Our first week back on a regular schedule since the holidays was met with so much reading! So So So So much reading! We cuddled a lot reading, discussing, observing, making predictions, and discovering stories together. Nothing like snuggles under blankets with your baby on cold days with many good stories to read and learn from! Oh and the bonding is priceless.
Our areas of study this week were gardening as we are preparing and planning for our spring garden. We must start our seedlings in a few weeks so we are getting started with re-approaching the plant cycle, necessities, what we may want to grow going into Spring, the pollination process, etc. We will continue studying this, practicing this, and reading our gardening books all through the Spring season.
We also studied the night sky constellations which was especially exciting! This was our forest school curriculum topic. We read many a book about what stars are, where they are, the sun, Earth's rotation on its axis, tying this into a seasons of the year study as well, Greek astronomy, constellations, the moon, the planets, astronauts, gravity, and outer space in general. We took advantage of a clear night to have a bonfire, watch the sun set, then search for and observe the constellations we had been studying. We had prepared for our star gazing not just by reading but also bringing to life the constellations with out own homemade play dough, star sprinkles, marbles, penne noodles, and glitter. First we baked our own play dough and dyed it blue. Then, Ellie sprinkled it with silver glitter that resembled star in the dark blue dough. Then we laid it out on a tray nice and flat and used white star shaped sprinkles to make constellations. We referred to her books and she chose the ones she wanted to make, then with my guidance and the book, Ellie placed the stars appropriately on the night sky. Then, she connected her stars with the penne pasta to show the constellation. She especially loved the dog, scorpion, and lion. We also used marbles sometimes instead of the star sprinkles. She was also able to count how many stars we would need to make each constellation and so this incorporated some math with her science.
On my phone, I downloaded the app, "SkyView Lite." It was great for confirming the constellations we believed we found as well as planets. It was also awesome because it helped me to relay the information I wanted Ellie to absorb from our observations and I wasn't sure if she could actually see the constellations; but with this app, I was able to show her both and line them up for her.
For some more math fun, Ellie actually brought to me her Cheerio Counting Book. Again, if she presents an opportunity and interest in the obvious academic things, we take that opportunity and run with it in a fun way. So, I had bought some Aldi brand Cheerios previously to make bird feeders with for Ellie and we were all set to play with the book and a snack. Ellie really loved telling me the number she was looking at, making rhymes with the numbers like, "8 is great, 9 is fine, etc." She told me how she would write them and then counted her cheerios as she lined them up with the cheerios on the page...shortly before swiping them and scooping them back into her mouth. She just loved it!
For Christmas, Ellie got a magnetic white board with dry erase markers. She loves doing much with this. She wanted me to write with her so I obliged and wrote her name. I spelled it out phonetically and described my writing process of each letter as I proceeded. She then said, "Let me try that!" And she drew a most wonderful "E!" She was very proud of herself, as she should be. I asked if she wanted to write more from her name and she found interest in it and wrote her letters all the way from E - l - l - i - but stopped before doing that lower case "e" and that's ok. She wanted to draw a boat and so a boat she drew. She did so awesome practicing her name and it looked so good! I'm proud of her and love her pride in herself. She also asked me to read her "Yucky Reptile Alphabet Book" where we point to the letters and I ask, "What's this?" and she tells me the name (phonetically of course). Then we read about the reptile found on each page and its a really fun, interesting way to learn her phonetical alphabet as well as about God's creatures and their neat little facts. She has several books by this author regarding different wildlife, numbers, and letters. She loves all of these books. Actually, the ocean themed fish alphabet book is a favorite. Look into these for an easy outlet for teaching those foundational pieces without forcing them or doing school like type work. Just cuddling and bonding and laughing at the creatures while we say our alphabet phonetics is so fun.....we actually have a bit of a game of it now and we both crack up. We do sort of like a sports chant with the letters, pumping our fists, bumping fists, pointing fingers at each other with silly faces, and crazy sounds and SHE REMEMBERS because it is a game and not school "work." Just have fun!!!
With winter, we have studied so many aspects of this season. The winter solstice, traditions, plant cycles, earth tipping away from the sun, animal migration and hibernation, snow, weather, etc. To expound upon the hibernation factor we played a little game that is part of her homeschool curriculum from The Homegrown Preschooler: A Year of Playing Skillfully. We are so loving this curriculum and will repeat it next "school year" when she is in 4k. The game was a hibernation game. There were a given amount of animals on photo cards as well as the names of the animals on cards. There was a mat for animals that DO hibernate and one for animals that DO NOT hibernate. I actually had to research one or two of them myself and I was able to share that information with her. In playing the game, I asked her which animal did she want to look at first? She would choose one and I would ask her thoughts, "do you think the zebra hibernates in winter, Ellie?" and she would consider it and reply with her "no" or "yes." She would then place the card with the photo on it where it belonged. As for the cards with the names...Ellie cannot yet read but in August she will be learning how with new curriculum and this is why we do phonetics. I can already see the benefit of it. So when she had the elephant where it belonged I said, do you see the elephant's name card? It starts like Eh, luh, eh, and she grabbed the correct word card because she knows which letters make those sounds and she could "read" the sounds and gather the correct card! I love it so much! When she didn't know if an animal did hibernate or not I encouraged her by saying, "That's ok! I can tell you so you will know, would you like to learn?" And she would smile and tell me "yes!" She didn't feel self conscious at not knowing, she felt encouraged that she could be given the correct answer and be taught and be in on the secret too. She didn't feel discouraged at not knowing, she felt excited to learn the answer so she could put the card where she now knew it went! That's what education should be - a joy of learning - not being anxiety ridden because you didn't answer the teacher correctly or fast enough. If you are learning you shouldn't be made to feel stupid because you lack the knowledge, you should feel encouraged and excited to gain new knowledge! I could write a whole deep long chapter on this but I'll spare you. Ha!
One day, we ventured out for a small nature walk at our special nature spot to deliver more bird food to our special tree for the birds of Winter. As we approached our tree quietly, we spotted that a bird, though I regret to say I was too far to identify, was upon our bird feeder we made in the tree having a snack! Ellie and I both were elated!! It showed her the importance of what we do. We placed more seed and continued our walk.
We watch the birds at home from the kitchen window frequently. We have a large feeder outside the window and we see so many beautiful birds and Ellie says, "Shh! A bird!" We sit in silence watching and observing birds frequently. One day this week, we saw a beautiful plump male Eastern Blue bird. Ellie went to grab our bird guide to identify the bird. We noted the blue body, red breast, and white tummy. We also got to observe our neighborhood Great Blue Heron, male mallard, doves, cardinals, wrens, and sparrows.
Ellie finished her last semester of Kindermusik as a little toddler. Her last class with me in class alongside her. She has been in Kindermusik since she was months old and we have grown together exponentially in this adventure of bonding, music, development, and education. Her teacher, Rosalind Cross has been the biggest blessing in all of our lives. Ellie will be continuing on with these classes as a "Big Kid!" What?! Wow! She loves Kindermusik so much. Discover, exploration, instruments, music, movement, kindness, preparing for life as a whole.....this is our favorite thing we do and it has made the biggest impact on Ellie's awesome development. I cannot wait to watch her continue on and learn how to play new instruments and present core life lessons and development.
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