Learning by Heart – Oct. 21, 2011

“The mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom.”

      - Henry Ward Beecher

 I never see M more joyful than when he is playing in the leaves!  But why does he wear his bike helmet non-stop?  Do your children do this?? :)

Technology really seems to have something against me this year.  I lost my USB cable for my camera, so there are not many photos for this week.  {Sigh.}  We actually had a really great week and I was very excited to write about it.  Ah, the irony. :)

However, for you that means a nice short and sweet post. :)  Here’s a bit of what M’s week was like…

Nature Basket – I recently added a magnifying glass to this to add a new level of interest.  Here are M’s fall treasures thus far:

Pinecones, sticks, interesting weeds and rocks, a cattail, 3 feathers,
and a shell from our river walk. 

 

Remember last week when he learned our phone number and how to properly use a phone?  Well, this week he learned our cell phone number, and took to calling himself and talking to himself on both the cell and the home phone: I am not kidding.  He was actually having a conversation with himself. :)  Looks like a good one too, doesn’t it?

 

FINE MOTOR SKILL WORK:

Scissor Practice – I folded some construction paper in half and drew one half of an image on the front: M had to try to cut right on the lines and then guess what it was before he opened it up.  This tied nicely into our recent discussions about symmetry too.  Interestingly, he didn’t guess any of them right.  He guessed a hill, a blahblahblah (some nonsense word), a Christmas tree (?!), and a robot.  :)  They turned out to be, in order: a pumpkin, an acorn, a leaf, and a scarecrow – he could tell when they were opened up (thankfully!).  I drew the pumpkin, acorn, and scarecrow freehand, and found a maple leaf template on Google Images (I’m not sure of the link, but there are many available).

He did great with these and stayed right on the cutting line, having trouble only with the scarecrow who unfortunately lost part of his hat, and had his head entirely cut off. :)  Thank goodness for tape!  M had a lot of fun putting funny faces on them (the stickers are from Michael’s) and hanging them on the window!  This turned out to be a big hit!

 

Lacing cards – I sometimes forget about these, but we have many of them, and it is easy to make your own.  M still loves to do these, and he comes up with new things to do with them:Like “sew” them together and hang them up as part of the fall decor.  Sometimes I think our home looks like we have a 5 year old decorator, and then I realize we actually do and that I love it. :)

 

Caramel Apples – We had fun making caramel apples this week – just 3 of them because somehow we ended up with a very small amount of caramels. :)  M was in charge of unwrapping all the caramels (great fine motor work that takes a long time, but is highly motivating): 

I think we added a bit too much milk to the mix because even after our caramel had cooled and we had dipped the apples, only a very thin layer covered them.  But they were delicious!  And I think they were beautiful, don’t you?

 

Crocheting!  That’s right – crocheting!  I’ve been crocheting for over 30 years now, and over the summer M took a huge interest in this and we’ve been crocheting up a storm together ever since.  This is how we do it:My hands are on bottom, holding the crocheted fabric.  I love seeing how much alike our hands look. :)

It is too difficult for him to maneuver the crochet hook and yarn while holding onto the fabric, so we snuggle up and I hold the fabric for him.  He does everything else and he has really gotten very good at it.  Of course I guide him and talk him through it as needed.  It’s a good little extra snuggle time for us. :)

Here’s a “shaving washcloth” he made for Daddy’s birthday:

We did manage to squeeze in some math, science, art, and a little phonics work too, but those pictures are still waiting.  Hopefully I’ll be able to share them next week!

 

Linking up to:

 

 

 

Have a beautiful day! :)

Preview of this Week’s Activities

Normally I write up my preschool posts a week later than when we actually did them; this means I won’t be posting the activities for this week until the end of the first week in November.  However, with Halloween coming up this weekend, I thought I’d go ahead and share some of the Pumpkin / Halloween activities that I have planned for this week in case they interest anyone else.  :) 

We don’t do a lot for Halloween.  We carve a jack-o-lantern and go trick or treating, and that’s it.  Neither my husband nor I are into all the scary, spooky, or dark stuff, and we don’t want M to be either, especially at his age.  But, hey, who doesn’t want free candy? ;) 

Some simple and fun shelf Halloween activities I’ve set out for M:

A jack-o-lantern “go fish” type game from the October issue of High Five:

A pumpkin shadow matching game: 

The Five Little Pumpkins poem and felt pieces for our flannel board:

Mr. Pumpkin Head. :)  This one is going to be so much fun!  I cut 4 different pumpkin shapes from orange construction paper, then found some Mr. Potato head pieces to cut out.  I used this page, as well as some I found on Google Images. 

Our leaf and pumpkin tic tac toe game.  I made this last year.  You can find the printable in this post.

Pumpkin Life Cycle cards, from Montessori for Everyone:

M will sequence these in order from seed to pumpkin, then check the answer card below to see if he is right.I think M will love these sequencing cards because he is really into this book:

At the end there is a much shorter version of the pumpkin life cycle and it’s his favorite part of the book! 

To see Halloween-themed activities we’ve done in the past, visit this post.

Everyone have a safe and Happy Halloween with your little ones! :)

Have a beautiful day! :)

 

Craft Time – Pumpkin Mosaic and a Sensory Lesson

M loved the way this project was set up:
“What do you have there for me, Mama?”  (Being called “Mama” is rare these days, which I can’t dwell on because it makes me oh so sad.)
He loved the idea too:  Put glue all over the pumpkin then put the little squares on it like a collage.  We’ve done mosaics before, but not in a while.  With this one we talked about how the foam pieces were squishy, the felt pieces were soft, and the paper pieces were smooth.  There were also light and dark orange foam pieces, so we talked a little about that distinction.

What he really loved, though, was the glue.  Pools and pools of glue.  He used up the last 1/3 of the bottle.  I tried, really hard, to hold my tongue, but after the 5th glue pool for one tiny orange square, I took the glue away.  I helped him spread out the copious amounts of glue already on the pumpkin with a sponge brush so he could put on more squares. 
He put on maybe 3 more.  Then he was done.  His attitude was, the glue is gone, this isn’t worth doing.  What is it with glue and this kid?!?
We did this Monday.  The glue was finally dry on Wednesday.  Finished artwork:
I ran across something similar that he made last year around Halloween:
I guess my brain is rotating ideas without me knowing it. :)
Have a beautiful day! :)

Craft Time – Votive Holder and Color Mixing Lesson

I’ve been wanting to make a votive or tealight holder with M for ages.  And of course, when I’ve finally put it on our schedule (yes, I am that nerdy), I realize we are completely out of orange tissue paper.  And I’m not running to the store just for tissue paper.  And, yes, it must be orange.  What other color is there the week before Halloween??

It ended up being pretty neat, actually, that we didn’t have orange, because we DID have red and yellow! :)  I asked M what he thought red and yellow make when mixed together.  “Green!”, he said.  Because of this.  Apparently green is what ALL colors make now when mixed together.  ;)  That is how the mind of a 3 year old works.

So I held the red tissue paper up to a sunny window and then put a yellow piece over it.  (M really liked this, and it has given me a great idea for a future color mixing activity.)  He was able to see that they made orange.  I think the fact that the “mixing” didn’t involve any real mixing (as with paint) was very interesting to him.  I could see the wheels turning in his head.

So, we got a small jar I’ve been saving just for this, some red and yellow tissue paper torn into small pieces, a foam paintbrush, and some decoupage glue.You can use plain white glue thinned with water too.  Paint glue on, then a layer of tissue, more glue, and a second layer of the other color of tissue.  Finish with a final layer of glue.

This was a messy project so I didn’t get any pictures – it was definitely a joint effort and I can’t hold a camera and paint glue on a jar at the same time.  Here’s how it turned out:
Have a beautiful day! :)