Minecraft

How could we get away from talking about this phenom?  My daughter lives to play this game.  I had tried and tried but just "don't get it" like she does.  She will spend hours - probably days - if she was given free range!  She might even forget to eat!  But when she was a struggling reader and I had tried everything to get her skills to improve guess what came to the rescue?  YES, that's right Minecraft!

She had to figure it out.  I gave her guidance and was there to help her find her footing but she figured out how to read everything she could need.  Now she even writes books for her "library" in her town.  It is really a surprising and amazing tool that we have incorporated into our learning.  Plus during this past few months it has taken her math skills to a new level.  She is graphing, figuring out money, adding and a ton of other applications. 

She has garnered team building and taking charge of a group just from this (ahem) silly game.  Just go to Bing or Google and do a search for Minecraft images and see some of the creations that are being made!  It truly is amazing to see what is in their imaginations take form.
She even now has her father playing on Xbox One with her and a group of friends from across the pond in England.  And that is another plus - using the Xbox she is making friends across the world.  Learning about other places and cultures and sharing about our world here in the USA! 
 I was a reluctant parent at first but I have seen first hand what this game can do to help a struggling child improve. 
Here is a link to an article about just such a topic!
Minecraft - What is it Doing to your kids?

This year as we try to be a bit more content focused we are going to start learning the 50 states. 

Each week we will delve into a new state -- of course -- starting with the state we live in -- Virginia.  I plan to take this road trip slow and easy - keeping to the speed limit with lots of rest and recreation breaks along the way.  I have a lot of cool things to do for each state.  Some weeks we will do something each day other weeks we will have a state focused day.  But how you use it is up to your school plan.
As an added bonus to our family we will soon be enjoying journeys with Dad - if a state is near or on our planned route - a visit is always in store!

As we visit I will post pics and things you can use in your state studies.  For the detailed information and links to sites and printables check under the STATES tab up top.

That Time of Year

Well it's that time of year when we are outside and my little (well not sooo little anymore) girl is playing with all her neighborhood friends.  And then they all appear in my driveway - begging and pleading in that cacophomy of voices that only little girls can make! 

Wondering if it's time yet!!!!!  Time for what you ask?  Scavenger Hunts!  Last year the girls grew bored of jump rope, sidewalk chalk and water balloons!  I know who ever thought water balloons would grow old - but me being the homeschool mom that I am decided the real problem was mushy brain!  So I devised Scavenger Hunts for the girls a couple times a week.  Once they got the hang of it they couldn't get enough!  Well, needless to say I was glad when all those long lazy evenings drew to a close because I was running out of ideas.  

Now over the winter months I took time to devise new and hopefully creative ones to keep these girls not only active and busy but protect them from MUSHY BRAIN!!!

If you would like some printable lists and ideas - go to the tab above marked Scavenger Hunts.  Let me know if you have any to add to the list or if you used some of these and how it went for you!  Thanks for reading along! 

Here are some fun ideas for scavenger hunts -  printable lists on their way!

• Alphabet Hunt - if you have a camera or a cell phone camera use it to take photos of 26 items!  One for each letter of the alphabet!  Don't forget to set a timer.  If you do not have a camera available - then take along a paper bag and start collecting.  You can write on the bag each letter as you acquire an item so you know what you have 
• Shape hunt - you can do the same as the alphabet hunt but hunt for shapes - squares, rectangles, triangles, diamonds, pentagon, octagon, circle, oval, cube, tube . . . . .