Katy No Pocket

Homeschooling was really fun this week and we now have a new favorite book in Katy No Pocket. Katy No Pocket is illustrated by the same illustrator of Curious George and is about a mother kangaroo that does not have a pocket to carry her baby, Freddy. She seeks the help of other animals and eventually makes her way to the city where a generous man gives her an apron full of pockets. She now can hold many animals that need it, not just Freddy and she is the happiest kangaroo.

On Monday, we read our story and watched an animated version of it too. Both of the boys really liked the story. After we watched you tube videos of kangaroos and learned many things like they can jump over 30 feet in one jump and they enjoy kickboxing. 

Next, we colored and cut out a kangaroos with its baby, the Joey. Ezra also made his very own kangaroo. 

 

After this, we went outside to measure 30 feet but our measuring tape only went as far as 12.5 feet. So we said it was two times the tape measure and that was amazing to us. We jumped as far as we could and Silas can jump 3 feet in one jump and Ezra likes to hop. We worked more on color by numbers book and practiced writing 7's when we came in.

Tuesday morning started a bit differently because the night before it rained really hard and our playroom flooded in the middle of the night. Luckily, daddy woke and saved our school books that were sitting in a puddle. We are so lucky to have the daddy that we have! We went to bible study in the morning and we went outside to do our schoolwork after lunch. It was such a beautiful day! We practiced writing K’s for Kangaroos. 

Then we read our story. After that we talked about generosity and how the man with the apron was so kind and generous and how God likes us to have generous hearts. Then we thought of how we carry babies. Mommy carries Ruby in her arms like Jocko the monkey’s mommy. She also carries her in a wrap and that is kind of like a kangaroo. Pup pup is Silas’ most favorite toy that goes everywhere and Silas usually carries Pup pup by the leg or under his arm like a football. We decided to try to carry Pup pup like a kangaroo so we used Silas’ backpack. It didn’t go so well for Pup pup but it sure was funny! 

After that, we looked at how far Australia is to the United States on a map! We wondered how different the people are there. We learned about the people who were native to Australia are called Aboriginals, and they have their own style of living and art and music. We listened to some aboriginal music and made a Didgeridoo, an aboriginal instrument. Then we looked at aboriginal art, and made our own aboriginal style kick boxing kangaroo.  We finished the day by working on 8’s and we finished our color by numbers book!

 

Wednesday, we continued to do our school time outside because it felt amazing, and our floor cushions needed even more time to dry. We practiced tracing the sentences, “A kangaroo can jump 30 feet. Silas can jump 3 feet.” Then we colored some Australian animals and trees around our work.  

 

We read our story and ate popsicles.  We noticed the differences between the city and the forest and then drew pictures of the differences. We worked on making 9’s and then did a kangaroo craft where we made a mommy and baby kangaroo out of a Dixie cup. 

Since we are learning about Australia, we had an afternoon treat of “fairy bread”, something that kids in Australia eat...it is basically buttered toast with sprinkles. Silas listened to the poem “Fairy Bread” by Robert Louis Stevenson. We talked about how poems are short writings that make us think and sometimes paint a beautiful picture in his head. I had him listen while I read and after I asked him what he thought of. He said, “hmmm….ummm….I thought of…..nothing.” haha We may have to keep exploring poetry!

Come up here, O dusty feet!

Here is fairy ready to eat.

Here in my retiring room,

Children ,you may dine

On the golden smell of broom

And the shade of pine;

And when you have eaten well,

Fairy stories hear and tell.

On Thursday, we started our day using our foam shapes to make patterns. We first made shape patterns, and then we made color patterns.

We pointed out the colors to Ezra too. We were really excited to read Katy No Pocket because it just might be the most favorite book of all. (Except I’m wondering if Caps For Sale, or We’re Going On a Bear Hunt were really our MOST favorite. Katy may be one of my new one’s and Corduroy is definitely a favorite of mommy’s!) We read the story and followed along to the animated version twice…it’s that good. 

Next, we talked about how Katy was a problem solver and asked others for help. We also thought it was great that Katy was different and that differences make people interesting. We talked about differences in people we know and then drew a picture of Silas and then Ezra to show the differences in the brothers.

Silas then worked on his Katy Kangaroo and did the best coloring job with colored pencils that he has ever done. I may just save it forever! We pasted pockets on Katy’s apron and put all the little animals inside. 

 

We thought we had a 10’s page to do but we realized they were only 0-9’s and we were a little sad that we were finished with those worksheets, but we were also proud. We did some simple addition and used our frogs on a log as counters (thanks, Aunt Sis!) 

 

Since we were finished with writing numbers, we worked on building numbers with our pattern pieces and then played magnatiles. 

I’m so thankful we were able to play outside so much this week.  It really kept everyone’s moods in the right place and made bedtime way easier! I also think it enhanced our learning experiences and made everything feel more rich. Thank you God, for all that vitamin D and weather in the 70’s! Thank you for letting us do school and that this week makes 72 days of school for us! I think that’s pretty good for having a baby in the mix :).

Blueberries for Sal

Our book of the week was Blueberries for Sal. This was the first that we read the book, although I remembered it from childhood. Both of the boys liked the story, the yummy blueberries, and our week was sprinkled with books and valentines! 

On Monday, we started out by checking on our seeds that we "planted" just two weeks ago. The have grown crazy big! The most amazing thing is that new seeds have sprouted from our old seeds. How did all that happen in a plastic bag?! I'm not really sure how long we should let our pinto beans grow, haha. 

After we checked on our seeds, Silas began working on our valentines color by number book and Ezra worked with making his own valentine by deconstruction one of Silas'. Silas, has really turned a corner in the last few months and now LOVES to color and really focuses on coloring well. Color by numbers is such a great way to get him to focus on coordinating numbers and colors and he really loves it. Each day this week, he spent some time coloring in this valentines book. 

Next, we read our story. While we read, I had a tin of blue pom poms so Silas and Ezra could pretend to pick blueberries while we read. We also enjoyed a blueberry snack.

After we read, we practiced writing the letter B. We also colored blueberries on a letter B. Ezra really wanted to work too, so I gave him the little B. He mimicked everything he saw big brother doing. This was really cute since he is so independent.

 

 Once the boys finished their B sheets, we moved on to using corks as stamps and made a blueberry painting. They really enjoyed this and Ezra is warming up more and more to using finger paint. One of the best aspects of today was, how often the worked side by side and got along! I love that and it made me pretty excited about working a little more with Ezra in the months to come. I know he is still a little guy but I want to encourage his exploration of learning!

 

Tuesday we had bible study resume so our morning was full of learning for mommy and the boys got to play with friends. After lunch, Ezra took a nap and Silas and I worked lightly in the playroom. We read our story again, and we talked about how Sal should have been safe and stayed with her mommy. We talked about in the Bible how Ruth told her mommy (in law) that where you go, I will go, and that's the helpful way we need to be too. We did some more coloring which took such a long time because we didn't just color but we wrote our name, 5- since we are almost five, drew arrow so our cupcake was the best one ever, and a candle on top. I felt anxiety rising because I had so many things I wanted to accomplish both in school and outside of school and I just felt like God was telling me- stop. Just stop. Who cares if school today is mostly coloring this one picture for what felt like an hour. This is your time together. And he is learning focus. And how to do a job well done. And how to create, and how to have vision to make things even better. And he is learning that mommy can be still. Mommy can wait. And she can give him her undivided attention. So this day there was no workout, even though I hadn't missed in 2 weeks- he isn't going to remember that? And there was no dinner plan or meat defrosting- because everything needed to stop and he needed to color this cupcake, and I needed to sit and watch him do it. Not look at my phone, or plan, or be in and out of the room, but this was the most important thing we did and what a mighty good cupcake that turned out to be. After that we learned the difference between little b, and little d. We found a song about how we can remember which one goes which way and now he knows it so well. We colored, and cut, and glued down b's and d's in categories. And then we did a little bit of blueberry addition, even though Silas really wanted to color one blueberry red to be a tomato because it just would make a perfect tomato, we focused on our assignment the way it was suppose to be done. After this worksheet, brother woke, and dad came home so we went to the park and ordered burgers for dinner. Tuesday was a great day.

Wednesday, we did color by numbers together. We read our story and watched a read-a-loud version of it and turned the pages as the person read. We ate even more blueberries and then baked blueberry banana muffins. Silas helped measure, mix, and pour. Then he helped eat :) They were apparently really good too because we made 24 muffins on Wednesday and by Friday night there are only 8 left...I think little hands keep reaching for them every time the fridge opens. While our blueberries baked we made a basket of finger printed blueberries. We also worked on number 6 and we realized how similar 6 is to both little b and little d.

Thursday was a field trip day for us. We went with friends to story time at the library. We picked out books, we listened to story time, sang songs, played games, read books, watched a book on video, and even had a craft. This was so much fun and took most of the morning that we ended up letting this be most of our study time and in the afternoon, we colored and played. This week was really neat because it felt like a week of progress- I can see so much growth and it makes me excited for next year. I'm trying to wait to plan until we get to May where I can see how our first year went, what stages all three kids are, and what areas I need to improve in for a whole well rounded school year. Next year is Kindergarten and it's REAL, but I am starting to see we CAN do this, we ARE doing this. I'm so thankful that this is our life and that these are my people.

The Carrot Seed- Part Two

This week we continued with our main book, The Carrot Seed, and also incorporated some more of the Peter Rabbit series in to our reading since the play was such a hit. On Monday, we read our story and discussed the faith of the little boy. We thought it was really great how he kept believing that the seed would turn into a carrot even though everyone said it wouldn't. We thought about how we sometimes have to wait for things and one day they just happen, like when Ruby was born, and even, Ezra. We also thought about how sometimes we have to be patient when we want to play superheroes or four wheeler and it's not a good time, but then all of the sudden it is a good time and we can have all the fun we were waiting on. After, we discussed the book, we checked on our seeds and they have all begun to sprout.We sure thought this was so great. 

We did some drawing of vegetables that grow under the ground- carrots, beets, and potatoes. Silas even drew an orange on an orange tree. While Silas worked, Ezra worked on stacking the orange pegs like they were a really tall carrot. He needed help but was getting more precise. He did an excellent job focusing on one activity for a little while. 

Ezra really wanted to do duplos, so Silas showed him how to build robots. When Ezra took a nap, Silas and I made a birthday chain to help us countdown to his and Ezra's birthday and surprise! We also learned our number four song and practiced writing fours. While we worked, we read The Tale of Nutkin the second book in the Peter Rabbit series. Because it was written in 1903, some of its vocabulary was over Silas' head but he enjoyed the story. He, especially enjoyed the end when the squirrel would break sticks to throw when he was mad because that had just happened to Oso that morning! We laughed so much at that. We finished up the day counting by twos and did a little gluing craft.

Tuesday, we had a play date with our friends so our main learning was in the sharing department and also in the imagination and adventuring departments!

Wednesday, we decided it was the perfect day to work on some Valentines! We made so many cards and crafts, and practiced writing all kinds of messages to people we love. We spelled Papi, Nana, Grammy, Paw Paw, XOXO, I <3 U, Ezra, and Silas. We cut, traced, glued, glittered, and thought very hard about what to do each time. All this work meant no carrot stories for today. Little brother also worked on potty training, most of the day, and so that took a good bit of our focus too!

On Thursday, the boys couldn't wait to get in the school room, so they worked in their Valentine's Factory while mommy cleaned up and worked out. That was so wonderful to have them working together. Ezra made his very first card all on his own and I can't wait to add it to his art portfolio to save forever. Silas remembered that he had not made a valentine day's card for Xander and so he worked very hard on drawing a funny face for him and writing his name! He also made a flower out of only heart shapes for me all on his own.

In the afternoon, Silas read The Carrot Seed to me, since he's heard it so many times. He quietly and sheepishly read the whole thing and I smiled as he didn't miss a word. This kid's memory! After that we did a finger painting of carrots. 

Ruby needed help falling asleep so Silas came to help me and while we waited to see if she was really asleep, we made funny videos on my phone. I think he thinks he is a video blogger and has an audience because he is always making videos. We had the idea to act like daddy and so we pretended and sent him our funniest video while he was at work. We went back to the school room, and worked on making number fives. While he colored, I read, The Tale of Tom Kitten, and The Tailor of Gloucester. We thought the tale of Tom Kitten was funny. I also noted to myself that they made a reference to the kittens getting the measles and it was not a big deal at all because it was such a common and natural childhood illness that no one feared. The book about the Tailor was way too dense for us and I said, "This is a little hard to read and boring, should we keep reading?" and Silas said "Well, it's boring but let's keep reading". haha 

Today, we also noticed that our seeds have sprouted green! School this week was great and full of crafts, writing, and coloring. I'm so happy I get this special time with my big boy. I can see how much he is growing in work habits and can't really imagine how school will be in the fall, I think we will be doing more than I could even imagine.