A Fun Time on the Deck

Throwing Food to the Fish

Watching the Fish

Slide Time

The Four Elements

We, the bright red fiery flames

Crackle and roar, that nothing tames.

Sparks like shooting starts they fly

Helpers we are of sun on high.

With golden sword the cold we slay

And bring you warmth to cheer your stay.

We, the bright red fiery flames

Crackle and roar, that nothing tames.

We were continuing environmental science this week by going a little bit more in depth into the four elements.  On Monday, we talked about fire and the sun.  I read Grant at story called "The Return of the Sun King" by Christine Natale.  After the story we talked about how plants need the sun to grow. We talked about what we wanted to plant this year, and Grant and I decided on a barrel water garden that will go down in the play area.  We are very excited about it.  We got the idea from the book, "Root, Shoots, Buckets, and Boots by Sharon Lovejoy.  I love that book.  It has some really great gardening ideas.  I will post pictures of our water garden when we get it done.
Grant copied a verse and drew a picture about the sun in his lesson book.

We are the waters cool and deep

That rush and run, or soundly sleep.

Down the mountain, through the lake

To the sea our path we make

Under moon and stars afloat

Across the waves we'll bear your boat,

We are the waters cool and deep

That rush and run, or soundly sleep.

On Tuesday, we talked about water.  I read Grant a story called, "Rainbows and Flowers" from Nature Ways in Story and Verse by Dorothy Harrer.  It was a story about how the The Great King Sun went about showing the Sun Fairies and Rain Fairies that they have to work together to help the plant children grow.  After that we talked about all the different places on the earth that we find water, and what kinds of animals live in and around those different places.  We also briefly talked about the cycle of rain. 
Here is Grant's water verse and drawing:

Grant and Johanna have also been having fun hanging around the pond in the backyard watching the frogs and collecting tadpoles.  

Later that day, Grant and Johanna used water to do some wet-on-wet watercolor paintings of "the ocean".

Grant's Painting

Johanna's Painting

On our morning walk around the lake on Wednesday, we saw a water snake laying under the water just on the edge of the lake basking in the sun.  He laid there nice and still so we were able to get a good look at him.  The moment was over when our dog, Boomer, jumped in to retrieve a stick Grant had thrown in the water a few minutes earlier.  The snake vanished after that. 

We are the winds that weep and wail

Blow the breeze and swell the sail

And wear a cloak of wonder rare

Of silver, gold and stars that stare.

And joy we spin in every fold

Our gift on earth for you to hold.

We are the winds that weep and wail

Blow the breeze and swell the sail.

Wednesday was wind day.  We talked about air and wind.  I read a Chippewa legend called The Dandelion from Earthschooling Grade 1 curriculum.  After that Grant and I talked about how the wind helps the plants to grow by spreading their seeds, and how the plants make the air we breathe.  We also talked about what happens during storms when the wind really gets going, and how windmills were used to grind corn and grains, pump water, and now to generate electricity. 

Johanna snagged one of the beeswax birds from the school room and made this nice little nest for her outside to lay eggs.

Grant also had his first baseball game of the season on Wednesday night.  Grant played well, and the game ended in a tie.  Grandma and Grandpa Hedberg also came to the game and they brought some apple slices for the the kids to snack on.  As Johanna and I were walking back to our car after the game, she dropped one of the apples.  She was worried about it, but I told her a bird or some kind of animal would get it.  Maybe a squirrel, or a racoon..... Then Johanna says, "Or maybe a giraffe."  Why not?

We, the stones on which you stand

Hold the waters and build the land.

In caves of darkest earth

Find we our crystal birth.

The sun with radiant light

Makes us sparkling bright

These are the gifts we hold for you

Of blood red, white, and blue.

On Thursday we talked about earth/dirt and finished up the lessons on the four elements.  On our walk, we talked a little about all the elements again.  We ran into another baby snake.  This must be the year of the snake!  The girls were very interested in touching it, but the snake, on the other hand, was not.  He was quick to slither away into the tall grass. 

Once inside, I read the above verse about "earth" and Grant copied a verse into his lesson book.  Grant and I also drew a picture which included aspects of all the elements.

After that, we headed outside so I could read the story, "The Little Boy and the Four Elements" from Fairy Tales by Margaret Peckham.  Grant and I talked more about dirt and what the dirt around our house was like and how seeds open up and sprout roots underground.  Nothing too scientific, yet.  We also talked about how some plants don't need dirt to grow. 

Throughout the week we reviewed math with jump roping and bean bag tossing, did our penny whistle lessons, reviewed Spanish, and Grant read some everyday.  Here he is reading to Johanna on the swing down by our lake.

Friday was our last co-op day for this semester. It was a good refresher for me, but I have to say, I'm happy to be done with teaching the anatomy and physiology class, and all the time it took to plan and prepare for the lessons. Whew!

Odin and Julia

Julia has now developed a liking for dog and cat food.  When we are outside she occasionally makes her way over to the dog kennel while Odin is eating.  She slowly walks up next to him, and he doesn't like anyone trying to steal his food.  He hasn't bit her, just given her a couple little "stay away from my food" growls.  In fact, just today I tried to fish out a chewed up piece of cat food from her mouth and yesterday it was a piece of dog food.  Now really, Julia, that can't taste good!

The Four Seasons

This week Grant had an introduction to environmental science through the four seasons.  On Monday, we talked about Spring.  We talked about what was going on all around us this time of the year, including the months that fall into Spring.

I read the kids a story called, "Treasure Chests" from the book Nature Stories by Margaret Peckham.  It is about a boy who finds treasure chests in the most unexpected places including, the seed children, bird eggs, and a cocoon.  They really do hold beautiful treasures!  We also drew a picture with block crayons, and Grant copied a verse in his main lesson book.

After that, we made some simple butterflies out of tissue paper and pipe cleaners that I tied a string on.  The kids had a lot of fun "flying" them around.

On Tuesday, we continued to do a bean bag toss at the beginning of school to review math and spanish.  After that, I told a Peublo story called, "The Battle of Summer and Winter" from the book Circle Round.  The weather was so nice again today that I told the story outside and we had our snack outside, too.  After I read the story we talked about summer, including the three months that make up summer.  Grant and I drew a picture and then Grant copied a summer verse into his lesson book.

On Wednesday, we talked about, you guessed it, Autumn! 

I read the kids a story called, "Mother Earth's Children" from Autumn Tales by Suzanne Down.  We talked about all that is going on in Autumn and had an apple for a snack.  We were enjoying the weather once again and I read the story outside.

I am wondering where Spring went, though.  We went from 60's to 90's.  It has been hot!  Where are those mild 70 degree days?

Here are our Autumn pictures:

After Grant was done with his copy work, we combined summer and autumn into the fun activity of making walnut shell boats. 

The kids liked eating the walnuts from the inside, and playing with them in the water, but Johanna's kept tipping over for some reason.  She didn't seem to mind to much, though.

On our Thursday morning walk we saw a snake swimming in the water and the girls enjoyed spreading some dandelion seeds for Dad. 

We finished out the week by talking about Winter on Thursday.

I read a story called, "The Little Fir Tree" from Winter by Wynstones Press.  Once again, we spent a lot of our school morning outside enjoying the weather and soaking up the sun.  The kids also did snow glitter painting.

We really enjoyed our new patio and play area last week.  It is still a work in progress, and I want to add a few more things for the kids over the course of Spring and Summer.

More on the Math Gnomes

We are back to our math block this week.
We reviewed the four processes and then took the number 20 and figured out all the different ways to get it.  We also looked at what happens when you divide and substract from 20.


On our walk Tuesday morning we saw a baby snake and came across a dead fox near our pond.  You never know what you are going to see....


Inside, we talked more about Times, otherwise known as Times Multiply. We drew a picture and Grant copied a verse.  We also enjoyed the nice weather and had our snack outside.

Mom's Times Gnome

Grant's Times Gnome

Baseball season kicked off on Tuesday night with Grant's first practice. 

On Wednesday, Grant did some reading after singing some Spanish songs with Paco, tossing beanbags while reviewing math problems, and his penny whistle lesson.  He reviewed all the processes again using the wooden dice.  After that we talked about the number 15 and all the ways to get that number.  After that Grant drew a picture of the gnomes at "Confusion Junction".

On Thursday, we finished up our math block by talking more about Divided By, working out some problems, drawing a picture, and Grant copied a verse.

Mom's Divide Gnome

Grant's Divide Gnome (he wanted to draw the sun setting in his)

Julia

Yes, I am still taking my naps on the floor, and my Mom has to come into my room every night before she goes to bed and pick me up off my bedroom floor even though I have a comfy toddler bed that my Grandpa Paul made for me.  All that aside, aren't I cute?

Going For a Ride

Okay, so my question is, was the hosta shoot there first, or the snail?

Big Shoes To Fill

Julia loves putting on other people's shoes, especially Grant's, and trying to walk around in them.  She stumbles quite a bit, but she keeps trying anyway.