Some Learning and Playing Going On This Week

Learning and Exploring this week

Monday

*Project Time:  Jenna worked on adding straw, ashes, feathers and feed to the chicken "hide-out" while Caroline brainstormed ways to make a tall cat scratcher-thingy.  We ended up watching a youtube video of how to make a simple one and then we headed to the barn to gather wood.  Since I didn't know what wood was off-limits, I asked if she would like to make a small version as practice with the scraps on the floor. She ended up building this:

The only part I helped with was the hammering. 

*Had promised Caroline I would take her to the horse barn to see our friend, Grace, taking care of her horse.  The girls both loved it.  They got to brush him and clean his hooves.  Both wished they could ride him.

*Jenna and I played the violin together during Josh's lesson.

Tuesday
Got out our word boxes we made last week (consisting of any words we like) and made up sentences with them.  Caroline liked it okay (although I think she would have really liked it had I helped her more).

Buddy Math with Jenna

Read with Caroline


Wednesday
*We are reading the second Red Pyramid and we did a bit of map work after reading this morning (Caroline:  locating Africa and North America) and Jenna locating (Egypt, England, Russia, Canada and Alaska).  
*Swamp Math and even/odds activity with Caroline.
*Jenna graphed November temperatures
*Both girls practiced a sentence of dictation.
*Caroline played people for an hour while I focused with Jenna on her project time.  We came to the computer to make more chicken trading cards, but we stumbled upon piktochart and she made this infographic instead.

*Girls are now both playing castle with Egyptian Gods and Star Wars characters.

Fairy Houses for "People"

From my homeschooling journal:

"Since the weather was absolutely spectacular, we headed outside. Ended up spending TWO HOURS working on fairy/People houses. I brought Jenna the Fairy Houses book and she found an inspiring pic and immediately set to work building a bed and ladder on her own (gluing the ladder didn’t work very well, so we ended up moving on to something else).





We gathered things from the woods—nuts, (which she cracked open for bowls), sticks, and also rocks, leaves, seashells from the house and a couple of gourds from the garden. All three of us had a blast. Carnie loved playing on the blanket w/the people. I created a couple of little things, but mainly assisted Jenna, who  told me exactly where to cut and glue, etc. Jenna commented about how cozy the “house” was and how fun it would be to be tiny and to live in the little house. (that comment gave me my theme for the Little Squirrel Story before naptime…Carnie and Jenna “shrunk” when they ate the seeds from the gourd. Jenna loved it!). She also set up a little area with a garden, a table,  and a bed, using one of the mussel shells collected from KY Lake.



More from my journal:
"Note: It was so incredible to sit on the quilt with my daughters outside—laughing at Ruby, working with Jenna and watching her work and play, smiling at C. and tickling her in my lap when she told me to be a “monster,” feeling Caroline plop down in my lap every couple of minutes, hearing Jenna and Caroline’s excitement when a plane came over the house, watching C’s fascination and pride in finding a “beeny-tiny” worm, seeing Jenna place the “baby worm” in the gourd because he “would like it,” telling the girls a story at naptime and watching Jenna’s eyes get big with anticipation as I led up to the climax (the kids and squirrels shrinking), laughing at Caroline in her “Laura hat” pulled down to her eyebrows, feeling the girls cuddle and "waller"all over me as I read them a book. How sweet motherhood can be. And how quickly things can change from frustration to connection and laughter!!! Jenna loves to work on something…loves to be around people (she works sometimes alone, but often wants me or Carnie to join in)…and being OUTSIDE makes everyone’s soul sing, doesn’t it?"
*This morning was made possible by a bone so delicious that none of our items were carried off by this lady...

A Few Things I'm Loving

1. The random names Jenna comes up with. And "Carnie," often oblivious to the role she is supposed to be playing, just kept trying to find somebody to open this dry erase marker/clothes and upholestry destroyer device.

3."Carnie," buck-naked, running around out in the yard in January. And loving it. (they bolted out the door when left unsupervised for a couple of minutes).
*I should also add another love here--Jenna's choice of outfits. You can't see it well here, but she's sporting pink silk pajama pants, a camouflage jacket, boots, and her fancy flower headband.

4. Jenna, butt-naked, tapping away on her new/old typewriter despite the fact the ribbon I've ordered for it isn't here yet.

5. My awesome new washer and dryer.
6. The location of my new washer and dryer.

7. Braiding hair after nighttime baths so that we can have "curls" in the morning. And the quiet conversation that goes along with it.

8.  Catching Tucker "in the act." We've tried to get him on camera "playing with the cats" for the last couple of years. It's his only exercise these days, but he gets it several times per day and based on the cat's face in this photo, I say, no harm, no foul. So even if it is a little early for Valentines Day....