Lake Tobias Wildlife Park Field Trip

Today Lamppost Co op had a field trip to Lake Tobias Wildlife Park as part of our Zoology 3 class.  We had so much fun. We saw a lot of animals that we are studying right now! I also made some new friends... yes, they would probably eat me if they could but they are still awesome!

 This lioness loved the little boys and I do mean LOVED them.. she kept chasing them, the boys kept running right in from of her and she either wanted to play with them or wanted to eat them... she paid little attention to the grown ups, but the kids??? she loved them!!

 Yes, that's her trying to get my son.... he was jumping right in from of her!

 MMMmmmmm... I want to taste this little boy! ha ha!!

We saw many other animals there, but the lions stole my heart! here's more pics of the other animals.

 The tiger!!

 A very big rodent!

 Petting Zoo

 Ponies!

 Safari Ride!

 Feeding the animals from the safari bus!

 More animals!

 One more of the tiger... closer!

 Lunch time!

A couple more pics of my faves!

Dinner after the field trip at Red Robin... Yuuummmm!!

School Week 6 2011-2012

This week X7 is rowing the book Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Affair.  We love Patricia Polacco books and this one is no different!

We have a four day week this week since we are going to Lake Tobias Wildlife Park for a field day on Thursday.  I always wanted to go on a safari and now we get to! I will be posting lost of pics!

Since we only have three days plus co op day we will have to read a bit more than usual, zoology lesson 4 is about some of my favorite animals, wild cats! I am going to make sure we cover everything before Friday's experiment. 


A9 is doing outstanding with her independent reading time.  She has been averaging two and a half books a week.  She just got done reading My Father's Dragon and  Owls in the Family, she's almost done with Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and about a third of the way through The Hundred Dresses.  


Next will be either Mr. Poppers Penguins, Strawberry Girl or a number of books from author Dick King-Smith.  We are still reading the Dear America book A Time for Courage.  I have made the decision that instead of trying to read these books during the first semester, we are going to make it an all year thing.  This is our read a loud time. Yes, we are learning about American history through them but that's no reason to try and get them all done in a specific amount of time.

We are having full days everyday because of co op.  There are days we can't get the reading done(well, I can't get the reading done)  and that's okay.  Since we have all year to read all 7 Dear America books is not a big deal if we miss a day here and there.  

There are three types of reading that she needs to get done,  her independent reading time, her reading for fun time and her read a loud by Mom or Dad time, and that 's been happening everyday! 

BTW I need to give a shout out to our new Co op. It has been such a blessing to our school!  I'm so happy to be a part of it!  We have decided to do a book a month for co op rather than just 3 for the whole year.  The kids are doing amazing things and Mrs. Long wants to keep the momentum going!

Geography is going great as well, I tried doing the US states last year but was never consistent enough with it.  That is not a problem this year! The kids are loving the homework! Yes, you read correctly, they love homework! :)

School Week 5 2011-2012

This week we are reading Dear America's A Time for Courage.  We are done with the Titanic book, we got to watch the movie.  I skipped a few scenes that had nothing to do with the Titanic :)
Once again A9 was not very happy with it.  She loved the beginning but as soon as she saw the ship hitting the iceberg and she realized what was going to be happening to Rose and Jack she wanted nothing to do with it... I had to show her the very end when an old Rose drops the diamond into the water and then joins all the people that died in the ship, that part made her feel a lot better, she called it "Titanic heaven".

We have been busy with school! Co op is great and the homework is making our days longer than usual, which is not a bad thing at all.  The kids don't seem to mind it, they like getting to do work for the "other" teachers!

The science experiments are too much fun!  All the kids seem to be enjoying them.  Lunch time needs some structure though... the kids eat their lunch fast and we have a whole hour and 15 minutes till the next class.  I think we are going to be doing some form of recess were the kids get to go outside to play.  We just have to figure out what do do on rainy days.

X7 is rowing the book Andy and the Lion.  He is really enjoying everything we are doing this year, even the phonics!  He loved Flat Stanley. I have other Flat Stanley books that we are going to be reading throughout the next couple of weeks, just to get him used to chapter books.

Mrs. Long is having him do journal entries twice a week, since he can't write yet he gets to draw his.  He is not that crazy about drawing in the first place but he is doing it for Mrs. Long!

He is liking geography as well!  He can point to about 7 states in the map already! 
Copywork and narration is going very well, I'm glad we seem to be adjusting to our new school routine!

School Week 4 2011-2012

Last Friday was our first Lamppost Co op day of the school year.  This year we are doing things a lot different.  Instead of just being there for two hours we are having an all day co op.  Not only that but instead of doing it for 6 weeks in the fall and 6 week in the spring we are having co op for 28 weeks. We are all using the same curriculum for science, history, writing, geography, health, art and music.

I have to say the first day went great!  The kids so enjoyed being a part of this co op.  I was worried that the long day would be too much for them but I was wrong.   The kids have been given assignments or homework to do throughout the week for some of the co op classes, which is a good thing for homeschool kids who have no idea what homework is :)

As far as our own school A9 is still reading Voyage on the Titanic although we are almost done with it. She has been reading for 30 minutes everyday and has already read 4 books in two weeks. Little Women, The Littles, Catwings and a Magic Tree House book. Next will be either Owls in the Family or My Father's Dragon.
I'm going to have her read shorter books before starting the Little House books.

X7 is going to be reading the book Flat Stanley.  This is one of the books from his co op book list.  All we have to do is get it done before Friday.  He also has some geography homework to do this week and copywork.  We won't be rowing any additional books this week, we will stick with Flat Stanley, just to keep things simple.

We are on lesson 2 for science and will be starting lesson 3 sometime during the week.  X7 is feeling great! I on the other hand have a stuffy nose and a little bit of a cough.  Thanks X7 for that :(  I am feeling pretty good other than that  though. 

Hopefully we will not be getting any more rain, only sunshine for the rest of this week and the next... and the next!!

School Week 3 Modified

So my little guy has been sick, at first I thought it was only allergies, then he had a fever.  By Monday morning his fever was gone but by Monday night he had a really bad cough.  Ended up in the ER only to be told "his lungs are fine" it's just a cold.  Had a really bad cough Tuesday morning, made appointment with family doctor, he said it's the croup.  So no school for X7, he has been in my room with a cold air vaporizer so that he can breath without coughing.
 
Yep, 2nd week of school..... plus we are having a flood... ohh boy... Club carnival is going to be indoors now so we won't be having all the scheduled activities we were planning to have.  Plus I need to stay home with the boy because there is no way I'm taking him to church tonight.  Dh needs me there to handle registrations.... but there is only one of me.

Calgon, take me away!!!! ha ha!!

School Week 3 2011-2012

Now that the first week of school is behind us, we can now settle into our old routines.  It is always a challenge when you homeschool to switch from summer mode to school mode.  Maybe because the kids don't actually leave the house to go to school, making it more difficult for them to adjust.  Our first week had everything; laughter, tears, fun, grumpiness, excitement and disappointment... and this was just me! ha ha!

As we start our 2nd week I am a bit more relaxed in my expectations and have a better idea were we are headed.  I now know that most of my time needs to be spent with X7, not only that but its not a huge chunk of time either.  From start to finish it takes a little over an hour to do school with him. The thing is I need to start with him first.

It is also good to know that A9 can handle most of her school work on her own with some direction from me.  There are only three subjects she needs me for.... read aloud time (including science), math (mostly on Mondays) and dictation.

This week A9 is going to start her typing class.  I am using Typing Master Pro and we'll see how that goes.  The website offers a free demo which I used during the summer.  I really liked how it was set up so I went ahead and downloaded it!

Learning how to type also involves sitting correctly so I went ahead and purchased new desk chairs for both of them, got them at Target for $19.99.

The typing software goes at her own speed, "automatically recording personal study data for each student as well as calculating results and test scores.  Multi-form exercises such as keyboard drills, typing games and tests, provide diversity whilst instant feedback and long-term progress statistics effectively maintain motivation.".  I installed it on my computer as well so that I could have a typing refresher!

 A9 will continue to read the Dear America Titanic book for American history and she has been reading Little Women as part of her independent reading time. Like I said before these Dear America books are double the size of the other books we read last year, which means they will take a little longer to get through.   She is also starting her language lessons, piano, ballet and Co op on Friday.

 X7 is rowing the book Madeline's Rescue.  He will be doing oral narrations and copywork.  I am very happy with what I saw from him last week.  He is getting better with the phonics, he is much more relaxed with the whole reading thing.  He seems very eager to learn how to read.  He kept asking me to let him read the Henry book on his own!

He is also enjoying the science read a loud very much.  I was afraid he would not be able to keep up with what I was reading but he was fine!  His info retention is very good! I asked him questions about the lessons we read two days after we read it, and he knew the answers!

As far as math, no problems so far! It seems weird to say he is in 1st grade when he is doing 2nd grade math, handwriting and science.  Oh well, it's homeschool, there doesn't need to be any grades really.

Today is Labor day which means Dh is here with us!! Enjoy your holiday!