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Our Adventure in The Amazon Rain Forest

May 4, 2015 | 12 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD!! I just couldn’t resist sharing as much as I could on our adventure in the Amazon Rain Forest
When we did the Amazon Rain Forest unit study with our homeschool co-op group a few years back, I never dreamed we would have the opportunity to visit it.

Pinch me because it was one of those things that I had dreamed of us doing as a family.

We savored EVERY minute!We stayed in a town called Banos and took the hour and half drive with a guide and driver to Puyo which is the edge of the rain forest.

What makes this area so cool to visit is that you can travel back and forth between the slopes of the Andes Mountains and the flatter levels of the rain forest, all within about a couple of hours.

Our first stop as we look so fresh here in the morning was this beautiful waterfall on the edge of town.Do you see that little red speck to the left of my Mr?

Yep, that is a cable car that takes you across the river and stops you in front of the waterfall.And here is one picture that I took where I am inside up several hundred feet in the air snapping this beautiful majestic waterfall.And as you can see, only Tiny, Mr. Senior 2013 and myself hopped on this baby. Mr. Awesome and my hubby wouldn’t touch foot on this cable car.

The view up here is MAGNIFICENT!I am telling you I think I love waterfalls almost more than I do beaches. Look at how HUGE this waterfall is on the way to Puyo.

Do you see that is a house on the bottom right side?Ugggg, being from Texas, do I ever recognize the mosquito spray. Out came the mosquito spray because we have now arrived to the area of the rain forest.

The next stop we made was to a reserve and rescue for the Amazon animals.

I have tons of pictures of the animals and will probably add them to my Rain Forest Unit Study page.Then of course they don’t mind if a few monkeys run around free.

This little guy was using that stick to grab his breakfast (an innocent spider).

He was using it to stick down into the center of the plant. I just had to show you the monkey that was near the place where we were staying.

The windows at out rooms have bars on them so that we can open them at night, but keep out critters like this.

I like to view him from a distance and slept great at night knowing dogs were keeping watch at our hotel. They did chase one monkey on the rooftop one morning while we were sleeping.Then the next stop was to eat lunch and visit a indigenous village in the Amazon.

We ate a traditional meal from the amazon, which is fish cooked in the banana leaves. It is some of the best tasting tilapia I have ever had.

Something about cooking it in the leaves gives it a real flavor.Then we arrived at this village across the river.

The only way to get to it was by crossing this bridge, which swings a little bit. Eeek!!I wanted you to see the length of it.After got into the village, our guide explained how the huts are made by palm leaves. It takes like two months to build it.

It was so strong and sturdy AND it started raining when we got there and we warm and dry inside.

Then we had to taste Chicha, which is a fermented drink made from maize. The longer it ferment supposedly the sweeter it tastes.

We tasted it on the second day and all I can say is that is must be an acquired taste. Tiny had to chase his Chicha down with some water. The Kichwa village showed off some of their “trophies” that they had gathered from the rain forest like the boa skin and the ocelot.Then they took us to their hut, which housed their hand-made crafts. Mr. Senior 2013 and I sat down for local face painting.
These two little Kichwa girls were the ones that painted our faces and sold crafts to us. We never did see their parents, but I know they must get tired of people coming.

But aren’t these girls so beautiful? I do know that children are taught adult responsibilities early.Of course we had to try our hand at blow darts. Mr. Awesome was pretty good at it.There was plenty of time for hands-on learning as they showed us the bones of different animals and how to identify them.Now, after we ate and had fun, we were ready for our arduous trek in the Amazon Rain Forest.

First, we have to have a geography lesson by studying the map of where we are going and understanding how many people make up a community.

Of course like I mentioned the rain came but our guide was prepared with ponchos and rain boots.
The first leave he showed us, I recognized.That part was easy. The rest of the leaves, not so much.

The first leave he showed us was what our fish was cooked in and he was demonstrating how to fold food in it if we had to stay over night in the rain forest. From there, our guide went on to strip palm leaves and show the boys the art of weaving.We could hardly walk any distance until he showed us different leaves. We smelled leaves that were lemon and anise.

We chewed leaves that had a anesthesia effect. He said the locals chews the leaves when they have a tooth ache. You get a wad, chew, chew and then spit.

I had a deaden tongue for a while.Our guide also pointed out not only the beautiful orchids growing all around, but a seedling, which I had never seen.
This is like a ceiba tree but its different because it has real hard roots which serve as a protection. Too on each side of this tree are palms, which are black. The spears and things we bought are made of this palm tree.

The palms look like they have a finished look and are just beautiful.

Of course though this is where the tarantulas like to live as our guide pointed out. They like to live under the roots coming out. So were careful not to touch these trees during our trek.
We crossed three rivers, holding arm and arm as we waded across them, but several of the rivers had natural bridges that the locals tried to add some hand rails to.
Of course the trip wouldn’t be complete without seeing a frog that lives in the bromeliads.

Our guide got this one out of his cozy home so we could see him up close.
We hiked for a good couple of hours or more until we got to this TOTALLY WORTH it waterfall called Hola Vida. (Hello Life)
It was SO worth the journey and the water was ice cold. We sat there and listened to the sounds of the waterfall and birds as we had a nature moment.
So much fun and such beautiful creation that it is so hard to put it all into words. A true life experience.We came back with some crafts. The taffy and the deck of cards are from the local but the other things like the spears and knives were hand made. I just had to have that beautiful handmade necklace.

All of these things were made from natural products from the rain forest.

Trekking the Amazon Rain Forest was only part of what we did on our vacation.

I will have to show you the other things we did while we were in Banos. It is such a beautiful little town.

However, we won’t forget so easily our Amazon Rain Forest experience.

Hugs and love ya,

How Grandparents Can Inspire Your Homeschool Journey

May 3, 2015 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Not living close to either set of grandparents right now has touched a sentimental chord in me.

Reflecting on how grandparents can inspire your homeschool journey, I am grateful that I have had my parent’s influence on my sons.

Adding grandparents into our homeschool journey has been such a precious tool that I didn’t even realize in the beginning of my homeschool journey what I had.

{My parents took the day to have over all the grandsons to tell them about their “roots”. You can see an old family portrait of us on the table.}

Too, with the view this world takes sometimes that grandparents are out of touch, I have always known that my parents have been the very foundation of my family.

In times past, older ones use to be honored and rightly so because of their experience, age and wisdom.

What I am saying is that if you live anywhere near your parents, include them in your homeschool.

Even if they doubt your ability to homeschool, including them in your journey forges the bond between your child and grandparent.

Too, grandparents get a glimpse of what one-to-one tutoring looks like.

Look at this list of how to include grandparents in your homeschooling.

When in good health, my parents were part of the audience at the end of the year wrap up. They don’t mind a bit listening to all the things your children have learned.
My parents went to most of the music recitals and boosted my sons’ confidence and fed their love of music.
My mother was a source of huge encouragement to me when I had one of those days where the little yellow school bus was looking real good.
My father has spent time with the boys when I needed a break from them.
Does your mom have a craft or skill she enjoys that she can pass on to your girls or boys?
My mother steered me toward good books for read alouds and even purchased books I might not have purchased.
My dad was the best “gopher” for that one itty bitty thing I needed for a science experiment and couldn’t get because I had one or two kids sick at home. Dad to the rescue to gather the rest of my supplies.
Did I mention my dad’s garage housed enough implements to keep my boys busy for days trying to figure them all out? Does that count as hands-on science?
Though my mother was not in good health, she came on field trips with us and attended our homeschool co-ops when possible. At our field trips, I even noticed other grandparents there helping with the little ones so that mom could spend with the older kids on the field trip.
At our 50’s co-op, my mom taught a few of the kids how to jitterbug. Priceless!
Thank goodness my mother loves gardening because gardening doesn’t particularly get my adrenaline pumping. She was able to share some of her expertise with my boys.

{My parents even attended informal ceremonies when the boys received an award for finishing a co-op about learning Spanish.}

Though my parents have always been supportive of homeschooling, the boys’ paternal grandmother wasn’t so confident.

It’s important to remember that grandparents went to public school and public school looked different back then. When grandparents went to school, it seems there was still a focus on a well-rounded out education.

Nowadays, with more and more public schools deleting enrichment programs, it is important to utilize one of the best and most precious homeschooling tools – grandparents.

Have you included grandparents in your journey?

What are some ways you include them?

Hugs and love ya,

Linking up @ these awesome places:
|Mama Reads Monday|

A Child’s Life In The Andes E-Book

April 29, 2015 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

One reason I haven’t shared a post lately about Ecuador is because we are heading soon to Banos to check out the thermal baths, volcano and waterfalls. Also, we will be making a jungle excursion.

I will be sharing about our adventure soon.

Hands-on Homeschooling

The other reason though is because I have been excited as we have been reading A Child’s Life In The Andes E-Book by Daria Marmaluk Hajioannou.

Learning the culture of South America has not only been fun, but when I find resources like this that have hands-on activities to study the culture of an area along with listening to native South American music it just makes learning about Ecuador that much more fascinating.

The author, Daria speaks Quechua, which is an ancient tongue from the Andes Mountains.

It is an Amerindian language spoken also in a lot of other places here in South America.

Besides overhearing Quechua being spoken here, it will take us more time to able to tell the difference in the traditional dress.

We are trying to learn which dress goes with which geography region here.

Again, that will take us some more time but in the meantime I am tickled to be able to review this product because I think it is a fun supplement for elementary aged children.

Making learning come alive is best done by taking a look at the food, animals and language of this area, which A Child’s Life In The Andes does.

The music we are listening to that comes with this download is also played by traditional instruments from this area.

Too, not only does it come with music to listen to, but it has several fun downloads like coloring pages and a word search.

I can’t wait to share the fun and simple hands-on things we have been doing in an upcoming post.

What about you?

Have you seen this fun supplement to a South American Unit Study?

Hugs and love ya,

Homeschool Lesson Planning Pages – Glam Update!

April 28, 2015 | 10 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I am so excited about the new fabulous look for the homeschool lesson planning pages that I have been working on.

I just had to give you a sneak peek of what I will be releasing soon if you are preparing to make your homeschool planner.

It has been quite a few years since I used my original classic layout and it has been great for many years.

Too, I have been wanting to update my original classic look for a while. However, during the years I had so many other forms I needed like for high school and other subjects that I had to put this on my long term goal list.

I am tickled to be able to tackle this project this year.

A few updates to the original classic are:

It will all now be in color. Oh yes, yippee.
I have spaced the writing lines more evenly.
Too, I have added columns to the content area in case you want to break down and jot your notes for each subject in a more organized way.
I left a space at the bottom for notes in case you wanted to expand on one subject or if you just wanted to jot down some comments.
At the top right, I added 4 boxes that can be used for a quick list or for a to-do column. In addition, if you live in a place that requires more stringent record keeping, the columns allow for you to track by weeks.
At the far right at the top, I kept the lesson number but made them bigger.
Also, every 5 lesson plans, I changed the color of the Lesson Plan Numbers so that you could easily see when you covered a typical school week of 5 days.
Under Lesson Plan, I put a space for the date if you want to pen it in.

A few things I did not change because they have worked timelessly over the years are:

It is still ONE lesson per PAGE planner. I do not care for weekly planners that take up one or two pages when I need more room to write. Weekly planners have their place, but in homeschooling, I find we need more room.
It is still undated. This means it will be a ONE time purchase.
Too, you are never behind on an undated planner because you school the days that fit your family. Just fill in the dates as you go.
It still has a space to use with 3 kids. Again, not because I only like three kids, but that seems to fit the space best. Remember, if you have younger children, you can easily divide off the sections to include them. The workload will vary with the ages of your children, so two children could easily share one space.
The basic subjects that are the same year after year are filled in too.

I will be offering it as a package, which means I have some other goodies that will come with it.

I hope to have it ready by next month as I really dawdle when I make forms because I want them to be not only beautiful but powerful to use.

I can’t wait to share it with you.

Hugs and love ya,

The Dos and Don’ts of Homeschool Objectives

April 27, 2015 | 3 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Knowing the dos and don’ts of homeschool objectives boosts your teaching ability. Also, look at my page The Dynamics of How to Homeschool Easily and Smarter for more tips.

Homeschooling objectives for me have never really been about meeting the legalities of homeschooling but it has been about plotting a course.

Today, in the dos and don’ts of homeschooling objectives, I am using my homeschool objectives for fourth grade writing to show you what I did one year.

The Dos and Don'ts of Homeschool Objectives @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Before I do that though, I want you to understand that unlike the pressure the educational world puts on public school teachers, we do not have to use complicated language or try to mimic some fancy formula.

You need breathing room to plan for your own unique family and not some institution.

Too, arming you with details are important in helping you to move forward.

Key to understanding objectives is knowing how they relate to goals.

Goals and objectives are two different things though similar in purpose. They both chart a course.

Goals are general plans. However, objectives are clear steps to reaching a goal and are more specific when you need them.

Look at my copy of my objectives for Mr. Senior 2013 when he was in fourth grade.

4th Grade Writing Objectives in Homeschool @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

First, I didn’t have my 7 step homeschool planner that I do now with useful forms so I kept a black hardbound book and wrote my specific objectives in it.

Too, I wrote a few personal notes on it about my oldest son’s writing and because I am not looking to embarrass my son when showing you my work, I whited out a few spots.

Look at my dos of homeschool objectives:

Do list your overall goal. My goal was to have him write 3 paragraphs by the end of the year.
Do be specific to list the time allowed. I would allow 40 minutes for writing each day.
Do list the specific outline or steps to accomplish the objective. I noted what I knew then as the 4 stage process of writing.
Do list things to remind you of what not to do. I wanted to strengthen his writing skills and hone in on changing his sentence variety that year by encouraging him to not always use “I” to start a sentence. Varying topic sentences was another point to focus on for the year.
Do list what will be new that year. I was going to try out a planner or graphic organizer that year.
Do list your resources or curriculum help. I was using several resources at the time, but there were some writing examples in Rod and Staff that were more significant to me to follow that year. This was part of my action plan to getting my objective accomplished.
Do list other helps you will create or find to accomplish the objective. I created a checklist for him to check his writing.
Do individualize the objectives for your kids and for the year.

MORE FOURTH GRADE HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES

Look at my don’ts of homeschool objectives:

Don’t try to follow public school by using educationalese.
Don’t worry about it being right or wrong from a public school point of view, grade or age. It is right because it is the road map for your child.
Don’t try to be too specific if you don’t need to be. I only used my 4th grade writing objectives because I was very specific and wanted to show you a detailed list.

Goals and objectives can quickly become intertwined in homeschooling and that is okay.

Sometimes, you just don’t need such a specific plan.

Just remember the main difference between general goals and homeschool objectives is that objectives have 2 parts to them to make them more specific.

The first part is explaining what will be accomplished for that term, which could be a semester or year and the second part is explaining how it will be done.

If you were writing objectives, for example, about history and wanted to keep them general, look at this one.

To introduce and become familiar with the world of Ancient Civilization. This will be done through hands-on activities, role playing, timelines, making time period recipes, lapbooking and living books.

Again, noting what I was going to do and how I will accomplish it was all that I needed that one year.

Even simple objectives are meaningful and significant.

The dos and don’ts of homeschooling objectives are making them fit your use for whatever school term you need.

Do you find drafting homeschool objectives an easy part of homeschool planning?

Also, look at how homeschool objectives can easily be made for unit studies too.

Welcome

Our Adventure in The Amazon Rain Forest

How Grandparents Can Inspire Your Homeschool Journey

A Child’s Life In The Andes E-Book

Hands-on Homeschooling

Homeschool Lesson Planning Pages – Glam Update!

The Dos and Don’ts of Homeschool Objectives

Look at my dos of homeschool objectives:

MORE FOURTH GRADE HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES

Look at my don’ts of homeschool objectives:

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Look at my dos of homeschool objectives:

MORE FOURTH GRADE HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES

Look at my don’ts of homeschool objectives:

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