Fun, Fun, Fun!
02 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
in Field Trips, Resources, Schooling Tags: Field trips, Library
It’s amazing the things that are available here for kids and families! The more I look around for things, the more amazed I am at what I find. There is so much out in the community that I want to do with the kids! And, I love exposing them to all sorts of things, hands on. I’ve found that when you can see it and experience it, you learn so much better.
We’ve been blessed to have three great field trips in the last couple of weeks! We have done these before, but the kids love them and seem to get something new out of them each time. First, we went Anderson Dairy. They offer a really cute little tour of their facility and they have a film about milk, milking cows, and the history of their dairy. It’s fun for the little ones because they have these super adorable animatronic barnyard animals that give the kids a ton of info, while still being fun. The older kids can get a lot out of the actual tour and the film. And, everyone loves watching the milk get bottled. Then, they give out ice cream at the end. I really recommend checking it out, for anyone of any age. Anderson Dairy is a big part of Las Vegas history, and if you live here, you should know about it.
After the dairy, we went over to a park just a couple minutes away, and the kids all had fun playing!
The next trip we went on was to Plant World. Plant World has been around forever (well, forever in Las Vegas time, anyway). I always thought it was just a giant plant nursery until a few years ago, when another mom organized a field trip there for several families at church. We’ve gone every summer since then. The tour is led by a sweet older man, Sully. He is extremely patient with the kids and very knowledgeable. He takes us around the huge nursery, and teaches us about the different plants they have. But, along the way, there are several different animals who call the nursery their home. They are truly the stars of the whole thing. Most of them are different birds, some of whom can talk. They are all beautiful! They also have a cat, several bunnies, three giant African tortoises, and a big koi pond full of fish and turtles. It’s really awesome and the whole thing takes about an hour. The kids love it! Definitely worth doing.
We also went to a show at the library put on by the Fratello Marionettes. It was SO cute and funny! All the kids loved it!! They are out of San Francisco, but come here for one week during the summer as part of the Library District’s summer reading program. They make all their puppets themselves, and I have to say, I was blown away by the quality of workmanship. The guys who do the show are funny themselves and are great with the kiddos. After the show, which is only a half hour or so, they let the kids ask a ton of questions and show how they do a lot of the tricks with the puppets. It was awesome!!
Ask and ye shall receive…
08 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Curriculum, Our Progress, Resources Tags: curriculum, decisions, God, Heavenly Father, Overwhelmed, prayer, the Lord
Wow, what a week! I’ve been driving myself nuts trying to choose the different curriculum programs I want to use. There is just SO much out there to pick from. Trying to weed out what I feel is good has been literally exhausting! After looking and looking I was beginning to wonder if I was fighting a loosing battle! Then it occurred to me: Ask Heavenly Father to help. Hello! Duh! What the heck have I been doing? Sure, seek His input as to whether or not to go the traditional homeschool route, but then don’t ask Him concerning the curriculum to use. Gee whiz and good grief! I should have done that at the beginning of this search process! I could have saved myself many headaches, much time, and many nights of fitful sleep! (Yeah, you know you need help when you are literally having nightmares and dreams about curriculum!)
So, anyway, once I asked Heavenly Father to help me discern what would be right for our family, the answers came immediately! I just love that!! When the Lord says to ask, He means it! (If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5)) I tell you, the Lord blessed me with some wisdom and I am so very grateful for that! After all, He sees the end from the beginning and He can direct our lives so much better than we can! Once again, my testimony that we must trust God and His will for us is strengthened. How amazing that the Lord will bless us each, individually, because He truly loves and cares for us!
So, I found (or rather, I was guided) to a great reading and a wonderful science program! I’m SO excited!! The more I find and get settled the more excited I get. It’s a little ridiculous how overjoyed I am about things. I feel like a little kid at Christmastime again. Now, if I can just get some of my enthusiasm to rub off on the kids…..
The Old Mormon Fort
30 Sep 2008 2 Comments
in Resources, Schooling Tags: Field trips, fun, History
A couple Fridays ago, I took the kids to the Old Mormon Fort. We had a really great time. They gave us a scavenger hunt to do, which kept us very busy, and was pretty fun. The kids thought all the old stuff was pretty awesome, and they liked learning about what the fort was used for. It was fun watching them explore and take everything in. Anyway, we took a few pictures.
The prizes for the scavenger hunt were balloons! This was very exciting for them.
By the way, they wave the admission fee (which is only $1 for adults) for homeschoolers, who set up a field trip.
Catch Up
02 Sep 2008 Leave a Comment
in Our Progress, Resources, Schooling Tags: k12, Our Progress, updates
It’s been a while since I’ve given any kind of update as to what is going on with our homeschooling, so here we go.
About one week before the official start of the school year, I got an e-mail from an online school that I looked at months ago, saying they have opened up to K-12, instead of just 4-8, in Nevada. I thought I would go check into it, and see what they had to offer. We have since enrolled with them. Here’s the deal. I am the one teaching. I am the one who can control the learning and the environment. My kids are able to learn at their pace and go as fast or slow as they need. They offer the whole curriculum. A small part is online, but most everything else is done offline. They sent me, and are still sending, tons of materials, including a computer and printer. I really like the curriculum and the way it is set up, and I’m able to accomplish what I wanted to when we first set out on this journey. I think it is much the same as it would be had I bought a boxed curriculum, except with this, I have more resources. I’m still homeschooling my kiddos and enjoying all the wonderful things that go with homeschooling! It’s been a bit crazy this last week, just trying to get a schedule down. But, I’m confident that once we do, things will run really well.
Plant World
18 Jun 2008 Leave a Comment
in Resources, Schooling Tags: Field trips
Today’s field trip to Plant World was really cool. We saw tons of animals and plants, and I learned a lot, too! The kids really loved it. Mine were especially excited by the waterfall and coy pond, where the turtles live. 
I’m glad we went before it reached 107 degrees, but it was still too hot for one of our little guys. Amy’s son ended up having heat stroke. Of course she didn’t know that at the time. As soon as she saw something was wrong with him, she left and took him to the ER, where they diagnosed him and got him all fixed up. But, I’m happy to report that he’s doing well, now.
Here’s some fun pictures.
Field Trips! Woo-hoo!
17 Jun 2008 Leave a Comment
in Resources, Schooling Tags: Businesses, Field trips, Resources
I love field trips! I always have. I remember that when I was in school, I always learned a ton on field trips and they were always fun. So, with that in mind, I decided to plan some field trips for us (minus the stinky school bus)! The kids will really get a kick out of them, I think. Plus, what a great way to expose them to things that they may have otherwise found boring. So, here’s what I’ve got lined up so far, but hopefully the list will grow.
- Tomorrow morning, we’ll be visiting a plant nursery here in town. This place is huge! Not only do they have tons and tons of different kinds of plants there, they have tons of animals there, too. They have a tour they take you on, where they teach the kids about all kinds of plants and animals. The kids even get to touch huge desert tortises. I did this a couple years ago, and the kids really loved it.
- In July, we will be going to a firestation, and getting a tour there. No doubt the kids will be way into this! What kid doesn’t want to sit in that big firetruck?! I think it’s really important to teach kids the importance of emergency workers, and that they deserve a tremendous amount of respect. It’s really great that they are willing to do community outreach things like this.
- Also in July, we will be going to the Nevada State Museum, here in town. They are actually sending me a teacher packet so that I can teach the kids about the stuff we will see there, before we go. Then, for the older kids, they provide a clipboard with questions for them to answer while touring the museum. I think that is a great way to get the kids to pay a little more attention and be more excited about the exhibits! (They even waved the fee for us!)
- Then, in August, we will be going to the Old Mormon Fort, and getting a guided tour. This is great because the fort is such a big part of not only our city’s history, but also state history. Even though it didn’t always belong to the Mormons, this is a great way to tie in state history with Church history. This will be an awesome way for the kids to learn about their heritage, in several areas.
I’m hoping to get more things planned. I really believe that hands on learning is vital. It can’t all be out of books and videos. When you actually get to see things, it makes it much more real. So, I’m pretty excited about it all! I’ll report back on each of the trips.
Educational Plans
27 May 2008 1 Comment
in Our Progress, Resources, Start Up Tags: Books, law, Plans, Resources
In order to comply with Nevada Law, when we submit our Notice of Intent to Homeschool, we also have to submit an educational plan. So, with a great deal of information taken from Rebecca Rupp’s Home Learning Year by Year, I’ve completed the plans for the boys. I know this is much more detail than the school district requires, but this also serves as a great guide for me. Anyway, I thought I’d post them, in case anyone was interested.
education-plan-kindergarten1 education-plan-2nd-grade
I also went to Barnes and Noble today and ordered Rebecca’s book. Should be in next week. I’m pretty excited. Thank you to Erin for finding it for me! What a blessing this book has turned out to be!
