Last year I had the opportunity to co-op with some of the finest homeschooling moms alive. Most of us have been co-op-ing together for four years. Some of us has been together for six. JOY. That’s the only word I can think of to describe the blessing of like-minded, hard-working, Jesus-loving women all mixing together […]
Lego Creation Thursday
My Blessings from Above is hosting Lego Creation Thursday each week. Well, I think we’re finally organized enough to start participating in these! Elijah is taking a LEGO Building Club class at co-op this year (rough life, isn’t it?), and here are his latest creations. A heart (for Valentine’s Day) A funky magnifying glass (for […]
Geography Fair Prep for Mexico
Elijah (who appears a tad bit loco in the photo above) chose Mexico for the Geography Fair this year and Simon tagged along. The very first project he completed was a salt dough map. Simon helped mix up the dough. I traced an outline of Mexico on to the cardboard. Elijah took over after that. Elijah used […]
Geography Fair 2010
Last year's geography fair was a hit, so we came back this year for round two. I am going to add a note before the post because, chances are, you don't actually read what I write by the time you are 3/4 the way through. I know how it goes. It's all about the pictures. […]
Get Out . . .
. . . and get the stink off! I once asked a veteran homeschool mom what she'd do differently if she had it to do over again. She didn't hesitate in her reply, "More field trips." My favorite. For real. Just call me Miss Frizzle because I love field trips. If I had a Magic […]
Night of the Moonjellies Co-op
This was our final (after five years) Five in a Row co-op meeting. We ended with a great book, Night of the Moonjellies. Our final hurrah was a makeshift restaurant–The Crab Shack. Reading the book We split into different groups to get the restaurant prep done. Preschoolers worked on gluing "bricks" to cardboard. The other […]
Stained Glass Factory Field Trip
We took a tour of Kokomo Opalescent Glass for our Clown of God field trip. This was one of my favorite field trips of the year! If you live far, far away, you can take the virtual tour. (If you live close, just go!) My favorite part was observing the melted glass right […]
Stained Glass Cookies
For our Clown of God co-op, we learned to speak in Italian (well, no one is fluent, but we know a few words and phrases!). We also learned about stained glass and made stained glass cookies. Simon didn’t go with me to co-op that day, so when I returned home, he helped me use the […]
A Pair of Red Clogs Co-op
We’ve been together as a Five in a Row co-op for almost five years. This was one of my FAVORITE meetings ever! The kids had so much fun! The first activity was Gyotaku (the Japanese art of making fish prints!) The second activity was making Mock Sushi…lots more fun! What were the older kids doing? […]
Very Last First Time Co-op
We stopped doing our beloved Five in a Row studies when we started our delight-directed adventure, but we still are part of a SUPER fabulous FIAR Co-op. Here are some pictures from our Very Last First Time co-op meeting (you can find the lessons for this book in FIAR Volume I). Ice on a […]
Bleeding Hearts: Preschool Valentine Art
Here is a fun and easy Valentine's Day project you can do with your preschooler! I did this with a group of preschoolers at our co-op's annual Valentine Day Party last year. Supplies small bowls of vinegar (1 for every 2 students) paintbrushes (1 per child) Spectra Art Tissue Paper (or another kind of bleeding tissue […]
Madeline ~ FIAR Style
We’ve used Five in a Row from the beginning of our homeschooling journey. We started with Before Five in a Row when Elijah was 2 (almost 3). We’ve been through most of Volumes I-III and part of Volume IV. This is our fifth year with our FIAR based homeschooling co-op, and we are back […]
First Annual Geography Fair
I mentioned in a previous post that our homeschooling co-op decided to try a geography fair for the first time this year. I know it stretched some of us in ways we didn’t really want to go, but everyone is already talking about "next year"– some of the kids have already claimed their countries! […]
Special Delivery from Canada
Our co-op decided to have a geography fair this year. We wanted to give family & friends a chance to see some of the work our students do; we also wanted to give our students a chance to shine. When I asked Elijah what country he wanted to do, he was insistent on Canada. I […]
Wilbur Wright Birthplace Field Trip
"I can remember when Wilbur and I could hardly wait for morning to come to get at something that interested us. That’s happiness!" –Orville Wright I just love that quote (I saw it while on the field trip), so I had to post it! I wonder how many of our children have something they can’t […]
Desert Sunset Sand Painting
We had another desert-y co-op yesterday based around the book, The Gullywasher. Here are my basic instructions for this crafty project. Supplies Needed ~Cardstock or Construction Paper glued to card. We used brown construction paper. ~Different colors of sand; I purchased a very large multi-pack at Hobby Lobby for about $6 (I had a 40% off […]
Botanical Conservatory Field Trip! (post 1)
There were so many wonderful sights at the Botanical Conservatory. We started in the desert room.
Botanical Conservatory (Post 2)
On to the Rainforest Room! This was exceptionally fun. We saw epithytes (studied about these!), buttress roots (studied about these!) and even a cocoa tree!
Botanical Conservatory (Part 3)
One exhibit constantly changes at the conservatory. When we took our visit, it was filled with a game of CLUE! Elijah was so excited! Finally, he got to solve his first mystery.
Chocolate Factory Field Trip
I forgot to post pictures of these. I was going to post some pictures from our last field trip, and I remembered that I hadn’t even posted these yet! This was part of our rain forest study. They wouldn’t let us take pictures in the factory. Bummer. I guess they have to keep their secrets […]