Oh The Places We Will Go....{Field Trips in Monterey, CA}

One perk of the many perks in home schooling is being able to take a plethora of field trips!  Instead of the measly 2-3 trips a school may allow a year due to financial situations with the school~ you can take as many as you want and do it on your own time!  It really is one of my favorite parts about home school.  My kids are able to visit more places with me and my husband, plus it allows for a much wider range of places to choose from.  We are blessed this year to be in Monterey, Ca.  There are a ton of places to take children.  Here are my top 10 field trip destinations for children in Monterey, Ca {and beyond}:

1.  Monterey Bay Acquariam  Need I say more?

2.  Museum of Art

3.  Cannery Row: Cannery Row (located right outside the aquarium) is a historic waterfront district full of shops, restaurants, and pretty sites.This spot is the most popular vacation spot on Cali's Central Coast.  The historic waterfront Monterey Bay was made famous by the writer John Steinbeck who used Cannery Row in his stories.   

4.  Dennis the Menace Playground  Hands down the BEST park we have ever been to!  We go here once a week at least.  They have the best snow cone stand in the parking lot...so bring cash!!  

5.  Skate Park:  So I know this is not a field trip place really...but right next to Dennis the Menace Playground is a gnarly skate park {so if you have a tween like me who might have little interest in the kiddie park~ there is a skate park for them to have fun in}

6.  My Museum  This is a kid size museum that has tons of interactive play areas for your kids to explore and play in.  

7.  Mystery Spot, Santa Cruz, CA  Ok, so this place is a little outside of Monterey~ but it well worth the short drive.  Fun for the whole family.  The Mystery Spot is a gravitational anomaly located in the redwoods outside of Santa Cruz.  

8.  Alcatraz!  We have not gone here yet, but believe me we will!  Alcatraz is great place to tour for a history lesson.  It is most famously known for housing some of America's most dangerous criminals!  It was open from 1934-1963.  Some famous inmates you may have heard of:  Al "Scarface" Capone, and the "Birdman" Robert Stroud.

9.  The Boardwalk, Santa Cruz  Amusement park with a beach!  It's a lot of fun.  Again, it's about an hour drive outside Monterey, but well worth it!

10.  The Farm.  Monterey is surrounded by farms!  It smells like a salad actually, haha!  Many of the farms allow tours for children.  This one looks fabulous and has all kinds of special days to visit!  They have story time every Tuesday at 10:30 am.  They also allow home school tours with concentrations for each age group including pre k and junior high!  During pumpkin season, students can pick their very own pumpkin for only $6!  We haven't visited yet, but I'll let you know how it goes!

Easy Reads for 1st Grade

Aubry loves to read.  Her favorite books are Junie B. Jones but she has been reading them so much that she needed something new.  I had trouble finding books for her at the store so we went to our local library...Monterey Public Library.  We absolutely LOVE that library!  There are so many librarians and they all walk around asking to help you!  It's amazing.  Aubry found this one particular librarian who she is very fond of.  The lady has read every book in the children's section I think!  The books she suggest to Aubry are so unique. This is an ongoing list of the amazing books Aubry is enjoying in 1st grade.

1.  The Nine Lives of Aristotle by Dick King-Smith {shown above}

2.   Mercy Watson (the series) by Kate DiCamillo

3.  The Five Sisters by Margarhet Mahy

4.  The Animal World by Thornton Burgess

5.  My Fathers Dragon by Ruth Stiles

6.  Mary Poppins in Cherry Tree Lane

by P.L. Travers

7.  Little Wolf's Haunted Hall for Small Horrors by Ian Whybrow

8.  Mr. Men and Little Miss series by Roger Hargreaves

9.  The Halloween Candy Mystery by Marion M. Markham

10.  Stink and the Great Guinea Pig Express by Megan McDonald

Lewis and Clarke: The Great Adventurers

Imagine going to bed one night in the home that you know so well.  You know where all the rooms are and where the bathrooms are.  You have been down every hallway and in every cabinet and door. You know where to find things.  Now imagine waking up the next day and the house doubled in size over night!  That is what kind of what happened to Americans a long time ago.  They no longer were completely familiar with their surroundings.  Way back in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson bought from France a large amount of land in the middle of what is now known as the United States.  We call this purchase or transaction the Louisiana Purchase.   This purchase doubled the size of our country.

Jefferson picked two explorers, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to explore the new land.  He needed someone to travel the uncharted territory to find out what the living conditions were before allowing anyone to live or travel.  With the help of the wonderful Sacajawea, they were able to explore America!  Thomas Jefferson requested a journal of what they saw on their journey.  What people were out there?  What animals and plants survived in this new territory?  What was the weather like compared to the east coast?    

Activity:  Give your children a compass, journal, pencil and colors.  Teach your children what a compass does.  NOT an iPhone compass!  Actually show them the real deal!  Take them on exploration through some wooded area near home and let them observe things that they see.  Encourage them to draw pictures of new plants, animals, or people they may see along the way!  Older children should be encouraged to jot down a few ideas as a journal entry.  My kids did this...including my 20 month old!  He loved it.  They recruited friends in the neighborhood that evening and got them all into it as well!  Enjoy!

Aubry and Sophie {Aubry loves Sophie} They called each other Lewis and Clarke haha!  And Gabe was Thomas Jefferson =

The kids drew pictures of things they saw that Lewis and Clarke may have wanted to share with Prez Jefferson

Excuse my lens...it was obviously handled by the baby that day

Your A Grand Old Flag

We have begun our lesson on America.  First up is our flag!  I love our flag.  I truly get misty eyed when I see the flag at any event.  The singing the National Anthem really pushes me over the top! Haha!  I want my children to have that same emotion when they see their flag ~ Pride.  Proud to be American.  Proud of what that flag represents.  Here are some very simple activities and crafts to do to reinforce our flag pride!

Montessori approach of allowing Aubry to read the lesson to The Littles.

Re-create the flag using cutting and gluing skills

On her own decided to draw a picture of herself at the flagpole

He liked listening and dancing to the National Anthem!

We also watched Youtube videos of people singing the National Anthem and other songs about America while they did their art projects.

Half Marathon Training

I'm training for my first half marathon that is on Nov 16 here in California!  I'm running the Big Sur. I have met this amazing girl across the street who loves running too and we are training for it together.  She's become a good friend and I look forward to running it with her.   I'm skeptical if I will ever be able to finish it or run further than 7 miles, but I'm giving it my best shot.  One of my goals I set for myself 8 years ago was to run a half before I turn 40.  Well, I'm almost 37 and time is ticking!  And what better place to actually run a half none other than beautiful California!  I've been running avidly since May, but this week marked the beginning of my 12 week training.  At first I thought it wouldn't be so bad...but slowly began to realize that not only am I now homeschooling, but my own school {ECU} began this last week as well.  My big challenge now is to balance my family life, schooling, my own school and household responsibilities before I go train.  Prioritizing time has become essential!

I'm using Hal Higdon's half marathon training schedule.  You can find it at this link here if you want to find one that works well for you.

Anyway, music is key for running!  You have to have good music to keep you motivated when you go out on these long distance runs.  Last night I had a great playlist and I wanted to share:

Type Alt-Pop Workout Music

Youth Without Youth by Metric
Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine
Sail by AWOLNATION
Count on Me by Mat Kearney
Move Along by The All-American Rejects
Kangaroo Court by Capital Cities
Ready to Go (Get Me Out of My Mind) by Panic!  At the Disco
Who You Are by Jessie J
Mirrors by Justin Timberlake
Catch My Breath by Kelly Clarkson
Best I Ever Had by Gavin DeGraw
Fire by Gavin DeGraw
Halo by Beyonce
I Will Wait by Mumford & Sons
My Songs Know What You Did in The...by Fall Out Boy
Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap
Kids by MGMT

Calendar Time

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. ~Psalm 90:12

Calendar time is fun, it's my preschoolers favorite time of the day.  Why?  Research shows that preschoolers do not really understand the concepts of Calendar time and do not do so until they are between the ages of 7-10.  If you really think about it, that is probably true.  When did it finally dawn on you that the year actually changes every January?  Probably not until well into elementary school when your mathematical knowledge matured.  Regardless, we do calendar time everyday as preschool teachers.  Why?  What is the benefit?

My 4.5 year old {and even my older kids} love the together time in the morning.  It's the first thing we do.  We pray together and sing our morning songs together, no harm there, right?  Regardless of what "science" says, my son has aced counting as we count out the date, {if it's the 10th of August, we count to 10~ in English and in Spanish}.  He has memorized the days of the weeks names and knows how many days there are in a week.   He is memorizing the names of the months.  Does he understand how they fall into the yearly calendar?  No, I don't think so.  But he is memorizing and when the day comes that he needs to know that information, then it is already there in his memory bank.  Just like bible verses.

Along with Calendar time, we talk about the season.  He knows all 4 seasons and is learning what attributes go along with each season.  He goes outside every morning and tells me what weather is and uses the weather wheel to point out the picture that best describes the weather.  I also use the Weather Bear, my kids have all loved that.  They dress the giant Panda in the appropriate clothing for the days weather.  {In Monterey it is difficult because it is always foggy and cold in the morning so the Weather Bear hasn't made an appearance yet}.

Also at Calendar time we talk about important days coming up in the month, whether it's doctor appointments, games, birthdays, anniversaries.  Melissa and Doug made a wonderful toy calendar that I love to use, {all their toys are wonderful and educational}.  But I esp love their calendar.  It has so many interactive pieces for the child to manipulate to make the calendar a very personal thing.

Above all else, I feel like being about to meet together in one single place with my children first thing after breakfast to pray, worship and start the day by observing our plans for the day, week, or month, is a great way to train your child about prioritizing time.  It's a great way to set an example that God comes first in the morning.  Thinking and planning out how to use your day and days ahead is a good stewardship of time.  They may not understand that fully, but it is creating a habit that is useful~ in my opinion.

Letter C Painting

Painting Circles

Today to finalize letter C week, we explored with toilet paper rolls and corks!  Oliver joined us!  Another activity to do with letter C:  Bake cookies and watch "Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site!"  That is our Friday fun activity! Have a great holiday weekend!

During painting we talked about mixing colors to make a new color

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