It's been C-R-A-Z-Y!

We finished pretend school (boo) and I'm happy that I had the opportunity to really work w/my girls these last few weeks. 

I also had a chance to help setup a friend's wall space-not sure where she got the idea but her whole setup looks awesome!

Last weekend we attended a graduation for my brother's lady! She's so amazing. Seeing the degrees (masters and doctorate) given out made me super excited about starting my graduate studies next week. Yippie!

So that's about all I've got right now. I've been working on a few projects but can't seem to actually complete a project. Might need to do that this week before my crazy life takes off next week...yeah. 

Tangrams

I love tangram patterns/puzzles. I still remember my fifth grade teacher showing the class how to create different shapes and figures using the seven pieces (or less). We had to use tangrams to create pictures of important elements in a book of our choosing. Then we had to give an oral presentation and show our tangram creations! I must say that I rocked the assignment. I can't remember what book I was working with but I do remember I made a clock, a bird, a boy, a man, and some kind of setting. 
Kinda crazy what a student remembers and continues to love even when they've grown up.


We had fun playing with tangrams today. Here are some of the sites we explored:


http://tangrams.ca/inner/pdftans.htm (had trouble making our pieces fit the printables)

http://www.museumofplay.org/flash-games/tangrams/ (again, trouble w/printables) 

http://www.logicville.com/tangram.htm (recreate images on the computer)
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/topic_t_3.html (make your own or recreate on the computer)


I think the computer is the way to go for now. I need to either find or make some patterns for the tangram puzzles we have from Dollar Tree. They were neat to work w/today and I still ♥ good old fashion tangrams!

Pretend School (Week 4)

We worked on quite a bit this week. Al has been crazy-great at correctly identifying colors and shapes!!! I mean minus the gum in her hair today while we were out and about she's been on a roll! Am did a lot more computer assignments and is really getting better at using the computer and adding to the teens w/out her fingers. When she read to me tonight I could really tell that she's improved so much in these last 4 weeks of our pretend school. My babies are just growing up!

They love puzzles!

Thank you ice water and patience!

School starts in about two weeks and I'm not ready to stop our pretend school fun!

Zoo Exploration Cards

With cute fonts from dafont.com and images from jaxzoo.org and wikipedia.org I made some cards for my girls to take to the zoo. Guess we'll head over there this week so we can test the cards out.

The cards are customized for our local zoo (in Florida).
Click on the picture for an enlarged view.

Pretend School (Week 3)

This week is going pretty good. We haven't been doing a lot of our normal activities but there has been quite a few field trips that have been...full of exploration. We went to the zoo earlier in the week...always a good time. I've got to think of a "learning" activity to do the next time we go to the zoo-a scavenger hunt may be in order!

We wrestled alligators and swam w/the stingrays!

Activities & Ideas

I put together a few ideas (purposes) for the new activities we've added to our pretend school. Everything is pretty general to me...I'll be thinking of how to make these items fit better for older children and in a classroom setting. If anyone has any ideas-please share because I would love to hear them!!

I'm going to go ahead and warn that there is a glare on the pics-yeah,sorry about those! 

Pretend School (Week 2)

We had a great second week of pretend school. The 4th celebrations kept us busy early in the week and we have family in this weekend. The kids did get to use the new activities and they loved them.

Am used the colored alphabet sticks to spell

We explored Georgia this week

Al did great matching the pom-pom to the colored pins

Am spelled until she ran out of letters w/the alphabet beads

Al liked the color sorting so much she did it again w/beads

I would post pictures of them stamping but Al's pic yesterday explained it all. I must get better at taking more pictures of our pretend school adventures!

Pretend School ❦

Our first day of pretend school was great! We even made a fun lunch although it didn't last long enough to take a picture (always a good sign with two growing girls). 

Finds with a purpose

As I organize my stuff I am finding that I have some hoarding characteristics. Those dollar deals really are great-hence my stockpile. After pulling everything out to see I feel like I need to remember why I wanted to purchase them in the first place. 
I'm going to work w/my 5 year old (Am) and 2 year old (Al) throughout July (pretend school) so I figured I'd start w/the finds I pulled out for them. 


Here goes:

lace beads

Am will be creating or completing patterns (colors, shapes, repetition)

Al will be lacing and identifying bead characteristics (fine motor, colors, shapes)

 alphabet stamps and cards

Am will use the stamps to create/spell words (spelling)

Al will match up the cards and practice the alphabet (letter recognition, fine motor, phonics)

learning mats

Am will spin numbers and letters and practice writing (writing, addition, beginning word sounds)

 cards and tablets

 Am will read the cards about people and practice writing on the tablets (occupations, reading, numbers, alphabet, drawing)

Al will act like the people on the cards and use the tablets to doodle and trace (occupations, drawing)

 write-on wipe-off booklets

 Am and Al will use these to practice colors and shapes

tangrams and bolts

 Am will use the tangrams by sorting them, creating pictures, and filling in puzzle mats (colors, shapes)

Al will use the tangrams by identifying their colors and shapes, creating pictures, and comparing their sizes. She'll use the bolts and nuts to match colors (colors, shapes, comparisons, fine motor)