Dinner With A Side Of Science

Last night we went out to dinner with a friend and her two children. With kids in tow you are in better shape if you pick a kid friendly place. Red Robin is a good choice for us. Kind of noisy but they have kids meals, menus, crayons and my daughters favorite part is they give you a balloon when you leave.

Usually I am rather annoyed by balloons when they are bobbing around and the weird sound when they get near my ears freaks me out. Last night though my daughter was intrigued by her balloon and so we spent about an hour discovering what the balloon can and cannot hold and still stay aloft.

We kept a log and discovered that the balloon would carry one dime but not a nickle, penny or quarter. It would not carry Daddy's wedding ring or six paperclips but it would carry five paperclips. After we were done we weighed the string down with a glass on the table so we could see if it was still floating as high in the morning. It wasn't. Today it couldn't carry the things it did yesterday.

This sparked a whole new realm of questions from my daughter and necessitates another trip to the library so we can find the answer together. This is what is great about homeschooling. You never know when a learning opportunity is going to float by.

Hot Stuff!

Educational opportunities seem to be everywhere if you keep an eye out for them. Earlier this month I was trying to find some unrelated information on our city's website when the words ''Fire Safety Camp'' caught my eye. Then the word FREE jumped out at me. Educational and free? That is like winning the homeschool lottery!

Perhaps this is one of the perks of living in a smallish Midwestern town. My daughter definitely thought it was a perk and could not wait until July 9th. She was giddy with anticipation.

Finally camp day rolled around and I dropped her off from 8:00 to 12:00pm. Free, educational AND I get a break? I am loving it!

Our local fire department outdid themselves with this free camp. The kids all obviously enjoyed learning about fire safety, calling 911, touring the safety trailer, putting out pretend fires, seeing the fire trucks and being fed pizza. Wow. They fed them lunch too! To top it off each child got to take home a sticker, lollipop, certificate, t shirt and a tie string gym sack to put all their take home goodies in.

I always try to find unexpected learning experiences for my kids and this one was one of the best. We will certainly sign up for this next year!

Make sure your curriculum adds up with a math placement test.

Make sure your curriculum adds up with a math placement test.

Posted using ShareThis

ROYAL BREAKFAST

It is not always easy to convince my six year old that not only is breakfast the most important meal of the day but it must be a good breakfast. She would much rather munch on cereals made for (but certainly not in their best interest) kids. High School Musical cereal made it in to our cart once in a moment of weakness. Once in awhile stuff like that is ok but with all the sugar, chemicals and artificial whatevers I try to not even bring it home. (Reason 134 for not bringing kids grocery shopping)
This morning I made my daughter a breakfast princess. Sliced bananas for the tiara with grapes as crowning jewels. Whipped cream for eyes, strawberry mouth and a peanut butter nose. I threw a couple dashes of sprinkles on there too for more jewels.
My daughter loved it. She ate it without realizing how healthy it was for her.

FIELD TRIP - HENRY DOORLY ZOO

Today was perfect weather to visit the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. Laramie loved the carousel. The brightly colored animals made it difficult to choose which one to ride on.

The llama did not seem to be too interested in us and certainly did not seem to appreciate my attempts at finding words that rhyme with llama. (Silly momma!)

The baby goats were adorable. Just two months old. Laramie was fascinated at how they ate straw right out of her hand.

PARK IT

Warm spring days can be hard to come by in Nebraska so when a sunny, calm day presented itself the books went on the shelf and we headed to one of the neighborhood parks.

One of the many gifts of homeschooling is not only the flexibility of our schedule but the flexibility to learn in many different ways.

An afternoon at the park brings so many opportunities to meet other people, learn about nature, weather, conservation and just about any subject can be incorporated.

Some days the best thing about being a homeschooler is not always having to school at home!

ALOHA

I bought this dress last year at Old Navy on sale for six bucks. I was so excited and thought it was cute. Laramie would not wear it. Would have not a thing to do with it. I almost threw it in the Goodwill box but then thought that it might still fit her the next year. (Good thinking Mom!)
We have been learning about Hawaii and volcanoes this spring. When warm weather hit we got out the summer clothes box and I brought out the dress. ''Look! A Hawaiian dress! " I asked her to try it on and told her we would read her favorite volcano book again. It worked like a charm. She loves the dress now.