The Wild Horses Of Sweetbriar - FIAR

After visiting here this summer.

We of course read the book Misty of Chincoteague.  Love it when a book comes alive like this!  I love tying in field trips with what we are learning!

It was so neat to actually see the horses and then the characters and actions in the story are so much more real.  After our trip, we rowed the FIAR book, The Wild Horses of Chincoteague.  This is a delightful story with many fun lessons.

I don't seem to have captured many pictures of our studies, but we did try our hand at making gluten free blueberry muffins.  They were a hit!

Daniel is enjoying having more time in the kitchen and I'm working to incorporate more cooking together into our weeks.  If you haven't yet tried this book, I encourage you to do so.  And if you live anywhere close by - its worth a trip!

Blessings
Leslie

Ask Mr Bear - Before FIAR

Well,  I'm clearly having a hard time catching up on my posting.  Its just that we have been so very busy!  I'm going to see if I can post several now (to post a new one each day) and hopefully that will help me.

In the last couple of weeks, I've taught 2 co-ops, planned 2 local field trips and helped plan a field trip to NewYork City!!!  This was after celebrating two birthdays last month too!  Lots of fun things and hopefully I'll get caught up soon on all of this!

This was from our Before Five in a Row co-op last month.  We read the book Ask Mr Bear.  In the story, the main character Danny, meets a variety of animals while looking for a gift for his mother.  The last animal that he meets is Mr. Bear.

We had a bear mask so that the children could pretend to be a bear.

 We played a game where each child was given a card with either an animal or an object pictured on it. The object was the suggested gift that the animal told to Danny.  The children then tried to pair the gift with the animal.

 Then made a sequence of the animals and gifts found in the story.

 We looked at a variety of pictures of farm animals.

 While the younger children were doing this, Rebecca was with the group of older children.  They had all read the first chapter from The Mad Scientist Club.  They each then made something to bring and show that related to the story in some way.  It was fun seeing the creativity behind these creations!  There were models, remote control cars, lego creations and more.

 For our snack we had an "unbirthday" party.  Since Danny was looking for a birthday gift for his mom, we celebrated birthdays too!

  Its a fun reason to have a party, right?

 The younger children then went and worked on a craft.  They made cards to be sent to family or friends.  No occasion specified so that their cards could be used whenever they wanted.

 Lots of materials so that they were free to create!

 Eliana really likes to glue things.  I'm not sure why and I am sure that we don't do enough of this at home!

 The older children finished up with a variety of water science experiments.  I wasn't able to get many pictures of this group since I was with Eliana.  This last one was creating a tornado in the soda bottles.

It was a fun morning with friends and we look forward to our next week.

More tomorrow!  I promise!

Blessings

Leslie

Beyond FIAR Co-op - Cricket in Times Square 1

We are in our 3rd and final year of doing our Beyond  Co-op.  What a fun couple of years we have had and I look forward to even more fun together this year!  We are in Volume 3 this year and our first book is The Cricket in Times Square.  We covered topics in the first 3 chapters in this co-op.

We started out learning about New York City.  Each student was given a card with a picture of a prominent landmark in Manhattan.

 They were then asked to find its location and place it on the map.

They discussed the artist and the author.  They then looked at some of the pictures from the book.  Later they chose one of the favorites and drew a copy to include in their lap book.

 There was also a discussion about mammals, rodents and insects.

 The students were each given a lapbook with pieces included from Homeschool Share.  You can find it here.  They filled out a number of the books from the things that they had learned (NY, CT, Mass Transit, Rodents and more).

 After all of that hard work, it was time for a snack.  More than a snack really - a spread!

 This was our menu for the day.

It was a fun start to a delightful book!  I look forward to sharing more of it with you!

Blessings
Leslie

Field Trip to Pullen Park

We started off our field trip season with a trip to Pullen Park,  We missed going last year due to construction here and it was fun to see some of the changes that had been made.

We have a number of new families joining our group this year and this is a great place to have time to talk and play together - for new friends and old.  

 We met at the playground where there is plenty to do for all ages.  While the moms congregated to chat, the children explored.

 It was all close and easy to keep an eye on what everyone was doing.

 It was a gorgeous day and what better way to spend it than with family and friends.

 I just LOVE this picture!  It has to be my favorite of the day.  Pure and unfiltered delight!   It also captures one of my favorite moments of the day too!  Christopher came by to see us!  I was hoping since we were so close to campus that he would be able to stop by - and he did along with one of his friends.  It was so good to see them.

 I've always loved seeing my children hanging out and enjoying each other.  As they grow up and have different interests, it still makes my heart smile.

 This is one of the photos that Eliana took.  She loves to borrow my camera and take photos.  Some of them end up being pretty good.  I thought this was a neat perspective.

 Often on our field trips, I like getting a picture of all of my children.  Its not always easy or possible.  I loved getting this one.  :-)  These are some of my most favorite people in the whole world!!!

 Of course, no trip to Pullen Park is complete without going on the rides.

 The train is fun for all ages.

 This just made me laugh.  I'm often taking pictures of the group and they are used to me doing it.  It will be fun to see what her picture looks like as I'm rarely in the photos.

 Eliana really enjoyed the boat ride and Isaiah was sweet to ride along with her.

 Eliana was the only one that wanted to ride the merry-go-round.  And she wanted to ride it until she sat down on the horse.  Then she was done.  Unless she was clinging tightly to me.

 After spending a lot of time there, playing, having lunch, rides and then popsicles, it was time to head home.

This was a fun start to our field trips and we look forward to many more!

Hope you are having fun exploring your world too!

Blessings
Leslie

Book club - God's Smuggler & The Hiding Place

Just a quick post on our last two books.  We are getting a late start to book club due to busy fall schedules and look forward to starting again soon.

We read God's Smuggler.  A true story of a man who smuggled Bibles behind the Iron Curtain.  Fascinating story and encouraging too.  I would highly recommend it.  

As always, the food was delicious and tied into the countries that Brother Andrew lived.  Pie, nutella with little crepes, pita chips and hummus, cookies.  I'm not doing a good job describing as it has been too long and I've just forgotten.

Our last book, was The Hiding Place.  Wow, what a story.  It has been some time since I read it and this is a story that would just never get old.  To read about all that she experienced and her faith in the midst of challenges that most of us could never imagine.  What an encouraging book.  A great reminder to give thanks in all things.  Very highly recommend though not for younger children as some of the material is quite difficult to read.  

Lovely centerpiece.

Yes, we do eat well at these fun gatherings!  Strawberries to dip in a yummy chocolate sauce, eclairs, cream puffs and yummy tarts in chocolate and fruit.

We enjoy this fun time to discuss books and be with friends.  Looking forward to starting up again soon.

Have you read any good books lately?  We are looking for some new titles to read this year and would love some recommendations.

Hugs
Leslie

Before FIAR co-op - Yellow Ball

This was just the perfect book for a summer reading.  (Yes, still behind in posting.)  The Yellow Ball is a sweet simple story about a ball that is played with on the beach and then is taken out to sea.  After an adventure in the ocean, it returns to a different beach and is found and enjoyed by a new child.

 We started our morning with a devotion.  I told the story of Jesus out on the boat with some disciples when a storm arose.  We talked about how God is in control of everything and we had no reason to fear.  (Not sure what I'm pondering in this picture.  Love my sweet girl looking at the felts.)

 After reading the story and talking about some of the various elements in the story, it was time for some hands-on fun.  One of the parts of the story shows the ball from various angles - above, below, near and far.  I thought it would be fun for each child to have a ball and put it in various positions.

 Behind their back.

 On their knees.

 Then it was time for a parachute of balls.  Look at all the fun types and sizes.

 The first blanket wasn't quite big enough so we moved to using a sheet which worked much better.

 We popped and bounced the balls together.

 For snack we had an "ocean" of blue jello and gummy fish to swim in it.  (We are working on theme snacks which are also gluten and nut free.  :-)  We also served watermelon and cheese (which they could roll into yellow balls if they wanted to).

 After snacking, it was time for an art project.  Each child was given a small, squishy yellow ball.

 Needless to say, they loved that!

 For our art project, they painted with their balls dipped into yellow paint.

 Fun watching them work so carefully.

 Yes, I am still taking your picture.  LOL

 When they finished painting, it was time to wash off the balls.  They loved doing this and some of them had to do it several times.  LOL

 They were also able to see that their balls floated in the water.

 Which lead to a discussion on buoyancy.  With a bag of assorted yellow things, each child was able to pick something from the bag.  They then guessed whether it would float or sink.

 And tested it out.

Lovely day with friends.  I'm thankful for this sweet time rowing books that I have loved using for 15 years now.  (Wow, can it really have been that long?!)

Hope your days are going well!
Leslie