Fabulous Army Life

Joshua has been working hard on his Science Share project. He has been very focused and independent throughout this process and it's so fun for me to see. Early on, he decided on a topic, made his shopping list, requested help purchasing items, and selected the materials he would need. Later, he set up the experiment, conducted it three different times, and planned his presentation board. When it was time to assemble the board, he opened up a Word document, typed up all the information, printed it out, and prepared to paste it onto the board.  He had a vision for how he wanted it to look and how he wanted it presented.  I think it turned out great and I'm so proud of his work ethic and independence. As a mom, I have to make sure I am not too involved in projects.  I don't want to be the hover mom who does all the work for my kids but I also don't want to appear disinterested, not knowing what is due until it's too late.  On this project, I think I struck a go...

My teenager lives by the mantra, "If you wait until the last minute, it only takes a minute."  This creates some stressful moments in our lives ("oh -- I have a project that was due today but I'll do it now and turn it in tomorrow") ... but it all works out in the end. Fortunately, my teenager is also brilliant and talented so he turns last-minute work into beautifully completed projects.  For this project, he read The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (a book he had chosen on his own before the assignment was given) and created a storyboard from it.  He artfully illustrated six cards, skillfully chose quotes for each to explain the action, and quickly wrote a paragraph about his choices for the storyboard. His completed work is fantastic and I'm so proud of his many amazing abilities and talents.  Now, I'm off to create an assignment calendar to help us track deadlines ...

I am so proud of my teenager today. I love him with my whole heart but, like most teen boys, his organizational skills can, at times, be somewhat ... lacking. So when we were at the grocery store earlier this week and he asked me if he could please get a few ingredients so he could complete a Science project, I was more than happy to oblige. He didn't ask on the morning it was due or at midnight after spending the evening at the store ... he asked WHILE WE WERE IN THE STORE. But wait! It gets even better. This child of mine read the instructions on how to make cookies from the chocolate chip bag he purchased, gathered all the ingredients, correctly measured all items, followed all the directions, and made a really perfect 13 x 9" pan cookie. He even cleaned up afterwards! This was magnificent! He then gathered extraneous icing packets, cereals, and snacks, and created the plant cell then neatly wrote all the titles of the parts of the cell on cardstock, taped it to ...

This is the first year that my younger son has had a teacher that also taught my older son. It's been fun to relive the 3rd Grade with Mrs. Cameron, a teacher that both my children have really liked. One of the units that she teaches is based on the book, Indian in the Cupboard . The project that goes along with this book is for partners to create an Iroquois Longhouse using as many natural products as possible, complete with models of the Indians and various artifacts.  Joshua, my purist and rule-follower, had to be convinced that glue was allowed ("after all, you can't just go pick GLUE out of nature, Mom!") ... but he finally consented that it was made of enough natural materials to use. He and his friend Caleb researched, planned, and created their longhouse largely on their own.  They did get assistance with hot glue but carried out their plan independently.  They had a good time working together and some of their conversations were hilarious. J: I want t...

In Joshua's 3rd grade class, they were assigned a "Hero Box" project ... Think of the bravest, strongest, smartest person you know and create a box describing why that person is your hero. No surprise that Joshua chose his brave, strong, smart, heroic father for his topic. It was so sweet to watch him put this together ... and I know Nate is honored to be the hero in his son's life. Joshua's school project ... a "Hero Box" describing your hero. Joshua shows off the front of his 'hero box.' The top of the box The bottom of the box