Weekly Wrap-up: Week 1

I am beginning to post a Weekly Wrap-up of our activities during the previous week. I plan to publish this post each Friday or Saturday.

This is the perfect week for us to begin this post as this is our first week back in school. I know, I have heard it from a few family members. "Why in the world are you starting in June?" Well, it's easy, Little Buddy asked to start. So, we did.

We are starting a bit easy and low key. Or at least I had planned to start easy and low key. I was afraid to put too much on Little Buddy or on me for our very first week of homeschooling. Well, Little Buddy kept asking for more. So more we did. We have begun.

At the end of each day, I would take a look back at all of the work that we had done. Then, at the end of the week, I was just plain out impressed. I did not blog much at all this week. My priority was honestly getting Little Buddy off to a great start. Check. That was accomplished!

You are welcome to view our curriculum that we are using. We have progressed through each piece with the exception of Latin. We will start our Latin studies in August. Now, we are spending additional time outside on nature studies, walks, and other activities while we have good weather.

In addition to planned activities in our schoolroom, we had the following living activities:
- Living Math - Couponing, Weekly Allowance, Review of Lego Education Catalog
- Living Writing - Father's Day letter, Bug Journal
- Living Science - Nature study of bugs, Bug Journal


Other Activities this Week
Father's Day
We had an excellent Father's Day. Little Buddy gave his Daddy a birdhouse that they put together and have painted. I'll post about it soon. They did a wonderful job. I posted about the NASCAR driving experience that we also gave Daddy. He's pretty excited about that gift.

Business
My family's newest business launched this week, www.market-wares.com. Getting to this point has taken a huge amount of time and I am so proud for it to reach this point.

Camping
We are camping this weekend in Nashville in our RV. I've blogged about our excursions. And have most definitely tweeted about them. We are planning upcoming RV trips to Oshkosh, WI to the EAA's Airventure 2009 (airshow for those non-aviation folks) and then to DC in the fall. We are excited about both of these trips. Little Buddy is helping us to plan both. We are searching for great excursions. I am also starting to plan forward with our homeschooling to see where we will be at that point to include great activities during the trip. I surely do not want to be traveling and not have what we need.

Summertime
We have enjoyed this first week of summertime. Our nephew spent a few days with us this past week. The boys loved playing outside, swimming, catching lightening bugs, and playing Legos. I enjoyed watching them. They reminded me of summertime when I was a little girl.

Camps
This week, Little Buddy enjoyed tennis camp. He really did very well and was very proud of his accomplishments. It was great for him to spend some time with his buddies, too. This coming week is golf camp. Many of the same boys and girls will be there. I know he'll have fun. He LOVES golf.


Well, having a weekly wrap-up is an excellent idea. I am so proud that Kris at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers thought of it and is so gracious to host it for us all to enjoy. It seems to help me think of all that we have done during the week and look forward to all of the fun in the week to come. Week 1 of homeschooling done, Week 2 here we come!

Today's Adventure: Nashville Excursions

We are back in Nashville camping in our RV this weekend. Oh how we love to RV. Yesterday, we enjoyed the new Mike Schneider show at the Opry, Pickin n Grinnin. I highly recommend the show for families. It was wonderful. We laughed so hard, clapped along with the songs, and had a wonderful time.

What's up for today? Well, we have a couple of great excursions planned. Breakfast, then a drive downtown to check out the museum, a trip to Camping World, a shopping trip to the Bass Pro Shop, swimming, and then the movies tonight.

Sounds fun, huh?

Today's Adventure: Cousins and Summertime

I remember summers where my cousin would come and spend a few days or even a week with me. We would stay up late, get up early, and play hard all day. We would ride our bikes like we were in a NASCAR race and disappear to the horse barn for hours. Then, when it was time to go home, we would have concocted a sneaky plan on how I could now go home with her for a few days. We would convince our parents at pickup time. Low and behold, I could magically produce a well-packed bag for at least a three night stay.

This week has brought back those memories. Our nephew is staying with us for a few days this week. Little Buddy is loving it. Being an only child, I think he has played to his heart's content (well, almost) everything that he could imagine as if he had a sibling. Without the fussing. They have played with Legos (and more Legos), basketball, jumprope, Wii, sidewalk chalk, and more. They have gone swimming and biking and have taken long nature walks on our farm. They have enjoyed crawling all over airplanes. They have plundered through the old barn and have taken care of all of the chickens, rabbits, dogs, and fish. They have caught lightening bugs until they couldn't catch anymore. I think they both have had a fun, full few days of playing and exploring together.

I checked just now and Little Buddy's bag is still not packed. I wonder what age that trick begins. Hopefully, I have a few more years.

Happy Father's Day, Papa

From the minute Little Buddy was born, he was his Papa's grandson. Papa was surely the proudest of grandfather's I had ever seen.

Papa would take his lunch break every day and come to our house, just to hold Little Buddy. In the afternoons, he would drop by again to hold him and give him his bottle. Each week until Little Buddy was a month old, he called and sang "Happy Birthday." Then, each month on the fifth of the month, he called and sang. Always, I'd hold the phone to Little Buddy's ear for him to hear his special song.

When Little Buddy turned one month old, Papa gave him a ride on John Deere tractor. It would be at least a year or so before Little Buddy could ride on it I thought. Nope, Papa would sit him on the tractor, hold him tightly, and ride him all around the living room on this special toy.

Little Buddy was four years old was four when Papa died. About a week later, we were blasting a little rocket off in our back yard. It was a cloudy day and the rocket just disappeared. We never saw it come back to the ground. Little Buddy just clapped his hands, had the biggest grin, and said, "Oh, I am so excited. Papa got my rocket to play with in heaven."

Papa helped to raise a great Little Buddy. One who loves him dearly.

Let's Go Racing, Daddy!

We love celebrations around our house. Can't you tell? Father's Day is certainly no exception. Little Buddy and I have been planning today's special events for about a month. But, shhh, we had to keep it all a secret. (We are learning about good secrets that we can keep, and those that we should never keep.)

Daddy had to be in Boston for the weekend for business. Luckily, he was able to get home by noon today. Needless to say, we were tickled. Today was the big reveal of all of our plotting and planning.

Ready...

We gave our adrenaline junky Daddy a 6-lap NASCAR driving experience at the driving school of his choice. We'll camp. He'll drive. We'll wave. He'll grin.





So, Let's Go Racing, Daddy. We know you'll have a great time. Happy Father's Day!

Ice Cream Sodas

Well I'll be dog gone. Saturday is Ice Cream Soda Day. I have wonderful memories from my childhood of drinking plenty of ice cream sodas. (Yes, Little Buddy, I really was a child once upon a time.)

My grandmother had these very special glasses that she would let my sister and me use on very special occasions to drink Kool-Aide or ice cream sodas. Now I know these were actually her parfait dishes, but my sister and I were just determined they were wine glasses. Being a devout Southern Baptist, it would have been pure scandalous for my proper, Christian grandmother to have had wine glasses.

She would mix some delicious ice cream sodas for us in those glasses though. My very favorite was what we called a Coke float. Half a glass of coke and one scoop of vanilla ice cream. Now, that was the perfect treat on a hot summer day.

I think I'll make one for Little Buddy. He will enjoy hearing the stories of how my grandmother made them when I was his age. There is something about traditions, Coke, and long stories in the South. I just wish I had those glasses to serve them in.

Making Fossils - Part I

Looking for a fun, clean activity to do with your child? Making fossil molds fit the bill and it is educational, too. This project took us about 10 minutes, including gathering our supplies.

Supplies You Will Need
- Clay
- Rolling pin
- Small item for molding (ideas: small plastic toy dinosaur or bug, seashell, leaf, etc.)


Instructions
1. Knead your clay. Knead your clay until it has reached a pliable state. It will be easier for the following steps.
2. Roll your clay. Roll your clay until it is about 1/2 the depth of the item that you will be molding for your fossil. This makes the best mold. We used a rolling pin from our Play-Doh set. You could also use a drinking glass or other item to roll your clay.

3. Mold your fossil. Mold your fossil by firmly pressing the item that you are molding for your fossil into the clay. Do not press to far into the clay or you will puncture all the way through the clay. We had that issue in one spot. Also, it may be helpful to help younger children with this part

so make sure there is now movement of the item during the molding process.

You are done with Part 1. Can you believe it? Isn't this the simplest part of a project you have done? We were thrilled at how quick, clean, and entertaining. We created about five casts today. Now, we are letting our molds dry to a firm state.

Tomorrow, we will create casts using plaster of paris, vaseline, and our molds. This should take about 30 minutes.

Vocabulary Words

- Fossil
- Mold
- Cast
- Sediment


Reading Selection

Please let us know if you try this fun project. We would love to hear about what fossils you have made. Please send us a link to your site where you have uploaded pictures of your fossil masterpiece. We hope you enjoy it as much as we have. Check back with us tomorrow for Part II.

Wordless Wednesday (Well, almost)

Our family loves airplanes. Before Little Buddy was ever born, we purchased land with a grass strip and built our home. My husband is an avid pilot who doesn't get to fly quite as much as he would like. We enjoy visiting air shows each year like Sun n Fun in Lakeland, Florida or Air Venture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Since our family has been planning our trip to Oshkosh this year, I wanted to include Little Buddy's photo collage from Sun n Fun 2007. He was in Kindergarten this year and we gave him a camera and turned him loose with it. He took wonderful photographs that we cherish.
Amazing what a child can create when we let them.

The Power of a Handshake

Today's Rotary program was a very interesting one indeed. It was delivered by Dr. John Q. Baucom on The Million Dollar Handshake. Dr. Baucom intrigued us with tale after tale of why a proper, well-delivered handshake was of the utmost importance in business, socially, and in getting ahead. He stated that only 18% of adults felt very comfortable in their ability to initiate, what he calls, the perfect handshake. The reason he calls it the "million dollar handshake," is that of his survey, this same 18% will earn a million dollars more than their peers in their lifetime.

As I was sitting listening to Dr. Baucom, I immediately thought of Little Buddy. While my goal for him is not focused on how much money he earns in his lifetime, my goal for him is to be a confident, self-assured gentleman. In hearing Dr. Baucom's recount of "handshakes," it really boils down to confidence. That is what I want to nurture in my son. Confidence.

After Rotary, I had various activities around town to which Little Buddy came with me. As we were walking into a friend's office, I gently reminded Little Buddy to walk up and introduce himself. Hold out his right hand and have a firm grip when he shook a hand. Maintain eye contact for about five seconds and really want to get to know the person he met.

I was very impressed. Not only did Little Buddy handle it like a pro, the people that he met really spent some time talking to him rather than treating him like just another child in the room.

As we left my friend's office, Little Buddy honestly had a bit more spring in his step. I told him I was so proud of how well he handled himself. His reply was, "Mama, I think I like being big like Daddy." I think we must be doing something right.

Confidence builders are not a one day "test run." This reminded me that to have confidence, we have to learn confidence. We have to build confidence. This is one of the unique opportunities we have with homeschooling. To learn and build confidence everyday in all that we do.

Do you have confidence building activities that you use in your parenting, family, or homeschool? Have you worked with your child on the power of a handshake? It's honestly never to early to start. It stays with them for the rest of their life.

Celebrating Flag Day

Break out the red, white and blue! Today, June 14th, is Flag Day!

This is a special day for all Americans to show our respect for our flag and to commemorate the adoption of our national flag by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson officially recognized June 14th as Flag Day through a proclamation. In 1949, June 14th became a national holiday through an Act of Congress. Although Flag Day is not a federal holiday, the President of the United States has the right to proclaim the observance of Flag Week (the week preceding June 14th) through Executive Order.

Flag Day Fun Facts
- The Flag Act of 1818 states that a star be added on July 4th of the year following the admission of a new state.

- Students first said the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892, the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas.

- There is a great debate on who really designed the first flag. While no one really knows for certain, the two names brandied about are Francis Hopkinson, a delegate to the Continental Congress, and Betsy Ross, a seamstress from Philadelphia. Most likely, your child will have heard of Betsy Ross.

- Our national anthem is the Star Spangled Banner taken from the original poem, Defense of Fort McHenry, by amateur poet, Francis Scott Key.

Flag Day Traditions
- Show your pride. Have your child help you to proudly hang a flag in your home, in your schoolroom, or at your front door. If you do not have a flag pole or bracket to hang your flag, display smaller flags around your home or make a centerpiece at your table to show your pride.
- Pledge your allegiance.

The Pledge of Allegiance

I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands,
one Nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

- Show your respect. Be sure to follow The Flag Code when handling, displaying, and replacing your flag. This is a very important lesson for all children to learn at a young age.


Flag Day Activities
In addition to the Flag Day traditions mentioned above, there are many fun Flag Day activities that your child will enjoy. Some of the activities we enjoyed were:
- Reading poetry. Try this link to the Betsy Ross website for wonderful poems. Many of these are good poems for July 4th as well. You'll be a few weeks ahead of the game with these. :)
- Order a flag flown over the US Capitol. What a wonderful way to celebrate the day! Order a flag that has been flown over our own US Capitol. You simply write a letter to your US Senator requesting a flag. You can even request a flag that has been flown or will be flown on a certain day. (Birthday, Anniversary, Wedding, etc.) Each Senator's website will provide information on the cost of the flag and the approximate time frame to receive yours. More information can be obtained here.
- Write an essay, story, poem. For young writers, or to encourage writing, have your child write an essay, story or poem about our flag, our country, or anything that comes to your mind regarding this special day. You will have wanted to teach them about the importance of this day prior to asking them to write to make sure you get all of the educational benefit from the day.
- Create some art. Be sure to let your child create a work of art for the day. Whether coloring, drawing, painting, building with Legos, or making their own rendition of our flag, let them imagine it and create it. These make the best keepsakes!
Our family is definitely celebrating this wonderful day. We look for our US Capitol flag to arrive in the next five weeks. We'll surely hang it with pride when it arrives.
What are some activities that your family does to celebrate Flag Day?

Be Sure What's Yours - Stays Yours

Not sure if you have heard the mommy blogger's story yet, if not, be sure to read it for the complete story. The thumbnail version of the story is that a Missouri mom posted her family's Christmas Card picture on the internet on social networking sites and on her blog. Little did she know that a Czech grocery store would turn her Christmas Card photo into the centerpiece of their ad campaign.

We all need to be sure to protect ourselves and to keep what is ours, well... ours. I for sure have not taken the time to watermark my photographs that I have posted thus far on this blog. But I most certainly will take the time to do so from this point forward. I have even gone back this morning and added watermarks to the photographs posted previously.

If you are like me and barely know how to find your way around in Photoshop, I have found a quick, easy, and free way to watermark your photographs through using Picasa 3. With Picasa 3, it is basically four easy steps that even I can do.




I crave to learn all I can about Photoshop. Until I do, I will rely on the trusty Picasa 3. Regardless if you do know Photoshop or not, take a visit over to http://www.lifewithmy3boybarians.com/. She gives the absolute best blogging tips, Photoshop tips, and good lessons learned. It is well worth the visit! Always. Everyday.

Any tips you have that you would like to share with me? I sure would love to know them.

Game Night Lessons

I have definitely blogged before about how much our family loves games. We have raised Little Buddy to be a little boy who appreciates a good game. He knows that regardless of what is going on around us, if he requests for us to either read a book together or play a game together, the request will most usually be met with an eager,"You betcha!"

I realized when Little Buddy was very young he learned a great deal from games and seemed to retain what he learned more easily. He definitely enjoyed the learning experience more than many other methods. Without realizing it, Little Buddy was working on the following:

- Social Skills. Learn essential skills such as taking turns, having a positive attitude, encouraging others, along with focus and self-control to name a few, all while having a good dose of competitiveness. Even with "games gone bad," you learn how to handle situations and people skills.

- Team Work. When playing team games like Pictionary and Charades, you can not help but learn great team work skills. It is so impressive to watch children come together and work toward a common goal.

- Brain Training. You reinforce skills you know and build new skills when you play games that challenge your brain. According to Discovery Magazine's article titled Which Games Will Help Your Brain the Most? your brain actually becomes more "fit" through continued, mind challenging activity. This article focuses on internet-based brain fitness sites and provides an excellent review of the pros and cons of each site.

While we surely enjoy internet-based games such as these, and electronic games for Nintendo DS and Wii, our favorite games are of the traditional variety. These are the games that I remember playing as a child and want to be sure that Little Buddy has similar memories of gathering around the table and playing as a family or with friends.

Some of our favorites are listed in the chart below with the cognitive area that I believe is directly enhanced through such play.



What are some of your favorite traditional, cognitive enhancing games? Will you share them with us? We just might need to add them to our Game Night list.

Skipping Rocks

My family went for a visit to my Mother's house the other afternoon. Little Buddy and my husband soon headed outside to play. After a while, I decided to see what fun they had found. They were having a ball skipping rocks in the lake behind my Mother's house.

Little Buddy took off running to the side of the house and came back with a pocket full of rocks. Now, my Mother had just had her property landscaped last summer. So, I started wondering where Little Buddy was finding all of these great rocks. When I asked him, his reply was, "right over there at the walkway."

Oh me, that is my Mother's pea gravel walkway that we've been throwing in the lake. Sorry Nana. We owe you some rocks.

Bug Lovin' Boys!

What is it about bugs? Boys are just nuts about them, aren't they? Well, at least my Little Buddy is crazy about them. And, his friends at Vacation Bible School this week sure seem to be as well. I made a "treat bag" to encourage the children to participate in music, mind their manners during recreation and bible games, and do their best during the bible lesson. Well, you probably could just come right out and say that rather than encourage, I'm probably really just bribing them. But then, can you say you are bribing children at Vacation Bible School? Probably not. So we'll just use the term "encourage" for this story. Okay?

I digress...

I knew that boys loved bugs, but until this week I just did not realize how much they love them. All kinds of bugs. Ants, worms, spiders, roaches, beetles, fireflies, mosquitoes, etc. (I know these are not all technically "bugs" but again, we'll just agree to use that term for this story. Thanks!)


Understanding now this love of the bug, I have decided to incorporate more "bug time" in our curriculum.

Here are some ideas of just how we plan to do that very thing:

- Plant a venus fly trap or other carnivorous plant
- Go on a worm dig to count number of worms in a 5 gallon bucket
- Collect specimens and identify them (keep in habitat and then release)
- Read about bugs that are prevalent in our area of the world
- Draw a picture of the coolest bugs we have ever seen

Today, we actually planted seeds for a venus fly trap. It's now in the refrigerator in the hangar for eight weeks.

We also decorated a bug habitat using paint and stickers. I sure am looking forward to including other activities with bugs in our day. One resource I am using is National Geographic Kids. There is a wonderful section on mosquitoes that Little Buddy sure does enjoy watching. We also love to receive our copy of the magazine to read about all the cool things they have written about.

Do you have any favorite bug lovin' activities that we should try? If so, please share!

Happy 75th Birthday, Donald F. Duck!

Today, Donald Fauntleroy Duck turns 75 years old! Donald is absolutely our favorite Disney character. We think he is by the far the coolest. We are so excited to help celebrate his birthday.

We celebrated Little Buddy's 7th birthday at Disney recently and I decided to include a "Disney Birthday" photo in today's post to set the theme of the celebration.

To celebrate this very special birthday, we have done the following:

- played Duck, Duck, Goose with our friends

- fed the ducks

- colored a picture of Donald Duck

Tonight we will sing Happy Birthday to Donald after dinner.

Think of a few things that your family can do to celebrate Donald's big birthday. He sure does look good for his age. I think he may have had some work done. :)

Reading Troubles? Check the Eyes.

Does your child have trouble reading? Does he rub his eyes or pull at his eye lids after reading for a bit? Does he shy away from reading later in the day? Schedule an in-depth eye exam with an eye doctor that will take time to listen to you and your child.

I write this story as a mother who has and continues to walk on this path. Our son, Little Buddy, was reading at the appropriate levels for his age, this was the summer before Kindergarten. He was an outgoing, energetic, loving little boy. He loved words. He loved stories. He loved to hear the same stories over and over again. He also loved for me to read the book to him before he read the book to me. Little did I know, he wasn't really reading it to me. He was reciting it.

He only wanted to read to me. Not to anyone else. And never in front of his class. I just thought he was shy.

We discovered why accidentally, but I'm sure it was no accident at all. My son went with my Mother one morning for her annual eye exam. As he was sitting patiently with her, he asked the doctor to check his eyes. Now, I had just taken him two months prior to our pediatrician for his well check up and he had undergone the pediatrician's vision and hearing exams. His vision was 20/20 with no problems found. As a side note, his hearing was stellar as well.

This day, the eye doctor either had plenty of time or was just entertaining a 4 year old and agreed to check his eyes. Little Buddy hopped up in the seat and the exam went fine. Again, he tested as 20/20 vision. All through the eye exam, the doctor and Little Buddy were talking about what all Little Buddy liked to do - sports, playing outside, etc. The eye doctor asked him if he liked to read. Little Buddy's answer was, "Yes, but sometimes the words jump off the page."

What? Never had he told any of us this. We read every day and never once had he mentioned that the words looked different or moved or anything strange. But strange to me would not have been strange to him, I now know.

Thankfully, my Mother called me at work and I hurried to the doctor's office. The eye doctor waited until I arrived and then continued the exam.

Little Buddy was diagnosed with convergence insufficiency. In layman's terms, convergence insufficiency is a weakness of the eye muscles that are used to hold the eyes in a converged or near vision required position.

SYMPTOMS

According to Cooper, J, Cooper, R. Conditions Associated with Strabismus: Convergence Insufficiency, symptoms of convergence insufficiency include:

- covering of one eye while reading or doing close vision activities

- pulling at eye while reading or doing close vision activities

- sleepiness while/ after reading or doing close vision activities

- inability to concentrate for long periods of time

- feeling of motion sickness

- blurred vision or moving of words on the page

We also found that Little Buddy was unable to cross his eyes. I had always been so proud that he had never picked up this childish habit.

FREQUENCY

According to Michael J Bartiss, OD, MD, the incidence of convergence insufficiency has been reported as 3-5% of the population of the United States. The same percentage has been reported internationally. The diagnosis is rare in children younger than 10 years of age. This is largely due to communication skills with physicians in younger children and an increased need for close work by children 10 years and older, according to Dr. Bartiss.

TREATMENT

Luckily, vision therapy and home therapy are remarkable in the treatment of convergence insufficiency. Basically, the child builds his eye muscles through repeated exercises to make the eye muscles stronger and stronger. This allows the eye to hold in a converged or near vision position for longer periods of time without straining.

PROGRESS

Through early diagnosis, treatment, and education, Little Buddy is now reading above his actual grade level. He also loves to read to anyone who will listen.

We know that we are the lucky ones that discovered the issue by accident and received wonderful care. We work closely with Little Buddy to make sure he does not strain his eyes through reading very small text or playing hand-held video games for extended periods.

I am also proud to say, Little Buddy now can cross his eyes and I love this childish habit more than I could ever have dreamed.

While I fully disclose that I am not a medical doctor, nor do I have any training as an eye specialist, I deeply encourage anyone whose child has trouble reading or displays any of the symptoms mentioned above to request a binocular vision exam by your eye doctor.

Today's Adventure: Fishing Rodeo

For five days this week and weekend, my husband's family is gathering at the lake for our annual family trip. My husband comes from a large family (six children) and there are 15 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. When I say big, I mean BIG!

This morning, all of the children under the age of 10 (except the 1 year old) had a fishing rodeo. Each child had a partner that fished with them, but the rule was the child had to be the one to reel the fish in all the way. Their partner could help them with taking the fish off of the hook, re-baiting their hooks, and if needed, setting the hook when a fish bit. I have to say, the children had a ball.

Little Buddy caught Big Fish. He and his Daddy were mighty proud. Can you tell?

Celebrating Unique Holidays

Image via Wikipedia

I have to begin by saying that this post is inspired by Parents magazine. Or rather, their tweet. Their tweet read, "Friday is National Donut Day! Free donut at krispy kreme find one near you http://bit.ly/nYw4I. "

WHAT? National Donut Day! You are probably thinking the same thing that I was thinking. What in the world will they think of next? I also was wondering if this diminishes the value of what I would consider traditional, real holidays - i.e. Valentine's Day, President's Day, Memorial Day, etc.

Then, I mentioned the holiday to my husband and Little Buddy. Little Buddy lit up like a Christmas tree (our favorite holiday)! He was so excited and asked how we were going to celebrate. So, now I believe I am part of the commercialization of odd-ball holidays that my Daddy would have said were never meant to be holidays.

I'm thinking of how I can incorporate these cute, fun "holi"days into our homeschool plans. It will definitely keep things fun and interesting. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

For National Donut Day, we don't have a Krispy Kreme near us. Our celebration will be pancakes with a hole in the middle, playing tic-tac-toe, and maybe some tubing (since we are at the lake).

Thanks Parents, I think it will add to our homeschool experience and definitely will make Little Buddy happy. Glad I follow you on Twitter.

Keep em Reading this Summer!

Parents hear it all the time. Children learn to love to read by being read to as babies and toddlers and emulating their parents reading. This is all true. But as times are so busy during the fun summer months, how do you keep your child reading?

Well, here's what I do that you might find a bit different from the normal.

1. Read the newspaper with them. Get them in the habit from a young age for reading the newspaper. Little Buddy loves the comics, especially Garfield. As soon as I get the paper from the drive in the mornings, I pull out the part of the paper with the comics and put beside his seat at the breakfast table. As we eat our breakfast, we each read our sections of the paper and then we "switch". Little Buddy thinks it's hilarious and learns alot about current events this way, too.

2. Pick from guidelines at the library. Make it a family tradition to frequent your local library. I found that at first, we both wanted every book that we thought looked like a good book. Finally, we setup guidelines to keep the ones that we checked out to a readable level. At least twice a month, I take Little Buddy to the local library to pick out books. We only have a couple of guidelines. Little Buddy can choose a total of 3 books, one from each of the following groups:

• "How to" type book (age appropriate)
• classic literature
• just for fun

3. Make it a game. Make up a fun game to play that encourages reading as well. We have a special game called, "Who Read it First?" This is a great game when driving down the road and boredom has surely set in. Once I announce we are about to play our game, he's all over it. (Mr. Competitive) The first to read the words on the billboards, signs, writing on tv commercials, cereal boxes, etc. gets points. You get the idea.

Do you have a tip on how you keep your child reading? If so, I'd love to hear it. Please share!

How to Survive a Five Hour Road Trip

Headed on a road trip soon? Scared to death the Nintendo battery will go dead within the first fifty miles? Afraid the movies you chose to bring won't be so interesting once you hit the road? Try our solution to successfully survive a road trip.

Involve your child in the navigation! Yes, that's right. Involve your child in the navigation.

Here's what you'll need.
1. 3-ring binder (with front insert)
2. box of sheet protectors
3. paper
4. printer
5. computer with access to mapping software
6. decorations for binder
Here's how.

1. Make it visual. Using a mapping software, print your directions in a turn by turn format. For our trip, we used Google Maps . Simply click on the "camera" icon beside the first point in your directions. Then, print this page which now includes the photo of the turn.

2. Let them own it. Let them help you place each of your printed pages into a individual protector sheet and label the bottom of each protector sheet with a magic marker in sequential order of the trip. For example: 1, 2, 3. Now, put all of the sheets in order in a 3-ring binder. Let them decorate a simple piece of card stock or printer paper and slip into the front of the binder cover. Now, it's their binder. All of their own.

3. Show them how. Have a quick, fun discussion on how they will follow along during the trip and tell you the turn by turn directions. Show them how they will need to turn the pages of the book and let you know the information that you determine is important for them to tell you.

4. Add some fun. Include a listing of fun games to be played in the car. For instance, we love to play "I SPY", so I include a listing of items to be found during the trip. Little Buddy uses his pencil to make a mark by each item he "spies."

5. Enjoy the ride. Now, just relax and drive. Of course, I always have a copy of the full directions on hand as well. :)