Fun Features

Ava made up the title for the blog this time. I like it! So...featuring some fun stuff we've been up to:

It's been an odd Minnesota winter this year with hardly any snow or below zero temperatures...not that I'm complaining. The kids, however, haven't wanted to be outside at all. I mean, why go out in the cold when there's no snow to play in? We managed one day to get out and ice skate and brought the sleds to a hill. Also, we spent the weekend up at their Great Grandpa's place for his Birthday, which had just enough snow to cover the hill in his yard so they enjoyed snowboarding and sledding then. Grandpa also wanted to have a little winter bonfire outside with the family. It was nice to have the family together after the recent loss of Grandma. It was strange not to have her there in the kitchen baking cookies with us. The whole family was wonderful and supportive of everyone and the kids had a blast roasting marshmallows and veggie dogs and snowboarding. They also got in some games with all the fun aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents available for the weekend! We all played a big group game of Headbands with the kids. Amora helped by walking around telling people what their picture was before they could guess it! What a great weekend and one the kids will surely remember.



Great Grandpa playing Headbands



Grandpa Dave's turn!

Noah watching his Great Grandpa learn to bake cookies!

Because of the lack-of-fun-snow, we've been doing a lot of inside activities. Amora has mastered the computer mouse now and can play more games and puzzles. She can click and drag items, 'X' out pages, and even go to the controls and adjust the volume! She can also screw stuff up on the computer very well now.
Noah has been learning numbers and letters quite quickly now. One funny little way he does this is every night as he lays in bed and he stares at our alarm clock. Every time the minute changes he gets all excited and shouts out the four numbers, (plus the "dot dot"). Hey, whatever works. He's learning more about clocks, minutes, and hours at the same time too! I love how kids so eagerly take to learning this stuff.

We made a visit to the Science Museum as well, along with my parents. We ate first and then went to the Omnitheater, which may not have been done in the best order. Amora fell asleep during the giant and dizzying (but cool!) Amazon movie, then shortly after it was over she threw up. Oh, but don't fret for the janitorial staff, she was tucked into a sling I was wearing so I caught the massive amount of puked oatmeal (breakfast) and Subway sandwich (lunch) right down the inside of my shirt. Lucky for you all, in my disgust, I didn't even think to snap a picture (I know!).  I usually have a change of clothes for the kids, but not for me so it was off to the gift shop for some expensive T-shirts.
But things went smoothly thereafter...

Getting some cheek cells for the microscope!

Noah and Amora learning all about bees.

In the past week we had our Valentine's Day party with our homeschool group and Ava finished her paper mache project in her art class!

Making their Valentine boxes

Delivering Valentines to friends.

Amora excited about all her Valentines!

Ava's paper mache cat she made.

Noah also got to take a class for the first time, along with Ava. They went to a "Mini-Astronaut" class where they tried astronaut food, made space pictures and magnets and a little toy plane. They both loved it and Noah was so excited! Throughout the class I could hear him talking so loud and enthusiastically about Saturn's rings and the space stickers they were using. At the end he gave the teacher a big hug! Looks like I'll be signing them up for more!

We also attended a "Hands To Service" event where the kids got to make things for community causes. They made hamster and cat/dog toys for the local animal shelter, decorated bags for Meals On Wheels, painted window ornaments for children's hospital rooms, made valentine cards for senior home residents, and more! Then they got to stamp off each station on their "passports." They were such busy little people for a couple hours. It was tough to get them to leave!

Documentation and Worksheets

I've been working on putting together this year's portfolios for the kids. Each year, beginning with Pre-K I've started a portfolio of a selection of work and experiences the kids have had. Ava's Pre-K one filled up quickly at the time since she loved to do worksheets and official "school" work on paper. She still likes them on occasion, but now I find that our paper work is usually scribbled out in the moment on whatever is closest. Scraps of paper, used envelopes, the back of a magazine, on the chalk board or white board, etc. And on it's own, it may not make sense, as in a portfolio. Tally marks here, different words there, little maps, abbreviations, seemingly random letters and numbers ... but in the moment, these little scribbles were big learning!
We still are managing to fill up the portfolios though, and we may have to use some more photographs and ticket stubs and receipts this year, but it's all good. Also, I have the blog for documentation. I like to keep track of everything for reference and memories, plus it's fun! In addition, documenting is important in case of any misguided accusations that apparently some homeschoolers have had to deal with because of keeping kids home from school.

Noah, surprisingly, has taken to doing worksheets lately. I never really thought he'd be the worksheet type, but he's loving them. Worksheets are a funny thing. Basically, it's not so much that kids are learning the ideas as much as learning HOW to SHOW that they are learning them. You know, to make us grown-ups happy. This stuff is already in their little heads. Worksheets can only be done when they sit down and force the ideas onto paper once they can handle a pencil. In daily life, if you listen for it, kids are making all this clear already. They have all these concepts down, probably much much much earlier than we know.
To illustrate a recent example, I've illustrated a recent example!
This is Noah (4) and Amora (2) as Noah was doing his workbook:

This is what I overheard between the two of them as he worked through it:

Yup. Toddlers know math. Because everything is math. The whole world is math. We just, somewhere along the line, decided to rip it out of reality and put it down on paper, which has it's usefulness, obviously. But why must we force it upon young minds already whirling and growing with mathematical concepts and understandings? Why must we limit it so darn early to 1 + 1 = 2? Get over it, grown-ups! Kids KNOW 1 + 1 = 2 and have known it since birth, just without the words and symbols.
Amora happens to be an early talker and communicates really well. By the time she could say the words, she could differentiate and name all the colors, notice the differences between two objects, know big and little, over and under, in front of and behind, numbers and counting...all these things that we make a point to teach in Pre-school. I think kids know this stuff long before we force them to regurgitate it so we can jump up and down and say "good job!" They must think we are so silly.

Polymers

We had a lot of fun with polymers this week. What a fun way to learn about these chains of molecules! It started by our family watching an episode of Myth Busters on which they were swimming in a syrup polymer. Well, we won't be swimming in a pool of syrup anytime soon (this mama hopes, anyway), but it did get the rubber ball rolling.
...Psst! It's a rubber ball because rubber is a polymer. Ahaha, see polymers are fun! And so too is:

A silly string surprise attack:

Silly Putty fun! Thanks to their Grandma Kay:

And we mixed up some corn starch with water (approximately 1 cup cornstarch to 1/4 cup water) which the kids loved putting their hands in. What a strange feeling mixture and a great example of how polymer chains crosslink.

Also featured this week:

Rock Painting!

And a visit to the Children's Museum along with a homeschool group!

Hug Them

Hug them when they make a mess.
Hug them when they fight.
Hug them when they break a dish,
Or keep you up all night.
Hug them when they're angry;
Yes, hug them when they're mad.
Hug them when they're happy,
Bored, yelling, or sad.
Hug them when they're difficult,
And if they listen or ignore,
Hug them when they drag their feet,
Or throw down on the floor.

Time it soars;
Yes, it flies by fast.
So hug them every time
You get any little chance!

Games, Gingerbread, and Sillhouettes

It's December! Winter break doesn't really apply here. I've noticed we kind of cycle around academic learning and play learning. Actually, the two also mix together quite nicely when you let them! Today, Ava spent almost two hours doing online learning. She covered reading, Spanish, songs, and more. She's also been interested in cursive writing. Noah and Amora also did some online learning and did some painting, as well...and now are in the bath as a result.
Going with the flow is so nice, especially during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. The magic of the holidays should be soaked up by children! Lots of memories and living to do! We've been taking long ways home to see the Christmas lights, decorating the house, reading books, playing game, and paid Santa a visit at the mall.

Ava made a treasure hunt game by making a map of the house and then hiding a "treasure" and then putting an 'X' where the treasure is. We took turns trying to find where the treasure was hidden.

We also took down the Wildcraft game for the first time. Well, the kids found it actually. I'd been saving it for a while until they were old enough for it. Ava is at a great age for it and it's now our favorite game to play together. It teaches kids (and adults!) about which natural herbs help which ailments that you get along the hike up the mountain. I also love that there are no winners or losers and it encourages everyone to help each other through the game and get back down the mountain together.

While Ava and I played Wildcraft, the younger two had to be kept busy after they started getting bored with watching it. They were very active that day so it took several ideas to keep them happy:

Bean bag toss game:

Shape puzzles:

Drawing/stickering:

And bean sorting/mixing:

Ava got into this later but decided to try out a more advanced version with the electric mixer:

Speaking of kids using big-versions of things, I've been helping the kids learn how to use real knives to cut fruits and veggies. It may feel nice to only let kids use kid stuff that is uber safe and can't cut worth a crap, but kids also don't get to learn how to respect and carefully use the real stuff! At their ages, I supervise them and give them some pointers (don't cut toward yourself, move your thumb! etc.) and keep them put up out of reach in between, but I really think it's useful to let kids use the real thing. Sure they could get a cut (as do I!) but it's all part of learning. Our culture has taken the safety thing too far in so many ways. I'm working on getting away from all the fear and letting the kids have some freedom to learn and explore.

The kids made gingerbread houses at their homeschool group this month. What a blast! They had them eaten all up within 2 days, but they were sure cute! There were around 20 kids that attended that day so there was such a wonderful variation of different houses. Noah also built some block structures with his friends while Ava and Amora played games with the other girls.

This week, Ava headed to a Christmas concert/play with her grandma and aunt and uncle. Ava loved the play and talked about her favorite part when angels flew around the stage.

Meanwhile, I went to an art show where I got to meet my favorite artist, Jane Evershed. Her art is so amazing and is so inspirational and empowering for women and she is such a cool person, all around. I so enjoyed talking with her. I look forward to bringing Ava next year to it since she loves art so much and is familiar with Jane's work from the prints I have at home.

We also did some silhouette shadows. No easy task for the four and two year old. But cool none-the-less. Ava's turned out well, despite my flashlight holder making her shadow fly all over the place. Noah's was a bit of a challenge, but we managed. And Amora, well I didn't get past her hair line since she much preferred to watch the shadow on the wall instead of face forward. But yes, they thought it was great anyways and a couple fun silhouette portraits came out of it.