summer fun and learning

We have been pretty relaxed in our learning/homeschooling for the month of June.  This is just a few of the things we have done in between playing at the park with friends, field trips, and whatever else comes up.

This is a little 4th of July fun.  I put food coloring on the spoons and then covered each spoon with baking soda.  The kids had to guess which color was which, then mix it in the water to find out if they were right.  We did red, white, and blue for 4th of July, but this would be fun with a lot of colors too.

Then we painted red, white, and blue stars with cookie cutters.  So fun!

My boys wanted to learn how to play Monopoly.  We sat down one afternoon and played.  It's so fun that they are getting old enough for board games!

Aaron decided to buy a snow cone maker so the boys have been having fun making lots of snow cones.

 

Aaron made this picture of a house on his geoboard.  Both boys have been making some fun designs on these.  These are great for a lazy afternoon.

April was bored one Sunday afternoon, so she and I made one of these hair clips from her American girl hair stuff kit.  It's pretty cute.

Playing trains for the little boy.  He loves trains, and wants to play them everyday.  He has also been finishing up some tot school letter C pages.  He's picking things up quickly!

All 3 older kids have started a summer journal.  Our goal is to write everyday.  I give them a prompt or a picture, and they write about it.  I just picked up some composition books and put this printout on the front.  I really want to focus a lot on writing and reading this summer, so this is one of the ways I'm hoping to get them all writing more.

 
I'm still trying to figure out exactly what our plan will be next fall.  For now I'm enjoying summer, and relaxing!  Hope you are too!

Desiree

Rock museum field trip

Our summer learning fun continues!  We had a good time today on a field trip to the Rice Northwest Museum of Rocks and Minerals.  My boys were so excited to go, and they sure weren't disappointed.  They loved it all.  When we arrived we were greeted by this cute little old mining car with some fake gold in it.  The boys wouldn't let me leave without getting a picture of it.

This is a pretty neat picture in the floor of one of the rooms.

Aaron standing by the "fools gold" also known as pyrite.  It's much heavier than gold, and it won't smoosh when hit with a hammer like gold will.

Rhodochrosite.  This crystal is more rare than diamonds.  We learned a lot about this particular crystal with a movie all about how it was found in the Colorado mountains.

Aaron is sure he wants to find and buy a smaller piece of a rhodochrosite someday.

Here he is by the "The Alma Rose" rhodochrosite cyrstal that this museum has.

Alex loved the rocks too.  He may not have gotten all of it, but he had a good time.  Here he is showing us the beautiful rocks embedded in the fire place hearth.  The whole house that this rock museum is located in is made of all beautiful materials.  Many of which are rocks!

My little guy showing me his rock that he picked up from the pile.  He even picked one from the store that he liked.  Guess he's starting his collection now too!  This kid loves rocks just as much as his brothers!

 

It was a fun day.  My boys are already planning to go back.

Desiree

Wordless Wednesday: "I quit"

Don't we all feel like this at some point?  LOL.


 Desiree

The Homeschool Mother's Journal: June 16th

 

In my life this week...Hubby and I celebrated our 14 year anniversary.  We spent it taking the kids to a fun theme park.  The one thing I wanted to do was get a picture of us together capturing a moment of that day.  I forgot, so no picture of us together.  I'm a little bummed about that.  Otherwise it was a fun day.

In our homeschool this week... Aaron did a lot of science this week.  He figured out how to work his Hot Wheels rocket car science kit that he got for his birthday.  It's powered by vinegar and baking soda, and launches from the pressure built up when the ingredients combine.  He and Daddy have it figured out pretty good.  Turns out every time I touch it (or even look at it) it doesn't work.



Aaron also built a bridge with his new bridge kit he found at a used curriculum sale.



We have also been doing a little cat unit, so we worked on cat lapbooks, read lots of cat books, and April started the chapter on cats in her Zoology 3 book.  She finally figured out that she can take notes in her journal as she reads!  I'm so glad she finally gets it, I've only been telling her that she can do that for how many years?  She is enjoying the cat chapter too.

Helpful homeschool advice or tips to share...change your attitude.  It makes a difference!

Places we're going and people we're seeing...Monday the only place we went was the Dr.'s.  April was not recovering from her cold so we took her in to have her ears checked.  We enjoyed the park with some homeschool friends on Tuesday because we all were finally feeling a bit better.  Wednesday we went to the library up in Wilsonville to sign up for their summer reading and science program.  Then in the afternoon April had her last activity girls day where they played a game and ate banana splits.  On Thursday we had 2 things planned, but ended up doing none of them because it was wet and rainy and both activities were outside.  Instead we packed to leave for Washington that evening.  We spent Thursday night through Saturday night up in Washington visiting Uncle Marc and family.  We went to the Pacific science center in Seattle on Friday.  That place was amazing!  A lot of fun too!  Then on Saturday we took the kids to a theme park with rides and a water park.  It was busy and fun.  I have to admit I really enjoyed being up in Washington. 

The butterfly garden at the Pacific science center in Seattle

My favorite thing this week was...driving around downtown Seattle to get to the science center.  I wish we would have had more time to explore there more.  Oh, and giving away 3 dozen eggs from our backyard today to families who wanted them.

My kiddos favorite thing this week was...this...helping Daddy destroy our old stinky couches to take to the dump. 

Things I'm working on...training for a triathlon.  I turned in the registration today...at the very last possible moment.  Even then I hesitated.  Can I really do this?  I have no idea, but I'm going to give it a "tri."  (pun intended)  The women's organization of my church is holding this triathlon, and it's at the end of August, so I have 2 months!

I'm grateful for...family time on long trips.  Toilet plungers, and stores that have one when you need one in a pinch.  Fresh air, and cool breezes.  A wonderful Daddy for my kiddos.  Happy anniversaries to celebrate that special day.  Father's day.

What we're reading...The little ones are reading some cat books.  I'm reading The Work and the Glory volume 2.  April is currently listening to The Hobbit.

These were two cat books that were read several times.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share...photos of my kiddos having fun at the science center and theme park in WA.

Aric loved this little purple slide.  I had fun trying to get pics of him coming down it!  He thought he was running fast enough for me to not catch him!

Grandma, Aric and I on the lazy river.  It was lazy :-)

Aric and I went on the tea cups together.

at the science center squirting water outside.

Another shot of the butterflies at the Pacific science center

Desiree

busy bag giveaway

I made 20 of these clothesline busy bags a while ago.  It turns out I only needed 18.  So I have extras!    I gave one to a family member, and so that leaves me with one more extra to give away. 

 

I would like to give it to one of you!

 

It's a bag full of little felt clothes, clothes pins, and a good length of string.  Your little preschooler will have fun hanging up "the laundry!"  Lots of good fine motor practice, color recognition, and even counting.  My kids had fun with it, and I was surprised to find out how difficult it really is for little fingers to get the "pinching" of the clothes pins.

 

If you would like to win this busy bag leave a comment for me.  I'll pick a random winner on Friday June 21.

Happy Homeschooling!

Desiree

Now that it's summer time...

Here are some of the things we have been up to lately.  I'll start off with our most recent field trip.  We had the opportunity to go see a K9 police officer demonstration this week.  It was pretty neat, and the kids loved it.  I even loved it.  We all learned a lot about how dogs are used on the police force!

Waiting for the demo to begin.  It took a while, but it was worth the wait.


They brought the dogs around so everybody could get a close look and maybe even a pet.

 

It was hot, so we had ice cream afterwards!  This kid was so nuts by the end of the demo, but he did pretty good.  Once the dogs started showing some action he watched pretty good.



Next up we have Sudoku!  Almost Unschoolers has been very inspiring with her daily summer activities.  So, we are going to do some of them too!  This giant sudoku game taped to the floor was great for my boys.  It helped my 7 year old to really be able to grasp the logic.  Even the 4 year old could do it with some hints.  He figured it out real quick.  Lots of fun!

This is the puzzle before anybody solved it.  I did as suggested and had the pieces taped so they knew not to move those ones.

 

Here is our next summer fun activity.
A giant bubble sheet!  This was so fun to make, and really it was a learning experience too.  The kids and I all worked together to figure out how to get the sheet to keep the air inside enough to make it bubble up so they could go play inside.  There is a fan blowing air in where the stool is, and the tape worked great even though it looks all pieced together.  I'm sure there is something more high tech we could have used, but it worked.



So, funny thing, my boys think my little pony is great.  They love watching the shows, and that led to some crafts.  Here we have my 4 year old's collection of ponies he has made.  He still has a few more  characters to make.  These are fun to make real quick on a quiet morning.  Of course April likes making them too.  She has her collection too.  I can't currently find the blog where I found these, but it was on pinterest.  I'll link it when I can find it.




Another fun craft we picked up at Target for a dollar I think.  This is a sand art craft.  You peel away paper that is covering sticky, and cover each layer with different colors of sand.




And finally, Aaron was very excited to receive an envelope from The White House.  He wrote a letter to the President for President's day (with much encouragement to find something nice to say), and he received this back.





 How is your summer going?

Desiree

April's art

April is our resident artist.

She has done some amazing art this year in her art class that she took at the Woodburn art center.  But before we get to that how about some silly art....

Balloon tying is a form of art right?  OK, maybe not really, but this picture seems to fit this post :-)  She made this at Monday school in her balloon tying class.  It's called crazy hat.  I thought it was pretty interesting!

 

Okay, now for the art.  They had a kids art show the last few weeks of art class, so all these pictures were taken at the art show.


 

These last two pictures are drawings that she did recently at home.  We are studying cats right now, so she picked up a cat drawing book at the library.  These were her first few drawings.  I am amazed that she can just pick up a pencil and do something like this!  Oh, and of course she LOVES to draw horses.

 

She has decided that she won't be taking art next year.  She wants to focus on 4-H, and I'm happy with that.  So, our plan for next year is to do a lot of art projects at home, and she'll of course continue on her own making all her little art pages and drawings.

Desiree