School?

Still around.

Busy.

Hot.

Vacations.

New dog.

Summer.

Blah.

Will start "school" again in August.

. . . probably.

Stick Puzzles

Popsicle Sticks, craft sticks, whatever you call them - they can be made into puzzles for kids. You can follow a detailed tutorial here or here. I just used photos on regular copy paper, and Elmer's glue. I need a new color cartridge, so all photos were in black and white - which makes it even harder to sort when they are all together!

I made the puzzles and let them dry - sliced them apart and put them in a cup for The Punk to find in the morning. He had fun trying to figure out what they were, and then he was off! He found that I had marked the backs, so he turned them all over and sorted them into piles. Then he sorted them by number - and solved the puzzles. A very proud Punk, indeed.

Back in the cup they went - and onto the School Shelf. I'm sure this will be a repeat when Daddy comes home!

Pool Boy

I have my very own Pool Boy. All it cost was $10.00, and a few square feet of back yard space.
Look how happy this kid is! How can he be this thrilled in the water when giving him a bath is pure torture? Maybe I should install an outdoor tub...?

I love this kid.

I think we are going to have a great summer!

Darth Punk

Working on a Father's Day card...

The Force is strong with this one...

Oh, G.

It's hot. 100+ degrees hot. So today we took the "worksheet" approach to schooling, and played around with the new Dot markers The Punk got at the craft store last week.

Letter Seek Dot the G G is for Goldfish and Grapes Can you find all the letter G's on the page?

Giraffe.

This post has been linked to: Tot School

Multitasking - Sprinkler Style

Today we talked about water conservation, and did a little multitasking - Sprinkler Style. The Punk played in the front yard, and my tomato plants got a cool drink of water!

The Punk also got a cool drink of water...
And had a ball!

I think there will be a lot more lessons like this one in the next few months. With weather above 100 degrees we will have to think creatively - indoors and out.

Graveyard Nature

My family has a long-standing tradition when it comes to learning how to drive. You do it in a cemetery. There are lots of roads to practice driving, turning and parking - and if you run over someone there is a good chance they are already dead. Poor taste, I know - but that joke was told to me by my Great Grandmother the day I learned to drive, and I still find it funny. When you have a 15 year old behind the wheel you want to minimize the damage if you can, so off we went to find a cemetery. The Punk's older brother was ready to start cruising the graveyard, so The Punk and I took a little time to go on a Nature Walk while Daddy gave the Older Son a driving lesson.

The Punk doesn't know much about death. He's 3.5, and luckily hasn't had any experience (that he knows of - we lied about he cat) with death so far in his short life. For this, I feel blessed. I don't want him to feel that kind of hurt or confusion for as long as possible.

So - this led me to have some answers ready for the "Where are we?" and "What is this place?" kind of questions I was sure we would face. My answers were prepared in vain. The Punk never asked, so I never volunteered. I guess he just assumed we were at some sort of park, and went about looking for twigs and leaves. I told him the rule about not disturbing flowers that were in vases, and he only stopped to look or smell them. Once he stopped pick up a small fallen flag, and replanted in the tombstone, and just kept going.

I love this child.
Our bounty from our walk: a Pine cone, a twig, some small wild flowers, some leaves, an acorn cap, and a small rock. And the Older Son didn't run over anyone - dead or alive. It was a good day at the Graveyard.

This post linked to: Preschool Corner and Montessori Monday