sheep shearing event.

Boy and girl enter the Dan'l Boone cabin

Entering the cabin used in a recent TV show about the life of Daniel Boone

Every year, at the end of April, this museum welcomes over 650 children from different schools in the area and, obviously, homeschoolers, to teach them about how life used to be in Appalachia. Of course, one could visit any day of the year, but this is a special event. Continue reading »

Apr 26 2017

Wonderful Wednesday – Ornithology

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Growing up, I was never interested in ornithology. Honestly, I am still not that interested in it. I would have gotten more into it if it had not been for this one homeschooled kid who bragged about being an ornithologist.

Cardinal eggs in nest

Cardinal eggs in a nest by our house

I was a college student and he was still in high school. Somehow we were in the same place at the same time one day. He mentioned to me and a few others that he was an ornithologist. It was not a field that I particularly cared for, so I just sort of nodded politely. Continue reading »

Apr 16 2017

When Pollen Stops Learning

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Where we live, flora abounds. We live five minutes from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, an international biosphere. They say there are more species of flowers blooming in the Park than in all of Europe combined. That’s a lot of pollen.

Skype violin lesson

My daughter plays a piece by heart for her violin teacher, via Skype.

We drink plenty of fluids and limit our desserts, to help the immune system fight all the pollen. When we feel a tingling sensation in our throats, we drink even more water and start taking Vitamin C and oregano oil (one drop mixed with a spoonful of extra virgin olive oil). When our eyes start getting itchy and watery, we even take over the counter allergy medicine to keep the symptoms from ruining our quality of life.  Continue reading »