The Way We Learn

Rainforest Study

I am so sorry that I've been neglecting this sweet blog.  It's the busy season for  photographers and I am just doing my best to keep my head above water.

Last week, H's second grade class completed their rainforest & South America unit by giving presentations on their chosen rainforest animal.  H had selected the black caiman.  The main project was to study the chosen animal's lifecycle and build a life-size model using only recycled/recyclable materials. 

H did a great job with the research side of the project and we turned the life-size model into a family project.  After some discussion, we decided to model a "baby" black caiman.  That was because the full grown black caiman can grow to over 13 feet long!  We used a plastic water bottle for the body and then used aluminum foil to wrap around the body and form the head, legs and tails.  H and O then painted the caiman with black paint and added red pom-poms for eyes.  The little guy looked great!

Once we got to school that morning, I was amazed with how great the classroom "rainforest" looked!  During the day, each student gave his/her presentation and was evaluated by their peers.  H received a perfect score!  Mrs. Becker & Mrs. Miller both said that H was completely interested in the presentation and paid very close attention to each student's words.

Here is the rainforest with multiple jaguars, a sloth, butterflies, tarantula, anaconda, black caiman and other animals...

H giving his presentation:

School is Going Great!

We've been in school now for about a month and things are going great!  The kids are still loving it and I am still impressed with what they are learning and how the staff views the students.  

H has been reading (and enjoying it, too!) fun chapter books like Geronimo Stilton and Miss Daisy is Crazy. They studied cells in science and even made a "cell pizza" with tortillas, cream cheese and assorted vegies to symbolize the parts of a cell (cell membrane, vacuole, nucleus, mitochondria and cell plasm...in case you were wondering).  For geography/social studies they are starting with land formations and North/Central America. 

O's kindergarten class has been learning the names and locations of the continents, working on letter formation, rhyming, reading, writing.  I learn little bits of what she learns as the day goes on.  Like tonight, during our bedtime story, she read a sentence that I didn't expect her to read and then she says "that says 'see'.  See is a sight word".  Well, I hadn't taught her that so I'm assuming she learned it from Miss F.  O is also coming home with new songs almost daily...which we all get to listen to a number of times each day.  Songs like "Going on a Bear Hunt" or "5 Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree" or "Peanut Butter".  It's great...I love hearing her sing.  

We did run into one problem at school las week.  O was crying a bit when I picked her up and when I asked why I was told that while doing a class puzzle some children got TWO puzzle pieces while my pride and joy only got ONE puzzle piece!  Now, I know, I probably should have shut the school down at that point but instead I tried to turn it into a lesson of sharing and how sometimes we get more and another person gets less but then the next time around we'll get less and they'll get more.  I'm not sure if it helped...I just hope there are more puzzle pieces next time!

Sanjaya for President?

Craig  Ferguson does a great job telling us like it is....

Vanilla Joy Craft Contest

                                                  

With the kids back in school now, I have a lot of extra time on my hands.  I'm hoping to get back into crafting and creating (in addition to my photography business) and  what better way to jumpstart my crafting then to enter (and hopefully win) the great craft giveaway at Vanilla Joy.  

So head on over there, enter the contest, check out the craft ideas, the kids face painting, family fun, even some creative date ideas!  If you win something, you'll have to invite me over for an afternoon of crafting!

So far so good...

We are onto our third day of school and everything seems to be going well.  Both kids have been full of energy and stories each day when I pick them up.  

The first thing out of O's mouth on Tuesday afternoon when she saw that Grammy had come with me to pick her up was  "Look Grammy, I'm wearing buttons for the first time!".  (both of my children have had button phobias).  H was right away telling us about all of the new "best friends" he made in his class.  To celebrate the first day of school, we let the kids  choose what we'd eat and they both chose Sweet Tomatoes  so we had dinner over there as a family and talked more about school.  Then at bedtime, I as treated to a retelling & reenactment of Goldilocks and the Three Bears by O.  Apparently, this was the fairy tale that Ms. F had read to the class.

Yesterday, when I asked O if she'd made any friends yet, she answered "Well, there is one girl who is trying to be my friend".  H told us about the story that his teacher is reading to the class called Miss Daisy is Crazy.  According to H, it is about a teacher who doesn't know how to read, write or do math and who wants to turn the school into a video arcade!  H laughs each time he tells me the latest escapades of Miss Daisy!

At home, we are continuing to read The Tale of Despereaux at bedtime.  Everything about this book is amazing.  Kate  DiCamillo has a true gift for writing.  When I finish a chapter, H asks me not to stop...to read more and more chapters.  This is truly a first for him!  If you haven't read this book, I'd highly recommend it!  It's a little dark in some parts but even O seems to be doing fine with it.  

Well, I'm off to have coffee with a friend.  Have a great day!

First Day Pictures...

Well, we did it.  We got up this morning, ate breakfast, got dressed and left the house by 7:30am to be to school on time.  The morning went great.  Both kids got to meet their teachers and got their new school experience off to the good start.

O was so excited all morning until we got to school and she saw all the new kids on the kindergarten playground (there are probably about 60 kindergarten students in all - class sizes range from 12-17).  She started to get a little clingy and the was a little shy & tearful in the class but she sat at her desk and tried to put on a good face.  At one point, I heard a little voice from one of the nearby tables say "Don't cry.  It will be okay".  Isn't that just the sweetest?  I left O with a kiss goodbye and am sure she will do fine.  

H of course went off happy as a clam.  

I thought I wouldn't cry.  I was sure I wouldn't cry.  But, once I got into the car...I cried.  Alot.  I know I'll get use to it.  But the house is so quiet.  When H went away to school, I still had O at home.  But now, they are both gone.  She is my baby and it's hard to let the baby go...ya know?

Oh well.  I guess I'll finally be able to catch up on all that scrapbooking that I've been neglecting for the past few years.  I can refine my cooking skills.  Get back to crafting.  Catch up on my reading.  Paint my nails.  Fold laundry.  Pull weeds.  Take the dog for a walk. Change the litterbox.  Look at pictures of my babies....all grown up....  (I don't think I'll be able to handle college!  Thank goodness I have a few years to work up to that one!).

Anyways here are the first day pics: 

on the way to school...

with Mrs. M

with Miss F

School....

When I pulled my son out of school last year, I said we would homeschool either until it wasn't working for us or we found the ideal school.  Well, we found what think to be the ideal school. (if you'd like to look into the school for your own children, just send me an email!)

I started looking at this school after another homeschooling mom mentioned it to me a couple of weeks ago. It is a Core Knowledge school which means they follow the idea that there are certain things that all children should learn and that even the youngest of learners are capable of learning topics such as the ancient world and geography.   As a homeschooler, I was aligning my own program to the Core Knowledge plan.  I also saw that the school is basing their language arts block on Fountas & Pinnell system of guided reading and writers' workshop.  This was the system that I used while teaching in the classroom and I believe in it heavily.    

Then the kicker to get me to enroll the kids was the school's focus on healthy living and healthy eating! They do not allow junk food in the school!  Yes!  No children with these or these or this in their lunchboxes!  The school actually encourages parents to pack additive-free and artificial color-free foods for their children!  The school also has arranged for the caterers (yes, they cater the hot lunch in each day!) to include whole wheat breads and healthier alternatives.   Oh, and what also made me happy is that they ask ALL parents to send a healthy snack to school with their child...not just the kindergartners....every child in every grade will be allowed to eat a snack in the middle of the morning!  As the mother of two children who need to eat every couple of hours, this makes me very happy.

I am sure that I will miss the fun and freedom of homeschooling but I think this is really the right thing to do right now for H & O.  They are both excited and ready.  I think the nice break we took with homeschooling has truly helped to erase some of the negative feelings that H had about school after his month and a half of first grade last year.  

Tomorrow is the first day, we've been to Target this afternoon and have purchased all of the supplies.  We've purchased school uniforms (both from Sears and Lands End) have bought new shoes and socks (O will only wear the seam free type socks) and have prepped the kids for a busy morning tomorrow (we have to be out of the house by 7:30am!).  

Wish us luck!  

Things I said I'd never do but have done...

1.  Wipe a child's nose (yes, before children, I thought there is no way that I would ever touch another human's snot...but I have).

2.  Eat olives.  I used to gag if an olive came anywhere near my mouth now I love olives.

3.  Have artificial turf.  I live in the desert.  I'm in denial that I live in the desert.  We've had small patches of grass in our front yard and our backyard for 4 years now.  But with the new backyard plan, the only spot for grass was inbetween two trees that provide too much shade for the grass to grow.  I caved in and had them install artificial turf....

It looks so good and feels so good that we decided to replace the front lawn with it, too!  (I know, I know...I'm still a little disgusted with the thought but hey...we're conserving water this way!).

Science Class - Crystals

We had our first science class of the year over at the AZ Science Center.  The topic was crystals. 

Using a magnifying glass to identify sugar & salt crystals.  

Working on human crystal bonds and deciding on which are the strongest.

Cracking geodes.

  

Very Cool Art Site

I've just stumbled upon this site Art for Kids and I'm in love!!  The only problem is that I just can't narrow it down to just one project to start with....