Our Time in Illinois

Driving through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois was interesting because before this trip I have only seen them from an airplane. From high up in the air it looks like a whole bunch of organized squares, and I used to wonder what was planted there. After watching many documentaries like King Corn, Cornucopia and Farmageddon, I now know its just two major things...soy and corn. 75% of the state is corn and soy...

Some people like to call this "Raw Milk", I would rather call it FRESH milk. It was AWESOME 

Our little munchkin caught her first fish!

This is at the CAT visitors center

Our last supper at our friends home. That yummy roasted chicken was fresh off of an organic farm.

Bass Shop Pro's huge fish tank...

This was a cartoon drawn in the 1950's of what someone invisioned communication would be. Not far from the truth right? 

The LARGEST CAT truck! And my kids practicing their drama skills lol 

My children want to be farmers now :)

15 Hour Road Trip Success

Here are just a few pics of our straight drive from New York to Illinois. The activities were a success and they definitely helped to keep the kids busy! They loved getting "presents" and unwrapping them. :)

We left at 3:20 am and arrived to Illinois at 9:30 pm (with many pit stops and fast food in between). It was beautiful seeing the moon guide our way through the night and then watching the sun rise and set all in one day. You really get a true understanding of the earths beauty.

Road Trip Activities Completed :)

Okay so here are pics of many of the activities that have been prepared. A lot of them were things that I have downloaded (which I probably provided the links to in the previous post). Many items are from my local dollar tree, target and acmoore.

The green Christmas bag is a whole bunch of $1 items that are wrapped up and will be given through out the trip, if they behave. >=)

When I get a chance I will update and provide more information! I have to finish packing now! Good night!

Leave a comment if you have any questions! :)

LONG Road Trip Activities for the Toddler and the 5 year Old

We are embarking on a 14 hour journey from New York to Illinois!

This should be very interesting! I have searched the web for hours for activities to make for the kids to keep them busy! I remember taking trips down to Florida from New York and the main items in my mind that stuck out the most were; frozen yoohoo "chocolate milk", Madlibs, scary stories on audio tapes and our drawing pads. I also remember rarely ever using my seat belt and making the most comfortable bed on top of everyone's luggage in the back of our 1988 toyota camry station wagon, so dangerous. :) Ahh those were the days...too bad for my kids....they are going to be strapped down in a 5 point harness, snuggly fitting three across in the back of our pathfinder.

So to keep them busy I have created and gathered a lot of cool things! They better like it, because if they don't...I will be very sad :(
Below are some links to all of the cool things that I have searched HOURS for.

STATE LICENSE PLATE GAME

FILE FOLDER FUN! (this links to an ASL file folder, but there are so many more! for FREE! Awesome!

TRAFFIC SIGNS PACK....YOU CAN EASILY MAKE THIS INTO A FILE FOLDER

LOTS OF COOL IDEAS HERE @ DIY Home Sweet Home

Many More activities and ideas here @ 123homeschool4me

And to throw a little Montessori in the mix, I downloaded some FREE farm animals and Color sorting nomenclature cards from the Helpful Garden. Thank you!

And don't forget Confessions of a Homeschooler, she has an awesome curriculum of the United States. I plan on printing the states we will be passing through to learn from interesting info and have my 5 year old complete.

Now to make all of this stuff car ready I am getting creative (well sort of) with the items below...

So I will be posting pictures of my creations next!
Leave a comment below if you have any ideas or other links to share or responses...also so I know people are actually reading this stuff! hehe Good night!

New Chapter....

It is with much sadness (and a little relief :) ....that we will be officially closing Sprouting Learners Child Care....BUT on the contrary....we will be starting a new chapter in our life and that is ... Sprouting Learners Home School! 

We are embarking on a new and exciting journey in our life where I will be able to focus solely on my children's education and growth. I have enjoyed the past few years working with many families. I have become attached to many children and loved caring for them. I have learned so much from starting my own business from scratch (with much help and support from family and friends!) and seeing it flourish and become successful. I can't wait to see whats in store for us!

Sprouting Learners Spring 2013

Toddler Shape Matching

Here is a quick activity we conjured up. I simply took some shapes from our Melissa and Doug wooden shapes set, photocopied the shapes, and threw them in the tissue box (that I saved, but wasn't sure what I was going to use it for yet) ...I had my little Bull-frog stick his hand in the box, with out peaking, pull a shape out and matched it to its image. I would mention the name of this shape, the color and ask him to repeat. He loved it.

Edible Necklace

A fun and engaging activity we did today was make an edible necklace out of Cheerios! My 2 and 5 year old loved it, and they must have spent over 30 minutes fully concentrating!

You simply get a string, and some Cheerios (or anything edible with a hole in the middle, fruit loops would have been nice too!) you make a knot at the end, and let them enjoy the rest!

To make this more engaging and to practice counting you can have your preschooler count as they add each Cheerios on. Or every ten Cheerios you could put one fruit loop or even a piece of straw to separate them and practice skip counting. The possibilities are endless! :)