Joshua's First Lego House!

Josh just loves playing with LEGO'S. He mostly spends his time making and remaking the tiny guys. Generally he creates a ship/car/plane thing.

His Daddy was a HUGE Lego guy as well and down in our basement is a giant tub of the more complicated pieces awaiting the Little Man to be able to use them. He knows this...

So, a few days ago, I mentioned that he would be able to play with those when he started to build more! I guess he took it to heart cause CHECK THIS OUT! No help from me. If he keeps practicing, he will have those Lego's before I am ready! Maybe I had better do some practicing myself!

Shannon

Cooking Mama & Me Monday!

Another great cooking day! I did not have a lot of time this week so we just made a Peanut butter and Jelly Sandwich. Honestly though, I should have showed him how a looong time ago. (But I am sure I have mentioned my control freak tendencies, right?)

Anyway...he did pretty good. Needs a bit of practice with spreading but that is easy to solve! We will have a snack this week that involves spreading something on crackers!

I am so impressed with his cookbook pages. We need to really take this further in the next few weeks. Also...I have noticed, work a bit on drawing shapes.

Shannon

Useful Websites

Just thought I would share a few "new to me" websites and blogs I found helpful this week! I have been spending my "spare time" planning for Fall!

The Sunny Patch Blog! I am especially interested in these activity bags! Great for a long trip in a car!
Sadlier Oxford Check out the great online learning activities!
A list of fine motor activities!
Ziggity Zoom A new website introduced to me by http://preschoolmama.com/ Lots of activities and printables and apparently more great stuff to come!

Not new to me but worth a mention!!!!!!
Michael Olaf's Child of the World Catalog This is my GO TO for Montessori inspiration! If you have not checked this out DO IT RIGHT NOW!

Shannon

Cooking Mama & Me Monday

Well...I have to admit I had REALLY low expectations for our first cooking experience! My plan was to make a version of rice cereal treats. I never have that rice cereal on hand so I do not think I have ever made it the normal way! Around here we call them Shannon's Sweet treats! And I really just use any old cereal on hand that I want to get rid of, often because of expiration date or I just did not care for it. Today, we used Special K Fruit & Yogurt. (yummy, but about to expire!)

So anyway...It went really well! We made the sweet treats and I did okay giving him opportunities to participate (I am a TOTAL control freak!), and he did great following directions. I even got him to write down the recipe when we were done.

I "KNEW" there was no way he would actually do this without a struggle, but friends he did awesome! He even took into account how many tablespoons/cups we used as he drew the pictures! If you look closely you can see 3 rectangular shapes as the 3 T of butter, 4 roundish shapes as the cups of marshmallows, and a giant brown thing as the 6 C of cereal. (I barely measured this and apparently he noticed me just pouring...OOPS!)

What a success! Hopefully, we will continue to have fun with this!

Shannon

Thrifty Thursday

We went to the Thrift store on Monday this week. I had avoided the store last week because they were having their bag of books for $2 sale! You know, thinking that if I buy anymore books we may need to add on to the house! So anyway, apparently they had decided to extend the sale!

Soooooo...I bought about 1/2 a bag of books. Apparently, I only have half the self control I need! I also picked up 2 cushions that will be perfect for making these situpons this weekend. I spent $4 total!

As far as donations go...I brought about 5 boxes of clothing, etc... after our yard sale the weekend before last. I am already working on another box to bring in a couple of weeks.

We have finally decided to give up on having yard sales. I love to shop them but sitting there all day and not selling much is not worth it to me. As Andrew pointed out, if you just get a receipt at the thrift store you will be able to take more off your taxes then you have EVER made at a yard sale!

Shannon

Planning our Cookbook

If you are interested in cooking with your kids, here are a few websites with kid friendly recipes!

http://pbskids.org/arthur/parentsteachers/activities/acts/kids_kitchen.html
http://www.childrensrecipes.com/
http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/kids/
http://www.justkidsrecipes.com/inxbak.html Make sure you check the other categories as well!
Kid's cookbook to check out!
http://www.thatsmyhome.com/recipes-for-kids/index.htm
http://kidsinthekitchen.ajli.org/
Cool recipe and inspiration for my cookbook plan!
http://www.molliekatzen.com/kids.php Check out these ideas! I would LOVE one of her books!
http://www.recipelink.com/rcpkids.html
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/kids/recipes.html
http://www.tinytummies.com/index.html
http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/cafe/
http://loneoak.mccracken.k12.ky.us/LES/Teachers/dcook/august_recipes.htm
http://www.kidsacookin.com/
http://www.kids-cooking-activities.com/index.html Look around this one.
http://www.bry-backmanor.org/picturerecipes.html picture recipes
http://www.prekinders.com/kidrecipes.htm

And...this might be the solution if you really do not have time to look for good recipes! These are all picture recipes that are ready to print!
http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/RecipePictorialSnacks.htm

I just love the Internet!
Shannon

Another New Schedule Change!

Remember this schedule? Well...it is out of date and just generally not working anymore. For one, Josh is not going to his playgroup this summer. We also, as you know, are doing nature study this summer and are confining most of our Montessori work to Practical Life works that happen naturally around the house!

So...changes inspired by the last post...here is our NEW schedule!

Monday - Cooking Mama & Me day! A day in which we cook something and add a page to our soon to be new COOKBOOK! Just like this!

Tuesday - Nature Study

Wednesday - PLAY DAY!!! Fun stuff only! Parks, play dates, play areas, backyard fun, etc...

Thursday - Nature Study

Friday - Arts/Crafts!

I am feeling much better and so ready to get started! Thanks for all your inspiration!
Shannon

Wednesday's Wonderful Ideas!

Hi all, I guess I have a bit of writer's block, teacher's block, etc... We have actually gone shopping 2 WHOLE days this week. That is really not like me! Honestly, the weather here has been really yucky. It is either rainy, about to be rainy, or too wet to play outside/do nature study! SUMMER WHERE ARE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway...trying to shake off the gloom...here is a list of wonderful ideas shared by some of you that I am looking forward to trying!

Frozen grape pops! Hot summer days here we come!
Peanut butter granola balls! YUMMY
A Volcano! Josh will love making this volcano!
The Chore Bucket Worth a try...we have been majorly slacking on keeping up with his chores!
Balloon Balls This is exactly what I need for the fall, may help him to focus so I can try circle time again!
Peanut butter milkshakes and especially the Kid's cookbook idea! Is there a bit of a theme with all this food??? I think a cookbook is a must...hmm...I think I just got an idea???
Chewy granola bars See Above!!!
Recycled Paper shapes Great for our end of summer study of composting etc...

Hope you find some inspiration!
Shannon

The Dangers of Crafts!

So, yesterday Josh had his 4 year old appt. with his Pediatrician. He is a pretty healthy kid so we were not in the least concerned about anything, as a matter of fact, he had not even been to the Dr since his 3yo appt.

Anyway, the appt. was going along quite normally. You know...he was weighed and measured, blood pressure taken, heart and breathing listened too, etc... Then she got out the little flashlight scope thing to look in his ears. She checks out the left, looks good. She checks out the right and makes a little huh sound. She explains that she sees a foreign object in there and thinks it is a rock. OY!

So, we question Josh a bit and try to figure out what it actually might be, he immediately tells us that he put ???? in his ear awhile ago when making an owl! He could not tell us what it was and I have NO memory of him ever making an owl??!!

Obviously...no matter what it was, it needed to come out! So the DR tried to use a long handled tiny scoop to grab it out. No Luck! Josh just screamed and cried in pain. (It was so awful!) Then she thought maybe they might be able to wash it out and had the nurse come in and squirt water in his ear. Which of course made him scream and cry some more! (and he is NOT a kid who cries easy!) At about this time, I had ENOUGH! So, I asked if I could see it for myself. I immediately thought it looked like one of those tiny craft pompoms. I suggested maybe they could just grab it with tweezers and since, at this point they were out of options. They decided to give it a try!

Thankfully, it worked immediately, she reached right in and grabbed it right out! Well, it turned out to not be a pompom but was actually a little piece of black fun foam. So strange...we do not even have that color so I can not for the life of me figure out when or where he put it in!

What a trauma! The appt. lasted for about and 1hr and 20 minutes. He was also supposed to get shots but we decided to just do it in a year since these were just the ones you need to get before Kindergarten. And...honestly, he was just too horrified. He even told the Dr that he did not care to come back again and that he did not really like it there! At least, he mostly used good manners! No one can really blame him for being honest!

Hopefully, he learned his lesson! So...have your kids ever put anything in their ears or noses?

Shannon

Summer Plannin' Had me a Blaaa-aast!

Thought I would share our plans for summer, since they are FINALLY ready! (Warning- this one will be looo-oooong!)





I decide, for the sake of organization, to create a Nature Journal. It has a two-fold purpose. The first is to encourage Joshua to start writing and recording (drawing etc...). The second is just a place to keep all the activities I have planned. I want to have things ready but not schedule things to certain days so as to be more flexible, NOT my strong suit!

First, I went here and printed off pages that I liked to use for his writing and recording. I chose some that are lined a bit with space for drawing and some with just open space for pictures and taping found items etc...
Next, I looked at all the activities I wanted to do and split them up into subjects. (Intro, Birds, Trees/Plants/Flowers, Backyard Animals, Insects, Sun/Clouds, Creek, Frogs, Beach Life, Dirt/Compost)

Here are the activities to go along with the subjects. (Feel free to ask for more infrmation if something you are interested in is unclear!)

Introduction

• Create Journal- I slid every printed out page and activities written on cards into a page protector. I plan to pull the pages out as we use them and slide them back in for keeping.
• Spring Nature Walk- http://www.heartsandtrees.blogspot.com/ Look in the sidebar under My Free Downloads! Check out this blog! You may want to just order her ideas!
• Plant Seeds- We have several different planting projects including a Chia Pet, Paper towel sprouting seeds, and a few other ideas and kits I have been collecting. I figure if we plant a ton...something will grow!
• Under a rock- literally move a rock and discover what is underneath, write and/or draw what you find.
• Paint Clubhouse- We are just going to paint a giant box left over from Josh's birthday, something he can drag out and play in for a week or two!
• Trash pick up hike to the park! Grab a bag and join in!

Birds

• Make birdfeeders- like this and this.
• Bird graph- We are just going to keep track of all the birds we see for one day by color, type, what they are doing, etc...
• Bird observation and journaling.
• Set up a bird bath, I hope!
• Make a bird from here http://kidscraftweekly.com/bird_issue.html! Highly recommend joining this site!
• Journal writing

Trees/Plants/Flowers

• Collect/Press leaves and flowers
• ID leaves and flowers using cards from http://www.montessorimaterials.org/science.htm and http://therealshmi.googlepages.com/science and maybe http://www.freewebs.com/montessoritoprint/science.htm
• Leaf/ tree rubbing
• Make a sponge garden
• Plant part cards from one of the above ??
• Flower pounding like this!
• Maybe even try our hands at a Lapbook http://1plus1plus1equals1.blogspot.com/2008/06/flowers-plants-lapbook.html I highly recommend, if you are interested in lapbooking, joining this group, http://lapbooklessons.ning.com/. Just amazing Moms!
• Maybe pressed flower cards http://pinewoodcastle.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/11/pressed-flower-.html
• Journal writing

Backyard animals

• ID Local animals using our local animal field guide!
• Set out a pan with flour anf food on it to check out footprints and figure out who are nocturnal etc... Footprint guide found at www.bear-tracker.com
• Squirrel lapbook (Will share links in a week or so, ya know, after I find them!)
• Journal writing

Insects

• Ant Study
• Josh got this butterfly house for his birthday, so a bit more butterfly study!
• ID insects using cards from http://www.montessorimaterials.org/science.htm check under Animal Classification.
• Use Josh's new bug vac a ton to check out insects from the yard!
• Some art/craft insect craft, yet to be determined!
• Also, journal a bit on butterflies and their progress!

Sun/Clouds

• Take a Cloud Walk downloaded from http://www.nostudentleftindoors.com/Home.html
• Make a cloud book showing different cloud types with cotton balls.
• Make cloud pictures like this!
• Make solar prints using black construction paper with leaves on top and set in the sun.
• Create a simple sundial with a paper plate.
• Make suncatchers like this super easy idea!
• Journal writing

Creek Life

• We have a creek in our backyard so we will be studying the water and creatures we find!
• Creek clean up! You would not believe all the stuff we find!
• Journal writing

Frogs

• Frog study, including lifecycle info found on http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/topic/world/minibeast.html. Just scroll down a bit!
• Journal writing

Beach Life

• Shell/rock sort
• ID shells with cards from http://www.montessorimaterials.org/science.htm
• Sand vs soil study
• Shell Wreath- glue shells on a cardboard cutout wreath shape. Maybe a frame instead if we do not have enough shells for a wreath!
• Journal writing

Dirt/Compost

• Soil study- to see what is in it!
• Shake jars from http://lapazfarm.homeschooljournal.net/2008/04/10/more-garden-themed-montessori-trays/ Several other great ideas here too!
• I am considering making some sort of wormery, but to tell the truth I am a bit horrified by worms. Had an entire bucket of them dumped on my head once and have never gotten over it!
• Make a small compost. Ideas from http://thecookfamilyzoo.blogspot.com/2008/05/green-hour-project-composting.html
• Paper making project like the one found at http://artfulparent.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/handmade-paper-shapes-tutorial/
• Journal writing

Rainy Day ideas

• Art/craft projects, of course.
• A terrarium from http://www.kidsgardening.com/2006.kids.garden.news/jan/pg3.html
• This Newspaper hut from http://pepperpaints.com/2008/05/13/newspaper-hut/
• ABC nature pages if I am REAL desperate! http://www.freekidscoloring.com/alphabet/animals_and_plants_alphabet/
• Journal writing!!!!!!!!!

So that is it for now! If you get a chance, let me know if these types of write up are helpful! I do not mind doing it but it does take a ton of time. So if it is not of use to anyone, I could probably find something better to do with my time (read- do the MOUNTAIN of dishes in my sink!)

FREEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Sparklebox is now free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/index.html

You must check this out! I use it all the time!

Shannon

The Constructive Triangles

I finally finished making the Constructive Triangles and am thrilled with the results! It was very easy to do and really looks great!



All I did was buy the appropriate color fun foam. (I substituted the gray for purple) I printed off
the constructive triangle patterns and blue triangles (black and white versions only) from
http://www.jmjpublishing.com/sensorial.htm.


Then I roughly cut them out and taped them to the foam. I took my time and carefully cut out the foam. I finished by using a sharpie to add the blackline to the edge for matching.




I chose to store ours in zipper bags for now, I also cut out a small control of error to toss in the bag. (more for me than Josh!) I plan to present these this week using these lesson plans.

So...what have you made lately?



Shannon

Washing Dishes with a Preschooler!

Warning! Do not attempt on a day when your patience is waining!

This is an excellent Practical Life activity to do with a preschooler but it does take a bit of prep and a boat load of patience! Before you even mention the activity make sure there are no irreplaceable glass bowls anywhere near the area in which you and the child will be working! (I learned this the hard way...it was in the dish drainer and a heavy plate tipped over right on top of it!)

Preparations:

Fill up one side of the sink with hot soapy water.
Fill up the other side with lukewarm, clean, clear water.
Pull up a tall stool and wrap yourself and the child in your favorite aprons.

Activity:

In our house, I wash the dishes slowly since Josh needs a bit of reminding as to where to place the dishes in the drainer. Anyway, after I wash a dish, I place it in the clear water and he pulls it out and dumps the water (preferably into the sink!!!) and places the dish in the drainer.

Hints and Tips:

I often place a clean towel on the counter spread out next to Josh for him to place bigger or awkward dishes. It is just easier for him and I do not have to do too much juggling in the middle that way!

Start off with a small amount of dishes the first few times! Maybe just lunch dishes to get both of you used to sharing this job.

Have fun with this! Do not do it too often if it is stressful for you, the experience will mean more if it is kept positive!

Shannon

Bug Vacuum

This is the best idea ever! Josh got a bug vacuum for his birthday and it is really cool. It sucks the bugs right up and holds them safe in a little container that has a magnifying glass attached to it. You can then take a look, study it a bit and then SAFELY let the bug go outside. We had a GIANT moth in the entry way this morning, so I grabbed the vac and seriously, I was amazed at how easily it sucked that moth right in. I gave Josh a peak and let it go outside! No problems and I did not have to kill it!

Happy 4th Birthday Joshua!

I had no idea how completely you would change my life!

Check This Out!

If you have not had a chance yet...you must make time for this great website http://www.lookybook.com/index.php ! You can actually read through and look at EVERY page of over 300 children's books. It is really an amazing site. Such a great way to decide what books to buy from your own home. You can then just click right from the books "page" to buy it from either Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Josh in November 2005!

Shannon

Practical Life Water Transfer Activity

Well...since we already had the water out...

On a whim, I grabbed the baster that was sitting in the same drawer as the hand mixer from the other post today. I just bought the silicon muffin pan at the thrift store yesterday. So Joshy got 2 for the price of 1.

He had a great time transferring soapy water from the big bowl to the small muffin cups. He did a really great job with this activity. I was pretty impressed with the lack of spillage!

That is, until he chose to spill, squirt and pour. Which was fine because he HAD finished his work and we were outside!















Shannon

Practical Life work with a Hand mixer!

I have been meaning to present this work since we began preschool last Fall. I knew Josh would love it but I also knew that using a hand mixer is a bit tricky so I waited until a day like today.

Our weather is GLORIOUS and everyone was in a great mood (read Mommy is feeling a bit less snappish).

So what do you get when you mix a big bowl, water, dish soap, and a hand mixer? Bubbles of course, but also a fun afternoon activity and a great memory. Not to mention a great PL activity that helps him strengthen his hand muscles and coordination.

Shannon

Domino Fun

With no computer for a while I was not quite ready for Basket Friday last week. So the farms will wait. Instead, we learned to play dominoes! He had a ton of fun with this and really did better than I expected. His biggest struggle was placing them without pushing the "row" a little each time. But...with practice he was doing it like a pro by the end of our game.

We also made domino snacks, sorry no photo. All we did was break a graham cracker sheet into its 4 parts. Spread with frosting and add dots with raisins. Easy and delicious!

Shannon

Hammering Work

This is an easy one to do and a MUST for all boys (useful for girls too!). Buy a cheap styrofoam cooler, borrow a handful of tees from a golfer, and grab the hammer from the toy tool bin in your sons room.

When you present it, make sure that you talk about holding the tee with 2 fingers while hammering with the other hand. Josh was tempted to push it through a bit so he did not have to hold it but after a few gentle reminders he got the hang of it!

Shannon

He was a Sk8r Boy...

He turns 4 on Tuesday. I just want to hold him tight and never let go...

Computer Crisis 2008

Just wanted to stop in and say hello! We are having a bit of a crisis with the computer and will hopefully get it straightened out by midweek!

Anyone ever had a swollen capaciter??????

Have a ton to tell you including pictures of fun activities...so hopefully...be back soon!

Shannon

Have a Great Weekend!

View from our front door!

There is actually a male and female (hidden by male) Duck in the picture and a little bird in the feeder. As a matter of fact, you can not see it but a squirrel was hiding behind the tall grass on the right. I think we may need to start making some more bird feeders!

We are going to have a great summer!
Shannon

Thrifty Thursday!

Another great thrift store week!

I found this Easy Corking book and the kit it used to come with, in brand new condition for $.75. And several great books including 2 Magic Tree House Books , The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth , and Origami in the Classroom II . The books are always 20 cents!

I also did great at Garage sales this weekend but won't bore you with the details. Best buy of the day though was a hopping ball like this! New in the box for $4.00. We have wanted to get one for Josh for a while but had not wanted to waste money on another toy! (Ya know what I mean?)

A pretty good Thrifty week if you ask me. We are having another Garage Sale in a few weeks, after that I will need to start donating items when I go to the thrift store!

Shannon

3 Nature Books I Love

Well I finally found 3 books on Nature Study from the Library that I would recommend!

They are
The Little Hands Nature Book by Nancy Fusco Castaldo (If you can only get one get this one!)
Nature in Your Backyard by Susan Lang
My Big World of Wonder by Sherri Griffin

These are all great for a preschool nature study!

But...my favorite by far is Windowsill Science Centers by Lynne Kepler a book I bought at a discount bookstore for $1.99. (LOVE a bargain!)

This is a great resource and requires very little prep or materials and could carry you through the whole year because is based around your classroom window and what you can observe.

I am really anxious to get started, I have some great stuff planned.

We are definitely going to try our hands at keeping a nature journal. However, I want to "design" some pages with activities to include so that he does not just burn out right away...feeling overwhelmed. I will have him find do some sort of activity in the journal one day and do more of a journal activity another.

I also am planning a ton of experiment type activities, like a worm jar, painting a tree with sugar water to attract moths, and making bird feeders.

We will probably get started sometime in June. So what are you planning for this summer? Schooling? Or perhaps a break?

Shannon

Recycled Material Crafts Continued...

Milk Cartons (Plastic and Cardboard)

Several Milk Carton ideas!
Birdhouse
Birdfeeder
Whale
Ball catcher 2nd from the bottom!
Luminaries Could design them for everyday use too!
Scrubber

Plastic Grocery Bags

Jump rope!
Rug

Enjoy!
Shannon

Happy Mother's Day!

Just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day! We have had a busy week preparing for the weekend's festivities. The whole lot of us will gather Sunday for lunch and the exchange of gifts, 3 Moms! We are getting takeout since none of us really cared to cook for a group on Mother's Day! However, I am making a cool dessert, it is 2 tiered mini cheesecakes. I will try to post about it Monday! (Ya know, if they turn out!)

So anyway, here is what we did for gifts...

button flowers necklaces

Josh and I "strung" buttons on wire to make flowers, jabbed them in plants we had repotted in cute bowls. Andrew and I made the necklaces from material cut from Joshua's old nursing pillow. Ooh, let me post a picture that will totally explain why!

This is how Joshy napped for the first SEVERAL months of his life...the ONLY way he would nap! So we all have many memories of that pillow and I hope that the Grandmother's will share my sentimental feelings (and also not notice my lack of decoupaging experience!)

Have a lovely weekend!

Shannon

Thrifty Thursday!

Hey...look at me...posting on the correct day!

Back to my normal thrift store this week! Yippppeeeeee! I did great too!

I found a wooden tray, great for Montessori tray work ($1), 2 weaving looms for potholders ($.25 total), 2 Pfaltzgraff bowls and 1 plate -new fancy dishes for our cats, desperately needed! ($.25 each), and the following books...

Franklin and the Tooth Fairy by Paulette Bourgeois ($.20) this one!
My First Litle House Books: Dance at Grandpa's by Laura Ingalls Wilder ($.20) linky
Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne ($.20) Lazy link here!
and for me...
The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks ($1.) here It was very good, it is a continuation of The Notebook!

I have been wanting to pick up the weaving looms for a while now but feared that it would be a waste of money from a store since I was unsure if he was ready yet but for $.25 I am thrilled. I searched online and there are tons of things you can do with the looms besides make potholders!

Well, hope you got a good deal this week too! Now if only I could find a good deal on ANOTHER bookshelf...

Shannon

Crafts Made from Recycled Materials

So, here is the thing...

I hate those crafty projects where you print something off, cut it out, and glue it on a TP tube or other assorted craziness. You know, why bother! Where is the child being creative with these types of crafts?

However, I do like the idea of reusing all of those recycled items to do crafty projects. I just want the projects to be real and not busy work. So I am compiling a list of ideas using the different types of items I have collected in a big box in our learning room.

Hope you find an idea here you can use too! (I only linked to the ones with pictures, I am very visual especially with making things!)

PLASTIC BOTTLES

• Bird feeder


• Greenhouse


• Fish mobile for much older kids!


• Bug Catcher more a holder after caught but you get the idea!


• Whirligig


• Piggy Bank


• Earth Bottles


• Noisemaker


• Many bottle Biology ideas


• Discovery Bottles


• More Discovery Bottles

EGG CARTONS

• Several different animals


• insects or maybe more accurately bugs!


• Dump Truck So cute!


• Tulips


• Glider and better picture!


• Bird Feeders

TP roll or Paper towel roll

• Binoculars


• Box guitar


• Kachina Doll


• Rainstick


• Rocket


• Sunflower for little ones!


• Knitting Ned?!

Misc... Materials

• Sit Upons! This could be made with tons of different materials and stuffed with anything including plastic grocery bags. I also saw one that was duct taped instead of "sewn."


• Weaving a basket with yarn and a yogurt container!

My eyes are crossing, there is just soo much out there...so much good but so much junk too.

Shannon

Thrifty Thursday

Okay, seriously, I can not seem to actually post this on Thursday! Oh well, there is always next week!

I actually went to 2 thrift stores this week but bought NOTHING! This NEVER happens. I did not get to my normal store and that is the main reason for a lack of purchase. I never realized how great "my thrift store" is, especially with prices! (local friends who are interested in where I go, leave a comment!)

But all is not lost...I got a great deal to share with you anyway! At the Target Dollar Spot I found FABULOUS Dinosaur cards for $1. I plan to do a basket friday in the beginning of June on Dinos and these cards will be perfect. It is intended to be used as a memory game. There are 16 different dinosaurs pairs and I just love the realistic drawings. I can not wait to come up with activities to use with the cards. Don't you just love a good deal!

Oh, and I did not donate this week because today was our garage sale. We did okay despite the rainy/stormy weather. We will see how tomorrow goes!

Shannon

Getting to Really Know Him!

So I decided to ask Josh a few questions today to see if I could learn anything new. (Thanks Merranda -HT)

1. What is your favorite animal? a dinosaur...Tyrannosaurus Rex.


2. What is your favorite color? Black (No surprise here!)


3. What is your favorite thing to do with Mom? Play the game Cariboo.


4. What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Play with Lego's and video games.


5. What is your favorite book? any of the new Scooby Doo books (I just found several at the thrift store and yard sales in the past few weeks!)


6. What is your favorite number? 80 (???)


7. What is your favorite letter? J (makes sense, J is for Joshua ya know!)


8. What do you want to be when you grow up? a Wampa (That snow creature from Star Wars???????????)


9. What is your favorite video? Star Wars (Yeah he has seen it, Have you read the article in Cookie Mag about the boy obsessed with Star Wars? I think the author must have hidden cameras in my home. I read it aloud to Andrew and we giggled with tears streaming down our faces through the whole thing.)
10. What is your least favorite thing to do? hit someone with a light sabre! (well, that is good!)

About half way through, he started asking me questions too! I am not sure I learned anything I did not already know but I am glad we did it! Nice to make a real effort to check in every now and then!

Shannon

A Monthly Evaluation!

Just thought I would share one way in which I keep track of Joshua's progress. This is from back in my Student Teaching days. All you need is a white sheet of paper split into 1/4's, crayons, and your child(ren). Then you have them....

1. Write their name (even if they do not know how...this will show progress!) in one 1/4.
2. Draw themselves in the second 1/4.
3. Make a circle, square, triangle, and rectangle in the third 1/4.
4. Draw a tree in the fourth 1/4.

This is so fun to put in the portfolio if you do one every month! You will also be amazed at the maturity they gain each month.

Shannon

New Trays to Share!

I have been hard at work making some new trays for the coming weeks. We need a few fresh new activities to get through until we can start our nature study this summer!

Our "concentration" for May is farms. This will be reflected in several areas; including science and language. Montessori has a wonderful grammar activity using a farm which teaches the different parts of speech. We will probably (?) not get that far this year but will mostly be concentrating on labelling different areas of a farm.

On this tray you find rubber letter stamps, a stamp pad (must be washable!), and cards with words and hand drawn pictures. My intent was for him to see/know the word and pay attention to the letters. All the words are ones he can read but I am more interested in him "getting" spelling right now. He is constantly saying things like "what does dfh spell?". Maybe this will help a bit!

I printed these cards quite a while ago from here and finally presented them last week. This is just a "what does not belong" activity. He puts an x on the item that does not fit with the others. As a bonus PL type activity he also needs to wipe off each x with a small felt cloth.

This is a fun one! In the first bowl are tiny plastic ants that he tweezes and puts in the other bowl. A great PL activity and also goes along with any nature activities! Besides, what boy could resist tweezing ants!

Okay, this is obvious, but it is a big deal for us to have open water and paint activities available for a free choice.

Finally, this is an activity that I saw here at http://www.prekinders.com/art.htm just zoom down to the end of the page! This should give Josh a nice opportunity to do a little lacing/sewing type activity "his way". Which is what he likes best in all of the world! (FYI, I used a plastic yarn needle and big wooden bead)

Need some Maths ideas. Maybe using the farm animals?????

Shannon

Everyone Struggles

First, I want to say that I realize that yesterday was Friday but somehow that did not affect my brain at all about posting for Thrifty Thursday! But I digress...well sort of...

I was just checking out another Momma's blog that I had never read before, and she wrote something that I feel I need to comment on. Please read this and come on back!

Okay, so I do not think I am actually the Mom she is referring to when she says "Reading a blog of one happy mom whose son doesn't seem to give her a moments trouble, they do cool things and she is very creative. " But I also do not want anyone to get that type of impression of our life around here!

Because...believe me, we STRUGGLE. To begin with, I am home alone with Joshy much of the time. My husband works a great deal so that I can be home. (The SAHM catch 22!)
Then there is me...I am a trained Teacher with a concentration in Child development. And I have always excelled in maintaining excellent classroom discipline. I am actually known for it. But apparently, with Joshua, this is my biggest test...and frankly much of the time I feel as if I am failing miserably. Joshua's part in all this...he is an incredibly bright, funny, active boy. Who can also be sassy, hyper, defiant, and cruel. Just a few days ago he told me that I was not as smart as Daddy. Why, you might ask? Because I was turning into a different driveway at the mall then Daddy takes. And...because the sun rises and sets with his Daddy.

I am not sharing all this because I in anyway want you all to know but because I do not want anyone to read my stuff and go away feeling bad about themselves. I have a degree in how to do all this homeschooling stuff, it is easy for me and I enjoy it. Also, Josh is easy to teach. When I began this blog I chose to mostly share our homeschooling experience. But that is only one side.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Shannon

Thrifty Thursday

I am joining Melissa at Chasing Cheerios in blogging every Thursday about my weekly finds at the thrift store! Hopefully, it will inspire others to buy gently used instead of buying new! And, like Melissa, it just makes me happy to find such great treasures!

This week, I go on Monday, I found a farm themed tray for $.50. Which is a timely find since we will start the Montessori farm activities in May!

I also bought several books including Pippi Longstockings, Romeo & Juliet, and assorted kids stories all for $.20 a piece.

Finally, I bought a travel mug for my Mom that says Grandma all over it, seemed new, & a large water type bottle for me. Maybe $2.00 for both.

All in all, pretty successful. I did not donate anything, since we are having a yard sale in a week. But I am sure I will have a ton to donate after that. I am also a member of freecycle.com so I can also post things that I do not sell.

Have a great weekend, they are predicting snow for us on Monday, so I am sure I will be posting about the weather soon!

Shannon

Our Nature Wand!

I had fun making this but I am not so sure Josh would say the same. He was not real into it! I do not feel as if it was a complete waste of time though becuase he was happy to come and see anything I found he just did not really care to search himself.

It turned out pretty nice! Here are a couple of pictures, don't mind the blur in one and the camera strap in the other! I am NO professional!
Front Back

Happy Earth Day!

Your Life is 76% Green

You live a very green life, and you're aware of how your actions help the earth. Of course, it's hard to be totally green. But when you make a tradeoff, you know why you're making it.

How Green Is Your Life?

Not sure about the whole trade off thing! Mostly I did not score higher because I am lazy! We always take the car, I never make it to farmer's markets, I always use the dryer, and I can not seem to remember to unplug appliances not in use!

Nice to have a reminder of what more I could be doing! Have a wonderful Earth Day! If the weather is cooperating, spend some time outside using NO electricity today! Maybe you could even give this a try!

That's my plan!

Shannon

Nature Study Books

Remember these 3 books
Nature for the Very Young
Nature in a Nutshell...
Kid's Nature Book... ?

Well, I thought I would give a quick review in case anyone is interested in finding resources for a nature study.

1. 
   Nature for the Very Young - This one is actually a great book but not quite what I was looking for this summer. This would be great for a daycare provider who is looking for a lovely nature inspired curriculum for the year. It has a lot of ideas to help teach basic concepts - colors, body awareness, etc... but Josh has basic skill down. I want him to learn more about nature to help build some respect for it.
2. 
   Nature in a Nutshell... - First off, this book is intended for use with children ages 8-12. I had missed that when I requested it. It is definitely too old for use with Joshua this summer. However, if you have an upper elementary child interested in doing nature inspired science "experiments" this book is exactly what you are looking for!
3. 
   Kid's Nature Book... - I like the concept of this book a lot. It is just 365 different ideas that you can do relating to nature with your children. It actually assigns a date to each activity so you could literally do one a day for an entire year. My only problem with this one was that I felt like I needed a ton more information to do many of the activities. I think this book would be excellent to use with an older child that is being unschooled and likes to do research.

So...what it comes down to is that I am still looking for good books to use. Which leaves me off to the library (via the Internet!).

Shannon

Butterflies and Sunshine!

What a lovely day! 70's and beautiful! We really lucked out because today was our annual visit to the butterfly garden. http://www.meijergardens.org/index.php

We had a ton of fun. And...I would like to share our day with you so...

Here is the enclosure that they keep the chrysalis in until the butterflies hatch. If you look close you can see several butterflies inside drying their wings.

My favorite Blue Morpho butterfly!

Outside of the building is a rather large children's garden. Which includes a beaver dam area (see pic of Josh hugging the Beaver on the left, Josh's Fave of the day!) Then on the right we have Joshy dancing around in the raised sand box, which is right next to a large sand area.

The garden also includes a climbing structure, a game cabin, many trails, a Great Lakes water play area, and the giant Trojan horse statue. So fun! We are thinking of purchasing a membership but are trying to decide if we will use it enough to warrant the price.

All in all, a great day! Hope your enjoying your spring as well!

Shannon

Cool Butterfly Book

I am working on Basket Friday for this week, the theme is butterflies. We are heading to a butterfly garden tomorrow with Grandma and Great Grandma. Should be fun and definitely a nice way to ease into spring!

But anyway, I thought some of you might be interested in a cool butterfly book I just printed out! It is an ABC book with a different butterfly for each letter of the alphabet. It has lovely pictures and could be used for other activities as well as a book. http://makinglearningfun.com/themepages/ButterflyABC-Book.htm

I am planning on having Josh put it in order. Then we can make the book, read through it and talk about all the different names.

If anyone needs more butterfly activities please let me know I would be happy to share. I found several fun ideas to use.

Happy Spring!
Shannon

A day in Review

We finally did color mixing today! It was a ton of fun! I grabbed a 6 sectioned sorting tray and put red, yellow & blue in every other section. Then I asked Josh want color he thought the two colors would make when mixed. And oddly enough he knew all of them already but red and blue making purple???

But anyway, after he guessed I squeezed the 2 colors in a section and he mixed them together! Which delighted him to no end.

When we finished I gave him several medium sized sheets of paper and let him go to it for about 45 minutes while I got busy cleaning the learning room. He then proceeded to remix all the colors on his papers. Guess he has been waiting for this lesson a bit too long huh?

We also have been spending quite a bit of time outside now that SPRING has finally sprung! Josh is obsessed with shoveling dirt so maybe I need to just bite the bullet and do a garden. But friends...seriously...that fills me with such horror! I can not make things grow! I even kill cactus plants!

Shannon

Collage Making

We love to make collages! Generally, Joshua just makes his own creative collage from the "scrap box" I keep stocked for him. In it you would find bits of paper- colored, patterned, white, shiny etc..., small pieces of fun foam (leftover from projects), peas, beans, buttons, yarn bits, pretty much anything he can glue on to paper! The box is kept on his "art table" in the living room along with scissors, glue, a glue stick, markers, crayons, and a pencil.

However, (you knew there must be a point right?) I really wanted him to get some more practice with scissors. Not just cutting willy-nilly though, but real, thoughtful cutting. So I went through parenting magazines (actually digging them out of the recycling) and cut out a ton of different things he might be interested in. The twist was...I did not cut them out neatly, I cut them into long thin strips so he would be required to cut them down into smaller pictures. He still only needed to cut a bit on each side so it was still completely do-able, but was challenged by having to look at each one and decide where and how much to cut off!


I was really impressed with the job he did and the effort he put into it! He actually filled the entire paper up which I am not sure had ever occurred to him before.

Afterward, I added a teacher's catalog to his art table. Explaining that he can use that to cut and glue whenever he wants. He has not used it yet but I am sure looking forward to watching his cutting and creativity blossom!

Edit - Oh yeah...and...I cut out the numbers in the picture on the right. Don't want you to think he is some scissor virtuoso or anything ;)

Shannon

A little Summer Planning

We are schooling year round but I am putting a different spin on summertime. I plan to just do a big Nature Study "unit" . I want to include Montessori items, lots of outdoor time, possibly a teeny, tiny garden, etc...

So anyway...I am going to just dump a bunch of links and ideas into this post. Check them out if you want! And please...if you find something or have something great, SHARE!

IDEAS

• Montessori Botany and Anatomy Puzzles
• Wildflower 3-part cards
• Insect cards and study
• leaf cards
• Teeny tiny garden...possibly planting potatoes
• Tons of Nature books (to be determined...)
• 2-liter terrarium
• Senses Nature walk http://heartsandtrees.blogspot.com/
• Nature art???
• Tree rubbings
• grass painting... as in painting with grass
• Utilize our "Your Big Backyard" subscription, not sure how yet.
• http://www.hhmi.org/coolscience/ check out plant parts section, etc...
• Plant lifecycles http://www.crickweb.co.uk/assets/resources/flash.php?&file=lcycles5b
• Silhouette matching http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/community/MyCommunityActivity.aspx?ActivityId=275937&es=42342LIAME&
• http://www.enature.com/home/ might have something useful!
• more leaf/tree info http://www.schoolsliaison.org.uk/woodgate/leaves/leaves01.html
• and more http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/201Manhart/veg/leaf.shapes/leafshapes.html
• http://www.fi.edu/tfi/units/life/ Living Things site
• http://www.mbgnet.net/ Biomes
• http://www.sciencewithme.com/index.php Click on links, many worksheets??
• http://www.sciencespot.net/Pages/classroom.html
• http://www.nwf.org/kidzone/kzPage.cfm?siteId=1&departmentId=161&articleId=387 Color pages for preschoolers!
• Cool ideas! http://www.macbethsopinion.com/backyard_nature.htm
• Craft/Art idea http://www.geocities.com/kraftproject/Instructional/botanicalbookmarks.html
• http://kidscraftweekly.com/outdoors_issue.html Fun, age appropriate ideas!
• http://kidscraftweekly.com/leaves_issue.html Same as above but leaves!
• http://pinewoodcastle.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/11/pressed-flower-.html We have a flower press still in the box!
• http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/kindergarden/Child/school/sgintro.htm Might help with the "scary to me" garden!
• https://www.littlecitykids.com/lessonplans/index.php?category_id=3033 Save the Earth lesson plans but might have good ideas!

Oh man! That is a lot! I am also waiting for 3 books from Interlibrary loan.

1. Nature for the Very Young
2. Nature in a Nutshell...
3. Kid's Nature Book...

Well at least I have time. I plan to post my actual plans when I have made some decisions. I think I will make up several trays and then plan one cool activity everyday. Put nice extras in a folder for easy grabbing and just follow the child!

Shannon

Check out my new sidebar!

I just added "My shared items" from my googlereader! I plan to add stuff there that I am thinking about. Some will be items I want to do or make and others will be just interesting thoughts that I want to reread.

Feel free to leave me a comment if you see something you want to chat about!

Shannon

Blogs taking up too much of your time?

Okay, I admit it! It takes me away from other stuff I should be doing. Not really the writing of this blog but the reading of other blogs! I generally only write mine at night after Josh goes to bed or when he is napping.

So anyway, I kept seeing stuff about a blog reader that saved people time and energy. But honestly, I had NO idea what they were talking about! Then, yesterday I stumbled upon a new-to-me blog http://montessorifreefall.blogspot.com/ and I was reading along, when at about March 20th (?) I read a little blurb Stephanie added about Google Reader she said, quite simply, "Just go to www.google.com/reader and sign up for a free account. You "subscribe" to the blogs that you visit regularly and Google Reader notifies you whenever that blog is updated. You no longer have to check to see if that blogger has posted!"

So I finally tried it! And let me tell you, I AM IN LOVE with this! It makes everything so much easier. I feel like a complete moron for not just figuring this out on my own but I am so grateful that Stephanie shared it. Hopefully, if you have not tried this yet, you will now. It is SOOOO worth the time it takes to copy and paste your favorites.

Thank you Stephanie!
Shannon

As Promised...

Basket Day this Friday will be Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. Please keep in mind that this is being planned for a 3.5 yo who is a bit advanced in language and math skills. You know the type, I would like to take credit BUT, he would learn if left in an empty room all day!

So anyway...here are our plans so far, broken into subject areas.

Craft - We are going to paint a long brown tree trunk (using an easel!), use green paint on our hands for the palm tree branches, stamp on letters and glue sand on the bottom once dry! http://www.thevirtualvine.com/ccbb.html

Sensorial - I am going to buy coconut and do a 5 senses exploration. http://www.thevirtualvine.com/ccbb.html

Coconut...
looks...
feels...
sounds...
smells...
tastes...

Songs -
I said a boom chicka boom. (REPEAT)
I said a boom chicka boom. (REPEAT)
I said a boom chicka rocka chicka rocka chicka boom. (REPEAT)
Uh huh (REPEAT)
Oh yeah (REPEAT)
One more time! (REPEAT)

Poem from http://www.thevirtualvine.com/ccbb.html

Coconut Warning
Now, here's a little warning
So listen to me
Never sit beneath
A coconut tree
They're great for drinking
They're fine for percussion
But if one hits your head
You'll get a concussion.
-Author Unknown
I will just use this for looking at letters (circle the a's, underline the h's etc...)

Family fun - On http://www.thevirtualvine.com/ccbb.html about half way down is a printable card game called I have...Who has... It looks like a fun letter recognition game the three of us can play Friday evening.

Math - From http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/chicka_chicka_boom_boom.html I printed out the Counting Coconuts booklet and changed the 1,2,3,4,5 to 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. I will have Josh read the number and draw that many or stamp that many coconuts.

I also printed out pattern cards from http://www.geocities.com/pbottoms2001/CCBBMainPage.html to practice making patterns like coconut / tree / tree / coconut / tree / tree

Language - I printed Word tile cards from http://makinglearningfun.com/themepages/chickachicka.htm
These are fun to use with our letter tiles that we use for our movable alphabet!

Tracing - I printed a tracing page of a palm tree from http://makinglearningfun.com/themepages/chickachicka.htm but am not sure if he will be able to do this yet. It is a very light printed tree and he is to trace the lines. If he gets frustrated I will just have him color it!

Sequencing - In the Art section here http://makinglearningfun.com/themepages/chickachicka.htm there is an activity called easel activity. I am goint to use these card for Joshy to put in order and practice sequencing.

Practical - I wanted to have him make some sort of snack. There are a ton of ideas available but most are not right for us in some way. So I am still trying to come up with a nutritious tie in that he can make and he will eat. Any ideas are appreciated! Our issues... No food dye, he hates chocolate, I insist on no junky food. I may just try the celery stick-peanut butter-letter cereal idea if I can find a decent cereal not coated with sugar!

The sources already listed and others you may be interested in...
http://makinglearningfun.com/themepages/chickachicka.htm
http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/chicka_chicka_boom_boom.html
http://www.thevirtualvine.com/ccbb.html
http://www.geocities.com/pbottoms2001/CCBBMainPage.html
http://www.dltk-teach.com/books/chicka/chickapapercraft.htm

There are tons of great activities for this book available, sure hope this helps you to wade through!

Shannon

Holy Cow! It is April Already!

Where in the world did March go??? Anyway, I need to plan for a whole new month of activities etc...

And, apparently, I am already a whole day late! Just to throw down some ideas to brainstorm I am going to make a list and hopefully it may inspire someone else! Or maybe it will just help me get moving...better late than never!

*Saying - April Showers bring May Flowers (HT - Dawn )

*Songs - Rain Rain Go Away!, It's Raining, Its Pouring!, All the Raindrops

*Pouring with water extensions (especially into multiple containers, and I am considering having him do the cats water. He already does their dry food most of the time!)

*Insects, especially butterflies. We live near Frederick Meijer Gardens and they have the most beautiful butterfly garden this time of year!

*Earth Day - April 22!

*Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Basket Day! Landforms basket day!

*Color Mixing - I think I am going to intro this using a 6 section sorting tray, putting the 3 primary colors in every other section. Then have him just mix in the in-between areas.

*New Montessori Tray ideas- Replant classroom plant, some sort of pre-sewing work, the button frame, Bob books?

*Art - Calder (Mobiles and Stabiles) and Picasso (Shape collage)

*He has already read the first 5 Bob books! So...maybe he will finally show some interest in more pink work?? (Honestly, I wish they were not pink...it may be worth remaking for Josh.)

*Something new for Maths would be good but I am unsure what! I might let him check out this new website I stumbled upon though. http://www.rainforestmaths.com/ It looks fun and summery! (Is that a word?) He gets a kick out of that type of thing! But still need a shelf type work! Any ideas??

Well, that is it for now! I beg for suggestions!

Shannon

Water Cycle!

Last Friday' s basket theme was Weather. Josh is pretty in tuned with what weather entails so I wanted to go a bit deeper without making it too complicated...he is still 3. So anyway, we did a really fun lesson about the water cycle. (Along with other weather related activities!)

First, I printed a picture of the water cycle without labels, I can not "refind" my source but they are readily available. We then labeled the picture using simple straightforward terms; sun, rain, ground, puddle, cloud, and evaporate.

Next we did a really great "experiment". About halfway down this page.
All you do is talk about how a cloud is similar to a cotton ball, get the cotton wet and let the rain pour off of it. I could not believe how such a simple activity really drove the point home. He really gets it!

To end the lesson we created water cycle bracelets. Click on the link here! This was a lot of fun and he still remembers each part of the water cycle just by looking at his new bracelet!

I am really thrilled with how the basket Fridays are going! We have started just doing them in my bed. So much more room than the couch and just a bit more cozy! What a great way to end our week!

Shannon