Adventure Island Last Trip

Since the four of us could not decide on one movie to see, we decided to head to Adventure Island. We have season passes to Bush Gardens, which includes their water park. We went once in June, when my sister was here visiting. Today, there were like 50 people in the whole park, and it was awesome. No waiting in long lines. They rode the rides several times in the three hours we were there. Trust me if you have ever been to a big park you know the wait time is absurd. This will be our last trip to the water park, for this year, but plan on Bush Gardens in the Fall. We had a wonderful day!

Our Last Week of Summer Vacation

I have no idea what is up with Blogger, but I have been having a terrible time getting pictures to upload, no matter which way I do it. So, there are no pictures for this post.

We had a great Summer, and accomplished a lot. We had lots of fun with family and friends. July was very wet and rainy, so Caitlin and I enjoyed painting and making jewelry. She also got her own creative ideas and used the little bit of sewing she has learned from my mom to make things for her Pet Shops. We were going to take the kids to the water park this week, hubby is on vacation, but we have decided against it. It has been so stormy that there is not much sense to drive almost three hours for a possible one hour swim. So, we will be getting odds and ends done around the house, swim, and going to the movies and dinner. We usually only visit the movie theater once a year. So, this will be an extra treat. Only problem is no one can decide what to see. We will probably have to see two different movies. I am working the whole weekend, so nothing special planned then.

Wilderness Survival School

We have two weeks of Summer Vacation left. Public school begins school tomorrow, but we don't start back until the day after Labor Day. Since I am constantly searching for new and interesting websites, that will help us achieve our goals, I found Wilderness Survival School. I was not technically looking for that subject, but was searching for Earth Kids stuff. This Wilderness Survival School website is awesome! You can sign up for a free ecourse, which of course I did. The kids will be doing the first ecourse together, as a part of their Science school work. If your kids love nature, or you just want to get them involved in nature more, then check out Wilderness Survival School.

Phonics Island App

If your kids love to learn by playing games, or you just want them to play educational games rather than nonsense games, then Island Phonics could be for you. I love the apps, because the kids can play and learn while on the go. In the grocery store, doctor's office or in the car. I was hesitant to get a smart phone, but now that I have one I love it!

Some Changes and Upcycled Fairy or Doll Houses

OK, so I have already made some changes to our next school year, for DJ.  After our evaluations, and some info provided to me, I have done some soul searching and have decided that FLVS is no longer going to work for us.  At least not at this time.  We had a teacher change, for Math, that was just not working, and rather waste more time on the phone complaining and trying to get it fixed, I decided to just let it go.  DJ completed more than a full year of Math curriculum for 7th grade, so this is not an issue for him.  I won't go into great detail, but I have settled the issue myself.  I will be going back to sharing our daily activities, once school starts again.  I got away from it last year, mostly because FLVS took up so much of DJ's day on the computer. 

I love Pinterest!  If you don't have it, you should.  It is a great place to store information for later use.  Anyway I am into reusing and upcycling as much as possible.  I found these cute Fairy Houses, made out of plastic jugs.  You know, the ones that never break down.  Anyway I can't share the image, because it isn't mine, but you can go to the website and see how they are made.  It is so easy.  I showed them to Caitlin and she thought they would make great Littlest Pet Shop houses and other small dolls.  I thought they would make great Fairy Houses for in the garden, or even Bird Houses.  So, yes we will be making some of these.  Just not sure when, lol!  Check them out, you will love them.  If you want to follow me on Pinterest, just click that link.

Evaluations Are Done and My New Amazon Homeschool Store

Our evaluations are done and both kids did super!  I am always relieved when it is over.  If anyone needs an evaluator in the Dixie, Gilchrist or Levy county areas let me know and I will refer you to mine.  I have a new Amazon Homeschool store.  I have added some items and you can browse and purchase if you want.  It is way at the bottom of this blog, because it is so large.  You will see it. 

Evaluations and Sample Reading Lists

We have our homeschool yearly evaluations tomorrow morning.  Wish us luck!  I post the reading lists only for those who need an idea how to make a reading list for their portfolio in Florida.  Plus for my record keeping purposes.  I encourage anyone who can to get a blog so if anything ever happens to your computer your public blog will have an account of all your homeschool activities.  Caitlin read a lot of short stories this year, in her Reading Comprehension lessons.  Those are not accounted for here, and neither are DJ's from his Reading lessons.  Those all count to, but I include samples of them in the portfolio.  I use Google Docs to type the list up all nice, and then put it in the portfolio, usually at the front.  Both kids also bring a book with them to read part of it to the evaluator and she asks them pertinent questions. 


Darien’s Reading List For 2012/2013 7th Grade
Darien read a lot of books this past school year. However, they are not all listed here because
we don’t keep track of all of them. We visit the library twice monthly, during the school year, and
Darien enjoys taking out books to read. The books shown below, are books I chose for him to
read and he did book reports on.
Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Time Machine by HG Wells
The three book series of Percy Jackson The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan


Caitlin’s Reading List For 2012/2013 3rd Grade
Caitlin read a lot of books this past school year. However, they are not all listed here because
we don’t keep track of all of them. We visit the library twice monthly, during the school year, and
Caitlin enjoys taking out books to read. She reads a lot of animal books, and especially likes
horse, cat and dog books. She also reads a lot on We Give Books. A reading website where
every time the child reads a book, the same books is donated to schools and organizations that
give books to children. Below are some of the books she has read.
Froggy Goes to Hawaii by Johnathon London
SkippyJon Jones and the Big Bones by Judy Schachner
Madeline
Ladybug Girl at the Beach
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Mommy Loves Me
Every Biscuit book she can find.