Week in Review (October 8th)

Last week was a good one at the academy.  We have continued to work on Colossians 3:23 and apply it to our work. 

K has been doing a great deal of writing work.  We used flour this week to write in (I discuss this more here).  We also worked on drawing.  Once we started our workbook, I realized that he doesn't really draw much, so I created some homemade stencils using old file folders, shapes from our Melissa and Doug shape sorter, and a box cutter/pair of scissors.  K and I drew some people and a house and wrote captions for them.  He has enjoyed doing this on his own for the past week. 

While we were drawing at the table, M was drew on some paper as he sat in his high chair.  He loves drawing.

K and G also did a fun sunscreen activity with construction paper.  After watching an episode of Sid the Science Kid where they talk about the sun and why we need to wear sunscreen, we put sunscreen on our construction paper and set it out in the sun for a while to see if how the sunscreen "protected" the paper and briefly talked about how sunscreen does this for our skin (just like the characters did in the episode).  It was quick and easy, and we got a little science in (yay!).

K, G, and M enjoyed  some time outside at our book picnic (I talk more about this here).

We spent some time at the park, some time with friends, and enjoyed the library too.  All in all, a great week with the chickadees!

Excavating Buried Treasure

I actually originally got the idea for the excavating adventure from Chasing Cheerios a couple of months ago, but the idea came up again as the chickadees and I were watching an episode of the Sid the Science Kid, which addressed reversible change.  I decided to put the activity together right then, and the kids were really excited.  K kept asking me if the water had frozen every five minutes it seemed.  This was super easy to put together, and of course, the kids enjoy any activity where they are free to play with water. I simply filled a plastic bowl about three quarters full with water and put small toys, letter magnets, and other knick knacks in the bowl.  The first time the ice didn't freeze as hard as I wanted since we put the bowl in the freezer a little before lunch and took it out shortly after everyone woke up.  The items we used to break through the ice were warm water, salt, and butter knives, our version of ice picks. For me, this is definitely an outdoor activity =). 

Let the fun begin!

After we finished excavating the items, I brought out some extra cups and bowls and let them have fun with the water on the deck. 

It's all water play now

When K and G were done with their water play, I put the bowl and the items back into the freezer, and my husband and K had fun excavating again the next morning while I slept in (thankful to my honey for that). I am sure this time the ice was a bit more difficult to get through.