Mom's Overture

I have about 5 entries started but not finished so until then enjoy!!!


UPDATE: Here are the words!
Get up now
Get up now
Get up out of bed
Wash your face
Brush your teeth
Comb your sleepy head
Here's your clothes
And your shoes
Hear the words I said
Get up now
Get up and make your bed
Are you hot?
Are you cold?
Are you wearing that?
Where's your books and your lunch and your homework at?
Grab your coat and your gloves and your scarf and hat
Don't forget you got to feed the cat
Eat your breakfast
The experts tell us it's the most important meal of all
Take your vitamins so you will grow up one day to be big and tall
Please remember the orthodontist will be seeing you at three today?
Don't forget your piano lesson is this afternoon

So you must play
Don't shovel
Chew slowly
But hurry
The bus is here
Be careful
Come back here
Did you wash behind your ears?
Play outside
Don't play rough
Would you just play fair?
Be polite
Make a friend
Don't forget to share
Work it out
Wait your turn
Never take a dare
Get along
Don't make me come down there
Clean your room
Fold your clothes
Put your stuff away
Make your bed
Do it now
Do we have all day?
Were you born in a barn?
Would you like some hay
Can you even hear a word I say?
Answer the phone
Get Off the phone
Don't sit so close
Turn it down
No texting at the table
No more computer time tonight
Your iPod's my iPod if you don't listen up

Where you going and with whom and what time do you think you're coming home?
Saying thank you, please, excuse me
Makes you welcome everywhere you roam
You'll appreciate my wisdom
Someday when you're older and you're grown
Can't wait 'til you have a couple little children of your own
You'll thank me for the counsel I gave you so willingly
But right now
I thank you NOT to roll your eyes at me
Close your mouth when you chew
Would appreciate
Take a bite
Maybe two
Of the stuff you hate
Use your fork
Don't you burp
Or I'll set you straight
Eat the food I put upon your plate
Get an egg A, Get the door
Don't get smart with me
Get a Grip
Get in here, I'll count to 3
Get a job
Get a life
Get a PhD
Get a dose of reality
I don't care who started it
You're grounded until your 36
Get your story straight
And tell the truth for once for heaven's sake
And if all your friends jumped off a cliff
Would you jump too?

If I've said it once, I've said at least a thousand times before that
You're too old to act this way
It must be your father's DNA
Look at me when I am talking
Stand up straight when you walk
A place for everything
And everything must be in place
Stop crying or I'll give you something real to cry about
Oh!
Brush your teeth
Wash your face
Get your PJs on
Get in bed
Get a hug
Say a prayer with Mom
Don't forget
I love you
**KISS**
And tomorrow we will do this all again because a mom's work never ends
You don't need the reason why
Because
Because
Because
Because
I said so
I said so
I said so
I said so
I'm the Mom
The mom
The mom
The mom
The mom
Ta-da

Book Finds

I just wanted to share a couple of library books that have been a pure pleasure! They have added to our learning without "feeling" like learning.

Math-terpieces: The Art of Problem Solving by Greg Tang is brilliant! Famous art pieces such as Degas' Ballerinas and Van Gogh's Starry Night are paired with little poetic math problems. For example opposite the picture of Van Gogh's Starry Night are pictures of groupings of stars to add together such as "find 7 ways to make 10". We have done 2 a day for the past week. G even brings them to do outside of school.

G loves mazes and Roxie Munro's Mazeways A to Z does not disappoint. You first follow directions through the picture.... start at the red van, follow the path to the fishing pier, then hike to the visitors center. Munro's rhymes are much more melodic. Then the picture turns into an I Spy game with a list of tiny details to discover. Beautiful Artwork and mind focusing fun!

Both of these books have captured G's attention and held on. I am considering purchasing them to rediscover over the years to come.

EPCOT

We really thought that EPCOT would be overall, boring for G but we were wrong! They have added Kidcot, hands-on tables, that are geared for elementary kids and a lot of fun. It is like a learning scavenger hunt. We learned about the Venus Flytrap, Car Design, The Food Pyramid, Sound, & Sea Life. You can do a similar hunt through the World Showcase where you decorate a mask then collect trinkets from each county. G was too tired by the time we got to that task... so next time.

Kidcot station one- Venus Flytrap


Car Design

G really enjoyed the boat ride through the experimental greenhouses. We had just seen the Mickey pumpkins on TV before we left home and it was exciting to see them growing on our trip. These pumpkins are growing without dirt, hydroponics.





We went into this little building, outside the Kodak building, with signs "Meet Figment", Kodaks Purple Dragon. When we got inside there was no dragon but fun house mirrors surrounded by wonderful inspirational messages and ideas! I think it was more for me than G because I struggle with focusing too heavily on academics in our classroom and the main reason I homeschool is so he doesn't loose his creativity and excitement. I need to make a poster size print of this for our classroom.


Kodak asks... What if pictures could talk? As you step on each photo it plays the sound you might associate with it. G had fun and ran off some steam.


There are computers and video games all over EPCOT for children to explore. This one is about ants.


EPCOT is a haven of photo opportunities... here are a few of our favorites.

In Norway

In Bruce


In Bliss

My personal highlight was getting to ride/ drive a Segway! I have always wanted to ride one and you can in Innovations East.


What a wonderful Day!

Fieldtrip: Abbott's Candy

We took part in a tasty field trip to Abbott's Candy with our homeschool friends. Abbott's is a local, third generation candy store that has been making and selling confections since the 1890's.


The children first heard the history of the store. They were particularly interested in the tales of reduced production during World War II and seeing the current, elderly owner as she comes into the shop daily. They were disappointed that she was already gone for the day.


Then they donned their hats and waited for a turn at the tour.


WONDERMENT!


We first learned about the yummy yummy butter caramels.


Each batch makes 900 caramels to be....


Cut,...


And HAND wrapped!


Then we watched them coat Peanut butter Melt-aways.


This is one of the many bars they melt down each day to coat the chocolates.


The candies get coated on the bottom, then go through the chocolate waterfall, get a decoration, and finally pass through a cooling tunnel before being packet up.



Finally the chocolates are packed into boxes. Pictured are one pound boxes... the packer has no chart to guide her... she did when she first hired in but after a few hundred boxes she didn't need it anymore. When she thinks that it is full she weighs it. If it is not one pound she adds more chocolates... so all boxes are at least a pound or more. Then she wraps it, WITHOUT tape. I wish I could wrap presents like that. It was truely an art.

Fieldtrip: Mounds State Park

Our Keepers group took a field trip to Mounds State Park. The kids are working on a hiking badge so they are learning about the state tree & bird, hiking saftey, and compass reading.

They first got to explore the many interactive exhibits in the Nature Center including touch & feel boxes, animal & habitat matching, live fish and amphibians, taxidermied local wild life, artifact discovery and tree identification.

Then they listened to an introduction to the Adena Indians and the Mounds.

They learned that the boats were made from tall, straight trees with not lower branches - The Tulip Tree, our state tree.

How could these Indians bring volcanic arrow and spear heads to Indiana? Our White River (which flows in the park) connects to the Wabash River which flows to the Ohio River which feeds into the Mississippi River which empties into the Ocean. Wow!

The Mounds are not burial mounds, which many books teach, but celebration mounds for the seasons. Dips in the Great Mound lines up with smaller mounds throughout the park. If you stand in the center of the Great Mound and look out to these lesser mounds, for lack of a better term, you will see amazing sunsets at the beginning of the seasons or special stars or constellations during other times of the year. Amazing!

The mounds were created by HAND! Earth was sometimes carried in baskets. It just boggles the mind. The children and their guide are standing at the edge of the center circle in the Great Mound (with their whistles for saftey).

Animal Kingdom

Note: While viewing the above slide show turn off your air conditioning, open you your windows and bump around in your seat. There it is just like you are really on the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride at Walt Disney World.


WDW's Animal Kingdom is an amazing zoo with a few rides tossed in to make it a theme park. Every path is scattered with lush flora & fauna. We were able to see new animals we'd never heard of and up close views of old favorites. You can find a list of some of the species here.

Some exhibits were captioned by "chalk" boards rather than static printouts. Such as this one at our new favorite animal the Okapi.


Or the Massive Gorillas


AWSOME!!!!!

Did you know that Hippos sleep underwater and that their bodies natural rhythm floats them to the top for air about every 5 minutes? G thought that the one in our picture was a rock or dead until he bubbled up for air. I could have stayed in there all day.


In one section there were bird guides you could carry with you. Talk about the Ultimate Hide and Seek. G loved this and was disappointed that we did not find all of the birds.




While at Rafiki's Conservation Station we listened at a trainer explained how and why they train the animals to respond to a clicker (feeding, measuring, medical care...). They demonstrated this with a Tamandua or Lessor Anteater. Once they put the animal away they talked some more with the 3 kids... did I tell you September is a great time to visit?! Because there were only 3 they each got a turn "being" an animal and learning with the clicker. Then they gave each a button to wear. Buttons are big this year at Disney but more on that later.



Oh... I almost forgot, there is a really cool dinosaur play land made to look like a dig. There are many educational posters and replicas. G enjoyed the actual dig, though at closing time they must cover the mastodon bones to hide them from a poaching professor. Wink, Wink. G didn't know there were fessors at Disney.


Finally (I promise), at the Animal Kingdom you must walk around the Tree of Life to get to the Bug's Life 3D movie (Excellent by the way). The carvings are breathtaking. Once inside the tree there are buggy things like one of G's all time favs... the Dung Beetle. He insisted on a couple of pictures.


I hope to lapbook about these truly wondrous animals, and if we do I will surely post it, but for now we have a bulletin board covered with our pictures and books & videos from the library. Until next time...