Nov. 4, 2009
Thanksgiving Journal Continued
Posted in Fun learning
Here are a few of the Thanksgiving journal prompts I have come up with for my children. I will continue to add to these throughout this month. Enjoy.
What is the definition of Thanksgiving? Write it in your journal along with what it means to you?
Today I am Thankful for...
Look up Psalm 69:30 and write it in your journal. What do you think it means to "magnify Him with thanksgiving?"
Describe your favorite Thanksgiving meal?
Plan a menu for Thanksgiving day. Include recipes. If you can't find a recipe, ask me (mom) to help you find it.
Write about your favorite Thanksgiving memory?
What is something you don't like and why? Should you still be thankful for it?
Nov. 2, 2009
Oooh! A New Journal Idea!
Posted in Fun learning
Thanksgiving is quickly approaching. Today I'm thinking (or attempting to) of things that I can teach my kids that aren't the same-o, same-o. You know, the same stuff we do every year during this time.
Last year the kids made "pilgrim hats". (I'll have to find the post to it. They came out cute!)
I think this year we'll make
these turkeys. Aren't they cute?
Maybe, starting today we'll do a being thankful for.. journal entries. I like that idea actually. See what I do when I'm in the zone? Now to name it so that I can get my kids excited about it. Hey, I think I'll even get them their own special journals for this. The easy part is that my kids actually like to journal. This should go over well.
Okay, so each day my kids (myself included and heck, if I can get my hubbs in on this, too) well start off with, "I am thankful for..." or "Gratefulness is..."
If I come up with more Thanksgiving promts I'll post it here, folks. (Which I'm sure I will.
Now that I just had an idea burp, now to think about other things we can do for Thanksgiving.
Please share your ideas with me. I love to hear them!
Feb. 10, 2009
Got Journal?
Posted in Fun learning
I have kept journals for as long as I remember. I enjoy sitting down and just spilling words out upon a blank piece of journal page.
Journaling is something I wanted to pass down to my children. Each year I get them brand new journals. They really like the ones that you can close with a clip or a magnet. Each day we all take time to journal. Myself included which sometimes ends up being blogging or making grocery lists. We've been doing this for at least five years. Even my little ones journal by doodling or scribbling on paper.
My daughter and I also have a journal (three ring-binder) where we write to each other. It's precious.
It always puts a smile on my face when we walk out the door and a child brings their journal.
I have a box of writing prompts that we use each day when we cannot think of something to write about.
Teacher Created Resources Writing Prompts. They offer different grade levels if that is something that floats your boat. Otherwise, if you are not concerned about grade levels then have fun with them. I enjoy them even no matter which grade level we pull from. Journaling is about writing and enjoying it.
Online Writing and Journal Prompts:
Writing/Journal Prompts at CanTeach.
Daily Writing promts at The Teachers Corner
A Goldmine of Journal Writing Prompts
How about you? Do you journal? Do your kids journal?
Feb. 5, 2009
Treasure links
Posted in Fun learning
Great on-line learning aids.
"Hundreds of worksheets. Millions of combinations." at
Worksheet Works
Free on-line books, poems and short stories at
Read Print.
On-line graphical dictionary and thesaurus at
Visuwords. This has become one of my new favorites. Being dyslexic I can "see" the words by getting a neat picture. Seeing this site for the first time was pretty exciting for me.
Dec. 22, 2008
Gross Mold Update
Posted in Fun learning
The nastiest of molds that we grew came from MY tongue! See that brown spot in the picture above? (As fun as this project was.. I don't want know what bacteria that brown stuff is. Ewww!) There is some other white and grey fuzz growing in there as well as a small bit of bright green mold.
The jar to the left of my tongue mold is from my son's toes - it's pretty nasty! The jar to the right is from my other son's football.
All the molds were interesting. The one that took the longest to grow was from the dog's kennel. The one that grew the quickest was from my tongue.
Dec. 14, 2008
Oh, the grossness!
Posted in Fun learning
We had a wonderful week of grossology. Unfortunately, we all ended up getting the cold/flu stuff that is going around. Go figure. The past five days has seen a lot of snot, sneezing, runny noses, runny eyes, fever, and once in a while - puke. Thankfully all seven of us got sick at the same time. We are not quite recovered yet, but close.
Before we caught the "bug" that is going around we did learn about ear wax, snot, bad breath and worms.
Nothing compares to "hands on" learning when it comes to virus's, snot, puke. Being sick is pretty gross!
Our molds are growing now. The grossest one so far and the one that started growing the quickest was the sample we took from MY tongue. It's pretty nasty! Big brown growth in the jar. Eeew! I thought the dog kennel would of been the worst, but so far there isn't much growth at all. The toilet seat doesn't even have much growth yet - just a few bits of white fuzz. The sample from my sons football is looking pretty nasty too - black fuzz.
I think this will conclude what I'll post on gross stuff. Although, gross things happen so I'll be sure to post them as they are discovered as well as update on our molds.
Dec. 8, 2008
Ewww! That's Gross! Day 4 [Growing mold]
Posted in Fun learning
Growing mold
Instructions to
"A Fungus Among Us"
I bought baby food at the store because I didn't have baby food jars. If you go buy baby food for this experiment make sure you buy food that you can use. Applesauce or plums go great in pancake mix!
Follow the instructions on how to sterilize the jars. It is important if you want the molds to grow.
We took germs from a door knob, football, the toilet seat, my tongue, fridge door handle, the inside of the dog crate and from in between sons toes.
It will be interesting to see which ones will start growing first. Just thinking about what the dog crate will produce grosses me out...
It shall be interesting.
Sites used:
Yucky.com
Dec. 5, 2008
Ewww! That's Gross! Day 3 [Ear Wax]
Posted in Fun learning
Today we learned about ear wax. We were supposed to start growing mold, but plans changed.
This week of grossology has been quite fun. The dinner conversation's have been quite interesting. There have been a few times we've had to change the subject in order to keep our food down.
When the kids do Mad Libs they use gross words which always usually lead to major belly roll laughs. Fun times, fun memories.
We've enjoyed watching a few neat shows this week.
Grossology,
Dirty Jobs,
Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. These shows have certainly sparked more gross discussions. If I could sum up some of the grossosity from this week it would go a bit like this... (note: this is a spur of the moment blurb of some of the highlights of what we've learned.) I'm feeling funky... give me a break.
While fighting Dr. Evil Butts and Fartor we discovered that raising maggots for fishermen is hard and extrememly smelly work. After a hard day of cleaning arm pit bacteria and toe jam its nice to sit down and slurp on some blood soup with a side of white ants. Honestly, eating bugs isn't all that gross because some of them, speaking from experience, are quite good. My grandma used to make carob covered grasshoppers. Yum. After eating all sorts of interesting foods you do wish you had some nice air freshener because of all the bacteria doing their job in your intestines.
Well, that was just the tip of the tissue that you use to clean out your nose. There is a lot of gross stuff in this world - in your homes, on your body, in your body, down the street. Makes life interesting and sometimes embarassing.
Anyway, back to ear wax. Don't shove that q-tip to far in there. You need that precious waxy goo because it helps keep stuff out of your ear as well as killing yucky bacteria.
Here is what I served with my children's lunch.
Chicken, BBQ sauce, Applesauce and
Dirty Cotton Swabs with ear wax.
Dec. 2, 2008
Ewww! That's Gross! Day 2 [Arm pits, sweat]
Posted in Fun learning
Arm pits, sweat and puberty.
My daughter cracked me up this morning when I asked the kids what gross thing they would like to learn today. My daughter shouts, "ARM PITS, but I don't want to learn any other gross stuff."
We started our "pit" adventures by reading
Luke 22:44. Isn't it nice to know that Jesus was human and sweated? (Had bodily functions, too?)
My kids then reminded me that I sweat a lot when I exercise, but probably not as much as Jesus did, but close. I say, sweat at least once a day. It's a good thing. If I don't sweat while working out then I'm not working hard enough. (I'm also addicted to adrenaline.)
After discussing why our pits stink I suggested that tomorrow we
grow some mold from our pits. While we are at it we will also get germs from our toilet seat, a door nob, toe jam, spit and whatever else we find that might provide some good growth.
It's creepy to think of all the bacteria, germs and other critters that are on our bodies. Thank G-d we don't see them, but at the same time I am thankful for them.
As our smelly pits and sweat talk went on we ended up talking about more puberty. (I have two that are going through it.)
Tomorrow - Mold!
Dec. 1, 2008
Eeew! That's Gross! Day 1 [Poop & Eye gunk]
Posted in Fun learning
Today my grossologist's learned about poop and eye gunk.
The fun started with Bible reading from
Ezekiel 4:9-17. Yeah, that is pretty gross.
It lead to discussing uses of poop. Chinese farmers know the value of poop. They dump (pun not intended) animal poo into a holding area. The bacteria in the poop makes methane (natural gas). They insert a pipe into the poop holding area and then they use the gas to cook their food.
A few other poop highlights we discussed:
Why and how we make poop. (Isn't G-d wonderful in knowing to create us to poop?)
My son also told me about "Survivor Man" (not sure what the show is called) and how he ate poop as part of his survival. Yeah... gross..
We talked about how scat is important for hunters so that they can know how long ago the animal was last at that spot.
Oh, then we read on
grossology how some people in the Sahara Desert shove camel poop up their noses because they think it will cure their head colds.
My daughter was covering her ears at this point, but my three boys were enjoying the conversation.
On to eye gunk - eye snot.
It wasn't as interesting as poop, but it is a function that is needed.
Great gross sites:
Grossology
The Yuckiest Site on the Internet
Nov. 28, 2008
Eeewww! Gross!
Posted in Fun learning
Thanksgiving was nice. It was a small gathering with my mother, step-dad, step-grandma, grandma, two uncles, one aunt, and one cousin. All the kids played together. My cousin is the same age as my older daughter - they were even born 2 days apart.
The food was wonderful. It was nice to sit at the table and talk.
Our "official"
school learning year starts on December 1st. I have been thinking about making our week a gross one. My kids will be grossologists and I'll have them study gross stuff. They already know the gross facts about burps, farts, why poop stinks, why we have snot, scat, and spit so I'll have to find other gross stuff. There are plenty of gross out there to study. Mold will also be on the list.
This weekend I'll be arming myself with all sorts of fun gross ideas. We'll be making goo's and ooze's. Who knows what kind of noises we'll make... "musical", I'm sure. Gross bible studies will be taught.
It will be a fun week. I'll make sure to update daily what gross stuff we learn and do each day.
Posted in Fun learning
"Yes, we have to divide up our time like that, between our politics and our equations. But to me our equations are far more important, for politics are only a matter of present concern. A mathematical equation stands forever." Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
I couldn't agree more with "politics are only a matter of present concern." If only I didn't have to ponder on them so much lately! Colorado primaries are approaching fast and I think I have finally, after months and months or seeking, have figured out as to whom will get my vote.
I won't bore you anymore with "political stuff" on this blog because its just a quick, temporary thing. As to who I will be voting for, well, that is between my ballot and I.
Now on to the fun stuff! Math! I like math and I enjoy teaching it to my children. From using a math curriculum (we use Math-U-See) to everyday living math. It really is amazing how often we use math on a daily basis in simple things, like laundry. Or how complex math can get when driving a car. I can't tell you how many times my children have asked what RPM and MPH are and how they work. I am so thankful that my children ask questions like that. It provides great learning and discussions in the car.
Anyway, I'm off to figure out how fast I need to clean my home before company comes over!
(If Dianna needs to clean the home before 6:00 pm tonight how many things can she pick up, throw away, dust, how many floors can she vacuum, how many dishes can she wash? Are there some chores she'll have to "put under the rug" due to time? Hmmmm) In reality, I think I can do them all in 6 hours even with taking a nap! This could lead to a chart... I've never timed myself on how long it takes me to do a chore. This could be an interesting project for the kids and I!
Jan. 27, 2008
Girls night!! Er week!
Posted in Fun learning
I have been so blessed to be able to have "girls night" every night for almost a week with my oldest daughter. Her brothers are having a fun filled week at grandma's.
We've drank tea together. We've watched "girly" movies like Shirly Temple in "Heidi" and the Little Princess. We've also watched "Underdog". We've had some very good "heart" talks. We've cooked together and sewed together. She even helped me when I fell on some ice and hurt my thumb and my bum.
We are having a blast! I think tonight we'll watch "True Grit". I know, I know... it's not a "girly" movie but it is a great western! I love the old John Wayne movies... or old westerns for that matter. Why not pass that love on to my daughter. She loves watching The Lone Ranger video's that I bought. After all, she does want to be a cowgirl and a vet.
Posted in Fun learning
I found it funny that today while in the bathroom (washing my hands) at my mothers house that it had occured to me that I brought over 3/5 of my children with me.
I think I just found a fun new way to speak about my children. Fractions!
- 2/5 are with my mother.
- 3/5 went to the store with me.
- 4/5 love macaroni and cheese.
- 2/5 are girls.
- 3/5 are boys.
- None of my kids like pizza!
- 1/5 is in diapers.
I crack myself up!
Nov. 5, 2007
Growing Triops
Posted in Fun learning
We will be growing Triops as part of our learning. The website also has free lesson plans to go along. Looks fun! http://www.triops.com
We'll be starting ours tomorrow.
Anyone done these? What did you think? Did your kids have fun with them?
Posted in Fun learning
Remeber Donkey Kong?
Like Post-It's?
Check this out!
I'm inspired....
Apr. 3, 2007
Fingerspelling spelling words
Posted in Fun learning
My children are learning American Sign Language. (I'm refreshing my skills.)
Yesterday, I noticed that my son was practicing his spelling words by fingerspelling them. What a great idea!!
In spelling, the old fashioned write each word 5 times gets pretty boring! Thankfully we play scrabble and other games to help them learn their words. I also have my kids write short stories using their spelling words in them. Now we can add fingerspelling! Bonus!
Posted in Fun learning
I love math...
I dislike cats...
To have math and cats in the same sentence, or web address is incongruous to me. I'll get over it though, as MathCats is a very neat math site! (My daughter also likes this site!) Play games, make math crafts like an icosihenagon using a very long piece of string, or a number city. Read math stories or make math fact cards.
Feb. 20, 2007
C-C-C-Creative!
Posted in Fun learning
To spark creativity in myself and my chilren I have:
- Endless supply of paper - Construction, plain, card stock, drawing
- crayons, markers, pens, pencils, paints. (Each of my children has their own rubbermaid totes with their own supplies in them.
- pencil sharpeners
- glue (stick, regular white glue and rubber cement)
- Tape (scotch, double sided, duct)
- Notebooks
- Rubbermaid totes full of craft stuff. This is from stuff I buy when I see good sales. Stuff like pipe cleaners, pom-poms, safety pins, beads, felt, fabric, Plaster of Paris, yarn and a bunch of other goodies. These totes are accessible at any time!
- Camera's
- Music (all sorts)
- Musical instruments
- Books! Books create all sorts of sparks!
The list goes on! The gist of this - let your kids have fun. Let them create without your interferance! Let them drum on different things. Let them draw a "brown bear" purple. Let them sing their own songs.
Being creative isn't just making crafts.. it's taking something from your imagination and putting it to some sort of media. It's writing a story or a poem. It's making sculpters in a mud puddle. It's building with legos. It's knitting a scarf. It's capturing a picture. It's trying different spices in foods. It's singing a song from your heart. It's sewing a quilt. It's coming up with new ideas!
What do you do to spark creativity?
©Dianna A. 2007
Jan. 18, 2007
History Scrapbooks
Posted in Fun learning
These will be like any ordinary scrapbooks, however they will be of history. Starting with a page of what history is. Then we'll go through and "scrap" what we have learned in history from the past few years. This will be a fun way to get rid of some of the "learning leftover clutter" and it will be a neat way to show what the children have learned in a creative way other than a 3-ring binder.
Happy Scrapping!
©Dianna A 2007
