I made my kids LEARN!? SHSH Day 3

"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." -Dolly Parton

Part of Alan's weekday morning work each day is going to include a quote, and we will analyze it together. I tried to pick some inspiring quotes that will make him think a little bit. I then asked him the questions:

1. What does the quote mean? 

2. Do you agree with the quote?

3. Can you think of a real life example?

4. Do you know the author? (this is mostly just for my own amusement)

Alan is a very literal thinker, so quotes like this can be tough for him. He was able to analyze it in terms of weather very well. But as soon as I told him to think of the rain as a "bad day" and the rainbow as a "good day", it took a little bit more abstract thinking on his part understand the deeper meaning of the quote. We discussed how if there were no bad days or things that make us sad or upset, then good days wouldn't seem as good to us because that's all we would know. 

I also saw something a long while back where young children (I think it was a class of first graders) finished famous quotes, and the results were hilarious, so I am having Alan complete a quote each day, again, mostly just for my own amusement, but also to get him to think a little bit, as well. I told him that with these, there are NO wrong answers, and he replied, "Well, if there are no wrong answers, then I can even say a bad word and I would be correct, because you said nothing can be wrong." The snark of a pre-teen is real, y'all. But he DIDN'T say a bad word today, so here is the result:

It's always darkest before..."midnight"

Nora started her morning work by "signing in", which is what it is called when she traces her name in the morning at school, since the parents are ACTUALLY signing their kids in to class at this time. I made her a tracing plate like her one at school:

We also had our morning outside time this morning before the real academic work began, and Nora used 4 senses (because taste would not be a good idea here) to describe things outside today: Nora SAW the grass, TOUCHED her gloves (her hands were inside them), HEARD the birds, and SMELLED her brother. (LOL)

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THEN we came inside out of the COLD (30 degrees outside this morning) and after a quick snack, Alan got started on his work. Today, we focused on MATH and MUSIC. 

In math, Alan completed a probability statistics worksheet that was from his school. He also worked on estimation with time. He verbally answered questions about if certain listed activities (reading a book, cooking a pizza, making toast, etc) took SECONDS, MINUTES, or HOURS to complete. He also answered questions about whether activities took MORE than one minute or LESS than one minute to complete. 

For Nora's math, she identified and counted the numbers 1-10. We did an activity where I put the numbers on the floor in a random order, and she had to identify the number I called out and jump to it:

For music, Nora and Alan listened to different classic pieces of music and identified different instruments and sounds using the book, "Can You Hear It?" 

Finally, Nora had dance instruction through a video my former dance teacher made for pre K students. She LOVED this (note that she had to put on a dance costume first in order to participate), and was so inspired when the dance class was done, that she has been watching the Nutcracker since we concluded. 

We are excited for a live stream that is happening in less than an hour here now from the facebook page McHarper Manor, which is doing daily live videos at 1:00 pm with art instruction, so I told the kids their "special" is art today. I can't wait to see what they create. 

Stay healthy, happy and safe!

I want to talk about Social Distancing SHSH Day 2

Good afternoon! It is Day 2 of Operation Stay Home, Stay Healthy!

The rest of yesterday went very well. The kids ate lunch together, did their chores (Alan unloaded the dishwasher and Nora picked up shoes that were scattered in the hallway). I also was on a laundry spree for hours yesterday, I think I did at least 4 loads, and of course, whenever Alan empties the dishwasher, I load it back up again! Since it was Saturday yesterday, and the kids did so well all morning and all the way through chores, they were basically allowed to chill the rest of the day and have screen time until dinner. We did brave a quick trip to Family Dollar to check out their stock and get some things that were needed (we did NOT buy anything in bulk!). It was not too crowded, and only a few things were low stock (baby wipes, bread, milk, and canned goods. And weirdly, plastic hampers). We observed National Potato Chip Day yesterday by eating potato chips, of course! And also celebrated National Learn About Butterflies Day by watching a few life cycle of butterfly videos on youtube. Nora really enjoyed the live time lapses the most from egg to butterfly. I thought Alan would enjoy observing the national days each day, as I did as a child, and it looks like I was right. I made ground chicken chili for dinner.

 I am getting my list of national days here: https://nationaldaycalendar.com/march/

The youtube videos we watched yesterday:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5RSpMQQOpw
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocWgSgMGxOc
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jivWeOrCaeI
and of course, we had to finish with The Very Hungry Caterpillar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75NQK-Sm1YY

So this brings you up to speed from where we left off. Today after breakfast, the kids and I went outside for almost two hours! It was under 40 degrees out and damp. The kid had a blast and dug through the dirt finding worms and grubs. They will be doing their chores soon, but otherwise, since in is Sunday, the rest of the day is going to mostly be chill. Nora is having tea on the couch and watching Pokemon right now.

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So let's talk about social distancing. Right now, the phrase going through my mind has been "better safe than sorry." I am fine with staying home. I am fine with my kids staying home. Sticking to our schedule has been keeping us on track and feeling productive, and going out to the yard has been still giving us that "going out" feeling. I told the kids to think of it like it's their recess time at school. Yes, we went out to the store yesterday, but we had plans to just leave if it looked crowded or picked over. We went home and immediately all washed our hands after. Right now, we are going on what we need to do to feel safe. Sure, we are not at the greatest risk for the virus to do much harm to us. But none of want to be sick, either. It has been a very sick winter for all of us. I was recently in the hospital for tonsillitis, so yeah, I'd like to stay healthy now.

Here are some of the resources I have seen and shared, and find helpful to keep in mind. Be smart, and do what is the best for everyone!

This article: https://medium.com/@ariadnelabs/social-distancing-this-is-not-a-snow-day-ac21d7fa78b4

I can't get the image I found to upload here, but it basically summed up the points in the article by saying:

AVOID: -group gatherings -sleepovers -play dates -concerts -theatre outings -athletic events -crowded stores -malls -workouts in gyms -visitors in your house -non-essential workers in your house -mass transit systems -playgrounds (I added this one because I saw it in other posts)

USE CAUTION: -visit a local restaurant -grocery store -take out -pick up medications -parks -library -church -travelling

SAFE TO DO: - Take a walk/hike -yard work -play in your yard -clean out a closet -read a good book -listen to music -cook a meal -family game night -go for a drive -group video chats -stream a favorite show -check in with friends, elderly neighbors.

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What do you think of this list?
I agree with the avoid list. The only thoughts I have there are the biggest challenges for me will be keeping my in-laws from visiting. But they are in the at-risk category for the virus making them very sick. My father in law also travels a lot, and they live and work in DC, so we think we should all be cautious. Good thing phone calls and emails still work!

I think I would still put restaurants under avoid for us. Not worth the risk, in my opinion. Same with library and church. Our library has closed, anyway, and we don't do church, but before the library closed, I had plans to avoid going there for the time being just to be safe. I would do the same with church, if I went, because of groups of people being close together like that is not worth the risk to me.

I like the ideas on the safe list. As you know, we have been going out in our own yard every day, and doing chores here at home, of course. I am so encouraged by seeing all the fun ideas and support people are posting on Facebook, things like streaming dance parties, dance classes, art lessons, read a book and video it for others to tune in. An online book club would be so cool! I also saw something about writing letters to people in nursing homes or hospitals, since they can't have visitors right now. I love that idea. I had in our plans for this week sometime to write a letter to a community helper to thank them for their help and hard work during this time, because all of them have to keep working!

I will leave you on this note. No matter what your situation is, embrace what you DO have, and do what you CAN do. We'll get through this, and normalcy will return sometime soon. Until then, I'd rather be safe than sorry!

Stay healthy, happy, and safe!

Posting on here again amidst school closings and all the craziness in the world... SHSH Day 1

Welcome back to my blog!

Because of the Corona Virus, my kids, like many around the world, are off school for a few weeks starting this Monday. 

I am calling the next two weeks Operation: Stay Home, Stay Healthy, or #SHSH2020. 

Ever the aspiring at-home early education enthusiast, I have started a new schedule for the kids during this time, so we all don't lose our minds. I modified it from the one that was going around Facebook yesterday, seen here:

 Our daily schedule until at least March 29 is as follows:

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Daily Schedule:

7-9 am: (IT MUST BE LIGHT OUT FOR KIDS TO BE OUT OF BED. I could not stress this enough to Alan- 10 years old, the past few days) Wake up, get dressed (Nora-age 3, disposes of pull up), breakfast, AND another thing I saw on Facebook: mark hands with stamp or washable marker. I told them if those marks are gone or mostly gone by the end of the day, they are allowed to stay up until 9:00. Otherwise, bedtime is 8:30.

TL/DR version: 7-9: wake up, get dressed, breakfast

9-10 am: Observe weather from the window. What color is the sky? Are there clouds? Other weather elements such as wind, rain, snow, sunshine? Also look up current outside temperature, and the high for the day and discuss. Is it going to be warm, cold, or in the middle today? Also during this time on weekdays, the kids will be doing some simple activities. Nora will continue working on tracing and writing her name like she was in preschool, and Alan will be working with some quotes (will explain this more on Monday, when it starts.) THEN, we will use our knowledge of what we observed from the window to decide our footwear, and if a jacket is needed, etc. I am letting them make these decisions completely by themselves. AFTER THAT, we find ourselves outside, where I have a loose lesson planned for each day (more on that below) and when that is completed, they can have free time outside for as long as they want. ONCE BACK INSIDE, hand washing, snack time, and discuss National Days (more on this later as well).

TL/DR version: 9-10 am: weather discussion, writing on week days, then outside time, snack, and national day observation.

10 (ish)-12: academic time. Thurdays: Nora to gymnastics at 11:15, as long as it remains open. Saturday and Sunday: screen/free time

12:00 pm: lunch

12:45 pm: chores. I can post a chore chart for each person if this is of interest, but basically, we all have a different chore to perform each day. Chore completion determines whether more screen time will be allowed.

1-2:00 pm: MWF (week one): art time on Facebook (I can post more on this Monday)

T, TH, Sa, Su: family together time (kids will pick an activity for us to do together)

2-6:00 pm: free time/screen time (as long as chores have been completed). 4-6 pm will be QUIET TIME (basically this is the time where I tell them not to bug me or be loud unless an emergency occurs. I am also cooking dinner during this time)

6:30 pm: dinner

7:00-8:00 pm: no screen playtime. screen time may be earned for 45 minutes of this time if the schedule was observed without complaints.

8:00 pm: bath and bedtime routine.

8:30 or 9:00 pm: sleep

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So either you have left already because you think I'm a crazy person (don't worry, I know I am), or you're still here! Yay! Of course I know every day won't go smoothly, and I'm planning on certain activities going over time or having to switch some things around, but this is where I'm starting. My kids and I like structure and routine, so that is why I have made this. It is totally okay with me if you think I'm crazy. You don't have to do what I do. You can give your kids screen time all day, or send them outside, or make them read until bedtime, or send them to their grandparents' house for two weeks. Those are all great! Do what you have to do to keep your family sane, happy, and healthy during this crazy time. You're doing a great job!

Anyway, I know you read some things in that schedule and are probably wondering, "what does that mean?" I am here to explain it to you. If you have further questions, do not hesitate to ask! 

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The first thing I wanted to talk about today was our outside time. Upon observing out the window, Nora said, "The sky is blue, and I see sunshine and wind." So when we went outside, we could feel the sunshine, and I am so excited for more springlike weather! Today, our outside explore lesson focused on a sight scavenger hunt. 

The kids went around the yard and found something that is... (I will post their answers here. I have made a clean copy of this in image form for your use)

-red (Nora's slide)

-yellow (daffodil)

-green (leaves)

-purple (periwinkle)

-brown (stick)

-wet (grass)

-dry (driveway)

-shiny (The reflected sun on the driveway)

-pretty (a daffodil)

-smooth (Alan's skin)

-rough (rock)

-tiny (white flower)

-big (tree)

-blows in the wind (leaves, wind chime)

-living (flowers)

-not living (brown leaves, and sticks on the ground)

Until tomorrow, stay healthy, happy, and safe! -Andrea

I Got Mad Today

I got mad today, or I guess I should say I got frustrated first. As everyone does sometimes...

My husband and I have in the past been the type of couple to gossip about other parents behind closed doors. We are not perfect, and we will admit that this is a mistake. For the most part, we try not to judge others. But as I said, in the past, we have talked about "THAT mom".

That mom who is coming across as unnecessarily frustrated. That mom who is angry. In public.

We've heard her in the store, at the swimming pool after swim lessons, at an amusement park or skating rink, or other public place, especially when it is a place that is supposed to be fun for kids. We've heard her yelling at her kids, telling them they're being bad, they're not listening, they're being brats. And we've heard the mostly empty threats she's given her kids as a result of what seems to be more about her behavior than theirs. "If you don't stop whining/crying/carrying on/arguing, we're going home. We're going to stop this current activity, and we're leaving immediately." And the kids continue being kids. And they stay. And the mom keeps up her threats and anger. And we judge her.

The other thing we hear moms say when this scene occurs is "I'm done." And THAT, right there is the key phrase. Yes, she is done.

Perhaps Mom didn't get enough sleep the night before and/or enough caffeine the next day as she set out into the world with her kids. Maybe she's dealing with some sort of bad news in her personal life. It could be she's anxious about something, or her routine is off, or there's a chance that her kids really are acting up, and have been pushing her buttons all day and she's at her breaking point. It could be any of these situations, or a combination of them, or a million other things not listed here. But the result is the same. She's done. And we see and hear her acting out.

But the thing is, we really have no room to judge. Not only have every single one of us been here in some shape or form (I guarantee it. ALL of us, moms and dads alike), but we probably will be again. So we shouldn't judge. We should accept. We can accept that that mom is probably having a moment. Or a day. Or a week. We've all been there. I've been there. We can offer our solidarity and recognition and say, "Hey, I know how that feels. It gets better." In some cases, maybe we can even go further and offer to step in and help, let Mom take a minute to breathe, if possible. Wouldn't you like to hear that the next time you're going through something? I know I would.

So even if last week, I said to my husband, "this lady at the kids' gymnastics class was CRAZY today. She was yelling at her three year old, and the three year old was just running around, being three," this week I could be the crazy lady who is telling her overtired toddler to shut it in the grocery store before Mommy LOSES IT, and next week, I could be the mom saying, "hey, are you having a rough time? How can I help?"

These are just my thoughts on this topic, because as I started this blog post, I was THAT MOM. Today. I was stressed that I was tired even though I've had rest and caffeine, and it's a holiday, but my daughter still had her regularly scheduled gymnastics class, so I was glad to get out of the house with her. My husband got me the lunch I wanted. I ordered grocery pickup for tomorrow. My daughter is starting to really CLICK with the potty training. All these things were good. But I have anxiety, and anxiety can translate often as ANGER. So when we got home, and it was time for my daughter to nap, I walked past all the housework I hadn't done, and the chore my son didn't finish, even though I've sent him to complete it the past two days, I thought about what I needed to get done that I hadn't yet. And then I saw my daughter's room, which had been getting messier and messier the past few days. It was past time for her to take her nap. But I asked her to clean. And she did. She picked up most of her toys. But she put some into the "wrong" bins (I have been told I'm a control freak, yes). I told her to pick up books and hand them to me so I could put them away on her bookshelf. She didn't move. She kept rubbing her sleepy little eyes. So I got mad. I yelled. I yelled her name. I yelled for her to pick up books and hand them to me. I threatened timeouts. I told her to HURRY, because it was nap time and she needed to sleep. She said she had to go potty. I didn't want to take her BACK DOWNSTAIRS to her little potty, because that would just take up more time, so I took her to the upstairs bathroom to sit on the regular toilet. She was scared. I assured her she was fine, while rolling my eyes. I got frustrated at myself for being mad at her, and worried that I'd scare her to use the toilet again, when she has been doing so well the past few days. She wouldn't pee, even though I could tell she had to. So I took a deep breath, and I did what she and I both needed me to do. I put a diaper on her, and I put her to bed. I didn't read her a book, so she cried. I was still too frustrated to enjoy my reading time with her. I sang her our special goodnight song, I gave her many hugs and kisses, I apologized to her, I told her I loved her and goodnight, I looked at the books and toys that were still under her bed, and shut her door, still feeling frustrated and annoyed with myself. I had to take a bath to get myself to calm down.

So don't be so hard on yourself. Practice self care. Offer support and solidarity to others when you can. Don't gossip about what you see another parent doing, because you don't know what they're going through. You're no better than them. And forgive yourself.

You're doing a good job, Mama.

March Madness

We've had a leprechaun in the house since yesterday. 
His name is Larry the leprechaun, and he left this note:

 We tried the green muffins. They were pretty good! Leprechauns must eat a lot of green things.

Last night for Alan's science (trying something different this week so sorry it hasn't been a daily post, but we'll get there...), he had a challenge to build a leprechaun trap with assorted materials I had gathered. He made a trap door sort of system in a box and made a system of boxes with chambers he could fall into (with egg cartons). Not pictured is a tiny ladder he had leading to the top tower. Here is what his trap looked like:

This morning, Alan found a note at the table that said his trap didn't work and he was pretty disappointed. The trap was all knocked over, too. Here is the second note:

 And then, it started becoming clear. The leprechaun pranked Alan by putting shamrocks on his stuff! We found one on his lunch box, and that was the start. Then, getting ready for school, Alan found several on his backpack, as well as on three different shoes, and some of his toys! The more shamrocks he found, the more he giggled and the morning continued very silly and smiley after that! 😄 Happy March! 🍀

Why is the Sky Blue?

Today, we answered that age-old kid question: "Why is the sky blue?"

We needed:
1. clear container to hold water
2. water
3. milk
4. LED white light flashlight

We talked about why the sky is blue. I told Alan, " The flashlight will be our sun. The water is the sky and the milk is the particles that are in the air outside. The cloudy milk, or the particles in the air, show the blue most easily with the light and that is why we see blue in the glass and in the sky."

When we shone the flashlight at the milky water, we could see a blue tint!
To do this experiment, we followed this link:
http://www.rookieparenting.com/why-is-the-sky-blue-science-experiment/
They have a better explanation for the science behind why the sky is blue on that page.

We also did a follow-up to the experiment also from Rookie Parenting on why sunsets are red and orange. To do this, we simply shone the flashlight behind the glass and saw an orange color in the glass. Their video and explanation for that is here:
http://www.rookieparenting.com/why-is-the-blue-sky-orange-at-sunset-science-experiment/

Alan recorded all of this in his science journal.

Sorry I still don't have pictures to share! Today was a pretty sleepy day here, meaning I was feeling sleepy, so that's why this experiment was pretty simple as well, but I still found it neat. Until tomorrow!

All Updated! So........ It's Been Awhile, to Say the Least....... and SCIENCE!!!

Yes, this was a blog that I started when my son was in preschool.

Well, he's a first grader now. Wow, how time flies.

I could have started a new blog, or erased the previous posts. But those are some serious precious memories now that my first born is in school full time. Plus I really like that play dough experiment post!!

So the most significant things that have happened since I abandoned this blog are:

1) We moved from PA to VA in March 2015

2) We got married in July 2015

3) Alan started kindergarten in August 2015

4) We welcomed a baby girl, Nora, in May 2016

So, now you're all caught up... for the most part, anyway. Life goes on. I will fill in details as necessary as we go on.

So anyway, the reason I find myself returning to this blog is because I find that since my son started school and I gave birth to his sister, we've been connecting less and less, and I don't want to lose that special connection we once had. I know things change over time and that change is good, so it's not about that, it's more about wanting to do something special with just him and me while he's still little enough to appreciate it a little. They grow up too fast. (Did any of this last paragraph even make sense? I'm tired.)

So I went back to this blog because in an effort to connect, I started a daily science journal with Alan where we will record science experiments that we attempt. Today was our first day, and I didn't take any photos or video of our fun today because I kind of just thought of doing this blog again after he went to bed so that I can have a record of what we're doing each day in addition to his journal.This week, I thought we'd start with exploring weather, as that is a subject of interest with my kiddo lately. Today, we did two experiments, and recorded the second one as the first entry in his journal. The two experiments from today dealt with clouds. The first one explored why clouds make rain and the experiment we replicated can be found here:
http://laughingkidslearn.com/rain-cloud-science-experiment

Alan loved this simple activity because the clouds and the blue water were FUN and I used hair mousse instead of shaving cream, so he liked that the clouds smelled nice. Since he is a bit older, he understood right away when I asked him to guess what the mousse/shaving cream represented. He had fun loading the clouds with rain and watching the blue "rain" swirl through our "sky" (the clear water) in a mason jar.

After this, we made our own cloud by following this:
http://www.playdoughtoplato.com/cloud-in-a-jar/
He had a lot of fun with this and again, the hairspray made it smell good! ;) He begged me to do more experiments and was upset with me that I only prepared for two for today, but I assured him we'd be doing more after school tomorrow. I promise YOU that tomorrow I will be prepared with photos of our experiments, as this is a LOT of text, so you get a gold star if you've made it this far in this post! I will also talk more about our experiences with our experiments as time goes on, I just thought that today the cloud ones were pretty simple and straightforward to follow, and I wasn't prepared to blog them!!! Whoops!

We recorded our findings in his journal using this worksheet as a model:
 http://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Science-Journal-Printable-Pages-for-Kids.pdf

Until tomorrow!!