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Friday, October 14, 2011

Our Trip to the Farm

OUR TRIP TO THE FARM


Blessings!

Today was our 1st field trip with our CMH Homeschool Co-Op and we had a BLAST! The children were so excited to get out and run around with the goats, sheep, chickens, and of corse their friends! I was just happy to be out of the house and in nice weather! There were many things to see to do, and to eat! For the children, I don't think they grasped how much hard work really goes into running a farm, yet they want to have one of their own so bad!

Today we learned quite a few things about farm life:

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#1. On a farm...you pull your own load...............


.......but it helps to have a friend (or sister) there to help you when the load gets too heavy! LOL



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#2.  When someone says, "Ah, go chase a chicken!"....












...it is NOT impossible to catch one!

AND MOMMA CAN CONQUER HER FEARS IN THE PROCESS! LOL



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#3. That reenactments of "The Wizard of Oz"........



NEVER GET OLD!!!

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#4. Even though we are homeschoolers and CONSTANTLY with each other.........




....it could always BEE worse! LOL

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#5. When you are having fun..........













Having friends to share it with....makes it ALL the better!

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#6. .........drum roll please!
Finally, no matter WHERE you go:


You can always rely on your nearest ATM for some extra field trip funds! HAHAHAHA
I pray that you have enjoyed our adventure's in farm life! Come back now ya'hear =)


FOR MORE PHOTOS....KEEP SCROLLING =)



















BE ENCOURAGED!!!!!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Columbus Day

Blessings!

As we began our day today, the kids and I were very happy that our first holiday of our 2011 Homeschool Year had arrived!
 Columbus Day =) 

Christopher Columbus Day Stock Photo - 7860476


 I had prepared most of the items we would need over the last few days with about 10 cups of coffee, 2 packs of ink for the printer, and many nights with projects dancing around in my head!  I am so thankful to Our Father for blessing me with a creative mind and blessing others who are a HUGE encouragement to it!

While we still have much to finish up this week...here are my ideas for this project =)

  1. Checking out books from our local library.  We are very blessed to be surrounded with SO MANY of them!
  2. Reading about Christopher Columbus. (Did he or did he NOT discover America...and the controversy that goes with it)
  3. Searching our globe, Atlas, and maps for navigational routes he took, where he was born, lived, and places he explored.
  4. Watch a few videos on YouTube.
  5. Create telescopes with construction paper and paper towel/toilet paper rolls.
  6. Download the Google Sky" app on my cell phone (this app is AWESOME and allows you to see where are star, planets, and galaxy are!
  7. Create a 'star chart' to use as a navigation tool, as Columbus did.
  8. Make our very own explorer hat from recycled newspaper.
  9. Making table toppers of the Nina, Pinta, and the Santa Maria. (since we have 3 children, each one did a different ship)
  10. Taking a trip to The Mariner's Museum in Newport News, Virginia. (they have a whole exhibit on Columbus)
  11. Making old fashioned maps from brown paper bags.
  12. Creating a lapbook as a memory of our fun day and future referrence for years to come.
  13. Creating bookmarks out of foreign currency (printable worksheet of corse) then laminating for a keepsake.
  14. Coloring pages for the younger ones. (this keeps them busy while the olders ones work)
  15. For the girls: Paint their nails and toes "Ocean Blue" lol
  16. Check out a few Explorer movies.
HERE IS WHAT THEY AWOKE TOO
(Daddy is the artist in our family, but I promise I tried my best to make it look real. Not too shabby if I do say so myself LOL)
IMG_20111009_163314.jpg

Here are a few YouTube videos we watched:

The Songs We Sang
Columbus' First Voyage
to the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb"
Columbus sailed the ocean blue,
Ocean blue, ocean blue.
Columbus sailed the ocean blue
In 1492.
He sailed west to reach the east,
reach the east, reach the east,
He sailed west to reach the east
In 1492.
Asian shores he never reached,
Never reached, never reached,
Asian shores he never reached,
In 1492.
Instead, a whole new land he found,
Land he found, land he found,
Instead, a whole new land he found,
In 1492.
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Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue
to the tune of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"
Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492.
Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492.
With three tall ships, 120 men,
sailing on, sailing on, sailing on, on, on, on --
Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492.
He proved the earth was round, not flat, in 1492.
He proved the earth was round, not flat, in 1492.
With three tall ships, 120 men,
sailing on, sailing on, sailing on, on, on, on --
He proved the earth was round, not flat in 1492.

If You Dare to Have a Dream
Sail Your Ship
to the tune of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat."
Sail, sail, sail your ship.
Sail it night and day.
Look for land, look for land
All along the way.
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There Was a Man
to the tune of "B-I-N-G-O."
There was a man lived long ago,
Who dreamed a special dream --
Christopher Columbus,
Christopher Columbus,
Christopher Columbus,
Dreamed a special dream.
He dreamed that he could reach the East
By sailing, sailing West --
Sailing, sailing on,
Sailing, sailing on,
Sailing, sailing on,
Until he spotted land.
He left his ships and went ashore
To meet the Tainto people,
Who met him with gifts,
Who met him with gifts,
Who met him with gifts
Of food and birds and gold.
He thought he was in India,
The continent of Asia,
Called the people "Indians,"
Called the people "Indians,"
Called the people "Indians,"
He thought he had reached Asia.
Three more voyages he did make
Across the Atlantic Ocean,
Never discovering,
Never imagining,
Never even knowing
He'd found a whole New World.
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(to the tune of "It's a Small World")
When you're laying awake
And your thinking of
All the things you would do
If you only could,
Don't be fooled, don't forget,
You may be young, but yet
You can make your dream come true.
Chorus:
Work to make your dream come true.
Work to make your dream come true.
Work to make your dream come true.
It's a job that you can do.
If you roll up your sleeves
And determine that
You'll succeed, yes SUCCEED,
No matter what,
You can reach all your goals,
Make your dreams all come true.
All it takes is work, work, work.
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Here is our trip to the Library
Each of our children picked out a book of their choice, while Mommy checked out the homeschool books=) Our girls REALLY enjoy the self checkout where they can use their very own library cards. This encourages them to be responsible, learn to act independently, and puts a smile on their hearts because now....they are big girls! As only BIG girls can have a library card =) LOL!



THE ITEMS WE GOT ON OUR TRIP TO THE LIBRARY



Books About: Columbus (I know...my flash was aweful!)


Books About: Stars (we are learning how to navigate as explorers of the early days)


A literature study we will be doing soon: The Story About Ping!
(The library had the book and DVD, however we purchased our Unit Study at:


A few books for Ari -since she just lost her 1st tooth!


Farm books: Our first co-op field trip is coming up soon...and we're off to the FARM! 


A few DVD's to help inspire us to EXPLORE! 
 "Swiss Family Robinson"
"Atlantis: The Lost Empire"
and
"A Day at Old MacDonald's Farm"


Someone got a head start on his reading...and "homeschool kitty" thought he would join in on the fun!!!





HERE WE GO!!!!!

National Geographic's: Exploration Experience
This book has maps, stories, letters, pictures, and so many flap covers to peek under!



This is an old world map of Spain

Story Time





Using Geography to find our way around






The travels of Christopher Columbus are in light blue =)



We searched for the place he was born: Genoa Italy in 1451!





Project Time!
The kids really enjoyed coloring, cutting, and glue their ships: The NIÑA, THE PINTA, AND THE SANTA MARIA!
I am quite proud of their hard work =)





After our ships were built....WE WENT EXPLORING....AGAIN!




WE'RE WILD ABOUT COLUMBUS.....

SOME OF US ANYWAYS.........LOL


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MORE WILL BE ADDED TO THIS POST, AS SOON AS I CATCH UP ON SOME REST.......THESE EXPLORERS WEAR ME OUT!

BE ENCOURAGED!