"A Few of My Favorite Things" (School edition)

A new version (maybe, someone else probably did it first and better) because it is the most wonderful time of the year (after Christmas) - back to school shopping!

Notebooks and paper and pencils and rulers
Folders and binders and "these ones are cooler"
New tennis shoes that won't last until spring
These are a few of my favorite things

Fresh colored pencils and just the right scissors
Glue sticks and "no you do not need those stickers"
Princess t-shirts, Elsa's the brand new thing
These are a few of my favorite things

Boys in new jeans and iron man t-shirts
Girls with patterned tights under those cute skirts
These clothes definitely won't last until spring
These are a few of my favorite things!

When school starts, and the bell rings
When the weather's hot
I simply remember my favorite things
And hope the whole list was bought!!!!

Home War of the "Mans"

You know.  Superman, Batman, Ironman....

Yesterday we bought Curly Boy his first backpack for school.

We saw one with Ironman, Spiderman, Thor, Hulk, and Captain America on it.  Curly Boy was pretty interested I the Captain America part.
Then we found a CARS backpack, and an Angry Birds backpack.

Then we found them.  The backpacks with 6-pack abs built in - either Superman or Batman.

And I knew it would get dicey.

See, Curly Girl was pushing for the one with Ironman on it.  And Mr. Curly is the biggest Superman fan I know.
And I've been a Batman fan for a long, long time. (I still have a collection of action figures from high school that I can't quite give to the boys yet because I don't want them destroyed!!)

I took the approach of this cartoon I found:

source

 

 

After trying ALL the backpacks on, and thinking about the fact that he would have to carry this backpack for at least two years (maybe more, depending on how beat up it gets, I'm frugal) - Curly Boy went with the Batman.

 

And I suddenly dreaded going home... especially if Mr. Curly learned his little boy had passed up on Superman!!

 

Mr. Curly was a great geek parent though.  He ooohed and aaaahhhed over the backpack, told his son it was awesome, and was appropriately impressed.

 

And Curly Boy is extremely excited to show off his backpack to all the new friends he will make.

 

(And of course I'm totally proud he chose my "man.")

Trading Spaces: They Hated It

Despite the title, this is not about decorating (that post is tomorrow).  But I did a project with my kids last week that they were just disgusted with, and it made me think of all those great Trading Spaces shows where the people were WAY excited to begin, and at the end.... not so much.

The project: Paper mache' banks.

My kids have been BEGGING me for piggy banks.  Curly Girl has a little silver one, they both had (and destroyed) those Tootsie Roll banks, and they just can't believe I haven't bought them any  more banks to destroy by dumping their pennies out on the floor over and over and over.

When I took Curly Girl to the Art Center, she saw Paper Mache' art for the first time, and thought it would be fun to try.
It was "P" week for Curly Boy - so what better than to focus on paper! (We did several fun things with different types of paper, this one is the best story).

So I cut up 2 ginger ale 20 oz. bottles, mixed up some flour and water, tore up some newspaper.  And we got to work.

My kids were absolutely disgusted.  They thought the goop was slimy, the newspaper got too wet, the bottles felt weird.... every textile thing they could complain about, they did.  This from children who will gladly make mud pies for hours, splash in puddles, eat ranch dip with their hands..... It's ridiculous.




So I made two paper mache' banks. 

They painted them:

And here are the results - awaiting their pennies!

 

 

Happy Birthday to You!

Today is Curly Girl's preschool teacher's birthday.

It isn't very often that Curly Girl asks to write things - she's usually happy to draw and then sign her name.
But for Ms. Teacher, we not only bought a gift (a manicure set and 3 bottles of nail polish - Curly Girl LOVES to do her nails, and thought Ms. Teacher would like to as well), but Curly Girl even made her a handwritten card.

The Front - This is Ms. Teacher with spider fingers and toes!

This is the inside - She wrote it all herself!

Curly Kids Unplugged

Yesterday I banned the kids from all electronics.

It probably wasn't the smartest move - I had gotten up at 5:30 to go walking again and at 7:30 was already craving a pepsi, or bed, or both.  But Monday they had spent all day either in front of the TV or the computer screen.  Yes, I got a lot done, but it wasn't so great for them.

So Tuesday - no TV, no computer.

Which also meant no cleaning, because being creative also means being messy.

BUT we had fun anyway (for the most part, school was another issue) so here are the pictures:

The new store window we created out of the bunk bed boxes - in this picture it is a pet store that specializes in grooming and training.  I wanted an animal that had oposable thumbs I could train to cook for me and Curly Girl informed me that the monkeys are for old people, but offered me a nice cat.

After we painted, we moved on the stamping and cutting.

Curly Baby's First Painting!

More of Curly Baby's work - with no VeggieTales, and thus no music to dance to, he decided to shred all the styrofoam from the bunk bed boxes.

Curly Girl teaching Curly Boy his letters - Z is for ZIPPER!!

This week's lessons brought to you by....

This week's lessons brought to you by.... oh, you want to do something different already?

Yep, school time has begun for my active little Curly Boy.  Last week was not disastrous in the "he completely hated it he'll never learn" way, but was really not so hot.

It's an expectation issue.  Curly Boy EXPECTS to do worksheets, because that's what his sister did (Curly Girl LOVED her worksheets).  I EXPECT him to find some way to hold that pencil and draw a straight line (with help, of course).  Curly Boy EXPECTS to have fun.  I EXPECT to struggle with teaching him.

No expectations were met.  Which was good, except for the whole not so fun part.

So we changed it this week.  No worksheets the first two days.  The first day, we painted an Elephant with an E on his tummy (using I Can Teach My Child's Peel Away art idea).

(Curly Boy was immensely proud, so we hung it up as soon as it was dry)

 

 

The second day, we made E's using playdough.  Curly Boy LOVED rolling out the 4 snakes - one long, three short.  And once we put them together I asked "What does this make?"  He INSTANTLY knew that was an E!  We also played Word World's Duck's Alphabet Game - and he had a blast imitating the sound E made and finding words that rhymed with the "e" sound in them.  (Something Curly Girl never loved - she liked to write the letters, to lay them out in order, but she never was big on "what sound does this make").

The third day, we attempted to write the letter E.  Fail.  He prefered to draw his own lines (NOT in an "E" shape) and color in the pictures. 

So I didn't force it.  We "E"levated our arms and learned ""E"very knee shall bow before you" and then played "Imitate the stick figure"

 

I know he's only 3.5 years old, and he's a moving, busy, little boy who wants to get the work over so he can run in circles screaming again.  Our imitation stick figure game is full of lots of goofy poses and giggles and wrestling.  That's good.

 

I'm trying to remember that he IS learning his letters - even if he's not writing them.  And really, recognition and remember the sound is probably more important at this point.  But MAN I hope he can write his name before next fall!

The First Day of School

 




















Curly Girl is a complete social butterfly.  We took pictures before leaving for school, but once we got there, we practically had to hold her down for pictures with Mr. Curly and I - she wanted to go make friends!

 (waiting for Daddy to get the car home so we can go to school!)

All she would tell me about when we picked her up was that she didn't like gym.  In gym they threw puff balls that were squeezy, and bounced basketballs, and she didn't like it.  She did like the snack (apples and milk), and she didn't like mat time, because she wasn't allowed to sit next to "the pink girl" (who is her new friend, but she doesn't know her name).

She is such a crack up!

Curly Boy and I started preschool here at home as well.  He held his marker correctly for about 30 seconds before I said "ok, let's just practice getting our lines straight.  He enjoyed the pages with animals on them, like building squares with Popsicle sticks and even managed to copy a pattern with beads and pipe cleaners.  It didn't just light him up the way Curly Girl would though when I got things out.  I'm definitely going to have to come up with more movement and visual activities - in Sunday School he remembers Bible verses he moves to, and stories he can lay out with pictures.  Which means the patterns are good, but sitting and practicing holding his pencil isn't so fun.

Mr. Curly had a great idea of laying out giant patterns on the living room floor using yarn and letting him run his shapes and letters - I think we'll give that a shot tomorrow!  After all, his favorite song at church is "Running, running, to our church!"

Getting ready for school!

I'm taking a little break on Monday afternoon (this will post tomorrow morning) to blog about what I'm doing today....

I am getting ready for the first day of school!

I had to find "accident" clothes for Curly Girl to keep at school.  It was harder than I thought - something that fits, looks decent, but she won't miss if it isn't here.... we're so blessed to have plenty to choose from for her!

I started copying coloring and workbook pages for Curly Boy, as he is excited to start school with me tomorrow.  It will be an interesting first day.  With Curly Girl, we just plopped on the floor and began.  I'm giving Curly Boy his choice of where to sit - couch with TV tray, floor, dining room table, or little desk in the corner (to be fair, Curly Girl had all these choices, she just preferred the living room floor).  And once we're "settled" we have to see what he wants to start with!
Curly Girl was great with "we're going to do this, then this, then this" and she usually chose what to start with, we'll see how Curly Boy does when given so many options!

I am rearranging our "display" corner to include a calendar and to make room for the many art projects I'm expecting Curly Girl to bring home (she will also begin art classes at the Art Center next week).  Currently our display corner holds a Prayer poem to remind us how to pray and 2 pictures of whales - one of Curly Girl's and one of Curly Boy's.  But they have been up there for awhile, so down they come to make room for the newest creations.

I am not only making lesson plans for Curly Boy, but I'm also already preparing for the days Curly Girl has off - putting together letter beads and counting games for her to do while Curly Boy does school.

I need to clean out and organize our homeschool basket so Curly Boy can get to all his supplies and find his papers.  We may need to buy a new folder!  I believe Curly Girl bogarted last years folder to use for her princess pictures!

So I should get back to work.  Are you waiting with bated breath to see how the first day of school went?

Go light your world

One of the gifts we recieved at Thanksgiving was a set of ABC Scripture Cards.  My sister-in-law and I read the same blog - I Can Teach My Child - and these were offered on that site.  The Curly Kids aunt printed and laminated them for us to go along with our homeschooling.

Curly Girl's first letter after receiving these cards was Y.  The verse - You are a light to the world - like a city on a hill that cannot be hidden.

So, since Curly Girl learns better with art projects, we made yellow paper lanterns to reinforce the letter Y and the verse, and to practice our cutting skills.

These are samples of what I made while she practiced writing Y.  Her's were much better and had the Bible verse written around the top and bottom, but of course, I don't have pictures of those.

It is a great thing to add to our daily projects and is offering new ways for us to learn!

Learning curve....

As I stated here, we're starting to do some intentional teaching with Curly Girl. For the most part I'm making up my own lessons, but there is one site that was sent to me by my sister-in-law that I just love!

HomeSchoolCreations has amazing Preschool Print Packs that help teach kids colors, numbers, letters, graphing, matching, sorting, tracing, almost anything a preschooler should know in a theme they love! Curly Girl's favorites are, of course, princesses and the girly ocean themes.

From that site, I found 1+1+1=1 and her amazing tot books. I've downloaded the Cars and Pond tot books to make activity kits for Curly Boy to use during church and on trips. I downloaded the princess pack for Curly Girl.

I'm such a geek, I love charts, so the graphing games are my favorites and, thankfully, my kids love them too!



Check the sites out, especially if you have a preschooler or younger at home you want to teach!