Cheap stuff to do in the Antelope Valley #1

Anyone who knows me is aware that I am completely uncoordinated and suck at sports, even stuff like table tennis and bowling. But I still love to participate, and so do my girls! One favorite activity is miniature golf. So we were really excited to get free passes to play miniature golf at Mulligan's Family Fun Center in Palmdale! In addition to mini golf, Mulligan's has an arcade, laser tag, go-carts, a rock wall, batting cages and boats. Mini-golf is very affordable, at $5.00 per player. However, if you want to do the other activities, there are additional charges. Mulligan's also offers an all-day pass for $20.00. Mini-golf was a fun summer family activity, and we had an awesome time! Mulligan Family Fun Center Palmdale 525 West Avenue P-4, Palmdale, CA 93551 Telephone: 661.273.1407 http://www.mulliganpalmdale.com

It's Summer!

Tody is Summer Soltice. Happy first day of summer!

Baskin Robbins Family Night!

My 10 year old has a goal: she wants to try all 31 flavors at Baskin Robbins. That's why we love Tuesdays! All participating Baskin Robbins offer $1 Kid’s Scoop or a 4 oz. scoop for $1.50 every Tuesday from 5 to clsoing! Yum!

Free Stuff to Do in L.A. #1

Being a homeschooling mom, I try to find as many cool, affordable activities as possible to do with my girls. I especially love to find free stuff to do! One super-cool place you can go to with children is the LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art).LACMA offers the only free youth membership program in the nation! Nexgen offers free general admission to anyone 17 and under as well as one accompanying adult! This includes permanent collection galleries and selected special exhibitions. To join, just visit the museum box office and sign up. If you prefer, you can go to http://www.lacma.org/arts-for-nexgen-lacma for a mail in application you can print out. I've included a photograph of a work of art created by my 12 year old at the Boone's children's Gallery on a recent visit. LACMA is located at 5905 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles CA 90036. If you need more information, the telephone number is 323 857-6000. LACMA is open every day except Wednesdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Vineland Drive-In Theater

I am SO excited! I just found out that there is still a drive-in movie theater open in Los Angeles/Orange County! For those who love drive-ins as much as I do, here's the information: Vineland Drive-In Theater 443 N. Vineland Ave, City of Industry, CA 24-hour telephone Information: 626-961-9262 Open 7 days a week! Gates open at 7pm, show starts at dusk. Prices: General Admission (9 years old and up) $9.00, Children (ages 5-8) $3.00, Children under 5 are FREE! On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights the first feature is repeated after the second feature is over. All films are broadcast in FM Dolby Stereo sound. Enjoy!

School's Out!

Here it is, the end of another school year! It's certainly had it's ups and downs, but I think we finally hit on a formula that works, and my little family is once again enjoying the learning process. We've hit another milestone, as Skylar turned 12 last week. It's so hard to believe that she is a young woman now!

Photo Shoot

The girls and I did a photo shoot at the railroad tracks using a very cool vintage steamer trunk. My three favorite little models and I had a great time!

Gardening Project Update

With the heat we’ve been experiencing out here in the desert, the girls and I have been concerned about the seeds we recently planted in containers. However, the girls were thrilled to discover that the cucumbers and zucchini are sprouting nicely. Our rosemary plant is thriving as well. We have yet to see any sign of seedlings from our tomato seeds, but the girls are hopeful. All in all, our project is going well!

Gardening project

We're trying something new this year: container gardening! We've never tried this before, so we're starting off slowly. We made this decision because the house that we live in has no place where we can plant a garden. The backyard is all concrete,in order to accommodate the pool and spa. The front is desert landscaping, using a great deal of gravel.
We decided to plant rosemary, bush zucchini and bush tomatoes. We selected the bush varieties because they appear to be the most suitable for growing in containers. We are going to attempt to grow the tomatoes and zucchini from seed. Skylar also has a sunflower which she has been growing for several weeks, but needed re-potting. We've been making our own compost out of vegetable and fruit peels, as well as egg shells. To be completely honest, we were pretty grossed out by this concoction!
In spite of the compost, the girls and I had a great time together. If we're successful, next year we'll try planting more variety.

Rainy Day Fun

Nothing like building a fort on a rainy day. Such fun!

Musings on Unschooling

I've read a great deal about a method of learning called unschooling. Like many homeschoolers who've gone with more traditional methods of teaching,I've had my reservations. We are not unschoolers, as we belong to a charter school. However, we have incorporated some of this philosophy into the way we now do things. I was unsure that, left to their own devices, my children would want to learn such essentials as reading, writing and math. And frankly, none of my girls would voluntarily decide to learn how to divide fractions. However, by allowing my girls to choose the topics they wish to research and write about, I've seen a drastic improvement not only in their desire to write, but in their writing skills. It is not unusual for one of my girls to decide to research and write a four page report on a topic she finds interesting. The first time it happened, I was beyond surprised. Now it is a common occurrence. Skylar's writing is surprisingly mature and descriptive. And Haley has lately started looking into using more "colorful" words to make her writing more interesting. In the past, I have chosen the books or materials I wished my girls to read. It was a struggle to get them to spend as little as ten minutes a day reading. Since I decided to let them choose what they wish to read, it's difficult to get them to do anything else! The girls each read a minimum of twenty books a month. Skylar currently loves to read fictional stories involving horses. She has just finished reading the Phantom Stallion series by Terri Farley and has been looking for similar books to read. Haley loves the American Girl History Mysteries and the fictional diaries from the My Dear America series. Pickle loves the Fancy Nancy books. Now, if I could just figure out how to get them to enjoy math just as much...

My Musicians

Aah, the benefits of belonging to a charter school! Skylar and Haley recently started taking music lessons. They had been asking for these for some time, but being on a tight single-mom budget...well, you get the picture. Luckily for us, our charter school contracts with a music school right here in the boondocks! Their father provided the instruments, and now there is actually some rhythm to Haley's drumming and Skylar can play the first verse of "Hey, Jude". While our home isn't any quieter, it does sound less chaotic.
The music school we are attending is Mel Booker Music. The staff is very friendly and helpful. I would recommend them to anyone in the AV looking for drum, guitar, piano or voice lessons. I've posted a link to their site below.