A Hop, Skip and Jump

Part of our number lines.

Hayden is super into numbers and being a mathematician.   We are always talking about numbers and which ones are bigger and smaller.    Most recently he's wanted to practicing skip counting.   10's and 100's are some of his favorites.     And because my super active boy needs to be moving moving moving, we turned our back patio into giant number lines and practiced skip counting by racing around.

Jumping by 10's

Racing the 100's line.

Hayden was able to do most of the 10's number line verbally.  He picked the direction and location of each line.    When it came time to draw the 100's we had an awesome conversation about why the numbers needed to be further apart.   Far from the traditional straight number line of my classrooms, our 100's line will leave you a bit dizzy.

We had a ton of fun jumping, running, spinning and racing around the patio while shouting out the numbers on our line.   And at the end of it all, Hayden looks at me and says, "I love math!  I'm an excellent mathematician."   It makes my heart happy to see him loving to learn so much.

Lessons Learned from Soap Flake Slime (and more fun)!

Our soap flake slime sat around for a few days with it's lid on stewing away.   Then one particularly beautiful afternoon, the kind too nice to stay inside, we ventured out to the yard to see how the slimed turned out.    Lots of lessons learned on this afternoon, in addition to some fun:

Lesson 1:   The slime really did almost solidify.   The bubbly froth was no longer there, though it could be whipped back up if needed.   What was left was a true slime that just oozed in and out of everything that was played with it.    The kids and I had a ball trying to capture it into various containers and "build" things with it.

 My favorite treat of the afternoon was the slimy popsicle I was served up!

Lesson 2:  My dog likes the taste of soap flake slime.    As the kids flung it around the yard, she would rush to it to try and lick it up.    As I had visions of seeing the slime leaving my dog at a later date, I ran around chasing the flung slime too with a hose hoping to dissolve it away before the dog could get to it.  Yes, the mental picture in your head is probably hilariously close to the reality that was.

Lesson 3:  There is a reason the recipe recommended boiling water to dissolve the soap flakes.   As I was attempting to dissolve the soap slime in my yard, I quickly discovered that it took quite a lot of water and the most direct sprayer on my hose nozzle to actually get the slime to break apart and begin to dissolve.   I ended up pouring most of the bucket into my front yard where it was safe from our dog with the hopes that it would dissolve through lawn watering and due.   (It did not.  I ended up hosing it down pretty good a couple days later).    My words of advice for those of you sliming after me; go with the directions from the website Slime Recipe and don't take your slime outside.  Instead use it in small portions in your laundry.

Lesson 4:   Sadly slime will not be returning to our house.    After Day 1, Alice developed a rash on her back.   No other symptoms, and it really didn't seem to bother her.   Further investigation lead us to thinking it was mild hives.    After Part 2, she showed up with the same rash confirming my theory that she was allergic to the soap flakes.  BUMMER!   Turns out she has some of the same soap sensitivities her Momma had as a kiddo too.    So the soap flakes have moved onto our cousin's house where we hope they will have as much fun as we did.

I would highly recommend this activity as a great warm weather sensory play!  My kids loved it and it was so much fun watching them explore something new.

Soap Flake Slime

About 2 months ago a friend posted a really cool recipe to make soap flake slime.   I thought the kids would love it and promptly added it to our shopping list.    And for 2 months I looked for soap flakes in every store I went to.   Wouldn't you know it, in our convenience packed world soap flakes are a dying thing; replaced by pods and such.   I found them on Amazon but they were crazy expensive.    But just when I'd given up the search, another errand took us to Walmart.   And after a happenstance walk down the soap aisle just in case, we found them!

the elusive soap flakes

Well, you'd better believe we made soap flake slime as soon as we got home.   It's pretty easy.   Dissolve soap flakes into part boiling water with 1:3 ration. (Soap Flake Slime Recipe)    Beat with electric beaters until foamy on top and start to thicken.   I added a few extra flakes along the way to make it even slimier.   This kids had a ball watching the bubbles form little mountains.

After laying out all of my towels that needed to be washed and gathering any and all kitchen implements and measuring cups that looked like they could aide in the fun, I let the kids loose on the slime and watched them all smiles, messes and full of creativity over what to do with this new experience.

Exploring the Slime

It was everywhere!   But how cute is this photo!

As a bonus for Mommy, by using all of my towels that needed washing anyway, clean up for this activity was a breeze.    Soap kids got a middle of the day bath where they become the source of the bubbles, extending the fun as they watched bubbles form all around them.    While they had lunch and wound down for afternoon naps/chill out time, I mopped up all the soapy puddles with my towels, tossed them directly into the washing machine and crossed my days load of laundry off the list. 

 

And if you want the fun to continue for another day, simply put a lid on your soap flakes and leave them over night.   The directions I followed indicated that this would somewhat solidify the mixture and turn it into a more solid slimy mass.    And so we commenced phase 2 of our science experiment!

Time, Talent and Treasure

We've talked a lot in church, in our life group, and in our own home about giving God the best of our time, talent and treasures.   I love how God often uses my children to show me the lessons he wants me to know.

Last weekend, we bought Hayden a new Bible.   He had outgrown is toddler bible in his capacity to understand and when we saw this one we knew he would love it.  He's been carrying it around all week, asking for stories from it, and telling almost everyone he encounters how he got a new Bible.

This morning he asked to read the story of the Greedy Guy (Luke 12:13-21).  It's a story about sharing, which is fitting for a home with two small children.    Alice, Hayden and I sat and read the story together and talked about things we could share with God.   Then Hayden decided we should play the "Greedy Guy Game."

So we acted out the story several times, taking turns playing the roles of the guy and God, using treasure found within our playroom.    It lead to great discussion on what happens to all of our treasures once we are no longer on the Earth, and Mommy suggested an alternative ending for the Greedy Guy in which we imagined what would have happened if he had obeyed God and shared his treasures.   Needless to say, Mommy's happy ending did not appeal to the boisterous sense of my 4-year-old who preferred the action of dropping dead the very night when you choose not to share.

Even Alice got in on the fun, walking around calling a toy that had been basically cast aside in our play room a treasure.    And while Hayden and I were acting out the story, she picked up his Bible and flipped through other stories.

It's been so much fun, so much learning, and an incredible blessing to be given the gift of time so that I can take advantage of these precious learning situations.   Hayden has so many questions that could easily be brushed aside in the midst of the fullness of life so I'm learning to savor these quieter mornings and pour into both of the kids and answer their questions (often while praying for the answer) to the best of my ability as my children learn to the love the Lord and understand his role in their own little lives.  They are our greatest treasure and I am blessed that they are integral in shaping my own personal talents in raising them!

Super Powers!

So it's been hot out (which you already know if you've read that last post)!   And when you're cooped up inside you've got to get creative.    Hayden is way into super heroes and super powers.   And he's been showing a lot of interest in wanting to learn to read. (Proud Momma moment:  He can read 16 sight words on his own).

So what's a Mom to do when you're cooped up inside:  employ the super powers and turn it into a reading lesson!    See steps below for a super reading adventure.

1.  Don appropriate super hero attire.

2.  Show super hero how to spell words of various things around the house (i.e. wall, shower, oven, etc.)

3.  Send hero off into the house to place cards with words on said item.

4.  Smile proudly at your super hero!

Attempting to Beat the Heat.

My kids don't care that horses pee here!

We have had record breaking heat here in Southern California this week.   So if I didn't get the kids outside as early as possible we were trapped inside the house.   And those of you who have small children (or teach) know that kids being trapped inside can sometimes be a recipe for disaster.

Snack on the "big flat rocks"

Hayden has been asking to go for a hike so Tuesday morning I found a local hike and off we went as early as I could rally the troops.   It was hot at 8:00 in the morning when we arrived but we were loaded up with water and Rehydrate and didn't let that stop us from having an adventure.   Our original destination was an old 1900's water tower off a horse trail in Norco.    It looked like an easy hike with a cool destination, but also lots to see along the way  in case we never got to the end point.

Our new friend Cheryl!

Which we never did......

The trail is a horse trail that backs up to several horse properties in Norco and a local nursery.   We spent about an hour wandering about and observing all the animals in the backyards.   As we do, we also made a couple of friends.   Even though we never saw the water tower, we had a great time and both kids got to do a little impromptu horseback riding offered up by some super kind ladies who had a heart for children.   They were both in heaven!

Alice's first time on a horse.

The highlight for Mommy was Cheryl.   We had chatted with her on our way past her property and a bit later she was out riding her horse.   We were enjoying our snack on some large rocks and getting ready to head back to the car.  She had been worried about us out in the heat and came out on her horse to see if we needed any help.   My kids were over the moon to get the chance to ride back to our car on a horse.  It was such a blessing to have a total stranger care enough about us to take a moment out of her day and check on us.   

Once we made it home we took our hot sweaty selves out back to splash in the pool.   As Hayden has also been requesting glitter (Side note:  This Mommy hates glitter), I decided this was a good time to bust it out.   So we glittered, painted,  and splashed in the pool until we just couldn't take the heat any more.

Mom, I love Homeschool!

Today we embarked upon our journey into homeschooling.   I've been talking about it for the whole summer and as school was starting up all around me I decided it was time to put myself into action.   I've embraced this as a journey but the journey can only begin once I've started.

So today we officially began homeschooling and I am so glad that we did.   It didn't go according to my plan, but life rarely does.   A sick cat, and two trips to the vet kept it interesting, but made proceeded and were flexible.   After about an hour my 4 year old announced that he loved home school which made my heart sing because he has commented a bit over the last couple of months that he misses his old school (translation he misses his friends).   My commitment level went up to push through the tough days that will come and to celebrate the gains that will come and embrace the journey that God has let me on.

What did we get up to today, you ask?   Lots!    We started our school day with the obligatory first day of school photos.    It's pretty awesome when you can get the teacher and the whole class in a selfie!

My favorite learners!

The home school team!

We did the whole first day's lesson today minus the art activity I had selected.   While I would have loved to see my kids' depictions of their portraits, I was not going to push it.   Hayden is not a fan of fine motor writing activities and had already worked hard on writing his name and coloring some shapes with a proper pencil grasp.   His former preschool teacher would have been equally proud as Mommy!     Our activities included the Bible, Math, Language, God's world, Life Skills, PE, and a Memory verse.

Don't tell anyone, but Hayden had that verse memorized before Mommy!  Kids are so smart.   It was a highlight of my day having him proudly announce to his Daddy that he knew God's word and then quote the verse perfectly.   John 15:12 will forever hold a special meaning in my heart.

Here are a few pictures of our first day of learning together.   Hayden and I are having lots of fun taking pictures, and teaching him how to use the camera to capture these memories.   I want to take lots of pictures, but I also want to savor each and every moment of this precious gift I've been given to be home, so bear with me as the quantity of photos fluctuates.

Hayden's photo of his creation after studying God's creation of the world.  It's a Lego spaceship.

Mommy's smile was as big as his.  So proud of this boy.

 After reading God's story of creation, we squished into our coat closet and talked about how the world started as darkness and nothing and then God created light.   Hayden rushed out of the closet to get this shirt that glows in the dark so that he could create light in the darkness too. 

Alice created too.  A crab was her favorite creation today!

Hard at work! (Math/Reading)

Check out those "crabby claws."

If you know Hayden in the least, sitting down and working is not an area of strength.   He sat for nearly 20 minutes working on coloring these shapes.   We talked about the color words to help him color them correctly and focused on working on his pencil grasp.  He still prefers to palm writing utensils.   My dear friend Erika (an OT) recommended using broken crayons to help teach this and it's done wonders for Hayden's confidence in this area.

Stay tuned for more fun to come!    This homeschooling Momma is going to settle in for the night and share more details of our adventures with hubby!    Looking forward to more learning tomorrow.

Twas the Night Before the First Day of Home School.........

Tomorrow begins our adventure as a homeschooling family!   For the most part I'm extremely excited about this new adventure and extremely thankful and blessed that God has provided a way for us to even think about embarking upon it.   But I'm also a bit nervous about the whole idea.

My own children, at 4 and 1 have had opportunities to learn throughout their whole lives.   Hubby and I did what we could in the few short hours in the evenings and weekends we had with our kids.  I was lucky to be a teacher and to get a bit more time to pour into my children.  But the reality was that most of the waking hours our children had were with other people.   They are great people and loved our children and poured into them with all they had.   But they weren't us.

As we took advantage of the most amazing opportunity, and put into place a plan to bring me home full time with the kids, we started to be bombarded with articles and stories of our friends homeschooling.    And as, for the first time in our lives, we began to dream about what life would look like if we lived it on our terms we began to realize that we wanted our children to be able to spend more equal amounts of time both here in the US and in hubby's homeland of New Zealand.   And homeschooling began to make more and more sense for our journey through this world.  And then it became part of our plan for our family's future.

The what to teach is the easiest part of it all!   I taught elementary school for 7 years in both general and special education and worked as a teacher's aide and an ABA therapist across many ages for years before that.    I understand how to teach skills and break them down and reinforcement and all the technical parts of teaching.     I understand how to motivate kids and push them to be the best learners they can be (even if it doesn't always produce the outcome I think it will).    But to date, it has always been other people's children that I have had the pleasure of teaching.  And it's been other people who have been the one's pouring into my kids.

This summer as I was beginning to think about what our fall would look like, and savoring finally getting the opportunity to be the one to pour into our children all day long, I began to think about my own kids as learners and quickly realized that I was going to need to get to know them in this role if we were going to be successful at homeschooling.    Since Hayden is still of preschool age and Alice is still quite little, I started searching for preschool opportunities.   

A friend recommended the Bright Beginnings preschool curriculum.    It provides learning opportunities for all major areas, including the Bible, and is super flexible with how you can use it.    I read a bazillion reviews and the only negative one I came across was that it was two books instead of 1.    So I decided to give it a go.  I love the idea of having the "what" to teach all laid out and being able to adjust it to meet the needs of my kids.   My focus this year is to really learn my kids as learners and get to know them in a way that makes me an effective teacher for them.

So wish me luck as I lead my family into this new adventure.   The curriculum for tomorrow is pulled out, the kids are asleep and I'm signing off to hit the hay myself.    Stand by by and keep reading for stories along this journey!   And if you have some tips and suggestions I'm all ears/eyes.   I'm going to be learning as much as my kids on this path and wouldn't have it any other way!

Pillow Play

Pillow Islands

What an awesome day today has been!   I can't believe how blessed I am to be home all day with the kid and get to be the pouring into them.    After a couple of very busy weeks, I decided that it was time for a little downtime around the Butcher household.   So we closed our doors to visitors and play dates and just enjoyed being together.  

Avoid the lava.

After a fun morning at the park where we made some new friends in the neighborhood (downside to extrovert mother of two extroverted children), we came home had some lunch and I set about making our play room into Pillow Island (The Preschooler's Busy Book)  H and I had a great time avoiding lava while trying to jump between pillows.    It was so much fun!

Pillow Piles

And then I sat back and watched a little bit more and that's when the real fun started for Mommy!   My nearly 4 year old little man ran into some problems when he noticed pillows were too far a part.  This lead to lessons in problem solving.  Then he got tired of avoiding the lava and started using the pillows in whole new ways, leading us into a whole afternoon of adventures.

Breaking Free!

Our 15-20 minute activity developed into a couple of hours of pillow fun.   There were forts built that had to be destroyed.  Mommy and H took turns being hidden by pillows only to explode out of them and surprise one another.   Pillows were linked together to form a bigger pillow island.    There was more jumping and laughing and being silly.  And because we were being so active and having so much fun, our pillows were also able to serve as a "hospital" after H bumped his head on the floor.    It was a pretty spectacular leap that landed him there.  A. eventually joined in on the fun and some wrestling with her brother ensued.  

A's in on the fun!

When it was time to change the pace up again, we made homemade popcorn (including a little popcorn dancing when it began popping) and settled back into the pillows for a snack together.  This was the highlight of my afternoon.  A was curled up in my lap, H sitting across from me and we are just chatting.    We played high/low  (state your high point of the day and your low)!   My heart soared when H announced that that moment was a high for him.   And nothing else mattered in that moment except the joy on my children's faces as they shoveled popcorn in their mouths and celebrated the fun we were having.

Pillow Hospital

After all that playing we found one more good use for every pillow in our house; comfy cuddle area for a movie!   So we spent the next hour or so in various stages of cuddling on the living room floor watching The Lego Movie!   It was the perfect ending to a much needed low key afternoon.   There will definitely be more days like this where all of my attention is on my little ones and taking our ordinary every day moments and making them extraordinary for my children.   

Movie Time

Stop Fighting Naptime!

Mommy spy cam

It's quiet time in my house right now.   A is sleeping in her room after a very busy weekend away.   H is hard at work in our kitchen creating "gifts" for his Mommy.   He requested supplies and asked to be left alone so he could create a surprise for me.   It was so hard not to get too close to his workspace and peek.    I did manage to sneak a picture of him hard at work and took a picture of the precious present he made for me.

While I was savoring the seeming magic of this moment, I couldn't help but recall very vividly how it wasn't always this way.   Up until last week I was engaging in sometimes long battles over naptime/quiet time.   I had tried everything I could think of to keep this routine going to no avail.   Instead of a quiet few minutes to take care of a few things for our business or the household I was constantly finding myself engaged in negotiations to stay in his room, play quietly and reminders not to wake his sister up from her nap.   By the end of naptime/quiet time, H would bound out of his room ready to play and I would be frustrated, exhausted and even irritated that my time had been interrupted.

Early last week I began pondering how I was once again going to attack what was becoming the most dreaded part of my day and had a revelation.   Naptime/quiet time was never supposed to be about me and what I needed and wanted.   It was supposed to be about providing my kids much needed rest.    H hadn't napped consistently for months and if he did sleep it was only after a carefully crafted hard to maintain orchestra of events.   When he did nap we were starting to run into difficulties with bedtime.   All the signs were there that he was ready to give up the afternoon nap yet I continued to fight it for my own selfish reasons.

And so I did it; I gave up on trying to get my son to nap.

It was the best thing I could have done.    A still goes down for her nap, and when that happens our house goes into quiet time.    H and I can play quietly together, or we can do our own separate activities.    He knows that this is Mommy's time to take care of a few things (phone calls, blogging, bills, etc.) and that sometime he has to play on his own.   I have tried to be proactive at providing him with activities  to keep him engaged and entertained and always prep him before I make myself unavailable.  And I am intentional about making sure I intersperse my tasks with moments of pouring into him through a quick conversation, joining him in his play, reading a book, etc   I also explained to him that if he had meltdowns later in the afternoon that he would be asked to go to his room for some "chill-out" time because a meltdown meant he must be feeling tired.

My precious present from my son.

It may not be a perfect plan, but it was the right plan for our family.   Since implementing it, quiet time has been just as I envisioned it; a quiet peaceful time where I can attack a few of my adult tasks around the house.   But my picture of quiet time has now evolved to include some extra special 1:1 time with my son.   And I afternoons like today, where my son's kindness pops out and he spontaneously decides to bless me with his homemade gifts that have come straight from the heart.

I can't wait to homeschool!

Cleaning Coins

Hubby and I decided that we were going to homeschool the kids.    It wasn't part of our original plans as parents but over the last year the idea of it started to make more and more sense to us.   It started as a way for us to be able to travel between New Zealand and the States for longer  time periods whenever we wanted, and evolved into a conscious decision that we believe is best for our family.

Hard at work!

So here I am, finally a Mommy who is blessed to be home with her kids full time and about to embark on this new adventure.   I retired from teaching special ed over the summer, so the teaching part isn't where I'm feeling challenged.    The real challenge, that both excites and terrifies me, is teaching MY kids and engaging them in learning and getting to know them in a whole new way.   

Today I decided to find an activity from The Preschooler's Busy Book   I got it for Christmas and finally got around to taking a peek.  There is a wide range of activities for all levels and interests and most can be completed using simple arts/crafts supplies and materials found around the house.

This morning we embarked on cleaning coins!   So simple: basin with a little water, dish soap, coins and old toothbrushes.   Both kids loved it.    They splashed a bit, explored different techniques and it became the perfect opportunity to teach my son (almost 4) the names of the coins.   My daughter (20 months), not to be outdone tried to name them too!  They were both sad when we had to clean up to go to the doctors 20 minutes later.   And my son asked to do it again during quiet time.

It was so much fun, so natural, and so the way learning should be!   I loved teaching in the public schools but also felt like I was locked into a box that was more focused on putting others into the box and sometimes made decisions that didn't really reflect the needs of the people.   And at the end of the day the people are what really matters.

Now I'm fired up!  And excitedly waiting for my Bright Beginnings preschool curriculum.   I love the idea of having a curriculum framework with a biblical focus to guide what I'm teaching.  This year as Hayden embarks on his last year of preschool I want to really get to know him as a learning so we can do amazing things together homeschooling!