Tyrell at Four

Since I didn't do curriculum week (bc I hadn't had my day of planning yet!) I'm combining curriculum plans with highlight posts of my students/children.  I thought it sounded fun to "sort-of" participate in this blog hop this year since we don't plan to start our formal studies until September 3.

(oops, I see now that student photo week was supposed to be LAST week!  Oh well, I'm going to do it THIS week!)  (This is not a good start to the school year, folks!)

And Laura wants updates of the kiddos.  :)

So here's Tyrell.  And here is his post from last year--he sure has grown!

 Tyrell just turned four the end of July, so he is still firmly in preschool mode.  He is busy, busy, busy (and did I mention--busy!).  He is very bright, however, so I won't be surprised if he tags along with Kiana in some areas this year.  He already knows many letters and letter sounds from watching her learn last year.  To be honest, he likes to antagonize her by shouting them out when I am doing flash cards with her.  (Sigh.  Yes, you can imagine it now, can't you?  His sparkling eyes as he shouts out the answer, her whirling on him in anger telling him to stop saying the answers, him giggling as he runs off out of the room.  He takes his role of annoying little brother very seriously.)

For his birthday this year, he got to go to an Iowa Cubs game AND to Chuck E Cheese with cousins.  Spoiled little boy.  Then he had a friend over on his birthday, they played and then they made his birthday cake.  

What?  You make your children's birthday cakes yourself?  Well, remember this tip for a year when you're on a treadmill that someone keeps turning up the speed and you simply can't get your footing.  Invite a friend over, have your child and the friend chop up Oreos and sprinkle them over the cake (dirt), and then let them carefully place all the toy tractors, backhoes, and other such stuff on top.  Voila!  Birthday cake!  I'll pretend with you that you're doing it because you are a wonderfully organized mom if you'll pretend with me this time!

For school this year, Tyrell's primary focus will be learning through play--playing with blocks, puzzles, games, building toys like Zoobs and Tinker Toys, coloring pictures, etc.  We will also be reading lots and lots of books--both picture books and he also listens in on the chapter book read-alouds.

He will love being a part of our study of early American history, especially the hands on activities, games, and cooking.  And I fully expect him to tag along with crafts and science units.  I think one of his favorite times this year will be the two days a month when he gets to spend time with Briana while I take Easton and Kiana to their cooperative study day (more on this later).  She is planning some short units around literature for them to do together as special brother and sister time.  I also expect he'll be a big help with entertaining Aryana while I'm working with Easton and Kiana.  He is so good with her and she absolutely adores him.  There is never a boring moment with him around!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss

I'm afraid my new friends here in Iowa think I'm a little bit crazy.  The truth is I like people, I like to have fun, and I like to be busy (just not *too* busy).

So, shortly after the children's musical was over and the Monday after the teen night, we had a birthday party for Dr. Seuss (his birthday was March 2 which was a Saturday this year and I'm not so crazy as to have the Dr. Seuss party and the sledding/game party the same day).

As much as I hated to limit the guest list, I couldn't quite imagine having 80+ children in my home, so we only invited 35 people.  This is how I throw a Dr. Seuss party, however:  I sent out an email explaining what I wanted to do and included links to a couple of great sources for Dr. Seuss activities (including Sharla's site!).  Then I suggested each mom bring either a snack, craft, or game and we pool them all together (many hands make light work, you know).

Well, I chose the right families to invite because these moms went all out!  To tell you the truth, I think I did the least of anyone--that's what you call good delegating, folks!  (grin)  We ended up with activities from five different Dr. Seuss books.

Green Eggs and Ham

For this classic (my personal favorite), one of the teen sisters read the book while the kids colored a picture and then decorated sugar cookies.  It was the cutest idea.  They made the sugar cookies in the shape of eggs and covered them with green icing.  Then they had little pink pig sprinkles (as well as many other sprinkles) for a "green eggs and ham" treat that kids will actually eat (as opposed to the food coloring in scrambled eggs with ham trick I've tried a few times).

 The Cat in the Hat

The kids had lots of fun with this book.  They started with crafts--yes, two crafts.  The first craft was making hats out of paper plates.

Then they used pipe cleaners to make the Cat, Thing 1 and Thing 2 finger puppets.  This was a huge hit and my children are still having fun playing with their puppets.

After finishing their crafts, they played "pin the hat on the cat" which produced lots of laughter.  As you can see, we split the kids into groups to travel from station to station, that's why you see smaller groups of boys and girls separated.

Finally they made and enjoyed a special treat made of Oreos, icing, and gummy Lifesavers.  Bring on the sugar!

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

The first activity for this book was to guess the number of fish crackers in the fishbowl, and then the children got to paint a fishbowl and glue on little fish of all the different moods and talents of the fish in the book.

 They also got to enjoy little snacks made of blue finger jello and goldfish crackers and play a fishing game.

The Lorax

The biggest hit from this book was creating these darling Lorax puppets.  My kids are still playing with these too.

They got to have a snack of marshmallows and chocolate teddy bears and played some kind of game with cotton balls and pompoms. 

 There's a Wocket in My Pocket

Another of my favorite Dr. Seuss books provided the children with the opportunity to create their own imaginary creatures. 

 It was so much fun to see what the kids came up with using feathers, pipe cleaners, pompoms, googly eyes, toilet paper rolls, craft sticks, construction paper, foam, hot glue guns. . .

 We still have creatures all over our house that my kids created.  There's a Mock on my Clock and a Zeiling on my Ceiling.

 And we mustn't forget the Belf on the Shelf.  I'm not great at decorating my own house, but the kids are doing it for me!  They also got a huge kick out of the silly game "Hickle, Pickle Humbug" in which I hid a small toy in plain sight and they had to find it and try to be the first to shout out "Hickle, Pickle Humbug" when they found it.  The first to find it, of course, got to hide it for the next round. 

This party finished up our Dr. Seuss unit in which we had tons of fun reading his books, playing rhyming games, early reading games, and other great activities.  Easton pronounced the entire effort "A BLAST!!" and he can't wait for Dr. Seuss's birthday to come around again.

Learning Away From Home

This is the perfect time of year for field trips and cooperative efforts because we are all ready to get out of the house and do something different--something fun!  Last week we were blessed to have several opportunities to learn or serve outside of the home.

PIZZA RANCH FIELD TRIP

I had organized a fun field trip to Pizza Ranch for my younger three and several friends.  They got to tour the kitchen area and make their own personal-serving-sized pizzas.

They loved making the pizzas, of course, and then watching them move through the industrial ovens.  They also thought it was pretty neat seeing the large fryers for the chicken they love so much.

After the tour, they got to enjoy the fruits of their labors with their friends.

MEET THE INSTRUMENTS
Another homeschooling family also organized a delightful afternoon to "Meet the Instruments".  They brought several instruments from the string, percussion and wind families for the children to try after listening to a well-done presentation about the different types of instruments and how they work.

Destry was invited to bring his violin and give a short presentation and demonstration.  He also brought a small violin from his younger years which he helped the younger children play.

Easton and Kiana both loved the baritone sax.  I was surprised they were able to get noise out of it--Kiana on her first try!

Tyrell got a kick out of the congo drums.

And Kiana was an old pro on the trumpet since Destry plays around with his still.

This time made Briana miss playing the flute and reawakened her interest in brass instruments.

I thought it was great fun when Destry and his buddy, Brandon, started goofing around with the trumpet and drums and started playing the chorus of We Will Rock You.  You should have seen the look on their faces when John (the parent who initiated the event) grabbed his bari sax and segued right into the verse!  I love hearing people play around and enjoy music together.

After the presentation and the opportunity to try out the instruments, the younger kids got to make their own instruments.  Kiana thought it was fun to make a percussion instrument from a paper plate and popcorn, but I thought the neatest instrument was the wind instrument.  They chewed on the ends of straws, cut them at varying lengths, and blew to sound different notes simultaneously.

The boys most enjoyed making the stringed instruments by twisting a rubberband over strategically placed nails. 

I'm not sure if this was more about the instrument itself or the fun of hammering nails into pieces of wood!  Regardless, the afternoon was a great success filled with learning and fun.

METALWORKING

Alan and his friend, Troy, also put on a metalworking workshop for about 20 of the homeschooled kids.  The kids got to use welding equipment and plasma cutters and other tools I have never in my life touched.  Their final assignment was to design and complete a bootscraper.

Both teenagers really enjoyed this time in the shop.  I was a little surprised at how much Briana thoroughly enjoyed it.  What a well-rounded young lady she is!  She loves to sew, knit, cook, spend time with children, milk cows, weld. . .the list goes on.

The week also included its fair share of bookwork, but these learning opportunities gave us a chance to get out of the house AND to spend time with friends which just added to the fun.

Fun With Daddy: Weekly Wrap Up

Alan's job blesses him with several days of vacation time so he has been spending a little extra time at home.  The little ones have lots of fun with Daddy.  He just plays differently than Mommy does.

For example, he came up with the bright idea to build a play course for Easton's hamster.  I don't even know how long they spent designing and building this mess of blocks and cardboard tubes and then allowing the hamster (Fluffy, aka Chum and also "Hamstey") to make his way through it.  I do know, however, that the poor hamster slept really hard when he was placed back in his cage!

I thought Easton's play-by-play account of the obstacles was pretty cute!

 Alan was also the origin of this great new game--rolling pin bowling.  All you need is several empty milk jugs, an old rolling pin, and a creative daddy.  They spent a good half hour with this game and followed it with milk jug soccer.  I'm sure grateful for our nice large basement area for crazy play like this!

 Easton also had a friend over who shares his love for Legos.  They spent a couple focused hours building an alligator.  I was impressed with their diligence and attention span.

Even more than they enjoy playing with Daddy, the little ones are especially fond of working with Daddy.

 Here they are getting a pen ready for. . .

 three little pigs!  The little ones already have the piglets named:  Toot, Puddle, and Snuggle.  (All names of pigs from picture books in case you haven't figured that out.)

 We will be getting them tomorrow and the kids can hardly wait.  They're already claiming rights to feed them and Daddy is teaching them how to make sure the door is secured by shutting BOTH latches.

I thought it was really cute the way Tyrell pulled (and Daddy pushed) when there was only one brick in the wagon.

But once it was loaded, Tyrell "helped" Daddy by giving him a little push.

I'm not sure how much help the kids were with the skinning, stretching and drying of coon hides, but I snapped this shot as he was moving them anyway.  Trapping season is his favorite season of the year!

 What was really entertaining was the day Daddy helped with the fun craft idea we got from Aunt Marcy.

 The kids had a great time,

 and coloring with permanent markers was a rare treat,

 but there might have been a limit to the patience quotient.

 Their pictures were cute, but not quite as cute as Marcy's.  I think we'll have to try this one again!

 As for the big kids, school continues clipping right along.  It's just not terribly interesting to write about their experiences in algebra 2 and geometry, chemistry, or driver's ed (although I perhaps should write a post compiling all their fun stories from that last one!).  We're studying the age of revolutions in history, The Scarlet Letter in literature, and currently learning about opera in their music appreciation class.  Fascinating stuff, but I don't get a lot of pictures.

Briana, 4H Treasurer

We did, however, have our first 4H meeting after the installation of new officers.  The president was on vacation with her family, but pictured you'll see Briana, the treasurer, on the right with her friends Amanda and Amber who are the secretary and vice-president.  Being treasurer is providing her with a great opportunity for leadership and service as well as some money managing life skills.

Briana also gave a presentation to her club this week in which she reviewed the delightful book, Do Hard Things by Alex and Bret Harris.  She did a great job and is proving to be a "chip off the old block" with her gift of gab in public speaking.

It's been another incredibly busy week and I, for one, am THANKFUL that next week will be a short school week!