Curious Bird

:curious:

Question of the day: 

Have you ever participated in a homeschool co-op? If so, I'd love to hear any suggestions you have for getting one started. 

I'm currently organizing one for two and three year olds and am especially curious about the following: 

How many families seems to be ideal? I'm thinking four to six, but I'm very interested in hearing from someone who has experience.

How much time did you allow for each "lesson"?  We're starting with just a couple of hours, but I'm curious if that is too short (or too long?) for two and three year olds.

You can comment here or feel free to email any wisdom to leyawilliamsalbert(at)gmail(dot)com

Hope your week is off to a good start. 

L.  

 

:these days:

below are some recent moments captured with my iphone. damn, that thing is handy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
we've been eating a fair amount of waffles lately. I've started making waffle batter up ahead of time and storing it in the refrigerator. we're trying not to eat them more than a couple of times a week, but they are sooo good and it helps that I've become a pro at getting just the right amount in the waffle iron so clean up is minimal. hate cleaning up a waffle iron with batter running down the sides. not fun. 

felix is obessessed with tools  -- he has been for a while now. the other day I took him out and let him hammer little nails into a stump I had found and brought home a while back. he was thrilled and luckily no thumbs were injured in the process. must remember to get him going with a little building project soon.

romy must be teething. nothing else can explain the river of drool flowing from that kid's mouth. I had to make a few bibs backed with a thick towel to keep his shirt from getting soaked several times a day!

lots of playing going on around here. we play happy birthday with a playdough cake and toothpick candles daily. and when not celebrating pretend birthdays, we are either building various tracks and towers using a nice set of blocks my mom gifted felix or we're exploring with a magnifying glass (often while wearing a cape). 

what kind of fun activities happen at your house? 

until next time, have a lovely tuesday!

:mama's little helper:

Every new baby needs a birdhouse painted by their older brother, right? Thought so. 

And Felix still really likes the little birdhouses I painted for him and hung in his room before he was born. Oh how times flies. 

More soon,

L. 

 

:keeping it simple:

As much as I wanted to try dyeing eggs with natural dyes we kept it very simple this year. Perhaps we can experiment with using beets and cabbage and blueberry juice as dyes once Felix is a little older? This year was all about the jeweltone colors produced when brown eggs are dropped into jars of water, food coloring and a little white vinegar. Easy in every way...except for the waiting part. Waiting is a big challenge around here these days.

Onward

Hi there,

Phew! This space has been such a downer this week and I'm so ready to let it all go and get back to a much more positive, upbeat mood around here. After thinking things over, I have come to the conclusion that I have bigger fish to fry, so I'm deciding to stop being annoyed and get back to doing what I do here (with a few tweaks here and there, of course).

The fact is, this blog has been around for nearly 8 years (in April. crazy, I know!) and during that time it has brought an amazing amount of positivity, friendship and sweetness into my life. And that is what I want to focus on. Obviously, I'm not happy my photo was used without my permission, but it has since been removed from where it was originally posted (at least I think it was the original page??) by the tumblr people, so good riddance.

Before getting back to regular programming, I do want to say that I chose not to publish the comments I received on my last post. But the outpouring of concern and support, and again, friendship, was amazing -- it reminded me of all the good things about writing and sharing in this space. Thanks so much.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What to do when you're feeling a little crabby?
Make a mess! Make art!

This week has been all about sensory activities. We've played with a big bowl of rice, and lots of sudsy water, and yesterday, we made fingerpaint!

Following the simple recipe found here, we made up a batch and had ourselves some messy fun.  It was the highlight of Felix's day yesterday, and I definitely recommend it if you're looking for a good art activity as well as an activity that allows a little one to help create the medium. Messy? Somewhat. Worth it? Absolutely.

Have a lovely weekend,

Leya