Year Two: Week Four: I Spy With My Little Eye

Be scared. You can’t help that. But don’t be afraid. Ain’t nothing in the woods going to hurt you unless you corner it, or it smells that you are afraid. A bear or a deer, too, has got to be scared of a coward the same as a brave man has got to be.

~William Faulkner

Bug/Nature week brought us new games, a field trip, a scavenger hunt and more. Take a look!

 I picked up this Squirrel Snackin' game at Target. It's great for learning to take turns, following directions, fine motor skills with the squirrel pinchers (being demonstrated above by my sidekick), and the joys of winning...and losing. I am not a parent that will "let" my child win. I don't say that in a mean way, nor will I ever intentionally beat him at a game. But, in a case such as this, where you are at the whim of the spinner, it is what it is. He won a few and lost a few more. The first losing was the hardest. We took a minute to ourselves so I could explain this new concept to him. I told him that I understand his feelings are hurt and that it is much more fun to win. We also put into place that *if* he didn't win, he needed to say, "good game" to the winner before we could play again. A few times, he needed to be upset for a minute before he could work up to saying that, but he always did and that made me proud.

 ZOO TRIP! I have been waiting for this day! Unfortunately, Mr. Sidekick was in a "no" mood. He didn't want to see this animal, he didn't want to walk that way. He didn't want to do or see anything for most of the morning. We had our trusty spy glass though ($1 magnifying glass from the Dollar Store) and that helped him make a few discoveries. After a few bites of funnel cake, our day became magically happier and it was, overall, a pretty good day.

 There's my happy ending! 

 This was a match game I made for us to play. I would put shapes on the left side and let him match on the right. Easy peasy and fun to do together.

Found this little worksheet on survivingateacherssalary.com (Pinterest originally). I need to get us back into practicing our letter writing again. This was a good start.

Oh our scavenger hunt! This was fun! I found a list on Pinterest to get me started. (Found here in the mix of larger camping page.) We made some "bug-noculars" (two toilet paper rolls, tape and some string to hang them around his neck. 5 minutes and done.) Then we were off on our adventure. I read to him what we needed to find and off he ran! After discovering each item with his "bug-noculars" he got to check them off his list which made him even more excited. The kid likes a finished list, what can I say? :)

For this one, I made him food coloring+baking soda+water paints. He got to pick his colors so we got to revisit color mixing with this, as well. After he painted we squirted vinegar over the wet paint to make it fizz and foam. "Look Momma! I made Coke!" Once it dried, he told it was the Earth. What more could I ask for?

We are still playing over at abcmouse.com. It is such a good learning tool for him. If you have a chance, you should really check it out for your little. 

Our schedules are getting a little crazier, so it's harder to work in schooling time. I have to keep it a priority. We still work on our reading, writing and math, and our journaling. I'll have to write soon with a full post on how that's all going. So, sometimes what I have planned for a week takes two. No big deal. We're still on my own lesson plans with nothing is being graded and no missed deadlines. It kind of takes the pressure off. I still want our homeschooling to be important so I keep going. Even if I have to set up experiments after dinner or a quick reading session during breakfast. Even if I'm writing blog posts instead of getting us ready for bed. ;)

Tomorrow is another day and more adventures await! See you soon!

Year Two: Week Three: Out Of This World!

"When you’re finally up on the moon, looking back at the earth, all these differences and nationalistic traits are pretty well going to blend and you’re going to get a concept that maybe this is really one world and why the hell can’t we learn to live together like decent people?"

~Frank Borman

 

 

Hi all! My computer got sick this weekend so I had to delay my writings for a few days! Now we are about through another week of fun but let me catch you up on last week first!

 

This part actually has to do with the week before last. It was a little project from our Pets week that we just couldn't find the time to do. PUP TREATS!

 

 

 I can't for the life of me find the link to the recipe I used! UGH! It's on Pinterest....somewhere. I'll update when I find it. Or you can "hound me" (see what I did there? Haha!) if you would like it more urgently. They were super easy for the sidekick to make (mostly) himself.

 

 

 

He enjoyed the baking process but definitely loved giving the pups their new treats. They really liked them too!

 

Now to SPACE WEEK!

 

 

 

We made a mobile of the solar system. We painted our planets, let them dry, then hung them and explored them! By the end of the week, my little sidekick could find Earth and the sun. Those seem to be the most important, for now, so I happily settled with that.

 

 

 I made dot-to-dot pictures of easy constellations. Then I had him fill them in and we put star stickers on them.

 

 

 

 

  Easy-peasy. We talked about how these are "pictures" in the sky. He didn't quite understand when I tried to show him the real thing but we made wishes on the first stars of the evening and then went back to running around the yard as night fell over us.

 

  

 We (well, mostly me) made a rocket ship! This was a fun idea I had and, magically, found what I needed around the house (Thanks Mimi!). So I went to work and surprised my sidekick. It has a door, windows, and a "mast!", to quote the kid. Ha! He's cute.

 

 

 

 

 

The end of our week consisted of a neighborhood Fall Festival. There was a bouncy house (first experience of that for the sidekick. He loved it!), good food, sno-cones (another first!) and even a carriage ride home! Sidekick got to help steer us home. Although he didn't want to thank the horse (he was quite large), we all enjoyed the ride.

 

 

Come back soon! We already have another week almost behind us. Time seems to be flying by!

 

Week 7.2: Swim, Sunshine, and Straws

"But we are all fortunate in one way or another. The task for most of us is to identify in what way that is, would you not agree?"

- Alexander McCall Smith

 

Well, I missed another week somehow. We have been really busy though. Between swim lessons twice a week, music class, plus the usual life/mom things (cleaning the house, food preparation at least twice a day, play time, the list goes on. As I'm sure all you parents know). We're here now and have some fun things to show you!

 

Take a peek:

 

 B is for Bird! Another Pinterest find that we made our own. We're down to our last 10 or so letters so I'm trying to spread them out some. Luckily, with our busy-ness, that's been the easiest task of my day!

 

 I figured I could include this since it is taking up a couple of our days each week. My sidekick is a FISH! He loves swim class so much! So much so, that we have to stay, at least, 10 minutes after class just to avoid the tears of leaving the water. He's doing great though! He can kick from one side to the other with just a pool noodle under his arms for support!

 

 

 I've wanted to get back into more artsy things. So we tried some new things this week. The first being coloring sweetened condensed milk with water flavoring packets and then painting with marshmallows! Talk about SWEET! While he wasn't too interested in it, really, he did like stamping the marshmallows once I showed him what they could do.

 

 We hadn't marble painted in a while so, I got out our paint box and stepped it up a notch. Instead of just the normal box shaking, I only added blue and yellow paint and we talked about color mixing. When he saw the green, he was so amazed. Apparently, we're ready for more color mixing experiments!

 

 

 Oh playdough! This is our homemade batch that I made in May of 2012. Yep, 2-0-1-2. That's almost 2 years ago! It's finally starting to crystallize a little so it's definitely time to make new. We played with our cookie cutters, made different shapes, but we also worked on big vs. small, tall vs. short, longer vs. shorter, over and under ("Is the long playdough over the short one or under?"). It was fun to work those in, as well as, 3D shapes.

 

 

 Pinterest find! Pour milk into a shallow dish, add drops (just a couple) of food coloring, then touch the spots with a toothpick that's been dipped in dish soap. Oh man! His face was priceless. After a few times, the colors stop being so amazing and just run together. But, it was fun while it lasted.

 

 We needed something to do. We were bored and I didn't want to just let him sit and watch TV. So, I made up a game. I had him sound out each word (one-ten) and then find the match with the dots of the same number. It took some patience but,  he was starting to remember the sounds the letters make by end of it. The beginnings of reading! Hooray!

 

 One of the amazing things about Italy, are the little farms. They have milk machines (Seriously. It's a vending machine that you can buy fresh from the farm milk, cheeses, and yogurt. Hello yummy!). At some, you can visit with cows, chickens, and the farm cats and dogs. It's a pretty good time on a sunny day.

 

 Hooray for gelato season! While we seemed to find the random places that served them year round, the best are the ones that have just opened for the Spring and Summer seasons. Oh so good! Definitely, on of the things we will miss most about Italy.

 

 

 

Mommy and Sidekick art projects are my favorite! I try to let him do his own thing for the most part, but sometimes, it's hard to not join in the fun! This was one of those times. I love our little masterpiece. Simply dip straws in watercolors and blow out, close to the paper. (Do not in! Although, for us, it didn't move quick enough up the straw to leave a nasty taste in our mouths.).

 

There you have it! A week (and a half) worth of fun! Onto the next adventure! See you soon!!

Week 5.2: Lost Some Time But, Forgot To Miss It

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.

Essays: First Series (1841) Essay XII, "Art"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

How did I miss a whole week? What did we do? Where was I? Please tell me I'm not the only momma who has day{s} like this?

 

Anyway! Here we are! Back with some new art projects in the books and some new life lessons learned, as well.

 

Take a look:

 

 

 "K" is for kite! I, of course, found my inspiration on Pinterest but I took it a step further with my sidekick and made the diamond part into a puzzle! He had zero difficulty with it, the little smarty!

 

 "L" is for lion. {another Pinterest find} This was a roaring success! He loved the finished project and was quick to show Daddy when he came home from work!

 

 We found love for a new sport this week. BOWLING! It was so much fun to watch him "bowl" and to see all the excitement that a little person could have just explode out of him!

 

 It's Carnivale time in Venezia again! Since it's our last year in Italy, we had to make the trip! Gorgeous costumes, lots of birds, lots of water, and lots of fun!

 

 Daddy has recently taken up snowboarding. It's given us a chance to explore even more of this beautiful country. This past weekend, while Daddy was on the slopes, we spent many fun hours in toddler-waist deep snow! There were also cappuccinos for Mommy and hot chocolates and pastries for my sidekick. This family definitely loves the mountains!

 

One extra "K" picture. This kid is so sweet. I wanted to send a picture to Daddy during some down time in our snow playing. My little sidekick says, "Here Mommy. I kiss you. Say cheese!". My heart melted into the snow right then and there. I love every day with him. More and more.

 

Enjoy your kids this week. Thanks for stopping by. See you soon!

 

Remember to follow my Homeschooling ideas on Pinterest! http://www.pinterest.com/mandycarol/homeschooling/