the ducklings have arrived

and they've brought chicks with them.

my kids have taken this project much farther then i ever thought they would.

i'll upload all of their birds on flickr when i get a chance, but i am so impressed

with the bluebirds, woodpeckers, cygnets, crows, hummingbirds

and yes, even a flamingo with sunglasses on, that have all come out of

their imaginations, with just a little felt, some pom-poms and glue.

this duckling and chick don't have eyes, but beads and glitter glue

work just fine in case you'd like yours to be able to see.

and if you love usborne books, like we do, the usborne books for beginners

are great. they have links here where you can look up the book you

are reading and play, read or watch online activities pertaining to the book.

you can watch a baby chick hatching here and this website has some

great pictures of baby birds.

making way for ducklings

and swans too.




i stumbled upon this site the other day while looking for some activities to do while we read these two books.
there is also a link way at the bottom of the page that seems like it could be useful.
as you can see one is for my pre-schooler and the other is for my middle kids.
but both of them seem to be appealing to all of my students.
i know the "content" standards are for california, but if you are not in a charter, those things won't matter anyway.
just thought i'd share the info.
it is kind of nice to stumble upon free lessons that have already been planned and use them to your advantage.
and it makes less work for mama, which means i can plan crafts and activities instead!
so off i go to make way for some pom-pom ducklings......

buona lettura

aka good reading.

of course we love

ALL of his books.

but this just came last night

and as you know

most of our reading

right now

is for the birds.

pretzels, puddles and a little catechism

this rainy saturday

we'll be reading these three great books,

making pretzels

and going on a puddle walk.

i'll post the recipe

if you'd like.

otherwise,

i'm off to get my boots on.

so what are your plans?

well, whatever they may be,

i hope you find

your saturday

is as nourishing

as mine promises

to be so far!

the great noun search

is for nouns

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

the great noun search is on.

i read about this idea in a book my dad

bought me and brought me yesterday.

the kids are searching for ten nouns in the yard,

they are putting them in a pile,

we are going to assign adjectives to each noun

and they are going to write about the things they've

found. i've never seen so much enthusiasm to

do english/grammar!

we're expecting rain tomorrow

so this gives them time outside

and we're getting school

done as well!

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

oh, and the book, in case you're wondering,

here it is:

i just started it yesterday, but the very first chapter

talks about how

BALANCE=SANITY

and we've been throwing some ideas about just

that around these parts lately,

so i think i could be on to something here!

father and son: a nativity story

does anyone else just cry their eyes out when reading this book. i was overcome with tears yesterday while reading it..........i actually found it at big lots for $3.00 and i bought it for my god-children because it is such a beautiful story.

st. nicholas day

thank you st. nicholas for 3 new stories to add to our collection. we will be snuggling and reading these this morning!