Earth Cookies, Planting Herbs and Earth Day Minute To Win It

Both of these ideas were found on Pinterest, and adapted to my needs.  April 22nd, is Earth Day, and the kids and I love to do something each year to show our appreciation for Earth.  Last week, DJ and I watched, Plastic Paradise, on Netflix.  It was a very eye opening documentary.  We are not zealots, but we do think that if you can make some simple changes in your life to reduce, reuse and recycle, then you should do it.  Water bottles, and plastic bags are the two biggest offenders.  If you really want to know the true stats of those two items, I would suggest some basic research.  It will stun you.  I was stunned, and a little ashamed.  So, all this week, we are dedicating a little bit of school time to Earth Day.

Today, Caitlin and I planted an herb garden.  Now, we had been wanting to do this anyway, we just chose this week to actually do it.  We planted Garlic, Parsley, Cilantro, and Sweet Basil.  We also decided to try and propagate a Mimosa Tree, by planting a clipping.  It will hopefully grow roots, and become a beautiful tree.

Because, we have 4H tonight, and we all bring a snack to share, we decided to make Earth cookies.  They are easy, just a standard sugar cookie recipe, add blue and green food coloring, shape in a ball and bake.  Also, because DJ is the VP of our group, we come up with a fun game, or Ice Breaker, for each meeting.  Again, keeping with the theme of Earth Day, we came up with a Minute to Win It game using a styrofoam egg container.  Because I forgot to print stuff for Caitlin today, she had a little extra time.  So, I told her to paint it blue, like water, and then use green to make the numbers.  The idea is to get as many beads in the number slots in a minute.  The player with the most points wins.  Of course the kids had to try it, because they said it was too easy.  Ha, no it isn't.  Caitlin of course will save this, and torture her father with it at a later date.

I haven't decided what tomorrow will bring, but I think a writing assignment for both of them will be good.  

First Grade Homeschool Supplemental Curriculum

This is a post for a friend who is just beginning to homeschool.  Since I remember how overwhelming it was, when I began, I decided to help her on her way.  I titled this as supplemental because she already has some books, and workbooks, and needed some fun ways to teach.  I have to say the younger years, up to say grade 5, are fun to teach and fun for the kids to learn.  Or at least it should be.  The new Common Core standards, which I am not saying I am against, really put a lot of strain on kids to learn harder material a lot younger.  I think this is going to be a failed process, because not all kids can learn harder material at such a young age. 

Renee, when you look at the first link, it is just a basic curriculum for first grade.  Click on each subject to see what Eric would generally learn for that grade. Don't worry about all the other stuff on the page, for now.    You can add or delete as you see fit.  The links provided are some of the best, and I have used myself.  There are tons more, but can be overwhelming to decide.  History and Science, in first grade, is not as important as say Reading, Writing and Math, but can add some fun to the school day.  If you have Netflix, Liberty Kids, and The Magic School Bus can both be viewed on there.  Kids love these series, and learn so much from just watching the show.

http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/learning/p/course1.htm
http://www.a-z-worksheets.com/first-grade-writing.html
http://www.greatschools.org/worksheets/first-grade/writing/
http://www.funbrain.com/FBSearch.php?Grade=1
http://www.columbia.k12.fl.us/TechLab/roll/online_games1.htm
http://www.jumpstart.com/parents/activities/grade-based-activities/1st-grade-activities
http://www.abcya.com/first_grade_computers.htm
http://www.libertyskids.com/parentsteachers.html

Dudley Farms Field Trip

Dudley Farms is an old real working farm from the 1800's. It is a Florida State park, donated by the Dudley family. It is run mostly by volunteers, and your kids can volunteer there as well. I am going to look into the volunteering, but I am not sure we will have the time. I was under the impression that on every Wed there are classes offered to the public. Well, that technically is not true, at least not to the extent that I thought. DJ was the only boy that could go, so he didn't have much interest in learning how to make rugs, but our little group is going to start collecting old sheets and curtains to give it a try. It really was not that hard once you got the hang of it. The ladies that did the demonstration were so kind and knowledgeable. Then we went on a self tour of the old farm, and walked the nature trail. It was warm but not hot, so a perfect day. Next month, on the fourth Wed, they are doing something with palm frans and I really hope we can make that one. They said to look up Morning Side, in Gainesville, as they do offer a lot of classes. So, I will be checking that out for sure. Check out the Dudley Farm website, to learn about all the events they have for March. Some of them are pretty cool. I have tons more pictures, and I will share them a little bit at a time.

Cool Preschool Websites

I have been looking for preschool websites, for my daughter. Caitlin will be starting preschool, in September, while her brother starts 3rd grade. I am not real agressive about preschool, and will probably only do 1-2 hrs a day with her. I found some sites that I really like, and I will be listing them below. I thought of doing them all singly, on different posts, it is a little slow in the summer for posting ideas lol. But then I decided to just put them all under this post. I use only free sites, some may only offer a free trial, so feel free to visit and check them out.

http://www.atozphonics.com/preschoolphonics.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/clusters/index.shtml

http://www.zoo-phonics.com/Free_Lesson.html

http://www.kinderplans.com/content.cfm?pageid=120

http://www.littlekidsgamesonline.com/preschool-online-games.html

http://www.littlekidsgamesonline.com/preschool-online-games.html

Free Printable Planet and Activity Thematic Unit

You are free to copy these at your leisure, they are wonderful for kids under 5th grade, to learn with. Both links should be here for the Planet Theme Unit, and the Planet Activity Unit. I get these from school express, and they say we can share them with others. If you want to join school express, and receive your own free newsletter, just visit their site and sign up. Or you can come back here every week, and I will add the new units here on my blog. Enjoy

http://www.schoolexpress.com/ishop/software/planets_g845.pdf

http://www.schoolexpress.com/ishop/software/planets_5674.pdf

Do your kids love to color?

My kids are 7 and 4, so coloring is still a big part of their education style. While looking for cool fathers day cards, for them to make, I came across some cool coloring sites. Check them out if you like.

http://www.coloringcastle.com this site was the only place I could find a blank USA map, for my son, that was printable for free.

http://coloringbookfun.com/ this one has all free printables as well, nice selection too

http://www.crayola.com/ This one is probably my favorite, of the ones I found. It has tons and tons, of stuff for kids, including crafts.