End of Week Reflections

Rachel had an ear infection all week, but given that, she still was very active.

The sensory game of digging for treasure in a roasting pan full of beans was a favorite.  It evolved into Rachel sitting in the beans one day.  I still have a lot of beans to clean up.

We flew through finding the images in the book Goodnight Moon. We sorted lots of stuff.  All in all, a good week.  We hung up mittens.  That was a bit advanced at first, but she got it after a few tries.

"New Games!"

I honestly thought I was making waaay too many learning activities up for Rachel.  This was supposed to be about providing merely supplemental material to her play activities.  However, yesterday afternoon I said, "Rachel, mommy put some new games in your game drawer.  Shall we play one?"

"YAY! NEW GAMES!"  She dashed over to the little plastic storage bin I'm using for her art supplies and "games" and we took out the game I had made in which she pulls out a little slip of paper with an image on it and then finds it in the book Goodnight Moon.  Well, this was popular.  We did six or seven of them, and then I suggested we save some for the next day.  "Ok, ...'nuther new game?" she said as she started rummaging around in the drawer.

She pulled out the little clock I made (with only the hour hand on it) and started turning the little arrow-hand and shouting out the numbers.  I slowed her down a bit and asked questions like, "What do we do at 7:00 in the morning?"  (wake up)  etc.  We went through a dozen questions like that and then got interrupted by something.

When David got home from the office in the late afternoon, he and she went downstairs to play.  However, she immediately suggested they play new games and said, "Be right back..."  and went up two flights of stairs, retrieved all the new games we had played, and brought them down for David to see.

David asked her to teach him how to play.  So, she dumped out all the little slips of paper with images on them and explained that we sort them.  Eh?  Ok, she started combining games we had played to create a new one.  David told me later she sorted them by color and by art style.  She would put all the clip art that was of a certain style together.  THEN, David suggested they play a new game.  He dealt the slips into two piles and then started a story by drawing one from his pile.  They proceeded to tell a story by adding slips of paper with clipart on them.  This is EXACTLY what I had envisioned happening with these activities.  They are merely a starting place and transform based on her leading and interest.

However, I am going to be challenged to come up with enough material. :)

I had planned to teach her "Hey Diddle, Diddle" this week.  She learned it yesterday....in addition to picking up half of a longer poem that was an accident.  Then, she sang Hot Cross Buns to me after only having heard it in the car two or three times last week.  (WTF??)

Yeah, public school is going to work so well for her.  (Please note sarcasm.)

Room Done!

In a feat that surprised even me, I managed to get the basement cleaned and re-organized, her art drawers in the living room cleaned out and organized and her room straightened.

I would like to purchase two small, cheap bookcases.  One will go in the basement and the other in the living room.  Right now I have her books in a bin, but she won't pull books out very often.  She pulls books of her shelves in her room every day.  I'm not sure what the difference is, but bookcases are cheap.

We watched the Magic School bus DVD I checked out from the library.  It has three episodes about space and stars.  We watched the first two last night.  As she awoke this morning she grinned at me and giggled, saying, "That magic bus silly."  It would seem it was a hit.

I will have to check out some the books as well to see if they are age appropriate.  We struggle with age appropriateness.  Most of the books she likes are on a second grade reading level.  She is starting to spell three letter words in the iPad game she plays with.  She pretends to read all the time.  Here's my prediction.  By this time next year, she will be reading beginner books.

November 13 - 19: Goodnight Moon

Although Rachel knows Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd by heart, I'm going to use it this week as the "rowing" book.  We'll read it everyday.

Supplementary Books: 
*Goldilocks
*Runaway Bunny
*Grandpa Takes Me to THE MOON by Timothy R. Gaffney
*The Way Back Home by Oliver Jeffers
Stars by Steve Tomecek
Earth by Dana Meachen Rau
Maple Moon by Connie Brummel Crook and Scott Cameron  (too advanced, so I'll need to re-tell it)
The Stars by Cynthia Pratt Nicolson
Once Upon a Starry Night by Jacqueline Mitton and Christina Balit
Sun by Steve Tomecek
The Moon by Seymour Simon
*Goodnight Moon 123 based on Goodnight Moon

Again, many of the books were included for the photographs.  The ones with asterisks are the one's we will actually read.

Art:
1. Coloring page with the nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle, Diddle" printed on it.  She loves learning poems, so this will be fun for her.
2. We will continue playing with her crayons: sorting into groups by color and discussing primary and secondary colors.  Paint using cardboard and pom-poms for fun.
3. Make a mobile out of moon and stars made out of Sculpt-it clay.  She likes playing with the clay and cutting things out, so we'll do that, let them dry, and then paint it.  I need to buy some glow in the dark paint as a surprise for her.
4. She has learned how to use my digital camera in the "point and shoot" mode.  She can frame what she wants in the picture and knows how to hold the camera without getting her fingers in front of the lens or sensor.  So, she'll get to use my camera this week to take pictures in her room of things to include in her version of the book "Goodnight Moon".

Math:
1. I saw this: Sensory Bin  I think I'll make one. She should enjoy digging and finding things. Then, we can count them and play some basic addition games.
2. I'll cut out some felt mittens and let her practice hanging them on a clothes rack (like in the book).  We can practice counting.  Need to buy different colored felt at fabric store.

Science:
1. We'll try looking at a coloring sheet of the different phases of the moon, but I think it will be too much for her.  We'll definitely look at photos of the moon in books and online.
2. I'd like to look through a telescope at the moon, but I'm not inclined to buy one.  I've posted a request on freecycle to see if someone wants to get rid of an old one, or will let us borrow one. We might try David's binoculars.

Language Arts:
1. Have her tell the Goodnight Moon story using her own room and things.  I created a template that matches the page of the book and left blanks in the places she can choose what she wants to say goodnight to next.  We'll add some photos of her room.
2. Learn the Hey Diddle, Diddle nursery rhyme/song
3. Learn "I See the Moon"


Pretend/Recreating Book Experiences:
1. Make oatmeal for breakfast one day (bowl full of mush)
2. Hanging up mittens on a drying rack (see Math section)
3. Look at the Runaway Bunny book and find the matching image in the Goodnight Moon book

In the bigger picture, I need to clean out her toys this week.  Some need to be archived for later retrieval.  Some need to be pitched/goodwilled/freecycled.  I'd like to rearrange her playspace in the basement as well.