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.

Thinking of Next Year : 6th Grade A Bit of Unschooling

Next year, I will have a 6th grader, and a 10th grader. My 10th grader, believe it or not, is easier to plan for than my 6th grader. I am going to try some Unschooling with her next year, which simply means interest led schooling. Not all her subjects will be interest led, but a few. First off, she has been saying she wants to be an animal groomer, walker, own business type thing when she grows up. She has a rabbit, and we have two dogs. She has been doing rabbit grooming for years, but is not comfortable nail trimming. I will have to work on that. Plus with the book below, she can begin learning about grooming in general. After she completes that book, I will look for others. She also has 4H horse project book, for next year. I was going to start a 4H horse group, but that has been sidelined at least for now. I just don't have the time to dedicate to it right now.

She really loves Life of Fred, so I will continue with that series. I will also continue with CK12 Elementary Math, to supplement Life of Fred. Learning Language Arts Through Literature, is also my choice for her. I have not decided for History yet. I also will probably supplement other Science. She will begin Spanish next year, using the free Duolingo app.  I do often change my mind, but this is looking pretty set in stone right now.  I would love a great deal on some of the books shown.

The Easter Story for Kids

While we did do the Easter Bunny, when my kids were small, we also taught the true meaning of Easter. Of course, that has nothing to do with the Easter Bunny. The Easter Bunny is the commercial, money making scheme created for Easter. This is the first year that my kids were too old to care about decorating eggs, finding eggs, or even getting a basket. We never did too awful much in that regards, anyhow, just a tidbit. I hope your Easter was full of blessings, and a beautiful day!

How To Train Your Dragon 2 with Printables Plus Art

The kids and I have not sat down to watch a movie for school, in a while. So, today we sat down to watch, How To Train Your Dragon 2. I read another blog post that said this movie was a lot about diplomacy, and politics. There was only one little section where I would say that was true, and that the whole of the movie was may more than that. This was in 3D in the movies, so it wasn't as exciting on our plain old TV. Both kids had a writing assignment after they finished watching, and next week will get an Art assignment. All of us, yes me too, will design and draw a dragon. I already have ideas for mine, and I think it will be fabulous, lol. Here are some worksheets to go along with the movie. Be sure to check out the rest of that website, for some other cool items they offer.  We have Netflix, and watched the movie on there.  But, if you don't have Netflix, you can always purchase the movie too.