The Great American Solar Eclipse 2017

 

I have to admit, as cool as the eclipse was, I’m glad the mania is over. I can’t begin to count the number of Facebook posts from people searching for the special glasses. And in only 7 short years, we can post the same posts all over again. 😉

Seriously though, my kids really enjoyed it and I’m glad we got to experience it together.

We started out the day with the usual work: math, handwriting, and language arts. (I’m embarrassed to admit that our Morning Time has gone out the window this week and last.) Once that was done, we got to move on to, in my opinion, the fun stuff. 🙂

I first wanted to start out by introducing the girls to the vocabulary of the subject. I wanted them to be able to understand the terminology being used. I had them copy some of the words and definitions down in their science journals. (This idea for our science journals was inspired by Charlotte Mason notebooks. I’ll talk about it in another post.) As you can see in the picture, Rosie had a lot of fun using her artist’s pencils to liven it up.

Top 10 Instagram Accounts

It’s Friday! Hallelujah we made it to Friday!

While our week wasn’t quite that bad, it was interesting. We started school back up this week and, well, let’s just say it takes us a little bit to get back in the routine of it all. Totally understandable. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need moment. 😉

Sassy side-eye from my Little Man.

Do you use Instagram? I started using it a couple of years ago. I like it because it’s all about the pictures. I love photography and taking pictures of my kids, the sunset, the beach, the way that rock looks, or of that random thing over there in that tree. [Really, I’m being serious. My mom used to have a ton of pictures on her camera of the leaves on a massive tree she had in her front yard.] So for me, I love that Instagram showcases pictures rather than focusing on your latest status like on Facebook. It seems that I have passed this trait on to my kids. They love grabbing my phone to take pictures of anything and everything. And yes, they do have their own cameras.

A picture of how cool that random rock in the lake looks.

 

 

Which all leads me to this week’s Friday Favorites: Our Favorite Instagram Accounts to Follow!

1.   natgeotravel — While we may not be able to go out and explore every nook of the world, there are those who get to do it for a living. Nowadays, thanks to the Internet and social media, we can travel with them. The photographers for National Geographic Travel really put themselves in the middle of what’s going on to get these photos to share. We’ve watched a photographer be mere feet away on his hands and knees from two wild stallions as they were rearing up and testing each other’s strength in the Netherlands. They’ve captured the northern lights to share, which made my day since seeing them in person is on my bucket list. Needless to say, National Geographic Travel is a must-follow.
2.    natgeo — If we’re following National Geographic Travel, we can’t not follow the original National Geographic! While the previous account is about travelling the world, this is more about the stories behind the pictures. We love watching and learning about mama monkeys and their baby monkeys. We also learn about elephant conservation and what is being done to help the pandas come back from being endangered.
3.     travellingthroughtheworld  — Have I mentioned I would LOVE to travel?? The pictures they are able to capture from all over the world are breathtaking. I like that the kids are able to see first-hand pictures from around the globe.
4.    foodnetwork — In this house, we love food. We all love to be in the kitchen baking yummy treats and cooking up tasty food. Thanks to the short food demo videos, this is a must-follow for us!
5.    nasa — Since being a kid, I’ve had my head in the stars. I’m trying to pass that on to my kids and the pictures NASA shares really don’t hurt. I love the pictures they share along with learning something new with each share.
6.   ncartmuseum — We are fortunate enough to live in an area with an abundance of museums. A few of those are art museums. I’ll be the first to admit that art museums aren’t my thing. My lack of interest in some of the finer arts is not something I want my kids to learn from me. So as another way to get more exposure, we follow a couple of the local art museums.
7.    nashermuseum — This is another local art museum. For some reason, Rosie wants to go to Duke University (probably because the rest of us are North Carolina State University people 😉 ). She was pleasantly surprised to find that Duke has an art museum on site. So we follow the Duke University Art Museum on Instagram too.
8.    natgeocreative — I love National Geographic and wanted to follow as many of their accounts as possible.
9.    homeschoolscientist — This is the account of another homeschooler. I really enjoy following them because it’s fun to share in the journey of others who are on the same path. It also helps that my girls LOVE science and this account highlights that particular subject.
10.    howtobeadad — This guy never fails to give me my daily laugh. In this new adventure, it’s important to laugh- if only to release tension and stress that’s been building. His posts crack me up, especially the one of the collage of “moments we hope [our kids] won’t remember”. For your comedic relief, I highly suggest following this account.

There are my top 10 Instagram accounts to follow! I love seeing the new posts everyday. Sometimes just scrolling through all of the beautiful, and funny, photos is relaxing and helps me step back from the daily grind for a minute.

And while you’re there, feel free to follow us too @TheHarned5! 🙂

Are there some good ones that I forgot about? Tell me about them! I love finding new things! 

Stay cool (’cause it’s a scorcher here) and have a good weekend y’all!