This past weekend saw some cozy, lazy, quiet time after Sunday church and dinner -- much needed after what seems like a long summer of go-go-go. We spent part of Sunday afternoon with our games set (a box with several boards, cards, playing pieces, etc. all in one) and played a round of dominoes -- matching the numbers on the tiles -- and tried to play mancala. (Unfortunately, the "all-in-one"-ness of this set means it's not great for mancala -- the holes on the side of one of the playing boards are way too small for all the pebbles that need to fit in there to actually do so.) We also opened the deck of cards that came with this set and, after I got out my grandparents' copy of Hoyle (an edition probably from the 1940s) to refresh my memory, taught Nora how to play the card game "War."
She and I had spent Friday evening at the Unbirthday Party I coordinated for my women's service group, where we met other members and kids at a local pizza restaurant and packed bags with donations of birthday party supplies for the local food shelf. Packing over 50 bags (and loading them into two cars -- mine and the co-chair's), supervising rambunctious kids while simultaneously teaching them about charity, and then delivering the bags the next day was a tiring but satisfying part of the weekend.
This week, we also had a Parent Information Night at school, which proved very valuable in providing a lot of general information, curriculum overview, and an opportunity to meet other parents. The kids, meanwhile, identified their learning goals for kindergarten. According to Nora, one of her classmates wants to "learn how to be a paleontologist," while another wants to "learn how to ride a motorcyle." She identified her own goal as "learn how to read."
Her after-school activities this week included creating a version of hopscotch with blankets spread out indoors for "stepping stones." She also offered commentary, after reading a bedtime story of Jesus's healing of the 10 lepers from the Spark Story Bible, regarding one of the lepers in the illustration: "that guy looks like a potato."
What's the Weather: The week was cool and gray, with occasional rain. We needed to retrieve from the car a jacket with a pocket for hands that got cold on the metal monkey bars at a park. (After monkey bar mastery this summer, we've been trying them out at a variety of different parks.)
From the Kitchen: Some of the blueberries that came home with us from a family Michigan vacation this summer came out of the freezer this week got turned into Blueberry Muffins; the Beef and Cabbage on the menu plan went over better than I had expected (possibly because it was served with blueberry muffins...); and a bag of carrots that needed to get used up from the fridge were shredded in the food processor and turned into Carrot Cake, which proved to be a hit. (And if soome of us had it for breakfast for a few days -- well, carrot cake has veggies in it, right?)
Lifelong Learning: Nora seems to have been assigning herself homework; she spent much of the week working on early reading and (math skills with a sticker book she received for her birthday. (My Pretty Pink Sticker and Doodling Purse book) She's also been practicing writing letters and numbers, and appears to have demonstrated her grasp of the value of writing by creating a sign filled with printed letters (not actual words) that she taped onto the door of her room and interpreted as stating, "No Coming in My Room. Just Knock." She's also been helping with dishes, and with making blueberry muffins -- and, coincidentally, our card and board games work on number skills.
Something Seasonal: The fall decoration I won last week and the apple placemats are on the table, and that's pretty much it.
Feelin' Frugal:
Freebies received:
Cerra Act, Think, Reflect kit
Nivea Touch of Cashmere body wash
Scholastic Parent and Child magazine
Whatcha Readin’?: Born To Rule by Julia P. Gelardi
This post contains affiliate links. Any purchases you make by clicking through will help support this blog, at no additional cost to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment