Snips and Snails and Beaver Tails- That's What Little Boys Are Made Of

What an interesting, but for the most part, fun week! Today the kids were able to enjoy an hour at a splash pad, we grabbed some lunch and I was able to get a great workout in. We stopped at the library to check out 14 more books, I think our total is almost to 100 now in our home and yes, we do read most of them! After arriving home and having a very quiet "quiet" time I had my devotional time and then went up and spent some time with two of my favorite buddies. The three of us layed spread out on their floor reading library books and talking. Just having their sweet little bodies next to mine, Jay rubbing my back, was very precious.

Then, transitioning to the end of our beaver week, we went downstairs and began our last two activities. For the life of me, I could not find faux fur or atleast faux fur I would be willing to spend money on. So, I started searching the Internet for an alternative fun idea and found one: Beaver Tails!  You can find the recipe here, beaver tail pastries. Apparently, this fried pastry is made in the shape of a beaver tail and is very popular in Ontario, Canada. For the second time this week, we found ourselves kneading dough and have gotten quite good at this. As the dough was sitting and rising, the boys and I went out back and collected various size sticks and twigs to create a beaver lodge.

Unfortunately, one of the pavers I was standing on slipped down and I caught my entire arm on a block wall and now have a very bruised tricep with some pretty amazing looking scraps. What was I doing so high up?   Yes, I was jiggling tree branches from the vacant neighbors home to see if any would come off. Ahh, the sacrifices.

We then poured water over the dry ground so we could create mud and the boys stayed outside for quite some time building together. The end result was a pretty cool looking lodge. They are able to tell me most of the facts we learned this week as well as why beavers are responsible. One disturbing fact we learned this week, however, is that our friendly otter is actually a predator of the beaver. . You horrid animal, leave those poor, non stop teeth growing, wood gnawing, forest friends ALONE!

The boys started watching 101 Dalmatians ( which we checked out the classic book this week to begin reading- yeah!) and I finished the beaver tails because it involved heat and oil- not a responsibility I'm ready to hand over. They turned out so stickin' cute! The kids each molded their own and ate their own doused in sugar and cinnamon.

What a great day and tomorrow we have a super fun event planned. Will I take pictures and blog about it, of course- this is, of course, my journal of our adventurous education!

This Week

This week has been interesting...typically, we would have one playdate for the entire week....this week, everyday. The kids have had a lot of fun and I have adapted our school to fit this "unique" week, and I mean unique!

After their friends left today, I went to go sharpen the pencils to get started on language arts only to find that Austen sharpened an eraser that was now lodged in my brand new, very nice electronic pencil sharpener. Needless to say I was quite frustrated and just felt the Holy Spirit say, " put down the pencils and play games". So with the girls sleeping, I went into the boys room and we played Rat a Tat Cat and Silly Sentences. Both of these games covered what I was wanting to discuss in both of their language arts and math so point in case, the Holy Spirit knows best mamas.

Anyways, Silly Sentences is a really fun game that makes learning the parts of a sentence funny. The kids roll an odd shaped die, do what it says and if they land on "article, noun, preposition..." we say ok, " prepositions find the noun" and they pick one from the stack on the board and put it on their sentence structure. We always end up laughing our heads off at the silly sentences that are made. The best was Austen's, " The pink carrot reads to the old child" and " The fast clock sings to the red dinosaur" ( article-adj-noun-verb-preposition-article-adj-noun). You get the idea. I bought this game 2 years ago and I'm so glad I did!

Rat a tat cat focuses on greater than, less than, subtraction and memory. Its a really fun card game and I love that Austen is as into games as Jay and I are. Games make learning so much easier and fun! Finally, I read a bunch of books on pets and responsibility. One interesting book in particular was " Pets of the White House". A very interesting and informative read!  Hmm, do you feel a theme here?? :) The boys then had a quiet time, played playmobil, used their imaginations ( what more could I ask for???!) and then Austen and Riah came downstairs where we worked on SSRW and Austen completed reading another small book! Yeah Austen! He is making such great, S L O W progress and I love it :)

Its Raining Pigs and Dogs!

Wow! I can't believe that we have only one more week left in our pet sub unit of our responsibility study! This time flew! That's ok, I still need to fit in a few field trips and then we are moving onto beavers for a week and then ants! Ok, today was a pretty low key day. Both Austen and Moriah came down with fevers last night and that was pretty much the extent of it, fevers. However, they have both been pretty lethargic today and so they spent the morning watching Lady and the Tramp, Aristocats and 101 Dalmatians while I worked on school with Jayden and chased Miss Hanns around.

We recited Old Mother Hubbard and dramatized it together. Jay was not at all happy that the poor dog never did end up getting a bone. " Is that the end of the poem, he doesn't end up eating anything??" Also, we created a sock puppet and sewed on a cute pair of ears, nose and Jay colored in its eyes and spots. He morphed into character and put on a monologue of " The Day and the Life of a Dalmatian Dog". Interesting fact, did you know that Dalmatian dogs were first a status symbol among the Aristocrats and the fire department, back in the 1800s or so, wanted to have the same effect on the general public ( the gawking) when they rode on their engines drawn by work horses so they adopted the dog as "their" dog. It achieved the same effect and then the dog began to work for the fire department. They were calmed the horses, chased other meandering dogs away, protected the firehouse, guarded the horses when the firefighters were fighting fires, etc. We thought this was all very cool! I don't know, love learning new facts that I never even thought about before. We need to look up the origin of the German Shepherd!

We sand B-I-N-G-O again and got the words right, thank you dear friend Kelly :) Jayden also added his rendition of F-R-I-S-K-Y to the tune Bingo. Moriah and I were very humored, to say the least. Jayden and Moriah pretended to be puppies and we "trained" them to come, sit, roll over, shake. Also, Hannah was the unknowing mouse and Jayden " stalked" her. This was hilarious because as soon as Jayden would stalk and creep like a cat towards her and she noticed, that one year old bod took off like a speeding bullet. We were laughing so hard :)

Finally, we talked about if a cat purred, meowed loudly, ate grass, etc what was he trying to do or communicate. Honestly, I hate cats, love kittens, hate cats. They creep me out they are scary and skittish so I am just happy we even discussed those crazy animals.

Jayden finished his language arts and is really getting good at spelling thanks to Diana Crafts methods of pictures, colors and "gross factors". Hey, whatever works. We worked on his math and now, I am going to work out! It is so hot outside and I cannot wait for it to cool off so we can start playing outside more and having our afternoons consist of sun and nature vs inside and a/c. Just a few more months, we can do it- at least its not snowing. That I will say- sun or snow- I'll take the sun.

Barry The Bravest Saint Bernard

If you have never read this story or heard of it ( like myself) I highly recommend it. We read this book today and honestly, its a tear jerker, not like it takes much to evoke tears from me but its such a great book!!! I am sure we will read it a few more times before bringing it back to the library. We also read  " Favorite Poem Old and New" which is has a copyright from 1957. What a sweet, sweet time and a great age to collect both old and "new" poems. We focused on the animal poems and tried to identify the different types of animals the various authors were describing. I read " My Dog" by Marchette Chute and Jayden illustrated what he felt that dog looked like. I love literature so its been great to open my children's world even more to the classics.

Jayden became a photographer and shot some pictures of his anole and betta fish. Austen has not seemed like himself today so I'm hoping he is ok. He fell asleep at 10 am, woke up for a bit and is now sleeping hard at 3pm. Praying that his body is fighting hard whatever seems to be bothering him. Poor little lovers.

We, including Austen, did a TON of math and language arts this morning. Honestly, school is completely passed the 1.5 hr it was back when I only did Jayden. It is so much. Does it seem like that to anyone else who has older kids or schooling more than one? I read an article from a friend who talked about hiring cleaning help and I completely agree with that. Once life settles down in the next couple of months having someone deep clean 1-2x/month would be very worth it!

Here is another interesting site dedicated to Barry http://www.dog-breeds-and-dog-gifts.com/barry-the-great-saint-bernard.html . If I ever go to Switzerland I want to see this statue so I can take a picture and send it back to show the kids. Love learning!

How Much Is That Doggy In The Window??

Tabby

pet store owner

interviewing Miss Mama

Today we continued on with your study. I started with reading Genesis 1-2 and going through each day of creation. My Grandma made this awesome fabric book that keep turning into itself to represent each different day that God created. After I finished we discussed what responsibilities God gave to Adam and Eve and the kids took turns drawing pictures of something they remembered from our reading.

I love having our computer in the school area. In our other home, it was in our bedroom and made looking up things very difficult for school. Anyways, I looked up " We Are Siamese If You Please..." from Lady and the Tramp, the Old Yeller theme song as well as Lassie. We listened to these a few times over because they are so darn cute. Then, we did a comparison chart of how cats and dogs are similar and different. I love how engaged Moriah is and she just jumps right in with suggestions and most of the time, she is right!

Another fun thing was learning about working dogs. I learned so many interesting facts today on dogs. Did you know that the St Bernard dog was named after a monastery in the Alps. It was built as a refuge for travelers and the dogs would haul supplies and turn the spits used to roast meat for the guests. We are waiting a book from the library about Barry the famous St Bernard who saved forty people....hopefully it arrives soon!

I asked each of the kids if the had a dog, what would they name it?
M- " When I have a girl dog, I will name my dog Sadie."
A- "Softy because it will be soft."
J- " Bear if it would be a strong Rottweiler and squeak if it were smaller"

Finally, we set up a "pet store" where Austen and Riah dressed up as customers and Jayden was the owner. This worked out wonderfully because, honestly, for the past 6 months or so Jay has cleaned out and read almost every child and adult pet book the library has to offer so he is quite knowledgeable in this area.

The kids asked Jay, depending on their home situation, what pet would be best suited for them. Riah, wearing my heels,  had a black cat sitting in her stroller and Jay walks over to her, introduces himself, shakes her hand and leans down patting the cats head and goes, " And what kind of friend do you want for you Tabby??" Hahahaha, I about died. Funniest comment ever :) Austen , dressed up in Ben's clothes was a complete grump so we named him Mr Grouch and he decided that his son " Froggy" needed a pet turtle. However, according to Jayden the aquarium would be $70 and Austen insisted he only had $50 but would still buy it. Oh Austen!

We then read many, MANY library books including our all time favorite author ever KARMA WILSON. If you have never ready any of her books I highly recommend them and we love, LOVE them. They are so rhythmic, cute, and well written. 

Finally, Jayden's Horizons math came in the mail and ohmigoodness is it challenging. I love it that way! I would rather take it slower and have it be challenging than faster and have it be too easy. He is doing third grade so its fine to slow down anyways. That took us a whole 40 minutes and Austen fell asleep, I think he needed it. Overall, a very fun day!

The Anatomy of a Dog

Austen's Dog Anatomy

Jay's Dog Anatomy

What a productive day we have had so far and I am operating on a mere four hours of sleep- thank you Growing Hanns! The kids had some friends over this morning and they had a blast! The played legos, dress up, chased each other, baked chocolate chip cookies and played playdough all within a mere two hours.

After their friends left we had an early lunch and played some more. I then laid Miss Hanns down and the four of us read a very large amount of books on dogs, cats, birds and Curious George. Riah was acting quite tired so after laying her down we continued with our responsibility unit and pet study. As I am typing this, the boys are currently watching the Aristocats and tomorrow we will watch Benji to compare and contrast. They drew pictures of dogs and then we went through and labeled the most important parts for their age group to learn and recognize. Also, we sang " B I N G O" which ironically enough I am SURE we sang it wrong because I could not remember the words for the life of me! " There was a dog who had a "name" (????) and Bingo was his name 'o??? Yeah, how could I forget the words?

We moved on to "Where O Where has my little dog gone...." and I clued them that the writer of this song was from Germany and had them guess what type of dog he was talking about. We located Germany for the second time today, after reviewing Martin Luther again, and Jay guessed " German Shepherd". Yeah, cutest puppy ever! I would sing that sad song too if I lost this little love!

Jayden began cursive today. I was not going to waste time teaching it but I figured it is important to be able to read it due to historical documents as well as sign his name so we have the time, why not. He did "a" and "c". To be honest, I have horrible cursive writing and it is a mixture, and always has been, of print and cursive so this is something I will not be at all strict or anal about.

Austen is getting better and better at pushing his sounds together to form words!!! Yeah! We slowly work our way through the SSRW stories and are having a great time learning to read, write, spell and sing together. Now, just need to get my workout in and this day will be a perfect 10!

O Where O Where Has My Little Dog Gone??

Where are the days going?? I mean seriously, they fly by faster than I have a chance to catch my breath at times! We started in on our second week of responsibility because we finished everything from Konos up early this week, having such a grand ole' time and all. I came across this poem and thought it was quite fitting for the unit, as a whole:

A Bag of Tools

By:  R. L. Sharpe

Isn't it strange That princes and kings,

And clowns that caper In sawdust rings,

 And common people Like you and me

Are builders for eternity?

Each is given a bag of tools,

A shapeless mass, A book of rules;

And each must make - Ere life is flown -

A stumbling block  Or a steppingstone.

We discussed what this poem was talking about and visually showing us stepping up or tripping over a " stone". I think this might be a poem to work on and memorize. Also, we read the Bernstein Bears " Pet Show" book, some Clifford, pet care books and " Too Many Cats". I ordered the Aristocats from the library as well as Lady and the Tramp. We are going to watch, next week, an animated movie on dogs and then an actual one, ie: Benji, Homeward Bound.... and discuss the differences that we notice in the different features of the animals with popcorn of course!

Moriah gave us a tutorial on how to care for a baby. She was quite impressive with the knowledge that she has. Demonstrations abounded from her on how to feed, pick up, carry, comfort and nurse her baby, Beulah. Also, "Safety Jayden" questioned her on what she would do if a stranger tried to take her baby. 

I asked what would happen if air traffic controllers, doctors, nurses, teachers, parents, etc were Responsible or Irresponsible. The kids each took turns learning how and cleaning the toilets in our three bathrooms. They all did fantastic and Jayden is such a patient teacher! We discussed what our morning responsibilities are and for the most part, I do not have to ask Jayden or Austen to get dressed, Jay always remembers to turn his anole's lights back on and make his bed and with a few reminders they will tidy their room up quite well. Moriah is pretty organized by nature but obviously still needs help due to her age. 

One of my favorite parts of today was sitting in a circle with the kids, each holding their stuffed animals and talking about past and present pets that they have had. Moriah just received a white dog for her birthday and explained how " Sadie wuns away, gets lost and then goes to a lions cage"- wow Sadie, for such a short life in our home your adventures never cease to amaze me.

Austen had two animals and spoke very briefly on both of them and with Jayden, well, we not only got the rundown from his very first goldfish Nemo at age three, to his present day anole. Hmmm, I can tell you who is verbal and not so much in our family. These exercises are soo good for Austen though because it gets him talking and discussing something in great detail. Love you buddy!

I told the kids the story of my dog Lady, growing up. I think that is where Sadie got some of her ideas for her adventure from. We already know, as a family, what types of pets we can handle now- beta fish and lizards. I truly enjoy reptiles. I think that it is so much fun to watch "Frisky" the anole, chase down crickets and chomp them up. The kids know quite well we are NOT a rodent family nor cat family and THANKFULLY ( :) ) Austen is deathly allergic to cats, sorry Max. 

The boys finished up with their language arts and then went up for quiet time. Tomorrow, I would like to try and start our potted plants as well as make bread and reread some of our stories from this past week ( Mike Mulligan, Little Red Hen and The Three Little Pigs"

First Day of School 2011-2012

I know its blurry but Austen asked that I take his picture with " my best friend Hanns"

another year with a vibrant learner :)

Welcome back! I am so happy to be blogging again about school and not about all the other issues of our lives. We had a great first day back at school. The kids woke up much earlier than I did as I was up late signing them up for different activities throughout the valley and reserving their places in other events. However, they played quietly, which they are great at doing now and Jay came in to let me know that Miss Dainty, our resident tooth fairy, had come again and left " two whole dollars" for the front tooth that he brushed out.

We came downstairs and enjoyed green pancakes with honey and even Hannah joined us for breakfast, something that she typically sleeps through. I decided to skip my workout today as we were having some handymen come and fix odds and ends around the home. ANYWAYS, we started with Konos- yeah!!! Our character trait is responsibility for the next 13 weeks and it is going to be so incredibly fun!!! I cannot even wait to dive into this trait!

The lesson began today by asking what is responsibility. The kids came up with very good suggestions of what would be considered responsibility ie: what would happen if the anole was not fed, the clothes were not washed ( Moriah- " they would be dirty"), did not water the plants, etc. Then, we discussed what it means to be responsible, can we be responsible for everyone else's things , etc.

The three little pigs came into play and we had  a great time reading the story and acting it out with our "three little pig felt homes" that the kids' Grandma made for them. I remember reading this exact story with my own Grandma as a child and it brings back so many great memories of sitting on her lap, looking out the huge front window into the country landscape. Also, we stood in a line and sang " I've Been Working On the Railroad" together. At one point, Austen just stared at me refusing to pretend because he didn't have a real hammer. Oh my!

Finally, we discussed different verses in the bible that pertained to responsibility. We are focusing on Deuteronomy 6:5 and Matthew 6:33 for the next few weeks. Jayden read out of the bible about Moses and the burning bush and the responsibility that Moses was given by God to instruct and teach the children of Israel. Responsible actions give rewards while irresponsible ones have consequences. It was so fun to just hear Austen comment throughout the day, that is responsible, no that is not responsible. I LOVE how interactive activities and biblical teaching go hand in hand in this home educating journey!

We finished up with some more books, sing spell read and write with Austen, Austen's first grade math, some drawing and listening to Adventures in Odyssey. An incredibly great first day back! I am really looking forward to tomorrow and picking up some chocolate chips and butter as we were missing two MAIN ingredients for our back to school cookie cake. I hope all my other fellow home educating mamas enjoyed their day