First, fold a length of contact paper in half, and draw an outline of an apple, leaf and stem. Then open just half of the contact paper, and give your kids red, green and brown construction paper. Let them rip the paper into tiny pieces and encourage them to try to stay in the lines on their apples. (This will make cutting them out easier later.) This process doesn't take nearly as long as you would think.
It will start to look like this:
While we work on craft projects, we love to listen to music. The next few weeks will be filled with songs from Oliver, as Bee and I (and possibly Lex) are going to try out for this show soon! Here is a small sampling of the kids singing today - with the added benefit of seeing the craft in action!
Then all the kiddos together singing - I think this is so cute:
After they are done, mom can fold the other half of the contact paper up to meet the first half. Be sure to get all the bubbles out.
Last, they cut out the apples!
They should look something like this when they are completed:
Other highlights of our day included:
Observing our outdoor habitat:
And catching some frogs - who were named Big Daddy and Pipsqueak by Jakie:
Do you have a younger child whose work doesn't take as long to complete as your older children? We love to do puzzles to keep our little hands occupied. What do you do?
You know, I realized as I was reading through a few homeschool blogs recently that I am guilty of doing something on my own blog that I cannot stand in other people's blogs. Have you read blogs where the reader's life seems perfect? Where they are the perfect wife, perfect mother, perfect everything? Ugh. So not me - and yet, I realize as I post all this stuff day after day about our schooling that I might be portraying myself that way. Not that you care to hear about every bad thing in our lives - and not that there are that many to even tell about on a daily basis - but I want to keep this blog "real". I don't want anyone thinking I'm superwoman. I am a normal mom, with normal kids. I struggle with my kids being naughty, my weight, and have to work hard to get a load of laundry done each day (today it's more like four that need to be done!).
Anyhow, in an effort to be a bit more transparent with you all...homeschooling has been a blast this week, and we got off to a great start. However, just today I dealt with the following:
A certain child fell on the floor and pretended to be asleep when asked to do his math paper.
Another child argued with me that Helen Keller never did anything brave and to ask him to write about why she was brave was unfair and mean. (This went on for like twenty minutes and involved tears...I finally won.)
Another child stared blankly at her wall for fifteen minutes when she was supposed to be taking a math test, and when asked to move back to the classroom so that I could keep her on task (she had been in her room at her desk at the time) acted as though I was a horrible person for asking her to do so.
See? We're real. My kids are wonderful, but they are kids. They test me and sometimes I make them cry. But I love them. I was thinking today while I was talking to Alexander about not being lazy (I had given him the reason that he needed to train himself now not to be lazy so that when he grew up he would be an excellent husband, father and employee) that I am blessed to have them with me all day, everyday. I can teach them and train them up to be the men and women God called them to be. I know it isn't everyone's calling in life, and most of the people close to me think I'm certifiable for staying at home and homeschooling - but I love it. I hope this blog is an encouragement to other moms out there who are homeschooling, or even those who aren't.
Happy Homeschooling,
Stacy
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