Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  We pray:  Thank you, God, for the rich abundance of family, friends, faith and all of the rich abundance that we have experienced this year.  It matte and faith we have enjoyed this year.  And we are also thankful of course, for the wonderful community of folks we have met online to learn from and share with.

May all be filled with gratitiude today and all year through... welcoming blessings great and small!

Guest Posting at Size Tracker

Sibling hugs after scarecrow building last month -- one way we re-use clothes that we are ready to purge.

We've been busy with homeschool get-togethers, play dates, Thanksgiving preparations and being present in the moment, so I have not been taking many pictures nor posting much this week.  I will get back to fun and informative, picture-filled posts soon.  In the meantime, I wanted to share that I was asked to guest post over at Size Tracker recently.  If you're headed into a seasonal clothing sort in preparation for the winter weather or in the spirit of pre-holiday out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new ideals, you might find my Kids' Clothing Management post helpful

More Giveaway News...Plus a Freebie Geography Curriculum Album

I absolutely love Karen Tyler and the online Montessori course she offers through A Montessori Marketplace, so I was very excited when she generously donated the best Thanksgiving Giveaway for one Sensational Homeschooling reader and a wonderful Geography curriculum freebie for all.

Check it out:

One Lucky Sensational Homeschooling Reader will win a free seat that Karen has reserved in her next Worldwide Montessori class!

The class begins December 1st!  To win, simply "like" Sensational Homeschooling on Facebook and then leave a comment at the Giveaway post.  (Use name (at) server (dot) com format for Internet safety reasons.)   The winner will be announced over Thanksgiving weekend!

And for all?

Karen Tyler has granted permission for Sensational Homeschooling to share her Montessori Geography Curriculum with all of readers!  Get it through the link at the giveaway post!

Enjoy!

Giveaway News: Soft Clothing and Hartley's Life With 3 Boys First Annual Holiday Giveaway!

Here I go again, lessening my chances of winning something I would really like because I cannot help spreading word about great things:

Soft Clothing and Hartley's Life With 3 Boys are offering their first annual Holiday Giveaway!


There will be 2 Grand Prizes (one for boys, one for girls), and will each include the sensory friendly items that focus on fine motor development, dramatic play skills, sensory integration, creative expression, auditory exploration, and of course, fun!  Ooo, what a gift that would be for Christmas (and tucked away for birthdays, Easter and other days this year, too!)  We hope we win.  But, if we don't, we'll be happy if you do.

Check out Hartley's blog for entry details and a photo that will make you start wishing, "Pick me! Pick me!"

Follow the Child - Eagles

A tip for the day: Follow your child to ensure enjoyable learning!

In today’s society of outcome-based education it is easy to get wrapped up in standards, planning lessons to provide evidence that goals are being met. Likewise, in our fast-paced world, it can be challenging to wait – to let things unfold as they will. That is why I am constantly reminding myself to follow my children more often than I lead them. Their interests guide their learning so much better than my pre-panning or a boxed curriculum ever could. And, while I know that it is still important to pay attention to learning guidelines (and will be even more so as the kids get older), I truly feel that by that following my children, I encourage deeper learning. Their interests, explored through a variety of media in both spontaneous and, later, planned, activities provide so much learning!

Take this progression, for example:

Luke was interested in elephants, so we began reading up on them, including them in our lesson activities and going to the zoo more often.

During one visit, the kids became amused by a cougar sleeping in a tree. While we were reading the posted information about the cougar, we noted a poem:

Eyes in the front, I hunt.

Eyes on the side, I hide.

Later, when discussing our zoo visit with Daddy, the poem came up. Luke and Nina began testing the theory by asking about many animals, looking at pictures of some – classifying predators and prey. Eventually, they came to eagles. We had no picture of an eagle handy, so we youtubed some.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed some eagle documentary clips on youtube and learned quite a bit about eagles from them, which they continue to enact in their dramatic play.

Luke also began observing the anatomy of eagles more and more, and wanted to make his own eagles. He did this spontaneously using playdough. He also worked on many eagle drawings, with Nina following suit.

So it was learning about eagles unfolded and continues to take shape. Facts. Anatomy. Classification. Dramatic play, Fine motor activities. Gross motor activities. Field trips. Inquiry-based learning. Art. Reading. So much has sprung from following the kids’ interest. It reminds me to slow down and leave space for such things to happen. I encourage you to as well.

How can you follow your child today?

This post is being shared at Helpful Homeschool Hints. Enjoy the other tips there.

The Hallway Duplo Game

<-  Nina jumps her duplo bricks down the hallway while Luke slithers his.
 How can you mix gross motor skills, fine motor skills, manners, following directions, using descriptive language, feeding the sensory diet and encouraging creativity, all while redirecting “wired” post-dinner behavior?

The Hallway Duplo Game!

We made this up the other night when the kids’ evening craziness was demanding some directed, ye full-of-movement play.  Here’s how to play:

• Sit at one end of the hallway with a container of Duplo blocks.  Have the kids bring empty trays down the other end.

Nina shows off her trays

• Then, have the kids come to you to request a specific color, size, number or shape block, using good manners.  For example,  “May I have a yellow one, please?”  Or, “May I have three long ones, please?”

• Reply in the affirmative, but with a gross motor challenge as a stipulation.  For example “Yes, you may, but you must crawl/run/hop/slither/turn/jump/skip.”

• Then, the kids move in that way up the hallway in order to add the Duplo’s they requested to their trays.

Luke drives part of his share down the hall.

• For extra fun, make the number of directions equal to the number of bricks they request.  For example, the request, “May I have a red one?” gets a single command response, such as, “Sure, please jump it back down the hall.”   But, a double request such as, “May I have a blue one and a yellow one?”, gets a double-command response, such as, “Of course!  Hold them in the bottom of your shirt and hop like a kangaroo.” And, a triple request, such as, “May I have a person, a long one and a black trailer one?”, gets a triple-command reply, such as, “Absolutely!  Hold them high up towards the sky, take two giant steps and, then, jump then spin the rest of the way down the hall.”

• When all the Duplo’s have been requested, observe the creations on the trays at the end of the hallway and continue with some free play.

Nina's Ship

Luke's Farm

This game proved very successful for us!  The kids focused their energy with giggles and smiles, while working age-appropriate skills, practicing habits (how to ask for things politely and how to listen and obey Mommy's words) and getting sensory input (particularly proprioceptive through all the different ways they moved and vestibular through lots of spinning commands).  Meanwhile Mommy and Daddy benefited from the the kids' transition from wild behavior to directed movement to calm, but creative, free play.

Focused and having fun.

And, with the way Nina and Luke chose to play the game independently after playing it with Mommy, we know the game is a keeper!

"Nina,may I have a...?"

Success!  Calm, kind play together...

We hope you enjoy it, too, and look forward to hearing about your own post-dinner focus-and-fun activities.  Please share in a comment.

(We're sharing this at Works for Me Wednesday.  Please check the lins there for lots of wonderful ideas.)

Thanksgiving Time Play

<-  Luke has been asking Daddy to spend countless hours drawing and coloring Native Americans, Pilgrims and animals with him lately.  

Thanksgiving Time is upon us, and we have started celebrating.  Not only did we particpate in a fantastic Thanksgiving luncheon with our Our Lady Queen of Saints homeschool group yesterday, but we have been enjoying much free, creative play as well.

The luncheon was full of delicious food, great company and fun planned activities.  While Jack snoozed, nursed or smiled away in the arms of folks that wanted to hold him through most of the afternoon, Luke, Nina and I thoroughly enjoyed all the food and fun. 

We gave full concentration to place mat weaving before joining in a scrumptious potluck meal, where - yay! - the kids were not as picky as they usually are about food and - double yay!- did surprisingly well waiting for their turn to go up to the potluck buffet line and using their manners.  After eating, while I helped with clean up, the kids enjoyed some older-peer-led storytime and, then, I went in to read big book after big book, before Luke and Nina decided they wanted to join in the marshmallow-toothpick structure building activity.  What fun and creativity at that table!  Then, it was time for traditional kid play -- batting balloons at one another, running and laughing with You-Can't-Catch-Me, playing Duck Duck Goose, racing about outside with Freeze Tag.  What a blessing to see children of a wide range of ages playing one game after another -- coaching each other at times, teasing at others, enjoying at all times.  It reminded me of long afternoons of neighborhood play from my own childhood -- a scene that seems all too rare these days with overloaded kids' schedules, planned playdates of close-in-age children and structured playtime with larger groups. 

I so appreciated both the planned and the spontaneous play of yesterday's Thanksgiving luncheon.  What a delight to see kids of all ages interacting with such joy during with scheduled activities as well spontanous ones.

And speaking of spontaneous fun, there sure has been a lot of it around our home lately.   For example, the other night, while Daddy did the dinner dishes and I nursed Jack, Luke and Nina busied themselves doing this:

What is that, you might ask?  The kids' idea of an Indian costume.  Ever since becoming enamored with Little House on the Prairie, they have been enjoying settlers-and-indians dramatic play.  Add Thanksgiving books into the mix, and Native American theme has taken over. 

Yep, that's our creative young man, complete with towel loin cloth and headband-and brush headdress:

And, let's not forget the marker face paint nor the fireman and doctor dramatic play props turned bow-and-arrow for hunting:

What a laugh Daddy and I had at this kid-created get-up and what fun the kiddoes had with their dramatic play!

It was followed by what has become a nightly tradition here:  Luke asking Daddy to draw and color piles and piles of Pilgrims, Native Americans and animals with him, which Luke and Nina then cut out to make file-folder scenes like the one pictured at the top of this post.  In doing this, Daddy, a reluctant artist, is getting better and better at depicting whatever Luke requests demands he draws, especially with a little help from our Draw Write Now books.  And, Luke?  Wow!  He amazes us with his artistry...

But, all sedentary activities before bed, never work for our kids.  Nina loves her bouncing and Luke needs his sensory diet input.  So, we continue to come up with guided play activities, too.  Such as a recent hallways Lego -transfer-and-building activity we did (which I will post about soon) that ended in --what else? -- creative play with this:

That is a wagon, like the settlers used. Can't see it?  Look closely:  A re-purposed bird feeder filled with stuff, pulled by a farm animal and led by "Papa".  Oh, how we marvel at the imaginations of our children!

What fun and imaginative play has your family been enjoying?  Do leave a comment to share and also, head on over to Childhood101 to enjoy the We Play links there.