Homeschool Bowling

At our last session of Thursday bowling yesterday the kids learned about the phenomenon known as Rock-n-Bowl...

We do bowling on a university campus during a PE class for the students. Turns out the instructor promised them a rock-n-bowl for their last day of classes! Here J6 watches his ball slowly move down the lane.

A good time was had by all and I'd say E13 has improved his game this fall. R11 is looking for better bowling times in the future without a broken arm. Scoring is old school at this alley so this counts as math too!

Baseball 2010

We have been entirely too busy with baseball over the last four weeks and with only two weeks to go I thought I'd share a few fun shots.

All three boys are playing this year and because of the different leagues they are in and the nights they play, we are at the ball field four nights a week. We were supposed to do some travel games, but most of the Saturday games have been canceled- by the grace of God.

Unfortunately, the season is nearly over and we've missed a lot of games due to snow and rain and general miserableness. It's true. Then most of the other games have been played in 40 degree windy weather which I'm hear to tell you is fine for football, but NOT for baseball!

J4 is playing teeball for the first time. I don't know that he'll be back for more. he's hot and cold with it. They've started batting while being pitched at and he's a hitter. Most of the time.

I7 is playing on the minor leagues after two years at coach pitch. He started teeball at 4yo like J4 has. He's playing catcher here which, as he realized, is not the place for a kid who doesn't like to be aggressive about...catching. Ahem. Also, he had to use his regular mitt since they didn't have a leftie catcher's mitt.

E11 is playing his second season on majors. He's such a good fielder often playing second base and short stop. Here he is this past week in right field.

Reportedly, I7's favorite time of baseball is sitting on the bench. Let that sink in...

E11's batting is really improving. In this game he hit one double and two singles and was completely hosed by the ref on one hit with a bad call. He just needs to work on not hitting the ball down the first base line. One step at a time I guess.

I7 at second base. Let's just say this was not a busy spot that night. Hitters were few and FAR between.

Thankfully, we'll be done with the season in two weeks. Seems quick even though day to day it is NOT at all quick. With games at 6pm, we usually walk down because parking is so bad and that means dinner is early and without Dan. A Total Stink.

So, I'll be glad for some peaceful evenings again, but it's been fun to see the boys enjoy the sport. Well for E11 to enjoy the sport! The other boys not so much.

Jumping Rope

So the kids have really been into jump roping lately and I decided I was really tired of the lame ropes we have in the house- the kind you find at walmart are not really great for new learners.

I looked around to see where I could get a decent rope and I ordered some with a reportedly good throw from Rainbow Resource and I am not disappointed!

R9 is a natural. We really enjoyed watching the jumpers in last semester's jump rope class at co-op night. How many of you have a jump roping class at co-op?? They learned all kinds of tricks too. Still at recess every Monday, my kids love to take turns at the rope- all but E11 that is. He usually plays football with the older kids.
E11 managed to get the hang of it after the first few jumps. He's competitive enough that he won't let others do better than he does- not without a fight anyway!
I had to take a turn...who can resist? I turned around and around too. I wonder what else we can try. I think I'll take this picture to my next dr's appt so when he asks what type of exercise I'm doing I can say I'm jumping rope with my kids (also the treadmill but that's not as amusing).
I7 is a super jumper! He even turned around and around! When he jumps a single rope he looks like a boxer- no little jumps in between.
Would you believe J4 can jump a rope?? I was going to start him doing the side to side jump thing and he insisted I just throw it around. He did it! You haven't seen cute until you've seen a 4yo skip rope.

The rope stash- we have two 8' ropes and one 16' rope. We have purple, pink and blue. I avoided the nice green one because I7 is colored blind (definitely green) and I wanted to be sure he could see it well.
I ordered up tons of jump rope books so we could learn some new rhymes and tricks. I'm also excited about this little resource.

The Ultimate Homeschool Physical Education Game Book was written by a phys ed teacher to accommodate the small groups with kids of differing age groups. Does that sound like a homeschool family or what?

This is all in an effort to enjoy our membership to the Y as a family without always using the pool and the cardio room. I found the perfect time to go is early afternoon before the after-school programs begin. This will be great fun on muddy spring days and rainy summer ones.

So, what are you waiting for? Run to get your own fun jump ropes and pick up a new rhyme!