Joslyn Art Museum Trunk Rental

Did you know that the Joslyn Art Museum has trunks they check out on loan to educators and community groups? I totally forgot about this until late last night when I was thinking about our project for the week. We are studying Ancient Civilizations and it just came to me that they had this program! Feel free to check it out at their website. They have a little directory of what they have in each trunk http://www.joslyn.org/Education/Resource-Center.aspx

Here is a description from their website:
Outreach Trunks
Joslyn's Outreach Trunks are multidisciplinary education resources designed to strengthen students' appreciation of art. They are excellent stand-alone materials for use in the classroom, and can also help teachers prepare for or follow-up their visit to Joslyn Art Museum. Trunks can be used with any grade level unless otherwise noted.
Trunks are available for loan to schools and community groups at no charge, and can include materials such as:
Teacher guides with lesson plans
Hands-on objects
Poster reproductions
Classroom activities
Books
Videos and DVDs
CDs of images
In addition, we are proud to offer two new Outreach Trunks designed specifically for students with special needs. We have also included Braille and large print descriptive labels for all hands-on objects in the trunks.
Please note that Joslyn will ship trunks via UPS to teachers outside of the Omaha metro area. Teachers within the Omaha area are to pick up and return the trunks to Joslyn Art Museum.
For more information please call (402)342-3300 or click here to email Joslyn's outreach staff.

Other trunks are also available through the Nebraska Humanities Council. They have 4 cultural encounter kits available.
http://www.nebraskahumanities.org/speakers/trunkguide.html

http://www.nebraskahumanities.org/speakers/trunks.html

Baktoberfest was a success!

Baktoberfest was a success! I thought we would share some pictures!

Shelby had a teddy bear party!

Sierra had a horse party!

Savannah had a pottery party!

Rotella Bakery

November Field Trip to Rotella Bakery
http://www.rotellasbakery.com/index.asp
6949 S. 108th St.
LaVista, NE
592-6600
2:30pm – 3:30pm
RSVP Required * Cost is FREE!
Plan to arrive a few minutes early and enter through the retail store. We will take a tour through their new facility and plant. We will see 3 different mixers that can hold up to 1600 lbs of dough, ovens, cooling conveyers and bread lines.

Adoremus Sale

You might not have realized it, but we have a great store in town that carries homeschool materials. The store name is Adoremus and it is located on 84th street, just south of center near the Shopko (in the old Baker's building). They have a sale going on right now and are offering 20% off the ENTIRE store...including homeschool material! This is a great sale. Check them out and enjoy the savings!
http://www.adoremusbooks.com/

Fun at home!

Well, we had a fun few days with the girls, the weather and the election. Most political races came out the way we had hoped. The girls got involved and learned they could help impact local races! (Yeah for Scott Price!) It was so fun to see them actually recognize the candidates names scrolling at the bottom of the television. The pictures proudly show our efforts with the leaves and our first lapbook! YEAH!

Flexibility

The beauty of homeschooling is flexibility. We all hear it, we all have seen examples of it, but do you really practice it? Many of us take advantage of the ability to let our children get their needed sleep or choosing curriculum, but I am talking about sometimes just taking a day to enjoy your kids, your family and what is going on in the world at this point in time. We have chosen to do that the next couple of days.

This election is a very important time in our life! Our kids will be 4 years older the next time we have a Presidential election! We have decided to spend some time today and tomorrow just focusing on the election and what exactly is going on in our country. It may seem strange, but I am excited about doing this! I have always loved politics and government and what a great time to share that with my kids!

So, try not to be so tied down to your curriculum or your plan. Work and study hard with your kids so you are able to take a few days off of your normal schedule to do those special things that your kids will remember!

Here is a great lapbook to get you started:
http://www.notebooklearning.com/2008/02/free-presidential-elections-lap-book.html