Keeping STEAM as a First-Grade Love, But Also Emphasizing Language Arts (as a Friend)

Recently, we moved our daughter to the new STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) academy in our city and it has been a wonderful experience for her. She had an introductory experience with science and mathematics through the Tarleton State University's Child Development Center. Through this center, the teachers inspired to her develop critical thinking skills and she continues to use these skills daily at the STEAM academy.

The STEAM academy has positively impacted my daughter in various ways. She continues to question "why" X (this) caused Y (that) and she has fallen in LOVE! Fallen in love with science that is! We could not be more proud of her new found relationship with the field we would have chosen for her in the first place.

As a result of this love for science and math, her love for reading and language arts (her first love) has experienced a small amount of difficulty. You know, those first loves always stick around, but sometimes you need to focus on the relationship from the "just a friend" level. So, she has her primary love (math and science) and her first love (and now friend) (reading and language arts). Both of these relationships are fundamental to her development as a young learner.

So, our goal is to discover ways to integrate the love and the friendship together to form the ultimate learning experience. All of us need friends and the love of our life! We've decided to integrate the two  by participating in the reading bingo program at her academy (she is very competitive) and we will also emphasize guided journaling next month.

These are the books that we introduced to her this month:

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Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13.

My little one stated, "Read this book and you can almost be like her. "She found out how to send a rocket to the moon!" - M. Edwards

Pick Three: You Can Have It All (Just Not Every Day)

As a mom who works full-time, I am always seeking books that helps me organize my life and it gave me my second wind!  - @drjtedwards

Go! (Blue): A Kids' Interactive Travel Diary and Journal

Make it a point to travel during the upcoming year! Celebrate these new locations with your child!

The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs

Meal plan with your kids on Friday or Saturday night and purchase groceries on Sunday! If they plan it, they will eat it!

We have to log these books on our reading sheet from the STEAM academy, but we are making our own reading sheet for the weekends. Look forward to this link soon!

If you have any questions about these books, please let me know! We will be happy to help!

Sincerely,

The @WeekendsCount Family!

About Weekends Count - Weekends Count is a Millennial Family Travel, Fun, Food and Activities blog based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas. We review hotels, travel and household items, and millennial family experiences!

Authors - Jennifer and Tony Edwards

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Box #145
Granbury TX 76048
817-382-8475
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What? The First Day of First Grade? We Can Do It!

Wow! We actually made it through the FIRST day of First Grade! Check out our video about the journey to the BIG DAY!

She successfully arrived at the school and she enjoyed her first day of the new Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics academy. Apparently, it was a VERY long day for her and she had a great time meeting and greeting her old friends from her original school.

Apparently, she has two teachers this year. One teacher teaches science, social studies, and mathematics and the other teacher teaches english and reading. We met both teachers during Monday's Meet the Teacher night and we also helped her select her seat.

This new school is located around 10 miles from her home campus and I was a little apprehensive about her traveling so far each day, but she is IN LOVE with her campus and therefore I am in love with it as well.

So, baby girl, I wish you luck this year. You will do well and you will continue to do your best. I am thankful for your kindergarten teacher and your first grade teachers. Please keep your mind clear and focused on your studies. Yes, you will go far this year! I am proud of you!

Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

Sincerely,

The @WeekendsCount Family!

About Weekends Count - Weekends Count is a Millennial Family Travel, Fun, Food and Activities blog based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas. We review hotels, travel and household items, and millennial family experiences!

Authors - Jennifer and Tony Edwards

Here's a link to our press kit/media kit - http://www.weekendscount.com/p/our-media-kit.html

Mailing Address: 1030 East Highway 377 Suite 110; Box #145; Granbury TX 76048
Phone Number - 817-382-8475

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Just Add Milk on the Weekends for an Easy Science Experiment for Children

Can you believe it? It is almost the beginning of the school year. This means that it is crunch time for our At-Home Summer School. Recently, we received the "Just Add Milk - Science and Art Kit" from Griddly Games. This is a great kit for our family because we absolutely love science (especially chemistry and physical science) and my father-in-law wants us to integrate art for our little one as well. This is why the "Just Add Milk - Science and Art Kit" was a great fit for our family!

This post contains affiliate links to help you build your shopping list and travel list for your family. We are passionate about the product and the experiences listed in this post, but we also wanted to provide easy links you can click to purchase products for your busy lifestyle.

This kit is perfect for your family to have on hand as a rainy day or a "much too hot to go outside" day. We definitely have those days in Texas. With this kit, you have to watch what happens when you JUST add milk to the color solution!

This kit includes the following items:

5 - heavy absorbency paper sheets
4 - 10ml bottles of food coloring
1 - 10ml bottle of liquid soap
1 - science and art activity booklet

This simple science and art kit is a color way to introduce science and surface tension. Each kit also includes multiple exciting at-home experiments for the entire family!

You can find more about company that created the "Just Add Milk - Science and Art Kit" by following @GriddlyGames on Twitter.

Here's a link to their product - https://www.opensky.com/griddlygames/product/just-add-milk-science-art-kit?osky_campaign=pdm

Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

About Weekends Count - Weekends Count is a Millennial Family Travel, Fun, Food and Activities blog based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas. We review hotels, travel and household items, and millennial family experiences!

Authors - Jennifer and Tony Edwards

Here's a link to our press kit/media kit - http://www.weekendscount.com/p/our-media-kit.html

Mailing Address: 1030 East Highway 377 Suite 110; Box #145; Granbury TX 76048
Phone Number - 817-382-8475

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Millennial Parents Teach Their Children about STEM with the Pinbox 3000

PinBox 3000 - Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Arts - @WeekendsCount

Our family usually struggles to finding activities that can engage mom, dad, and the kindergartener. Now, we will struggle NO MORE! We received an invitation to review the Pinbox 3000 and we were slightly reluctant to accept a DIY item. Boy were we wrong! It was amazing!

I was away for a weekend for a conference and my husband and daughter constructed and decorated our family's new Pinbox 3000! I arrived back home and it was incredible! We had a GREAT time creating and reviewing the product!

The Pinbox 3000 enabled our family to focus on ourselves and laugh during a very difficult time for all of us! Thank you Pinbox 3000 for the opportunity to review this product...this amazing product!

This post contains affiliate links to help you build your shopping list and travel list for your family. We are passionate about the product and the experiences listed in this post, but we also wanted to provide easy links you can click to purchase products for your busy lifestyle.

The Pinbox 3000 from is made from cardboard and it is one of the premier toys for parents and grandparents who want to introduce science, engineering, technology, and art to their children after school. This product enabled millennial parents to relive their childhood and relieve stress while having fun after a long day of work! This product is sturdy and will last a family for years!

Check out the Cardboard Teck Instantute's YouTube Channel!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp9P-Dxf6BC8h12LQDxfk_g

Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

About Weekends Count - Weekends Count is a Millennial Family Travel, Fun, Food and Activities blog based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas. We review hotels, travel and household items, and millennial family experiences!

Authors - Jennifer and Tony Edwards

Here's a link to our press kit/media kit - http://www.weekendscount.com/p/our-media-kit.html

Mailing Address: 1030 East Highway 377 Suite 110; Box #145; Granbury TX 76048
Phone Number - 817-382-8475

Send us an Email! We are PR friendly! - weekendscount@gmail.com
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Participate in Our Evening Homeschool with the Creativity for Kids Plant An Emoji Garden Kit

Each weekday, we always try to do a project (or two) with our preschooler! This week, we had an Earth Day emphasis and we planted chia seeds as part of the Plant Happiness's Creativity for Kids Plant An Emoji Garden Kit! This was SO MUCH fun for her! First, you color the sheet, then you plant the seeds, then you water it and then you watch it grow!

This post contains affiliate links to help you build your shopping list and travel list for your family. We are passionate about the product and the experiences listed in this post, but we also wanted to provide easy links you can click to purchase products for your busy lifestyle.

Craft, plant, water, grow is the entire plan for this kit! These seeds grow in 3-4 days!

Here's a challenge! 

1 - Order the kit from our affiliate link - http://amzn.to/2oz07ml

2 - Craft, plant, water, grow!

3 - Capture a picture of your project and include the #weekendscount hashtag!

We will choose winners throughout the summer!

This kit includes: planting tray, color-in liner, markers, potting mix, chia seeds, scoop and plant mister.

About Weekends Count - Weekends Count is a Millennial Family Travel, Fun, Food and Activities blog based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas. We review hotels, travel and household items, and millennial family experiences!

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Next Time Your Family is in Fort Worth, Visit the Panther Lab Makerspace - It is FREE!

Next you are visiting Fort Worth, check out the opportunities available for your child in the Fort Worth Library! Since we moved to this area, the Fort Worth Library has been a safe haven for our family. It continues to serve as a refuge for our family to learn, network, and relax!

We've checked out books, videos, books on tape/DVDs, and additional materials from the Fort Worth Library! Here's the neat thing - even if you are not a resident of Fort Worth, you and your family can visit and interact with the Fort Worth Library - Panther Lab Makerspace!

Watch this Video to Find Out "What is a Makerspace?"

The Fort Worth Library - Panther Lab Makerspace is located at the Northwest Branch Library on 6228 Crystal Lake Drive in Fort Worth. It is an amazing resource for Fort Worth residents and visitors to the area can experience!

In the lab, you and your family can:
- Design 3D Images
- Use Makey Makey and littleBits to learn about electronic engineering
- Utilize Ozobots to learn introductory robotics.
- Design Video Trailers on iMac computers (with a Sony camera and green screen)!
- Create a digital game through simple coding.

What's in the Fort Worth Library - Panther Lab?
The Fort Worth Library - Panther Lab Makerspace has 3D printers, a 3D Scanner, robotics/electronic kids, Apple computers with Adobe Creative Cloud Suite, Virtual Reality and a Simulation Headset, a Sony Camera and Green Screen, and a Vinyl Cutter.

When is the Fort Worth Library - Panther Lab Makerspace open?

The makerspace is open Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 2pm to 7pm and on Saturday from 2pm to 5pm. 

Here's the most recent schedule - - http://fortworthtexas.gov/library/programs/makerspace.html

Okay - What's Next???

Next weekend, spend days with your family at the Fort Worth Library - Panther Lab Makerspace! You will definitely not regret it! :) Plus, you can leave with a momento from your creative adventure!

Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

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Dining at SeaWorld San Antonio While Learning About Sea Animals

We hope you are having a great week!

Recently, we were invited to SeaWorld San Antonio to discover their new attraction - Dining with Shamu! This was an incredible experience and it is a "must do" attraction for your family when visiting Sea World San Antonio!

The experience is focused on sustainable seafood and learning about sustainability at the same time! It was also a great way to meet other families who love to learn about sea animals as much as we do! As a former science teacher, my husband is always eager to introduce our kindergartener to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and technology).

This event features an all-you-can-eat buffet for your family and it is vegetarian, pescatarian, and vegan friendly!

Here's more information about the experience - https://seaworldparks.com/en/seaworld-sanantonio/Dine-and-Shop/Dining/Dine-with-Shamu/

About Weekends Count - Weekends Count is a Millennial Family Travel, Fun, Food and Activities blog based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in Texas. We review hotels, travel and household items, and millennial family experiences!

Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

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Our Top STEM Toy Pick for 2016 - The "I Do 3D Vertical Pen"!

Realistically, professional parents who work outside the home and/or who commute for 30-minutes to an hour to work have a limited amount of time to spend with their children in the evenings. Post of the time, this precious time is filled with dinner prep, after school activities, sports, etc.

This busy situation is true for our small family as well and we emphasize homework or a STEM activity for our preschooler each day. She really enjoys the hands-on activities instead of the workbooks, but she really likes creating items and watching physical changes occur during the science experiments.

This post contains affiliate links to help you build your shopping list and travel list for your family. We are passionate about the product and the experiences listed in this post, but we also wanted to provide easy links you can click to purchase products for your busy lifestyle.

Here's Step 1 - Utilize the Design Paper to Create the Martian!



Step 2 - Allow the Solution to Cool (while admiring your creation)!



Step 3 - Make Your Creation a 3D Creature!

Toys like the "I Do 3D Vertical Pen" (the price ranges between $3.39 and $19.99) is one of those affordable, versatile toys for busy families who want to emphasize the science, technology, engineering, or mathematics in 30 minute segments for their children. Our preschooler LOVED creating her own objects and viewing them on the dining room table each day!

Tony, my husband, is a former science teacher and my father is a former science teacher as well. So, science definitely runs in my family. My preschooler also loves science. She will definitely be a STEM Girl and I know that she will carry on the family name in the science field!

Have a great week and plan for the weekend!

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