Archive for the ‘homeschool’ Category

Dandelion crowns

May 16, 2013

Finally a few “real camera” pictures… We made dandelion crowns today. The weather has been beautiful this week and we’ve all been enjoying our wildflowers (aka lawn weeds).

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We made dandelion syrup and violet syrup last week. We will miss all the flowers when Jason finally mows! We’re always the last on our street in the spring to mow- I’m sure our neighbors are not happy…

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I also blended up a batch of chive, spinach, sorrel pesto. I love having garden greens again.

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And a little messy chalkboard fun was had today, too.

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Kindergarten with Oak Meadow

May 15, 2013

With the new baby coming in late August/ early September, our plans to start Eleanore’s kindergarten year got bumped up a bit. Our plan is to start this spring and take things very slowly this year, giving us lots of time to settle into a family of five and not worry about being rushed.

We have one of the older, more gentle editions if Oak meadow kindergarten that we’re using and it’s going great so far. I was worried it would be too slow, but Eleanore is loving the focus on one story/letter/number of the week. Even though she already knows all of her number and letters, the extra focus is really improving her handwriting practice.

She especially loves her Main Lesson Book and asks to write in it every day. Some of our pages so far:

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She also loves to do extra practice with her numbers outside of her main lesson book.

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Of course we’re also doing lots of crafts, outdoor play and nature exploration. Our days certainly don’t look like school at home, but right now it’s working for us.
Adelaide is getting in on the fun, too. She absolutely loves the Wee Sing Fingerplays cd that goes along with Oak Meadow, especially Eency Weency Spider. Both girls run around the room singing and acting out the verses.

Busy Creating Things…

March 21, 2013

If you’re not friends with me on facebook, perhaps you don’t know our news.  It’s one of the reasons I’ve been a little MIA around here. 
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We’re expecting baby #3 this September! This was a very early ultrasound to confirm the baby wasn’t ectopic like my pregnancy last summer, but I’m sure you get the gist ;)  
I’ve had awful morning sickness this time, which thankfully seems to have mostly subsided.  Now I’m just craving bacon and chocolate milk like crazy! Eleanore is super excited on the prospect of a new baby sister. She’s not too enthusiastic that it could be a boy though…

The girls have been busy creating, too. We have been making our house look a little more spring-like, even if there’s still snow on the ground. We made this really cool Easter Egg Garland. We couldn’t get our water balloons blown up, so we used regular balloons. It was very messy, but I think they turned out really nice.
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and Eleanore *loved* painting these tape resist Easter eggs, so we turned those into a garland for our other window. We just cut egg shapes out of thick paper, stuck masking tape all over them and painted with water colors. Once they dried, we took off the tape and the masterpieces were revealed. If you look closely in this picture, you can see a woodpecker outside the window on our suet feeder!
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But Eleanore’s favorite craft is this one. She sewed her own monster from an old sock. She was so proud of herself to stuff it, cut out the felt for the eyes and mouth and sew it all by herself!

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My little girl is so grown up!

Roller Skating Times Two

January 16, 2013

Adelaide went roller skating for the first time! She was a bit apprehensive, but she did fantastic. Eleanore had a great time, of course, too, so I’m sure we’ll be back soon. It’s great winter exercise!

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Simple Crafts

January 15, 2013

We finally took our tree down last weekend, and our house was missing it’s festive cheer, so we decided to make an early Valentine’s craft. This is an oldie – just sticking tissue paper to contact paper, but Adelaide *loved* it. She loves anything sticky right now. Glue makes her literally squeal with glee.

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Eleanore worked and worked to get hers *just right.* I think she pulled all the tissue paper off three times before it was to her liking.

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They are simple, but with the afternoon sunlight shining through them, they bring us a little wintertime cheer.

I also finished up Eleanore’s new pair of mittens a little while ago.
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Just a basic mittens pattern – simple and quick.

Snow Paint

January 11, 2013

Using a mixture of shaving cream and elmer’s glue, we had fun snow painting. I think more ended up on places other than the paper.

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Snow Play

January 10, 2013

Outdoors
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and in
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Preparing for Advent

November 14, 2012

The day after Thanksgiving we’re driving down to Florida and then Indianapolis, so I’m trying to get things organized for the holidays before we leave. It’s a daunting task! One thing I’ve wanted to do for ages was an advent calendar. This year I am giving it a go. It will be a bit strange, as we’re out of town until December 9th, but I figure we can just double up after we get home and perhaps even take a few with us.

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I made our advent calendar this year out of library pockets, then printed out library cards to slip inside, stamped the days on and then hung it in a Christmas tree shape with the 25 on the top. I think we’ll go ahead and do a Christmas-y stamp on each one in addition to the number stamp.
Each pocket has a holiday activity to do. I really wanted to focus on activities, rather than candy or gifts. Here is my list:

1. Make an advent wreath for the table.
2. Bake advent bread.
3. Make paper snowflakes for the windows.
4. Write a letter to Santa Claus.
5. Make shoe prints for St. Nicholas Day
6. Make candy cane milkshakes (smoothies)
7. Make a winter nature wreath.
8. Make snow (instant snow powder).
9. Make orange peel bird feeders.
10. Collect food for those who are less fortunate.
11. Make ornaments to give and hang on the tree.
12. Take a video of us singing a Christmas carol to send to family.
13. Bake St. Lucia bread and make crowns.
14. Make candy cane playdough.
15. Make paper chains for the tree.
16. Donate some of our old toys and books for other boys and girls to enjoy.
17. Visit Santa.
18. Decorate edible Christmas trees (using upside down ice cream cones).
19. Drive after dark to see the lights and decorations.
20. Make hot cocoa and watch a Christmas movie.
21. Make wrapping paper.
22. Bake Christmas cookies
23. Make a popcorn and cranberry garland for the birds.
24. Open one gift and read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.
25. MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Other ideas: make Christmas slime (add glitter to make it “magical”), make fudge or candy, roast chestnuts…

And, in case you were wondering, yes that is green crayon on my wall. Adelaide loves to color, and wanted to make the wall beautiful. This mama is out of magic erasers at the moment…

Waldorf Wednesday


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