Making Gum

Gum, natural gum, as you may know, comes from the sap of the chicle tree in the rainforest. It's a really cool process we learned all about. We read all about it here before we got started. It's really neat if you've never read about it, I highly recommend it! Anyway, we ordered a kit from Glee Gum and had a blast!!! We made peppermint and cherry (the peppermint was our favorite). The kids LOVED the process, and now we understand where gum comes from (though a lot of the gum we buy now is man-made). One of the ways we can help preserve the rainforests is by buying gum like Glee Gum, since the chicle tree only grows there.

Melting the chicle.

The powdered sugar to mix in the chicle

Mixing

Rolling it flat

The finished product!! Delicious!

Oops!

Obviously, I have been a huge slacker. I hate it when people don't update their blogs, and lo and behold, I have become one of them. If it's any consolation, I write awesome entries in my head all the time while I brush my teeth. If only I would take the time to put my genius in "print"!!!!

I'm going to see what I can do to slowly get updated here. I'll probably just pick up where we are now....it would be a log to fill you in completely on the last ten months in our household.

For homeschool this year, we have been studying animals using Winterpromise's Animals and their Worlds, and having a good amount of fun with it. We studied the Savannah, the Rainforest (and we even made our own gum with chicle from the chicle tree), the desert, and are currently working on the woods. We are using Rightstart C for math for Mickade. Lillian is learning to read really well, and recently has begun to be able to read some Dr. Seuss books. :) Lulu is just along for the ride. I'm hoping to make a trip to Busch Gardens soon to see all the animals from Africa. It will be really cool for the kids to see the animals they have studied in person.

We will be leaving Key West this summer for the Portsmouth, VA area, actually maybe sooner. We are kind of done with tiny Key West, as beautiful as it may be. We are ready for some more activity, and a lot more living space. 5 people, a dog, and a cat in 1050 sqft of living space is growing old. Really old. I will really miss having a dock out back though!!!

Dolphin Bubbles

This is amazing!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuVgXJ55G6Y

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.

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.