31 May Let’s See If We Can Compete with Mr. McGregor

We have started rowing The Tale of Peter Rabbit this week (and probably the next), so I wanted to do some gardening with Clark and Luci.  The incredible irony of this is that I. CANNOT. GROW. ANYTHING.  In fact, I’m really amazed that my children are growing so well!  At one point, I wanted a plant so bad that I bought a cactus. Would you believe I actually killed that too?! So this gardening endeavor was a big one for all of us!  The one thing that gives me courage is my Fairy Garden (you’ve got to check it out HERE), which is still living and looking so cute! We can’t compete with Mr. McGregor, but we’re doing to do our best! 

It’s Going to be a Good Day!

Today was one of those relaxed, blissful, pleasant days in which you are so thankful that you homeschool and are home with your children.  OR it may also have to do with the fact that I had a dream about what was wrong with my camera, so when I woke up, I checked and SURE ENOUGH!  So a quick fix, and I’M BACK IN BUSINESS, people!  So excited!   Either way, I don’t know how often these great days come around, since I’m just starting to homeschool, so I am enjoying it.   

My dearest children got up at about 6:15 this morning and nothing was going to convince them to go back to bed until a reasonable hour, so we got up and started the day.  We were completely done all of our copywork, math, reading, phonics and spelling by 9:00!  The amazing thing about that, is that I had created an accelerated program for Clark to follow so that we would be starting Grade 1 by September.  He not only completed his required work but we added a couple extra pages too!  I think he is settling in to the routine and getting used to what is expected of him.  So far, so good!

Because we got finished out homeschool work so early, we were able to get started with our gardening even earlier. I had bought a few planters, soil and seeds.  Clark and Luci took turns helping me get the soil into their planters.   

Now, I’m going to admit it, there were a lot of instructions on those little packets and there is no controlling little kiddos with little seeds.  So, no.  The seeds are not all 12″-18″ apart.  That’s just not going to happen. 

I transplanted my geranium, who was apparently dying (of course), then we planted zinnias in the two long rectangle containers.  Clark and Luci each got their own little containers for which they will be responsible.  I also tried planting cilantro in some organic soil.  I’m anxious to see how it all turns out! 

The Carrot Math Game

After cleaning up, I asked Clark if he’d like to play a game.  Luci was clearly very busy, working on writing the alphabet on my old iPhone.  I just love seeing her chubby little fingers playing. 

I had found a carrot-themed math fact matching game (HERE) and thought I would make it myself and share it with you.  There are two pages. One is the carrots, which I printed out on orange construction paper, and the other is the carrot tops which I printed out on green construction paper.  I left them blank so that they can be adapted to each person.  It so happens that right now we are working on addition, so this is what I did with Clark.  I cut them out, wrote the numbers on them and should have laminated them, but I was too lazy to cut them all out again. 

FREE DOWNLOAD of Carrot Math Game

To play the game, I simply set out all of the carrots and told Clark that Peter Rabbit wanted to eat the carrots in Mr. McGregor’s garden, but he couldn’t until all of the tops were on the carrots and matching!  I gave him a number line (also something that is in his math workbook right now) to help him figure out the equations.  He LOVED IT.  It makes such a huge difference to him to incorporate something creative in with his math! He very quickly finished the matching (there was no losing focus, like there is when doing a workbook!).  We had made lunch bag bunnies yesterday – Clark’s was Flopsy and Luci’s was Cottontail.  These bunny rabbits came and ate up those carrots in no time! 

It was at about this point where I began to wish that I had just laminated the carrots.  It would have definitively saved me a lot of work in the long run. Watching the kids have fun was definitively worth it, though.

Don’t miss: Five in a Row: The Tale of Peter Rabbit