I kid you not:
-glue stick
-Wii remote
-calendula diaper cream
-unknown number of hidden candy and gum wrappers
-candy pieces (sweetarts? mints?)
-rechargeable battery
-several pretzel sticks and their pieces
-2 guitar picks
-wrapped mint life saver
-rubber frog
-cardboard game piece
-3 legos
-1 lego man visor
- 2 barrettes
-1 nickel
-cell phone
-and finally, the tv remote
For the record, I just washed the slipcovers 3 weeks ago. It's funny, life with kids.....
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Funny things Mickade finds on the internet
In the fashion of my good friend Suzanne and her husband Matt, I thought I'd try sharing some of the random and funny things Mickade finds on the internet. His current favorite can be found on YouTube (yes, he knows how to use YouTube, Google, etc.) under the user Goldentusk. He actually has several very funny original music videos!!!!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Homeschooling
On the schooling front...things are going quite well.
Books we've read:
The Boxcar Children
My Father's Dragon
Elmer & the Dragon
The Apple & the Arrow
Johnny Appleseed
The Hundred Dresses
James Herriot's Treasury for Children
Come Look With Me: Enjoying Art with Children
Mickade himself is reading on approximately a 4th grade level, but we still keep the selections he reads out loud on a second grade level (remember he's in "first grade") as recommended by our literature-based curriculum. The idea is to stimulate love of reading and fluency, instead of too much challenge and frustration...so he reads books to me like "Frog and Toad" and other stories.
We've made crayons. We took all our old crayons, unwrapped them, and designed our own crayons. I put them in the oven to melt them..the kids enjoyed the project. They came out quite nice!!!! One small caveat, however: do not do this in your stoneware, even with cupcake liners...the wax leaks through, forever ruining it. So while I did manage to save $3 on a box of crayons, I lost $30 for a muffin pan....oops!!! At least we ALL learned something....lol.
In October, we did a unit on presidential elections...it was fun. We made a lapbook of our work. Mickade was very interested in it all. He even went on nick.com (they had a program going for kids to vote) and researched all the candidates on his own. He knew how many children they had, where they were from, etc.....all from looking by himself. His researching skills are quite strong.
We use a program called RightStart Mathematics, and it rocks. It is actually FUN and makes math engaging...the true understanding coming from it is amazing. Mickade actually ASKS to do math and play the games in the program. He can add numbers in his head and extrapolate what he has learned and can apply it elsewhere. He recently kept score in his head for a nerf shooting match he, his dad, and grandfather had that included points of 5, 10, and 100. I included a couple of photos here of him using place value cards and base ten cards to build numbers and 'see' what they are made of, then do trading and eventually add quite large numbers.
For science....we use our backyard. :) Mickade is obsessed with sharks...he reads all about them, researches them online, finds videos....it's fantastic.
Books we've read:
The Boxcar Children
My Father's Dragon
Elmer & the Dragon
The Apple & the Arrow
Johnny Appleseed
The Hundred Dresses
James Herriot's Treasury for Children
Come Look With Me: Enjoying Art with Children
Mickade himself is reading on approximately a 4th grade level, but we still keep the selections he reads out loud on a second grade level (remember he's in "first grade") as recommended by our literature-based curriculum. The idea is to stimulate love of reading and fluency, instead of too much challenge and frustration...so he reads books to me like "Frog and Toad" and other stories.
We've made crayons. We took all our old crayons, unwrapped them, and designed our own crayons. I put them in the oven to melt them..the kids enjoyed the project. They came out quite nice!!!! One small caveat, however: do not do this in your stoneware, even with cupcake liners...the wax leaks through, forever ruining it. So while I did manage to save $3 on a box of crayons, I lost $30 for a muffin pan....oops!!! At least we ALL learned something....lol.
In October, we did a unit on presidential elections...it was fun. We made a lapbook of our work. Mickade was very interested in it all. He even went on nick.com (they had a program going for kids to vote) and researched all the candidates on his own. He knew how many children they had, where they were from, etc.....all from looking by himself. His researching skills are quite strong.
We use a program called RightStart Mathematics, and it rocks. It is actually FUN and makes math engaging...the true understanding coming from it is amazing. Mickade actually ASKS to do math and play the games in the program. He can add numbers in his head and extrapolate what he has learned and can apply it elsewhere. He recently kept score in his head for a nerf shooting match he, his dad, and grandfather had that included points of 5, 10, and 100. I included a couple of photos here of him using place value cards and base ten cards to build numbers and 'see' what they are made of, then do trading and eventually add quite large numbers.
For science....we use our backyard. :) Mickade is obsessed with sharks...he reads all about them, researches them online, finds videos....it's fantastic.
Monday, January 12, 2009
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