Go Outside Anyway

     I'm definitely more of a warm weather person.  I grew up in south Texas where a freeze was rare, and I think I only saw snow twice before I had turned eighteen.  But now, I live up north, and now I'm a teacher.  And children need to be outside.  Even when it's cold and windy. 

    So, every day unless it's raining, we bundle up and head outside.  While most days we have a planned sports activity, at least once a week we take a brisk walk, identify birds, climb rock piles, stomp on ice, and talk and laugh while we're doing it.  And it's amazing how much I really do enjoy being outside--even when it's cold and windy--because I'm with my students.

Corn Week! Feelin' a Little Corny

Note:  There are two more days to sign up for the gift basket drawing!   

I know, it's a little corny, but we really did have Corn Week here at school.  We were reading the book Squanto, and learning how he helped the Pilgrims plant corn, so that's where I got the idea.  My goal was to do at least one corn-related activity each day, even if it was just a little one during morning break or at lunch.   Here's what we did.  

Hopping Corn!  I sourced this idea from onetimethrough.com.

    Mix 2-3 cups water with 2 Tablespoons baking soda.  

    Add a handful of popping corn and 6 Tablespoons white vinegar.  

Air bubbles produced from the vinegar and baking soda combination attach to the kernels, and then they go up and down in the water for over an hour.  

Corn Husk Dolls

To learn specifics on how to make these, click here.

We ate popcorn, of course, and made johnnycakes that we had read about in another history story.  

I found these Indian corn painting projects at https://artprojectsforkids.org/fall-drawing-ideas/.  

There is a free printable tutorial that shows step-by-step what to draw and makes it super easy to follow.  

We also ate hominy, candy corn, and made corn muffins.  

Related Posts:

TeePee Mennonite School

Camping Week at School.  For Real!  

Brain Games and More

     Someone asked me more about brain games, so here are some pictures and a little more information. 

     I would classify just about anything that is hands-on and problem-solving as a brain game.  Obviously, there are different levels, but they are all great for the brain, using it in different ways to figure out a not-previously-understood concept.  Not only is this enjoyable for the student (and teacher -- I play with all of these!); these activities are almost like playing; yet they engage the brain. 

    Note:  I purchased all of these cheap (and in like-new condition) at thrift stores.   

    Above is one of my favorite problem-solving games, Rush Hour.  The goal is to get the red car out of the parking lot.  (That is not a real set up.  I just stuck the cars in there for the picture.) 

     MY FAVORITE PUZZLE.  I loved my United States puzzle when I was younger, and I still do.  (Don't lose Connecticut!)  The best ones have the pictures with geography and cultural things on them.  

Above and below:  Both of these sets come with cards.  To solve them, one is supposed to figure out how to get the pieces to match the designs on the cards by fitting the pieces in the right way.  

     Above:  The cards all have an easier 2-dimensional challenge on the front, and a more difficult 3-dimensional one on the back.  

     Puzzles, puzzles, puzzles !  These are great for the brain and come in so many different levels of difficulty.  I love to find just about any type of wooden one.  

Geometry anyone?  

     Obviously, these are for preschoolers, but they need brain development, too!  Did you know that studies have shown that a child’s IQ (intelligence quotient) is primarily established by age eight?  If children are intellectually and creatively encouraged at an early age, their brains will be in gear, and they will be ready and eager to learn.  If they are not mentally and creatively challenged in the early, formative years, their brains are not as inclined to learn new concepts when they start school.  

To Paint, or Not to Paint?

     Well, we did it.  We moved.  We left our beloved students and school to  move to Terre Hill, Pennsylvania, where Jeff is the director of music and art at Shalom Mennonite School.  I, Deana, am homeschooling our children for at least the next year to recover some long-overdue one-on-one time with them. 

     So . . . . welcome to our, well, mostly Jeff's, new classroom at Shalom.  

     To paint, or not to paint?  That is the question.  For Jeff,  the answer was not to paint.  The answer was to buy about five of those big bulletin paper rolls and to stick them all over the walls like wall paper.  This is not difficult to do if you have a wife who is willing to take rolls of masking tape, make them into those little sticky loop things, and stick them all over the wall for three days straight while you cut out sea creatures from posters and stick them on top of the wall paper stuff.  

      Then, of course, we had to hang stuff from the ceiling.  This is not too difficult if you have two sons who like to cut fishing line and climb up on ladders.  There is a lot of interesting stuff to observe if you look up in this classroom.

 

 
One of these things is not like the others.  One of these things just doesn't belong.  Can you guess which one is not like the other, before I finish my song?  Yes, boys and girls, the long horn steer does not belong with the other things that are all found in the ocean.    He says he put it up there to see who will notice it first.  It does make one think a little bit.
     Someone asked if he was teaching science or something like that.  "No," he replied.
     "Well, then what do all the sea creatures and ocean stuff have to do with music?" they asked.
     "Nothing," Jeff replied with a smile.  "But the students sure will love coming to music and art class."  But the more we thought about it, it has everything to do with art, beauty, and God's creation. The students will be surrounded by beautiful and interesting things every time they come into the classroom.  And that is exactly the atmosphere we want to provide for the art and music students.

   

Flamingos Score Big with Pizza Party

       We had several home economics projects all lumped together, so this last cooking unit one we waited to do until we weren’t so overwhelmed.  As they did last year, the Fabulous Feminine Flamingos decided to have another pizza lunch party for the whole school.  They planned better this year, and we didn’t have twelve pizzas leftover.  (Not that anyone at our house complained about leftover pizza.)

     First they planned, then we shopped.  That is always fun.  At the store a man asked us if we were a basketball team.  I guess they didn’t see the girl who is only four foot ten. 

     Next they came to school early and got busy.  The school smelled marvelous.  We enjoyed a delightful lunch, and the last home economics cooking project was completed.  They all got an “A” on that one.

The last two pictures were taken by Lexi Miller.

Men Can Cook; Moms Can Sleep

       I take every opportunity I have to get my students up in front of the class to present something.  If they start young, by the time they do their speeches in high school it won’t be so terrifying, and someday they will be equipped to lead a Sunday school class or give devotions in church.  The fourth graders gave demonstration speeches recently.  The whole class learned how to draw a flower and how to make scrambled eggs with cheese.  We got to eat the eggs, too.  They were yummy.  I love it when men can cook!

     And the next week even the third graders stood up in front of the class and described something, and we all got to guess what it was.  For another assignment, a class told a story about something that had happened to them or a family member.  One girl told a funny story about how her mom had fallen asleep during prayer at church, and then crawled under the bench to take a nap.  (The mom was about twelve when this happened.)  We all giggled and another little assignment was completed, enabling our students to develop their gifts which God has given them.  

The Skunk Catcher and the Goat Girl

     At the end of the day, the elementary students have a study hall period where they can finish any work they may have not completed.  When all their work is handed in, they may read chapter books, play chess or Bananagrams, or, if everyone is done, they sometimes enjoy a game of occupation.  Their "jobs" become more and more creative as the year moves on.  The spelling improves, (because we read and pronounce them exactly the way they are spelled), the science terms emerge, and they diligently probe their minds for an unusual, hard-to-guess "job".  The lists get funnier and weirder.

 This week my husband handed me this list of their "occupations".

the astronomer

the skunk catcher

the folder

the goat girl

the secriterry [sic]

the lamphrey

Shawna's engine

the bird catcher

the mean girl

the slicky  (actually a type of bird)

the space explorer

Trevor (another student)

the pancake head

Mennos vs. Rubik's Cubes

     We are still having multiples chess matches all over the school, but another trend is occurring--solving Rubik’s Cubes.

      My husband revived this one from his childhood also.  He got the directions, learned how to solve it, and then taught the students how to do it, too.  We have had a few students over the years who could solve it in less than two minutes.  

      There are Rubik’s Cubes on their desks.  (They cannot do them until all their work is done.)

     They have Rubik’s Cube solving matches to see who can do it the fastest.

     The more mechanically inclined students have even learned how to take them apart and put them back together.  It is quite amazing to see how all the little parts work together.  

      Every once in awhile they are a distraction, but most of the time they are not.  And, they are good for their brains.  Yay for learning!

Make Like a Tree and Leave

     The other day I went out to check on my sheep and gather chicken eggs when I could not help but notice beautiful autumn leaves drifting down from above my head.  I instinctly began picking them up, like I do seashells at the ocean shore.  Red ones, yellow ones, half green and half brown ones.  Oak leaves, pecan leaves, what are these funny ones?  My pockets were full.

      I went inside and placed them in my huge white teacher’s bag.  It is full of all kinds of stuff-- usually papers to grade, zillions of pens, Advil, anti-itch cream, Frosty coupons, a sharpie, my camera, my clipboard, my choir music because I can’t learn the last page of that hard song, food, my coffee cup, and now, leaves. 

      The next day I gave every student one of each kind of leaf I had gathered.  We examined them, drew pictures of them on the board, taped them to paper, and wrote their names next to them.  I grew up in Texas, but I never knew the difference between the leaves of a red oak and a white oak until yesterday.  We discovered that two of the unknown leaves were aspen and sweet gum.  

      The following day the students showed up with baggies of leaves-- one of each kind for each one of their classmates.  We added magnolia leaves, holly leaves, cedar “leaves”, and maple leaves to our collection.  Then we put them in between waxed paper and ironed them on top of an old t-shirt.

      My husband walked in the room to get a book and asked me, “What are you doing?”   I told him we were ironing leaves.  I felt a little silly, but anatomy can wait for another day or so.  We are having a wonderful time examining different kinds of leaves.  

Falling Down the Steps While Having a Golf Disc Thrown at My Head

     Once again it was time for our fall disc golf excursion.  We picked a course in Temple which we had never played before.  It was a beautiful, crisp fall day.  The man picking pecans on hole 6 didn’t mind us a bit.  We just yelled, "Fore!" and kept going.

     Ladies in skirts and veils on disc golf courses always attract a lot of attention.  We only had a few photos snapped of us this day. 

     The ponds claimed three of our discs, but we reclaimed them.  

     We always take time to notice interesting science--like this spider web,

and this eagle--just kidding, sort of.  It was an eagle kite, which one student retrieved and flew.  

     And there are always ample photo opportunities, including the now-obligatory disc golf on girls’ heads shot.  

     I actually fell down these limestone steps while trying to hurry and get this photo and get out of the way of the gentlemen who were throwing frisbees at our heads.  Ok, only one of them threw one, and my husband made the rest wait until we were safely out of their line of fire.