School Days

This week we took a break from our themed school weeks. I had spent some time in the beginning of the month doing a lot of lesson planning. I thought I had done a month's worth of planning only to realize Monday that I had nothing for the week. So, this week we just played it by ear which meant it was a lazy week. Wednesday we went to our weekly story time at the library and the kids pick out books. The rest of the week was just a bunch of playing, reading and painting. We ended the week with a new friend (new drop-in daycare kid) to play with.

Finger painting..messy but oh so much fun.


My little reader..I think he enjoys looking at the books and making his own stories as much as me reading to him.


Books the kids picked out:
Little Apple Goat- Caroline Church
Rain Dance- Kathi Appelt
Tarzanna- Babette Cole
The Dog Who Cried Woof- Nancy Coffelt
The White Seal- Rudyard Kipling

Project 52: Week 4

Two big milestones happened this week!

We started potty training Maddy! Potty, TV and super hero capes go together, right?


And Sean gained independence! He made major improvement at dance by spending a little bit of time in class without me. I think story time has helped him with that. Here's him (blue shirt) all the way in front at story time.

School Days: Martin Luther King Jr

Monday was Martin Luther King Jr day so that was our theme for the week. An activity we did was I wrapped 3 blocks; 1 in a plain white blanket and 2 in really pretty and exciting blankets. I then asked Sean and the daycare girl which one they would want. The pretty one was picked because of it's looks. The blocks were unwrapped and I pointed out how they were all the same despite the fact that one was very plain and boring on the outside. The conversation went into how not everyone looks the same (different skin, eye and hair color)but we're all pretty much the same inside and should be treated that way. Then we talked about who Martin Luther King was and how boys and girls of different skin color use to not be allowed to play together. I'm happy to say that they immediately knew that wasn't fair.

Our craft was paper doll chains put together with the poem "The Crayon Box That Talked"




Reading list:
My First Martin Luther Book- Dee Lillegard
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day- Robin Nelson

Project 52: Week 3

This past week we welcomed a couple new pets into our home...rats!! Or raps as Maddy calls them.


This is Templeton and he is about 5 months old.


This is Rizzo and he is about 2 1/2 months old.



Templeton is tamer than Rizzo but with daily handling, I'm sure Rizzo will become just as comfortable with us. He's very curious!

We started out with them in a cage that we housed a Guinea Pig in a few years back but soon realized that it was too small for them. I then found a really good deal on a big bird cage and that's now their new home.

School Days: Animals in Winter

Before I go into what we did this week, here's the craft from last week that we didn't get to..coffee creamer snowmen!








This week was kind of a continuation of last week. This week we talked about animals in winter: migration, hibernation and how it's harder for animals to find food in the winter. Our big project was to help feed the animals (birds and squirrels).

Toast, peanut butter and bird seed:




Orange peel, peanut butter and bird seed:


And fruit strung on pipe cleaners:


Maddy was more interested in moving seeds from one bowl to another with a spoon:


In our tree:


A couple of the toast cut outs broke:


Pipe cleaner feeders:


Then we threw the rest of the pieces of toast and some popcorn around the yard:


We had many more squirrels than birds and most of the birds we did have flew away when I tried to get pictures.








Reading list:
Bear Snores On -Karma Wilson
Sleepy Bear -Lydia Dabcovich
Honk! Honk! A Story of Migration -Mick Manning and Brita Granstrom
Don't Wake Up the Bear! -Marjorie Murray

Kids say

The things that come out of kids mouths...wow. I really need to start keeping track of everything the kids come up with.

Monday Sean and the girl I watch were talking about socks. I over heard Sean tell her "sissy has matching socks! Mama has matching...feet!". Nice to know! LOL

Today I hear Sean in the bathroom talking to himself. I peak in the cracked door to see him looking at himself in the mirror, arms up to show his muscles saying "I'm big. I'm a boy. I'm strong. I have tools. I build!!" I hope he never loses that self esteem!

And in case you were wondering, Sean and his muscles: