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My in-laws happen to live right near Branson, Missouri. It’s quite a tourist destination… there are shows of every description… magic shows, country shows, dancing, live music, the Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede, Chinese Acrobats, the art of Kung Fu, blues, the Brady Bunch, a tribute to the Eagles, gospel music and on and on and on. Driving down the main thoroughfare there are fun places everywhere. It is a great...
I’ve always been an avid camper and backpacker. I’ve backpacked a number of stretches of the Appalachian Trail and backpacked for nearly a month in the Wind River Range in Wyoming. Hubby and I hiked quite a bit in the Outback in central Australia, did the Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair overland trek in Tasmania, Australia and even had the opportunity to hike along the Annapurna Trail in Nepal. All that’s great, but...
We actually stumbled across this museum, but what a FABULOUS place to visit. Just had to shout that out, it was *that* good! From the time Arkansas became a state in 1836 to the mid 1940s cotton production was common in the Arkansas River lowlands. Men, women and children could be seen picking and stuffing cotton into long sacks in the fall. Tractors were not used for the preparation, planting,...
For the past two and a half weeks, I was on the road with the kids (we left hubby home working for much of the time). In yesterday’s post I talked about traveling with the kids in a general way. We did SO much on this trip! We visited 18 family members who are strewn throughout the midwest. I did some research before we left and fit in some educational side...
I went on a long road trip with the kids. It’s the first really (really!) long trip I’ve done on my own and the kids were great travelers! We did a bit of just about everything on this trip — visited family, met up with friends, visited a number of historic sites, went camping, hiking, boating and swimming! We traveled more than 2,500 miles! Since I was the lone driver, snack...
Have you heard of File Folder Games? They are quick games to help build skills in math, reading, science, social studies and more. We use them lots and lots in our homeschool. Here are a couple examples that ED, my preschooler, has played recently. This File Folder Game has her practicing counting by 10s and 1s: Here are a couple other examples. One has the child fill in the missing...
I meant to talk about this a couple of days ago right after the lemon soda post, but life’s been full and fun and I didn’t get around to it. This is another great activity to do with ingredients I’m sure you have in your kitchen. We did this a while ago, but if the weather’s hot, your kids might enjoy being spies for the afternoon! We used two different...
If you’re here in the U.S., I hope you have a fun 4th of July! Fireworks have been banned in lots of places because of drought, but so far it’s still a go for us this evening! Why is it we celebrate this day? In June and July 1776, a committee worked on a document that all the thirteen colonies could agree upon that formally told Great Britain that they would...
These stars are wonderful for decorating your garden for Independence Day! We took a heavy duty paper plate and cut out a star. Then you decorate the star with toothpicks. As you can see we broke the ends of lots of the toothpicks to get the lengths we wanted. After the glue dried, we painted the stars. We used spray paint (and you can tell I didn’t get the hang...
We don’t have the kids enrolled in any formal art program nor am I an artist! I have really benefited from the expertise of an art teacher named Kathy who shares the projects and lessons she does with her elementary students at Art Projects for Kids. If you are looking for some wonderful lessons to do with your kids this summer, you might want to check out Kathy’s website. You...
This June marks the bicentennial of the beginning of War of 1812. I saw there were some wonderful events this next week in Boston (I wish we could go!); I’ll share a few details about that below if you live in that area. Anyway, I’ve heard a few things about the War of 1812 on the radio lately and decided I should share some of that information with the kids...
Who knew that our garden flowers could be so fascinating?! We have hydrangeas and only just now learned why they have different colors. They are affected by the pH of the soil and by the amount of sunlight they receive. A blue hydrangea means that there is aluminum in the soil. The flowers turn blue in highly acidic soil. A pink hydrangea means that the pH of the soil is...
If you’re trying to find a way to keep the kids occupied this summer, why not turn to science?!! There are so many experiments you can do together with your kids. Or if you’re like me, you can hand them a book and they can do it on their own! LD (age 8) flipped through a science experiment book and was excited to make his own Lemon Soda! What to...
This is just a proud Mama moment. When we moved to the States from Australia, we noticed a gym fairly near where we live. LD had enjoyed gymnastics overseas and it seemed like a good activity to have the kids in during the heat of summer and cold of winter. It helped fill the ‘phys ed’ part of our homeschool. Now two years later, the kids all still love their...
