Day #36/175 Days

Together School

I have been pretty annoyed lately at all the nitpicking that goes on here between the three boys. It's just little things. I'm trying to foster and teach them how to be friends. But it's tough at times. Today I had them sit & think for three minutes to come up with three things each liked about the other. Sadly they couldn't do it. Here is what they did come up with:

Happy on...Lego-Man: His laugh and on Conductor: nothing (although these two typically get along the best)

Conductor on....Lego-Man:

1. You are older.
2. You can read long books.
3. You have a small room.

Happy....

1. He's cute.
2. He likes to play games with me.
3. He likes to play trains with me.

Lego-Man on....Conductor: I like to rough house with him. And on Happy: I can scare him easily.

Obviously this is something we'll continue to work on.

We continued with Together School by:

• read aloud
• Grapevine studies
• Story of the World volume 2 (We actually used this last year but didn't finish. I am simply trying to finish the reader this year before we start on the next volume.)

Then on to workboxes.

Lego-Man:

1. Handwriting
2. AWANA
3. Math-U-See
4. Private Devotions
5. Writing Journal
6. "Sweet" break (Skittles & Starbursts today)
7. Gummy Bear experiment Day #2 The small one is of course, an original size Gummy Bear. The large bloated one has been soaking in water for 24 hours. Today it was put back in salt water to sit for another 24 hours. It should shrink back.
8. Blog
9. Read to Happy - two books I chose (Green Eggs & Ham & Wacky Wednesday)
10. 15 minutes taking photos
11. Play Toss & Tally with Conductor
12. Assigned Reading (The Hobbit)

Conductor:

1. Handwriting
2. AWANA
3. Math-U-See
4. Private Devotions
5. Writing Journal
6. "Sweet" break (I need to make sure these don't become a habit! LOL)
7. Gummy Bear Experiment
8. Quarter Mile Math drill
9. Math dice (I gave him 3 dice & a sheet of graph paper. He was to roll all three dices & line up the three numbers on the graph paper. Then add together.)
10. 15 minutes taking photos
    
11. Animal magnet tangrams
12. Assigned reading (Amelia Earhart: Courage in the Sky by Mona Kerby)

Happy:

1. Handwriting
2. AWANA
3. Math-U-See
4. ABC write on/wipe off book (Dollar Tree)
5. "Sweet" break
6. Scissor Skills/Fine Motor Skills workbook
7. Bible Dot-to-Dot book

Again - most of the school took place during Miss H's nap time. She did spend some time on her favorite activity this am though - coloring books!

Day #26/175 Days - LC Bates

Today was our 3rd class at the LC Bates Natural History Museum. It's really a very unique museum for this area of the state. If you live locally, I consider it a must see.

The class today was on insects. We started upstairs viewing some wasp nests. They were pretty impressive.

We also stopped here for a bit to look at this insect collection. This cabinet houses a pretty extensive collection. It was built (the cabinet & the collection) by a woman from Maine (I can't remember her name) who lived in the late 1800's. Her doctor had told her that for health reasons she should spend as much time outside as she possibly could. Thus began her hobby of collecting & cataloging insects that lived near her.

We also checked out some more collections upstairs as well as some photographs. This one is pretty cool.

It's a wasp nest built around an existing bird house.

We then headed downstairs to the classroom. This is where the real fun begins for the kids I think. Serena, our guide & teacher, does a really wonderful job making the subject come alive for the kids. Here is a photo of Conductor & his cousin demonstrating how the wings of a dragonfly work.

There were also a lot of preserved specimens that were handed round for closer inspection.

Dead-leaf moth

Giant Katydid

Serena also does a good job of breaking up the class time so that the kids (mostly boys!) are not sitting for 30 minutes or more. Here is a photo of Lego-Man, Happy & another little boy from class demonstrating how an insects legs move. Can you see how Serena is holding her fingers off to the side? The trick here was that Lego-Man was to move in the opposite direction from Happy & the other boy. I never realized that is how an insect moves. This is another reason why I do enjoy these classes.

Then at the end of the class time, there is usually some sort of hands-on thing for the kids to do - usually. Serena had lots of bug glasses for the kids to try out. Here is Lego-Man sporting a pair.

Then she had rubbing plates of various insects. Even Miss H got to do this one.

Happy showing his ant eye glasses.

Conductor is wearing some 3D glasses. They had some large cards with various insect parts on them that showed up in 3D with the glasses.

All-in-all the kids enjoy the class (even if they have to grumble about going...but we'll leave names out here). I should also mention that Lego-Man took most of these photos (except for the last few). We look forward to our next one in a few weeks.

Day #25/175 Days

I have stepped back from school for the last two weeks while I try to figure out what's working & what isn't. A lot isn't. I'm spending my days printing lots of stuff & figuring out new systems and what not. Today though we accomplished a few fun things.

The first idea was a fall sun catcher. I saw the idea at Frugal Family Fun Blog (she has some really neat ideas for very frugal crafts for kids) back in September. I kept it in my Google Reader inbox for quite some time & the boys & I finally made a couple today. I was at the tail end of my contact paper but was able to get enough to make two. Thank goodness Miss H was sleeping but we'll do another one for her soon.

Click HERE for directions on how to make an Easy Autumn Tree Sun catcher.

Then we played a game of Dora The Explorer Chutes and Ladders. Let me just say "thank goodness it didn't last forever!" ;-) The boys love it when we play games though so we'll be adding in more over the coming months. I think Happy won.

We then moved on to another craft. I again heard about it on Chasing Cheerios (a great blog for learning with little ones) but the directions are at Make and Takes. These are adorable little apples and we made some pumpkins as well.

Happy winding up a pumpkin - his finished apple is right there.

Conductors finished pieces - two apples & two pumpkins.

Happy's finished products - two apples and one pumpkin.

Click HERE for directions on how to make these.

Next they played another game. It is a fall tic-tac-toe game. Remember me saying I've been spending a lot of time printing & laminating stuff? This is one of those things. It's found at ABCteach in their member section.

The boys played one game & then I played Happy. They liked it. It's quick & easy & since everything is laminated, reusable as well.

Conductor was then sent to read a book (Lego-Man was reading this whole time) & I set Happy to doing this 100 Apples Page. I hear about it at My Montessori Journey. She has a post explaining how it's used in her classroom with a link to the website she found the free download on. Happy was very proud when he finished this.

Off to do some more printing and laminating. Hopefully next week we'll have our new & improved homeschool up & running!

Day #22/175 Days - Apples!

We spent the morning at a local apple orchard. This orchard makes apple cider right on the premises so we were able to get a tour of those facilities as well as where they store their apples for the winter.

I had all the kids with me. Mr. H started out in the stroller but it was easier to plop him in the Snugli for the tractor ride so he was carried for most of the morning.

They unfortunately were not pressing cider today but we did get to see where it is made & it was explained how it worked. Here is some cider left in the holding tank after their last batch was made.

After our tour we hopped on the trailer for a ride out to the orchard. I think the kids liked this part the best. We didn't have long there to pick - about 15-20 minutes tops - but long enough to fill our bags up. Even Miss H picked 1-1/2 bags. They were tiny bags but just right for little hands.

Conductor filling up his bag with apples.

On the ride back we all sampled an apple (or two). Even Miss H liked hers. They were Macouns and very tasty.

At the end of the tour we were all treated to some apple cider. Miss H really liked the "juice" & drank down a whole cup - more or less. A lot of it ended up on her shirt & pants so we did have to do an outfit change but she was happy nonetheless.

We ended our day at the orchard with a picnic lunch. There was a great climbing tree near where we were sitting and Conductor promptly scampered up it - mud boots and all. I, of course, had to grab the photo op.

Day #21/175 Days

Every September in Unity there is the Common Ground Fair. This is a very old-fashioned style agricultural fair with a strong environmental vibe to it. I love it personally. My biggest reason - I don't have to worry about the rides and fairway enticing the boys since there isn't one!

On opening day they let in school groups as well as homeschoolers for free - which is why we go that day. I did spend $5 to park because we didn't get there early enough but it's worth missing the horrendous traffic jam of cars getting in to the fair. As it was, it still took us about an hour to drive from the center of Unity, park the truck, and walk into the fairground. Nuts I tell you - but worth it.

I never feel like we see enough but by the time we arrived on the fairgrounds it was 11am & we stayed until 3pm. We met up with my sister & her family & spent the day together. The extra adult help was nice since I had five kiddos with me. The two younger boys spent a lot of time off with Auntie & Uncle -thanks guys!

When we first got there we headed to the folk art tent. Did I mention how cold it was! It was about 50 degrees out with a gusting wind. It was extremely cold & two of my boys managed to get out of the house in shorts. My first order or business was trying to find them some affordable hats (I spent too much money for little fleece hats but they were cheaper than the all wool ones for $30+ each) to help keep them warm. It wasn't until we were leaving that I remembered the extra clothes packed in the truck which included pants! Sheesh!

Lego-Man was again my roving photographer & did take most of these photos. I'm not sure what this first was is of but he took it while in the folk art tent.

Okay - I mentioned how cold it was right? This guy was outside the folk art tent demonstrating how to tan hides (he's working on a deer skin). You can see the long sleeves, the hat, and even the chaps to help protect him from his sharp knife. I'm not sure you can see that he's barefoot. He wasn't the only one either. It made me shiver every time.

I had Miss H & Mr H with me as well. They spent most of the day in the stroller but Miss H was able to get out & move around quite a bit. Mr. H stayed in there for the most part but I did carry him some...

Did I mention how cold it was? I started the day with him in a Snugli facing out & my fleece jacket zipped up around him. I did think to grab one of Happy's hats for Mr. H - thankfully. He was also in a very warm fleece one-piece outfit - with footies. I think he was probably the warmest of everyone there. Oh & the looks I was getting with him like this was pretty priceless.

The fair has a wonderful children's area. One thing they had there this year was a display called "winter kids." The kids did a relay race wearing snowshoes. It was a blast to watch.

Happy racing against his cousin.

Conductor had a "moment" at the relay race. I had just arrived & he was pouting & had been crying. Apparently he tried to do the race with snowshoes on that were too big. We had a chat & he decided to try again with ones that fit. Check out his form.

And I, of course, grow "locally grown" kids. ;-)

Another really fun part this year was the hay jump. In years past they have just had a bunch of loose hay on the ground for the kids to jump & play in. This year they still had the loose hay, but they had a bunch of hay bales stacked behind it for the kids to climb up on top of & jump off. They loved it.

Conductor

Lego-Man

He was great & brought Miss H up 2-3 times for her to have a turn. It was a bit too much for her, but they had a volunteer there helping little ones off. Miss H kept wanting to go again so I'm pretty sure she liked it.

Happy - this kid LOVED this!

There was also a "Mudmobile" at the children's area. They handed out a glob of clay/mud to each child & then they could make it in to something. All of the older kids (all except Mr. H) tried it & made something. Okay, I did a lot of helping with Miss H. I let her carry a small piece of it until she started chewing on it. blah!

There were also boards full of nails for the kids to pound in. I felt sorry for the volunteers here who had to keep banging them back out for the kids to bang right back in again.

One more locally grown kid. ;-)

At one point I took Mr & Miss H & Lego-Man over to the amphitheater. There was a group there playing Irish music. I bought a large popcorn on the way (yummy - organic popcorn with safflower oil & sea salt) & Miss H, Lego-Man & I all shared it while we listened to the music.

I took this photo of Mr. H while he sat in my lap.

Don't let this photo of Miss H fool you - she spent over half her time here - after she was done eating - she danced to the music. It was fun to watch.

After we were done at the amphitheater we went to find my sister & the rest of the boys. They were on the other side of the hill doing this.....

I convinced Lego-Man to take Miss H. I think she liked it. ;-)

I'm pretty sure they could have all stayed here for the rest of the day sliding, but we moved on. Mr. H had not napped as well as I had hoped. Our next stop was the sheep dog demo. I love this part of the fair & we typically start our day here. These dogs are really amazing at what they can do at just a whistle. They had goats this year for the first time & the dogs did as well with them as they did with sheep (which they had too).

Our day ended by quickly checking out some bunnies and the poultry barn. There was so much we missed but we'll be back next year!