Creativity Project Film Festival

During my time with the "creativity project" - the homeschool class that took place once a week - we completed two short films. The Wizard of Odd, and Zombie Xing. But that isn't the only thing we did! Ginger, Julie, and Susan, the moms responsible for this awesome opportunity, put together a "Movie Premier / Film Festival" at the local theatre. 

I have to say, I was extremely surprised at the outcome of people, there was at least fifty people sitting in the audience, if not more. We started off by playing some cartoons, and then after those were over, Ginger got on stage and spoke about the event and the films being shown tonight. Afterwards, all the kids got to walk across the 'red carpet' along the stage while everyone clapped and cheered. 

Here is a little description I found for both films - "The first short film, The Wizard of Odd, is an all ages modern parody of the classic film. The familiar characters have been re-imagined as their mirror opposites which creates a series of strange and funny new dilemmas. The second film, Zombie Xing, is a suspenseful but humorous "thriller" in which a group of young zombies invade an unsuspecting neighborhood."





I love both films greatly, but I have to say, Zombie Xing was pretty funny! (even if I did help out with it, haha)  

At the end of the night there was a surprise, we all gathered on stage once more, and the moms / leaders of the group arranged little 'Oscars' for all of us. Granted they were plastic, it was still very awesome! Our names were even engraved in them!!

I was really glad to be apart of the experience, even if I did miss the first couple months of filming, I was glad to help out with the rest of shooting and editing!

The next day I was even more surprised to see my picture in The Roanoke Times newspaper, how cool!

Sumo Wrestling & Tuesday Classes

The homeschool group in Virginia has classes every Tuesday - first is History, then we have a lunch break, second class is Film making, and third is Sign Language class.

our teachers - ginger and julie,
demonstrating how 'sumo' is done

History class is usually pretty fun! We read a few chapters out of our history book, and then our Teacher Julie quizzes us about it. Afterwards we do a craft or play a game related to what we just learned. This week in particular we learned about Samuri, so it was only natural to have our own sumo match! We learned all about the process the sumo will go through, how they have to drink water to purify themselves, and so on.


Film Making class was broke into two groups. Group A wrote and filmed a Wizard of Odd movie, based of the wizard of oz. Group B wrote and filmed a zombie movie. Each group got to work hands-on with deciding on props, special effects, editing the movie and even picking out the soundtrack. I ended up being on the Zombie making team!

Sam getting excited

Sign Language is a class I have mentioned before here.

Today for Sumo wresting we all brought pillows and just strapped on to our fronts and the other to our backs :) It was a lot of fun and it was nice to see all of the kids learning and even enjoying themselves!

Me and Jessie!

Weekly Fieldtrip - Wilderness Road Regional Museum

I woke up suuuppeerr early at Meghann's house, needless to say I was pretty exhausted! We made sure to pack a lunch and we caught a ride to the community college with her older sisters, and from there we got picked up by Ginger, who surprisingly took us out to eat that morning, it was nice :) 







A whole group of us homeschoolers met at the Wilderness Road Regional Museum for our weekly fieldtrip! There was at least 30 of us in total, if not more, it was a huge group! 


"Located in an 1800's era house;  owned and operated by The New River Historical Society and contains local area books, records and exhibits." is just a brief description of where we went. 





The enormous old house is filled with tons and tons of artifacts that were from this area. We learned all about the people who lived in this area of Virginia, the clothes they wore, the food they ate, how they lived their lives. 

accurate representation of our relationship

some of the kids making butter!

After our several hour long interactive fun fieldtrip, we headed over to the park for lunch :) It made me really happy to spend time with friends! We all ran around and hung out for awhile. Meg, Austin (my boyfriend), Jess, and I went for a walk in the woods before Meggie had to leave :( 
Later on we played a game of catch and hung out at the playground before it was time to go home for the day.

homeschool train

Hair dyeing?

Trash Bag Dresses, the latest fashion!

I had a fabulous time at the DiPietro's house, not only was it a night of fabulous food, movie watching, duck chasing and carrying baby goats, it was a fun sleepover that even included.... hair dyeing? 




Meghann and I are both homeschoolers and have known each other for quiet a long time now. We both see each other often and love hanging out.

Meghann posing, wearing her 'new hat'

Her older sisters were dyeing their hair- My hair is very long and I've been growing it for a long time, so dyeing is something I'd NEVER do, but in this case we're all having such a fun time, and I decided to go for it!

The end result = Vampire Red!

Meghann's house is very cool, not only do they have an old graveyard on their land, they have a flock of ducks, many baby goats, sheep, and at least 9 horses. I bet it's fun living on a farm!

Pink! (though it looks orange in picture)

Summer Reading Program

Unfortunately the Summer Reading Program has come to and end :( I have proudly read 17 books and over 50+ hours this summer, what an accomplishment! We all had so much fun at the library this summer, they offer the greatest programs and are very child and teen friendly. It's a wonderful atmosphere and I've enjoyed myself greatly.

A fantastic program the library offered was learning about Belle the giant green-winged macaw! Did you know that Macaws are able to reach speeds of up to 35 miles per hour? They also have very strong beaks, and can break open a Brazil Nut shell.

We've also learned about Bats, Foxes, Rabbits, and Owls! Joshua and I love animals, I'm glad that we both really learned a lot from these events.

• Did you know what grey foxes can climb trees? I had no idea!

 


And just today there was a teen program, ART DAY. It was so much fun, art is something I am very passionate about, so a day of sitting around sculpting, painting, and coloring is defiantly fun for me!




 
During the summer you received "book bucks" and at the end of the reading program you could use your book bucks at the teen auction/raffle. I bought a tie dye kit and a new book, it was very fun!

A day with Friends!

We've lived here in Virginia before, but moved away and are now back in the same area again. It's nice getting to see old friends again that you haven't seen in awhile! Joshua's friend Garrison spent the day at our house, along with his little sister Madison. Despite the fact that her and I have an 8 year difference in age, I love spending time with children so it was a lot of fun for me!

Pooky dressed as a Pirate!

Madison and I had a fun time drawing, coloring, playing with dolls and dressing up my Pooky.We also did a puzzle of the United States. One of my favorite subjects is Geography, and I love learning about new places as well, I was very happy to share all of my knowledge with her.

Afterwords, all the kids got together, splitting up into teams, we had a nerf gun battle! It was an excellent time to do so- during the week there is hardly anyone in the campground here, so we rather enjoyed being able to run all over the place!

Sign Language Class

We are part of a homeschool group here in Virginia, and one of the moms is actually studying to become a sign language interpreter, and she has offered her skills and knowledge to us homeschool kids. Once a week all of us meet up for our class, currently there have only been two classes (this coming week being the third)

I have to say, I've never been to a class this fun in my life! Our teachers name is Tina, and her teaching style is just brilliant. We all sit in a circle on the floor, each kid/teen having their own note book with the days lesson plan. Honestly though, it's not what you would call 'text book learning' because we all learn how we want to. My philosophy is that kids learn the best when the subject is introduced to them in a 'fun' way. Smiling, laughing, and enjoying themselves while learning will allow the person to look back on this experience and think fondly of it, and especially since they had fun- it's more easier to remember what you've learned. For example, Joshua and I were working on some math problems, instead of doing the boring math pages that you often dread, I'd say things like "There are 58 people, but 17 of those people were bitten in a Zombie Apocalypse, how many are still human?" Joshua likes zombies and he thought the question was funny, so he was more willing to learn and figure the problem out. In the future when doing other math problems, he can relate it to a fun experience he had and now enjoys doing math.

The class is fun and creative, it feels as if you are willing to learn and it's fun to find out more. We've also played games and have done other activities in the class which is also rather enjoyable too. Joshua didn't even want to attend the Sign Language Class at first, but after watching us all laughing, he wanted to join in. Only nine kids attended the first class, but then the following week it was at least thirteen to fourteen children and teenagers.

I have learned so much already, we've even started having conversations (with our hands!) it's a fun concept.

Libraries and Parks

I love books, so it's only natural for me to love the library! Our family makes a stop to the library at least twice a week, and currently since it is summer the library has their Summer Reading Program! I love going and doing crafts, so far I've made Dream Catchers, Dream Journals and Dream Paintings (the theme this year is 'night') They also have many other events, such as their animal programs- this month we've learned about Owls and Bats!
 

After stopping at the library, we enjoy checking out several of the local parks, one of which is actually on the river! I love going and finding clam shells, toads, snails, and even fish (if you can spot them!) There is also many trails you can go and walk, Joshua and I enjoy riding our bikes and making new discoveries by the water.