At times over the last few months, circle time has seemed like a burden or something to get through instead of a pleasurable way to get in some of the extras. Consequently, I dropped circle time a few weeks ago. With the holidays approaching and our current loop of Tomatis, I really thought getting school in would be very difficult. However, I found that adding back in circle time helped me so much these last two weeks. With just 30 to 50 minutes of effort, we have accomplished a lot of school. I made a circle time shelf with everything we planned on learning each morning, and then we just naturally flowed into it after breakfast.
On the left of the first photo, we have audio books, so we can listen to Christmas stories during breakfast. Then we do our calendar skills, look at a famous work of art, which this month is a different picture of Mother Mary and baby Jesus each week. We then review our Spanish words for the month and work on narration skills by reviewing the Christmas story. Lastly, we do our math worksheet. This is working out great! The rest of the day has been "school lite" with just reading lessons and a craft in the afternoon. We then do our Advent story and activity with Daddy at night. The basics are still happening and a little bit of extras happen, too. I feel like we are sticking with school but without a lot of pressure. They are getting tons of life lessons (shopping, charity work, working on Christmas cards, preparing the home for Christmas, weeding out old toys to make room for new, baking, and of course, two hours of intensive auditory and occupational therapy each day for two of the little ones). The big teen has managed to stick with his studies for the most part, too, despite doing Tomatis each day. We have one more week of school and then about a 2 week break.So what's working for you during this busy season?To see more great Show and Tells, go see Mary.Blessings, Dawn
Her Cup Overfloweth is hosting Muffin Tin Monday. The theme this week is Christmas Literature.
This is our first Muffin Tin Monday lunch and the kids loved it. We read the book, Grandfather's Christmas Camp, by Mark McCutcheon.
This is a sweet story about a 3 legged dog who goes missing on Christmas Eve in the mountains. Grandfather decides he must go find him and his granddaughter goes along. They end up camping out on Christmas Eve and finding their dog Christmas morning. For our meal, we had camping food.
We had pickles, hot chocolate, raisins and nuts, baked beans, hot dogs, and saltine crackers.
What a fun way to have lunch!
Blessings, Dawn
It is time for another Show and Tell Friday with Canadagirl.We picked out, bought and put up our tree last weekend. I love the smell of a fresh cut tree. A few years ago when I was brave enough to put ornaments back on the tree (those toddlers sure are dangerous on ornaments, huh?), I decided that I would like a semi-themed tree. So we decided to go with "white, snowman, snowflake, and pictures of the kids". Of course, A few heirlooms have slipped in. Since I make a real effort to not buy from China, a lot of the ornaments are homemade. We especially like making borax crystals. We have made hearts, snow flakes and dangling crystals. Today we are going to make candy cane crystal ornaments.
Here is our Baby Jesus cradle. The kids made it, and each day my husband or I tell each child something we are pleased with them about and give them a ribbon "straw" to put into the cradle. On Christmas morning, the ribbons will cushion our baby Jesus doll. Then the ribbons will be counted up, traded in for money, and given to the kids' chosen out-of-town charity.
I took the tree trimmings and made a swag for the front door. It is very simple, but I like it and it was free.
For our first week of Advent, the kids loved opening a Christmas book each night. We did a very small activity each night to go with the books. For instance, when we did Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett we had gingerbread cake during the story. Another night we gathered all of the dog's stuffed animals in the house to listen to The Dog Who Found Christmas by Linda Jennings. The first night of Advent, we read The Biggest Snowman Ever and decorated the house with our snowman collection. Tonight they get to open The Legend of the Candy Cane and have candy canes while Daddy reads.
Go see Mary for more great Show and Tells.
Blessings, Dawn
We hope to do a charity each week in December. We started the last week of November with giving a bag of food to the food bank Christmas drive.This week the kids and I decided to buy diapers, wipies and a Cabbage Patch doll for a teen parenting program called Mother Love based at our local YWCA. This program helps teen mothers stay in school and learn how to juggle parenting, work, and finish school. For anyone who may be shaking their heads at this being our chosen charity because they think I am advocating teenage pregnancy, I am not. I feel silly even mentioning this, but I have encountered so many Christians who say they are pro-life yet feel that supporting teen mothers in any way encourages them to have children out of wedlock. This is simply not the case. I know from personal experience that a helpful hand only enables the teen mother to climb out of her hole and be able to parent better and become independent. In everything I do, I try to ask, "What would Jesus do?". I feel that Jesus would forgive the young woman for her untimely pregnancy and thank her for giving the baby life. I think He would reach out and help her. Of course, adoption is a great option but not one that a teen mother often chooses. The third option is a horrible one and exactly what the professed pro-lifer is against.Anyhow~let me get off my soapbox. The kids decided on size two diapers because, as Little Red Ridinghood said, "12-18 pound babies are so adorable and chunky". They walked the gifts in, and we talked to the director about what possible things we could do in the future. I am not up to mentoring at this time but perhaps teaching a parenting class in the future or something else would be useful. The kids want to take diapers there again so we probably will. I am glad that they got another opportunity to feel that warm feeling of giving.
Blessings, Dawn
My bloggy friend kidcraze has tagged me for this fun thirty-two snippets about me:
Eight things I am looking foward to:- Going out to look at Christmas lights
- Our Special Needs Support Group Christmas party next weekend
- Getting all the gift packages out in the mail in the next few days
- Watching our Christmas book Advent unfold with the children
- Our first real snow (more than a dusting) for the year
- Making Christmas cookies with the kiddos
- Starting a yeast-free diet for my youngest son. OK, I am not looking forward to the diet, but I am looking forward to seeing him feel better day in and day out.
- This one is a ways off ~ seeing my oldest son graduate in the Spring
Eight things on my Wish List:- To see my oldest launch his career in his preferred field at the nature center here in town
- That my Goldilocks (7) will learn how to read
- That my Goldilocks will make it through this Christmas/birthday season without any major meltdowns or her causing days of total chaos
- That my Goldilocks will continue getting services to provide her mental health one-on-one worker. There is a serious threat that the services will be cut on December 11.
- That each of my children will continue to grow to be loving, giving, and caring people
- That my children will enjoy giving to others just as much as receiving during this giving season (so far, this is going well!)
- To get some deep pocket fitted sheets for dh and my bed
- A dry and sealed basement (without living through drought conditions
), as we are now in the third year of a 200 year drought
Eight TV shows I watch:- 15 to 20 minutes of "Good Morning America"
- "Sherlock Holmes" on PBS
- "Keeping Up Appearances" on PBS
Hmm...that about does it. If you count videos of old shows, I love to watch "The Cosby Show" and "The Waltons".
Eight things I did yesterday:- Took my kiddos to their most recent loop of Tomatis
- Almost finished Christmas shopping
- Opened our first Advent book, The Biggest Snowman Ever, and did a snowman craft
- Worked on lots of doctor paperwork for my oldest son
- Started organizing next year's calendar and setting up doctor appointments
- Did math under the table ~ just because it was fun and where the kids were
- Made a swag for the front door out of the Christmas tree cuttings
- Attended a doll tea party in Little Red Ridinghood's bed
I tag ~ anyone who wants to do this.
Blessings, Dawn
I got this great interview from Denise. I had to try it with my three youngest. I was amazed by how correct some of their answers were. I have to work on measurement, though ... hee hee hee.
Here are Little Red Ridinghood's (5) answers:
1. What is something Mom always says to you? do the dishes2. What makes Mom happy? kisses and hugs3. What makes Mom sad? when the computer is being difficult4. How does Mom make you laugh? when Mom makes funny faces5. What was Mom like as a child? a girl6. When is Mom's birthday? Can you give me a clue on this one?
7. How tall is Mom? 17 inches8. What is Mom's favorite thing to do? cook
9. What does Mom do when you're not around? sleep
10. If your Mom becomes famous, what will it be for? racing around11. What is Mom really good at? cooking12. What is Mom not very good at? catching and throwing (so true)
13. What does Mom do for a job? be a Mom (lots of giggles about my silly question)14. What is Mom's favorite food? salad
15. What makes you proud of Mom? she gives great hugs16. If Mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Martha the dog on "Martha Speaks"17. What do you and Mom do together? cook
18. How are you and Mom alike? our hair19. How are you and Mom different? I wear dresses all the time.20. How do you know Mommy loves you? She is nice to me.-----------Here are Goldilocks' (7) answers:
1. What is something Mom always says to you? in a minute...2. What makes Mom happy? when I am being good3. What makes Mom sad? when I get hurt4. How does Mom make you laugh? by tickling me5. What was Mom like as a child? She was like grandma. (!)6. When is Mom's birthday? Hmm. I don't know.7. How tall is Mom? 10 inches tall8. What is Mom's favorite thing to do? play with her kids9. What does Mom do when you are not around? clean the house10. If your Mom becomes famous, what will it be for? for loving her children11. What is Mom really good at? giving hugs12. What is Mom not very good at? putting on her snow pants13. What does Mom do for a job? take care of us14. What is Mom's favorite food? tea15. What makes you proud of Mom? She is really good at hugging.16. If Mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? a mommy on TV17. What do you and Mom do together? do the dishes18. How are you and Mom alike? We have long hair and wear bows.19. How are you and Mom different? I don't wear glasses.20. How do you know Mommy loves you? She takes care of me.-----------And last but not least, Tom Sawyer's answers:
1. What is something Mom always says to you? take your dishes to the sink2. What makes Mom happy? helping her clean3. What makes Mom sad? not helping her4. How does Mom make you laugh? by tickling me5. What was Mom like as a child? a kid6. When is Mom's birthday? I don't know7. How tall is Mom? 10 feet8. What is Mom's favorite thing to do? do art projects9. What does Mom do when you are not around? clean10. If your Mom becomes famous, what will it be for? making furniture (!)11. What is Mom really good at? reading12. What is Mom not very good at? being Martha Stewart13. What does Mom do for a job? teach Sunday school14. What is Mom's favorite food? tea15. What makes you proud of Mom? she helps us16. If Mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Helen's mother on "Martha Speaks"17. What do you and Mom do together? doing reading lessons18. How are you and Mom alike? We both like tea a lot.19. How are you and Mom different? I have blond hair and she doesn't.20. How do you know Mommy loves you? She does nice things for me and changes my bed in the middle of the night when I wet.
Blessings, Dawn
