Letter Writing Experience

Earlier this year, my darling daughter wrote a special letter to our President. She wouldn't let me read it, so I was somewhat nervous. But I sent her letter anyway.

She is super excited. She received a letter in response. I love this. She learned that she could voice her concerns and receive a response. I am so proud of her:)

How I Became a Pirate Experience

If you have been following along with us, you will know that I promised a Year of Adventures. This school year, I promised that we would try new things and go to new places in our school year. We joined a homeschool group to help make that happen. And it has happened! We have been busy - the busiest we have ever been in our schooling. But it also has been fun (tiring but fun). This week's adventure was a play based on the book How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long.

It was a musical put on by one of our local theaters. I love our local theaters! They do such a great job and they make it affordable to see plays through out the year.

I had a brief thought about asking the kids if they would like to dress like pirates but I changed my mind. But, never fear, my homeschoolers came up with the idea all by themselves. They decided to dress like pirates for the play.

And my Riley, his pirate was a cowboy pirate! The play was great and the kids did a great job. After the play, we had lunch while watching the Muppets Treasure Island. Have an awesome day.

Owl Pellet Experience

A year of adventures for this year of schooling. We are excited as this week's adventure/experience was dissecting an owl pellet. We have been studying animals in our Science curriculum and we just finished learning about owls. It was a perfect opportunity to dissect an owl pellet.

We read about owls in our Encyclopedia of Animals book.

Then the fun began - first I had them draw what it looked like before we began. Yeah, I know what it resembles but an owl pellet is not from THAT end of an owl. An owl actually yarps (regurgitates) the bones and fur of animals that it eats. The pellet is then sanitized for your protection.

Kaleb is working on separating the pellet. I was truly amazed at how many bones were actually in the pellet.

J is working on hers. She couldn't believe it either! It took some time but they finally separated the bones and fur from the pellet.

This is what we came away with - a ton of bones. I think each pellet had at least four skull pieces and lots of vertebrae. We soaked the bones in bleach to make them whiter and easier to see. This was an experience that J said she would do again. She loved finding all of the bones, like a mini treasure hunt!

Pumpkin Patch Experience

A new school year...a year of adventures - that is what this school year brings. Why? Well, our lives have been on hold for that last few years. We thought we were going back to Turkey and we were working for that. It made life somewhat difficult and we put many things on hold. I wanted to give my kids a different kind of school year - a year of adventures and experiences that were new to us. No more putting things on hold - we are where we are going to be for awhile. It is time to stop being in the holding pattern and start living and learning:) I can do anything for a year, right?

This week's adventure is going to the pumpkin patch. I know that might not sound like an adventure to you but it was to us. Living overseas, we didn't have pumpkin patches. We didn't even have orange pumpkins! There wasn't Halloween or Thanksgiving...at least not like here in America. So, yes, going to a pumpkin patch is an adventure:) (at least to us).

We were enjoying the cooler weather here. I love these pics.

I asked Riley to look up. I meant look up to the camera but he literally looked up. Haha!

The great pumpkin. Loved it. Hope you get to have an adventure today:)

Nature School

The other day we were blessed with cool weather and we were promised a day with no distractions, field trips, or piano lessons. I just wanted to have a good school day. I looked at my school schedule and saw a ton of lessons and activities that I wanted to complete. This year of adventures is hard on my school plans! But the cool weather was calling us....a day with no sweltering heat....a day to spend at the nature preserve. The kids pleaded...I wavered. I wanted a good, full day of school...but the day was calling us outside. So, I did what any homeschool mom would do...I ignored the schedule and took my kids to the preserve for some Science!

Don't get me wrong, this was a hard thing to do for me. I like getting things done and checking them off my list. This wasn't on my list but I had to think...why do I homeschool? Is it to check things off and stay on track? Or is it to show my kids the love of learning? I want them to love learning. I want them to love school. And this was a perfect day to be outdoors. Not all learning is done at a table:)

We started all bundled up because this weather was chilly to us. We are Floridians and it was cold.

Kaleb had great eyes today - he found a bald eagle in its nest. We sat there for awhile just watching it while the kids learned how to use the binoculars.

We walked the trails and found some wetlands to explore. The kids are learning about wetlands so we made sure to make some notes of animals and plants that live in wetland areas.

I love this picture...they are exploring, observing their environment, trying to find animals and such.

We claimed this "square" as our wetland observation place. We sat and watched our square and wouldn't you know it - Kaleb found a baby alligator that walked right past us into the water. It surprised me so that I didn't get a picture. I just couldn't believe seeing an alligator so close!

And walking back to our car, we came across this library. I love these book houses! I have always wanted to stop and look through the books but I have never gotten the chance. Now, J found a book and when we return, we will have books to place inside. It was a good ending to a great day.

Corn Maze Experience

It is our Year of Adventures and this week, we went to our first corn maze. I thought that this was a northern activity but I was surprised to find one right here, close to where we live. It was in an out-of-the-place and you would have never known it was there if you hadn't been following your GPS:)

The maze experience started with a hay ride. The driver gave us a bucket of treats for the cows and horses. And those animals knew as soon as they saw our wagon, that there was food aboard! They came running.

There were old tractors to climb on and farm animals to see. But that really wasn't what we came for....

We wanted to try the corn maze and we did. I was somewhat scared because the kids went running far up ahead and I had to keep calling to them to slow down. There were twists and turns and different paths to follow so I was concerned my tot would be the one who got lost in the corn!

No one got lost and we made it out fine. It was a great day and a good experience. The kids have asked to return next year:) See you soon.

Dinosaur Experience

We are currently experiencing a Year of Adventures in our homeschool. A year jammed packed full of different experiences - surrealism, museums, nature hikes, etc... Why are we doing this? Well, for the last few years, things here have been put on hold. We weren't sure where we were going to live or what we would be doing and we had to be ready to move at a short notice. But all of that changed and we are now positive we are staying in the US. So this is the year for many adventures:)

All of a sudden, my boys are into dinosaurs. Dinosaurs. We were able to see a small exhibit at the zoo  with animatronic dinosaurs, which I thought scared them. But after that, they have been playing dinosaurs. So, it was cool when this experience came available through my homeschool group. It wasn't very pricey. For years, we have passed by Dinosaur World when traveling and we have never had the chance to visit the park. This was our chance:)

The dinosaur statues were life size and the kids loved them. We learned so much about each one and had fun doing it. We even met a real paleontologist!

They even got to do a fossil dig which they were able to keep three of their favorite fossils to take home. I believe this was the highlight for my older kids.

Then, when we came home, I had some dino digs for the kids. They shaved away the stone to find dinosaur bones. I fond a kit on sale at Big Lots. I also found some great dinosaurs for my tot to play with at The Dollar Store.

Then, they built a dinosaur museum with the little dinosaurs and fossils they found. I love homeschooling:) They played dinosaurs the rest of the day. It was a great adventure.

Zoo Experience

Well, if you have been following our blog recently, you will remember that I promised my children a Year of Adventures. This is to be a year full of adventures and experiences. We joined a homeschool group to help facilitate that - because of the sheer size of this group, we get substantial discounts and a variety of field trips. This week, we went to the zoo. Now, that might not seem like an adventure to some but it was for us.

I can tell you that it was super hot at the zoo. We all took cold showers when we returned! It reminded us of the 10 days of no electricity after hurricane Irma.

We were able to take a safari ride which took us behind the scenes of the zoo. We saw more of the animals this way.

The experience for the kids was an opportunity to feed the giraffe. She came right up to us.

The kids were super excited to have the interaction. They couldn't believe it! A real live giraffe eating from their hands.

Here's J feeding the giraffe some lettuce. What a great experience for them. They will never forget:) Another adventure to add to our list :) See you soon.

Tot Tuesday

Recently, we had the opportunity to visit a corn maze which was super fun. I had to share these pics of Riley playing in the corn.

This is my favorite pic of all....he is so cute! He ended up with corn everywhere - in his shoes, pockets:)

Aquarium Experience

We are currently working through a Year of Adventures and this adventure came just in time for our Night of the Moonjellies Row. Because of our interest in nature journaling, this was also a great adventure for Science.

Kaleb is hamming it up here - he is "thinking" about his aquarium map. And don't you love my toddler's clothes? He dressed himself and insisted that they matched because they were both red. I tried to talk him out of it but you can see how that worked.

A bird that I can all most reach...In the aquarium, they have birds flying around and my tot all most had bird poop one his head while I was taking this pic. It just missed him!

Riley, my tot, inside a shell.

Love this photo - J is way too big for the shell!

Here's the photo of Kaleb and the moon jellies. Aren't they amazing? We had too much fun learning about jellyfish when ready Night of the Moonjellies. Another fun adventure - see you soon.

Salvador Dali Experience

Recently, we were given the opportunity to visit the Dali Museum for Homeschool Day. It was the perfect time to learn about one of the artists that my husband loves - Salvador Dali. He was a surrealist with some interesting ideas and paintings. This was definitely out of my comfort zone as I love the Impressionists. But it was a great experience for us:)

We started by our Dali experience by reading all about him. Then I allowed the kids to choose the art projects that they wanted to try. Kaleb decided to do the animal sculpture with the long legs. It was supposed to made from air-hardening clay but I found our clay had hardened:(  So I improvised - we used play dough.

I gave them each half a container of green and half of blue play dough to work with. We found some chopsticks and dowels for the legs as well as wood shapes for scutes and tails. They also used googly eyes for fun.

Kaleb was very pleased with his creation. I love his toothless grin at the moment.

J wanted to work on the collage of pictures from magazines. This was fun to watch. I kept reminding them that they were to choose items that didn't go together.

J's picture had some interesting concepts - Kaleb thought the toilet dog was just great! J loved her eye/nose shoe.

Kaleb made two pictures - this was his second. He wanted a toilet dog as well and he put mustaches on each of the people to remind him of the true Dali.

The next project was one that I choose - Dali's Mustaches. I had them draw a face and add a pipe cleaner mustache in any silly design that they wanted.

You can't tell from the picture but Kaleb's mustache (on right) is in the shape of a heart. Love these!

The museum had a bunch of activities for us when we arrived. One of the activities was create your own Dali mustache. I had a hard time getting this picture because we were laughing so hard. We spent all morning at the museum and had a great time. They had listening devices for each of the kids and a great "Mustache Tour" for them to listen to.

I was a little disappointed because some of the gardens were closed off due to Hurricane Irma. Maybe next time:( But we did get a cute picture in front of the Dali mustache! Not too bad for our adventure. See you soon.


Links

The Pinterested Parent - has a cute and easy project for a melting paper clock.

Artsy Crafty Mom - has list of ten projects for Dali.

Little Yeti - has a cute project of a long legged elephant.

Elementary Art Fun - has another long legged elephant art project.

Use Your Colored Pencils - has a great project that uses Dali's mustache. These are so cute!