Inspired

There have been bounds of creativity running around here lately.

Delaney has been filling her days with art. She gets even more creative and full of ideas when I mention that we should probably work on some math...haha.

I had some art picked out for the girls to do for Thanksgiving, but instead they created their own turkeys. Delaney made hers independently, and Sophie just needed a little help drawing her feathers before she cut them, and a little bit of gluing assistance.

Delaney drew the Mayflower.

Over the weekend, Delaney wrote several "word" books, to "teach Sophie how to read". They start out easy and then increase in difficulty.

I especially like that she included "barf" and "puke" on her "words to know" list, as well as the girls' favorite word to yell, "gaggle". Who doesn't laugh hysterically when yelling that silly word?

She also made some visual math problems, several crowns and some rings...This equation has something to do with the time at which Delaney is hungry.

A game, in which we have to jump over lollipops and only land on the safe spike...

And a self-portrait...

I found the "What Shall I Draw" book, and Delaney spent the morning drawing a princess and a sea monster, and writing a little story to go with it.

"Once upon a time, there was  sea monster who said the next one to touch him would be his dinner. No one ever touched him ever though."

We go to the library most Monday mornings, and I encourage Delaney to chat with the librarians in the kids' section and practice her "speaking with grown ups" skills. She brought her picture to the library to read to them, and they hung it on the wall. She was so proud. I am a bit annoyed at my self for forgetting to take a picture...it was a good drawing and a cute story!

Sophie watched Delaney drawing all of her fun pictures with the drawing book, and wanted to try to draw her own creation. With just a little help, she made this cute little tiger.

Sophie also made an owl with me. She liked him so much that she asked me to hang him up in her room.

Delaney has been experimenting with fashion design. She made Sophie this dress out of some flannel and yarn...

And a belt out of craft foam for me.

Next, I will get out the sewing kit and teach her how to stitch a little bit. She will probably surpass my sewing abilities pretty quickly, since I know how to sew on a button and that's about it. :)

I taught her how to play checkers a few weeks ago, and Cullen is now teaching her to play chess. Sophie likes to help Cullen, and she knows the names of all of the chess pieces now. Delaney is learning to play Battleship with me, and is picking it up pretty quickly.

Now we have to get planning and working on all of our December crafts and goodies. I love the holiday months!

OctoberSchool

Some people name their "home schools". I haven't, but as I wrote that title, I thought if I were going to, "OctoberSchool" would be a lovely name. October is such a crisp month...beautiful days and cold nights, nature changing colors all around us. I often have a clue of the weather when I get out of bed, but the winds will change and what started out as a warm, sunshine-y day may require a thicker sweater. That describes homeschooling rather well for me. Stunning, unexpected, constantly adjusting, but slightly predictable...

We have been having a lot of fun this month with our learning. In my continued efforts to organize our time better, I made the kids chore charts, and a school chart for Delaney.

 

You can find these super cute printable cards here.

The school chart is basically a list of the things I would like to accomplish, and whatever Delaney adds that she would like to do as well. Some days we get to take everything off and put it in the finished box, some days we don't, but it gives us a good visual plan and is working well for both of us!

Sophie has continued to practice writing her name. Delaney is a big helper, and encourages her a lot.

Yay for school in pajamas!

 Sophie has also started learning some sight words. Playing Memory is her favorite way to practice.

 

Delaney learned about Georgia O'Keefe, and loved her big, vibrant paintings. The book we read about O'Keefe explained that she painted things the way she saw them, so others could see them her way. Delaney tried her hand at some Georgia-esque paintings of her own.

 

Sunset, O'Keefe style, by Delaney

Sophie painted a rainbow of h's.

We found our Halloween Pre-K pack and Sophie practiced counting, matching shadows and matching words with pictures, based on initial sounds.

 

 

The girls have been playing a game I have from when Hailey was kindergarten-sized, Penguin Math.

Sophie gets to spin, move her penguin and then count out the correct number of mini M&M's to match the number she lands on.

 

Delaney gets to spin, and has to add the number she lands on to the number on the spinner.

 

 

And then, of course they get to eat all of the M&M's afterwards. :)

Apple Picking in Oak Creek Canyon

This week, we met a few other homeschoolers down in Oak Creek Canyon and went apple picking.

There were many, many trees with fruit at just the right level for Sophie and Delaney to reach.

 

Delaney took her picking seriously.

 

 

 

Sophie had more of a "one for you, one for me" mindset.

 

 

It was so much fun

 

I had forgotten how beautiful Oak Creek Canyon is.

 

The leaves are about to turn. I want to make another trip that way in a few weeks. The trees will be gorgeous.

We played at Slide Rock for a little while, and the girls climbed around while I had a little heart attack watching them.

 

 

Apple picking is really hard work when you are two.

The following day, we made apple pie.

My dad gave me my grandma's old cookbook after she passed away, which is a treasure trove of her notes and hand written recipes. I found her "Hot Water  Pie Crust" recipe, and we gave it a try.

I have never been adept at pie crust. I typically buy it at the grocery store.

My grandma was a fantastic baker, though, and this recipe says "Never Fail". I decided to believe her. 

Delaney was a wonderful pie dough mixer, and had fun rolling it out as well.

 

Sophie made her own concoction with the remainder of the pie dough and some cinnamon and apples.

Delaney put together her own little turnovers.

I just put the pie together.

It was DELICIOUS. Even the crust. My grandma was right. 

Thanks, Gram.