Fostering a Love for Learning

If any of you reading our blog homeschool, you may be like me and find yourself wanting new, fun and creative ideas for your kids, to keep things fresh and make learning fun. I know I do! So, in an effort to share what has been kindly shared with me, I thought I would post some websites that I have found helpful on here.

I've found many good exercises for the kids on a website a teacher friend of mine told me about. It has links for many ages and subjects. It is a lot to take in, with tons of links, but it has a lot of free, good material!

http://www.internet4classrooms.com

I found the poetry we are using through that same website. It is called 30 days of poetry. The direct link to it is:

http://www.msrogers.com/English2/poetry/30_days_of_poetry.htm#Poetry_Lesson_Chart

The website below is also good. I found a lesson on the Tell-Tale Heart for Mason that I want to do very soon. I passed it on to a friend of mine and she went through it already with her daughter and said it was great. There are lessons for all ages.

http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/index.asp?grade=0&strand=0&engagement=0

The main Read Write Think site:

http://www.readwritethink.org

Hope you find this info helpful! I plan to post other fun activities I find on here, and would ask that if you have any ideas or websites that you would like to share, please feel free to leave them in the comment section, so others might benefit from them as well!

Poetry Days 6 and 7...

Somehow, I have misplaced Mason's poem from Day 6. Day 6 was "I Don't Understand."

I Don't Understand

I don't understand
Why some dogs are big and some are small
Why you hair turns white when your old

But most of all
Why some plants are green and some are yellow
Why fish don't have legs
Why my Dad has big hands

What I understand most is
Why jeans can be light or dark
Why some people like pink and some people don't

-Kenzie Felkins

Yesterday we were on Day 7, the Just Because poems! The kids both had to write a poem that started out with Just because I'm...

I had them all typed up and then decided not to post them, because the kids both really poured their hearts into them and wrote about things that are sensitive to them. I did not want someone to read them, that might not understand their sometimes fragile hearts, and without meaning to, tease them about sensitive subjects. Poetry and our home should be a safe place for them to share their hearts. So, I hope you will understand that I will only share the light-hearted ones (which will probably be the majority, since we love to have fun) on our blog! They are doing a wonderful job with the poems! I am so proud of their work!!!

Chocolate Volcano!

The kids and I made this volcanic eruption reenactment using chocolate this morning. It smells SO yummy! We are studying magma, lava and igneous rock. Everyone enjoyed this experiment and now we are waiting for it to cool, like lava does...so we can eat it! 
 

Nights...

Eat, drink, dessert
Drink, dessert, brush teeth
Dessert, brush teeth, shower
Brush teeth, shower, computer
Shower, computer, tv
Computer, tv, bed
TV, bed, read
Bed, read, bible
Read, bible, lights
Bible, lights, think
Lights, think, dream
Think, dream, sleep

By Mason Felkins

The rules for this poem were as follows:

"Each line of this form is made up of three words. The last two words become the first two words in the next line. In the poem, there will be a progress of images and a story will be told."

Kenzie is still working on math, so I will post hers when she has finished writing it. Hope you are enjoying our 30 days of poetry. This was Day 5!

Update...

School

Reading, writing, language arts
Writing, language arts, math
Language arts, math, poetry
Math, poetry, history
Poetry, history, science
History, science, read
Science, read, Wii Fit
Read, Wii Fit, Bananagrams
Wii Fit, Bananagrams, typing
Bananagrams, typing, listen

By Kenzie

Lists of Creativity...

Sports That are Fun

Golf is absolutely wonderful
In football you can get hurt
While surfing you may see lots of gulls
When you play volleyball you don't wear a shirt

In soccer you run
While hunting you shoot
Basketball is fun
During triathlons you don't wear a boot

Bowling is great
To fish you use a pole
I love to skate
If trapping, sometimes you dig a hole

By Mason Felkins




Things that are soft

Teddy bears bellies
Fuzzy baby blankets
Horses long hair
Warm wool sweaters
The colorful sock that my mom is knitting
The blue sock hat that I got at the store
My friends toe socks, she lives next door
My red PJ pants
The green African Violet that sits in the pot
The pillow that I sleep on at night
The robe that my brother wears
And the carpet that is in my room

By Kenzie Felkins

One of My Favorite Places

 
 
 
 

There are many wonderful places that I have had the opportunity to visit, but somehow, the memories attached to the place make it all the more special. When I was very young, my parents decided to buy a house at the lake. John and I now take our kids to the same lake house, where I grew up spending my summers. Granted, the lake house has, as of this year, been completely renovated, making the inside an even nicer place to visit, it still holds the same special place in my heart. My parents enjoy hearing the little voices laugh and enjoy themselves. It is a fun retreat for all of us! John took these pictures the last time we were there this winter. Mason spent much of his time there, perfecting his duck call and starting fires in the fire pit. Kenzie collected sea shells by the shore.

Opposites Update...

Rig for silent running (from the days of high school English)...

What is the opposite of sports
Perhaps it is sitting inside to write a report
Because playing a sport gives you great exercise
And writing a report only strains your eyes
-By Mason Felkins

Black is something my cousin Jack likes to wear
And my grandma has white hair
White is light and so is my kite
Black is not light it's dark as the night
-By Kenzie Felkins

Not sure which grandma has white hair...I'm thinking it must have been Granny D.

30 Days of Poetry

 
 

We are using the link below for 30 days of poetry. The pictures are from day one. The kids did a great job coming up with cute poems! As you can tell, Mason is already starting to shift his focus onto his spring and summer love, golf. Kenzie decided to write about something that she loves too...sweets! The lesson was on concrete poetry.

Day 2 was synonym poetry...

FUN
Amusing, delightful, diverting, pleasurable
Being someone that loves to have fun, hopefully will never be curable.
-Mason

SONG
Ballad, jingle, lay, lyric, vocal, ditty
Singing songs can make you very giddy.
-Kenzie

Today is day three and we will be working on opposites. I cannot wait to see what the kids come up with!

See the link below to join us in 30 days of poetry!

30 Days of Poetry

Daisy Digestion

Here is a fun science project that we did recently! Kenzie enjoyed showing Daisy off to any and all who would listen.

Calling All Creative People...

Currently, I am feeling the need to do more with the kids as far as school goes. We are covering all the core subjects and, as you may have seen if you watched Daisy Digestion, we have fun science projects from time to time. That said, I am taking suggestions for fun new projects, experiments and adventures. Do you have any fun ideas? If so, please share them with us in the comment section!

Sheer Joy!

In the mind of a 12 year old boy, can you think of what it might be that would give you an overwhelming sense of joy? Can you? Well, I for one, have never been a 12 year old boy, but I do remember things that would have brought me great joy at that age, like going swimming, warm spring and summer days, the lake, flowers, exploring in the woods and time spent with family and friends. For Mason, whose love language is quality time, let's just say, a morning with his dad that starts before the sun comes up and is spent in the freezing cold weather waiting for ducks to fly by or a deer to appear equals a perfect morning. Just so you can see the joy for yourselves, I posted a few pictures from their last hunting adventure. Mason and John went duck hunting a while back, with some friends and had a blast!
 
 
 
 

Hitting the Target

 

Many times over the course of this shoot, we had to remind Kenzie not to get her arrow ready until Mason had stepped away from the target. It is amazing how eager she was to aim at him. I took pictures and, as we approached the end of the shoot, I decided to try my hand at the targets...let's just say, I'll stick with taking pictures! As you will see, I included a picture of Mason acting like we were on an African safari. John played the part of the crazy video camera man that would actually follow a person around while sneaking up on wild animals with sharp claws and teeth! We spoke softly and walked lightly, while stalking the foam creatures. We also tried not to hit any of the mountain bikers that somehow made it into the middle of the danger zone! Mason took second place in his age division and Kenzie, well, she had lots of fun!

Putt Putt Fun!

The kids enjoyed a round of go-carts and putt putt last night! There was much singing and dancing and laughing to be had by all! Hope you enjoy a few pics from our fun evening! 

Kenzie and Her Cousin

Here are some cute pictures taken at Gracie and Doc's of Kenzie holding her baby cousin! The kids love their cute little cousin and she enjoys staring at them, trying to figure out who these other smaller people are! 
 
 

Special Day for Special K!

Since many of you who keep up with our blog might not have been able to be here for Kenzie's Baptism, I wanted to share some photos from the big day we've had today! It was a wonderful time! Justus and Kenzie's mom were both here to share it with us, as well as Gracie and Doc and Uncle Matthew. Just after being dunked, Kenzie told John, "it would have been better if I woulda had goggles on!" 
 

A Boy and His Bow Part 2

 

A Boy and His Bow

 

Fun with Words!

This new fun game was suggested to us by my sister-in-law, Jackie! It has been a hit with our family and has really helped Kenzie with her spelling and coming up with words. Anything fun to get the brain working is fine by me!