Primitive Skills Hike

Tuesday's homeschool activity was a hike at Hilton Falls. One of the parents brought a bow drill set and flint to demonstrate how to start a fire without matches. Henri had lots of fun playing with his friends and exploring the beautiful winding trails and climbing the escarpment. He brought some pretzels with him, hoping to feed the squirrels but instead, the highlight of his hike was when he got to hand-feed some Chickadees! Unfortunately, Henri slipped on a rock upstream from the falls and discovered just how cold the water is at this time of year, so we didn't get to stay for the fire building portion. Henri found the walk back to the car chilly, but when he warmed up he said he still enjoyed the outing.

Paws For Literacy

At first I didn't think much of the 'Paws for Literacy' activity Henri attended in September at our local library where kids read books to trained dogs, since Henri's assigned dog was not very interactive so he didn't seem to enjoy it. It has nonetheless had an unexpected benefit because Henri has since then taken the initiative to read books to his favourite cat on a daily basis. Unlike her brother Tommy, Pinky is amazingly patient with Henri and purrs right through hour-long chapter books!

New Netbook

Using proper monitoring and filtering, the internet has proved itself to be a valuable source of educational material for Henri in recent months. The family notebook computer he had been using for part of his academic school work has become unstable/unreliable recently, so when I saw a great deal on a netbook ($199 instead of $279), we decided the timing was right. Netbooks are smaller and more portable than 'traditional' notebook computers yet they are more than adequate for Henri's computing needs. Henri is so happy to have his own little computer, although we explained that it is to be used for learning, just like the old computer.

Halloween

This year was Henri's best Halloween ever. For starters, he wasn't sick like he had been at Halloween during Kindergarten and grade 1. On Saturday evening we went to a CVC conservation area Halloween event/fundraiser near Terra Cotta which was a bit disappointing to me because of the huge crowds and waiting times for the good activities, but Henri said he enjoyed it anyways. On Halloween Sunday, after visiting the cats at the local Humane Society, we opted (at the last minute) to visit his Oakville cousins which he hadn't seen in over a month. After some play time with his cousins and dinner, Henri loved trick-or-treating in their neighbourhood and of course sorting through his 'loot' afterwards!

Curling Club

Henri had his first monthly curling lesson on Thursday. All the moms were knitting around a table in the lounge so I decided to go in the rink area instead and give curling a try. Our coach has over 40 years of curling experience. He has coached provincially and even competed at the national level. It was lots of fun, but also A LOT harder than it looks like on TV! Keeping your balance while pushing the 'rock' is quite tricky. Trying to keep up with the fast-moving rock to sweep in front of it while not falling over is an even bigger challenge. I only bruised one knee... Maybe I should take up knitting instead! Henri said he liked it and is looking forward to next month's lesson.

Region of Waterloo Landfill Tour

Waterloo Region recycles more than 38,600 tonnes a year, the equivalent of 7,600 adult elephants! Henri was impressed at how quickly the staff sorted the recyclables and was interested to find out what type of items they turned into such as the picnic table found right outside the building.

Mountsberg Conservation Area

Henri had a great time with his friends during Thursday's homeschool activity, which was a field trip to the Mountsberg conservation area. The guide taught the group through games and hands-on exploration about the wide variety of wildlife who depend on marshes (and other wetlands) and the importance of preserving them.















We forgot our rubber boots at home, so navigating through the marsh was sometimes tricky!






Henri was also interested in learning about various species of wild birds of prey. The conservation area is home to several rescued/injured birds.