Weekly Wrap Up: August 20-24

We're calling this our first official week of homeschooling kindergarten and PK in the Wallace house! Really, we only added one new thing this week to the lineup of subjects we've been doing fairly consistently throughout the summer, but I needed a date to call the beginning, so the 20th it was.

First, back to school pictures!
























































We worked on Explode the Code Primer A this week, mostly with the sound of k.  All About Reading had us working on the sounds and formation of the lower case letters h, i, j, and k.  We continued to do some math lab-type activities with our cuisenaire rods.  Our favorite this week was "Purple is having a party!" (Idea from Education Unboxed)




We did a fun fine motor exercise, "rescuing" counting bears from water with tongs. My little boys need to exercise those little hand muscles! Hazel does so voluntarily, neatly coloring pages and pages in her coloring books, but the boys? Notsomuch.

AND we started Five In a Row this week!! This was our new subject and it was (for the most part) a lot of fun! We are spending two weeks on each book/unit, so this was week one of two on The Story About Ping. One of our lessons included a glance at the culture and location of China. We read a book about China and found it on our map. We did an activity counting and stamping all the ducks in Ping's family. There are a LOT of them, and some of us (mostly Mom) lost patience with it in the end. We agreed that it might be fun to have 42 cousins, though, so Uncle Nathan and Aunt Stephanie, and Uncle Matt and Aunt Sarah, get on that! Our last lesson was about fiction, what a fiction story is, and that the opener "Once upon a time..." can be a good clue that we're about to read a work of fiction.

A couple a go-along books that we enjoyed during read aloud time this week were Daisy Comes Home and How Do You Count a Dozen Ducklings? Daisy Comes Home is one that one of the kids pulled randomly from the library shelf a few months ago.  It is set in China and overlaps in several ways with Ping.  I made a note to re-check it when we got to this FIAR unit.  It's such an adorable story!  How Do You Count a Dozen Ducklings? is about a mama duck who wants to simplify keeping up with her ducklings, so she continually regroups them to make counting easier.  6 pairs, 4 groups of 3, 2 groups of 6, and so on.  Great exposure to the factors of 12 in a cute little story!




Thanks for reading about our week!  I'm going to try to post every weekend, but I make no promises of absolute consistency.

laundry soap

I have several friends who make their own laundry detergent.  I was fascinated by this, especially since they are (for the most part) normal friends.  Not super crazy granola type friends.  It sounded so easy, and they all swore by its effectiveness.  Given that they are all families with young kids like mine, I knew they had similar laundry piles full of mud, spilled food and drink, and other nastiness.  I decided to try it.  What was there to lose?

There are a bajillion make-your-own laundry detergent tutorials online, both powder and liquid varieties.  The vast majority make use of the same handful of ingredients, in slightly different proportions.  I decided to go with making a powder for my first attempt (liquid involves cooking, and I was interested in simplicity), and I followed the proportions my friend Milli suggested, so I'd have someone to blame if I hated it (kidding!).

Ingredients, all purchased at Wal-Mart.

The trip to Wal-Mart was by far the most painful part of this process.  I looked at Target first, since I am often there more than once a week, but they didn't have Fels-Naptha or Super Washing Soda.  I hear that Ivory (in the people soap aisle) or Zote (also on my Wal-Mart laundry soap aisle) are also good soaps for this process.  I chose Fels because I liked the way it smelled better than Zote.  Zote is pink though, which I admit appeals to me.  It would be nice to have pink flecks in my laundry soap.

Process: I grated one bar of Fels-Naptha in my food processor, and then dumped it in a bucket with 2 cups of Super Washing Soda, 2 cups of Borax, 1/2 cup of salt, and then I decided at the end to throw in a cup of Oxi-clean powder that was sitting on my laundry room shelf.  I figured it couldn't hurt.

I put the lid on my bucket and shook vigorously to mix it all up.  Ta-da! Looks (and smells!) like laundry detergent.

I tested it with Charlie's bedding.  2 Tbs of soap in my front-loading washer seemed to work great!  They came out looking and smelling just like clean laundry should.  I've got my second load in the washer now.  I'll continue to try this throughout the next few weeks and I'll post an update for you after some more extensive testing.  We'll see what we think!

Curriculum 2012-2013

I've been reading a lot of blogs answering the question, "What curriculum are you using this year?" I decided to write a post of my own.  Mostly, I think it'll be funny to re-read this in 6-9 months and laugh at how much things changed.  I'm still VERY new at this, still figuring out my kids and their learning styles and preferences, and I'm not at all confident that what I won't change my mind about one or more of these as we go along.

My kids are newly 4 and newly 5.  They are all working at at a PK/K level.  Here's what we're working on now, and what we plan to add or grow into over the course of the year:

Reading
Currently we are about halfway through All About Reading pre-level 1, a PK level reading readiness program.  The kids LOVE this program, and its accompanying puppet, Ziggy the zebra.  I think Ziggy will forever be our school mascot. We should finish this by the end of October, and then we'll be working on phonics and learning to read with Phonics Pathways.  All of the kids have started occasional lessons in Phonics Pathways and it seems to be a good fit.  It will become a larger focus in our day after we finish AAR, though.

In addition to the above, we have been practicing letter sounds with the Explode the Code primers.  These have been really good for all of my kids, reinforcing their phonics skills in an enjoyable way.  I expect we'll finish the primers (Get Ready, Get Set, and Go for the Code) this year, and maybe start the main ETC series.  Who knows?  We'll take it at their pace.

Writing
We have been using Handwriting Without Tears' PK level materials since January.  They are so fun and have been a wonderful fit for all of my active hands-on kids.  We should finish our PK workbook around mid-year and start the K level at that point.

Math
This is the biggest question mark.  Right now, we're doing a lot of "math lab" play with cuisenaire rods.  I have been getting ideas for c-rod play from the videos on Education Unboxed.  I've started reading through the teacher materials for Miquon math, an elementary math curriculum that uses c-rods as its main manipulative.  I also plan to try Singapore Math's first kindergarten book, maybe in the spring?  Still thinking through all of this.

All the Other Stuff (history, geography, science, and art) will be covered through Five in a Row.  I am so, so, SO excited about this.  We start it in another week or so, and plan to "row" a book every couple of weeks.  I expect we'll thoroughly enjoy this literature unit study approach to learning.  Our FIAR book list this year includes:

The Story About Ping
Mr. Grumpy's Motorcar (correction, Mr. GUMPY's Motorcar--how disappointing! I wanted him to be "Grumpy"!)
Madeline
The Salamander Room
How to Bake an Apple Pie and See the World
Zarafa
A New Coat for Anna
Katy and the Big Snow
Harold and the Purple Crayon
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Make Way for Ducklings
The Story of Ferdinand
Papa Piccolo
Mirette and the High Wire
Wee Gillis
Andy and the Lion
Lentil

We are outsourcing music to Musikgarten, and our wonderful Ms. Carla.  My kids have missed her this summer!  We are looking into a homeschool PE class, and I'm sure we'll try another sport in the fall once I have a chance to look over the schedule at the Y.

So that's it.  Gosh, sounds like a lot when I write it all out!  Here's to PK4 and Kindergarten!

Brobee

for a Yo Gabba Gabba loving friend

Pattern is modified from Spiky Dino, worked in stripes, with three spikes placed across the head instead of four spikes placed front-to-back.

wiggle blocks

(Disclaimer: this is a homeschooling post on a craft blog. It's going to happen some, because I don't plan to blog about homeschooling enough to warrant a separate blog, and I'm not going to re-name this one to include homeschooling.  So there.)

I love these blocks!  I bought them after reading through this website.  I was most excited about the potential to use them in phonics lessons.  But we aren't there yet, so I printed the "physical activities" inserts.  They have ROCKED our preschool time.  Between subjects, each kid rolls a "wiggle block" and then we do the activities.  Simple, they love it, gets some wiggles out, and we move on.  Brilliant!

Now, the whole set up was sort of crazy, expense-wise.  Blocks plus the (one-time) subscription to the site for downloads was about $30.  I'm pretty sure this would be easy to DIY if you were so inclined.  But I am so thrilled with how it's working, so I'm not complaining.  I'll just have to use them a lot to make it worth what I shelled out!

Oh, and I printed the dice dots for the 4th one, and we've been using it for dice games.  It's nice because it can't roll all the way across the floor and get stuck under the bookshelf!

4th of July

We made these shirts two years ago when my kids were 3 and 2, and I loved them!  When they were outgrown, I cut them up and made them into the world's longest throw pillow, which is now sitting on my entryway bench.  I've been walking past that throw pillow all week thinking that we needed to do the shirts again.  So I took shirts over to my friend Annette's house today for our kids to paint.

Super easy! Kids put left hand prints in blue fabric paint on the upper left of the shirt, and then took off running.  Mamas painted the red stripes with a foam brush.  I had intended to let the kids thumb print their red stripes on, but they were wiggly and wanted to get in the pool.  

Modeled!

Look! We got two nose-pickers in one picture! 

mini mei tais

I made a couple of child-sized mei tai carriers for a couple of little friends' birthdays coming up. Hazel helped in fabric selection and I think they came out really cute!

I made velcro waist straps and tie-able top straps.

I found a few cute little models at my house. 

 

Doesn't Sheep look cozy?!























Back view

salt box

I wanted salt boxes for my kiddos to practice letters in, and googled for some ideas.  Most people just use a cookie sheet or tray, but I wanted lids so that I didn't have to dump the salt in and out regularly.  Other ideas included this plastic shoe box (too deep, I thought), this little wooden box from Joann (my Joann only had one, or I would have bought them), and this DIY version with a photo storage box (does anyone know where they sell those? Again, foiled in my attempts).  

Container Store to the rescue! I had a few minutes to run into Container Store when were in Austin a few weeks ago, and I had this project in mind.  They had *exactly* what I needed.  The Premium White Gift Box, size small.  Dimensions are 11 1/4" x 8 1/2" (about the size of a sheet of paper) and only 1 5/8" deep.  With a lid.  And nice and thick and sturdy feeling.  I bought three, cut down a piece of black construction paper to lay inside each of them for contrast, dumped in a cup or so of salt, and ta-da! Salt boxes!

School Room

So it's not really a craft, unless you consider assembling Ikea furniture a craft, but my school room got  a makeover with my new expedit bookshelf and I had to show it off!

 View from the door.  This room used to be the garage (converted several home owners ago), so it has a HUGE window and lots of light. It's the sunniest room in the house, especially with the a-little-too-yellow paint. The random kitchen chair in there needs a new home, but I don't feel like hauling it up to the attic and haven't found another inconspicuous corner for it.  There used to be a desk in this room that the chair lived with, but it was replaced by the new bookshelf.  Therefore, homeless chair.

The new expedit!  I had to wait for MONTHS until we took a trip to Texas.  I miss living near Ikea!  It has  materials, curriculum, manipulatives, etc on it, and lots of room to grow into.  The door on the left goes into the mud room (and then on to the rest of the house).  The door on the right is a large-ish closet that mostly holds my fabric and yarn (sizable collection of both), and office supplies.  The USA map is mounted on foam-core poster board and just leaning against the wall up there.  It's lightweight and easy to lift down when we want a closer look. Also seen on top of the shelf is Ziggy, our favorite part of our preschool curriculum, who I suspect will continue to be our school mascot long after his use in school time has passed.

 Dumpy Craigslist couch, and old Ikea bookshelf that is holding family (not homeschool) books.  The tiny window annoys, since it keeps me from hanging something large and useful above the couch, but the chevron valance makes me feel a little happier about it.

Craigslist school table.  No, I don't have four kids, nor do I homeschool a friend's kid.  For the (maybe) 10 minutes a day that we actually sit at a table, I usually occupy one of the preschool-sized chairs along with my kids. It's cozy. The orange desk in the corner holds mostly puzzles and busy bag type activities.

So that's the tour!  Now, to get down to USING that room and actually schooling.  Nah--it's summer.  Check back in August.

father's day 2012

I saw this tutorial linked on pinterest this week, and couldn't resist doing them for our Dad and Grandpas. I had each kiddo draw one each of Dad, Grandude, and Grandpa.  I simply adore how they came out! 

The process was a little trying.  Cutting out all of their detailed little drawings was tedious, but worth it! 

Here's the freezer paper, cut out, ironed on, and ready to be painted.  I painted fabric paint on the cut out parts, and then peeled off the freezer paper. That transferred the image that they drew to the shirt.  I love freezer paper stenciling!


My favorite parts of each one:
Grandpa: this one was drawn by Charlie.  It's my overall favorite, due to it's quirkiness.  As you can see, Charlie's fine motor skills lag behind his siblings, and his writing is hilarious.  That "G" is fully upside down. See those vertical lines on Grandpa's forehead?  That is "hair laying down, because Grandpa doesn't have hair that stands up!" Classic.

Dad: drawn by Jono. He was not too into the project and took about 10 seconds to do the drawing.  I was annoyed that he didn't even take time to include a body, but went for the alien head variety, but that's what I got.  Dad sure does look happy, though!

Grandude was drawn by Hazel. I love his belly button.  Her handwriting is really getting nice and even, too.  Otherwise, I appreciated hers because it was clean lined and simple, and easy to cut out. LOL

Overall, super fun project, and I'll be happy to put the Grandpas' in the mail and give David his on Sunday!

baby gifts

Two MOPs friends are expecting babies in the near future.  Andrea is expecting a surprise on or before June 18th.  I made her a mei tai and a pair of hats, not knowing which one she'd need.

Kristy HAS a baby girl, who is still in Ethiopia, waiting for paperwork and details to be finished so that she can come home.  This mei tai was for her (modeled by Charlie, who loves to snuggle).

chemo caps

One of my friends asked me to make a couple of hats for her mom, who has lost her hair to chemotherapy. Here they are!

Can we make something out of this?

Jono picked up a pinecone on our walk today and asked if we could make something from it.  Why, sure! Pinecone & peanut butter bird feeders it is.  We had all the supplies, so we whipped them up.  Lots of peanut butter was licked off of fingers in the process. ;)

2012 NICU hats

Here are this year's preemie hats!

As a reminder, I knit or crochet a dozen preemie hats for NICU every year as my way to thank those wonderful doctors and nurses for their care of my children for a combined 12 days in NICU (10 days for Hazel, 2 days for Jono).  Every summer on the anniversary of Hazel's discharge, she and I take hats to the children's hospital together.

Because of a long road trip to Texas, I had lots of yarn time, and exceeded my goal of 12!  I may even have time to work up another couple, since NICU day is not until the 22nd, but I have some major school room reorganization and a birthday party to plan, clean for, and host between now and then.  So I'm calling this the "set" and if it grows by another, great!

The list:
three knit football hats (2 Who Dats and one regular)
four crocheted butterfly beanies (2 pink, 2 purple)
three crocheted bear ears
several random knit stripy hats, in boyish and girlish color combos

puppet theater!

Hazel has been asking for a puppet theater since I made one for the Carruth cousins for Christmas. Today I made one for my kids, but they don't get it until their birthdays in a few weeks.  I used a different tutorial this time.  I'm not sure which I prefer, but I thought the larger opening on the on this one might be better for my three elbow-throwing stinkers.  We'll see how they like it!

The theory, of course, is for the door behind the theater to be open, with little puppeteers behind it. I closed the door to get a better picture.  Also, aren't those puppets adorable? They were dirt cheap at Ikea.  We have several of them, and may need more!

green chevron

The tiny window in the school room got a little valance today.  It's the type of project that I hesitate to even call a project.  After all, I hemmed 4 sides of a rectangle and slipped it onto a curtain rod. Easy peasy. I do think it looks cheerful in there!

Mother Bear Project

Several months ago one of my favorite parenting blogs had a post about the Mother Bear Project.  They are an organization that collects hand knit bears to send to children with HIV or AIDS in other countries (mostly African nations).  I love finding out fun ways to use my knit/crochet skills to help others, so I took on Kara's challenge of making one bear in honor of each of my children.  My kids each have a lovey that they sleep with, and I love the idea of providing a bear for three sweet little souls halfway across the world who need someone to snuggle.


The most challenging part of these bears was embroidering their faces!  They sat completed without faces for a month before I got up the nerve to try.  I'm mostly OK with how they came out.  They're not too scary looking, are they?!

http://www.motherbearproject.org/

Easter spin art

I saw an idea in blogland to use your salad spinner to make art.  We used foam egg shapes from the $1spot at Target.

  Blobbed on some paint, set it spinning, and watched while it slowed down  

Lift off the lid, and see what you get!

All 10 eggs painted and drying.  We plan to make a garland with them later.

superhero mask hats

My friend Andrea's boys had a combined birthday party, with a superhero theme.  I thought this pattern was a perfect choice if I wanted to craft for their presents.  I wrapped them over inflated balloons, since otherwise they look like flat knit rectangles, and it's pretty hard to get excited about that if you're a two or four year old boy. They won't get use out of them until fall/winter (toooo hot here!) but they're both plenty roomy and should fit for a good long time.  This is such a fun pattern!  I think my boys need some!

watermelon set

I liked the watermelon hat I did as part of the rainbow so much that I wanted to do another.  My stepsister is expecting a baby girl in mid-April, so this hat and booties set is for her little one.  I love how they came out!