This week we read "Angus Lost," and got into a whole lot of playful learning action. Check out that post, here. Here are some photos from the fun! Puffy snow paint recipe can be found in the linked blog post. So fun!
We went on a big hike with friends where Ellie PR'd at 8.5 miles. That outdoor time and exercise was awesome!
We did some more snow play this week. As noted at the beginning, we made a puffy snow paint, and we also made a yummy snow snack! We took large tortilla soft wraps, folded them in quarters, teaching her half and quarter fractions, then she cut them as we had done with the coffee filters last week to make snowflakes! Then we coated them in melted butter and sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar and baked them in the oven at 350F for 20 minutes. Yum!
Ellie put together a couple of puzzles this week. Her Nana and Papa Rollie who live in Michigan gifted Ellie with a really great puzzle bible! It has bible stories within it and the picture in the book is a puzzle you can take out and put back together in the book and it has several of them! Very awesome! We love it and she also loved snuggling to read the book of puzzles too about how God used many great people He created. She also loved putting together her big USA puzzle again with Daddy. I liked watching them do the puzzle because my husband is engineer minded, logical, analytical, practical, and precise. His way of teaching is different than mine. Which is awesome because Ellie gets to learn different ways of approaching tasks and challenges. For example, when I did this puzzle a couple of weeks ago with Ellie, I began with her by doing the top to bottom. Eric did it with her by teaching her to do the full border and outline first, and he color grouped the pieces with her! She flew through it this time too. She can logically think that this piece does or doesn't fit, this color does or does not correspond with this color or picture. She is really quite clever.
We went on a nature walk to collect sticks and then came home and counted and painted them.
We also celebrated Blondie's birthday this week, which was just fun! She turned 5, and it was a brief moment for learning number visual recognition with the number "5." We got cupcakes from our favorite local bakery, "Tip Top Cake Shop" in Easley. The BEST!! We also baked Blondie some dog treats from scratch, that recipe can be found in the previous blog post for "Angus Lost."
We also played some fun games as a family one night that were educational but just really a lot of fun.
The first game we played was one that was included in my Homegrown Preschooler: A Year of Playing Skillfully Curriculum. It was skip counting by twos using acorns and animals who enjoyed eating acorns. There were 6 different animals pictured who eat acorns. There was an empty box by each. There was a number by 2's next to each so, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12. Ironically, earlier in fall we had collected literally thousands of acorns but now being in the thick of winter, when we went out to find some, they had been buried and foraged by these acorn eating friends. I did get to use the time to nature walk however with Ellie and ask her where she thought the acorns had all gone. Without missing a beat she told me that all the squirrels had gotten them and hidden them to eat. Yes! Luckily, the curriculum included 42 cut out photos of acorns ready for use in case you could not find 42 acorns. So we used those. Let's say the Blue Jay had number 4 beside him, I would say, "Ellie, the Blue Jay would like to eat how many acorns?" And I would point to the number for her to visually recognize and recite to me. Then once she told me the number, she would count out the acorns to put in each box.
The next game was another one provided by our main curriculum. This was a game of action ABC cards. We had 26 letters of the alphabet each on individual cards. Each letter had a picture and an action one is to take that goes with the letter. For Example: "Jj - Do Jumping Jacks." And so what I did was take each of the cards and lay them face down in a row. I let her choose them in any random order. We learn our ABC's phonetically. When she picked one up, I'd ask her to tell me which one she chose. She would make the sound doing her little cheer and dance we always do for the letter sounds. Then I'd read her the action on the card and the whole family would get up and do them! This was a lot of fun. We did these before bed so it also got all that last minute energy out. My favorite that I got to watch Ellie do was "Oo - Jump Over a pillow." She had some good fun with all of them!
Another game we played was the classic follow the leader game. I made Eric the leader (as a nod towards the man of the house is the leader of the house in a Godly manner) and I asked him to lead his family in the game. Ellie had a spot, I had a spot, and we copied everything Eric did down to the left and right sides and everything. We jumped, rubbed our tummies, did "head, shoulders, knees, and toes," we hopped on one foot, and made a lot of crazy sounds! This was great. It was a playful way to teach Ellie to pay attention and listen to instructions.
We also played musical hibernation. This game is essentially musical chairs but instead of finding a chair to sit on, we all had to rush to a hibernation den when the music stopped. We walked around one of the three dens made with blankets over chairs and such, and listened to music. Ellie was almost running with excitement as we went around in circles. Then, when I stopped the music, everyone darted quick as a wink to their hibernation den. The last one to find a den to hibernate in was out!
We made more snow! This time it was a cup of glue (clear or white) and about a cup of white foaming shaving cream. I added glitter for some sparkle. I used our sensory bin. ($4 storage bin from Wal-Mart). Ellie had fun with this one! She made a big ole' mess of herself! After she played enough to her liking, she washed up in the kitchen sink. Very fun!
Her curriculum also gives practice cutting cardstock. There are various shapes and patterns to cut. I was surprised how much Ellie enjoyed this. I was truly expecting to have to ditch because it would feel forced but she enjoyed it and kept asking for more and more and even when I had to gently lead and guide her in her practice she was laughing and happy not getting frustrated. If she is bored, frustrated, unamused by a task I ditch it because her learning needs to be an adventure and not a chore. She is 3. I don't want to make her hate school before she is really even into it. Also there is the fact that a child can learn something in 3-4 tries if happy and having fun vs. the 400 times it would otherwise take if in a traditional learning environment like a school building. Literal facts. I love it. So I was pretty pleased she was happy with this. I would have hated it as a kid but she does think more logistically than myself.
I don't have patience for cutting things, wrapping gifts, etc.
Ellie made placemats for the dinner table! She chose her construction paper, I cut up bits of tissue paper, and then she glued them on to the papers as she desired. Then she wrote her name by herself, and together letting her lead I taught her how to write mommy and daddy with little instructions. I laminated the mats and we used them at dinner! She was so proud!
Ellie loves projects and creating things. She always is telling me, "Mommy, I have a project for you. We're going to be making (enter idea here)." One day, she cut up pieces of paper and brought them to me with the stapler and said we were going to make hats, winter hats specifically, and bracelets for her baby dolls. I did the best I could....I admit my work is terrible, but I was trying to follow her lead for her project she created and planned. My winter hat was more of a crown for her baby, Lily. But, Ellie was satisfied with my work, enough. She did criticize that the hat was a little too big. Haha! But mostly she was just so happy to lead me in a project she created and I love seeing that leadership, confidence, and creativity.
For forest school, we stayed home and did a nature walk around our neighborhood and yard to examine if we yet notice any spring buds beginning. We did not yet, but we know it won't be much longer! Our winters are so mild here. We had days in the low 60s this week. It was heaven. We read about trees, discussed the varieties of trees we have in our yard, read the poem, "Trees" by Sara Coleridge, and observed some art. We also continued with our study of gardening by planting our spring seeds indoors! So exciting! Oh, and we planted two almond trees to add to our nut grove. It was a week for trees and preparing for the hopefulness of Spring, indeed!
Picking out seeds
(Yes, her sweater is on backwards. I knew it. She knew it. We all knew it. Toddlers. Amiright?)
We also are continuing reading about, observing, and practicing the art of Vincent Van Gogh. I asked Ellie which of his paintings she would want to replicate. She liked the idea of painting her bedroom. This would be mimicking his "Bedroom at Arles." She chose pink in a couple shades as there is so much pink in her room. Her art is more a piece of abstract....haha, but she tells me she painted her pink chair, her pink bed covers, her dog, Blondie, who was painted pink and given one black eye and a long pink tail. She painted her bed with her in it and her daddy in her room camping in her corner. The creative process and story she came up with as she worked was the most important part and I was glad to hear her give it so much thought.
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