Our Pick Flicks 2011

Movies we've enjoyed as a family this year

Pixar

Incredibles
WALLE
Toy Story
Finding Nemo

Silent

Buster Keaton in The General
Charlie Chaplin in The Kid    (edited by him in the Hotel Utah)
Lurel & Hardy in Way Out West
Harold Lloyd in Safety Last     -Lloyd did his own stunts. Even after loosing a thumb & finger in an accident on set, he went on-wearing a glove.

Foreign

The Fox and the Child
The Red Balloon

Animation

Kiki's Delivery Service
My Neighbor Totoro

Star Wars.

Musicals

The Music Man
Meet Me in St. Louis
Singing in the Rain
The Sound of Music
The Wizard of Oz

Disney classic

Mary Poppins
That Darn Cat
Pollyanna
The Parent Trap
Swiss Family Robinson
Dr. Dolittle

The Muppets.

American Girl

Samantha
Kit Kitridge

Black & White

Bringing Up Baby
Stagecoach- early John Wayne
Harvey
Forbidden Planet ( based on Shakespeare's Tempest)

Holiday

It's a Wonderful Life
The Grinch (original cartoon)
Mr. Kruger's Christmas
Eloise's Christmas
White Christmas
The Light Before Christmas

TV Series

Rocky & Bullwinkle (now I get it!)
The Cosby Show
Davy & Goliath
Shaun the Sheep
The Muppet Show
Ultra-Man (I still don't get it...)

You Can't Pass Up a State Parks Pass

Utah has set up a great incentive with the Department of Natural Resources. From your library (or sister library, I believe) you can reserve a Parks Pass that gets you in free to any Utah State Park. Coordinate it with a State Park event and you've got a great outing.

But you'll want to call early and find out their policy, and popularity.

(Several other states have similar programs set up.)

ACM. You know--For Kids.

Once my sister & I went to the Discovery Museum with our 4 kids. I know she likes to shop so I said, "You go ahead and peruse the mall--I'll just stay in this Kid Village part with the kids till you get back."

I really should have know better.
Over 2 hours later she came breezing in.
I realized then she had no watch on. (Not that it would have made a difference anyway.)
But just in case you were wondering, kids can be pretty easily entertained there for long durations of time...

Discovery is part of the ACM, and a good deal if you are traveling with children. The Association of Children's Museums is an organization that provides advocacy and research for play directed learning in childhood.

In Utah this only applies to the Discovery Gateway of SLC, and the Treehouse Museum in Ogden.

All of the museums in their database are listed alphabetically, which means you must search state by state for participators. They don't list stipulations, so contact each museum about their policy.

But a multi-state road trip would make your rest stops much more appealing with this tucked in your wallet.

Wazza AZA you say?

We went with my fun-loving friend Cockatoo and her children to the Hogle Zoo.
 Just getting there involved a death-defying U-turn immediatley followed up with the suburban jumping not one, but two curbs. "No extra charge!" Cockatoo called out as Bowery Bird tried to stabilize the speaker in the back her head had knocked out.

We got in with her wonderful membership allowing friends of family to visit.
Of further interest;

The Association of Zoos & Aquariums allows you to get a membership to one and thus visit others with their participators. The purpose of AZA is to create a standard of quality for creatures in captivity so visitors can rest assured they are being properly cared for.

Click "Find Zoo or Aquarium" at the top right and enter your state.

If you are in Utah you have, of course, only 2 options; the Hogle Zoo or the Tracy Aviary. (Living Planet Aquarium is not on the list).
But if you live anywhere else your options are probably going to open up.

Their restrictions aren't easily displayed, but appear few.  I would again, call first to find out.

NARM Yourself with the Museum Facts

NARM, or the North American Reciprocal Museum Program, is a good option if you are into art and history and travel a bit. Get a membership card from one, and flash it to get into others around country.

The above link lists all particpators alphabetically, but you must call each one to find out their policy.

 I think it clever of the Springville Utah Art Museum, which has free admission, to list themselves.

Salt Lake City lets you ZAP it up

Salt Lake City has a regular free day to several fun family destinations.
It can be will be crowded, but you can't beat the price, and it can be a good time to determine the value of a repeat visit or membership.

The Zoo, Arts, and Parks program in Salt Lake City sponsors these scheduled free days at places such as:

• Tracy Aviary
• Utah Museum of Fine Arts
• Red Butte Garden and Arboretum
• Hogle Zoo
• Living Planet Aquarium
• (the new) Natural History Museum of Utah
• Discovery Gateway (children's museum)
• and Sundance Film Institute does some outdoor shows

Community Exploration cards, free through the SLC library system, is another tempting program.

Tracy Aviary reciprocity

Agreements change every year, but Tracy Aviary of  SLC gives you two great deals for your membership- national AZA reciprocity and local reciprocity.

Depending on your family size,  memberships to the Aviary and Hogle Zoo are about the same since their price increase. But Tracy Aviary allows you to visit more places within Utah, and the AZA nationally. And there are birds there.

So if you love day trips, the Tracy Aviary's local participators are

• Odgen Nature Center
• Hogle Zoo in SLC
• Dinosaur Park in Ogden
• Ogden's Union Station
• Red Butte Gardens
• Willow Park Zoo in Logan
• Thanksgiving Point Farm

Spelling Test

I was doing the dishes.
Mr. Owl was at work, leading a group for recovering addicts.
Bowery Bird was writing a story.

"Mom, how do you spell heroin?"

I focus on the soap bubbles a second longer, stalling. What do I do? What do I say? Why is she writing about drug use at 9 years old? What have I been missing?! Do I even know my own daughter!!? Deep breath. Game Face. I look up cautiously,
" ....W-hy?..."

"Why are you looking at me like that?!"

What does my face look like? Play dumb.
"What do you mean."

"You know, like--the girl that saves the day."

I blink. To bring my safe-world fully back, I blink again.
"Oh. Right... Oh, 'her-oine'! (chuckling of relief to myself)... I don't know, you'll have to look it up."

Bowery Bird might be spared a few more years, but I'm jaded for life because of my husband.

ASTC Passport to Here and Beyond

 

My sister is terrified of anything taxidermy.

I did not know this until I took her to the Bean Museum of BYU which is nothing but.
She was a good sport but I was glad it was a very slow day there workers stared and she cowered inside her hoodie as my 3y/o kept saying "It's OK Auntie, they're not alive."
"I know! That's what bothers me..." my wimpered.

But if taxidermy doesn't freak you out, a membership to a ASTC participating museum is for you.

Association of Science and Technology Centers  Passport Program works for, obviously those into science. Get a membership and one and get into smilar museum for free.

This group hasa fair amount of clearly stated stipulations, so do your research. Most museums only participate when your membership museum and home are 90 miles (as the crow flies) from the new one you want to visit. The Passport Program does not apply to special exhibits, big screen shows, or store discounts.
ASTC is probably the most restrictive program, but then, these museums are some of the best.

In Utah these museums participate:

• Clarke Planetarium
• Discovery Gateway
• the Leonardo
• Natural History Museum of Utah
• Thanksgiving Point

Family Scripture Study

You know something is working when you fall out of the habit, and with minimal effort can pick it up again. That's our family scripture study. Finally a method that is doable.
Morning. The kids make their way through a fog to the living room couch, tousled tresses and burritoed blankets. We wait for dad to come out, in the mean time I've taken to pulling out a picture from the Gospel Picture Kit and talking about the story, or grabbing a friend and reading a story. We pass out scriptures from the local shelf. Book of Mormon currently, so it could be military small, large print, faux leather triple, ipod, or Family Edition (my personal fav to decode new words) and someone reads, taking turns. We say a morning prayer and dad leaves for work while children are coaxed out of their blankets and the day begins.

It's simple. It's doable, and we reap the benefits all day.


“Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great” (D&C 64:33).

"The consistency of our intent and work was perhaps the greatest lesson—a lesson we did not fully appreciate at the time."--Elder Bednar in his talk from 2009 Conference regarding scripture study.

Isn't that so reassuring, so simple and doable. In his same talk he speaks of showing love and bearing testimony. Scripture time, on a good day, we can knock out all three--before breakfast is even served!
Scripture Study for Latter-Day Saint Families is a nice resource I found, and it is available for other books of scripture. Chapter by chapter it gives short, concise quotes, explanations, object lessons, and visuals that support and expound the doctrine taught. It would make great devotionals or family home evenings, and is versatile for all ages. It is one of those resources that sends you to the scriptures, looking for more.

Ghost Town and a Dry Creek Bed

 

"Sometimes her mom pretends she's sick and takes her to do fun stuff."
that was a little boy's explanation for why Mockingbird wasn't in school that day when his mother asked.  It's true, and was pretty much how we did Kindergarten.

This time it was joining Mr. Owl on a business trip to St. George, UT. The children and I ended up taking field trips of what once was.

Silver Reef ruins

 Silver Reef, a ghost town originally settled for mining, was a spot we visited twice. Once for the crumbling walls of by-gone homes, and again for the amazing personal museum tour that must have lasted well over an hour. The kids got to ring the actual mine bell, heft an iron iron, try out a hand drill and other contraptions pulled off the wall of tools. But the best was learning about the legendary  Charlie Parkhurst. He was the most colorful stagecoach driver of Wells Fargo, and his story got even better when he died and it was discovered he was a she.

Great stuff, we went home and our library kindly order a children's book for us about Charlie called Rough, Tough Charley. Written in unique, sparse verse this biography also has a map following Charlie's life and travels into the west.

Our hikes took us to Anasazi ruins and up a dry creek bed. The children had to help eachother up 5 foot dropoffs and around boulders and bushes, as I had a baby in a backpack. Besides, someone needed to take pictures.



Back down the creek bed

Anasazi food storage ruins

I wouldn't recommend this with an 8, 6, 3 year old, and 9 month old in the heat alone, with no reward but red rocks and more red rocks. But Mrs. Magpie hadn't been out in the wild in a very long time apparently. Fortunately children don't know any better, and humored my need to "just go and see what's around the next bend--I promise."

 

Handwriting Y3

What we have done for handwriting this year, that is transitioning from print to cursive is this:
For learning the letters we did something each day with one new letter

Monday--Draw new letter in the air with hand big. Trace the capital letter I've drawn on writing paper, and write some of her own.

Tuesday--Do the same thing with the lower-case letter.

Wednesday--Combine the letters with words using what letters have been learned so far.

Thursday--Do copywork of some exerpt from readings.

Once this is done for all 26 letters (26 weeks), I copied out several Children's songs (using words, not "song language") onto wide lined paper using 3 lines per capital, and skipping a line in between. Then I put them in clear plastic sleeves in her school binder, with notebook paper in between each.
Now she will trace them with a dry-erase marker (if needed) then copy on her own paper what she has just traced, maybe half a page a day. I know it is recommended to to exerpts from readings, but I found that it takes a lot of concentration to connect letters at first, and knowing what was coming up in short words is more doable--and as side benifit helps us hum our way through at least this bit of school work.

What does 'hostage' mean?

We are reading in This Country of Ours, albeit a bit controversial for some--but a book great for discussions on viewpoint.
This week it was Pocahontas being traded for a copper kettle then held hostage on a ship by colonists. I asked Bowery Bird, "do you know what 'hostage' means?"

A pause then she sits up off the couch, "Yeah, Princess Leia and Han Solo were held hostage by Darth Vader in the Cloud City until Luke came and rescued them from Jabba the Hut--"

"and C-3PO was shooting the Stormtroopers and saying "Die Jedis! Die!" and then "What am I saying?!-- Oh Pardon me." ( Kingfisher interjected, complete with facial expressions).

It went on from there as they relived a few more scenes.
"So I guess that's a Yes..." and I tried to reel them back into the 17th century.

The Path We're Set On

I have been thinking lately of my children's future, more specifically. There are so many options in homeschooling and how we use our time, that I want my children to be pulling to their strengths while strengthening their weaknesses. That's why I've chosen to give them a liberal arts education (meaning a little bit of everything). I don't want to tell them their career, or limit their options. But I can see some tendencies and I believe the Holy Ghost will allow me that as their mother.

So after a lot of thought, the best I can do is:

• Expose them to passionate people and what is possible. This can be done through books, speakers, field trips, and hopefully friends.
• Equip them with skills in areas where their interest and gifts lie. Starting with the basics of an area now that will give them the early freedom to explore and develop it if they choose.
• Eliminate distractions and the unnecesary so there is space for them to get to truly know themselves. Limit media and the trivial.
• Encourage them to do more of what work they find fulfillment in. Applaud & admire the effort not just the end product.

Thumbguard for the Thumb-sucker

Kingfisher was a thumb-sucker from the beginning. Give him his blanket and lay him down and he'd magically put himself to sleep until he was about 4 1/2 years. I LOVED his sleeping habits, but started to stress about the thumb-sucking dental damage.

I tried distraction, stealing the blanket, socks on the hand, etc. and it was getting me nowhere.

This is what worked for him to stop sucking his thumb:

We got a thumbguard

He only sucked his thumb when he had his blanket, which we allowed only at sleeping time. So we got a thumbguard about the time his naps started tapering off. It's not cheap, but less than a dental plate that insurance won't cover or extra orthodontics later. The company has excellent customer service and if you buy from them you can exchange thumbguards for different sizes--which we had to do. It didn't initially work  because he could still get suction. When we got the bigger size he said, "Hey this doesn't fit right-I can't suck my thumb!" (perfect-o). Sorry little guy, "Doctor's orders."
FYI, I've heard you can buy replacement bands at party stores.

We made a rewards chart for 30 nights of wearing it.

The grand reward; a Star Wars jet plane. But after less than a week with the proper fit Kingfisher decided he didn't need his blanket anymore (and it's been hidden ever since...). It just didn't hold the appeal without being able to suck his thumb.

It was a relatively smooth, non-invasive, no-fight transition and he soon stopped needing the thumbguard all together.

Now we do these speech exercises from Mommy Speech Therapy

As a result, Kingfisher has an interdental lisp. Using the downloads from this website we are practicing saying our "s" not "th". This is a great site for speech questions, I found it so helpful.

and hopefully that will be the end of our thumb-sucking story.

Nature Study Gone Awry

I love Nature Study, I just don't always have the forethought to go about it sensibly.

Like the time I gave the OK for some ants to live in a jar in our house and thought to myself "they might need air holes..."

Last week Bowery Bird and her friend came upstairs to get a box for a "cute little garter snake". I think this is the 3rd year in a row kids have come to me looking for a box for snakes--Do I have a sign on my door or something? Do I Look like a Snake Lady? So, I gave them a box.

They brought it up to show me and, good homeschooling mom I am, with a wave of my hand I shouted out, "Bring it in--Let's draw it!" So we drew it, and made it a habitat, and learned they bear their young live, and named it, and left its box open while we ate dinner.

Mr. Owl came home during dinner, only to be told about said snake moments before observing, "it's gone". Welcome home, Dear! Put up your feet. Relax! There's a snake loose in the house...

Granted, they aren't going to kill you, but might bite, and I did have a baby sleeping in a crib--as we had all hoped to be soon (asleep--not in the crib). My husband called animal control; closed. So for the next 2 hours we tore apart our living room and kitchen; hoping beyond hope that was as far as it had gone. Now the floor under my stove, refrigerator, two couches (with the bottoms ripped off), three bookshelves, and coffee table are clean--and that's saying something. As a family we were getting ready to pray for the third time when Bowery bird shouted "I see him!". And this time it wasn't a toy frog, TV cable, or someone being smart--it was him. ("Tangled," if you must know.)

Because I was the one who gave permission for him to come it, it was decided I would be the one to catch him. I didn't decide it, but I didn't question it either. First attempt, he was curled up under a bookshelf and as I gently prodded the docile thing it turned all Hyde on me and JUMPED over the wall I'd made. (I obviously haven't watched enough Nature Channel because I had NO idea it could do that...) Verry ready to have this over with I caught him in a box at the next bookshelf. Slapping a wooden puzzle on it like a lid I started shouting "OPEN the DOOR--OPEN the DOOR!" while my children sat on overturned furniture telling each other knock knock jokes. I whirled around only to  realized I couldn't even GET to the front door for all the books and furniture and stuff en mass.

But with certain motivation, one can fly.

I took it outside and dropped it, and kicked it, and left it, heaving.

Then I looked at myself. Rainbow striped wellies? An apron over my skirt and orange rubber gloves with floral cuffs? A headlamp (still on)? and let's not forget the dazed/shocked expression.
Was this my idea of "snake-proof"?

It was over, who cares.
I am now more willing to support the "No Nature in the House" rule, that comes up more often than you might think.

 

And the next morning my husband still said he loved me (sigh)...

2010-2011 Field Trips

Field Trips in 2010-2011 school year

 

Reluctant Dragon: SCERA play

Silver Reef Mining Ghost Town Museum

Brigham Young's Summer Home; St. George

Jacob Hamblin Home; St. George

St. George Temple Visitor Center

SLC Temple Square-Christmas

BYU Chemistry Week Show

This is the Place Heritage Village; SLC

Thanksgiving Gardens & Museum of Ancient Life

Bean Museum

The Aquarium

Taming of the Shrew: BYU children's play

BYU MoA

Theater Adds Drama

One morning Mockingbird started dramatically gushing "Oh Happy Dagger!" and fake-stabbing herself as she fell. She is 5 and too cute for such angst to be worrisome. But still I had no idea where she got it from.

Then the play got more involved and I could tell I was really missing something.
"From Shakespeare mom! Don't you remember Romeo and Juliet!" Bowery Bird  explained to me, exasperated.

Oh. And it went on from there. Kingfisher was being posed on the floor while Mockingbird (as Puck) poured drops in his eyes then danced around impishly, and a few other scenes I couldn't remember then and so obviously, don't recall now--although it was all reenacted and explained to me, repeatedly.

 "Oh happy dagger!" remained a favorite into lunchtime and beyond.I wonder what afternoon kindergarten was like that day...

2009-2010 Field Trips

Field Trips in 2009-2010 school year:

 

LDS Motion Picture Studio; Provo

Timpanogos storytelling festival; Orem

Thanksgiving Point Gardens

Discovery Museum

UoU MoA; SLC

Aviary; SLC

Zoo; SLC

Wheeler Farm

Thanksgiving Point Corn Maze

Go Dogs Go; BYU Children's theater