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Tuesday Tales – 2012 Summer Reading

Posted on July 17, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

The summer months are a beautiful thing for children. It is a time where they are typically more free to select books that they want to read. Rather than being focused on literature that a teacher like I used to select, they can pick items that hit their unique interests.

JSL is not reading on his own just yet, so we have spent a lot of time reading together. He still likes to pick out an occasional picture book, but the Magic Tree House books have become a new favorite. He loves learning where Jack and Annie are going to head next. I love that he helps me read the books, guess outcomes, and retell the story and details when finished reading. Here’s a little fun video that I captured the other night when JSL helped me read his favorite part.

The educational value in the series is huge, while telling a great story with two believable characters. Since JSL ended preschool about a month ago, we have read 24 of the books. We started reading about half a book a day. Then, he begged me to finish off the books. In about 45 minutes before bed, we can go off on an adventure in the Magic Tree House to places near and far, and often very long ago.

Last summer, NHL was busy reading the A to Z Mystery series. They helped him to get rid of the chapter book phobia. This year, he is catching up on some of the last Magic Tree House books. As a gift for the end of third grade, I also bought him the book on the left. Looks funny doesn’t it?

Thanks to his love for all things Muppets, and a very unique writing style from Kirk Scroggs, he quickly read Tales of a Sixth-Grade Muppet. Listening to him laugh made me add this to my list of must reads. I will be ordering the second book and soon to be released third book shortly. I hope that NHL will also do a video review of the book for me shortly.

In addition to this, TechyDad and NHL are reading a book together. The boys had never read any of the Harry Potter series. (I read them all years ago.) TechyDad has seen all of the movies, and NHL has seen the first two films. Now, the two of them are almost half way done with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

We have told NHL that to continue on with the movies, he must first read the books. TechyDad and I feel that the level of darkness rises up a lot from the second to third movie.

What are you and your family reading this summer? What have you read recently? Please be sure to link up to your book posts in the comments below. Include something you read on your own, with a child, or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.

Disclosure: One Amazon affiliate link is included and should you purchase the book mentioned I will receive a small percentage from the sale. As always, all opinions are my own.

Categories:
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Making Sand Art Cards

Posted on July 14, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

The two of you adore making crafts. With a smaller house, it is sometimes hard to get into more elaborate items in our space. Last summer, we spent a lot of time at Michaels for their passport art program. One of our favorites was the sand art (Tibetan sand paintings) for China. This year, the library had a sign up for a Sand Card Art activity run by the Scotia-Glenville Traveling Children’s Museum.

When we walked into the room, everything was set up. This is what you both found on the table that we sat at:

Each of the tables around the room were set up the same way. There were items to trace, pencils, scissors, cardboard for glue, glue, q-tips to use with the glue, and cards to design. Then, in the front of the room, there was a table that had a table cloth strategically set up on it.

One of the librarians introduced the nice woman from the museum who explained the steps in making the sand art. She also showed everyone some card examples. Once she was done, it was time to get to creating. Both of you wanted to make a dinosaur, so you began with that.

After the dinosaur, you both created some other items and it was fun to watch. NHL, you wanted to make the scar that is on Harry Potter along with his name. JSL you did more modern art and mixed sand color technique.

One other thing that I noticed was the table where the sand had been sitting at the start. The sand colors on the table cloth were just fascinating to look at themselves.

Although it was hard to keep up with both of you at the same time, it really was a lot of fun. I can not wait to head to more events over the rest of the summer with you. Oh and perhaps we will get some supplies to try sand art for the holidays.

Love,

P.S. A huge thank you to the libraries in the area for hosting such amazing programs for the kids over the summer. Your patience and smiles are greatly appreciated.

Categories:
arts and crafts Dear Kid Saturday fun jsl local event messy nhl photos summer

2012 School Supply List – Grade 4

Posted on July 9, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

If you have been to Target, Walmart, Staples, or pretty much any other retailer recently, you would see a trend. Back to school aisles and sections are popping up and have been since late June. This is especially alarming in New York State, where most children and teachers are in classrooms through June 22.

As someone who used to have a classroom of her own, I remember sitting with the ads making a list of what sales I wanted to get to for my room supplies. Now, I sit here as the parent of a soon to be fourth grader and kindergartener. As of today, I only have a school supply list for NHL who is going into the fourth grade in September.

Showing the list has become a tradition that I have done on my blog since he started school. So here is NHL’s list for the 2012-2013 academic year:

2 Black and White Composition Notebooks
Red, Green, Yellow, Purple, and Blue Composition Notebooks
Red, Green, Yellow, Purple, and Blue Poly Folders
Take home folder
2” 3 ring binder
Wide rule paper (will keep supplying throughout the year)
Pencils (no specific number mentioned)
Erasers
Scissors
Ruler
2 Highlighters
Colored markers, 24 box of crayons/pencils
Pencil Pouch
Glue Sticks (no number again)
2 Boxes of Tissues
2 Rolls of Paper Towels
1 Box of Wipes
2 Dry Erase Markers
1 Clean/old sock
1 Bic four-color Pen
$$ for classroom magazine and agenda book

Like last year, the kids are starting to color code by subjects as they get closer to middle school. This is a smart move that will help them to become more aware and responsible. Everything looks relatively typical in the scheme of things. I am very intrigued to see how they utilize the binder since that is new to fourth grade.

My first step will be to raid my classroom boxes like the one above. I know we will not need to buy pencils, glue sticks, highlighters, or erasers. NHL’s scissors, ruler, and pencil pouch still look like they are brand new and will be recycled as well. Update since I started drafting this post: I went to Staples and Target and began shopping. There are some great deals out there and I wish I had the list for the kindergarten kiddo.

I will definitely be watching the sales flyers to get the composition notebooks, folders, and coloring supplies. As I have stated before, I am a Crayola snob. Sure the other brands are cheaper at the start, but they do not last nearly as well. I learned this one the hard way in my own classroom.

So what are on your school supply lists? Have you found any really great sales yet? Please share below. The teacher in me is always a geek when it comes to school supplies.

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Looking Back at Grandparents

Posted on July 8, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

My boys are very lucky to have all four of their grandparents living relatively close to us. They typically see Nana and Papa several times a week. They have also gone with us to Walt Disney World twice. Since TechyDad’s parents live several hours away, the boys do not see Bubbe and Grandpa as much during the winter months.

Growing up, all of my grandparents lived in the same city. I have so many memories of going to my Nana and Papa’s house as a child. They had a giant in-ground pool. We would often walk to their house with neighborhood children to spend hours in the pool, eat watermelon, BBQ, or just hang out until it was time to swim again.

I really need to find some of photos that we have from the times spent there with family and friends. So many amazing memories that I want to share with all of the boys. TechyDad never met either of them and I want to let them know more about the people that they are named for.

We also spent a lot of time with my Mimi and Poppy. They lived close to us as well. I remember the swing set that was in their old house, playing with their dog Snoopy, and having countless Shabbat dinners with them. TechyDad was able to get to know Mimi and Poppy. A few months after we were married, I remember heading up to Saratoga to the track with my parents, Mimi, and Poppy. We had an amazing time in the sun. We were able to relax, enjoy the time together, and watch the horses.

When NHL was born, he had three great grandparents. Jason’s grandmother, along with Mimi and Poppy were important parts of his life. As the first great grandchild for all of them, we made sure he visited them often. NHL still recalls going to see Poppy at the nursing home where they would eat Dunkin Donuts and ice cream together. JSL met Great Grandma a few times before she passed away, but never met Poppy. Instead he proudly carries on his name. I smile each day knowing that the boys are named for Nana, Papa, Poppy, and Jason’s grandfather.

Today we will be spending time with Mimi. She is a special part of our lives. The kids adore being with her whenever possible. She honestly spoils them, but that’s what great grandparents are for. I know today we will be making more memories together that the boys and I will always cherish.

P.S. Mimi – this post was not meant to make you cry (though I am sitting here with tears in my eyes as I type). I know you read this and wanted to do something special since I just found a lot of great photos from years ago.

Categories:
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Making Wind Chimes

Posted on July 7, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL & JSL,

This week we went to the library for one of their summer projects. They were going to make wind chimes and it was a two part project. We had to sign up for it since they only had supplies for so many people.

When we arrived, all of the supplies for the painting day were set out for project. You had paint brushes and small terra cotta pots. The librarian explained that you would be painting these on the first day. Lots of paint options were set out for people to select from. NHL, you wanted all warm colors. Your selections were red, orange, and yellow. JSL, you immediately wanted blue and then gold. The gold was not working right, so you opted for green and yellow.

It was fun watching your techniques. JSL, you wanted to cover the entire pot in one color and then add some stripes and dots of another. NHL, you were going for a more bold tie-dye effect. Both of you were done rather quickly, so we brought the clay pots to the room for them to dry over the holiday.

Since the next step was VERY time consuming, the librarians helped you out. They had baggies set up with fishing line attached to a bead and the chimes at the end. There were five of these, the clapper (which was missing a string), key ring circle, and latch to hang up your creation.

Both of you had a lot of fun creating all of your beaded sections. While you worked on those, I tied them onto the key ring.

We had to leave the clapper off since it was getting knotted up with the string they had left. Not a big deal since the chimes and beads were producing a nice sound on their own.

Now we just need to figure out where to put the wind chimes. I think we may get some hot glue to make the key ring stay in place. It was a lot of fun to make a new craft with both of you during a summer fun event at our library. I can’t wait to see what we do next time.

Love,