Using OpenEd for Math Lessons and Turning Some of Our Favorite Nature Photos Into Awesome Gifts

Well, it has only been a week since my last post, lol.  I just don't have as much time, it seems, to blog.  I have been using OpenEd, the Math lessons, with my 6th grader, and right now it is going well.  She does the lesson, then plays a game, and watches videos.  Then we do Math flash cards, on an app, and she is finally getting division down.  I would still like her to be a little faster with her multiplication facts, but I wont quibble that.  With more practice she will get it. 

Since it was a little bit warmer today, I went out and got a lot of gardening done.  We are putting up a privacy fence, in the back yard, long story, so I had to dig up several plants.  They were successfully relocated, and I got to pick a spot for Caitlin and me to plant our 3 Sisters garden, in the Spring.  I got it dug, and added some good soil to it, and I will start composting it as well.  If you ever decide you want a privacy fence, do one panel a paycheck.  We didn't do it that way, but I wish we had.  Buying it all at once is extremely expensive. 

If you have been reading this blog, for any length of time, then you know we love to be outside.  We love nature, animals, visiting all our local parks and zoos.  Though, we have by no means visited them all, it takes a while, lol.  We also love to take pictures of all the beautiful, and fun things we see, and find.  Some of you might even recognize this picture.  The male lion, who let us take his picture several times.  Now, you can purchase some of our favorite, and best photographs, by shopping at my new Society6 Art store.  You will also find my paintings.  You can buy prints, canvas, or lovely gifts.  So far, along with this lion, I have uploaded flowers, manatees, deer, dolphins, springs, and other beautiful pictures from our travels around Florida.  I do not have all of them loaded, yet.  It takes quite a long time to edit and load them.  Plus, I have to find them in all my storage places.  We have been doing this for 9 years after all.  These make great, quality gifts.  You can also just click the Society6 banner, at the top corner of this blog.

A Manatee At the Springs, Banded Water Snakes and Ticks Learning the Fun Way

We took a Spring break this week, even though I wasn't going to.  I was way behind on grading papers, and we really needed some relaxing from the stresses of life. Now we have seen Manatees before, in the wild, but never as close as this one came. It truly acted like it wanted to come say hi. There was a ranger down at the Springs, when the Manatee came into the river run, and he said they are truly curious. While we were standing there looking at the Manatee, he pointed out the kids a ball of snakes, Banded Water Snakes, that were mating in the shrubs. I truly never would have seen them if he didn't point them out. Then the Manatee came right into the swampy side of the springs, where no one swims. So, we watched it for a bit, and then it disappeared somewhere. So, we sat back down, and the kids began swimming again. About 30 min later, poof it came out of nowhere under the dock and into the swim area. Thank goodness they are docile and harmless. It came almost right up next to the girls. Caitlin was amazed at its size, and had a ball looking at it under the water. It was an amazing experience. I thought they would make the kids get out of the water. But, they said because there was only a handful of people in the water, and no one was approaching it, it was OK. So, what a wonderful experience that was. As for the ticks, we have never experienced them before. We have been here ten years, and never had one on us. We got four in one week. So, now ticks, manatees, and banded water snakes will all be three different writing prompts for this next school week. Both kids got to have a sleep over, or two, and just some plain old relaxing. A great week, and now I am ready to get back to schooling! We are almost at the end of our third quarter, hard to believe, but true.

Manatees The Mermaids Of Florida

Spanish explorers thought Manatees were mermaids, that is why they are called sea mermaids, and sometimes sea cows. Manatees are gentle giants, that are becoming endangered due to human encroachment. In the winter they come into the warm springs, to sort of hybernate until the warm weather returns. There are some places that will actually let you swim with them, however it is mostly considered harassment of the animal to do so. Here are some cool facts about Manatees:

Manatees can be more than 12 feet long, and weigh more than 3500 pounds, that is a pretty big mermaid.

They eat at much as 100 pounds of vegetation per day.

It takes 13 months for a manatee calf to be born, and females only reproduce every 2-5 years.

Manatees can hold their breath up to 24 minutes.

Manatees are closely related to elephants.

We have actually seen them in person, and have pictures of them. I wanted to share them with you, but they have been developed, and removed from the computer. This video below, is a beautiful example of the gentle giants. My kids love to watch them, almost as much as the birds.


Lesson Plans for 2/18/09:

Reading: Chapter two of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone
Social Studies: Flat maps and globes
Language Arts: End marks, proof reading
Math: Tally charts, multiplication, division
Writing: If I was a teacher for the day, I would do this
Spanish: Review
Spelling: Lesson 21- write each spelling word, and circle the vowels
Vocabulary: Lesson 21- Think of a synonym for each vocabulary word
History channel: Abe Lincoln part one