One Day at a Time...: Best and Worst of Lesson 14

Happy Weekend Everyone!

We finished up Lesson 14 and I just wanted to give some overall feedback about the best and worst of this week.

First up are my thoughts on the benefit of playing with our kids.

I pray and hope that by having our ready made plans this week you have had more time to enjoy the moments that matter.

I recently read a post by a friend that realized the importance of playing with her kids. She spoke about how quickly their time will go and how much she wants to value their time at home. I instantly related thinking about all the times, my kids ask me, "Momma will you play with me?" In which, my busy momma voice tells me, "No, you don't have time for that." But the truth is, I just don't make that a priority because I feel like house and school call louder than them.

When Tony was 8 months old I met a women at a store and she told me how her kids were grown. They were all 17+ at that time, choosing careers and such.

She saw me exasperated with colicky baby, exhaustion and hurry in my eyes and she said, "I kept the cleanest house when they were young, now I only wish I would have cleaned less and spent more time with them." Those words stung me. Here I was worried about the day's tasks and less worried about my time with him. I prayed at that moment that I would always remember that woman and her random advise.

Then a few years later my amazing mentor/ best friend, Judy, sent me an article from Scientific American Mind. I've never laid hands on the actual magazine, but the words seemed so true for my own kids.

I paid attention again. It spoke about how "free play" helped develop an ability for our kids to get along, to problem solve, to think through obstacles. From that moment on, I vowed to allow them to make messes and play with all things.

I copied it in in case you want to read it. I don't agree wholeheartedly with all of it, but it does have some very interesting points on play.

Play Article

So here is what we did first thing Friday morning...

So my all time best thing I did with my kids this week? I spent Friday morning playing with them, enjoying the train tracks we made and was just blessed to home school so I could fit that in.

Thank you Lord for helping me realize this home school is more about hearing You than accomplishing my plans.

And yes, we did do our catch up stuff today which was all a part of Day 3 (Geography and Math).

First we made our measurement chart and talked about what things we measure with: cm, in, ft, and mi. I also drew out each one on the chart to show them how "1" of each is completely different. This is very important for the younger ones because they instantly equate quantity with value, ie: 6 cm is greater than 5 in. It was a great way for them to visualize the differences.

We then went through ads in the newspaper and cut out items that fell in each category. Here is a sheet I made for miles as it's difficult to find those in a newspaper ad.

Our chart and items that fell under each category. Notice the 1 ____ drawings I made of each. Great visual comparison because I saw Tony's brain click when we talked about the lines.

Onto our Geography card game.

This week we placed them in cups and on spoons. Then we talked about each one and looked at the map, matching it up to our globe and thinking about the picture.

We then mixed them up and he had to place them in the right cups again. Very simple, but very fun! For a free pdf download of my geography cards, click here.

He was so proud each time he was able to get them right.

I just love this guy!

Hint of the day: I placed rocks in them so the spoons stood straight up. See below.

And now for the drumroll please.....

The best thing we did this week was this Rock Candy Experiment! Look what we have growing in just four days! So much fun! If I did it over again I wouldn't add flavoring- it taste too strong. But the growing crystals are really fun to watch.

I had it under my additional activities for Day 1, Lesson 14.

Here's his science journal. He drew a picture of Day 1, and Day 3 and will draw again on day 5 and 7.

The worst? You guessed it. The granite rock replica. I am proud to say this was not my idea. :) But regardless, I still thought it would be so much fun to make a replica of a countertop. Yeah well, I'd suggest skipping it and just going with the rock cooking recipe instead.

As for the next round of lessons, I'm going to do all the experiments before putting them in the plans. :) I know it's a no brainer. I plan to have them done by Saturday of next week. :) I will also take pictures and add them to the lesson plan files so you can see visual step by step instructions.

And one more great tip for the weekend, I had a reader post a great way to post the grammar work in the classroom.