Our Final Week with Space...

It has been fun learning about space the last few weeks. So far we have visited the Moon, the Sun and Stars and this week we are learning more about the planets. While it has been fun, I am definitely ready to move onto a new topic :-)

This week we are using There's No Place Like Space by Tish Rabe as our main resource and supplementing with Galactic Goodnight from the Little Einsteins, a few Magic School Bus books and videos, songs and several fun art projects. We are also focusing on the letter "E" this week for our alphabet lapbook/notebook, so we are talking about the Earth (obviously), Eagles, Elephants and Easter Eggs.

This week has been really relaxed, but it has been fun seeing how much they know and remember all on their own. This weekend Jordan looked up into the sky and said, "Look at all the constellations!" And while I do ask them questions and talk about the story after we read it, the success of this is hit or miss -- however, I can always tell what they comprehended and learned during their playtime! Lately, Jordan in particular loves to pretend to be an astronaut and go for trips in her rocket ship to the Moon, Venus or Mars. Cali loves to play along, too. I look at all of this as beginning narration skills :-)

Here are some of the highlights of this week so far:

-We sang He's Got The Whole World In His Hands a lot, and made an art project to go along. We cut out a blue circle and glued (Cali's favorite part of any project) it onto a white piece of construction paper. Then we glued (another squeal from Cali) cotton balls onto the blue circle to be clouds. I intended to put their hands in finger paint and put their handprints on the bottom of the paper with the words "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands" written above it. This went wonderfully with Jordan. Cali, however, I have learned is a lot like her Mama --- she wrinkled her nose when I dipped her fingers in the paint and I could have sworn she said "Ewww" LOL! This isn't the first time they have finger painted, but it has been awhile and the last few times may have been during Cali's naps, so I guess she has changed her opinion on the fun of getting messy! I tried a few different times with different things, but she wanted no part of it. She did, however, like the idea of coloring on her picture, so she did that :-)

- Watched Dumbo to go along with the "E" for Elephant theme. Yesterday we had a lot of fun playing at the playground with some other homeschool families but it wore us out -- and coupled with the overcast weather, we were all exhausted. So we curled up on the sofa, got under a big fluffy blanket and had fun watching this movie together!

- Made stick puppets of an eagle and an elephant and put on some plays with them -- mostly Jordan does the play and I watch, or she tells me what to say LOL

- Watched videos of baby elephants online from the Ringling Brothers' site

- Did A LOT of pretending to be astronauts going on various adventures

- Talked about Meteorologists and Astronomers, and how in the story Thing One and Thing Two wanted to be Astronomers. I asked Jordan if she knew what she wanted to be when she grew up and she thought for a while. . . I started giving some ideas and she said "Yes" enthusiastically to each one -- teacher, doctor, scientist, photographer, astronomer -- but when I said "Dancer" she got really excited! I then started asking her if she would rather be a dancer or a gymnast (answer- dancer). A dancer or a doctor (dancer). A photographer or a dancer (thought I would mix up the order a bit, but she still said dancer). She then told me, "I LOVE to Dance!" Oh brother....should we start saving for lessons yet?

We are also loving having Daddy home more. This new job and schedule has him home before 6:00 every night! We have played many rounds of hide-n-seek and yesterday Jordan got a special outing date with Daddy to the playground after work. He has special dates with each girl once a month and Jordan was wanting to learn how to slide down a pole, something Mommy has yet to learn how to do herself (ha!), so this was a perfect opportunity. Cali came with me to the grocery store and I was amazed at the difference in shopping with only one child!! Sooo much easier :-)

Tomorrow night will be Family Movie Night which will be a lot of fun before he leaves for China for 10 days on Saturday. Next week the girls and I start our two week trip to China -- through books and their new favorite show Ni Hao, Kai-lan. Daddy is going to bring a Flat Stanley with him to take pictures, which I think the girls will really enjoy seeing!

Have a great weekend!!