Dinosaur Outing

Last week we visited a tiny paleontology museum on a university campus.  It was the perfect size for my little children who don't have a huge attention span.

Posing in front of the dinosaur mural.  Love that Olivia is literally posing and yes she dressed herself that day!

I was particularly amazed by the triceratops 9 foot long skull that was on display.  I had always imagined triceratops to be smaller for some reason.  This picture does not do the size justice!  The brow horns would have been 3 feet long!  (See the description below)

To try to bring in the learning that we've been doing at home I made sure to ask Olivia questions like: "Do you think that dinosaurs are vertebrates or invertebrates?"  "And are dinosaurs mammals, reptiles, or amphibians?" "How about the flying dinosaurs, were they reptiles too or birds?"  She did very well at answering and as a little confused by the flying dinosaur but naturally any 4 year old would be.  

Children at the Opera

Let me state here that I LOVE OPERA!  For many Americans, Opera tends to be something that you either love or hate.  Most, not all, Americans are not raised with it and first experience it as adults.  At least that was my case.  The first Opera that I saw was 'Don Giovanni' and have seen many since.  I remember when I took Ed to see his first Opera, 'The Barber of Seville', and he quickly fell in love with it.

I want to expose my children to as many good things as I can.  Today in the mail we received a new CD which Olivia was ecstatic about.

The Classical Child at the Opera

Olivia has been asking for sometime to go see an Opera.  Honestly she is only saying this because Ed and I went to the Opera recently and she wanted to go.  But now she talks of going to Opera when she turns 6.  The next season at the Opera includes 'The Magic Flute' which would be fun for her to see.  This CD gives her a chance to become familiar with a few of it's songs and many more.  

Reading

I truly hate admitting this but I am struggling find time to read to my children. We do many different educational activities throughout the day but by the days end I realize that we didn't sit down to read (guided or read alouds). 


Coming from someone who loves to read, this is horrible for me! 


I certainly get some reading in like we read the scriptures as a family every night and I read to the girls from the children's scripture reader during the day, I read poetry to Olivia at bedtime, we listen to an audiobook at least once a day, and Olivia does get reading instruction on Rusty & Rosy (which by the way she is reading!!).


But I feel that I need to have a time where I sit down and do a formal read aloud and guided reading with them.


I asked for some advice from friends to find out how they do it with their children and one said that she reads to them during breakfast and lunch.  This then sparked a memory of a blog post that I read once years ago when Olivia was a baby about how that mom read to her children over breakfast.  Something that I am going to try and hopefully my energetic girls respond well to.


Let me ask you, how do you fit in educational activities, house cleaning and all our other demands as parents and still find time to read with your children? 

My children's current obsession--listening to Magic Tree House!

Draw Write Now

This past week I received a much anticipated order in the mail.  I heard some good things about the Draw Write Now series (found new on eBay for $5) and thought it would be fun to change up Olivia's writing time.  Up to this point she writes out a page of 4 letters and 2 numbers a day.  I can tell that she is starting to get bored with it.  Practice with handwriting is important but I want her to also enjoy it.

Olivia was beyond excited to learn to draw a chicken today.  Okay, so you might be asking why drawing with a writing curriculum.  The thought is that as they draw, their fine motor skills will improve thus improving the letter formation.  There is a section for the child to write out with each drawing which in itself is great practice.

A view of Olivia's (age 4.5) first day at Draw Write Now.  

Easy examples of drawing which helps build fine motor skills. 

Sentences to write out with each drawing.  

I didn't want to order paper for this program so I found a great website with various writing papers that I could print from home.  They had a PERFECT one with a drawing space on top and four lines on the bottom for writing.

After we wrote the sentences, drew the hen and colored, Olivia immediately asked to do the next lesson.  I'm glad she is so excited about this writing program!

Creativity as a Family

Tonight after dinner we sat down to paint as a family.  Not a typical activity to do as a whole family but one of our most successful activities to date!

Painting as a family

The finished pieces up to dry

Olivia's

Ed's

Lucia's

Mine

The girls truly love to paint and frequently ask to do so.  I want them to explore art by looking at paintings (in art books and at museums) and by making art.  I feel this is just as important as learning academically and will have a great affect on their futures.  (Not saying that they will grow up to be famous artist, but if they have a talent for it (like a few in my family --my sister and mother!) then why not expose them to it and see if they have a talent for it.)

Besides, the time that we spent together doing this as a family is probably the most important factor!