A nice, quiet week

The nice thing about school vacation weeks is that a lot of our homeschooling classes are on break too. These weeks are so important for us as introverts to recharge our batteries and reconnect with each other. It's also just nice to be HOME! So what did we do? Well on Sunday, we did something unusual for us. We went to Monster Jam. Of course the kids were underwhelmed, but it was better than some other "new experiences" we have tried. They always enjoy watching a YouTube video or two about Monster Jam but it was very showy and gimmicky...and not nearly enough time seeing the trucks. When we did see the trucks, it seemed like most of them broke down before doing much of anything. D'oh!

There was a lot of imaginative play going on, generally involving the beloved Angry Birds. I know they aren't as popular now as a few years ago, but you'd never know that if you were in my house! Both my 7 and 9 yos play with these little figures (and we have an obscene number of them), but the characters all have their own habits, likes and dislikes, and true personalities. It's great, and just this morning big brother tricked little brother into playing Equate by using the Angry Birds as the players. Haha, go math nerds! In addition to playing Equate and actually cracking open a math book once (highly unusual over here, even though both my kids love math), we played with Montessori square beads and Playstix to work on multiplication facts.

We also did some directed drawing on YouTube (Minecraft inspired, top left) and digital learning (bottom left)! I am so excited to start creating more digital interactive learning resources. I HATE making copies, printing, wasting paper, and so on, and although I worry a bit about too much screen time, it's just too nice to use digital learning resources. Plus, the screen time doesn't bother me as much if it's just text on a screen or not continuously changing/flashing/blinking sights and sounds of video games.

Yay February vacation week for homeschoolers! I know this is a regional thing but it's been a pretty good week around here for reconnecting.

Wordless Wednesday: early dinner

When you are too hungry and tired to go home and make dinner, so instead stop on the way home from class to have dinner at 3:30...and stack the crayons while waiting.

Apple Picking!

Fall is my favorite season here in New England. This morning, we went apple picking! Here are a few pictures from our trip, to a very busy farm. Temperatures this morning were close to freezing, but by the time we finished picking they had warmed up enough that we were all pretty toasty.

Emotionally Connect with your Child through Physical Play

This is a re-post of an earlier post, but I thought it was worth sharing again.

We were fortunate enough to attend a workshop last week led by Larry Cohen (of Playful Parenting). When he released his book The Art of Roughhousing, he did a series of workshops to explore this fun topic. It is definitely worth a read! Some kids need to connect physically in order to connect emotionally. If your child is sensory-seeking, he may respond to some of these ideas. You may find you enjoy the games as much as your child does, and you will be sure to have lots of belly laughs and smiles. Sometimes a child that may seem defiant, just needs to feel like their voice is meaningful and is being heard. When a child is occasionally given a "powerful" role, they may become more cooperative at other times. Why not give it a try?

Some fun roughhousing games we have played in the past:

The wriggle game:

This is also called "You can't get away from me!" but I like the term wriggling. Basically you encircle your child with your arms (but don't hold them tightly) and say something like "I bet you can't wriggle out of here!" If it is their first time, make sure you don't make it too difficult to get out. It will help build up their confidence. As they get better at it, try moving all around with them as they are wriggling to make it more difficult for them to get out from your arms.

The push down game:
This game is fun from the toddler years on. For a toddler, squat down to their level and tell them to try to push you over. If you're squatting, it will probably not take much effort for them to throw you off balance. Fall back and elaborately groan about how they pushed you over, and then ask if they want to do it again. They will most likely get a big kick out of seeing an adult fall over for a change, instead of themselves. For older kids, kneel but keep your body tall so you are close to their height and tell them to push your shoulders, or hold up your hands like you are going to high-ten them and tell them to push your hands.


The bridge game:
This is best played with another adult around, though it can be done solo as well. Lie down on your back with your feet and the other person's feet touching sole to sole. Lift your legs up (while keeping your feet touching) to make an inverted V. Tell the child(ren) to run under the bridge without getting crushed (legs lowered). For older kids, you can open your legs to "catch" them in the bridge and dare them to escape. They will most likely delight in running and crawling under the bridge over and over.

Feats of strength:
It's a far cry from the Festivus feats of strength, but this is a lower-energy way to encourage body awareness and strength. If you've had a long day and need to sit on furniture instead of the floor, or you're nursing your little one and the older one needs attention, this can work for that.  Put your arms up like you are going to clap them, but spread them a little further apart. Ask if they can push your hands together. Resist. Repeat!

These never seem to get old with H&F. A few things to be mindful of:

• Check in with your child periodically to make sure they are still having fun.
• If your child tends to get riled up easily and has a hard time re-centering, take breaks every so often to make sure they don't feel out of control of themselves. One way we do this is by slow deep breathing and counting slowly backwards from 10.
• Try to reserve time for roughhousing as a parent-child activity and you may spare yourself issues that arise from child-child roughhousing. If there is an outlet for this kind of energy, children will be less likely to unleash on their sibling or friend.

We played some other fun physical games at the workshop, including pillow fighting, which I'm sure will be detailed in the book. Do you have favorite roughhousing games you play with your kids?

The Art of Roughhousing

This is a physical extension of playful parenting. It takes conscious action to not immediately react in times of frustration with your child, especially if you are tired yourself. However, being goofy and playful is one of my best parenting tools, even as my children grow older.

Wordless Wednesday: Gearing up for a Mario-themed birthday party

(All of these ideas were found on Pinterest)

Why I create a homeschooling yearbook

There are two photo books I create each year: one at the end of the calendar year to share photos with the grandparents, and one at the end of the school year as a way to remember our homeschooling activities. I am in the process of creating one right now (which is late for me) and I thought I'd share a little about it.

A homeschooling photo book particularly makes sense in the early years, especially if your kids aren't that into writing like mine were. I didn't have tons of work samples to share. We did a lot of hands-on learning and that doesn't always shine through an end of year progress report. I submit a progress report to the superintendent, but the photo book is for us. I often don't remember to take photos while we are working on stuff, but if I do, those photos usually make it into the book. As I go through the photos, it helps me summarize our year for the end of year report.

Here are a few pages from our last year's book (from top to bottom: art, farm school, museum visits, science & engineering). I use Shutterfly hardcover books and usually wait for a nice coupon code, but you can choose softcover or shop around for a better deal. You may also want to check out Picaboo.

 

 

Sometimes I write about what is in the pictures, and sometimes I just include photos. In talking about the photos, we remember what we did. Since we tend toward unschooling, I sometimes get stressed and think we haven't done enough. When looking back over our school year in photos, it's easier to see just how far we have come. I always include a page at the end where I list current favorites.

When there was just one homeschooled kid, I ordered only one book. I considered making two separate books (one for each kid) but it's way easier to make one book and order two copies. It's still fairly time consuming to go through all of the photos and then arrange them all, but the kids will both have a book to remember our learning adventures as they get older so I know it is worth my time. I will try to share some photos when I finish this year's book...which will hopefully happen in the next week. The old saying really is true for us: A picture is worth a thousand words. Do you make a homeschooling photo book or do you have another fun way to review your year?

On the eve of your 9th birthday.

I am thinking about how it could be possible that my first baby will be 9 tomorrow. Wasn't it just yesterday you were small enough to carry, signing "more," and talking about the "me-at" (cat, combo of meow and cat) out the window? Weren't you just small enough to snuggle on my lap, and I would rest my head on yours feeling that soft baby hair?

These last few years have just flown by, and this birthday is bringing up lots of tears in me. Halfway to 18. Last single-digit year. Nine!

To my LEGO-loving, Mario World loving, book-loving kid who is the best playmate to his little brother I could ever imagine, you are the one who brought me through the big change of woman to mother. You have big emotions and I am in no hurry for you to grow up. Look how far you have come, from the days where you were up at 3:30 am for the day and just wouldn't nap, and the hours-long tantrums because you just didn't have the words to tell me what was going on inside that head of yours.

Here you are in 2007:

in 2008, with your new brother:

in 2009:

here you are just after turning 7:

and here you are just a few weeks ago, being goofy, which you never were as a toddler. You were always so serious! You have learned sarcasm, and started telling jokes you have made up. I see more smiles from you these days than I ever did when you were small. I know your little brother has a lot to do with that, as does reading silly books like Big Nate and Captain Underpants. My heart grows bigger because of you and this goofy grin, kid!

In just a few short years, I will be the one looking up to you (your legs grow longer every night, I'm sure of it!), and your sweet kid voice will be replaced by a deeper one. I am so lucky to be your mom, and to spend these days with you. xoxo

Rainy day fun!

Well, spring finally arrived! It rained *all* day yesterday, so I was thankful I had a new card game waiting for us to play. This one was an instant hit, which is no surprise as my kids seem to love just about every Gamewright game we have tried. The best part of this game is that even when you think you might be ahead, you could be wrong. The strategy is complex. You might think you will score big, only to lose a lot of points at the end or finish out with useless cards. The images on the cards are so adorable that you will want to snuggle the sushi! The educational factor is low (basic addition), but it's a lot of fun and fast-paced.

A fun little game and a great one to pass 10-15 minutes. You do need a score sheet as you play three rounds, however there is no reason you couldn't just play one round instead and not keep score

Please note: this is not an affiliate link, and I did not receive anything for this review. I purchased this game and just wanted to share our thoughts on it!

Storm the Castle: Mini Weapons and More

It's been awhile since I linked up for Five for Friday! I am finally feeling much more like myself after surgery 5 weeks ago so I'm excited to link up this week with Doodle Bugs Teaching.

Come storm the castle with us! We have been project-based learning after being inspired by Keva's trebuchet project, which led me to find this great book by John Austin at our local library. Now my kids, with the help of their dad (since I am still unable to do much with my dominant arm/hand), have been building mini weapons of mass destruction! Most of the weapons in the picture are directly from the book, except for the Lego catapult and the cannon which I machined in college. All of the weapon building has inspired tons of fun creative play, as well as creating mini castles to knock down (made from TP tubes and index cards).

I can't believe it's June. It's a little hard for me to believe we are at the end of yet another year of homeschooling. We just kind of fell backwards into it, but it really does seem to make sense for our family. The kids want to keep homeschooling for another year, so next year I will be homeschooling a fourth and second grader for our fifth official year as homeschoolers. You'd think I'd know what I'm doing at this point, but really every day is different, not to mention I won't be doing the same "second grade" year with kid #2 as I did with kid #1. This is one of the perks and challenges of being a homeschooling parent. You get to come up with an individualized curriculum for each child. The drawback? You are the only one you can rely on to get it done.

I'm still not quite ready to call it done, and I still need to make the photo yearbook I've made every year so far, but we are definitely heading into our transition to the next year. We typically do more traditional schoolwork in the summer because we are actually home more instead of traveling to all of their homeschool classes! Both kids actually just started their new math courses, and I'm hoping they will power through them before September because it seems like there is never time to get to everything, especially with all the playing and extra classes.

Spring brought flowers in my strawberry garden! We are now harvesting strawberries daily, which has always been part of our homeschooling curriculum. The kids harvest, count, and weigh the strawberries, and then we track the harvest on a spreadsheet and graph. This year they will be learning some basics of using spreadsheets and how to make the graphs themselves. In the past I have always done it, but I am happy to pass the torch onto them. How many strawberries have we picked so far? 170 in the past week, about 1.5 kg. It's easier to talk about averages, ranges, metric and imperial conversions, etc. when it's in relation to something so sweet!

Another fun math activity we worked on this week was Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School by Louis Sachar. I think kids who aren't very into math might find this book a frustrating or tiring. Even my brain was feeling a bit stretched by working through some of the problems with my third grader (or maybe it's my aging brain). These problems start with addition and then work into more challenging problems, replacing numbers 1:1 with letters and ending up with valid math problems. It's a book I hung onto from my own childhood because I loved it so much. It's better to read after reading other Wayside School stories, because you'll already know the characters, but be forewarned: this is not a relax-on-a-hammock type of book. You will need to engage your brain in these tough logic problems!

I have recently completed two new All About Me resources. I'm really excited about these, and I hope your inner geek loves them too! Math About Me will get you talking about various number systems, mathematical expressions, and breaking out your rulers and tape measures. There are six different options (because who doesn't love options) for all levels of math abilities. I have included "Maths About Me" pages as well for all my friends not in North America. I've been working on ideas for Science About Me for months, and finally had the chance to organize them and put the banners together. Get into genetic traits, body systems, weather, and more with this fun activity!

Wordless Wesnesday: Beach!

This was actually taken Sunday, but it was  a great time!

Wordless Wednesday: LEGO Building!

How to Get Started with Bucket Filling

Bucket Filling in the Classroom

Do you use bucket filling in your classroom or home? If not, I'd love for you to give it a try. Read on for tips on getting started!

Why Use Bucket Filling?

This is a simple concept that almost any child will understand. It's a way to encourage empathy, kindness, classroom citizenship, and more. Start with a Bucket Filling board or area of your classroom. Each student will receive their own "bucket." You can use actual buckets from your local dollar store, or even envelopes.

Free Bucket Filling Labels

I have created free labels for you to use! They are editable and you can choose from either chalkboard or white backgrounds.
I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website. Your purchase helps support my work in bringing you downloads of value and information about educational resources. The link below is an Amazon affiliate link. You can read my full disclosure here. These labels have been designed to easily print on card stock or Avery shipping labels (8164).

Read About Bucket Filling 

If you aren't that familiar with bucket filling, these are two wonderful books to read with your students:

and:

Student-led classroom management?

In a way, this is a student-led classroom management tool. Your students can write notes to each other to fill their buckets, or write a note to slip in their own bucket when someone filled theirs. They will be accountable not only to each other, but to themselves.

What about bucket dippers?

Though this can be a touchy subject, if you are treating each other with respect, one of the best things kids can learn is how to speak with others even when they are feeling hurt. They can use "I" statements such as, "I felt (disappointed, frustrated)________ when  ________ (I was excluded, I am being yelled at)." By addressing bucket dippers directly, the situation can be more quickly resolved and hopefully everyone can move on without grudges.

It is important to listen to each other and let them know that they are being heard. It also gives the bucket dipper a chance to make amends in some way or explain their actions, especially if they were being misinterpreted. By leaving out "you," the person being addressed won't immediately go on the defensive. It's a simple shift, but a very important one.

Your classroom will benefit from bucket filling

Not only is bucket filling a daily reminder of how to be kind, it will help with these other important skills:

• thinking before speaking or acting. Another way to put this is developing tact. This is a soft skill that will serve your kids for life.
• more deeply understanding bullying and its effects.
• performing small acts of kindness. A little kindness goes a long way. There can be a serious ripple effect and it is an amazing thing to witness.
• tolerance. In today's world, kids encounter so many others from various backgrounds, beliefs, and more. Why not help them learn tolerance? 
• emotion regulation. Adults could benefit from this as well! How often do we quickly lose our tempers when we could instead take a few moments to compose our thoughts and treat people with more respect?

What about mindfulness?

Mindfulness goes hand in hand with bucket filling. I have written a whole post about that, too! I'd love for you to check it out.

Bucket Filling Activities

If you already know you want to use the concept of bucket filling in your classroom management toolbox, I have put together a variety of activities that can be found here: