Heading into first grade and our last year of preschool

This is going to be a great year of learning.  CJ will be a 1st grader and EMan will be in his last year of preschool.  I will be teaching a 3 year old class and a 4 year old class oer at Little Adventures Preschool this year.  EMan will participate in both classes just to make sure that he has a solid foundation for moving forward.

CJ will enjoy one day a week at a program set up for homeschool students where he will take classes like PE, Robotics, Science, Karate, Art, World Geography and Language Arts.  He will get to be with his friends learning things we can't do as well at home and EMan and I can work on Preschool stuff with our friends. It's a win, win.

Through CJ's homeschool program we get to check out curriculum through their curriculum library.  This year I decided I'll be doing Book Shark, 1st grade; Singapore 1B and 2A; and Rosetta Stone Spanish from the check out library.  I'll also be utilizing TouchMath 1st Grade and TouchMath 2nd Grade  (he's already done most of TouchMath 1st grade at this point).  I'll be utilizing the Moffatt Girls reading materials to suppliment book shark, he'll still have weekly piano lessons, recorder lessons and we'll do some writing.

I'm utilizing the Melissa and Doug magnetic chore chart to keep track of school work for the week.  It lists the subjects (with a wet erase marker): Reading, Math, Piano, Recorder, Spanish, Brush Teeth, Extras (items are written on the daily spot such as laundry, pick up room, clean bathroom).  YES.  Brush Teeth is part of our school work right now.  It's the best place to get it in front of their faces that they need to brush them every day.  Eman's chart simply lists: Reading, Math, Brush Teeth, Extras.

It should be a great fun year!

Junior Rangers - Great Sand Dunes

While at the sand dunes with our Egypt Camp we learned about the Junior Ranger Program that the National Parks have.  I'd never heard of it before but we stumbled upon Junior Ranger Day.  A special day at the sand dunes where kids could earn a Junior Ranger patch for completing certain activities.  At first I wasn't too thrilled about trying to do that and Egypt Camp (Steve was gone sand-boarding and I had to manage it all) but eventually the call of the rangers was just too enticing :).  We got a little form and started completing the activities.  The boys learned a ton and had a fantastic time doing the activities.  They worked with rangers to learn about the surge of the water and how/why it happens by the sand dunes.  They also learned about 3 types of beetles that are common on the sand dunes: the circus beetle, the tiger beetle and the cricket. 

 They also learned about some of the animals by pretending to be the kangaroo rat.

 They rolled down the hill like the circus beetle and learned all about furs and skull bones of different animals in the area.

 They learned to shoot a spear and earned their badges!  I got them the green vests to hold all their badges (another "Egyptian" had one to show off all her badges and it is so awesome!).  When we get home I'll be putting the badges on so they are ready for their next adventure.

Oh yea, did I say badges (plural)? I sure did. We earned the special badge on Junior Ranger day.  Then we learned that each National Park also has a park badge that you can earn by doing other activities.  The next day we went to the visitors center, got the booklet and completed all the work and learning needed to earn the Sand Dunes patch.  CJ has now declared that when he grows up he'd like to be a ranger.  Sweet.

Egypt Homeschool Camp June 2014

The boys had a fantastic time at Egypt Camp this past weekend. We spent all of last semester studying all about Ancient Egypt with our Homeschool Co-Op and ended the study with 3 days at the Great Sand Dunes.  How cool is that?  We've never been down there before but it was a spectacular location and I think we'll go again in a couple years.  We played in the sand and the water at the beach a lot.  We were supposed to build pyramids at first but the boys decided that sand castles were a more reasonable option :).  We met the rest of the group for dinner time and all the kids had on their costumes.  They each had tunics, some had swords, other had fans, we even had a pharaoh.  Each child was called up to spin the wheel of fate that encourage role playing activities - such as "Your cat died.  See the embalmer." or "Professional Mourner for 1 hour." or "The Pharaoh is pleased with you."  Each kid had an occupation, such as scribe/farmer/fisherman, etc.  EMan was a fisherman and CJ was the Pharaoh's Zoo Keeper.  The first night we had a weighing of the heart activity just like in the book of the dead.  I got to play the roll of Isis.  Sweet eh?  The kids had small bags with an anatomically correct heart stamped on them and they filled them with their pick of random items.  If it was heavier than the feather they were devoured.  If it was lighter they were free to move on.  The kids thought it was great fun.

 Steve took a morning and went sandboarding.  The rest of us hung out for a wheel of fate activity followed by an irrigation challenge.  They were split into two villages and had to dig a canal and build a shaduf (a sort of lever inspired bucket lifting tool the ancient Egyptians built).  CJ's team won the challenge.

 Next they had crocodile hunting.  They had to chase after an inflatable crocodile down the river, bring it back to camp and put mud on its eyes.  After more free play in the water we changed into costumes and learned that the old Pharaoh died and there was a new one!

 We celebrated the new pharaoh with a big feast and a talent show.  I was proud of CJ for playing "Hot Cross Buns" on his recorder for the talent show and EMan for showing all the cool things he can do with silly putty.  What fun talents!  We also enjoyed a market with the group.  Everyone, according to their occupation, traded goods and services with each other.  At one point EMan became very popular because word got out that he was trading Swedish Fish candies.  Everyone wanted some of those!  CJ got lots of attention from others wanting his finger puppet lions, tigers, zebras and giraffes.  He also had a blow up monkey that he traded for a fancy necklace!

One of the games we played was called tug of hoop.  Using the crooks we made in class the point was to tug and twist the hoop away from the other person.  EMan LOVED this game and played it with everyone who was willing.  On another note: CJ found a bug, he must be a bug magnet!

Memorial Day Excitement

We had a fantastic Memorial Day weekend with family in Utah.  It was a wonderful experience to take my kids to the different locations where family headstones are and talk to them a little about our heritage and family members that lived before we did.

We also had a fantastic family reunion at my sisters house.  She has a fantastic yard that she's building into a natural playscape.  She has a path of logs buried into the ground that the kids love walking and playing on.  One of them is even painted with tic-tac-toe lines and cute little bug rocks are there ready to play.  CJ of course found a bug to show everyone, that is quite an interest of his!

 My sister confiscated all our phones at the start of the reunion.  I LOVE this idea.  Even though some family members felt violated having it taken away it took away any distractions they could have been while we all played and had fun together.  Speaking of playing and having fun: she drew a "Sorry!" board on her driveway with sidewalk chalk and we played life size Sorry!  It was such a hoot!  She also had dowels painted for jumbo size pick up sticks on the grass.  That was a ton a fun.

 We played tic-tac-toe on the log (another of CJ's favorite games) as well as lawn twister.  I've done lawn twister before, but with this many people playing we made the board a little bigger and included a side section that was for kids only. It was fun to play with family to see who could be the winner.  She also made a giant Kerplunk game with bamboo sticks and balls from a ball pit.  I'm not sure a family reunion in the future will ever hold up to this much fun.

 After all the fun we camped in tents in her backyard, had a yummy breakfast and visited our Nana who let the boys pick out teddy bears from her collection.  CJ got "Snuggles" and EMan got "Andy Panda".  They both love their teddy bears and held them close the whole car ride home. What a great time!

Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum and Records : The End of the Year

I have kept most of the work CJ has done for Kindergarten in a file box.  I’ll most likely only keep the binder contents after a couple of years.  Now that the school year is over his records book is completed. Here is what it contains: 

In the first pocket is an invitation from his birthday party and a picture craft he did.  Next are page protectors containing an outline of the curriculum we used throughout the year. 

 I keep these pages as a working document throughout the year and I add details as things pop up, as they always do.  I also have them hyperlinked so I can quickly remember the source and any evaluator can quickly see what I'm referring to.  It includes dates of completion and references to quantity of time in class, etc.

Here it is in the folder:

Next, there is a report card that is part of a K-5 series aligned with Common Core that I'll use each year.  I have a huge issue with Common Core (totally against it).  I don't use the report card to guide what we do, but it is nice to see what items we can improve on. 

After the report cards are the certificates and documents from completed programs and classes throughout the year. 

I've also included his vaccination record as well as a few doctor reports for my own organization.  There are also camp outlines and some art. The rest of the box contains his actual workbooks that he used throughout the year.  Like I mentioned earlier - I'll most likely only hang on to the blue folder after a couple years (most likely after EMan completes Kindergarten I'll get rid of it, but it'll be a nice reference for that).  I'm not required to keep work pages as documentation but if opting out of formal testing (I will be) it will be nice to show the evaluator what we've been up to. 

I like to date everything with a start/completion date for easy reference. That way I can sift through the papers and add dates to the first sheet if I forgot them and easily have date references to his learning.

It's so nice to have all these things organized and ready!  I can now say CJ is officially Graduated from Kindergarten.  Woo Hoo! Perhaps now I'll take the boys out for ice cream :).

Ain't Gonna Paint No More

Have you seen the book "I Ain't Gonna Pain't No More!" by Karen Beaumont and David Catrow? I absolutely adore it!  It is one of my favorite books to pull out for literature based art activities for little kids.  We intended to do the activity outside, but with the poor weather we just laid out a blanket in the living room instead. In fact we've done the activity twice now.  Once in 2011 and once in 2012.  It's an activity that members of our homeschool group love and keep requesting it. 

The book follows the song "It ain't gonna rain no more" tune and is a story about a little boy who loves to paint and paints his whole body.  After reading the story we turned the kids loose with some watercolor paints and let them do a little body painting of their own.  I always dribble water on top of the watercolor pallets a few minutes before giving them to the kids.  That way the paints are moist and ready to be used and the kids aren't required to use a cup of water which is so easily spilled.  I just keep a waterbottle handy ready to re-wet any paints that get all used up.  What a fun and easy activity.  Clean up is super easy - just toss the blanket into the washing machine and the kids in the tub or sprinklers and your good as new!

Are You Ready? Game Show Giveaway from Lakeshore Learning

We were given the fantastic opportunity to review the new "Are You Ready?" series of assessment games from Lakeshore.  We picked "Are You Ready for First Grade?" because it fit our current needs.  This game is a fantastic way to get a quick glimpse of what didn't sink in or what I accidentally forgot to teach CJ during the Kindergarten year.   It's set up like a game show and for each grade level you get 6 different games that let your child earn pretend cash for each math and language question answered correctly.  CJ and EMan LOVE money and were giddy with excitement as they learned the rules to the game.  In fact, before starting the game I overheard CJ say, "EMan, let's finish the laundry fast so we can play the earning money game!"  The put away their laundry in record time. 

We had a great time playing this game.  Each game has a set of 33 cards that you set up on the game board.  Your "contestant" gets to pick a card and if they answer it correctly they get the amount of money listed on the card.  This inspired CJ to pick the highest valued cards right off the bat.

If they get an answer incorrect you make note of the card number to reference later.  I'd highly suggest pulling out their journal or writing book to use for this game.  There are a few cards that specify to write something: such as their name, the alphabet or an answer. 

 We finished the first game quite quickly and CJ wanted to move onto the second game and earn more money right away!  There is only enough money to get all of one game's answers correct, then the money must be recycled for the next game.  There are, however, certificates for what they've won at the end.  The best part is that you get to fill in the reward to something that fits your family.

After you've played one or all six games you head to the game site here and start the Post Game Assessment on the right hand side.  Lakeshore makes it easy for you to type in the number cards that were incorrect.  The website then identifies Skills to Develop with a short description of what that skill encompasses.  It also provides free printable activities and additional Lakeshore products that target that skill.  I took pictures of my computer through this process, but they turned out terrible and unhelpful.  Just trust me that it's awesome to get immediate feedback and a few work pages to go over with your kid(s).  It's a perfect homeschool companion.   

Now we'll be ready for 1st grade for sure!  Will you?  We're giving away our set and would love to see it go to a family who will love it like we did.  Scroll down and enter to win today!

This great game is available in levels K-5.  To get $10 off any Are You Ready? Game Show(R), enter code 9141 at checkout or click here for a store coupon!  Expires 7/31/14.

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