Jack is 10 Months Old (and a week!)

In honor of Jack's 10-month birthday, I thought I would share some photos of him from the past month...

I'm starting to get curls like my siblings.

I was a champ through my recent belly bug!

I pulled myself to standing for the first time shortly before I got it.

And, I was alert as ever even as I recovered from it.

 

I like to play tug-o-war with my seat tray.  It always makes me laugh!

I am constantly teething and chewing on everything!

Peek-a-boo!

I think I feel another tooth popping in from the top!

What a fun mirror Mommy's friend has!

Sleepy boy.

When I want something, I am quietly intent on getting it.

I can drink from a glass.

I like trying to climb trees like Luke and Nina!

One of my favorite past times!

I've just realized I don't have good photos of Jack doing his perfect Army crawl (which he is transitioning out of now), nor his new big boy hands-and-knees crawl.  I also don't have one of him playing catch with a ball, which he loves to do.

What I do have is a photo of my baby having his first big boy picnic -- feeding himself just like Luke and Nina do!

And one of him and Daddy on his actual 10 month old birthday. (See the resemblance?)

And, finally, I have a question: 
How did we go from this:

to this:

to this:

so quickly?

 

Jack's first year is going by too fast.

He truly is the "cherub", "angel" baby everyone always comments to me he looks like.  He is so laid back, amiable and sweet.   We are truly blessed by our surprise baby each and every day.

Our Addiction Revealed at Signature Moms

Online communities are such a wonderful resource for our family that I have become a little addicted to blogosphere, yahoogroups and such. But, there is something else my family is addicted to that I revealed today over at Signature Moms, a community resource for moms of all ages.

Swing on over to my post there to discover what I have been known to schedule doctor's appointments and shopping trips around -- especially now that spring has sprung! Ah, no more hats and coats needed, at last.

We Play Pool Noodle Hockey

No correct equipment? No problem! All you need is a family with imagination!

That’s what we found one evening a few weeks back when warmer weather was finally breaking in our part of the world and our son wanted to play hockey outside.

Problem

The problem was that we have no hockey equipment.

Solution

And the solution? Looking at what we did have instead of what we didn’t and making it work anyway!

We had:

• a need for Luke to enjoy some heavy work as part of his sensory diet.
• a craving for us all to partake in some active, outdoor time (homeschool P.E.)
• a family with imagination

Bike helmets, Freecycle-scored roller skates, pool noodles, a wiffle ball and the game was on!

The Look of Determination

Teamwork

Concentration

Our former neighbor, who was visiting next door, even peeked out, saw us playing and came over to join in the fun.

Three-on-One

Evening Up the Teams

 Results

• Proprioceptive and vestibular input? Check!

Bend and Reach

Balance and Move

• Laughter and fitness together outside? Check! 

"Hockey is fun!"

Daddy-Son Face Off

• Creative problem-solving as a family? Check!

Game On

• Controled, good-natured rough play?  Check!

Fight!

Hugs

And, perhaps, most importantly: Safe, family fun? Check! (Luke wanted to use his and Nina’s metal rakes as sticks. For safety reasons, I suggested the noodles.)

How about you? What have you been playing with your kids? Has creativity or problem-solving been the impetus for any new versions of old games? Do share! And, if you happen to try pool noodle hockey, stop by here again to let us know how it went.

Aldo, stop be We Play at Childhood 101 to share.

For the Car (and Home) Music Library: A 28 Instant Songames Review

Singing Along while Finding Her Armpit

For economic reasons, as well as simply to maintain a good balance to the rhythm of life, I try to maintain a habit of having several car-free days for the kids and me.  That means on days when we do use the car, there are often a number of errands and appointments to attend to back-to-back.  Or, there are long drives to single destinations to be had.

Whether grouping a lot of smaller trips into one or taking one longer trip, I find that having a mini music-library in the car helps keep everyone happy, entertained and, yes, even moving, at times.  (Because, with my kids, balancing still quiet times with active moving ones is key to maintaining peace and Luke's sensory diet.)

Recently, I was lucky enough to review a copy of  28 Instant Songames, provided by Future Horizons, for OJTA (complete, detailed review here). What a great little CD this is!

Meant for music and movement at home or in the classroom, we accidentally found 28 Instant Songames is perfect for the car, too.  You see, in order to write the review for the CD, I gave it a first listen-through in the car.  The kids took to it immediately and, after that, often requested it in the car (and at home).  Truly, the CD became a staple in our mini-van!

When I pop the CD into our minivan's player, Nina joins in with song and playing right away, by singing out all of our names, as well as ones of friends and extended family members during the introductory songs.  Then, she and Luke enjoy finding their own body parts, and pointing to Jack's, during some of the early songs on the CD.  (I love that these songs include a variety of lesser-used body part vocabulary, instead of just the typical early ed song basics:  head, shoulders, knees, toes, hands, eyes, ears, mouth and nose.)  After that, by the time we get to Luke's favorite, "Pick an apple, pick an apple..." everyone is giggling, interacting and stretching -- well on our way to a decent drive

Of course, being constantly active and silly in the car isn't my idea of a perfect car ride.  I like some relative quiet, too.  And, I must say 28 Instant Songames provides that, too.  The kids often become quiet and intent when listening to the character voices on the CD that lead them through the CD's different realms:

• The Horse Realm, where children develop awareness of their bodies while moving along to music that ignites rhythm and imagination.
• The Dolphin Realm, where children explore their feelings, strengths and joys, increasing their vocabulary and emotional awareness as they play
• The Eagle Realm, where children are encouraged to connect with others while discovering personal joy and acceptance of diversity.
• The Frog Realm, where the magic of imaginative play is honored and where wishes and dreams are invited to be voiced.

These characters provide a “story” effect, where bits of narration from various fairies and creatures,  “Aunt Barbara” and two children, string the 28 songs on the CD together as a cohesive whole, making it even more enjoyable for the kids to listen to in the car.

From Tears to Apple Picking

In fact, it is just this story effect that has more than once saved the day, or at least decreased the stress level, in our mini van.

You see, lest you think all is ideal in the Stanger mini-van, let me be the first to admit it is not! I often have to struggle with one (or all three!) of our children to get them in the car.  These struggles carry over to whining and, sometimes screaming and tears, as the kids are buckled in.  Then, there are the residual kiddo complaints and nagging aimed at me and each other.  It can be very trying!

That's where 28 Instant Songames comes in.  For the time being, at least, it's story effect has a wonderful calming effect on the kids.  I pop the CD in and their concentration moves from being extraordinarily unpleasant to being engaged in music, song and storyline.  Ahhhh!  Peace!

With easy-to-follow songs and chants, various vocal qualities, rhythms, beats and sounds, plus the storyline to boot, 28 InstantSongames lives up to its name as an instant (and enduring!) hit in our minivan.  (We like to dance along to it in our living room, too.)

Some skills the CD keys into are:

• listening
• memory
• fine motor
• gross motor, and
• language.

The songs and games as described in the CD's accompanying booklet, key into the following concepts in a fun and functional way:

• body awareness,
• self-esteem,
• self-expression,
• friendship, and
• acceptance of others.

Catchy, easy-to-follow and able to engage, 28 Instant Songames is a resource we enjoy!

What are some of your calming car strategies?  Any favorite CD's for car trip, long and short?  Do share in a comment!

Read Aloud to Real Challenges: My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohamm and Building Towers to Point to Heaven

As I have been preparing for Monday’s OLQOS Co-op, I realized I never posted about the second week of our spring co-op, where I am teaching a class I designed called Read Aloud to Real Challenges: An Early Literacy and Challenge Class.

The course aims to share some engaging children’s picture books that tie into value and faith themes and act as a springboard for design challenges.

During our first class, we read, Albert’s Alphabet and built self-standing letters in honor of the Holy Spirit. This week we read My Friend Rabbit by by Eric Rohmann and built towers to point to God.

Here was the plan I used, first, in class, then, at home. (Luke and Nina have requested to “take Mommy’s class” at home each week after Co-op, so they can enjoy other teachers’ classes while co-op is in session.)

Materials Needed
To facilitate it My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohamm and Building Towers to Point to Heaven, you will need:

• a copy of My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann
• a piece of paper for each child
• a paper clip for each child
• a magazine for each child or pair of child
• one sheet of address labels for each child or pair of child (These can be recycled from freebies you get in the mail; we were out of those, so I used blank labels.)
• scissors

Welcoming Prayer and Stretch

Welcome students back and ask if anyone can remember what we should do with our bodies to help our brains work. That’s right – stretch! Lead the following stretch, adding more movements than prior week:

We thank you God for the sky above, (Stretch onto tip toes, arms up high, really reaching for the sky. Reach with one arm way up as high as you can. Reach with the other. Reach with both.)
and for the ground below. (Bend over and touch toes or floor. Tickle your own toes. Walk your hands up your ankles, calves, knees, thighs, tickling and/or squeezing your legs with your hands.)
We thank you, God, for everything (Lunge to one side, really stretching arm out. Press toward the wall.)
that we come to know. (Lunge to the other side. Then, feet together, Bend over and touch the ground again, Roll up. Stack kneed on top of feet, hips on top of knees, shoulders on top of hips, head up… Scrunch shoulders up to ear together. Then, one shoulder, the other, back to the first, back to the other. Up and down with both. Wiggle the entire body, turn around and sit down.)

Warm-Up Challenge: Make a Plane that Can Carry a Paperclip

Show the cover of My Friend Rabbit and ask children what they see and what they think the book might be about. Notice the Caldecott award and ask if anyone knows what the medal is for. Make some predictions about what the story might be about.

Then, hand out one piece of paper to each child. Explain that for their mini-challenge of the day, they must create a plane that can carry a paper clip, just like the plane on the front of the book carries the mouse. They may not use any materials besides the paper and paper clip and may not use any tools besides their imaginations and bodies (hands).

Allow students to test and modify their planes, refolding them in ways to better carry the paperclip and noting some of the ways the flight patterns change depending on how the paperclips are placed on the planes.

Read Aloud: My Friend Rabbit

Congratulate students on their designs and let them know that we will now see what kind of flight the mouse on My Friend Rabbit goes on.

Read My Friend Rabbit, asking students to read text that they are capable of and taking time to stop to really look at the pictures and to make predictions as you go, such as wondering what rabbit’s plan must be and trying to guess what he is pulling at first (an elephant!) or identifying what the problem is once he has all the animals stacked (they aren’t high enough) and predicting what he might do next, etc.

Also elicit how rabbit uses the same strategy we used last class to solve a problem. How? He identifies a problem (the plane in the tree), comes up with a plan and tests it (stacking all the animals to reach the plane), and, then, adapts the plan as necessary, before sharing the results.

Note how rabbit just goes ahead with his plan and tries it, while Albert from Albert’s Alphabet last week approached things in a different way. (Albert used written plans.)  Discuss how different folks creatively solve problems in different ways according to the gifts God has given them.

Also, discuss other themes and values related the book—that we accept our friends for their good points and their more challenging ones. That problems can be solved.  That teamwork can be helpful.

Further, identify and discuss how rabbit might solve the new problem presented by the final illustration in the book.

The Main Challenge: Building Towers to Point to God

Jack wants in on the building.

Review again how Rabbit approached his problem: identifying it, coming up with a plan, testing the plan and revising it as needed and, finally, sharing the results. Then, ask what rabbit’s plan was(to build a tower).

Suggest that towers point toward Heaven. We should always reach toward Heaven and, through God’s grace will get there one day. Might we build a tower towards Heave, pointing to God, today, say, one as high as our belly buttons?

Present the challenge and its guidelines:

• We will build towers, individually or together, that point to God.
• They must be able to stand on their own.
• They must be made using only the materials (recycled magazines and sheets of address labels) and tools (scissors) provided.

Success!

Encourage students to meet the challenge, noting difficulties they run into and asking questions to help them discover ways to overcome these or to revise their plans.

Have children pause occasionally to note each other’s ideas and talk about ones they might borrow from one another to adapt.

Finally, of course, share the results!

Notes

If you have extra time at the end of class, which I never seem to, try making other paper airplane designs, building towers from other materials or seeing if built towers can bear the weight of paper clips, paper airplanes, etc.  Re-design towers as necessary to help them bear weight.

The main challenge idea is from p. 32 of Team Challenges by Kris Bordessa.

As always, have fun, inspire creativity and remember:

• process over product
• experience and imagination over end-result and teacher-direction.

Honor the children’s problem solving abilities and the gift of creativity and personal interpretation that God grants each one of us. 

For example, one of my students is on the Autism spectrum.  He's a creative and spiritual young man who moves forward with such concentration once he gets something in his mind.  As soon as he noticed a photo of Pope John Paul II in the magazines we had, he decided to use some of his stickies to make a cross.

Then, he modified our challenge of building a tower to point God to be building a church.  He spent much of the rest of the class intent on building one complete with stained glass windows on its walls.

He even invited a classmate to take her tower (below) to combine with his church.  What a joy it was to see them working together at their own creation, employing gifts of problem-solving and teamwork!

Inspired by that student's invitation of collaboration, I request:  If you happen to borrow ideas from this plan to use in your own home or co-op, please be sure to stop by and let me know how it went. I always enjoy collaborating to improve and adapt plans for future use.

52 Weeks of Organizing Our Homeschool Challenge, Mini-Projects 9-11

Two weeks ago, I officially began participating in 52 Weeks of Organizing Challenge by focusing on Our Homeschool.

Jumping in on the initiative 15 weeks into the year meant budgeting a bit of extra time to “catch up”, so I might have a hope of actually completing 52 mini-projects to improve our homeschool organization by the end of the year. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, life's course and my plans did not mesh.

A week ago Wednesday, a stomach virus hit our home. It mandated that organization efforts make way for caring for sick children and doing crazy amounts of laundry. That is, until our Easter weekend in ER began, when even much of  the laundry had to be let go

Since we got home from the weekend, most of our energy has been focused on simply getting healthy and returning to a sense of normalcy.  That is till in progress.

Fortunately, there has been some minor progress on our 52 weeks, too.  I the past two weeks, we:

9. Organized a Quiet Time and Bedtime Bookshelf:  Too many books were only adding to clutter in the kids’ room, so we revamped a bookshelf to create a kid-friendly system to help with limits and living by the adage “a place for everything and everything in its place”.  (Now, we just have to apply that adage to the rest of our home!)
10. Created an Accessible Kids’ Art/Craft/Office Supplies Area:  The kids and I hung a shoe sorter on the back of the door to house art, crafts and office supplies I want to keep accessible for the kids.  I decided not to fill it all at once, but to only put out a few materials at a time until the kids prove that they can use them respectfully, accessing them and putting them away by habit.  So far, so good. They are doing so with their crayons!
11. Created a CGS Corner:  I unburied a piece of furniture to repurpose as “altar” space for a Catechesis of the Good Shepherd corner in our Play and Learning Space and have designated a nearby work shelf to house a rotation of CGS materials.  (Honest disclosure:  I am still trying to figure out where to store the materials that are not in rotation and would appreciate ideas.  Also, actually putting the corner to use is still more a want-to than an am-doing.  One step at a time...)  

On a note-so-easy-to-admit note, I also returned to my bad habit of starting too many things at once.

Yes, as I reflect back on the past two weeks,I recognize that I have begun, but have yet to finish, the following mini-projects:

• creating a Sensory Activities Organizer
• creating a system for tidying and purging the kids’ drawings
• designating portfolios for the kids’ creations
• beginning routines and rhythms binders for my eldest two
• making a plan for work shelf rotation
• culling and organizing assessment files
• creating Assessment Binders

What's the sense of starting something you don't finish?  It doesn't help to organize anything.  In fact, it can make both mind and home more cluttered.

I know some may disagree, but I am discovering that multi-tasking does not always work!  Juggling a variety of projects at once always worked well for me as a Singleton, but as Wife, Mom, Homeschooler and Crumb Winner*, it doesn’t. Simply fulfilling the basics of each of these roles is multi-tasking enough!  When I throw working on more than one other project -even a related one - into the mix, things go awry.

So it is that in the past two weeks, I realized that, outside of the regular juggling all wife-mom-(insert role)'s must do, for me, becoming a uni-tasker may be the most productive and pleasant way to live .  So, this week, my goal is to pick ONE mini-project to complete, before moving onto another. Whether that project will be one of the unfinished ones listed above or something completely new depends on how life unfolds.

How about you?

• What progress do you hope to make with your 52 Weeks?  
• Have you recognized a need to change any long-ingrained habits? 
• How are your own organization efforts going?

As always, tips, encouragement, shared challenges and successes are always welcome. Do comment!

*NOTE:  Daddy is the true breadwinner of the family; I just work for extra crumbs for us.

Why We Missed wishing a Happy Easter Here

Yesterday's post was written and auto-scheduled before a very crazy Easter weekend for us, so it was never linked properly to One Hook Wonder.  (Sorry, I will try to remember to do so next week).  Today's post will be ultra-short and should explain why there were no Easter wishes, prayers and sharing here and why there may not be posts for a little bit:

Nina went to ER Friday afternoon, dehydrated from a virus that she had had for three days.  Several fluid bags and a sugar bolus (sp?) later, she was admitted to pediatrics and not released until Sunday.

Jack began vomiting at about 5 a.m. Saturday morning and was pretty listless by the evening.  So, he was in ER for a few hours in the wee night/morning time of Saturday into Sunday.

Luke had a high fever TH night, but was fine Friday.  Then, he began vomiting just as we were taking Jack to ER.  He ended up in ER himself for most of yesterday.

Now, we are all home and nursing back to health, doing laundry, etc. 

I am very grateful for the blessings of family and good health care, as well as God's graces pouring down even through a less than picture-perfect Easter weekend and the kids are happy to be home.