Children Around the World Geography

I've been purchasing used homeschool curriculum. This is Zoe's geography.  It's called Children Around the World: The Ultimate Class Field Trip by Marilee Woodfield.

We travel around the world with this. Austyn can join us whenever he wants. This time, she did it on her own. She did some colouring for Canada and U.S. while I read and we also did some preparation activities to make things that we'll be using throughout the book. One thing we made was a large world of water so that she can put the continents on it and then mark the places we visit with little markers that she colours.

Summer Science

 We are using a couple of things for science this summer. Yes... we don't stop learning just because it's summer. Why would we? I find it the best time of the year to learn things. I find with more sunlight, we have more energy and we are outside more and gardening. We are also up later, it seems. What a great time to learn about what is around us!

Anyway, back to what we are using. This year we are using Science Smart by a list of authors. This book is an old out of print book. I purchased it from a local bookstore through amazon. By doing that you save money because they are registered on amazon as a bookstore and get discounts. The reason I chose this book this year is because it caters to Zoe's interest in crafts with all of the crafty things we'll be making and it makes cool, educational things that Austyn will love.

I posted our first project from this book HERE and you can also see our caterpillars there.

We also use REAL Science Odyssey - Life Level 1, thanks to Alex over at her Canadian Home Learning blog. I like it because it follows along with The Well-Trained Mind and has worksheets that Zoe likes, but they are optional, for Austyn. It covers a wide range of topics for life, following the Well-Trained Mind. It seems pretty complete but for younger ages.

Even if we don't document everything the REAL Science Odyssey seems to get the kids looking at things that they may not have. They measured the caterpillars and even started photographing them (Austyn's idea). He let Zoe use his camera for a minute to take a picture of her caterpillar.

In our move, we lost the cable to take the pictures off of this camera. I'm hoping to find it before this posts.

Organizing After Moving Too Much

 It's taken some time and I'm still not totally finished, but I'm getting organized. Here is our homeschool room. There are still a few boxes to sort through, but at least we are able to get in and get what we need. The books are all in order. 

 To gain space, we converted the closet into shelves. This is where all of our craft supplies and science materials are. 

 The rest of the house got organized as well. This is the toy room. 

This is my work space and I share this computer with the kids. We each have our own log-in. I keep all of my homeschooling books here and use this space to plan our days.

We moved here in March, and it usually takes years to get everything exactly where I want it, but this is excellent so far. Especially since we have had four fast moves where we had to quickly pack up our things and not everything was put together. Imagine... taking all of your things and throwing them in a pile in the middle of a room. Now go through it all and put everything away. That is almost where we were at, when we finally got here. It's time consuming! 

We have been able to do so much more, now that we have our own house and things are organized better. I think this is going to be a wonderful summer for learning!

Racing Again!

 We've started racing again. The first time we went was for a Test'n Tune, so that we could make sure the car runs okay, but it got rained out. 

 The next chance was on Canada Day weekend. It was our first time back for an actual race. 

 There was a bird that was loud and the song was so pretty, but we couldn't see the bird up close. It didn't seem to mind that there was racing going on. It just sat there and sang a beautiful song. 

 Because they don't have anymore seasonal pit spots we needed to find a way to make it work without a trailer. It wasn't as easy and due to the heat, we didn't feel like doing much in between races.

 It was wonderful to be back and see old friends and familiar cars. We missed this while we were away in Edmonton.

While waiting to watch Daddy, they searched for fossils. It's funny because a couple of years ago when we would come to the track they played in the dirt while they waited. I guess they still like to do this.

Here are just a couple of fossils they found. The ground there is very sandy and these fossils were fragile. You can see how they can easily become fragments of sand.

Homeschool Track and Field

 Where we have lived before, the opportunity never arose for us to join in on track and field. This is one of those things that kids in school get to do every year, but homeschoolers don't always get that chance.

 We have done track and field in a park with house hold items. That was fun, but finally we had the chance to do REAL track and field. The kids got to join a track and field event with our local homeschoolers. They were able to set it up at a local highschool.

This was the schedule:
General warm up followed by...
1) Long Jump
2) 100 metre Sprint
3) Ball Throw
4) 200 metre Sprint
5) Triple Jump
6) Lazer Arm (measures the speed of your throw)
7) Open 1500 metre Run (optional)

 Due to the heat, our official track and field day was moved to the next week. This worked out because it meant that there were more practices. 

 We made it to every practice and it showed. Both of my kids appeared confident and strong for each activity. 

 We were so impressed with how they did and so proud of them both.

 Even with all of those kids and so many activities, the kids had so many chances to be with their new friends.

 I was so impressed with their focus and how hard they tried.

 Both of them even ran the 1500 metre run, even though it was optional. Above is a picture of Zoe getting sprayed while running past.

 Austyn tried so hard. It was amazing to see and it was such an interesting experience for him. He is an excellent runner, but to run for such a long run was a huge challenge and something he has never done before.We were so proud of him for finishing. 

 By the end of the race Zoe was holding  hands with her friend and they ran over the finish line together. I think they were the last kids, but they were also the youngest. They looked so happy for themselves. 

 This is Zoe getting her gold medal. You can see Daddy with a huge smile in the background clapping. He was so happy to be able to be there to see it all happen. She got the most points accumulated for all of the activities for her age group. 

Austyn got a bronze trophy. He was third place for total points in his age level.

We are so proud of them both! What a great experience for them. We can't wait until next year!

Book Sharing Monday - King Bidgood's in the Bathtub

 This book is so much fun! The pictures truly make the book. This is a story about a king who won't get out of the bathtub.

Each member of the court try to get the king to leave his bathtub, but instead are drawn in to the tub with the king by amazing, imaginative events. There is a feast, a battle, fish and to dance.

Science Journal

 We have officially started our new Science book for this year. We don't stop in the summer and due to having such a bad year this year, it's a good thing. 

 Our first activity was to make our own science journal. We made these with pieces of cardboard. I bought cupboard liners (has a sticky side) and binding rings. We cut out the cardboard to a specific size and put the liner on the outside, wrapping around the edges to the inside covers. Then we glued paper inside to cover up the liner edges. Then we cut a bunch of white printer paper in half and punched holes in the papers and the covers. They were lined up and the binder rings were inserted and closed. Here is Austyn's science journal. He liked the marble look.

 It's hard to tell in this picture but Zoe added a string on the rings to make a handle and she attached a pencil so that she could travel with it. She brought it to the races along with her caterpillar and drew her caterpillar and the stages that she could remember a caterpillar goes through before it becomes a butterfly in her journal.

When I first found these caterpillars they were very small. The one looked just like a little black burr. They are still very small but this is how they looked a couple of days after I found them. They are both the same kind of caterpillar (swallowtail). I know because we have kept these kinds of caterpillars before from our garden. This year we found more. It's one benefit of living in Ontario. There are so many chances to keep caterpillars for free! They are so easy to find!

Oh by the way... the book we are using is called Science Smart.