Sumo Wrestling & Tuesday Classes

The homeschool group in Virginia has classes every Tuesday - first is History, then we have a lunch break, second class is Film making, and third is Sign Language class.

our teachers - ginger and julie,
demonstrating how 'sumo' is done

History class is usually pretty fun! We read a few chapters out of our history book, and then our Teacher Julie quizzes us about it. Afterwards we do a craft or play a game related to what we just learned. This week in particular we learned about Samuri, so it was only natural to have our own sumo match! We learned all about the process the sumo will go through, how they have to drink water to purify themselves, and so on.


Film Making class was broke into two groups. Group A wrote and filmed a Wizard of Odd movie, based of the wizard of oz. Group B wrote and filmed a zombie movie. Each group got to work hands-on with deciding on props, special effects, editing the movie and even picking out the soundtrack. I ended up being on the Zombie making team!

Sam getting excited

Sign Language is a class I have mentioned before here.

Today for Sumo wresting we all brought pillows and just strapped on to our fronts and the other to our backs :) It was a lot of fun and it was nice to see all of the kids learning and even enjoying themselves!

Me and Jessie!

Lego's and Soccer!

After our weekly Sign Language Class, we have some extra time to burn before going home. So this week in particular, we took our friend Meghann with us to the library.

You are never too old to play with Lego's! The library is rather refreshing in the summer time, because it is so hot outside!






I also happened to find a Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal, I was very excited!

After such fun at the library, we wandered over to the park for a game of soccer!

A mother's birthday

July 3rd is my mother's birthday, and on her birthday dad actually had to work and we had sign language class, stopped at the library, and spent the day at the park. So unfortunately the party-ing had to wait until the day after. It was an educational trip to the park, we learned about how this town became what it is today, also learned and spoke about World War I and some of this areas history.

Also, they had cool canons at the park! Who doesn't love old war objects? Joshua has always been interested in this subject, he can go on and on for ages about World War I and II, talking all about life back in that time, what all the weapons they used, places they went, he can even describe to you what clothes they wore, and tell you all about their techniques and tactics. That boy amazes me sometimes!

 A hug? What a rare occurrence, I have no idea where this came from! Joshua never gives hugs!

 After taking a look at the little fountain here, we spotted some ducks. A great way to learn about something is to see it there in person, Joshua and I watched the ducks for a long time and noticed many things about them, such as how ducks the interact with one another, what they eat, how they live, and so on.

 Playing a game of volley ball!

Sign Language Class

We are part of a homeschool group here in Virginia, and one of the moms is actually studying to become a sign language interpreter, and she has offered her skills and knowledge to us homeschool kids. Once a week all of us meet up for our class, currently there have only been two classes (this coming week being the third)

I have to say, I've never been to a class this fun in my life! Our teachers name is Tina, and her teaching style is just brilliant. We all sit in a circle on the floor, each kid/teen having their own note book with the days lesson plan. Honestly though, it's not what you would call 'text book learning' because we all learn how we want to. My philosophy is that kids learn the best when the subject is introduced to them in a 'fun' way. Smiling, laughing, and enjoying themselves while learning will allow the person to look back on this experience and think fondly of it, and especially since they had fun- it's more easier to remember what you've learned. For example, Joshua and I were working on some math problems, instead of doing the boring math pages that you often dread, I'd say things like "There are 58 people, but 17 of those people were bitten in a Zombie Apocalypse, how many are still human?" Joshua likes zombies and he thought the question was funny, so he was more willing to learn and figure the problem out. In the future when doing other math problems, he can relate it to a fun experience he had and now enjoys doing math.

The class is fun and creative, it feels as if you are willing to learn and it's fun to find out more. We've also played games and have done other activities in the class which is also rather enjoyable too. Joshua didn't even want to attend the Sign Language Class at first, but after watching us all laughing, he wanted to join in. Only nine kids attended the first class, but then the following week it was at least thirteen to fourteen children and teenagers.

I have learned so much already, we've even started having conversations (with our hands!) it's a fun concept.