who needs walking...

Seriously. 

With a ride like this..

(We are on Spring Break.  Can you tell with my lack of wanting to talk?)

Ocular Rainbow Conundrums...

(Edit to say: Okay.. It's completely LAME that this didn't work earlier...)

I've talked about it before, I think about it a lot.  The color of my children's eyes really has me guessing.  First came Ava, blue as blue.  Cyrus came next, some green, a lot of blue, but I call it grey.  And then there is Sol.  I haven't settled on a name for the color of my little Sol's eyes.  So I ask you... What color eyes do you think my baby has?

Okay... do you have your guess?  Here's the hitch... People with blue eyes always answer "Brown" and people with brown eyes say "Blue" and then sometimes change their answer to "Green".  Why is that?  My baby boy is over nine months old now... What color eyes does he have!?!

Giggle

 Baby Giggles...
Can you hear them?

Gratitude Mondays....

What I am loving today....

~Today is the very first day of our very first Spring Break!
(I can not believe we are starting our final trimester of homeschool next Monday)

~A really fantastic weekend....

~The train park...
(more on that later)

~A partner who drives across town for the perfect Indian Food...
(thank you for letting me change our plans last minute)

~A boy who still has a bit of a lisp...
(I know it wont last)

~A girl who spends brings me beautiful rocks found in our yard...
(I know this age wont last)

~A baby who gives sloppy kisses, and pulls my hair...
(I know this wont last)

~Loving my family just the way it is today...
(and still looking forward to how we'll change)


~Watching the series Firefly...
(again)



I'm looking forward to our Spring Break...  Here's to a beautiful week!

Y, W, and V review wrap up....

This week in our school we....

Reviewed the letters Y, W and V

In Poetry we...
revisited The Songs of the Yellow Deadnettle Fairy, Wallflower Fairy, and Vetch Fairy.  We finished our time with The Robin by Barbara Juster Esbensen.  Ava was inspired by the colors in the illustration by Cheng-Khee Chee in her journal page.

Our Theme for the Week...
was Spring!  A great theme for sure.  We really enjoyed reading The Story of the Root Children for the first time this year.  Honey Rabbit is an old favorite, and a season wouldn't be complete with out one of Lynn Ploudre's seasonal stories, Spring's Sprung.  We happened to have one nonfiction spring book, Spring by Mary L. Meyer and that made things feel official.  I did have a few projects planned, but honestly aside from our stories, our time was best spent outside exploring.  Its ladybug larva season, and that leads to endless fun. 

In Math we...
~started recording hundreds using place value cards
~Played a lot of math card games reinforcing our building to ten skills

In Science...
This week's lesson was Distinguishing Living, Natural Nonliving, and Human-Made Things.  I continue to adore this science curriculum.  Ava and Cyrus both love these lessons.  Even Matt has been surprised by the quality of the discussions that follow the exercises.

 In Art Study...

 We finished our Come Look With Me, Animals in Art series with Wall-Eyed Carp by Robert Rauschenberg.  Ava told me that she "really liked this guys technique" with the kind of thoughtful gleam in her eye that tells me she is going to be exploring collages again soon.




A truly beautiful week.  We decided last week that we'd take this Friday off, then we had a spontaneous playdate on Monday which left us with three days to fit in everything we wanted to get done.  Ava and I talked about it and agreed that we wanted to stay on schedule so she worked a little longer each day.  Now we have a week off for Spring break, and when we come back we will start our last 12 weeks of Kindergarten.  So exciting!

Spring Gratitude...

I've mentioned this before, I love to watch the natural differences between my boy and my girl play out.  They both set out to embrace Spring.  Not with words, but through their joyous action their intent is clear.  Spring is here, and they are thrilled.  There is something magical about each season, but admittedly Spring is one of the best.

She...
Found a quiet place to make a magical crown, wand, and bracelet to complete her transformation into the Spring Fairy.  A lovingly crafted, detailed story goes along with her new persona.  Creation, beauty, grace.

He...
Found a tree with out thorns that can hold his weight and climbs.  His goal is simple and pure. Shaking the limbs as he rises, laughing out loud.  Shouting the world "I'm so high, I'm touching the sky!!!"  Conquering, powerful, Joy.

Thank you Spring.

(yes that is orange nail  polish on his nose.  He had spent the morning impersonating an external fuel tank of a space shuttle.  obviously.)

Rhythm of Our Kindergarten Week...

Like our Rhythm of our Day, the Rhythm for our Week is my guideline.  One of my most favorite things about homeschooling is the flexibility.  That said, I work well with a structure.  It gives me a sense of direction.

Monday
 Morning Circle
      ~flower fairy poem of the week
      ~picture book for our theme of the week
      ~poem of the month
Lesson Time
     ~Phonics
     ~Sentence
Creative Time
     ~Flower Fairy coloring page


Tuesday
Morning Circle
     ~Flower Fairy Poem of the week
     ~nonfiction book for our theme of the week
Lesson Time
     ~Math
    ~Science
     ~Sentence
Creative Time
     ~Activity of the week


Wednesday
Morning Circle    
     ~flower fairy poem of the week
      ~picture book for our theme of the week
      ~poem of the month
     ~Art Study
Lesson Time
     ~Phonics
     ~Sentence
Creative Time
     ~paint/model/bake


Thursday
Morning Circle
     ~Flower Fairy Poem of the week
     ~nonfiction book for our theme of the week
     ~Poem of the Month
Lesson Time
     ~Math
     ~Science
     ~Sentence
Creative Time
     ~Activity of the week


Friday
Morning Circle     
      ~flower fairy poem of the week
      ~picture book for our theme of the week
      ~poem of the month
Lesson Time
     ~Journal Page
     ~Little Letter Book
     ~Sentence
Creative Time
     ~Paper Dolls


Saturday
~Family Field Trip

Rhythm of our Kindergarten School Day

 This rhythm is the back bone of our day.  Somedays we follow it pretty closely, others not even a little bit.  It works for me to have a plan laid out.  I like to have a sense of where I would like to be in my day.  This is by no means a rule, or a reason to stress.  This is something that just works for me.

5-6am   kids wake up
5:30      Matt wakes up
7:00      kids breakfast
             play time
8:00      I wake up
             ~make beds
            ~ready for day
               -brush teeth
               -brush hair
               -get dressed/ put away pjs
9:00    Morning Circle time
           ~ lesson time
10:15  House Love (made up term for cleaning)
10:30  Quiet time/ Snack time
12:00  Outside time/ Garden time
1:00    Lunch
2:00    Creative Time  (art, or baking project)
3:00    Afternoon Circle time  (lasted about a month)
3:30    Free time
4:30    Dinner
5:00    Brush teeth/ bath time
5:30    Bedroom time
6:00    Matt home
          ~special time (story time)/ snack time
7:30   Sleep time

( I haven't published this before, for fear of looking like a control freak.  If that's what this looks like, let me assure you that it's 3:23pm and I haven't even brushed my teeth.  That's my kind of normal.)

Gratitude Mondays...

What I am loving today....

~A little baby who fits so well riding on my hip...

(how can I blame him for never wanted down?)

~A little girl who tries so hard to please....

(please let me be able to do right by her)

~A little boy who scared the **** out of me...

(I might even write about it.  If I do I am keeping the swear words dirty)

~A partner who came home safe!....
(It may only be for three days, and only once a year, but damn its good to have him home!)

~Flowers.

(I love flowers)

~Getting on top of a dirty house....

~Pandora Radio to accompany my night time baths...

(who knew?)

~I love my weeds
(Matt hates them, like really.  But I am not kidding that I love them.  I may even try to write a post about them)

V Week wrap up.....

This week in our school...

We covered the letter V

In Poetry we...
Read the Song of the Vetch Fairy by Cicely Mary Barker.  Ava thought the Vetch fairy seems very kind.  We continued with our month poem, The Robin, by Barbara Juster Esbensen.

Our theme for the week...
was supposed to be St Patrick's Day.  However, I had a little bit of a kerfluckle with my library hold list (and sick babies) and ended up NO books for my theme.  Alright, I can be flexible.  Our new theme became... Go outside.  And so we did.

In Math we...
~enforced building 10s and 1s
~build 200 with tiles
~build 10 hundred by stacking hundred-bead squares
~played lots and lots of Go to the Dump, a math game

In Science...
At last week's wrap up I thought I was going to continue with the theme of categories, but over the weekend we played some memory games using categories to help retain more information and then it just clicked for her.  She got categories, you could see it in her eyes. 
This week we worked with recognizing states of matter, Solids, Liquids, Gases, and how they can change.  I was surprised to see how quickly she grasped these concepts.  I don't know why she is always so amazing to me.  I just LOVE homeschool.

In Art study...

we explored The Canoe of Fate by Roy Deforest.  What a lively picture!  Ava liked the use of colors and dots, and described the painting as loud, intense, and busy.  I couldn't agree more.



With the start of the week bringing me three babies with fevers I was ready to call the whole week a wash.  I was proven wrong by my healthy and resilient children.  They bounced back, and we didn't miss a day.  It was a good week, even if Ava and I are counting the days till our spring break...

Cyrus's 4th birthday party...

Space shuttles, balloons, airplanes, and moon rocks.  Thai food, astronaut snacks, star cookies, and earth cake.  Family, friends, and one uninvited rattlesnake.  Fun, laughter and sun.  A really good day.