COVID-19: Week 3

Dear Kids,
This past week, I finally figured out a good flow for our day. Today our school rolls out a new curriculum for us to follow and it's thrown everything out of whack again. I know it will get better as we learn new technology and new rhythms but I just need to complain for a few seconds.

I think what worked well for us was that I picked a topic and then we would use apply your abilities/level to extension activities. Now, I feel like I'm being thrown a bunch of different things to implement and I just feel like I'm having you all just go through a checklist, with nothing to help anchor the learning. I'm going to give this curriculum a week or two and if it doesn't work well for us, I think we will abort and go with my original plan.

What we've been doing.

Stop Motion Videos
I came across this really great app: Stop Motion Studio and we've been using it to create simple stop motion videos. I started with some simple challenges, like unscramble your spelling words, and then you both created movies with your legos and barbies.

 Hannah, we've been working on blends like "oi" and "ea".

Crafts
We created little worms and we incorporated measurement. 

 And then I had you guys race them across the floor.

 Hailey, you've been a great sport for the most part, just hanging out with us and "helping" or doing your own thing. I do the "boring" stuff with Nathan and Hannah when you are asleep, so you really aren't missing out on much.

 Hannah, you learned your colors in chinese and Nathan, we reviewed your word recognition in Chinese through a game of Chinese BINGO.

 And then we talked about animal adaptations in a project where we drew on plastic bags, put dark paper behind them and could highlight certain things with a "flashlight" which is basically a piece of white paper.

 "Cursive" My ploy of teaching you cursive is still working. Each day you both practice writing 2 lines of 2 different letters and then I show you the cursive way of writing those letters. We are getting to be towards the end and I'm already noticing an improvement on both of your penmanship. Nathan, you just need to slow down. Hannah, you still get your "b" and "d" confused.

We have plenty of time left for playing mostly in the afternoon after Hailey wakes up. It's been crazy rainy and cold the past few days so we've been stuck inside.

 We did manage to sneak out a few times when the rain was just a light sprinkle to splash in puddles.

Exercise

For P.E./music time, we are still learning moves from the King of Pop via the Wii, 

 Following along youtube videos for hip hop dance,

 And playing DDR.

Made Paper

This week's project based learning was making paper. We first started out by watching a video on the history of paper. 

 Who knew the history of paper could be so interesting!

 Then we walked around the house, collecting scraps of paper and then you guys worked on shredding the paper.

We blended up the paper to make pulp and used a few frames from old canvases to make the mould and deckle.

And voila! Paper was created! 

 I originally wanted you guys to create a step by step guide on making paper for writing and then having you guys measure out with unconventional measurements the papers that we created.
But with this new curriculum, I think we'll have to put that on hold for now.

 We were fortunate to snag a free balance bike from a neighbor so Hailey, you've been so excited to ride it around the house.

 I also signed up for abc mouse and you get about 30 minutes of abc mouse time while I'm working with the big kids on their school lessons. I'm using this as a last resort right now, trying to minimize your exposure to screens and maximize your time playing with real things and people.

Or, I just hand you a pair of scissors and a piece of paper and you are set for 45 minutes! 

 Occassionally, we get a few moments to stop and play some board games.

Finished Big Books! 
Hannah completed all 100 lessons in your reading book. It's been a looooong process, (we started this last summer) but it wasn't until recently when your interest in learning to read picked up more momentum.

Nathan, we finished reading together book 1 in the Harry Potter saga. I utterly enjoyed reading it with you. I sometimes have to explain some of the jokes or point out ironic or odd things, but I'm loving your anticipitory excitement as we flip through the pages. Nathan, you will now read it on your own again before we can move onto the next one. In the meantime, I'm starting Little House in the Woods with Hannah.

 It's been a long few weeks. From the moment I wake up until you guys go to bed, it's basically non-stop. I need to figure out how to carve out (even if it's just 30 minutes) some time for myself to recharge. I'm an introvert so I definitely need some time alone and right now. Currently the only time I have for myself is right before mealtimes when I'm preparing food and after you all get tucked into bed.

Well, that's about it for now. I'm going to bed.
Love,
Mommy