Monthly Archive: October 2012

Power Finally Restored to Us… But Not For My Folks in NJ; How You Can Help Storm Victims 2

Power Finally Restored to Us… But Not For My Folks in NJ; How You Can Help Storm Victims

We had two days without power (heat, water or septic), but with all the preparations we had made (four huge storage tubs filled with water, two huge bags of ice in an ice chest to keep milk and stuff cold), we were able to treat it more like a camping trip and adventure for the kids. We pulled out the camping stove for coffee and heating up our meals (out...

The Hurricane Really Affects Our Area 0

The Hurricane Really Affects Our Area

The storm is really building up and gusts are expected to reach more than 70 or 80 mph here. As many of you know everything from the New York Stock Exchange to the Federal Government have shut down. All the public schools in our area are closed both today (Monday, as I write this) and tomorrow (Tuesday, when this will post). Already more than 10,000 people are without power in...

Bracing for Hurricane Sandy and Our School Plans for the Week 0

Bracing for Hurricane Sandy and Our School Plans for the Week

Like almost everyone on the East coast, we are getting ready for Sandy. My folks who live in central New Jersey got a call from their township that said,  “be prepared to live without electricity for two weeks…” The center of the storm looks like it will pass right over their house! We live nestled down in the woods so the most minor storm almost always causes our power to...

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Homemade Candy Corn Recipe

When we lived in Australia, we couldn’t buy candy corn. I looked around for a recipe and found something online that has worked well. Now it’s become our family tradition to make our own candy corn each fall! Here’s how we made it: We put these 3 ingredients in a saucepan: 1/2 cup sugar 1/3 cup corn syrup 2 1/2 Tablespoons butter As soon as I turned the stove on...

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Counting Halloween Kitties

ED is really enjoying those color in the bar-graph activities… so here are a few more, this time with Halloween kitties. I have them in her workbox and she can work on them when she’s interested (often when the other two are working on their math). I’m really enjoying the computer drawing pad! 🙂 If you’re interested in these sheets you can download the Counting Halloween Kitties If you missed...

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What Has My Preschooler Been Doing Lately?

I thought it was about time to write a post about how my preschooler spends her day. Free, Unstructured Play First of all, she spends a lot of time playing both indoors and out. Play helps kids learn to control their emotions and behavior. Play allows kids to be creative. It helps them learn discipline, resist impulses and develop resiliency. During make-believe play children engage in ‘private speech.’ They talk to...

Math Dice Game: Mmm Brains 0

Math Dice Game: Mmm Brains

With Halloween right around the corner it seems only fitting that I bring up this game, Mmm Brains. It sounds gruesome, but it’s really just a dice game which requires addition and multiplication.  It brings the kids running, so you can’t beat that, right?! This game has five dice with the numbers 1-5 and a brain on each side.  Then there are lots of counters (red brains=5 and white brains=1)....

Frog Needs a Robotic Leg 2

Mom, We Need a Robotic Leg!

“Huh??  Why do you need a robotic leg?” “Look, the frog lost its leg.  We’ve got to help it!” “I’m not sure just how we’d do that.” “Okay, well, let’s just take it back outside.” And off the three kids went! I’m still chuckling!!

Skeleton Math Riddle (by division, multiplication, addition or numbers) 0

Skeleton Math Riddle (by division, multiplication, addition or numbers)

I made up a quick Halloween math riddle sheet for the kids’ math work this week.  Solve the division problem, find the answer above and write the letter into the box. I also made this for simple multiplication, addition and numbers since I have younger kids as well. If you celebrate Halloween and want to print this off for your kids feel free. Here’s the link: Skeleton Math Riddle (All...

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Suffering With Cold — oops I mean… Halloween Math Sheets (PreK or K)

Because we’re so busy, I often blog a week or so in advance — then shuffle things around as seems appropriate.  But in a way that’s bad because then I feel like I can’t just chit-chat about our homeschooling because there’s a post with a particular theme… hardly fitting for bantering about bad homeschool days or the house-stuff that hasn’t gotten done. So… I’m going to interrupt my own post...

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Night Lights May Not Be Good For You or Your Kids

This isn’t breaking news, but it was new to me.  I’ve been trying to catch up on some reading of a magazine we get called Science News, when an article caught my attention. It said that sleeping in a room with even very dim artificial light such as a night light, computer screen or TV may cause changes in the brain and depression. The results of a study from Ohio State...

Good Viewing This Weekend: Orionid Meteor Shower 1

Good Viewing This Weekend: Orionid Meteor Shower

Don’t forget that on Oct. 21, the annual Orionid meteor shower will hit its peak, offering stargazers a change to see dust from the famed Halley’s Comet light up the night sky. The meteors are debris from this comet that enter Earth’s atmosphere and vaporize as they fall. Experts said that the best viewing will be before dawn on Oct. 20th and before dawn on Oct. 21st. That holds true no...

When Kids Want to Quit 5

When Kids Want to Quit

You’ve bought the supplies, paid the dues, your child starts an activity… only to announce not long after that he doesn’t want to participate. The shoes are too tight, the coach is too mean, the drills are ‘boring,’ it’s just “not fun.” Yes, extracurricular activities can be enriching and rewarding, but sometimes your child wants to quit not long after he’s begun. What’s a parent to do? We’ve handled this...