Co-Op P.E. and Critical Thinking Classes

What fun Mondays are, with group P.E. and a critical thinking class! It's always fun to get together with other kids and learn something new. 

We held P.E. right outside the ground of the American elementary school. So while our kids were laughing and playing, those kids inside were watching. I wonder what they were thinking about us. 

Awww no fair! Which class is that playing outside?
Is it recess time yet?
Why do they get to play outside and we don't?
They're going to get in trouble for making all that noise. 
Is school over? Did the bell ring?

And the teachers:

Someone shut those kids up. 
Who told them they could play outside the school like that?
How disrespectful of them, playing like that while we learn!
Whose class is that, anyway?
Is school over? Did the bell ring?

Wood Shop, Agriculture, Physical Education, and Culinary Arts

If schools can give fancy names to their courses, so can I. Today, we had wood shop, agriculture, phys. ed., and culinary arts.

Wood Shop

I'm in the process of renovating some furniture I don't love. I bought this table at The Salvation Army thrift shop five years ago with the intention of stripping it down and repainting it.

 

I'm finally getting around to it, and I'm enlisting the help of my kids. They learned how to use my sander today, and they learned that it's hard work to sand corners by hand. We didn't even come close to finishing this project. It'll take  couple of weeks. When it's fully sanded, we're going to paint it grey and white stripes. We have a new knob for the drawer, as well.

 

My kitchen table is a touchy subject. Once upon a time, in a land far, far away from here (in Georgia, precisely), I let my bully mother-in-law convince me that my husband needed a new kitchen table and chairs for his birthday because my high-top bar table and chairs (solid cherry wood, and I loved it) was unsuitable for company. So she bought me a chintzy table and chairs that looks like it has toes. Granted, it was free. But I miss my old table. The wood is bubbled up and the fabric on the chairs is hideous. So I'm going to sand it and paint it bright cherry red. The chairs' fabric arrived in the mail yesterday. It's red and cream chevron pattern duck cloth. The kids will help with the sanding, painting, and reupholstery work. They're pretty excited about the final product.

Of note: the in-laws are coming for a visit this summer. I wonder what monster- ..I mean mother-in-law will have to say about my project.


Also, I bought a three-drawer chest for $5 at a used furniture sale. It's solid wood, very sturdy. It was a great bargain. But the pattern of the staining and the hardware on it make it look like it stepped out of the eighties. New hardware and new paint (same white and grey stripe job, as it is going in the same room) will breathe new life into it. Another thing my kids are learning: Buy cheap, buy used, and transform your bargain into a masterpiece.

Agriculture

Spring has arrived in Germany! Today, we planted our carrots and lettuce, and started some more lettuce and some parsnips in starter pots. Later this summer, we're going to have some good eats! The kids helped plant and learned about fertilizer, seed depth (ooh, math! in real life!), spacing, and crop yield.

 

 

Physical Education

I don't push this one. I don't feel like kids need a class in running around. Tuna skated and Bay ripsticked (I know Blogger spell check is going to love that word). There you have it. Gym.

Culinary Arts

The kids and I volunteer at the thrift shop. We found a pasta rolling machine. So, today, we tried our hands at fresh pasta, for the very first time. See? Adults can learn, too!

 

 

This good stuff is destined for a creamy broccoli-garlic sauce mmmmmm

There you have it. Our "school day" is done (not really...we never stop learning around here). We've learned so much more than those kids learn in that big brick box down the road. And we've had fun doing it (and we absorbed lots of vitamin D in the process).

Tomorrow: volunteering and reading, preferably outside in the sun. Happy Hump Day, everyone. :)