Preschool Weeks 6, 7, 8

We took a preschool break while Doug and I were in London, but it's been fun to get back into our study of South America. Rhonda has actually had an interest in South America for a while--she's often told me that she wants to go there, and pretends that she's going to South America sometimes when she plays. So it's been exciting for her to learn more about it.

Gluing the South America "stamp" into her passport.

We read a book called Tales Our Abuelitas Told, which has illustrated folktales from South America. Rhonda seems to be really enjoying it, and she loves the pictures. I'm enjoying it too, but I have to admit it's more fun for me to read a longer novel, so I'm looking forward to doing that in our Europe study. I think Rhonda likes the novels better, too--it's easier for her to remember and get invested in those stories.

I've been doing a good job keeping up with our daily reading, but I have to admit that I have not been keeping up with the crafts at all. With a toddler around, it's not easy to find time to do crafts! Plus, although Rhonda sort of enjoys crafts, the ones in the curriculum are usually above her level of ability. I think I may just let go of the crafts for now. She often does art projects with her grandma Michelle, who is great about letting the kids get messy, so I don't worry too much about lacking in that area. Maybe in a few months, she'll start being able to do more with the crafts.

But even though I'm not great at being a "craft mom," I have managed to do a couple of fun baking activities with the kids. (That's more my speed!) I let the kids help me make pumpkin chocolate chip oatmeal cookies the other day. Although I let Rhonda help me cook and bake pretty frequently, I've never let Sierra help before, but this time they both wanted to help and I was feeling patient enough to allow it. They had a wonderful time. Mostly they just played with the measuring cups and spoons, and sneaked small bits of ingredients into little concoctions when I wasn't looking. They were very entertained, and the mess actually wasn't too bad.

Rhonda and I made brigadeiros, a kind of Brazilian candy, to go with our South America study. She had a lot of fun playing with the extra sweetened condensed milk. She did a great job rolling the balls in sprinkles. Both Rhonda and Sierra loved eating them!

We've been playing a lot more games. I've been learning a lot about gameschooling and I want to get Rhonda started on it. Although "gameschooling" sounds like a cop-out, there are actually a ton of great educational games these days, and even "non-educational" games still teach kids a lot of great skills. I've been building our game collection little by little. I've found a lot of great games at thrift stores and discount stores. It's not always easy to find time to play games with Rhonda (again, a toddler who wants to grab cards and game pieces is a recipe for game disaster), but I've been making it more of a priority lately. It's also a fun way to get some one-on-one time with her. These three weeks, we've been playing Candyland, Chutes & Ladders, and the Disney matching game. (That matching game is really hard because it has about a million different cards. Rhonda has an amazing memory and actually beat me last time. I never let her win on purpose.)

We also recently played Spelling Bee Bingo (which doesn't require actual spelling, just letter recognition). Rhonda wanted to play the advanced version which has cards to read, but I told her I thought that would be too hard. She insisted she could read the words on the cards, so I showed them to her. I was pretty surprised how well she could sound them out! She got some right, and they're not beginning words.

Speaking of reading, I found the BOB Books for a good price at Costco, and when Rhonda saw them she wanted to read them. She read the first two all on her own! I was impressed. She was excited, but hasn't wanted to read more since then. I think once she decides to really learn to read, she'll take off. She has all the skills she needs, she just needs a little more motivation.

We've also been listening to a podcast called Sing Along with Mandy. It's about 15 minutes of a mom singing songs. The kids enjoy dancing along with it, and she also does little clapping rhythm games that are great. Rhonda even joined in the last time we listened.