I'm declaring a 3-week break from school, due to Baby's arrival. My parents will come visit from Feb 11-14, and I'll aim to start up again after they leave.
He was born yesterday, Jan 27, after only 5 1/2 hours of labour (only about 3 hours of which were truly uncomfortable). This surprised me as, with each of the other 2 kids, I knew I was in labour almost 24 hours before the baby was born (and the first 18 hours or so were very easy). I went to Arabic Bible Study in the morning and, as I was pulling off the freeway, had a contraction that really meant business. I decided to go to Bible study anyway, and the contractions continued every 5-7 minutes. I started to become afraid of driving back home. The subject of the Bible study was Jesus walking on water, and how he said to his disciples, "I am he - do not be afraid". I was thrilled to be able to understand enough Arabic to grasp the main point, and I repeated it to myself (in Arabic) all the way home, through each contraction. By the time I got home, I knew without a shadow of doubt that this baby was on his way, and soon. I lay down for an hour and the contractions intensified. My mom called as I was getting up. By then the contractions were only about 3 minutes apart, so I didn't exactly have a leisurely conversation with her. I called the midwife and she headed over while Ari started setting up the birth tub. By the time there was enough water in the tub for me to get in, the contractions were intense enough that I needed to make a lot of noise - I tried to keep it to a pure musical note, and mostly succeeded, but it felt much more like the sort of note a baritone in an opera would make than my typical soprano range! Once I was in the tub, I was marginally more comfortable, but it was really intense. My mother-in-law had taken the kids out to be out of the way, but things were moving along quickly and they started back. I pushed for about 10-15 minutes, and the kids arrived back during the last push. They watched him being born - I think the intensity of the noise I was making was a bit overwhelming for them, but they saw him come out. He was born at 4:34pm. I was so grateful to God for making it so that the kids saw the birth, but didn't have to listen to my noises for any longer than necessary. The midwife showed the kids the placenta (which was huge - almost a pound bigger than average) and explained to them about the cord, and the amniotic sac, and the blood vessels that were on my side. When I was sitting on our bed with him, the kids came and got a closer look and were reassured that I was okay, too. This morning, they got to hold him for the first time, which they really enjoyed. They are so gentle and sweet with him, but he finds them a bit overwhelming and becomes overstimulated more quickly than they would like. Sorry, kid - the 3rd born is just going to have to learn to deal with a lot of activity around him! At this point I'm starting to feel somewhat recovered, but bed beckons appealingly. Good night!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Week 17, day 1
Sunday night, P and E had mentioned that they wanted to spend more time with me doing "something fun." I told them I would think about what sort of "something" we could do, and when, and decided that Monday would be spent at Space Center Houston. We got going by about 10:30 (avoiding morning rush hour traffic) and spent almost all day. When we first arrived, we looked at some suits on display - an actual suit from Apollo 12, complete with moon dust, and a quarantine suit from Apollo 11. There was an interactive display area with a wind tunnel, weights to lift that became harder to lift if you pressed the "Jupiter" button and easier if you pressed "Mars", and a model rocket to launch (you pumped it up and it was powered by air pressure). There were models of the Space Shuttle demonstrating the 3 degrees of freedom: roll, pitch, and yaw. There was also a Shuttle mockup that you could explore, with freeze-dried food and lots of velcro on the lower level and the pilot and copilot seats on the upper level. I explained how the stick controls roll and pitch and the rudder controls yaw, but I'm not sure how solidly the kids grasped that. Probably flying an actual aircraft would help, but I'm not ready for them to take that step just yet.
We got to take the tram tour this time. Last time we went, it was the end of the summer, and in addition to every out-of-town visitor to Houston, at least 3 summer camps had decided to take their entire contingent of 100-odd kids in matching t-shirts to Space Center Houston. It started to rain, and they cancelled all the tram tours, which only added to the crowds in the museum itself. It was a complete zoo, overwhelming in every way, and I bought an annual membership ($3 upgrade) in the hopes that I'd be able to come back on a day when I could get my money's worth. Monday certainly fulfilled these hopes, and the tram tour was the most worthwhile part of it. We stopped first at the refurbished mission control room, restored to how it looked during the Apollo missions. (We visited when I was a child in 1988 or so and the room was still in use, and were able to see, through the window, people actually controlling a space shuttle mission. A new room is now used, which tours are unable to see). If you've seen the movie "Apollo 13", you have a very accurate picture of what the control room looked like. I'm not sure the kids grasped much of the significance of the control room, but the next stop was easier for them to understand: the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility. This building contains 2 mockups of the Space Shuttle and mockups of all the components of the International Space Station, and is used for astronaut training. I explained as much as I could to the kids about what the various components were, and they were riveted the whole time we were in the building. The final stop on the tram tour was the Saturn V rocket, which was used to send people to the moon. The rocket is an actual one that was built for the Apollo program but never used, and it is housed lying down inside a building. Even lying down, the base is much taller than our house, and the engines are impressively huge. It took a long time to walk the length of the rocket, and there was a display on the wall featuring each of the 17 Apollo missions, as well as a "looking forward" display about a planned return to the moon. When we were leaving the building, the kids looked up in the sky and noticed that the moon was up, so we talked about the energy it took to get people all the way up there. On the way back, the tour guide said that one of the most common misconceptions people have is that the Space Center has a zero-G training facility on the grounds. I laughed out loud for several seconds, then noticed that no-one else thought it was funny. I forget how much more physics I know than the average American. My kids will too if I have anything to do with it, mwa-ha-ha! Perhaps we'll visit again before E turns 4 (admission is over $20 for kids 4 and older, and free for 3 and younger).
Today, we started the school week.
Bible: We reviewed last week's catechism and memory verse, and read the story of Zacchaeus.
Calendar: During our outside observations, I decided that today was a good day to start our "early spring" seeds (the ones they tell you to plant "as soon as the ground can be worked"), and we did that after we were done with school for the day. I plan on having us water them daily during "calendar" time.
Handwriting: P traced her copywork today, which she did fairly neatly. She still struggles with "b" and "d", but I'm seeing progress.
Language Arts: We introduced a new letter today, and P read her reader with full comprehension (she told the story to Ari at lunch time).
Math: P has seemed to enjoy her 5-a-days lately, or at least find them somewhat easier. Today's went quite smoothly. We played with pattern blocks for a while afterwards.
E's "school": didn't really happen today, but we did read How Do You Lift a Lion?. We discussed friction and gravity, and I reminded them of how I'd talked yesterday about the friction between the space shuttle and the air of Earth's atmosphere which made the shuttle heat up during re-entry and necessitated heat-resistant tiles.
Science/Geography: Today's theme at Titmouse Club was the noises animals make. We listened to various birds, and the kids made noisemakers. They carried the noisemakers with them on the nature walk, which added somewhat to the challenge of hearing nature sounds, but the docent did a good job of having them sit quietly with their eyes shut for a minute to listen. She pointed out a tree riddled with woodpecker holes, and asked the kids to imagine the noise that was made when the woodpecker made the holes.
We got to take the tram tour this time. Last time we went, it was the end of the summer, and in addition to every out-of-town visitor to Houston, at least 3 summer camps had decided to take their entire contingent of 100-odd kids in matching t-shirts to Space Center Houston. It started to rain, and they cancelled all the tram tours, which only added to the crowds in the museum itself. It was a complete zoo, overwhelming in every way, and I bought an annual membership ($3 upgrade) in the hopes that I'd be able to come back on a day when I could get my money's worth. Monday certainly fulfilled these hopes, and the tram tour was the most worthwhile part of it. We stopped first at the refurbished mission control room, restored to how it looked during the Apollo missions. (We visited when I was a child in 1988 or so and the room was still in use, and were able to see, through the window, people actually controlling a space shuttle mission. A new room is now used, which tours are unable to see). If you've seen the movie "Apollo 13", you have a very accurate picture of what the control room looked like. I'm not sure the kids grasped much of the significance of the control room, but the next stop was easier for them to understand: the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility. This building contains 2 mockups of the Space Shuttle and mockups of all the components of the International Space Station, and is used for astronaut training. I explained as much as I could to the kids about what the various components were, and they were riveted the whole time we were in the building. The final stop on the tram tour was the Saturn V rocket, which was used to send people to the moon. The rocket is an actual one that was built for the Apollo program but never used, and it is housed lying down inside a building. Even lying down, the base is much taller than our house, and the engines are impressively huge. It took a long time to walk the length of the rocket, and there was a display on the wall featuring each of the 17 Apollo missions, as well as a "looking forward" display about a planned return to the moon. When we were leaving the building, the kids looked up in the sky and noticed that the moon was up, so we talked about the energy it took to get people all the way up there. On the way back, the tour guide said that one of the most common misconceptions people have is that the Space Center has a zero-G training facility on the grounds. I laughed out loud for several seconds, then noticed that no-one else thought it was funny. I forget how much more physics I know than the average American. My kids will too if I have anything to do with it, mwa-ha-ha! Perhaps we'll visit again before E turns 4 (admission is over $20 for kids 4 and older, and free for 3 and younger).
Today, we started the school week.
Bible: We reviewed last week's catechism and memory verse, and read the story of Zacchaeus.
Calendar: During our outside observations, I decided that today was a good day to start our "early spring" seeds (the ones they tell you to plant "as soon as the ground can be worked"), and we did that after we were done with school for the day. I plan on having us water them daily during "calendar" time.
Handwriting: P traced her copywork today, which she did fairly neatly. She still struggles with "b" and "d", but I'm seeing progress.
Language Arts: We introduced a new letter today, and P read her reader with full comprehension (she told the story to Ari at lunch time).
Math: P has seemed to enjoy her 5-a-days lately, or at least find them somewhat easier. Today's went quite smoothly. We played with pattern blocks for a while afterwards.
E's "school": didn't really happen today, but we did read How Do You Lift a Lion?. We discussed friction and gravity, and I reminded them of how I'd talked yesterday about the friction between the space shuttle and the air of Earth's atmosphere which made the shuttle heat up during re-entry and necessitated heat-resistant tiles.
Science/Geography: Today's theme at Titmouse Club was the noises animals make. We listened to various birds, and the kids made noisemakers. They carried the noisemakers with them on the nature walk, which added somewhat to the challenge of hearing nature sounds, but the docent did a good job of having them sit quietly with their eyes shut for a minute to listen. She pointed out a tree riddled with woodpecker holes, and asked the kids to imagine the noise that was made when the woodpecker made the holes.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Week 16, day 4
Bible (Catechism, Bible story, memory verse): We reviewed the memory verse and catechism question, and read about how Jesus walked on water.
Calendar (Update day of week and date of month, record weather and temperature): The weather was still beautifully warm, and we enjoyed it more after lunch.
Handwriting: I had P trace "b" and "d" on her dry-erase letter cards, and then practice writing them correctly on the whiteboard. She also rewrote yesterday's sentence from dictation.
Language Arts: P read the reader easily and accurately. We played a guessing game where I described an animal and gave its starting sound, and the kids guessed which animal it was. They then took turns describing animals - P did this fairly well, and E hemmed and hawed for a while before copying one of P's descriptions verbatim.
E's "school": We read all the remaining stories in The Tall Book of Nursery Tales: The Princess and the Pea, The Little Red Hen, and Chicken Little. We also played the "yes/no statements" game again, which he continued to enjoy tremendously.
Math (5-a-day, other activities): P did her 5-a-day quickly and easily this time. Today (Saturday), she put her coin-counting abilities into practice by going out and buying a scarf for her grandmother (I'm not sure why, but it was really sweet of her to want to spend her own allowance). She counted up her amassed savings, determined that she had enough, and once she'd paid I showed her how to count her change.
Geography and/or science: Again, nothing formal, but we did spend a good amount of time outside doing yard work (mostly pulling up huge ragweed stalks). P noticed the root structure of the ragweed and we talked about what an impressively good job the roots did of holding the plants in the ground. P pulled apart the stalks and found some white spongy material on the inside.
Calendar (Update day of week and date of month, record weather and temperature): The weather was still beautifully warm, and we enjoyed it more after lunch.
Handwriting: I had P trace "b" and "d" on her dry-erase letter cards, and then practice writing them correctly on the whiteboard. She also rewrote yesterday's sentence from dictation.
Language Arts: P read the reader easily and accurately. We played a guessing game where I described an animal and gave its starting sound, and the kids guessed which animal it was. They then took turns describing animals - P did this fairly well, and E hemmed and hawed for a while before copying one of P's descriptions verbatim.
E's "school": We read all the remaining stories in The Tall Book of Nursery Tales: The Princess and the Pea, The Little Red Hen, and Chicken Little. We also played the "yes/no statements" game again, which he continued to enjoy tremendously.
Math (5-a-day, other activities): P did her 5-a-day quickly and easily this time. Today (Saturday), she put her coin-counting abilities into practice by going out and buying a scarf for her grandmother (I'm not sure why, but it was really sweet of her to want to spend her own allowance). She counted up her amassed savings, determined that she had enough, and once she'd paid I showed her how to count her change.
Geography and/or science: Again, nothing formal, but we did spend a good amount of time outside doing yard work (mostly pulling up huge ragweed stalks). P noticed the root structure of the ragweed and we talked about what an impressively good job the roots did of holding the plants in the ground. P pulled apart the stalks and found some white spongy material on the inside.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Week 16, day 3
Today's weather was beautiful - perfectly clear and mid-70s. Once we got home from CBS, the kids played outside with my mother-in-law while I took a nap (Baby doesn't believe in my getting a full night's sleep any more, and if meaningless contractions don't keep me awake till 1am, they wake me up at 5am). Once I woke up, I decided that if school was going to happen today (it didn't yesterday) it would have to be outside. The kids loved this change in routine.
Bible: While P and E swung on the swings, I reviewed the week's memory verse and catechism with them. We then read the story of the feeding of the 5,000.
Calendar: We observed that the weather was warm and clear, but didn't record it or look at the actual temperature, because that would have involved going inside. The kids were not interested in any activity that took them inside at this stage of the game.
Handwriting: I had P trace her copywork, lying on the porch and pressing on a book. It turned out fairly well despite her unconventional position. I did not work on the b/d reversal difficulties with her, because I wasn't prepared to haul the chalkboard outside!
Language Arts: P read her reader while sitting on the swing, and did so accurately and fluently. Having her read the same book every day of the week is helping her gain confidence, and I'm glad Sonlight suggested it because I wouldn't have thought of it.
We played a letter matching game, in which I spread out the capital and lowercase letters the kids have learned so far and had them pick up matching pairs. Once each of them had 6 letter pairs (including a vowel each), I suggested that we play at making words. E was quite able to read the words I made for him, and seemed to enjoy reading "bat", "cat", "ham", and "mat". P made some real and some original words, and found it funny when I accurately read her made-up words.
Math: P dawdled a little on her 5-a-day, but the suggestion that she complete it inside renewed her attention. Once she was done, she wanted to play store, and that ended up happening inside. E didn't join us, because he was watching Ari in the garage working on his telescope tracking machine. The sky is so clear, Ari couldn't bear to have his tracking machine working less than perfectly. P has gotten pretty good at playing store when the prices are easily made with the coins she has in her hand, so I introduced the concept of making change. I explained it in terms of "trading down" - you have a nickel, and trade it down for 5 pennies, and now you can buy that 4 cent item and have a penny left. She seemed to grasp it pretty well, but it'll need a lot of practice before she's confident.
E's "school": When P and I were winding up our "store" game, E came in and tearfully said, "You didn't do any of my school!" So I read him "Make Way for Ducklings" (P was outside again at this point) and "The Three Javelinas" (both kids loved this one, as did I - if they demand a daily reading, it will not drive me insane). I then revisited the "yes/no statements" game: "Cars drive in the ocean", "E has green hair and brown eyes", etc. (I once had green hair and brown eyes, but I don't know if my kids are aware of this).
Geography and/or science: Nothing formal of this nature occurred, though my mother-in-law was including the kids in some serious garden work when I got up from my nap. We also discussed the adventures of their uncle and aunt, who are currently becalmed in the Sargasso Sea in their 30-foot sailboat but just caught a 3.5-foot mahi mahi on a line without a fishing rod. Some of my "yes/no" statements with E also covered science topics: "It's summer here," "It's summer in South Africa," "Penguins live in the jungle." We received postcards that my parents sent from their trip to South Africa over Christmas, and talked about how the seasons are opposite in the Southern Hemisphere. Thanks, Mom and Dad - the kids enjoyed the postcards.
Bible: While P and E swung on the swings, I reviewed the week's memory verse and catechism with them. We then read the story of the feeding of the 5,000.
Calendar: We observed that the weather was warm and clear, but didn't record it or look at the actual temperature, because that would have involved going inside. The kids were not interested in any activity that took them inside at this stage of the game.
Handwriting: I had P trace her copywork, lying on the porch and pressing on a book. It turned out fairly well despite her unconventional position. I did not work on the b/d reversal difficulties with her, because I wasn't prepared to haul the chalkboard outside!
Language Arts: P read her reader while sitting on the swing, and did so accurately and fluently. Having her read the same book every day of the week is helping her gain confidence, and I'm glad Sonlight suggested it because I wouldn't have thought of it.
We played a letter matching game, in which I spread out the capital and lowercase letters the kids have learned so far and had them pick up matching pairs. Once each of them had 6 letter pairs (including a vowel each), I suggested that we play at making words. E was quite able to read the words I made for him, and seemed to enjoy reading "bat", "cat", "ham", and "mat". P made some real and some original words, and found it funny when I accurately read her made-up words.
Math: P dawdled a little on her 5-a-day, but the suggestion that she complete it inside renewed her attention. Once she was done, she wanted to play store, and that ended up happening inside. E didn't join us, because he was watching Ari in the garage working on his telescope tracking machine. The sky is so clear, Ari couldn't bear to have his tracking machine working less than perfectly. P has gotten pretty good at playing store when the prices are easily made with the coins she has in her hand, so I introduced the concept of making change. I explained it in terms of "trading down" - you have a nickel, and trade it down for 5 pennies, and now you can buy that 4 cent item and have a penny left. She seemed to grasp it pretty well, but it'll need a lot of practice before she's confident.
E's "school": When P and I were winding up our "store" game, E came in and tearfully said, "You didn't do any of my school!" So I read him "Make Way for Ducklings" (P was outside again at this point) and "The Three Javelinas" (both kids loved this one, as did I - if they demand a daily reading, it will not drive me insane). I then revisited the "yes/no statements" game: "Cars drive in the ocean", "E has green hair and brown eyes", etc. (I once had green hair and brown eyes, but I don't know if my kids are aware of this).
Geography and/or science: Nothing formal of this nature occurred, though my mother-in-law was including the kids in some serious garden work when I got up from my nap. We also discussed the adventures of their uncle and aunt, who are currently becalmed in the Sargasso Sea in their 30-foot sailboat but just caught a 3.5-foot mahi mahi on a line without a fishing rod. Some of my "yes/no" statements with E also covered science topics: "It's summer here," "It's summer in South Africa," "Penguins live in the jungle." We received postcards that my parents sent from their trip to South Africa over Christmas, and talked about how the seasons are opposite in the Southern Hemisphere. Thanks, Mom and Dad - the kids enjoyed the postcards.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Week 16, day 2
Bible (Catechism, Bible story, memory verse): We reviewed this week's memory verse and catechism question, and read the story of the 4 men who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus for healing. We discussed how, although the man's obvious need was that he couldn't walk, he really needed Jesus to forgive his sins, and that's something that everyone in the world needs, including those who can walk.
Calendar (Update day of week and date of month, record weather and temperature)
Handwriting: I had P write from dictation the words that she had traced yesterday. I forgot to do any review of "b" and "d" today, but I doubt we'll get to it tomorrow because we'll only have an hour and a half or so between a doctor's appointment (interviewing pediatricians) and P's ballet lesson.
Language Arts: P was to describe how we decorate our house for some special occasion. Not surprisingly, she chose Christmas. I was interested to discover that the decorations she saw as most important, I had barely noticed.
She re-read this week's reader. Having read it once and knowing the story, she was more inclined to guess words rather than look at them and read them accurately, but I insisted that she try again. Sight words are only sight words if you're reading them correctly.
E's "school": We read Noah's Ark and "The Ugly Duckling" from The Tall Book of Nursery Tales. We spent a long time over "Noah's Ark", enjoying the details in the pictures (the concerned expression on the elephant's face when the ark bumped the summit of Mt. Ararat, for example). "The Ugly Duckling" fit in nicely with our study of ducks at Titmouse Club. We also re-read "The Three Little Pigs". (Jeannette, I just looked and discovered that our library has a copy of "The Three Little Javelinas" - we'll have to check it out).
Math (5-a-day, other activities): I promised the kids that we could go to the playground at Bear Creek after we were done with school today, so that inspired P to work at her 5-a-day with diligence. She tends not to look closely at whether I am asking her to add or subtract, so she misread 12-5 as 12+5, but I stopped her before she got too far. Attention to detail is important in life, but it doesn't come naturally.
Geography and/or science: Today's Titmouse Club theme was ducks. The docent did a fantastic job, demonstrating how flippers moved more water than open fingers could, how duck feathers are waterproof, and how ducks filter out duckweed from water (she had a pair of spoons with holes drilled in them, and used them to scoop up weedy water and demonstrate how the weeds remained in the spoons once the water had drained out). The craft involved making ducks out of paper plates and plastic spoons. Then, each child was given a net and instructions on how not to fall into the lake, and they swished around catching zero fish. (I'm sure the fact that it's January didn't help, but it would have to be a pretty idiotic fish that hung around long after a dozen preschoolers started muddying the water). The docent caught 3 mosquito fish and put them in a bucket for the kids to look at, which helped cut the disappointment somewhat.
After we were done with our formal "school", we headed over to Bear Creek Park, which has the best playground I know of in the entire city as well as a collection of birds including rheas, emus, horned owls, peacocks, and parrots. I pointed out to the kids how the rheas' feet were clearly not webbed and not designed for swimming. There were some ducks in a waterway nearby, and the kids found several feathers. They investigated their waterproof properties, and then tossed them into the middle of the waterway, where the wind blew them under the bridge. E was excited about the progress his feather had made for at least 20 minutes. I hadn't planned it out to tie in with Titmouse Club, but it was neat how it did anyway.
Other: We reviewed finding "C" on the piano and each child played all the Cs on the piano with their thumbs. We also played a version of Simon Says, which E is finally old enough to grasp pretty well (P is a pro). I have a "pre-violin" book I bought from the Violin Book company - it's for preparing preschoolers for their first violin lessons, and contains activities for following directions, rhythm, treating an instrument gently, etc. - and the Simon Says idea came from there.
Calendar (Update day of week and date of month, record weather and temperature)
Handwriting: I had P write from dictation the words that she had traced yesterday. I forgot to do any review of "b" and "d" today, but I doubt we'll get to it tomorrow because we'll only have an hour and a half or so between a doctor's appointment (interviewing pediatricians) and P's ballet lesson.
Language Arts: P was to describe how we decorate our house for some special occasion. Not surprisingly, she chose Christmas. I was interested to discover that the decorations she saw as most important, I had barely noticed.
She re-read this week's reader. Having read it once and knowing the story, she was more inclined to guess words rather than look at them and read them accurately, but I insisted that she try again. Sight words are only sight words if you're reading them correctly.
E's "school": We read Noah's Ark and "The Ugly Duckling" from The Tall Book of Nursery Tales. We spent a long time over "Noah's Ark", enjoying the details in the pictures (the concerned expression on the elephant's face when the ark bumped the summit of Mt. Ararat, for example). "The Ugly Duckling" fit in nicely with our study of ducks at Titmouse Club. We also re-read "The Three Little Pigs". (Jeannette, I just looked and discovered that our library has a copy of "The Three Little Javelinas" - we'll have to check it out).
Math (5-a-day, other activities): I promised the kids that we could go to the playground at Bear Creek after we were done with school today, so that inspired P to work at her 5-a-day with diligence. She tends not to look closely at whether I am asking her to add or subtract, so she misread 12-5 as 12+5, but I stopped her before she got too far. Attention to detail is important in life, but it doesn't come naturally.
Geography and/or science: Today's Titmouse Club theme was ducks. The docent did a fantastic job, demonstrating how flippers moved more water than open fingers could, how duck feathers are waterproof, and how ducks filter out duckweed from water (she had a pair of spoons with holes drilled in them, and used them to scoop up weedy water and demonstrate how the weeds remained in the spoons once the water had drained out). The craft involved making ducks out of paper plates and plastic spoons. Then, each child was given a net and instructions on how not to fall into the lake, and they swished around catching zero fish. (I'm sure the fact that it's January didn't help, but it would have to be a pretty idiotic fish that hung around long after a dozen preschoolers started muddying the water). The docent caught 3 mosquito fish and put them in a bucket for the kids to look at, which helped cut the disappointment somewhat.
After we were done with our formal "school", we headed over to Bear Creek Park, which has the best playground I know of in the entire city as well as a collection of birds including rheas, emus, horned owls, peacocks, and parrots. I pointed out to the kids how the rheas' feet were clearly not webbed and not designed for swimming. There were some ducks in a waterway nearby, and the kids found several feathers. They investigated their waterproof properties, and then tossed them into the middle of the waterway, where the wind blew them under the bridge. E was excited about the progress his feather had made for at least 20 minutes. I hadn't planned it out to tie in with Titmouse Club, but it was neat how it did anyway.
Other: We reviewed finding "C" on the piano and each child played all the Cs on the piano with their thumbs. We also played a version of Simon Says, which E is finally old enough to grasp pretty well (P is a pro). I have a "pre-violin" book I bought from the Violin Book company - it's for preparing preschoolers for their first violin lessons, and contains activities for following directions, rhythm, treating an instrument gently, etc. - and the Simon Says idea came from there.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Week 16, day 1
Bible (Catechism, Bible story, memory verse): I introduced a new memory verse for this week, John 10:11, and another catechism question. We read the story of how Jesus healed blind Bartimaeus.
Calendar (Update day of week and date of month, record weather and temperature): P is really starting to get the hang of telling time without much help. I only need to ask her, "What is the hour? Where is the minute hand? So what time is it?" and she can figure it out pretty much by herself.
Handwriting: I let today's copywork (tracing) take care of handwriting. P is still mixing up how to form "b" and "d", so I may work on that more directly with her tomorrow.
Language Arts: We introduced a new letter today. I had put the picture dictionary away in the wrong place last time, and spent a frustrating 10 minutes scouring the bookshelf before giving up, taking up the catalogs to make our letter sheet, and finding the picture dictionary at the bottom of the pile. Ah, well. The kids are very forgiving.
P did a fantastic job of reading this week's reader. Her reading was almost fluent the first time she read it, and she really enjoyed the story itself. I'll have her continue reading this reader all week, which will help many of the words become familiar sight words, enhancing her fluency even further.
E's "school": We had a great time with this week's SSGMR activity. It involved reading a list of statements to E, and having him say "yes" or "no". For example, "The grass is red." "The sky is blue." "Plants grow in the washing machine." He thought these were hilarious, and made up several that I had to answer. P and E continued playing this game intermittently throughout the day, and I think it'll outlast the week. We also read "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", "Put Me In The Zoo", and "Mr. Brown Can Moo - Can You?" P was clearly reading some of the "sound effect" words in "Mr. Brown" before I got there, which was fun.
Math (5-a-day, other activities): P dawdled on her 5-a-day, and the timer went off before she was anywhere near done, but she didn't complain about it as much as she did last week. She was glad that I had put a measuring activity on the worksheet. I asked her to make 34 cents using as few coins as possible, but figuring out how to trade in 3 dimes and 4 pennies for a quarter, a nickel and 4 pennies was too hard for her by herself and I had to help her.
P played with the Think-It-Through tiles again, and enjoyed finding the pattern. The hard part for her isn't the actual questions in the activity book, but keeping track of the number on the tile vs. the number that is the answer. Once she's comfortable on that, I think she'll enjoy the toy even more.
Geography and/or science: Finally! P finished her "Denmark" book today. She drew and labeled a windmill, a rocky beach, a swan, some cheese, and a lot of bicycles. I talked about how, when I was an exchange student in Denmark, I had enjoyed the fact that they have separate traffic signals for bikes (allowing bikes to go straight before cars are allowed to turn right, for example). I also reminisced about the plentiful, inexpensive Brie and Havarti. "Mommy, I would like to visit Denmark one day," said E.
All right, Mom, we'll do Norway next! I'll try to make it appeal to them even more... :-)
Other: It was a beautiful day, warm and partly cloudy, so I had the kids play outside for over an hour. They rode their bikes, climbed trees (I forbade one tree to E after he slipped down, got stuck, and I had to strain to get him out, which was decidedly uncomfortable), and built a "treehouse" (several items of plant matter were actually placed in a tree during this endeavour). Meanwhile, I sat and knitted - rather, I ripped out 6 rows (of over 200 stitches each; this is a huge project) where I'd made a mistake, got all the stitches back on the needle without losing any of them, and redid 2 of the rows. I felt satisfied and productive, even though my net progress was negative, because it's going to be beautiful this way.
Calendar (Update day of week and date of month, record weather and temperature): P is really starting to get the hang of telling time without much help. I only need to ask her, "What is the hour? Where is the minute hand? So what time is it?" and she can figure it out pretty much by herself.
Handwriting: I let today's copywork (tracing) take care of handwriting. P is still mixing up how to form "b" and "d", so I may work on that more directly with her tomorrow.
Language Arts: We introduced a new letter today. I had put the picture dictionary away in the wrong place last time, and spent a frustrating 10 minutes scouring the bookshelf before giving up, taking up the catalogs to make our letter sheet, and finding the picture dictionary at the bottom of the pile. Ah, well. The kids are very forgiving.
P did a fantastic job of reading this week's reader. Her reading was almost fluent the first time she read it, and she really enjoyed the story itself. I'll have her continue reading this reader all week, which will help many of the words become familiar sight words, enhancing her fluency even further.
E's "school": We had a great time with this week's SSGMR activity. It involved reading a list of statements to E, and having him say "yes" or "no". For example, "The grass is red." "The sky is blue." "Plants grow in the washing machine." He thought these were hilarious, and made up several that I had to answer. P and E continued playing this game intermittently throughout the day, and I think it'll outlast the week. We also read "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", "Put Me In The Zoo", and "Mr. Brown Can Moo - Can You?" P was clearly reading some of the "sound effect" words in "Mr. Brown" before I got there, which was fun.
Math (5-a-day, other activities): P dawdled on her 5-a-day, and the timer went off before she was anywhere near done, but she didn't complain about it as much as she did last week. She was glad that I had put a measuring activity on the worksheet. I asked her to make 34 cents using as few coins as possible, but figuring out how to trade in 3 dimes and 4 pennies for a quarter, a nickel and 4 pennies was too hard for her by herself and I had to help her.
P played with the Think-It-Through tiles again, and enjoyed finding the pattern. The hard part for her isn't the actual questions in the activity book, but keeping track of the number on the tile vs. the number that is the answer. Once she's comfortable on that, I think she'll enjoy the toy even more.
Geography and/or science: Finally! P finished her "Denmark" book today. She drew and labeled a windmill, a rocky beach, a swan, some cheese, and a lot of bicycles. I talked about how, when I was an exchange student in Denmark, I had enjoyed the fact that they have separate traffic signals for bikes (allowing bikes to go straight before cars are allowed to turn right, for example). I also reminisced about the plentiful, inexpensive Brie and Havarti. "Mommy, I would like to visit Denmark one day," said E.
All right, Mom, we'll do Norway next! I'll try to make it appeal to them even more... :-)
Other: It was a beautiful day, warm and partly cloudy, so I had the kids play outside for over an hour. They rode their bikes, climbed trees (I forbade one tree to E after he slipped down, got stuck, and I had to strain to get him out, which was decidedly uncomfortable), and built a "treehouse" (several items of plant matter were actually placed in a tree during this endeavour). Meanwhile, I sat and knitted - rather, I ripped out 6 rows (of over 200 stitches each; this is a huge project) where I'd made a mistake, got all the stitches back on the needle without losing any of them, and redid 2 of the rows. I felt satisfied and productive, even though my net progress was negative, because it's going to be beautiful this way.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Week 15, day 7
Bible (Catechism, Bible story, memory verse): We reviewed the most recent catechism question and a memory verse, and I read them the story of Jesus raising Jairus' daughter and healing the woman who touched him.
Calendar (Update day of week and date of month, record weather and temperature): It has rained all day, and is predicted to continue doing so tomorrow.
Language Arts: We played "letter match", in which the kids took turns looking at a randomly selected set of 4 letter cards with capitals and lowercase letters mixed together, and seeing if any of the cards matched (a capital and a lowercase of the same letter). I secretly reshuffled the deck when P started getting upset over how E had 4 matches when she only had 1. P had no problem figuring out if 2 cards matched; she could see it instantly, and only had to think for a little bit when both lowercase b and d appeared in the same 4-card set. E mixes up p, b, and d, but he's only 3.5 years old - I gave him all the help he needed. I'm actually quite impressed with how well he's doing and I wonder what sort of language arts curriculum he'll be ready for when we start doing kindergarten with him.
P read the 5th and part of the 6th Bob books. The Bob books get harder faster than the Sonlight readers, it seems; the 6th Bob books had 6 sentences on a 2-page spread, which made P start feeling overwhelmed. I let her quit because she had already read a whole book.
Math (5-a-day, other activities): The kids watched the MathTacular video while I exercised and showered, wanting as usual to see their favourites, the water fight (greater than or less than), company store (making change) and snack schedule (telling time).
I forgot to set the timer at the beginning of P's 5-a-day, and she dawdled like crazy until I remembered. She complained that although she likes the money and telling time exercises, and doesn't mind multiple-digit addition, she doesn't enjoy the single-digit subtraction or writing problems in vertical format or sequencing problems I give her. So after she'd finished the 5-a-day, we reviewed measuring lines with a ruler, and I rearranged her 5-a-day review schedule so that she'll get measuring practice more often and the ones she doesn't like (which she understands well, so they don't need to be reviewed as often as I had been) less often. E also practiced measuring lines with a ruler, and did really well, though he had trouble keeping the end of the ruler on the end of the line. Once I helped him, he was easily able to count how many inches long the line was. (We only worked on measuring in inches, but next week I plan on adding centimeters since the concept is exactly the same - they just have to remember to turn the ruler to the correct side).
E's "school": We read a LOT of books today. We read 4 Eloise Wilkin stories: Busy Timmy, Guess Who Lives Here, We Help Mommy, and Baby Dear. We also read How Do You Lift a Lion? and Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is? from P4/5, as well as a book Ari's brother gave us about the life of naturalist William Beebe. Ari's dad filled in a gap in his education by reading the kids "Bartholomew and the Oobleck" by Dr. Seuss. Oh, and how could I forget "Hippos Go Berserk" by Sandra Boynton?
Geography and/or science: Reading the science books from P4/5 and the biography of Beebe (who, among other things, invented the Bathysphere and discovered many deep-ocean creatures) counts as science for today. I found P's half-finished Denmark book, but when I suggested working on it she announced that she had already done enough school, thank you, and would work on it later. I decided not to push it.
Other: I reviewed with both kids how to find "C" on the piano, and had them practice playing it using their thumbs with their other fingers unfurled (not in a fist).
Calendar (Update day of week and date of month, record weather and temperature): It has rained all day, and is predicted to continue doing so tomorrow.
Language Arts: We played "letter match", in which the kids took turns looking at a randomly selected set of 4 letter cards with capitals and lowercase letters mixed together, and seeing if any of the cards matched (a capital and a lowercase of the same letter). I secretly reshuffled the deck when P started getting upset over how E had 4 matches when she only had 1. P had no problem figuring out if 2 cards matched; she could see it instantly, and only had to think for a little bit when both lowercase b and d appeared in the same 4-card set. E mixes up p, b, and d, but he's only 3.5 years old - I gave him all the help he needed. I'm actually quite impressed with how well he's doing and I wonder what sort of language arts curriculum he'll be ready for when we start doing kindergarten with him.
P read the 5th and part of the 6th Bob books. The Bob books get harder faster than the Sonlight readers, it seems; the 6th Bob books had 6 sentences on a 2-page spread, which made P start feeling overwhelmed. I let her quit because she had already read a whole book.
Math (5-a-day, other activities): The kids watched the MathTacular video while I exercised and showered, wanting as usual to see their favourites, the water fight (greater than or less than), company store (making change) and snack schedule (telling time).
I forgot to set the timer at the beginning of P's 5-a-day, and she dawdled like crazy until I remembered. She complained that although she likes the money and telling time exercises, and doesn't mind multiple-digit addition, she doesn't enjoy the single-digit subtraction or writing problems in vertical format or sequencing problems I give her. So after she'd finished the 5-a-day, we reviewed measuring lines with a ruler, and I rearranged her 5-a-day review schedule so that she'll get measuring practice more often and the ones she doesn't like (which she understands well, so they don't need to be reviewed as often as I had been) less often. E also practiced measuring lines with a ruler, and did really well, though he had trouble keeping the end of the ruler on the end of the line. Once I helped him, he was easily able to count how many inches long the line was. (We only worked on measuring in inches, but next week I plan on adding centimeters since the concept is exactly the same - they just have to remember to turn the ruler to the correct side).
E's "school": We read a LOT of books today. We read 4 Eloise Wilkin stories: Busy Timmy, Guess Who Lives Here, We Help Mommy, and Baby Dear. We also read How Do You Lift a Lion? and Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is? from P4/5, as well as a book Ari's brother gave us about the life of naturalist William Beebe. Ari's dad filled in a gap in his education by reading the kids "Bartholomew and the Oobleck" by Dr. Seuss. Oh, and how could I forget "Hippos Go Berserk" by Sandra Boynton?
Geography and/or science: Reading the science books from P4/5 and the biography of Beebe (who, among other things, invented the Bathysphere and discovered many deep-ocean creatures) counts as science for today. I found P's half-finished Denmark book, but when I suggested working on it she announced that she had already done enough school, thank you, and would work on it later. I decided not to push it.
Other: I reviewed with both kids how to find "C" on the piano, and had them practice playing it using their thumbs with their other fingers unfurled (not in a fist).
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