"The Salamander Room"

This week as we do K5 in our "cozies" we are visiting "The Salamander Room" by Anne Mazer. We will discuss the relationship between a mother and her child and share some of our childhood fantasies together. For language arts we will do a list of the perfect ingredients needed for the salamander room. We will create our very own salamander room and we will make salamanders out of dough then bake, dry, and paint them as a family. We will practice our "Ss" sounds and practice writing them as well. We will look for and count the many critters that fill the pages of this book. We also have a butterfly maze to conquer.We will take a nature walk to Pope Field and taken in all of God's fabulous creations. We will do leaf and trunk rubbings and discuss texture.We will do a salamander study, classify the salamander, and go through the life cycle of a salamander. We revisited the theme of dry and wet measure while making the dough for our salamanders. It should be an exciting trip through "The Salamander Room."

Our Fantastic Field Trips

This week Travis took the week off and we planned some educational field trips. Our original plan was to heat to Charleston, S.C. to Patriots Point and to the beach. When hurricanes Ike hit Texas and gas rose to near $4 - $5 a gallon we decided to stay closer to home. We took a shorter drive to Coulmbia Childrens Museum and the Columbia Zoo. As we planned our trip and shared the news with Luke he excitedly said, "Mommy the museum will be great for our human body study!" It was so relaxing just to get away and be together as a family and watch Luke LOVE TO LEARN!!

The museum was much better than we expected! We spent 3 hours there! There was so much to see and do, so many opportunities for hands on learning! We started the exploration at the larger than life "Ed~Venture". Where we climbed around inside the body of a boy complete with sound effects of bodily functions and a journey through the major body systems. It made our lessons from last week come to life in a way we will never forget. From there we went to explore bones, joints, and the functions of the skeletal system. There was a mock dentist office where Luke got to play the role of the dental hygienist. There was also a huge "operation" game where we pretended to be surgeons and remove the bones and organs of the patient. We got to test our heart rates, blood pressures, and oxygen saturation's. Next we were off to the Dinner. It was a kichen full of foods, pots, pans, and even a cash register where Luke pretended to swipe our credit card for payment. There was a video of the digestive system. Here we reviewed the food groups and classified the different foods. From here we went to the work place stations. We began in the Piggy Supermarket where there were shelves full of groceries, miniature shopping carts and even cash registers! It was the cutest thing! Luke loved picking out his own groceries complete with his own birthday cake and donuts. Next we were off to the farm complete with farm sounds, a tractor, a cow to milk, as well as peaches to pick from the trees. There was also a "farm house" with big white rockers on the porch. Then it was time for the Dalmatian Firs station where Luke donned his fireman coat and boots and prepared to rescue people and put out fires. There was a real fire truck where he and Travis pretended to drive and save me from a fire. Near the end of this exhibit there was a fireman pole that Luke slid down repeatedly. The third stop was an automotive area with a bright red VW Bug for the children to play and put gas in. In this are there was also an SUV replica on the wall with tires that we could change. So Luke got his first lesson on how to change a tire. Lastly in this section we moved on to the construction area. Here Luke got to build a LEGO building as tall as him, so pluming, and even build a "brick" wall. There was also large walls with huge nuts and bolts where we built a cube big enough for Luke to fit in. The next adventure in the museum took us all the way to Timbuktu! There too were many interactive exhibits that took us net fishing, camel riding, living in a thatched roof house and even playing percussion with an African band. This area was complete with an explores vest and camel to climb on back of. There was even a room where we could write our names in the Arabic language.

Next was the news station and weather center where we pretended to do the news. There was a music room with many interactive things to do in the world of sound. The last adventure was the water and bubble exhibit. There were tons of ways to make bubbles of all sizes. There was also a mock river system complete with a dam and fountain system all workable by the children.

There was fun and learning for kids of all ages and we will go back again!

We stayed the evening at the Hyat Place and hung out and played together as a family. The next morning we were off to the Columbia's River Banks Zoo, a place that we frequent often. It is one of our favorite day trips. All of the animals were extremely active that day. It was a joy to watch God's wonderful creation!

We were all exhausted and ready to return home after our action packed two days. We were all so thankful for our time together as a family! We feel so blessed to have this opportunity to be together. Thank you Lord.

A Sunny Surprise

This weekend I came down with a nasty bladder infection and I felt awful! On Sunday my fellas went to church while I stayed home to continue to recover. Around 12 pm I hear the car doors slam, so I went to the door to welcome my sweet boys home. When I opened the door to my surprise I saw my little prince charming running as fast as he could with a bright yellow bundle of gerber daisies!! WOW! What a way to make me feel better!! I also got a bar of dark chocolate and was quickly informed I had to share that treat right away. "It's DARK chocolate Mommy", Luke announced proudly! What wonderful men God has blessed me with. I am so thankful Travis took the time to teach Luke the sweet lesson of blessing the lady in his life (for now) with such a sweet sunny surprise!

"Amazing Me!"

This week we take break from the FIAR titles and do a lap book from www.homeschoolshare.com on the human body. Here http://www.homeschoolshare.com/my_body.php

Objectives this week~Learn and sequence steps for brushing teeth.~Match number symbols to corresponding number of body parts.~Explore steps for healthy living.~Sort food into the proper food group – fruit, vegetable, meat, dairy, and grain.~Listen to exercises and perform the corresponding movement.~Memorize Psalm 138:14.~Solve the body part riddles.~Learn the color of your eyes and identify other objects that exemplify the same color.~Use fine motor skills to cut and paste.~Reciting and sing poems and songs related to the body~identify major organs and discuss thier function~explore God as th ecreator of man, In HIS image! Above Luke is working on a life size "Luke" drawing and placing lables on all the major parts of the body. As we started this project Luke said, "This IS awesome!" This is a subject I LOVE so I think my enthusiastic attitude is rubbing off!

Night Of The Moonjellies

This week Sept. 2-4 we are continuing or sea life journey by rowing "Night of the Moonjellies" by Mark Shasta. During Social Studies we will learn the states that make up New England and discuss where they got the name, "New England". We will place our story disk on the New England states and discover what part of the USA they are located. For Language arts we will contrast the two words frenzy and peaceful and find examples of these in our story. Our vocabulary words are; marina, pier, and moonjellies. We will make a list and add to it with each reading of the story of the many food items served in the story by the sea. For art we will discuss and look for examples of how the illustrator, also Mark Shasta, uses different shades of blue to show dark and light in his pictures. During our FIAR math study we will learn about money and the different denominations of US currency and coins. Our Bible lesson will be on responsibility and how God expects us to do all things as unto HIM. Our Science study will be on jelly fish, of course. We will read several books on jelly fish and discuss the many fascinating facts about these jellies. We will make a "life at the sea" flap book that describes the things that we can experience by the sea when using our 5 senses. For this we will also read, "The Sea Shore Noisy Book" to give us more ideas. This should be another fascinating week of sea life discovery! The picture above is from last weeks study on "Nico's Octopus" where we had school, "under the sea"!

My $12 Find!

This past Sat. I went with my sister in law and BFF, Stacy to yard sales. This was the find. An antique floor lamp for $12. It was in the garage at one of the sales we went to and we were unsure if it was even for sale, but Stacy, the bargain hunter, asked the man about it for herself. She had just bought another one recently and decided she did not need another one. I told her if she didn't want it I did. So that was it! It was mine! My favorite flower is a tulip and now I have one that will never wilt! It gives off the most beautiful ambient glow! Yeah me!!

I have the Net again!

Last Wed. our Internet went out! I had just said the Sunday before that I could not live a week without the computer. What I should have said was I could not live without the Internet! I had no idea how much I use it! Tonight out Internet company came out and got us up and running in a short time! YEA!! My family is all so excited we each are surfing at the same time! We are blessed to have such awesome technology at our finger tips!