We've been keeping busy with all kinds of things recently.

Here's a picture of our tornado fun from before:


More recently we've been doing some holiday related activities. I took the kids to the dollar store, and each at $10 to get gifts for their family members. They did a great job thinking about what things their family members would like, and doing the counting/math to figure out how much they had left to spend. We've also cleaned out the pantry, and donated food to the food bank, and gotten together some brand new toys that were sitting unused and donated them to toy drives. I'm a big believer in community service, and caring for others, and think the best way for kids to learn about these kinds of things is through hands on experience. (Last year they went to the dollar store with some money specifically to buy toys top donate.) And today they each has some special time with mommy to wrap their gifts. They were so excited and proud to wrap them up and put them under the tree.

Reagan has been keeping up with her workbook work on days off of school, and wrote her own letter to Santa that she put in a special Letters to Santa ornament on our tree. She did a great job writing it all by herself!

We've also been practicing counting backwards as we count down to Christmas with our advent garland. I'll have to post a picture of it... but it has a tiny knit mitten or hat or sock for each day counting down, so you can fill them with whatever goodies you wish. I got a pack of heart and star chain links in the party section of the dollar store to fill about half of them, and the kids have had a great time adding to their chains each day. They have a very tangible way to count up how many days we have counted down. Hooray for math practice!

Another math activity we have been doing is a hands on dice game that I came up with. Inspired by giant foam dice at the dollar store, I came up with a fun math game that we can play and work on math at different levels. I got each child their own set of dice (each child has a different color). We started out by rolling one die each, and counting how many dots each rolled. Then we moved on to comparing the numbers (more and less) with the one getting the desired result being the winner. Then we moved on to two die, and adding them together. And again the more and less game with the dice sums. Writing it down really gets across the educational aspect, but makes it sound a lot less fun than it is. lol

I haven't updated in a few days, but we've been keeping busy. Adam's been working on more things in his workbook. Even though he's doing workbook work, we're doing it in a very informal way. He can pretty much stop when he decides he is done as long as he's worked on something. This weekend as the end of last week the kids have been sick with a tummy bug that we have yet to get out of here, so we've been very relaxed about things.

We have managed to do some fun learning activities though, including:

*Weather investigation about tornadoes with a bottle connector tornado gadget thing. (Ours is from when I was a kid, but I know they carry these at places like hobby Lobby.. just not sure what they call them.)

*Senses-hearing: we talked about hearing and sound and read Polar Bear Polar Bear What Do You Hear?

*Reading Readiness: watched 2 episodes of Super Why

Montezuma Castle

The other day I asked the kids what they would like to do on daddy's next day off, and the resounding answer was "Go to Tuzigoot!" Unfortunately Tuzigoot is under renovation right now and the visitor's center there is closed for the next 6 months. The up side is that during the renovation process there is no admission fee to visit the monument... but there is also no Jr. Ranger program, museum store etc. I'm not even sure about bathroom facilities. So we were thinking Montezuma Castle might be a better option. The two monuments actually have a joint Jr. Ranger program, so we could do that on this trip, and then take a later trip to Tuzigoot to just enjoy, and not worry about the work involved with the program. Not everyone has been feeling very well in our house this week, so we kind of left it up int he air until this morning as to whether we would make the trip or not.

But this morning, when my kids showed up in my bedroom in their matching pterodactyl shirts and ready to go, who could say no? We grabbed some bagels and headed on out the door!

Before we realized it we were there! On the banks of beautiful Beaver Creek, in a gorgeous canyon, looking up at the past. I truly think there are few things more amazing than the wonders that are preserved in our National and State Parks. Welcome to our past, and our future. Welcome to America, the beautiful, and breathtaking.

Our first stop was the visitor's center where we got an understanding of the way the cliff dwelling was built, and a feel for what the interior is like (it was closed to visitors in the 1950s to prevent damage to the structure.) The kids also picked up their Jr. Ranger program materials, and we all learned a lot more about the amazing Sinagua people who built and lived in these structures.



The 1/3 mile trail was an easy walk for the kids, and afforded amazing views of both the natural geology of the area, and of the ruins themselves. The walk was also an integral part of the kids' Jr. Ranger scavenger hunt.


Montezuma Castle is not the only ruin in the park, however it is much more well preserved than the secondary, Castle A. Castle A was destroyed by fire at one point, but some of the masonry, including foundations and walls of first flor rooms, can still eb seen today. This building was actually much larger than the more well known Montezuma Castle, and is presumed to have housed almost three times as many inhabitants.


(Rock face remains of Castle A)

Despite the lack of human inhabitants, Castle A is not empty. We spotted a squirrel who had obviously nested in a smaller cutout, mud bird nests hanging beneath rock ledges, and in one large entry to a large natural cave, a very impressive bee hive (the kind you think only exist in animation- I only wish it had photographed better).

(Bee hive hanging in cave entry, Castle A)

The kids completed their Jr Ranger program, and are looking forward to future trips up to visit Montezuma Well, and Tuzigoot sometime soon! And Reagan can't wait to reread her book A Kid's Guide to Exploring Montezuma Castle National Monument that was the catalyst for them wanting to visit the monuments of this area in the first place. :-)

The Week In Review

This last week Reagan's been doing a great job on her school work, and has made some great progress with her math. Adding larger numbers is becoming easier, and her handwriting has been improving vastly. Adam started doing workbooks at home this week. HE had been doing some before that were, "stick this sticker there" type direction following activities, but this was his first real workbook work. Based on some of the work he did on his Jr. Ranger program at Walnut Canyon, I thought he might be ready to do some of this type of work, and he loved it! He did a great job of identifying colors, matching colors, circling objects and connecting the dots. He was doing a fantastic job with controlling his crayon or pencil doing those activities, but is still a wild color-er. hehe

Reagan's been having a lot of fun learning about the first Thanksgiving at school, and loved reading The Magic Treehouse: Thanksgiving on Thursday at home. She's been especially excited about it since we can trace our family back to people who were there! She's been really bummed however that she won't get to be part of the Thanksgiving potluck at school since it's going to be held on a day that she doesn't go. I'm going to be planning some fun Thanksgiving activities for that day at home so I'm sure we'll still have a great time!

A Ride on the Magic School Bus

My kids absolutely LOVE this show. I would definitely recommend it for grade school science! Reagan has been reading the books, and saw on some that it said there was a TV series. I don't think it runs on TV anymore.. at least it doesn't seem to here.. so we borrowed all of the available ones from the library. Of course, we have been so busy doing things that we haven't had a chance to watch them yet, and they're due back in a couple of days. So today was Magic School Bus Day! I was sure Reagan would love them, but wasn't so sure about Adam. Not to worry though, he is captivated. Even Catie sat in her Bumbo munching Cheerios and happily watching with them. they watched 3 episodes about bugs, and learned a lot about bees and butterflies. Then they watched one about the human body, and learned why they get sick, and how their body fights infection. Next it was time to learn about the water cycle! I definitely think that planning some hands on activities ahead and rewatching these would be great. Also having the books on hand to reference information while doing activities. And possibly even coupling them with Sid the Science Kid when appropriate. (The kids also watched ones about the ocean.) And in the afternoon Reagan finished reading the Magic Tree House adventure where they go to Pompeii! :-) Nothing to structured today, but lots of learning nonetheless.

Flagstaff National Monument Weekend

This weekend we went on a fantastic trip to visit the three national monuments in the Flagstaff area. We travelled up on Saturday after Reagan's soccer game and spent the afternoon at Wupatki. Then spent the night in Flagstaff, and visited Sunset Crater the nest morning, and stopped by Walnut Canyon in the afternoon on the way home. We all had a wonderful time, learned a lot, saw a lot of amazing things, and despite squeezing them all into one weekend, we had time to stop and enjoy each of the three.

Wupatki
The first national monument stop for the weekend was at Wupatki.
We stopped to hike the Box Canyon ruins, The kids were amazed by the buildings, and it only got better. At the back end of the trail, we got to actually walk through one of the ruins!

After our Box Canyon hike, we drove by and only stopped to look at The Citadel, so that we would have more time at the visitor's center, and to see the Wupatki ruin. It was incredible!

The hike down to the bottom of Wupatki, led us past the main ruin, as well as the gathering circle, and the ball court- all amazing sights in their own right. But the whole hike would have been more than worth it just to see the blow hole! IT may not look like much, but it was AMAZING!

Cool air actually blows up out of this crack in the earth's surface as if there were an electric fan in there. (See Reagan's hat flying off!) It was truly incredible, and is really beyond describing. This home of the wind spirit is something that really must be experienced first hand!

Reagan completed her Jr Ranger program, but it was above the level that Adam could complete here. The ranger did give him a coloring sheet to design his won pottery though, so he felt very included. :-) We got a book at the visitor's center shop: ...If You Lived With The Hopi, by Anne Kamma. Reading it gave us all a better understanding of one of the pueblo building peoples. It's a Scholastic book, so it's geared for kids, and really gives them a lot of information from a child's perspective, but also about the people and their lifestyle as a whole .


Sunset Crater
On Sunday morning we headed back to the north of Flagstaff to visit Sunset Crater.
Reagan is very into volcanoes right now, so doing preparatory reading for this one was easy. One of Reagan's favorite books right now is Pompeii: A Doomed City by Rona Putterman, that describes the events surrounding the eruption of Mt Vesuvius, and the modern archaeological efforts to unearth the city. She has read this, and much of the Eyewitness Book, Volcano & Earthquake many times at home, and brought them along in the car to read on the trip up to Flagstaff along with a Smithsonian mini book on Volcanoes that they had collected from Subway meal awhile back. She also read The Magic School Bus Inside The Earth by by Joanna Cole, and a couple of other books.


We spent a good deal of time in the visitor's center learning about the geologic history of the region and of Sunset Crater itself, and about the different tribal stories and beliefs about the volcano and it's importance to their cultures. Then we hiked the lava flow. It was a truly amazing experience, with great views of the volcano, and a fantastic up close experience with different kinds of lava formations. Including squeeze ups, hornitos and lava tubes. This kids loved exploring the lava field along the trail, but were sure to not climb on any of the rock.


Walnut Canyon
Out last stop was at Walnut Canyon National Monument.

It was a long way done and back up on the Island Trail, but well worth it! Reagan's favorite part was what she called "the secret passage" where we passed between rocks onto the "island" from the canyon wall.

Just around the corner we got to the first set of cliff dwellings. The trail led us right along the rock face, and we were able to walk through some of them!

Below:Some of the amazing cliff dwellings of the Sinauga.

After completing the trail, the kids sat down and filled out the remainder of their Jr Ranger booklets (Reagan did the readers one, and Adam completed the non-reader one.) They turned them in and after reviewing them with the ranger, took the Jr. Ranger pledge. Over the weekend, Reagan completed Jr Ranger programs at Wupatki, Sunset Crater AND Walnut Canyon, and Adam completed both Sunset Crater and Walnut Canyon as well. They learned so much, and enjoyed themselves to the extreme!



And of course Catie was along too!!! She tried toast at breakfast on Sunday, and LOVED it! This picture is of her with her 2nd slice!

And here she is in the backpack where she happily rode most of the weekend. :-)

Petrified Forest: Our Adventure

Even before we made out journey to Petrified Forest National Park, we started learning about it! Of course mommy did some research through the National Parks website, but Reagan learned a lot by reading Petrified Forest National Park, A True Book, by David Petersen. This book was very informative, and great for emergent readers. It is written in large easy to read font, and includes a glossary of important words at the back, as well as information for further research resources and on the park's Junior Ranger program. Even non-readers can follow along with an older sibling and enjoy the captivating color photos of the park. Reagan loved reading the book, and learning about what she would see at the park, the process of petrification, and the basic geology and fossil record of the area. I thought this book did an amazing job of presenting a lot of complex information in a way that is very approachable for children of all ages.

After reading about it, the kids were even more excited about our trip to the park, and couldn't wait to get there. We arrived just after opening, and they eagerly bounded into the visitor's center to have hands on experience with different types of rock and petrified wood, and collect their Junior Ranger workbooks. We were soon headed out on the road through the park. We stopped at several overlooks of the painted dessert and the badlands. The kids were very excited to look for things on the scavenger hunt that was a part of their ranger program. Then we stopped at the the Painted Desert Inn. The kids had a great time exploring the main building of the building that was once a hotel, and then a restaurant, and enjoying the views. Further down the road they were very excited to stop an see the few things where old Route 66 passes through the park. They weren't as excited about the Puerco Pueblo Anasazi ruins as we were, but enjoyed playing I Spy, finding petroglyphs on the rocks and deciding what they must mean. The best part of the trip was definitely going on hikes through the petrified forest, and getting to see and touch the logs. The kids did a great job looking for the answers to questions in the Jr. Ranger books here. they enjoyed measuring the logs, and looking at their different colors. Their favorite hikes were the Crystal Forest, and Giant Logs.

Both kids earned their Jr. Ranger badges, and each got to pick a piece of polished petrified wood in the gift shop. By the end of the day they were somewhat tired form all the hiking and excitement. But the next morning at home, they were asking when we could go back! We had such a great time, I'm sure we'll go back at some point in the future. :)

Petrified Forest National Park- Frugal Family Day

This past Sunday we went on a family trip to Petrified Forest National Park, and it's a trip that I would HIGHLY recommend to others. Not only was the trip gorgeous, but it was also educational, inexpensive and a ton of fun for everyone in the family!

Petrified Forest National Park includes the petrified forest, the painted desert, petroglyphs, Sinauga ruins, and the only section of old Route 66 protected in a national park. There's a lot to see, but if you're not headed into one of the park's two wilderness areas, it's very doable as a one day adventure. You might not think it would be the case, but the park is a perfect trip for preschoolers! (Mine had such a great time that the next day they were asking when we could go back.) Almost all of the trails in the park are under 1 mile in length, and paved. Most are also stroller friendly! The road through the park is a 28 mile adventure, featuring amazing views and numerous pullouts with informational plaques as well as the walking trails. We would definitely recommend doing all the different trails along the way, and did all but 2 of the park's trails on our one day adventure with 3 children under 5 (including an infant.)

Now that you know what you'll be able to see, let's talk about what you can do. Kids can participate in the Junior Ranger program. These vary form park to park, and in this case the booklet includes a section with activities perfect for preschoolers featuring learning basics such as shape recognition. The booklet encourages them to explore the things in the park, and teaches a lot to us older folks as well. There are ranger guided walks at various spots in the park throughout the day for those who would like to go a little more in depth, though I wouldn't recommend these for those with younger children.

You're thinking this might be a fun day trip, but you're still wondering about the cost... Well have no fear! Aside from the cost of the bag lunch you bring, and the gas for your drive through the park- you can do this trip for about $16- and that INCLUDES souvenirs for the whole family! How? Park entry is $10. That $10 includes your entry into the park for an entire week, and a park map with lots of information. Stop by the visitor's center for a FREE copy of the park newspaper, and also to get your kids the booklet for the FREE Jr. Ranger Program. When your children complete the program they will each receive a Jr Ranger patch, AND pin. For more information pick up the pamphlet for the self-guided Big Logs trail. You can use these for FREE, or pay a nominal 50 cents to take them with you (which I personally would recommend). Now what about those souvenirs? Stop by the Rainbow Forest gift shop and take a look around. A lot of nice things might catch your eye, but if you look up on the shelves next to the register, you can get a bargain box full of actual petrified wood pieces for just $5. There are plenty of pieces in there to go around, believe me! Other great bargain souvenirs in the park shop include post cards for 25 cents, and a small poster map of the park to color, or image of the petroglphs on petrified rock, for $2 each.

(Jr Rangers!)

Getting Caught Up (Again)

I keep getting so far behind on this! Let's give it another go!

Updates on where we are now:

Currently Catie is learning to crawl, starting to self-feed baby crackers and such, and is just exploring the world around her. (Though her big brother insists they watch Your Baby Can Read together at least once a week, we don't plan on any real schooling with her for a long time- but every thing we do is a learning experience, and we love seeing her just take it all in.) Favorite books right now are her picture book made for her by her brother and sister as a gift when she was born- she loves to look at their pictures and drawings, and anything that looks good to chew on.

Currently Adam has started doing some workbooks and LOVES it. He can read some sight words, can count 1-10 no problem, and can get to 20, he knows all of his letters, and is working on letter sounds, he absolutely LOVES to spell, knows his colors, shapes, bigger and smaller etc. Favorite books right now are: Cars- The Spooky Noise, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and pre-1 level readers.

Currently Reagan has started pre-K at the school that she will be attending elementary school. They would like to move her ahead, but state law prohibits it because of her age. She doesn't mind, and is very happy getting to play with other kids her age and do crafts and music and such. Along with those she loves learning new words in sign language and Spanish at school. We continue to do schooling at home, where she is working on a 2nd grade level now. She has recently learned to alphabetize and is working on adding larger numbers and beginning multiplication. She LOVES to read, and recently made the jump to completely silent reading. Favorite books right now are The Magic Treehouse, The Magic School Bus, Berenstain Bears, anything with lots of fun facts! Reagan is quite interested in volcanoes, a fascination which influences her reading of course. She's been concerned since we live near a dead volcano, and she has read a lot about Pompeii and that the people who lived there had thought that Mt Vesuvius was dead before it erupted. She was also concerned about if it would be safe to visit Sunset Crater (a future trip), and whether there would be ash that we should worry about. She loves doing science experiments at home- we have made our own bouncy balls, and are about to do a recycled paper lab. Also in planing are a hovercraft lab, and a tornado lab. We've been keeping up with her school work by doing a couple worksheets a day when she isn't in pre-school, and by doing lots of hands on!

Right now we are reading Bunnicula together for bedtime and the kids are quite enjoying it, especially with Halloween coming up, and since they've expressed an interest in having a bunny since we saw them at the county fair (Adam has also asked for a miniature cow ???) We participated in the fair this year as well. It was a great experience for the kids, and they're very proud of the ribbons that they earned for their work. They were also super proud of the ribbons that were earned by mommy and Oma- especially for quilts they have on their beds, and clothing that was made for them. This was Reagan's second year entering things, and the first year that Adam was old enough. They also participated in the Farmer for a Day program at the fair where they learned about where our food comes from. Reagan's already planning things to work on to enter for next year's fair! lol

Interactive Animals Fun and Summer Camp Planning

Since the last post, we have sure been keeping busy. We took a trip to the local wild animal park, and had a great time. We have a membership, so we try to go out there once every 1-2 months. It's a great chance for the kids to see the animals up close, and the staff there are so engaging and informative, we all learn new things every time! Before I add in a bunch of pictures of this trip there, I'll share what else we have been working on.

We took a trip to the craft store and picked up all the materials we would need (hopefully) for our summer camp craft projects. The kids sat down with me and we made a list of all the things that they would like to do this summer. It was a great way to get a general feel for what things they would like to do. Some of it may be tough to fit in around Reagan's 2 day a week karate schedule, and Rob's work, but we'll find a way. Based on their interests, as well as the craft projects, I've made some weekly lesson plans to do with the kids to make it a bit more structured for them. They love having planned activities, which demands that I do some planning. So, this summer, we'll be learning about trains, drama, bugs and insects, the food we eat, the ocean, and space! We have field trips planned to the Arizona Train Museum (trains), The Phoenix Children's Museum, the aquarium (ocean), and Meteor Crater (space).

We're kicking things off this week with a combined week of drama and trains. Lots of craft projects and interactive stuff for dramatic play, and then some great kid friendly books about trains. We're ending the week with our trip to the AZ RR Museum on Saturday. Thankfully we looked up the info for it early, since it is closed starting June 1 for the hot summer months. Today we started out our drama week with a tie dye project. The kids chose the patterns they wanted and helped with banding their shirts and immersing them in the pre-soak. Then they chose their colors and I dyed the shirts. They're sitting for the dye to set now, but should be ready to be washed out tonight, so I'll post a pic of them when they are done. We can wear these shirts as "costumes" later in the week. But the main intent is for them to last the summer. Just like tie dyed shirts you might make at summer camp! I'm planning to have them wear them on field trip days to make them easier to spot, and also to give them something to wear that can get a little dirty without worry.



Counter clockwise from top left: Adam feeding Kibo the giraffe, the kids at the Pet N Feed, Reagan feeding the iiland (sp?), Reagan checking out an ostrich egg, Adam checking out an ostrich egg- before he accidentally dropped it off the unimog and it broke open.

FUN FACTS:
*A giraffe's tongue is blue because it has extra pigment in it that acts as sunscreen to protect the tongue while the giraffe is eating (many hours a day).
*The iiland is the largest antelope species in the world.
*Ostriches lay their eggs in a community nest. When each female take her turn sitting on them, she moves her eggs to the middle.
*An ostrich egg is approximately equivalent to 18 chicken eggs.

Wow, I knew I had been slacking on the posts here,but had no idea it had been 6 months!

I've been planning some summer schooling, and summer camp type activities, and am really excited to get going on them. An update would be so long, I'm just going to jump in where we are now, and move forward.

Right now Reagan is currently over half-way through her first chapter book: The Magic Treehouse; Dinosaurs Before Dark. And is busy working on her reading list to earn a new level 2 Star Wars reader.

Today was popcorn learning day. We made and ate popcorn, and read The Popcorn Book by Tomie de Paola.


This morning we also went for Reagan's first real hair cut, and she decided she wanted to donate to Locks of Love. :-) On the way home we stopped at the car wash- the kids' first time. It was exciting and frightening for them.