Jun. 14, 2009 - Tot School ~ June 8th

More workboxes.  More fun.  More memories with my tot! 

Simon's "Sprinkles" Project

I put some contact paper and leftover hole punchings in a workbox.  I had to open the contact paper for Simon, but he took over from there and made this "sprinkle" rectangle.  He wanted it in Jason's Father's Day card (act surpised, honey!), so in it went!

I did the books in a box thing again.  This is a series he has loved from the time he was just months old.  

We also love Sandra Boynton.  I found most of these at a second hand shop before Elijah was even born!  They've been loved to death by both boys.

We read Who Said Red? together and then we went on a red hunt all over the house.  Simon filled this workbox will all his red finds.

Another easy idea is to fill a box with fun foam scraps (cut into shapes) and let your tot take a glue stick and stick, stick, stick until everything is sticky he has a beautiful picture.

Elijah had a great clay experience this week and Simon wanted to tag along.  Here are the eight snakes he made.  I think he did great! 
The tadpoles he has been caring for~

Simon never tires of painting


Here he is with his collection of "ships" (spaceships) that he made one day while I was working with big brother.

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Jun. 13, 2009 - Little Clay Ladybug

Elijah is still enjoying his clay creating! 

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Jun. 12, 2009 - Elijah's Goodies

Not everything is fair in life especially when you are 4 years older than your little brother.  I notice Elijah eyeing Simon's workboxes everyday.   They are bright, colorful, and scream FUN!   Then he looks over at his boxes.  Not as bright...not as colorful...not as fun.    He's never complained, but I wanted to spice his day up with a really fun box.

So, I did the unthinkable (for all you healthy mommas out there) and filled a box with the following:
little candybars
small packs of cheese crackers
ring pops
price stickers
small poster board
markers
money

I told Elijah to make a poster for his sweet shop, assign prices to the items, and then Simon and I would visit his store.   He was SO excited.   He actually got all his other boxes done in record time (and done well); I strategically placed the sweet shop box as the final one for the day.


As we visited the store, I made Elijah do all the math (adding the items, counting back change, etc.).  This was fantastic!  We even talked about how to greet and treat customers.  Elijah eventually swapped me places and I manned the shop while he made his purchase (I still made him do the math!).   We have plenty of junk leftover for many more sweet shop adventures in the future.  Jason is also planning on making a stop at "Elijah's Goodies" tonight.

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Jun. 8, 2009 - Fairytales & Folktales Unit

After a month long break due to wonderful weather, Elijah jumped back in with a Fairytale/Folktale unit.  I needed something easy, so I used Evan Moor's Literature Pockets-  Fairytales & Folktales (grades 2-3). 

I have never been big on assembling the pockets their way.  Usually we use a lapbook or notebook.  This time, however, I knew the items needed pockets.   Instead of making my own from scratch, I took three pocket folders (the kind without any brads in the middle) and three hole punched them.   Then I used metal rings to keep it all together.




Tales we focused on
Bremen Town Musicians
Henny Penny
The Fisherman and His Wife
Jack and the Beanstalk
The Brave Little Tailor

Jack and the Beanstalk Story Folder (puppets store in envelope).  Yes, Jack really goes up and down the stalk.  This was great for narration (and for puppet shows for Simon!).

The Brave Little Tailor ~ this has a story belt, mobile, and mini-book inside along with the story.  I wish I could show you everything in the pockets, but it would just be too many pictures (and words!).

The Fisherman and His Wife (can you see Elijah's fabulously fat fish?)

Henny Penny pocket

This was a fun story for us because we had only read versions of Chicken Little (same story, different named characer).  This had a super great creative thinking activity to make up your own rhyming name characters and to complete them with illustrations.  Of course, I didn't take it out of the pocket and snap a picture (oops!).  I did take a picture of his puppets, though.  Again, great for retelling the story to mom (and little brother).



The Bremen Town Musicians had a fun art project.   Elijah crayoned the characters all stacked up then did a watercolor wash over the top.  No, I did not think of this; it was included in the lesson ideas!



donkey, dog, cat (which is sort of like a Cheshire cat, we think), and rooster!  Can you see the constellation in the sky?   This crayoned watercolor thing has Elijah inspired to write letters to friends in white crayon and then to tell them to paint over the top.  Sounds fun to me!

I have to tell you this unit was just a blast. You just might want to stop and and enjoy the laughter and memories for a bit.  Our children will only be little once.

Stories we listened to...
~Rumplestiltskin, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Little Red Hen, Things Could Always Be Worse(Tell Me a Story by Jim Weiss)
~The Emperor's New Clothes, The Real Princess (Famously Funny by Jim Weiss)
~Stone Soup, Puss in Boots, The Shoemaker and the Elves, and Rapunzel (Fairytale Favorites by Jim Weiss)

Stories we read...
Chicken Little by Steven Kellogg
The Three Bears by Paul Galdone
The Three Bears by Jan Brett
Rumpelstiltskin illustrated by Paul Zelinsky
Rumplestiltskin (Usborne)
Rapunzel illustrated by Paul Zelinsky
Puss in Boots by Charles Perrault
The Princess and the Pea by Paul Galdone
Little Red Hen by Diane Muldrow
Little Red Hen by Jerry Pinkney
Hansel & Gretel (Usborne)
Jack and the Beanstalk (Usborne)
The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs (Usborne)
The Elves and the Shoemaker (Usborne)
The Elves and the Shoemaker by Paul Galdone
Stone Soup by Marcia Brown
King Midas and the Golden Touch by Charlotte Craft

tales by Sheila Black (from A Treasury of Children's Literature)
~Goldilocks and the Three Bears
~Sleeping Beauty
~Jack and the Beanstalk
~Three Billy Goats Gruff
~The Three Little Pigs
~Little Red Riding Hood
~Cinderella
~The Frog Prince
~Hansel and Gretel
~Snow White
~The Brementown Musicians
~Rumpelstiltskin

ETA a picture of the outside of the folders (as requested in the comments)

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Jun. 8, 2009 - China Learning Kit

Here is a great opportunity to put China in your child's hands.

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Jun. 6, 2009 - Tot School ~ June 1st

Simon loves the magnet pages from Making Learning Fun.  He can use his Do-a-Dot markers on them on one day.  Then, on another day, we can put them on a cookie sheet for him to add the magnets.  



More doodle-doodle-dots (that what Simon calls them)

dinosaur stamping was a big hit this week



This is a very Montessori-ish game I have from when Elijah was a tot.  Simon and I tried to play Feel and Find, but he just isn't ready, so I modified the game.  I told him to close his eyes and pick a piece from the sack then find the puzzle to match it.  He loved this.  I had an idea later in the week to try to play Feel and Find again but to only put 5 pieces in the sack.  We may try next week.


Simon LOVES sounds bingo!  He loves it so much that he can set up all four boards and play them at once by himself.   I love things he can do indpendently; I just have to put the CD in the player for him. (This is Disovery Toys, but I was lucky to get it for cheap -- used from a friend. I am not sure if they still carry this product, but I've seen others like it at Rainbow Resource.)



Who knew that a preschooler would love to transfer cotton balls from one dish to another?  We have the cheat thingy on the chopsticks (thanks to Noodles & Company!). 



An old standby that we've had for years- a $1 garage sale find; Lauri shape puzzles


painting with new floppy brushes from Let's Explore


more painting (he really can't get enough!)

Simon is doing really well with workboxes of JUST BOOKS.  I try to find little collections and make them look attractive.  He has been sitting quietly for 15-20 minutes with just books!   Hooray!   We also do plenty of mom/Simon reading time, too.   I believe that reading is one of the most important things I can do with him.


Last week we sorted the animals into big and little.  This week I decided to add medium.   I put a tub of cars for sorting on his workbox cart, and we worked through this activity together.   I plan to do it again as he needs more practice with the size sorting (and he enjoyed finding cars in a workbox). 


We played again with some of the Brown Bear things we made last week.  We used the puppets for a color matching game.  I gave him a partial pack of M&Ms and had him sort the colors to match the animals.  This was a HUGE hit (as you can imagine).  He keeps asking when we are going to do this again!







The fun continued outside as Simon watered and weeded his garden, dug holes, planted beans, and even fed tadpoles (I don't have any pictures of this, but these little guys have been a big part of our week!).  Simon also discovered the Mourning Dove sitting on her nest and has been quietly watching her a few times each day.



Happy Tot-schooling!

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May. 29, 2009 - Scrapers & Shaving Cream

For those of you who think I am insane, I am (but this was just TOO much fun).  The scrapers are from Let's Explore. 

I sprayed Simon's name on the table and he took over from there.

Fantastic Fun!  
The clean-up was worth it because the activity kept him busy for almost 40 minutes!

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May. 29, 2009 - I want to be in preschool, too!

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May. 29, 2009 - Some Workbox Fun for Elijah

Silly Sentences Game

Pattern Blocks

Scrabble Sticker Crosswords

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May. 27, 2009 - Simon's Second Day with Workboxes

I love taking pictures of Simon's busy little hands!

Today's workboxes included:

1.  Brown Bear book

2.  Brown Bear puppets made from a printable pages from Kizclub
We pulled these out two at a time and had fun asking the animals what they saw; we also used them to have fun with animal sounds

3. Animal Puzzles

4. Paper & Muffin Tin Crayons
(Elijah and I made these crayons when he was a preschooler!)

5. To the Zoo File Folder Game (he's been loving this for almost a year now)

6.  Window Writing
I found the Wax-O-Glas Crayons at Let's Explore

7. Bonus Box- Creative Fun
I just gave him a box with a glue stick, some pipe cleaners, google eyes, and alphabet stickers.

He couldn't figure out how to get the pipe cleaners to stick together, so I twisted two for him.

Meet "Eyeball"

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May. 26, 2009 - A Little Workboxer

We took a one month break to enjoy the weather, but now we are back to school.  I started Simon on his very own workboxes today; he LOVED them.  He loved them too much and had a complete meltdown when he finished the final box.  I need to think about adding more boxes as I only gave him six today.

His line-up

Box 1 ~ Books
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?
Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?

Box 2 ~ Puzzles
Heads and Tails Matching Puzzles (all the animals from the Brown Bear book)
These were from Carisa.  It's always lovely to find quality (FREE) things to use with my children...one less thing for me to make!

Box 3 ~ Sorting
I put the Schleich animals in a box and had Simon sort them into two piles- BIG and little.  He loved this!  Once in awhile he would put an animal in the wrong spot and the other animals would "talk" the out of place animal to the right spot.  So cute.




Box 4~ Coloring


Simon and I made a mini-book of the animals in the Brown Bear book.  This free printable was also from Carisa.  This was great for reviewing colors, practicing fine motor skills, and for sequencing the story.   I love the way this kid colors!  He has some serious zeal for crayons!




Box 5 ~ Painting

Simon had a fun time creating with his new Paint Bellows.  He made a red bird and a white dog.   The tools for this project came from Let's Explore (a super fun shop...the kind of place I would own if I had a shop!).





Box 6 ~ Play-doh
He spent quite a bit of his morning with some yellow play-doh, tin pie pans, and rolling pins.  This is one of his favorite things to do.

My main goals for the week are to
~keep Simon's boxes stocked with new things each day
~teach Simon to put things away when he is finished
~avoid meltdowns 

I will keep you posted!

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May. 20, 2009 - Poetry and Popularity

I don't know if you know this about me (or care), but I love poetry. 

I mean it in the most sincere, un-flippant way;
I L-O-V-E the written word in poem form.

I had a little claim-to-fame encounter this past weekend; it reminded me of a poem I memorized for presentation while taking a poetry writing class my final year in college.   This one stirs me up every time I read it; the words are rich and reach me. 

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May. 14, 2009 - Unanswered Questions (and Things I Never Thought I'd Say)

Boys are so interesting.  I never pictured myself as a mom of boys, but here I am (and I have no desire to trade them in for girls).   I laugh a lot and shake my head a lot, too!

Here are some of the recent questions and statements from my mouth to their ears...

Why is there smashed banana on the bed?

While shopping-- Please stop licking the floor.

Why would you eat a spider?

Why would you leave your toothbrush on the floor...next to the toilet?

Why do I see spaghetti sauce on the wall?

Please don't eat ice cream with your hands.

Stop pouring sand on your head.  No, not a good idea to pour it on your brother's head, either.

Did you really think sending your brother down the stairway in a box was a good idea?

Why is there a very dirty, very wet sock in the bathtub?


And the question I ask on a daily basis...

Are you trying to drive me nuts, or does it just come natural?

Enjoy your boys!

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Apr. 30, 2009 - Simon's Big Day

World's cutest cupcakes (made by Aunt Lisa)




World's cutest three year old
(with his "birthday hat" and birthday melon)


Happy Birthday, Simon!   Everybody just loves you!

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Apr. 23, 2009 - Mailing May Lap N Note

We finished our study of Mailing May yesterday.   We used the lessons from FIAR Volume IV.  For Eiljah's notebook, he used the FIAR Fold N Learn, resources from Homeschool Share, and a train project pack from HOAC (a super member freebie).

Topics of study included trains, the post office/mail, the 1900s (then/now), vocabulary, facial expressions in art, quilt patterns, Idaho, Daniel Boone, wild/domestic animals, and probably something else that I'm forgetting.  

Elijah's favorite part was learning about trains.  Yesterday, our loveseat became a train.  He was sining I've Been Working on the Railroad at the top of his lungs (and a little off-key!).  He was telling Simon things like, "You, fresh fish!  Grease the pig!"   (Which means-- "Hey, new worker...oil the engine!")

Books Used
Mailing May by Michael O. Tunnell
House in the Mail by Rosemary Wells
Hail to Mail by Samuel Marshak
The Post Office Book:  Mail and How It Moves by Gail Gibbons
Who Was Daniel Boone? by Sydelle Kramer
Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine
Train of States by Peter Sis (we only used the Idaho page)

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Apr. 22, 2009 - Points to Ponder

We are moving our homeschool in a new direction.   I'm not sure exactly what this will look like.  We are keeping math and some language arts, but I want to try to dive in to (instead of just dabble with) delight-directed education.

Elijah will get to decide what he's going to learn about, about 80% of the time.  He already has a list ready for me of the topics he wants to explore! 

Here are some great quotes that are inspiring me to do in my heart what I already know I should do...

"Self-education is the only possible education; the rest is mere veneer laid on the surface of a child's nature." ~Charlotte Mason

"There isn't any known way to bulk-education; it's all custom work."
~John Taylor Gatto

"All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education." ~Sir Walter Scott

"To teach a man how he may learn to grow independently, and for himself, is perphaps the greatest service that one man can do another." ~Benjamin Jowett

"The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn." ~John Lubbock

"Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion has no hold on the mind.  Therefore do not use compulsion, but let early education be a sort of amusement; you will then be better able to discover the child's natural bent." ~Plato

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Apr. 22, 2009 - Beaver Lapbook

We started a pond study.  It was interrupted with a study of Mailing May (which we finished today...pictures coming soon).   Elijah told me he didn't want to continue with the pond study, so we just put everything (mostly beaver stuff) in a simple lapbook.   I didn't make the templates this time; they are from Hands of a Child.  The few pond themed things are mostly from Evan Moor's Giant Science Resource Book.

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Apr. 22, 2009 - This is what they do when I'm gone...

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Apr. 10, 2009 - We're having a CONTEST!

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Apr. 3, 2009 - Play-doh Cookies!

Some Friday Fun!   In Elijah's first box today, he found a recipe to make...

Play Dough Cookies!

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