A New Springtime

Float Your Boat

Yesterday, we read this book:

To my surprise it went along with our WW II studies because it was about a man from Japan. It was recommended in our, "Caldecott Winners" workbook by Evan Moore. 

The book suggested an activity of a watercolor picture of a place the children had lived or visited in their past.

I was impressed by the fact that each child picked a different location that was special to them.

Among their paintings were: the beach, our old home, a campground, and the mountains of Vermont.

They really seemed to enjoy reminiscing on their special trips and the spoke about the memories they had of each destination.

Another activity the book suggested was to make an origami boat. After we folded our paper creations we decided to give them a try in the bathtub.

To our surprise they began to float and glide on the water awakening  our imagination as if we were sailing and relaxing on a beautiful sunny day!

Since we were already experimenting with origami and I had practiced making the paper crane from Sadako last week, I thought I would try to teach it to the kids. Although I couldn't remember all of the steps and had to consult a tutorial on youtube, we were able to complete our birds.

Here are our flying beauties. I always like when our school day is filled with awe and creativity:  reading a good story,  remembering good times, doing an activity or two, and making our imaginations come to life by Flying Cranes and Floating boats makes  an afternoon complete! 

Monthly May Recap

School:                                                            

DH got me this new copy machine for school, it has made my job so much easier. At a moments notice  I can just press print and presto I have the papers I need.

WW II studies continued with, "Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry, this was a 3 CD set from our local library. It was a wonderful way to spend a couple of afternoons. I also found...

this movie at GW, it was a good way to wrap up our studies. I am so ready to be done with the study of the wars and I know why I have avoided them in the past. My older boys did a lot of reading on their own about the subject. They were into learning about the tanks and the weapons. I am glad we used: "V is for Victory", "Sadako, and the Thousand Paper Cranes", and "Number the Stars". These books gave us sense of what it was like to be living at that time and gave us a relationship with the characters who experienced these events, it wasn't just a bunch of facts in the latter two books mentioned. I am satisfied with the results of this unit.

Family Events:

May 13th B-Day!

May 13th, My flowers from Mother's Day!

May 18th another B-day! Pink Lemonade Cake and Frosting!!

Family Fun:

Brother to Brother!

Brother and Sister!

Mom's Sewing Projects:

Shorts for Baby

Library Bag for Big Sister

It's been busy so far and one more birthday to go on May 24!

What am I seeking?

 So much has been going on mentally, physically and spiritually. Even though I am not by nature a routine-oriented  type of person, lately I have been thanking God for that part of my life. I think it is my saving grace in the midst of a somewhat hectic time. Managing a nursing, teething baby, homeschooling four different kids, entertaining an almost 4 yr. old, and helping a 23 yr.old son who is back at home can be challenging to say the least.

 Everyday, Mon. through Fri. we do our hygiene, homeschool and housework duties. I feel like I have to bark out way to many orders lately o I am going to go back to written chore lists. Some of the things that should be  done by the kids automatically, I am having to remind them. This can be very frustrating and taxing but as usually it is an opportunity to readjust once again.

 We have been persevering  each day with our homeschool studies. Right now the boys are studying WW II. We are using a this thematic unit and have read this book below.

We also read, "Sadako and The One Thousand Paper Cranes", it was a very sad story and touching story and we were all moved by it. Today, I found a tutorial for an orgami paper craneand made one. Tomorrow,I will have the kids try it.

 Tuesday,was butterfly day, when the kids took a nature walk they witnessed several different kinds of butterflies so they wanted to do a bit of research on them. Hannah got out her field guide, Abbey got out her poster and I printed of a trivia sheet, a wordsearch and a butterfly to label.

We got some watercolors last week so we put them to good use.

These are some the kids did and after they went to bed that night, I had a bit of creative fun.

Spring brings so many opportunities and ideas for art work. Eliana, who is three, has been using, " Eating the Alphabet" by Louis Elhert  to paint bright, colorful pictures of fruits and veggies.

While DH focuses on planting the garden, some of the kids have been learning about where certain plants grow, above or below the ground.

This was the worksheet with the different fruits and vegetables on it. They had to color and cut them out and place them in the right catagories.

Having children who are various different ages leads to a variety of interest. My ten year old daughter has read 39 of these "Rainbow Magic Fairy Books". There must be hundreds of these books I think she may try to read them all.

Having a family with eight kids, there is never a dull moment to say the least. There are always many things going on. Painting, reading, studying, cooking, cleaning, laughing, crying, hugging, fighting, yelling, loving and the list goes on and on.  It can get very challenging at times to keep the peace and the choas at bay. It can be scary but also rewarding. Working through each day, praying to God for the strength to make it to tomorrow and to see the beauty in it all is what I am seeking.

 

 

A New Nature Book

I just love when I find a great item at the thrift store, especially something for homeschool. I had put this book in one of the girl's Easter basket and she is really enjoying it.

This book lends itself to a lot of creative thinking, drawing and writing.

This page asks the child to close their eyes, sit very still and listen for sounds all around them. What do you hear? How does the air smell? What is the temperature like? Now open your eyes, continue to sit very still and notice the movement around you, What do you see?Write about what you discover.

Flower pressing  is the topic here and the questions are, "What flowers did you press?" "Would you do it again?"

"Have you ever thought about the names of animals?", is the question on this page. It goes on to say, " If you could rename them what would you call them or would you leave them as they are?"

The words on the right tell about the stages of a butterfly and leave enough room for them to be drawn. 

Teeny, Tiny Turtle

I got a phone call from my thirteen year old today, "Hi Mom, I just found a baby turtle the size of a quarter on the bike path. I almost ran over it with my bike." He wasn't sure what to do with it so I told him I would meet him at the park not to far from where he was.

When we arrived he handed it to his younger brother who was needless to say thrilled! All we could say was, "How cute!"

It is so tiny and he was exactly right, it was the size of a quarter.

The color of its underside is a redish-orange hence its name the Eastern Red-bellied turtle. He was covered with a lot of dirt but looked and acted quite healthy. His lil' legs were going a mile-a- minute.

Of course all I heard was, "Can we take it home?" I decided it was okay since their dad is an aquatic expert,  who has raised many fish. I knew we had some extra tanks at home and this could be a great educational opportunity.

Dad wasn't home so we hooked "Marley" up with a temporary turtle pod. I love watching kiddos observing nature, they are just so fascinated by life.

He immediately ran off the rock, right into the water and began to swim like a pro. I think it was glad to get into some H20. Most of the dirt came off and its colors and markings began to show through.

We had such an awesome time with this  teeny tiny turtle. We looked up what they eat and about their habitats and we hope to give her ( the yellow stripe down the back is easier seen in females) a nicer, more comfortable home tommorow.

 

What's the Moral of the Story?

Yesterday, we read this Caldecott Winner illustrated by Arnold Lobel. The kids enjoyed the images and the lessons set forth.. We all had a few laughs as we read each one. I can see why Lobel won an award , his drawings stirred our imaginations and made us giggle.

Each fable, only a page long gave us much food for thought and we discussed the moral at the end.

 
Good lessons and awesome pictures, a good book makes the day great!! Share one of your favorites.

Time for Tots

It can be a challenge sometimes to keep toddlers busy while homeschooling the other childern. They normally want to be included in some kind of "school work" of their own so it is important to keep things on hand for them to learn and play with. Some things we have been doing lately  are:

Fort building - a simple card table with a sheet or blanket draped over it is usually good for at least a 2hr. play period maybe even longer depending on what they put in their new found home.

 Play silks -  Great for the imagination. Here they have been turned into a hammock for a doll.

 

 Even the older kids enjoy the play silks, I've had to remind them to let the lil' ones get a turn.

Workbooks and DVDs- Simple age appropriate activity books and videos based on books that have been read to the tots are awesome. I found the " Very Hungry Caterpillar" dvd at Target a couple of days ago for $5, it has 5 different Eric carle books animated on it. I have also found various "Angelina Ballerina", VHS at the Goodwill for $1.

Puppets- Making them out of paper and mount them on tongue depressors to have your own puppet show. We are really into this guy, The Lorax, since we went to see the movie a couple of weeks ago.

Counting and ABC Games- Homemade games are great for toddlers. A pack of small sized poster boards can be turned into fun learning games. This one is for number recognition and counting. We will use paper seeds and place them on each tree according to the number on each one.

"The Lorax Doodle Book" was a great grocery store find ( Big Y for locals). It had stickers in it which I used for the poster and plaenty of other activities for the kids to do.

 

It is never to early for little ones to start learning, they pick up on things especially when they are observing their siblings doing them. Malcolm, who is one, is always stimulated by watching Elle, age three, do her thing.

Happy tots make for a happy mom and a happy home!

Blessed are They, A Lenten Activity

During Lent, it is time to reflect on the 8 Beatitudes so I decided to make a hands-on poster activity in the shape of a mountain to help us reflect on, The Sermon on the Mount.

Abigail and Hannah tried  to match the beginning parts of the beatitudes with their endings. After they had taken there best shot, I took off the ones that were incorrect. 

After several tries, they finally got them all right.

The last step was to have them copy them onto a paper. I hope this activity will inspire them and help them to remember the Beatitutes during Lent and forevermore.

Be Blest, Copywork

 
 I haven't done many posts on home schooling lately so I'll sneek one in now. Since soccer has ended  I will be able to slow down just a bit. The kids are playing basketball but since DH coaches he takes the kids to practices in the evening. I opt to stay home with darling toddler and baby and this usually gives me a break and chance for revival.
 We have been using the book, "Be Blest"  , by Mary Beth Owens. I first saw this book @         "By Sun and Candlelight" which has been such an inspiration to me for many years now. This is a beautiful book based on the "Canticle of Brother Sun" by St Francis of Assisi.

drawn by Abbey,8

 We are using this for: copywork which is great for learning spelling, punctuation, handwriting practice,drawing etc.

drawn by Raphael, age 13

Each month there is a new prayer of thanksgiving for God's creation. We all look forward to see how the illustrator depicts and captures the granduer of the upcoming months.

drawn by Hannah, age 10

 I have been so impressed at the effort and enthusiasm the kids have shown while working on their papers. At the end year, I will have the each of the kids make these into a keepsake book of their own.

 

 

 

Malcolm Boy, Malcolm Boy What Do You Hear?

Last week Malcolm had his first appointment for a  more in depth hearing test. At six months kids with Down Syndrome get this done because they can be more susceptible to hearing loss due to upper respiratory infections and ear infections. Malcolm has been " congested" since birth, he always sounds like he has a lot of mucus. The suction bulb is in constant use.

                                      
Children with DS tend to have smaller ears and ear canals. Aren't his cute? Malcolm responds well to our voices and he loves to engage in conversations with us. He is very vocal. He mummbles,coos and babbles just like any other six month old.

Our appointment was at the Clark School for Hearing and Speech and I was impressed with the professionalism and care they showed to Malcolm.

The grounds were beautiful and we are so blessed to have these facilities not far from home. My older son who is 11 went with us and got to sit with the audiologist as she performed some tests. He was also a big help to me and made a wonderful impression with his charitable behavior.

                                                                                                                                          

When we returned home the kids and I discussed what took place at the appointment. We talked about the parts of the ear, vibrations and sound waves.
 
Having a child  with DS is such an opportunity  for all of us to learn something new each day.  It is a great experience and helps me to practice my Catholic faith by  trying to serve Malcolm and my family better.