Little Betties and Bros: A Back-to-School Photo Shoot

The start of another school year!  We hope you have a good one!

-The Betties (and Bros)

 

The Goldendoodle Playdate

Never a dull moment around the acres...a batch of new chicks, and dog breeding 101.  Dana was raised  with litters of AKC Cocker Spaniels.  She wanted to give her kids the same experience and we possibly may be able to do that at the end of January. So stay tuned!

Goldendoodles are  a mix of Standard Poodle and Golden Retriever.  The great news...they don't shed and are WONDERFUL with kids.  They have a ton of energy and need some room to run with a high demand for affection.

One thing about breeding dogs...it answered a lot of questions about the birds and the bees and gave the kids, especially the older ones, some answers.  This is definitely something we thought over for some time, and we are not taking the responsibility lightly.  Our goal is to maintain the great standards for the breed and ensure healthy pups while giving our family a great opportunity to learn.  Providing folks with a hypoallergenic option when purchasing a dog is a great benefit too.

We should know if Ginger is expecting after Christmas.

Max (left) and Ginger

August Giveaway!

Hey all you lunch packing, back-to-school Betties!  August's Giveaway is a set of 4 lunch containers that are BPA-Free and easy for little hands to open (giveaway does not include lunchbox)!  Gone are the days of lunch baggies!  Plus 4 different colored lids make it easy to customize lunches (perhaps one child has a food allergy); no mixing up the lunches and they stack nicely in the fridge. Make them the night before and get up and go the next morning!  These fit nicely into a standard lunch box and the kids haven't tossed them yet!  Keeps food separated too.

Made in the USA by a MOM!

EasyLunchboxes.com

• Sturdy
• Kid-Friendly lids-designed for easy open
• Not leakproof. Not for liquids
• Dishwasher, microwave, freezer, and fridge safe

Made of non-toxic, food safe polypropylene (PP).
BPA, PVC & phthalate free.  FDA-approved.

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Drawing will be held Wednesday, August 29-Good Luck!

Meet the Kids/Back-to-School

Last week we welcomed another school year and of course had to document the first day.  Here are the kiddos and a long over-due intro to some of them:

Stacie's kiddos

Tuck, we first introduced him in this post:  He is in the 5th grade and enjoys art...he can draw just about anything!

Next up S, who is Stacie's youngest and growing fast! She loves dance and is in the 3rd grade this year.

And Stacie's oldest, H.  She is a freshman in high school and is a cheerleader.

Next up, Dana's boys:

"J-man," Dana's middle son is in the 4th grade and plays football.

Mr. B, the oldest, is in 6th grade and loves baseball, Go D-Backs!

T, the baby by 10 minutes, is a class clown and started Kindergarten this year.

And finally R, who also started Kindergarten and loves Legos.

What a joy to watch these kids grow!  The Betties have had such a history together.  We can remember well the day that eachother's kids were born...visits to the hospital and holding the other's newborns.  Cheering one another on in this thing called motherhood.  Truly a gift to know someone for so long and we realize more and more that these friendships are far and few between!  

We wish everyone a successful school year!

-The Betties

Back to School Lunch Ideas

Need a little motivation to get creative and healthy with back to school lunches this fall?  We stumbled across this great little site with actual pictures of lunch combos for the kids. HUNDREDS of ideas!
Thank you easylunchboxes.smugmug.com/












The containers pictured above can be purchased here at easylunchboxes.com.  A set of 4 runs 13.95

Happy lunch making!

-The Betties

Olympics 2012 Learning-

A shout out to all you Summer Olympics fans!  The Betties are looking forward to settling into the next 2 weeks with our families to watch the games.  Some or most kids in this region are back to school...I know I know.  A little early for most, but what are you seriously going to do when the temps are 110 degrees?  Most Zonies (folks from AZ) would agree that they would rather have their kids busy learning in a nicely air conditioned room than trying to find something to do in the heat.  AND we get a week or two off in the fall when the temps reach the 80's.  We are good with it!

So, we should expect most teachers to capitalize on the Olympic games as they start the school year. If however your kids don't go back until the games are over, here are a few suggestions to keep the dog days of summer at bay. Or for one homeschooling Betty a unit study on the Olympic games is our kick off curriculum for the next two weeks as we review some concepts and have fun at the same time!  Thank you to projectbritain.com for condensing the ideas into a one stop website!

2012 Olympics

Literacy
Write rules for one of the sporting Events.
Write a newspaper report on an event
Find out about the rings and what they represent. (worksheet) (website) (image)
Write and perform a speech after winning a gold medal in an event
Write a biography of an athlete attending the Games (TEAM USA Website)

Numeracy
Draw a bar chart of the medals won and work out what percentage of medals were won by each country.
How much will it cost you to travel to the Games? ( website to workout milage )
Maths Worksheets on an Olympic Theme

History
Ancient Greece ( website )
Olympics Timeline ( website )
The ancient Olympic Games ( BBC website) 

Geography

Where is London ( website ) 

How far is London from you? ( website )
Country report on Great Britain ( website )
Track and compare the Weather in London with where you live (website)
What type of land features support the Olympics?
Identify on a map where past Olympics have been held. ( map )
Draw the flags and find a fact about each country taking part. (flags)

Event venues of the 2012 London Olympics

Science

Investigate how to keep an athlete cool during the Games.
Investigate the best trainer shoe

Art and Design

Design a new logo for the London Olympics
What symbols and signs can you identify?

Paralympic and Olympic Sport Symbols

Olympic and Paralympic pictograms,

medals and emblems

              Central London map (pdf) | Bus map of Central London

Computer

Make a spreadsheet on medals won by each country

Multimedia presentation on London

Create a London travel brochure in Photoshop

AND DON'T FORGET TO WATCH LOTS OF MR. BEAN!

Homeschooling - A Choice

http://www.afhe.org/index.html#

As we mentioned in our introduction post Dana has homeschooled her boys for a few years now.  Her choice to homeschool was an easy one, as many dear friends and family members had paved the way, setting a great example of what could be done at home.  The main reason she chose this path was a simple one;  education tailored specifically for her kids (which could be an entire blog post by itself).  However, she stepped on the brakes upon finding out she was expecting twins when her oldest was to start Kindergarten and her 2nd son was to start preschool in '06.  "The thought of caring for twins AND educating at home full time for the FIRST time was extremely overwhelming and I knew I needed help.  I didn't want to give up on my hopes of home education but sleep deprivation and the survival mode mentality that kicked in did not make for the ideal learning environment.  I knew my limits and I couldn't do it all."  She took to researching a school she had heard about years prior to her son actually starting Kindergarten.  HOPE Christian Acadamy ( http://www.hope-eagles.com/ ) in Chandler-Home of Partnered Education. This school was exactly what her and her husband needed at that time. HOPE gave them a smooth introduction into the world of home based learning while transitioning into life with four boys under the age of 5.

With a unique model of partnering with teachers 3 days a week in a traditional classroom setting; parents take over the role at home the remaining two days a week.  This is a private Christian school that required some budgeting and planning but most of their kid's tuition was covered through a program called Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization http://www.acsto.org/.  Arizona provides a unique opportunity to receive scholarship money donated by Arizona taxpayers.  Folks donating to the program receive a dollar-for-dollar credit against their Arizona state income tax. Private Christian education was affordable with this program.

Hope Christian Academy was a very positive experience.  A loving community of like-minded parents and staff with small classroom sizes.  The school provided all of the curriculum and lesson plans were given by teachers with step-by-step instruction for home-based learning days.  When they were at school they attended Chapel, PE, music and even spanish.  "We met great friends and really got plugged in."  However with 4 boys to consider, the hefty tuition started adding up and the downturn in the economy made it harder to raise support for scholarship money.  This made for the perfect opportunity to homeschool full time, spending a fraction of tuition money on curriculum that Dana could use over and over with the younger kids at home.  "I was really looking forward to having my kids on the same page rather than us all going in different directions.  With the twins getting older and a little confidence under my belt I could finally dive into homeschooling 100%."

If you are considering homeschooling there are so many resources!  Attend a convention (Arizona Homeschool Convention link)  and speak with other homeschooling families. Also, Dana's go-to book when she started homeschooling was and still is the Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer.  Detailed instruction on how to get started if a classical education is something you are drawn to.  Dana has implemented many of the suggestions in this book and it was a great foundation to build upon.

Also, what legally do you need to do to get started homeschooling?  Well, every state is different so look into your local state laws.  A homeschool affidavit was filled out and sent into the county school superintendent for each of the kids.  AZ laws are listed here at http://www.afhe.org/az_law.html .
Also, a "getting started fact sheet" is provided here at http://www.afhe.org/getting_started_faq.html .
Both of these resources are provided through AFHE (Arizona Families for Home Education).

A great article here at azcentral.com also gives a bit more information about homeschooling and the gaining popularity.  We are seeing 2nd and 3rd generations homeschooling in Arizona and this is so exciting to see!  The bottom line is nobody knows your kids like you do.  You know what's best. Obviously the choice to homeschool is not for everyone.  If you are considering it, you will not regret it; although there will be hard days.  If you think this Betty is crazy for even trying, that's okay too.  Dana and Stacie really have one thing in common that keeps their friendship strong and it's not homeschooling.  Living by our own convictions and supporting one another as best as we can is really the key.  Our faith is the common thread, not our choice in schools.  Live free in Christ, follow YOUR convictions and the rest will fall into place.

Dana will keep you up to date on the happenings of homeschooling this fall...lots of fun stuff planned!

Happy Schooling-whatever choice you make!