Christmas Crafting Meeting Summary

Our crafting and cookie exchange meeting was really fun! A big thanks to Cassandra for arranging all those great crafts for the kids, thank you to the Kingsland library for loaning us their space and also thanks to all the wonderful moms who helped the kids at the meeting. We made many crafts: personal elf ornaments, ball ornaments that opened up for the young ones, jingle bracelets, beaded candy canes, decorated cookie bags and colored Christmas pictures. We also ate and exchanged lots of delicious cookies and had a storytime with Robin. Merry Christmas!

Crafting Meeting Comments/Suggestions

Thanks to everyone who came to the Christmas Crafting Adventure Club meeting! We hope you all enjoyed it and would love to hear from you about it- how can we improve on a crafting/cookie exchange meeting for next year? If you have comments on how the meeting went or suggestions for things you would like us to add/change to the classes or the environment to make it a more enjoyable and educational experience for your family please let us know by commenting to this post. Kids comments/suggestions are welcome too!

Adventure Club: Christmas Crafting 12/2/2009

Lakes Area Homeschool Adventure Club: Christmas Crafting and Cookies

Wednesday, December 2nd 10:00

Kingsland Library Large Meeting Room

Activities: Join us as our expert crafting mom, Cassandra, leads our group in a Christmas crafting meeting. There will be ornaments for all ages to make, as well as other fun crafts. We will be learning about some of the history behind popular holiday symbols...What is an elf really? Why do we hang things on trees? Why do we kiss under the mistletoe? And many more. We will also be having a cookie exchange and snack at this meeting. Parents- be ready to help out at this meeting- we will have many tables of crafting going on at the same time and will need one parent at each table.

Bring: Please bring at least 2 dozen cookies to exchange with the group. Wear your LAHAC shirts if you have them. Bring $2 per participating child to cover the cost of meeting supplies. Snack and water will be provided. Some of us will be having a picnic lunch at a park afterwards (location to be decided later) if you would like to bring along your lunch and join us.

RSVP: Please RSVP or send questions to Robin & Jennifer at lahac1@gmail.com by November 20th. Include your name, contact information and the names and ages of children who will be attending. We only have the library room from 10-12 and we have so much fun to fit in to the two hours, so try no to be late!

Bird Meeting Summary

We sure have lucked out with beautiful days for our meetings so far this year...this was an excellent day for a little bird watching. We started off by splitting the group by age into older (7 and up) and younger (under 7) which seemed to really help manage the chaos a bit and help the kids to focus during "class" time. While with Robin the kids took a hike around the property to check out the local birds (including the chickens) and learn a little about how to be a good bird watcher. Then the they had time to sit with Robin and learn all about birds: their relation to dinosaurs (and reptiles in general), bird anatomy, bird reproduction, habitats, diets and tons of interesting facts that were new to us all. They also had some hands on time with eggs and feathers. Staci took a turn with teaching this time and taught them all about how birds fly, thanks Staci. Inside the classroom Jennifer taught the basics about barn owls to the kids and then everyone got to dissect an owl pellet and identify the bones that were found. And of course we shared a snack- this time it was "Pigeon Poop" (thank you Cassandra) and it was very tasty! Several families were able to stick around and share lunch after the meeting, and watch the kids happily run around outside. A very nice morning all around.

Bird Meeting Comments/Suggestions

Thanks again to everyone for another great Adventure Club meeting! We hope you all enjoyed it and would love to hear from you about it (hopefully this comment thing is working now). If you have comments on how the meeting went or suggestions for things you would like us to add/change to the classes or the environment to make it a more enjoyable and educational experience for your family please let us know by commenting to this post. Kids comments/suggestions are welcome too!

Helpful Bird Links

National Geographic Birds- pictures, videos and facts about all types of birds
Texas Junior Naturalists Birds- some really great printable books about Texas birds as well as projects and links
Virtual Owl Pellet Dissection- check out this video of an owl pellet dissection, we'll be trying this at our meeting
Bird Sleuth- Cornell Lab's site for bird education, some more great printable lessons and homeschool specific bird watching links
Hornsby Bend- a good birding spot in Austin
Science Projects- a site with science fair type projects on birds
Enchanted Learning Birds- bird information, crafts and printables for younger children
What Bird- a national bird identification site
Travis Audubon- learn about ongoing projects, local sanctuaries and how to join the Travis Audubon group

Adventure Club: Birds 11/4/2009

Wednesday, November 4th 10:00

I AM I Learning Center at Weaver's Bottom: This is located on Robin's property in Kingsland. Directions can be found by clicking on the link that says "Directions To Adventure Club Meetings".

Activities: Join us as we learn about various bird species, their anatomy and behaviors with a special focus on the local birds found on Robin's property. We will also learn what it takes to become a bird watcher, dissect an owl pellet to learn about how and what they eat and make a bird feeder. Please be aware that our discussion will involve the evolution of birds from dinosaurs, as it relates to our previous lesson about reptiles.

Bring: We will be outside for much of this meeting so bring along hats or sunscreen if needed, and wear closed shoes. If you suffer from outdoor allergies please be aware that Robin's property is full of beautiful plants and trees- a good day to take any preventative allergy medicines that you use. Wear your LAHAC shirts if you have them. Bring $2 per participating child to cover the cost of meeting supplies. A small snack and water will be provided, but if you would like to pack a lunch for your family Robin welcomes you to picnic at her place after the meeting is over. If you have any great bird books, projects, pictures, etc. to share with us bring them along.

Share With Us: Our children will be working on bird projects over the next month to share with the group or display in the classroom. Please feel free to work on your own bird projects to share/display at the meeting- we would love to see a wide variety of projects! They can be simple collages, crafts, drawings, bird stories or poetry, reports, experiments, photos of birds or anything else you can think of. There are some helpful bird links on the blog, if you have others to recommend please add them to the comments section of that blog post.

RSVP: Please RSVP or send questions to Robin & Jennifer at lahac1@gmail.com by October 21st. Include your name, contact information and the names and ages of children who will be attending. **If this is your first time attending an Adventure Club meeting at I AM I Learning Center you will be asked to sign a release upon arrival for each person attending. If you would like a copy of the release sent to you ahead of time please let us know in your RSVP.

Reptile Meeting Summary

Another great Adventure club meeting- the weather was beautiful for an outside day so we didn't use the classroom this time, but we were able to display some projects in there for other kids/parents to check out. Thanks again to Stephanie and her family for bringing so many great reptiles to share with us at our meeting. We also learned several reptile yoga poses from the Weaver and Jones kids, ate some snake breadsticks and decorated some really cool wooden snakes to take home. Not to mention that the kids all had a great time running around the property and having stick fights! Here is a list of the animals we saw/learned about, you can check out the slideshow of pictures from the meeting to see them:

Snakes: Red tail boa , ball python, Kenyan sand boa

Lizards: leopard gecko, blue tongue skink, red iguana

Tortoise and Turtles: pancake tortoise, redfoot tortoise, elongated tortoise, russian tortoise, sulcata tortoise, bell's hingeback tortoise, 3 lined mud turtle

Reptile Meeting Comments/Suggestions

Thank you to everyone who came and participated in the Reptile Adventure Club meeting. We had a great time, and learned a lot from Stephanie about her amazing reptile pets. We are hoping some of you did too. If you have comments on how the meeting went or suggestions for things you would like us to add/change to the classes or the environment to make it a more enjoyable and educational experience for your family please let us know by commenting to this post. Kids comments/suggestions are welcome too!

Hey folks!

Just a reminder for you regarding the meeting today. For those of you suffering from allergies, you may want to take/bring any medication with you to deal with that issue. Mold is really high right now and I am suffering myself although managing without meds. There are some mosquito's about but fewer in the area that class will be - if that is a problem, you may want to wear long sleeves and pants or bring repellent. Closed in shoes are always a good idea at my place, especially for kids that enjoy exploring a bit. Class today will take place inside the school building and outside on the lawn if the weather cooperates. Due to the rain, the tanks are full of water. So...if you have kids that like to get wet and muddy, you may want to prepare with a set of dry clothes for the trip home. Most of the fields have been mown, so there is less chance of seeing snakes, especially because the temperature is falling below their comfort level but...there are plenty of turtles and frogs in the tank!

We are really excited to have Stephanie come as she always has neat critters and great information. I am looking forward to seeing you all. See you later.

Robin

Helpful Reptile Links

Texas Reptiles- Details on a reptile show happening in San Antonio in November. There is also a link to many other sites about Texas reptiles.

Herps of Texas- A listing of Texas reptiles and where they are found. Includes a link to other Texas reptile sites.

Wildlife Fact Sheets- Many fact sheets on Texas reptiles (and other native animals) from the Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Venomous Texas Snakes- Information on venomous Texas snakes from the Texas Junior Naturalists. A great site to check out in general.

Research, Lesson Plans and Online Activities

Austin Reptile Expo- Another reptile show happening in Austin in October.

Pre-K Reptile Activities and Crafts

National Geographic Reptiles- Reptile facts, pictures and videos.

Adventure Club: Reptiles 10/7/2009

Wednesday, October 7th 1:00: Please note the time change for this meeting. It will be later in the day in order to accommodate Stephanie who will be driving several hours to do our presentation for the day.

I AM I Learning Center at Weaver's Bottom: This is located on Robin's property in Kingsland. Directions can be found by clicking on the link to the right that says "Directions To Adventure Club Meetings".

Activities: Join us for a special presentation given by wildlife expert and homeschool mom Stephanie Wagner. At past meetings she did wonderful presentations on tortoises and spiders, this time she will be teaching us all about reptiles. Stephanie will be bringing many reptiles along with her- including ones that are native to South America, Australia, Africa and Asia. In addition to teaching us all about her particular reptiles she will answer any questions you might have and be available to go over pet care for anyone who owns a reptile or is considering purchasing one. After her presentation, Robin and Jennifer will be leading the group in activities that focus on reptiles that are native to Texas. In addition, our kids will be teaching some fun reptile yoga poses to the group. There will also be time set aside for the kids to share any reptile projects that they bring to the meeting.

Bring: Stephanie has asked that we please DO NOT BRING REPTILES (pets or wild) to this class as there is a slight chance of spreading disease to her reptiles- she will have plenty to share with us. The one exception is that if anyone has a pet reptile they need to rehome she would be happy to take it. We will be outside for much of this meeting so bring along hats or sunscreen of needed, and wear closed shoes. If you suffer from outdoor allergies please be aware that Robin's property is full of beautiful plants and trees- a good day to take any preventative allergy medicines that you use. Wear your LAHAC shirts if you have them. Bring $2 per participating child to cover the cost of meeting supplies.

Share With Us: Our children will be working on Texas reptile projects over the next month to share with the group or display in the classroom. Please feel free to work on your own reptiles projects to share/display at the meeting- we would love to see a wide variety of projects! They can be simple collages, crafts, drawings, reptile stories or poetry, reports, experiments, photos of reptiles or anything else you can think of. There are some helpful reptile links on the blog, if you have others to recommend please add them to the comments section of that blog post.

RSVP: Please RSVP or send questions to Robin & Jennifer at lahac1@gmail.com by September 23rd. Include your name, contact information and the names and ages of children who will be attending. **If this is your first time attending an Adventure Club meeting at I AM I Learning Center you will be asked to sign a release upon arrival for each person attending. If you would like a copy of the release sent to you ahead of time please let us know in your RSVP.

Bug Meeting Summary

We had a great Adventure Club meeting today all about bugs. It was our first "official" Adventure Club class in Robin's new classroom at IAMI Learning Center. There were a total of 10 families attending and 27 kids- a great turnout for the first meeting and a wonderful group of kids from infant up to teenager. Robin will be compiling all the information that we covered (and some that we didn't) into a binder that will be kept in her classroom for public use. If you, or others, are ever researching bugs with your kids and would like to borrow that resource you will be able to check it out there. Here's a short summary of what we did at today's meeting:

• Greeting With Robin- Robin talked a bit about her property and the learning center, explaining her vision for her family and the community. (Robin--you should definitely post here and on your blog about that sometime!)
• Bug Anatomy With Robin- Robin handed out information packets and talked the kids through the common body parts of a bug.
• Wings With Jennifer- Jennifer explained how bug wings work and gave the kids a model to test out and take home.
• Mouthparts With Jennifer- Jennifer used a demonstration (fun!) to show the kids five different types of insect mouthparts.
• A Little Free Time Outside
• Bug Hunts and Observation- The kids were split into two groups (older and younger). Robin took a group on a bug hunt around her property using nets she made and jars. The kids found and captured quite a few bugs. Inside the classroom Jennifer helped the kids observe all the dead bugs we have collected over the summer, look at some microscope slides and have a snack of cricket cookies.
  

Bug Meeting Comments/Suggestions

Thank you to everyone who came and participated in this year's first Adventure Club meeting! We had a great time, and learned a lot. We are hoping some of you did too. If you have comments on how the meeting went or suggestions for things you would like us to add/change to the classes or the environment to make it a more enjoyable and educational experience for your family please let us know by commenting to this post. Kids comments/suggestions are welcome too!

Helpful Bug Links

Orkin Insect Facts, Games and Lesson Plans

A List Of Useful Bug Links For Homeschoolers

Cooking With Bugs

More Cooking With Bugs

Printable Bug Bingo Game

Index Of Microscopic Photographs

Bug Vacuum Project

Bug Identification

Pre-K and Elementary Level Insect Activities

Adventure Club: Bugs 9/2/2009

Wednesday, September 2nd 10:00

I AM I Learning Center at Weaver's Bottom- This is located on Robin's property in Kingsland. For directions just click on the link to Weaver's Bottom.

Activities: We will be learning all about insect identification in this class by learning the body parts, looking at specimens, creating our own suction powered bug vacuums, going on a bug hunt and trying some insect cookies!

Bring: Any bugs you would like to share with us (dead or alive), interesting bug books, bug catchers or nets, etc. We will be outside for much of this meeting so bring along water bottles, sunscreen and wear your LAHAC shirts if you have them. Bring $2 per participating child to cover the cost of meeting supplies.

RSVP: Please RSVP or send questions to Robin & Jennifer at lahac1@gmail.com by August 19th. Include your name, contact information and the names and ages of the children who will be attending.

2009-2010 Meeting Schedule

This year LAHAC will meet once a month, on the first Wednesday morning of the month from 10-12. The meetings will be held at the I AM I Learning Center at Weaver's Bottom. This is located on Robin's property in Kingsland.The dates are as follows:

Sept. 2nd- Bugs With Jennifer and Robin

Oct. 7th- Reptiles With Stephanie (we are hoping she can make this date!)

Nov. 4th- Birds (anyone know any bird watchers who could lead a class for kids? or parents who would like to lead a bird house building class?)

Dec. 2nd- Crafting With Cassandra

Jan.- undecided

Feb. 3rd- Valentines Party at Johnson Park

Mar. 3rd- Wind With Jennifer and Robin

Apr. 7th- Mushrooms With Tony

May 5th- Butterfly Garden With the Green Thumb group

If you are interested in attending LAHAC meetings this year or have any questions please post in the comments section. We will need your name, phone number, children's names and ages.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone and having some great meetings this year!

Thank You-
Robin & Jen

Welcome to our blog!

Hi fellow homeschoolers,
We just got our new blog for the Lakes Area Homeschool Adventure Club up and running today. Check back soon for more information about upcoming meetings, photos and an archive of last years meetings.
Hope you are having a good summer-
Robin & Jen