blast from the past

One of my posts is being featured in the Sunshine Coast Child Care and Community Connections Summer newsletter.   They are a group out of British Columbia.

They are sharing with their readers the fun sand castles we made two years ago. 

Actually, the picture they chose was from when the kids made them three years ago.  It's a blast form the past.   Goodness, time flies.

birthday boy x7

That little baby they hand you all bundled up in a burrito of a blanket at the hospital... it grows up.  One day, you're up all night rocking and nursing and holding him at awkward angles because that's the only way he will stop screaming... and the next he's let you sleep in because he knows he can sneak extra video time if he gets up early and is very, very quiet.  In fact, he served himself a breakfast which involved dribbling milk all over the kitchen table and a trail of cereal from the bathroom to the couch... Why the bathroom?  Cause he's a boy and about everything he does involves the bathroom. Why not the bathroom?

Mine is growing up. He went and turned 7.  He opened a bank account.  He'll be getting  job and driving to work next month. 

He's even old enough to know about duck faces.  Geesh.

and squirrel faces, it's new.  it's all the rage.  He used a birthday check from Great grandma to open a bank account.   He was pretty thrilled with the little bank book they gave him.

I thought he understood it all, but then the next day he asked to go take out $1.  It was a Sunday.  It was wrong for so many reasons.  There were tears.  And treats to remove all his money.  I think we've got it now. 

You know it's your birthday and family lives out of town when you arrive home and the porch looks like this.  No, really the boxes on the bench are daddy's work boxes.  He were really excited for a minute though.  He got a big shipment of some part or something.  I just leave them there. 

When it's your birthday, you can play basketball in your jammies if you want.

and you can pick the lunch spot.  Mcdonalds!  I just smiled and nodded....  could think of 32 places I'd prefer to eat.  More, if I thought about it.

On a side note.  Bee used some of her cash (she always has cash) to buy some hair chalk.  She convinced Grandma to get some color,

she enjoyed a lot of color,

and gave the birthday boy some stripes.

I actually don't get too sentimental about the kids getting older. Did you hear the part about getting himself breakfast?  He may have watched extra videos, but I got to sleep in.  It's pretty great.  You can't do that when they're in diapers!

Xtra math- a technology reccomendation

It's all about a balance, right?  So, yesterday was about my kids, today we're back talking about school.  Here an awesome new-to-me website that I used at school the last quarter and am now using at home over the summer. 

I'm loving this website that's for parents, teachers, and students.  It's the best way I've used recently to help my students and my own kids really cement those math facts into their brains!  The kids are motivated by it, it teacher friendly, and it's free.  That always helps!

Have you heard of Xtra Math?  It's a free website that runs kids through math facts.  The 'teacher' creates a class list in just a few minutes and sets the kids up to start on addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division facts.  The kids run through the facts at their own pace.  If they speed through addition, they move on to subtraction, etc.  There is a 'race the teacher' game that the kids seems to really like. 

They can work on it at home with a special log-in and then the parents and the teachers get update information as to their progress.  They also get printable certificates sent to them when they've completed a level.  I linked it up to my class website and had the kids work at school and at home for the most practice.  Parents liked it as much as I did. 

The kids can also work on it in the classroom.  There is a classroom log-in tab that the kids work under that tells the student's (when they are done) who to go get for the next turn.  If that student is busy, they can click onto the next person as well. 

I had several devices going on at once in the morning at school and got at least  half the  class through in the morning arrival time and the rest during extra time throughout the day. It's mobile friendly too, so they can work on it at their desk (we have a bring your own device policy) or in the car or wherever. 

This particular day, I took the whole class into the computer lab and had everyone run through a session before moving on to the next task.  They can use the keypad to type in the answers or pull up a on-screen keypad.

The kids first are given a placement test and then the programs gives them facts based on what they need to know.  Then, they are given facts based on how they do on those facts. 

They are timed as well and problems are sorted into one they know in under 3 seconds and those that they needed longer to solve. They kids don't really know about the timing part, so there is no added stress for them there, but it does let the teacher know what problems are immediate and what is taking them longer.

Another thing I like about this program, is if they miss the problem, or can't answer it in a certain amount of time, the answer appears lightly.  They still have to type it in move on.  They are then given that problem again almost immediately to train them to memorize, not try to re-solve in their head each time. 

This program has really helped my students memorize their facts during the last quarter.  I have left my class 'open' until August and many of them have been working this summer.  Bee and Lou are doing the same.  The plan is for them to go into next year, knowing their facts cold- with out any time needed to review to get back to where they were at the end of the year. 

first week of summer vacation!

We have finished up the first week of summer vacation!  I know a lot of people still are finishing up school this week!  We had an extra hour added to many of our days to make up all the many, many snow days this year.  The teachers even went on Saturdays to make up the rest of our contractual hours.  It stunk, but now that we're out, it might have been worth it. 

The first thing I did was delete this ridiculously early alarm!

We've been playing at the splash pad a the gym (The kids are old enough this summer to play there while I work out!  I've been waiting for this day!)

We've been hitting up Holiday World! 

(Bee with a friend on one of my not so favorite ride- but she's old enough to ride without me!)

and finding water to play in,

or getting caught in the rain.

Lou and Bee are fish. 

We've discovered a new-to-us game.  This one's called 'chairs' and we've been playing it like crazy.  You basically just stack the chair and try to get it all to balance.

We've been loosing teeth. Number two for Lou!  I feel fairly sure he'll be needing some braces some day. 

We've taken in a baseball game.

And have been reading,

and doing our summer school work,

and working on pinterest projects.

and enjoying the new Mcallisters Deli in town.

There's been a little fun going on in the garden, not a lot, but a little.

 

Now we just need a whole bunch more weeks like this one and we will be rested up and ready for next school year.

the big screen

For hubby's birthday back in April, we got him an outdoor movie setup. It got it's first public showing the last day of school.  It was also Lou's last baseball game.  We hosted the end of season celebration at our house since Hubby coached the team.   We had 12 baseball boys and their families over. 

 

 

Perfect time to bring out the theater.  And, another good use for the hill in the backyard- built in stadium seating. 

 

 

 Here's how we did it.  The projector and speakers sit on a cart that connects with the dvd player through a stereo system.  There is the option to hook up the laptop if we want to stream Netflix or iTunes movies.  That's the simplified version of that cart part.  Hubby was in charge of the cart, I was in charge of the screen.  I can tell you more about the cart if you're interested.

I bought a piece of "black out tenting" material from a tent company in southern Indiana.  Here's the company, I happened to be driving by and they have an outlet shop open to the public and were able to cut just what I needed.  I've seen people use white tarp, drop cloth, or even a sheet.  Ours is 8ft x5 ft.  The ratio from the projector is 19:6, so I wanted something that could be similar in ratio.    I screwed the top and bottom onto 1x3.   I think they boards were 12 foot boards and we cut off 6-8 inches on each side.  The additional bottom piece was really just to weight it down a bit.  We wanted it portable and it does roll up for storage and transport. 

Hubby added another board to the side of the swing set that we added a few brackets to.  The top of the screen simply slides down into the brackets.  The screen can be set up and taken down in just a few minutes.   The first instillation of screen to frame boards had to be redone once.  The screen had a shiny side and a matte side.  The sales woman told me she thought the shiny side made more sense, turns out the matte is a better viewing side.  Also, I did the first time myself and hubby did the second himself.  He's more a precision guy... I eyeball everything. 

The speakers get turned towards us and I've asked the neighbors, and they said they could hear much, even with their windows open.  We really had it loud so I was a little concerned.  We can start it as soon as the sun starts setting, but don't have to wait for dark. 

But, it's totally better after dark.  Our guests watched a bit, ran around, watched a little more, ran around some more, and then crashed on the blankets for the last bit of movie.

We also discovered that Lou and Bee both have a perfect view from their windows.  Take note!  Hubby and I were getting ready to watch "I am Legend" after the kids went to bed one evening and discovered this.  Good catch!

I have about $35.00 in the screen system.  Hubby had most of the items needed for the cart already on hand.  He did buy a new projector using two years worth of Best Buy gift cards. We discovered, the thing to look for in the projector is the luminosity (bulb brightness) and bulb life.  I think it's a pay for what you get sort of thing. 

Lou has asked for his birthday party to be a swimming moving party.  I think we can do that!

wrapping things up

 The school year is all wrapped up now.  Geesh- it was one of those times where the days were long but the year was short. 

 
Bee wrapped up her soccer season.  Her team won one game, and it happened to be in the championship.   They finished up 5th out of 6 teams. 

 
Spring musical...  One of the many, many events they squeeze in the last few moments of school.  I couldn't really see Bee from my teacher seat, but I was right in front of Lou. 

Field day... Both kids got to enjoy field day.  Lou's team was called "Veal Victory."   Here are the four boys in his class.  Yep, only four boys!   Poor Bee's team is not pictured.  They were "Hamm's Heroes."  Her team beat my class by one point.

Here's my team.  We were "Moore's Mighty Monsters."

 
And the awards program... Here's Lou getting one of his awards.  A friend sent it to me, I didn't get any pictures of my own of him. I didn't get any decent pictures of Bee.  They both got awards for highest honor roll and physical fitness.  Being a teacher at their school is great because I get to go to all the programs, but I rarely can get my camera up where I need it. 

 
Lou's baseball season wrapped up too.  Actually the last day of school was the last game.  We also hosted the end of the season celebration at our house after the game... It made for a super long day. 

 
Here's Bee enjoying the final game.  Really, she spent most of her time hanging out with the little siblings of a few player friends and getting in some babysitting practice. 

Speaking of last day of school...

I didn't get the 'going off to last day of school' pictures, but these photos were taken on the last day.

First day, last day... 1st grade.

 

                                                           First day, last day... third grade. 

Hello Summer!  All I can say is- I need it!