Our most recent read-aloud was The Boxcar Children, and we all look forward to continuing with this series. The boys have continued to incorporate the children and their adventures into their daily play. After finishing the book, we decided to make a stew for dinner, just as the children had made while living in the woods.
Although we used potatoes in place of turnips and added some rosemary and pepper to ours (and cooked it on the stove rather than over a fire pit in the middle of the forest!), it was otherwise just as the book described. It was a great opportunity to practice some kitchen skills (peeling, dicing, stirring). We also baked some biscuits to go along with our meal.
* * *
"The girls were delighted with the meat and the little vegetables. With Henry's knife they cut the meat into little pieces. Then they filled the kettle with water from the fountain and put the meat into it, with a tin plate for a cover.
Jessie cut the tops off the vegetables and washed them in the brook.
'I'll put them in after the meat has cooked awhile," she said."
* * *
Boxcar Children Stew
Ingredients:
Olive oil
2 lbs beef chunks
1 onion, diced
2 cups beef broth
2 cups water
rosemary
pepper
salt
1/4 cup flour
4 potatoes, diced
5 carrots, chunked
Directions:
Warm some olive oil over medium heat in a dutch oven or large stockpot. Cook the beef chunks and diced onion until browned. Add the beef broth, water, flour, and spices. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for one hour.
Add the potatoes and carrots. Simmer for another hour.
Serve and enjoy!
_____________________
Language Arts: Reading and Viewing, Speaking and Listening
Fine Arts: Dramatization
Health: Nutrition
Showing posts with label language arts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label language arts. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Storytelling
Part of our bedtime ritual for the past year has involved some form of spontaneous storytelling. Currently, our stories of choice are "bad day stories", during which we make up a fantastical bad day - aliens, monsters, dinosaurs, natural disasters, and so on. Following is a transcription of one of the boy's recent bad day stories:
I woke up in the middle of the night and heard tiny little footsteps. I opened my eyes and I saw a tiny little monster. It looked like it had wings and it was black. And it looked like it had wings like a bird. And then when it came up to me, it was [sister]! She was dressed up in a costume of a monster in the middle of the night, and I said, "[sister], why are you awake in a costume of a bird monster, awake in the middle of the night?" And then I said, "[sister], go back to bed," and she stayed awake all night long and I keeped seeing her. And one time I saw a big blue monster and when it came close, it was actually [brother] in blue pajamas. And then I looked out and I saw some real monsters, and [sister and brother] keeped saying, "there's monsters out there!" and then I was scared so I counted one, two, three, and I went into the hallway and jumped on them and then they ran away into the front door and fell down. The end.
_____________________
Fine Arts: Drama
Language Arts: Speaking and Listening
I woke up in the middle of the night and heard tiny little footsteps. I opened my eyes and I saw a tiny little monster. It looked like it had wings and it was black. And it looked like it had wings like a bird. And then when it came up to me, it was [sister]! She was dressed up in a costume of a monster in the middle of the night, and I said, "[sister], why are you awake in a costume of a bird monster, awake in the middle of the night?" And then I said, "[sister], go back to bed," and she stayed awake all night long and I keeped seeing her. And one time I saw a big blue monster and when it came close, it was actually [brother] in blue pajamas. And then I looked out and I saw some real monsters, and [sister and brother] keeped saying, "there's monsters out there!" and then I was scared so I counted one, two, three, and I went into the hallway and jumped on them and then they ran away into the front door and fell down. The end.
_____________________
Fine Arts: Drama
Language Arts: Speaking and Listening
Friday, October 26, 2012
H_ngm_n
We went out to eat last week, a rare treat, and the boys were given magna doodles to play with while we waited for our food (thank you, child-friendly food establishment!). The boy wanted me to draw something, so I drew a pole, a few blank lines, and introduced him to the exciting game of hangman. It immediately became one of his favourite games, right up there with Uno and Lego Creationary.
Gotta love the classics!
_____________________
Language Arts: Reading, writing
Gotta love the classics!
His word was Fatburger. Don't judge. Their food is yummy.
_____________________
Language Arts: Reading, writing
Thursday, October 18, 2012
He's reading!
I'm sitting here at my computer, resting after a long day. The baby is sleeping on my lap and the boys are playing happily together. Soon we'll have supper but right now it's quiet.
And then - and then! - I hear a familiar sound. It's the sound of the boy carefully sounding words out. I look over and there he is, reading a book out loud to his little brother!
I love it.
And now he's done, back to his Lego. I'm so glad I caught that small moment, and I look forward to witnessing more of them as his reading skills continue to grow.
_____________________
Language Arts: Reading
And then - and then! - I hear a familiar sound. It's the sound of the boy carefully sounding words out. I look over and there he is, reading a book out loud to his little brother!
I love it.
And now he's done, back to his Lego. I'm so glad I caught that small moment, and I look forward to witnessing more of them as his reading skills continue to grow.
_____________________
Language Arts: Reading
Monday, October 15, 2012
Enunciation
"How do you spell _____?" has become one of the boy's most commonly asked questions as of late. He generally attempts it first and then asks me for confirmation. If he's incorrect or if he hasn't yet attempted it, I guide him through the sounds to help him figure it out himself. In this way, spelling rules are gradually introduced as examples present themselves.
An interesting challenge has recently arisen with the boy's attempts at spelling. Because of his age-appropriate and yet incorrect pronunciation of certain sounds, he spells the words as they sound to his ears. When he asks if he has spelled it right, I enunciate the word correctly so he can hear the sounds. Only he doesn't believe me!
The first such controversial word was "truck". He had spelled it "chuc", which is phonetically correct according to his pronunciation. Somehow when he says it aloud, the difference isn't glaringly obvious, but a closer listen reveals that he does indeed replace the "tr" sound with "ch".
A similar conversation took place regarding the word "thing", which he pronounces as "sing". Again, it was a challenge for him to adjust his idea of the correct pronunciation of this word. This issue has led to interesting discussions on the concept of speaking clearly, the challenges of spelling words when they aren't pronounced correctly, and whether or not mom does in fact know how to spell.
The "tr" versus "ch" pronunciation came up again after he drew and labelled a picture of tarantulas ("chachalas"). I was impressed that he had tackled that word on his own. After telling him so, however, he asked if he had spelled it correctly. I told him it was close but the "ch" sound was actually "tar". Again, he had difficulty hearing the difference and remained convinced that he was indeed pronouncing it correctly.
I know the issue will resolve itself in time, as his speech sound acquisition progresses. In the meantime, it makes for a good reinforcement of careful enunciation as well as an interesting presentation of the challenges of phonetic spelling when speech sounds have not yet been fully acquired.
_____________________
Language Arts: Reading & Viewing, Writing & Representing, Speaking & Listening
An interesting challenge has recently arisen with the boy's attempts at spelling. Because of his age-appropriate and yet incorrect pronunciation of certain sounds, he spells the words as they sound to his ears. When he asks if he has spelled it right, I enunciate the word correctly so he can hear the sounds. Only he doesn't believe me!
The first such controversial word was "truck". He had spelled it "chuc", which is phonetically correct according to his pronunciation. Somehow when he says it aloud, the difference isn't glaringly obvious, but a closer listen reveals that he does indeed replace the "tr" sound with "ch".
A similar conversation took place regarding the word "thing", which he pronounces as "sing". Again, it was a challenge for him to adjust his idea of the correct pronunciation of this word. This issue has led to interesting discussions on the concept of speaking clearly, the challenges of spelling words when they aren't pronounced correctly, and whether or not mom does in fact know how to spell.
The "tr" versus "ch" pronunciation came up again after he drew and labelled a picture of tarantulas ("chachalas"). I was impressed that he had tackled that word on his own. After telling him so, however, he asked if he had spelled it correctly. I told him it was close but the "ch" sound was actually "tar". Again, he had difficulty hearing the difference and remained convinced that he was indeed pronouncing it correctly.
I know the issue will resolve itself in time, as his speech sound acquisition progresses. In the meantime, it makes for a good reinforcement of careful enunciation as well as an interesting presentation of the challenges of phonetic spelling when speech sounds have not yet been fully acquired.
_____________________
Language Arts: Reading & Viewing, Writing & Representing, Speaking & Listening
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Incorporating literature into imaginary play
The boys' bedtime story this summer was The Hobbit, which both of them enjoyed very much. (Thanks to The Hobbit, the word "thief" was introduced into their vocabulary, and has since become the go-to word for someone they're very angry with. Better than some of the alternatives, right?)
After The Hobbit, they began the Narnia series. So far they have completed The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, followed by The Magician's Nephew, and are now working their way through The Horse and His Boy.
It has been particularly interesting to watch the boys incorporate the characters from these stories into their imaginative play. Queen Jadis (from Narnia) and Bilbo (from The Hobbit) are the most common characters used, while several others make occasional appearances.
The boys spent this afternoon outside, building an elaborate fort and then using it as their house for their imagined family. The boy was "Rose" from the book "The Golly Sisters Go West", while the toddler was "Primrose" from another recent favourite, "The Complete Brambly Hedge" (this beautiful book is currently ours on loan from the library, but will likely be purchased to become part of our own library to be read over and over).
We'll see what characters make imaginary appearances next!
_____________________
Fine Arts: Drama
Language Arts: Reading & Viewing, Speaking & Listening
After The Hobbit, they began the Narnia series. So far they have completed The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, followed by The Magician's Nephew, and are now working their way through The Horse and His Boy.
It has been particularly interesting to watch the boys incorporate the characters from these stories into their imaginative play. Queen Jadis (from Narnia) and Bilbo (from The Hobbit) are the most common characters used, while several others make occasional appearances.
The boys spent this afternoon outside, building an elaborate fort and then using it as their house for their imagined family. The boy was "Rose" from the book "The Golly Sisters Go West", while the toddler was "Primrose" from another recent favourite, "The Complete Brambly Hedge" (this beautiful book is currently ours on loan from the library, but will likely be purchased to become part of our own library to be read over and over).
We'll see what characters make imaginary appearances next!
_____________________
Fine Arts: Drama
Language Arts: Reading & Viewing, Speaking & Listening
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Recent drawings
The boy spends hours each day with his crayons, scissors, tape, and paper. He says glue takes too long to dry, but he loves the mini-stapler that I bought for him after he kept borrowing mine. He enjoys his smelly markers (Mr. Sketch) and my highlighters. In short, this guy loves his paper crafts.
I was amused by this recent creation, where he combined tape and crayons to make a stand for a dump truck he had drawn. How innovative of him!
He loves Magic School Bus books. I'm quite fond of the old-style ones myself, while the new ones seem to be lacking a certain depth that the original ones had. Despite my feelings for the newer ones, several have made their way into our library, including one on bats. It was from that book that this drawing was inspired.
Although we have done leaf rubbings and coin rubbings in the past, the boy was excited to discover that the same idea worked with stickers. These shapes were created by colouring over stickers placed under the paper; the outlines were impressively clear.
This little zebra is my personal favourite. He's in a cage in a (well-labelled) zoo. On the right-hand side, you can see the boy's initial attempt at spelling "zebra". After asking me if he had spelled it right, I helped him sound it out slowly so that he could determine the correct letters. He was able to figure it out without difficulty and wrote it at the bottom of the page.
The boy has several similar versions of this self-invented doorknob hanger, most of them hanging together on his bedroom door. I love the line of cheering people on the basketball side, and I was pleased to see the 'J' in his name facing the correct way on the soccer side. He usually draws it backwards, so it was good to see self-correction in action.
Other current favoured drawings right now include dinosaurs, construction vehicles, trains, houses, and birds.
_____________________
Language Arts: Writing
Fine Arts: Visual arts
I was amused by this recent creation, where he combined tape and crayons to make a stand for a dump truck he had drawn. How innovative of him!
He loves Magic School Bus books. I'm quite fond of the old-style ones myself, while the new ones seem to be lacking a certain depth that the original ones had. Despite my feelings for the newer ones, several have made their way into our library, including one on bats. It was from that book that this drawing was inspired.
Although we have done leaf rubbings and coin rubbings in the past, the boy was excited to discover that the same idea worked with stickers. These shapes were created by colouring over stickers placed under the paper; the outlines were impressively clear.
This little zebra is my personal favourite. He's in a cage in a (well-labelled) zoo. On the right-hand side, you can see the boy's initial attempt at spelling "zebra". After asking me if he had spelled it right, I helped him sound it out slowly so that he could determine the correct letters. He was able to figure it out without difficulty and wrote it at the bottom of the page.
The boy has several similar versions of this self-invented doorknob hanger, most of them hanging together on his bedroom door. I love the line of cheering people on the basketball side, and I was pleased to see the 'J' in his name facing the correct way on the soccer side. He usually draws it backwards, so it was good to see self-correction in action.
Other current favoured drawings right now include dinosaurs, construction vehicles, trains, houses, and birds.
_____________________
Language Arts: Writing
Fine Arts: Visual arts
Friday, October 5, 2012
Letters everywhere
The boy's list of sight words is rapidly growing, and his ability to sound out words is improving daily as well.
At home, he uses letter magnets to make words on the fridge. He also labels many of his drawings and frequently comes to ask me if he's spelled a word correctly.
As we drive, he reads street signs, billboards, and words on stores and vehicles. Sometimes he sounds them out himself, while other times he asks me what (for example) "T-R-A-N-S-I-T" says.
Because he doesn't yet have the ease of reading nor the stamina for reading long portions at once, we take turns when we're reading early reader books (Dr. Seuss books are a favourite of ours for this alternating-pages style of reading).
During a playtime with some friends, he spent some time with one of his friend's mom doing a reading and writing game. I love that everyone we meet has that potential to be a teacher-figure in our lives, whether by introducing us to new games, discussing new ideas, facilitating a learning experience, or sharing a skill!
_____________________
Language Arts: Reading, writing
At home, he uses letter magnets to make words on the fridge. He also labels many of his drawings and frequently comes to ask me if he's spelled a word correctly.
Some of the boy's current fridge-words.
As we drive, he reads street signs, billboards, and words on stores and vehicles. Sometimes he sounds them out himself, while other times he asks me what (for example) "T-R-A-N-S-I-T" says.
Because he doesn't yet have the ease of reading nor the stamina for reading long portions at once, we take turns when we're reading early reader books (Dr. Seuss books are a favourite of ours for this alternating-pages style of reading).
During a playtime with some friends, he spent some time with one of his friend's mom doing a reading and writing game. I love that everyone we meet has that potential to be a teacher-figure in our lives, whether by introducing us to new games, discussing new ideas, facilitating a learning experience, or sharing a skill!
_____________________
Language Arts: Reading, writing
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Thank you, Oma!
The boys' Opa brought them some stickers and a letter from their Oma on a recent trip to the city. They were very excited and immediately began creating pictures with the stickers.
Today the boy came to me and asked how to spell "Oma" and "stickers". He wanted to write a thank you letter to his Oma. I helped him figure out how to spell the words, and he took on the rest of the project himself.
He then asked me for an envelope. After finding one that fit his letter, he addressed the envelope with a very large "TO OMA FROM JACOB", then brought it to me and asked me to write the rest of the mailing address on it for him. With the address now complete, he went to the drawer, found a stamp, and stuck it on the corner. Then he placed the envelope on the front table and asked us to mail it for him, which we did soon after.
(Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of this one!)
_____________________
Language Arts: Writing
Today the boy came to me and asked how to spell "Oma" and "stickers". He wanted to write a thank you letter to his Oma. I helped him figure out how to spell the words, and he took on the rest of the project himself.
He then asked me for an envelope. After finding one that fit his letter, he addressed the envelope with a very large "TO OMA FROM JACOB", then brought it to me and asked me to write the rest of the mailing address on it for him. With the address now complete, he went to the drawer, found a stamp, and stuck it on the corner. Then he placed the envelope on the front table and asked us to mail it for him, which we did soon after.
(Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of this one!)
_____________________
Language Arts: Writing
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Crumbled leaf tree craft
Welcome, Autumn!
Part of our First Day of Fall celebration included a crumbled leaf craft, taking advantage of the many dead leaves in our front yard.
Supplies:
1 sheet of construction paper, brown
1 sheet of construction paper, any colour
Pencil
Scissors
Glue
Dry leaves
Markers (optional)
Stickers (optional)
Directions:
Draw a tree on the brown construction paper. Cut it out.
(Because I was doing this activity with multiple children, including toddlers, I cut out the trees myself in one stacked go. Normally I'd have left it up to the boy to draw and cut out the tree himself.)
Glue the tree onto the second sheet of construction paper.
Crumble the dead leaves. (This part is absolutely thrilling when you're five, by the way.)
Put glue onto the tree branches. Sprinkle the leaf crumbs onto the glue; shake off the excess. Repeat until the tree is sufficiently covered.
Optional: Decorate with markers and/or stickers. (The boy carefully sounded out each and every sticker as he placed it on his paper; great life-based child-led reading practice!)
Voilà! Tree complete.
(Thank you, Pinterest, for the inspiration!)
_____________________
Fine Arts: Visual arts (mixed media, artistic design)
Language Arts: Reading
Part of our First Day of Fall celebration included a crumbled leaf craft, taking advantage of the many dead leaves in our front yard.
Supplies:
1 sheet of construction paper, brown
1 sheet of construction paper, any colour
Pencil
Scissors
Glue
Dry leaves
Markers (optional)
Stickers (optional)
Directions:
Draw a tree on the brown construction paper. Cut it out.
(Because I was doing this activity with multiple children, including toddlers, I cut out the trees myself in one stacked go. Normally I'd have left it up to the boy to draw and cut out the tree himself.)
Glue the tree onto the second sheet of construction paper.
Crumble the dead leaves. (This part is absolutely thrilling when you're five, by the way.)
Put glue onto the tree branches. Sprinkle the leaf crumbs onto the glue; shake off the excess. Repeat until the tree is sufficiently covered.
Optional: Decorate with markers and/or stickers. (The boy carefully sounded out each and every sticker as he placed it on his paper; great life-based child-led reading practice!)
Voilà! Tree complete.
(Thank you, Pinterest, for the inspiration!)
_____________________
Fine Arts: Visual arts (mixed media, artistic design)
Language Arts: Reading
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Reading milestone!
Today the boy read his first book, front to back, since completing Set 1 of the Bob Books.
He read a Thomas & Friends Step 1 reader, Stuck in the Mud.
Congratulations to him!
_____________________
Language Arts: Reading
He read a Thomas & Friends Step 1 reader, Stuck in the Mud.
Congratulations to him!
_____________________
Language Arts: Reading
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Thank you dahlia
The boy recently expressed his love of a friend's dahlias. She was kind enough to give the boy one of his own to take home, a lovely small red one.
After putting it in a jar of water, the boy sat down to draw a thank you picture. He carefully drew a picture of the flower in the jar, even including the "Happy Easter" sticker that was on it from a few months ago. He wrote a short thank you message and put it away for safekeeping until the next time we would see her. He then asked me to write it down somewhere so we wouldn't forget.
Today we were headed her way, so we brought the picture along. He gave it to her and told her what it was for, and she was pleased to receive it.
(Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of this one!)
_____________________
Language Arts: Writing
Fine Arts: Visual arts
After putting it in a jar of water, the boy sat down to draw a thank you picture. He carefully drew a picture of the flower in the jar, even including the "Happy Easter" sticker that was on it from a few months ago. He wrote a short thank you message and put it away for safekeeping until the next time we would see her. He then asked me to write it down somewhere so we wouldn't forget.
Today we were headed her way, so we brought the picture along. He gave it to her and told her what it was for, and she was pleased to receive it.
(Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of this one!)
_____________________
Language Arts: Writing
Fine Arts: Visual arts
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)