Child Meditation

In order to curb some of the behaviors the "bug" has been exhibiting, I have decided to start introduce him to yoga and meditation to relax him before bed.

With his cast on, we'll start with some REALLY easy stretching and avoid the broken arm and once he's in his pj's and in bed, we will do a bit of visualization before letting him say his prayers and go to sleep.

"Let's go on an adventure... But instead of rushing up and out the front door, we'll take a journey into our imagination, a beautiful place in our thoughts. Lying on your bed, stretch you legs out to a comfortable position, resting easy like a doll, gently close your eyes. Although you are staying still and lying in your bed, imagine standing up and walking right out your door onto the beach. Feel the sand between your toes and smell the gentle ocean breeze. Hear the waves crashing slowly onto the shore, and the birds gentle chirp in the sky above you... Find a nice comfortable spot on your imagination beach to sit and watch the waves crash, the birds sing and the sand circle you..Now, nice and relaxed, drift to sleep."

 

ADHD & Med Free

Once you discover your child may (or has been confirmed) to be afflicted with ADHD, the whirlwind CONTINUES! I would say begins, BUT knowing a child with ADHD, the whirlwind had begun YEARS before the diagnoses.
I am a FIRM believe in our natural world, for hundreds of years people survived the SAME afflictions we have today WITHOUT medication, of course this was either because the medication did not exist or the diagnoses did not. REGARDLESS, we survived!
I do NOT like any medication, I find that our bodies were constructed to fight off, pain, discomfort and to some extent illness. I am not a radical-naturalopathic-hairy-hippie-femisnist-christian-homeschooling mom,, . I do vaccinate my children when necessary, Tylenol them when they are ill, and feed them junk WHEN I want too. I just don't take ANY medications myself, or have them prescribed unnecessarily to my family.
We plan to manage our son's ADHD medication free. And here is the plan....
Give shorter lessons and more of them, which makes it easier for children to stay focused. Focus is so limited at this young age anyway!
Acknowledge even partial success and extend approval generously. We have a marble jar that is WONDERFUL!
Compliment even in mid-assignment to encourage continued focused performance.
Make corrections with a light hand. Instead of “try harder next time,” try – I see how hard you tried. Keep up the effort. It’s really paying off.
Lots of smiling, make eye contact with child, or pat him on the back.
Alert child’s attention with phrases such as “This is important.”
Break down longer directions into simpler chunks.
Allow physically hyperactive children out of their seats for FREQUENT movement.
Compliment a child, publicly, at least once daily, on some organizational or attentional task or effort.
Take a moment or two once or twice daily to speak privately; give a two-second pep talk, mention something positive you happened to notice regarding his work, behavior, self-control, focusing, etc.
I am also planning a somewhat Buddy system for cooperative learning both at and above level.

I will not make excuses for him, but rather encourage him strongly to manage his own behaviors and succeed despite the challenges ahead.

Home-Made Bread Day

What a great reason to celebrate on November 17th. Find ideas for crafts, games, and other activities.

Crafts to Make:

• Make a collage by cutting out pictures of different breads and grains out of magazines.


• Try this Bread Painting Activity.


• Make creations using this Bread Clay Recipe.


• Make a Chef Apron.


• Make a Bird Feeder out a piece of bread.

Other Things To Do:

• Bake Bread!


• Visit a bakery.


• Set up a dramatic play area depicting a bakery.


• Talk about different shapes and textures of breads (for example, bagels, tortillas, bread sticks, pocket bread, etc.)


• Compare the tastes and textures of different kinds of bread.


• Make some Bread Pudding!


• Learn about the kids' food guide pyramid.

Teddy Bear Poem

A poem for your Teddy Bear

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Teddy bear turn aroundTeddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn around.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the ground.Teddy Bear touch the ground
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, show your shoe.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, that will do.
Teddy Bear run upstairs Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, go upstairs.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, say your prayers.Teddy Bear saying prayers
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn out the light.
Teddy Bear sleepingTeddy Bear, Teddy Bear, say “Good night.”

Balloon Day

Tomorrow is National Balloon Day and in honor of such…
Balloon Vampire Bat

Get two black balloons. Inflate one of the balloons fully; inflate the second only half way. Duct tape the tied ends of the balloons together so they form the body of a bat. Instruct the child to cut out two oval eyes and two triangular fangs from white construction paper. Have her cut two small pupils to sit in the center of the bat’s eyes, two triangular ears and a pair of wings out of black construction paper. Assist her in attaching these features to the body of the bat with black duct tape. Use the tape to attach a ribbon where the balloons meet. Attach the ribbon’s other end where you’d like the vampire bat to hang.

Balloon People

After your kindergartner chooses a balloon, inflate it. Direct the child to form a face by decorating the balloon with markers or stickers. Cut out a base shape to resemble a pair of feet from construction paper. Ask the child to color and decorate these feet with markers. Place a small hole in the center of the feet-shaped base, and thread the tied end of the inflated balloon through the hole. If the balloon does not stand up correctly, tape a coin to the bottom of the feet to balance it.

Balloon Octopus

Cut up several colored drinking straws into 1-inch lengths. Direct your kindergartner to thread these straws over eight separate pieces of string. Tie a bead at the end of each string to prevent the straws from falling off. Next, inflate a balloon. Assist the child in taping the strings around the balloon to act as arms of the octopus. He can then draw a face on the balloon to complete this fun octopus.

Balloon Bean Bags

Blow up a balloon to stretch it, then allow it to deflate. Attach a funnel to the balloon neck, then allow your child to pour in dry lentils until the balloon is completely full. Tie the neck of the balloon in a knot, then cut off any excess. Get a second deflated balloon. Cut off the neck completely and throw this away–making sure to save the bottom half. Using the bottom half of the second balloon, stretch it over the lentil-filled balloon. Make sure you are covering the knot you tied on the first balloon. Add more layers for extra security.

Hot Air Balloon

Place two long pieces of ribbon crosswise on a flat surface. Tie a knot where they meet. As your child to decorate a paper cup with paints or markers. It will act as the hot-air balloon’s basket. Pierce four equidistant holes around the paper cup’s rim. Thread the four ribbon ends through these holes and fasten with knots. Position an inflated balloon inside the ribbons. Glue the ribbons to the balloon surface to fasten.

Preschool Art

Have the children decorate blown-up balloons at the art table. Balloons can be decorated with glue and sparkles, beads, or other colouful shiny items. Have children use items of their choices as well. A list of Art-Shelf ideas can be found in our online E-Book available on our site.Once dried, the childrens’ balloon creations can be hung around the room. Or you can paper mache newspaper strips over the balloons and have children decorate them once dried. Pop balloons inside mache and pull out. Their balloon creations will never deflate.

Preschool Math

Keep a record and count how mant days it takes for the balloons to deflate. Count how many balloons you are waiting to deflate.

Science Experiment

Blow up a few different shapes of balloons. Place balloons side by side on top of a shelf but still visible to the children.If needed, tape or sticky tack to surface to prevent the balloons from falling or being blown around. Record how long it takes for the balloons to start to deflate.Does one balloon deflate faster than another? Have children draw pictures of what they see happen as the balloons deflate.

Sensory Activity

Once the balloons are deflated, place them in a sensory bin with other balloons. The other balloons can be filled with air, water, rice, popcorn kernels, oatmeal, etc.
Let the children FEEL the difference in the balloons;HEAR the sounds they make; SEE the difference in size, shape and colour and SMELL the balloons (4 out of 5 senses used)

Academic

MATH

An ability-appropriate level math textbook for each child. 4 days per week. — I am completely against math texts for young children, instead I would recommend a workbook, or series of worksheets.

Drill work on math facts, 3-10 min/day, 5 days per week (while learning math facts). — Starting as simple as rout counting.

Math reading: Each Friday or 2nd Friday of the month, as needed.

LANGUAGE ARTS

Phonics: (for beginning readers), daily.

Handwriting: (while learning penmanship), 2 days per week, Tuesday & Thursday.

Spelling: Monday, Wednesday & Friday. —To begin only AFTER ‘cvc‘ words have begun to be mastered.

Grammar: 2 days per week, Tuesday & Thursday.

Reading Practice and Literature: (read-alouds, personal reading, fluency reading, vocabulary development, reading comprehension, american and world literature) daily, integrated into other subjects.

Composition: 2 – 3 days per week, Monday, Wednesday & Friday. Use compositions to reinforce grammar instruction as well as for additional handwriting practice while your child is learning penmanship. —-NOT until fluency in reading is established.

Vocabulary: daily integrated into reading/literature, as well as other subject areas as needed.

HISTORY/CITIZENSHIP

Use a grade-level history (textbook daily or) complete 3 to 6 history history units per year. If doing units, spend 1-1/2 to 2 hours per day, 2 days per week (Tuesday and Thursday) for 36 weeks, incorporating reading, hands-on activities, art, music, and composition, as appropriate.

Integrate citizenship into history curriculum or complete one or two special classes per year.

Geography and Mapping Skills: Mondays

Current Events: daily

SCIENCE

Use a grade-level science (textbook daily or) complete 3 to 6 science science units per year. If doing units, spend 1-1/2 to 2 hours per day, 2 days per week (Monday and Wednesday) for 36 weeks, incorporating reading, hands-on activities, lab work, art, music and composition, as appropriate.

ART

Each Wednesday, as needed.

MUSIC

Each Monday, as needed.

COMPUTER SKILLS

Each Saturday and/or integrate into other subjects, as needed.

Keyboarding: daily (after child has learned to write in cursive and until he can type a minimum of 40 wpm with only 1-2 errors).

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Keep track of 75 minutes of physical activity per week.

Attend one or two special classes on Tuesdays, as needed.

HEALTH/SAFETY

Integrate into science curriculum.

ELECTIVES:

Bible: daily

Foreign Language: briefly integrate into lessons daily, as needed.

Field trips: Fridays or occasionally substitute for Monday – Thursday school day, as needed.

Social Activities: daily play time with friends after school, during field trips, Fridays, special classes, or weekends

Scheduling for Homeschooling

A traditional school year is five to six hours a day, 5 days a week for 36 weeks or 180 days.

As a home-schooling family, we could have chosen to follow the same schedule of the local school, but we chose to customize a schedule to suit our family’s needs.

According to the state of Connecticut, we do not have to do every subject every day of the school year.

I have been struggling with the amount of activities in which to enroll my children and just beginning to face the realities that I do not have to enroll my children in every class or outside activity that their/my friends do.

I have decided to enroll each child in in only one pay activity per week. Of course I will schedule play dates and the like, and invite other children to sit in some of our activities and lessons, but I do not want these things to interfere with the educational purpose of home schooling.

Our Fridays will continue to be left for field trip days whereas, Monday through Thursday will hold the highest concentration of academic study. I do however, plan on teaching some things on Fridays and Saturdays.

I am such a planner that I cannot help myself about planning out everything. Of course, I do not anticipate a play-by-play daily run-down, but I will specify subject area topics for each day.

The amount of time spent on each subject depends upon the age, small motor skills, learning style, and abilities of each child (ranges as follows: 3-5 minutes for preschoolers, 10-20 minutes for 1st -3rd graders, 20-45 minutes for 4th – 6th graders, 45 minutes or more for 8th – 12th graders). Although Jonathan is at a preschool age, his attention-span, learning style and abilities enable lessons to run approximately 10-15 minutes.

The total number of hours spent each day in one-on-one instruction ranges as follows: thirty minutes in Kindergarten (broken up into several five-minute sessions), one to two hours in grades 1 – 6, two hours or more in grades 7 – 12. Again, more can be accomplished orally than handwritten for children with handwriting difficulties. In our planning, our TOTAL home-schooling daily agenda is two hours — which conveniently is the amount of nap-time for the baby.

The remainder of our school day is spent in independent book exploration, free play activities with his siblings and friends, complete own “chores”, exploring an instrument, create an art projects, and/or participate in any other activity that can be done independently. The television and computers are not available during the school day, and are limited to ninety minutes weekly, other than for educational purposes.

Some states require an excess of four to five hours of home schooling daily, thankfully Connecticut is not one of them. However there is a difference between “actual teaching time” and “school attendance” time.

Talk like a PIRATE day

PIRATE’S TREASURE MAP

Tasha started kindergarten this year and has been in “craft overload” a bit so we don’t do as many projects at home as we used to. But every once in awhile, I come up with something to intrigue her and “making” the paper for the treasure map definitely did! CLICK HERE to see a full sized photo of the craft. Close the photo window when done viewing.


Pirate's Treasure Map

You’ll need cold coffee or tea (about 1/2 cup), piece of white paper, a blowdryer, a little imagination and some markers.

Take a piece of nice white paper and rip off all the edges (don’t cut them with scissors, rip them!) If you rip the paper a bit more than you meant to, it’s not the end of the world.

Crumple the paper up as tightly as you can into a ball.

Flatten the paper out again and put onto a plate or cookie sheet. (if you haven’t told the kids what you’re doing, they’ll start thinking you’re really weird right about now).

Pour coffee or tea over the paper. Swoosh around with your hands to make sure it covers everything.

If you’re doing this with a large group of smaller kids, you may want to get it to this point and set them aside for a couple minutes (get the children arranged at the table for drawing their maps). Then pull out some finished, dried sheets that you premade. It keeps the kids from having to sit through the “waiting” parts of the project.

Let it sit for about 5 minutes (if you’re doing it with a group, you don’t have to let it sit so long… 2 minutes is enough to give it some colour)

Pour the coffee off into the sink.

Blowdry with a hand held blowdryer on high for about 5 minutes (leave it sitting on the plate while blowdrying or it will tear to pieces). When it’s pretty dry (and starts to lift a bit) switch the blowdrier to low to finish off (about another 2 minutes).

Now… take some markers and draw your map. There should be a big X in the middle, a dotted line trail that winds around and maybe a title that says “Pirate Island” and a North, South, East, West arrow in the corner.

Once you’ve drawn the trail and X you can draw and label some “obstacles”. Some ideas are:

Bloody Beach

Waterfalls of Doom

Skull rock

Monster Mountain

Skeleton Jungle

Captain’s Cave (Captain’s Cavern)

Serpent Pass

You can roll the map up and slip into a 1/4 tp roll holder or tie with a ribbon, stick it into a bottle or just hang it up on your wall!

Eat an Apple Day

The picture above is a photograph of the finished craft. The diagram instructions are drawn. (drawings load faster than photos over the internet)

Stamp the side of your hand in brown paint and stamp it on the paper as the trunk

Stamp your index finger in green paint and stamp it many times on the paper for the leaves (re-dipping in the paint as necessary)

Stamp your pinkie finger in red paint and stamp it lightly on the paper for the apples (light stamps make rounder prints)

Good for Adam and Eve, Johnny Appleseed, Arbor Day and Summer themes.

Patriot's Day

My kids created these Q Tip Fireworks to celebrate Patriot’s Day BUT, they are good for any holiday or special occasion.

An easy craft for preschoolers on up for Independence Day or an important sporting event! Even younger hands can pull it off! The baby (15 months) made a cute one!

Here’s what you’ll need

• Q Tips
• Water
• Small container
• Food coloring
• Paper plate
• Black construction paper
• Glue

Here’s how you make them…1. Cut your Q Tips in various sizes. You can actually break them off pretty easily with your hands.

2.Now you will need to color you Q Tips. Put some water in a small container and add food coloring (6-8 drops is good). Dip your swabs in to the colored water and place on a paper plate. Repeat for as many colors of fireworks as you’d like.

3. If you are not doing this craft right away, or have time to prepare ahead of time, you can leave your swabs out to dry overnight. If you need them to be dry quickly you can put them in the microwave, on high for 5-6 minutes, or until they are dry.

4. On a piece of black paper glue your Q Tips in a circular pattern. For younger children it will be easier if you drawa black dot on the paper and instruct them to glue their swabs all pointing to the dot in the middle.

Make as many different fireworks as you can, make them all different colors, sizes and patterns!

Keep in mind that the more food coloring you add the more vibrant your swabs will be!

Patriot's Day

Bald Eagle

The Bald Eagle is not only one of the most beautiful birds, but is also a well recognized American symbol. This would make a great preschool or kindergarten craft for American holidays!

Ages: 3 and up



Here’s what you’ll need…• Brown, white, blue and yellow
construction paper
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Glue
• Google eye

Here’s how you make it…

1. First you will need cut trace and cut out all the shapes. You will need a brown foot and hand prints, white feathers, and a yellow beak.

2. Glue your foot print body onto a piece of blue paper. Next, glue the hand print wings on either side of the body so it looks like the Eagle is flying(as shown in the picture).

3. Glue your white feathers on the Eagles head and neck, and don’t forget to put a few on his tail! Once that is done it’s time to put on your yellow beak and eyes. If you don’t have any google eyes you can always just draw on an eye with a black marker.

You don’t have to make a flying Eagle, you may choose to do a standing up Eagle like the one in the picture.

Grandparent's Day

Have kids assemble small green leaves to represent their grandparents and parents, as well as themselves and each of their siblings. Have them attach each leaf with a paperclip to a small twig with numerous branches or do a brown-paint hand print on construction paper and fingerprints in fall leaf colors to fill in the top of the tree. Starting with the grandparents’ at the top of the tree, let them glue the generations at varying levels on the tree, and then write each person’s on each of the leaves.

Picture Frame

Use foam craft sheets to make frames for family photos. Find a family photo. Draw an interesting shape, at least 1 inch wider on all sides than the photo, onto the foam sheet and cut it out, using decorative-edged scissors if desired. Cut out a circle or square, slightly smaller than the photo, from the center of the foam sheet. Glue the photo to the back of the foam sheet. Alternatively, cut different colored and shaped frames for individual pictures of family members. String all of the frames together on a ribbon for grandparents to drape over a shelf or fireplace.

Magnets

Make magnets with holiday messages that grandparents can use for reminders and lists on the refrigerator. Trace small hands and feet onto colorful, thick card stock. Let kids write personal Grandparents Day messages or poems with colorful markers or crayons on the cutouts and glue a small magnet to the back. Add the year to the message and make new ones each year to show how much kids have grown and how their writing has improved.

Silhouettes

Create portraits to frame of kids’ silhouettes. Have kids trace the outlines of their own and their siblings’ faces and necks onto black construction paper or card stock, using a white crayon. Cut out the silhouette inside the white lines and glue it to a colorful piece of card stock, solid or printed. Frame the silhouette in a wood or metal frame. Alternatively, create a small scrapbook of the silhouettes of each family member, using construction paper and lacing the pages together along one edge through punched holes with ribbon or yarn.

DIVING IN...

An educational experience to last a lifetime!





Here we go! No turning back now! Home-schooling it is for us!

I am certain for the time being this is the BEST decision for Jonathan for now, for this year and probably next, but who knows what the future will hold? Not I.

So let’s do this thing!

It won’t be easy, but it’ll be good and we’ll make it work, heck we’ll make it the BEST experience we can and something he’ll remember forever — at least that’s the goal.

Our Story

The decision to homeschool comes about differently for every family. While we knew that our children would never attend public schools, we only toyed with the idea that homeschooling would become a part of our family while our firstborn child, Jonathan, was still an infant.

As a certified teacher, it seemed wrong to us for me to leave him with a sitter in order to go teach (and essentially raise) other people's children. In the short time I was with Jonathan (vacations and snow days and such), he would grow leaps and bounds, but once I returned to work, he would slide backward again. As my hours got longer and my pay did not increase, we decided once my third year within the school system was complete, I was done.

As soon as my first official stay-at-home-mom day came, it was clear that Jonathan was/is brilliant. His language exploded and became quite precise.
As a certified teacher, I had access to the state assessment tests and began testing Jonathan at age two. He tested into kindergarten at 2 1/2 years old and out of kindergarten before age 3. I began to explore our options for schooling in the private sector, but was quickly turned away soly based on his age. Frustrated with the thought of him being completely bored and thus misbehaving after roughly three-years of review, we made an uncommon decision.

Now, we firmly committed to homeschooling each of our children. I teach on a year-to-year basis, never committing to more than one year at a time. Of course, I cannot foresee any reason why any of our children would rejoin the public schools but we'd like to see them enter the private or Montessori sector in the not-so-distant future.

The decision was stressful, the community/extended family back-lash harsh and financially a strain.


My husband and I, just about a year before we were married.

Our little "Bug", Jonathan (Jack), the true adventurer - hands-on eager to learn mentality. A true first born.

Our little "Beana", Katrina (Trina), the constantly moving, girly-girl with no fear, eager to do anything her brother is doing. So easy-going you'd think she was a middle child (no one tell my husband 'wink').


If at any time you have questions, please feel free to contact me.

ONE of THOSE moms....

Okay so I am one of "THOSE MOM'S" ... a home-schooling, diet regulating, recycling & reusing, home-making, schedule-oriented, attachment parenting, coupon shopping mom....
My kids are always dressed in color-coordinated outfits when we take family photographs. Their schedules are more full than mine. They both have team sports and activities YEAR round. I am one of THOSE mom's
I am strict, I set limits and I have high expectations for my children. I do not feed my children junk, or let them watch television. My heart breaks when they cry, regardless of the reason. My children have a chore chart THAT WILL be followed. We praise more than discipline and focus on the positives.
I know that getting dirty is apart of learning, and a dirty child is a happy child. I am one of THOSE MOM'S. My children are my number ONE priority.
I'm also one of THOSE moms who lets my daughter play with dinosaurs, trucks, trains, and all that other 'boy' stuff. And I'd also let my son, if he chooses play with dolls, and wear pink.
I'm one of those moms that made my children's baby food because I didn't want them to eat anything that I wouldn't want to eat myself, and he eats organic where it matters. I am one of "those" moms that only take fresh fruit to my kids parties at school or a friends house.
I am one of those moms who can be seen hugging or kissing the children several times a day, heard whispering "I Love You" in their little ears JUST because. I am one of those moms who thinks her children are brilliant - because they are.
I'm one of those moms who has a messy house during the day, but clean at night.
Who lets their kids run around with milk mustaches, lets the kids run through the sprinkler in their undies, gives their kids vitamins every single day, chases their kids around the house pretending to be a scary monster or makes up silly songs with the kids.
I'm one of those moms whose heart breaks when their child cries, but usually tells them to stand up and "shake if off" or "rub some dirt on it" (as long as there's no blood). I'm one of those, "if you didn't clean your room yet, shut the door before you go out to play" moms. I am one of those, stay up late to get it all done, cook them breakfast so they don't HAVE to eat cereal moms.
I am one of those moms who tries to see both sides before making up my mind.
One of those who hasn't had her hair or nails professionally done in two years because she feels guilty spending money on herself.
But deep down, I'm one of those moms that is doing everything that I can to make my children the first in their generation to be healthy, emotionally secure and intelligent, because to me that is the key to success.

Twirly Skirt

What little girl doesn’t love a good, twirling skirt? This tutorial will show you how to make one!

To make a twirly skirt you will need:

Main skirt fabric (between 3/4 and 1 yard, depending on size).
Contrast fabric (1/2 yard)
1/2″ elastic (enough to go around the child’s waist, plus a little for overlap)
Sewing machine
Scissors or rotary cutter and mat
Ruler
Thread to match
Pinking shears (optional)
Safety pin

This tutorial is meant for personal use. Please don’t sell skirts made from these instructions.

OK, then, let’s get sewing!

Cut your fabric according to the sizes below. ALL PIECES ARE CUT WITH THE CENTER ON THE FOLD. WHEN YOU UNFOLD YOUR PIECES, THEY SHOULD BE TWICE AS WIDE AS STATED. The pieces in this photo are still folded. You should have two pieces for each part: skirt, casing, hem. The waist tie is made the same for each size. Of course, you can always make your skirt longer or shorter to suit your own needs.

This pattern uses European sizing (similar to Hanna Andersson). To ensure a good fit, you need to know the child’s height.

90cm (34-38 inches): 2 skirts on the fold (19″w x 9″l each or 38″ wide by 9″ long each when unfolded)
100cm (38-42 inches): 2 skirts on the fold (19.5″w x 10.5″l each or 39″ wide by 10.5″ long each when unfolded)
110cm (42-46 inches): 2 skirts on the fold (20″w x 12″l each or 40″ wide by 12″ long each when unfolded)
120cm (46-50 inches): 2 skirts on the fold (21″w x 13.5″l each or 42″ wide by 13.5″ long each when unfolded)
130cm (50-54 inches): 2 skirts on the fold (21.75″w x 15″l each or 43.5″ wide by 15″ long each when unfolded)

For the waistband, cut 2 pieces on the fold 2.5″ long by the width of your skirt (e.g., size 120 = 21″w x 2.5″l)

For the hem band, cut 2 pieces on the fold 3.5″ long by the width of your skirt (e.g., size 120 = 21″w x 3.5″l)

For the waist tie, cut 1 piece on the fold 1.5 ” long by the width of your fabric (42-44″) and 1 piece (not on the fold) 1.5″ long by 12″ wide. Or you can use ribbon – approximately 65″ in length.

OK – let’s start. All seam allowances are 1/2 inch unless stated otherwise!

Pin skirt pieces right sides together. Using a 1/2 inch seam allowance, sew right side seam. On left side, start sewing your seam 1 1/2 inches from the top.

Press open side seams and pink or zig zap the edge

With right sides together, sew both side seams of the hem band.

Press seams open and pin to bottom of the skirt, right sides together, lining up side seams.

Sew the hem band to the skirt bottom.

Press seam toward hem band.

Turn edge of hem band 1/4 inch towards wrong side and press.

Fold hem band towards wrong side of skirt. Line up the edge you just pressed with the seam stitches.

Press and pin in place.

Staying 1/8 inch from edge, sew hem band in place.

Sew right side seam of waistband together and press open.

With right sides together, line up the seam you just sewed to the right seam of the skirt. Pin in place.

Fold back seam allowances on open end of waistband so that they match the skirt seam. Press and pin in place.

Sew waist band in skirt.

Press seam towards waistband.

Top stitch open end of waistband 1/8 inch from edge, pivoting at the bottom corners.

Now fold the waistband towards the wrong side of the skirt aligning it with the seam stitching – just like you did on the hem. Press and pin in place.

Sew waistband 1/8 inch from edge to form casing.

Using a safety pin, attach your tie (or ribbon) to the elastic.

Gather it up and pull the safety pin through the other open end.

Try the skirt on its new owner to determine where you should sew the elastic together. The ends should overlap about 1 inch. I mark the both ends of the elastic with a pen or pin them together so I know just where to sew.

Using a wide zig zag stitch, sew the elastic together. It’s a good idea to backstitch this so it doesn’t come loose.

Even out the ends of your drawstring, tie a bow and ta da….you have a twirly skirt!

Little Fishes

Gather fabric scraps, 2 buttons, cardboard ‘tracer’ and a needle and thread.

Create a simple fish outline on cardboard, cut it and trace onto fabric or felt (2 times), sew together, attach the buttons and you have a fish!

Regaining & Maintaining attention

Give Me Five

When it’s time to begin an activity I sometimes hold up my hand and use
Give Me Five
to get the attention of my students.

Eyes are watching
Ears are listening
Mouth is quiet
Hands are to myself
Hearts are caring

Hold up 1 finger as you say each rule. You’ll soon find your students reciting these with you.

...Of the day

Each day has a theme… basically following REAL holidays: http://brownielocks.com some are a bit ‘tweaked’ or a day early or late, to be sure EACH day has a theme. My favorite themed days are: Talk Like a Pirate Day Johnny Appleseed Day Teddy Bear Day Candy Cane Day Rubber Ducky Day Tooth Fairy Day Each day has several other focuses as well:

Letter (recognizing, printing, sounds, words)
Shape (identifying, counting sides/angles, drawing)
Number (counting,naming, printing)
Color
Graph/Tally/Chart/Question (based on the theme)

Displayed each day are a series of poems or books based on the theme, often the children are able to select which will be read and shared aloud.

The start to each and everyday…

I remind the children that the “learning” will commence and usually give a “five minute wrap up play-time” warning. Throughout the ‘meeting’, I refer to the children by a different adjective (smarties, sillies, super readers) and proceed to follow the THEME of the day (in some cases week) in a short hint of what’s ahead.

Throughout the ‘meeting’, I refer to the children by a different adjective (smarties, sillies, super readers) and proceed to follow the THEME of the day (in some cases week) in a short hint of what’s to come for the day.

(ex.: balloon day — “Good Morning Aviators, we’ve got to fly through our work today so that we are able to float way up to the clouds).

Opening Circle Song:(sung to – Farmer in the Dell)

Hello to everyone, ( wave to children)

and how are you today?

We come to our circle time,
to laugh and sing and play.

And when you’re up you’re up, (hold hands in the air)

and when your down your down, ( place hands on floor)

and when your only half way up, (hold hands about chest level)

your neither up nor down. (throw your hands up and down quickly with words)

So roll your hands so slowly, (make fists with hands and roll about chest level like your punching a bag)

and roll your hands so fast, ( same action as above except fast)

give your hands a clap clap clap and fold them in your lap tap tap. (follow directions in this line)

Once the song is complete, and we’ve stretched some stretches, we take a look at the calendar, and weather and make predictions of the activities we’ll be doing for the day.

Calendar Song: (Sing to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”)

When we do the calendar
We learn the month the date the year.
Every weekday has a name
There are lots of numbers that look the same.
So let’s begin to show you how
We do the calendar right now.

Identify the MONTH of the year.

~~Month Chant~~

January,February,March,April,MayJune,July,August~~Hooray! Hooray!

September,October,November,DecemberThese are the months that I CAN REMEMBER!

Identify the DAY of the week.

~~The Today Song~: (To the tune of “Frere Jacques”)

Today is _______.
Today is _______.
All day long, all day long.
Yesterday was ______.
Tomorrow will be _______.
Oh what fun!
Oh what fun!

Weather

Weather Wheel

What is the weather the weather the weather
What is the weather like today?
(Childs name) says its (weather)(weather) (weather) (childs name) say its (weather) out today!

Once the calender and weather is completed, we do a little movement.

Form a Circle by joining hands. The children take a step
back until their arms are fully extended. Drop hands.
Say the following poem with activity motions:

Two little hands go clap, clap, clap.
Two little feet go tap, tap, tap.
One little body turns around and around.
One little child sits quietly down!