Thanksgiving Craft

The "pinspiration"...

 

http://raisingnaturalkids.com/2013/11/23/a-quick-and-easy-turkey-craft-for-young-kids/

Our reality...

We did these at daycare today so all 5 children did 2.  Fun to give them markers, glue, feathers and a little instruction about what we're aiming for and just let them go.  Children love the privilege of using their own creativity!!

New Reading Curriculum Came {Finally!} and Calendar Fun

After a THREE MONTH back order, Natalee's reading curriculum FINALLY came.  While I dislike starting it in the middle of our school year we are going to go ahead and begin.  We'll work on it through the summer so we are ready to start next year's lessons on time in the fall.  (That's my plan anyways!).  

This is the curriculum I fought and fought with myself over ordering because of the expense, however, in the end, my teacher brain and knowledge of my daughter's learning styles won out and her dad (of course, ever the supporter!), okayed the purchase. I used this Sing, Spell, Read and Write curriculum in the public school for my special learners with fantastic results and am excited to have it in the home!  In the future we will only have to purchase the workbooks for our next learners down the line...the readers, games, instruction booklets, etc., will not need to be repurchased (and the kit we bought was for kindergarten & year one).  Really, looking at it that way, this was an investment.  Of course, every school purchase we make is truly an investment in our children and we feel privileged to be able to choose our materials with freedom.

The first bit of the lessons will be mostly review, however I decided to do them because I want to make sure her knowledge of her letter sounds is STRONG before we move to blending and segmenting words, and her handwriting (although a willing writer!) can use just a little gentle shaping around the edges. Plus, as with all of our schooling, I take into account Natalee's attention span, and while wanting to help her grow it I do not want to frustrate her and lose my willing, excited little learner!!

The first page that we completed yesterday was writing her name on the line. I also threw into the lesson that only the first letter gets to be capital and the rest need to be lowercase.  She likes to write letters with strong, straight lines so sometimes changes what should be a lowercase to a capital to achieve that look & feeling (for example, changing lowercase 'e's at the end of her name to capitals).  I modeled for her on the first line, then she followed the example.

We also reviewed the letter sounds mat that they sent as an introduction to the song we will learn.  Never to be outdone, Xavier had his turn as well, and when finished proudly proclaimed, "I tan read now!" because of course we were doing reading!

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My cousin sent along a magnetic calendar to the kids and I introduced it this morning.  We have a big wall calendar and have gotten very lazy in completing it because we do a small calendar in our circle group time.  However, Natalee hates that we don't have one that's displayed on the wall because she like to keep track of what's coming up, what day it is, etc.

So, when our cousin offered this I thought it might be perfect to help Natalee keep track of what day daddy comes home, what special is coming up, etc.

We had a good time putting it together, although little brother may have been more hindrance than help. ;)

Machine Man

 It may be just a laminator, but to Xavier it's a machine. ;)

He's a pretty good little helper.  All of these had been laminated in a big sheet and cut apart - he re-ran them through to make sure they were sealed.  

He was so quiet and good I looked around for more to be laminated but couldn't put my finger on anything. ;)

Natalee's Nativity

I can see it all clearly...right through the eyes of my child.
Can you?
Artwork by Natalee, *almost* age 5
(she did this on her own, after our Bible lessons this week about Baby Jesus being born)

Meeting Jan Brett

What a LIFE EXPERIENCE we've had!  Again, education (whether home education or public) is not at all about the paperwork, it's about experiences like we were blessed with today. 

Today at our local state university, Jan Brett stopped on her tour to promote her new book,

.

I took both children, and although they are young, they both soaked up snippets of her talk to bring home with them.

Our first stop was to take pictures with her tour bus and check out the 4H chickens someone had brought.  Then we went to the book store (of course!) and picked out new books.  Each child got a paperback and I purchased the hardback of Cinders.

Hedgie the Hedgehog

Mrs. Brett mostly talked about her love for illustrating, which tickled me, because my artsy niece and artsy daughter were both in attendance.  While at times I saw Natalee get wiggly, overall she paid attention and enjoyed watching Mrs. Brett illustrate a chicken right before her eyes.  

I'm anxious to see if Natalee uses pieces of what she learned to try out at home!

 

Mrs. Brett also brought three chickens from her flock of 50+ at home to tour with her...they were very special and very fun looking!  Her husband, Joe, was along (he plays for the Boston Symphony Orchestra), and she mentioned that they don't travel without one another.

A couple of favorite tidbits that I picked up:

• when she's illustrating a book she does an inch per hour...just chew on that math for a minute!
• she recommended to the children that when drawing something if they aren't sure whether they love it, that they hold it up to a mirror...the reversal image will help them see areas that need improved or show them that they love it just the way it is!

Xavier was a little scoundrel-ish during the presentation.  He went through bouts of wiggling on his chair and kneeling on my lap to watch her draw & see the chickens.  He liked her drawing, it just got a little lengthy for him at times! {boys!}

After the lesson, we got to participate in the book signing.  Luckily, we had gotten there early, and as we arrived were given a paper with a number on it.  We were #23, meaning we got to be in the first bunch of folks to have their books signed!  Blessed!!

She signed one book per person, including the children, and gave us pre-autographed book plate stickers for the remaining books in our collection.  I had brought my Jan Brett Christmas Treasury

and was nerdily excited to have it autographed!!  Natalee chose to have Cinders autographed instead of the book she chose, which was fine by me, and Xavier had his new paperback signed, Berlioz the Bear.  The organizers were kind but efficient and gave us all our 'moment' with the famous author.  They even encouraged and welcomed pictures!

The children weren't quite this grumpy, simply a matter of the kind lady not saying, "smile!" before she snapped.  But when the line is 2 miles deep you don't suggest a retake...you be happy and move on!!

Natalee was going to stay and visit with Mrs. Brett about drawing, asking "so, what else do you like to draw?" and I had to gently usher her out. (chuckle)  'Famous' isn't a word we are quite familiar with at our house...we just like kind people who take time to talk to little ones, which Mrs. Brett did.  I see where Natalee could have just pulled up a share and continued chatting!

After all the morning excitement we went to eat (Nannie and Emma were along with us), 

 an octopus

 a man & H (those are his arms coming out).

then the children go to go to Tractor Supply and choose Schleich animals for their birthdays (Xavier's 3rd birthday & Natalee's upcoming 5th) from Nannie.  They are so boring and chose a family of giraffes (Xabe) and a family of polar bears (Natalee), while I would have chosen 3-4 different animals!  I shan't complain though because they've been playing for the last 30 minutes with them! (thanks Nannie!!)

We finished up by grocery shopping quickly and came home for naps.

What a fun, fun day!!!  I'm so grateful we had this experience and that the children got some culture even in our small rural area.

Family Game Night

We don't have a set family game night but we play a game together probably 3-4 times a week at least.  

 Some of our favorites are:

Spot It Jr Animals

Busy Town 

 AB Seas  

(a Discovery Toys original)

and Candyland.

We are just starting to get into card games (Old Maid, Crazy 8's, etc.) and Trouble is high on our Christmas list this year!  I ordered the children card holder stands for Christmas, which is probably the most difficult part of card games for us.

What is your favorite family game night game??

Dear Santa

Natalee has decided this year to "do" Santa.  I'm not sure whether she really believes in Santa or she's just trying it out but we are willing to let her, whatever the case.  Mike and I have had many debates over Santa in our five years of parenting.  (Is it good, bad, indifferent?)  Previously we've just not really brought it up because 'make believe' didn't make sense to Natalee.  Over the time I've been home with her, Natalee's imagination has taken off and she has a lot of fun with it.  So, this year, when she brought up Santa, Mike and I just decided to let her (and, obviously, play along, while still focusing on the Reason for the Season).  Xavier doesn't seem to care much - I can't remember whether I cared at age 3 or not either, but at any rate we aren't going to ruin this fun time for the children.

The fact of the matter is - while I definitely see both sides of the Santa debate - Mike & I feel like we've made lots of hard choices in parenting (food, diet choices, health/medical choices, etc.) and this one feels harmless to us.  It's okay if it's different for you.  But this is where we are today...and truthfully, we're a little excited to play along!

Xavier has settled on a blue Ford/New Holland cab tractor and a trailer for Christmas but I doubt he gets a letter written.  Maybe mommy will help him someday. 

The other great thing about Natalee is that she rarely wants anything.  She doesn't beg, throw fits in stores, ask for material possessions...  We've raised our kids to be this way, however it made Christmas/birthday ideas kind of difficult for them this year!  I asked Natalee the other day if she could think of anything she might like and she responded, "I'll be five and that's grown up so I won't play with toys any more." {sniff, sniff}

We had a long chat about what she wants to be when she grows up {a mama} and I explained that she learns to be a mama by practice, practice, practice and that even though she'll be five (sigh) it's okay to play with toys still so she can practice being a mama.  

After that discussion she quickly said she might like boy/girl twin dollies for Christmas (thanks again to my cousin Shayna for having twins this year and exposing us to this fun world!).  But imagine me keeping a serious face when she looked at me dead pan, sighed, and said, "I know I already have dollies but when I take their diapers off I can't tell which is the boy and which is the girl and then they get all mixed up."  I see her point - I think.  So yesterday, I got the privilege of internet searching boy/girl dollies with the correct parts under their diapers.  We aren't embarrassed by her request - she's very matter of fact about it and it's not an obsession, just life. 

Daddy is making her a double high chair for her babies (swoon, we love daddy's craftmanship!) and I'm sure, like her mommy, she'll play with her dollies for many years (maybe even longer than is deemed 'cool' by society, but who cares about society anyways!?).

Left vs. Right

Natalee is left handed by default.  The damage in her brain from her birth affected her right side, making it weaker.  Although we've done therapies and she has lots more strength in the right now, when she was beginning to doodle and draw she dominantly chose her left hand and we let her.

never mind the squinty eyes...she's silly!

Xavier has decided that he should use BOTH hands to accomplish his school work.  "Dis hand is for writing....

and dis hand is for tutting (cutting)."

It's good for his brain to exercise like this and he's actually pretty snazzy with both hands!

{I did correct the boo boo on the tracing page above.  Our first time tracing numbers instead of lines!  He went for the horizontal instead of the number 1.}

Classic Toys

As a maturing mother (wink, wink! ha!) I quickly realized the value of good, classic toys.  Very few of our toys make noise of any kind.  In fact, I can't think of a single one right now...I'm sure there is one somewhere.  Or maybe not - I tend to hide those quickly (or give them away!).  

The children did get Leap Pad 2's last Christmas but they are not a free reign toy.  We use them when we go somewhere, or for a few minutes in an evening maybe once a week.  Sometimes we go a month or better without turning them on.  

As you shop this Christmas season I encourage you to stop and think about the life value of a good sturdy classic toy.  We love wooden toys, solid plastic, and things that lend to great imagination!

Favorite brands of our include Discovery Toys classics, Imaginext, and Melissa and Doug.

ALL of our Imaginext pieces have been purchased second hand.  I was a Discovery Toys consultant for awhile, until they started changing their line from classic originals to things they were just "approving" that you could buy anywhere.  We have a great local store that carries Melissa and Doug and we buy them as gifts for others as often as we purchase them for our own children!

Just a little food for thought as you shop this season!

 Melissa & Doug wooden toys.

My mom & dad gave Natalee this doll house for Christmas in 2010 (?), I believe.  It wasn't something I ever thought to buy her and it's easily become a favorite in our house, amongst our kids and the daycare!

 

Discovery Toys Hammer Away boat.  

PS - YES, we have given our children good quality second hand toys as gifts for bday/Christmas.  Nope, we don't harbor guilt about it!  The train table and all the trains you saw in the Christmas 2011 catch up post were all purchased 2nd hand for a STEAL of a deal.  

We have a kitchen set (given to us by a loving aunt!) and a wooden tool bench that get hard daily use!  Books are also our other favorite Christmas/birthday gifts.  We have a new found love for Usborne books and also appreciate the Scholastic book orders (great books, great prices!).

This seems like a random post but in light of the season I've looked around my house often and realized how LOVED the toys choices we've made have become.  It was never so apparent to me until I came home and the children and I were here all day and night.  Then I quickly realized that it wasn't about how many toys (though we do rotate ours in totes downstairs) but about the quality of the ones we had!