Theme Hiatus

Nothing is more regular in my life than being behind on something (usually something for me).  Whether it is being behind on the housework, posting blog entries about my kids' development, or not getting a project done around the house (hello $5 hot pink bookshelf that I haven't painted yet!), being a stay at home mom of a 3 year old and a 7 month old means that everything seems to take a back burner to whatever the immediate concern is.  Some of my faithful readers have mentioned that reading my activity plans exhaust them  (the thought of what I'm doing, not the ACTUAL reading of the blog.  err..I hope!).  It is exhausting, but it's only happening because I have put the curriculum above a lot of other things in our lives, which is one reason why I can't seem to find time to write more on this blog. However, in the grand scheme of things, actually planning and doing the activities is the point of this whole thing.  Documentation would be fabulous (and I will eventually get there - I have the videos and pictures, it's the processing that takes time.), but actually doing these things with him is the key.  With that said, we're taking a couple week hiatus since the next few weeks are a little busy and I'd like to catch up. 

Why are they busy? 

Well, for one, I have a first job interview this week, so if all goes well, I might have additional interviews and if those go well, I might not be a stay at home momma much longer.  This makes me sad, but I do need to go back to work eventually, and a couple of potentially awesome positions opened up now, so I didn't want to miss the opportunities at the risk of not being able to find a job when I need to go back.  If either of these positions works out, we might get to move closer to where my husband works, which will help our work/life balance.  

Also, we're trying to organize our closets full of random, unorganized stuff, which will help immensely if we have to move, and will make room for the boxes that came home from my office in June AND we have family coming to town at the end of the month (and the office boxes have been scattered all over the guest room!).  I really didn't want to have to stop and start a formal theme multiple times, because that can hinder learning and is frustrating for everyone.  However, this does not mean that I will stop spending quality time doing activities with RJ - only that nap times will be used for going through closets rather than planning specific activities and preparing them!  During this time, we're doing some more informal thematic curriculum that isn't as far removed from our everyday routine - focusing on Healthy Living.  We'll cook together (which we have to do anyway), and exercise together (perhaps spending more time at the park now that the heat has subsided a little). We'll still work on letters and do art, just more basic stuff than I had planned for the last theme.  Some of the things we touch on might lead to a more formal theme after things settle down a little bit. During this hiatus, I want to document my son's pre and post assessments from the Transportation theme and post some documents describing my philosophy of early childhood education.  Hopefully these posts will tide you all over until we get going again.

Transition Tuesday: Ending the Transportation Theme

This week we will be easing out of Transportation - I don't have any major plans, but do want to do some webbing with RJ to go over what we've learned.  Interestingly, he's already asked, "What are we learning about next?".  Over the weekend, I hope to conduct the first post-theme assessment.  Then I want to take a short hiatus to regroup for the next theme, which will be a healthy living theme.  We do a good amount of this anyway with our weekly CSA crate and talking about what new foods the baby is eating, as well as getting exercise at the playground, but I want to delve a little deeper.  This will also work out great to kick start some daily yoga into our routine, which we can even get the baby involved in. 

Terrific Tuesday

Today we remembered that we had an aircraft carrier with a bunch of supersonic aircraft, which is an excellent connection between aircraft and boats.  My husband built it with his father when he was in elementary school.  This turned out to be a great find, since RJ played with it ALL DAY and we used it to explain what the bow, stern, port, and starboard were.

Mindful Monday: Week 6 Lesson Plans

I think this will be the last planned week of our Transportation Theme.  I'm really happy with how it has been going, but I think this is the last of the material I'd like to cover.

Monday: Park by the Train Tracks/Airport, S is for Space Shuttle Alphabet page,
Tuesday (Clean Master Bath, Diapers): Boats: ships pick up the booster rockets and fuel take from the shuttle out in the ocean
"Boats" (Robbins, 1989; book),R is for Rocket Alphabet book page,  Banana Boat Song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpg-KIKD5gU), Banana Canoes, "Float around in Canoes" (Song, http://stepbystepcc.com/boat.html), Boat Lacing

Float Around In Canoes - sung to "Ring Around the Rosey"

Float around in canoes,
(move in circle clockwise)
We are wearing no shoes.
(continue moving clockwise)
Upstream.
(move counter clockwise)
Downstream.
(move clockwise)
We all splish SPLASH!
(Drop hands and fall to ground)

Wednesday (Baby Co-op): Shape Sailboats, "Have you ever seen a sailboat?" (Song; http://stepbystepcc.com/boat.html), B is for Boat Alphabet book page, "A History of Water Travel" (Book; Rossi, 2004)

Have You Ever Seen A Sailboat? - sung to "Did You Ever See A Lassie?"

Have you ever seen a sailboat,
A sailboat, a sailboat?
Have you ever seen a sailboat
Waving its sail?

Wave this way and that way,
Wave that way and this way.
Have you ever seen a sailboat
Waving its sail?

Thursday (Big Kid Co-op Day):  Make Clay boat/ship

Friday: Sink or float experiment, Paint clay boat (once dry), Anchor Daisy Chain (http://www.first-school.ws/activities/alpha/a/impactaposter.htm) with numbers on Chain, Deviled Egg Boats

Weekend: Swim Lessons; Boat Rental or Ferry Ride

Mindful Monday : Week 5 Lesson Plans

Aircraft are still in full force. This week we're going to focus on helicopters and space shuttles.

Monday: Helicopter pretend play, Helicopter books, helicopter song

Tuesday (Cleaning): Lego Helicopter, Helicopter Lacing, Helicopter Matching page, tearing paper for paper mache,

Wednesday (Laundry): Clay Helicopter, Help make a space shuttle out of a box and paper mache, decorate inside "controls", design rockets for balloon rockets

Thursday (Co-op Day) Pretend play with the space shuttle, toilet paper roll shuttles, Balloon rockets, freeze dried ice cream (astronaut food), dehydrating fruit (also a cutting exercise), Clay Shuttles.

Friday: Baby's Dr. Appt., Morning Errands, Talk about how astronauts have to stay healthy , R is for Rocket Alphabet Page, S is for Shuttle Alphabet Page

Also, I found that my big lesson planning chart was really cumbersome, took more time without payoff, and not necessarily helpful for what I am trying to do, so I've reverted to this simpler plan in the text of my blog entry.  Instead of reviewing each activity, I'll blog about the really notable ones (good and bad).

Fun Activity Friday: A review of the Petaluma Speedway Fieldtrip

A few weeks ago, when we were learning about cars, specifically race cars, we took our son to the Petaluma Speedway to see a real dirt track oval and experience a race.  Given how much he loves the Pixar movie, "Cars", we figured it would be a big hit AND it fit well with the theme.

One lesson that really hit home was that race cars are extremely LOUD.  We were fortunate that we bought some ear plugs on the way there because the initial reaction to the noise was rather tearful.  No amount of preparation for the noise level really prepared him for the roar of the engines.  The earplugs worked great though.  While at the racetrack, we also learned what the different color flags mean to the drivers, and that cars that look similar in style race together.  We also touched a piece of the track that had sprayed up.  I was a little disappointed that the pits were not visible from the stands, because that would've been a great way to see how the cars get gassed and how their tires are changed with tools.

What I really enjoyed watching was how the experience was played out in the car on the way home (before he fell asleep that is).   While we are not going to be regulars at the track (I'm not really into watching cars go around in circles), this was a fairly inexpensive family activity that also promoted and solidified his learning.  I wish I had done a little more research ahead of time so that I could have shared even more of what was going on, but at the age of three, I think the lessons he did learn were developmentally appropriate, and he might have been lost with more detail.

Mindful Monday: Week 4 Lesson Plans

The transportation theme is still going strong and engagement in the materials and activities is still high. We've had a busy couple of weeks with playdates and errands, so we're still talking about aircraft. I also realized that we haven't been doing a lot of letter and number recognition activities, so I'm trying to add more, starting with the A is for Airplane page that we did last week. Here's the plan for the week.

Monday - Errands and Cleaning Day. Airport/travel pretend play since we'll be finishing up the Laundry.
Tuesday - Playdate! I'm sure that Transportation vehicles will be out in full force.
Wednesday - Cardboard Lacing Airplane construction, H is for Helicopter Letter Page. Library Day - pick out more books about airplanes, helicopters, space shuttles, and boats. Build Helicopter out of legos.
Thursday - Co-op Day, maybe airplane and helicopter (and letter) sculptures after nap
Friday - Pool play date! Grocery shopping.
Weekend - Arrange Airplane Visit (?)