An acrostic poem is the kind of poem that looks like this: Piecing words together On paper like this Emits a certain Memory Well, that’s just the first thing that came to mind. Do you get what it is now, though? Acrostic is not often used as high literature, but it is a fun way to help kids write poetry. We use The Good and the Beautiful language arts, level 2. It’s good. It’s beautiful. It’s free. It’s absolutely sufficient…
I know this is just a piece of torn notebook paper. I know the tape is rough and the leaves will turn. But my boy made this. After breakfast, I had -lovingly- shoved my noisy kids outside. They were too harsh for the walls of our home so I sent them where there are no walls.– Where they can run and jump and raise their voices. Where birds chirp quietly and bugs crawl under our feet. Where wild things live unseen….
When I started reading The Little Prince to my boys, I was optimistic. We had already read The Mouse and the Motorcycle, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Peter Pan (adapted versions of the latter two). But my kids didn’t care about The Little Prince. Was it too much philosophy? Too much beautiful language? Too little action? The Little Prince is one of those books that I could read in one day, one of the few books that I have read in one…
Lately, the reality of home school has set in for me. And before we go any further, let me remind you that my oldest child is only just now in kindergarten. We are using Saxon Math along with Easy Peasy All-In-One Homeschool (Getting Ready and Math 1). We are taking a relaxed approach because we have two younger children in the mix and, while my kindergartner could probably do math and reading all day long, I can’t keep the younger two engaged…
**I admit that this is a little different from the usual Fun With Food posts, but stay with me. I promise this fits. This morning’s Fun With Food brings us to a game that is dear to my heart. One that I have racked hours playing, in various scenarios, with all kind of friends and family. Yet my first love for this game is centered around my grandmother’s giant oval table, in her ancient dining room with a tall grandfather clock that…
When it comes to teaching small children, I think the key is finding something you love, something that they love, something that is fun and also full of learning opportunities. Enter, Scrabble! It’s not easy, but Scrabble offers so much for children: word building counting adding the concept of double and triple the respect for rules and taking turns the ability to wait celebrating each other’s victories the art of observation (you have to pay attention to double/triple word/letter) Tips…
First, you must know that Twizzlers do not show up on our table very often. I have never been the kind of person who buys candy or desserts of any kind. Except when I’m pregnant… then I’ve been known to purchase 5 cartons of ice cream at once to fulfill a lingering craving. (It seems that taking advantage of a “Buy 2 Get 3 Free” sale saves some money by preventing me from going to the ice cream shop twice a…
I have two boys and one baby girl. She’s not actually a baby, but she is the youngest and we still call her baby. She is actually a feisty 18 months. A toddler. A young woman, if you will. A sister who is always looking for a place among the boys, a place where she can build and play catch, where she can run around with one hand raised, ready to destroy anything that gets in her pretty little way….
Do you ever feel so angry that you do something you later regret? Yeah. Me too. Ever with your kids? Yeah. Me too. Actually, most people who know me probably don’t think I ever get angry. That’s because if I’m ever angry I’m probably the only adult around. I’m probably standing right over my kids wondering why they are still fighting, still yelling at each other, still pinching and pushing and taking things from each other. It makes me angry when my…
Here’s how it starts: you have one child who is lovely and amazing and he plays well on his own and he gives you hugs and kisess all the time and he sleeps until 9:00 every morning. Then you decide to have a second child. The second one never sleeps and mostly just cries and when he finally gets over crying all the time, he starts to take things from his brother. That’s your firstborn. You love both of these children…