Skating on Ice in the South?!

If you live in the warmer states, you may not have experienced the joy of Ice skating. Until recently, I was one of those people. I have always wanted to go growing up, but never did. Then recently, my children expressed how they really, really, wanted to go ice skating too, but since we did not live where it gets cold enough to freeze ponds, I did not think we could. Thankfully, there are indoor rinks and even in the Southern states! Unfortunately, it was not very close to me. So, I had to drive a coupe of hours to get there, but to see the smiles on my kids faces was worth it :)

When we arrived, I thought the rink would be cold, but it really wasn't that chilly. Yes, we needed a jacket and gloves, but that was it. I was also worried how I would keep from falling, not as young as I used to be, lol. This was my first time as well and I am not the best roller skater, to be honest. I was sure that I was going to be more on the ice than on my skates. To my surprise, I did not fall once!

I really had Fun ice skating, we all had a Great time. Ice skating, in my opinion, is a lot easier than roller skating. Even my kids seemed to skate better. The only thing negative about ice skating, is the rental skates. Ouch! balancing on a blade, isn't that comfortable, when the shoes don't fit correctly. I was only able to skate 20 min. at a time, breaking in between, from the foot pain. So, my advice is, if you do not have tough feet, and you want to ice skate pain free. Buy and bring your own skates!





My kids also can not wait to go back, especially my oldest (she really did well for her first time on the ice), but I will defiantly have to buy our own skates to bring first.

Just need  to do some research and find some very comfy skates. Recommendation's anyone?

On the Homeschooling front, we have been really enjoying my son's new Science curriculum. If you are also looking for a Science Curriculum, then I recommend for you to check out Science4Us. S4U is  Kindergarten-2nd Grade. It is Online and interactive! And it also offers Kindergarten- 2nd grade science worksheets too ;)

Until Next Time...

We went to the Zoo!

 It had been a while, since we had been to the Zoo, and the kids were pretty excited!
 Our day began petting Stingray's!
My oldest child really thought it was cool that she got to pet them.






 Our next stop, were the Birds. They had Lorikeet feeding's for $1. So, we all got a cup of nectar to feed the birds with. LOL, one Lorikeet was a sneaky little thing. He kept grabbing the cup with his beak and trying to fly away with it. This was my husbands favorite thing we did. He was so cute with all those birds perched on his shoulder's and arm's ;)






We then made our way to see the Big cats. The Lion's were too busy napping, as well as the Momma Jaguar, but her cubs were happily playing and putting on quite a show for us.

The Elephant's, Rhino's, and Giraffe's were all my favorite. We even got to feed the Giraffe's. This was defiantly my youngest favorite thing we did as well.

By the end of the day, we had seen every animal. We were all pretty tired, but we had a lot of Fun!
If you are looking for a Fun & Educational Day, then Check out your local Zoo, or plan a trip to one further away. Of course, you can still provide Fun & Educational learning, at home. There are several sites on the internet where you can find first grade science or above resources.


Until Next Time...

To Home-School or not to Home-School?

Even though the typical school year does not begin till August/September, the New Year is when many parents are starting to consider whether or not they want to start Home-Schooling their children.
From personal experience, I know it can be a stressful choice to make, especially when there is just so much information and opinion's out there. Then once you make the choice to homeschool, you have to then figure out Curriculum, schedule, etc., and all before the start of the next school year.
My advice is to listen to your own thought's and feelings. Ask yourself, why you think this would be best for your child.
I also recommend checking out this Getting Started Homeschooling  Guide .

 
In other Homeschooling news:

This past week we have not done too much schooling. That is another reason I love that we homeschool. Taking breaks when we need them ;)

So, what did we do? Besides tons of Fun Valentine themed projects, my youngest has started a kindergarten science curriculum.
He is so very excited!



Until Next Time...

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Until Next Time...

Why I Home-School Sunday

Until Next Time...

As you may already know...

                                   We will be having 6 more weeks of Winter!

The kids really enjoyed our Groundhog Day activity's. Of course they always enjoy learning facts about animals. Speaking of animals, next week we are planning on going to the Zoo. Kids are Super excited and as a Home-School mom, I am too. It will be a very fun & educational day.
If you are planning on taking a Zoo trip soon yourself, you should let your kids do some Zoo themed activities before your trip. It will help get the kids even more excited about going to the Zoo!
( I am planning on adding tons of zoo themed fun to our lesson's next week.)





In other news this week, my youngest turned 7years old. Feels like just yesterday, we brought him home from the hospital, sigh...
For my son's special day , we spent the day at home this year. We of course had cake and presents. We played with toys and also his favorite video game for most of the day, Skylander, and rented the movie "Turbo" & "Superman". Turbo was such a cute movie & I LOVE the new Superman movie!!!! If you have not watched it, I defiantly recommend you rent it ;)

 

Until Next Time...

6 more weeks of Winter, or an early Spring?

 


Tomorrow, February 2nd, is the day that many people wait in anticipation all Winter for. They wait for a cute and furry Groundhog, to come out of his home, to let them know how much longer they will be dealing with the chill of Winter.




The "official" Groundhog lives in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. His name is Punxsutawney Phil. According to legend, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of Winter weather. If he does not see his shadow, then there will be an early Spring.
Interestingly, the celebration of Groundhog Day began with Pennsylvania's earliest settlers. It stemmed from a combination of religious beliefs and facts associated with hibernating animals.





Since, I love themed homeschool lesson's, we will be schooling tomorrow. I plan on taking next Friday off, to balance our week ;)

This is what we will be adding to our day: The History of Groundhog's Day & let the kids decided whether or not they think it is real or not. Then do some fun Groundhog's Day Word Search, practice paragraph writing. I also plan on doing a fun Science for elementary school lesson, shadow matching . And of course,Video's are a must! .

 

 

 

 

Will we have 6 more weeks of Winter or an early Spring this year? Well, that is what will be answered tomorrow by our Cute and Furry Groundhog ;)

 

 

Until Next Time...