Corduroy

The Bough Family started a new curriculum this semester and it has been a big hit with the kids. For the past two years, we have been teaching basic concepts of learning. In Stephen's case, that has involved sitting/standing in a place to accomplish a task. He has begun reading, writing and math concepts, but this is the first time that we have attempted a formal curriculum. Rhea pretty much has a good time doing what ever we are involved in, so I don't worry about her too much. The Before Five in a Row guide has been a great tool for us and has allowed us to do as much or little of any concepts listed. We are still keeping up with our Math-U-See and Bob Book lessons, but the kids are really enjoying the literature based learning that Before Five in a Row offers.

We started with Corduroy since Stephen knows the story really well already. I have still managed to throw in a few A Bekka worksheets that correlate with the characters in the story, but our main focus has been on sequencing, sorting, art, bible, cooking, games and fun with Corduroy.

Stephen was able to recall his Bible verse by the second day: Proverbs 17:17a A friend loves at all times.

We observed the toy shelf in the department store and found some water color paintings from Dover Publications. Rhea chose a zebra and began to paint. Stephen doesn't have the same passion for art, but requested to join in once he saw Rhea working.

Most of my materials for this book came from Homeschoolshare.com or http://www.abcteach.com/directory/theme_units/teddy_bears/. Our first task was "rhyme cards". Stephen was given four cards with two pages per card. The story was abbreviated within these cards, while leaving one word per page for the him to trace. Before he would trace the card, we read through all of the cards and I would leave out the rhyming word that he was supposed to trace. He already knew the story well enough that he was able to come up with most of the words without a big explanation from me about what a rhyming word was. Rhea pretty much colors during this time on her own, until her body begins to be her canvas. When the week was finished, Stephen glued the appropriate picture on each page while Rhea colored them.

Our family is all about full contact learning especially if it means throwing things. Our first activity together was affectionately named by Tom as "Chuck A Bear". It is amazing the hours of fun that you can have with laundry baskets and stuffed bears. Each child had their own version of the first game. Stephen was instructed to stand behind a line and throw the large bears in the large basket and the small bears in the small one. As you can see from the picture, he was very focused. This turned into trying to bounce the bear off the ceiling and still manage to land it into the basket. Rhea's first concept was just to stuff as many bears in one basket, but quickly caught on to sorting by size. Our last game with the bears was the big "race". Stephen and Tom were on a team and Rhea was with me. We piled all of the bears in the middle and had a race to see who could stuff the most bears in their own basket. I of course did not count the bears before we began and didn't realize that we had 14 bears. The kids each ended up with seven, so everyone was a winner. Stephen then decided that it was time for a running race, so we all played "chase" until the kids passed out for the night.

The next day, we continued with the throwing concept, but with food this time. What kid wouldn't want to throw food at their sibling? I had two bags of Teddy Grahams; one chocolate and one vanilla. I set two containers in the middle of the table with the appropriate colored construction paper underneath. The object was to throw the right colored Teddy Graham in the appropriate container. Stephen really enjoyed the game even if he didn't completely follow the rules. Rhea had other plans and decided that sorting was more fun that throwing. I only recommend this activity if you have a couple dogs to clean up the floor for you ;-)




We also added Gummy Bears to our fun as we proceeded with two worksheet activities. The first was for them to color a bear worksheet with the appropriate color given, and then add the correct colored Gummy Bear. The second was for Stephen to graph how many Gummy Bears of each color and count them. Many of you have asked where the Gummy Bear Math worksheet are located. The following website has these worksheets and more: http://www.abcteach.com/directory/theme_units/teddy_bears/

No bears were harmed in the execution of the activity until the worksheets were finished.



Stephen's special project was done with Daddy, and they were to make a map of the department store where Corduroy began, followed by a map of Lisa's room where he now lives.

Stephen's second special project was to make a mini book of the story A Bear Followed Me Home. He colored the appropriate number of bears in the right color and pasted them to each page after writing the correct number in the blank provided.

On Monday, 1 red bear followed me home. On Tuesday 2 blue bears followed me home. On Wednesday 3 yellow bears followed me home. On Thursday, 4 green bears followed me home. On Friday, 5 orange bears followed me home. On Saturday, 6 brown bears followed me home. On Sunday 7 black bears followed me home and Mom said "NO MORE BEARS"!

To my surprise, we had a blast with a $2 container of craft buttons. There were a few duplicates, but there were many colors and sizes for the kids to sort, dump and of course, throw. I had a button picture frame craft project with buttons planned for Rhea, but it was a complete bust since she didn't want to part with any of them. I was, however, able to do our Three Little Bears pom pom craft that she truly enjoyed. I did ask Stephen if he wanted to make some, but NOT to my surprise, he said "NO". Rhea received a puppet theatre from Grandpa Bough for Christmas and several other puppets. We attempted The Three Bears, but you can judge for yourself if we were successful or not....after we removed the dog from the set. Click on the bottom left arrow for the video and NOT the middle of the frame. You might need to click twice. Please let me know if you cannot view the videos.



The week ended with our Mystery Toy Hunt. The kids had made their own Corduroy bears out of paper bags and construction paper. After following a series of clues (like Blue's Clues), the hunted down the Mystery Toy that was, of course, their Corduroy bears that were hiding in their rooms. I always try to gauge all of our activities to their attention span and this one was not long enough. They would have at least preferred 10 or more clues since they wanted to play the game over and over again. Oh well............

Here are pictures of our lapbook. I found these great five subject folders and we used the last two sections for our worksheets from the week.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! and Happy Birthday Stephen

Happy New Year Everyone!!
Where do I begin? After a rough month in November, we sure made up for it in December. I was the last to get sick and was feeling mostly human again by the end of the first week. It was then time for the fun to start.
We were just about to get a big snowstorm, so it was time to run out and get the Santa pictures done. Honestly, waiting in lines while doing nothing but yelling at my kids to stand still is the last thing that I want to be doing. So, we get it done early, especialy before we get snowed in. We arrive 10 minuets early allowing the kids to see where Santa was going to be and to prep both of them for the main reason why we were there - to take a picture with Santa for Mommy :-) I wasn't worried about Stephen this year since he wanted something and was eager for his meeting. Rhea wasn't too sure about the whole thing, but enjoyed looking at all the decorations and listening to the music. Our wait was short and without incident when Santa finally arrived. There was a white picket fence separating the kids and two friends they had made. I wish I would have had my camera to capture their faces pearing between the slats to get a glimps of Santa. I had to hold Stephen back once the gate opened since his new friends were waiting in front of us. He watched them intently while Rhea decided that she had changed her mind about this whole Santa "thing". I don't believe in forcing kids to sit on Santa's lap only to come away with a picture on how your child was tortured. However, both kids freaked out last year, so I was slightly more motivated. I remembered what my mom did with our darling little brother when he was two, and it worked. Stephen was in position and already making his requests to Santa while I picked Rhea up and backed up to Santa. I think she was on to me because she kept trying to look over her shoulder to see what I was trying to do to her. I managed to sit her down and run. No, really! Santa gave her a little bounce on his knee and a "ho, ho, ho" and we waited. After processing what I had just done to her, she decided that she liked Santa and wanted to stick around for longer than the photographer wanted which created a whole other problem. In the end, everyone had a great time and I got my picture this year.

The snowstorm arrived as promised. The snow started to fall around 11am and continued through the night. Stephen was especially excited and had his snowsuit on before we were able to completly wake up. The boys went out to play while Rhea slowly woke up. She was more interested in eating breakfast, but I was able to distract her enough to get her dressed and outside. Stephen started building an igloo while Rhea decided to eat her breakfast out of a bag from the back of the car.

KINDERMUSIK

Our next adventure was off too finish our Kindermusik class at CCC. We loved our teacher, Miss Becca and had a great time with our Holiday class. Tom was able to come to this class and we managed to get a picture of all of us together. Well, mostly. I am not sure what Stephen was doing in the picture, but he always has a great time in class. Becca does a great job pacing each class to make sure the kids will sleep at naptime. The musical benefits are good too, but I appreciate a little help sometimes when it comes to wearing our children out.

ST. PATRICK'S NURSING HOME

Our big project all month was making Christmas cards and ornaments to take to St. Patrick's Nursing Home in Naperville. I will include pictures of each of their projects. I talked with Stephen about what we were doing and why. His interest with arts and crafts comes and goes, but he really put effort into it this month since he understood that we were making gifts for special people. It was incredible to watch his little heart being expressed through his work when he would normally not be interested for very long. Rhea, on the other hand, could sit at the table for days doing artwork. She is still too young to grasp the concept of what we were doing while we were at home, but that all changed when we arrived at the nursing home. We were able to make it a family event since Tom was able to spare a couple of hours before going to NIU. As always, we get there a little early so the kids can feel comfortable with their surroundings. Stephen knew why we were there, but more importantly, he knew that he was there to talk to people and was eager to carry out his mission. We met the residents in the common area for their social hour and the kids went to work after only a couple of minutes. I still think that these 30 minutes were the highlight of our Christmas season. Tom stayed with Rhea, or at least tried to, while I monitored Stephen from a distance. It wasn't long before the kids were running up to the residents to give away their treasures that they had made, and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. There were a few ladies that made a point to ignore them, but that was only a challenge for our two darlings (I am not sure where they get this from). I know it is hard to believe, but Stephen and Rhea were not ignored for very long. These same residents were then talking about their children and grandchildren by the time we left. Stephen was very disappointed when we ran out of things to give when I told him that he could just go talk to people. It was amazing to see him trot off like he was born to bring comfort and joy to people through his voice and spirit. The residents starting getting too comfortable with him and starting kissing and hugging him, so we pulled him out. He still wanted to stay and talk with them, but didn't want to be touched. I promise him that we would go back, but used Rhea as an excuse to make our exit. Rhea had made her way out in the hallway to take up birdwatching from the aviary. She did a great job with the ladies, but was more than ready for a nap by that point.

THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE

Christmas was right around the corner and the business of the season was calming down for Tom and I. The making of the Christmas Gingerbread house was next on the list. I had to do this task on my own last year and it was not easy. Tom not only had a better kit to deal with, but he had more hands as well. Then again, I think he would say that I had it easier. I think the kids would say that this was their favorite activity next to opening presents on Christmas day. Stephen was very methodical about helping putting everything in its place while Rhea managed to eat the icing that Tom put, or tried to put on the house to hold it together. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

CHRISTMAS

We managed to have the presents wrapped by the 23rd and made our plans for the best Bough Christmas yet. Miss Christy and Cory made a surpise visit to deliver early Christmas and Birthday presents. We spent the day making cookies for Santa on the 24th and had a great family day after cleaning up our usual mess.

Christmas morning came and we were awakened by an excited little boy. Poor Rhea was torn out of bed before making our way downstairs. The kids took their time this year and enjoyed each present that was opened. Stephen got more train stuff than he will know what to do with, while Rhea got a puppet theatre and a new chair so she won't have to "share" with her brother anymore. Christmas would of course not be complete without Meem's famous cinnamon rolls made by our children. Santa made sure that they now had appropriate attire for all of their cooking adventures.

STEPHEN'S BIRTHDAY

Our most recent fun has been celebrating Stephen's birthday weekend. We started on Friday when Rhea and I went shopping for decorations while Stephen and Tom went to the Dupage Children's Museum. Unfortunately, Rhea and I were shopping in the middle of a mild snowstorm while Stephen and Tom stopped off at the Le Chocolate Bar for a hot chocolate. In their defense, they did pick up two bags of my favorite chocolate that I eat every day, so I guess I will let them off the hook. Anyway, Rhea picked out all of the Diego decorations she could find and we eventually met the boys back home. Stephen's next big surprise was a trip to a NIU basketball game on Saturday. Our wonderful babysitters, Ashley and Katie came over to play with Rhea while Stephen had the undivided attention of both parents for the entire day. Tom did have to be with the band, but Stephen was still able to be close to him and chat between bites of pizza, nachos and cheese, pop corn, and candy. Sunday after church was spent fullfilling our birthday traditions. The kids love to bake a cake and decorate it for each other's birthday and this birthday was no exception. Stephen woke up from his nap on the 30th with all of his Diego decorations up and ready for action. It was then time to make the cake after dinner. Stephen had been talking all week about Rhea making his cake for him but changed his mind after we started. I think cooking is such a big hit with this kids because of the spoon licking at the end. Stephen's birthday on the 31st was a great success! Rhea "helped" decorate the cake while most of the icing made it to other places besides her mouth. His favorite babysitters came to join us by 10am and the unwrapping of the gifts began. Stephen actually took time this year to play with all of his gifts instead of opening everything in 2 minutes or less per his previous birthdays. Everything was a big hit since a boy can never have too many train sets. Most importantly, we can not imagine our lives without our favorite boy. He brings a smile to our face everyday when he wakes us up each morning and makes us laugh at the end of the day before he goes to bed. We couldn't be more proud of him and thank God every day for the precious gift He had given us.

Rhea signals for the party to begin. She spent two days being afraid of the party horns and then we could not separate her from them. Notice also that she would not let me take her apron off. Stephen's first gift was a responsibility chart. This one is from Melissa and Doug and I highly reccommend it! I have never seen his bed made so well before he came downstairs the next morning.

Rhea "helping" again.......

The best present came in smallest package. The one thing Stephen wanted more than anything was Annie and Clarrabel from Thomas Train. This was one happy boy!
Here is his Happy Birthday song video. Click on the play button on the bottom left and not the center. You might need to click twice. Enjoy!