Niagara Springs Field Trip 2009

Liberty Homeschool families went to Niagara Springs this month to enjoy a picnic and water fun. It was a very hot day and that made the beautiful clean water even more refreshing! Here are some pictures of that wonderful day:








Some other memorable Liberty Homeschool get-togethers this month included: a picnic and water fight at the Pearson's home- we had 64 people attend! And an afternoon of swimming in the Snake River. :-) Keep on eye on the calendar to find out about upcoming field trips and activities this fall!

Herrett Center Field Trip

I need to do a better job at keeping this blog up to date! We have had some fun science activities this spring. In March we visited the CSI's Herrett Center to see a plantarium show about weather, take a look at the observatory and listen to a presentation on reptiles. Families also had a chance to check out the jungle-iguana room and the fun science/history themed gift shop. Did you know the gift shop stocks lots of educational toys, books, and kits that would make great stocking stuffers or birthday gifts? :-)

Chinese New Year Party

This January we had an exciting Chinese culture activity where we learned about the Chinese New Year, some of the struggles the Chinese people have to endure, and had a delicious Chinese meal. We painted Chinese characters, made paper lanterns and played some chopstick and balloon games too. I don't have many pictures to share because I lost my camera temporarily during the activity, but I'll still post the few I was able to take.

Lani gave a great talk/discussion on China to our group.
We ate on the floor Oriental style...


The meal was very delicious, thanks to Liz and DeeAnn. For the un-adventurous who didn't like the yummy chow mein, spring rolls, or dried squid, there were chicken nuggets with homemade sweet and sour sauce too.

I was amazed how well some of the kids used their chopsticks!

Thanks DeeAnn for coming up with this idea and getting it organized! Everyone had an enjoyable time.

Roaring Springs

It's time for the annual Roaring Springs reading program! This is a fun way for you and your children to earn free tickets to the Roaring Springs Water Park in Boise. 600 minutes of recreational reading are required by each of your students earning a ticket. The reading can include newspapers, magazines, comic books, and being read to. Use the chart below to keep track of the minutes and books that are read by each child and mail the finished charts to me at: 704 Canyon Dr. Twin Falls, ID 83301. Include a self addressed stamped envelope and I will mail the tickets you've earned back to you. I need to receive your charts by April 4, 2009.

The tickets you receive will be good for 1 day free admission through June 30th. After that date, the tickets can be used for buy-one-get-one-free admission Monday through Friday. One more thing: YOU, as the teacher of your homeschool, will get one free ticket too! Our family has participated in this the last 3 years and this is such an affordable way to go have fun at Roaring Springs!
Roaring Springs reading chart: (Click on the picture for it to enlarge, then print it off. For some reason, though the chart is printed on one page, it may use an additional paper. -Sorry about that.)

Collecting Sagebrush Seed at Dierkes Lake

In November, Liberty Homeschool held a service project/field trip at Dierkes lake to help collect sagebrush seed for restoring burn areas in Idaho and Nevada. Our local friendly forest ranger taught us proper harvesting techniques and organized the effort. It was quite cold in the beginning but turned out to be a beautiful day to be out and about, enjoying the Southern Idaho desert we live in. Our group succeeded in collecting 10 lbs. of seed before the kids took off to play and explore.

The girls working diligently to fill their hoop with seeds....
Having some fun with our homeschool pals....
Discovering the local flora....
Afterwards, there was hot chocolate and cookies for all the volunteers. This has become an fun annual tradition so we hope you can join us next year!

CSI Field Trip

In October the Magic Valley Home Educators group coordinated a great field trip to the CSI Ag. Department! There were many activities for families to choose from. There were huge draft horses for the kids to ride....












Goats to be milked...
A wagon ride to that took us on a tour of the wetlands project....
and fun at the corn maze...
A big thank you to the CSI Ag. department and the homeschooling mothers who helped coordinate this trip! You put together a very memorable day.

Author visit

This month we enjoyed a visit from a local Christian author, Maja Ledgerwood (see her website at http://majaledgerwood.com/ ). Maja discussed her experience publishing her first children's book "Pocahontas: Princess of Faith and Courage" and read her book aloud to the group. Afterwards, the kids participated in a writing exercise and played at the park. The beautiful weather was a real blessing!