Friday, June 29, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Mushrooms After Rain
For anyone who either lives in Southwest Florida or has been following the weather news, you may know that it had been raining here - a lot. As in Tropical Storm Debby has meant days of rain and more rain. For Seneca, this meant go outside and get soaked! I assure you we are in a safe area and the times when she was playing outside, there were no high gusts of wind. The gusts of wind did occur during these days, but not at the specific moments when she was outside.
Yesterday the raining here had stopped and we could see its effects on our neighbor's lawn - mushrooms! Seneca has recently been quite enthralled by mushrooms after learning that gnomes live in mushrooms. So, for her, a great kingdom had just sprouted! She went and got one rather large mushroom with a very round and smooth top, not like the typical mushroom we often think of.
We spent some time exploring this mushroom of hers. She compared the different textures on it. Then, she held it up and said, "It's the sun!" We also figured out that it could be a wheel, a gnome's home, or a table. She then washed her hands thoroughly after so much mushroom touching.
From there, I decided to tell her the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Now, I had pretty much remembered the story, but I was really second guessing myself on my memory of it. I decided I had better look it up on the internet. Fortunately, I found a site which re-told the Norwegian folktale. It was a good thing because I had forgotten the nuances like the "trip-trap, trip-trap" each goat makes as he crosses the bridge. I re-told her the story before bedtime as well.
Yesterday the raining here had stopped and we could see its effects on our neighbor's lawn - mushrooms! Seneca has recently been quite enthralled by mushrooms after learning that gnomes live in mushrooms. So, for her, a great kingdom had just sprouted! She went and got one rather large mushroom with a very round and smooth top, not like the typical mushroom we often think of.
We spent some time exploring this mushroom of hers. She compared the different textures on it. Then, she held it up and said, "It's the sun!" We also figured out that it could be a wheel, a gnome's home, or a table. She then washed her hands thoroughly after so much mushroom touching.
From there, I decided to tell her the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Now, I had pretty much remembered the story, but I was really second guessing myself on my memory of it. I decided I had better look it up on the internet. Fortunately, I found a site which re-told the Norwegian folktale. It was a good thing because I had forgotten the nuances like the "trip-trap, trip-trap" each goat makes as he crosses the bridge. I re-told her the story before bedtime as well.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
June 16, 2012
June 16, 2012
Seneca and I listened to The Grimms' The Sleeping Beauty on storynory. It is a free resource of audio books. After that I read three books to her. We read Woolbur by Leslie Helakoski, I Know A Rhino by Charles Fuge, and The Carot Seed by Ruth Krauss.
We did form drawing after reading time. Seneca walked a straight line. I drew a straight line on Seneca's back. Seneca found a crayon and a pencil and held them up as straight lines. She practiced drawing the straight line form on scrap paper. She then put her first entry into her Main Lesson Form Drawing book.
Seneca painted with home made paint from flour, corn syrup, water and green food coloring.
Then, it was outdoor playtime with friends.
We re-read The Carrot Seed at night just before dinner and ate pot roast with beef, potatoes, onions and lots of carrots.
Seneca and I listened to The Grimms' The Sleeping Beauty on storynory. It is a free resource of audio books. After that I read three books to her. We read Woolbur by Leslie Helakoski, I Know A Rhino by Charles Fuge, and The Carot Seed by Ruth Krauss.
We did form drawing after reading time. Seneca walked a straight line. I drew a straight line on Seneca's back. Seneca found a crayon and a pencil and held them up as straight lines. She practiced drawing the straight line form on scrap paper. She then put her first entry into her Main Lesson Form Drawing book.
Seneca painted with home made paint from flour, corn syrup, water and green food coloring.
Then, it was outdoor playtime with friends.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Homeschool debate in my head
Today, Seneca chose out three books for me to read to her. They were The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper, Fox in Socks by Dr. Suess, and Corduroy by Don Freeman.
I read an article today that said that a child's intelligence was more greatly affected by having the same stories read over and over again. This helps strengthen their memories. That is not to say that they don't learn from a library book which is read and then exchanged, but that the type of learning from repetition is different.
In the meantime, I have to learn some more fairy tales to recite to her. She enjoys hearing the ones she knows, but she is eager to hear some new ones. I have a collection of fairy tales, but now I need to really get some new stories down in mind before I can bring them to her. Before learning about Waldorf education, I had never considered the role of story telling in regards to language acquistion. However, as is pointed out in Waldorf articles, the child must really depend so greatly on their own imagination to fill in the images when I story is told rather than read. This helps develop listening as well as visualization skills. In our world of ipads, iphones, and instant images, we have lost so much of the basic skills of simple foundational learning.
Right now, I am really on the fence as to whether I should homeschool Seneca or just send her to public school in the Fall. She will be entering kindergarten this Fall. On the one hand, my oldest daughter did great at public school kindergarten and at learning to read. I think Seneca could benefit from being in a class and having lessons presented. She is a very social child.
On the other hand, I worry about not being able to meet her needs emotionally. She has older siblings who will be in an advanced program at their school and I'm in school as well. Not only do I want to be there for Seneca, I also want to be there for my other children as well.
I read an article today that said that a child's intelligence was more greatly affected by having the same stories read over and over again. This helps strengthen their memories. That is not to say that they don't learn from a library book which is read and then exchanged, but that the type of learning from repetition is different.
In the meantime, I have to learn some more fairy tales to recite to her. She enjoys hearing the ones she knows, but she is eager to hear some new ones. I have a collection of fairy tales, but now I need to really get some new stories down in mind before I can bring them to her. Before learning about Waldorf education, I had never considered the role of story telling in regards to language acquistion. However, as is pointed out in Waldorf articles, the child must really depend so greatly on their own imagination to fill in the images when I story is told rather than read. This helps develop listening as well as visualization skills. In our world of ipads, iphones, and instant images, we have lost so much of the basic skills of simple foundational learning.
Right now, I am really on the fence as to whether I should homeschool Seneca or just send her to public school in the Fall. She will be entering kindergarten this Fall. On the one hand, my oldest daughter did great at public school kindergarten and at learning to read. I think Seneca could benefit from being in a class and having lessons presented. She is a very social child.
On the other hand, I worry about not being able to meet her needs emotionally. She has older siblings who will be in an advanced program at their school and I'm in school as well. Not only do I want to be there for Seneca, I also want to be there for my other children as well.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
5/30/2012
I made a few phonics flashcards today. We just went over them twice and then Seneca lost interest for the time being. Seneca chose out two books for us to read together tonight. She chose Colors as well as The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle. After I read to her, Seneca then "read" The Very Busy Spider. She was using the pictures as her cues and her memory to recite back the story.
Earlier today, I filled up a used bread bag with colored water. After that, I filled up a small ziploc bag with corn syrup, blue food dye, and artsy gems for some more sensory fun! She loved both bags and even when the water bag had a leak, we had fun squirting the water out of the hole.
Earlier today, I filled up a used bread bag with colored water. After that, I filled up a small ziploc bag with corn syrup, blue food dye, and artsy gems for some more sensory fun! She loved both bags and even when the water bag had a leak, we had fun squirting the water out of the hole.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Sidewalk Astronomy
I have been getting email updates about events for a local sidewalk astronomy group, but I have never been able to attend any of the events. Well, this past Saturday, we finally went to one. I told Liam and his friends that we were going to X Beach City Hall. Of course, they heard "beach." So, we decided to make it a beach day followed by planet gazing. Best laid plans though..... In any event, by the time we got everyone (Liam, three of his friends, Seneca, and I) ready to go, it was just about sunset and I wanted to get to Sidewalk Astronomy right at sunset. So, we skipped the beach (for the time being.)
So many generous people set up beautiful telescopes and allowed other people there to look through. The kids saw the gasses surrounding the sun. They saw Venus in one telescope. Venus looked like a crescent moon. The kids and I got to see the moon in several different telescopes. The moon is either in light or in dark, no in between. And the kids and I got to see Saturn in one telescope! Afterwards, the boys said to me that they were disappointed about not going to the beach, but the sidewalk astrononmy thing was awesome. "Can we go again in September?"
From now on, I will certainly make an effort to attend the X Beach City Hall set ups. There are other set ups around town, but this one is the closest to us.
After leaving, we did stop at the beach for about thirty minutes. No going in the water, but the kids dug in the sand and I did get my feet wet. :)
So many generous people set up beautiful telescopes and allowed other people there to look through. The kids saw the gasses surrounding the sun. They saw Venus in one telescope. Venus looked like a crescent moon. The kids and I got to see the moon in several different telescopes. The moon is either in light or in dark, no in between. And the kids and I got to see Saturn in one telescope! Afterwards, the boys said to me that they were disappointed about not going to the beach, but the sidewalk astrononmy thing was awesome. "Can we go again in September?"
From now on, I will certainly make an effort to attend the X Beach City Hall set ups. There are other set ups around town, but this one is the closest to us.
After leaving, we did stop at the beach for about thirty minutes. No going in the water, but the kids dug in the sand and I did get my feet wet. :)
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Getting the essence of lessons without being academic
Thanks to our local unschoolers group, I found out that this past week is fine forgiveness week at our local county libraries in exchange for non-perishable foods to be donated to the local food banks. So, we went shopping and brought in some food donations and got my oldest daughter's slate wiped clean! Yay! It wasn't entirely her fault. She was much, much younger when she got her library card. Her dad and step-mom got it for her, then there was all this confusion as to whether what she checked out was at her dad's or my house. Anyhow, it was so many years ago now, that there is no way of knowing.
Seneca and I spent a little time at the library. She found a puzzle in the kids' section and was only all too happy to work on that. She chose out a book on Jaguars. So, I had to get a library card. Even at 35, I'm actually excited about getting a library card. :)
We read the book last night. It is full of beautiful photographs of Jaguars. Many of the photo captions in the book identify exactly where the photo was taken. After reading, Seneca and I went over to our map on the wall. She pulled up her little stool and stood on it. I pointed out Belize, Peru, and Brazil to her. My goal isn't for her to know where Belize is, but rather to give her a sense of place and a feel for the essence of geography. She can point out Florida on a map. In fact, she saw how close Belize looks to Florida that she asked if we could drive there. (LOL) I showed her that the blue on the map meant water and that we would have to fly. (Ok, I know we could, in theory, also take a boat. However, our reality is that we would fly in a plane IF we were to go to Belize.)
Speaking of maps, Seneca can point out Florida, Maine, and Saudi Arabia on the map.
Seneca spent some time drawing a picture using both block crayons and stick crayons. The picture itself was very abstractionist. There was no set object or person, but rather an experience in colors. Seneca is not used to block crayons and she was experimenting with technique. I am very excited to use block crayons with her next year for her Waldorf curriculum, but for now, it is more appropriate that she becomes comfortable with the medium itself.
The day before yesterday, Seneca and I played shopkeeper. She helped me to cut out squares of paper for play money. I then wrote $1, $5, $10 on different squares. I was the customer and I would buy a shell or a crayon from her. A shell might cost $5, I would give her $10, and would instruct her to give me a $5 that she was holding. In another scenario, the shell is $3, I give her $5, and I instruct her to give me back two $1s. The idea is not to teach her subtraction, but to show her math in action. The point is for her to be able to relate subtraction to something real and tangible to her own life when she does start to formally study it.
Seneca and I spent a little time at the library. She found a puzzle in the kids' section and was only all too happy to work on that. She chose out a book on Jaguars. So, I had to get a library card. Even at 35, I'm actually excited about getting a library card. :)
Speaking of maps, Seneca can point out Florida, Maine, and Saudi Arabia on the map.
Seneca spent some time drawing a picture using both block crayons and stick crayons. The picture itself was very abstractionist. There was no set object or person, but rather an experience in colors. Seneca is not used to block crayons and she was experimenting with technique. I am very excited to use block crayons with her next year for her Waldorf curriculum, but for now, it is more appropriate that she becomes comfortable with the medium itself.
The day before yesterday, Seneca and I played shopkeeper. She helped me to cut out squares of paper for play money. I then wrote $1, $5, $10 on different squares. I was the customer and I would buy a shell or a crayon from her. A shell might cost $5, I would give her $10, and would instruct her to give me a $5 that she was holding. In another scenario, the shell is $3, I give her $5, and I instruct her to give me back two $1s. The idea is not to teach her subtraction, but to show her math in action. The point is for her to be able to relate subtraction to something real and tangible to her own life when she does start to formally study it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)