Lots of Learning

Sometimes I feel like I'm just stuck in survival mode. Jasmine's at an age where I can't sit down with the  big kids and do little art projects or learning activities as often as I'd like. I feel like I just assure that their basic needs are met (Fed? Peanut butter pretzels cover two food groups! Clothed? Yes, albeit smelling like pee. Slept? Yes, on the way from home from preschool to Costco.). On the rare occasion that Jasmine is napping at home, I tend to use the break for myself, rather than for edification of the big kids. I'm not going to beat myself up, though, because gosh darn it, I am doing the best I can! I've also realized that they don't really need me for anything other than peanut butter pretzels...I find evidence of their learning everywhere. Most of it is hidden among the wads of tape and scraps of paper strewn everywhere, but it is definitely there. I am frequently asking myself, "how did they learn this?" And of course, it takes a village to raise a child, and thankfully, I live in a great one. My kids have ample opportunity to interact with their buddies at preschool, church, and elsewhere, and I think this is where some of the greatest learning and growth takes place.

 Just an impromptu bird session at home

Having fun with the bird mask. Also, notice evidence of my laissez-faire policy toward marker usage. I've found that it is so much less stressful to just let them have at those art supplies! Oh, I also have a fairly laissez-faire policy toward Jasmine putting things in her mouth. I think this is why she is pretty good about separating the yucky from the un-yucky.

My mom gave me some old T-shirt transfer paper and we printed out some stuff to put on their clothes (no surprise as to the images they chose). We didn't have any sealant to protect the pictures from washing, but it was a fun experiment. :) 

Rose has been on a sewing kick and loves making clothes for her animals.

Simon is a big fan of making marble runs.

And Rose used those toilet paper tubes to make (from L-R) a xylophone and giraffe. These came directly out of her mind.  

Um, yeah...big milestone. She hasn't even started swim lessons yet this summer. She has gained so much confidence in the water. Again, this has not come from any effort on my part--just playing with her friends!

 

Little Jazzy girl has also become quite confident in the water. She knows how to get in and out of the pool and always stays in her safe zone of the first step. :)

And of course, no summer would be complete without some kind of horticultural lesson!

Last year or a couple years ago, Sevak's parents introduced us to the fact that there were some edible plums just ripe for the picking on our community green belt. Recently, the kids and I discovered some more communal fruit just waiting to get into our forage-happy hands: loquats. 

Juicy and sour...a real treat to discover!

Simon planted this bean plant at preschool and it has provided us with three pods! Rose's has grown much taller, but still hasn't produced anything.

We still hit up museums every now and then, and learning is obviously inevitable...

THE CHABOT SPACE AND SCIENCE CENTER

THE EXPLORATORIUM--We went here with our fabulous friends and it was so much fun! 

Get a load of Rose's "gang sign." I have no idea what she was doing, but it was something deliberate and it was meant to be funny. P.S. Those blocks were color-coded nouns, verbs, etc., meant to be made into sentences to show some kind of pattern about our language. Language-schmanguage...they built an elaborate structure! Love how they take one thing and re-purpose it into another. Play-based learning at its finest!

Fun little wall that art-ified your movements in real time. Notice Jasmine with her little ponytail on the wall.

I love my little explorers!