Monday, March 23, 2009
Workboxes!
I thought it would be fun to join the craze and try out workboxes for homeschooling. It's an interesting concept designed by a homeschooling mom, where, ideally, you set up twelve or so clear shoebox-size containers on a little 3-tier shelf with an activity in each, so the kids can visually see their progress and you have everything all set and ready for the day. Sounds great to me, especially because time to sit down and do our stuff is hard to come by with the little one. So, we're giving it a go. I made my own version with large ziplocks instead of bins though for space reasons mostly, but also because I can see Lucy emptying every box as fast as I can fill it...which of course would be counterproductive!! One of the best parts is I have things all laid out and can use the fun things we never get around to because we are too busy just trying to get things done. For example, in addition to the 3 R's there is a bag with instructions for us all to take Bunny to the dog park, one to go play on the swings for 10 minutes, one to draw a picture of a rocket from a book, and one to work on his Lego Star Wars ship for 30 minutes. Fun, huh? I made 6 bags for Lilli since she doesn't really have much she has to to do yet, and hers include writing, cutting and gluing, painting, etc.
Friday, March 20, 2009
KEY WEST FOR KIDS!!!
It was so hard to find activities when we were coming here...I thought, oh no, there must not be a lot for kids in that small town...boy were we wrong!!! With a little sleuth work, we discovered Key West has a plethora to offer young families!!
Southernmost Hockey (inline hockey)
Key West Sailing Club
Young Navigators
City of Key West Rec
Coffee Mill Dance Studio (Despite what the site says, they do NOT require you pay for the whole session up front.)
Key West Library
Just4Kids Art Center
Key West Soccer **Sign up May 2 & 7 2009 at HOB....see website for details...allow late registration for transferring military families too!!!**
FREE Choir/Instrument music lessons at Bahama Village
Elie's Place (gymnastics) (305) 294-3535
Key West Junior Football League (flag, tackle, and cheerleading prek and up) ***football sign up will be May 26-28 in the evening at the trailer behind the field...cheer tryouts are complete but there may still be room if you ask***
FKCC pool has swim lessons and swim team from infants up
Kindermusik
Home Depot Kids' Workshop - 1st Saturday of every month is a FREE program for kids to build something to take home...the staff down here is super friendly and helpful!
Karate(305) 293-0772
Kari's Dance Factory
Sheriff's Animal Farm 2nd Sunday of every month 1-3pm FREE
SCHOOLS
Another FYI, the Montessori Charter School is taking applications NOW through April 18 2009 for next year.
Also, school related...if you want to attend a school other than the one your child is zoned for, check here....applications are due April 18 2009!!! Map of school zones
CAMPS
There are also several summer camps available. There is a soccer camp, gymnastics camp, art camp at Just4Kids, the Boys & Girls Club, MWR Key West's Youth Center, and a few more I'll remember later. Key West is anything but boring!! :)
FKCC Pool
Key West Sailing Club
Boys and Girls Club (305)296-2258
MWR Youth Center (305) 293-4437 **Sign ups start May 11 2009**
Elie's Place (305) 294-3535
Coffee Mill Dance Studio, call for details
Mel Fisher's Mer Academy
Kari's Dance Factory
Key West Soccer Camps **Sign up May 2 & 7 at HOB, see website for details**
Monroe County School District's list of summer activities 2009
The library has summer reading programs and things for tweens/teens
Camp Bravo theatre camp
Once you live here, be sure to ask EVERYWHERE for a "locals' discount". We get 10% off at even Denny's! Dante's gives a generous discount, too. If you are military as well, check...some places have different discounts for locals and military...find out which is best for you to use where. ;)
First Sunday of every month is Locals Day...the Conch Train, Aquarium, Shipwreck Museum, and a few others are FREE to locals. :)
Hopefully this will be helpful to the newbies arriving in KW this transfer season! I'll try to update as more comes around.
Southernmost Hockey (inline hockey)
Key West Sailing Club
Young Navigators
City of Key West Rec
Coffee Mill Dance Studio (Despite what the site says, they do NOT require you pay for the whole session up front.)
Key West Library
Just4Kids Art Center
Key West Soccer **Sign up May 2 & 7 2009 at HOB....see website for details...allow late registration for transferring military families too!!!**
FREE Choir/Instrument music lessons at Bahama Village
Elie's Place (gymnastics) (305) 294-3535
Key West Junior Football League (flag, tackle, and cheerleading prek and up) ***football sign up will be May 26-28 in the evening at the trailer behind the field...cheer tryouts are complete but there may still be room if you ask***
FKCC pool has swim lessons and swim team from infants up
Kindermusik
Home Depot Kids' Workshop - 1st Saturday of every month is a FREE program for kids to build something to take home...the staff down here is super friendly and helpful!
Karate
Kari's Dance Factory
Sheriff's Animal Farm 2nd Sunday of every month 1-3pm FREE
SCHOOLS
Another FYI, the Montessori Charter School is taking applications NOW through April 18 2009 for next year.
Also, school related...if you want to attend a school other than the one your child is zoned for, check here....applications are due April 18 2009!!! Map of school zones
CAMPS
There are also several summer camps available. There is a soccer camp, gymnastics camp, art camp at Just4Kids, the Boys & Girls Club, MWR Key West's Youth Center, and a few more I'll remember later. Key West is anything but boring!! :)
FKCC Pool
Key West Sailing Club
Boys and Girls Club (305)296-2258
MWR Youth Center (305) 293-4437 **Sign ups start May 11 2009**
Elie's Place (305) 294-3535
Coffee Mill Dance Studio, call for details
Mel Fisher's Mer Academy
Kari's Dance Factory
Key West Soccer Camps **Sign up May 2 & 7 at HOB, see website for details**
Monroe County School District's list of summer activities 2009
The library has summer reading programs and things for tweens/teens
Camp Bravo theatre camp
Once you live here, be sure to ask EVERYWHERE for a "locals' discount". We get 10% off at even Denny's! Dante's gives a generous discount, too. If you are military as well, check...some places have different discounts for locals and military...find out which is best for you to use where. ;)
First Sunday of every month is Locals Day...the Conch Train, Aquarium, Shipwreck Museum, and a few others are FREE to locals. :)
Hopefully this will be helpful to the newbies arriving in KW this transfer season! I'll try to update as more comes around.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Copyright
So wow, YouTube won't let me play my video either (Facebook also pulled my upload of Lucy's Birth, set to music from the Meet the Robinsons soundtrack). Really???? I mean, it's just montage of my pics set to nice music. That is so crazy. I mean, I understand artist's rights and all, but I did buy my copy of the song legally on iTunes, I'm not making any money on my use of the song, I'm only giving them positive exposure...so what's the big deal? I can't make musical picture montages anymore to share with friends and family unless I compose the songs myself, or apply for copyright permission from the recording studio? RIDICULOUS. Seriously people, aren't there bigger things to take care of? Aren't people still stealing songs off the internet? This is so stupid.
I mean, honestly, what about all the movie and tv clips on YouTube? Shouldn't those all be deleted too? It's insane that those last so long yet an innocent family photo montage is caught upon uploading by a software system. Total BS.
I mean, honestly, what about all the movie and tv clips on YouTube? Shouldn't those all be deleted too? It's insane that those last so long yet an innocent family photo montage is caught upon uploading by a software system. Total BS.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Happy Birthday, Lucy.....
Poo on you Facebook...they deleted my upload to their server bc I used music I don't have a copyright too. I doubt the artist cares that I gave him more exposure, LOL! So here it is again!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
So I looked in the couch cushions for the tv remote and found
I kid you not:
-glue stick
-Wii remote
-calendula diaper cream
-unknown number of hidden candy and gum wrappers
-candy pieces (sweetarts? mints?)
-rechargeable battery
-several pretzel sticks and their pieces
-2 guitar picks
-wrapped mint life saver
-rubber frog
-cardboard game piece
-3 legos
-1 lego man visor
- 2 barrettes
-1 nickel
-cell phone
-and finally, the tv remote
For the record, I just washed the slipcovers 3 weeks ago. It's funny, life with kids.....
-glue stick
-Wii remote
-calendula diaper cream
-unknown number of hidden candy and gum wrappers
-candy pieces (sweetarts? mints?)
-rechargeable battery
-several pretzel sticks and their pieces
-2 guitar picks
-wrapped mint life saver
-rubber frog
-cardboard game piece
-3 legos
-1 lego man visor
- 2 barrettes
-1 nickel
-cell phone
-and finally, the tv remote
For the record, I just washed the slipcovers 3 weeks ago. It's funny, life with kids.....
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Funny things Mickade finds on the internet
In the fashion of my good friend Suzanne and her husband Matt, I thought I'd try sharing some of the random and funny things Mickade finds on the internet. His current favorite can be found on YouTube (yes, he knows how to use YouTube, Google, etc.) under the user Goldentusk. He actually has several very funny original music videos!!!!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Homeschooling
On the schooling front...things are going quite well.
Books we've read:
The Boxcar Children
My Father's Dragon
Elmer & the Dragon
The Apple & the Arrow
Johnny Appleseed
The Hundred Dresses
James Herriot's Treasury for Children
Come Look With Me: Enjoying Art with Children
Mickade himself is reading on approximately a 4th grade level, but we still keep the selections he reads out loud on a second grade level (remember he's in "first grade") as recommended by our literature-based curriculum. The idea is to stimulate love of reading and fluency, instead of too much challenge and frustration...so he reads books to me like "Frog and Toad" and other stories.
We've made crayons. We took all our old crayons, unwrapped them, and designed our own crayons. I put them in the oven to melt them..the kids enjoyed the project. They came out quite nice!!!! One small caveat, however: do not do this in your stoneware, even with cupcake liners...the wax leaks through, forever ruining it. So while I did manage to save $3 on a box of crayons, I lost $30 for a muffin pan....oops!!! At least we ALL learned something....lol.
In October, we did a unit on presidential elections...it was fun. We made a lapbook of our work. Mickade was very interested in it all. He even went on nick.com (they had a program going for kids to vote) and researched all the candidates on his own. He knew how many children they had, where they were from, etc.....all from looking by himself. His researching skills are quite strong.
We use a program called RightStart Mathematics, and it rocks. It is actually FUN and makes math engaging...the true understanding coming from it is amazing. Mickade actually ASKS to do math and play the games in the program. He can add numbers in his head and extrapolate what he has learned and can apply it elsewhere. He recently kept score in his head for a nerf shooting match he, his dad, and grandfather had that included points of 5, 10, and 100. I included a couple of photos here of him using place value cards and base ten cards to build numbers and 'see' what they are made of, then do trading and eventually add quite large numbers.
For science....we use our backyard. :) Mickade is obsessed with sharks...he reads all about them, researches them online, finds videos....it's fantastic.
Books we've read:
The Boxcar Children
My Father's Dragon
Elmer & the Dragon
The Apple & the Arrow
Johnny Appleseed
The Hundred Dresses
James Herriot's Treasury for Children
Come Look With Me: Enjoying Art with Children
Mickade himself is reading on approximately a 4th grade level, but we still keep the selections he reads out loud on a second grade level (remember he's in "first grade") as recommended by our literature-based curriculum. The idea is to stimulate love of reading and fluency, instead of too much challenge and frustration...so he reads books to me like "Frog and Toad" and other stories.
We've made crayons. We took all our old crayons, unwrapped them, and designed our own crayons. I put them in the oven to melt them..the kids enjoyed the project. They came out quite nice!!!! One small caveat, however: do not do this in your stoneware, even with cupcake liners...the wax leaks through, forever ruining it. So while I did manage to save $3 on a box of crayons, I lost $30 for a muffin pan....oops!!! At least we ALL learned something....lol.
In October, we did a unit on presidential elections...it was fun. We made a lapbook of our work. Mickade was very interested in it all. He even went on nick.com (they had a program going for kids to vote) and researched all the candidates on his own. He knew how many children they had, where they were from, etc.....all from looking by himself. His researching skills are quite strong.
We use a program called RightStart Mathematics, and it rocks. It is actually FUN and makes math engaging...the true understanding coming from it is amazing. Mickade actually ASKS to do math and play the games in the program. He can add numbers in his head and extrapolate what he has learned and can apply it elsewhere. He recently kept score in his head for a nerf shooting match he, his dad, and grandfather had that included points of 5, 10, and 100. I included a couple of photos here of him using place value cards and base ten cards to build numbers and 'see' what they are made of, then do trading and eventually add quite large numbers.
For science....we use our backyard. :) Mickade is obsessed with sharks...he reads all about them, researches them online, finds videos....it's fantastic.
Monday, January 12, 2009
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