Is it really January?

Okay Okay! I'm now getting private emails from friends to please update my life...so I'm going to get back on the blogging bandwagon as of NOW! My laptop is still dead and I realize I'm awfully dependant on it for blogging.

My first updates are about learning. A couple of months ago 'Lapaz Home Learning' had some posts that really inspired me. I copied her idea for idea for a few days and have since branched out on my own. Three days a week I put out trays filled with different activities. They explore concepts in art, math, science and literature. I let the kids decide if they would like to explore the trays. They seem to always want to. Sometimes the same tray is out for several days because the kids keep coming back to it or have asked it to stay out so they can get to it. It's been really fun for me to think of ways to help their natural curiosity.

Again, I stole several of these ideas directly from Lapaz Home Learning-you can find her under my learning links.

For this tray I printed out different photos and labels of clouds. On the back side were facts about that type of cloud. I placed cardstock squares, cottonballs, glue and a pen. This was the result...

On the backside of these are the type of cloud plus one or two facts. The kids have been naming clouds nonstop since this activity.

Another tray:

I put out a couple of different Dr. Seuss books. We read them aloud-each taking turns. Then the kids made their own characters for a Dr. Seuss book. This was a really fun day and everyone got involved. Some of the kids even made up their own 'scenes' for their new characters to act out. The result:

The building tray...
has lots of architectural stuff on it. Clays, tools, sugar cubes, glue, books-all to inspire dimensional thinking. A result: This tray we spent days playing with. It started out with dimensional wood shapes-spheres, cubes, pyramids etc. toothpicks, marshmallows and dots. Dots were much more stable than marshmallows.

This hexagon was so stable we actually could roll it across the table.

This was our DOTS/MARSHMALLOW CARNIVAL. We had a very stable bridge, buildings, ferris wheels etc. So much fun!

Some more trays:

This is Sams artwork using the watercolor crayons.

Bingo-this is to help Sam with his larger numbers. It's been a great way to practice those numbers without him knowing it.

We had so much fun building the dimensional shapes that we started a study on crystals. This is the beginning of a Ruby Geode.

This was another art day focusing on butterflies.

Math with tangrams and geoboards. I made a set of tangrams for each of the kids out of foam. They constantly play with this.

Okay! It feels good to post again. My purpose in posting is to keep a record of our family happenings. I just needed to remind myself of that. See y'all tomorrow. You're going to LOVE the game I made. We are addicted to it. See ya tomorrow.