One of the many reasons we decided to go cruising with our kids was to give them a large perspective of this world. They've grown up in this tiny hometown with the usual suburban life---which don't get me wrong, we LOVE our hometown, and our friends are very dear to us-- it's just that our kids were starting to pay too much attention to material things and take a lot of things for granted. I think we all were, in a sense. You wake up, go to work/school, come home or go to different activities...there wasn't a whole lot of opportunities for enjoying quiet family time, as we were pretty busy! It was time to slow down, show our kids that there is so much more to this world, and sort of shake things up a bit.
We are starting off right away with the first leg of this journey. While in the Caribbean, we have volunteered to work with Hands Across the Sea, a literacy promotion program. The goal: get new books in the hands of kids and promote the love of reading. Our family will be helping to build libraries, deliver books, read with children, as well as a provide little teaching, as needed.
It is such a great program and one that is close to my heart. I absolutely LOVE reading, in fact, our entire family would be considered bookworms. Back home, the bookshelves were overflowing (and don't even ask about my classroom library)! In order to make room for new books, we would place others in the small little neighborhood libraries around town. It was a nice way to give books a new home in our own community. Sometimes, movies would show up in those little libraries and we'd enjoy a free movie night. It would go right back into the library the following day along with a couple of our contributions. What a great concept as it certainly promoted the reuse and recycling of books!
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| This little free library is right around the corner from our home. |
We are all about giving back while on this journey and this opportunity will enable us and our children to do just that, while experiencing and working with different cultures along the way.
Here is their website, for more information (or if you would also like to get involved): http://www.handsacrossthesea.net
are great little robots that you code using color and various color patterns. These are so popular in my classroom and our after school classes. We recently had a family S.T.E.A.M. night and the Ozobot station was packed! The best part about the Ozobots, is that they can be used with both paper and markers or an ipad as well. Coding in these different formats is a great introduction to the world of coding!
is used with an ipad and has a lot of different apps! Included in this kit are: the Osmo base and reflector tool, Tangrams, Numbers, Words, and Coding. This kit (we have 3 at school) was another packed station at our Family S.T.E.A.M. night and is a popular center in my classroom. I bought a kit for my own kids to take on board, as it provides lots of educational benefits such as math games, spelling, reading, and coding. There are a few apps that don't require a game kit, which provides lot of interactive fun as well. Masterpiece is a cool drawing app and Newton is an engineering/design app.
is a water-proof spherical robot that allows for a variety of coding and programming opportunities. This was a birthday gift for Matthew last year and we also made a station for it at Family S.T.E.A.M. night. Again, it was a HUGE hit. I love that it is made from a polycarbonate shell (kid-proof) and can go underwater! How cool is that?!
: Since I cant' bring my desktop 3D Printer on board, I am taking one of these along. The kids can make 3D drawings come to life and enjoy some creative drawing time outside of the usual art materials. There are two versions of the 3Doodler: one for younger kids and one for older kids/adults. The younger child version doesn't clog up as bad as the pen for older kids. Trust me, I have 24 of the original 3Doodler and their latest Create version.
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are great for some tech time and educational apps. Each of our kids will have their own to use during boat school time or while on a long passage. We will store them in a safe, so the kids don't have access 24/7. There are many other things they can do with their time, like fishing and just enjoying the outdoors! =)
is a cool way to teach circuits using adhesive copper tape, LED light stickers, and a coin cell battery. Their starter kit comes stocked with a book, supplies, and there are also tutorial videos online. I use this in my classroom each year to teach the basic of circuits. We also create light-up water-color art. I'll create a separate post on this lesson soon (my students are in the middle of it right now).
another cool way to teach about circuits using DRAWING! The kit comes with a book with lessons, special silver conductive ink pen, battery, and all the accessories. This is also incorporated into my circuits unit in my classroom.
allow for field trips to anywhere in the world from your seat! I recently wrote and received a grant for 40 of these AWESOME VR glasses for my school. So far, my class has walked on the moon, explored a space shuttle, traveled through Venice, Italy, and rode roller coasters! We are going to visit colonial plantations next week and then the kids will tie in other social studies and current events locations to create a list of places we should visit virtually.