Places we want to see in South Dakota

http://www.bearcountryusa.com/index.php

Zoo Boo! http://www.brambleparkzoo.com/events/zoo-boo/

http://www.mammothsite.com/exhibits.html

http://www.wildmustangs.com/

http://www.dcboothfishhatchery.org/visitor-information/view/hours_of_operation

http://www.southdakotacaves.com/ContactUs.html

http://www.nps.gov/jeca/planyourvisit/hours.htm

http://www.nps.gov/wica/historyculture/learning-about-the-park.htm

http://www.daysof76museum.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=6&Itemid=12

http://www.journeymuseum.org/index.php?pg=visit

http://www.cornpalace.com/

http://blackhillsbadlands.com/home/thingstodo/parksmonuments/mtrushmore/mtrushmorefeeshours

http://blackhillsbadlands.com/home/thingstodo/parksmonuments/crazyhorse

http://www.dakotastone.net/

Driving

I just drove my motor home!! For the first time and it was fine! As long as I remember how long I am when turning and passing its no different then driving a truck. Oh and watching for low branches. But yay for me finally finding the time to drive the motor home. To celebrate we stopped for ice cream. Yum! Going to bed happy and dreaming of the morning when we pull out of our driveway and head out West.

Setting her own pace

Every morning I get an email from the math program we are using. It says how many problems she did the day before, how many she got right- I can look at the ones she got wrong to go over with her. Then it says how much of the grade she has completed. This is todays report:

"Sophie has now mastered 41 % of the 1st grade curriculum"

And this is only the 3rd week of 1st grade homeschool :) Thats the fantastic thing about homeschool- we dont need to sit and wait on the others in the room to understand. Sophie is setting her own pace. My husband said- what happens if she finishes it before Christmas?? My reply: then she moves on to second grade.

They give badges and there are 5 in each row. Sophie and I agreed that for each row of badges finished she'll get something special. 1 row means no nap for that day. 2 rows Sophie gets to pick out snack and dinner that day. 3 rows is a special spa day (nails painted, and our hair done, and mud masks. Yesterday she earned her rookie badge which means she earned her first row. She jumped up and down and laughed and celebrated and then sat back down and kept on going. She is truley having fun learning.

www.adaptedmind.com

Painting

                           Just wanted to share this picture of Lola's happiness as she was painting....

List

Feeling the need to make a list of stuff to bring with us:

3 sets of sheets
pillows
blankets plus an extra or two for chilly nights
salt and pepper
paper plates
chairs that fold up for sitting by the fire
fire grate
skillets and cookware (fire and oven)
oven pads
garbage bags
bags to pick up sullivan poop
new lesh for sullivan
matches, lighter
flashlights
spare gas can
umbrella
stamps for mailing postcards
our national park passport
chargers for: phones, camera, video camera, laptop, ipads



Things to do
buy national parks pass?
camping group?
aaa?
whos watching- bird and fish and turtle
mail

Book It!

Today we started Book It! Not the real book it- because Pizza Hut is too cool for school anymore, but our own version of it.

Sophie is fantastic in math, very curious in science, AMAZING in art, and soaks up anything I can give her about history/people. But reading she struggles. Which I struggle with because reading was the ONLY subject I loved as a child. I could read all day and all night. I loved using my imagination living in the pioneer days with Felicity from American Girl series, I had every single Sweet Valley Book and read each one more than once, and deciding which way the fate of my character in Goosebumps books was just awesome. So when my beautiful Sophie says she hates reading I hear my heart break....

I know the problem is that if she cant get something right- right away- she wants to give up and move on. So when she gets stuck on words she gets frustrated. My brain started going 100 ways on how to make books fun. I thought of book it, books that went to movies, and reading to Sullivan (our dog). OH and of course going to the library so she can pick out her own choice of books to read.

Today after 3 days of re reading she read to me, "Barbie Horse Show Champ" without any problems. So she got her first sticker on her book it button I made for the fridge. After she has 5 stickers we will take her to Pizza Hut where she gets her own personal pizza, with her choice of toppings, and she doesn't have to share with the rest of us, and gets to pay her bill (she loves figuring out the tip, and how much money to give at the register).

I was very happy to see her smile as she put on her first sticker- and then ran to find another book to read so that she can read it to me later and see if she is ready for another sticker.

Ryan and I also spent the morning working on their ipads and uploading fun apps for them. This is definitely more Ry's area then mine but he was patient with me picking out which one for which girl. We found a great one for Sophie about the national parks, presidents, and learning to tell them. And for Lola we found more ABC, tracing, and puzzles. Both girls now have Spanish apps, coin counting, and Pandora kids.

Getting creative with playdough

Water Painting

I know people get really snooty about kids having technology and being so young. I was very hesitant last year when Sophie got hers for Kindergarten. But I have seen how much fun the girls have with them- learning- but not even realizing how much they are learning. They both love to take videos and photos, they have a piano app that is helping them play along on our real piano. So yes you can be grumpy that your generation didn't have cell phones and ipads and bitch bitch bitch... But life is to short. They aren't wasting there time away doing pointless games instead of playing outside- we are using this as part of their education and it doesn't get used all the time. Balance. Learning, laughing, living homeschooling has so much to offer my children and I'm blessed that we are able to.

Homeschool rules

Teachers

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."
~ William Arthur Ward

A new view

My daughter Sophie is having an awesome day! She is the proud owner of her first pair of glasses. When we received the call this morning that the glasses were at the office ready to be picked up she squealed in delight.

The glasses are perfect pink with glitter hearts. She hasn't taken them off and has spoken to everyone around her about them. I am so happy for her. She is proud of her glasses, confident in them, and not fighting us about wearing or needing them. The exact opposite of how I was when I was wearing glasses at her age.

After picking up her new fabulous glasses we went over to the library and signed up for cards. It is the same library I went to as a child and I was happy to see it hadn't changed much. Sophie and Lola played on the computers and then the girls picked out books, I picked up some homeschooling books and a few books on cd and we were on our way. Lola mentioned several times how much she loved the library.

Update on motor home: Ryan took it out the one day to get the title and we had an issue with the serpentine belts. He replaced both and its back to being practically perfect. We also mapped out our trip and had a wake up call about gas money. In no way will we have enough money (this winter) to make it all the way to the redwoods and back. Plus head to Florida with my family and then to see Ryan's mom.

Also a discussion that is happening every day: what about my Halloween party?!

I know I know. Its just Halloween. But in my world- ITS HALLOWEEN!!! I love our annual Halloween party. Yes I could survive missing it this year, but I don't want to survive- I want to live my life my way.

So now we are thinking about having our party early, and then heading to South Dakota. There is so much to do there. Lots. I think it will be a fantastic adventure for our first trip in our motor home. Maybe spend two weeks there and then head back. Which means we might be home for Thanksgiving. And definitely home for a family wedding, that Sophie will be a flower girl in. Then we will stay home until my sweet friend Stephanie has her baby. After that we'll leave for Florida with my family, then spend a week or more with Ryan's mom.

Pulling out seeds to count.

Couting seeds by tens.

 

Homeschooling is fantastic. The other day we estimated how many pumpkin seeds were in a pumpkin, and then counted all of them by tens. Sophie guessed 600, Lola guess 100, and in the end there were 540. Learning with pumpkins, how fun.


In fact as of right now our lives in general are fantastic.

Homeschool

We started home school today. Even though its Labor Day and even though Sophie's curriculum hasn't arrived in the mail yet. Still it was a fun first day.

 Sophie worked on a placement test that I printed off from here : http://www.freehomeschooling101.com/2008/12/placement-tests.html

We didn't get to the math section today, but finished the first two pages of the reading section.

Lola and I reviewed writing her name, her ABC's we started her preschool workbook.

For art time the girls made pictures of themselves, using mirrors, helping each other trace out the other person, then colored and Lola cut it out.

After lunch we started our Spanish cds, then read a story, computer time (math). Now they are writing and coloring in their journals about their first day of home school.

Sophie's favorite thing about home school today: "I  loved playing on the computer."

Lola's favorite thing about home school today: " I'm having fun writing and filling in my chart."

So far so great. I cant wait for Sophie's oak meadows to arrive but until then we have plenty to work on :)