Almost Unschooling Grama

  Introduced the kids to Laura Ingalls Wilder yesterday. We talked about how her family moved in a covered wagon to several Midwestern states, found them on the map, and then made our own covered wagon with pool noodles.

Thought I'd share the notes from a recent study I did on the River of Life for my home church group.  Back Story  My natural family is very academically gifted. Lots of doctors, teachers, and lawyers … Although we went to church, we were very skeptical of the Bible, regarding the miracles as myths. Even though I have seen many miracles sometimes it is still hard for me to let go and believe.  Many years ago, I was in a church service that has impacted me a lot. I don’t remember the whole sermon, but this verse is what I took out of it.  Rev 2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.  The minister was explaining that while it is true that we take on the new name of Christ, in ancient cultures when a man takes a wife, he often gives her a n...

Toothless here inspired an impromptu dental unit this week. We made these cute little "fuzzy" teeth and talked about how bacteria grow on our teeth.  I printed out the smaller tooth template from this website:  https://www.printabletreats.com/free-printable-tooth-template/ Then we glued a couple of googly eyes to them and covered them with tiny pieces of cotton. We also made toothbrushes from craft sticks and brown construction paper.  Then we watched this cute little video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGoBFU1q4g0 Come to find out February is actually Dental Health Month. How appropriate!  

  Mighty Red is now pretty much an independent adder. We started out with him on my lap as his sister and I played math games. He would move the pieces while I gave the answers. Then we moved to him copying me as I did the finger math. For the past several weeks, we have been doing the problems on our fingers together, but this week he announced that he could do this and just took off without me! When I was in school, having someone help me like I have helped Mighty Red would have been shameful and "cheating". Go ahead, help your kids "cheat". It works!

Joke of the Day Perimeter and area help are here! https://jillianstarrteaching.com/area-and-perimeter-manipulatives/ Need indoor PE ideas? Keep your kids moving with these.  https://thedeliberatemom.com/indoor-physical-education-ideas/ Play Trominoes to help your kids with spatial recognition. https://www.whatdowedoallday.com/trominoes/ Popularity isn't all that it's cracked up to be. It is better to have just a few close relationships than 100 "friends". The truth is that you just don't have time to sustain more than a few. If you try, you will end up lonely in a sea of friends that are no more than fans.

Joke of the Day Today's Links Engineering experiment! Stand on paper cups. https://www.science-sparks.com/how-can-you-stand-on-a-paper-cup-without-breaking-it/ Shucks! I just gave away my entire stash of toilet paper tubes! What brilliance. Write sight words on cling wrap, put them on the end of a paper tube, and shine a flashlight through. https://ar.pinterest.com/pin/175288610484626866/ Strewing today? Shiny and bright will always attract attention. Check out this music activity. https://www.andnextcomesl.com/2014/05/music-theory-with-mirrors.html?m=1

Joke of the Day I had to take a whole load of tree limbs to the dump today in my trailer. I came to realize that when I prayed for a job as a branch manager, I needed to be a little more specific. Links   Many of these activities you could make yourself, but the price for the whole package is very reasonable too! https://jillianstarrteaching.com/make-a-ten-to-add/ Winter is an excellent time to study constellations. There's plenty of time before bed to go look out at the stars. Whenever it looks like the skies will be clear, have your kids take one of these templates, do a craft with it, read up on the constellation(s) they choose, and then see if you can locate them in the sky. http://teachersmag.com/posts/constellation-templates-for-kids Using real coins when learning about them makes identifying them in real life so much easier. Check out these free printables! https://www.fantasticfunandlearning.com/free-coin-sorting-matching-printables.html Teens do not have to be rebellious k...