What An Amazing Park!!

We found a park that is only 15 minutes from our house but took us back in time to the 1770's. What an amazing find this was! Like most parks, there is a playground, a big grass field and basketball courts.

The incredible part of the park is an island that is accessed by a covered bridge. A moat runs around the island and is home to many birds and ducks including mallard ducks, white ducks, greebs and a few seagulls. We even saw a Red Eared Slider Turtle. As you adventure towards the island, a statue of Paul Revere welcomes you.

Once we crossed the Charlestown bridge we were transported back in time to a miniature town of Boston, circa 1770.

The little Boston town has a group of "stores" including a print shop, an apothacary, ropemaker and saddlemaker. Inside the shops are slides and poles and ladders that the girls played on. Upon climbing up a very narrow staircase, you can walk across a bridge to other stores. The brick wall in the photo below is the bridge.

Next to the shops is a replica of The North Church Tower with two slides. You can see one of them on the left side of the church in the following photo (along with my beautiful little girl)

There are non-working cannons to protect Boston. Here is one of them with my beautiful older daughter.

The island closed early today so we didn't get to explore the whole town. There is also a replica of Paul Revere's house and a replica of a cemetary. We will definately go back and do some more exploring but we had a great day!

Learning In A Non-Traditional Classroom

We used a park as our "classroom" today to study math, science, history and p.e. Plus, we had a great time learning. You may be wondering how one visit to the park allowed us to study so much. Well, let me explain. We are studying English measurements of length. We took a 12 inch ruler and a yardstick and went on a hunt for items we could measure. Being that it's Autumn, there are leaves of all types on the ground, unless it's an evergreen tree (in comes science and learning about deciduous trees and evergreens). Lucy found different types of leaves and measured them. The smallest she found in the park was 1/4 inches long while the largest leaf was 12 inches long. We recorded the information that we obtained and will make a graph.

P.E. and Math: We played on the basketball court and shot hoops. Each basket we made counted for 2 points. Then we started over and each basket was 3 points, then 4 points each and then 5 points each. This reinforced multiplication and division. She divide the score that we were shooting for and divided it by 2 and found out how many points we each needed to make and then divided that by the point count and figured out how many baskets we each needed to make.

She played on this whirly-twirly thing and made a hypothesis as to whether she would spin faster pushed away from the center or when she moved in closer to the center. She guessed moved into the center. She was right! We then talked about why that is. Just like ice skaters, it is because of angular momentum.
On the playground is a huge "pirate ship" that the kids can climb on on slide down the slides. One of the fears of the earlier explorers, such as Christopher Columbus was pirates. On the "pirate ship" was this sundial. Before clocks, people used the sun to determine the time of day.

Thanks for reading about our educational adventures.

Our First Field Trip

One of the advantages of belonging to a home school group is that we get to go on field trips with other kids and moms (and dads). Yesterday we went on a fantastic field trip to Riley's Farm in Oak Glen. Being that it was on a school holiday, Megan and the girls that I nanny were able to come too. What a great experience we had! By "going" back in time to the colonial-era we learned about homesteading and were able to lend a hand in chores such as washing clothes, sawing wood, peeling, coring and cutting apples, writing with a feather and ink, and building a log-cabin home with real logs. The girls made their own corn husk dolls, went panning for gold, and made fresh apple cider from apples grown on Riley's Farm. We wrapped up our trip with a hay ride around the Farm. We saw different types of apple trees, Indian corn, chickens and potbelly pigs. A great day was had by all! Lucy and I are certainly enjoying the path of home schooling. She was able to meet some new friends that are also home schooled and I was able to meet some moms who love home schooling their children. 


Lucy slicing the apple that she peeled and cored.





Megan and Lucy enjoying the apple cider that they helped make. It was yummy!!



Our First Day was a success!

We had a great first day of school today. We are waiting for our English curriculum to arrive in the mail but we were able to do other subjects today. Lucy and I are really enjoying this time together.
As I sit and reflect on career choices and decisions that I've made over the past couple years, I really see how God has orchestrated my decisions to get me where I am right now. He is awesome!
Last year I loved teaching second grade at a Christian school and I started working on my ACSI Christian teaching credential. (The teaching I did counted as my student teaching) At the end of the year there were changes with the school and we chose not to return this school year.
I pray that I will be able to follow God's will. I really felt that He was calling me to be an elementary school teacher. At the time, I really wondered if I didn't realize what God's will was. Now that I am teaching my daughter I understand how He was using me to be the best teacher that I can be for her.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Ok, after a week of reading as much as I possibly could and talking with other homeschooling moms, my hubby and I have decided how I would home school my daughter. We are homeschooling though Anaheim Magnolia Christian Schools. We have friends who homeschool through this group so it will be nice to know others. After reading about the group and talking with the administrator we know that this is where the Lord wants us to school through. I am my daughter's teacher and we'll be schooling at home. The group keeps track of our records and offers many classes, meetings and activities (such as field trips). We will be going on our first field trip to Riley's Farm in Oak Glen this Friday. We are really excited and feel at peace with the decisions that we have made.

A Great Giveaway for Home Schooling Moms

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A Great Giveaway for Christian Homeschooling Moms

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A New Adventure

My youngest daughter is experiencing numerous health problems and is missing a bit of school due to her illnesses. After much prayer and talking with doctors, my husband and I feel that the best avenue for her education is for me to home school her. My daughter and I are very excited about this new path that we are starting on. As a mom new to home schooling I am feeling over-whelmed as to the correct legal ways to start our home school. I am in the process of researching the best avenue for us.