Earth Day Craft

The other day was Earth Day, after we had our snacks and finished our school homework we created some pretty sun catchers by using a muffin tin and pony beads. I had asked the girls to use greens and blues since those are the colors of the Earth.

After they arranged the beads just as they liked I placed the muffin tin in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. I then pulled them out, let them cool for a bit and then popped them out of the muffin tin so that the kids could enjoy their creations.

Here is one that my daughter made. So very pretty! Last summer we made up a bunch of these, drilled tiny holes in the top and created hanging sun catchers. This is a very fun craft, a little stinky since you are melting plastic so you will need a fan or some windows open, but other than that the kids really enjoyed it.

Playing on The Hills

There is this nice long curvy path near Chehalem Elementary that my kids call 'The Hills'. They love to play there, on and off the path, running up and down, picking flowers and blowing on the dandelion puffs. We switch up which side we go on once in a while and since it is Spring there are plenty of fun things to find. We look for bugs and different shaped rocks, new flowers that weren't in bloom the last time we went. If we go in the morning we notice that there is dew on the grass and everything is sparkly in the sun.

Chasing each other up and down the path and in the grass is another thing we like to do and if we happen to find a bench, we just have to sit on it for a bit.

I like to take advantage of any nice weather we have, you know how Oregon can be, and take the kids out to run off a bit of energy and explore a bit.

After school we may stop by for about 30 minutes for the kids to loosen up their bodies from all that learning. During the summer we will play here as well, mostly during the morning hours since there is not much shade and it can get a bit hot.

So there you go, The Hills. One of our Favorite places to run and play.

Pipe cleaner crystal craft

 The other day we had fun creating butterflies, stars and moons with brightly colored pipe cleaners and letting them hang over night in a hot water and borax solution.

 We checked them in the morning and beautiful crystals had grown.

Before and After School Schedules

Before School Care - $10

6am - open for earliest arrivals
7am - breakfast is served
7:30 - preparing for school (fixing hair, getting backpack ready, enjoy a show)
8am - car is started and time for shoes and jackets
8:10 - off to school we go!


After School Care - $10

3:05 - school pick up
3:15 - arrive home and time to snack and enjoy a show
3:50 - time to start homework (reading - 20 minutes, writing - 10 minutes & math - 5 minutes)
4:30 - free time for play, listening to music, up to 15 minutes of tablet time, coloring
6pm - time for parent pick up


Reading: We have a bookshelf full of books for reading at beginning level to chapter books. We do have a few bird magazines and library books that we have checked out from the Beaverton City Library if those are preferred for reading. Your child may bring his/her own books in their backpack if you would prefer.

Writing: We have plenty of extra pencils and paper in case your child does not have either in their backpack. The writing shall go on.

Math: I have copies of several of the Rocket Math worksheets. I will try my best to match the worksheet level to the level that your child is currently on. If for some reason I do not have the same level that your child is on I will try try to find the closest level to the lone that they are on for practice. We will be quizzing each other some days verbally and other days we will be writing the answers on the worksheet individually. These will not be timed and we will be working on this practice for a minimum of 5 minutes. Some days we may work more than 5 minutes on math, the more practice the better.

Outside Play: There will be some days when the weather is so lovely that we may stop by the 'hills' as we call them. There are walking paths near the school and there are hills. Plenty of grass and flowers to run and play in. This will take place right after pick up from school and the kids can run and play for around 30 minutes and then we will head back to my place to start up with our after school schedule.
Other days we may color with chalk, play hop scotch or play with toys on the patio as long as it isn't wet or raining.