Archive for November, 2008

Posted on November 21, 2008 - by

Not Enough Play Time?

I’ve been making an effort to listen in on my kids more during their independent play times recently.  I’ve been truly amazed to hear them interact with each other in all sorts of pretend roles.  They’re pirates, or puppies, or a family (and sometimes gender doesn’t dictate who’s the mommy or daddy, too!).  I have to say that I’ve loved ‘eavesdropping’ on their creative play.  It’s truly amazing to me what kids will do and think of and act out if just given a little time and space.  And while I know that I’m a much different mom than some, I kind of like that my kids can play really well without me – even at such young ages.  But, I’m also noticing that when I do interact in that time (and even get a little silly myself), I somehow wind up scoring HUGE points in their emotional banks.  So, I’m trying to learn how to do both well.

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Posted on November 14, 2008 - by

Books We Love: The Princess and the Pea

Since we go to the library on an almost weekly basis and have probably checked out hundreds of books at this point, I thought it would be fun to start a category of small posts about the books we’ve enjoyed the most.  So, here’s your first glimpse at one of our favorite books of late.  I hope you enjoy and also share with us some of your favorites, too!

A bit about the book…
The Princess and the Pea has long been a favorite fairy tale of mine, so when I saw this title, I just had to check it out. When we got home to read it, I realized that, while based on Hans Christian Anderson’s original tale, it was a version written and illustrated by Lauren Child, the author and illustrator of Charlie and Lola, a book series and one of our favorite cartoons on the Disney Channel.

Lauren’s artwork is really fascinating because she uses a mixture of photographed and hand-sketched elements together to make a very unique look. The kids enjoy it because it’s a bit whimsical and her characters are so funny. The parents love it because of the depth and detail of each picture. You’ll catch yourself saying, “Oh my gosh. Look! It’s a teeninesy little bowl of peas on the kitchen table.” “Wow!  Look at the detail on the chandelier” and on and on…

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Posted on November 11, 2008 - by

Year 0: Week 10

Our school days are Tuesdays and Thursdays starting at 9:15am, when we return from dropping off Ethan at Mother’s Day Out. Each bullet point is a 5-15 minute period of time.  

Every 2nd Thursday of the month, our local library hosts a Gymboree Music time and then an hour later a Gymboree Yoga time.  This is the first month we’ll be enjoying these classes together and hope to continue enjoying them in the future, too.

Monday:

• Errand, cleaning day
• Mommy’s book club

Tuesday:

• Pledge
  Weather: Record temperature, outside conditions
  Calendar: Write out weekly schedule
• Handwriting: Lower case alphabet on Magnadoodle
• Phonics: Beginning and Ending Consonants Game - Everything for Early Learning Grade K (pgs 89-93)
• Song of the Week: I’m a Nut
  Verse of the Month: Ecclesiastes 3:1
  Rhyme/Poem: 
• Math: Identifying Patterns, Sequencing - Get Ready for Kindergarten (pg 67, 91)
• Outdoors: Gather leaves for handicraft
• History:
• Sign Language: Signing Time DVD, Volume 2
• Artist Study: Sandro Botticelli - A Young Man Being Introduced to the Seven Liberal Arts, c. 1484
• Literature:
• Tony’s Bread (another great legend by Tomie dePaola about the origin of panettone, a rich Italian Christmas bread)
• Stellaluna, by Janell Cannon (a beautiful story about a mother bat and her baby who are separated)
• Handicraft: Leaf rubbing cards with verse of the month
• Lunch (1hr)
• Outdoor Play (1hr)
• Literature: Kate’s choice
• Independent Reading/Rest Time

Wednesday:

• Story time at the Library (11:30 am)
• Turn in old and check out new books (12:00 pm)
• Lunch (1hr)
• Outdoor Play (1hr)
• Literature: Library Books
• Independent Reading/Rest Time

Thursday:

• Music Time at the Library (10:30 am)
• Yoga Time at the Library (11:30 am)
• Lunch (1hr)
• Outdoor Play (1hr)
• History: George Washington’s Teeth (A story about George Washington’s life based on the timeline of losing his teeth. What a clever way to introduce kids to the history of Washington’s life with something they can relate to – losing teeth.)
• Independent Reading/Rest Time

Friday:

• Nature Walk

Posted on November 11, 2008 - by

The Thanksgiving Tree

I was talking with a friend of mine recently when she mentioned this idea she had seen and I decided Kate and I just had to do it!  (All of that to say, this wasn’t my idea!  Thanks for sharing, Sandra!)

Kate and I decided to celebrate Thanksgiving by thinking of things we are grateful for all month long.  And to write these things down, we’re posting them on our “Thanksgiving Tree” on our pantry door.

We took a few pieces of newspaper and taped them together on the back, then drew a large tree trunk and some branches with crayons.  Then we drew some different kinds of leaves on another piece of newspaper, cut them out as stencils, and traced and cut many more out of yellow, orange, and red construction paper.

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Posted on November 3, 2008 - by

Year 0: Week 9