Need I say more?

 

Shhh- Birthday Gift (top secret!)

So don’t tell Big Hugaboo what his birthday gift is… but I’ll tell you!  This year we got him a Lego WeDo Robotics kit!!!  I’m so excited for him to open this.  His birthday is this weekend so he’ll get to open it in a few days, but man I want to peek at it and play a bit!  We got the homeschool version so it comes with a binder that has various activities in it.  Also comes with software so he’ll be able to learn some basic computer programming.  Of course, we want it to be a learning opportunity as well so last week and this week we’re learning about simple machines.  We even made a spoon catapult this afternoon!  As soon as he opens his gift I’ll post pictures!

COUPONS!

Ok, this is a random mommy post.  I just had to mention my excitement over saving money at Target today.  They had individual cups of oatmeal on sale for $1.02 each.  And buy 5 get a $5 gift card sale.  PLUS I had coupons for a $1 off of each one.  Are you doing the math?  Let’s see….

$1.02 x 10 packages = $10.20

$1 off each package  = $0.20 owed

Gift cards rec’d = $10.00

Profit = $9.80

So, I actually MADE money on the deal and came home with 10 packages of oatmeal!  We are now completely stocked up for oatmeal when nuclear disaster or a random bird flu hits ;)

Visit www.hip2save.com & www.coupons.com to find more deals like this!

{Power} Problem Solving

So, what do you do when you are trying to make a circuit and your batteries are dead?  Well, you find an alternative source of power of course!  When we sat down to put the circuit together this afternoon we did not expect the batteries to be out.  We quickly put into action the new set of “Green” Snap Circuits that he got for Christmas to go with his original kit. *Note you can get these from Hobby Lobby with your 40% off coupon and save a LOT of money!!!  We setup the crank and it worked!  We then tried the solar powered battery and it worked as well, but that needs to be charged some more.  This was a real big learning experience as they kids really seemed to realize that we could use other things than batteries to power things.

 

The circuit we setup sounds an alarm when it is switched on in addition to having a power source that works!  We also experimented with replacing the switch with a fixed circuit and swapped out the alarm with a different music player.

2010 Dayspring Academy Planning

So I put together a few ideas for myself to plan out the rest of the school year and thought I would share it with everyone else as well.  I discovered where we are at in our history curriculum falls very nicely into events on the calendar (Olympics, African American history month, & Easter.)  I was happy about that, makes history a bit more practical for a almost six year old.  Also added some of our workbox ideas and will be making a bunch of file folder games for X & preschool activity bags for A now that we have a new printer.  So here you go… first post in 2010!

Unit Studies
January:
Water Cycle
Ancient China (SOTW)

February:
Ancient Africa (SOTW)
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Olympics (w/SOTW chapters on Ancient Greece)

March:
Rise of Roman Empire (SOTW)
Passover Feast & Easter

April:
Fall of Roman Empire (SOTW)
Seasons

May:
Human Body
Food Pyramid

Workboxes

Workbox Ideas For X (focus on math, reading, and creative thinking)

Worksheets from Horizons Reading
Worksheets from Horizons Math
Alpha Omega Lifepacs for Bible/Science/Social Studies
Weekly Reader
Story of the World Book & Activities
Awana Book
Tag Reader
Puzzles
Journal writing
Handwriting
Book on CD
Unit study DVD
Bingo game
Card games
Sight word cards
File Folder games
Computer learning games (www.ReadingEggs.com , www.Kerpoof.com , www.kidoz.com )
Tanagrams
Painting supplies
Drawing/Cartooning supplies
Dominos
Legos
Science Kit
Snap Circuits
Microscope

Workbox Ideas for A (focus on fine motor, preschool basics, and independent play)

Beads
Cooking
Play dough
Paper punchers
Scissors & paper
Crayons
Craft sticks
Stamps & Ink
Preschool “In A Bag” activities (www.homeschoolshare.com/workbox.php)

Fieldtrip

We had so much fun visiting the water treatment facility today.  Big Hugaboo was very shy at first and even though the guide was extremely kid-friendly and nice X kept giving him the cold shoulder.  By the time we were done I think X had asked more questions than any other kid.  It was really fun when we went in the lab and got to see them test the water and watch it change colors with different chemicals.  I told him Uncle Mat does stuff like that and he was really impressed!

Trying something different to put multiple pictures in… its as a slide show.  Click on the picture below to see the rest.

All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth

Yup, I think that’s what one little boy will be asking for this year.  One out, one to go.  Here’s a picture before it fell out this morning as well as after.  The little tooth pillow I made on a whim at 2am day before yesterday (for the record, I knit much better than I sew!)

Came out quickly.  He was at a church party on Friday night and was playing a cracker eating contest when he realized it was loose.  And here it is Monday with my baby all grown up!

Almost out…

And its gone…