Week 20: Honesty

This week we are going to do a topic that

the girls did not necessarily choose...

but rather one that has come about due to necessity,

so it kind of chose them.

I really want to see if we can get the topic of the Big L (lying)

to be better understood,

and more so focus on telling the truth, or honesty.

I did some research online, and apparently,

many pediatricians and doctors agree that lying

is a part of cognitive development and it is actually a

recorded 'milestone' to show that your child is learning

to make decisions on their own,

realize that they are separate from you,

and also that they have an imagination

which can make the real word a lot better!

I am really interested seeing how this lesson impacts

Lily and her understanding of telling the truth.

Alright,

To be totally honest ( ha ha),

we all came up with a plan to have a

"Gum Night"

if we can all go three days without lying.

We start the day with a sticker, and if we lie, we lose our sticker...

Needless to say, Mommy and Daddy were the first to lose their stickers.

Who needs this lesson more?

hmmm...

(FYI- my lie was exaggerating ( a weakness of mine)

that the girls have seen a million cats....not true.

My husband's lie was that he wanted to eat the rest of the trail mix

and told the girls there was no more...

his guilt set in, and a sticker was lost.)

The only one at the end of the three days

to get to have gum was our 2.5 year old Claire...

great job Claire!

Books

Fancy Nancy : my family history by O'Connor, Jane.

Big whopper by Giff, Patricia Reilly.

Tell the truth, B.B. Wolf by Sierra, Judy.

Princess K.I.M. and the lie that grew by Cocca-Leffler, Maryann,

Honesty by Pryor, Kimberley Jane.

Honestly, Mallory! by Friedman, Laurie B

Honestly! by Doudna, Kelly

Ruthie and the (not so) teeny tinylie by Rankin, Laura.

Miko. "It was me, Mom!" by Weninger, Brigitte.

Alex did it! by Weigelt, Udo

Edwurd Fudwupper fibbed big by Breathed, Berke

Edith & Mr. Bear by Wright, Dare

Crafts & Activities

We will make a truth wheel using a printable PDF- Click on the website, and then scroll down and click on the PDF entitled Telling The Truth vs Lies.

I couldn't find many crafts, so I decided that we would do a story board... I will ask Lily to come up with a story where a child has the opportunity to tell the truth, or lie...we will have two different endings. Lily can draw her own pictures of the story, and hopefully the ending for telling the truth will be a positive one for her. I'm excited to see what she comes up with!

Songs

Snacks:

We will read the book The Empty Pot by Demi- which is a Chinese fable about rewarding a child for telling the truth.... the main part of the story is about Seeds, so I thought we would make some kind of snack dealing with seeds...possibly a trail mix that has seeds in it, or even a lemon poppy seed muffin..mmmm.

On a personal note, I ordered these If/Then charts to help me with consistent discipline. They also include verses that go with the particular behavior. To go along with that, you can order the Blessings chart which rewards your children for being a blessing to others...best of both worlds!

Thanks!

Week 10: Chores

I must admit, I have completely been thrown out of wack by my all of a sudden highly energized and needy 1.5 year old, as well as feeling the pressure to try to find quality time with both of my girls. It seems to be few and far between.

I think we all have been frustrated at how the last few weeks have been going, there have been a few gleaming moments, but for the most part, my life seems completely chaotic...

(Yes, that is a bike ramp in the middle of our living room...such is my life)

What can I do about this?

Enter me.

I have decided to partake in creating Rhythms in my children's lives. This includes scheduling (just a little) more than I have been, as well as creating some 'responsibilities' for Lily.

Over the next week, I will be posting my weekly schedule as well as Lily's Responsibility and Earnings Chart.

Our baking week was great! I just updated it with some pics too. It actually turned into 2 weeks, and for that I am sorry, but that's just the way my life has been going! I will be posting pictures as soon as I can find some time to do so. The Rhyming Week craft has also been updated with pics.

This week, I will be implementing some chores into Lily's routine. I wanted to separate Lily's chart into activities that are 'expected' because she is a part of this family, and then there will be extra activities she can do to earn money.

I will also be implementing the 3 bottle money management system for her. The bottles will be labeled "Giving", "Spending", and "Saving". I feel that this life tool is so important, and this is one way to start early.

Here is what I've got planned:

CHORES

Books:

Once upon a Saturday by Lammle, Leslie.

The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble with Chores by Jan Berenstain

Chores Chores Chores! by Salina Yoon

The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room by Stan Berenstain and Jan Berenstain

Chores to Do by Kawanna, L. Hagood

Activities and Crafts:

I found a great site for free printables. I am choosing the Dora chart found here. We will be talking about what chores will be on the expected activity list and what chores will be on the earning list. Here is a list of age appropriate chores.

The next step is to discuss money, and how much she will be paid when she completes an 'earning' activity. My girlfriend just started this exact system with her daughter, and she pays $.05 a chore. She keeps all of the change and at the end of the week, they divide it up evenly into the three different jars- Spending, Saving and Giving. I don't think Lily is at the age level where she will understand monetary value and amounts, but I do think she can grasp giving, saving and spending... there are actual 'piggy' banks that are meant for this type of saving, but we are just going to use baby jars, and Lily can decorate them.

If you think your child is ready for a money lesson, here is a great one!

First School has a great lesson on Bumble Bees- There is a short story on there about the Buzzy Bee and her chores. There is also a Valentine's Day Bee Mine craft that we will do.

Songs:

I have had a hard time finding songs about Chores, but one of the first things I thought of was the "This is the Way" song...I can then ad lib whatever chore we decide upon.

If I Were a Farmer ( Sung to Did You Ever See A Lassie)

We'll pretend we are on a farm..doing farm chores

Oh, if I were a farmer, a farmer, a farmer

Oh, if I were a farmer, what would I do?

I would milk the cows each morning

Each morning, each morning

I would milk the cows each morning, that's what I'd do.

Continue using:

I would feed the baby chickens

I would gather eggs for breakfast

Snacks:

I figured since this is the first week we will be implementing chores, that I would offer a little more incentive.... Ice Cream. If she successfully completes her 'expected' chores for the week, she can have Ice Cream...this might actually entice her more than earning money!

Week 9: Recycling

Last week we explored the world of rhyming... 

I have come to find that I am very rusty at rhyming. 

We played the guess the animal game,

 and I don't think 'blafigator' is a word 

(or if it even technically rhymes)...

but hey, she guessed Alligator, so she understands rhyming right?

Curious George is one of Lily's favorite shows that I let her watch. 

Last week, there was an episode on recycling. 

I thought it would be great to teach her about recycling, 

which would then lead into her first chore...

putting the recycling items out in the garage and sorting. 

Hmmm, maybe chores will be next week!

RECYCLING

Books:

Stuff: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle by Steven Kroll

Recycle Everyday by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace

Recycle! : a handbook for kids by Gibbons, Gail

Curious George plants a tree by Perez, Monica.

50 simple things kids can do to recycle by Montez, Michele

Crafts and Activities: SOURCE

RECYCLE CHORE
I am definitely going to have Lily help me with the recycling this week, and start to teach her how to do it on her own. We already have three different baskets in our garbage cabinet in the kitchen, so it should be pretty easy to teach her....'should' being the key word there :)

RECYCLED MATERIAL COLLAGE
I have a bunch of magazines that I want to recycle. Before I do that, I will have Lily go through them and find items that can be recycled. She will then glue them in their appropriate bin on her paper.

RECYCLE PLANT
I would love to take Lily to the Recycle Plant to see how things work once the truck picks them up, but I will have to look into it.


SONGS: SOURCE


RECYCLING FOR OUR EARTH

Hear the cans go crunch, crunch, crunch,
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch,
Hear the cans go crunch, crunch, crunch,
Recycle for our earth.

Hear the bottle go ding, ding, ding
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding,
Hear the bottle go ding, ding, ding
Recycle for our earth.

Hear the paper go crinkle, crinkle, crinkle
crinkle, crinkle, crinkle, crinkle, crinkle, crinkle
Hear the paper go crinkle, crinkle, crinkle
Recycle for our earth

Recycling Song - Sung to "Row Row Row Your Boat"

Save, save, save the cans, throw them in the bin,
We can help to save the earth if we all pitch in.

Save, save, save the paper....
Save, save, save the bottles....
Save, save, save the plastics....

SNACKS: SOURCE

Donut Holes- The hole cut from donuts used to go to waste until someone thought of selling them. Ask them if they now of anything that goes to waste that could be used. To drive home the point give them donut holes for snack.

Week 5: Advent

This week marks the beginning of Advent.

I have never really been very acknowledging of Advent,
but this year I am truly learning the importance of
preparing your heart for Jesus...
especially in children.

So my goal this week is to prepare the heart of my children for
Jesus through learning about Advent.

Last weeks topic of Thanksgiving went well.
We did our Thankful Leaf craft and made the Thankful Tree.
For added pictures from last week click here.

Advent

Background: What is Advent? In Preschool Terms of course!

Advent is getting ready for Jesus' Birthday!
Advent starts 4 Sundays before Christmas... so this year in 2009, Advent started Yesterday!
Jesus' birthday is a big deal because he came to this Earth for us!
We will prepare our hearts for Jesus this week and all of the weeks till his birthday by praying, being together as a family and helping others.


Books:

The Bible - We will be doing the readings as posted here.

Merry birthday, Nora Noël by Dixon, Ann.

Advent Storybook by Antonie Schneider

The Jesse Tree by Raymond Anderson


Crafts and Activities:

I got involved this week and made my own Advent Calendar of sorts. You can get the tutorial here (once I finish posting it!) Here is a picture of it:




Every day the girls will take turns taking the photo down from the wreath for that particular day. On the back I have the short bible reference and a family activity to do for that day. Sometime this week, I will post my list on here with the bible verses so you could easily do this too!

We will definitely be making a paper advent wreath and possibly I will get a real wreath with candles. Here is the link to the template from First-School for a paper Advent Wreath

First School also has bible verses and readings for each Sunday candle lighting if you are interested here.

We will be making Christmas cards to bring over to the Senior Home in our town too. Lily and I will be doing that during Claire's nap one of these days and then we will bring them over one afternoon. I have posted this idea over on craft gossip along with many links for easy homemade cards for children to make. The card below is my favorite..and so easy!
Through our church, we will be getting an Angel Tree gift for a child of the girls choosing.

Songs:

Christmas Carols- Click Here for all the Lyrics to your favorites!



Snacks:

We will also be making batches of cookies for our
postwoman and neighbors as an act of giving.


My favorite Christmas Cookie Recipe:

Candy Cane Cookies: source

Ingredients

• 1/2 tube refrigerated sugar cookie dough, softened (or your homemade recipe)
  
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• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1/2 teaspoon red food coloring

Directions

• In a large bowl, beat the cookie dough, flour and extract until smooth. Divide dough in half; mix food coloring into one portion.
• Shape 1 teaspoon of white dough into a 6-in. rope. Shape 1 teaspoon of red dough into a 6-in. rope. Place ropes side by side; press together lightly and twist.
• Place on an ungreased baking sheet; curve top of cookie to form handle of cane. Repeat with remaining dough, placing cookies 2 in. apart on baking sheets.
• Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until set. Cool for 2 minutes before carefully removing to wire racks. Yield: 3 dozen.

Week 3: Manners

Since Thanksgiving is next week's topic, I thought it might be nice to emphasize saying "Thank You" and other such niceties the week before.

So this week, we will be studying manners and all aspects relating to it.

I really enjoyed last weeks topic of weather. There are sooo many great websites out there on the topic. We are still reading some books that were delayed from the library, so I will let you know which ones we liked best at the end of this week.

Manners:

Books:

Being a pig is nice : a child's-eye view of manners by Lloyd-Jones, Sally

Do unto otters : a book about manners by Keller, Laurie

Are you quite polite? : silly dilly manners songs by Katz, Alan.

Emily's Everyday Manners by Post, Peggy

Please Say Please! A Penguin's Guide to Manners by Cuyler, Margery

The Berenstain Bears forget their manners by Berenstain, Stan

This little piggy's book of manners by Allen, Kathryn Madeline

Big Black Bear by Yee, Wong Herbert

Froggy Eats Out by London, Jonathan

Pass the Peas Please (A Book of Manners) by Dina Anastasio

DVDs:

The Berenstain Bears. Bears mind their manners [videorecording (DVD)]

Crafts & Activities:

I am going to have a tea party. We'll use her play tea set and make tea finger sandwiches. We'll practice using our etiquette as we enjoy ourselves on the floor with a blanket, some tea and some sandwiches. I am also going to make these below...not so much for the child to do though, just thought they would be fun to use.

I will also be teaching Lily how to do an invitation. She can work on her numbers, writing her name and her friend's name too.
Tea Party Invitation PDF

Lily enjoyed tracing her name where I wrote

Manner Napkins- Using Fabric Markers, write polite actions while at the table- ie"use your napkin", "chew with your mouth closed" etc.

Lily practiced setting the table

Lily was so proud of her table!

Tea Party Poem to make your own invitation.

Her guest finally arrived! Yay!

The girls had a great time and did not want
the mommies anywhere around!
Go figure:)

Songs:

Oh, Before I Eat My Meals
Sung to: "If You're Happy and You Know it"

Oh, before I eat my meals, I wash my hands,
(scrub, scrub)
Oh, before I eat my meals, I wash my hands,
(scrub, scrub)
Oh, it's very smart I think,
Sends those germs right down the sink.
Oh, before I eat my meals, I wash my hands.
(scrub, scrub)

Oh, before I eat my meals, I set my place,
(set, set)
Oh, before I eat my meals, I set my place,
(set, set)
I set everything I need,
I feel very proud, indeed.
Oh, before I eat my meals, I set my place.
(set, set)

Oh, before I eat my meals, I pass the food,
(pass the plate)
Oh, before I eat my meals, I pass the food,
(pass the plate)
'Cause we know it's only fair
For us all to have our share
Oh, before I eat my meals, I pass the food.

Friends

Sung to: "Twinkle twinkle tune"

We say, "Thank you. We say, "Please."
We don't interrupt, We don't tease.
We don't argue. We don't fuss.
We listen when folks talk to us.
We share our toys, we take our turn
Good manners are easy for us to learn.

This one I'll definitely use all the time!
Reminder Rhyme

Only one can talk at a time,
So this is what I'll do:
I'll listen like a little mouse
'Til other folks are through.

Snacks- All for the Tea Party
Cucumber Tea Sandwiches- Cut in the shape of stars...Lily's Request

Ingredients:

Mini french bread (sliced 1/4")
1 Pkg. Hidden Valley ranch dressing mix
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Sliced cucumbers

Directions:

Mix the dressing mix, cream cheese, mayonaise, and lemon juice. Spread on bread. Top with a slice of cucumber.

Makes several sandwiches depending on the size bread you use and how generous you spread the cheese mixture

We used angels to cut out the sandwiches.

To accomodate her friend, we added plain cucumbers...

Vanilla Milk Tea

1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 tsp. decaf black or 4 tea bags
1 quart boiling water

The last thing we will do is create our own frame- able manner words to go in the dining room.

Sources:
MommyNature.com
Amazon Taming Your Family ZOO- Book for Moms
Songs