Our first day 2009

Today was our first day of school for the year. We had a great time, and it was so much fun to get huddled back together and spend the day focused on what our year holds.

Garrett and I started American history. We are so excited about this! We are reading biographies and working our way through important events and people, starting with Columbus.

Riley and Cole are starting Astronomy, which is going to be so much fun with the Apologia book. Lots of cool experiments and projects in there! They are also doing Lentil from Five in a Row this week.

Tyler started some "How stuff works" type science and was typing away on his computer about some discoveries he made. He is also reading a George Washington Carver biography and doing a Beyond Five in a Row unit with that.

We are all going to be doing "Around the World" together this year. We are starting with Italy, and looked at some travel books today. Tomorrow we will explore the life of Leonardo Da Vinci. We will also be reading some Michelangelo and Galileo biographies, doing some authentic Italian cooking, and studying Italian art, history, and architecture. Stay tuned for more on Italy!

And, as always, we did our diet Coke/Mentos experiment. It has become tradition to do this every year on the first day. I guess it's kinda like our version of first day fireworks or something. Honestly, I don't see the getting-doused-with-Diet-Coke thing wearing out anytime soon. Being in the middle of a huge mess just never goes out of style for these particular kids. We did it 6 times.

We don't gots to wear no shirts or shoes in our homeschool. Ain't no dress code here.

Here's what Cole wrote in his journal today. He's right. We do always "Coke experiment."

Grammy and Grandpa had a cookie made to ring in the new school year...

And because clearly we are fans of the traditions, we ended our day by meeting David at Incredible Pizza. Just like our very first year. And second year. And third year.

I seriously can not even believe I get to do this with these kids. I am so very blessed.

Bat Caves!

Our final Planet Earth field trip! We finished studying caves a while ago, but just last weekend were able to do our field trip. This one was great fun because we not only got to go with friends, but most of our extended family went as well.
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This was on property that is owned by friends of David's parents. David explored these caves as a child. David's dad grew up just down the road from the property and spent his childhood exploring them as well. We did a lot of wading through creeks to get to our destinations!

The caves were long and narrow in some places!

Here we are after getting all the way through the first cave.

To say this was not a clean field trip would be a huge understatement.

Grace's OU headlamp.

Deciding where to go next...

Taking a roasted hot dog and s'more break!

The water cave...

It was a perfect day! We saw only a few bats, which was ok with me. We had so much fun exploring and experiencing REAL caves.

Fresh Water!

We are still wrapping up our Planet Earth studies. We wanted to wait until it was really warm to go to Turner Falls, a 70 foot natural water fall in the Arbuckle Mountains, to end our Fresh Water study. It was fun!

I never claimed to be above bribery

It's just a fact. Reading makes you smart. Another fact? With all the free time in the summer, so much reading could be done that brains could start to expand to the point of oozing out of ears. That's what we are going for here. Seriously, it's really important to me that they are reading.

Everyone got off to a great start at the beginning of summer, but then things kinda started winding down and reading started tapering off a bit. So I decided to start a reward system.

For 1 chapter book or 100 pages, you can treat yourself to some delicious mini candy bars, or have a party in your mouth with these pop rocks.

For the bargain price of 2 chapter books, or 200 pages, you can be the proud owner of some adorable mini notepads, some refreshing gum, an assortment of wacky jelly bellies, or a roll of endless-potential-duct tape.

How about 3 books or 300 pages? Refresh yourself with a FUZE, or indulge in some Hazelnut Piroulines. Or how about a trendy notebook or some thrilling party poppers? Douse your friends and coworkers with this ca-RAZY silly string, or hide in a closet and eat this jumbo Symphony bar. ...oh wait, that's me.

And if you are a saver? For 5 chapter books or 500 pages, you could be the proud owner of a lovely hibiscus tote, a cuddly plush shark, a set of artist brushes, or a clip-on LED spotlight. Also in here are certificates for a one-on-one trip to starbucks or for ice cream.

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Do I have to bribe my kids?

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No, they like to read.

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Is it worth the cost of prizes to light a fire under them and get them to voluntarily read in their free time, increasing their reading levels over the summer?

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Of course.

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Is it really obnoxious when people ask themselves questions and then answer them?

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Absolutely.

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Have a great summer.

End of the year

Every summer when we finish our school year, we have an open house for our grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. We put out some of the kids' favorite projects from the year. Everyone looks at all we've done, we have a slide show of our pictures, Cole recounts to the group every second of every detail of every day, then we eat dessert. It's a fun wrap-up to our year!

Olympic Day!

If you don't do Homeschool Olympic Day, you should! It's so much fun. Put it on your plan for next year. Click here to find out more about it.