When class was over we stopped at the park that is on the way to our house. We spent a few hours there and ended up meeting up with a few of our friends from our homeschool group.
17 years ago
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Fun day for all
On the 12th of June I stared taking both boys to D's PE class. They play nicely together there and it is a lot of fun to watch.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
FWCC PE and other things we did today
Today was suppose to be PE for both of the boys but we only went to D's. This has been happening a lot recently, mostly because we go to D's thinking it will be fun and it isn't so much. By the time it is time for J's class I'm thinking this isn't going to be fun and what is the point of driving over there to watch him be upset or eat candy (yes, the instructor gets them to do things in class by promising candy at the end).
This morning I dropped D off in class and I headed up to the track above his class. I do this so I can watch but not be too close. Most of the time he notices me in the first lap or two. So, to give you an idea of what I thought the class would be let me share the write up in the catelog to register for the class...
For ages 3-6. Run, jump, play and learn with a variety of activities, sports, and games that will help burn energy and improve basic motor skills. Class is free to passholders, $80+tax per child for non-passholders. Come join in on the fun! Register early as classes will fill up quickly.
This is what I signed up for...the older kid class reads exactly the same with the exeption of the ages. Today in D's class what did we do? They had what I like to call "open gym"...this is the preschool age indoor gym type thing we pay for here in WA. Well, this one doesn't have all the cool toys and it isn't suppose to be an indoor open tot gym. Today they ran the upstairs track 3 times (12.65 laps equals a mile), rode trikes, and did 3 races. This class is an hour long class, just in case you were wondering.
You might wonder what I want from this class. This is what I'm going for...orgainized games with a group of children. I don't think that is too much to ask...the children are even provide all you have to do is orginize game to play! Or cheese out and make up a relay race or ostical course where they have to work together on some level (staying in the same order or taking turns or something easy). But that doesn't seem to be what this is all about so we will be quitting these "PE classes" and doing our own thing.
On another note...we came home made pictures for Moogie and Papa. They will be back soon and the boys have missed them a lot. Since we started framing the boys' artwork they are trying much harder to produce very nice piece instead of just scribling or whatever. It is nice to see them take their time and put effort into things.
Oh...I guess I should say that we were listening to music also...that would explain the look on D's face.
After we were all finished with the pictures J was off to play with Lego and D wanted to get out the play dough we made a few days back. I can't believe how long he can sit there and play all by himself, well for the most part...he does require someone pretend to eat his "cooking" from time to time.
Don't worry he never brings me things with eyes on them to "taste"...lol!
This morning I dropped D off in class and I headed up to the track above his class. I do this so I can watch but not be too close. Most of the time he notices me in the first lap or two. So, to give you an idea of what I thought the class would be let me share the write up in the catelog to register for the class...
For ages 3-6. Run, jump, play and learn with a variety of activities, sports, and games that will help burn energy and improve basic motor skills. Class is free to passholders, $80+tax per child for non-passholders. Come join in on the fun! Register early as classes will fill up quickly.
This is what I signed up for...the older kid class reads exactly the same with the exeption of the ages. Today in D's class what did we do? They had what I like to call "open gym"...this is the preschool age indoor gym type thing we pay for here in WA. Well, this one doesn't have all the cool toys and it isn't suppose to be an indoor open tot gym. Today they ran the upstairs track 3 times (12.65 laps equals a mile), rode trikes, and did 3 races. This class is an hour long class, just in case you were wondering.
You might wonder what I want from this class. This is what I'm going for...orgainized games with a group of children. I don't think that is too much to ask...the children are even provide all you have to do is orginize game to play! Or cheese out and make up a relay race or ostical course where they have to work together on some level (staying in the same order or taking turns or something easy). But that doesn't seem to be what this is all about so we will be quitting these "PE classes" and doing our own thing.
On another note...we came home made pictures for Moogie and Papa. They will be back soon and the boys have missed them a lot. Since we started framing the boys' artwork they are trying much harder to produce very nice piece instead of just scribling or whatever. It is nice to see them take their time and put effort into things.
Oh...I guess I should say that we were listening to music also...that would explain the look on D's face.
After we were all finished with the pictures J was off to play with Lego and D wanted to get out the play dough we made a few days back. I can't believe how long he can sit there and play all by himself, well for the most part...he does require someone pretend to eat his "cooking" from time to time.
Don't worry he never brings me things with eyes on them to "taste"...lol!
Friday, June 6, 2008
Library Day
Today we didn't do much; we did manage to make it to storytime. We have been trying for awhile now but I keep forgetting. D just loves it! In the past he has really enjoyed it but he seemed to like it more today than he has in the past.
I think we will hang around the house most of this weekend and I'm hoping to finally get around to mixing the boys' songs we recorded awhile back. Maybe I didn't post about that...we were going to try and do a song a week but that was a bit much. We could have done the lyrics and recorded everything but not mixed it so it sounds good.
We ended up having the kids do the lyrics and all the recordings but now we have to sit and work with them to get it to what they want. Each of the boys played all the insturments, wrote the song and sung. With any luck we will have them up for listening...viewing pleasure by Monday.
Well off to check the boys!
I think we will hang around the house most of this weekend and I'm hoping to finally get around to mixing the boys' songs we recorded awhile back. Maybe I didn't post about that...we were going to try and do a song a week but that was a bit much. We could have done the lyrics and recorded everything but not mixed it so it sounds good.
We ended up having the kids do the lyrics and all the recordings but now we have to sit and work with them to get it to what they want. Each of the boys played all the insturments, wrote the song and sung. With any luck we will have them up for listening...viewing pleasure by Monday.
Well off to check the boys!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Making Play Dough
I have been telling the children that we could make play dough sometime soon. I really don't like the smell of the store bought play dough so I make it. We have done so for years now...ever since I took J to a preschool playgroup when he was 2yrs old and they gave us the recipe (included at the bottom of this post). Here are the kids already to make the play dough.
I tried to get pictures of both of the boys helping but they were quicker than I or the camera but here is D putting in the salt. J did the flour but he was too quick for me.
To make the process go quicker I mix the water, oil and food coloring together. This picture was taken as soon as I finished putting in all 50 drops of the food coloring. As I took the picture the food coloring broke throught the oil leaving....
this behind....
I tried to get pictures of both of the boys helping but they were quicker than I or the camera but here is D putting in the salt. J did the flour but he was too quick for me.
To make the process go quicker I mix the water, oil and food coloring together. This picture was taken as soon as I finished putting in all 50 drops of the food coloring. As I took the picture the food coloring broke throught the oil leaving....
this behind....
I really wish I had the video going instead because it would have been a really cool video to have. We tried the next time or two to get it recorded but we missed everytime. I thought some of you might want to see what it looks like when it is being cooked. Oh look, it matches the wall.
J was having such a wonderful time kneeding the dough. D wanted to help but kept talking about it being too "hot" which is funny seeing as he can deal with hotter things than J can.
When we were all done the kids when to watch some afternoon TV and I let the play dough sit for about an hour to cool completely (or so...not sure it is cooling now). When it is done cooling I plan to take it downstairs and let the kids play with it while I hang the school posters up in the school area (I will take pics too since it is all painted now too).
Homemade Play Dough
What you will need:
*1/2 cup of salt
*1 cup water
*50 drops food coloring
*1 cup wheat flour (makes it darker...if use all purpose flour use 100 drops of food coloring)
*2 teaspoons cream of tartar
*1 tablespoon oil
*double boiler pan (or something to pretend...I use two pans)
*plastic spoon (just needs to be very stiff)
*wax paper
*container to put it when done (ziplock bags work great!)
What to do:
1. put all the dry ingredients in the top part of the double boiler
2. add the oil, water and food coloring
3. cook and stir until the mixture comes awaya from the sides of the pan
4. scrape dough out onto wax paper
5. kneading for about 5 mins
6. put in container or play
Keeps a very long time if in air tight container and is ok to eat (not recommended).
Pictures of Aqua Doodle and Painting
In recent blog posts I have talked about Aqua Doodle and painting that I'm now allowing the kids to do upstairs. Here are a few pictures showing off some of the stuff they have been doing.
Here is J and D doing Aqua Doodle at the kitchen table. They spend hours doing this; they cover it and then let it dry just enough to do it again.
Here are J's paintings from 6/3/08
Here are D's paintings from 6/3/08
And here is what we are doing with all the art they are producing these days.
Going Crazy
Ok...we have had the same Advisory Teacher all school year and she still doesn't seem to remember who my child is. I find this just mind boggling...I think she is the only person I have every had contact with that can't remember J.
She gets an email from him every week telling her what he has been up to and whatnot. To which she is to respond showing she has paid attention to what the child wrote. Over the past 36 weeks this has happened maybe once or twice. Most of the time she either writes something that is totally canned (and nothing to do with what J wrote to her) or about a different student (which for some reason she thinks is J).
We happen to know the family we are confused with and niether family sees how she could confuse us. Our family is 4 people and thiers is 5; we only have boys and they have 2 boys and a girl (one boy and the girl are enrolled and have the same teacher as J). It has been so bad that the teacher has given me test results for the other mom's son. When she started telling me the results I was confused then she said "and your daughter" that is when I knew she wasn't talking about my child (only J is enrolled at the moment; D is too young).
The other mother and myself have said something to the teacher a few times but it happens over and over again. About 5 months ago I stop letting J read the emails from the teacher for he was not happy with her lack of interest. Today we did our last weekly contact and the response once again showed she doesn't remember from one week to the next. J has told her for about 2 to 3 weeks now that he is on summer break and is doing little summer projects only.
Her response today was "I imagine that school is almost over for you! That is really a good big brother to teach little brother how to spell his name. The best of learning takes place when you teach someone else!This summer is coming fast, J. So I hope that you have a lot of fun and relaxing coming your way soon.Thank you for being such a super student!" Where as the response is very nice; it still shows that she doesn't remember he is already on summer break.
Oh well, it is summer now and I only have a few more reports to do for the year and then get ready for next...no big. Off to have fun with the kids...or go crazy...we will see!
She gets an email from him every week telling her what he has been up to and whatnot. To which she is to respond showing she has paid attention to what the child wrote. Over the past 36 weeks this has happened maybe once or twice. Most of the time she either writes something that is totally canned (and nothing to do with what J wrote to her) or about a different student (which for some reason she thinks is J).
We happen to know the family we are confused with and niether family sees how she could confuse us. Our family is 4 people and thiers is 5; we only have boys and they have 2 boys and a girl (one boy and the girl are enrolled and have the same teacher as J). It has been so bad that the teacher has given me test results for the other mom's son. When she started telling me the results I was confused then she said "and your daughter" that is when I knew she wasn't talking about my child (only J is enrolled at the moment; D is too young).
The other mother and myself have said something to the teacher a few times but it happens over and over again. About 5 months ago I stop letting J read the emails from the teacher for he was not happy with her lack of interest. Today we did our last weekly contact and the response once again showed she doesn't remember from one week to the next. J has told her for about 2 to 3 weeks now that he is on summer break and is doing little summer projects only.
Her response today was "I imagine that school is almost over for you! That is really a good big brother to teach little brother how to spell his name. The best of learning takes place when you teach someone else!This summer is coming fast, J. So I hope that you have a lot of fun and relaxing coming your way soon.Thank you for being such a super student!" Where as the response is very nice; it still shows that she doesn't remember he is already on summer break.
Oh well, it is summer now and I only have a few more reports to do for the year and then get ready for next...no big. Off to have fun with the kids...or go crazy...we will see!
Monday, June 2, 2008
Our wonderful day
This morning we got up about 7:30am and the children ate breakfast. After breakfast we got dressed and came back out to the kitchen to do AquaDoddle while I did the dishes. The boys love this! I can't believe how entertaining water can be.
After about an hour of AquaDoddle we watched Clifford and then it was back to Aqua Doddle for a bit more. When they headed to D's room to play with blocks and cars then off to J's room for alittle read; back to D's for some more blocks and cars. Then it was time for mom to start painting the new "school area" so we could move everything into there (see this post for more on the changes).
As I painted the laundry room/school area, the boys played in the playroom. They did all kinds of things together and apart. The whole time I was painting, about 2 hours, they were forced to stay in the playroom area only (or the bathroom if they need..oh right...tell more in a moment). Having them within eye sight seems to be the easiest way to control the arguing that happens (they are doing this a lot).
As I finished up the painting they went upstairs and J made them lunch. When they where finished it was time to get ready for park day with our homeschool group. We got ready and headed out to the park. It was alittle cold but a very nice day out. After the park it was off to the grocery store and the bread store. I had wanted to get a bread knive but it turned out the knive wasn't like I thought it was so we got bread instead.
We also stopped into Sees Candies for the first time ever. It was interesting and good. We ended up buying some since we get a discount (E's work). The boys were so happy; when we walked in they gave all three of us a free piece of candy. It was very good!
Off to home to see dad!!! We got home and the boys headed out the backdoor to play in the yard with a snack in hand. I have to say it was a really good day today!
After about an hour of AquaDoddle we watched Clifford and then it was back to Aqua Doddle for a bit more. When they headed to D's room to play with blocks and cars then off to J's room for alittle read; back to D's for some more blocks and cars. Then it was time for mom to start painting the new "school area" so we could move everything into there (see this post for more on the changes).
As I painted the laundry room/school area, the boys played in the playroom. They did all kinds of things together and apart. The whole time I was painting, about 2 hours, they were forced to stay in the playroom area only (or the bathroom if they need..oh right...tell more in a moment). Having them within eye sight seems to be the easiest way to control the arguing that happens (they are doing this a lot).
As I finished up the painting they went upstairs and J made them lunch. When they where finished it was time to get ready for park day with our homeschool group. We got ready and headed out to the park. It was alittle cold but a very nice day out. After the park it was off to the grocery store and the bread store. I had wanted to get a bread knive but it turned out the knive wasn't like I thought it was so we got bread instead.
We also stopped into Sees Candies for the first time ever. It was interesting and good. We ended up buying some since we get a discount (E's work). The boys were so happy; when we walked in they gave all three of us a free piece of candy. It was very good!
Off to home to see dad!!! We got home and the boys headed out the backdoor to play in the yard with a snack in hand. I have to say it was a really good day today!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Fun Math and Science things
Today I found a list of our favorite math and science things for a friend of mine that is/has recently entered the homeschool world and I thought I would share with the rest of you also. I posted here http://jordyblue.blogspot.com/2008/05/fun-math-and-science-things.html
A long in coming update
Wow...I just realized I haven't posted in months. We have been doing our normal school stuff but since my last post (before BNL kids CD) we have stop running all over the world. We have become more "green" aware, I guess you would say. I don't think we have become more aware I think we just decided it was time to make it more of an issue in our lives. Anyways, we now stay around the Federal Way area most of the time and that is working pretty good.
J got his yearly test results last month and we found out that he tests at as if he is ending his 5th grade year in both english and math. We felt a bit disheartened at hearing this since he is only 7yrs old and "should be" just finishing the 1st grade. This really messed with my head since I had already planned out what we would be doing next year for schooling but now it seems it would be almost as big of a waste of time as this year was.
Don't get me wrong we did a lot this year and he learned a lot this year, but we purchased 2nd grade Calvert for him last year and he found it so easy it wasn't funny. I spend as much time if not more time "supplementing" him as I did when I wrote the curriulum myself.
I think we have decided what to do next year; we will be getting Calvert 4th grade for him and going from there. If need be we can decrease or increase how difficult the subjects are and it should be easier on me then having to scramble daily to find things to chalenge him on any level.
D is also a litte sponge; in short sessions the child learns major amounts. For example, he learned to spell his name in a 15 minute period....granted he only can reconize it if it is uppercase but he can tell you exactly how it is spelt if you ask him. I didn't really mean to teach this to him. I was reading that to help introduce children to letters to show them their names and go over the letters in it before the rest of the ABCs since those letters "mean" something to them. I couldn't believe how good it worked; since then he has learned most of his ABCs (he has been saying them for about 1.5 yrs but never could tell you what the letter was if you pointed at it...now he can for most of the ABCs).
D will be starting PreK at home in the fall while J starts the 4th grade and we will go from there. Right now we are doing "Summer School", it is very easy stuff but I wanted to do something beside sit around and mess off all summer. So far we have decided to do poster boards of Presidents, Countries, Letters, Numbers and we also do projects related to geography, music and science.
The poster boards are pretty cool but we might stop them and do the stuff in the Dangerous Book for Boys that they got for the holidays. It is a really cool book with lots of fun stuff in it like how to build a go cart or bow and arrow. Things the boys would love doing and more of a summer activity.
I think that is generally it besides general family life but I will update that on one of the other blogs.
Take care out there!
J got his yearly test results last month and we found out that he tests at as if he is ending his 5th grade year in both english and math. We felt a bit disheartened at hearing this since he is only 7yrs old and "should be" just finishing the 1st grade. This really messed with my head since I had already planned out what we would be doing next year for schooling but now it seems it would be almost as big of a waste of time as this year was.
Don't get me wrong we did a lot this year and he learned a lot this year, but we purchased 2nd grade Calvert for him last year and he found it so easy it wasn't funny. I spend as much time if not more time "supplementing" him as I did when I wrote the curriulum myself.
I think we have decided what to do next year; we will be getting Calvert 4th grade for him and going from there. If need be we can decrease or increase how difficult the subjects are and it should be easier on me then having to scramble daily to find things to chalenge him on any level.
D is also a litte sponge; in short sessions the child learns major amounts. For example, he learned to spell his name in a 15 minute period....granted he only can reconize it if it is uppercase but he can tell you exactly how it is spelt if you ask him. I didn't really mean to teach this to him. I was reading that to help introduce children to letters to show them their names and go over the letters in it before the rest of the ABCs since those letters "mean" something to them. I couldn't believe how good it worked; since then he has learned most of his ABCs (he has been saying them for about 1.5 yrs but never could tell you what the letter was if you pointed at it...now he can for most of the ABCs).
D will be starting PreK at home in the fall while J starts the 4th grade and we will go from there. Right now we are doing "Summer School", it is very easy stuff but I wanted to do something beside sit around and mess off all summer. So far we have decided to do poster boards of Presidents, Countries, Letters, Numbers and we also do projects related to geography, music and science.
The poster boards are pretty cool but we might stop them and do the stuff in the Dangerous Book for Boys that they got for the holidays. It is a really cool book with lots of fun stuff in it like how to build a go cart or bow and arrow. Things the boys would love doing and more of a summer activity.
I think that is generally it besides general family life but I will update that on one of the other blogs.
Take care out there!
BNL's kids CD and 789 song
We LOVE the Barenaked Ladies and Mo Willems...this morning I was reading Mo Willems' blog and someone wrote in saying they were listening to the BNL kid's CD and that it would be great if Mo and the BNL teamed up for something.
I raced to my search engine to find out what they were talking about I hadn't heard of a BNL kid's CD....that would be a must own in this house! Sure enough they released the CD and book (not by Mo) this month. We will be heading out to get it or order it direct from BNL by the end of the week (if the kids don't drive me crazy just listening to 789...forcing me to get the CD sooner so I can hear other things).
I posted about this in the homeschool blog because I find the video very educational...for D learned how to count to 10 watching the video 6 times. I'm not sure if the rest of the CD is like that but I will post more about it once we get it.
Here is the video the kids will not stop watching:
I raced to my search engine to find out what they were talking about I hadn't heard of a BNL kid's CD....that would be a must own in this house! Sure enough they released the CD and book (not by Mo) this month. We will be heading out to get it or order it direct from BNL by the end of the week (if the kids don't drive me crazy just listening to 789...forcing me to get the CD sooner so I can hear other things).
I posted about this in the homeschool blog because I find the video very educational...for D learned how to count to 10 watching the video 6 times. I'm not sure if the rest of the CD is like that but I will post more about it once we get it.
Here is the video the kids will not stop watching:
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Homeschool Bowling is a HIT!!!
Well, today was our first homeschool bowling day. It was so much fun! I didn't get to bowl of course but I got to help the boys and it was so much fun. I wish I would have remembered the camera; oh well. I did take a few pictures with my phone but I'm not sure how good they will be but I will post them later when I figure out how to get them off my phone (whole new world...lol).
D couldn't really get the ball down the lane...well, that isn't true, he could it just took forever. So, they let him use the ramp (really cool thing that you push the ball down) which help a lot. His first game he scored a 51 and the second game he got 79. J did much better; he bowled on his own with little pointers here and there. On his first game he did a 75 and on the second he got a 67. Not bad at all for their first time really bowling (granted they did have the bumper lanes).
We also found something to do on the Wednesdays J has Science; we can play bowling at $2.50 per person per game or we can take a 15 minute drive to the museums in Tacoma. I couldn't believe it today when I tried the route to downtown from the bowling place...it only took 10 minutes to get to the Glass Museum. That is so great since we have about 3 hours to kill 2 times a month.
I'm so happy how things are working out....now if we could just get up on time in the mornings we would be perfect (well as close as one can get...lol)
D couldn't really get the ball down the lane...well, that isn't true, he could it just took forever. So, they let him use the ramp (really cool thing that you push the ball down) which help a lot. His first game he scored a 51 and the second game he got 79. J did much better; he bowled on his own with little pointers here and there. On his first game he did a 75 and on the second he got a 67. Not bad at all for their first time really bowling (granted they did have the bumper lanes).
We also found something to do on the Wednesdays J has Science; we can play bowling at $2.50 per person per game or we can take a 15 minute drive to the museums in Tacoma. I couldn't believe it today when I tried the route to downtown from the bowling place...it only took 10 minutes to get to the Glass Museum. That is so great since we have about 3 hours to kill 2 times a month.
I'm so happy how things are working out....now if we could just get up on time in the mornings we would be perfect (well as close as one can get...lol)
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
YMCA, bowling league, and other fun stuf
I thought I should write a general post about some of the things we do since a lot of people I have talked to seem not to know about them.
Group Games and PE
YMCA - Morgan Family Center
1002 South Pearl St.Tacoma, WA 98465
$30/month membership for youths and with the membership includes PE classes, Creative Movement Classes, Gymnastics, Swimming, Group Sports (current is basketball), and Karate Classes.
This is our second session at this Y and we love it!!! The kids get love all the classes they can take and I love the price!
Cheap Movies
Gateway Movies
82501 S. Gateway Center
Federal Way, WA 98003
All movies are $2 except on Tuesdays when it is $1
The movies are cheap but the concession stand is full price ($3.75 for large coke). We like this theater since few people seem to know about it and we have the theater to ourselves most of the time (3 to 5 others at the movie with us). Granted these movies are just about on DVD or just came our on DVD.
Homeschool bowling
Narrows Plaza Bowl
2200 Mildred Street
University Place, WA
Practice is at 10:45.am and league begins at 11 .am.Two games per week for bumper league costs $5.75 per week.Three games a week for older children costs $6.50 per week.This includes shoe rentala certificate of completion that lists hours attended and completion of physical education coursean end of class bowling partyThis is a great place for children to meet new friends, develop bowling skills and have fun. It is a great place for parents to either bowl or socialize with other homeschool mothers/fathers.If you are interested please contact for further information or to registerLee Greenfield 253-565-1007 ext
We have just signed up for this class and will review it as the weeks go on.
Budding Scientists
Adriana Hess Audubon Center
2917 Morrison Rd. W
University Place, WA 98466
Ages 5-7, $8 per child, 10:30 am - noon or 3:15 pm - 4:45
Young homeschoolers and other children begin science and nature exploration through games, walks and crafts. Register at least two days prior to the session. They also offer homeschool science for older kids; done through Tacoma Metro Parks
My oldest has been taking these classes since he was 5yrs old (currently 7) and loves them. He doesn’t like to miss a single one and wishes they happened more often. He isn’t looking forward to next year when he moves up to the Homeschool Science since it is only once a month (but for a longer time).
***I have started to post all the things I'm aware of to do at the Jordyblue blog. As we do different things I will be review them on the Jordyblue blog also***
Group Games and PE
YMCA - Morgan Family Center
1002 South Pearl St.Tacoma, WA 98465
$30/month membership for youths and with the membership includes PE classes, Creative Movement Classes, Gymnastics, Swimming, Group Sports (current is basketball), and Karate Classes.
This is our second session at this Y and we love it!!! The kids get love all the classes they can take and I love the price!
Cheap Movies
Gateway Movies
82501 S. Gateway Center
Federal Way, WA 98003
All movies are $2 except on Tuesdays when it is $1
The movies are cheap but the concession stand is full price ($3.75 for large coke). We like this theater since few people seem to know about it and we have the theater to ourselves most of the time (3 to 5 others at the movie with us). Granted these movies are just about on DVD or just came our on DVD.
Homeschool bowling
Narrows Plaza Bowl
2200 Mildred Street
University Place, WA
Practice is at 10:45.am and league begins at 11 .am.Two games per week for bumper league costs $5.75 per week.Three games a week for older children costs $6.50 per week.This includes shoe rentala certificate of completion that lists hours attended and completion of physical education coursean end of class bowling partyThis is a great place for children to meet new friends, develop bowling skills and have fun. It is a great place for parents to either bowl or socialize with other homeschool mothers/fathers.If you are interested please contact for further information or to registerLee Greenfield 253-565-1007 ext
We have just signed up for this class and will review it as the weeks go on.
Budding Scientists
Adriana Hess Audubon Center
2917 Morrison Rd. W
University Place, WA 98466
Ages 5-7, $8 per child, 10:30 am - noon or 3:15 pm - 4:45
Young homeschoolers and other children begin science and nature exploration through games, walks and crafts. Register at least two days prior to the session. They also offer homeschool science for older kids; done through Tacoma Metro Parks
My oldest has been taking these classes since he was 5yrs old (currently 7) and loves them. He doesn’t like to miss a single one and wishes they happened more often. He isn’t looking forward to next year when he moves up to the Homeschool Science since it is only once a month (but for a longer time).
***I have started to post all the things I'm aware of to do at the Jordyblue blog. As we do different things I will be review them on the Jordyblue blog also***
Schedule changes...lol...again
It changes by the day around here. The boys expressed an interest in bowling recently and my hubby suggested I find a place for them to bowl. I started to setup a homeschool bowling day when I found out there already was one. The only issue is the bowling league is the same time as science. I went over today and found out there is an opening and signed up both boys. Then I remembered the science issues (and why we couldn’t start today…lol). I was thinking D would do it every Wednesday and J would do it on his off days but that seems a bit unfair. Well, I talked to the science teacher and we could most likely get
Oh, talking about science class, the reason I didn’t get a call when class was canceled was “J doesn’t show as enrolled in that class”. This is the same reason I wasn’t called when they rescheduled the class for last week. Now, I have to call to switch classes and show we did pay for the class he didn’t get to take which shouldn’t be too hard since I have the recipe.
If am able to get J changed to the afternoon class we will now be spending days as follows:
Mondays –
Tuesdays – YMCA
Wednesdays – Bowling and Budding Science
Thursdays – YMCA or Earth Scouts
Fridays – Lego Club or Museums or Movies
Not too bad but I will need to find something to do for a few hours on Wednesdays unless we want to come home for an hour and go back out there. I have done that before and it isn’t all that fun but then again if you can’t find something to do…
I guess tomorrow before the Y I should call and change J’s classes…I will talk to him some more tonight to make sure he is ok with that.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Monthly Review - Jan 2008
Language Art - Satisfactory
J continues to excel in Language Arts; during this review period we covered the Lion, Witch and a Wardrobe on Beyond Books. This included doing writing on what Plutoians and humans look like to each other. J did a very good job with this assignment but did not really enjoy it. We started Bridge to Tarabithia (next book for Beyond Books), J quickly became bored with the story and we decided against continuing the book (we have put Beyond Books on hold for now). In his Calvert studies J has done comprehension questions, plurals with ies, es, s, using pronouns, four compositions and six spelling tests on which he missed a total of 6 words out of 60 words (because, school, flew, should, orange and morning). J can now spell these words correctly most of the time (he still has issues with should). He started to show boredom and distraction again by making silly mistakes on things like forgetting to do questions, leaving name and date off papers, indenting, etc. so we changed our days around a bit. Everyday we start the day the same, then subjects are done differently daily (instead of always starting with math each day is different), after lunch is active activities. J's overall grade in this subject is currently an average of 96%.
Technology - Satisfactory
J continues to use his computer on a regular basis. He is still slow and hesitant to type much of anything but last week he started typing his Weekly Contacts himself. J started typing some of his school work and posting them on his blog. We are still looking into typing programs to help him in this area. J is currently averaging a 96% in this subject.
Fine Art - Satisfactory
We are still working on the picture Pinkie by
Math - Satisfactory
J has been learning adding and subtracting using regrouping. He finds this very easy and has a hard time understanding why it is important to show your work (he looks at the problem and just knows the answer). We have been working on taking the time to show how you got your answer; he is starting to understand this is for the future and is just a good habit to have. J has also continued to do his Perplexors, CodeBreakers, and Deducibles; along with playing online math/logic games. J really enjoys math. His overall average in this subject is 96%.
Science - Satisfactory
J has continued to take nature science every other week and is still really enjoying while learning a lot. He has become reenergized with the Calvert Science since we are covering the night sky and sound with hands on activities. J loves to look and learn about the night sky; he also loves to have reason to play with the musical instruments (not that he needs one). After we finished the Chemistry on Beyond Books J informed me he was not ready or quite interested in covering science on that level yet. He is more interested with having hands on experiments. Most of the Calvert material is things we have covered before, given this we will continue with it and adding many hands on experiments to reinforce the concepts instead of using Beyond Books. J is currently averaging 95% in this subject.
Social Studies - Satisfactory
J really enjoys his social studies lessons; we have been learning about Indians and the War of 1812, Custer's Last Stand, how to making tepees, slavery and abolition, the red cross, Biology, Medicine, and Mathematics. He loves learning about our country’s past and how it became what it is today. J has also learned about elections and what is currently happening. He is very interested in the presidential election and asks questions often about different topics. It is wonderful to see his enthusiasm for politics. J is currently averaging 94% in this area.
PE/Health - Satisfactory
J did a wonderful job in his YMCA classes last session. This session starts Feb 19th and he will be taking PE, Gymnastics, Basketball and Swimming. He is looking forward to starting the new session since last session was so much fun. J is currently averaging 96% in this subject.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Oh, how we love Calvert....
Have I said recently how much we love Calvert? I know that sounds funny but I truly love their material. The boys and I are interested in most of the subjects and even the ones that we (J and I mostly) find too easy are still fun enough that we get through them quickly. Today I ordered D the PreK material; I understand he is only 3 but he loves to sit in on J’s stuff and do as much as he can. He even gets upset if he can’t do some of it. This is why I decided to get the PreK for him; he should be able to do most of it with some help if not on his own and he would be so happy. I find it amazing how much he wants to be just like J including being able to do “school work”.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
From lonely to busy and loving it
I’m amazed…I went from feeling the kids were lacking in activities to being gone most of the time. Over February it has been hard adjusting to the new “school” schedule; it was harder on me than the kids. I guess it was really January since today is only the 7th of February. Most of my issue has been entirely my fault for not paying attention when registering the kids for YMCA classes. We had to register at late registration since we became members after normal registration was over with. I wanted certain things for the kids and when I couldn’t get them into the classes I had wanted for them I took whatever I could get.
Bad move…we have been at it for about a month now and it has been a long month. Every Tuesday and Thursday we go to D’s class where I have to participate with him while J sits and watches (normally he listens to books on CD), then we have 2 hours before the next class (which is just enough time to drive home, sit for an hour, if we are lucky and drive back) which is J’s 2 classes then we have another 1.5 hours before the next class for J. That is about 6 to 7 hours at the Y with a lot of time to kill. If the Y was closer to the house then it wouldn’t be so bad but it is a good 30 to 45 minute drive each way and we haven’t found anything around the YMCA to do for free in the cold wet weather.
The boys LOVE the YMCA so we have to continue and the one closer to us doesn’t offer the things we want (whole different issue that I have already vented about); we are changing how we do things and with any luck it will work out for the best. We will still spend 5 hours 2x a week at the Y but at least both boys will have classes and we will only have an hour each to kill (one hour for D to wait and one hour for J to wait), except Tuesdays when D has 2 hours to kill but that is ok we will find something to do (maybe even his new Calvert stuff if it is here by then).
When looking at our current schedule I start to wonder, “Do we really homeschool?” Everyday we get up eat and get ready for the day. Then from
Mondays –
Tuesdays – YMCA
Wednesdays – Budding Science, Free Day or Movie Day
Thursdays – YMCA or Earth Scouts
Fridays – Lego Club or Museums
We normally try to make it home by
When I look at this I see we are as busy as or busier than most families that have two working parents and children in normal public school (I say normal since my oldest is a public school student at home; times they change). We seem to never been home and it has improved everyone’s attitude and outlook on life. We are all happier and the boys even get along much better (not bored anymore). Now if we can just keep it up and it keep us happy.
Budding Science
We normally love these classes but yesterday we drove all the way out there (we live a good 30 to 45 mins away) to find out the class was canceled. What kills me is they didn't even call to tell anyone. How do I know; because my number is the only one on file for our house and there was NOTHING on my phone from there (not even a missed call)!
I don't think this was a good example for the kids in this class. I can't speak for the others but it killed J's day. He looks so forward to that class; he was crushed when we got there and found out that the class was canceled. Worse for him, we heard that they want to reschedule the class for next week, but he already has plans for that day.
The whole thing was just really uncool how they handled it.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Discoveries in Music
We got our Discoveries in Music yesterday. My hubby didn't let it sit long before he had the kids downstairs playing with it all. They were having so much fun. Today we watched the first lesson on the DVD and the kids seemed to love it. I think we will watch it again tonight as a family before we do our family music time. I think this is going to be a lot of fun; we just started a family music time last night and it was a blast. This weekend we are going to go look at drums, keyboard stand and mics; we might even get a few things.
We definally want to encourage the kids as much as possible when it comes to music. My hubby wants to get software that does mixing and burning so that we can record, mix and burn cds which would really encourage the kids to play. I think it would be great to be able to do such a thing. If we do get that software maybe we will offer to do a music club or something for our homeschool co-op. That would be a total blast!
Anyways, I should get this paperwork off to the school and go cook, clean, and other unfun things of the sort.
We definally want to encourage the kids as much as possible when it comes to music. My hubby wants to get software that does mixing and burning so that we can record, mix and burn cds which would really encourage the kids to play. I think it would be great to be able to do such a thing. If we do get that software maybe we will offer to do a music club or something for our homeschool co-op. That would be a total blast!
Anyways, I should get this paperwork off to the school and go cook, clean, and other unfun things of the sort.
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