Chasing Cheerios is on Facebook!

I've finally created a Chasing Cheerios facebook page! There's not much on there, but come on over and "like" me! I've seen links to fb pages on blogs, but I have no idea how to add it to my blog...if you know how to do this, please tell me!

Here's the link.

Toothpicks and a Shaker

My little purple fairy (E) loves to put toothpicks in this parmesan cheese shaker (bought from the Dollar Tree).


I gave her the shaker and a small glass filled with toothpicks. I showed her how to pick up one toothpick at a time and drop it into the shaker. When it was her turn, she picked up several toothpicks at a time and then ended up dropping them. She learned that it worked much better to only pick up one at a time. She was very engaged in this task and thorougly enjoyed it. O(4) saw her working and has gotten this work off of E(1)'s shelf several times to do it herself :)

Matching Animal Pictures

I recently introduced this animal matching activity (that I made for O about 3 years ago) to E(1), and she really liked it.

To make this activity, I bought 2 mini animal calendars and cut them apart. I added labels and laminated the cards. I put 3 to 5 cards out at a time, and then hand E one card at a time to match. She loves animals, so this is a fun activity for her.

Organization

My mom recently went to an organization seminar, and she's been reorganizing everyone's drawers. We were glad to have her help! She "filed" our clothing in our drawers, so now we can see exactly what's in there instead of having to tumble through everything to get to the bottom of a stack. This is a picture of O(4)'s drawer. O is VERY excited about this!


O and my mom worked together to organize her mini American Girl dolls in her drawer. They arranged them in age order. O is thrilled with this! She loves her mini American Girls!

We still have a lot of organizing to do in our house, but things are definitely getting better. Life is so much easier and less stressful when things are organized!

Meet Lydia

My girls love "growing" animals (found at Dollar General for 1 dollar), so they were very excited to see this crab in their May Fun Box. O(4) named her "Lydia."

I thought about turning this into a measurement or science activity, but we ended up just enjoying watching Lydia grow each day. Simple and exciting!

Rosemary Vinegar

O(4) and I planned to make Rosemary Vinegar for her teachers for "end of the year" gifts, and we finally made it more than a week after school let out for the summer...better late than never!

To make the Rosemary Vinegar, you need white vinegar, glass bottles, and fresh Rosemary. My mom brought us a bunch of fresh Rosemary from her garden. She washed it thoroughly and drained it in a colander. She heated the white vinegar on the stove. While the vinegar heated, the girls pushed the Rosemary into the vinegar bottles.




My mom then poured the hot vinegar into the bottles (using a funnel). After the vinegar cooled, I put the tops on the bottles and put them in a dark place. The vinegar needs to cure for about 3 weeks before you use. It taste great on salads!

We originally planned on O decorating the bottles, and she actually painted a couple of them with glass paint. We then decided that the Rosemary looked really pretty in the bottles, so she didn't decorate all of them. This was a wonderfully simple gift, and O was so proud of the gifts she made!

Let the Summer Begin!

O(4) has been out of school for the summer for 2 weeks, but I finally had my last day of work today! I love my job (as a School Psychologist), but I'm very excited to have the next 2 and a half months off! May (IEP season) is always stressful when you work in special education, and I'm glad to have made it through another year :)

I have lots of activities planned for my girls for the summer, but we'll spend the vast majority of our time playing outside (in the lake, on the beach, and on our playground) and reading aloud. I'm planning for us to spend our mornings outside, and then we'll come in at lunchtime (around 1ish) to do art, science, and Montessori activities. It usually crazy hot at that time of day, so it will be the perfect time to come in and cool off. We'll go back outside at the end of the day to play for a couple more hours. We're hoping to have a great summer, and I hope you will, too!

Apologies

I'm WAY behind on answering email, so if you've sent me an email with questions within the last couple of months and I haven't responded, PLEASE resend it! If I don't answer emails immediately, I often forget to go back and respond (I read them all, I just don't always have time to respond immediately and then I get distracted). I don't spend much time on the internet while the kids are awake, and they've been staying up later lately so my internet time is minimal. So, don't take it personally if I haven't responded to your questions :)

Feeding the Frog

E(1) loves feeding plastic bugs to the frog. She loves all animals, which made this activity even more appealing to her.

This is another activity that I'll add a pair of tongs/chopsticks to when she is a little older. (Btw, I bought the frog from a thrift store and the plastic bugs from Target).

Working on One-to-One Correspondence

E(1) loves putting these spiky balls into a paint palette. She doesn't realize that she's refining her one-to-one correspondence skills as she works.

When she's a little older, I'll add a pair of tongs or chopsticks to this work to make it a little more challenging.

Matching Animal Figures to Pictures

E(1) loves animals, so this farm animal matching activity was a lot of fun for her.

To do this activity, I laid out 3 to 5 pictures of animals and gave her a handful of animal figurines to match to the pics. I told her to "match sheep" and she'd find the sheep and put it on the correct picture. O was nearby and helped her when she needed help. Fun times!

Here is the post about O doing this same work almost 3 years ago.

Learning to Pour Water

E(1) loves this tiny little teapot and teacup that I put on her work shelf. I put the teapot (filled with water), a teacup, and a sponge on a small tray and put it on the bottom shelf. E was excited to see something new, and O was excited to see something old!


After E poured the water, she quickly drank it and wanted more. O used to do the same thing over and over and over again when she was E's age. What fun!

E's Art Shelf

E(1) LOVES to "daw" (draw)! When she sees her big sister drawing, she says "daw, too!" Lately, she's been saying "daw somethin." Since she is so interested in drawing, I decided that she needed her very own art shelf.

We have 2 shelves from Pottery Barn (outlet) in our kitchen. O(4)'s art shelf is on the 2nd from the bottom shelf of one, and now E has her art shelf on the bottom shelf of the other.

I taped a large piece of paper to the bottom shelf and put a jar full of crayons beside it. Both girls were thrilled to see this when they woke up on Wednesday morning. O saw it first and said "E, look, look! Your own art shelf!"





I love how simple this was to put together and how perfect it is for my sweet girl!

Learning the Art of Stillness and Silence

E(1) was being very still and quiet to see if the minnows would nibble on her toes. After about 30 seconds, she said "all done!" and hopped up. We'll try again tomorrow :)

In Our 1st 10 Minutes of Summer Homeschool...

E counted to 10! Her articulation wasn't perfect, and she left out 4, but nobody expects perfection at 20 months old! Btw, I didn't teach her this. I usually only count to 3 with her!

Then, O(4) walked up to me and said 10 plus 11 equals 21. And all of this occured while I was checking email and facebook! Hmmm, homeschooling might be easier than I anticipated!