April 7-13, 2019
One thing this portfolio has been extremely helpful with is recognizing my own patterns of behavior when it comes to homeschooling. For instance: the weather is nice and not only do I find myself not wanting document anything, I find myself not wanting to DO anything. At least not anything inside! And definitely not anything structured. This is helpful in planning for next year. I think I will plan on our "school" year being from July through November, taking the entire month of December off for the holidays and then picking back up for January through March and quitting for April and May and most of June. This leaves plenty of time for the state attendance requirement. We will probably take off some in October too because FALL!
Sunday:
On Sunday, we started our day off by playing the Super Mario game during breakfast. This game is great for basic math skills. In the afternoon, Nana came to visit. We played and went for ice cream. She even tried out our hoverboard!
Saturday:
Saturday started off with more Osmos- this time is was the pizza game which is a fantastic math game in which you run your own pizza parlor. You have to make pizzas to customer's specifications and then receive payment and give back change. After that we had a birthday party to attend, and the rest of the day was just fun and games. Our new doorway gym was finally safely installed and the boys were quite happy about that!
Sunday:
On Sunday, we started our day off by playing the Super Mario game during breakfast. This game is great for basic math skills. In the afternoon, Nana came to visit. We played and went for ice cream. She even tried out our hoverboard!
Monday:
On Monday, Liam was at The Blessing Place. We went to the bakery for breakfast before dropping him off and then Dexter, Salem and I went to the gym. The gym has become a regular part of our routine as Mama and Papa are working on getting back into shape. The boys use the time to socilize, play on the playground and work off some energy. When I pick them up, they are always sweaty and tired and I am definitely willing to consider this time P.E.! In the afternoon, Liam spent some time reading in his room, while Dexter played with some large cardboard boxes. He built several things and had a great time. That night was Boy Scouts!
Tuesday:
Monday night, I made some playdough and set up an invitation to play for the boys to wake up to. The playdough was set out, along with various loose parts, googly eyes and tools for cutting and rolling the dough. The kids both enjoyed it and ended up making some awesome monster sculptures. Dexter in particular played with the playdough for several hours. The boys spent the afternoon and evening watching television and playing.
Wednesday:
We walked to The Spot on Wednesday morning and ran into Papa! Liam read his book while Dexter and I played board games. One of the games we played was called Last Word. I did not particularly enjoy the game, but I have to admit that is was a great way to get Dexter thinking about words and beginning letter sounds! In the game, you have to think of words within a specific category (such as "Things you would see in a hospital.") that begin with a specific letter. The object of the game is to say the last word before the timer runs out. We were not very good at it, but I could see Dexter's gears turning the entire time. When it was time to leave, Liam asked to walk home alone. We agreed- since Ryan was there to be able to watch him from the coffee shop until he made it to our block and I was waiting for him at home. Liam has been asking for more independence in navigating the neighborhood recently and he has proven himself to be very responsible in this area so far so every time he asks we try to accommodate him and stretch his freedom a little bit further. After we picked Rory up from school, we went over to enjoy popsicles at a local popsicle place and then walked over to Whole Foods to pick up a few things. Liam has a great fascination with baking and, after seeing them mentioned on many different baking shows, has been wanting to try a macaroon. We picked up a couple at Whole Foods for a taste test. Liam enjoyed it a lot. Dexter was not such a fan.
We walked to The Spot on Wednesday morning and ran into Papa! Liam read his book while Dexter and I played board games. One of the games we played was called Last Word. I did not particularly enjoy the game, but I have to admit that is was a great way to get Dexter thinking about words and beginning letter sounds! In the game, you have to think of words within a specific category (such as "Things you would see in a hospital.") that begin with a specific letter. The object of the game is to say the last word before the timer runs out. We were not very good at it, but I could see Dexter's gears turning the entire time. When it was time to leave, Liam asked to walk home alone. We agreed- since Ryan was there to be able to watch him from the coffee shop until he made it to our block and I was waiting for him at home. Liam has been asking for more independence in navigating the neighborhood recently and he has proven himself to be very responsible in this area so far so every time he asks we try to accommodate him and stretch his freedom a little bit further. After we picked Rory up from school, we went over to enjoy popsicles at a local popsicle place and then walked over to Whole Foods to pick up a few things. Liam has a great fascination with baking and, after seeing them mentioned on many different baking shows, has been wanting to try a macaroon. We picked up a couple at Whole Foods for a taste test. Liam enjoyed it a lot. Dexter was not such a fan.
Thursday:
After we went to Whole Foods on Wednesday, we stopped by Learning Express and picked up a couple of new games and some Thinking Putty. Liam chose "liquid glass" and Dexter chose a glow-in-the-dark putty. We also picked up a magnetic putty. The boys started off the day on Thursday by playing with their putty. We also played a round of Quirkle. Quirkle is great at teaching logical thinking and helping kids see patterns! Liam is quick to see through most "math" games but he did not recognize Quirkle as one that may help with mathematical skills. Mid-afternoon, a package arrived and it was a very exciting one! Our caterpillars were here! I had ordered our caterpillars online the night before and they arrived, ready to go, the very next day. I had also purchased a magnifying glass so the boys could get a close look at our new pals. We spend the afternoon reading about how to care for our caterpillars, checking them out under the magnifying glass, finding a spot for their cup and naming them, of course! When Papa came home, we headed out for a yummy supper at the new-ish BBQ place in our neighborhood and then we went over to the park for Latino Nights. We enjoyed listening to the music, chatting with neighbors and slurping down delicious watermelon popsicles. The boys loved the mariachi band! As we listened to the music and to people speaking in several languages around us, I had the thought that this is exactly what makes America great. I am so grateful for the melting pot that we live in and for the opportunity to enjoy beautiful food, music and people from different cultures right in our neighborhood. (Dexter took a lot of the pictures of the bands! When he wasn't dancing, he enjoyed being the photographer.)
Friday:
Thursday night, I set up a new invitation to play. This time, it was with our new iPad accessories: Osmos. We purchased several games and kits to go with the Osmo stand and I knew the boys would be excited to check it out. Sure enough, Dex was up before the sun, ready to see the new games. He played Tangrams and Newtown (a physics game) before Liam also joined in on the fun. I love these sets for utilizing technology in a hands-on way. Plus, it is just plain cool! I also set out our new children's dictionary. I really need to find a good place to keep this dictionary and I need to get into the habit of helping the boys' look words up instead of answering their constant questions about words by myself. It will serve them better to be able to access that information for themselves.
In the afternoon, Liam had a doctor's appointment so Dexter went over to a friends house. We were taking Liam to the doctor to discuss his ADHD symptoms, which have become a bit troublesome lately. The doctor had some really great ideas and suggestions. Besides some diet and medication adjustments, she also suggested he learn to do some magic tricks and play with Legos every day to help with his fine motor delays. Those are Liam's kind of prescriptions! After the appointment, I got to have a rare lunch with my bookend babies before we headed over to the library to meet Dexter and so Liam could play DnD with his friends. He is still really enjoying DnD and seems open to my suggestion that he start writing down the adventures the characters are having. I need to set him up with a blog this week so he can get started!
Thursday night, I set up a new invitation to play. This time, it was with our new iPad accessories: Osmos. We purchased several games and kits to go with the Osmo stand and I knew the boys would be excited to check it out. Sure enough, Dex was up before the sun, ready to see the new games. He played Tangrams and Newtown (a physics game) before Liam also joined in on the fun. I love these sets for utilizing technology in a hands-on way. Plus, it is just plain cool! I also set out our new children's dictionary. I really need to find a good place to keep this dictionary and I need to get into the habit of helping the boys' look words up instead of answering their constant questions about words by myself. It will serve them better to be able to access that information for themselves.
In the afternoon, Liam had a doctor's appointment so Dexter went over to a friends house. We were taking Liam to the doctor to discuss his ADHD symptoms, which have become a bit troublesome lately. The doctor had some really great ideas and suggestions. Besides some diet and medication adjustments, she also suggested he learn to do some magic tricks and play with Legos every day to help with his fine motor delays. Those are Liam's kind of prescriptions! After the appointment, I got to have a rare lunch with my bookend babies before we headed over to the library to meet Dexter and so Liam could play DnD with his friends. He is still really enjoying DnD and seems open to my suggestion that he start writing down the adventures the characters are having. I need to set him up with a blog this week so he can get started!
When we returned home that evening, Dexter checked on our caterpillars (still doing good!) and, after supper, we made a pudding "beach" dessert. The kids really had a lot of fun with that. I am so glad they enjoy cooking and baking so much. I hope it continues to be a passion for them!
Saturday:
Saturday started off with more Osmos- this time is was the pizza game which is a fantastic math game in which you run your own pizza parlor. You have to make pizzas to customer's specifications and then receive payment and give back change. After that we had a birthday party to attend, and the rest of the day was just fun and games. Our new doorway gym was finally safely installed and the boys were quite happy about that!
Comments
Post a Comment