What else is there to do when it's 105 degrees outside?! School!

I was actually excited to start school with the kids this summer. It's so incredibly hot outside that we've been pretty much stuck in the house. We do go to the pool, but one can only take so much in this heat! We are going on vacation next month so starting early gives us the opportunity to get ahead and something to do. I've been feeling like a slug!


































Our first day was August 1st. On the first day of school I usually let the kids decorate their binders with photos, and whatever artwork they want to add. We didn't get very far with that this time because I store our photos on Aperture, and it kept locking up on me. Maybe one of these days I'll get the photos moved to a program that's faster and more user friendly. At least the pictures on my phone are easy to upload to Picnik or Picasa for now.
We did a fun art project from our Curriculum, Heart of Dakota "Bigger Hearts"- Indian sand paintings.



















Indian Sand Paintings

All you need is:
Salt
Sandwich bags
Food coloring
Paper plates, or poster board
Elmer's glue
Paint brushes

The sand is easy to make. You fill up some sandwich bags with salt, add food coloring, and let the kids squish it around to blend. I used gel food coloring because it's all we had on hand. The colors came out really bright! Next, I mixed Elmer's glue with a little water. The kids drew a design on a paper plate with a pencil



























































































Our current read-aloud is Baby Island by Carol Ryrie Brink. It's such a great book! Our biggest problem is not reading too far ahead of the schedule:D. My 4th graders could definitely read this book themselves for their assigned reading but it's a great read-aloud for any age. After each daily reading they narrate the chapter back to me. It's really helped with their comprehension.

















Enjoy the rest of your summer!


Blessings,
Amy

Location:There no place like home...