bugs bunny on broadway giveaway

Calling all DC Metro Looney Toons Fans!

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor George Daugherty, is going "loony" on July 11, 2009, at 8:30 pm, with "Bugs Bunny on Broadway" at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia.

What a cool way of introducing your children to some incredible classical music and the complete awesomeness of a concert at Merriweather--sitting under the stars, listening to the BSO, and watching 'toons on the big screen?

If you ask me, it's summertime bliss.

I have a family 4-pack of lawn tickets for one of my cool local pals. If you want it, (it's an $80 value) leave a comment below and let me know why you family needs to go. You must comment by midnight Eastern time by Friday, July 3 in order to be entered.

From the press release:

This unique concert will feature musical masterpieces of Wagner, Rossini, Strauss, Tchaikovsky, and others, as interpreted through the “hare-raising” cartoon scores of legendary Warner Bros. Studios composers Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn, in such iconic Looney Tunes as “What's Opera, Doc?,” “The Rabbit of Seville,” “Corny Concerto,” “Baton Bunny,” “Long-Haired Hare,” “High Note,” and many more.

Since its sold-out, extended Broadway debut at The Gershwin Theatre in 1990, almost two million people worldwide have seen this concert in performances with the world’s greatest orchestras. Critics have loved it as much as the audiences. The New York Times called it "Hilarious!" "Spectacular!" chimed The New York Post while Newsday crowned it "The giddiest entertainment happening between West 44th and 52nd Streets. Four carrots, highest rating!”

Since its creation, “Bugs Bunny on Broadway” has delighted audiences on virtually every continent of the world. Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, and Porky Pig now make their Baltimore Symphony Orchestra debut on the tail of these acclaimed worldwide performances in the U.S., Canada, Australia, The United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, China, Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, South America, and many other locales.

For tickets, go to http://www.merriweathermusic.com/

For more information about the show, go to http://www.imgartists.com/?page=artist&id=906

Good luck!

pony tail holders

We found a new pack of beautiful ponytail holders in Maddy's room the other day. They were hiding in a big box of hair accessories and jewelry from her Fancy Nancy Salon Tea Party Birthday Extravaganza this past winter.

Instead of putting them in our hair, where they belong, we found a new home for them: our toes!

Who knew how difficult these could be for little fingers?

Surprise! We found another fun and sneaky way to work on fine motor skills. . .

• Pony Tail Holder Piggies: I put them on Owen's toes first, and he giggled. Cora wanted in on the fun, so she picked her color--and I'm always trying to work on colors with her--and I put some on her toes, too.
  

Maddy had never used these before, so I taught her how to lock one over the other, and she decorated each of her toes. I did the same with Owen and Cora, and after a lot of practice, they got it as well.

Maddy's pretty piggies

We walked around with funny feet for most of the night, and the next day we did it again. No one ever said learning has to always be serious and boring!

Everyday things, like learning how to put a scrunchie or ponytail holder in someone's hair (or a doll's hair, or on your toes) is a fantastic way of teaching our little ones how to get their brains, eyes, and hands to work together to complete a simple task. And when everything starts to work in sync, writing letters and numbers, tying shoes, and cutting will be a little bit easier!

new for us friday--summer bridge books

Woo-hoo!!
It's a Summer Bridge Activites Giveaway!
Happy, happy Friday!

Have you ever tried the Summer Bridge Activities series for keeping your children focused on learning and their brains working during the summer months?

Before this summer, I had not. But I'm glad that the kind people at Carson-Dellosa Publishing asked if I'd be interested in trying one. I looked at the calendar today, and, being that it's a Friday and we're trying new things on Fridays this summer, I thought we'd take a look at it today.

• Summer Bridge Activity Book: I was given one for Maddy, and it is a level P-K. It is for students who will enter Kindergarten in the fall. As I've said before, Maddy loves this kind of learning activity, so when I told Maddy and Owen that today we'd be having some workbook fun today, they were more than excited.

We got comfy, with our drinks, a bunch of pens and markers, and Maddy and Owen's workbooks. (Owen used one that we had, and Maddy used the new Summer Bridge one). We did a simple pre-reading activity that I always tell my students to do when they get a new book of any kind--we flipped through the pages, glanced at the pictures, and just tried to understand the layout of the book. I asked, What do you notice about the layout of your book, Maddy?

She said, It looks like there are places for me to write and color, and there are some beautiful pictures here. There are letter cards in the back--maybe like flashcards if we cut them--and lots of dinosaurs in the front! Mommy, I am going to learn about dinos in this one!

Maddy works on writing on a dinosaur page.

Maddy then wrote her name on first page of the book, and she got started. I pulled out a sheet of shiny star stickers, and for each page Maddy and Owen completed, they got one on their page. No matter the age, students love stickers!!

She immediately was drawn to the 'Triceratops' on Day 1, and I told her the instructions said to trace the dotted lines. She did the first three rows, and turned the page. She zipped through Days 2-7, doing a little bit on each page. I wanted her to be engaged and interested, so if she didn't feel like finishing a complete activity, I wasn't worried.

Working on the number to box match. . .

She skipped ahead to page 40, where letter writing is introduced, and she began writing. She loved the number matches on pages 41 and 42, and when I told her that we were going to take a break and head up for a rest, she grabbed the book and ran upstairs. Woo-hoo! She liked it!!

Summer Bridge Series is pretty awesome because:

• the colors, pictures, and layout of the book are bright, easy, and engaging;
• it includes a Summer Reading List of books that students can read and then rate by coloring in stars;
• it has 3 Motivational Calendars that span 15 days so that kiddos can set goals and then watch as they approach meeting them;
• it includes reading, writing, math, and language skills exercises;
• it details ways that parents can "help [their] child learn" in different disciplines;
  
• there are sections for "Better Bodies" and "Better Behaviour" at the end;
  
• it includes letter and number flashcards and lots of areas for practicing letter and number writing;
• there's an award certificate for little learners at the back of the book--how cool?

A Giveaway! And it's easy to win!
Do you want to try 3 Free Summer Bridge Activities Workbooks of your choice?
Here's how: leave a comment below and tell me one way you try to sneak in a tiny bit of learning in the summertime. What you're already doing in combination with these workbooks from Summer Bridge just may be what it takes to get your learner ready for the fall!

(The contest ends Tuesday, June 30 at midnight, Eastern time. )


Disclaimer: The kind folks at Carson-Dellosa provided us with our workbook for free, but my opinion is my own and influenced only by the three cool kids I hang out with every day.

tricky, tricky digraph sort

I had Owen all to myself this afternoon while Maddy played at a friend's house and Cora took her nap.

I gave him the choice of playing anything from our Big Blue Box (my fun box of learning games and tutoring activities), and he chose Alphabet Spin I. We played a round with Ike, one of his Matchbox cars and then Ike's big brother joined us for a second round of Alphabet Spin II. Always exciting around here. . .

Then I pulled out a sort that I hoped would help him distinguish some beginning sounds he's had difficulty with for a while now: h-, sh-, and ch-.

• h-/sh-/ch- Beginning Sound Sort: Like with all other sorts we've done and as is outlined in Bear's Words Their Way(2003), the first thing I did was identify the pictures with Owen.
  

Then I modeled the sort. I said, Okay, Owen, now we're going to put these pictures in groups. One group of words begins with the "hhh" sound like in "hand" (I placed the anchor word card down), another group of words starts with the "sh" sound like in "shovel" (I put this card down), and the last group of words begins with the "ch" sound like "chair" (I put the last card down).

I picked up the "horse" picture and said, "Hhhhhh-horse. Horse. Horse, hand. Horse, shirt. Horse, chair. Horse has the same beginning sound as 'hand', so I'll put the card in this column.

Next, I picked up the "cheese" picture card and did the same thing: Ch-ch-cheese. Cheese, hand. Hmmmm. They don't have the same beginning sound. Cheese, shirt. No. Cheese, chair. There it is. Cheese and chair both begin with the "ch" sound.

Our h-, ch-, and sh- sound sort

He has done a bunch of sorts with me before, so he knows the drill and instead of letting me model the first time, he grabbed a picture and practiced it on his own. He grabbed "shoe" and knew it didn't fit under "hand" but really went back and forth between "cheese" and "shirt".

He has a hard time distinguishing some digraphs (ch-, sh-, th-, etc) and blends (some s- and r-blends), when he speaks, as many young ones do, but I had been wondering if he was even able to hear the differences between these sometimes tricky digraphs; his confusion here and throughout the game makes me wonder.

Together we worked out the three groups, but when we do the sort again tomorrow, I'll add a "?" column for the words he gets stuck on. Then, after he tries it the first time on his own, we'll work out the confusing ones together. Practice, practice, practice!

Surprisingly, I also found these cool activities to try that also help learners distinguish between the h-, sh-, and ch- sounds (and other digraphs) while I searched for some extension activities today.

• Here's a way to discuss these digraphs and some teaching approaches;
• Here's a computer game to help with ch-, sh-, wh-, and sh- sounds on Softschools.com
• Here are some phonics songs (most are just teasers, but many contain graphics and/ or lyrics) that teach sounds of letter blends, diphthongs, and digraphs. Here is the ch-, sh-, wh-, and sh- digraph song teaser.
• Again, here is the sort (or one similar) to the one I used today: ch-, sh-, th- sort
  

And that was Owen's bit of learning today. We'll revisit the sort again tomorrow if he's up for it, and it will be something we'll try to sneak in a bit more in the next few weeks. Maybe over time we'll see some ch-, ch-, ch-, ch-anges in his digraph sorting. (Come ON, I had to. . .)

Today's sort is from:
Bear's Words Their Way: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling Instruction, 3rd ed. (2003)

super summer swap

Calling all moms (and dads) with
little kids at home this summer!!

(That would be almost everyone I know. . . )

Looking for a fun and worthwhile activity for your children? Do you want to get them to write more, read more, and to meet new friends? I sure do!!

And I'm so excited to share an exciting way for them to do just that--it's the Super Summer Swap, hosted by two of my blogging pals who write at The Dairy Queen and Superheroes and Princesses.

Here's the skinny--

• Super Summer Swap: The "Swap" is a fun way for our children to meet new friends this summer. Participants will assemble a little package over the summer and then send it off to their "Swap Pals" at the beginning of August.

Every kiddo I know loves to get mail, and talk about a cool lesson in the assembling of a small, simple package for a new friend!

The Swap:

1. needs all participants to register by (YIKES!!) noon tomorrow (6/23/09);
   
2. is open to all children through elementary age;
3. will match your child with another child of similar age in a different part of the country;
   
4. asks that you mail your package by August 3;
   
5. asks that you write about your package on your blog (only if you have one!) when you receive it.
   

The Package should contain a minimum of 3 items from your child. Some items may include: a brochure or postcard from where you live; a lapbook or scrapbook or something handmade; a photograph or drawing by your child; a special gift that will show your child's new friend a bit about your child's interest or hobby.

You do not have to spend any money on the package, but if you choose to, it should not exceed $15.00 for the items that are exchanged.

To enter:

• send your name and email,
  
• the state where you reside, and
• your child(ren)'s name(s) and age(s) to superheroesandprincesses@gmail.com
  

The more, the merrier--looking forward to assembling our items and cannot wait to see what everyone comes up with. Real-life learning doesn't get more cool than this--a reason to practice writing, drawing, and collecting items to share with a new friend!

It's a new twist on our old-school pen-pals!!

nuts, bolts, washers, oh my!

My kiddos have always loved playing with the plastic tools and accessories that accompanied our little play workbench, so when I was stuck at the hardware store a few days ago, I couldn't resist grabbing a few bucks' worth of nuts, bolts, washers, and other fun silvery-shiny things to bring back for Maddy, Owen, and Cora.

I'm always on the lookout for ways of honing the fine motor skills of my little ones, and I know they love to play with anything that is usually off-limits, like cell phones, remote controls, batteries, and their Dad's tools. Now that Cora, at 2, is beyond the point of putting every little thing in her mouth, I thought it might be interesting and fun to see how they choose to play with these things, while they were secretly learning a bit along the way. . .

• Nuts, Bolts, & Washer Fun: For the last few days, I've brought out a tray with several sizes of bolts (or are they screws? I'm not even really sure. . . ), several sizes of washers, and several sizes of nuts. I also picked up a bunch of 'S' shaped hooks. I put all of this shiny, silver, beautiful, tantalizing equipment on a tray along with the coveted tape measure, and I let Maddy, Owen, and Cora play freely. They looked nervous at first and wondered if I'd lost my mind or if their dad would be upset, but then they got rolling.

Maddy worked on patterns and then asked Owen or me to guess what they were; sometimes they included the S-hook, and sometimes they only involved nuts and washers. We would talk about the patterns, and then Owen and I together would try to copy them.

Owen used the tape measure to see which bolt was longer, which nut was the biggest, or whose foot was the shortest. Then he tried to take all of the nuts and put them on his bolt to make it the heaviest. And gosh, it got heavy.

Owen uses the tape measure.

Cora entertained herself by putting washers on bolts repeatedly. It was easiest for her to put the large washer on the most thin screw, and I wish I would have picked up some more large washers for her to use. She had a tough time putting the nuts on, but once I got them started and showed her how, she did fine.

After a good, long hand washing and some tired muscles, my three kiddos went off to play happily, bragging that Mommy let them play with Daddy's tools.

Anything (pop-beads, regular beads, scissor work, crayon bits, or grip practice) that we can do to help improve our children's fine motor skills is super-helpful in teaching them the tripod grip. It really is a skill that must be taught, and for some kiddos, it is far from natural. Sure, our children will probably be blogging their way through high school and typing assignments by grade three, but they'll need to write their way through Kindergarten. And we want to make sure they're ready to do it.

And that--on top of getting adjusted to swim team mornings and (finally!) some summer sun--is how we've passed just a teeny bit of time for the past few days.

super-supreme saturday

We are incredibly lucky to have an awesome hook-up at the Supreme Court this year (no joke), so today we got a behind-the-scenes tour of one of our nation's most important buildings.

We ate candy in one of the justice's offices. We looked down the secret spiral staircase. We shot baskets in the upstairs gym. We sat in the courtroom. We ran around the library--only because no one else was there. And Maddy, Owen, and Cora would have drained a hard-working justice's water cooler had we let them.

Really, my children are waaaay too young to understand the importance of our visit today, but my husband and I sure did, and we couldn't be more grateful for the opportunity.

One thing that helped my kids to begin to wrap their little heads around the importance of this building, however, is a fantastic book--Marshall, the Courthouse Mouse--given to them by their aunt and uncle. And I would recommend that anyone who's planning a trip to Washington, DC consider grabbing a few of these books to help their kiddos learn about what they'll see while they're here.

Maddy and Cora peek out over the books in the library.

• Marshall, the Courthouse Mouse: Written by Peter W. Barnes and Cheryl Shaw Barnes, this book follows Chief Justice Marshall and his fellow justices on the Supreme Court of the United Mice of America. Chief Marshall has to lead his fellow justices in deciding whether or not to uphold a law about the freedom mice have to choose what type of cheese they want to eat on a given day.
  

The rhyming, poetic text is written at a level that even younger readers can understand, despite the seemingly heavy topic. It's light, it's fun, and Maddy and Owen love this book because the story is interesting and the pictures are simply--incredible. They're detailed and are more true-to-life than I imagined, okay--minus the fact that the characters are all mice. The buildings, the architecture, the rooms--were really well done.

Today, our incredibly smart tour guide had the foresight to bring the book with us so that the kids could compare the room they were standing in to the room the mice were in in the book. I'm sure they'll never look at the book the same after today. How could they?

More fun in the library. . .

The authors of this book have written several others that children can use to learn about history and the government. We have House Mouse, Senate Mouse, and it really is a refreshing way of teaching children how a bill becomes a law and the roles of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Oddly enough, many, many years ago when I was on Nantucket, I bought Nat, Nat the Nantucket Cat--just because I loved children's books even then and because it was such a beautiful book. It was one of the authors' first books, and from that point on, this husband and wife team founded VPS Books, whose mission is to "teach children about history, civics, special places and architectural heritage through fun, entertaining and quality picture books." I love it.

And that's our bit of learning for the day--unusual, exciting, and more cool than my kiddos will realize for a long, long time.

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for the tour, my super sister-in-law!

new for us friday--mango mania

As we were grocery shopping last Friday before our big Guppy Gala night, Maddy said, Hey, Mommy! Let's try some new fruit today. How about these?

She picked up a mango. How could I resist? It was Friday, and we were supposed to be trying new things on Fridays.

So we did. We tried mangos. Sure, we've had them before at the mall in smoothies, at Rita's in Italian ice, but we had never really had them before as real fruit in our house.T

• Mango Mania: I washed them, then everyone held it, squeezed it, and looked at it. Then I tried (unsuccessfully) to cut them. The kids got a kick out of me literally hacking away at the poor mango, but I did manage to get some fruit out, which we tried and loved.
  

While I cut it, I asked questions:

-Do you think it has a pit or seeds? (Sadly, I didn't know, either.)

-How should we handle the skin--should we eat it like we do for apples, or should we peel it like an orange? (We decided to peel, and we were right.)

-Will the fruit be sour or sweet? (YUM! So sweet. . . )

our very unprofessionally cut mangos

Maddy, Owen, and Cora asked for more, and we talked about which fruits we had tried before that we could compare it to. We decided it was a lot like a peach or nectarine, in its texture but like an orange because it had a peel. Making these connections to fruits familiar to us is a great way of helping little ones learn--whether it's something like trying a new food, subjects in a book, or, actually, any new concept.

Next, we did a little backward research. I Googled "how to cut a mango" and found a cool "How-To Cut a Mango" video on YouTube that we all watched in awe. I stumbled across the National Mango Board's site (yes, there's one), and there we found 'Slammin Ways to Eat a Mango', Mango games (seriously), another 'How-To" video, and literally anything and everything we needed to know about mangos.

It was a riot. Next time--if possible--I'll research with the kids beforehand, but that's not always possible. It was fun for us to have a little "mango mania" without really knowing what we were doing. And that's what Fridays over here are all about--trying out some new things.

(Graphic to the right © 2008 National Mango Board
Photos used by permission of the National Mango Board. All rights reserved.)

cutting cards

Hopefully none of my friends or family who read this will be upset, outraged, or annoyed, but I have something to confess: my kids practice cutting on the cards you send them.

We don't file them in nice folders, keep them to look back on and read--we just don't.

We receive them, read them, feel thankful for them, and then we put them in our "Card Box". And then we use them for crafts and for cutting practice.

I hope you still love us.

• Cutting Cards: Every so often, like today on a rainy afternoon like today or when we're just in the mood to practice scissor use, we take out our Card Box and practice cutting on the beautiful, gorgeous, perfect cards that we receive from friends and family.

Owen practices cutting along lines we drew around a (cough)
cheerleading kitty cat. Must have been Maddy or Cora's card.

Sometimes, Maddy, Owen, or I will draw shapes around objects or people on the cards and then the kids will try to cut around them. Other times, like today, Maddy will draw squiggly lines on a card and then will cut along them to make a puzzle.

Once in a while, we'll take out the Card Box to use for other crafts we're making. Maddy and Owen try to cut out animals, people, or objects that they can glue to a picture or masterpiece they're working on.

Maddy works on cutting out a ballerina bunny.

Even Cora has begun to do well with cutting and, at 2, she's learning to hold scissors properly. Of course, I'm watching her and only let her use the kid scissors, but it's a difficult--and important--fine motor skill that all little ones need to be taught and then given time for practice.

So that's our little bit of learning for today--after a busy, rainy and cold swim team practice in the morning, we needed a low-key, relaxing activity for the afternoon.

Thanks and (please!?) keep the cards coming!

trying to keep smiling: quick trick, colors

I was blue,
Jenny was yellow,
Mary was red, and
Katie was green.

I still connect my three sisters and myself to those colors because way back when my mom managed a household and four little girls who were barely 6 years apart, she kept herself sane--and everyone happy--by giving us each a color.

That's my (okay, my mom's, that I've now made my own. . . ) Quick Trick today: color-coding your life.

• Color Coding Kids: It sounds nutty, cold, and maybe a little silly, but to me, it makes sense. Especially if you're a visual-learner, this may work for you. If you give each of your kiddos a color, then your life--and theirs--might just be a little more organized.
  

Here's why:

-You'll wash fewer dishes. (Find colored cups and have your family use the same cup--rinsed out after each meal--all day. . . )

-You'll break up fewer arguments. (No arguments over silly things--everyone uses his or her "color" of whatever. . . )

-You'll spend less money. (You will reuse more than you thought. Everyone keeps track of his or her water bottle, snack cup, squirt toys, beach balls, etc. because you'll know whose things are whose. . .)

-You'll be crazy organized. (Write events on the calendar for each child--in that person's color. File that child's things in his or her color folder or envelope. Give yourself a color (make it bright!) and give your husband a color, too. Just don't make everyone dress in their colors every day because that would be difficult and, well, weird. . .

-You'll be happy. This will simplify things--hopefully--and life is easier when we keep it simple.

For this Quick Trick and for so many millions and millions and millions of other things, Mom--Thank you!!

not just a plain-jane paper chain

It's our book chain!

And it's not that plain-jane, really--it's got some color to it!

With summer here and the sunshine calling us outside nearly every free second, I noticed that we haven't been reading as much as we have around here. I am all for outside playtime, especially for little ones, but I do have a rising Kindergartner under my roof, so I know that reading is especially important for us this summer.

I decided to have Maddy and Owen make super-simple paper chains today before rest time. Each link of the chain will be a book that we read together in the next few weeks.

Talk about an easy, fun, and worthwhile activity--great cutting practice, taping practice, counting practice, and my kiddos were so proud to stand back and admire their finished product!

Here's what we did:

• Plain Jane Paper Chain: I brought out some construction paper and said,
  

Anyone here know how to make a paper chain?

(I knew Maddy made them in preschool this year.)

Maddy yelled, I do! I do! You cut the paper into strips and tape them together--watch me, Owen!

She started cutting, which was awesome, but her strips became triangles by the third one. I showed them both how to fold their paper in half, then half again, then half again to make folds that they could easily follow and cut.

Then I showed them how to double their paper so they could cut more at a time. They looooved that and remembered back to when we made our Valentines and hearts that way.

Next, we counted our strips and put them in piles of tens. Owen said he wanted his chain to have twenty links, and Maddy wanted thirty. I thought it would be cool to see how many days it would take us to read that many books; we always read two or three books before bed each night, so I'm guessing it will only take a few days or weeks.

Owen puts his links in piles of 10.

Maddy tapes her links together.

Finally, we taped the links together to make a chain. They each wanted one in their own rooms, so immediately upon completing their chains, they ran to their rooms to find a good spot to hang them.

Rather than throw the paper away when we rip off each link, I'm going to have Maddy and Owen put the link in a big envelope. After the chains are gone, meaning Owen read 20 books and Maddy read 30, we're going to rebuild their chains with each book they read. How fun is that?!

I think that will be a pretty exciting way of keeping the book-reading momentum going through July. I'll have to see what I can come up with for August!

And hopefully it will squeeze in a little bit of extra, summertime learning in the next few weeks!

traveling writing centers

Since last fall, I've had little writing centers in both Maddy and Owen's bedrooms, and I've really been surprised at how well they've worked out. It is rare if either Maddy or Owen actually sleep during their rest time, so they usually work on puzzles, play dolls, line up cars, or whatever they want--something quiet.

Once Maddy started expressing an interest in writing, it spread to Owen, so I thought that I'd create something simple for both of them to use in their rooms--something that wasn't permanent, could be moved from place to place, and something that could be cleaned up and changed around easily. Cora's still too young to have a free reign of markers when she wanders into their rooms, even if the markers are washable.

Maddy's writing center

• Writing Centers: I picked up some inexpensive bins in the craft store dollar section, and I filled them with tons of cool writing accessories.
  

In each of their bins are:

-washable Crayola markers, washable Crayola crayons, (and in Owen's) washable Crayola Jumbo crayons;

-pencils and erasers (some have grips);

-different sizes of paper--some with thick lines, some thin, some colored construction, some plain;

-two sizes of envelopes;

-letter charts--the Alphabingo lowercase letters and an awesome letter-sound chart that I found thanks to my blogging pal, Denise;

-family names--an easy list of the people in our family, written in uppercase letters for Owen and lowercase for Maddy (although they each have a copy of both). I glued a picture of each of us next to our names to make it easy for them to learn and remember;

-a coloring book or two or three. . .

And that's it. Some days they use their writing centers, and some days they don't. Some days I sit with either Maddy or Owen for a bit, if they want to write a letter to someone and need help with the words. Sometimes we then mail the letters, and sometimes we forget.

Other days Owen will call me to the steps, and there will be a little envelope sitting there with 'MOMMY' written on it. Sometimes it's filled with a Matchbox car, or a sock, or maybe a crayon, and other days it's a picture. Depends on the day.

I count it as a little bit of learning no matter what's inside.

fyi: Want a few letter charts to download? Check these out:

• Alphabet Chart from teachthis.com
• My First ABC Chart from kidsbuilder.com
• Letter Sound Chart from Tappan Hill
• Letter Sound Chart from Phonics and Homeschooling Blog
  

sunny rainy grid games

Maddy asked me a few days ago if we could play more of those "bunny counting games" that we played a while back.

I said, Absolutely! and ran for the computer. I'm such a slave to my children's learning (how could I not be excited when this stuff is so easy and fun?)

What Maddy meant was that she wanted to play grid games, and what she doesn't know is that these games are super-awesome for teaching emergent readers about one-to-one correspondence and early math skills!

So, we've been trying to make our rainy afternoons a little more bright by playing some good ole-fashioned grid games:

• Sunny Rainy Grid Games: I made several boards at different levels. I made an advanced sunny, easy sunny, advanced rainy, and easy rainy. Maddy, Owen, and I played the more difficult sunny several times before they wanted to switch to rainy. I wanted to have an easier board for Cora when we played later.

For grid games, all you need is the board, a die (or dice), and place markers. We used bingo chips this time, but in the past, we've used Foamies, stickers, Cheerios--you need a large quantity of anything small. Or, if you want to print off a few copies of the boards, you can have your little one work on writing, too, by drawing circles, squares, triangles, check marks, or x's over each item.

Maddy and Owen on the more tricky rainy board. . .

The goal is to be the first person to have all of the pictures on the board covered. Players do this by rolling the dice, counting the number of dots on each die, and then covering that number of objects on the board. The objects have to be covered from left to right, top to bottom, the way words are read on a page, so that kiddos get in the habit of following the left-to-right return sweep.

Cora's easy rainy board

Really, that's all there is to grid games! Maddy and Owen were on a grid game kick for a few days, and even Cora got into the mix (though, at 2 years old, she really just likes to put bingo chips over each object); she's just not ready for rolling the dice, counting the dots, and then placing them accordingly. And that's fine with me.

I know I said this before, but here's why grid games are so cool: Beginning readers need to understand that each letter has its own sound and each group of letters together is a word. They also need to know that they begin reading the words--one by one--from the left side of the page to the right. Sounds pretty basic, but it's something that needs to be taught.

And what better way to teach it than by playing a game? Here's to grid games!

Graves, M. F., Juel, C, & Graves, B.B. (2001) Teaching Reading in the 21st Century. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. (88-139)

pimpin' our coupe

Seriously.

I had to.

I have been dreaming of flames on my minivan for three years now, and this, I believe, is as close as I'll ever come (unless my husband surprises me one day. . . ).

After reading one of my favorite, most creative bloggers and seeing how she re-vamped a mini-coupe herself, I had to do it. Mine is much less cool, but it works for us. I like to think that Xzibit, Mad Mike, and the crew would still be proud.

Cora and I worked super-hard together to try to surprise Maddy and Owen early this week while they were at camp:

• Pimpin' Our Coupe: A super-fun and silly summer morning was spent with Cora, first cleaning--no, scouring--our dirty, sad coupe that was handed down to us a few summers ago from some kind neighbors.
  

our blue coupe before (yes, those are wood paneled sides)

Tiny Cora is a super coupe-scrubber!

I spraypainted. . .

. . . then spraypainted some more. This time, lightening bolt style.


I was not very careful. I moved quickly because (honestly) the rain clouds were fast approaching.

our finished, stylin' coupe

I think, today, I became Owen's hero. He told me over and over that he loved me and he thought I was a great painter and that I made the old car super-fast. He wanted me to spray paint everything, and I just might in the next few weeks, if it makes him this happy. . .

Cora still zips around the yard in this baby; now, she'll be doing it in style. Thanks again, Pink and Green Mama for the inspiration!!

Maybe tomorrow I'll retain my senses and focus on some learning around here. . .

new for us friday (preview!)--guppy gala at the zoo

Today, as we at our breakfast, we read through the newspaper as usual. Every day, we talk about the pictures on the front page of the paper. Then, I open up the Metro section, and we talk about what day it is, the day's weather forecast, and what our plans are for the day.

Next, I always open up to the Kids Post, and we read whatever exciting articles are there. Today's "Make Tracks for the Zoo" totally rocked, since it was a great way to tell Maddy, Owen, and Cora about their super-awesome and amazingly-exciting "New-for-us-Friday" night plans this week: The Guppy Gala.

• "Make Tracks for the Zoo": The article contained a map of the zoo and pictures of animals that don't always get visitors because they're not on Olmstead Walk, a path that most tourists take. Immediately, Maddy and Owen were interested in this article because of the cool map with tiny footprints and the many interesting pictures of unusual animals.

picture of giant pacific octopus from FONZ site
(not same picture as in today's Post)

We glanced at the pictures, and I read the captions as we ate. Then I put the paper down to finish my coffee. The next thing I knew, the paper was gone, and Maddy was running with it, waffles still in her mouth, as she darted into the living room.

After breakfast, we spread the paper out on the floor and read it together, talking about where we usually park when we go to the zoo and which path we usually take. Everyone was in awe of the giant octopus picture, Augusta, and they wanted me to read about the Komodo dragon again and again. We looked at Kibibi, the 5 month old gorilla, and we wondered if he'd learn to whistle, too. Then I told them about our exciting Friday plans:

• The Guppy Gala: This Friday, June 12, from 6-8:30 pm, the National Zoo is having its annual family-friendly event that features a mock construction site, mazes, a rock climbing wall, costumed characters, jugglers and entertainers, music, and performances. It's supposed to be a "swimmingly fun time", and we're totally going!

They'll also have people at the UnitedHealthcare Veterinary Center talking about how human healthcare compares to animal healthcare. And--this is what I think my kiddos will love--the zoo vets will be performing check-ups on stuffed animals, so little ones can bring their favorite lovies for a free "doctor appointment".

The goal of the event is to raise some dinero for animal care, conservation science, education, and sustainability at the zoo, and tickets are $15 for FONZ members or $25 for non-members. Adults and children 2 years and older need tickets, and they can be purchased right on the site, through Ticketmaster, at the Zoo's Visitor Center for no added fees, or at the Gala itself until they sell out. If you purchase 1-5 tickets from the site, you can request a parking pass for the event, but they're recommending taking Metro if possible.

We've never "Guppy Gala-ed" before, but since the kind people at the zoo offered us tickets in exchange for letting folks know it's going on, I was happy to offer to try it out, especially since it'd fit right along with our New For Us Friday's this summer and it'd be an awesome chance to visit some of the same animals we read about today in the paper.

We'll be the family with stuffed animals in tow and our map in hand!

Hope to see some of our DC Metro-area friends there!

backyard alphabet hunt

I found these awesome rolls of paper a few weeks ago--cheap!--so I picked up a bunch, and I'm having a blast using them in fun ways with Maddy, Owen, and Cora. Last week before our several straight days of rain hit, I spread out the rolls on our back porch, and we went on a large-scale Alphabet Hunt in our very own back yard. Gone are the days of our teeny-tiny "On-the-Road-Alphabet Hunts". (Until we're back on the road, I suppose!)

We're starting summer in a big way over here. . .

our backyard alphabet hunt. . .

• Backyard Alphabet Hunt: All I did was roll out a huuuuge part of the paper, and I wrote the first half of the alphabet on it, with a line between each letter. Then I wrote the second half of the alphabet on a second sheet and put it under the first. I secured each end of paper with a bucket, and said,

Preschool's out, and I want to see if my smart kiddos can still remember the alphabet! Let's go on an Alphabet Hunt right here in our backyard for things that begin with each letter.

Look what I have here--a 'leaf'. What sound do you hear at the beginning of 'leaf'? Lllleaf? Right--/l/. What letter makes that sound? You got it! 'L'! So I'm going to put this leaf under 'L'. Do you think we can find something in our backyard for every letter?

more of our hunt. . .

We found tons of stuff at first--glove and grass for 'G', a (gulp!) rubber duck in the sandbox for 'D', a plate (not sure why or where it was, exactly) for 'P', some (gulp, again. . .it sounds like we live in a junkyard) trash for 'T'.

After a while, everyone lost steam--Owen started riding around the porch on his big wheel, Maddy got stuck building castles in the sandbox, and Cora wouldn't stop twirling on the swings. I let them go--I didn't want to push it if they weren't into it, so I just kept our hunt papers out for a day, and the very next morning at breakfast, Maddy said, We forgot about our hunt!

So we quickly finished eating and ran out to work on it.

sweet tiny fingerprints in the sand, for 'S'

We got close--we couldn't find things for some letters, but everyone had a good time, and that's what counts. I think we'll try it again, maybe with numbers like our Backyard Number Boxes a while back. Any time we can mix fun learning with a sunny day is a bonus in my book.

And I'm keeping my eyes open for other uses of these ginormous rolls of paper. I'll see what I can come up with--any ideas, send them my way!