Tea Time with Link

Link and Bumblebee received a Tea Set and a Coffee Maker for their birthdays.  Both gifts have been a hit! I don't have any pictures of Bumblebee yet, but here's Link having tea with me :)  Just think of all the practical life and grace & courtesy lessons that will sneak into our tea time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Busy Busy

We haven't had much school time this week, but we've been busy.  I'm potty training Bumblebee.

My mom couldn't believe I let him outside with just undies.

We also made play dough one day.  This is Bumblebee's first time helping out in the kitchen really.  Honestly, with three kids, its too inefficient to have little helpers very often.  I'm trying to make a point of letting them help more though.  Since they aren't that interested in the school room right now, I might as well use that time in the kitchen, right?

Setting up

Big scoops

Stir, stir

Little scoops

Bumblebee is saying "in there, in there" to Link.

Stir, stir

Play, play.  The cookie cutters didn't work, the dough was too soft.

But drilling is always fun.

He had a little story to tell me about what he made :)

Today we made sweet potato muffins.  Both boys helped and both boys enjoyed eating them!

Practical Life

A conversation with Link:

Me: Want to learn what some numbers look like?
Link: Do I have a new activity?
Me: Yes, if you'd like to learn what some numbers look like.
Link: Well, how about you teach me how to wipe my butt.  That way, next time I have to go poo poo I'll know how.
Me: Well, I'm not sure you can reach good enough for that.
Link: Yes, I can, I just reach like this (shows me how its done)
Me: Ok, how about we wait until next time you go poo poo
Link: No, how about we do it now.

Am I weird because I still want to take care of that particular "care of self" area?  I suppose I just want to make sure he's clean :)

School Day

Since we've had our only school day this week, I figured I'd go ahead and wrap the week up :)  We're leaving tomorrow and will be gone for 10 days.  We made it to the school room yesterday for just a few works, but we've done some fun things outside of the school room that are worth mentioning.

Since we've got a lot of leaves falling around here, I thought it might be fun to get Link a child sized rake and let him go at it.  I also got him a garden hoe.  Little did I know, the hoe would be all the rage and the rake would get no attention at all.  Apparently little boys really like to whack on things, especially clods of dirt.

Monday was our school day.  Link chose to do all of his sound boxes.  Its time to switch the b and c boxes out, but it'll have to wait until after Thanksgiving.  Then he wanted to try the new push pin activity.  He really liked it and wanted to show his whole family what he'd made :)

This is the activity I tried making while he was working on other things, but he ended up joining me by cutting up a ton of felt.  So, of course, he decided that one of the brown strips needed to be smaller, and he had to cut it up before he could pin the pieces.  He was quite proud and wanted to have me take a picture after they were all in.

This may sound like a silly question, but I wonder with activities like this if I should go back later and take all the pins out and "reset" the activity, or let him do it next time?  With the golf tees and Styrofoam I just leave them because he still has plenty.  But with this, he's about out of space, push pins and shapes.  He doesn't really like taking his stuff apart and would probably just add to it.  But, I think if it was a clean slate, he'd get more use out of it.  I guess I'll have to wait and see if he will take it apart :)

Once he was finished with the push pin patterns, he asked about something new I'd added.  I made a bag of 20 blocks, 10 cubes and 10 rectangular prisms.  I used one of Daddy's winter hats as a "blindfold".  I tried starting the presentation, but had to stop in order to answer questions about why I didn't want to see.  Then, once I started again, he noticed that I was feeling the blocks the same way we do the geometric solids and decided to pull them out.  I am pretty sure I didn't handle his diversion correctly.  I really wish I knew how to handle things like this, I never know if I should redirect him, or just let him go.  Anyways, I asked if he'd like to do the geometric solids or if he wanted a presentation.  He decided to put the geometric solids back, but then didn't want to sit through the presentation either.  He decide he wanted to do some stamping.  That lasted about 1 minute, because he needed to go to the bathroom.  While he was in there, he noticed the step stool I'd moved to the room so that he could reach the water.  He immediately wanted to do some activity which required him getting water :)  Since I'd just added a whisking activity, I suggested that one.  For some reason, I didn't get any pictures of him whisking, just some of him drying his tools when he was finished.

No, the ladle was not part of the activity.
He saw it and decided he needed to make soup and pizza.

That was all we did in the school room.  However, during lunch he did get another practical life work in.  I pulled out a small pitcher and a shot glass for Bumblebee to drink water at lunch and Link decided he needed to help.  He would pour his brother some water, then wait for him to drink it, so he could pour some more.  It was so sweet :)  

Since he seemed to enjoy pouring with the pitcher, today I pulled out the one I was using for rice not that long ago.  I was thinking of using both with water, but he saw the rice before dinner and wanted to try it.

Bumblebee saw me taking pictures and started saying "Cheeeeese"
so I had to include him in the photo shoot :)

So that's it for this week.  We'll be back in about two weeks!

Doing Work (Picture Heavy!)

We haven't had a lot of school time this past week, but we have gotten some work done.  Before our company arrived Link helped me assemble his new table.  Well, actually, he helped me assemble the stool, then said I could do the rest.  Before starting he helped me sort the hardware and count to make sure we had all the pieces.

First, he walked around and around turning the wrench.

Then he decided to try sitting down, but it was hard.

He figured out how to get some leverage :)

We didn't really go to the school room for these activities.  We just did them, then when we were finished I put them in the school room.   I know this is a lot of pictures of the same activity, but I love the faces he makes!

This is why we needed a new table, the little one would have been way to small!

He had to get his tape measure out, because that's what Little Bear does when he's building.

 

He tried taking them out with his pliers, but it didn't work as well as his fingers.

You know you need to make some marks so you get it right...

This hammer is "real" and works much better.  It also looks like Daddy's.

So that new activity has been a total hit.  He does it every day.  I also tried a new one using a slotted spoon and some acorns we picked up at the park the previous time we had company.  This is one of those times when I wonder if I should be demonstrating more, or just standing back.

 

 He pours in the water and stirs them up a bit.  Then starts trying to scoop.  I told him the process, but did not demonstrate.  He does things so ambidextrously that I don't know how to show him!  I was hoping it would just come naturally.

He dropped a few, then switched hands. As you can see, he really wasn't sure of the best way to hold the spoon either.  But, it was working, so I just waited.

 He seemed to get more comfortable at the end.  I think he did it this way pretty successfully.

Then he dried a few.  After about five, he said I could dry the rest.  I helped and he put them in the cup. This one will stay on the shelf until he has cleaned then a few times.  Then we'll use the acorns for other things.

Oh, and the suspenders are his "worker man" attire.  He wears them for part of the day almost every day.  Its either suspenders, or his fireman outfit :)

During all of this I sometimes try to prepare things in the school room or read up on my presentations.  Often, preparing anything distracts him from his work.  I was trying to cut shapes out of felt, and so of course he had to help.

He loves cutting and I don't think he's had a chance to try cutting felt.  So I gave him some and he told me he was making an activity for me :)