Letter C and muffin tins

This week in our preschool we are learning about the letter "C".

We read the book "Caillou Tidies His Toys"

It's a fun little, cute book and encourages my preschooler to clean up.  OH yeah...clean (starts with a little C).

As you see, we're getting some good use out of our cookie sheet for our projects. 

All I did was draw the letters on construction paper.  Then my daughter is using cotton balls to glue along the outline of the letters.

We could have used beans or glitter or any number of items to glue on it, but when I realized "cotton" started with "C"...bingo!

Also, I  got the idea of using  muffin trays for my kids' lunch from two of my favorite bloggers, Muffin Tin Mom and A  Mommy's Adventures.  Muffin Tin Mom has tons of different meals and tutorials.

This particular meal idea is purely- whatever was in our fridge at the moment.  So, we have ramen noodles, carrots and dip, and grapes.

I'm also working on a student binder for my preschooler so she can proud of all her work this year.  I'll share that with you once I've got it together.

That's it for now!

Sew fun!

Ny is learning to sew!

After much hard work, Ny reveals her handsewn apron- all done from scratch - no machine.

Thanks to our precious new neighbors/friends, Ny has taken up sewing.

Christmas Fun and New Years in San Francisco

Okay, so the Christmas bit is over by a week and in a few hours it will be 2012!!!  Whoo-hooo!  I'm quite looking forward to some exciting months ahead.
But I thought I should backtrack and share a bit of our recent excitements:

The kids help put up the Christmas tree

The kids do a Christmas craft

Here's a YouTube video I made on how to create the craft above:

We enjoy our first Christmas in California

Fast forward a few days and we spend some time in San Francisco this weekend.  Can we say FIELDTRIP??
It's been a fun weekend.  Here are a few places we saw...

Source: naturalhomeschoolingmama.blogspot.com via Demetria on Pinterest

Source: naturalhomeschoolingmama.blogspot.com via Demetria on Pinterest

Source: naturalhomeschoolingmama.blogspot.com via Demetria on Pinterest

Source: naturalhomeschoolingmama.blogspot.com via Demetria on Pinterest

You can see the rest of my SF pics at my Pinterest account- it's all uploaded there.

Wow...it's been quite a year. I cannot believe for the life of me that in exactly two hours it will be a brand new year.  I am ready.
Happy New Year everyone!!

Libraries, haikus and art

We've been visiting our local libraries a lot.  It's free, it's nearby our home, and we're all bookworms in our family.

Even though we try to go a few times a week we still end up coming home with 2 or 3 bags full of books.

We LOVE getting out and having a library just a few blocks away- within walking distance- from our apartment is awesome!  Plus, getting to the library completely takes my mind off the fact that I have just moved.  I am still in shock from it all.  It happened so quickly.

I like that of the 2 libraries closest to us, we have 2 storytimes a week for Z's age (4 and under) and one for Ny's age, an after-school school story activity hour.  This gives us something to look forward to each week.  I'm sure we'll join more or our local activities for kids and homeschoolers soon, but for now we're just doing good to situate our belongings and furniture and find our way around town!

So, yesterday Ny wanted  a book about how to draw horses.  She's been really getting in to drawing a lot more lately, especially horses- her favorite thing to draw.  We brought home some horse books, along with a book called "Hip Hop Speaks to Children- a celebration of poetry with a beat".  I actually enjoyed the book just for me! Ha.  But I used it as a starting point for a lesson on writing poetry.

Here's the book:

A CD comes with it, which makes it a lot more fun than the kids listening to me read yet another story :-)

The poetry is urban, some free form, all encouraging messages and thoughts, and helps children to learn (through example) how to express themselves through rhyme and beat.

I listened to this with both girls and asked Ny to take anything that inspires her as a springboard to write her own poem.  I sent her to her room with pencil and paper and nothing more.  She was to come out with a poem.

About an hour later she emerges from her room in deep thought then returns to her room for more writing.  Then she comes bounding out of her room again- this time with a haiku (of all poems!) AND an illustration.  Tell me I wasn't proud!

Here is her poem and drawing: (she used a page of her "Top Secret Personal Beeswax" June B. Jones book)

She later realized the second line only had 5 syllables, and not 7...so she changed it to "I would feed it every day".

This is her version of the original picture found in "Drawing Horses and Foals" by Don Bolognese.  Here is the original drawing in the book:

Now, here is Ny's version of it (no tracing, only drawing- and she's drawn herself riding the horse).

I think she has a good eye for art...so we'll be looking for art activities around town for her to participate in.

So, that's all for now.  More updates to come next week...

Kentuck Festival

The kids had a great time at our local crafts festival.  Hundreds of vendors and artists showed up.  Thankfully, there were special activities for the kids to get involved in.

So they paint and create in the hot summer heat.

How To Create A Lapbook- YouTube video

Okay, here is the video I promised on how we do our lapbooking.
NyGirl and I were just finishing up a lapbook on Amelia Earhart that we began a month ago. I'm just beginning my YouTube journey, so bear with me...

I hope you find the video useful, helpful...or something of the sort. Leave me comments and let me know what you think. Also, if there is anything I can address in a future video, please LMK!

Homeschooling in the summer?

Today was a leisurely morning of learning and fun. We got started early so we could head outside and play.

We gathered around the kitchen table (something we haven't been able to do in nearly two years! ahh...it's a breath of fresh air to have BabyZ finally able to cooperate with that)...

I was a little surprised that she is starting to draw little noses, mouths, and eyes.

After a quick (15 minute) Saxon lesson and drill sheet, we brought out the Harcourt Complete Curriculum workbook.  This is a comprehensive book we use from time to time.  It is one grade level ahead of NyGirl's level, and I like to introduce her to advance concepts once in a while.  Amazingly, none of it has been excruciatingly difficult for her, although she does get stumped once in a while.  I like that, though, because it makes her think.  "Mom, what are the DETAILS of a paragraph?  What am I supposed to write?" 

I love when I offer suggestions and her brains starts churning, and she just takes off from there.  I am starting to learn how very little teach-y moments our kids need...just teach-able moments- and those are surprisingly VERY different.  Two totally different things.  When I find a teachable moment, I plug in and explain, then step right back out and let her explore it a bit.  But before, I was just a teach-y mama- explaining every detail for what seemed like an eternity until NyGirl's eyes rolled to the back of her head in pure boredom.

I am learning, okay?  :-)

And another thing...I have had more than one person ask me why we "do school" in the summer.  "It just doesn't seem right", they might add. "Kids need plenty of free time to just enjoy the outdoors and enjoy summer activities".  And they are right (about the outdoors and summer activities part).  As for the "school" part...as I said in an earlier post, I just can't fathom why my children would need to take large, 3 month gaps from learning things they enjoy anyway, or to brush up on math skills.

I mean, it's not as if they are pinned down to the kitchen table ALL DAY.  At the most, it is ONE hour.  One hour. (Can we honestly complain about one hour of academic skills brush up?  Seriously.  The public education system has proven that that is the one thing NEEDED in their schools- parents who will work with their kids over the summer).  That's one less hour of television.  One less hour of mindless activity where eventually someone ends up in a squabble due to utter boredom.

I'm not saying everyone should continue with year round schooling -- no way (that is, not unless you really want to).  I mean, we mama-teachers need a break too, you know.  I got my break from April to May.  But funny thing, my kids started BEGGING (not just asking) to have school.

"MOM!!!!  Can I PLEASE go in the home school pantry and find a math activity book?  Can I PLEASE work on the geography puzzle?"

How can you argue with that???

:-)

So, here we are in the middle of the summer, early July, doing school. At this rate, I imagine our schedule will look like 3 weeks on, 1 week off for the remaining of the year.

Fun, fun, and fun...okay, before the day is over I think I may have ONE MORE post...(*hint- it's about lapbooking, and there just MIGHT be a YouTube video to go along with it...)

Our Spring Break 2010 FieldTrip

So we went on a little fieldtrip last week for Spring Break.  We had loads of fun in Atlanta, GA.

First stop: American Girls

We have literally been studying American History all year long through the American Girls series.  At this point, NyGirl has finished reading through each series up to, I think,  Molly.  So it's been fun.

The doll was expensive, but for all the hard work NyGirl has put into school this year I think it was well deserved.

"let me think, let me think!".... He is such a good daddy! He agrees that the cost was worth the joy we see in her face on the pics below.

 

Ny and Addy

Next stop: A wonderful Messianic congregation right outside of Atlanta, for a taste of Hebrew on Shabbat.

It was probably a bit of a culture shock to NyGirl at first but I think in the end she enjoyed it.  Especially Oneg.  Wonderful kosher food, fun, and restful fellowship was involved.  I would say our family had a great time there.

I think more than anything I enjoyed the Davidic dance and the Hebrew.  There is nothing like sitting back to listen to the radiating sound of the Hebrew language resonate through your soul.   It is soul-stirring-- I enjoyed it.

Next day, stop 3: Coca Cola, downtown Atlanta.

NyGirl, enjoying a fieldtrip at Coca Cola:

I couldn't resist getting in the pic with the Coca Cola wall!

Gotta love this wall!

Me and my man :-)

There's the bear. What was his name again?

Here is where learning gets fun. Since my husband's native language is French, he tells us how he remembers these exact ads growing up.
I take it "Arrete-vouz" is French for "STOP!". :-) Fun.

More French ads:

Okay, now don't judge me. I am no American Idol fan-- but the American Idol couch was there...so...you gotta take a picture, right?



Lots of taste-testing going on there. There were over 60 countries (if I am not mistaken) represented at the taste-testing. Of all the countries, the colas I liked the least were European (Russia- very bland taste imo), and South America (too peppery for me). South Africa was interesting -- everything had this Cola nut or pineapple kind of zing to it. Japan was pretty yummy! Ha.
When I finally got around to tasting North America's samples, I felt relieved to be "back home" where the tastes are familiar. But it was a fun experience overall. The kids loved it.

So, last but not least, we head over to the Children's Museum of Atlanta.
 BabyZ finds activities to get into right away. Her energy level never ceases to amaze me.

We get NyGirl settled into some clay-dough forming activity which was really cool. The substance was really different- not even clay dough to be exact. It is dry enough to feel a little like sand, but moist enough for you to squeeze it into shape without much effort, AND it doesn't make a mess. Big plus in my house. I wish I knew what that stuff was -- I would buy some for play dough fun.

Afterward we enjoyed a nice cozy meal at Azio's in downtown Atlanta, then headed back to the hotel to rest for the next day's travel back home.

All in all, it was a fun and educational experience for the kids, and for the parents too!

We had a great time on our field trip, Spring Break 2010.

Here's a quick video clip I created about our fieldtrip:

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

A Purim Feast

This past week on February 28th, our family celebrated a typical Jewish holiday, Purim.

Although we are not Jewish I find myself constantly wanting to learn more about the Jewish background of our Christian heritage, and I felt that it would be a wonderful  concept to explore this year for our whole family.

So we decided to include it in our curriculum.

After much searching the web for good resources on how to incorporate Jewish studies into a Christian curriculum, here is what I came up with:

Hebrew4Christians- we began using this site extensively to help us learn the Hebrew alphabet, especially for handwriting.

TorahTots-Now this is a cool little site for kids that help them learn about the Jewish holidays, background on each, coloring pages, fun online games, and other little odds and ends that help bring the celebration of Jewish holidays into a realistic point of view for kids.

But probably the most helpful and insightful of all of my findings was the company, Heart of Wisdom.

Here is what owner and author of A Family Guide To The Biblical Holidays has to say about the Jewish aspect of our Christian faith:

We study a Hebrew book-written by Hebrews; we serve a Hebrew Lord-who had Hebrew disciples; we desire to follow the first century church-which was first predominately Hebrew; and through Christ, we are grafted into a Hebrew family! It makes sense to study our fascinating heritage.

During this season of my Christian journey I find myself completely in agreement with Robin and am very grateful to her for writing this book (along with co author Linda Pierce).  This book is an EXCELLENT resource for any Christian family wanting a gentle Messianic approach to incorporating the Jewish holidays, culture, and background into your home school or family life.

So, here is what we did:

• I am not much of a sewer, but decided to use the sewing version for creating the symbolic flags for our dinner centerpiece.  They are found on pages 72-73  of Robin and Linda's book, A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays

My daughter and I decorate with rhinestones:

There was a learning curve involved for me.  I had no clue I was supposed to iron these studs on, so initially I had my daughter attempting to peel some "backing" off them individually.

Funny.  But we got a hang of it and figured it out.  We eventually got all the studs ironed on the correct way.  This will be good experience for me whenever I do learn how to sew, for real.

Now, on to the multi-holiday centerpiece flags.  We created two of these for Purim but will need to create a few more for future holidays.  I got all the fabric I needed for the upcoming holidays.  Here I cut out a few squares, made a photocopy of the pictures of the Star of David and Cup of Bread, provided in Robin's book on page 75.  I did a little painting on the fabric for decoration, added the wooden dowels, but instead of sewing I just ended up gluing them on.

Along with my styrofoam base, here is what my final product looked like for my centerpiece (on a small table, that is-crown and sceptre to be added later):

Now for dessert, where NyGirl insisted on using the beater for the cookie mix.  We decided on Hamantashen cookies (page 427 in the book).  Basically they mean "Haman's pockets" and are supposed to resemble the hat Haman may have worn.  Another traditional food she mentions in her book is Esther's Banquet Bars. We have the ingredients for this, but decided to wait until next week to cook this set since we had so much batter from the Hamantashens left over:

So, to wrap it up:

We cut the batter into circles using a cup, filled the middle with raspberry preserves, folded into the shape of hat, then cooked.

The next day, our feast was beautiful.  My two girls, husband and I enjoyed a yummy meal of baked chicken with rice and snap peas cooked in turkey bacon.  Yummy.  We had our Hamantashens for desert with sweet tea, and my husband enjoyed reading the girls a book about Esther.

In all, it was a beautiful Purim feast.