B is for Bugs/Butterfly…success

Alright so I’m thinking Mondays are going to be a little rough but I got this. So we finished the caterpillar game today. I punched holes in the egg cartons two holes opposite of each other.  I printed out a dice template http://www.teachervision.fen.com/graphs-and-charts/graphic-organizers/52458.html.  Wrote out number 1-6 out and made corresponding dots on the caterpillar parts aka egg carton shells.

 Roll the dice and find the part you need. Count the dots. 

String it on a piper cleaner until it’s full, that takes six pieces.

 I wanted make sure Light could recognize these numbers he did really well, 6 was hard for him to remember. This would easy to adjust to higher numbers too so I have a feeling we’ll play again soon maybe tomorrow. When he was finished we added piper cleaner antennas.

Little bit of music time

Figuring out a toy

Dart and I found some money on daddy’s dresser. … shhh. It’s in Dart piggy or rather dinosaur bank now.

 This took a good amount of skill on his part it was good practice and he was really excited to do it. I did help a bit to eliminate frustration when I saw it building. It’s hard to be little.

Outside to hunt for bugs and water garden turned into a water war.

We learned a bit about the butterfly life cycle. http://www3.canisius.edu/~grandem/butterflylifecycle/The_Lifecycle_of_a_Butterfly_print.html. The pictures of the different butterflies were really exciting for him. Then we watch a video, which made me ‘the best mom ever’. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AUeM8MbaIk&feature=player_embedded

When Dart when down for a nap. I pulled out one of Light favorite past times, an ice cube tray with colored water and a dropper.

 He loves to mix colors, he was ecstatic to figure out how to make green, his favorite color.

To top it off we scrunched up some coffee filters in cloth pins. An oldie but goody still he thinks I’m a genius. Just used the dropper to add color. Super pretty I had to do one too.

Kitten play time with Light

Evening play time, in the water again this time with neighbor too.  They did some bug hunting later.

B Week Fail

It’s okay to fall on your face, right? I mean some days just doesn’t work. Apparently I was unprepared for B week more specifically Bug day. I can laugh tonight but yeah, it was a disaster.

First my wonderful husband painted my kids table this weekend. He spent a lot of time on it and I think it looks wonderful.

I went to bring it into the house but I realize because of the kitten Dart will not leave him alone and, um, we’re working on gentle still. But he will not leave the little guy in his bathroom. So I decided to go upstairs. Sounds good, toys to distract the little one too.

Cover table with paper (which Darth tore off when I went to answer the phone). Let Light tear apart an egg carton and color it to make a caterpillar. Coloring was boring. Dart discovered markers, got a little crazy and a little funny. He kept trying to put the lids back on backward but at lease he try to put them back which is more than Light did. I should mention too that at some point Dart started to try and eat the egg cartons too.

Gave Dart a ‘discover jar’ with rice and bugs inside it. This was met with a chorus of high pitched ‘ewwes’ and squeal and eventually avoidance all of which made me laugh hysterically. I’m blaming that on Light he screams when he see some bugs. Dramatic. Alright I say ewe a lot too with bugs but not high pitched like that, seriously he’s sonar, that was not me.

We did find a spider today, on the stairs. Grass spider it was gross and I couldn’t take a pic, cause I didn’t want to.

Then I tossed them outside. They fought and screamed over toys. Light would not share at all and ended up in time out, total meltdown. After lunch we all crashed and after waking up I managed dinner .Yay me!. But yeah, it kinda didn’t work today.

I'm laughing so much now. To top off the day as I'm nursing  Darth goodnight I asked about his nose and belly button. Hyped up from wrestling with brother and dad he is all to happy to answer then I ask him about the eye. He punched me right in the eye. I don't think he meant to but it didn't feel very good. I didn't get mad but I decided it was time for bed. And for Light (because can't do something odd without the other) as my hubby is getting ready for bed he find Light sitting in the dark on his bed....I don't want to go into detail but it involves poo. I don't know what happened but I don't think he was totally awake. When I figured out what was going on I totally burst into laughter and my husband followed my lead I think this made Light feel a lot better. I'm confident tomorrow will be better. 

New Addition

So after a fun day at Silly Papa’s (He came up with that himself).  We decided to run to the grocery store to pick up a few things. We’ve been talking about a puppy. I want one but I really seriously don’t at the same time. They’re cute and fun, really, it’d be nice for boys to have that. To be honestly I’ve been going through baby withdrawals too. Darth is still so much a baby but he’s getting so big. I guess I should add that he’s about the age Light was when we got pregnant with Darth so I guess it’s just the age.

 I don’t really want to be pregnant right now and even though it would be nine months before a baby arrived I just don’t think I’m ready for that. Still something cute and little would be nice. Sooo anyways back to the grocery store. As we drive in I spot it, a small squeak escapes me and my attentive husband immediate notices my excitement.  He inquires to want made me momentarily sound like an endangered rodent.  For good measure I deepen my voice to a level that would be envied by the evilest of cartoon characters and breath the word. “Kitties”  

Yes I’d seen a box with a sign for ‘FREE KITTENS’ (Yay, I bet you know were I'm going with this). I even saw someone hold a bright orange cat, which has been on my husband’s wish list for ages. We approach and I see six pair of perfectly curious almond shaped blue eyes staring at me from the most adorable faces of a bright orange kitten, a very light orange kitty and a fluffy of gray. I HAD to have one. I’ve never been impulsive so I decide to wait until after shopping to think it over. By the time we were check out I was practically racing out of the store to see if they were still there. My husband was fully on board despite my best effort to talk myself out of it the whole time. Picking ONE was the hard part. I wanted them all, so how’s that for impulse control. I only took one.

He talked to me in his high pitch ‘mew’. Totally melting.

So our house has been filled with an abundance of the word “cute” and a symphony of ‘awwwe’.

The kids are adjusting to the extra gentleness. Although Light thought that tossing him on the couch while I prepped dinner would be fun for him. How would want to thrown up with air to free fall, well, I for one may not,but of course with is not the view of a 4 year old. To add to my disgruntlement, this was after I told him not to pick him up at all. Adjustment; NO flying kitties.

The little guy also has found his fav napping place other than our laps, panda. HE’S SOOO CUTE!!!! Now I just need the perfect name for him....Loki?

A is for Alligators

 Mr. Alligator 

Started the day off learning a bit about alligators  with Discovery Kids. http://kids.discovery.com/tell-me/curiosity-corner/animals/are-alligators-really-dinosaurs I skimmed a little only because I didn’t want to scare Light, or bore him. But he thought it was really neat, especially that alligators are basically dinosaurs. Next was ‘There’s An Alligator Under My Bed” by Mercer Mayer. Being the forgetful mom I am I had totally forgotten to pick it up at the library. This may have been partially due to the chasing of one active toddler. Not to worry YouTube to the rescue, the video includes the pictures from the book and is read by the author himself, very fun.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNE8p0E4NVU.

Later we played the ‘Alligator Rhyme’ and ‘Teasing Mr. Alligator’ ideas from http://preschoolalphabet.blogspot.com/2011/07/alligator.html. They also suggested ‘There’s an Alligator Under my Bed”. Light loved it all. He’s not one to get up and dance with me but the ‘Alligator Rhyme’ did the trick, we played over and over. ‘Teasing Mr. Alligator’ was good too, he asked for more monkeys so I think I’ll have to print some more. It was also a good song in the car too.

Last we colored four popsicle sticks. He chose to do 2 in green and 2 in brown.  I then glued them together to make a more then and less then shape. Decided to add  goggle eyes, very cute. While they dried the kids went outside to play and I made some flash cards. One side has a number (I did 1-10) and the other has corresponding dots. This was in case he didn’t know the number he could look and count, but I wanted him to try and recognize them not just jump into counting, which is something he tends to do. I even gave him dried chickpeas to place in the dots for added fun. http://prekandksharing.blogspot.com/2012/08/montessori-inspired-greater-than-less.html

He had two cards and had to pick the greater or lesser sign to go in between. Of course, the alligator wants the most. He picked it up really fast and did really well even if he was unsure of the numbers. Later when we played he immediately knew which one of the cards was more but still couldn’t name all the number…. Interesting.

I have no doubt that he’ll do well at math but he has to start understand it on paper too not just the logic part or counting fingers. All in good time, I suppose.

  He wanted the alligator to actually eat the chickpeas.

My toddler distraction for the day was flour, which was directly eaten. I realize this may be because I’m confining him to the high chair.I then switched to a peanut butter jar with a bit of dish soap. Shake and watch the bubbles. http://handsonaswegrow.com/2012/03/toddler-sensory-activity-soapy-jars/. Yeah, my toddler thought I was crazy. He shook it a bit and totally lost interest, I even added some rice and chickpeas just for something to look at. Even Light looked at it and was totally unimpressed. Still it managed for a mild distraction.

 Notice the flour fail, evidence all over his shirt.

Went back to puff balls in a container. Just cut little holes and let him do the rest I done it before and it works pretty well. 

We even tried other containers this time just for play.

I found an egg container for camping too. That was fun cause he could close them up in it but it turned our fingers red with makes me uneasy so I'll have to find something else.

But I just wanted to add that they have suddenly started to appear in his mouth. I can tell because being the noising child he is, there is always noise coming from his mouth and when it suddenly became muffled I became suspicious.  ‘Open’ I order. I’ve found simple and straight the point works best for my children. And sure enough he opened his mouth to reveal a bright pink puff ball. I had to stifle a laugh as he leaned forward and lobbed the soggy lump out his mouth onto the floor with a flop. I was hoping he had gotten it out of his system but twice more happy toddler tunes turn muffled and I had to demand he “Spit it out!” only to have him daringly smile at me spit out the ball shriek with laugher and run away with his knee kicking up way too high in his little prance run. Oh, this child makes me smile even when I probably shouldn’t .

A is for Apples

Alright! Day 2. Maybe that should be round 2. Yep, did you hear the bell right, I did. So last night was a really horrible night for sleep. Coyotes were close and loud and totally unnerving. I’ve never heard one that close, even when I lived in the county. I didn’t really expect to hear one in my suburbs. So being the wonderfully horrible morning person I am, not to mention my NEED for at least 7 hours of sleep, getting less than six is unacceptable as well as unfunctionable. Cartoons were a good friend of mine this morning while I got myself together.  

Then on to ‘Apples on Top’ love this book. We read all the while Dart couldn't decide if he want up, down, upside down...that's my Dart. I traced the character on a piece of paper for Light to color. He gets bored easy but I gave color pencils today so that might be the problem. After he was done I cut it and taped it around an old yogurt container. Three well place bamboo kabobs through the lid so Light could place apples on top. I got the crab apples from my parents the week before. We could only get 5 apples on top of each character but was a little afraid of him stabbing himself even with my hovering help that I was relieved. He was happy and counted them over and over. Afterward he ate the tiny apples. I really liked using real apples but the original link might have down it better. http://www.icanteachmychild.com

While working with Light I quickly thought of a distraction for Dart. I’ve seen flour paint online with flour and  salt, paint, food dye. I never paid too much attention but as I looked at my toddler wishing for I could let him color I thought about it. What the heck. Little flour, little water drop of food dye, sure we’ll call it paint.  http://www.bowerpowerblog.com/2011/07/michaelango-his-two-muses/.Dump some on a piece of paper, go for it. True though half ended up in his mouth but I knew that would happen so that why I thought it would be so perfect for him.  

And as I expected Light want to try it too. I cut a crab apple in half and we first tried the ink pad for apple prints. 

 Then he took the paint and paper and made apple print with the flour paint too.

I had to run errands later but the boys got to go to the library. It was the first time for Dart and first time at this one for Light. I’m still not sure Light knew there were books there at all, I’m sure he will remember it as the train place. All he did was play with the train set, which was fine. He played well with the other kids and Dart took a liking to a lady with two little girls and followed her around abit even though it seemed to make her uncomfortable, so I ended up distracting him. That was easy because the K9 Readers were there. What a great idea to bring in dogs for kids to read to. Dart loved it because the dog didn’t move just sat there. He’s cautious around dogs still especially the big ones. He charmed the dog handlers talking to her and the dog, even the little girl reading to the dog and her mother. The mother thought he was cute and had a good non-word chat with him. It was a pretty good day.  

A is for Ants

Just for the sake of my kids I've currently decided I will not be posting any full face pics and will use nicknames. My oldest, my handsome prince, I'll refer to as Light and my little one, my prince charming, as Dart.

A is for Ants

So the ink ants were a ton of fun. Since the only color I could find was purple and red ink I opted for purple. Probably would about been cheaper to mush up some blackberries. Also would have been good after learning a bit about ants. We did end up with some ants that look more like caterpillars but that all in the fun. I think he did really well.

 Little Prince Charming enjoyed the ink, as well as having free range of a pen. 

Nature walk, the hunt for ants. We went to the spot on the edge of the yard that has been teeming with ants since spring. Perhaps it was the season because the concrete edge is now void of all ant life. Although there was a few spider hurrying across disturbed by our steps and scurrying to freedom on the other side. 

So we left the yard, searching the empty lot next to us discover that the oak tree is dropping acorn. Hurray! I was all excited. A is for acorn.

 So we spent some time collected acorn and stick. Our treasure grew with the discovery of empty walnuts shells and hazelnuts shells.

 There was also some blackberry collecting but those disappeared promptly in small purple stained mouths. After some protest I convinced Light to come back home. I would have stayed out longer but my feet were already hurting and Dart has an issue staying close.

 I used lunch as a lure but it wasn't much help. Once inside I sat and Dart disappeared in the pantry for a moment reappear with a bottle of water from Light’s kitchen area and a measuring spoon after a few semi successful and very amusing tries at drinking water from a spoon I relocated his cup. Much easier. Meanwhile Light was outside sorting and organizing the acorns and sticks, score for Math.

Snack time consisted or constructing stick pretzels in an A shape repeatedly. He wouldn't write the letter A, that was boring. Still, I figure this was helpful. Afterward we looked at alphabet flash cards, mostly because Dart found them. I was surprised but they paid attention for a little while.

Pom pom were a great use to distract Dart, except of course when I brought them out Light immediately wanted them. Still, when I left Light alone with them while putting Dart down for a nap I came back to puff ball construction site on my couch.  Should have known he'd find a way to incorporate construction equipment. I was thrilled, this is totally great and non-messy. It’s certainly less messy than dirt or color rice. What a smart kid I have.

Making ants; alright paint was a risk and next time I think I’ll just stick with markers. After about 5 seconds Light had red paint right under his eye all the way to the very edge of his eye. Seriously I don’t acrylic paint is good for the eyes. Still, he had a blast. The red paint was his idea, he wanted a fire ant.

Finally parts of an ant coloring page. FYI markers are messing too, at least for my child. http://www.calacademy.org/science/citizen_science/pdfs/Ant_Anatomy_Packet.pdf

At the end of it all Light actually asked for some quiet time and went and hid in his room for a while, which was fine with me. Unfortunately my patience was wearing thin at the moment Dart having just woken up and in the mist of dinner, child on hip when hubby walked in. Maybe he was just doing it for my benefit, I'm not sure. Hoping tomorrow is a little more smooth as we settle into a rhythm.    

Homeschooling Preschooler. 

So I’ve decided to homeschool my preschooler. Sure, not the biggest thing ever but it’s huge to me. I never planned on putting him in preschool; we’re just not in a place to afford that financially. My mother insisted it was a waste of money anyways. Still, I’ve become concerned with my child falling behind. The more I looked into school the more I became aware that I really have no desire to send my kids to a public school. I had a great time in public school so it’s nothing personal and I even got decent grades; however, I was completely blind sighted when I entered college.  Despite my good grades I wasn’t up to par on anything, I was embarrassed and upset I had to spend money on something I should have already known(Admittedly I’m a HORRIBLE tester and that didn’t help).  I certainly didn’t want my kids to feel that way. I was also homeschooled for one year in third grade and love it, I learn so much I went from behind in class to ahead, and it was wonderful. Plus there wasn’t all that wasted time, how could I learn so much in so less of time? That’s what homeschool does. In middle school I begged to homeschool again, because I felt so behind and I was just socially exhausted. My parents refused my request somehow thinking crying and struggling through middle school was healthy. I can’t agree completely, I shudder at the thought of any child going through that especially my own. My parents also denied my pleas because they were concerned for my social life. This I have learn is basically a myth of homeschooler being anti-social, sure there is some effort involved but they turn out just as functional as any other child.

When I first thought of homeschooling my own children my husband quickly dismissed it stating I couldn’t handle it. What?!...alright so the house is a disaster, well, constantly. I’m totally unorganized and my children not exactly best behaved although wonderful kids. I hung my head he was totally right no way I would be able to do it. So now what? Was there alternatives? Yes, yes there is and plenty of them. Unschooling was the first thing I stumble across. I like, but maybe too free for my 4 year old. I’m up for him doing what he wants but he still needs (in my opinion) direction and even, dare I say it, discipline. Then someone mention Waldorf. I like this although a little odd in some areas. Montessori, I really liked this, freedom to learn and do what the child wants but plenty of direction.  Oh, and just my luck there was a school in my area. But price, could I afford something like this? No, absolutely not. Maybe even possibly in the future. Right now, nope, not going to happen (Come on, I could pay for preschool of anykind). Well it was a happy thought. But honestly there were so many good things in all learning styles, how could I pick one for my child, how would I know what he would respond to?

So here starts an adventure. I’ve gone to my local library and pick up books on Montessori. First one is basically explaining why to pick Montessori. The other is Maria Montessori’s book, which is really hard to read. Neither of which have any curriculum, but I suppose I’ll get there. To my surprise, however, the library had no book on Waldorf in the whole county, very disappointing. So it seems I am in need of a trip to Barnes and Noble until then I will try another idea.

My kindergarten class was in weekly letter themes, color themes or numbers. I remember this because my teacher, Mrs. Alexander, was really great at these. If you ever read ‘The Magic School Bus’ you know the teacher Ms. Frizzle. Let just say Ms. Frizzle would be envious of Mrs. Alexander’s wardrobe especially the earrings.  She’s really was the best teacher, which I’m guessing is part of why I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher myself.  So tomorrow I start on week one letter A. I found this amazing website .www.preschoolalphabet.blogspot.com printed off September calendar with lots of great ideas. Of course I expanded this into other stuff I wanted or found. Pinterest has been an amazing discovery I have a board for educational ideas and one for Montessori too.

I’ve broken down categories of Math/Science, Outdoor/Garden Time, Story/Song Time, Craft Time, and Biology. There been an interest in animals lately so we’ll see how that goes.  

Day one of A week is Ants. The games plan is Thumbprint Ants and just them in my own version of the ‘Who Invited the Ants To the Picnic’ inspired by  Teach With Me.com I did not just the print out but here is a link. http://www.teachwithme.com/

This has to do with counting, so check off Math.

Later observing Ants, which is his favorite thing anyways (this a good time for ant anatomy). Aesop’s Fable ‘The Ant and the Grasshopper’ .Then making ants out of egg carton and pipe cleaner (found on Pinterest but the link isn’t working all that well). I’m planning on following his lead, if he is really interested in something will pursue it further if he doesn’t want to hear me right now, we’ll work on it later or in a different way.  I’m flexible, which, I have a feeling is good and bad. But, considering I have a 21 month old that totally rejects routine this will probably work in my favor. Wish me luck

Domesticated

Domestic

Domestic, adjective

of or pertaining to the home, the household, household affairs, or the family: domestic pleasures.

devoted to home life or household affairs.

tame; domesticated.

noun  

a hired household servant.

Domestic. None of these definitions tickle my fancy.

When I decided to stay at home with my children I was very young.  My children didn’t exist nor did I know my husband. I was a child and when I declared my decision I was told it was an unacceptable career. I was surprised; my mother was a stay at home mother so I didn’t see an issue. Not that I thought that it was I was supposed to do, no, my parents we’re like most parents told me I could do anything and I, a hopeful child, believed it.  Apparently my ambitions were lowly unacceptable. I completely understand my parents but honestly I just wanted to take care of children, and nurturing my own seemed most natural.  I went through careers; Pediatrian , Preschool Teacher and finally at 8 years old landed on Kindergarten Teacher. As you can see there was large variety in my careers choices.

10 years after this decision I started community college for a degree in elementary Education.  About a month before classes started I met my husband. I didn’t take long for to get married, I quit school for a full time job only to lose it a mere week after getting married. On our one year anniversary I gave birth to our first child. Yes, no time was wasted, I was a mother at age 21. Too young, now that I look at other 21 year olds but it was bliss. Quickly following my bliss was the emotional crushing feat of returning to work. I had made it to motherhood but my financial situation did not allow me stay with my child all the time. Almost 3 years later I had another son, beautiful and perfect and under the promise of my husband to be able to stay home but again thing got complicated and it was delayed. My job refused to give me part-time and they didn’t seem to want to fire me so I have to suck it up and quit. I’ve never been so scared. Cutting our income in half was a daunting task. One my husband was less than happy with but still supportive. 

Over a year ago I walked out of my work for the last time. Suddenly and strangely I had a fear. I was confident in my ability to care for my children, and although household affairs would certainly need improving that I was not too concerned with. No, my fear came from the word DOMESTIC. Would I be pinned down to the home, barefoot, barely social and half crazed for attention? Would my mind become mush and floppy. (If we’re being honestly this happen a long time ago, but denial a wonderful thing) Wait?! Was this how I picture my mother? No. Still the fear lingered. While I was enthralled with the confines of being mother on a constant uninterrupted basis the idea of the home and homemaking and dare I say it, CHORES,(dirty word) was horrifying to say the least. I need a maid, obviously this was going to happen but more then that I needed….a career? What? That seemed counterproductive to the whole stay at home thing. But I couldn't help but feel a little useless at the thought of being at home all the time. This brought on a plague of guilt as I felt that I should feel that my children were all I need, why did I have the need for more. This may have been a left over influence of working full time through my oldest infancy. I could let myself be sucked into a useless void, so I vowed to be undomesticated, untamed and unafraid-ish. (I have children, two boys no less, fear is healthy). I don’t need a new word to define me, I define myself and perhaps the word is what needs to be redefined.  I am no longer afraid of being called domestic, because I know that that definition above is not me, not by a long shot.