smart summer challenge

smart summer challenge: wrap-up and winners!

September 2, 2011

It sure has taken longer than we’d hoped, but we’ve finally chosen and hunted down (most!) of the winners of the Smart Summer Challenge! Though we believe that everyone was a winner (c’mon, a super-rad calendar packed with six weeks of fun and exciting learning ideas? Aaaand great memory-making with you kiddos?  On top of [...]

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smart summer challenge, week 6: link up and win!

August 5, 2011

The last six weeks of our Smart Summer Challenge have flown by–it’s hard to believe we’re at the finish line! Hopefully you and your family found it a valuable and fun learning experience–I know we did! It’s time to link up for the very last time–and though each week’s prize has been pretty awesome, this [...]

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playing with pixie–poem-writing, picture-creating

August 4, 2011

Maddy has loved using Pixie ever since Kindergarten. Her school has it installed on all of the computers in the lab, and when I asked her what she wanted to do on our computer early this summer, she said, Pixie! Pixie is ‘creativity’ software by Tech4Learing that can be used to share ideas, imagination, and [...]

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learning about the moon: phases, facts, flipbook, cookies

August 3, 2011

We celebrated the moon today, in little ways that kept Maddy, Owen, and Cora interested after lunch and before the rest of our day. Thanks to some really incredible websites, this Reading Specialist-mama learned about the moon right alongside of her kiddos. We demonstrated the phases by using cookies, we watched some really awesome moon-happy [...]

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busch gardens with kids and yankee candle candle-making

August 2, 2011

Day two of our Williamsburg, Virgina whirlwind took us to Busch Gardens–a gorgeous, world-themed amusement park with perfect spots for families with young children.  My husband was waiting anxiously for this particular event in our weekend, while I could take it or leave it–which makes me the totally boring one, I know.  Seriously, though, I [...]

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colonial williamsburg: fabulous, fun, family-friendly getaway

August 1, 2011

We took the Smart Summer Challenge to a whole new level this past weekend with a family getaway to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. It was ten years since my husband and I had been there, pre-kids, newlyweds looking forward to a weekend away from our crazy classrooms and students, two 20-somethings who had very few [...]

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smart summer challenge fun learning ideas: week 6

July 31, 2011

It’s week #6 of our Smart Summer Learning Challenge, and it’s our biggest and baddest week of the campaign! We’ve got prizes galore this week, and the focus this week is Space Week–Out of this World Week–but like the last few weeks, anything parents do to show how important–and totally fun–summer learning can be is [...]

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easy, frugal, backyard water fun

July 30, 2011

It’s H-O-T.  Hot, hot, Hot with a capital ‘H’. I know I’ve been a total complainer, but I really don’t care. So rather than complain any more, I thought I’d just skip to some of the fun–inexpensive–things we’ve done that involved water, since we’re rounding out the Water Fun Smart Summer week. Sure, these are [...]

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smart summer challenge, week 5: link up and win!

July 29, 2011

I can’t believe it’s week 5 of the Smart Summer Challenge! Summer is zooming by–oh, no!! Time to link up and WIN!  Show us what you’ve been doing, and you can win $200 to use at Guidecraft! I’ve been sharing my family’s Smart Summer activities this week (and they really weren’t all that theme-related–it doesn’t [...]

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a fish out of water: games to practice sight words

July 28, 2011

Owen and I had to play a few extra games of Go Fish! this week to celebrate the Water Fun we’ve got on our calendar for the Smart Summer Challenge, but also because he is only weeks away from kindergarten. Right now, he wants to read, read, read. But he also wants to play, play, [...]

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ice experiments: quick, easy (and on our driveway)

July 26, 2011

Lots has been going on over here this week, but the most exciting news has been the break in the heat. Finally we’re able to get out and enjoy the sunshine a bit–and see what it can to ice on a 95-degree afternoon! So after we came home from a local summertime fair, we took [...]

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