Like A Bird

Visit of Valentine's Past...

2012-02-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight we'll dine with candle light, receive small tokens, exchange hand crafted Valentine's, write our declarations of love, and my children will also get some of these.

Soon I will post about all the work my little one's have been up to this year, just as soon as I get the batteries for my extra camera charged.

I'd like to share today previous posts about Valentine's in our past.

~A homeschool week dedicated to the lovely holiday.
~A look at how we celebrated last year, and how I used almost the exact words to describe it. I'm so very original.
~And the year before, also with very similar descriptive words. Super.
~Our first Valentine's Table Blessing
~Our Valentine's day placemats
~Valentine's day wreath
~Valentine's day love poems

Many blessings on a day full of love!

Gratitude Monday

2012-02-13T01:57:00.000-07:00

Here's somethings I am loving today....

~A little baby who makes his needs known...
(No problem, I'll just cut the feet out of your pajamas)

~The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show...
(oh my goodness, it's one of my favorite things all year)

~A little girl who has turned into a silly seven year old comedian...

~A little boy with a brand new hair cut that makes him look years older...

~A partner who will drive around to all the best 'shows' in Tucson...
(because he knows it is only "once a year" and he knows how much I love it)

~Rereading favorite books....

~Chocolate dipped cones...

~Salty late night snacks...
(and the fact that I just types 'snakes', and then caught my error)

Here is to a new week!
I accidentally left my camera in another city, so I may not be able to blog.
So.
Here's to creative blogging ideas!

weekly wrap up #18

2012-02-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

This week in first grade...

In Poetry..
Poem of the week~ Um, I accidentally messed up the schedule, so we kinda skipped this. We did however start reading this at lunch time!
Poem of the month~ We didn't spend much time with this poem this week, but as it's rather short, I'm not concerned.
Silly Poem~ Noses! The silly poem talked about noses, and how the feel when it's hot or cold outside. Ava chose to draw a picture with one half showing how her and her nose enjoy a hot sunny day (by having a water balloon fight with me) and how her and her nose enjoy a cold winter day (by snuggling in a blanket on the couch with cocoa and marshmallows). Cyrus initially said he wanted to participate, but I think it's pretty clear he changed his mind somewhere in his artistic process. He also chose to do a hot/cold drawing, he shows himself, and his dad tossing a water balloon on one side, and a very cold blue man under a moon on the other. Oh my goodness he's silly.

In Social Studies/ and Art....

This week we talked about Maine, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

I'm still not exactly sure where I want these lessons to lead us. I know that covering 5-7 states a week won't leave a the children with exacting knowledge of each state. This year the goal is more to give them an impression. 50 is a lot of states. What I'm leaning toward in the long term is a large binder with folders for each state that each child will add to over the years. This year will be our starting point. Maybe next year we can start a 'state a week' focus along with the world history? Not sure. Not sure.

In the Kitchen..

For various reasons "Kitchen Lesson" was skipped again. It seems to be the one that gets cut when things get busy (or lazy). I wont fret though, I've noticed I have a lot more eager helpers in the kitchen since we started this. The time together may be subtle, and not always be structured, but isn't that why I homeschool?

In Music...

I ran out of time! Again! We are preparing for a weekend trip, and poor music get shoved aside so I can pack.

In Art Study..

We explored two paintings side by side. Wheatstacks, Snow Effect, and Grainstack, Sun in the Mist both by Claude Monet. Monet liked to paint objects, and scenes over and over in different situations (time of day, or year) to compare how environment changed the image. Ava liked the idea of painting things in different times of year, but overall she wasn't fond of the subject matter. " I don't really like the haystacks. It's not really my kind of thing. But, I do like the snowy hill. It reminds me of pictures of Antarctica." I think she's saving her positive praise for next week's painting. We'll see.

In Science We..
Reviewed Solids, Liquids, and Gasses and started talking about Gravity, and Air as a Substance. I checked out some books from the library to go along with our discussions and experiments. Some of the books were more popular than others, and the balloon experiments were so well liked that I'm going to write a whole separate posts about them!

Solids, Liquids, and Gasses
What is the World Made of? All about Solids, Liquids, and Gasses
Ice to Steam, Changing States of Matter
The Facts about Solids, Liquids, and Gasses

Gravity
Forces Make Things Move
Up, Down, All Around, A Story of Gravity
Experiments with Gravity

Air
Windy Weather Days
I Face the Wind
Let's Try it in the Air

In Math We...
~Wrote equations represented on the math balance
~Continued practicing 'trading' on side 2 of the abacus
~Partition 15 on the abacus, and the math balance
~Add 1 to various numbers

~Now that Cyrus is officially 'doing math' we've added him to more math games!

This week we are officially half way done with our school year! We made it to the park for a homeschool play date, and our curriculum for next year came in the mail. Working Cyrus into the Science lessons seems to be successful so far. It's been an overall great week!

A new drum...

2012-02-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

Cyrus and I finally put together his new drum this weekend. It was so simple, and a lot of fun to do. Cyrus says "This is my favorite best drum ever, because I made it with my muzzer!" Yup, he pronounces 'mother' as 'muzzer'. He reminds me of a little cartoon character.
Such a great kit.
Such a fantastic day.
Such an adorably fabulous boy.
Such an over the top grateful muzzer.

Best Possible Outcome...

2012-02-08T01:40:00.000-07:00

My baby had a cold last week.
He was feeling pretty grouchy.
Matt took over for me so I could take a break.
This is what I came back to find.
Perfect in every way.

Our Arizona Winter...

2012-02-07T01:57:00.001-07:00

If I haven't said it before, I love apple trees.

Gratitude Mondays...

2012-02-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

What I'm loving today...

~exciting big changes in our future that should be all worked out maybe this week?

~Packages coming in the mail...

~Superbowl parties!
(my family doesn't watch any football, but we do make some great food every year)

~Ice cream...

~A little girl who rolls her eyes...
(the more she shows me she's annoyed, the more annoying I want to be)

~A partner who is worth all this crazy year of not knowing where we are going...
(I'm excited to find out!)

~A little boy who is also a big brother who plays with his baby brother...

~A baby who mirrors his big brother...

A new week. New possibilities. New opportunities.

weekly wrap up #17

2012-02-05T19:16:00.001-07:00

This week in first grade...

In Poetry..

Poem of the week~ Animal Crackers, illustrated by Jayne Dyer. I love her soft watercolors.
Poem of the month~ We started our poem for February, Candles. I like the imagery of warm candles glowing on a cold winter day, even if our days are not that cold or wintery.
Silly Poem~ It's Alright, in the Dark! A poem about being afraid at night in the dark. One of Ava's options was to draw the scariest thing she could imagine. She really surprised me with her art. They both did. All of her work before this has been beautiful, or silly. I had no idea she could make such a scary picture. Either of them.

In Ava's picture we see a green witch coming inside a dark house with her magic wand. "Yes!" she says, as she realizes everyone is asleep. A large monster with red eyes, horns, wings and a spiked tail is holding a shining sword, a can of glitter magic ("like a sleeping spell") and an evil pet poodle on a leash. He's saying "Let's get to work!" The work of scaring, and eating people. His little pet in blue is saying "BOO!"

Cyrus's winged red mouthed monster is holding a flaming sword over his head. It's dificult to see, but he added BOB in the dark area. It was supposed to say BOO!, I just think it's adorable that his monster is saying "BOB".

In Social Studies and Art combined....

For the next few weeks we will integrate Social Studies with our Art and crafting. We are starting our United States Binder. (a work in progress that I'll talk about later) Each week we will talk about 6 states. Using coloring pages from here (after editing the size some), information from this website and, once it arrives in the mail, we'll start using this book.

In the Kitchen..
We skipped the kitchen this week!

In Music...
We skipped music this week..

In Art Study...

We explored The Old Violin, by William Michael Harnett. This painting is remarkably lifelike. It looks very much like a picture, and less a painting. In Ava's words "ooooh, it look real. It's a very realistic painting. I like the violin it has so many colors. This painting must have taken says to get it perfect, and a lot of sketches of it too."

In Science We...
Started to talk about Gravity, and Air is a Substance. We were able to briefly play with the experiments, but were really unable to spend very much time with science this week. Household viruses caused many shifts in our program. I was able to pick up a lot of books for us to use next week when we go over the material again with fresh perspectives, and NO MORE COLDS. (please)

In Math We...
~ found the number of days in a year, and leap year

~ practiced trading quantities on side 2 of the abacus
~ worked with the math balance
~ used the terms balanced and level
~ started the Bead Trading game. (a solitary math game)

Our house was hit pretty hard with colds this week. We were able to get a fair amount of school taken care of. We haven't fallen behind anything that runs on a schedule, but we did have to cut out a lot of fun activities this week. Thankfully we were able to make up for a lot of it over the weekend.

It's all about balance!

Weekly Wrap Up #16

2012-02-04T00:02:00.000-07:00

This week in first grade...

In Poetry..

Poem of the week~ If. I honestly can't remember this poem now as I write this, so it probably wasn't that great?
Poem of the month~ Our last week with It Fell in the City. Ava started taking the book from me and instead of showing me how she memorized this poem, she chose instead to read it. Works for me.
Silly Poem~ The Animal Fair. Ava wasn't thrilled with this poem. She liked it, but just didn't get into it much. She chose to draw a list of the animals, the funny things that they were doing and and asked me to label it for her.

In Social Studies....
We finished Wagon Wheels, a true story based on the tales of a young family in 1840s. Ava and I took turns reading a page aloud to each other. It was very hard for her to wrap her mind around 3 young boys living alone for months, then traveling on foot for the 150 mile 3 month journey to their father. We also read Sunset's of the West.

In the Kitchen..

We made playdough! (finally) Using this recipe, we made lemon grass scented playdough. I'm almost out of food coloring because of this, so we used turmeric for a nice yellow color. It's bright, sunny, and the kids Love it.

In Music...
This was our second week of listening, and singing patriotic songs while painting. Our song this week was America the Beautiful. And the results were, well, beautiful!

In Art..

We made berry ink! The perfect ink to use on our "old old paper". The recipe is super simple. I used one found here. It's just berries, salt and vinegar. That's my kind of recipe. We found tiny little sticks in the backyard to use as our brush/pen/stylus.

In Art Study..

We explored The Gleaners, by Jean Francois Millet. Ava said seemed to understand the hardship of these woman. For the over all painting she said "I like the blue. Blue is a color that you'd mostly see a lot. But in this picture it's mostly yellow green, and brown so the blue stands out more. That's pretty cool".

In Science We..
We had a big shift in science these last few weeks. (that's the reason we've been growing crystals during science lesson time) I've been trying to decide how to work Cyrus into our science curriculum next year. We use Building Foundations for Scientific Understanding k-3, and I love it. We all love it. The curriculum isn't necessarily written for multiple children at multiple levels, but it is very adaptable. After a few weeks of consideration I've decided to fold Cyrus into our science lessons starting this week. From this week, and for possibly the rest of the year we will start from the beginning and 'do science again'. All of this will be review for Ava. That's cool with me, it will make sure she's a solid in the foundation as she can be. It will largely be review for Cyrus as well. He spent the last year and a half participating in most of the activities, but not really paying attention to the lesson. (which is another thing I'm cool with) I have the basic idea of how our review will flow. I plan on using the library suggestions this time around, as I think they will help reinforce the ideas in a way that Cyrus will respond to.

Over the weekend we played organizational games and talked about categories. This week in our science lesson we talked about Solids Liquids and Gasses.

In Math We...
~spent part of our week reviewing
~found the number of tens in 1000
~found the sum of numbers 1 to 10
~advanced to using 'the other side' of the abacus

This was an exciting week for us in homeschool. Ava was able to skip six lessons in math, as they were subjects she was already confident in. (covered in level A) She thought that was pretty amazing. Cyrus joined us in our science lessons and was so very pleased with himself that he asked if he could join us in math also. Initially I rejected the idea of Cyrus doing any more school. It goes against my ideals that I would have my preschooler doing 'work'. After a while it dawned on me that if my almost five year old wants to be included in school more, than of course I will accommodate him. Thankfully we use Right Start Mathematics, the level A program is very gentle progression into numbers. A few lessons here and there at his own pace will only serve to strengthen his excitement about becoming a student next year.

Soon and very soon

2012-02-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say that I'm here, and I'll be back soon.
So many many things are soon.
So many answers to so many questions will be soon. (hopefully)
So many packages will arrive in the mail soon. (next year's curriculum will be here next week!)
So many days of children with colds will be over soon. (it must be soon. Must Be.)
So many chocolates will be eaten and my box will be empty soon! (whoopsie.)

See you soon!

alright

2012-01-27T00:35:00.000-07:00

I'll get back to you.

For right now...

shhhhh.

January Preschool Wrap Up...

2012-01-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's what preschool looked like this month...

Looking at this makes me wonder, What didn't he do?

Well hello there little guy...

2012-01-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

I love looking through a month of photos looking for my littlest. I noticed something as I was choosing my favorites. Can you tell what it is?

Ummm. I seem to have a favorite shirt. Poor little guy. I didn't even know that I liked it that much.

Up Up and Away...

2012-01-24T00:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend we put together and launched our second rocket from the kit. This smaller rocket went much much higher and we had a 'blast'! (ha!)

This was not the only rocket that was carefully pieced together, decorated, and launched this weekend. Ava got in on the action Ava Style. She found all the ingredients she needed for a creation all-her-own.

I love my family.

Gratitude Mondays...

2012-01-23T20:53:00.003-07:00

Here's some things that I am loving today...

~Healthy family...

~Late night movies, and snacks with Matt...

~Winter pajamas...

~Reading blogs...

(and novellas on blogs)

~Arizona's Winter weather...

~Having a copier, and ink...

~Reading with my little girl...

~Watching my little boy work out puzzles....

~Listening to my baby figure out new words...

~Being so wrapped up enjoying a weekend that I forgot to write a Monday post...

Here's to a fantastic week!

Weekly Wrap Up #15...

2012-01-22T13:12:00.000-07:00

This week in first grade...

In Poetry..
Poem of the month~ We are getting to the final stages of memorizing this poem. It seems to be trickier than others, in part I think, because of it's repetitive nature. Now they just have to get the order of the verse right.
Poem of the week~ talks about making treats for winter animals in your backyard forest. Now my children are very interested in what we can do for our backyard visitors.
Our silly poem~ Was the story of the Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. I preferred the wording in the book we already owned, so I read from that. Ava chose to draw this week, which we both thought was a nice change of pace.

In Social Studies....

We started the week talking about Martin Luther King. This lead to a lot of conversations that I'd been putting off until now, ie, slavery, racism, and assassination. We watched a little bit of the Dream Speech and talked about how things have changed over the years. My babies were already familiar with the need to protect civil rights, but this was the first time they had heard how bad things have been in our country. Following MLK we continued our talk about the birth of our nation. We read a few stories of our earliest presidents, and read how some of our patriotic songs came to be. Again I used this as a guide, and added a few other story books, and resources.

In the Kitchen..
We were supposed to make playdough, but things got in the way. Fun things like rockets!

In Music...

After we talked about the history of our patriotic songs in social studies, we explored how music influences art. We focused on the Star Spangled Banner this week because this song is so very familiar to my baseball loving family. I asked them to choose a line from the song, and then to paint it. The each chose "...rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air..."

(as I write this it occurs to me that taken out of context these little paintings could look very unpatriotic. Whoopsie.)

In Art..
We made tea dyed paper to create our very own "old paper". Ava, Cyrus and Sol went pretty crazy for this. It's very simple, with pretty instant results.

In Art Study..

We explored J.M.W. Turner's Burning of the House of Parliament. Ava thought this painting was both kinda cool, and kinda scary. She said that it seemed like a creepy place to be, and that it felt unsafe. I agree with her.

In Science We..
Made more crystals! These clear crystals took longer to form (12-24 hours), are smaller, and have larger lattice structure. They are my favorite so far, Ava likes them "medium".

In Math We...
We worked on adding 4-place digits using the base-10 cards. One of the many reasons that I LOVE this math program. My little girl added 3946+2108, 2834+5781, 2475+3645, and four other equations this week. It's pretty cool to watch her work them out.

This week spilled into the weekend again, which is why I'm posting it late again. I'm cool with that. It was a good week of good school. We are working on a new system inspired by this post. I'm not going full work box, that wouldn't make sense for us. Maybe I really just like the little calenders. Next year we'll be adding Cyrus to the mix as a kindergartener. I find myself spending a lot of spare time trying to work out the easiest way to transition to two kids in homeschool. I'm excited and more than a little nervous to see how it's all going to work out. (yes, I realize that I still have 8-9 months before the next school year starts for us. I'm a planner.)

Of course they are...

2012-01-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

Recently, after 'quiet time', I was talking with Ava.

She had made a series of delightful little paper cutouts.

I asked her if she wanted "to talk about them". (my version of "what is it?)

She replied... "Well, they're snowflakes."

Of course they are.

"See how they are all beautiful, small and different from each other? No two are alike."

I do see.

Of course I see.

I also see that my children really really really need to experience real snow.

Little everyday backyard treasures.

2012-01-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to hear:
"Mom, look! Isn't this interesting?"
Followed with:
"I wonder... (how, why, what, who, where..)?"
And then to find
special treasures tucked away
on shelves,
in jars,
or in baskets
to be saved for future exploration.
It's the magic of
childhood.
It's the magic of
life.

Tens Triangle Fractal...

2012-01-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

This wasn't a small project. Not by any stretch of the imagination. We worked together (at some point Matt even got involved) every day this week to create our mathematical work of art. I considered skipping this lesson, as I had read other family's had opted to do. But there was never really a choice. Not for me. Math on a grand scale that is powerful and beautiful? Oh, no. I couldn't deny her that. (I did laminate to save our work so that I don't have to do all of this again for the boys though)

Here's what Dr Cotter wrote about her fractal:

Fractals are a new branch of mathematics only a few decades old. There are two types of fractals, regular, and random. Scientists use random fractals for computer modeling in order to study some of nature's irregular patterns and structures. Regular fractals, also called geometric fractals, consist of larger structures that are identical to the smaller structure.

The Tens Fractal, a regular fractal starts with ten small equilateral triangles arranged in the pattern of a larger equilateral triangle, the ten triangle. Ten of these ten triangles arranged in the same pattern forms the hundred triangle. And ten of the hundred triangles in the same pattern forms the thousand triangle, the Cotter Tens Fractal.

So with our plan in place, we set to work.

~30 pages of construction paper
~4 (at least) glue sticks
~100 glue dots
~25 lamination pouches
~35 printed pages of triangles
~6 days of work
~One Thousand Three Hundred triangles cut. That's 1,300. That's A. LOT. Of. Triangles.
(to be fair, a few {hundred} were because of my own error, but I'm not willing to talk about that)

And here's the biiig result of our week of dedicated work ....

We are all very pleased with the results. This is not likely to be a lesson she (any of us) will soon forget.

Gratitude Monday...

2012-01-16T00:43:00.000-07:00

Here's what I'm loving today...

~A baby boy with sweet little curls that are sprouting on the back of his sweet baby head..

~A girl who jumps up to help her baby brother, regardless of what she's doing...

~A boy takes his job of feeding the cats very seriously. Very seriously.

~A partner who's cool with me canceling a super fun weekend so we can stay home and just be...

~The food that resulted from our stay at home weekend....

~Laminating, printing, chopping, dot gluing, velcro coining. My super cool, super high tech techniques of homeschool mom-ing.

~New favorite songs!

Here's to a new week. Let's see what she brings.

Weekly Wrap Up #14

2012-01-14T17:38:00.000-07:00

This week in first grade...

In Poetry..
Poem of the Week~ Hiding Places. A sweet poem about all the many places animals use to find warmth in the cold winter.
Poem of the month~ It Fell in the City. The kids really like the repeating style of this poem, and seem to be very enthusiastic about memorizing it.
Silly Poem~ this week we read a poem about Guzzlesumps. It's a nonsense poem that leaves you to figure out what you think a Guzzlesnump is. Afterwards Ava chose to write her own poem.

A Gusolsnup

I love Gusolsnups.

Gusolsnups are mean!

Do you love Gusolsnups?

Gusolsnups can tell time.

Gusolsnup what time is this?

The end.

In Social Studies....

This week we talked about the first people of America. The natives, the vikings, and the English explorers. We talked a little about what brought each group of people here, and read stories about life long ago. I read while we worked on our paper quilts.

(the stories mostly came from the Core Knowledge series, with embellishments from me. Core Knowledge isn't something that I highly recommend, but I have found them useful as a quick occasional guide.)

In the Kitchen..
Our school week stretched in to the weekend. Matt had the kids help him make the paneer for our palak paneer. Paneer is a very simple fresh cheese. Pretty much you heat up the milk, add vinegar, separate the curds from the whey, squeeze, drain and form. So simple, so delicious, and so fascinating to watch.

In Music...

First thing, I made a mistake last week when I started to introduce the instrument families. That's supposed to be next trimester. Whoopsie.

This week, back on track we talked about some of the influential African American musicians through out our culture's recent history in honor of MLK's birthday. I made a playlist on youtube of songs that I thought my children would like.

(out of the 15 artist I chose, the hardest turned out the Micheal Jackson. For some reason I seem to know nothing about his music. yikes)

In Art..

We made paper quilts. We we talked about different styles and patterns that we've seen, and how quilts have been used for so many years as a way to reuse materials and keep a home warm as well as beautiful. We each came up with our own unique design. Our new quilts now decorate our binder covers for this season.

In Art Study..

We explored a photo of Victory Quilt by Dorinda Moody Slade. Ms Slade made this quilt after her four year journey from Texas to Utah. I think that the years spent traveling impressed Ava more than anything else. She told me she prefers to look at painting of "views and pretty gardens. Or, one of a live fairy." Ava did like hearing some of the more colorful names of quilt patterns like "my grandmother's flower garden" and "toad in a puddle". Ava also thought this quilt may be better named "My Father's Pizza Garden".

In Science We..
made Crystal Flowers! (sorta) Our second experiment with the kit. Because of my little mistake last week, we didn't have quite enough sodium acetate for the experiment. Due to this, I had to change things up a bit. As a result the crystal didn't exactly "flower". (It was still very pretty, what ever you call it.)

In Math We...
~Constructed the Cotter Tens Fractal. To help further appreciate the 10 for 1 pattern of our number system.

This was such an exciting lesson. We spent a large portion of our whole week dedicated to this Monster. It was such a big deal that I'm writing a whole blog post about it! ~~More on that later~~.
Edit: Here's the link to the biiig fractal post!

This week was everything I love about homeshcooling. We took on a large project, worked as a family and 'school' was an all day, all week family event. I love homeschooling.

This story is for 6 and up

2012-01-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

"Mom. I wrote a new story, but before you think anyone under six should read it, you better read the whole thing. It's pretty spooky"

The Big Camping Trip

by Ava Rana

Once upon a time ago there lived a little girl. She had a mom and a dad. Her mom's name is Ava and she had a three year old. One day Ava found a secret name for her and her dad. Her dad is Sol and she was named Spring.

One day Ava had a baby! But the baby was two years old. To celebrate that the baby was born they went to the woods. In the woods it was dark. The bushes rattled. And there was a bear! And the bear had a gun and bows and arrows. And the bear has helpers. And they had an evil chihuahua. But the people lived happily ever after.

The End.

"see what I mean mom? It gets pretty scary. It has a happy ending, but I don't think anyone under six should hear this story. They might get too scared. The part about the evil chihuahua was from a dream."

Stalagmite love...

2012-01-11T12:09:00.000-07:00

We made our very first crystal! Using this kit, we made a stalagmite. A purple stalagmite. Our first attempt was a huuuuge smelly disaster. (I don't like to admit this, but I am pretty impossible when it comes to following simple directions. Especially the direction of "keep an eye on the pan while the solution heats". Almost every time a recipe calls for me to watch a pot, I think I don't really have to.) Anyway, enough about me. The second attempt was a gorgeous success. We were able to grow a stalagmite in minutes, no millions of years necessary for us.

Turns out following directions yields results. Let's see if I can remember that later on this week when we make our next crystal.

5..4..3..2..1...

2012-01-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

Blast off!

Matt and Cyrus put together a model rocket this weekend.

It was so much fun. Seriously.

They worked hard, and for a really big pay off.

First we had some false starts.

Then we had two great launches.
The first one caught us all by surprise.
The video sums it up nicely.

Did you see the rocket?

The second launch was much much better.
(And I was able to capture it all on camera, even if I didn't know it at the time.)

Gratitude Monday...

2012-01-09T00:00:00.001-07:00

Here's What I'm Loving Today...

~Crab dinners...

~Rocket launches...

(more on that later)

~Tea...

~The return of non holiday music...

~Final negotiations...

(more on that later. Hopefully)

~A little girl who authors amazing tales...

~Retirement parties that end with flourish...

~New circle time songs and poems for spring...

~A baby who snuggles close all night...

~A Partner who knows just who to pick me up with I'm blue...

~A boy who tries to sing Metallica songs...
(his lyrics are even father off than mine are)

Here's to a new week.
The week I get my house clean?
Eh. Maybe.

Weekly Wrap Up #13

2012-01-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

This week in first grade...

In Poetry..

We read from Read Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young for our weekly choice, and began a selection from In Winter for our poem of the month. Both poems talk about snow, something I'd very much like my children to see someday. Our Silly Poem this week was a variation on the BINGO song. Instead of drawing a picture Ava chose to write a story. This has been her newest passion. I just Love her writing so much, I can not even say.

In Social Studies....

Social studies was skipped big time this week. I have a project in mind that will hopefully help illustrate the concept of globe to home, ie, earth, continent, country, state, county, city, home. Maybe we'll get it this week end? If we do, I'll edit this post and add pictures. We'll see.

In the Kitchen..

This week we made butter. Not a new activity for us, but we did try something completely new... Ava used her new (Santa gifted) butter molds. She has wanted to make beautiful shapes with our butter since she heard how Ma made floral shapes in Little House in the Big Woods. The silicone mold was very successful, we are still working out the kinks with the old fashion butter press. I'm not sure if we should ever use the antique butter press.

In Music...

We have started talking about the classification of musical instruments. This week we started with The Brass Family. Using these little nomenclature cards, google, and youtube we were able to have a nice comprehensive discussion.

In Art..
We stamped with celery! (thank you pinterest) The result is a large floral shape print, perfect for our Spring binder covers.

In Art Study..

We explored The Artist in his Museum, by Charles Wilson Peale. Ava was pretty enthusiastic about this painting. She said "It's kinda cool. Because how could he keep his hand so steady to make those little tiny details? And it's kinda not cool, because you know how I like light things? Things that have a lot of bright colors? This is full of dark colors." Maybe it was the freshness of being back after a long break, but she was very excited about studying this painting. I think it also had a lot to do with the fact that there are so many interesting things going on. Taxidermy, a mastodon, and a wall of paintings to name a few.

In Science We..
We started to work with Ava's new crystal growing kit. First up getting familiar with our kit. We are starting our first experiment this afternoon making stalagmites. More on that later!

In Math We...
We started the week with some math games to get us back on track. I love these games, almost as much as she does.

I also laminated our math practice sheets, for easier use. (laminating is very very fun).
We only had one official math lesson this week, which Ava rocked. I so enjoy seeing her work out puzzles. This week we
~review the value of a penny and a nickle
~value of a dime as 10
~learn 100 cents equals 1 dollar
~solve coin and story problems

This week is our first official week back, and it was not with out its set backs. We all suffered from various ailments. (which impeded motivation) But I was so very please with the quality of work that we did get done. My goodness. I LOVE homeschool.

Farewell to the Holidays...

2012-01-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

Who know where we'll be next year?
I'm looking forward to finding out!

One Way It Goes

2012-01-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

So. This is just one way things work out around here.

The other morning Cyrus came up to me to show me his "flower petal mask". I told him it was a very clever design, and we took a picture.

A few hours later, Ava came to me with her flower mask. (Along with an elastic band to hold it up.)

And that's just the way things go sometimes. It is so very interesting to watch the dynamic play out between my babies.

I want to know the right way to acknowledge their efforts.
I want to know the proper way to validate their individual accomplishments.
I want to know the correct way to delicately balance their unique egos with sensitivity.
I hope that we can all navigate a peaceful path that will lead us on a loving journey.
I want them to know that I am crazy about each of them.

Zoo part 2

2012-01-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's the absolute truth. I love going to the zoo, but hardly ever do it enough. I love taking pictures at the zoo, but then don't do anything with them. Over the years of going to different zoos with different digital cameras I'm sure I've amassed thousands of less than half interesting animal photos. (I do have some fairly amusing ones if you have a juvenile sense of humor for things like zebra penis, giraffes pooping, or turtles humping, but that's not my point today) What I do want to share with you all is why I fell in love at the Reid Park Zoo.

First, they have peacocks.

Dozens of them. Just running around, hanging out.

And then this beautiful fella walked into my life. Oh my.

I was taken by his striking white plumage. (I've been very into white this season)

I never knew I was such a tail feather girl. And who could blame me?

Then there was this mama. And this mama had something special to share.

She has three 6 month old cubs that she was loving on, playing with and nursing.

Oh my goodness.

New Years Zoo...

2012-01-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

Part One. Our little zoo crew.

We spent our New Years day together with my sister and her children at the Reid Park Zoo. It was a brilliant way to bring in the new year. Adventuring and exploring wild life as a family.

We had maps to help guide the way...

Shady (because it was Hot, if you can believe that.) places to rest...

Time to play...

And we did it all together.

Gratitude Mondays

2012-01-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's What I'm Loving Today...

~A Bright Shiny New Year!

~Starting our winter homeschool today...

~A return of our family's rhythm...

~A baby who is starting to talk!

~A very fulfilling holiday season..

~A little boy who sings, sings, sings and sings...

~A little girl who sparkles...

~Frangos...

~A partner who takes care of his family...

(and who bought me the Perfect christmas gift)

~The return of regular blogging!

(I wasn't planning to take any break, let alone one for almost two months)

Week 12 Wrap Up

2011-12-28T17:23:00.000-07:00

For the 2nd year in a row I haven't been able to get an actual "week 12" completed. I should really prepare for this phenomena next year. During the month of December we did a little bit of phonics to keep us on pace, and let every thing else go. I love having my babies celebrate 25 days of christmas. Every day there was something to look forward to either a craft, baking, activity for the family, or a small gift. Here's a little bit of what my darling Ava was up to...

Thank you so very much for sharing our first 12 weeks of first grade with us. It's been a fantastic year so far. I look forward to the next trimester of school. Oh man, you though I got distracted this year? We have some BIG changes coming up in the next few months. Thank goodness we homeschool.

Week 11 Wrap Up...

2011-12-28T17:15:00.000-07:00

This week in first grade...

We were a little (whole lot) less structured this week. I was planning a half week due to Thanksgiving so we really managed to stay on pace, for the most part. As long as you consider putting lights on the house, making our 6th annual turkey hand print cards, making butter, making our 5th annual turkey family page, and adding to our Thankful Tree as all crucial tasks, then yes we did fabulous!

In math we played games, learned a new game (math War), learned the strategy of transofming facts into known facts, and partitioned 7 and 6.

Aside from Math the only "school thing" we worked on was phonics. I was distracted in every way this week of our lives, so all and all I think we did excellent!

Week 10 Wrap Up...

2011-12-28T16:43:00.001-07:00

This week in first grade...

In Poetry..
Our poem of the week was Important Spoon, from Important Book, by Margaret Wise Brown. (I think it's amusing that Ava feels she needs to correct what is and what isn't important in this book)
Our poem of the month was Prediction from Swing Around the Sun. Our silly poem this week was The Wheels on the Bus, a very old, very silly, and somehow oddly infectious poetic singalong. Ava drew a picture with oil pastels depicting our homeschool on a bus, in the forest.

In Social Studies....

We explored Antarctica. A fascinating frozen dessert. I don't have a whole lot to put in my content box, yet, but I look forward to adding more.

In the Kitchen..
Ava was thrilled to start safe knife practice. Using a pineapple gave us lots to chop, and a delicious snack!

In Music...
We made music with glasses of water.

In Art..
We made Antarctica collages. I found an old National Geographic with a cover story about Antarctica, and we used it to make (and learn about) collages.

In Art Study..

I've lost my notes on this particular art study. What I remember clearly is that Ava liked this painting, but wasn't thrilled. She said it may be an interesting place to explore, as the desert looked different from 'our desert', and she insisted on calling the bones 'dinosaur bones'. Oh, Ava.

In Science We..
We discussed how to identify various materials. Described how to separate items into categories using differing characteristics. (Metal, plastic, rubber, ceramic, textiles, fiber, fabric, elastic, wood, leather, glass)

In Math We...
~added four place numbers with the base-10 cards
~took the "nine week test", and passed exceptionally.

This week actually wrapped up over a month ago so I wrote this based off notes. I'll let you know a secret about what I do remember: This was the last week of school that was fully completed in the month of November. We all got into the holiday spirit just a tad early. (that and for a few days there was a very real possibility that our family was moving 800 miles away in three weeks from Thanksgiving. Eeesh.)

December Preschool Wrap Up...

2011-12-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

We take the whole month of December to just be together enjoying the season as a family. This is what that looked like for my preschool boy...

Decorating, baking, swinging, running, hiding, jumping, throwing, discovering, laughing, gathering, laughing, and a lot of red jacket wearing.

Brilliant.

November Preschool Wrap Up...

2011-12-28T13:06:00.003-07:00

Here's what preschool looked like for us in November...

Sorting, stacking, snacking, cutting, looking, building, sitting, stretching, painting, touching, and little Lite Brite action!

Perfect.

Getting caught up

2011-12-28T12:59:00.002-07:00

For the next few posts I'm hoping to get caught up on my 'homeschool update' posts. I'm like 5 or so behind. I'd like to have them posted, so I can use them later in my homeschool journey as a reference.
Woohoo! Super exciting right? Yep.

What A Time It Has Been...

2011-12-28T01:19:00.000-07:00

I've been gone faaarrr too long. I'm sorry about that. I'm doing great. We are doing more than great actually. It's been such an amazing holiday season, and I'd like to share just a little bit of that with you.

This season we:

Gathered and played~

All pitched in to decorate~

Created works of art~

Gathered bits of nature~

Chose the very best tree~

Trimmed the most perfect tree~

Got dressed up and posed for pre party photos~

Had whirl wind adventures~

Got a little more than silly~

Laughed till our faces hurt~

Took risks~

Conquered fears~

Performed gorgeous solos~

Baked colorful delights~

And I haven't even gotten to Christmas yet!

I just wanted to say that I'm here, and my family is lovely. I hope your holiday season has been as full of magic as ours has. I have quite a bit I need to catch up on. I look forward to sharing all of this with all of you!

With many blessings,
Amanda

What she's reading...

2011-11-16T14:48:00.001-07:00

"want to hear my favorite new poem mom? I wrote it down for you."
Yes. A hundred times yes.

Thank you Thomas Locker, and thank you to my sister for giving us this beautiful gift.

Thank you for the moment that my little girl wants to share her love of poetry with me.

One moment of magic

2011-11-16T00:20:00.000-07:00

I love this so much I could marry it.

Brothers plus Mud Puddle plus Rocks equals

2011-11-14T16:57:00.001-07:00

Oh boy. Boys.

Gratitude Monday

2011-11-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's What I Am Loving Today...

~This wet cloudy cool weather!

~Visit from my sister and her children...

~Getting christmas lights on the house...

~A partner who will get up there and hang up lights with out complaint...
(even if he thinks it's too early.)
and

(he thinks it's too early Every Year)

~Ordering christmas cards...

~Holiday planning...

~A baby who is communicating both with sign, and little words more and more....

~New books, and new electronic toys...
(a new tablet equals much to figure out)

~A little boy who likes to play "package man"
(UPS is his favorite and I love all the little deliveries)

~Clean sheets...
(my side of the bed stays clean for about 8 hours, until a dirty little baby finds a way to make them less than pristine)

~A little girl who is so big, and so grown up, yet still sometimes just wants to be held..

Here's to a new week, with would you believe even more possibilities being presented!?!
Eh.
Grateful for possibilities, and the possibility of maybe some answers soon?

Weekly Wrap Up #9

2011-11-12T01:37:00.001-07:00

This week in first grade...

In Poetry..
This was our first week with our poem of the month. We are back to using one of my favorites, Swing Around the Sun. Our poem of the week was a Jack Prelutsky classic. This week's silly poem activity Ava chose to write her own short story using writing prompts, and the poem as inspiration. This was the first week she's chosen this option, usually she chooses drawing. I was delighted with the change, and the chance to hear her tell a story using prompts.

Seven Monkeys

Seven monkeys were hopping along.
Then they threw their sticks down and started swinging on a gate.

They didn't know who's gate it was, but they knew it belonged to somebody.
They didn't know why they were swinging on a gate. They were just having fun.
They could hear someone opening the door.
They saw the person's face, and she looked mad.
They ran away covering their ears so they couldn't hear her saying
"Stop Climbing On My Gate!"

In Social Studies....
We explored Australia! We are very fortunate that my in-laws recently hada trip to Australia, they were able to bring back lots of fun things to explore for continent box. I was equally fortunate to find this fabulous story book, Are we there yet? by Alison Lester at our library for fifty cents. Are we there yet? is a family's real life account of their three month journey exploring Australia.

In the Kitchen/ Music..
This week we had some of our family stay with us. We traded kitchen and music fun for cousin fun.
Totally worth it.

In Art..
We made Australian Aboriginal Bark Paintings. We used this as our guide, and paper bags as our 'bark'. We had such a good time, and the kids really got into it.

In Art Study..

We explored New York Waterfront by Stuart Davies. Ava enjoyed this painting much more than I thought she would. "It's cool. I've never seen anything like it before. It's really really interesting. It reminds me of driving in San Diego, going to the farmer's market and watching everything out the window go by" Maybe my girl has a little abstract in her after all.

In Science We..
Discussed sound, vibrations, and energy. We used marbles on a strip of molding to demonstrate how sound vibrations travel through the air. As always, Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding took something abstract, or complicated and made it hands on, fun, and clear. I LOVE this book.

In Math We...
~Played games
~Worked with manipulating right triangles
~Covered the concept of 'practice for accuracy'
~Started work with our addition facts sheets
~Experienced trading with our base ten cards

We were so blessed to be able to spend time with one of my sisters and her children this week. Her daughter is about the same age as Ava, and she enjoyed going to "school" with us for a bit. It was a pleasure having her.

lullaby...

2011-11-10T00:17:00.000-07:00

Sleep baby sleep

Thy father guards the sheep

Thy mother shakes the dream land tree

Down falls a little dream on thee

Sleep baby sleep.

Retro Love.

2011-11-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

This week I had the opportunity to introduce to my babies a childhood favorite of mine.

There is something so magical and mesmerizing about

little pegs of color mixed with light.

Who doesn't love a Lite Brite?

(thank you Rachael!)

Hair cut fun...

2011-11-08T00:20:00.000-07:00

If you where to ask my children what a trip to get their hair cut is like, it would be something like this...

A trip to their Aunts house, playing with cousins, and hanging out the the chickens. Who wouldn't love that?

If you are local and looking for a great cut (playing with chickens is not mandatory) I highly recommend a trip to Hair Designs by Rachael.

Gratitude Mondays...

2011-11-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's What I Am Loving Today....

~Chocolate fudge sundaes...

~cooler weather!!!

~Extra blankets on my bed...

~Epsom salt and essential oil baths...

~A weekend with a long to do list left undone, but a lot of fun accomplished...

~Setting up next year's curriculum...

(what? Nine months ahead seems to early?)

~A little girl who is making grand plans for her homemade christmas...

~A little baby who loooooves to be naked...

~A little boy who pretends he's a dinosaur everywhere we go...

(let's just keep the roaring down a bit while we are in a restaurant, okay?)

Japanese restaurants....

~A partner who plans our whole day around trips to the park and lunch...

A new week.

Weekly Wrap Up #8

2011-11-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

This week in first grade we....

Took a different approach. We both needed a break, and neither of us were thrilled with the idea of school this week. So we didn't do regular school. For most of the week we did very little. Somehow I still managed to sneak in enough that I don't even feel remotely guilty about this either.

Monday...
We made pumpkin muffins, played a Halloween math game, spelling pretest and had many photo shoots for our fantastic costumes.

Tuesday...
We had a serious candy experiment. Complete with scientific procedure, graph paper and everything. To her it was a game, to me it was a chance to expose her to a greater way to solve problems.

Wednesday...
Park day with our local homeschool group. Enough said.

Thursday...
Spelling games, art and character study, and some time with silly poems. The silly poem was well, silly.

I think the art study either expanded her mind, or messed with it a bit. MC Escher has that effect on people.

"It's a really interesting painting. It shows you two views of the same time and they're both in different colors" (most of her explanation of this painting had to do with taking a canvas and breaking it into quarters and how all of our other paintings have been whole pictures, but this one was in many pieces, and some how there is a bird wedding)

Friday...
Technically Friday hasn't happened yet. I plan on doing an actual math lesson,

exploring the European continent box, watch clog dancing videos, and listen to Celtic music. I've done things so differently this week that I don't have pictures yet. ~~I'll come back and add them later!~~

I really really liked this week. This week was all about making it work, being flexible, and using homeschool to our advantage. Even though I feel like we took the whole week off, I still managed to keep us caught up on everything that depends on a schedule. Next week we'll jump into November with renewed spirit. November has it's own special circle time songs. November is nice and short, especially now. AND we take the whole month of December off! I love homeschool. LOVE IT.

Peter and The Wolf, and the Meadow Fairy...

2011-10-31T17:10:00.000-07:00

Tonight's costume-y fineness...

We have Peter and The Wolf from the well loved ballet. And did you know that in every meadow there lives a Meadow Fairy? Our resident fairy expert pointed this out, and our family theme costume was born.

Peter:

The Wolf:

The Meadow Fairy:

Happy Halloween!!!

Gratitude Mondays

2011-10-31T00:07:00.000-07:00

Here is what I am loving today...

~capers..
(I would add them to so many more things)

~A full weekend of family birthday celebrations and Halloween party planing...
(I love the things my little ones come up with)

~ Fair Trade Cocoa...
(even if cocoa has a bit too much caffeine for me)

~A baby who likes to find his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and belly button...
(just please no more finding MY belly button in public)

~A little girl who crafted her Halloween wings along side me..
(they are so beautiful. More on that later.)

~A partner who helps me find order...
(in a time with little order)

~A little boy who asks for his jack-o-lantern to have "a witch on a broom, a cat and a moon"..
(last year it was a "laughing tree" this boy does not do simple.)

Happy Halloween!!!

Weekly Wrap Up #7....

2011-10-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

This week in first grade...

In Poetry..
We finished our Poem of the Month with a dramatic reproduction for Matt. The kids really liked acting out each line of this silly Halloween rhyme, the daily rehearsals were as much fun as the main event. For our poem of the week we enjoyed reading Old Old Witch. Our Silly Poem of the week involved a dinosaur hunt, and a bear in a cave. Our pictures that we made reflected a scene from the poem. I went with the bear in the cave (please notice the museum quality of my work), Ava decided that the dinosaur was a mama and drew her daughter, Cyrus chose the bear motif.

In Social Studies....

This week we covered the continent Asia. SO large, and so diverse, it's obviously something that can hardly be covered in a week. Our Asian continent box has quite a lot to go through, so starting there we then talked discussed a few interesting facts about the cultures while we played with the box. My children absolutely loved trying the rice paper candy from China. It could have (should have) been a week about candy.

I've decided to write a separate post (or posts) just to cover the content of the boxes. More on that later.

In the Kitchen..

We made popsicles again this week. The weather is finally starting to cool, but our afternoons are still highs in the 90s. Ava chopped the peaches using a 'sharp' knife. It was her first time using a sharp knife at home.

1 cup of Greek honey yogurt

~a bunch of chopped peaches (maybe three large?)

~a splash of orange juice

~a bit of honey

Blend 'til smooth.

In Music...

We tackled the Jaw Harp. Thought to be the oldest musical instrument, pictured in Chinese art dating back to the 4th century b.c.. We received ours as a gift from my sister. We found lots of examples of people all over the world using this instrument on youtube. Cyrus had the most fun experimenting with sounds. (I think it's kind of uncomfortable)

In Art..
We talked about Japanese Sumi-e ink and wash paintings. Using this guide, and black water colors we created our own simple creations. Ava and I took inspiration from a plant cutting. Cyrus decided to make "seaweed that lives under the ocean". Perfect.

In Art Study..

We explored Summer House, Bayshore, by William J Glackens. This is Ava's favorite painting so far this year. She has been waiting for it much anticipation. "I like it like it like it like it. I like all the color and the way it looks. The tulips, sky, trees and water, and houses are all very pretty. I want to live there and I want to go there and find this exact place. If I lived there I would play outside all day. Unless it was too hot, then I'd wait then go back out." This really was the most enthusiasm she has had for any painting.

In Science We..
We started talking about sound, air vibration and energy. (This tied nicely in with the music lesson: the jaw harp, which tied in with the social studies lesson: Asia. I love when things are serendipitous like this.) I was grateful to have this book on hand (got it for fifty cents at the library!) , it has a wonderful little section on the human voice box.

In Math We...
~ Started a new game called Corners.

~reviewed right angles
~build quantities 1, 10, 100 and 1000 in various forms
~reconstructed the quantities with base-10 cards
~laid out base-10 cards for various quantities
~matched place value cards with base-10 cards
~combine denominations by overlapping place value cards
~wrote large numbers

This week was really exciting for me. We worked to get caught up after last week's slip, we had a allergy (maybe a cold) that slowed us down, and then rallied to get back to where we "needed" to be. I know that part of the benefit of homeschool is not having to watch a calender or clock, but I also know that we are heading into cold and flu season. Any thing we can make up now will save us in a few weeks when the inevitable hits our home like a brick. I was really proud of how hard Ava worked, and how gentle the transition was. It was time to work, we felt up to it, so we did. I love homeschooling.

October Preschool Wrap Up

2011-10-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's how my preschooler rocked October...

Made flat bread.

Worked in a "work book" created by his 6 year old sister.

Separated shapes of Zoo pasta, loving referred to as ZOOP!

Explored the park.

Drew fall math pictures (and a bajillion others) along with his sister.

Made gingerbread muffins.

Made pumpkin muffins. (my kids love mini muffins)

Was the ultimate champion in a math game his sister and I were playing.

(totally thrilled him that he beat us)

Got decked out for cooking.

Snacked (with enthusiasm) while watching his sister 'at school'.

Set up games against astronauts to recreate his victory.

Explored the worlds oceans with our Ocean Box

(more on that later)

Played hide and seek.

Sorted number cards.

Loved his babies, and loved us all.

~October was excellent fun!

Spin Art!

2011-10-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

I've often wanted to try our hand at spin art. I've often thought I would concoct something with the salad spinner. (I still might try that someday) Fortunately for my kitchen tools, Ava received a spin art set for her birthday. It was a super fun time watching the magic of 'the spin' happen, and enjoying the results.

Before the cards were dry they were assigned to loved ones to be used as thank you cards. But before they left our home they served as the theme for an afternoon at the art gallery. A very well rounded, and appreciated gift!

Much and Much-ier Enough...

2011-10-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

I ~~sometimes~~ often wonder if there is something *more* that I could be doing.

Could I help our homeschool (and life) experience be more *much-ier*?

Should I have a special box of things just for the baby?

Is the baby getting his needs met while I work (and play) with the others?

What exactly does he do all day anyway?

I was going through my October photos this afternoon and this is what I found.

He's here with us.

Every day, in every way, in every thing.

There are some activities I try to plan while he naps.

There are many activities I do with him in my arms.

I combine nursing and reading a lot.

I believe we are going to be more than okay.

We ~~will be~~ are much-ier indeed.

Gratitude Mondays...

2011-10-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's what I am loving today...

~The promise of a new week and new possibilities...
(and maybe getting some answers?)

~Finding homeschool's perfect solutions...
(I really really love it)

~A partner who brings out the funny in all things...
(he makes me giggle)

~A little boy who answers "it's great" when you ask him how something is...
(his tone will tell you how he really feels)

~A baby who is obsessed with his tongue...
(and trying to get to mine)

~A little girl who is kind, clever, caring and creative...
(and gives very nice pedicures)

~All of the art museums, magic shows, baseball games, haunted houses, petting zoos, birthday parties, tea parties, ballet recitals, music performances, story times, restaurants, natural history museums, nail and beauty salons, and infinite craft sessions that I get invited to in my living room.
(Or bedroom, play room, kitchen. My children set up every where)

Alright last week of October, bring it.

Weekly Wrap Up #6

2011-10-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

This week in first grade...

We are half way through our fall trimester!

In Poetry..
Our poem of the month is pretty simple, and I think we've got it down (pantomime included) so we skipped it this week. For our poem of the week we read Poem. I've had this book, and have been reading this poem in particular to my babies since 2004. It's finally grown on me. (that's the reason I picked it to read to them) Ava isn't on board yet. She wasn't a fan. I'm not worried, she'll come around! Our silly poem was as silly as ever, but it was gross too. That is so perfect for my little ones. They loooove some raunchy humor. For our activity we wrote our own rhyming poem in the same fashion (involving babies eating things that rhyme with ew) and drew some pictures to accompany the words. Ava was so very very proud of her gross poem. Delightful!

In Social Studies....
We talked about Africa. This was our first official week exploring the continent boxes! Ours are a work in progress. I figure that every year I'll try to add more until we're satisfied. Our Africa box contains:
~A wooden elephant that was a childhood gift that a missionary brought from Africa
~South African penguins
~A coin from Sierra Leone (1964), and East Africa (1937)
~A few animal cards
~Children of the world cards
~Anansi the Spider, an Ashanti tale from Ghana
~A papyrus painting given to us from a family member who frequents Egypt
We read the story, talked about all the many types of diversity in land, animal, and people, practiced how to say hello in like 30 languages, and went over important facts about the continent.

In the Kitchen..
We read a fairytale about the little mermaid, then made the corresponding recipe Seaweed Stuffed Shells. (just regular stuffed shells with spinach. Supper yummy) "mom, did you just walk down to the ocean all the way in California and pick up the shells for lunch?" Was a frequently told joke. Ha. They worked hard and really enjoyed the results.

In Music...
We danced to videos of African tribal music! Thanks to the play list feature on youtube, I was able to set up around a dozen examples of different traditional pieces. Our computer is networked with our television so this worked great. We watched examples of wedding dances, war dances, dances with out names, and children's performances. Ava was impressed with the emotion expressed. She though it was ..."cool how happy they all sound, but it looks like life might be hard for some of these people."

In Art..
We discussed ancient Egypt, and their love of cats. Using this as a guide we drew, colored, painted, then decorated Cat Portraits. We had some very elaborately costumed royal cats!

In Art Study..

We explored the Repast of the Lion, by Henri Rousseau. Ava's final assessment was that she ..."liked it, but everything makes everything else seem the wrong size. It's hard to tell what's happening." I thought it was just disturbing, but this isn't about what I think!

In Science We..
Didn't get to it... Ugh. I'm surprised I got as much done as I did. Sorry science. (more on this later, hopefully!)

In Math We...
Played math games!! Due to circumstances that are Entirely my fault I didn't have ANY of the manipulatives that I needed for either of this weeks lessons. I didn't want to skip ahead too far, so like science, math also got short sided. Honestly this worked best for our family this week, but I do feel bad. Math and science are very important subjects to me. Ah, well.

So admittedly there were a few times this week that I felt a bit like a homeschool failure, but looking back on everything we did (the things I post about, and the things I don't) I somehow managed to pull of a pretty full week. True, math and science got the boot, but seriously I wasn't feeling it this week, so over all.... I am so happy to be a homeschool family!

wanna know what's so funny?

2011-10-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

Playing peekaboo with the camera

during bath time.

Hilarious.

Go For It

2011-10-19T00:00:00.001-07:00

Everyone should have face paint.
We use it all year.
And obviously, it's not just for faces.
(on the other hand its Really not for white rugs)

A Harvest Birthday Party

2011-10-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

Ava's seventh birthday (seriously? SEVEN!?) was held this weekend at Mother Nature's Farm. It was a really great time, even with temperatures hovering around 100*. We clung to shade and enjoyed a harvest feast. The kids bounced and yelled and played and explored the farm and decorated pumpkins.

My sweet first baby has taken seven trips around the sun. This journey into seven seems different on a spiritual level. She is shifting into an older child. I'm so excited to see where this year takes her, and I'm also feeling the need to reevaluate my parenting. We are entering a new realm, and I want to be ready for her.

For some reason my favorite pictures (and so the ones chosen for this post) are of the babies...

Gratitude Monday...

2011-10-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's what I am loving today...

~A very happy birthday party for my soon to be 7 year old...

(even if fall couldn't act remotely like autumn)

~A baby who dances...

(it's pretty silly. He comes from a long line of bad dancers, poor thing)

~A little boy who for some reason has added the Padres as his other favorite baseball team.

(he tells everyone this. I guess our one week in San Diego really changed his life)

~A girl who is changing.

(yes, they are always changing. But this shift to seven seems very significant. I'm going to keep loving the parts of her that I know, and get to know and love all her new parts)

~A partner who stays up all hours helping me make pies..

(another birthday party that I couldn't have accomplished with out him)

~Uncertain futures that are all consuming.

(I must love them if I think of nothing else, right?)

Here's to this new week.

Getting answers?

Maybe.

Getting even more questions?

Lord I hope not.

Weekly Wrap Up #5

2011-10-14T00:16:00.000-07:00

This week in first grade...

In Poetry..
Our poem of the week, Seven Black Birds in a Tree, is one of my favorites in the book. The last line makes reference to "a secret that's never been told". Cyrus really really wants me to tell him what the secret is, and I wish I could. We decided that our poem of the month will be acted out for Matt next week. What a treat! Our "silly poem" this week was a version of "Happy and you Know it" that included the emotions sad, tired, mad as well as happy. For our activity we drew faces expressing emotions.

In Social Studies....
We spent time talking about the exciting things you can find all over the world. We used photo cards of major landmarks and talked a little about who made them and why, then found their location on the maps.

In the Kitchen..
We made muffins! Using box mixes from Trader Joe's we made a few batches of Pumpkin Muffins, and Gingerbread Muffins. These delicious little beauties were wrapped up and frozen to be served at Ava's birthday party. She loved being able to help prepare the food for her own party.

My favorite part was when they showed me their finished tray. "Look how we did mama! I was so worried they were going to be messy, but the turned out really neat and pretty"

In Music...
We further discussed emotions in music. Music can make you feel things you didn't expect, and it can also help you process feelings. Sol proved a very admirable distraction to this exercise, but we still had fun.

In Art..
We didn't actually get to our official project this week, which is unfortunate because it's a great idea. We did spend a lot of time outside, decorated the house for Halloween, and did tons of baking for her party! (more on that later)

In Art Study..

We explored Starry Night, by Vincent Van Gogh. Ava decided that this looks like "underwater land" with the "underwater moon, underwater stars, and seaweed trees." She said that she really "likes the mermaid land, with the sea fairy stars." I think sometime she says things just to get to me, but maybe she was being sincere. Either way, she makes me smile.

In Science We..
Rolled our social studies work of exploring the world into our science lessons. While social studies focused more on the "things" found around the world, the science time was spent talking about the major landforms and biomes on earth.

In Math We...

Are now a few weeks into book Level B. I have read that some families found the transition between levels A and B a little awkward. I'm finding that I really enjoy the balance of review and new material so far. I feel like I'm giving Ava time to strengthen confidence in her mathematical skills while still providing a solid forward momentum.

~Make squares and other rectangles from tiles
~Understand the commutative property
~Learn that one thousand is 10 hundreds
~To read thousands
~To review ab, abb, and abc paterns

In Math games Ava requested that we made more Math-Story-Art. So I made up a silly Fall Festival story and fun was had by all.

These last few weeks have been very exciting.

There is so much going o behind the scenes,

our future plans have been on a roller coaster of change

It's just when I think that I cant possibly focus on homeschool that I find I need these moments the most.

Here's to next week.

Whatever it may hold.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-13T01:26:00.000-07:00

~Petting Zoo

~Hay Bale Maze

~Pumpkin Field

~60 Pounds of Pumpkins

A really good day.

Good Clean Fun

2011-10-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes

Little

Mudslinging

Just

Good

Clean

Fun.

Little lambs

2011-10-11T00:01:00.001-07:00

A
Three day old lamb takes a few minutes to turn around.
I stand there talking pictures saying
Awwwww.
Because everything a three day old lamb does is just super cute.

I'm sure the mother cared more than she was letting on.

Gratitude Mondays...

2011-10-10T00:29:00.000-07:00

What I am loving today...

~A great weekend with family...

~My babies had the opportunity to march (ride) in the Tucson Pride Parade...
(they passed out necklaces and felt very important!)

~A very successful trip to the pumpkin patch...
(more on that later)

~A little girl who dreams big...
(and tells everyone about her ballerina goals)

~A little boy who discovered tree magic...
(the glitter he found on his hands after rubbing a leaf.
This was a HUGE deal to my babies.
They didn't seem to make the connection to the spray glitter that Cyrus had in his hair)

~A baby that loves to laugh...
(he starts his own games, and then cracks himself up)

~A partner who makes me laugh...
(probably something to do with his irresistible giggle)

~A season of change...
(its quite a ride, even if you don't know the destination)

Weekly Wrap Up #4

2011-10-07T00:06:00.000-07:00

This week in first grade...

In Poetry..
Our poem of the week was October, from A Journey Through Time. We started a new poem of the month, On Halloween, by Aileen Fisher. My children think this short poem is hilarious. Our narration activity this week was Elephant for Sale! by Maurice Poe. (Drawing elephants is challenging for some, and spelling elephant is challenging for me.)

In Social Studies...
We talked a lot about the earth. Reinforcing the concepts that we've recently covered in science, we looked for land features in satellite images, on the globe, and on our wall map.

In the Kitchen..
This week we made flat bread rolls from The Kindergarten Snack book. Everyone got to get involved with this project. We served the warm flat rolls for dinner with peanut butter, honey, and apple slices.

In Music...
We played Scribble Music. It was a lot of fun. Cyrus didn't like being asked to close his eyes during this project, so he opted only to play once. Ava wanted to create scribble music in a variety of shades, and played many times. They look forward to "music class" all week. I'm really happy that we decided to add this to our schedule. It's required minimum effort, and everyone has had a blast with it.

In Art...

We played outside a lot this week. In Arizona we're getting our first taste of temperate weather that lasts all afternoon. Every chance my children had they went outside. We did take some time to make these adorable fall blessings.

In Art Study..

We explored The Oregon Trail, by Albert Bierstadt. When we sat down together to look at this painting, and talk about it Ava was pretty tired. I wonder how much of her opinion was influenced by fatigue. Ava thought that this painting "...looks like a dinosaur land. The picture seems wild. I don't really like it" We did get out magnifying glasses to notice all the details in different areas of the painting, and she really liked that.

In Science We..

Went on a nature walk to collect tree specimens. We are currently pressing and drying our leaves from the neighborhood trees. We've done a little identifying using a field guide, but we are finding that to be very challenging. Maybe we'll stick to pressing and mounting?

In Math We...
~learned the term quadrilateral
~found similarity between adding ones and adding tens
~found similarity between partitioning ones and tens
~reviewed hundreds
~reviewed rectangle is a special quadrilateral
~reviewed that a square is a special rectangle
~partition hundreds
~read and write hundreds
~form new rectangles from existing rectangles
~played Halloween Math Party

This has been a looong week.

I've not been sleeping well,

and its shows up in my patience and enthusiasm.

Thankfully the weather couldn't have been better,

and my children didn't have to face the consequences of a cranky mother!
Next week

More Sleep is my theme.

Wish me luck!!

5 years ago

2011-10-06T00:03:00.000-07:00

I'm very very tired today. The kind of tired that doesn't want to find my camera, load the photos and write an original blog post. Instead I'll tell a story. A true story.

Around 5 years ago Ava was freshly two. She was a very clever little girl, she still is today. I set her up with a plate of paint, and some paper while I laid my very pregnant self down to rest on the couch. A few quiet minutes later Ava calls to me.

"Mama? Could you bring me a warm wet washcloth?"

She was a very eloquent freshly two year old girl with a lisp that was so insanely cute.

"In a few minutes, Ava" I said, in hopes to lay for a little longer.

"Mama? I think I have just a little bit of paint in my eye."

"Alright Ava, let me help you."

Expecting just a little bit of paint.....

"I painted my face mama!"

Yes she did.

Autumnal Blessings...

2011-10-04T13:45:00.007-07:00

This week we made Autumn blessing cards to use before meals. I chose a traditional poem that I really like, and my children each wrote something new. We decorated the card stock using our new favorites, the water color crayons.

Fall
Fall is when the leaves turn red, golden, orange, and brown.
When the weather turns cold
When the trees lose their leaves
When the days grow shorter, nights grow longer.
It's harvest season.
Blessings on our family.

By
Ava Rana
almost seven

Seasons of the Year

Autumn in Orange

Summer is Yellow

Spring in Green

Winter is White.

Thank you for the seasons.

Cyrus Rana

age four and a half.

Oh my goodness I love them.

Her Eyes

2011-10-04T01:01:00.000-07:00

And she's turning seven in exactly two weeks.

Gratitude Monday

2011-10-03T00:20:00.000-07:00

Here's what I'm loving today...

~Early birthday celebrations...
(I'm not really accepting that Ava's turning seven)

~A little girl who's missing her two top teeth...
(possibly the cutest smile I've ever seen)

~A baby who tries to tell "Knock Knock" jokes...
(I SWEAR he said "knock knock".
The facts that he doesn't talk yet, and he's only 15 months old are minor details)

~A little boy who maybe still doesn't quite get the interrupting cow knock knock joke...
(somedays he seems to get it, but others... probably not)

~A partner who distracts me..
(all in good ways)

~Waffle breakfasts with my family..
(not my ultimate breakfast food, be definitely my ultimate breakfast moments)

~Getting ready for my little girl's 7th birthday party...
(just a few weeks now!)

~Escaping it all in a book!

Here's to a new week!
Maybe this is the week that I get my act together and everything flows smoothly?
Maybe.

Weekly Wrap Up # 3

2011-09-30T00:36:00.000-07:00

This week in first grade...

In Poetry..
Our poem of the week, The Wise Cow Enjoys a Cloud, by Nancy Willard. I've always liked this poem, and found it soothing. My children thought it was incredibly silly. Our Poem of the month wrapped up this week. We celebrated by drawing pictures of a house in a summer storm.

Our 'Silly Poem' was Stop That Noise, by Carolyn Graham. We decided to come up with the noisiest places we've ever been. Ava chose Sea World,

and Cyrus chose a baseball game.

In Social Studies....
This week Dinosaurs ruled. We read Ask A Dinosaur, a great book of questions by DK.

Drawing variations of common dinosaurs turned quickly into making up our own dinosaurs. I present to you, Fairy Dinosaur...

In the Kitchen..
Popsicle redo. Everyone loved last weeks popsicle, everyone except for Ava who claimed that they were much too banana-ey. No problem.

Peachy Popsicles

~1 cup honey Greek yogurt

~1 Cup orange juice

~ A few chopped up peaches

~Honey to taste

Blend until smooth, and freeze

Delicious.

In Music...
This week I taught my children Me and My Dinosaur, a song I learned in summer camp ages and ages ago. Good silly fun.

In Art..
We made volcanoes!
Cyrus made a desert volcano, notice all the spiny cacti?

Ava made a purple mountain majesty, because purple mountains are her favorite.

I made a party mountain, because I felt like it.

I was out of red food coloring, which was unfortunate. My children LOVED this, and did not in anyway seem to have a problem with their volcanoes erupting with yellow foam. (I can hardly stand to look at the photos with out thinking of... well, honestly if you haven't gone there, I'm not going to mention it.)

In Art Study..

We explored The Lackawanna Valley, by George Inness. Ava said "I like it. I like the view. This whole painting is a nice view. I think I'd really like the view from the top of the mountain. I looks so pretty there." I thought it was interesting that this painting was commissioned as an advertisement for the railroad. I think I'd like to see advertisement become something beautiful again.

In Science We..
Talked about Life Cycles, and started the life long process of Identifying Living Things. We worked with the understanding that the life cycle of living things is the basis of most larger studies. We reviewed (because they already knew these words) Generations, Male, Female, Fertilization, Reproduction, Larva, Pupa, Pupae, Metamorphosis, and Dormant.

In Math We...
Finished Level A!
~Learn the names of unit fractions
~Compare unit fractions
~Solved a variety of different word problems
~Introduced geometric solids
~started a review to prep for Level B

Another fun and successful week. We were able to have fun, and get a lot of work done. We skipped out on park day this week, instead we had a playdate with some friends. I'm looking forward to next week!

Dinosaur Museum...

2011-09-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

This week (and lately, in general) we've been talking a lot about dinosaurs. They are a relatively new topic in our home, and a new obsession for Cyrus. It was a delightful surprise when I received my invitation to our very own Dinosaur Museum!

I was greeted at the entrance by a life like model Tyrannosaurus Rex. Very Scary indeed.
(immediately after photographing the frightening beast, the T-Rex followed me through out my visit, and turned into a "Dino-T-Rex-Robot")

I was instructed that Dinosaurs once ruled the earth, and their remains are said to be found all over.

Dinosaurs were very tall, as demonstrated by the impressive height of this little guy.

A replica dinosaur bone was available to touch and feel. This was a "club bone" that would have been found in the tail of the Ankylosaurus.

It was explained with diagrams that some fossils are found at "nest sights", places that you might find dinosaur eggs.

Dinosaurs lived a very looong time ago. A handy chart helped to illustrate the length of the different eras.

Dinosaurs had very tough skin. A model snake was provided for a chance to see what a dinosaur might feel like.

As a very special treat the museum had on display the extremely rare Dinosaur Tower!
(yes that is a tiger in the middle. Why do you ask?)

My trip through the Dinosaur Museum reminded me of a few things...
~Homeshcool rocks.
~My children are awesome.
~I really really need to get them to the Natural History Museum, they would LOVE it.

One moment...

2011-09-28T00:36:00.000-07:00

One of my babies reading to the other.
Moments like these can not be described in words.

September Preschool Wrap Up...

2011-09-27T00:14:00.000-07:00

Here's my boy, in all his preschool glory!

Climbing trees.

Sewing Baseball Pillows for his babies.

Making "Crazy" Art.

Scooping Barley and Rice.

Wearing very broken star glasses.

because

"I don't need them to have black parts (lenses) or

sides. They can just sit on my nose"

Painting with Dot Paint

(wearing glow in the dark space pajamas)

Sifting through sand

Discovering dinosaur bones at the park

coloring.

A really good month.

Gratitude Mondays....

2011-09-26T00:45:00.000-07:00

Here's what I am loving today...

~Fall decorations...

~Mother in law over for dinner...
(and watching her read my babies their bedtime stories)

~A pretty amazing weekend...

~Changes in the air
(and recognizing that all the planning in the world just doesn't matter sometimes)

~A day with my girl..
(while the boys had their special day)

~A little girl who said
"its more important to be clever than pretty
because
a clever person can make good choices for a happy and healthy life"
(But she's also fairly confident that I worry about those things more than she does.
As she says "I prefer to spend time thinking about fairies")

~A boy who wakes up and gives me a warm morning hug and whispers
"I just found a white crayon"
(your guess is as good as mine)

~A baby who likes to climb
(scary, but you might as well love it because there is no stopping it)

~A partner who thinks and plans ahead for our family's future
(but who's also willing to change things mid stride to accommodate our current interests)

Eeek! Here's to a new week. I'm ready.!(?) (okay, maybe a little undecided.)

Weekly Wrap up #2

2011-09-22T23:43:00.002-07:00

This week in first grade...

In Poetry..
We read Autumn from Journey Through Time, and started working to memorize our poem of the month. The Silly Poem this week was Arabella Miller. Ava drew a funny scene from the poem, and Cyrus drew what he thought the caterpillar looked like.

In Social Studies....
We talked about the evolution of our world. I used these two great books, Life Story and Life on Earth. Both books really brought to life the story of evolution. Ava loves them, she even recognized that one of the facts in Life Story (written in 1962) was now outdated. Pretty cool.

In the Kitchen..
We made orange pineapple banana popsicles. YUM. Perfect treat for this unbearable heat!
~1 Cup Orange Juice
~3 Bananas
~1/2 Cup Pineapple Juice
~Blend, add to popcicle molds, and freeze.

In Music...
We played a tweaked version of Rhythm Baseball. It involved a lot of running and laughing that was desperately needed at the time. Did we learn heaps about Rhythm? I could care less.

In Art..
Painted a representation of our poem of the week. And... We decorated the house for fall!

In Art Study..
We explored Hunters in the Snow, by Pieter Breugel. Ava said "I think this is pretty great! It's very pretty. I like big beautiful views of pretty places more than cities." I think I'd agree to that.

In Science We..
~Drew Maps
~Finished this map workbook that we started over the summer
~Identify North and South Poles on a globe
~Solidified the correlation that maps are flattened (and in most cases up close) images from the globe

In Math We...
~reviewed half
~learned that quarter is half of half
~found a quarter of twelve objects, a dollar, and an hour
~learned the term octagon and tessellate
~made paper octagons from two squares
~discovered whether square, rectangles or octagons can tessellate

Another full week. Another great week. Ava read a book aloud to Matt this week. A very exciting breakthrough for her, as she would only read aloud to me previously. We also started our weekly park days with other homeschool families again this year!

Autumn

2011-09-22T00:08:00.000-07:00

Yellow the bracken,
Golden the sheaves,
Rosy the apples,
Crimson the leaves:
Mist on the hillside,
Clouds grey and white.
Autumn, good morning!
Summer, good night!

This is the poem we are reading this week (painting by Ava).
I love it so much I think I'm going to make it a fall table blessing...
I love Autumn.

rainbow ice

2011-09-21T00:08:00.000-07:00

A (mock) Tutorial

1. Start with searing hot September days.

2. Add a few flushed, frustrated kids.

3. Take a bowl of ice.

4. Mix in heaping amounts of salt, and as much food coloring as your heart calls for.

~ start with colorful patches here and there.

~Look for room to add more color

~ end with a bowl of tie dyed fantastic mess.

~Watch the salt create intricate patterns.

Finish with a biiiig thank you to all those blogging mamas who come up with, and share great ideas. You've saved my a** on a hot (still) summer day.

First Grade

2011-09-20T00:24:00.001-07:00

This is a look at how we plan our week in first grade. Our day is "scheduled" (in quotations because honestly, if you knew me, you'd know how casually I take all schedules) so that we work for a little while in the morning, and finish in the afternoon. We have lots of room in our day to move things around. This 'schedule' works as a backbone, and gives me an idea of what to prepare. We have a lot of goals, but as a mother I must never forget how important it is for my first grader to stop, and well...