Cleaning The Branch

Today I'm going to tell you guys how to make any outdoor material safe for your pets.So what you'll need is a Spray Bottle, Warm Water, Blow Dryer, and the material you plan on making safe.

First you spray it with your warm water to burn all of the things that could have been in it.

Blow dry it to make any bugs in it solid so that you can shake it to knock out any bugs.

Let it for sit for 1 day and I hope you had fun making the things in your backyard safe for animals. This is a fun way to safe money and get the job done!

Mechanics

While mom is getting everything all prepared for the Grand Opening of Rivers Academy, the kids are using their expertise to try to figure out how to get this Brush Robot to stand up. It would be too easy to just follow the directions. LOL.

                                                                     

This Brush Robot has been hanging around for quite some time, but thanks to our trip to the library last week where they put together Brushbots it is getting a lot of attention. 

Our three hour Montessori Work Period starts on September 2nd, so stay tuned!                                                                              

Strewing Lessons

When things get busy I am so happy that I have independent readers and thinkers in the house. Sheesh! I forgot about the kids work with EEME. We won the basic EEME kit in June. The kids just logged into the site and received tutorials, which also introduced them to how to use a breadboard. I have got to remember to write this stuff down, this is good stuff you know :)  

                                                                   

We'll be getting back to our daily/weekly planners soon, these will help them to accurate make documentation of what their learning too. Leaving things out for them to see and tinker with has been my saving grace through many adjustments we have had to make. Learning never stops!!

At the Festival

We went to the Great Lakes Folk Festival and I felt like like today was a school day. The Festival was so rich in culture and just amazing. 

                                                                   

 We got a lesson in using chopsticks and tasted some different snacks.

 I didn't get the name of this board game that is played in Tanzania. It is very similar to Chess the golden rule is No Touch, No Regrets. We played a lot of rounds of this and it was fun!

We learned how to write our names in Russia. This activity certainly made Nia's day even better.

Walking around was an activity in itself. Lots of good music too. The kids were talking turns video recording African Dances and discussions about African Traditions. 

At first Nia, Kennede and DJ were torn between my suggestion, which was Young Eagles Aviation Day where kids ages 8-17 received a pilot lesson and would get to fly one on one in a helicopter. I am so happy they stuck to their guns on this one. Festivals= Fun for all.

Corn Snake

My previous post was on Garter Snakes, but it's gone too late into August to find Garter Snakes so I decided to get a Corn Snake! So I'm going to be posting a care video soon when I get my Corn Snake. My first snake escaped and so did the second one. This time I have a locking lid and paper towel to monitor it to see if there's any signs of sickness.

This is not my Corn snake in the picture below. I just wanted you guys to see a example of what a Corn Snake looks like. The Corn Snake is the best beginner snake you can get and the snake is often misunderstood as being slimy-actually their not slimy at all their really quite dry.

Activism

On the 4th of July DJ and I marched in the parade. We marched with the Lansing Stop The Violence organization. The founder of the organization is such an amazing lady. Mrs. Risper is inspiring and I think DJ is in love with her New York accent :)

                                                           

                                                                       

Everyday since the march in the parade you can hear DJ randomly saying "Keep the peace, stop the violence!", this was the chant that was repeated while we marched. I think Dr, Montessori would be proud of DJ, Mrs.Risper, and all of the families that joined in! Many of the families have lost family members to violence.  I love that he was surrounded by Peacemakers!!

At the Library: BrushBots

Our library has offered a lot of Maker activities this summer, unfortunately due to my work schedule we were only able to attend the last one.

                                                               

We had a lot of fun and now they have been experimenting with them. We love our library!

How to Schedule Project Time

Many have asked me in real life or through emails "How do we schedule in our projects?". It just kinda evolved into when they saw me working on my projects they started working on theirs.

 Here are a few of my past projects....

                                                                   

Designing a logo

                                                                   

                                                    Creating a business card.

                                                                     

Hanging up flyers around town.

They know that I am not bothered by them asking any questions while I am working on a project. Often times while I am working on something I ask them their opinion and vice versa.

                                                                          

My latest project is conquering the Arduino! I have falling in love with the world of coding, and plan to teach them more about coding as well.               

I guess my best way of answering this question is just to model project work- just like you would if you were teaching them how to read. They see you reading so they read!                                

We like the Home in Homeschool

Last school year was so different then the rest. We were not home most of the time, which we found out we didn't like. We were living with my parents for months due to a creep that stole from us that I hired to do remodeling on our home. Still we learned a lot. A lot of life skills, a lot of applied math and their joy of reading continues to amaze me. 

DJ asked if him and I could go to the Nature Center, we had a blast just the two of us. We had so much fun that the girls asked to join us. We have been going everyday since, it is now how we start our day. I'll save all of the pictures for their individual blog postings, because that is their plan. We do like to go out, but we mostly like being home. I'll take that for what it's worth, because soon which will seem like a blink of the eye they will be calling another place home. 

                                                             

My one on one outing with DJ was celebrated in a local newspaper. It is so encouraging when the little things inspire other people. We are just ordinary people, trust me! 

Electronics Organization

I really need to get organized! We have slowly been doing school mostly just reading, writing and math has been getting done.  We have been doing a lot of nature walks too. This year Kennede will be studying Biology while DJ is studying...yep Zoology, but our group science work is all about Electronics. Tomorrow we are going to the park to hopefully recruit some children to attend some classes for the non profit organization. We will be sharing some of our electronic tools. I am very pleased with how everything is so organized and how easy it will be to travel with and be housed on the shelves.

                                                               

Lots of things can be created using these different materials creatively. We have a lot more to go along with this, but keeping the tidbits organized will help them stay organized!  Well we shall see :)

                                                                           

Tinkering with circuits is just too much fun! They have been inventing so much goodness lately.

Garter Snakes

Garter Snakes: lately I've been studying on garter snakes and I have been looking for one to be my Snake Of The Summer and have encountered a Eastern Rough Green Snake it wasn't what I was looking for but it was very fun seeing it.

Also I had a tank setup pacifically for a Garter Snake hopefully I have some luck this fall.

Frog Tank!

I have been interested in frogs lately and I have been designing a frog tank out of things I find around the house and outside! Looking forward to finding some Frogs to put in it!

Testing 123

I don't want it to get too quiet over here, so I thought I share DJ's latest obsession.

                                                                         

We are positive that all of our batteries in the house work.

Happy Making Everyone!