Antonio's February & March

wanting to sit up

dejavu, anyone?

meeting Abuela

backyard picnic

loved much by big sis

first steps on the beach

my little munchkins

4 month check up with our pediatrician

just hangin around

helping with laundry

shopping is now an outing

some obligatory tummy time

gotta start that reading early!

learning to grasp things from big sis

my little goof

face off

Natalka's Preschool February-March

Let's start with the most difficult lessons anyone ever has to learn - those surrounding death.  Natalka experienced the funeral of her great-grandfather, as well as saying goodbye to our beloved family dog, Bigosia.  In an effort to prepare her with the little time we had, there were books read both on grief and life cycles, specifically in the animal kingdom.  There was also talk about our religious beliefs regarding eternal life.  Very hard lessons, lessons not found in an academic setting, yet so much more important.

Visiting the park where, almost exactly a year ago, she participated in the spreading of her Abuelo Henry's ashes.

Making friends at a cemetery.

Sitting on Abuela's lap at bisabuelo Yeyo's funeral.

Just days after returning from the funeral trip, it was time to say goodbye to our faithful companion.

Covered shivering Bigosia.

Trip to vet before getting the bad news.

Allowed to walk Bigosia all by herself.  

Offering treats for the road.

Saying goodbye.

One thing I've learned through this difficult time is that perspective is everything.  You'll notice the smiles on Natalia's face even as we continued talking about what was happening.  I had to paint Bigosia's last day as somehow special, something Bigosia was looking forward to, being released from her pain and the confines of her broken body, her spirit free to roam the cosmos, at Jesus's side.  There had to be a little creative theology there, but nothing too far from what I believe to be essentially true.

But there were other learning opportunities these two months as well.  The first was a starting point for a religious identity.  Being present at her brother's baptism provided an opportunity to read a few books on Catholicism and start talking about who is and isn't Catholic. 

Hello new Catholic brother ;)

learning about self-regulating her own temperature

texture under the feet, a calming view, so much to take in

found a jellyfish

     

Putting her snowsuit to good use

 Wildly fluctuating temperatures made for some very interesting February outdoor adventures.

Backyard picnic. No food.

Fine motor skills with the clothespins, a helping attitude, and learning that the sun's heat dries our clothes.

Bubbles, always a source of wonder.

Took this photo to show Natalka her uvula after reading about it in a book.

Story time at the library.

Exploring the library computer.

Some new moves on the parallel bars.

The joy of pushing past one's fear! Natalka on a ladder.

 

Found a worm on a walk.

Spanish story time con Papi.

Expressing herself at the dollar store.

Teaching brother to grasp things.

Who is copying whom?  Natalks keen on what gets mom's attention.

Claiming her little brother.

Fine motor skills and a precursor to braiding - twisting yarn.

Not to mention the numerous library books (and books we own) that we read daily.  Our library focus has been zoology, and we've been moving through mammals, birds, reptiles, and currently on amphibians.  Natalia is picking up not only vocabulary to describe what we're learning about the animal kingdom, but also incorporating these newly learned concepts into her play and conversations.  Just this morning, she brough a balloon and talked about having laid an egg.  We talked about what kind of animal she might be (it has to be an animal that actually lays eggs!), and she proceeded to inform me (when I asked what was inside, expecting to hear the name of an animal) that there was yolk inside, so that the baby animal had something to eat to help it grow so it could hatch!  She then opened the curtains to let the sun in because the egg needs heat for the animal to hatch!  

We read and watched videos about air travel as well.  That it'd be noisy.  That her ears might hurt.  What she can expect to see out the window.  How to answer if someone asks her with whom she's traveling or what her full name is. That kind of thing.

Waiting for her plane.

Sitting in her own big chair on the plane.  Playing with the "just-in-case" travel pouch we prepared for her should she get separated from Daddy.

I also wanted to add the various social situations that Natalka has had, but I didn't want to go through the photos documenting these encounters due to privacy issues.  She played with six kids at Antonio's baptism, a little girl cousin she just met at her great-grandfather's funeral, whatever kids we run into at the library, at the playground, or at church, and the regular playdates that she has with several friends.  And that's just her peers.  More importantly, she's interacted with her grandparents, an aunt, cousins, and friends of her parents.  What's more, she finally agreed to go to a children's "class/childcare" during a church event, and not only did she go willingly, she was eager to return. 

Something else that isn't evident from these photos is her continued multilingual growth.  I mentioned her growing English vocabulary from library books, but the show Little Einsteins also helps in this regard.  We finally found it in Spanish, so she's started watching it in Spanish as well.  You can see one of the photos depicting Spanish storytime as well.  Signing likewise is used regularly, and I try to keep up by watching the Signing Time videos with her at least once.

What I've learned from these two months is that there are seasons for everything, and that there is no need to try to squeeze every "subject" into every month.  While we are taking an unschooling approach for the time being, and I am enjoying seeing how much there is to be learned without curricula or lesson plans, I'd be remiss to say that I will stick with unschooling for the long haul.  One reason for unschooling right now is that I agree with what I'm reading about "delayed academics", or more accurately, about not imposing premature academics on a child.  Charlotte Mason, I haven't forgotten about you ;)

Preschool Week 7

Outside Time

We grab what we can in regards to outside time.  We are certainly not outdoorsy people at this point, at least I'm not, but I try to celebrate every occasion we have to be outside.

Getting a jalapeno plant for daddy's dinner.

Observing moss and tree roots.

Watching a far off bird soaring.

Watering our pine trees.

We made a rainbow!

Language Arts 

Tea time!
I've started our version of tea time during breakfast to help encourage Natalia to stay at the table and feed herself, as this has become a daily struggle for us.  I collected all the books that have poetry I can see us using later on for copywork and memorization, and I've started reading from them during breakfast.  Below, we had breakfast outside, and we read a fantastic book in Polish that was all in rhyme, with wonderful illustrations, and lessons in geography as well as some character formation.

Social Experiences

In addition to her weekly Skype session with my mom, the biggest socializing took place at the end of the week, during Daddy's birthday party.  Natalia was a champ, and has confirmed my suspicions that she is an extrovert, meaning she is energized by being around other people.  She met a ton of new people, and enjoyed spending time with some friends as well as family.

 


Nature Study

Growing cucumbers!  I bought a little kit at the dollar store and we prepped the soil and I had her push in the seeds and water them.  We essentially put it into a mini green house (closed plastic bag) and set it on her windowsill, where it's getting plenty of sunlight.  To our surprise, the seeds started to germinate within 48 hours!  Now a week later, there are five tall sprouts that she gets a kick out of checking on every day.  Here's hoping we are able to keep it going and end up at the harvest :)

 

Math

Natalia pointed out the number "0" on her daddy's birthday card.  Unprompted.  We had recently read a numbers book a couple of times that starts with the number zero.  I'm loving how these early math skills are just sufacing on their own! She's got a solid hold on the number "1", pointing out she's got one dog, or there's only one cupcake.  We have been reading another book on numbers as well where we go through and point out on each page how many of some object are on any given page, which combines repetition of the number from that page.

Art & Music Appreciation

We put in a frame a print out of a lovely painting I found on A Well-Trained Heart, and we talked about it a few times.  I'll leave it on a low shelf for another week and then swap out the image. The idea is just to expose her to beauty.  We're not doing artist study per se right now.

We practiced singing the happy birthday song in English, Polish, and a little bit Spanish (it's too long still) in preparation for Daddy's birthday, which was on Friday.

Crafts

We've been neglecting these as I've tried to figure out how to be more deliberate about the types of crafts we'll be doing.  But this week, we made a birthday card for Daddy!

 

She was also surprised by a bouquet of carnations from one of the birthday party guests, so we got to do some flower arranging as well!

Independence

We had a rough day early in the week, and upon reflection, I realized that I need to fill Natalia's love bucket before expecting her to feel comfortable playing independently.  So rather than trying to get through my to-do list first thing in the morning, I've started reading to her during breakfast (while pre-loading her spoon and encouraging her to feed herself - something she's stopped doing a few months ago, presumably a regression in anticipation of becoming a big sister), and then I give her my attention for about an hour before trying to do anything that would require her to entertain herself.

In related news, she's started wanting to go on the toilet more, and I've had to bring out the toilet seat reducer, something I thought we had another year before I'd need.  I still supervise her bc it's a bit flimsy, plus I don't like the idea of giving her free access to the bathroom without supervision for safety reasons (I'm thinking falls, as the cabinets are child-proofed).

ASL

Among the guests at Daddy's birthday party, there were two deaf coworkers.  Not only did Natalia get to see the entire office using sign language, but when one of the deaf coworkers came to say hello, she signed that she remembered him! It blew my mind!

Spanish

Natalia got to practice her Spanish with someone other than Daddy.  She was able to see the usefulness of the language (just like ASL above) outside of just our home, by speaking Spanish with her aunt, uncle, and several cousins.