This lovely little map is more than eye candy...
Love this!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
A Quick Little Post...
Just wanted to share the crossword my son came up with while we were playing Bananagrams [which, by the way, is a super awesome game]...
A few words were misspelled...and some were spelled backwards. Normally, he just builds words, I don't require him to connect them in a crossword. I was especially impressed today by his attempt to spell "pastures". He was very proud of his words and read them to us several times! He also took the picture below to document his work. [That's my boy.]
One of the perks to your kids learning to read and write and spell is that you have more people to play these sorts of games with. [Well, it is a perk if you are a word nerd like I am...]
A few words were misspelled...and some were spelled backwards. Normally, he just builds words, I don't require him to connect them in a crossword. I was especially impressed today by his attempt to spell "pastures". He was very proud of his words and read them to us several times! He also took the picture below to document his work. [That's my boy.]
One of the perks to your kids learning to read and write and spell is that you have more people to play these sorts of games with. [Well, it is a perk if you are a word nerd like I am...]
Across: what, dove, yes, hat, boat, lime, sap, lick
Down: dry, "pastures", hoop, tow, tub, two, eel, oatmeal
Good job, big guy!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Our "Under the Weather" Art Projects
Two of my three kids have been sick this last week.
Keeping them occupied with restful activities has kept me busy. Ironic, isn't it, how that works.
Yesterday we painted.
My 3 year old painted these pictures:
Later, when I asked her what she had painted pictures of, she told me that the first one was a picture of a flower. The second is a picture of "a house that is messy". The third picture is of a house that is "all cleaned up the way it belongs." The final picture is a "puzzle flower".
My 5 year old painted these pictures:
The first is of "a smiling guy with a game...the sun above him, the moon above him, and a dark cloud above him."
The second picture is: a "lion with headphones, listening to the radio...two flowers around the radio and the cords...a little thing that's green, that's kind of like a flower. How I made it was a line down, then I made a down-right line and an up-right line attached to it, and a line across at the end of it and over it. The radio is talking on the phone. And there is a boat on the cord and dots all over it. And then orange and yellow things on the right and left side...snakes. That's all."
You can see the difference in their personalities simply by each one's explanations of their artwork. Ha!
I love to see their creativity.
Here are a few more recent pictures the kids drew:
My 3-year-old's self portrait:
[I think this is super adorable! - She even drew a flower in her hair...and eyelashes.]
My son drew a picture of his favorite game:
Can you guess what he likes to play? ;)
My daughter drew "Larry the Cucumber" [from Veggie Tales].
Keeping them occupied with restful activities has kept me busy. Ironic, isn't it, how that works.
Yesterday we painted.
My 3 year old painted these pictures:
My 5 year old painted these pictures:
The first is of "a smiling guy with a game...the sun above him, the moon above him, and a dark cloud above him."
The second picture is: a "lion with headphones, listening to the radio...two flowers around the radio and the cords...a little thing that's green, that's kind of like a flower. How I made it was a line down, then I made a down-right line and an up-right line attached to it, and a line across at the end of it and over it. The radio is talking on the phone. And there is a boat on the cord and dots all over it. And then orange and yellow things on the right and left side...snakes. That's all."
You can see the difference in their personalities simply by each one's explanations of their artwork. Ha!
I love to see their creativity.
Here are a few more recent pictures the kids drew:
My 3-year-old's self portrait:
[I think this is super adorable! - She even drew a flower in her hair...and eyelashes.]
My son drew a picture of his favorite game:
Can you guess what he likes to play? ;)
My daughter drew "Larry the Cucumber" [from Veggie Tales].
And this colorful creature...
And my son made me a cat popsicle stick puppet, labeled it "cat" and wrote: "to Heather" on it. Then, he surprised me with my gift.
Being sick is no fun at all...but we are trying to make the most of it around here. :)
*ps...My son likes to play Mario.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Playing with Letters
A few days ago, my daughter and I played with letters.
My mom gave me a set of laminated pages, with large upper case letters on them.
I rolled out pink play dough into long, rounded strips.
We began our lesson by identifying the letters. If she was unsure about a letter, I told her its name and then asked her "What letter is this?" We repeated the process until she could correctly identify the letter.
Then I asked my three-year-old to trace each letter with her finger, carefully guiding her to trace each line in the same way she would write the letter. [For example: an L would be traced from top to bottom, then from left to right.]
Next, she arranged the play dough strips to form each letter. Her favorite part of this was using a play tool to cut the extra length off the ends of the strips.
Afterward, I would ask her again to identify the letter she had copied. "What letter did you make?" And finally, I congratulated her on her accomplishment, "Good job! You made the letter ____!"
This was a fun learning activity - and it gave me an idea. I really liked the concept of the pages; however there were a few things I disliked about them. I also had some ideas of how to make the pages a little more functional...so I have begun making my own. The kids and I are pretty excited about them and I hope to be finished soon so I can share them with you too!
In the meantime, if you do not have a similar set of protected pages, you could try reusing a clear plastic lid. Cut the edges off of the lid. Draw or print the alphabet on plain sheets of paper. Then place your clear lid over the letter you would like to teach your child about. Or maybe tape a sheet of plastic wrap to the table [with blue painter's tape - or another easily removable tape], leaving a space to slide your letter pages underneath. I'm sure you could do this exercise directly on your paper too...I imagine your play dough may stick a bit though. [I haven't tried any of these...they are just ideas. Let me know if you do & how they worked out.]
My mom gave me a set of laminated pages, with large upper case letters on them.
I rolled out pink play dough into long, rounded strips.
We began our lesson by identifying the letters. If she was unsure about a letter, I told her its name and then asked her "What letter is this?" We repeated the process until she could correctly identify the letter.
Then I asked my three-year-old to trace each letter with her finger, carefully guiding her to trace each line in the same way she would write the letter. [For example: an L would be traced from top to bottom, then from left to right.]
Next, she arranged the play dough strips to form each letter. Her favorite part of this was using a play tool to cut the extra length off the ends of the strips.
Afterward, I would ask her again to identify the letter she had copied. "What letter did you make?" And finally, I congratulated her on her accomplishment, "Good job! You made the letter ____!"
In the meantime, if you do not have a similar set of protected pages, you could try reusing a clear plastic lid. Cut the edges off of the lid. Draw or print the alphabet on plain sheets of paper. Then place your clear lid over the letter you would like to teach your child about. Or maybe tape a sheet of plastic wrap to the table [with blue painter's tape - or another easily removable tape], leaving a space to slide your letter pages underneath. I'm sure you could do this exercise directly on your paper too...I imagine your play dough may stick a bit though. [I haven't tried any of these...they are just ideas. Let me know if you do & how they worked out.]
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The Schooltime Skirmish
Does anyone else encounter this battle with their children?
My first child generally loves learning and looks forward to the time we spend together during our "school" hours. My second child does not share that sentiment. Educating her often feels like a battle.
She is strong-willed and very independent. A few days ago, I spent all day working on one lesson with her. It was simple, and she completely understood it, and once she was finally willing to participate, she completed it in a matter of less than 20 minutes. But she just flat out refuses to cooperate.
Sometimes, as much as I enjoy teaching my kids and watching them learn, I would rather just be mom. I spend enough time as it is in conflict with the kids, reminding them to pick up toys...make their beds...stop bickering...quit whining...eat their lunch. Do I need to/want to be the daily education enforcer too? It exhausts me.
Recently, after one of those days my child refused to finish school work, [this time, my older child] my husband suggested sending the kids to a public school.
I feel defeated.
Are these just the hard days...the hurdles and bumps that are bound to be met and need to be navigated to move forward? Won't they be encountered regardless of what academic choices we make?
I don't expect to be the best qualified teacher for my kids all throughout their education. But I was once relatively confident that I was competent to school my 3 year old. Surely I don't need to send her to school to learn colors and letters and shapes and numbers...
Maybe I'm not a poor teacher...maybe I'm a poor parent, since I can't get my stubborn preschool age child to comply. I can't really pass off that responsibility to a classroom education - that will always be mine.
Selfishly, I hope some of you other moms have days like this...days when the work of simply reminding, and instructing and refereeing and holding and listening and responding to each little voice at any given moment feels far more difficult a task than it actually is. I hope someone else has days when they feel outnumbered and overwhelmed; when the very thought of the collective energy their children possess exhausts them, when they just really want to say "yes"...and "thank you", rather than "no!" and "stop that!". Then maybe I can take courage that I am not slipping quickly out of control, but I've found myself in the heat of a battle I must be willing to win...not for my own victory, but for their best interest.
I'd rather feed them a cookie, flip on a movie and be the most favorite mom ever!
But reason tells me, we'd all loose if I raise a white flag at this point.
Well, I've spent enough time avoiding the front line...I'm going to crawl out of my trench now
[...and press on until nap time. :) ].
My first child generally loves learning and looks forward to the time we spend together during our "school" hours. My second child does not share that sentiment. Educating her often feels like a battle.
She is strong-willed and very independent. A few days ago, I spent all day working on one lesson with her. It was simple, and she completely understood it, and once she was finally willing to participate, she completed it in a matter of less than 20 minutes. But she just flat out refuses to cooperate.
Sometimes, as much as I enjoy teaching my kids and watching them learn, I would rather just be mom. I spend enough time as it is in conflict with the kids, reminding them to pick up toys...make their beds...stop bickering...quit whining...eat their lunch. Do I need to/want to be the daily education enforcer too? It exhausts me.
Recently, after one of those days my child refused to finish school work, [this time, my older child] my husband suggested sending the kids to a public school.
I feel defeated.
Are these just the hard days...the hurdles and bumps that are bound to be met and need to be navigated to move forward? Won't they be encountered regardless of what academic choices we make?
I don't expect to be the best qualified teacher for my kids all throughout their education. But I was once relatively confident that I was competent to school my 3 year old. Surely I don't need to send her to school to learn colors and letters and shapes and numbers...
Maybe I'm not a poor teacher...maybe I'm a poor parent, since I can't get my stubborn preschool age child to comply. I can't really pass off that responsibility to a classroom education - that will always be mine.
Selfishly, I hope some of you other moms have days like this...days when the work of simply reminding, and instructing and refereeing and holding and listening and responding to each little voice at any given moment feels far more difficult a task than it actually is. I hope someone else has days when they feel outnumbered and overwhelmed; when the very thought of the collective energy their children possess exhausts them, when they just really want to say "yes"...and "thank you", rather than "no!" and "stop that!". Then maybe I can take courage that I am not slipping quickly out of control, but I've found myself in the heat of a battle I must be willing to win...not for my own victory, but for their best interest.
I'd rather feed them a cookie, flip on a movie and be the most favorite mom ever!
But reason tells me, we'd all loose if I raise a white flag at this point.
Well, I've spent enough time avoiding the front line...I'm going to crawl out of my trench now
[...and press on until nap time. :) ].
Monday, February 28, 2011
Jan Brett Play Masks
I made these masks for my kids nearly four years ago, and we are still playing with them!
Even baby gets in on the action!
Author and illustrator, Jan Brett provides a wide variety of free animal images on her web site for this project.
We chose several animals from different books and printed them onto lightweight card stock. After carefully cutting along the edges [I also opted to cut out the eyes, so my children could peek through, but you don't have to], I laminated them and then used clear packing tape to attach each mask to an over-sized wooden craft stick [which you can find at most craft/hobby supply stores].
You do not need to laminate the masks, but I highly recommend it if you desire to play with them for awhile. If you do not have access to a laminating machine, you might consider using this process to protect your masks using clear packing tape. You could also punch holes on both sides of the mask and tie elastic string to the back, so your child can wear the mask.*
The animals we liked best were the:
fox,
cat,
owl,
bear,
But there are so many more to choose from!
Jan offers many other free activities and printables on her site. A few of my other favorites are her coloring murals, her coloring alphabets and alphabet tracers, and her matching animals game. There are LOTS of fun things to do...all available for free. If you have never visited her site, I recommend taking a minute or two to browse her pages; I'm sure you will find something you and your kids can enjoy together.
*[just be sure he/she has space to breathe and see to prevent injury]
Sunday, February 20, 2011
President's Day Coloring Pages
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