Week 2.2: Experiments and Sticky Fingers

“Don’t give up! I believe in you all.
A person’s a person, no matter how small!
And you very small persons will not have to die
If you make yourselves heard! So come on, now, and TRY!”

Horton Hears a Who! (1954)

 -Dr. Seuss

 

 

Hello! We had a great week! We tried some new things, all with smashing successes!

 

Take a look:

 

 "W" is for worm. This was fun because we also talked about the order of sky, grass, and dirt. Our coloring skills need some more work {obviously}. :)

 

 

 We froze colored ice cubes and painted with them! Chilly fun!

 

 

 We also took the ice cubes and watched them melt in some oil. When they started to melt and separate, my little sidekick exclaimed that the "colors made bubbles!".

 

 Our finished ice painting.

 

 "H" is for house. I asked him to draw our family....again, we need to work on our coloring. Haha!

 

 

 

 

 This was super fun! I mixed water and food coloring with baking soda. While the paint was still wet, we took a dropper filled with vinegar over it and watched them fizz and bubble up. He was so surprised that I'm glad the paper finally dried!

 

"Z" is for zebra. Simple craft with happy results.

 

Where our ideas came from this week:

Pinterest for our zebra, house, and worm.

Two different Pinterest ideas from familylicious.com and unpretentiousteacher.com came together for our painting with ice and our ice in oil experiments.

**Feel free to search my Homeschooling board on Pinterest. Username: mandycarol**

 

Enjoy your week!

Week 1.2: New Ideas, New Fun!

"Occasionally, in times of worry, I’ve longed to be stylish, but on second thoughts I say no – just let me be myself – and express severe, rough, yet true things with rough workmanship."

-Vincent Van Gogh

 

 

Well, it only took me a week to write my normal two blogs. Sheesh! But we are working on a new schedule and it's been an adjustment of time, for this momma. I'm working on it and I will strive to get better!

 

Anyway! Happy New Year! It's 2014! Let me show you how we started our new schooling year!

 

 

 Snow Painting! I got the recipe from Growing A Jeweled Rose. It's simply equal parts glue and white shaving cream. Lots of fun!

 

 

 I set up an invitation to trace shapes on our chalkboard. We talked about the different shapes, how many sides each has, and then I helped him go around each shape once before trying on his own.

 

 Over Christmas break, I tired to think of new ways to school with my sidekick. I knew our schedule was going to become a little busier so, adjustments to {everything} was going to have to happen. I thought of this! I wrote all the letters on popsicle sticks and on our schooling days, I let him pick a letter before breakfast. Then I will find a fun project and TA-DA! School Day Fun!

 

{sidenote: I wanted to start over on the letters because he enjoys these projects so much and they are great way to jumpstart our learning each day.}

 

 

 

 The first letter he picked was X. I scoured Pinterest and found this easy project from several sites. It was an easy concept so I just looked at the pictures {Smart mommy moment, right?}. We not only got to "play" our xylophone {singing was involved, as well}, but we got to work on sorting large to small.

 

 

 I found these workbooks at our PX. While, I'm not a fan of these, usually, the sidekick and I had so much fun! It is a great way for him to work on his listening and following directions. As well as, the beginning skills of writing.

 

Over break, I sat and wrote down the whole alphabet. As we pick our letters each week, we will also work on tracing and writing our letters. It's a new concept for my sidekick but I think he'll do great as the weeks go by!

 

Over all, we had a great first week back! I can't wait to get into this new routine and see him learn even more this year!

Lesson Twelve: New Year, New Plan

The more that you read,
The more things you will know.
The more that you learn,
The more places you’ll go.

Oh, the Places You'll Go! (1990)

 

Happy 2014 all! Another year of adventure is upon us! Hooray!

 

Our little family spent a wonderful Christmas in Germany. We saw Christmas markets, castles, lots of snow, and even a circus on Christmas Day! It was a relaxing and good for the soul kind of vacation. I couldn't have asked for more.

 

 

Over our "break", I contemplated the direction I wanted to take to continue his schooling. We are moving this year, so our lives are bound to get a little crazy in a few months. I really wanted to keep it easy while still throwing in some new ideas for him. Also, my sweet sidekick is in a half-day preschool program three days a week. Lots of play time with new friends, social skills, listening to someone other than Mommy and Daddy, and overall happiness. He is really enjoying it. But with this addition to our schedule, I am cutting back our school days to just Tuesday and Thursday mornings since there is more of a chance of those being "home days". So again, simplicity is key.

 

I decided to keep doing letter crafts and starting over with all 26 letters. He loves these projects and I have found some fun, new ways to learn about the letters on Pinterest. We are also going to continue our letter hunts. Which is another reason for starting over on our letters. Along this line of thinking, I found some great pre-k workbooks at our PX. While I'm not usually a fan of workbook type work, I think for learning to trace his letters and numbers, it's a good start. Plus side, he loves them! So, we've added those. I've also been looking into science projects. Whether it's a new type of painting or learning how to mix colors, we've got lots of good projects coming!

 

Now. How have I decided to tackle our new schooling year? I wrote letters on 26 popsicle sticks and on our school days, I am asking him to pick a letter. He was so excited to get to choose! It's the little things that keep me going with all of this, and his excitement is a big factor. So, then I quickly look up a project for that letter, gather our supplies, and we get to work. After we finish that project, I pull out our new workbooks and work on our tracing and following directions.

 

I also want to work on telling time and responsibility with him. I've found a good clock puzzle to begin this process and also a chore chart. Now by "chores", I mean, putting his dishes in the sink, helping feed our dogs, take a bath, brush his teeth, clean up his toys. Things that he already does and are appropriate for his age. I just want him to see that there are rewards and good feelings that come with completing little things like that.

 

So, this is where the fun begins! I'm ready to get started!