No Impact

Mane & I went to see No Impact Man together at the Walker Art Center on Wednesday. Earlier in the day we went to Bible Study, did some math & reading, reviewed to portion of the 23rd Psalm that she's learning, and then did some research about No Impact Man. We talked about the things we already do to reduce our impact on the environment, and Mane drew some pictures of those things in her school notebook - biking, walking, recycling, and using less electricity. We related this to Three Names by talking about the ways the world has changed since the time of Three Names. We used a chart from homeschoolshare.com to categorize things into how things were done in the past and how they're done in the present (things like washing clothes and getting water).

At the Walker Art Center we wandered around the sculpture garden after securing our tickets. We arrived super early (by bus) because we wanted to be sure to get tickets. The tickets were free, and the art center was expecting a full house. As it turned out, we didn't have to come as early as we did, but it was fine because we played Swap & Fluxx until we got our tickets and then ran around the sculpture garden until showtime. Mane drew some pictures during the film, and she listened attentively to the film maker after the film. As a special treat, Colin Beaven, the author of the book & subject of the film, made a guest appearance. So, we got to see him live and in person. Mane was quite impressed. ...and she wants to start composting our food waste.

Thursday we met up with some friends and spent the whole afternoon at the beach! This felt like the second special treat of the week - to have it warm & beautiful enough in September to spend another day at the beach! Mane came home with a little collection of shells and a rock...and a darker suntan!

Today Mane played with the children of some friends of ours who are home on furlough from Russia. They have been missionaries in Russia since they got married several years ago, and now they have 3 children. The woman is planning to homeschool her children. So, we had a nice conversation about homeschooling while the kiddos played.

Later we'll be driving (gasp!) Vespera to school and stopping by the bank and the library. We have been SO busy this week that it feels like we've hardly gotten anything done, but I suppose it only feels that way if I think of seeing educational films and playing with friends, and exploring the beach as nothing...which I don't. So, I guess we did plenty, just not what we planned. ;)