Giggles, Grins and Grades

The "Duck and Cover Technique" will be needed again......

2009-06-25T09:39:00.004-04:00

Wanna know why I've been MIA? Do ya? Huh?

Some of you may already know but for the rest of you......

I am officially 19 1/2 weeks pregnant with a little peanut of the male variety #4..... right up my alley ... I know how to "Duck and Cover" when changing a diaper :)

It's been a long, hard 19 weeks and it's not over yet but I hope to get online more now that my mood has lightened and I am allowing myself to "feel" pregnant.

Thank you to all of you who prayed and kept your fingers, toes and everything else crossed..... only 20 more weeks to go.

Boomtown Bonanza

2009-03-05T21:48:00.004-05:00

Head on over to an awesome new blog that I found.... The Bookworm's Booklist

You could win a SIGNED copy of BoomTown Bonanza and a SIGNED BoomTown Map.... how cool is that?
I have never read the book but I definitely have it on my shopping list now. It looks positively amazing!

Leave a comment on the Bookworm's Booklist Blog to enter.

A little Dragon's Breath will heat things up.....

2009-03-01T11:16:00.005-05:00

The weather has been unusually cold here. Ok, not so unusual but I still don't like it. It's the kind of cold that prevents me from requesting that the boys hang outside all afternoon to play.

So in lieu of continuously thawing frozen body parts I gathered a whole bunch of Dragon things and laid them out on our kitchen table and let the boys go nuts.

The boys had lots of dragon math and dragon reading and dragon language arts to keep them busy in between dragon colouring and other hands of activities.

Speaking of hands on activities.....

Gather the following....

Corn Starch, Water and Food Colouring and make Dragon Drool.

Cover your tabletop and back away...... it's gonna get messy......

Dragon Drool is MESSY.... I cannot tell a lie.... but the boys did clean up afterwards.... for the next three days.....
Honestly, that corn starch leaves a film.... wipe after wipe..... sheesh. The boys did have fun so it was all worth it.

Daxter demonstrating how to hold a sword correctly to slay a dragon.....

We made Dragon Eggs..... two eggs and vinegar..... simple, but F.U.N....

The vinegar (an acid) dissolves the egg shell leaving the membrane intact.... COOL!
We did this project a couple of years ago, but it was just called 'put an egg in vinegar and see what heppens...'
Call them Dragon Eggs and you have a whole new interest!

We took the eggs out of the vinegar each day to feel them....

Here they are after one week.

Compared to a fresh egg.... this one was from the same dozen.. look how much the the Dragon Eggs swelled without their shell.

The boys also painted their own dragon figurines.....

I love the attention to detail :)

The boys have not yet finished their figurines yet as they wanted to add some details after the first coat.... will post pics of the their finished creations later.......

of good intentions......

2009-03-01T10:59:00.003-05:00

We have been plugging away with our Human Body Project..... we've been working on bones and touched on joints (to continue next week). We have completed many mini models and booklets and had a lot of fun.
I love blogging about our successes.... you know bragging for educational purposes.... but this post is not a brag... read on.....

We made, or at least tried to make a model of the arm. The point of the model was to show how the muscles re-act when the arm is extended or bent at the elbow.

We rolled up our tubes of newspaper (3 of them).....

Then proceeded to punch (push, pull, tug and more) holes into the ends of the tubes of newspaper...

Then there was a whole bunch if finagling .... we were supposed to attach one tube to two others with a giant paper clip (I used 22 gauge wire).. then, attach two balloons, slightly inflated, to the top of the single tube. Then, stretch the balloons just past the hinge, add a hand and voila!

No Voila.......

The darn balloons, inflated or not (we tried both ways) would not for the life of me stretch across the newspaper tube without bending it in half. We tried a few different ways and got frustrated so I just held on to the balloons and showed the boys what was SUPPOSED to happen and they did get the jist of it all, but phew! how hard was that?

I guess we could redo the whole thing and use stronger tubes of some sort...but do we really want to?

OMG!!! It's been so long!!!

2009-01-29T13:18:00.005-05:00

Well, there are no apologies or excuses.... I honestly just took a really long holiday break.... some health issues came up but we are dealing with them.

The boys have had a blast making crystals (jade and diamond).... doing lots of creative art work.... and tonnes of outdoor time. We've had sleepovers and play dates and dad was home for more than two weeks.... that was a real treat for us all.

We are finishing up the Senses part of our Human Body Project. Kind of a mish mash of different projects that I have been meaning to get to.

A lift the flap model.....

Each flap lifts to show the particular sense, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, skin... I still think it is a freaky looking model, but the boys get a kick out of it....

They also did some work on the skin and how hair grows.

Yes, that is a picture of the tongue and tastebuds.... told you it was a mish mash

This is a neat one... it was a bugger to fold and tape but worth it in the end.... it shows how hair (yarn) grows out of the follicles.

Mini slide book.. the boys love these for some reason.... nice and easy I guess. This one covers hair growth, pimples and sweat glands.

I hope to get back in the swing of blogging again.......

Keep giggling.

It's a Green Giveaway!

2008-12-04T16:26:00.003-05:00

Let's help make this world a little greener during the holidays.....
Click here to redeem your gift....... Brighter Planet will donate 136 pounds of offsets in your name!

The Human Body Project Gets Tasty!

2008-12-01T20:40:00.003-05:00

Smile for the Camera...

Now, open wide......

See all of the taste buds? Each section senses a different type of taste.....
Sweet, Sour, Bitter, Salty

All of it .... on our tongue...

We even learned about the bumps on our tongue called papillae.... some large ones are right at the very back of our tongue.

More taste testing to come tomorrow!

Look What Santa Sent!!!!!!!

2008-12-01T20:02:00.002-05:00

Ratchet found it in our mailbox this afternoon..... it was wrapped in a beautiful dark red ribbon...... and inside was a letter from... Santa!

Apparently, the elves have figured out some new technology for Santa to be able to get into the homes that do not have chimneys..... it's a good thing too because Ratchet and Halo were beginning to wonder just how he did it!

What else could it be but a Magic Key?

I am not sure where the elves found it or how they made it, but it is a wonderful antique skeleton key. Hung by the same gorgeous red ribbon with an embroidered tag with the words "Santa's Key" magically engraved on it.

Ratchet was ecstatic and actually squealed at the sight of the key. The instructions were to hang the key on the inside of the front door and Santa's Magic would do the rest.

We've followed the instructions to a tee in hopes that Santa soon will be here.

Come By For A Visit....

2008-11-30T15:40:00.002-05:00

I have started a new blog for my more crafty side.... Homespun Chic

I am no crafting expert, but I love to try new things and I also like keeping my hands busy (I quit smoking 12 years ago and still can't keep my hands still to this day!)
So come on by for a quick peek.... there's not too much there right now but I have loads of pics waiting to be put up and I am making new things every day. Links to my favorite crafty blogs are there on the side bar and I am always browsing for goodies so I will add them as I find them.

Keep Giggling!

Ears, Noses, Skin & Touch....Back to the Human Body... Finally!

2008-11-27T19:23:00.005-05:00

We have been continuing with our Human Body Project bit by bit... I just have not posted any pictures as of late due to poor time managment, kid distractions and yucky housework.

Look.... their binders are getting full....honest!

I know we left off with the Human Ear.....
We have done a few more models.... they are too fun to skip.

some double sided flash cards with the parts of the ear

a stand up model of the outer and inner ear.... this one is very simple and very easy to use - even for Halo

We also worked on the Nose.....

a lift the flap model

we talked about odors (good and bad) moving through the air.... you breath them in and reach the "smell cells"... the smell cells then send the messages to the brain

stand up model of the nose, inside and out

We did some projects on the skin and touch.

This is a neat moveable model

The magnified image lifts

the finger lifts and drops to press the key on the keyboard

This is by far one of my favorite models so far!

There are several layers that lift and then there are flaps with info underneath

There are even hair follicles and hairs!

We learned about the different nerves, touch, light touch, pressure pain, heat and cold. We alo learned where they are located amongst the skin cells... touch, pain and light touch are very close to the epidermis while pressure, heat and cold are in the lower dermis.

The boys love doing the hands on models... I am so glad I started this project with them!

Will post more as we go!

Christmas Countdown! (yes, I am starting early!)

2008-11-07T09:55:00.003-05:00

Well, I saw this idea and decided to try it for myself.
My kids are allowed to eat a piece of Halloween candy after every meal for the first week after trick or treating. Well, even with three boys and myself and hubby snacking, that leaves A LOT of leftover candy. I thought this would be a great way to use it all up.

I used the following materials:

plastic cups from the $1 store (I could not find paper cups big enough to hold 3 pieces of candy in each)
bristol board
tissue paper
white glue
paint brush
stamps and stamp pad
glue gun

First, I had the boys use green and red ink and stamp all over white tissue paper.
I then cut it into squares that would cover the top of the cups.
I numbered each square with black marker.

Next, I laid out all of the cups and shoved (yes, shoving was required for some of the larger candies lol!) 3 candies in each cup.
I should point out that I first sorted the candy. By sorting, I mean I made sure that each cup had 3 pieces of candy that were EXACTLY the same to alleviate any arguing that would definitely occur should any sort of differences be spotted in said pieces of candy.

Once the cups were filled (we needed 48) I painted a tiny bit of white glue onto the edge of each cup. I did 10 at a time. Then, I place a piece of tissue paper on top of each cup.

I then used a glue gun to attach each cup to the bristol board. I started at the bottom (lengthwise) with the last number and worked my way up counting backwards. I didn't measure anything and sort of just hoped for the best.

Once all the cups were glued onto the bristol board I gently carried it over to the large corkboard in the school room and used about 100 thumbtacks to hold it all in place.

I added the words "days until Christmas...." using cute fonts and used double sided tape to attach it and cover up some of the thumbtacks at the same time.

Now, here's how the boys will use our Countdown board.....
Each day they "punch" through the tissue paper on one of the cups.... we still have to work out the turn taking but there were no battles this morning so I think I will let them work it our on their own :)

So now I have a way to use up all of the Halloween candy (no waste), save money because I don't have to by those piddly little advent calendars from the $1 store and the kids LOVE it!

Make one of your own using the tutorial link above or have fun trying different things to make it work for your family like I did!

Here is our finished countdown.....

TAGGED!

2008-11-03T16:42:00.003-05:00

Well it seems as though I've been tagged by Punky, Papaya and Poochie....so here it goes:

First, the rules.....
Link to the person who tagged you. Post the rules on your blog. Write six random things about yourself. Tag six people at the end of your post. Let each person know he or she has been tagged. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Random Giggles:
I still sleep with a "binkie". It's tucked under my pillow.... always. Even when I travel.
I have two webbed toes on each foot..... darn cute webbed toes I might add!
I love Pickled Beets.
I used to be a blonde, before kids..... 9 months without hair dye changes that! Yes, they do have more fun!
I love knitting and just taught myself how to crochet.... gotta love you tube!
I just started my family on a more natural, less preservatives, more homemade, less meat diet.

Ok, now that you've got some dirt on me... it's my turn to pick a few people to spill their beans.
1. Summer Fae
2. Gerky
3. GHomeschool
4. Pirate Mom
5. Handmade Homeschool
6. Think!

Of boys and tattoos......

2008-11-01T16:06:00.004-04:00

My boys LOVE those temporary tattoos. They would be covered head to toe if I let them.
We picked up a package of them at the $1 store so I let the boys go nuts.

Tigers, Bugs and Lego... Oh My!

2008-11-01T15:54:00.002-04:00

Every year I try to make the boys' costumes..... the boys pick out their ideas and mom tries to create it for them. It started out pretty easy but as the years go by, they are coming up with better and better ideas and mom's sewing is not improving on the same scale.

This year Halo wanted to be a Tiger Warrior...

A little face paint.....

Several pieces from costumes of years past (homemade) and a find at the thrift shop (the pants... can't see them very well but they are cute!

Ratchet wanted to be Bugnoid... a character from one of his favorite video games.

I actually sewed this....myself... no pattern! I am sooooo not a sewer LOL.... but I think it turned out.... I LOVE the antenna!

Daxter wanted to be a Lego Brick.

This one was pretty easy..... tuna cans and a box.. I sewed some straight straps to hold it all up and voila!
He got complimented all night long for coming up with such a great idea.

Can't wait to see what they come up with next year. Well, Ratchet already has his planned out... will see if it holds.

Pumkin Carving with the Giggles

2008-11-01T15:44:00.003-04:00

We got three huge pumpkins this year and let the kids carve them.

First, the boys had to "gut" their pumpkins..... ooey, gooey pumpkin guts!

Then, they had to draw their design on paper.

Then, dad drew their designs onto the pumpkins.

Now, onto the fun part! Carving!

Where is Halo you ask?

Poor kid had a wicked fever.... passed out cold.

Ratchet's Pumpkin

Daxter's Pumpkin

Halo's Pumpkin.... dad had to carve it but Halo still loves it!

Pumpkins on display......

EyeClops Night Vision Goggles Giveaway!

2008-10-28T16:17:00.004-04:00

Deal Seeking Mom is giving away a pair of EyeClops Night Vision Goggles..... how cool is that? Leave a comment at the Deal Seeking Mom blog to enter.....

Pumpkin Mini Project

2008-10-28T15:45:00.004-04:00

Well, we were down to one computer for the boys for a week...yes, I know they are lucky to have one at all but when you go from two down to one it gets difficult to share the computer time without siblings hanging over your shoulder asking "is it my turn yet?"

So in order to give Daxter some time with his SpongeBob Typing and Clue Finders games, we did a mini project on pumpkins for the two younger boys.

Halo had some printing practice and Ratchet had a word find.

Both boys got to match the jack-o-lantern faces to the expressions. I read the words (happy, sad, angry etc.) to Halo and Ratchet read his on his own.

Each boy had a mini book on the 5 Little Pumpkins and a sequencing book on How A Pumpkin Grows.

Ratchet also had to make 2, 3 and 4 letter words using the words PUMPKIN PATCH.

Both boys did a delicious smelling spice wheel using the spices from a pumpkin pie... yummy!

Both boys also did a colour mixing card using red and yellow to make... orange! I swear, it really is orange, my camera decided not to capture the correct colour.

The activities came from the freebie at Liliput Station.

What's The Point?...Sketch Tuesday

2008-10-28T15:15:00.004-04:00

This was our fist week participating in Sketch Tuesday.
The theme was What's The Point? Sketch something with a point.

Ratchet sketched one of my knitting needles. One with colour (rainbow) and one with out.

Daxter sketched a dinosaur with huge, sharp, pointy teeth!

The boys had fun doing this so will be adding this to our weekly challenges.

Thin: unplugged.

2008-10-28T15:00:00.005-04:00

This week at Unplug Your Kids the word was THIN.

The boys decided to try and see which "dough" would be the easiest to make a thin roll with, and which "dough" would make the thinnest roll.

We used playdoh, floam and wonder dough.

Daxter started with playdoh, and Ratchet used floam..... Halo tried wonder dough to start and then switched to floam because Ratchet's looked so cool!

Ratchet's floam roll got really long and thin and was really easy to squish into place if it broke.

Daxter rolled the playdoh into a long thin roll and made a necklace!

Halo managed to make a REALLY thin roll all on his own with floam!

Daxter got the thinnest roll of all using the wonder dough.

Ratchet got the longest thin roll using floam.

Halo came up with the idea to make the floam thin by rolling it flat with a roller.

All three boys had a blast making thin things with play dough.

Apple Carving...Think! Style

2008-10-28T14:38:00.007-04:00

This week at Think! we were instructed to gather the following supplies for each person......

an apple and 4 toothpicks.

Carve the apple using only your teeth and 4 toothpicks..... your end creation should be a person, place or thing.

The boys love apples and convincing Ratchet and Halo not to dive in and devour the entire apple was a difficult task.

Daxter was a little more reserved in his planning.

The boys worked diligently on their apple creations.

Ratchet created a monster with a HUGE mouth!

Halo created a person.

Daxter came up with a drum and drumsticks.

The boys, once again, had a great time thinking outside the box.... they also enjoyed eating their creations after I took the pictures!

To Unplug, Or Not To Unplug

2008-10-22T16:04:00.013-04:00

Through my recent blog travels I haven noticed a huge amount of posts with regards to "unplugging" our kids. This, of course, has led me to contemplate my decision to "plug" my kids back in after a few years of being "unplugged".

"Unplugging" is when you remove all electronic stimulation from your child's environment. There are, of course, varying extremes of this phenomenon and every family is different.
TV's, Video Games, Computers or Computer Games, Internet, Loud (I must admit obnoxious) electronic toys are some of the things one might limit to get unplugged.

Growing up I was an only child. I swear I tried to play board games, honestly I did..... mom and dad were always too busy and when they weren't, I was. I even tried playing Monopoly once with my dog...she ate the money. I'm weak, I gave up trying.

I loved (and still do) to read... I read anything I could get my hands on. I loved (not so much anymore) to draw (maybe I should start again.....hmm.....) and I loved my alone time.
I also loved and I mean really loved my Coleco Vision (before Nintendo made Nintendo.. the original Wii for me)...I played Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. oh and Bump N' Jump til' the wee hours of the morning on a regular basis (I told you my parents were busy)... when it came out I got a NES, and then a Super NES (you have to upgrade right?) I never got into the Nintendo 64... not sure why....

Imagine my delight when I met hubby.... he's a "gamer" too. So together we played video games until the wee hours of the morning.... only now it was on the Playstation.

Ok, flash forward...... we had our first little guy (Daxter) and I have pictures of him playing Playstation at 18 months. I even have pictures of Ratchet (10 months or so) playing Soul Caliber with him....
It was always a treat, a family event. Actually, it was hilarious to watch too.

We also watched TV..... Daxter LOVED Blues Clues.. he learned sooooooo much from Steve it's not funny. Yes, I did use the TV as a babysitter at times..... I know, no mother of the year award here.
Daxter was reading at 4 years old, doing math at a grade 1 level ...you name it, he knew it..... all thanks to Steve and Blue. I admit it. He's still a brilliant young fellow ...but of course, I am biased.
Ratchet did not love Blue as much as Daxter...he just kind of hung off his coat tails for a year or so.

Then we moved to a new house......

Not sure why, but we just never hooked up the TV. We stayed that way for 3 years. No withdrawals or breakdowns.... we played a few video games here and there and obviously we watched DVD's as a treat.

We were never big on loud toys.... my boys are loud enough, they don't need toys to compete with.

Halo was born in a TV free house...... it stayed that way until he was around 2.5 years old. Around that time, the local Satellite Company was going door to door offering a "too good to pass up" deal on Satellite TV. We obviously couldn't pass it up right? Gotta love marketing.

Ok, I'll stop for a minute to say that we were never truly an "unplugged" family. I guess you could say we tried the Turn off the TV week and just never turned it back on. We did however have (and still do) severe limitations on when, where, what and how long they can watch/play.

That being said... and back to my original thought....that started waaaaay up above...... I have now been reading all the talk about unplugging our kids and well, I have decided that I like my kids plugged in just fine. Going back to the thought of limiting when, where, what and how long the electronic stimulation takes place.... we are pretty strict, but not completely horrible.

Here's why I have decided that electronics are ok for our kids.

Technology is an amazing thing.

The things my kids can experience, create and learn using the internet, watching a cool DVD or watching the Discovery Channel are truly amazing. They can travel anywhere in the world online. I cannot afford a plane ticket if Daxter wants to visit India, but I pay my high speed internet bill so that he can do the next best thing. India Tourism , Welcome to India and Incredible India should get him started.
The new video game systems promote physical activity (the Wii ) and fine motor skills and hand eye co-ordination (The Nintendo DS).
Our family plays Rock Band together and we have a BLAST! Just good ol' fashioned fun :) Don't tell my kids that they are learning about rhythm and how to keep a beat or improving their dexterity with fine motor skill practice and when I applaud my 6 year for singing his heart out, please don't tell him I have a tear in my eye because at 6 years old he did not miss one word of the lyrics that he had to read off the screen.

My kids are very creative and energetic (I wish I had some of their energy!) kids. They love lego, soccer, drawing and reading (boy do they love reading.... did you know that a good book, or set of books can cost almost as much as a video game?

My kids take music lessons (piano and guitar) and play soccer in the summer and futsal in the winter. They play outside all the time, and man, can they produce some grass stained laundry, so they are either being very active or, very creative..... either way...cool with me.

My kids have chores and gripe and groan every minute that they are doing said chores...but the chores get done before they get plugged in.

I use some computer games (Rosetta Stone... I can't speak Italian, but Daxter is learning to) and some DVD"s (Magic School Bus) to supplement our learning time.

My kids do so many crafts that I had to stop saving all of them and resort to digital picture taking to cherish the memories, save some space, and my sanity.

Speaking of sanity... let's talk about my dependence on my computer and the internet. Come on... I wake up in the morning and the second thing I do is check email and my blog (the first thing I do is kiss my kids and hubby). I use the internet to research learning material for the boys and play a few online games too.... did you know that you can improve your vocabulary, foreign language and multiplication skills here ?
I talk with friends online and through email. I am a chatter box...get me on the phone and you are stuck for over an hour, I swear, it's that bad...really. Using email saves me (and my loved ones and friends) sooooo much time it isn't even funny. In that instance, I am using technology as a courtesy...honestly.

As useful as I find the internet, how can I not teach my kids to use it safely, responsibly and in moderation? It is a very useful tool.

I'm not looking for validation, or looking to tick anyone off (please don't send hate comments..... there's a delete feature and I know how to use it) , or insult anyone or tell anyone what they are doing is wrong. I am just laying my thoughts out on the screen... more or less to let myself know that what we are doing is ok for our family .... it works for our family. It may not be perfect, but really what is?

Painted Pumpkins

2008-10-21T22:49:00.003-04:00

Ratchet is an avid rock collector.... big, small, smooth, rough, gemstone or not..... you name it he loves them. We were on a nature walk over the weekend and he had the idea to paint some rocks to look like jack-o-lanterns.
Here is how his idea turned out.

Ratchet's creations ( the one with the lips is me).

Halo's.... he likes black.

Daxter's spooky pumpkins.

Mom gets to have fun too :)

Don't mind the horrendous table cloth.... it's our painting tarp.. honestly.....

Think! Our Eggcellent Solutions

2008-10-20T22:41:00.003-04:00

This week for our Think! Challenge, we were given the instructions to gather the following supplies:

12 straws, 12" of scotch tape, scissors (for cutting, not the solution) and an egg.. raw if you are brave, hard boiled for the weak-hearted.. I hard boiled mine!

Using the above materials the boys were to design and build a structure to support the egg at least 1" above the table.

We had a few fallen eggs (thank goodness for hard boiling!) and some materials that need to be re-issued...

Halo finished first..... I helped him hold the straws together while he taped.

Halo used all 12 of his straws and all 12" of his taped..... he needed to keep re-adjusting the straws for balance and we had a few mishaps (did I mention I am so glad I hard boiled the eggs?) but he figured it out in the end he raised his egg 6" of the table and I took a few pictures real quick.

Ratchet was happy when he finished his!

After some trial and error (and lots of straws!) he designed this structure using the tops only of all twelve straws and all 12" of tape. He made a sort of nest to hold the egg about 2.5" off the table!

Daxter also tried a few different ideas (and lots of straws!) before creating this structure.

His first few attempts used a lot of cut pieces and that did not work for him. He finally decided to use the whole straw and fold it into a triangle, taping the edges together. He repeated this 9 times and stacked the triangles up raising his egg almost 3" off the table. He could have used the remaining three straws and made it taller but he ran out of tape.

The boys looked like they were having so much fun I decided to make one too!
It was fun trying to come up with something different than the boys but it proved to be a challenge as they all had awesome ideas!

I ended up using 6 straws and cut them into 24 pieces. I used 18 of the pieces by taping strips of 6 pieces together and then taping the three strips in a triangle. I raised my egg 2" off the table!

The Colours of Thanksgiving.....

2008-10-14T16:12:00.003-04:00

We also had a huge turkey... (I am simmering turkey stock as I type this) and my first ever homemade (from scratch) pumpkin pie.
Of course, I forgot to take pictures before it all got devoured..... but I made enough pumpkin puree for 18 more pies so I will be sure to get a picture soon.

Think! Challenge

2008-10-14T16:03:00.004-04:00

We recently found out about Think!.... we tried our first challenge today.

Supplies needed:

4 sheets of 8.5 X 11 paper
2 pencils
2 markers
scotch tape

Now, build a car...no scissors allowed!

The kids had fun considering it was their first challenge ever....

Here is what the boys came up with.....

Halo's.... he used 3 sheets of paper, tape and 2 markers..... it traveled 10"

Daxter's... he used 4 sheets of paper, tape, 2 pencils,and 2 markers... it traveled 50"

Ratchet's... he used 2 markers, tape and 4 pieces of paper... his traveled 12"

IPM 2008 (International Plowing Match)

2008-10-09T21:59:00.003-04:00

The IPM happened in Mid-September and yes, I am only now getting around to posting about it......
It was really interesting and the boys not only enjoyed themselves, but they also tired themselves out... a bonus!
There were all sorts of vendors and exhibitors. From wildlife to farm machinery, the boys learned a lot that day.

The boys went up in the Hydro One lift. Yes, Mom chickened out......someone had to take pictures!

Getting harnessed up.

Here they go!

200 feet in the air.....my boys are braver than I my friends!

A Gaggle of Geese ...

2008-10-09T21:47:00.004-04:00

Canadian Geese..... it is illegal to harm them and they tend to take over any area they so choose because of this.... private property, farms, golf courses... you name it. Fortunately, they also frequent seasonally..... in hoards at our local Conservation Area. I took the boys to feed them the other week... they are very beautiful creatures......

Of course the boys had to eat too.... the kettle corn was from the IPM and no, the geese did not get corn, they got bread.

The 5 Senses - Sight... The Human Body Project Continues.....

2008-10-09T21:04:00.002-04:00

We went on a mini vacation earlier this week and I got to stop at one of my favorite book stores..... they have an online store BookCloseouts but they have different stock at the retail location and... no shipping fees! I found a few great things like a stethoscope, tuning fork, base ten math blocks and more. My favorite by far was this....

Real Science.... The 5 Senses... 50 projects! I got it all for under $20 CDN..... I love to make my own resources but this was too good of a deal to pass up. It came with a bunch of stuff I could never make... a stethoscope (yes I bought an extra one too), touchy feely bag, blindfold, 3D letters and more.......

We have already done The Eye so we did the activities for Sight today....trying to play catch up!

The boys used the image disc (one side has a bird and the other a cage) ....twist the thread between the your fingers and watch the bird magically appear inside the cage!

This one was another disc this time with slats in it. There was an image of a cat between each slat.
Spin the disc and look in the mirror through the slats and the cat starts to run.... this is because our brain stores the images it sees for short periods of time allowing the images to appear continuously
when looking through the slats. The boys tried spinning the disc and looking at the disc in the mirror and the images appeared as one big blur.

The boys also did a few of the optical illusions shown in the workbook and had a blast... they were all fascinated. Worth the $20 right there!

The Spooky Details

2008-10-09T20:39:00.004-04:00

Here are the pics of Daxter's party and decorations..... he had a blast..... we all did actually.

What I learned today.....

2008-10-03T22:30:00.005-04:00

Well, the party has ended and all is quiet...... finally.

I learn something new everyday but today was special.....
Here is what I learned today:

I LOVE planning parties.... I love making the invitations, decorating, preparing the food, making the cake, filling loot bags, decorating (did I mention that?) and everything that goes along with planning a party.

I can not handle large crowds.... especially those of the under 13 age group.

9 boys in one house will run at some point despite the requests not to.

Candy strings boys out. A LOT.

Apple Bobbing is apparently a contact sport.

Pin the Wart on the Witch is a contact sport.

Dress the Mummy Relay Racing is also a contact sport.

$2 worth of toilet paper (8 rolls) used to wrap the mummies can keep 9 boys occupied for over half an hour

Playing with $2 worth of toilet paper is a contact sport.

Devil's Food Cake strings boys out. A LOT.

8 bucket's filled with various body parts (spaghetti, cauliflower, tomatoes... shhhhh) can really freak 9 boys out.

There are some boys that scream like girls but then deny it was them.

Guessing what body parts are in each bucket is NOT a contact sport.

I have a snacking addiction. Veggie sticks, chips, cake, you name it... you'd swear I'd never had a celery stick before!

Video Games are a GOOD THING (Go Martha!)

9 boys can take turns playing Rock Band and stay entertained indefinitely (or until their parents come to pick them up).

9 boys and assorted adults can make the same mess in 4 hours that my entire family takes 4 weeks to make.

I dislike cleaning up after a party, I dislike packing up the extra food, I dislike the extra laundry table cloths etc. (think of the mess if I did not use the tablecloths!)

But alas, I will yet again hold another party for my kids .... glutton for punishment I guess. My son had a blast and that is what is important.

I will post pics of the party and decorations later this weekend... we took the pictures with the camera that is set up on hubby's computer so I have to load them there first.

Keep Giggling!

Alvin and the Chipmunks Holiday DVD Giveaway Contest

2008-10-03T15:37:00.002-04:00

Go to Mommy Brain and leave a comment to win an Alvin and the Chipmunks Holiday DVD Set! How cool is that? I love the Chipmunks!

Awwwwww....don't it just tug on your heartstrings?

2008-10-03T15:04:00.002-04:00

Saw this on another blog and pushed play, more to get a chuckle than anything really. Free Hugs..... ya, ok.
I'm telling you though..... when that first elderly lady goes in for the hug....... maybe it's the music, maybe I am a softy at heart despite my crisp outer shell but I got "tingles".

Maybe you will too.

'Twas the night before the party......

2008-10-02T21:54:00.001-04:00

Well, it's official.... Daxter is turning 9 (there are honestly days that I did not think he would make it, given his attitude and behaviour as of late.... please, someone tell me it is just a phase!). His party is tomorrow, not his actual birthdate, but close enough. This is the first time we are having an evening party as Daxter wanted a Spooky Theme (definitely NOT a Halloween Party). We do a family party... meaning we have parents and kids come for the fun. I figure if I am gonna go all out and decorate, plan food and games then there better darn well be a whole lotta people here to enjoy it!

Just in case you were wondering I do have a decorating addiction. I currently have cheesecloth curtains adorning every window in my home with hundreds of tiny spiders (all of them fake, I hope!) living in them. I have HUGE pumpkins throughout the house as well as a dozen or so tiny pie pumpkins for an added touch. I found some awesome paper mache spiders and those are hanging over chandeliers and lamps.. clinging on, waiting to find their next meal.

I will try and take pictures tomorrow when it's all done as I still have lots to do in the morning.

Daxter and I are making the cake too, so that will be the surpirse for everyone tomorrow.

Keep Giggling!

Come Visit the Carnival!

2008-10-01T08:57:00.000-04:00

Grab a coffe (or tea), sit back and enjoy all of the hard work Dana put into the the The Simple Pleasures of Homeschooling Carnival.

Thanks Dana!

Who's A Scaredy Cat?

2008-09-29T13:33:00.001-04:00

Ok, here's some background information before you continue......

You may recall from Daxter's Post that Precious is one of our kitties. She loves to torment our poor bird (who has finally, after 3 years, been named Toasty!) when he is in his cage.

Well, today Ratchet and I cleaned Toasty's cage. He managed to sneek out one of the food container slots and well, the rest needs to be told through pictures......

We notice Toasty has escaped.... I am a little worried at this point as Precious is a hunter with several trophies under her belt.

I am no longer worried as Precious seems to be curious, not hungry.

Where's Precious?

Ooh, found her!

She's gone again! Here Kitty, Kitty.....

Ahhh, there you are..... hiding in a corner.... from a teeny, tiny bird.

Well, after this shot, Precious jumped through the gap onto the other side of the desk and of course Toasty followed..... this went on for a few minutes until Precious took off under my desk amongst my computer wires and well, I wanted Toasty back in is cage.

Not sure they will ever be best of friend's but hey, at least we know Toasty is willing!

Inside Our Ear Accordian Book

2008-09-29T13:28:00.000-04:00

We did these a while back but I don't think I posted them here. They go perfectly with the Ear Model we made to day so we reviewed them after we finished making the model.

Will post more as we continue our travels through the Human Body.

What's Inside Our Ear? (or how do we hear?)

2008-09-29T11:15:00.001-04:00

Well, we have finally started with our Human Body Project again. We do not take a summer break from school but we do change our focus to outdoor time, nature and field trips etc. So now that fall is in full swing we have been doing more indoor activities.

Today we worked on the human ear. We made a model of the ear while I talked to the boys about how our ears work.

The Outer Ear, which the boys can feel on their own body, gathers and funnels sound into the.......

Ear Canal.... stretched across the end of the canal is the Eardrum, a thin sheet of tissue. When sound waves hit the eardrum it vibrates. The vibrating eardrun passes the vibrations to the.....

Hammer, which causes the Anvil to vibrate. The Anvil, in turn, causes the Stirrup to vibrate.
The Stirrup rests on a thin sheet of tissue called the Oval Window that covers an opening in the Cochlea. The vibrating Stirrup passes the vibrations to the Oval Window, which starts a fluid inside the Cochlea moving. This moving fluid pushes and pulls on the cells in the Cochlea that change the energy in the movements into electrical energy signals sent to the nerves. All of these nerves join up to form the main Hearing, or Auditory Nerve that carries the signals to the hearing center in the brain. The brain tells us what we hear and decides if we should do anything in response.

We will be doing a couple more activities on the ear later this week as well. Hope this helped you learn a little bit about what is inside your ear. I know it helped us!

Name That Homeschool!

2008-09-28T13:04:00.000-04:00

There has been a thread going through one of my email groups about naming your homeschool. I am stumped..... I want to name ours something REALLY cool (well we do have a name already and quite frankly it sucks). We don't need a name right now but I am sure come college time (oh my how it flies!) I'll be kicking myself in the pants because I didn't come up with something sooner.

Any ideas? I want to have Boys Academy in the name but not sure what to add. Send me some ideas in the comments section.

It's A Bird....It's A Plane......It's a Montage!

2008-09-24T18:46:00.000-04:00

Well, apparently I am harboring some sort of guilt for not posting all summer... I cannot possibly put into words EVERYTHING we have done this summer, so I have decided to do a montage Giggles, Grins and Grades style. This montage will include, but is not limited to, our outings, our trips, our pets, our goofy kids, our learning experiences...some candid shots, some attention grabbers and some just plain, nice pictures. Enjoy!

This is our newest kitty.... Smudge.

Smudge likes to swim.....

alot.....

the kids love having her in the pool and well, it saves me from having to get a dog!

Smudge likes to sleep in grocery bags....silly cat.

Smudge torments the bird.....

This is Smudge the day she came home from getting fixed and declawed.

She likes to sleep in baskets too.

Baskets that have clothes in them.

In Daxter's room.... don't mind the mess.

Smudge comes with us on car trips... and walks and to soccer.....

Pretty girl....

Smudge, the wild cat.....

This is the tree that the town hacked off half the roots from (it's on our property).... the architect inspector said it would fall on the house and not to stand under it....

This is the mound of wood chips that lay where my tree once stood. The town paid to have it removed so that my kids could sleep in their beds once more. The spent the summer sleeping in the playroom for fear of the tree falling on our house.

Halo has some yummy math time.

Who knew math could be so tasty :)

I never have to ask him to do math twice LOL! Always a willing participant.

This is Niagara Falls from the top of the Sky Wheel

We went up a couple of times, once at night during some fireworks... it was amazing!

We went to one of our local museums when they had the Lego Secrets of the Pharoah Exibit.

There were some amazing creations.

We went with a homeschool group so the kids got to dress a mummy.

Can you imagine how much Lego this took to make?????

These are the baby birds that were hatched on the side of our fence.

Hungry little birds.

Two made it out of the nest.... the other was not quite so lucky.

Our neighbors gave the boys some paintable t-shirts.

All three boys had a blast painting them and it kept them busy for over an hour! (that's a record around here!)

We got a season's pass to Marineland

This is a mama and baby whale... they were so sweet to watch.

Thought this was a cool shot with the beluga whale.

They are amazing creatures.

Look at the mouths on these fish! Can you say mutant?

Yes, I was teasing the fish with a twig to get them to open those massive mouths.
Shameless, I know.

This bear has the life... looks comfortable huh?

Halo at the bear enclosure..... it's those unintentional pictures that turn out wonderfully.

Halo and Ratchet loved the deer. Daxter had some hygiene issues. Apparently deer slobber is a yucky thing. Who knew?

Some rides at Marineland.

The shows were neat to watch too.

Rides and shows and deer wear little ones out.

The next Tiger Woods?

Dad helping Halo out.

We made a model of human blood.

Corn Syrop = Plasma, Mini Marshmallows = white blood cells, Cinnamon Hearts = red blood cells, Sprinkles = platelets.

We also made edible blood (cocoa, food coloring & water).... no one ate it though as it was too "gross"

Time (and pictures) fly when you are having fun!

Halo at the water park... it's nice because there are lots of slides that he can go on too.

Daxter getting ready to get soaked.

Some dry fun.

Some wet fun.

The kids leave these pictures every now and then. This is Halo's guy.

The boys assembled a life size skeleton.

Daxter puts together a puzzle cube from a book I got a yard sale for $1.

Too tired to play video games?????

Our garden.

Ratchet learned to swim this year! 3 sets of swimming lessons couldn't do it, but a week in the pool can.

Way to go Ratchet!

Would you believe me if I told you that we have a no jumping in the pool rule?

We had 4 nights of soccer a week this summer. This is Daxter on the field.

This is Daxter with his medals after his tournament.

Ratchet on the field.

Ratchet with his medal.

Ratchet being.... wll, being Ratchet.

Halo on the field. His picture with him and his medal also had the whole team and I did not have permission to show them on here.

Hmm... what can a 4 year old do 3 nights a week while his brothers play soccer?

He can have a snack!

Tasty!

All done!

This is what my boys do to entertain themselves. That's Daxter and Halo rolled up in pretzel together.

Halo found a monarch.

He's gonna be a rockstar.

Those bears crack me up.

Another park we went to had a petting zoo. More like a feeding zoo.. the animals were starving!

Just hanging around.

Daxter is actually pretty good at softball.... it even surprised him!

Well, I think that about does it...... our summer in a nutshell. All guilt is absolved... for now.

Keep giggling!

Coming Soon to a blog near you......

2008-09-24T15:07:00.000-04:00

Well, it is now well past early September and I have to be honest..... I have been enjoying the outdoors and unseasonally beautiful weather here with my boys instead of locking myself up in my office and blogging.

Ok, so my "office" consists of a well lit open area in the middle of my living room, but still, a beautiful view from a picture window just is not the same as being out there when you know that blistering cold weather is around the corner.

I have however, just finished uploading all sorts of neat photos we took this summer. Yes, I am only now getting around to uploading pictures that were taken in May.... you really have to know how much I dislike winter in order to understand my need for outdoor time all summer.

I will be posting later on this evening..... hopefully.... no promises but it is on my list of things to do today....

Oh yes, I forgot to mention... if you didn't notice, the post "If You Give A Kid A Camera" contains the very first pictures of my boys on this blog.... I have been debating adding photos of them since I started the blog and well finally decided to share my cuties with the world....

They say a picture can tell a thousand words and well, some of the things my boys do just cannot be put into words..... keep giggling!

If You Give A Kid A Camera.........

2008-09-24T15:01:00.001-04:00

This is what happens when you give Ratchet a camera.......

Daxter

Ratchet

Halo

And this is what happens when you give Daxter a camera........

Daxter...

Daxter...

More Daxter...

Even more Daxter....

notice anything???? I think one of my boys likes to see himself in print.... can you guess which one???

We're Back! (Sort of........)

2008-08-18T09:33:00.000-04:00

I know, I know.... it has been a looooong time since I last posted. I'm not one for excuses but the summers here in Ontario, Canada are waaaay too short and unpredictable so I really wanted to enjoy it with the boys (and hubby too!)as much as I could this year.

Between , the beach, nature walks, birthday parties, trips to Niagara Falls, MarineLand, Story Book Park, 4 nights of soccer a week and just hangin' out in our pool I decided blogging could wait.

I have hopes to get back to blogging sometime in early September... I have lots of pics to upload and lots of goodies planned for the kids and I.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer as much as we are! Keep giggling!

A Look Inside Our Eye

2008-04-29T14:12:00.001-04:00

For the last few days we have been working on the Human Eye. We like to do all of the Hands-On Activties first, then add some written work and research to complete each section ofthe project.

So far we have made a large Layer Diagram of the Eye:

A Picture of all 3 boys' work.....

A Close-Up of Ratchet's Diagram....The Outer Eye

The Cornea

The Iris

The Pupil

The Lens and Retina

Adding the clear plastic to the Cornea really helped the boys visualize what was inside their eye without poking each other in the eye..... always looking for ways to enhance the learning experience while keeping it safe.

The next day we did a mini slide diagram of the Human Eye...

All 3 boys did one of their own.... still not sure where I am going to add it in their binders so it is in a clear page protector for now.

Close-Up of Halo's Diagram... showing the Iris and Pupil

.... the Retina

Today we did some 3D Models of the Human Eye....

Daxter's

Ratchet's

Halo's

Side View... sort of

Views of each side

The above projects came from Dinah Zike, Pocket Science - The Human Body & Scholastic's Easy Make and Learn Human Body.

I resort to late-night blogging.......

2008-04-27T23:33:00.000-04:00

Well, Daxter (and the other boys) are asleep so now is my time to relax..... and what do I do? I blog :)

I have been meaning to get some pics of our "school room" on here, so now is my chance.

I still do not have a full room shot because , well, it was a mess.... I also did not take a picture of Daxter's desk, or the wonderful bulletin board above it because I had just taken down all of our winter decor and I am still in the midst of putting up some more seasonally pertinent things. Those pictures will come later on.

So here it is....... where it all happens...... ok, not always.... sometimes we end up in the kitchen, other times we end up at my desk, or dad's..... and so on. When there is a moment to learn, we grab it.... doesn't matter where we are.

The bookshelf... or should I say wall? Would you believe I still do not have enough room for all of our books?

The Creation Station - full of all sorts of craft supplies.... paper (of all sorts), stickers, stamps, stencils, fancy scissors and more! Keeps the kids occupied for hours.

The Manipulative Corner..... in here you will find puzzles, tangrams, math counters, science tools (human heart 3D puzzle, 3D skeleton puzzle etc.), lifecycle characters (butterfly, frog, ladybug, ant), dominoes, dice, musical instruments and more!
On the top shelf are some teacher resource books to use with some of the manipulatives, science kits and a few games.

Our Felt Board. Right now it is a map board as you can see... ...very versatile. The shelf on top holds some story books that I have made felt stories for and the baskets hold more than school stuff - trust me.... from the kitty's harness and leash, suntan lotion and the latest... bug spray... they are a catch all and I like it that way :)

Hope these give you some ideas, and if you can come up with any new ones.... please pass them on to me... I am always looking for ways to organize all of our schooly stuff because it seems to multiply like crazy!

Too Busy To Blog.......

2008-04-27T21:51:00.000-04:00

Well, I have had no time to upload any of my pics or write anything on my blog but I 've shown Daxter the ropes on his blog... aren't I nice?

I let him use my computer today to update his blog.... for security reasons I will not allow him access to his blog on his computer until I see that he knows what he is doing.... not perfectly, but enough to stay out of trouble.
I have ALL websites blocked on the kids' computers until I enter a password to allow them access. May seem harsh, but it works and my kids are safe.

So Daxter was on my computer this afternoon uploading and editting pics and adding text to his blog.......copying and pasting html..... he got the hang of it all pretty darn quick and I still haven't decided if that is a good thing or not :)
He is, after all, quite adept at math and science...... I have visions of my 8 year old turning into a computer hacker extraordinaire....... ok, not likely to happen but I am after all his mother and it is my job to worry right?

Daxter is all gung ho about his blog so I am sure my blog time will be limited for the next little while.... I hope to have some pics uploaded tomorrow sometime .... unless Daxter beats me to it.
Did I happen to mention that Ratchet wants a blog too????? Let's break the news to Hubby (aka Master Chief) that I need another computer for my desk..... how well do you think that will go over LOL?

Thank you to all who have gone to Daxter's Blog and left a comment.... he is so excited about blogging.... and to think it's educational too! Shhhhhh don't tell Daxter!

Daxter's New Blog!

2008-04-25T11:28:00.001-04:00

Daxter has his own blog..... you can get there by veiwing my complete profile or just go here: www.insidedaxtersbrain.blogspot.com

Daxter will be using his blog to learn new things on the computer and try out some of the things he already knows.

As he gets more familiar with it all I will give him more and more control over what goes on his blog.

Enjoy and check back often!

The Chocolate that Halo Ate........

2008-04-15T21:28:00.000-04:00

This is the chocolate......

This is the chocolate that Halo ate.......

well, he actually opened it, started picking at it and licking it..... in the store..... without asking for it......or paying for it...... you get the idea.

I was at the cash with my other two monkeys and Halo is there, at the candy rack snacking away. So of course I bought it. Halo asks "Are you buying it for me Mommy?"
I say "No, I 'm buying it for me!"

This is the toy that I got inside my chocolate......

Today's Doings

2008-04-15T12:01:00.001-04:00

Well, we did a bunch of stuff this morning.... but alas, no photos to speak of. The boys did a lot of coloring and labeling etc. They also started a few new things so I didn't want to bore anyone with page after page of coloring and unfinished projects. I will take photos of the completed work this week.

Daxter nearly finished all of his Teeth work that I had planned for him.....he only has one more page to color but his fingers were sore and I figure he can color it when we review the whole project at the end. Way to go Daxter! In the past getting Daxter to complete anything was a battle..... since I started this new format of more hands on activities he's been a joy to work with (99% of the time at least!)

Ratchet finished three Pen Pal letters today! Ratchet is my reluctant writer so this was a big accomplishment for him. I actually did take pictures of the cool puzzle we found to send to our Pen Pals. We also printed out an Ontario Color By Number from www.crayola.com.

UPDATE ON PENPAL PACKAGES: We went to the post office and guess how much it cost to mail out six pen pal packages???? $28.53......yikes! Guess I will be sure to find something much SMALLER to add to their letters from now on LOL!

Ratchet also finished almost all of his Teeth projects.....he did a neat crossword puzzle and some coloring and labeling.......

Halo worked on his Letter Cc mini books and printing pages... I let him go nuts with a bunch of stickers that start with the letter Cc... cars, cows, cherries, clown, cats etc. He had a blast. I took the time to cut out all the little stickers for him and well, what a mess of tiny little sticker papers to pick up after lol... not much time saved in the end.

The boys were happy to have finished all of their work before lunch (doesn't normally happen) so they are all playing happily in the playroom until I call them to help make lunch.

On a side note: We did not get to the Crocodile stuff I had printed..... but we did go through all of our books to see what we had before we went to the library.

After lunch we are heading to the post office to mail our Pen Pal letters..... all 6 of them.....and to the library.

ABC Notebook - Letter Bb

2008-04-14T17:15:00.000-04:00

Well, I had some one on one time with Halo today ( a rarity, trust me) so we worked on the last of his letter Bb page. He was so excited!

completed page

contents of pocket

printing practice on the back of the page

Hope to get the letter Cc started tomorrow......depends if the cat walks by or not :)

What's Inside a Tooth?

2008-04-14T14:05:00.001-04:00

Well if you asked my four year old before today he would have said "sugar bugs". That's what the Dentist tells the kids. There are sugar bugs inside your mouth and you need to brush your teeth to get them out.

Today we learned that your mouth is full of bacteria. When the bacteria sticks to your teeth it forms a film called plaque - usually near the gum line or between the teeth. The bacteria feeds off the sugar in your mouth and multiplies. As bacteria multiplies it gives off acids that eat the enamel and forms holes called cavities.

We made mini layer diagrams (boy do I love these!) and a tooth movie..... the boys also colored a mini maze identifying the different types of teeth.

all three boys' layer diagrams of a tooth

some close-ups of the layer diagram..... layer 1. enamel, layer 2. pulp, layer 3. dentin, layer 4. gum and bone

Tooth maze and a close-up. Each boy did one of their own. Located the molars, premolars, canine and incisers.

This is how we put them in the binder.... a little bit of double sided tape, some card stock (I got 1,000 sheets of this hidious lime green card stock at an auction for $1 so you'll see a lot of it!)

We will be doing some more work on teeth tomorrow and possbily the next day too lol! I always plan a whole bunch of things to cram into our time and well, not all of it seems to get done in between water breaks, then the inevitibile washroom break, then of course they need to pet the kitty on the way by and oh wait she needs a treat...... and so our day goes.

Off to brush my teeth!

The Project Continues.......

2008-04-13T21:28:00.000-04:00

Today was a rather uneventful day..... so I had some time to upload pics of our project to date. I will try to keep up with it as I go along from now on..... please bear with me :)

Cover... all three boys have the same - just with their name on it.... not too creative am I?

Daxter's Regions of the Brain Coloring - his brothers colored their own but their creative tendencies shone through and the lines were alas not stayed within.

I absolutely love these diagrams! They are layered to show each section of the skull and brain..... we didn't color this one first like we were supposed to.... oops.

This is the Systems of the Body Diagram that Daxter colored.... I colored one for Ratchet too but I like Daxter's better :) The layered diagrams are awesome learning tools.... I need to find more!

This is a diagram of a Neuron that Daxter drew...... he labelled it and copied the definition below.

This is Halo's dot-to-dot of the brain :) Not too techinical.

This is Ratchet's Systems of The Body Labelling..... he praticed cutting skills and gluing. Gluing is a VERY important skill to learn - otherwise it gets VERY messy!

Nerve Necklace - each boy made one and wore it for all of 3 seconds... they are hanging on our bulletin board now.

Brain Origami.... formerly known as a "cootie catcher" (by me anyway!)

Parts of the Brain Cards - inside and outside the brain... the cut-out cards are placed over the brain to highlight specific areas... the senses etc.

All sorts of flashcards.......for the younger two.... laminated for durability (I would laminate twice if I could) - organs, body parts, large organ cards, cells

Well, that's it so far.... hope it gives you some ideas.

The Human Body Project

2008-04-13T00:42:00.000-04:00

Well, all major technical difficulties have been resolved.... for now....... back to posting pics.

We used to lapbook the old fashioned way and create little mini books and glue them all in place but I began to notice that my kids really like the hands on things like flash cards, models and other manipulatives..... there is only so many folders that I am willing to rubber cement and duct tape together. So I have started lapbooking in a binder.... I can add as little or as much as I want...which means I can go back in a couple of years and review the subject and cover some of the older material and add it in :) Bonus!

For the Human Body we have done a few of the hands of things I had planned and Daxter has done a few label me diagrams..... there are still lots of neat things I need to take photos of.... I must get into the habit of taking a photo before I put something away for the day :)

I will post a few pics to get the ball rolling and post more as I go......

Here is the paper model of the brain......it was suppose to be a hat but my boys would never wear it so a table model it is! One side shows the different parts of the brain....cerebrum, cerebellum etc. and the other side shows where the specific senses are controlled from.

another model of the brain that the boys did.....

Ratchet working hard and showing off his fine yarn and glue work..... it was a messy job!

Daxter's first braid! This will be the spinal cord.

Halo's awesome glue job... you would not believe how much glue we needed to hold that little braid on.

The spine and spinal cord.

a close- up

Well, that's all I've taken photos of for now.... I know, it's not too lapbooky but it will all come together in the end..... sort of :)

Halo's ABC Lapbook in a Binder

2008-04-13T00:41:00.000-04:00

Halo knows most of his alphabet to see them (although his rendition of the ABC song is quite unique). So I did not want to spend a lot of time on all of the letters he already knew nor did I want to put together something that would only be good for the Alphabet (that's a lot of cutting and pasting!). So I came up with what I hope is a good idea.

Halo's ABC Lapbook in a Binder.

I started with a rainbow of 26 cardstock pages. Each letter starts of with one page. The letters he already knows get only one page. The other letters that he needs help with will get as many pages as he needs to learn it lol! All of the pages for a letter will be the same color... to keep it organized for Halo and to satisfy my OCD tendancies.

I hope to add some early reading portions to each page as well..... there is a mini reader for each page so far but I may add more later. The joys of lapbooking... you can always add more.... it's when to stop that's the problem!

First page - letter Aa

Top left mini book..... it's a reader.... we read it BEFORE he colored it lol!

top right mini book... I love these little books so I just had to color them!

contents of pockets..... little cutout pictures of things that start with Aa, the word is on the back for him to learn

back of first page... printing practice... and more lovely coloring :)