School with Stuffed Animals

Austyn wanted to play school with his stuffed animals, so we prepared for math in the school room that we set up in our unfinished basement. The stuffed animals were placed in a circle. I introduced my teacher name in my funny teacher voice (they corrected me. LOL!) and we went forward with a math lesson on tessellating (filling a space without leaving gaps). We first used toys that were rectangular and then squares. Then we learned about octagons and we made some and turned them into stop signs. I cut out more and we found out that we can't tessellate with octagons because they can't fill up a space like squares or rectangles. 

We took a recess and when we returned Austyn asked me if the class could study human bones. I said we could so he dumped some halloween bones on the floor to look at. 

Earlier in the day I read one of Zoe's favourite stories. She instinctively took over the class as the teacher and read the story to the class since it was handy. She can't actually read well enough yet, but she loves to pretend and this book is a song so she did her best to sing the song how she remembered it.

And just like everything else we do money ends up coming into the picture at some point. Austyn is obsessed with doing math with money. Real money, fake money. This is some fake American money we purchased while in the United States. 

Over all, this idea went over well. They really seemed to enjoy themselves and because of that they should remember some of what they learned I hope.

Outdoor picnic, but too cold.

Zoe wanted a picnic outside earlier this week. It was clearly too cold. She didn't last long. Here she is trying to cover herself with a towel on her blanket with her stuffed animal friends. She came in the house right after this picture was taken.

While outside we noticed that the trees looked different. The flower buds on the maple tree were turning into keys and there are strange leaves at the base of the new sprouts of leaves coming out. 

They like to carry wood?

It's funny that at someone else's house chores are more fun especially when it's something we don't normally do at home. They helped carry wood to the wood stove in the basement at their grandparent's house.

Running Wild in the Country

When visiting family in the country the kids love the space outside to run and ride their bikes.

Always making things.

Austyn is always making things. He can make things out of just about anything. This is a city with sky scrapers. He helped put together a Barbecue and the Styrofoam from the box looked like too much fun to just throw away.

100 Books-A-Month Challenge, Reading My Library

Reading List April, 2010

Read to Austyn and Zoe:
1. A Fair Bear Share by Stuart J. Murphy
2. All on a Sleepy Night by Shutta Crum
3. Angela’s Airplane by Robert Munsch
4. Apples, Apples, Apples by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
5. Baby Animals Learn by Pamela Chanko
6. Bartleby Speaks! By Robin Cruise
7. Big Little Otter by Lillian Hoban
8. Boo to You! By Lois Ehlert
9. Bravery Soup by Maryann Cocca-Leffler
10. Bug Dance by Stuart J. Murphy
11. Catfish Kate and the Sweet Swamp Band by Sarah Weeks
12. Cat Jumped In! by Tess Weaver
13. Charlie Cook’s Favorite Book by Juli Donaldson
14. Cleo Cooperates by Scholastic
15. Clifford’s Day on the Farm by Scholastic
16. Cowboy and Octopus by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith
17. Coyotes All Around by Stuart J. Murphy
18. Custard the Dragon and the Wicked Knight by Ogden Nash
19. Dinos To Go by Sandra Boynton
20. Doggy Dreams by Nancy Kapp Chapman
21. Ducks Don’t Get Wet by Augusta Goldin
22. Edwardo The Horriblest Boy in the Whole Wide World by John Burningham
23. Elena’s Serenade by Campbell Geeslin
24. Elevator Magic by Stuart J. Murphy
25. Every Buddy Counts by Stuart J. Murphy
26. Five Little Monkeys go Shopping by Eileen Christelow
27. Franklin is Lost by Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark
28. Funny Farm by David Doepker
29. Great Acorn Mystery by Ellen Stoll Walsh
30. Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert
31. Guess Who’s Coming, Jesse Bear by Nancy White Carlstrom
32. Hello, Calico! By Karma Wilson
33. Henry’s Amazing Machine by Dayle Ann Dodds
34. Henry’s Show and Tell by Nancy Carlson
35. Henry’s Song by Kathryn Cave
36. Hurry Up Franklin by Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark
37. Ignis by Gina Wilson
38. I Have To Go! By Robert Munsch
39. In My Backyard by John DeVries
40. Is there Really a Human Race? By Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell
41. It’s Spring! By Samantha Berger and Pamela Chanko
42. Jeremy Draws a Monster by Peter McCarty
43. Just Enough Carrots by Stuart J. Murphy
44. Kanga and Baby Roo Come to the Forest by A. A. Milne
45. Little Apple Goat by Caroline Jayne Church
46. Little Bunny Foo Foo by Paul Brett Johnson
47. Little Quack by Lauren Thompson
48. Piglet is Entirely Surrounded by Water by A. A. Milne
49. Pooh Goes Visiting and Pooh and Piglet Nearly Catch a Woozle by A. A. Milne
50. Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
51. Magic Thinks Big by Elisha Cooper
52. Maisy, Charley, and the Wobbly Tooth by Lucy Cousins
53. Makeup Mess by Robert Munsch
54. Mall Mania by Stuart J. Murphy
55. Messy Jessie by Lynda Burnett
56. Mathew A.B.C. by Peter Catalanotto
57. Morning, Noon, and Night by Jean Craighead George
58. Mortimer by Robert Munsch
59. Mouse Mess by Linnea Riley
60. Mud Puddle by Robert Munsch – 2 times
61. Murmel, Murmel, Murmel by Robert Munsch
62. Once I Knew a Spider by Jennifer Owings Dewey
63. One Dark and Dreadful Night by Randy Cecil
64. One, Two, Three O’Leary by Malachy Doyle
65. One… Two… Three… Sassafras! By Stuart J. Murhy
66. Pizza for the Queen by Nancy Castaldo
67. Play Nice Calico! By Karma Wilson
68. Pooh Invests in a New Game by A. A. Milne
69. Pooh’s Easter Egg Hunt by Isabel Gains
70. Purple Coyote by Cornette
71. Rabbit’s Pajama Party by Stuart J. Murphy
72. Racing Around by Stuart J. Murphy
73. Red is Best by Kathy Stinson
74. Sailing off to Sleep by Linda Ashman
75. Seven for a Secret by Laurence Anholt and Jim Coplestone
76. Simon finds a treasure by Gilles Tibo
77. Something Good by Robert Munsch
78. T-Bone Tells the Truth by Scholastic
79. The Best Vacation Ever by Stuart J. Murphy
80. The Frog Principal by Stephanie Calmenson
81. The Great Canoe by María Elena Maggi
82. The Greatest Gymnat of All by Stuart J. Murphy
83. The Little Island by Golden MacDonald and Leonard Weisgard
84. The Little Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey
85. The Monster Who Ate Darkness by Joyce Dunbar
86. The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch – 2 times
87. The Piano Man by Debbi Chocolate
88. The Sandcastle Contest by Robert Munsch
89. The Secret by Lindsay Barrett George
90. The Sleepy Owl by Marcus Pfister
91. The Tale of Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash
92. Tigger Comes To The Forest and Has Breakfast by A. A. Milne
93. Tigger is Unbounced by A. A. Milne
94. Time to get Dressed! By Elivia Savadier – Austyn helped to read
95. Tyson the Terrible by Diane and Christyan Fox
96. Up, Up, Down by Robert Munsch
97. Wake Up, Big Barn by Suzanne Tanner Chitwood
98. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
99. Winnie-The-Pooh and Some Bees by A. A. Milne
100. Zen Ties by Jon J Muth
101. Zoom! By Robert Munsch

Books read to Austyn
1. The Case of the Backyard Treasure by Joanne Rocklin

Books read to Zoe
1. Cinderella by Gallery Books
2. Hippos Go Berserk! By Sandra Boynton
3. Pajama Time! By Sandra Boynton
4. The City Mouse and the Country Mouse by General Creation
5. Wake up Little Rabbit! By Debi Gliori

Chapter books and Reference Books (both kids):
6. Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling – 4 stories
7. The Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia – 31 pages
8. The Usborne First Encyclopedia of Space – 13 pages
9. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahme – 3 chapters

Books I read:
1. Conversations with God an uncommon dialogue (I finally finished book three, completing the complete 3 book set!), by Neale Donald Walsch
2. Teach Your Own. The John Holt Book of Home Schooling by John Holt and Pat Farenga

Dress Up and Drama

When visiting people or having people over they have done drama on more than one occasion. In this picture they were visiting a relative they have just met. I guess they aren't shy. LOL!

Baking and Cooking

This past week we've done some baking and cooking activities. The above picture is of the kids making Rice Krispy Squares at Nanny's house.

The two pictures above the kids were helping me make dips for a vegetable tray.

They helped me make some Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies. Mmm...

Book Sharing Monday

A story about a baby taking an adventure that he draws with  his crayon? That is what Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson is all about. It's a charming little story about this cute little baby named Harold who takes an adventure that is drawn by his purple crayon.

"The short cut led right to where Harold thought a forest ought to be. He didn't want to get lost in the woods. So he made a very small forest, with just one tree in it. It turned out to be an apple tree. The apples would be very tasty, Harold thought, when they got red. So he put a dragon under the tree to guard the apples...."

When we were finished this story, Austyn looked at me and said "That was a good story Mommy!" I think what appealed to him was the imagination of Harold. Austyn has a very vivid imagination as well and seems to be drawn to stories like this.