Enjoying the rewards

Don't you just love it when you see all your hard work pay off...
Maybe it's the idea that Spring is just around the corner, but there has defiantly been a spark of enthusiasm in our home recently. I am no longer having to to tell my kids to get online or sit at the table. My husband is also taking the a more active role. Many times I wake up to see all 3 of them at the table, lessons already started, sigh!
 ~>My son tells me all the time about how he is so Happy to be doing what he calls "Big Kid" school work and my daughters reading vocabulary and reading fluency is just improving more everyday.
It is soooooo crazy how just a few years ago I was worried about how I was going to take on such an important job as school teacher. Now look at all of us <3

Monster Jam Show

Has anyone been to a Monster Jam show? Well, we just went . My husband and daughter really enjoyed it, but surprisingly my son who I thought would have been the most excited was just as disappointed as I was...
First off the arena we went to was in my oppion too small. It was also tight! The walk paths were to narrow and I felt nervous that with one wrong step I would fall off ( I was in the upper level seating)
They had a pit party prior to the show starting so we arrived early, just to be told we had to pay $8 for parking! We get inside and they had a couple of cars out , but was not worth the extra $10 a ticket to see.
The worst part of the evening was souvenir's and refreshment's. The popcorn was stale and apparently not even popped there (donated by a local movie theater) at $4 a bag it should have been fresh! Worst was that a Small bottle of water was $3.Then  I wanted to get the kids cotton candy and they had the nerve to charge $15!!! a bag, it came with a foam car hat, but it was not anything worth $15. In fact nothing in the souvenir section was less than $10 and that was for a slushy cup. It really ruined the exsperiance for us as we can not afford to blow that kind of money of disposable items.
It is 7pm and the show is about to start. They had four wheeler races, and some big cars jump and crush a line of cars . Unfortunately, the star of the show "Batman" broke on it's first jump. Out side of a small skit where 2 car/robots talk and pretend to shoot at each other, the whole 2 hours consisted of  several cars jumping on cars and doing wheelies over and over and yes! over again. I was very disappointed and bored.
I have been told that this show is better in a bigger dirt type arena, but I would not waste my money or time to find out. So for me I give Monster Jam two BIG tires down :(

So, as not to totally make our night out a complete bust, I plan to have my daughter write an essay about her thoughts about the show for her English. Lately we have been focusing on her writing skills and reading many books by homeschoolers.

Untill next time...

Left or Right Brain?

Right brained visual learner tend to have several things in common.
They visualize images in their brain and can have long term memory of these images. They don't usually perform well on sequential, or linear tasks (such as following multi-step instructions or long division problems). They learn information in chunks, in a holistic way. They learn much better by demonstration than by explanation. And they are naturally creative problem solvers.

When I began homeschooling my daughter I soon realized that she was indeed a visual learner. Growing up in school, I had no idea that people actually learned differently. I had thought you were either smart or dumb, lazy or not. That how well you did in school was dependent on you not the teaching method, etc.

Now, all grown up and attending college myself, I realize I am also a visual learner. That it is how information is presented to me whether or not I am able to learn and honestly,want to learn. This has given me a whole new perspective in how I now approach my children's education. Becoming a student myself has defiantly made me a better teacher <3

So, I am off to make flash cards, not for my kids, but for me ...

I have a Big test Tuesday so Wish me luck!

Our Disney world "Birthday" weekend

              So, Friday was my son's 5th Birthday :_) 
                So crazy, how fast time can fly by...
 A few months ago, when my daughter turned 10yrs old, we took her to Disney ( Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom) for her Birthday celebration. We had so much Fun!  We decided to go ahead and get yearly passes. When it was time for my son's Birthday, we knew we were heading back to celebrate there again!  Going on a weekday was no prolem for us, this is one reason I am so Thankful we are a homeschooling family. If my kids were in public school we would either not be able to go on his Birthday or we would have had to have them miss school.
Anyways, we are not to far from Orlando, about 4 hours. We are close enough that we can get up in the morning and drive there, but to far to come back after a long day enjoying Mickey and friends, we always rent a room. ~> After doing some research I found an affordable yet, nice Hotel ( Clarion Inn lake Buena Vista ) The first trip I did not research and was not happy with the hotel (Seralago)  To me a hotel's first priority should be soft comfortable beds!!!!
On Friday Morning , the 3rd!!!! We woke my son up, singing Happy Birthday! I had all the presents on his bed with a white cake with white chocolate icing (his fav) He was so happy! After some cake for breakfast, we all headed to Disney World!
Since we already went to the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, We wanted to go to Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot.   Each park defiantly has its positives and negatives.

Magic Kingdom :
Positives-
Has so many rides!
Fireworks and Princess/Mickey shows
Stays open the latest
Negatives-
To busy! To many People! Overly crowded!
Some of the rides were not as great as they were made out to be
If you have a disabled person, not as much to do
No characters in sight! only saw characters when they were on stage or in a  parade


Animal Kingdom:
Positives-
Didn't feel as crowded
Animals ( almost feels like a zoo too! )
young children and disabled persons can enjoy most everything!
Educational and fun with a few rides

Negatives-
Closes early
In Dino land there is a ride that is 48 inches or taller, It is a kid roller coaster, but because of a bar you have to be 48inches. My son was very disappointed! With Mt. Everest under his 5 yr old belt ( a ride I will never set foot on again! To much for me ) I was surprised that he could go on that, but not this carnival type coaster :-/

Hollywood Studio's:
Positives-
Not overly crowded
Stays open pretty late
Great for people with disability's, as they can do pretty much everything
Lots of Shows! Great Variety!

Characters everywhere! Unlike Magic Kingdom, you can actually meet and get photos easily with Disney Characters. ( My son was so Excited to actually Meet Phineas and Ferb!!!! )

Negatives-
Had to really coordinate time and plan out your day. Most of this park is shows, so if you want to see it all you must make sure you have planned it well.







Epcot:
Positives-
As a homeschooler this place was a educational dream! So much to learn here! My kids defiantly got their homeschool social studies for the year!
Loved all the flowers.
very relaxing, not busy

Negatives-
Not much to do, ride wise
got a little boring
left after only a few hours and went to another park for the rest of the day




~ So this is my take on the parks, Our favorites in order are: Animal Kingdom,  Hollywood studio's, Magic Kingdom, and Epcot

My favorite thing out of all 4 parks was in Disney Hollywood studio's, Learning how to draw Mickey Mouse.


My husband, he is disabled, so for him an amusement park was a bit different. Even so, he said that he Loved Animal Kingdom. The Kilimanjaro Safari ride was his favorite thing to do!


My daughter who is 10yrs old kept begging me to take her back on Mt. Everest in Animal Kingdom.


My son who is 5 yrs old favorite thing was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster in Magic Kingdom.

The advice I would give for anyone thinking about going to Disney is:

 1st do not expect to do it all in one day! This was our 2nd vacation to Disney, going to all the parks once, Animal Kingdom twice, and we still have not done it all!

2nd Bring your own food! The food in Disney is super expensive and not very good IMO :(
We brought a cooler and hung it off my husbands power scooter. We went to subway and brought sandwiches, water, granola bars, and chips. We never got hungry and had people asking us where the subway was in the park, lol!

Which brings me to my 3rd tip, rent a power scooter! Luckily my husband has his own, but trust me you want to spend the money on this, especially if you have young kids. After a few hours they won't want to walk anymore and they can ride.. Or you won't want to walk and you will be glad you have something to ride ;)

So, untill our next Walt Disney World Vacation.......