KYS Summer Track

Over the past few months when anyone heard that Evie loved running they told us to sign her up for the Knoxville Youth Athletics summer development track and field program.  She was very excited to go to every practice despite the heat.  Her very favorite thing was when they let her run the cross country trail at Hardin Valley Academy.  The long jump was really the only field event she cared for, and even then should would rather run that jump.  We saw huge improvements in the jumping from her first practice to her last meet though.  She also got to work on passing the baton in relays, which was new to her.  Overall, it is a great experience for kids to learn about different track and field events then compete on Saturdays at Tom Black Track.  

 Meet #1 ~ 4x100 relay

Meet #1 ~ Long Jump

 Meet #1 ~ 800 meter race

Meet #1 Results: 7th in relay, 5th in 800 meter, participant in Long Jump

 Meet #2 ~ Long Jump.  It was amazing to see her go from barely jumping at the first practice to seeing her use great form to jump 7 1/2 feet.

Meet #2 ~ 100 meter dash.  Comfortably crossing the finish line first!

Meet #2 ~ 400 meter race

Meet #2 results ~ 1st in 100 meter, 3rd in Long Jump, 4th in 400 meter race

Reading between events.  We all learned you need patience for track meets!

Summer Learning: Baseball

I have great respect for all the homeschooling mamas out there.  While I'm not even entertaining the thought of homeschooling for real, I thought it would be fun to pick some topics to learn about this summer to prevent any regression before 1st and 3rd grade.  If you follow me on Pinterest then you probably are already clued in to my plan.  Great resources for education available on there by the way.  Our first topic was baseball.  The kids have been reading books, defining baseball terms, and drawing fields and stadiums.  Of course we also got to take a field trip!  We took our reading logs from the Smokies Summer Reading Program and exchanged them for tickets to the game on Wednesday night.  It was so rewarding to hear the kids pointing out the different player positions, talking about what kind of a hit it was, and understanding what all the numbers on the scoreboard meant.  They were seeing all of their knowledge put into action.      

The books we read are listed below.  They all came from our local library!

Baseball Science

Ultimate Guide to Baseball

The Everything Kids Baseball Book

A Whole New Ball Game: All American Girls 

Baseball from A to Z  

Fabulous Summer

I put Evie on the bus this morning, so summer is officially over for us. I have to say this has been one of the best summers, and I have enjoyed the kids so much. Here's a look back at how we spent the summer of 2010:

Played at Cocoa Beach

Visited Downtown Disney (same thing as Disney World to the kids)

Watched a rocket launch ~ Andrew still tells people it came from LC-37 (launch complex @ Canaveral)

Had fun at Saddleridge Ranch

Hiked in Cades Cove

saw Toy Story 3 (twice!)

Played with their 1st sparklers and fireworks

Learned to swim like little fish

Enjoyed many trips to Dollywood

Fell in love with Skippyjon Jones

...and now it is off to 1st grade and 5 day Fives.