Kinda Thinking & Planning for the Fall....

Well, today, you get two posts for Monday...

Have been working on planning for the fall and have been toying with how we are going to do things this year and also because tomorrow, I have another blog post ready (am going to announce some award winners, so please be sure to check back tomorrow)...
We have play dates scheduled for Wednesday and Friday, and have to get some errands done on Thursday, so if I didn't give you a two for one day today, I would have had to have held off and posted this post over the weekend...

Well, if you read this and have any input / ideas / suggestions, would just love to hear from you!
Well, to get things kick started for the fall, I asked the boys to tell me what they would like to learn about, as well as any questions, ideas, or themes they would like to explore...
they are used to doing this, as it is something we have done since the very beginning...I actively involve them in the process of what we could / should study...sometimes, we do the good ole' standby, KW L...

What I Know, What I Want to Know, and then, What I Learned...

For the purposes of trying to flesh out what we could do starting in the fall, I had them focus primarily on what they Want to know...

Big Bro:
Have been working on putting things together for Big Bro..he wants to learn about the following:

"Chemistry...I like to do experiments with liquids."

"The Presidents...about the ones who were in when we have had wars and what they decided to do about them."

"The future...about robots and if we will use them and how things will work with more machines"

"Inventions...about all of them, actually...but we need to come up with one that works to clean up the oil spill. I want to come up with one..."

"Machines...from little ones to big ones...what is the smallest machine that can do the biggest job"?

"Native Americans...their homes, their weapons, and where they lived and how they got there...and what life is like on a reservation now versus way back, when they first went to one...and what life was like before reservations."

"Animal homes...how they build them and which ones are predators and which ones are prey."
"The Rainforest...who lives there...what grows there...how long ago did they start making poison darts from poison dart frogs..."

"Italian, Chinese, French, and Spanish...how to say some things in these languages and more about the countries and why other countries have people who also speak these languages."

Little Bro:
Little Bro wants to learn about all kinds of things, too...luckily, some of his interests cross over with Big Bro's interests...

"Frogs"

"Snow cones"

"Polar Bears"

"Penguins"

"How you make toys"

"Stuff in the sea"

"Shells"

"Dogs and the ones that help people"

"What's inside your brain"

"How you make glass and Legos"

"What's inside a wheel and how it works"

"How you make chocolate"

"How you get hot and sweaty from the sun"

"How you make a rainbow"

"How do you find gold"?

"What is inside a turtle"?

"Who lives in a barn"?"

"How does poop work...how does food know to turn into poop...how does it know to go through your body and end up that way..."

"How does your body know which tube things should go in...how does the air go in the right place and what you eat or drink go in the right place and how does your body use the food and the drinks and how does your body use air"?

Now, the poop thing threw me at first, but then, the more he talked, the more I realized that he wants to really learn more about the digestive system...
We will cover the systems of the body and will start with digestion when we do systems.

He is also curious about blood, and this is because he has Von Willebrand's.
Little Bro will have to undergo some additional blood tests soon, so we will discuss how blood flows through the body and a little more about the details of his blood disorder.

Have been working on putting things together to kind of tie in with all of their interests, where possible, as well as what our region has to offer, as far as field trips and other sorts of experiential learning opportunities that would tie in with these concepts...

Am most likely going to do:

Fall / Harvest / Farm
 
Body Systems

Polar Animals - will do both poles, but am going to separate them out, as doing them together makes it confusing for kids...

Will discuss Inuit / Eskimo, dog sledding while we do the Arctic Circle...will tie in French and Inuit language for Big Bro for this...

Rainforest - will tie in chocolate and frogs to this...will tie in Spanish, mostly for Big Bro, with this...will also tie in the future of the Rainforest...we had started this earlier this summer, but have not really done it in depth, as we have had lots of company and have taken off some time to have a more laid back sort of summer schedule...

Sea Life - will tie in beach glass, the future of the Gulf, machines to clean up the oil spill, how sea animals are being treated for Big Bro when we do sea life....

Will tie in snow cones and how toys are made with inventions and simple machines...

Will tie in working dogs ( Sheep Dogs, Border Collies) with Farm

Space - Neither one mentioned space when we were discussing this coming school year, which was almost a shocker, as they both LOVE learning about space...but I will ask them at some point in the future if they don't mention it anytime soon...am sure that we will be doing something about space, but just not sure when or what we will be doing for sure...

That is how far I have gotten...
Am sure that they will have other interests as the year goes on, but this is what they gave me for starters...the key is for me now to flesh out the "Essential Questions" that tie in with what they Want to know so that it ties in well with what they Need to know...for this, I use some materials by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, the creators of the concept of Understanding by Design...here is a pdf that highlights their work.

The exciting news is that friends of ours are also interested in doing some hands-on learning projects with us...
We are going to get together to plan and to try to loosely map out some field trips and other enrichment opportunities...

Friends who live here and are part of our co-op, as well as dear family friends who live in Canada...with them, we will share via Skype, email, phone calls, and photos...so it should be neat to be able to share in different ways...

Am getting geared up to make some hands on materials to tie in with these concepts.
We are going to focus on utilizing a bigger light table this year, too, as the boys liked the very tiny and portable one we had, but a bigger one will give us much more of an opportunity...

Both boys love making shadow puppets.
Both love working with translucent and transparent objects. Both also love working with color, light, and texture, so we will be bringing these into our day to day even more this year.

We used an atilierista (artist / art teacher) this past year, not consistently but for some of the major themes. We will do the same again this year.

Miss Laurie is going to do a end of the summer camp for us, and plans to explore the books and the artwork of Eric Carle, so I anticipate that we will be doing many hands on projects involving collage...can't wait, as I love Eric Carle's books and his artwork!

Laurie is a talented artist in her own right, but thought that doing a themed camp would really pull children into the art...so that is the plan.

Both Big Bro and Little Bro love Eric Carle, so it is going to be fun learning for all!

Well, hope that you all had a happy Monday!

Again, if anyone has some suggestions to go with any of these concepts  / essential questions / themes, would love to hear from you!

Making Memories & Montessori Monday - Our Version of Summer Camp

Peanut butter cup time...this time, our version of summer camp (including some Montessori inspired works), plus some memories in the making...

We are having such an awesome summer! 

Memories in the making, to be sure...

Such fun times with some wonderful friends who came to visit us for a week, as we packed in Disney, the Florida Aquarium, Clearwater Beach...

We also had fun shopping, playing at the pools, parks, and water parks in our area, and going out to eat, plus some fun hanging out, playing at our home, and just kicking back and relaxing a bit, too....

This past week, we had to take it down a notch and get back into our more regular summer groove...namely,  doing our version of "summer camp."

Our summer camp is basically a looser version of our school year.

(Pictured above: bead stair hanger work, counting 0-20 work.)

Both boys still select their work the night before, and they still get started as they normally would during our school year.

(Pictured: sorting shapes work, patterning work, rhyming work with language objects,  counting bead stair extension with frog counters, Draw Write Now Frog art and copywork, dart frogs sorting work and dart frog book, block tower work, sound cylinders work, CVC words with language objects and movable alphabet work)

The main difference is that in addition to our Montessori inspired works, there are more non-Montessori materials such as board games, card games, extra art projects, etc. than we normally have during the school year.

Plus, there is some additional free play time added into the mix, to play outside and to catch and / or observe all of the little critters in our neighborhood, along with some down time to watch a family movie, to do some cooking projects, and to just hang out and relax...

 For us, our summer camp schedule is a much more loose, go with the flow sort of schedule...

We get out and enjoy the sunshine when we can and then, we hang out and relax when either the weather is too hot or humid, or it is a downpour.

Sinus and ear infections have kept creeping back into our summer, so that has necessitated some time to just chill out, as there have been days when we have not felt up to par.

When you feel dizzy, your face, ears, and head feel like they are going to burst, and your sinuses and ears are so full that your teeth hurt, putting in a nice family friendly movie is not all bad...

It actually can be quite calming and relaxing, although we do not do that during the school year. 

(Pictured: Little Bro's art project, cool bilingual English - Spanish card game called Green Alligators, having fun in the sun at the beach, Big Bro and Little Bro eating Popsicle treats, Boys trying to pull out King Arthur's Sword at Disney's Magic Kingdom, having fun splashing at the park in the water fountains, checking out the hot air balloons that fly over our home almost daily each morning, Big Bro and Little Bro catching lizards and frogs, as well as watching a grasshopper and an alligator swimming by at a nearby pond.)

We are enjoying our summer, so much so that the happy times will shine through more than remembering the sinus and ear troubles we have had lately. Ear tubes may make their way back in to the scene, but we know that those aren't all bad, as they worked like charms for both boys the last time around, so if it comes to that again, well, BRING IT ON...

But really, when we think back to this summer, we will remember the times spent doing things we love, not times we had to spend laying on the sofa and watching movies.

Well, happy Monday and happy summer to everyone!

Please be sure to check out:

Jennifer's Making Memories Monday link-ups,
Jody's Montessori Monday at Mommy Moment link-ups,
and Nicole's Montessori Monday link-ups.












 Please also be sure to check out my last post about a light table items swap! 

Even if you don't have a light table, if you have a decent light source such as a large window that gets plenty of sun during the day, you could use the items for displaying in your window. 

Awesome Time at the Renaissance Festival School Day!

Yesterday, we had quite the day!

We started off our day at the Renaissance Festival.

The festival had organized a special day just for children.

What made it a sweet deal was that children under age six were free!
Plus, the wonderful organizer comped our group free tickets for all of the adults who attended. Such a wise marketing decision and kind gesture as well, because then, instead of us paying for admission, we spent more money on food and purchasing hand made items from the various artisans.

We went with our homeschool group as a field trip. It was the first field trip I have organized for our group and it went smoothly for the most part...just was so surprised at the sheer volume of people there for the day.
To start out the morning, the boys both had on long sleeved red shirts and on I had on a red shirt with a cream colored sweater...
Totally thought that these would help us to stand out in the crowd for those folks in the group looking for us. What I did not know was the several school groups would also be sporting very similar red shirts!
Guess we should make some brightly colored tie dye shirts for future trips!
It didn't matter though, as it warmed up so quickly that by midday, it was too warm for long sleeves and the boys had to switch to short sleeved t-shirts.
Ah, such is life in the Sunshine State! The weather was perfect, though, as there was a nice breeze and loads of trees providing shade throughout the festival grounds.

The festival featured various "classes" for the children, along with performances of all kinds.
It was very informative and interesting. the people there were very colorful, to say the least. Some of the costumes were bordering on strange, but the children seemed to enjoy all of it.

Big Bro and Little Bro enjoyed the various activities.

Such a neat experience!

Science Museum Fun

Little Bro checking out stop animation and Big Bro checking out closed and open circuits...
Little Bro trying out the laser harp...
Big Bro working hard to get the hand crank generator working...
Little Bro checking out tectonic plates and how their shift / collision leads to earthquakes...
Looks like magic to Big Bro, but really, it is a plasma ball...these are always fun for kids and grown ups, too.

I have seen smaller versions of this game in other children's museums, but also, in Montessori classrooms and homeschools. To do this in a Montessori inspired environment, you give each child the same shapes and then, use a folder divider between them. Then, have one child describe what they are doing and making to the other. The other child then has to try to make the same thing as what has been described to them.
If you have constructive triangles, take one box and scan the shapes into a flat bed scanner. Then, print out the shapes with a color printer. Attach the paper shapes to card stock and laminate.
Then, give one child the laminated paper pieces and the other child the actual wooden pieces.
You can also give each child the same pieces using attribute blocks.
We have a simple machines set and it includes and inclined plane, but this one looks easy enough to make...
This crane looked interesting...think we might need to try to make one...


Today, we ventured a couple hours south of here and went to a neat science museum for kids called G Wiz.

We actually purchased an annual pass to this museum, as the boys enjoyed it so much when we were in Sarasota for the International Montessori Foundation's Fall 2009 conference.

G Wiz was supposed to be opening their new hands-on dinosaurs exhibit, but that got delayed, as it is presently in New Jersey and is stuck in snow and wet ground and cannot be moved at the moment.
That was okay though, as the boys love going there to see their regular exhibits.

We started in the optical illusions room and moved into the simple machines and inventions room.
I decided to take some photos of some of the simple machines, as they are things that we could easily replicate in our home.
Then, there were some other cool exhibits that would be too difficult to replicate in the home, but were neat to experience at the museum. We also went upstairs to check out some of the exhibits involving magnets.

As we were getting ready to leave, some students from the local school, Sarasota High School, were setting up a cool display of their science projects.
We decided to go check out their work, and were really glad that we did, as the students had done a great job!

Made me a bit nervous, though, as the one experiment was using ethanol, another was using hydrogen, another featured lycopodium powder, and another was using dry ice.

Some of the exhibits had fire extinguishers on hand, which was a good safety feature, but made me a bit anxious, as it was a tip off that fire could be a possibility.

We stood and watched from a distance for some of these, but let the big kids handle the flames.

Somehow, these particular ones gave me two flashbacks from childhood:

First, of my sister's birthday, when my brother, who was not even two, pushed my sister, who was turning six, into the lit candles on her cake and her hair caught on fire. My dad had to put out the flames with his hands and I can still smell burnt hair and blistered skin...

Then, I flash to my other brother, about three years old at the time, who LOVED fire as a child, and had decided that, in lieu of taking a nap, it would be more interesting to play with matches and set my closet on fire.
He lit matches and then did his own little experiment to see what goes up in flames the fastest...a felt sports pennant, a piece of clothing, or a dryer sheet.
Guess what? They all went up very fast!!!
Luckily, my dad was able to put this fire out quickly, too, but the smell of burnt clothing, felt, and Snuggle...yuck!!!

So, we stood back and watched but I can honestly say that I was happy when the fire part of the experiments had ended.

All of the experiments were interesting.

One boy had conducted research to see if the components in the cornstarch oobleck could help to make bullet proof vests more effective.
He explained that he tried coating different samples of fabric (kevlar, denim, and one other that is escaping me at the moment) with this mixture.
He let Big Bro and Little Bro play with his sample batch of oobleck and explained to them how it acts differently when you poke at the top of it versus if you store it and try to lift it.
They seemed to enjoy it. He then explained his experiment.
What made this boy a standout is that he did his very best to explain his work and appropriately involve both boys.
The fact that he came up with an experiment that has some real world applications is also impressive. As someone who has had family members either in the military or working on military bases as a federal civilian, looking for a way to improve bullet proof vests is awesome!

All of the students had lovely display boards...

I was truly impressed, as they looked so professional...but this boy went about and beyond the call of duty to actively engage two young boys.

Some girls had experiments about sea life.

They had some sea grasses, a sea star, a hermit crab, and a sea cucumber in a tank.
One of the girls allowed Big Bro to hold the tiny crab and he loved that!

The girls were more shy than the boy with the oobleck, but they also did a fine job.
When I asked them about their experiments, they addressed me instead of the boys but they were able to tell succinctly tell me about their research. The girls' research also seem to have many real world applications, especially the effects of residual chlorine on sea life.

Would have liked to have a little more info. on the dry ice experiment, the ethanol one, the hydrogen one, and the lycopodium one.
My only suggestion for these folks would be that if they do something that is a bit dangerous in a children's science museum, that maybe they should first tell about their work in very simple terms, and then, give heads up to the families about the noise, smell, smoke, etc.

My boys would probably have loved to have known more about what these experiments were actually about, but since their Mommy is a chicken, they did not get to be too close and thus, they did not get to learn as much as maybe they would have with either some advance info. or a braver Mommy.

Actually, it was pretty amazing that these students were high school kids, as their all of their displays and their experiments seemed advanced.

The teacher, Mr. Andy, deserves a huge kudos, too, as these kids were well prepared and really seemed to enjoy their time spent at G Wiz.

So, hats off to all of them!

Please note, I did not take any photos of the students or their experiments, as I just feel that people should not photo any children or their work without express permission from their parents. If their parents would have all been there, I would have loved to have featured their work...all of them...Way to go, students!

And to the students who chose to do the more dangerous experiments, a little follow up about my younger brother, the former curious kid and lover of all things dangerous, esp. fire...
He grew up and got certified to do some other very dangerous work in the Navy!
He has a pyrotechnics certification, a scuba certification, and some other certs for dismantling bombs and such.

It was a really nice day for both boys...and for Dear Hubby and for me, too.

More Cool Creatures of the Sea!

Some neat coral, sponges, and shrimp...
Big Bro and Little Bro by the awesome jellies display!

Neat looking Sea Stars!
Leafy Sea Horses!