This weekend was FABULOUS! Bye bye winter blues!
For church we were supposed to be performing a random act of kindness each month, and so I found it and took it in last week. I found the pic on my phone and thought I would share… As I was brushing my teeth I thought about how much my kids love stupid character toothbrushes and toothpaste…and kind of wished they’d be on sale so I could afford to donate a bunch of them. Later that day to what my wondering eyes should appear but a bunch of $1 kids character toothbrushes– and around the corner, toothpaste! We took them to church for our local food pantry. For the cost of a jumbo take out pizza, 10 kids with clean teeth and fun characters (even on assistance) = win!
It’s the last week in February already and our next holiday isn’t until Monday, but we covered that on Thursday so we can spend some time doing things for dad that day, as Leap Year is his birthday! We spent the weekend soaking in the sunshine (and Vitamin D) and trying to have a bit of fun! We did things like till the garden and play in the dirt, explore cold, cold creek water, the dirt pile, and ride in the tractor’s wagon.
Tractor ride!
Paper Trail
This week we are continuing to talk about money and for more info, check out our pin board! You can also see our other money adventures and topical books we used from last week HERE. We talked about spending money wisely, writing checks, and I gave the 7 year old spelling words that were all ‘higher than 20’ numbers, along with withdrawal and deposit!
A neat find was the Thematic Unit ‘Money’ from Teacher Created Materials. It happened to be an intermediate level, so only the 7 year old was able to do some of the ‘paper’ work, but we talked about some of the material out loud so she could work on it. Example: Which way does Abraham Lincoln face on the penny?
We also explored the ridges on the sides of coins and talked about how blind people carry/use cash (it’s all in the folding!), all the extra markings on coins, and did some of the fun tricks in the resource book (below). My favorite was the 10 penny pyramid!– move 3 coins to make a pyramid that points in the opposite direction… hint: rotate the 3 corners to the next ‘side’….
We will spill over Leap Year into next week, but here’s our board if you are in the market for some fun ‘to do’s’ for Monday!
I also drastically cut my hair. I think the whole crew was in shock! However it is SO much easier to care for and I can shower every day because I’m not pulling out huge long clumps of hair for the next year (a wonderful side benefit of having had a baby)– it takes about 2 minutes to shampoo from start to finish, not just 2 minutes to get wet, 2 to soap, etc. I love it! But it is a BIG change!
Chopped!
Topical Books
Ultimate Kids’ Money by Godfrey (resource–first few chapters on coins and currency)
Coins by Rau
Bunny Money by Wells
I can subtract bills and coins by Wingard-Nelson
I can add bills and coins by Wingard-Nelson
Money American Currency by Armentrout
Let’s Find Out About Money by Barabas
I Can Do Money Word Problems by Wingard-Nelson
The Story of Money (resource) by Maestro
I wonder why the sun rises and other questions about time and seasons by Walpole
Leap Day by Disney (board book)
What in the World is a Leap Year? And Other Time Measurements by Bussiere
Mommy, Where’s My Birthday? by Cornell
7 year old independent reading
The Long Winter by Wilder
Butterfly Meadow Twinkle and the Busy Bee by Moss
Anna and Elsa The Arendelle Cup by David
Garfield Learns about Money Madness by Acey
Anna and Elsa The Secret Admirer by David
Little Town on the Prairie by Wilder
These Happy Golden Years by Wilder
The First Four Years by Wilder
Never Girls before the bell by Thorpe
The Princess Tales Cinderellis and the Glass Hill by Levine
The Princess Tales Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep by Levine
The Princess Tales The Princess Test by Levine
The Princess Tales The Fairy’s Mistake by Levine
Little House on Rocky Ridge by MacBride
Goosebumps Reader Beware You Choose the Scare Tick Tock, You’re Dead! by Stine
The Never Girls on the trail by Thorpe
4 year old reading together
I’d Be Your Princess by O’Brien (7 year old read it to her)
Chapters 1-4 of James and the Giant Peach by Dahl (mom)
I love you as big as the world (out loud to dad)
When Spring Comes by Henkes
Bloom by Cronin (awesome book for ‘tomboys’ or princesses who need to learn to get dirty!)
Find out how to play along with your weekly wrap up here: http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up/
Awesome find with those character brushes and toothpaste; I bet you made some kids very happy!
We’re going to have to check out many of those money and coin books; that is one area I found my 8 year old is lacking. We have yet to have a great math book that really covers that area. I decided it will be the focus of our summer once we finish up this year’s math book.
The act of kindness thing… one of the things my program has done each year is a canned food drive in March or April… ‘people are hungry all year’. It gets the kids thinking and talking and is a good way to start them toward being mindful of how fortunate they really are.
Your comments about leap year made me think of a homeschooling family I’ve known online for many years. You can find them linked on my blog, “Homeschool Girls” on the right sidebar.
Keilee was 8 or 9 when I started following the blog, we’ve exchanged packages of this and that over the years. I’m proud to say I gave her a start on knitting.
Anyway, I said all that to say this… Keilee has her own YouTube channel, Bringing Smart Back. She just did a video about leap year/leap day.
The videos are cute, she’s adorable and full of personality and I know that homeschooling has played a big part in her development.
Go check them out. 🙂