Germs

This morning, C woke up with a sore throat, cough, and fever. This child, however, is never completely taken out by any sickness (as of yet anyway!) I've pretty much had to force her to lay on the couch under a blanket with a cool cloth on her head. We've read, colored, drank lots of juice and water, and are finally watching Finding Nemo.

While in the mood to read, I asked her if she wanted to learn about germs that make you sick. Of course she said yes. So, we read The Magic School Bus Fights Germs for the first time. It really clicked for her, since she's sick. She learned about red and white blood cells, and how the white blood cells are the ones that fight off the germs. She learned that fever helps the white blood cells work better. (I didn't even know that!) I'm so glad that the author included a page about how washing your hands numerous times helps keep germs away, and another that talked about how rest helps you get well. I think that may have convinced her to stay put. =)

Hopefully, she'll fight off this bug soon, and we can get back to learning! oh wait... we never stopped. =D

A trip to the Vet

Today, we had an appointment to get the cats vaccinated. At first, C and I were going to wait in the waiting area, and then I thought, "Wait a minute! What am I doing!? I'm a homeschooler! This is a prime learning opportunity!" So, we followed Daddy and the cats into the room.

C watched and observed the Vet tech examining the cats' ears, eyes, and teeth. She watched them get their temperature taken, and receive their shots. She noticed how the vet was gentle and caring with the cats. The vet tech was great and answered all of C's questions.

C really enjoyed being able to experience and learn from this. I wish I had thought to take my camera so I could take a picture of her with the vet. She would have loved that. =)

Parade of Presidents

Today was the local homeschooling group's Parade of Presidents event. All the kids were invited to research and present a president. C picked (well, pointed to a picture of, rather) Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president. I explained what a president is and what his job is, but it proved a little difficult. I should have either chosen the first or current president to make it a little easier on her. It was a little hard to explain that Wilson was a president in the past, not now.

She did really well on her presentation though. I went up with her expecting to have to prompt each fact with a question, but instead she did it all by herself. She named her president, and told her facts: that Wilson liked baseball, and that he had pet sheep at the White House. We kept her presentation short and sweet. She really enjoyed putting together the project. She punched out all 28 stars, and we practiced counting them. She colored and cut all the pictures, except the baseball picture, and she glued the cotton balls on for the sheep. She's very proud of her display.

Patterns

Recently, my grandma sent C these big Popsicle sticks. I think she sent them for arts and crafts, but little did my grandma know that these are perfect for manipulatives! So, today we worked on patterns. This was the first time I directly introduced the concept to C, although I'm sure she's seen them on a few educational shows. She did really well.

We first worked on AB patterns, and that seemed a little easy. She also did well on AABB and AAB patterns. I even threw in a third color, and she was able to finish the patterns. She then wanted to start being the teacher, and made her own patterns for me to finish. This was a fun hands on math activity, and I think she really enjoyed it.
We've also been working on rhyming words, counting to twenty, concept of telling time, and of course reading a ton. She's also been working on spelling on her own. The other day, she was writing out valentine's cards for us, and she was trying to spell "daddy." She spelled the dad part. For her sister, Delilah, she spelled DLL, so I can tell she's recognizing the consonants, but not all of the vowels. She can hear the vowels if I sound out a word one letter at a time, but she's not doing that on her own yet. It's so exciting to watch her progression.

Valentine's Day Party

Today the local homeschooling group had a Valentine's Party! This was Carlee's very first Valentine's party, and she had a blast!

First, she decorated her Valentine mailbox:
Then they played Valentine Bingo!
Then we decorated cupcakes before devouring them. All the other kids were at the other table, but all the chairs were taken. Plus, I think Carlee was feeling a little crowded, so she wanted to do her cupcakes by herself:
Then it was relay time! This was Carlee's turn racing to put a spoonful of heart candies in her team's cup:

Prizes! So exciting!
Then it was time to deliver valentines to everyone's boxes!
This was a lot of fun! We're going to miss this homeschool group when we move.

Mount Etna

Today, we drove up to Mount Etna to play in the snow! Carlee's warm winter clothes came in handy. At first, she had fun playing, sledding with Daddy, and making a snowman (like in the books she's been reading.) Then a few ominous clouds crept in and the wind picked up. The wind was so strong that it scared her, so she was pretty much done. We enjoyed Italian hot chocolate on the way down.

She mentioned a few interesting things:

"Mommy," she said, "the clouds are white. Snow is white, too. So maybe the clouds make the snow!"

Obviously, you and I know the reason clouds make snow is different than hers, but I loved the hypothesis she came up with on her own. She also observed the clouds moving very quickly and hypothesized that the wind was moving them. She impressed me with her unprompted scientific thinking. I love how her little mind works!

Hopefully I will have a few pictures to add soon. =)

Winter

As you can see, we are still having fun studying winter. It is definitely not cold enough here to be dressed like this, but we are hoping to head to Mt. Etna tomorrow to play in the snow! Today, we talked about what type of clothes we wear when it's very cold. Carlee had the bright idea to play dress up with her winter clothes. We discussed which body part each article of clothing kept warm.

We read The Mitten by Jan Brett. I asked questions about each page after reading to check Carlee's listening skills and comprehension. She is doing much better at listening and remembering details in stories.

I drew simple pictures of a mitten and glove and let Carlee color and decorate them. We talked about the differences between the two. She also practiced her writing.

Other books we've been reading lately:

The Snow Child by Freya Littledale


Trouble with Trolls by Jan Brett

Sadie and the Snowman by Allen Morgan

My Favorite Time of Year by Susan Pearson

Avalanche by Michael Rosen


Don't Wake Up the Bear by Marjorie Dennis Murray and Patricia Wittmann - This is one of Carlee's absolute favorites. She loves how in the end the bear chooses to eat berries instead of the animals. She thinks it's absolutely hilarious. She has this one just about memorized.

Painting and Color Mixing

We've been reading Warthogs Paint by Pamela Duncan Edwards and Henry Cole. It's about a group of warthogs who decide to paint their kitchen on a rainy day. They mix red, blue, and yellow to make other colors. Carlee really enjoys this book and is learning color mixing very quickly. Spending a whole afternoon painting and mixing colors together doesn't hurt either. This is our masterpiece from today. She had a blast and it was nice mommy & daughter time while the baby napped.