East Kids Nature Project: Leaf Rubbing

Incorporating nature into our lives and our art is a regular activity. And so easy. Just walk outside your door for that "in-season" inspiration you may need. And some much needed exercise / energy release and running around for the kids.

On a recent walk around the block. we collected leaves of various shapes and colors. Then we proceeded to lay them out in my Older Sons particular order....we secured paper by taping it down on all sides of our cardboard, and rub impression onto paper with color crayons and viola!

This was a fairly easy project to put together. It hung in our front window after we admired it an talked about the interesting "veins" and patterns the leaves made.

Here he is just starting out the rubbing. It was a quick project to get thru, once he picked his colors he was done in 15 minutes or so.

Areyousureaboutthatblog Older Son Picking his Color Scheme

Areyousureaboutthatblog Color Scheme and Variations on the Leaf Details

Areyousureaboutthatblog Close Up of the Leaf Veins and Detail

Nature Project: Leaf Rubbing

Level of Difficulty: EASY

Time: Collecting leaves, may vary. Not including getting coats and shoes on a few minutes. More selective kids may explore the leaves longer, being VERY specific about shapes and colors. That's part of the fun, so don't rush the to pick out there leaves and quickly get to coloring. The outdoor exploring is just as vital!


What You Need:

• Bring Enthusiasm!!
• Leaves, easily collected on a walk through your neighborhood, or around the block.
• Paper, white works well
• Hard surface. Place leaves on the floor and then tape paper over it - watch out for coloring over the edges. If the floor is hard wood, or tiled, the "edges" or flooring detail may poke thru the rubbing effect / might be pretty cool!!
• Crayons, preferably with paper removed slightly or completely. When rubbing or "coloring" just using the crayon tips, less of the leaf detail comes through.

Questions to ask during the project:

When Outside Collecting Leaves - explain the project "We are going to collect some leaves. We want big ones, and little ones, and as many colors as we can find. Then we are going to do a neat magic trick and copy the leaves onto paper using our crayons. It will be amazing!"

Just conversation starters.... don't grill you child with these questions, engage them in conversation!

What color leaves did you find?
Is this a red leaf?
I wonder why the leaves are changing their colors from green to...yellow, red, etc.?
Is that leaf bigger then your foot?
Gee, good thing the leaves are on the ground, so we don't have to climb a tree to get them...why ARE Those leaves on the ground?

At Home:

Layout the project, encourage your child to pick which leaves and allow them to layout out as many or as few as they'd like to prepare for the rubbing. Their is no "right way."

Then tell them it's the "adults part of the job to do" - taping the paper down.

What colors will you pick to rub over your leaves?
What do you think will see when you start to color?
What are those lines on the paper from?
Looks like magic, the leaves are coming thru the paper...
Which one is your favorite leaf rub?
Why do you like it?....(again there are no "right" answers)


Enjoy your quality time together. This quick project will leaf memories for months to come.

The Days are Long, the Years are Short.

Make Mistakes, Breath, Reflect and Laugh.Out.Loud.

Paper Chain Links Project to Help "Count Down" our Return

My husband and I are going on a Once on a Lifetime trip Overseas. I am having major anxiety at the idea of being away from my kids for two weeks. Especially considering I haven't been away from them longer then 1 to 2 nights!! So to help them cope with missing us we are making a "Count the Days" paper link chain. I don't know yet what will help me cope with missing them?

We kept this project super simple, so we don't drag out the longing and missing that will be going on. We kept it positive and used the crafting time to talk about our feelings and the fun things they will be doing at grandmas house.

What you need:

-scrap paper, we used colorful construction paper
-kids scissors, one per child
-markers and crayons
-a ruler
-a pencil
- a glue stick

Mom used the ruler to draw out straight lines on the long side of the paper - roughly 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch wide pieces. Each child would get a piece and start cutting along the line. My 7 year old son showed me his "creative wave cuts" he learned in art class. The 4 year old cut the same wave lines, however unintentional.

areyousureaboutthatblog.blogspot.com cutting our paper strips

areyousureaboutthatblog.blogspot.com cutting our paper strips

Then my oldest and I wrote "messages" to each other and the things as dictated by my younger son. They each colored "art" onto 1-2 strips as well.

areyousureaboutthatblog.blogspot.com writing our messages

Last we glued the paper strips into loops with the words facing out. Then I explained to the boys that Each day we are away from them they will rip off one loop and read the message.
 
*Little MATH BONUS *:
- We needed to count on the calendar how many links, or many days, mom and dad will be away.
- Then we started cutting the strips, and half way thru cutting, we "guesstimated how many more we would need."
- I explained that after they rip off one link, they can "count how many days are left until mom and dad return from their trip."
- Another math bonus is the kids started measuring the length of the chain compared to their height.

Areyousureaboutthatblog.blogspot.com starting to measure our Paper Chain

- Then we estimated how many links it would take to get to their respective heights. It was a wonderful sidebar of learning.

What my kids don't know is I included a fun activity message in two of the strips to encourage they (and grandma) have some extra fun. One strip has a "nature scavenger hunt" (inspired from Pinterest) activity paper clipped in and the other tells them to use there glow sticks that night.

Some of our messages/reminders to each other and include:

"I wonder if mom bought my Japanese Fan and Sumo Wrestler toy yet?"
"Baby girl, don't pull your brothers hair!"
"Mom, we love you!"
"Go on a Nature Scavenger Hunt! Mom included your checklist."
"We probably miss our Babcia and Ciocia at home, let's call them and see how they are doing."
"Mom and Dad Love you and Miss You Bunches! We can't wait to see you soon!"
"Go to the beach today. And if you did already/did that yesterday, then go eat ice cream instead."

Areyousureaboutthatblog.blogspot.com Surprisingly a wonderful coincidence,
the Paper Chain is as tall as my young son.

I am certain we will all enjoy our time away from each other. And I will certainly enjoy returning home to my darling kids. In the meantime, I think this Paper Chain will keep them remembering a fun project with mom!

 

"The Days are Long, the Years are Short."

Downton Abby: 100 years later, are we an upstairs or downstairs society?

As I watched the last episode of Season 3 Downton Abby last night I started to think, after all these years what's become of our status in society? Who would I have been in the Downton Abbey era? As its incinuated in the show that The Era of the Abbeys won't last much longer. Technology and "modern ways" were taking over, and generations of aristocratic rule were falling by the wayside. So what becomes of the people in the "new times?" Are we living as the upstairs family would have or continuing in life as the service staff would?

Downton Abbey, the Family leads and Service follows

So I started to reflect on my own life. Interestingly enough I'm a daughter of real European aristocrat,  my father and my mom who is from a small village. Granted my parents met here in the United States, and most likely would not have met in their native homeland of Poland. As I was growing up my mother always made it a point that I knew my manners, as did my father. It seemed though that my father pushed away from the family rituals and behavior, and he was not close with his family. But my mother embraced all of the etiquette, formality and properness of it all. Even tho she grew up in a village, her Grandmother was a seamstress, and we think that her Grandmother passed down the importance of dressing well and "for the occasion." Education was important in the home as was "doing well" and "being successful" in whatever you do. She was a woman who understood the quality of fine materials. So ingrained in my mom was dressing well, appropriate for the occasion, and so on,...so she wasnt presented as a "peasent" when she met my dad - and here in the U.S. they were no longer "worlds apart."

Downton Abbey, the Upstairs Family leisurely enjoying news by the fire. 

As you can tell from reading this blog, I feel that manners and etiquette are very important. I'm constantly calling for my boys as "gentlemen, come here," but sometimes I do call for them in Polish slang term for "boys" similarly to the village people. So I guess I show I am a blend of both worlds.

Downton Abbey - downstairs, servant dinner time

Watching Downton Abby has given me so much insight into my father's world. What his parents had to lose after World War II, and what he had to relearn how to live in simplicity when he came to this country. (Instead of following his degree as a physicist, he chose to repair cameras his whole life making less than $25,000 a year. Clearly not the lifestyle he grew up with.) But one thing my father definitely maintained, was the joy and fun in his humor and wit. I would say he's an extremely witty man never answering the question directly, similarly as the Lady Dowager does, always side barring and having just the right answer, just the right way of handling things, when he wasn't being mean to someone of course.

Downton Abbey - Lady Dowager "Vulgarity is no substitute for Wit!"

So now that I have a better understanding of where aristocratic father came from, what does that tell about me? Which side did I end up on? As a mom I'm certainly doing the work of the service people. Laundry, dishes, cooking all our meals, dirty diapers, being a "wet mother" since we're still nursing baby girl, ha ha. And I spend more than one hour every day with my children, unlike the Dowager. This would definitely be the life of service. Thank God for technology, at least I have a dishwasher to be my first assistant / Daisy in the kitchen.

On the other hand my Husband and I have a higher education through to university, we've really taken a lot of love to have a beautiful home, with a wonderful landscape. We take daily walks, love books in our library at home, and have elegant fancy dinners with our family and friends often.

So am I a woman of the upper-class, who has learned how to do menial tasks, and take care of young children? Or am I a woman of service was increased her status to own a home, yet still do menial tasks and take care of children?

I guess it's easier to leave this question unanswered? It can sound extremely arrogant to say because I have an education it gives me an upper hand on those that don't? I don't think I fall in the middle either? If there is a middle? Does an education still raise us up in class? Improve handling life's issues?

But that's not to say that the head housemaid Mrs. Hughes or the head Butler Carson would not handled things wonderfully and they were in service and didn't have a higher education.

The only other thing that I have that is clearly reminiscent of the aristocratic society, is my wit. I often don't answer questions directly and instead will have some very cunning and smart remark that will neither offensed the person but it will sort of "put them in their place."

Where does this leave us? I have to say I really don't know. I didn't dabble in the finances aspect because obviously I don't want to talk about my financial situation on the Internet. But that definitely is a factor to consider if you live "check to check" or if you have something to "fall back on," that'll tell you a little bit about where we've gotten to land socially.

It's two days after writing this post: I'm in the kitchen grabbing our snacks for our outing - my eldest comes in, he's thirsty. The four year old needs me to wipe his booty, and baby girl just picked up yet another Lego for her snack / teething aid!! Can't we just leave? No, the chauffer (that's me too) needs to fetch her keys.

My conclusion: while at heart I am definitely an aristocrat and a well rounded, educated, and well dressed social lady, I'm definitely a downstairs maid / nanny who's been promoted to homeowner and mom. Thus I call myself the "Family Manager." A little education, a little free time, and lots and lots of chores!!


Make Mistakes. Breath, Reflect. and Laugh.Out.Loud

The Problem with Being the Youngest in the Class

I recently watched a dateline episode on "Red Shirting." Parents who intentionally hold their kids back a year in school so they have an advantage in sports an academics.

Which spurred yet another repeat of the conversation at home: should we hold our son - the youngest in the class - back a school year. In theory his grades, and overall school progress would improve, but would he benefit from it?

My oldest son is an August baby. Fabulous and easy fun in the sun birthday party joy, compared to my other two winter babies. We have a few friends in the yard and in the baby swim pool = a done and done party. School selection and deciding whether or not to hold him back since he'd be "THE youngest" in the class = ??? Errr Hugh ummmm??

I wasn't familiar with the term "Red Shirting" or even considering holding my son back due to his age. Nor did I know that IS an option.

The same scenario continued in First and Second Grade. And this year, mid-year in second grade we considered (well discussed) holding him back, possibly repeating the class. The teacher brought to us some of her concerns of his slow progress in reading and math. That is a parent teacher post that - if this subject resonates with you - please read here... Because in some cases, it could be a teacher dynamic that's part of the problem!

Here are some things to consider before holding your child back a school year: (BTW, an Update to our story is here...)

Let's Consider:

-- Let kids grow and learn at their own pace.

-- When I told my mom my concern Older Son wasn't writing well. She shared with me that in Poland children did not start writing until second grade around age 7 or 8. However they knew how to tie their shoes and they knew all the preschool songs in those early years. Sometimes our priorities change, and that's what were living through in our generation. The education system is changing and priorities are reading and writing, in preschool even!!

-- Some of the kids and my sons class are a whole two or three years older than he is. Now in the second grade there are some boys that are just towering over him. He is age 7 and some of those kids will be turning age 10 before the end of the school year. To me I don't want him being the biggest boy in class because in fourth and fifth grade because then his friends will tease him the opposite direction "why are you here" & "why are you in the next grade?"

-- It's a fact of life, schools have to measure, they have to evaluate, and one way to do that is by comparing the students even though they're not supposed to and they just supposed to look at the students and individual capacity. But when you have nine-year-old in a majority seven and eight-year-old class they throw off the curve. Clearly they're gonna do things better and quicker in class. So that's another big factor to re-considering when the teacher says "he's not keeping up with the class," well how was he doing in HIS own abilities. I Always tell my kids "do your very best."

These aren't excuses, these are facts of life. And they're all things that we need to consider when evaluating how well her children are doing in school. So I'm always going to remember these factors when I sit down and talk with the teacher.

Let's Remember Every Year with the Next New-To-Me Teachers:

-- He does have to do the work, he does have to do well. It might take him a little longer to get a concept, and we might have to do a little bit of extra work at home, in order to really learn what's being done in school. In our case we've observed is at a learning curve of about a half year, by the mid-school year he's back on pace with the class. Because of his age.

-- We don't want our son to lose his true curiosity and "love of learning." If we move him back a year and retain him and keep him to be maybe more within the middle of (age) the pack, instead of the youngest in the class, we don't want him to lose his hunger for learning. We don't want him basically to be bored in class. And we saw those "older kids" in class thru the later years have major issues in class frequently disrupting, not sitting in their seats, they are bored out of their minds with the content. That's another big reason for us.

What we've lived through:

In first grade teasing by some of the older kids was quite a big issue. He didn't know how to handle those situations. Read our big boy post here. And I'm finding as I observed the children playing that bigger kids do tend to pick on younger kids, just because they can. So that's a quite a bit of work and resolution and mentoring our son to let them know that sometimes kids are just mean.

-- Also on younger kids in class emotional development is lagged. Along the lines of teasing comes some emotional development factors that play a role in the class. Being the youngest means sometimes you can't handle things as well as the other kids, you get tired faster during the day. My son was still napping after half-day kindergarten at age 5. It's just something that's a part of who he is. My second son doesn't nap during the day as often as my older one did and he doesn't ask for it the way the older one did. Each child's different and unique and that needs to be taken into consideration, including their emotional development. (My oldest sons in second grade now and at pick up I still witness some total tantrums and meltdowns by his classmates. So the emotional component with boys can't be ignored. I can't stress enough how labeling emotions (helping him process his feelings) helps to get us through being the youngest in the class. Read more here.)

Update: End of the School Year

So where are we now? It's the end of the Year, we have completed second grade, and my son is doing ridiculously well. Everything except penmanship. Penmanship has significantly improved. But by no means is he a calligrapher. Our standard is that the "teacher has to be able to read the work." It has to be clear and legible enough that she can see if it's a number nine or a four? We're working on the new standards-based report card so he is getting all two's, mostly three's. And on his science and social studies test he's getting that "going beyond" question and four's on the test. This compared to the beginning of the year which was mostly one's and some two's when he came to comprehension. (I was also super stressed about his grades at the beginning of the year.)

One more quick item, my son is pretty intelligent. He's a problem solver. When issues arise in class you could see his little wheels turning in his brain on how to fix the problem. He has tremendous knowledge of animals their habitats and their species. Uses scientific words correctly as well. So you can tell a little bit of the type of household we run by this information.

That's another big factor in our decision WHY I'm not "holding them back" a grade. He gets "it (insert subject here)." He gets the concepts in class & he gets the schoolwork to be completed. Our school uses the basal system, so there studies are all based on worksheets and after a few months are BORINNNNNG !!! Yeah I hate to say it, some factors of school are boring, including some issues we had with the teacher. See the post here about his teacher. But he still needs to do well in school!!

So remember as a parent don't be quick to jump to conclusions. Sit down talk it out with your spouse, partner or trusted family members and friends. Get perspectives from other people before you make a decision. Because schools serve the majority. They want students to go with the flow and not be needing any special attention or added needs. Schools will want to push you into what's best for them and what's easiest for the teachers, Not necessarily what's best for the child. I hate to say that but it's just true. And it's not a criticism of schools, how would a school operate if they didn't have standards for kids to follow, nothing would get done. So just remember advocate for yourself. And your child.

An Update to this story is here.

"The days are long, the years are short"

 Make Mistakes. Breathe, reflect, revise. And Laugh.Out.Loud.

Our Family Routine for the School Year, Age 7, 3, and 6 months

Every mom says: I can't believe my baby is already in (my case) second grade! He's seven, where did the time go? Not long ago it was me and him at home, still napping three times a day. We were a family of three, now we are five...

It's a ROUTINE,...not a schedule that keeps us sane!

I still believe strongly in keeping a "routine" to help keep our sanity at home... Otherwise I find that nothing gets done - nada! You will notice that there are some tasks here that my kids do alone - because over the summer and thru the years I taught them to take care of on their own:

--get dressed, underwear, shirts, pants. The clothes for the day is laid out the night before (together with mom for my youngest son, but the older one can do it on his own now) in their rooms so we know what to wear.

--use the bathroom, brush and rinse their teeth, Comb their hair with a wet comb (to take down those little sticking up-out hairs).

-- put on socks and shoes, get on their sweater if needed.

-- in the car they can open their door and put on their seatbelts/ car straps and mom asks: "seatbelt check?" and they reply "check" -- I of course lock in the baby and check the 3 year old belts before we leave. My 7 year old can clearly tell me if he needs a minute more.

I am trying to keep us on a nice schedule with back to school. We started this one week prior to school starting so we could adjust our "summer" internal body clock.

A little reflection from my "Toddler Schedule Post" - You learn as you go

My older son is now 7, and I have come to realize some mistakes I've made in raising him.

When I wrote the blog below on a schedule for toddlers, I was very proud of the fact that I limited his TV tube time. He actually didn't watch any TV or kids videos until he was almost 3. This was before iPhone an IPad too. And now I realize that was a big mistake.

Our youngest son did get some TV before age 2, mostly watching along side his brothers TV/tube time. So the youngest had early exposure to television.

Nowadays when my kids do get to watch TV for Friday movie night or cartoons on Saturday morning, the older one is completely plugged in (or zoned out). While the 3 year old can tune in and out to come get a drink from the kitchen and even gets bored with the shows.

If I had to do it all again, I'd follow our new routine. After we drop off the older one at school, my younger kids get 1 (one) hour of TV in the morning (which is public television cartoons like sesame street) without those commercials that are so awesome for kids who react with "I want that!" This way the kids get to relax and enjoy some TV time before we move on with our daily activities. There is still almost no TV during the school week for the older one, except one 1/2 hour program (our play on the iPad) after homework and responsibilities are complete.

Kids new that time to unwind, or wake up. And just like adults need to zone out sometimes, so do kids.


We get up at 7:00 am. (we may need to move this up 15 minutes)

The baby gets to sleep in. The boys get dressed, mom too. The three year old sometimes stays in his PJs depending on if we are going grocery shopping (Tuesdays) right after drop off. Use the bathroom, brush teeth, check short hair is not sticking out, up, sideways and head downstairs.

Breakfast at 7:15

We eat breakfast. Usually we start with a cup (ceramic! see why here) with 50/50 juice & water or milk. We eat either: toast with jam and sliced fruit. Or cereal and kefir yogurt to drink. Sometimes eggs with some veggie in them and topped with cheese. You get the idea, its quick but freshly made. Meanwhile I make and pack the lunch, sometimes a quesadilla taken in slices in the thermos so the stay warm. The stainless steel interior thermos is warmed by putting boiling water inside or running hot tap water in it, then wiped off.

I have a stack of homemade lunch notes that I pick from for the lunch bag. Im gonna send these until my kid is sick of me! Lunch note goes in.

By 7:30-ish am we get ready to leave for school.

Boys get there shoes on and my second grader grabs his lunch bag & backpack (from the hook) and double checks he has his forms/ homework/ etc for the day.

Mom heads back upstairs to wake The baby. I get her in a new diaper, leave on the PJs and we are ready to leave.

Out the door by 7:40 am.

Drive My older son to school and come back.

8:30 am

Get the rest of breakfast or juice for my little boy and nurse/feed the baby and get my coffee and juice (fresh juiced veggies and fruits). Watch a little cartoons with the 3 year old and baby girl nurses to a nap.

10:00 am

Baby girl nurses to nap. Read a book or do an activity with 3 year old.

Baby wakes up at 11:00 or so.

Go for a Walk, or hit the park with babies bottle and lunch. Baby girl is getting some solids with us.

12: noon

Put both kids down for a nap in mommies bed. I nurse the baby and read books to the other. I have a long thin pillow that goes next to the boy so he doesn't roll over on baby. If I'm exhausted I'll nap with them.

1:30-2:00 pm or so.

Wake up time. Sometimes they'll wake up on their own or I wake them up bu uncovering them. The hangs in temperature is a more natural way to wake up & I feel I have less cranky kids that way. Everyone has a quick snack and we head out to Pik up my older son from school.

2:30 pm Pick up from school.

We are home by 3:15-3:30 so I prepare the Snack for them, change to play clothes, play a little and then homework time.

Meanwhile moms in the kitchen making dinner preparations. My younger son has his preschool activity books to do his "homework" too. Ill feed the baby at the table with the boys. Can you say multitasking. When baby gets a little older i know ill do lunch/dinner preparations during the noon nap time.

5:00 pm

Hit the yard, park or any outside time!! When baby girl was really young id have to Usually sit and Nurse her or have to hold her the rest of the night. Luckily its a good time for the boys to run and play. I still nurse her or give her some solids while the boys play.

Dinner time 6:00-6:30.

We might squeeze in a cartoon before dinner, wash hands and eat at the table.

7:30 pm

if it's bath night/or wash face hands teeth and off to bed. The boys often join us in bed for some books and we let them fall asleep in our bed. Baby also nurses to sleep. Luckily while the playlist runs mommy - who's attached to baby - gets to be on pinterest, facebooks, etc... A little my tube time.

Ill move the boys back to their beds and head back downstairs.

Moms bedtime & the next feeding:
By 10:00 pm

Baby will sometimes take 2 ounces in a bottle other times she'll just nurse.

Baby still wake up and nurse one or two times then she will wake up at 4:am and take another two ounces in the bottle. Almost sleeping thru to the morning.

And then we start the day all over again.