Field Trips! Woo-hoo! June 17, 2008

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. 

Progress and Rewards May 15, 2008

Well, I’m doing much better now.  I think I’m over my Yikes moment, for now.  I’m sure there will be more in the future.  As I’ve read, I’ve come to discover that homeschooling takes some getting used to and some trial and error.  I have every confidence that we will be able to make things work out well.  I’ve started already, with some small things with the kids, and so far so good.  We’ve also got our classroom all ready.  That was a lot of work, but it was actually really fun to do.  The kids helped a bit with it too, as well as Grandma.  I’ll have some pictures of it up in a day or two.  And, a special thank you goes out to my friend Erin, who discovered two amazing books that outline and detail grade by grade curriculum and expectations.  Hooray!

Also, this week I’ve discovered the rewards of telling people that you are a homeschool teacher.  First I went to Learning Is Fun.  When the sweet lady asked me if I was on their mailing list, I replied that I wasn’t, but should be since I was going to be homeschooling four kiddos.  So, when I told them that, they not only put me on their list, but also gave me some teacher magazines, but also some of the coupons teachers get to hand out to their students to get a prize at Learning Is Fun.  Then, when I took our calendar over to OfficeMax to get laminated, I was asked if I was a teacher, and I told them I was a homeschool teacher.  Then, they gave me their teacher discount and reward card.  So, that’s pretty cool.  These stores are now on my newly created list of homeschool friendly businesses.