Thursday, December 29, 2011
Cement
Today at Mud Pies and Butterflies we learned about cement. The kids (and parents) got to learn how to mix cement and how to make it the right consistency to make a hand print in. We learned about why it's important to make cement rough for sidewalks so they are not slippery when wet and this evolved into a conversation about what makes a house structure sound in an earthquake. Each child got a box of wet cement with which to make a hand print and decorate with shells, stones, or beads. The photo of Nora Lee's hand print did not turn out very well, but the hand print itself did. I was particularly tickled since today is Nora Lee's 5th birthday. It seemed special to mark this day with a print of her sweet hand.
Christmas
Cookies for Santa along with a painted snowflake that Nora Lee made for Santa because "Why does Santa give all the presents and never get any?"
Our tree after Santa came!
Nora Lee enjoys the contents of her stocking
Each of us received a recorder in our stockings
Holiday Park Day
Last week at Mud Pies and Butterflies, which is the Thursday afternoon park day we attend, we talked about different holiday traditions. Jessica told a story about Kwanzaa and the kids acted it out. Jessica and her family made a traditional danish cookie- cake and decorated it with flags from around the world as well as religious symbols.
I love that this boy showed up to park day in this yellow mustache. You may be thinking that he wore it to perform in the play, but no, he wore it because he wanted to. It was unrelated to anything else we were doing that day. It ended up being great for playing an old man in the kwanzaa play the kids did but he didn't bring it for that reason. I absolutely love that about homeschooling. Nora Lee gets to wear her high heeled cowgirl boots constantly and if she wants to show up in her bright pink cape, no problem, we don't have any rules about that. In fact, the more outrageous, the better.
This is the fabulous Jessica. She leads this park day and always plans an interesting educational theme and project for the kids.
I love that this boy showed up to park day in this yellow mustache. You may be thinking that he wore it to perform in the play, but no, he wore it because he wanted to. It was unrelated to anything else we were doing that day. It ended up being great for playing an old man in the kwanzaa play the kids did but he didn't bring it for that reason. I absolutely love that about homeschooling. Nora Lee gets to wear her high heeled cowgirl boots constantly and if she wants to show up in her bright pink cape, no problem, we don't have any rules about that. In fact, the more outrageous, the better.
This is the fabulous Jessica. She leads this park day and always plans an interesting educational theme and project for the kids.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Oh Robin!
A lot of transformation has been happening lately with Nora Lee. She is very interested in "growing up" and most of her imaginative play relates to getting married and having babies. It's so much so, that when I awoke her last week she groggily said to me with her eyes still closed, "Shh. My babies are coming out of my body right now." Later that same day, she acted out babies coming out from under her shirt and has been taking care of them. She has two, Pepa and Sleeping Beauty. She puts them down for naps, feeds them and takes them for strolls in our back yard to "give them fresh air and sunshine."
Nora Lee made Christmas gifts for each of her babies and put them in their stockings. This is her opening them on Christmas morning.
This is Nora Lee placing a crown on Pepa that she had made out of vines from the garden.
She has become enthralled with super heros, particularly Batman and Robin, and has been watching the 1966 Batman TV show. Immediately after seeing the show she "fell in love with Robin." She would actually sit at the dining table with her head leaning on her hand, sigh, and say, "Oh Robin! I'm so in love with you!"
She asked me to help her throw a wedding reception for her and Robin. This included her sitting at the dining table with Robin and her wedding guests and having me bring out a menu, take their orders, and then bring their food. She happily ate the entire dinner alone at the table with her wedding party. After the meal, she requested fast dance music. I turned on the 50's Pandora station and Etta James' "At Last" came on! I told her that it was perfect for her first dance. She and Robin slow danced and then went off on their honeymoon.
The other night Nora Lee was in a panic. We had deleted the two Batman and Robin shows we had recorded and she explained that when she watched on TV it was happening "in real time" and "that's how I see what Robin is doing and that he is okay." This was an emergency. We got on amazon and Nora Lee used her allowance to buy the 1966 Batman movie instantly. She began watching the movie as Matt and I wrapped Christmas gifts in our bedroom. A few minutes into the film, we heard her run to her room and then run back into the living room. She had gotten two stones from her treasure chest and was rubbing them together (I learned later that this would allow her to talk to Robin). She was saying "Robin, you're in danger come back home immediately!" Intense.
As I think back to my childhood, I think I was starting to have crushes and these intense feelings about boys around age 5. As I chat with some of my girlfriends they remember the same thing. Its unexpected to me because it feels like it came on so quickly - as if all of a sudden this switch turned on. She still doesn't have any reference point for the complexity of relationships between men and women but it's fascinating to watch deep feelings come forward in her. I'm aware of not wanting to diminish the feelings or laugh at her (even though some of the stuff is hilarious to me) because it feels very real and important to her. Fascinating.
The Robin doll Santa brought Nora Lee.
After I showed her how to spell "Batman and Robin" she remembered and spelled this herself on the fridge.
Nora Lee made Christmas gifts for each of her babies and put them in their stockings. This is her opening them on Christmas morning.
This is Nora Lee placing a crown on Pepa that she had made out of vines from the garden.
She has become enthralled with super heros, particularly Batman and Robin, and has been watching the 1966 Batman TV show. Immediately after seeing the show she "fell in love with Robin." She would actually sit at the dining table with her head leaning on her hand, sigh, and say, "Oh Robin! I'm so in love with you!"
She asked me to help her throw a wedding reception for her and Robin. This included her sitting at the dining table with Robin and her wedding guests and having me bring out a menu, take their orders, and then bring their food. She happily ate the entire dinner alone at the table with her wedding party. After the meal, she requested fast dance music. I turned on the 50's Pandora station and Etta James' "At Last" came on! I told her that it was perfect for her first dance. She and Robin slow danced and then went off on their honeymoon.
The other night Nora Lee was in a panic. We had deleted the two Batman and Robin shows we had recorded and she explained that when she watched on TV it was happening "in real time" and "that's how I see what Robin is doing and that he is okay." This was an emergency. We got on amazon and Nora Lee used her allowance to buy the 1966 Batman movie instantly. She began watching the movie as Matt and I wrapped Christmas gifts in our bedroom. A few minutes into the film, we heard her run to her room and then run back into the living room. She had gotten two stones from her treasure chest and was rubbing them together (I learned later that this would allow her to talk to Robin). She was saying "Robin, you're in danger come back home immediately!" Intense.
As I think back to my childhood, I think I was starting to have crushes and these intense feelings about boys around age 5. As I chat with some of my girlfriends they remember the same thing. Its unexpected to me because it feels like it came on so quickly - as if all of a sudden this switch turned on. She still doesn't have any reference point for the complexity of relationships between men and women but it's fascinating to watch deep feelings come forward in her. I'm aware of not wanting to diminish the feelings or laugh at her (even though some of the stuff is hilarious to me) because it feels very real and important to her. Fascinating.
The Robin doll Santa brought Nora Lee.
After I showed her how to spell "Batman and Robin" she remembered and spelled this herself on the fridge.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Art
Nora Lee has been spending a lot of time drawing all of a sudden. As of last week she began spending hours and hours in her room listening to books on CD and drawing. The first day she listened to the entire novel of The Wizard of Oz and got about halfway through again the next day. I immediately went to the library to stock up! She is currently listening to the Little House in the Big Woods series, the Charlie Bone series, and Charlotte's Web.
Many of her pictures are of people with long dresses and lots of circles or shapes on the dress. This picture reminded Matt of a Gustav Klimt piece.
Wonder Woman
Many of her pictures are of people with long dresses and lots of circles or shapes on the dress. This picture reminded Matt of a Gustav Klimt piece.
Wonder Woman
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Potions
Last night Nora Lee was having trouble falling asleep because she was afraid. At one point she began crying and calling for me after being positive that one of her dolls was turning its head and staring at her again and again. She told me that she asked the doll to stop and it wouldn't. She said she wanted to remove her imagination and asked if we could please do a spell. I told her we could do some magic in the morning that would keep the good parts of her imagination and get rid of the bad parts. I removed the doll from her room and comforted her back to sleep.
This morning she got up and put on her witch attire. She happily did her spells and in the process, accidentally dyed her hands bright pink. I suspect it will take days for her hands to return to a normal color.
This morning she got up and put on her witch attire. She happily did her spells and in the process, accidentally dyed her hands bright pink. I suspect it will take days for her hands to return to a normal color.
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