Big Energy-Little Learners...Can I do it all?

I will be trying to plan a group activity for the elementary school kids once a week.   I am doing this to give them something to look forward to each week and to help with some of the after school chaos.  It also helps the kids relax and let go of the stressful school week.  Youtube video explaining the tea party This week we had a Tea Party!  I watch two kids aside from my own during the school week and I also invited some cousins to join us for tea.  I asked that the girls wear dresses  And the boys wear collared shirts I did talk to the kids about traditional tea parties.  That ladies and gentlemen would get together for tea and sandwiches and socialize.  We briefly talked about what behaviors ladies and gentlemen show.  So the kids tried their best to be gentlemen and ladies :) They even held out their pinky's! Supplies 2 tea sets (found at good will) mint candy centerpi...

Each month we are doing a mini photo shoot for Baby Dragon.   Our overall goal is DND themed each month because, well, we are nerds. We also update her character sheet each month with what she has learned or achieved that month.  Month 2 our we focused on Treasure!  Treasure is important to all adventurers Baby Dragon was happy for this shoot and gave us a lot of fun faces. For this shoot we used pearls necklaces change gems from the dollar store DND books candle money box from our wedding black sheet She also did a good job sitting up Baby Dragon had more neck and body control for this shoot.  She would lean forward or backwards which gave us different angles and worked out great!  She also responds more to hearing her name which made getting her to look at the camera easy.   Also being only 2 months she wasn't grabbing for the props, this was a plus.  Again I am very happy with these ...

I recently wrote a post about after school activities for my elementary aged kids. I wasn't sure what would work best for the kids or myself.  It has been almost a month now since the kids started school.  A month of after school bags all over the floor. A month of loud stir crazy kiddos.  A month of everyone wanting it their way.  A month of chaos.  I need change and I think the kids need change.  Before I start planning activities I tested the waters with the kids.  I pulled out some coloring books and crayons, colored pencils. Alice in wonderland and Harry Potter for the older kids and a race car book for the younger.  I sat down on the floor with the supplies and asked the kids to come and color with me.  They all came running. They were all excited to color together. We listened to some soft music and chatted while coloring. We admired each other's work. It was quiet relaxing.  The next day I asked if t...

Each month we are doing a mini photo shoot for Baby Dragon.   Our overall goal is DND themed each month because, well, we are nerds. We also update her character sheet each month with what she has learned or achieved that month.  For her first month we did Out Of The Abyss We took a bunch of photos and moved things around a bit to get some different shots and angles.  When doing a shoot for with a baby you have to just keep clicking and hope you caught a good facial expression.  She did pretty well.   The trick to getting her to stay was putting the Boppi under the sheet so she could be propped.   I think they turned out great! I am very happy with the results :) Character Sheet

Baby is growing fast and learning new things everyday. I combined weeks 6-10 because each baby reaches each stage at different weeks. Therefore all of the tips can be used anytime through these weeks and continuing forward and still be beneficial to your baby. Here are some things you can do to help your learning baby get the most out of each experience. 10 Week Infant Holding things Grasping things is something baby learns to do almost out of the womb but actually reaching for and grabbing things may start happening around this time.  To help baby with this skill always have easy to grab toys near by. To help my daughter I will put a toy in her hand.  She will hold it for awhile then drop, but when it drops she will follow it with here eyes.  This makes her more likely to reach for the toy again.  Practice sitting up Just as I wrote in my last post I put my little lady in her saucer early to help develop those sittin...

Man has time flied.  I started this blog when my dragons were both home doing preschool with me.  Now both of them are in school the first half of the day.  I am excited about what this means for my future days but I miss them both now.  My house is still clean from this morning.  My house is so quiet that the tv cracking makes me jump.  Now that things are so different I am debating where to go from here. I want to still engage my children in learning but I also want them to play.  Both of my kids love when we do activities and games it also makes the after school chaos settle a bit.  I can forgo the planning and just let the kids play.  Have kid time.  Or I can plan things for us to do together or for them to do with their friends when they get home.  I am not sure what the future looks like right now. Decisions need to be made on my part.   Decision post to come later...

This entry goes along with our shape unit.   Art Journal I recently found out about art journals and thought it would be a wonderful experience with the kids for preschool.  There are so many possibilities with art journals and it is a nice way to express yourself with another person through art.  This activity can look many different ways for many different people.  Art is open, as is journaling. We will be adding 1 entry a week to our art journal.  The themes, topics, or prompts may be random or may go along with a theme we are learning about for the week. For this art journal we used Ruler Pencils Crayons Erasers Before we got started journaling we took some time to get to know our rulers.  Little Dragon had not used a ruler before so we went over the basics. He was excited to use this new tool.  I told him we were going to make a city. There are many shapes in a city. You can focus on one shape or make your c...