Kaylee's First Book Report

At the beginning of the school year, Kaylee joined the Homeschool Book Club. She had to keep track of the books she read and write a book report on her favorite book. She decided to write her report on her favorite series "The Rainbow Magic Series."

She wanted to do it entirely on her own. I helped her sound out a few words, but I was working in the kitchen as she wrote the report. It turned out very nice. She took her time and wrote neatly.

Kaylee's book report on "The Rainbow Magic Series" for her Homeschool Book Club.

Then, she could attend the Homeschool Book Club party and she receive gifts, went bowling, and put her name in the drawing to win a bike. Kaylee was very excited to win the girls bike at the Book Club party! 

Kaylee won the girls bike! 

Addition Work

We've been making our way through the Montessori Addition Math Facts charts. It is to help with understanding and memorizing addition facts. I got the charts for free at Hope4Me Math. You could spend a lot of money and buy the official wooden charts, but we prefer the free ones printed on card stock. There is a good guide at THIS website that describes how to use the charts.

The last chart, chart 6, I had Kaylee randomly choose an addition equation and then record the answer on the chart. She had noticed the pattern and was quickly filling in the chart. Although she could have just filled in the answers, I still had her choose an equation and use it to fill in the chart.

Kaylee filling in the Montessori Addition Chart 6. 

Our Vegetable Gardens 2014

We are very excited because we have a new raised vegetable garden this year! It means twice the amount of planting space! Now we have two raised vegetable garden beds, 6 container gardens, and one small raised bed. Planting things brings a lot of joy to Kaylee and I. She loves to help plant the seeds and seedlings. She gets really excited when things start to grow and ripen. It's a great learning experience for her (and me).

We've planted: strawberries, cucumber, tomatoes (two kinds), bell peppers, hot peppers, lettuce, salad, cilantro, rosemary, mint, parsley, yellow squash, zucchini, watermelon, cantaloupe, cauliflower, brussels sprouts,and corn. We are hoping for a good harvest this year. Many of our plants have blossoms and some have little baby veggies.

Our plants in mid-May...

Our raised vegetable gardens in May.

Our container gardens in May.

Our gardens in June...

Our raised vegetable gardens in early June. 

Our container gardens in early June.

Our mini raised garden in early June.

Nature Club: Making Bird Feeders

Last Fall, we joined a homeschool nature club. Kaylee has really enjoyed it. It's inexpensive, it's fun, and it meets once a month. Perfect for us.

During a recent nature club meeting, the project was to make a bird feeder. We went on a bird watching walk on a trail. The group spotted some birds and turkey scat and scratch marks. Then, they made bird feeders to take home.

Going for a nature walk to look for birds. 

Kaylee is making a hole in the toilet paper roll to make her bird feeder. 

The finished bird feeder. It's really cute. Eventually, something carried the whole thing away. I'm going to assume it was a squirrel...

World's Greatest Artists, cont...

We are still working through the World's Greatest Artists study. The library has the books we need. We are almost finished with the first volume and will be starting the second volume soon. Each volume only costs $5.50. It's a really great deal.

Kaylee and I are learning a lot about these artists! My favorite part is the lap book. It keeps all the information for each artist neat and organized. Each artist has its own mini book, puzzle, and flashcard. They are great because when we have to return the books to the library, we still have mini pictures of the art work to study and remember.

Kaylee working on the Matisse puzzle for her World's Greatest Artists lap book. 

Whale Watching Trip: Part 3

Kaylee is excited to play at the beach! My advice to not get her pants wet forgotten.

On the final day of our whale watching trip the weather was absolutely beautiful. As you can guess, Kaylee was VERY excited to play on the beach. I made the same mistake and just rolled up her pants a little bit. I know my girl and her obsession with water. Totally a bad call on my part. Luckily, they are just pants and totally washable. And we had spare clothes in our suitcase.

The sheer joy on Kaylee's face as she ran around collecting shells and splashing in the water.

Striking a pose on the beach.

No trip to the beach is complete without time to play on the playground on the beach.

Playing on the playground on the beach. It's the best playground location.

We had such a great trip. We love the beach. I can hardly wait until our next trip. It can't be soon enough...

Whale Watching Trip: Part 2

After Aaron and Kaylee finished with the whale watching trip, we met up to go to the Virginia Beach Aquarium.  We didn't realize how busy it was going to be. It was "mermaid day." There were mermaids swimming in the tank and mermaids to meet throughout the aquarium. When we pulled in to the parking lot it was full. At that point, if we hadn't already paid for our tickets, we would have left. We had already visited the aquarium and we were hoping for a nice stroll through the aquarium. That wasn't possible. There were so many people that we could barely walk. Even though I wasn't very happy, Kaylee had a good time.

Kaylee's favorite part was the sting ray touch tank. I rolled up her sleeves, but she was so excited to touch a sting ray that she put her arm in too deep and got her shirt all wet. 

Kaylee touching a sting ray. Notice how deep her arm is in the water? 

Kaylee shoulder deep in the sting ray touch tank.

Another fun part of the aquarium is the other touch tank. It has horseshoe crabs, crabs, and a few other marine animals to touch and explore.

Kaylee touching a horseshoe crab. 

Then, we moved on to the mermaid activities. By this time, it was mid afternoon and things were getting a little bit calmer. Kaylee made a hat at an activity station.

Kaylee making a mermaid hat. 

We went to a read aloud story time. A mermaid read us a story about protecting the oceans.

Kaylee with the mermaid who read us a story. 

We explored the rest of the aquarium and found my favorite animal, a sea turtle. 

Kaylee and a sea turtle. 

When she saw this shark, she had to pose for a picture inside of its mouth. She talked daddy into joining her. 

Posing inside the jaws of a shark! 

We then walked over to the other part of the exhibits called the Marsh Pavilion and watched the river otters and explored the exhibits. We were all exhausted and hungry. We left the aquarium and met up with some dear friends and went out to dinner at one of our favorite Virginia Beach restaurants, Rudee's. 

Kaylee was worn out before dinner was over. And so was I.