tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30044742567196487612012-01-31T11:42:19.739-05:00Adventures in planning playdates and activities for my kidsJuliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.comBlogger4881100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-40518215196026075522012-01-29T05:00:00.000-05:002012-01-29T10:41:50.080-05:00

Welcome to another week of the Afterschool Blog Hop! I'm happy to be hosting this week. Last weekend, we spent time in Myrtle Beach, SC, vising my mother-in-law. We didn't go out on the beach since it was cold, but we did have fun watching the waves and we even got to see some dolphins one morning! And we wandered around Broadway at the Beach a bit, where the kids hopped onto a dinosaur for a

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-64294639177277579582012-01-25T09:28:00.000-05:002012-01-25T09:28:23.540-05:00

I mentioned recently that I've been volunteering at C's school, working with a small group of second graders on some advanced math problems once a week. It's a great program called Math Stars, which is through the Public Schools of North Carolina. He also gets a Sunshine Math worksheet to do for homework every week, giving him another opportunity for extra math practice. Sunshine Math is though

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-12061490476420617462012-01-22T08:00:00.000-05:002012-01-22T09:36:27.805-05:00

I did so well with blogging two weeks ago and this past week was silent. Sorry about that! It's been a very busy week for us and I just haven't had time to write. I don't know about you, but I find I need at least an hour to focus on writing most blog posts, and I just haven't had that kind of time free lately. Anyway, here's what we've been up to this week. Pre-K M's theme this week was the

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-25106853992400332892012-01-15T10:11:00.000-05:002012-01-15T10:11:05.578-05:00

Welcome back to the Afterschool Blog Hop. This week it's being hosted by What Do We Do All Day?. This was our first full week back to school after the holidays. Well, C had a half day on Friday so it wasn't really a full week. And he has the next two Mondays off, so I guess he won't really have a full week back to school until the end of the month! Pre-K M's theme for the past two weeks has

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-50904087949297047952012-01-11T13:27:00.000-05:002012-01-11T13:27:46.086-05:00

Late last year, I took advantage of a great offer for bloggers. I signed up for a free trial of K5 Learning in exchange for writing a review of their learning program. If you're a blogger, check out their blogger review program. Now, here's my review. About K5 Learning K5 Learning is an online learning program that includes four areas: K5 Reading, K5 Math, K5 Spelling and K5 Math Facts. It is

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-58977631184547714552012-01-10T10:58:00.000-05:002012-01-10T10:58:05.598-05:00

I decided to put together some goals for the year, something I don't usually do. I just thought it would be good to have some things to refer back to as the year goes on. So, here are a few things I'd like to accomplish this year. 1. Eat healthier all year long. Right now I'm on a bit of a diet. I'm just watching what I eat and counting calories using MyFitnessPal. I'd like to continue to eat

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-8814614258686111282012-01-09T07:00:00.000-05:002012-01-09T07:00:16.941-05:00

A couple months ago, I was contacted by a company called Guayaki to try their yerba mate beverages and review them here.Yerba mate is a lot like tea, and I'm not a big tea drinker, but the mission of the company to "restore the endangered South American Atlantic Rainforest and create living-wage jobs for indigenous farmers" peaked my interest. So I perused their website (Guayaki.com) and

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-59520019886734163582012-01-07T22:58:00.001-05:002012-01-09T12:03:13.999-05:00

Welcome back to the Afterschool Blog Hop. This week it's being hosted by Mama Smiles. I have been very quiet here at Just Playin' Around lately. But I do plan to get back into the swing of blogging within the next few weeks. I just need to get my groove on again! Since it's been so long, and most of our time away was spent on vacation, not in school, this will be a different update than usual.

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-42222863246619272532012-01-05T14:11:00.000-05:002012-01-05T14:11:46.156-05:00

I'm a little late, but I wanted to post a quick Happy New Year message. I think I'm finally ready to get back into blogging so hopefully I'll have a couple posts up this week. My first priority is writing a couple reviews I've been asked to do. I'm behind on that! I also plan to participate in the Afterschool Blog Hop on the weekend. In the meantime, I'll be thinking once again about how I

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-83735504886331922502011-12-11T07:00:00.000-05:002012-01-09T12:04:47.810-05:00

Welcome to this week's Afterschool Blog Hop! Despite an incredibly busy week, I am hosting the hop this week and hope you all enjoy participating. I look forward to hearing about what you have been doing with your kids after school! I didn't even manage to write up a recap of our week last weekend, so I'm going share a couple weeks' worth of activities with you. Pre-K M has been busy

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-65022031606728667502011-12-07T10:46:00.001-05:002011-12-07T10:55:05.210-05:00

I wanted to write a quick post, as I take a break from a huge project that I have taken on at work, to let all my loyal followers know that I'm going to slow down a bit over the next few weeks. I've found that between this new project, which is taking up all my time during the day, and all the activities and things that are going on this month on weekends and evenings, I just can't spend a lot of

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-60284397161008999492011-12-02T11:14:00.000-05:002011-12-02T11:15:38.069-05:00

I'm not a big shopper. I honestly have never enjoyed shopping. So for the past few years, most of my Christmas shopping consisted of ordering everything online or getting things at Target, since we're there every week anyway. But this year, I decided to try to buy as much as possible from local stores. Because my kids and I love books so much, I decided to get books for all the kids we buy for

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-47403376500396668812011-11-30T17:05:00.001-05:002011-12-01T13:07:14.677-05:00

Today is World AIDS Day. So I'm going to deviate a bit from my normal writing to talk a little about a topic that doesn't seem to be related to little kids. After all, I don't plan to talk with my kids about HIV and AIDS until we start talking about sex, and I'm hoping it will be a couple more years before we have to broach that subject. But lately I've seen headlines about the goal to achieve

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-47494550686093604352011-11-27T07:00:00.000-05:002012-01-09T12:04:47.765-05:00

So I didn't post on my blog all week. I really thought with the time off I'd have more time to blog. But instead I've spent a lot of time with my family this week. The kids both went to school on Monday and Tuesday and were off the rest of the week. M learned about the first Thanksgiving at school. C watched Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving at school and then the teachers gave them a snack with

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-69142781276687936652011-11-20T20:38:00.001-05:002012-01-09T12:04:47.781-05:00

We've had a nice week. I hope you have too. The kids were both in school all week, which was nice. This coming week, they'll only be in school for two days, so things will be a bit hectic, I'm sure. But last week was a typical week with school and work. Pre-K M's theme was relatives, but I didn't realize this until the end of the week. You see, they were also learning about different coins

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-88740233643313988762011-11-18T11:29:00.002-05:002011-11-18T11:29:45.667-05:00

K5 Learning has an online reading and math program for kindergarten to grade 5 students.  I've been given a 6 week free trial to test and write a review of their program.  If you are a blogger, you may want to check out their  open invitation to write an online learning review of their program.

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-58629702815367138652011-11-15T07:00:00.000-05:002011-11-15T07:51:45.486-05:00

This past weekend, M's friend came over and the two of them decided to make some pictures with stickers. They each made one, and then her friend went home. M ended up spending several more hours throughout the weekend working on her pictures all by herself. After a while, she told me she was making a book. She pulled out lots of different sticker sets and markers and crayons. And she

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-40652322319344912102011-11-14T09:49:00.000-05:002012-01-09T12:04:47.748-05:00

I'm a bit late recapping last week. I usually write up these posts on weekends, but this weekend I didn't end up doing any blogging. I've been so sick for two weeks, and this was the first weekend I was feeling up to doing some things around the house. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time cleaning and being very productive, rather than blogging. It feels good to get so much done! Pre-K M's

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-81079884046209522362011-11-10T09:59:00.000-05:002011-11-10T10:00:45.981-05:00

I was on a blog this morning that has a countdown to Christmas, and it said there are only 45 days until Christmas!!! Yikes! I haven't even started shopping. I don't even have a solid list of who I'm buying for, let alone what I'm going to buy them. I need to get going! So we've been getting lots of catalogs in the mail lately. The kids took the Target Christmas Catalog and the one we

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-6992068732255631472011-11-08T09:18:00.000-05:002011-11-08T09:18:05.044-05:00

I was recently introduced to the BBC World Challenge by the folks at Guayaki. This global competition recognizes social and environmentally conscious businesses that are "showing enterprise and innovation at a grassroots level." Guayaki Yerba Mate has been nominated in the challenge, so I wanted to give you a little background about the company and encourage you to go to the World Challenge

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-32194347971162331462011-11-06T05:00:00.000-05:002012-01-09T12:04:47.727-05:00

I’m very happy to host the Afterschool Blog Hop this weekend. This hop is where you can share the activities you are doing at home to supplement what your children are learning and doing in school. I'm going to share a recap of our week, but feel free to link up with a recap post or specific activities you've been doing with your kids after school. Halloween The week started off with

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-68167767365937190282011-11-03T14:19:00.001-04:002011-11-03T14:19:35.269-04:00

I know that some parents feel that worksheets are a boring way to learn, but M absolutely loves them. And they work great as a quiet activity for her to do after school while C does his homework. I think it makes her feel grown up to be doing "homework" too, and I figure it will be great practice for when she actually has to do homework next year! Lately, I've been letting her choose what types

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-57350023960880489872011-10-31T22:08:00.000-04:002011-10-31T22:08:26.307-04:00

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-37626875697964854822011-10-30T11:26:00.002-04:002012-01-09T12:04:47.733-05:00

Mama Smiles is hosting this week's AfterSchool Blog Hop. We have had an incredibly unusual and active week. So I have a lot to share. Pre-K M's theme at school this week was spiders and bats, so on Wednesday, she took Eric Carle's The Very Busy Spider board book to school and read it to her class. I'm always so proud of her when she reads aloud to her class. Her teacher said she did a very

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-27550354446254551432011-10-30T09:31:00.000-04:002011-10-30T11:40:52.232-04:00

This week, we did a very gross science experiment. We had a cup of milk that had been left out of the refrigerator overnight, so we left it out another night to see what would happen. Isn't that disgusting? I thought it would make an interesting science experiment.We learned a couple things. First, this shows a chemical change to the milk. It has taken on a new texture and has a new smell

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-50774990119609221152011-10-28T14:33:00.000-04:002011-10-28T14:33:16.424-04:00

Yesterday after school, M and her friend decided to make some pictures. They wanted to make pumpkins so I gave them some orange paper and some arts and craft items, and they set to work while I cleaned up the kitchen. A few minutes later, M was upset because she was trying to cut out a big orange pumpkin like her friend, who is a year older, had done. But all she ended up with was two smaller

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-77230196700261543742011-10-27T07:00:00.000-04:002011-10-27T08:34:08.619-04:00

Last weekend, I took M to the library and we picked out four different Eric Carle books. One was Rooster's Off to See the World. I don't think I had ever read this book, but it's a cute one. Rooster decides to go for a walk to see the world, and different animals join him along the way. As they get cold, tired and hungry, the animals return home, leaving Rooster to realize that maybe home is

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-86662287511004881402011-10-24T18:16:00.001-04:002011-10-24T18:16:47.851-04:00

Last week, M's theme for school was pumpkins so I decided to do a few things with her at home related to pumpkins as well. Unfortunately, we have not made it to the pumpkin patch yet, so we don't have any pumpkins at home. But at school, her teachers cut open a big pumpkin and let the kids check out the insides. At home, we stuck with more of the worksheet types of things. First, we made a

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-39828937853859391302011-10-23T09:29:00.000-04:002012-01-09T12:04:47.741-05:00

Because of my participation in A Week in My Life last week, which was hosted by Adventuroo, I didn't get around to writing up a week in review post and linking up with the Afterschool blog hop. But I'm back today! Natalie at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns is hosting this week. Pre-K M's theme for the past two weeks has been Apples and Pumpkins. Last week, M learned about how every part of an apple

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-10998070211044908812011-10-19T13:23:00.000-04:002011-10-19T13:23:24.394-04:00

I worked with the kids to make a paper haunted house this week. C and I had actually "built" the house last week when he was home sick, but he had never decorated it. So last night, we all sat together, got out the glue and put the rest of the decorations on. The kids had a blast making it. We made the same house last year too, but the package had come with materials to make two, so we put

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-52124391732110855642011-10-17T07:00:00.000-04:002011-10-17T10:09:53.411-04:00

I'm linking up to A Week in My Life one more time. Today, I'll share some of the things we did on the weekend. Saturday Saturday mornings are pretty busy here since the kids both have their weekly activities. M has a dance class from 9:30 to 10:15, and C has football from 10-12. So we have to split the kids on Saturday mornings. My husband coaches football, so I take M and he takes C. M's

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-79187431731050188392011-10-16T07:00:00.000-04:002011-10-17T10:10:00.708-04:00

Today is Blog Action Day, and bloggers around the world are all talking about one thing: FOOD. One of the reasons this topic was chosen is that today is also World Food Day. While contemplating the topic of FOOD, I decided to share some thoughts on our move toward eating more locally grown food in our home. Now, let me preface this with the caveat that we purchase and consume plenty of

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-27927514118619453052011-10-15T16:20:00.000-04:002011-10-15T16:52:17.472-04:00

I'm linking up to A Week in My Life again. Today, I'm going to share a glimpse of our morning routine. Friday began at 6:45 am, unfortunately, as M came into my room and started tapping me on the shoulder and wanting to get in my bed. I told her to go back to bed, it was too early and too dark. She then asked me to sing to her. Seriously? At 6:45 am? I don't think so. But I did walk her back

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-31175228150882668512011-10-14T09:49:00.000-04:002011-10-15T16:52:17.474-04:00

I'm linking up to A Week in My Life again today, but I didn't really capture my Thursday in pictures. Actually, this is really the only picture I took: That's M standing on our driveway before school trying to determine if she needed her jacket. She decided she did want her little pink jacket, but I think it was more about her love of pink than her need for a jacket! The biggest

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-8419585809629095542011-10-13T07:00:00.000-04:002011-10-15T16:52:17.477-04:00

Here I am linking up to A Week in My Life again. Wednesday started off much different than the first two days of the week. My husband had to get to work early so I had to get both kids to school. I also had volunteered to hang out at my mother's condo in the morning because the termite inspector was scheduled to come. Luckily it all went smoothly. I got C to the bus stop in time, then drove M

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-18079090811090514162011-10-12T08:59:00.000-04:002011-10-15T16:52:17.470-04:00

I'm linking up with A Week in My Life again today, although I'm not going to get into quite as much detail as I did yesterday, so don't run away! My Tuesday was very similar to my Monday for the most part. One nice difference was that I didn't have to pack C a lunch because chicken tenders was on the school menu and he actually likes those. However, I also didn't get to go out to lunch on

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-82583669292286564522011-10-11T15:00:00.000-04:002011-10-11T15:00:03.190-04:00

M is learning about Apples this week in her pre-K class. Her word of the week is Orchard and she is also learning about Johnny Appleseed. So on Monday, after just one day of talking about apples, she came home and informed everyone that every part of an apple has a job. So we asked what the jobs are, and here's what she told us: The stem connects the apple to the tree. The leaf feeds the

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-4479913801068640052011-10-11T09:15:00.000-04:002011-10-15T16:52:17.475-04:00

Today, I'm linking up at Adventuroo and sharing A Week in My Life, although I may only be sharing A Day in My Life. I hope you enjoy hearing all about what I did yesterday. I think it's a good example of a typical Monday, aside from the lunch date, which doesn't happen very often. I will say I got pretty detailed so hopefully it's not too boring. I'll probably share some things about the rest

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-55894543452702218982011-10-09T22:48:00.000-04:002011-10-09T22:48:59.774-04:00

So last week, M came home from school and said, "I know what makes leaves green." So we asked her to tell us what makes leaves green, and she replied, "Chlorophyll." Yes, my 4 year old is learning about chlorophyll in her pre-K class at daycare. Imagine our surprise. I figured I should go ahead and continue the lesson at home. She did say that the teachers told her what makes the other

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-46320457629579845902011-10-09T08:45:00.000-04:002012-01-09T12:04:47.760-05:00

Pre-K M had another week of Autumn theme at school. She learned about leaves changing colors, and her teachers actually taught the kids the different pigments that make leaves different colors. Check out my Science Sunday post, which will go up later today, to see what we did at home with that lesson. This week was focused on forest animals too. She learned about various forest animals and

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-19857701098992709152011-10-04T15:33:00.001-04:002011-10-04T15:33:14.619-04:00

My husband's favorite holiday is Halloween. So each year, we come up with new decorations to add to our ever-growing display. This year, he's focusing on building a graveyard on our front lawn. That's it in the picture above, along with C dressed up in his Halloween costume. Spooky, isn't it? As I mentioned in my last Our Week in Review post, the kids helped make some tombstones for the

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-45159453244931187172011-10-02T21:45:00.000-04:002012-01-09T12:04:47.755-05:00

Pre-K This week, M's theme at school was Autumn. She brought a few books into class that we had gotten from the library, including The Best Fall of All by Laura Godwin, which she read to her class. She really enjoyed doing that. We also read a few other Fall books during the week, and we went outside to find some leaves, but didn't find too many since the trees are all still green here! We

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-27443860355308280912011-09-30T11:28:00.001-04:002011-09-30T11:28:48.853-04:00

This year, in second grade, C's teacher is not giving spelling tests. Instead, she is focusing on Word Work, which is part of the Daily 5 literacy program they're using. The kids get a list of words each week, and they have to use those words in different activities in school and at home. This helps the kids learn not only how to spell the words, but also how to use them in their writing. He did

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-56044027295963523882011-09-27T07:00:00.000-04:002011-09-28T14:04:22.262-04:00

Although the kids and I have talked about the change of seasons, I completely forgot to look back at our Summer Bucket List and see how we did. I remember when I put this list together, I thought I was being a little too ambitious, and looking at all the things that are not crossed off makes me realize I was right. This was the first summer that the kids wanted to spend most of their free time

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-44827566366978223882011-09-24T21:26:00.000-04:002012-01-09T12:04:47.751-05:00

This week, I'm hosting the Afterschool Blog Hop, where those of us with kids in traditional school who supplement with additional activities and lessons after school share what we've been doing this week with our kids. Pre-K M has continued with the western theme at school this week. She has been enjoying it. This week, they worked on writing the letters G and D, and they learned about

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-11156539711351809652011-09-18T14:17:00.000-04:002011-09-18T14:17:33.719-04:00

This week, I asked M if she would like to learn about a state or country, since we haven't done any geography lessons recently. She decided she wanted to learn about planets instead. So rather than having a geography lesson, we got another science lesson. First, I have to tell you about a song she learned in school last year. It taught her the order of the planets and a little bit about each.

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-55944379343640815372011-09-17T20:46:00.002-04:002012-01-09T12:04:47.770-05:00

Pre-K M's theme at school this week was Cowboy Camp. This was the second week of the cowboy theme and she is really loving it. She also had Mercer Mayer day at school on Wednesday. You can read more about that on my other blog, My Book Retreat. And you can see the craft she did, which is a picture of Little Critter from the Mercer Mayer books. For afterschooling this week, M and I learned

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-17836102188339824732011-09-15T09:00:00.000-04:002011-09-15T09:00:08.876-04:00

When we were on vacation in August, we visited some friends who had a toy we hadn't seen before: Flexeez. These little pieces of plastic are so much fun! Both kids were able to snap the pieces together and make simple creations. C was able to follow the instructions and build a big ball on his own, although he did need help at the very end, figuring out how to hook the last pieces together. I

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-91089318150212802902011-09-13T07:00:00.000-04:002011-09-13T08:06:02.736-04:00

It's been a while since I've written about M's progress in reading, so I thought I'd take some time to talk about what we've been doing and how she's been progressing. On Friday night, we decided to read Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman before bed, since she was playing with her stuffed dog that goes along with the book. [As a side note, has anyone else ever noticed that this brown dog only appears

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-80404114073830544522011-09-11T23:13:00.001-04:002011-09-11T23:14:09.331-04:00

This week, M asked us to read the same book every single night before bed: Tammy Turtle by Suzanne Tate. The book is relatively short, but it covers the entire life cycle of sea turtles and several facts about them. Combined with another turtle book we own, called Turtles, we learned quite a bit about sea turtles. First, we learned that the sea turtles described in Tammy Turtle are called

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-14701025738160227642011-09-11T00:01:00.000-04:002011-09-11T00:01:02.842-04:00

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-81142027385266083142011-09-09T11:55:00.000-04:002012-01-09T12:04:47.787-05:00

Pre-K M's theme this week was cowboys and cowgirls. Somehow, this relates to citizenship, which is the overall theme of the month. I'm not entirely sure how, but I do know their word of the week was "brave," so maybe it's about people in the community being brave? Anyway, she loved it as did her friends. They did a lot of playtime in the blocks center where they made stables for their toy

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-50175353483464227532011-09-04T04:00:00.000-04:002011-09-04T04:00:06.143-04:00

Recently, C's friend introduced him to a new video game called Minecraft. His friend's dad set the boys up on a private server so they could play the game together. A very basic description of the game is that it's a world where you mine and collect different natural resources so you can build houses and other items. The main reason to build the houses is to hide inside from monsters, but C

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-76080155728276320142011-09-02T11:51:00.000-04:002011-09-02T11:52:01.767-04:00

Pre-K This week, M's Pre-K class was focused on the United States and presidents. She learned about George Washington and Barack Obama, and many other presidents ~ she even learned that Bill Clinton loves jelly beans! She learned more about Betsy Ross and the American flag, so at home, she colored a picture of Betsy Ross with George Washington. She took this to school today as her Show and Tell.

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-69897326184748121492011-08-31T14:24:00.001-04:002011-08-31T14:24:16.419-04:00

On Sunday, I shared some of the sights we saw on our recent road trip, but today I wanted to highlight what was our first stop on our trip: Hersheypark in Pennsylvania. We arrived in Hershey, PA, around dinnertime after driving for about seven hours from our home in North Carolina. After checking into the hotel, we stopped at a Giant Food Stores location, where we purchased discounted tickets

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-38730886350679212962011-08-28T18:53:00.001-04:002011-08-28T18:53:42.950-04:00

I'm going to share some of the interesting sights, which relate somewhat to science, we visited while on our road trip last week. We drove through Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York, and then back through Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia to get back home to North Carolina. During our trip, we saw some natural and man-made sights that were firsts for the kids. Here are a

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-11535990764046999462011-08-26T09:32:00.000-04:002011-09-02T15:08:55.578-04:00

Thank you for your patience this summer. I'm happy to report that C officially started 2nd grade on Thursday, and M is settled into her new Pre-K room at daycare. So we are finally getting back to a normal routine ~ and it is so nice! Although fun, the summer was long and I think we were all ready to get back to work and school. Pre-K This was M's second week in her new classroom. She has the

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-80917562703064581012011-08-17T10:13:00.000-04:002011-09-02T15:09:05.186-04:00

When we had a baby and a toddler, vacationing at a condo or house on a quiet North Carolina beach was perfect. We could easily take them back and forth from the beach to the house for naps and food. And we didn't have to worry about crowds of people on the beach. But now that the kids are 4 and 7, sitting on a beach for the entire vacation just doesn't cut it. So we've found a new vacation spot

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-78457406456698841442011-08-15T15:18:00.000-04:002011-08-15T15:19:00.011-04:00

I had good intentions on getting back into blogging regularly about a week ago, but we're on one last vacation for the summer so here I am on hiatus again! Next week, I should seriously be back to normal and will have plenty of material to write about after all the traveling we've been doing and the start of the school year. I hope you've all been enjoying the summer as much as we have, and I

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-13132514024602525982011-08-09T12:51:00.003-04:002011-08-09T12:52:01.269-04:00

I'm back with a new Your Perspective post. This time the topic is Child Safety Seats. Here are a few questions to prompt discussion: How do you feel about the new recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics that children should ride rear-facing until age two? At what age/weight/height did you turn your child to forward facing? Would you do the same thing today or would you leave them

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-80298661251482125322011-08-07T20:38:00.000-04:002011-08-09T12:52:23.219-04:00

This week we did another experiment in our science book. This one was called Emerald City Pennies. It was a pretty simple experiment that C was able to do all on his own one day while I was working at home, and M was at school. He took a bowl and put a folded up paper towel in it. Then he poured a quarter cup of vinegar on the paper towel and set two shiny, clean pennies on top of it. He then

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-42645519374083943552011-08-06T06:19:00.001-04:002011-08-06T06:19:00.512-04:00

Last week, M wanted to play school ~ with her Barbie dolls. So we got out her 100 chart and her list of 250 sight words, and she set up her dolls. One is the teacher, and the others are students. She had them work on reading sight words. When they were able to read a word, she highlighted it. Of course, it was M who was really reading the words ~ she's almost made it through the first 75 words

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-52726128618459025132011-08-04T16:15:00.001-04:002011-08-04T16:15:32.970-04:00

I took Thursday and Friday off this week, so I kept C home all week instead of sending him to a camp. For the first three days, he had to find ways to entertain himself while I worked at home. One of his favorite things right now is Pokemon cards, so he did some Pokemon crafts. First, he created his own Pokemon card holder. He used a small Lego container, wrapped it in white paper and drew a

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-78795937397078473272011-08-01T05:45:00.001-04:002011-08-03T19:28:30.669-04:00

Here in North Carolina, we're in a drought and haven't seen much rain this summer. So when it rained on Sunday, the kids couldn't wait to get outside and play in the puddles! You can see how bad our lawn looks because of the lack of rain. Hopefully the rain will help a little!

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-20308933343417178772011-07-31T10:21:00.000-04:002011-07-31T17:46:10.525-04:00

We took a couple weeks off but we're back now with another experiment from the Science Projects workbook we got from Target. Our experiment this week is called Water Magnifying Glass. We learned that "a magnifying glass works because light bends when it moves from the air through the glass lens." This is called refraction. Water also bends light, so we created a magnifying glass with water.

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-36659945696032582712011-07-28T09:54:00.001-04:002011-08-01T11:00:38.873-04:00

I was very happy to get the mail yesterday and find this: I'm not sure exactly what an atypical mole is but the fact that it says, "This is not a cancerous mole" after it makes me very happy. I am a bit confused since there were three spots biopsied, and the first thing on the form says "Number of Results: 3" but then after the atypical mole result, it says "x2". So I think that leaves me

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-8839369775998201772011-07-25T10:28:00.001-04:002011-07-25T10:29:09.844-04:00

I haven't had a lot to say lately. Sorry about that. And now I'm being lazy thanks to this meme I found at Adventures in Mommydom. It's hosted by Making Home. The instructions with this are to bold the ones you've done, leave the others in normal type. 1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-61278638094384299602011-07-20T10:43:00.000-04:002011-07-20T10:43:58.858-04:00

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had gone for a full skin exam and was told I had to have three spots removed. It was pretty upsetting to hear that news. I finally went in yesterday for the biopsies. I thought I'd share my experience in case any of you have to have a biopsy in the future. I hope you don't. The first step in having a biopsy is to get a shot by the spot to numb the area. This

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-23821038525980837572011-07-13T11:19:00.002-04:002011-07-13T11:19:59.941-04:00

It's been a few weeks since I put up my last Your Perspective post, but I was thinking a lot this week about Screen Time so thought I'd see what you all think about it. Here are a few questions to prompt discussion: Do you have set screen time limits for your kids? If so, what are they and why did you choose them? Do you differentiate between television, computer and video games, or do you

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-42065526278513309892011-07-10T07:00:00.020-04:002011-07-13T11:20:15.631-04:00

This week, we did another experiment from the Science Projects workbook I mentioned last week. Our experiment this week was all about osmosis, and was called Growing Gummy Bear. We didn't have an actual gummy bear so we used a fruit snack. The first step was to measure the fruit snack. It was 1.5 cm x 1 cm. Then we dropped the fruit snack into a cup of water and waited. After about a

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-63226427846860778132011-07-08T12:01:00.000-04:002011-07-08T12:01:34.321-04:00

One of the items on our Summer Bucket List was to build a fort. I put things like this on the list because here in North Carolina, we actually spend a lot of time inside during the summer because of the heat. So I wanted to include some indoor activities that would help us beat the heat! Last week, my husband had to go out of town suddenly for several days. While he was gone, I had to keep the

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-74518469402104461722011-07-05T16:00:00.000-04:002011-07-05T16:00:10.732-04:00

As you may remember from recent posts, I realized about a month ago that C was only playing with a few items anymore: Legos, Beyblades, Bakugans, Pokemon cards. That’s about it. And M was pretty much focused on a few types of toys as well. So why did we have a playroom filled with toys that neither child ever used? A playroom that was so packed with old toys that there was no room to actually

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-47279450385688459752011-07-03T09:28:00.000-04:002011-07-03T09:28:58.544-04:00

Last week, I found tons of school-related items in the Target Dollar Section. They had lots of workbooks that we already have, but I did find one new one. It's this Science Projects workbook: I let C choose an experiment in the book, and he chose Experiment #4: Freeze and Frost. The point is to make frost to see how it works. First, we gathered our supplies: Then we put the ice and salt into

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-59845620425426611032011-06-29T12:17:00.000-04:002011-06-29T12:17:46.903-04:00

As you may know, I'm in the process of reorganizing our playroom. I think I've come up with a plan for where each of the zones I defined in my last post will be within the room. One of the zones is the Projects zone, which will include our table and chairs, arts and crafts items, workbooks, coloring books, flashcards, science kits, etc. At the moment, I'm trying to decide how to store all this

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-1885003664095253412011-06-27T21:15:00.000-04:002011-06-27T21:15:32.814-04:00

This blog is supposed to be about the fun things I do with the kids, but sometimes reality has an impact on our parenting, so I thought I'd share what's going on with me. After all, it will affect my kids and my parenting to some extent no matter what the outcome is. I'll start several months ago when I noticed a spot on the top of my ear. I noticed it because it occasionally got sore if I slept

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-29624028043539261402011-06-23T09:43:00.000-04:002011-06-23T09:43:25.343-04:00

I've been moving along with my playroom organization project. I already reported on the completion of Step 1: Remove Unused Toys. I've given a few to a friend with a baby, and some others to my sister-in-law who was looking for things for the special needs preschoolers she'll be teaching in the fall. The rest are being donated. Now I've completed steps 2 and 3 as well. Step 2: Take Inventory As

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-36734202425888903772011-06-21T11:08:00.000-04:002011-06-21T11:08:23.732-04:00

A couple weeks ago, I introduced a new series I'm going to feature here called Your Perspective, where we can talk about a topic related to parenting. This week, the topic is Kids and Caffeine. Here are a few questions to prompt discussion: Do you let your child drink soda, tea, coffee, energy drinks or other caffeinated beverages? At what age would you/did you let your child drink caffeinated

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-27842524052320014082011-06-20T13:00:00.000-04:002011-06-20T13:00:05.036-04:00

M just finished her first year (well, she started in January) in a dance studio. Previously, she took dance classes through our town. Since she was in a studio class over the past several months, she got the opportunity to participate in the studio's first recital last weekend. Her class was 4 to 5 year olds. Here they are doing their routine. M is the third from the right. She had a great

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-72833347360623580892011-06-19T07:00:00.000-04:002011-06-19T07:00:02.641-04:00

This past week was C's first week out of school. He attended a GlaxoSmithKline Science in the Summer camp program at our local library during the mornings, and the topic was Magnetism and Electricity. The participants in his class were all rising 2nd and 3rd graders, and I'm amazed at the things they learned. First, they learned about the structure of atoms. They learned that the center of an

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-50698795034939011122011-06-17T09:17:00.000-04:002011-06-17T09:17:00.623-04:00

Both of my kids are now reading to some extent, but I was talking to a neighbor whose daughter is not reading yet, and it made me think about the things we were doing a year ago, when M was still learning letters and letter sounds. Here are 5 Tips for Learning Letter Sounds, based on M's favorite activities. 1. Letter puzzles M has two letter puzzles that she loves: one is a foam puzzle where

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-17105174631040996102011-06-11T09:23:00.014-04:002011-06-11T09:23:00.270-04:00

On Thursday, I shared my Playroom Organization Plan. Today, I'm happy to say, I've completed Step One, which was: Remove Unused Toys. This is the pile of toys I removed from our playroom: The amazing thing is that I took them out of the playroom and just stacked them in the hallway ~ and neither kid had any issue with me getting rid of all of these things! At one point, C said he didn't want me

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-54782082567236558022011-06-10T07:00:00.001-04:002011-06-10T07:00:10.777-04:00

Today is C's last day of school for the year! In August, he'll be a 2nd grader. It's hard to believe! As summer vacation begins for most schools in the United States, kids are excited about the long days playing with friends, going to camps and taking family vacations. Summer vacation is time for having fun and relaxing after a long school year. But as parents, we need to remember to keep our

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-79934319597641608572011-06-09T07:00:00.008-04:002011-06-09T07:00:06.929-04:00

I've noticed recently that C has really outgrown just about all of his toys. He currently plays with Legos and Beyblades and that's about it. All the other toys sit untouched for the most part. M loves her dolls, animals and other little figures, and the play kitchen things. That's about it. Her dress up clothes and vanity are in her room, so she and her friends go up there to play with those as

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-25063800013959694072011-06-08T12:29:00.000-04:002011-06-08T12:29:10.844-04:00

This Spring, we decided to participate in an International Postcard Swap for Families hosted by Playing By The Book. The purpose wasn't just a geography lesson, but also to share children's book recommendations. We sent out five postcards to families in Wisconsin, Spain, India, New Zealand and the UK. So far, we've received three postcards from other families around the world. One family in the

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-88786005178247800762011-06-07T07:00:00.006-04:002011-06-07T07:00:07.981-04:00

As I've been thinking about revamping my blog, one thing I'd like to do is get more discussions going. I've come up with a few topics of interest to me, and hopefully they will be of interest to you as well. I'm going to call this series Your Perspective and will try to make it about weekly or bi-weekly. The first topic is toy weapons, such as guns, lightsabers and swords. A few questions to

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-56549255743529694992011-06-05T07:00:00.007-04:002011-06-05T07:00:09.529-04:00

This week, I wanted to introduce you to someone who has been living at our home for quite a while. This is a Carolina anole lizard who seems to live around our front porch. We often see him on the railing of the porch or running across the floor as we walk outside. Unfortunately, I don't have any great recent pictures of him since I've only had my phone with me the last couple times we saw

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-1363314836907814442011-06-04T07:00:00.001-04:002011-06-04T07:00:05.373-04:00

Last year, when C's summer vacation was approaching, I was working part time. So camp for C mostly consisted of the school-age program at M's daycare on the three days she went. They were both home the other days. But now we find ourselves embarking on our first summer vacation during which I’ll be working full time. M will continue to attend daycare as usual this summer, but C’s summer promises

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-87702890780073458212011-06-03T07:00:00.002-04:002011-06-03T07:00:06.314-04:00

My husband decided to water the lawn after work yesterday, and suddenly the kids were outside getting soaked along with their friends who live across the street. They had a blast and I'm starting to think this will be a regular occurrence this summer. These kids just moved in a few months ago, so this is our first summer with them, and we've already had a big water gun battle last week and now

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-49242072774162941742011-06-02T13:52:00.001-04:002011-06-03T09:50:15.286-04:00

As I've done in the past, I'm once again re-evaluating my blog. Now that I'm working full time and both kids are in school full time, I find I just don't have the time to do formal lessons with the kids. I'm also, honestly, spending a lot of time on my other blog, writing book reviews and participating in book blogger events. So I have decided to make some changes here. The biggest change will

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-72470240381983257302011-05-26T10:00:00.000-04:002011-05-26T10:00:43.011-04:00

C's 7th birthday is coming up this weekend. A child’s birthday is a bittersweet event, as any mother will probably agree. It is at once exciting that your child is growing up and becoming more independent, while at the same time sad to think the time is going by so quickly. But I don’t really have a lot of time to reflect on these conflicting emotions since I’m in the middle of stressing out

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-56211745179915405872011-05-23T12:37:00.000-04:002011-05-23T12:37:48.040-04:00

We didn't get around to an official science project or lesson this week, but I did want to share our daily experience with cicadas around here. First, listen to this (ignore the birds tweeting and listen to the continuous hum in the background): It's so loud in person! It honestly sounds like a constant alarm blaring in the distance. I can hear them in the house through the closed windows.

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-24595239179975792492011-05-20T14:25:00.000-04:002011-05-20T14:25:29.313-04:00

During this last quarter of first grade, C's class has been focused on nonfiction books. They've been reading nonfiction and learning about the features of nonfiction books. They also had to create their own nonfiction books about animals. C choose to write his book about lions. First, he found a couple books about lions and read them in class. Then, he set up a table of contents for his book.

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-54943972682988904272011-05-17T13:20:00.000-04:002011-05-17T13:20:11.421-04:00

C and I are reading a new book called The Genius Files: Mission Unstoppable by Dan Gutman. It's a fun middle-grade fiction book about twins who are about to turn 13. They find out they're part of a government organization called The Genius Files. They get chased by bad guys, jump off a cliff and get stuck in their burning school before finally heading off in their RV with their parents for a

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-68427010867694574392011-05-15T18:39:00.000-04:002011-05-15T18:39:37.107-04:00

Last week, C's teacher asked the kids to try to find some pill bugs to bring into class. Evidently she had looked on the playground but couldn't find any. So we went outside and looked around and couldn't find a single pill bug. I'm not sure why. However, under one rock we found some slugs. So I scooped them up and along with the dirt and moss they were living in, and put them in our bug catcher

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-90884224689421667412011-05-08T22:29:00.000-04:002011-05-08T22:29:37.974-04:00

This week's science lesson was prompted by a book we got from the library called The Encyclopedia of Inventions by Jessica Snyder Sachs. I had seen it on an end-of-aisle display at the library and thought C would like it. I was right! The first invention we looked at was the Pencil. We learned that the pencil was invented in the 1500s when a farmer in England found some graphite in his field

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-22152512350954092042011-05-06T09:58:00.000-04:002011-05-06T09:58:35.764-04:00

For the second year in a row, Little Wonder Days is hosting a Summer Bucket List Party, and I've decided to participate again. I'm using a lot of the same things I had on my list last year, but I'm adding a few new ones as well. I've also decided to break it up between at-home activities and away-from-home activities. I will say it will be much harder this summer since I'm working full time now

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-13708907710698551522011-05-02T17:00:00.000-04:002011-05-02T17:00:39.940-04:00

I wanted to mention a few upcoming events that I'm participating in ~ and I think some of you might like to join as well! First is Little Wonders' Days Summer Bucket List. I did this last year as well, and it was a lot of fun. Basically, you make a list of the things you want to do with your kids during their summer break, and then you do them! It's a great way to brainstorm and come up with

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-82231531135119965172011-05-01T19:46:00.000-04:002011-05-01T19:46:12.811-04:00

This wasn't a very scientific science project, but we did have fun. We have a Thames and Cosmos Little Labs Light and Colors science kit. So we got that out and mixed a couple of the color tablets with some water. Then we took the colored water and mixed it with some of the plaster included in the kit. We stirred it up and poured it into the kit's molds. Then we waited until the next day. The

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-52188227903308691882011-04-27T13:08:00.001-04:002011-04-27T13:08:00.355-04:00

This past week, the local strawberry farms opened up. We were very excited, and headed over to the one near our house on its opening day. It was spring break, and my husband and I were both able to take the day off, so all four of us went picking, along with my cousin and his daughter. Here's M and her dad picking strawberries: And C showing off his latest find: We had a great time! And we

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3004474256719648761.post-30609586327595240552011-04-26T14:00:00.000-04:002011-04-26T14:00:14.626-04:00

Last week, one of our spring break activities was visiting the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh. We haven't been there in over a year, so this was our first visit since they expanded into a second building. We ended up only going in the new building this time, because we were out to find one specific exhibit: Ancient Egypt. C has been wanting to see their Ancient Egyptian exhibit for a

Juliehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00339046013754121975noreply@blogger.com5