Holiday Season Unit Study Ideas

Many families slow down on their school work over the holiday season. But you don't need to completely stop (unless you want to, which is totally okay too). Here are some fun themes you could learn about or play around with. How deep you go is really up to you. You could even incorporate these themes into an advent calendar.

Holiday Season Themes

1. Different Names of Jesus or God

2. Holiday book novel study

3. Different winter celebrations and holidays

4. Holiday traditions around the world

5. Winter weather unit

6. Animal adaptations and how they survive (including hibernation, migration and adaptation)

7. Holiday symbols and what they represent

8. Study the story or history behind select Christmas carols

9. Christmas or holiday foods from around the world

10. Children's picture books, book study or even write your own

11. Jesse Tree - move through the bible from Genesis to Jesus

12. Character study of different people from the Nativity

Where to get materials? 

I'm not affiliated to any special sites. I keep it really simple and use what I find online. Others have put a lot of thought and work into creating fabulous materials. Sometimes I'll get a flash of inspiration and come up with my own ideas. I'm not one for spending too much on new curriculum or books but these are sites we like:

Teachers Pay Teachers

Pinterest

YouTube and Google

Local Library

This year I asked my boys what they wanted to learn about. After choosing their favourites from the list we settled on Christmas symbols and their meanings. You can Check out my Pintrest Board Here.

What activities do you do for a Holiday Unit?

This really depends on your own personal goals and priorities for the Holiday Season. I always recommend keeping things simple and focused on creating connections.  That said there are lots of activities you could include depending on your theme:

• Reading books
• Watching related videos
• Write a story
• Cooking or baking related to the theme
• Crafts
• Art projects
• You may find math activities
• Madlibs
• Writing prompts
• Getting physically active
• Sensory play
• Games
• Telling others about what you learn in some way

What is our family doing?

Below is a list of what I'm doing with my boys. It isn't in too much detail but there are links to some pages and my Pinterest board. If you'd like to hear more send me a message or follow us on social media.

Symbols of Christmas

Advent 1 – Rocks and minerals – Read part of nativity story 

Last day of November surprise note about our December theme and adventure 

 1. Candy cane – Luke 2:8 also story of Candy Cane, Jesus is our Shepard – candy cane experiments, hook candy canes game 

 2. Wreath – John 19:2 – Crown on Jesus’ head, God’s love never ends -make a wreath 

 3. Angels – angels appeared in several places in Nativity story – make angles out of nature

 4. Candles – Luke 1:79 – Jesus is the light of the world – make candles, go out to see lights 

 5. Bells – ring out to announce the coming of the Lord – play with all our musical instruments

 6. Advent 2 – Add nature, keep reading nativity story

 7. St. Nicholas – Fun symbol, read Santa story book, leave surprises in shoes, leave surprise treats for friends too 

 8. Holly – Matthew 26:28 Blood of Jesus, sharp like the crown, gather nature to decorate house  

 9. Fir tree – John 3:16 Represents eternal life and points to God – set up the tree 

 10. Star – Matthew 2:2 Star above Bethlehem – make origami or paper stars 

 11. Colours – red is blood of Christ, green is everlasting, gold symbol of royalty – art work, get out all our supplies, sensory bin

 12. Caroling – Luke 2:13-14 – listen to music- watch video about story behind a song, dance party 

 13. Advent 3 – add animals, read about shepherds in nativity story

 14. Christmas Crackers – read about them, how are they made, buy or make some. 

 15. Ornaments – make some ornaments, 

 16. Cookies and food – make cookies, try some Christmas food from a bakery 

 17. Cards – read about cards, make cards for friends 

18. Poinsettia – tell story of poinsettia, visit garden centre 

 19. Gifts – Matthew 2:11 – gift of the magi – wrap presents and go shopping 

 20. Advent 4 – Add people, read about Jesus

 21. Spiral, Winter – make our own spiral, read about spiral, maybe invite friends 

 22. Mistletoe  - read, find some silly Christmas games - new game  

23. Nativity scene – watch a movie, read a different perspectives 

 24. Stockings – tell a story about stockings, set out ours, Christmas eve gift to open

No matter what you choose for your focus this season I do hope it is full of Joy and Peace.

Ultimate Round -up for Beginner Homeschoolers

Congratulations you are considering homeschooling or perhaps new to this adventure. 

I bet you are feeling nervous, excited and perhaps a little overwhelmed. It is completely understandable, but don't worry. I've got you covered.  In this post I've laid out the basics of how to get started homeschooling along with links to over 20 amazing homeschool blog posts all to help you feel more confident about your new adventure.

Listen to the full podcast episode here:

1. First thing to do is to find out the laws surrounding homeschooling in your area. Each State or Province has different rules.

The Canadian Homeschooler getting started

2. Take time to journal and think about why you are choosing to homeschool. Every family is unique and has their own reasons. What is yours? Also write down what you hope to gain from homeschooling your children? What do you want your children to come away with from their time at home? What are your family values? What are your long term goals?

Once you have a clear picture of why you want to homeschool and where you hope it leads you will be able to filter all the rest through those things. Such as what curriculum will best fit your family etc.

Overcoming 6 Homeschool Fears

3. Deschool - this is taking time to adjust to being at home together. Take some time out to relax and shift your mindset way from the traditional public school setting. For some it takes longer than others. Focus now on connecting with your kids, finding their passions, and enjoy being together. Summer is the perfect time to do this!

What You Need to Know When Moving from Public School to Homeschooling

The Beginners Guide to Homeschooling

4. Learn about the different methods, styles and philosophies available. Don't overwhelm yourself but it is helpful to know that there are other ways to teach your children other than what is taught in traditional public school. Once you find a method that interests you, go ahead and learn more about that style.

Different Homeschool Methods

Different Types of Homeschool Methods Explained

What's Your Homeschool Style (fun quiz)

Guide to Homeschooling Methods

5. Along with knowing how you want to teach you also want to understand how your children learn best so that you can find a good match. 

Learning Styles

What Type of Learner is my Child?

Theory of Multiple Intelligences

6. Now comes the fun and sometimes overwhelming part...figuring out what you want to teach your children. This will largely depend on your research done in step 4. Some families decide early on that they want to follow a particular method, while others choose a more general path. Are you frustrated at all because this isn't a simple clean cut deal? There are about a million companies offering curriculum because it is so customized to your unique children.

Over the years most families end up being an eclectic mix of several types of styles, choosing what resonates most with them. If you are just getting started, I suggest choosing one thing you like the look of that isn't too expensive and giving it a go for a few months. Many families just choose a workbook from Costco as a guide to get them going while they do more research on what they'd like. Talking to local homeschoolers is also a big help because you can find out what works for them. Don't start to compare yourself though. 

I know how easy it is to feel guilty that you aren't doing enough, or the 'right' things because someone else mentions that they are using the latest and greatest program.  Be confident in yourself and your choices.

Tips for choosing the right curriculum

7. Planning - now that you know what you want to teach it is time to plan that out. 

School doesn't actually take 8 hours. Realistically we only homeschool about 2 hours a day, but we are still learning by following our interests.

Finding Your Perfect Homeschool Rhythm

Home Much Time Does Homeschooling Really Take?

8. Give it a go. Take time to deschool with your children. Enjoy being together and finding out their interests. They say it take about 1 month for every year that a child was in public school to fully deschool.  Then slowly add in more to your day. If you jump in to soon with a full schedule you may all burn out. You may wish to start fresh in the fall and come up with a good plan then.

Joyful Mud Puddles Homeschool Posts

9. Adjust - we are constantly having to adjust our plans based on life circumstances, seasons, grades etc.

Drop the Labels and Embrace Your Life

Round up of Beginner Homeschool Posts

Powerful Tips and Advice for New Homeschool Moms

How to Start Homeschooling when you don't know what you're doing 

12 Tips to ease the Transition from Public School to Homeschool

Homeschooling 101 Frequently Asked Questions

What about Homeschooling Highschool?

How to Start Homeschooling

I want to Homeschool, Now What?

Beginning Homeschooling What I wish I knew

Suddenly Homeschooling

How to Start Homeschooling Today

What About Socialization?

Best Advice for New Homeschool Moms

Looking for help? Have Questions? 

I invite you to join the

Parenting Support Group with Joyful Mud Puddles on Facebook

Joyful Mud Puddles also offers

Coaching and workshops

Engage your children's learning with themed days

We've been at home for almost two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As time wears on my boys are loosing interest in learning and school work is becoming a chore. My boys mentioned that they had nothing to look forward to. All their classes and events have been canceled and each day is blurring into the next. This comes in handy when they have no idea if it is the weekend and I can sneak in some extra school work.

In order to combat the boredom and liven up our time together we added some fun themed days to our calendar. Pinterest along with Teachers Pay Teachers are two websites that have been my go to for quick ideas and educational worksheets.

We started off with the basics:

No chore day
No school work day
Backwards day - where we ran our day backwards

Those were a nice change from the mundane, but we craved more. I wanted to include some educational components while still making the units fun. I began making Pinterest board on any fun topic I could think of. I looked for easy to plan, fun activities and simple worksheets. 

I was sure to include something for mathematics and english. We also watched relevant videos like the history of each topic or how it was made. Beyond that I looked for art projects, building and STEM projects, games and food we could include. In fact I found so many amazing ideas for each that we ended up taking 2-3 days for each topic.

This worked out beautifully because in one week we could get some regular school work done and include a fun theme to make our days at home more enjoyable. 

Then we chose topics that were tasty and fun

Chocolate day
Pizza day
Cereal day

My boys loved themes that went with popular books and movies

Star Wars Day is May the 4
Green Ember
Harry Potter
Minecraft

Other fun themes we have planned 

Dinosaur day
Medieval
Camping - yes we went camping in our back yard



I'd love to add some more fun days to the rest of our school year and maybe into the summer. Most of the time you can use items you have around the house. There are enough activities to choose from that you can pick what works best for your unique family.

I'd love to hear from you. Let me know what topics your children would pick in the comments!

For more support in your parenting journey follow Joyful Mud Puddles on Facebook and Instagram @joyfulmudpuddles 

and join our Facebook Support Group

Book Challenge: Read What You've Got

Do you have books at home? How often do you read them?

Would you like to join our challenge to read what you've got??

Keep on reading to find out more...

Back story

I have a toddler so going to the library along with my other boys is becoming a challenge.  The little guy is curious and I love him, but the second I try to turn around he is pulling books off the shelves and running down the isles.  Needless to say we haven't been in the library for a few months!!

Recently while doing another major purge of our belongings, I paused at our bookshelves.  There were a few books that we really weren't going to read again, but the rest were pretty good books.  After nicely organizing them I realized we had our own little library right here.  Why not actually get to reading them more often.  Of course most of the books are down the hall from where our toddler plays so they get forgotten (out of sight, out of mind).

So an idea popped into my head.  Why not read every single book (okay mostly the children's books), we own.  Then we can talk about the books, decide which ones we like, and enjoy them more often.  My boys love the idea and I hope you will too.

How does it work?

Okay there are no set and hard rules. Each family can decide for themselves how many and which books they'd like to read. There is also no set time limit. The thing is that these are books you already have at home (not the library books).

For my family we are choosing to read all the children's fiction and non-fiction books we own and try to read the larger novels too.  We may skim through some of the non-fiction ones but will do our best there.

Personally I want to read the books on my shelf too, but I'm going to need some accountability for that one.

I figure it'll take us 2-3 months to read all the smaller books if we only read a few a day.  The large books will take much longer, so I'll be keeping this challenge going on a monthly basis.  Let's do a 30 Day challenge and I'll poll everyone at the end of the month to see if we should keep going.

We will be recording the books we read, along with our opinion.

If we do an activity related to a book we will post about that too.

Each week we will share with you what we have read.

How can you participate?

• Decide to take on the challenge.  I will have an event set up on my FB page to help track the number of families participating.  You can also let us know you are joining us by commenting below. 

• Record the books you read each day/week.  There are many great book logs.  We made our own here! 

• Share with us what you have been reading either on my FB page, Google+ , or in the weekly posts.

• If you have a family favourite, an activity, or something to share I'd love for you to write a guest post (you don't need to have a blog to write a post for us).

• If you sell books, or have written a book, I'd love for you to guest post, offer a give a way or promote your book/business.  My family would also be happy to read your book and write a review for you. I'll be sharing in any groups and communities I can.

• At the end of the challenge lets all have a huge celebration!!! Yup a book party.  Why not?! Maybe we can crack open some cookbooks too and have fun with that.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

So are you ready to read??? The great READ WHAT YOU'VE GOT CHALLENGE begins March 1.  

Help us spread the word....

Tinkering and Loose Parts

I love loose parts and how kids can engage with them.  Rather than prescribing a craft or activity, it is fascinating to see what children will create and make with a collection of loose parts.

Our latest adventure with lose parts were on a larger scale outside.  MJ decided he wanted to build a tractor. The two older boys scoured the yard for bits and pieces.  They asked daddy to look in the crawlspace for anything he could give them.  I also suggested using the extra bicycle and broken scooter.

TJ disassembling the bicycle

MJ's pile of parts

And there began a week full of  creating, imagining, trading, designing, negotiations, building and more!

What started of with MJ's desires led to TJ wanting to join in.  So then they needed to decide who would get the parts and deal with some big feelings there.  Over the course of the week we all worked through several major trades and negotiations.  I was so glad to help them calmly though these discussions.  I am proud of how we managed to come up with trades that made everyone happy.

The boys came up with some really cool creations.

Bike with scooter attached to the front

Stationary bike

playing with loose parts and water

MJ's tractor like creation

Then Daddy found something awesome on the side of the road!!  He called me up with a nervous voice and explained that he had a long story but he was injured.  Luckily he was just down the street so we drove over to discover that he had found a free lawn tractor (with a snow blower attachment).  He also crushed his finger trying to lift it into the truck.

TJ's carrying trailer

Trailer turned into a rickshaw

It was a family adventure loading it into the truck on the side of the road.  Daddy got his finger looked at eventually (he'll be fine although he is in pain and now the finger is infected). Now that this awesome tractor is home, MJ wants to take it all apart to use the pieces to build his own tractor.  We get the feeling he thinks life is like Lego.  We'll see how this plays out.  TJ is super excited that the tractor runs and can't wait to fix it all up.

The awesome new tractor

Any Tinkering happening at your place?  Hope you'll share some ideas with us!

Project Video Game

We follow our boys interests with what we learn and the projects they do.  MJ is currently interested in obsessed with Super Mario Brothers and video games.  He love Luigi because he has a green hat (MJ's favourite colour). He also loves another game the boys have been playing with daddy called RayMan.

I am amazed at how well the boys play the games.  I never really grew up with video games.  I played a few times at a friend's house but that's about it.  So when I loaded Super Mario Brothers onto the Wii, I gave control over to the boys and let them figure it out alone.  They are awesome! Seriously they have figured out so much.

Aside from playing the Wii, the boys have also take an interest in the old TV show.  They both have taken the characters, and scenarios into their imaginative play.  It is really fun to watch and join in.

It started off simply enough, a little Wii time here and there.  Then he wanted to play all day.  MJ would wake up first thing in the morning asking TJ to play Mario with him.  If he didn't get his way there was a major melt down.  I also noticed that after too much screen time, both boy were far more aggressive/physical than usual.  We held a family meeting to talk about my concerns.  The boys agreed that they wanted to do other things during the day too and it wasn't healthy to just do one thing so much.  They decided on their own limits and asked me to remind them if needed.  I think TJ was more on board than MJ as he understood it all better.  Unfortunately MJ still had major melt down every time he played Wii.  Not everyone will agree with me (and that's okay) but we decided to give the Wii a break.  I did buy the boys another Mario game for Christmas so we'll bring it back soon.

The Wii break also corresponded with the boys and I being home a little more often than the past few weeks.  We had been out every afternoon for weeks on end and I was starting to get to us all.  Being home more often with unstructured free time makes such a difference to our week.  We aren't so rushed to get packed and out the door.  Everyone has more time to do their own thing, get more deeply involved and feel relaxed.  By the end of the week the boys and I made video game characters out of plasticine and felt to play with.  MJ and I made Super Mario worlds out of felt and wood blocks.  It's been beautiful to be part of. The boys have been incredible creative with their story lines and play.  They have been playing together more too.

While we were stacking wood one of the boys gathered some bark.  I mentioned that it would be good for fairy houses.  That led to gathering more wood and supplies.  TJ focused on making a larger fairy house near the tree that we make fairy houses every year.  He created a fire pit, and stocked the hollow with wood, seeds and nuts.  MJ built multiple dwellings, a fire pit and long house.  Then he asked me to call the fairies and Rayman to come visit.  We ran inside so that we wouldn't scare them off.  He is so cute!

Do check us out on Facebook to see more of what we have been up to!

Inukshuks

This morning MJ drew a picture for a craft he was organizing for us to do.  It seemed like the idea came from out of nowhere, but then I don't know what connections he was making for himseslf.  He drew some rocks but couldn't explain what they were.  Next he asked for my iPad so he could show me on a game.  MJ used the atlas on my iPad to look up what he had been thinking about.  (We love this atlas app from Barefoot Books) He asked for some help looking for rocks along a shore.  We had fun searching the globe until he found the picture of an Inukshuk.  We listened to the description and looked at the photos. MJ wanted me to print a photo for him to keep.

Next we looked up pictures of Inukshuk on my computer and chose a few to print.  We also read more about their meaning and where they are found. Then MJ remembered that he had some rocks in his bedroom.  He ran to get them so he could make his own.  I reminded the boys of our rock pile in the yard.  They happily ran outside with a bucket to gather more.  For the next little while the boys made Inukshuk figures inside. After a while I put on a video that showed a man balancing rocks in a river which inspired more designs and discussion.

We talked all about building, balance, the meaning behind them and more. Earlier we had been reading bible stories MJ asked if Samson in the bible had built the big ones we looked at because he was so strong. So we looked on the globe again to see where the Inukshuk and Sampson were found.  The interesting connection was that we had also read a story about Jacob who set up stones as a reminder of a dream he had.  So we talked more about what different cultures do to commemorate big events or to remember something special.

We had a wonderful time this morning following MJ's lead and curiosity. I have been feeling like we haven't been doing as much recently because of the baby (although I know they have been continuing to learn in their own way).  I was particularly pleased to share in their discoveries today.

End of Summer Party

A few weeks ago TJ came to me and said he wanted to have a party with his friends.  I've posted before about how he throws parties in the forest for his stuffies.  These little shindigs are complete with snacks, loot bags, games and decorations.  The guests are usually other stuffed toys, his brother and who ever happens to be visiting us that day. This time there were no friends over so we'd have to make some plans....

TJ was very clear that he was going to buy the items for the loot bags.  When I suggested that we could plan an actual party (bigger than his usual forest ones), he was thrilled!  We talked about themes, who to invite, activities, decorations, loot bags, and of course the cost.

Side note:
Now I have been reading a lot about project based homeschooling.  I tried to let TJ have complete control over this party project.  I did make some suggestions and encouraged him to keep working on it (once you actually invite people it's nice to follow through).  I am learning right along with my children here, so I won't say I wish I'd done things differently.  I know now for next time to ask more prompting questions such as "what else do we need for the party?, what is the next step?" rather than telling him what needs to be done.

Real math is counting your own money

I am so very proud of my son!  He decided to pay for the entire get-together.  He did some chores around the house and for others. Knowing that it could take a while to earn what he needed, TJ asked if there was a faster way.  We did some brain storming about how people earn money and he decided to sell some toys.  It would help us purge and be much faster than making items to sell.  So off he went to pick some toys to sell and take photos.  I posted the adds on Facebook for him.

Purchasing his own groceries

The week before the party we went shopping for food, decorations and loot bag items.  We had many days of counting money (each time something sold).  With his list in hand, TJ loaded up his cart and paid the cashier for his purchases.

TJ decided to individually decorate and personalize each loot bag.  With around 15 children coming to the house, TJ had a lot of work ahead of him.  He spread out the bag decorating over a few days, taking time to choose each item for the loot bag based on the kids favourite colours.  He also bought some streamers to hang up all over the house!!

Baking cupcakes by himself

Another awesome opportunity came with TJ reading the directions and baking the cupcakes all on his own.  I was simply his assistant and to monitor him using the oven.  I was asked to colour the icing and decorate the cupcakes because TJ was still working on the loot bags the morning of the party.  Poor TJ's interest was waning so we came up with a plan.  He'd decorate one bag, then help add sprinkles to a few cupcakes.  Going back and forth we finished up everything in no time.

Personalized party bags

The party was a huge success.  All the children played wonderfully.  They all brought snacks to share, and enjoyed the treats.  The sprinklers, water guns, and hose we welcomed on the hot day after jumping on the trampoline for a while.  TJ was a wonderful host.  He welcomed each guest and made sure everyone had something/someone to play with.  Some friends left after two hours while others stayed almost four hours and were very sad to have to leave.

Delicious cupcakes

Real learning takes places with the topics are relevant, meaningful and interesting to the learner.   I know TJ truly learned a great deal from  this whole experience. Besides the abundance of learning, and responsibility that took place, this was a whole lot of fun!!  I love the ideas my boys have and I love to be able to say YES to them!!

Have you said YES to your kids recently?  Share in the comments how that went...

This post is linked to:

Mom2Mom Monday linkup

Twinkly Tuesday

Our Week: End of April

My boys continue to amaze me daily with how much they are growing, learning, exploring!  I've been learning a lot through them about the world and parenting.  It is definitely an adventure for the whole family.

I know I've said it before that these posts are just a small glimpse into our week at home.  They are also doing so much more but it is hard to capture it all.  Between skills learned at the YMCA, social interactions at play dates, learning at home, and more; we sure have a full life.  Not overly busy but very fulfilling.

There was plenty of rain near the beginning of the week, along with snow, hail, wind and sun.  

The boys have been checking regularly on the ditches and trenches they made in the back yard.  When the rain slows down the hose comes out to help.  We talked about how the digging they are doing is similar to what daddy and I have been working on around the house to create a drainage system around our foundation (yes all that water the boys are playing with is filling up the crawl space).  They also noticed that the water runs from the gravel area towards MJ's garden in a heavy rain.

One day I found some tulips starting to grow around all the construction in the front of the house.  It is a beautiful reminder of how God creates beauty from our messes.  Our lives can get pretty messy, ugly, busy but God is there working all the time to bring something beautiful forth.

TJ has been working so hard on his reading this past month.  He noticed that he could read some of the magnetic words on the fridge.  I suggested that he could try to write a sentence all on his own.  He is so proud of his first sentence "is the plant good for me".  Then he created a number of other ones by changing different words.  I showed TJ how to add extra adjective to add more description.  He came up with a super long sentence to surprise daddy after work; "I have a yellow candy and a happy monkey and she jumps".  We'll work on run on sentences some other time.  If you looked at our fridge today you would definitely get a good laugh and know that it is a house full of boys.  The two managed to manipulate the smaller words (even turning some upside down) to incorporate some good old fashioned bathroom humour into sentence writing.

Lego and robots are always popular.  The boys were given some Lego Mixels earlier in the week.  After building the kits they started using our Lego to make more little creatures.

MJ wanted to play construction site with me as we own a lot of trucks.  While playing TJ brought out daddy's old robotic arm toy to use as a crane.  Lots of hands on practice with fine motor skills, construction, and interacting with each other happens daily here.

Of course we just adore our time out in nature.  We have been on lots of hikes on our own and part of a group.  This week MJ and I played hide-and-seek.  Little harder to hide in the early spring while wearing bright clothes.  The children discovered salamanders under logs.  Here they are watching some worms burry back into the dirt.

MJ and two younger girls explored in and up the stream.  They climbed, ducked, balanced and explored a number of fallen trees along the way.

Each time we gather the group forms stronger bond.  The children are so happy to see their friends.  As parents we find such joy in observing and listening to their negations.  This week they were racing down hills, playing tag, and exploring the creek together.

I am so excited to be part of this child-led nature play group.  My friend and I are also working on starting a wonderful outdoor learning program similar in nature to our playgroup in our community.  You'll be hearing great things from us soon.

Hmm I hope this post isn't sounding too choppy.  The boys have just been doing so much this week!  

So in our down time this week I sort of wanted to check in with TJ and see where he was at with math since it isn't something we've been doing as much recently.  I don't often do a check-in but I was having one of those panicky moments that he might be falling behind.  Of course there is no need to worry about curious, inquisitive children who are constantly exploring and doing hands on learning.  TJ whizzed through 4 sections in the math book, and has covered all the grade 1 social studies and science.

MJ is my wonderful creative boy who beats to his own drum.  Whenever we are doing a certain activity, he'd rather just do his own thing.  I'm not worried at all about him growing up and not being able to follow directions.  He does perfectly well in swimming class and at his church program.  But at home I appreciate his unique way of going about things.  MJ also has a kindergarten workbook.  While I was checking-in with TJ, we looked at MJ's book too.  He did one page by following the directions.  The next page he decided to make it a connect the dots instead of doing what the activity was.  Then he decided that the book was really a farm cut-out book.  He went through all the pages to create the fabulous farm scene above, complete with a whale in the pond with a river, windmill, tree, barn, tractor with trailers.  He is totally not the type that would thrive in a traditional school setting or at least having to do work-sheets. CHECK out our FaceBook page for a video about his farm!

A friend of ours gave us some electric toothbrushes because they knew we wanted to make some doodle bots. We tried several different attempts but the motor wasn't strong enough to move the robot.  TJ got out one of his other robot pieces that we attached a marker to.  He them made a cute flying robot from the toothbrush after experimenting with using it for painting.  MJ made a bark grinder robot from his toothbrush.  Again you can see their videos explaining the robots on our Facebook Page.

At the end of the week one of our homeschool groups had a very belated spring egg hunt and nature walk.  The children had a blast searching for eggs, decorating walking sticks, nature scavenger hunt and a hike!!  We are organizing the literature fair for this group next month.

Congratulations to TJ for reaching his reading goal.  If you remember TJ has been learning to read naturally (see this post here).  He was so excited to be close to his goal that he started reading three to four books each day near the end of the week.  The final book TJ read was a wonderful book that my mother wrote.  My younger sister made all the creations for the pictures and her friend did the photography.  TJ was thrilled to be able to read it on his own knowing that the book was made by his family.  We took a trip to the book store where TJ chose a huge space book and we decided to help MJ find a book too.  MJ chose a little farm book with a white board marker and some magnetic animals (perfect for our creative little farmer).

A whole new world has opened up for TJ now.  He had a hard time sleeping last night so I gave him a book to look at.  He kept coming out of bed to show me all the different things he could now read on his own!

I have been posting a lot of extra pictures and even videos on our Facebook Page.  I hope you'll follow us here on the blog and on FB.

PLEASE do share what you have been up to.  You may inspire another family on their journey too!

Our Week: Enjoying Spring

Time for a catch-up on what we've been doing around here....

The boys are still very much interested in space exploration and tractors, with the nicer weather our gardens have also become a great learning space.

TJ built some unique Lego creations.  

One has has lots of motors and gears, the other is his Mars rover.

We went for a fantastic walk in in the forest in the fog.  The boys explored, gained confidence in balancing and had lots of fun. 

I was inspired by some other blogs to work on our art and watercolour painting.  First I laid out Watercolour paints and permanent markers.  The boys weren't too into it so I had fun experimenting.

The next day I got out watercolour paints, coloured sand, glue and markers.  The boys watched me start then got really into adding texture and details to their work.  Mine is a person jumping in a puddle, MJ made some tractors and a big glue/sand thing (it's about the process not the product!), while TJ made a lovely garden with some weeds and a person.

Another day we got out the oil pastels and chalk pastels to see what the effect might be.  TJ created some war machines.

MJ explored white on black and mixing different colours together.  He asked me to work on a farm picture together.

The beautiful weather means we have been outside a lot more.  The boys have been checking on their seedlings daily.  We have spent hours cleaning out the gardens and flower beds.  One day the boys found some scrap wood that used to be our balance beam.  TJ created a see-saw.  With a little assistance he even added handles and a way to keep the board centred.  Both boys enjoyed balancing on the boards and paying together.  MJ has kept his pieces as loose parts so that he can change the configuration more often.

Earlier in the month TJ and a friend created a fort of scrap wood in the front yard.  We asked him to move it to the back yard which didn't go over so well.  After some frustration, daddy suggested that TJ could use the swing set frame since the boys hadn't used it much.  It was a learning process for all of us.  Clear communication and expectations were needed.  It took a while but we figured out how to work better as a team and the results were great (a cool forts and stronger relationships).  TJ chose to use some of his money to buy furniture for the fort.

Another beautiful day for a walk.  

We watched a Canada Goose on her nest and some snakes warming in the sun.  TJ brought his new fort furniture for snack time.

The boys measured themselves against their favourite tree and then explored the creek.  We had lots of discussions about nature, changes in seasons etc.

MJ brought his little gardening tools to play with.  He even took time to help water all the trees he could find.  YES those are his awesome fuzzy lizard pyjamas.

We also led a book club with our homeschool friends.  The boys asked to do robots for the topic.  I read a few stories then the children all made robots from recycled materials.  It was great fun.

We also went back to the same spot from our walk earlier in the week.  This time with our outdoor playgroup.  The children led the way and chose to go for a long hike up the escarpment, through the forest and back down again.  They ended at the creek where the boys all picked up sticks.  As parents we wanted to stay back and see what would happen but did remind them to be careful.  Most of their game was sword fighting but as we hadn't gone over stick usage as a group before hand we asked that they refrain from hitting each other and keep some space this time.  Once they all realized that they wanted to be on the same team as 'good guys' negotiations and discussions began.  They tried to do Eeny-meeny-miny-mo to select some boys for the 'bad guy' team.  Math was done to figure out how to make the teams equal.  Since no one wanted to switch sides they decided to run up and down the hill for a while.  One boy tripped and they all rushed to help him up.  Then they moved on to hide-and-seek along with exploring.  It was fascinating to watch and exactly what the group was created for!  Looking forward to more get togethers.

SHARING TIME: Please do share what you have been up to.  Perhaps you will be an inspiration to someone else!

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