I did not start my day with a walk today as Ian had to scoot out of the house early so I'll build a walk into our day later so that we get our exercise in. Ari and I had a fun morning, hanging out and playing, then watching Mister Roger's Neighborhood while having a picnic!
Once the children got up and had their breakfasts, we did our yoga stretches, pledge and calendar review at the beginning of the day.
Our art journaling was a super fun project involving colored sand, sparkle Mod Podge and flat back canvases to create a version of the aurora borealis. We learned that auroras are caused by streams of charged particles from the Sun, known as the solar wind, crashing into the gases of the Earth's atmosphere.
The children learned that the lights at the North Pole are called aurora borealis and the lights at the South Pole are called aurora australis.
They are still drying and have one more step to complete so I will show the finished projects on tomorrow's post.
Kendall shared with us a Haiku-like way to write poems that she was taught in public school last year. I used her model as an example and asked the children to write a poem about the aurora borealis.
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| hers |
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| his |
We moved onto a word search using their spelling words and then copy work using their spelling words as well. Kendall is working on compound sentences and Tyler is continuing to practice his knowledge of common and proper nouns.
We had snack and chat and the kids excitedly discussed their thoughts on Halloween costumes. They are considering doing something together this year like Little Red Riding Hood and the Big, Bad Wolf or if we add Ari into the mix perhaps The Three Little Pigs. We'll have to see!
The children retreated to their separate and cozy spaces for DEAR time as I cleaned up from the morning's lessons.
By now Ari was up and raring to go! We headed out on a family walk just before lunchtime.
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| it was chilly!!! |
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| yum |
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| He was growled at twice by a neighbors dog in the early summer and literally has not been on his bike since. I was thrilled that he was eager to ride! |
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| my kids are obsessed with Wooly Bears |
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| snacktime on the go! |
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| always making sure we're near him... |
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| always welcoming the fairies! |
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| the one lone hydrangea - STILL in bloom! |
It was a beautiful walk filled with giggles, nature and adventure! When we got home I made lunch for everyone and while they ate they watched another episode of the science show Cosmos. I entertained Ari in the kitchen with an oldie but goodie!
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| he looks EXACTLY like my husband!! soooooooooo cute!!! |
When K & T were little I would cover the kitchen floor with beach towels and bring the outdoor water table inside. I would let them splash, pour and mix to their hearts content! Our water table still needs to be cleaned off enough to bring it in so for today we used a small Tubtrug that usually holds Ari's laundry. I filled it with warm water, a few measuring cups, spoons and a funnel. He was AMAZED. He was hesitant at first, not really sure what was up and then when he realized that I wasn't going to stop him from pouring it onto himself, the towels, the floor, etc. so he went to town!
I LOVED that K and T came in and started playing as well. This went on for an hour. Everyone had a blast AND my kitchen floor got clean - always a bonus.
Ari was thoroughly wiped out so he headed for his afternoon nap. We headed back into the classroom for our math, geography, and Spanish.
Today, I taught Tyler how to do double digit subtraction with borrowing. I know they don't call it "borrowing" anymore in P.S. with the "new math" but that's how I'm teaching it. He picked it up after the third problem and zipped through an entire page of them. Go Ty!!
While Ty worked on his subtraction, Kendall was very busy with a new math manipulative that I got her for multiplication called a Learning Wrap-Up. She's been getting VERY frustrated and upset with her multiplication tables. I want to do everything I can to support her and help her really learn them, to understand the process and function of multiplication and not just shove them into her brain by force of memorization. I know that she needs to memorize them but not to the point where tears come. I will push my children when I know it will be fruitful and I will cease pushing when I know it will not. This is one of those times. The Learning Wrap-ups look like this:
It looks like a giant key with many different "cards" (for lack of a better word) that fan out. Each card holds a different number family. You match the number on the left multiplied by the number in the middle of the card to it's corresponding answer on the right. The answers are on the back so when the child is done they can correct the answers themselves. It was slow going but let me tell you, there were no huffs, no pouts, no frustration and NO TEARS! She was SO proud of herself when she finished. Sucdess!
Ty had his turn with the Learning Wrap-up and zipped through the 1-5's tables. I just started teaching him multiplication a few weeks ago. Go figure ;)
We wrapped up our day with some basic map reading. I want to really teach the children how to read a map. I love (and rely HEAVILY) on my in-dash navigation but if ever something happened and I didn't have it I'd be totally lost (literally and figuratively)!! I'm TERRIBLE at reading a map and I don't want my kids to feel totally paralyzed when they are lost (yes..I feel crippled with anxiety when I get lost - not that I'd let on to my kids that I feel that way). So we're working on map keys/legends and how to read and interpret a "bird's eye view". Today's exercise was working on interpreting a seating chart an an arena.
They love exercises like this. The second page was to draw a bird's eye view of a room in our home.
Ty drew our bedroom. Yes, the GIANT bed takes up 80% of the room (and I love it!) I also love that he drew Katie where she always is - smack dab in the middle of the bed. All day, all night. Honestly, she thinks it's HER bed. I often remind her that it was here long before her and will be here long after she's gone and yet there she is...always. =) She's a fierce snuggler so that helps her cause immensely.
Kendall chose to draw our playroom - complete with tee pee. Also, a wonderful choice! After this we ran through the Spanish alphabet a few times and called it a day! The kids happily ran off to do Fimo clay while I made dinner and got Ari ready for bed.
Hope you have a great night wherever you are my friends! Until tomorrow!
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