2015_12_16 Wednesday

I have slept particularly poorly the last few nights and have found myself awake at strange hours of the night. I will say, though, it is really calming to be awake when the rest of the world --or at least my little sliver of it -- is sound asleep. There's something I really like about experiencing everyone else asleep: maybe the calm, the dark, the absolute quiet, the air's calmness, the slow rhythm of everyone else being deep asleep. not sure. yeah, deep thoughts, I know.

2015_11_25 Wednesday

We are relaxing a Nanie's house (I'm actually working today), and Elise told me that she loves the inside of my glasses because they're "tuh-quoirse."

2015_10_25 Sunday

Yes, it has been awhile since I last posted, so here are a handful of shots from our 3rd annual adventure to Southern Belle Farms for pumpkin pickin' and a whole lot more...enjoy...

2015_08_25 Tuesday

What the whaaaat? my car wouldn't start when I jumped in to head to my first private yoga session. Cursed vehicle battery gods. That is NOT the mindset you're supposed to have going to yoga. So, I Lyfted over, had a tremendously amazingly wonderful session (for which I will likely not be able to raise my arms or legs tomorrow), and then waited patiently for my Lyft driver never to return for me. So, I hoofed it back home. Rockin' 2.1 miles already; that's not bad. Plus, it is THE most gorgeous summer day you can ever imagine. Now, that does make for good yoga.

PTO stuff is ever-present. not complaining, just amazed that there is truly never a quiet moment. Something always needs attention immediately...much like an infant, I suppose. And, where there isn't a fire to put out, there's the next event to organize and stress over.

Also learned today that I'll be picking up lots of work in the coming months, as a dear friend resigned and I've been asked to cover her region and another colleague will be out honeymooning. Should be a nice change of pace from diseases, although Africa isn't all that glamorous!

Kids are adjusting to school routines very well. There was about a day each of fever in the last week, and both had a nasty dry cough...guess who has it now?? yup. Elise also took a decent nap yesterday; it's been years since she's napped. I think school is crushin' her...in a good way. Jonathan is already getting projects to do. He turned in his Culture Quilt and now has a music project that we may enlist Auntie Harp to help with!

2015_08_03 Monday

Today is Day One of our practice for school! I got up with the kids at 6:50 and pretended it was a normal school day. We even walked to school at 7:35! I think we'll need to back it up a little to give us some cushion, though -- good thing we practiced!!

Tonight is also our first opportunity to meet the teachers and classmates. And, of course, it's my debut PTO event. So nervously excited.

2015_08_01 Saturday

We had two overnight visitors!!! What a wonderful visit!!!

2015_07_30 Thursday

Well, we have had a terrific summer. The kids have been at a local park for the entire time, having pool time and outdoor/science-y adventures. Camp ends tomorrow, so they'll have a few days of brain mush. And, now we are gearing back up for school to start next week!! Starting on Monday, we'll get alarm clocks set for the right time and do some dry runs of the morning routine. We got our teacher assignments this week, so the kids are pretty excited.

Also, I just saw this amazing clip  on one of my favorite sites, and it gave me a little needed perspective.

As the new PTO co-president, I'm a bit frantic, but it's all manageable. Tonight is our first big event: Parents of New Students Orientation. That said, it's not our event, so we're just supporting...making it a wee bit less stressful. But, this is the start to a few weeks in absolute insanity.

Elise is about to loose tooth #2. Jonathan just had his #8 doctor's appointment, where he learned that he shouldn't have ANY non-school screen time on school nights! I love that...we'll see how that works.

2015_06_17 Wednesday

I had the worst night. I could not get to sleep, and when I did, I had horrendous dreams of me driving over a bridge between NJ and PA with the kids (not sure where Dave was) to escape Hurricane Sandy and having the bridge collapse while we were on it. And, then we'd brace to plunge into the swollen river below, and I'd wake up. How random and frightening is that? and why am I dreaming about that? I need a dream analyst. I was writing about 'self-driving' abroad for work, and there are lots of reasons why that's a bad idea in various countries, but that specific concern did not come up while I was writing. :o\

On a happier note, the kids did a terrific job this morning in getting up and (mostly) dressed and ready to go to camp without much attention from me. This is what we want.

We also tried hunting for lightening bugs last night, but it's just too darn bright at 8:45...and it was still pretty hot too (it topped off at 94 yesterday). 100s are coming later this week.

2015_06_15 Monday

What a lovely, spontaneous night! I walked the kids down to my friend's house on our street to meet their brand new puppy, Tucker. Such a sweet dog. Our kids are all about the same age, so they played together, ate watermelon slices, and caught fire flies while the moms relaxed and chatted over a glass of wine. What a perfect summer night.

2015_06_01 Monday

ok, the kids start their first day at Piedmont Park summer camp today, and I flew off to DC for work. The director there is truly terrific. Jonathan had been here before so it wasn't really that new to him, but it rocked Elise's world. She did a terrific job (as did the counselors). She had to get up with an alarm clock (definitely NOT her favorite), get dressed, have breakfast, and be ready to go. Luckily, we are partnering up with good friends a few streets over to carpool. The kids get to have pool time and be outside and do science experiments based on whatever that week's theme is. and it's around the corner. and it's cheap. What is better?! Dave met me at home so I could head to the airport on time. all is well in the world...except for air travel. that stinks royally.

2015_05_22 Friday

Elise graduated from preschool. We have loved this school, but we sure are excited about no tuition for 10 more grades and both kids in one school for 3 more years! I'm working on uploading videos of the pageant, Pomp and Circumstance, and the diploma.

2015_05_20 Wednesday

Today was Jonathan's 2nd grade award ceremony. He was on the honor roll and got the class "most improved in Language Arts" award. I was really proud. will post pix later.

Elise's school: Today we had calendar time in the morning and practiced counting to 100. We worked on writing our numbers in our journals. Some friends worked on subtraction and some worked on sight words. We played with playdoh. They had French and are bringing home their books. We practiced our pageant song on the stage. X's dad came in as a Mystery Reader at the end of the day and read some fun books to the class! 

What will you miss about French/Ms X? 

Elise - I will miss Ms Natalie bc I love her 

2015_05_19 Tuesday

From Elise's school: Today we talked about bravery and I read a book called Bravery. We discussed some fears and times we can be nervous such as the first day of school. We talked about ways we can overcome any nervousness. I read Amelia Bedelia and the first day of School. They had Spanish. We worked on counting (to 100, by 10s) and recognizing numbers. We looked for patterns on our 100s chart. We played number Zingo. We worked on some projects. 

When was a time you were brave? 

Elise- when I had to be brave was the first time I had to go to the hospital and get a shot 

2015_05_18 Monday

Elise's school: Random things are being sent home (from the school year, personal belongings) so be on the look out! ;)  Today we talked about performing arts and what they consist of. We talked about how recitals and symphonies are where people show what they have learned at performing arts schools. We did some yoga. We played number Zingo, sight words with magnetic letters, sequencing cards. They had Mandarin. We practiced for our pageant. We watched a performance of dancers and tried to imitate them. We learned what auditions are. 

What performing art do you like?

Elise- My favorite is painting. 

2015_05_17 Sunday

We just returned from a super fun trip to DC. Dave and I had his GU dinner, which prompted us all to go. We got in super late on Friday but had a terrific time -- including a ladies' cocktails in the afternoon -- visiting on Saturday. The dinner went off so well, and it was really great to get reconnected with students and spouses from IEMBA. They're all just wonderful people. The venue started out a nice Italian bistro but turned into a rave/dance club in Dupont by the time we left! We also had a brunch on Sunday and then met up with PopPop, Sam, Grandma, Vicki + girls, and Eric for lunch, and then had a big BBQ/May b'day partah at D's before leaving on a 10pm flight that was delayed. The kids were such troupers; they were exceptional. We got back home after 1:30am, so I decided to let the kids sleep in in the morning.

2015_05_15 Friday

From Reading Club: On Monday we took turns on Starfall and the kindle. We worked on flash cards. We worked on subtraction problems. On Tuesday, we worked on sight words. X worked on words are, for, can. We worked on counting. On Wednesday, we read pre-reading skills BOB series and also the ones we've been reading. We worked on some more challenging sight words. Some friends worked on Starfall. On Thursday, we read Enrico Starts School together. We worked on sight words flash cards. Friends played games of Zingo.

From Class: Today we had calendar time and we played picture bingo in teams. We made objects with playdoh. We practiced for our pageant. We made tambourines and had a band and listened to music. We blew bubbles during recess. They had Spanish with Ms. X! :)  It was X's last day! :( we'll miss you! 

What was your favorite thing we did today? 
Elise- my fav thing was blowing the bubbles 

2015_05_14 Thursday

From Elise's school: Today we had calendar time in the morning. We read books on going to Kindergarten - How To Lose all your friends, How About a Hug? We talked about making friends and meeting new friends next year. We practiced for our pageant and worked on sight words. We worked on our project. 

Show and Tell: For my show and tell...

Elise- I brought my Legos bc I like to build things out of my Legos

2015_05_13 Wednesday

From Elise's school: Today we talked about songs and music. We talked about the word lyrics. We made microphones and then we sang with them. We sang and danced the Hokey Pokey. They had French. We practiced for our pageant. And we also worked on a project that will be completed next week. 
X's show and tell: for my show and tell I brought a paper toy and it can go round and round. 

What was your favorite field trip this year?
Elise - my favorite field trip was Legoland and when Ms X came 

2015_05_10 Sunday

I never thought I'd say this, but I have found a food that includes tomatoes that I definitely do not prefer: tomato aspic. I thought it was a pie; it's TOTALLY not. bleck. I also learned the hard way that Waldorf salad is mayo-based. I really struck out on my Mother's Day luncheon this year. Salmon croquettes were good, though.

2015_05_08 Friday

Guess what day it is!? man, am I old.

From Elise's school: Today we had calendar time in the morning. We finished up some projects. Mother's Day gifts have been sent home. Fragile item! They made the letter Zz with playdoh. Each person had a chance to get on the computer on Starfall to either read books or play math games. We counted by 10s and 5s while doing jumping jacks. We completed a subtraction sheet together.

Name a fairytale:
Elise- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Elise brought me a pretty stemless wine glass (?) that she dotted with pastel paints. very cute!

2015_05_07 Thursday

From Reading Club: On Monday , X read a story on Wolves on Starfall. Elise practiced sight words on the kindle. X worked on Starfall and we went over flash cards. On Tuesday , X, X, and Elise worked on a phonics blend
worksheet (ch, wh, sh, ph). We went over flash cards. We took turns on the Kindle. Elise read a story passage to me and circled certain words in the story. On Wednesday, X , X, and the girls practiced more blending words--pl, fl, cl, gl. They also practiced long e sound with double e words or ea words such as leaf. We also went over flash cards. On Thursday, we worked on subtraction. Elise also worked on math on Starfall. X and I went 2 BOB books. We all went over flash cards.

From class: Hello, Today we had calendar time in the morning. We worked in our journals writing numbers 11-20 and our last names. We also worked more on writing letter Zz. Ms. X came to our class and we had an interactive storytime. They read Where the Wild Things Are and played other games. We practiced for our pageant. We did some yoga and we worked on some projects. 

What did you enjoy from Ms. X's visit? 
Elise- my fav part was taking turns telling a story the man 

2015_05_06 Wednesday

From Elise's class: Today we had calendar time in the morning. Friends completed centers of puzzles, sorting buttons, sight words flash cards, BOb books. They made a craft during French and sang happy birthday to X in French. We practiced for the pageant. We drew Z words in our letter folder. 

Show and tell: 
Elise - I brought one of my toys and her name is Zeze. 

2015_05_05 Tuesday

From Elise's school: Today we talked about fairytales and what makes it a fairytale---royalty, magic, special words (once upon a time), sleep, good character, evil character, and special creatures. We talked about how fairytales were told aloud and not written down for many years. We named some fairytales and talked about the characteristics of each one-- Cinderella, Peter Pan, Snow White and the 7 dwarfs. They had Spanish. I read the Ugly Duckling and we discussed it. We worked on some projects. They played with floor puzzles and we practiced writing the letter Zz in our journals. 

What makes a fairytale a fairytale?
Elise- fairytales don't always have to have princesses and they could have talking things 

2015_05_04 Monday

From Elise's school: Today we talked about beginning, middle and end of stories. We made up a story by each person coming up with different parts. We worked on the letter Zz and came up with words. We worked on some projects and had center time. 

Why is it important to be able to tell a story? 
Elise- it's important to tell stories because you might have to tell your mom and dad a story if they can't read a book 

2015_04_30 Thursday

From reading club: On Tuesday, X and I read bob books and he played on the kindle. X and I read bob books and he practiced his sight words. The girls and I each read And Here's To You! We also went over flash cards. They also played with clay and molded different things. On Wednesday, we read Poor Puppy by doing round robin reading. I played number zingo with X. They all played roll the dice sight word bingo with X. X worked in numbers 1-20. X and Elise spent time on the kindle.  On Thursday, we played bunny hop with CVC words except this time they had to come up with a sentence with the words they landed on. This was a fun challenge for them. We went over flash cards and we also took turns on the kindle.

2015_04_29 Wednesday

From Elise's class: Happy Birthday to X! Today we had calendar time in the morning. We talked about plant
growth. We drew a life cycle of a Lima bean plant. We also drew what our plants look like from when we planted them up until now. I've sent some of the plants home because they need a bigger pot and are doing well!  They had French. We had indoor recess. We worked on writing our numbers 1-20 in our journals. They completed floor puzzles and played zingo with partners.

What does your family do to help the earth?
Elise- me and my brother try to clean up the park by picking up trash

2015_04_28 Tuesday

WHAT? my baby turns 5 today? how can that be?? We had so much fun at dinner at a hibachi place. She really liked miso soup (although not the mushrooms), Shirley Temples, and "shrimpies." A real fire in an onion volcano, how cool!

Jonathan did a great job letting E have her special day. He even told me what gifts to get for her, and he nailed them! We had cupcakes when we got home too.

Elise's school: Happy birthday to Elise!!  Thank you guys soo much for my lovely goodies today! Y'all are so sweet! Conferences are next week! sign up if you haven't already! Monday is still available ;) thanks Mark your calendars: graduation and spring pageant will be Friday, May 22nd!
Today we had a visitor from the Oak hurst garden come in. She read a kids book about a worm friend and then we got to use magnifying glasses to look and feel real worms! They had Spanish. We reviewed numbers and sounds and sight words. 

What did you learn from the visitor today? 

Elise- I learned that worms eat things that come from the earth. 

2015_04_26 Sunday

Happy Birthday Auntie!!!

We had our first ever professional family photo session today. It was a good hour away, but we won it at one of the kids' auctions, so we thought it would be fun to do. We all wore white shirts, but someone decided only to tolerate that for so long.

2015_04_24 Friday

Elise's school: Good afternoon! Today we talked about climate change, tornadoes, and global warming. We did a tornado- in a-jar experiment with dish soap. We also attempted a water cycle experiment with shaving. Cream and food color ;) We played sight word bingo. We played sight word bug splat. They had German. 
Tell me something about tornadoes or global warming: 
Elise- I learned that tornados are so strong that it can tear down a tree
NOTE: Opa had some choice words for the "global warming" part of the lesson plan.

Conferences are May 4th- May 8th Tuesday is booked 
Reading club: On Monday we worked on -in, -og , -en, -at families. We came up with real and nonsense words. X and I started reading the fat cat sat on the mat. X and I started that one too. X worked on color words blue and black. On Tuesday, X and X worked on reading CVC words. I also read a book with X . X finished the Fat Cat book. Elise played a phonics app on the Kindle practicing sight words. X and I went over sight words flash cards. X and I went over color words cards. X  and X played with popcorn sight words. On Wednesday, I worked with X on letter sounds and Sight words with X. X and I read BOB books. The girls put addition and subtraction cards together. X and X worked on CVC words. We all worked on flash cards. They also played number zingo.  On Thursday X, X and X worked on the -an family booklet. They also played dig for sight word carrots. Elise read Loose Tooth! to me. She spent time learning sight words on the kindle. We all played bingo. Elise and I and X and I started reading And Here's To You! 

2015_04_22 Wednesday

Elise's school: Good afternoon, We had a lot of fun at the Gardens yesterday. We learned about different plants and what they need to grow. We visited the edible garden and had a chance to play in the Children's garden area. Today we talked all about the planet Earth for Earth Day. We talked about what conservation is. We talked about ways we can save energy around our house, at school, and protecting the environment. We painted Earth. We made random things with recyclable things. We talked about reuse, reduce, and recycle. We read Earth Day, Birthday and The Earth Book. We also celebrated X and X's birthdays! We made some cool crowns!

Why do you want to help take care of earth? I want to help take care of the earth...
Elise - because I want the flowers to live so I can look at them in my garden

2015_04_20 Monday

Elise's school: Field trip tomorrow. I will need to leave the gardens at 12:45 to be back to school for reading club. And Earth day is Wednesday. If you would like to bring anything that relates to earth day to share with the class please do! 

Today we talked about the water cycle and terms such as evaporation and water vapor. We made a water cycle cloud craft. We checked on our plants and we saw some roots and even little sprouts in some cups! We sorted picture cards of people wasting or saving water. They had Mandarin today. We also practiced writing the letter Yy. We came up with words that start with letter y. 

What is a way we can conserve water? 

Elise-you can conserve water by turning off your bathtub water when you are done using it 

2015_04_17 Friday

Elise's school: Atlanta Botanical Gardens field trip will be next Tuesday

Today we talked about South America. We also talked a little about how we should take care of Earth. We made a wind sock that shows the water cycle. We played earth day bingo. We read Re-Cycles and discussed a tree's life cycle and the water cycle. 

South America fact: 

Elise- I learned that you can go to Machu Picchu to hike and it's in Peru 

2015_04_16 Thursday

Elise's school: This was the first week that Elise got to visit the Kindergarten class! She spends the entire day with them; above and beyond what I had hoped for. It does also sound like she is very challenged there and even gets to be frustrated (yeah!)

Reading club: On Monday, we worked more on syllables. X worked on color words purple and yellow. We all went over sight words. The girls and I read readers. On Tuesday, X worked on color words orange and brown. We went over flash cards at the end. We played sight word bingo. Elise and I read a fly guy book about firefighters. X and I read Just Go to Bed. X and I read Max's checkup. On Wednesday, X and X read stories in Starfall. X also practiced CVC words on Starfall. We played a game of I have..who has... Elise and I finished reading the fly guy book. X and I read the 1st Fly Guy book in the series. They also all took turns playing sequencing, rhyming or letter sounds games on the floor.  On Thursday, X and Elise played a game of I have Who has ..X  and X played that...X practiced some sight words on the kindle..X also practiced spelling words on the kindle. Elise and I read Hi Fly Guy! X worked on color words red, blue. 

2015_04_15 Wednesday

Elise's school: Good afternoon, Today we talked about Europe. We talked about Hadrian's Wall and we built a long wall with Legos and blocks across the room. They worked in teams. We also worked on patterns and counting. We also talked about the Indian Ocean. They had Spanish.

Bring seeds for show and tell

Which wall do you like more? Hadrian's or Great Wall 

I like the....

Elise- is the Great Wall of china

Elise's school: Today we talked about Asia. We read Japanese Traditions and talked about Japanese traditions and how they differ or are similar to some traditions here. We made sushi rolls and practiced picking them up with chopsticks. We drew pictures for x in our folders. We sang our continent song. They had French.

Japanese tradition or fact:
Jack E - that they have a boys day --they play games and eat rice cakes

2015_04_14 Tuesday

Elise's school: Hello! Today we talked about continents and Africa in particular. We discussed the land, animals, climate, cultural differences. We also worked on our letter of the week Xx. We made bead bracelets with 3 color pattern. X also put lowercase egg letter cards in order. X practiced sorting from small to big and patterns. X and X dug up sight word carrots. Elise and X put numbers 1-20 in order individually.  Bring in plant seeds for show and tell any time this week. We will try to plant some and talk about the growing process in the next few weeks. 

Africa fact: 

Elise- I learned that you can find gems and gold and diamonds in the south part of Africa.

2015_04_02 Thursday

Today, I was finally able to put my accident behind me. I had my court date and got my hefty fine. What a crazy process, but it's over.

Elise's class: I will not be there tomorrow. Buggy will be in the class. Have a wonderful Spring Break everyone!! :) See you all on the 13th! Happy birthday to X! And happy early birthday to X! Field trip to the botanical gardens Tuesday, April 21st

Today we talked about islands. We discussed that Antarctica and Australia are islands and we talked about the 7 continents. I read a book about Antarctica. We looked at a globe and discussed which continent we live on, etc. They made an island scene with paper and felt. We practiced handwriting-- letter Ww. Some friends practice some individual work with handwriting. We had an egg hunt in the classroom! And we celebrated X's birthday at the end of the day!

I discussed what deserted meant and then asked..If I was on a deserted island...

Elise- I would build an igloo.. with sand 

Reading Club: On Monday, X caught up on some vowel sounds work. We also caught X and X up on what syllables are and did some practice with that. On Tuesday, X and I worked on syllables (did great). The girls and X worked on the mice syllables worksheet independently. We all did some work and then enjoyed the nice day on the playground where X and I read the first BOB book to me :) On Wednesday, X and I worked on sight words flash cards. X  and I read BOB books. X read 2 books to me also. X worked on 2 reading booklets. Elise and the other girls played a digging for carrots sight words game.  On Thursday, I worked one-on-one with Elise, X, and X. X and I practiced sight words and we read 2 BOB books together He also put numbers 1-20 cards in order. Elise and I used a large Judy Clock and discussed the basics of time. We also read a BOB book. She also put lowercase letters in order. X also did this independently. Xalso read 3 BOB to me. They got to play a Frozen matching game when they were done. 
Have a wonderful and safe spring break everyone!! :)

2015_04_01 Wednesday

Elise's school: Hello and welcome to April! (Soo many birthdays this month :D ) 

We had a great Wacky day! This month we will talk about Earth and geography. Today we talked about mountains. We talked about how they are formed. We drew pictures in our letter folders for w. We read the book Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest. They made mountains and volcanoes with clay and playdoh in 2 groups. We also worked on counting and graphing Easter eggs. They had French. 
Something from our book: 
Elise- the wettest place is in Colombia. 

2015_03_31 Tuesday

Elise's school: Wed, April 1st tomorrow- wear something wacky! 

Spring break is April 6-10! 
Today we talked about kangaroos. We reviewed mammals and habitats. We made a kangaroo puppet with a pouch and added a Joey. We also practiced all of our letter sounds up to W. We wrote in our journals. They had Spanish. I read The Book With No Pictures :)

Show and tell shares: For my show and tell..
Elise- I brought my raccoon. It's a puppet 

2015_03_30 Monday

Elise's school: Tomorrow is show and tell- bring a small stuffed animal or a picture of a favorite animal 
**also if anyone has small toy shovels could be borrow them for the classroom for some games for a couple of weeks?? Thanks!
Today we talked about mammal characteristics. We discussed the difference between warm and cold blooded. We worked on writing lowercase letters and sight words. We played with shaving cream mixed with black paint to make zebra stripes. We talked about how no 2 zebras have the same stripe patterns just like we don't have the same fingerprints. And we also stamped our fingerprints. They had mandarin. 

Tell me the name of a baby mammal :
Elise- a baby kangaroo is a Joey 

2015_03_27 Friday

Elise's school: Today we talked about deserts. We talked about the few plants that grow in deserts. We made a saguaro cactus. We enjoyed the chilly weather outside. We  played Do the Bunny Hop game with CVC words. They hopped their bunny piece along to the egg basket! We also practiced sorting words by their vowel sounds. They also took turns in the kindle. 

Tell me a desert fact: 
Elise- I learned that cacti have spikes and the desert is very hot. 

2015_03_26 Thursday

Elise's class: Show and tell Tuesday ,March 31st!picture of favorite animal or a small stuffed animal  

Wed, April 1st- wear something wacky!  Spring break is April 6-10! 

Today we talked about the layers of the rainforest and animals and plants that are found in each layer. We painted a red poison dart frog. We made a habitat in a box. We painted it and then added twigs and leaves from the playground. We also went on a sight word safari word hunt around the classroom. They enjoyed that. 

A rainforest fact: 

Elise- I know that the forest floor gets no sunlight because the tall trees block the sun from coming down 

Reading Club: On Monday, we played Do the Bunny Hop game with CVC words. They hopped their bunny piece along to the egg basket! On Wednesday, we practiced vowel sounds on worksheets. On Thursday , we started discussing syllables and practiced by putting our hand under our him and counting how many times our chin drops. Then we did a worksheet. We will continue that next week. They also played Do the Bunny hop game again. 

2015_03_25 Wednesday

Elise's class; Whew! Zoo day was fun-filled! We had a blast and it was such a nice day to be out! I'm sure you've heard about all the animals we saw. We didn't get to ride the train sad face! Today we talked about the tundra and cold deserts we talked about the Gobi desert in China. And deserts in Canada and Antartica. We made an iceberg scene with polar bears. We also talked about opinion v. fact. I said some statements and asked whether they were opinion or fact about animals for practice. Then we formed our opinion about rain and colored a happy or sad faced raindrop and graphed our results.They had French.  

Tell me a cold desert fact: 
Elise - I know that penguins in Antartica. 

2015_03_23 Monday

Elise's class: Today we talked about animal habitats. We talked about shells, nests, burrows, and rain forests. We made a big mural of a rainforest and added the animals that would live in this habitat. They had Mandarin. We worked on short vowel sounds. We worked on writing lowercase letters. I read 'Twas the Night Before Zoo Day. 

Tell me a habitat fact: 

Elise- I learned that the queen bee pays one egg in each honey cup I mean honeycomb (or cell) 

2015_03_20 Friday

From Elise's school: Today we talked more about corals and sponge painted a coral/sea scene with fish and dolphins. We talked about baby ocean animals by reading Ocean Babies. I also read a silly book called Count the Monkeys. They also played with playdoh and made letter Vv. X and Elise and I worked on subtraction with the pot of gold math game. We all read the booklet It's Spring! that contained some familiar sight words. Everyone took turns on either the kindle or computer practicing blending words or spelling words or reading stories.

If I ran the zoo, I would....(dr Suess book from other day) 

Elise- get a dancing zebra with no eyes. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

2015_03_19 Thursday

At Jonathan's school, I helped the resident beekeeper check in on the hive. I saw the queen and lots of healthy babies! Photos of the kids with the honeycomb! http://tendingourcommonground.com/2015/03/17/honeybee-update/

From Elise's school: Today the Reptile Wrangler came to visit us and brought along some animal creatures! We saw a 9 foot long Python, a tortoise, and Bruno the toad! He talked about what each animal eats and some other facts about each reptile. They all touched each animal and were very brave! We drew coral reefs and a fish scene and then painted watercolor over it for the water. I read the book Coral Reefs. They had Italian. 

What was your favorite animal we saw or something you learned? 

Elise- I liked Peaches because she looks like peaches 

Today I also proposed that Elise get to visit the Kindergarten class, even for a few hours, as a way to challenge her and to have her experience a bit more frustration and challenge than she has until now. Teachers seem on board!

In Reading Club: Hello, On Monday X and I worked on -ap and -ake families. X also worked on -ake word family. X  practiced sight words on the kindle and practiced reading on Starfall and a worksheet with -ing words. X also had time on Starfall to practice the th sound. On Tuesday, X worked on words that rhyme with -ing. X worked on the book It's Spring! He also worked on Starfall. X practiced reading CVC cards with pictures. X and I worked on -ap word family and we did the worksheet together. On Wednesday, the girls played a round of Pot of Gold addition bingo game and then X joined them while X read stories on Starfall. X and X and I took turns working on sounds and practicing sounds on the kindle. X also played a pot of gold number game with me. On Thursday, X and I did the -at word family booklet he did great. X worked on oa and ai words on Starfall and read the stories along with those. Elise read Starry Safari to me and we did the -ing worksheet and some of those words were in the story. And we checked for comprehension! 

2015_03_18 Wednesday

From Elise's teacher: Zoo field trip next Tuesday! We had a great day! We talked about manta rays and stingrays. We made manta rays with plates and pipe cleaners. They also played a Pot of Gold addition game in groups of 3. They all did a great job playing. X and X will play it tomorrow. They also counted out pieces of gold(rocks) on pots with numbers on them from 1-10 individually. They had French. We drew 3 letter V pictures in our letter folders.  I read If I Ran the Zoo a dr Suess book. 

Tell me a manta ray fact: 
Elise- I learned that manta rays like to be alone and they swim slowly. 

2015_03_17 Tuesday

From Elise's teacher: Hello! We had a great day!  Today we talked about eels. We learned that they are fish and carnivores and can live in freshwater or saltwater. We painted shamrock prints with peppers. We made a St. Patrick's day card. They had Spanish. I read St Patrick's Day and St. Patrick's Day In the Morning. We talked about the history of st Patrick. We had ice pops outside for X's birthday! 

Tell me an eel fact: 
Elise- I learned that they have to come up to breathe at the surface of the water 

2015_03_08 Thursday

From Reading Club: Hello! On Monday, some of them continued to read Harold and the purple crayon. We also worked on a booklet called Winter Birds. On Tuesday, X and Elise had time on the computer with Starfall reading short stories. X and X read Harold with me. X practiced sight words with a matching game on the kindle. We all worked on a Winter Birds worksheet that went along with yesterday's book and we learned our color words. On Wednesday, we read the Sight Word Stories about animals. We also did our flash cards. Some friends took turns on Starfall. On Thursday, X worked on Starfall. Elise and I worked on ch,sh,th, and some other digraph. X also worked on Starfall. And the girls and I read our sight word stories books. We all finished Harold on the
purple crayon (whew) and we found a CD in the back so we listened to the audio tape of it.

From her teacher: Today we talked about salamanders. We talked about their habitat and how they spend their time under rocks. We looked at many pictures of salamanders and other amphibians in some books and on the computer. We drew a salamander under a rock. We made a graph of reptiles and amphibians and counted how many of each we had. We worked on writing the letter Tt. They had Italian today. We finally put on our Peter and The Wolf play from last week. They were amazing and had a lot of fun! Thanks for bringing in the props! 

Tell me a fact about salamanders:

Elise - I know that salamanders like to stay under rocks 

2015_03_16 Monday

I have been knee deep in both work and PTO stuff for the past few weeks, so I'm spending some time today catching up on life, to include posting here.

From Elise's teacher: This week we will talk about mammals and ocean animals. Today we talked about whales and how they are mammals not fish. We drew different whales with oil pastels and then they sprayed watercolor around out of the blowhole with straws. We watched a whale breaching video. We read I Am a Whale. We talked about the letter of the week Vv. They had Mandarin. 

Tell me a whale fact: 

Elise- I learned that the blue whale is bigger than the humpback whale. 

Jonathan did not have school today due to teacher in-service, so he had a sleepover last night with a bud who then came over to hang together.

2015_03_12 Thursday

From reading club: On Monday, we read articles in a nat geo magazine about the rain forest and we talked about the layers of the forest. They made a sentence on a sentence strip about animals. So also took turns on the
kindle. We all made a booklet called Rainbow.  On Tuesday, X, and Elise and I read BOB books. X and
X had turns on Starfall. Elise practiced harder sight words on a new kindle game. They also played matching games and animal bingo. On Wednesday, I practiced letter sounds with X and X . X and I read BOB books. (They will be with us on Wednesdays) X and X worked together on animal groupings based on if they have fur, feathers or scales. X did this sorting game as well. X also practiced sight words flash cards. X and I read books. I also did a Concept of Print (COW) assessment on each student to see if they understand what a 'word' is when reading and tracking. This is usually done before a child starts learning sight words (to see if the child is ready to learn to read) and reading so most did well since they know how to read. On Thursday, X and I worked on CVC words on the computer and letter sounds and blends. Elise practiced r-controlled words and vowels on Starfall. X spelled words on the kindle and worked on CVC words.

From her teacher: Field trip was very nice! The artwork from it was sent home today or in cubby. They drew a bird and another abstract piece. Thank you very much X for helping out! Today we talked about hummingbirds. We talked about their characteristics and their habitat. We also talked about animal adaptations. We drew a hummingbird with oil pastels and then painted over it with watercolor. We learned how to draw a bird yesterday. We worked on the letter of the week Uu. We read Aliens Love Underpants and Helping Habitats. We also took time to talk about teasing and hurting each other's feelings. We talked about positive ways we should act and how we should take turns and not interrupt. We also talked about talking nicely to each other if you have something to say/share. 

Show and tell shares: 
Elise- for my show and tell I brought a game called Uno and my umbrella.