Sunday, January 20, 2013

Before Five in a Row--Corduroy

Another week of school--or "projects" as we call them around here.  This was our book for the week:


On Monday, we built Corduroy out of construction paper.  Yes, I know that the bear I drew has no neck.  Yes, I also know that I didn't even use real buttons for poor Corduroy's overalls.  But in case you haven't heard, the pollution in our neck of the woods has been off-the-charts nasty this week.  So paper buttons will have to do until I'm willing to leave the house without a bubble suit on.


Next week, Sam & I will be working on learning which way is up.


On Tuesday, we did a counting game with plastic counting pieces I picked up at a teacher store before we left the States.  How convenient that there were bear pieces inside!  We counted Corduroys as we put them in a bed.  Unfortunately for this male-dominated house, we are short on toy beds so we were forced to use a giant bowl & the base of a block puzzle.  No one seemed to notice.


One thing that I like about this curriculum is that it incorporates a simple Bible verse connected with the story.  This week, we learned a portion of Proverbs 17:17--A friend loves at all times.  We talked about how Lisa, the little girl in the story, loved Corduroy and took care of him by sewing his button back on.  I made up a song to go with our counting, to break up to monotony of 1-10.

(To the tune of 10 Little Monkeys)
One little Corduroy jumping on the bed
"You're my friend," Lisa said.
"A friend loves at all times.
I'm so glad that you're mine."


Oh, and a side note--my two year old can now count to 10.  My three year old can't.  

On Wednesday, we played a verb acting game.  I taught them what a verb is (or "berb" if you ask Micah) and located several of them throughout the book.  We then acted out the different verbs.  The boys were particularly fond of the word gasp.




We concluded our verb game by sewing lacing cards like Lisa did.  Hudson decided to join the party when he woke up early from his nap.  But instead of sewing a lacing card, he ate it.  


On Thursday, we expanded on the verb "search" we learned the day before by searching for buttons and Corduroy's animal friends from the toy section of the department store.  Having a small apartment makes a game of search & find pretty manageable for my little guys.  How convenient to have a dryer in my living room to house a missing button!


Then we switched roles and Micah hid the toys & buttons.  Apparently we need to work on his concept of hiding because he dumped all the toys in once place and put a blanket over them.  Then he laid on top of it.  Let's just say that my search wasn't too difficult.


On Friday, we finished up the week by making button peanut butter cookies.  Sam took every opportunity he could to eat the dough.  Licking the spoon, licking his fingers, throwing bouncy balls and baby toys in the bowl and then licking them...his creativity was endless.  As was his appetite.


We made the cookies into buttons by pressing a spice bottle into them and using a pen to make divots.  I won't  bother showing a picture of the finished product because they don't even look like buttons.  And they're burnt (but that shouldn't surprise anyone).


We had a sweet friend spontaneously come over that afternoon to help us with our project.  A sweet friend who brought gifts of city-wide famous popcorn with sesame seeds popped on the street and women's athletic socks.  She was happy to try our cookies but even more excited to try an American delicacy called "peanut butter & jelly sandwiches."  This is why I belong in this country: because it doesn't take much to impress my guests.  


As hard of a time I give Micah for not being able to count to ten yet, it has been so fun watching his little mind develop & grow.  He loves stories and won't sit on the potty without one of us making up a tale of Spicy the Cat or Richard the Donkey.  I like talking about things that might even be over his head and then find myself happily surprised when it seems to stick.  For example, we talked about all the onomatopoeias used in "Corduroy."  Then he responded with another one he remembered from last week's book "The Snowy Day."  Maybe he'll be my literary child instead of a mathematician.

I'm not sure how I'm going to handle next week because we will be traveling for three days to another city for a meeting.  Maybe we'll take the week off.  That might not be so good for my sanity because it really does help the day flow if I have at least one structured activity for the boys to focus on.  Maybe I'll consult my blossoming friend Pinterest to see what other inside activities I can come up with.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"School" at my house has very little to do with the girls' developmental needs and a lot to do with me needing structure and to feel like I've accomplished something tangible at the end of the day. With 3 kids under 4, I need to be able to check something off as done!

Elaine, a friend of K and C from college.

Susan/mama/G said...

Keep up the weekly reports. I do so enjoy seeing what you are all up to. I'm sure Hudson enjoyed eating sewing cards while his brothers sewed on them. I was never any good at coming up with this kind of thing and my hat is off to you for doing this. Spring will come eventually. I hope your trip went well. Love you.

Anonymous said...

Don't know if it makes you feel any better but Jacob didn't learn to count to ten in English until we were in the states. Although, he had it down in local language a year before that. Shows you how much I rely on kids school to provide for their book learning :). You are such a fun mama! Looking forward to hanging out!
With love,
Kelly J.

Sela said...

I searched for Corduroy BFIAR and came across your blog :) Your post made me laugh out loud, thanks for that! Totally sounds like my kids, ages 6, 3, and 1. Eating things, etc, etc. Hope you're having a lovely time with BFIAR :-)