Sunday, May 27, 2012

Seven Snippets (5.27.12)


-1-

About a year ago one of our neighbors, an avid coin collector, gave Gerrick a whole bunch of stuff to get him started with coin collecting.  Gerrick has enjoyed this, especially adding to his State Quarters collection. On Sunday, he pulled everything out and asked Rick to help him look through pennies in search of ones needed for his Lincoln Cents collection.  They worked on it for two hours!



-2-

We've been adjusting to a new rhythm this week--getting Rick to the bus by 6:30 a.m. It's been a tough transition, but I think it'll be worth it in the long run. We're giving it a month, at least, to see if we can adjust to going to bed earlier/getting up earlier. He really likes not having to fight traffic, and we like having daily access to the car.  



-3-

He decided to buy a smaller knife and scrounged up all his change in order to do it. "This one is smaller and is more comfortable in my hand," he said. He gave Rick's back to him. The first thing he whittled were little toy daggers from craft sticks.




His knife is a Bear Grylls knife, so of course he wanted to know who or what that was. A quick online search told us that he is the adventurer of the show Man vs. Wild, which we've never seen.  We have watched a few episodes of Survivorman, which apparently is similar.  Though both shows are available on Netflix Instant View, Gerrick cared nothing about even trying an episode of Man vs. Wild, but was inspired to watch more Survivorman.  We watched several episodes as a family this week.  This led to much survivalist pretend play involving the building of shelters and a raft, trapping, and fishing...which led to a park outing for real fishing.




-4-

Rick read aloud The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy at bedtime this week.  They both really, really enjoyed it and are looking forward to the sequels.  Gerrick was excited to tell me all about it each new day, and is adamant that I read it, too.  It's a fun new experience to have him recommending books to me.



-5-

On two different days, he took the oil pastels to the patio and drew while listening to me read.



Also this week, one of Rick's co-workers sent Gerrick a book about drawing superheroes. (Thank you, Lynn!) He has spent hours tracing and coloring cool superheroes and villains.



-6-

Thursday was my 37th birthday.  We had a great day:  lunch and dinner out, a trip to the Main library, and a visit with two of my dear friends and their children at Dragon Park.  The children spent most of the park time playing restaurant in a great little natural area, while we mamas relaxed under a shade tree and chatted. 



-7-

He loves to tinker with electronics.  (Local friends, please send all your unwanted equipment this way.)  On Saturday, he spent a lot of time in the garage taking apart a remote control to a broken toy and an old cd player/radio.




Have a great week!

This post will be linked at:
7 Snippets from Unschooling
Life in an Instant

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Seven Snippets (5.20.12)


-1-



-2-


More LEGO: Anakin's Jedi Interceptor


-3-


I downloaded a free app to the iPod this week: Arithmetic Invaders Express: Grade K-2 Math Facts. At first he didn't like it, but I encouraged him to give it some time. He did and by the time Rick got home his attitude had changed so much that he got it back out to show him.  He continued to play it some throughout the week, so in this case nudging paid off. Knowing when to encourage and when to back off is sometimes challenging, especially when you are working with a child who can easily be paralyzed by perfectionism.


-4-
  
He did so many creative things this week; I'm going to include several of my favorites here.


After some fabulous exploring beyond where the sidewalk ends, he made up a sidewalk game using the smurf, two rocks and some small beads he'd found.



He made a dummy target for use with the nerf gun he recently bought and taped a cardboard tube to the door as a holder/hanger for his cardboard sword. I asked him about the red yarn hanging down--that's the pole the dummy is standing on!



One night we went out to eat BBQ.  While there, Toddlers & Tiaras was on the television. This show kind of shocked Gerrick, but he thought one girl's dance was really creative.  She started out as a marionette puppet.  As soon as he saw it, he knew he had to be a human marionette, too.  So the next day he turned himself into one and stayed in character all day long!  This photo was taken early in the day, but he eventually had a string for each arm as well and had me and, later, Rick control him.  At one point he said he needed some music.  I turned on a swing station on Pandora and as he started dancing, he said, "Oh, this is perfect puppet music!"


He made a magnetic bomb. (Apparently this is somehow related to Star Wars.) Here it is placed on the dishwasher; the kitchen can be a dangerous place.


-5-


After seeing the animatronic dinosaurs at the zoo, we spent some time looking around online for related videos.  We watched a lot, but nothing really worth sharing.  Then he remembered that one of his Popular Mechanics for Kids DVDs showed an animatronic dinosaur.  He found the scene on the "Rip, Roaring Rollercoasters" disc and it was actually far better than anything we'd found online.  It showed how animatronic dinosaurs are built and how the skin actually zips apart for easy access for repairs!


-6-


He read a book about the California Gold Rush and was inspired to immediately dig for gold.


We recently had our backyard fenced.  I'm thankful we decided to put a gate in the back so that we still have easy access to the field behind us.  Eventually there will be more houses, but for now it's a great place to play.  And since he likes me to hang out nearby, the fence provides me with great shade from the afternoon sun!


At one point, as he was cleaning his finds he said, "You do know that I don't really think this is gold, right?"


-7-


Among other books, I've been reading aloud Farmer Boy.  This week when we read the chapter about Almanzo getting a knife for Christmas, Gerrick asked if he'd be old enough for a knife when he was nine.  I told him that he was old enough now.  
     "I AM?!"  
     "Well, what do you think?"
     (big smile) "I guess so."
So we talked a bit more about it and that owning a tool like that isn't really about how old you are but how responsible you are.  When his daddy got home it was discussed further, and Rick ended up giving him one of his pocket knives.  We all agreed that (for now) he could keep it in his pocket whenever we aren't around other children.


Have a great week!

This post will be linked at:
7 Snippets from Unschooling
Life in an Instant

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

DinoTrek!

Today was enjoyed with friends at the Nashville Zoo.  
We saw most of the usual exhibits, including the gibbons,



the alligators,



the flamingos,



the lorikeets and more.



We also got to explore the special exhibit--DinoTrek!
What's better than animatronic dinosaurs on a wooded trail?






Animatronic dinosaurs that spit water!




And running across a swinging bridge while an animatronic t-rex roars at you!




Thankful for another great day!


Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Where the Sidewalk Ends, Keep Going



What did you see the last time you came to the end of a road, where the sidewalk ends?
  Those are some of the best places for exploring, you know.























You never know what you'll find!


This post will be linked at: