CHRISTEPHI

"Mama, will you play a game with me?" I hear these words at least ten times every day.  Miss M  loves  games!  She'd rather play a game than do almost anything else. Our newest addition to our game collection is the Medieval History Memory Game from The Classical Historian . I'm sure you're familiar with the traditional format of the game of Memory.  You lay out tiles; one person turns over two tiles, hoping for a match; then it's the next person's turn.  The trick is to remember where the tiles you see are located so you can make more matches than your opponent(s). In this version of the game the tiles are pictures from medieval world history for the four major regions of the world: Arabia, the Far East, Europe, and the Americas.  The game helps your child become familiar with the important people, monuments, maps, artifacts, and symbols that they will encounter in their studies of medieval history. Medieval His...

I'm so excited to announce that my new column at Homeschool Mosaics just launched today!  It's called Hands-On Homeschooling and will be focusing on hands-on learning activities for the preK and early elementary set. Stop by and say hi! (Psst! That picture of Miss M with muddy hands is a sneak peek of next month's column!)

Howdy!  Today I'm posting over at Homeschool Mosaics . Come read about our field trip to the dairy ! Do your kids know where milk comes from?

I've been commissioned by my 3 1/2 year old to make a life-sized doll to be his best friend and wrestling companion. Life-sized doll face in progress. Hubby is completely on board with this endeavor and issued strict instructions that the face not be too sweet. Little Guy decided his new friend's name will be Rocco, "And I'm gonna be Troy!"  Where Rocco  and Troy  came from is anyone's guess.  The mind of a preschooler is a fabulous thing!!

Ugly dead grass and leafless trees are all we see during the winter months. By the time February rolls around, Christmas is a distant memory and the longing for warm spring days has set in.  Here in Missouri, we're torturously teased with the occasional 50 or 60 degree day that reminds us of spring, but doesn't last.  A mere 12 hours can bring those temps plummeting to sub-zero with flat gray skies and dull brown lawns.  The dreariness gets old mighty fast! Day 3: the sprouts are about a half an inch already. A couple years ago (before Pinterest!) I hit on the idea of growing some wheatgrass in little containers around the house.  It grows very quickly and the kids enjoy checking its progress everyday and running their hands gently over it. Less than a week and already the wheatgrass is lush and beautiful! I bought the wheat berries from the grocery store's bulk bin.  I soaked about 1/4 cup of grains in 1/2 cup of water overnight.  In...

If you have a little girl, it's likely you've read a Fancy Nancy book or two.  Miss M received a copy of Fancy Nancy: Ooh La La! It's Beauty Day  (affiliate link) from her auntie and absolutely loves it!  She's been pouring over it for weeks and begging to have a Spa Day.  We decided that in honor of our last week day off before starting second grade, we'd have a special Spa Day! Fantastique Face Mask Mash half a ripe banana in a small bowl.  Add in about half a teaspoon of honey. Mash the mixture some and put it in the fridge until you're ready to use it.   Miss M had begged for this.  She even got out the ingredients for me.  But one look at that slimy, banana scented goop and she had an instant change of heart!  She let me apply it to her in spite of her wails of protest and cackling laughter. Little Guy's response was: "I'm ugly! I'm ugly!" until I wiped it all off of him. Marvelous Manicure The next or...

We are nearing the end of Calvert 1st grade, so we decided to knock out the last two chapters in our science book with a dedicated Science Week!  So far we have explored  position and force  and  simple machines and magnets .  Then we started investigating the different types of energy: first heat and then sound . It's the last day of Science Week!  Just as heat and sound are types of energy, so is light!   Light is the form of energy that allows us to see. Some materials let a lot of light pass through them. Other materials block out light completely.  Miss M tried a few materials to see what lets light through and what doesn't. Plastic wrap, waxed paper, aluminum foil, an empty paper towel tube, and a rubber band. First she covered one end of the tube with plastic wrap and tried looking through it. She could see light!  Then she removed the plastic and covered the end of the tube with waxed paper.  She could se...

We are nearing the end of Calvert 1st grade, so we decided to knock out the last two chapters in our science book with a dedicated Science Week!  So far we have explored  position and force  and  simple machines and magnets .  Then we started investigating the different types of energy, beginning with heat . See also  Day 5 . Welcome to day four of Science Week!  Yesterday we learned about heat, one of the forms of energy.  Today we investigated another type of energy: sound.   Sound is a form of energy that is made when an object vibrates.  The bigger the vibrations, the louder the sound: like a thunder clap!  The smaller the vibrations, the softer the sound: like the sound of a marker swiping across a piece of paper. To experience sound, we made a simple musical instrument with a plastic bowl and some rubber bands. Carefully stretch a rubber band around a bowl or box. Miss M strummed the rubber bands and listened to t...

We are nearing the end of Calvert 1st grade, so we decided to knock out the last two chapters in our science book with a dedicated Science Week!  So far we have explored  position and force  and simple machines and magnets .  See also  Day 4  and  Day 5 . Welcome to Science Week day three!  The rest of the week we will be learning about different types of energy.  Our activity today involves energy and heat . Energy is the force makes things work or change.  Heat is energy that makes things warm.  Today we filled a mug with steaming hot water.  We filled another mug with ice-cold water.  Heat can be measured with a thermometer.  It was fun putting the thermometer in the hot water and watching the red line shoot up!  Our water was very, very hot!  It was over 140 degrees Fahrenheit!  If you do this experiment, please be careful not to get burned. Once we recorded the temperature of th...

We are nearing the end of Calvert 1st grade, so we decided to knock out the last two chapters in our science book with a dedicated Science Week!  On day one we explored position and force .  See also  Day 3 ,  Day 4 , and  Day 5 . Welcome to our second day of Science Week!  Today we investigated simple machines and magnets .  A simple machine is a tool that can make it easier to move things. First we tried to lift a textbook with one finger, but it was too heavy!  So we built a simple machine using a marker, a ruler, and some masking tape. First, tape a marker to the table. Second, balance the ruler on the marker. Third, place one end of the lever (ruler) under the textbook. We learned that lever is a bar that balances on a point.  Our ruler became a lever by balancing on the marker.  We were able to lit the heavy textbook with one finger using the help of the lever! Next Miss M tried to pick up and carry a hea...