My "Notebook" - Organize Life With a Binder(s)

Getting organized can be done in many ways. There isn't just one right way to go about this. I have discovered the use of a binder (or binders) with dividers. There are just too many aspects of life for me to keep track of on my own, so I end up writing things down. The only problem with writing things down is that I often don't look at what I wrote. However, with a binder filled with all my schedules and lists and planners, I am sure to keep refering back to it again and again.
















My "Notebook" is a work in progress, but so far, I have included the following:
Family
• Personal Information for each child (Developmental Toys and materials, extra curricular activities…)
• Clothing Size Tracker
• Master Occassions (Birthdays, Anniversaries….)
• Gift Ideas List
• Birthday Party Ideas
• Recommended Websites
• Movies to Watch
• Books to Read
• Library Information
• Craft Queue and Progress
• Holiday Planner

School
• Weekly Planner for each child
• Reading List
• Summer Programs Information

Home
• Monthly Cleaning Schedule
• Home Inventory
• Home Improvement/Decorating Ideas
• Car Maintenance /Schedule

Meals
• Weekly Schedule
• Shopping List

Finance
• Spending Record
• Bills to Pay
• Credit Card List












There are so many other subjects and categories that are important to every individual life. This list is not a full reference list of what one should have in their “Notebook” if they so choose to start one, but it is a great start. I have yet to expand on mine listed here, but at least now I feel like I am much more in control of my life. :)

Nutrition Lessons - Part II

The kids were getting bored of the original setup of the living room shelf, which is to be expected. So, I decided to change it to the parallel of our theme (or one of them): Nutrition. We have tons of wooden and felted food, so I decided to decorate the shelves with yummy and nutritious food. In addition, Lynx's human body puzzle is placed in the mix, just in case Jaguar gets interested in our parts and bodily functions (he was today at Bobcat's doctor appointment). There is a healthy veggies and fruits ABC book atop the shelf. There is also a wooden vegetable puzzle down below.

As I mentioned previously, I was going to be taking the food advertisement cut-outs to utilize them for a food pyramid. Jaguar took each of the cut-outs and decided what food group they each fell into, and then he pasted them in place.


Jaguar took his Melissa & Doug pizza making set and sorted the toppings. There are 3: mushrooms, peppers, and pepperoni. He organized them into 3 bowls. Bobcat did this earlier in the day, but nto quite as thoroughly.

This activity required Jaguar to sort felt food into the 5 main groups: Fruits, Veggies, Grains, Proteins, and Dairy. He enjoyed figuring it out.


The last nutrition-related activity with Jaguar today was the traditional baking of bread. We made a banana walnut bread in the bread maker. It was really tasty, but not as tasty as it could be....I have yet to find a bread maker recipe that I personally recommend. Regardless of the outcome, the process was fun and enriching for Jaguar. :)

Top Holiday Gifts for Baby to Age 12

Baby
~Soft, cuddly animals or dolls, preferably made with a natural material.
~Stackable blocks or rings.
~Short tunnel for crawling practice.
~Soft baby rattle, preferably in an organic material (they are going to be chewing on it).
~Wooden cars or animals with wheels (great concept to learn at this stage).
~Nesting blocks, eggs, dolls, or bowls.
~Balls.
~Knit, crocheted, sewed, felted, or quilted item made especially for the baby in your life.

Toddler
~Wooden Blocks.
~Sandbox.
~Dolls.
~Tricycle.
~ABC Blocks.
~Step Stool.
~Wooden puzzles.
~Hand and finger puppets.
~Dress-up clothing and accessories.
~Variety of shapes of larger wooden building blocks.
~Wooden cars and animals with wheels.
~Books with short sentences. These should be about how things really are in everyday life. It is better to introduce fantasy after age 3, according to Montessori.
~Play toys that simulate real life: Kitchen sets, strollers, tool sets, etc...
~Knit, crocheted, sewed, felted, or quilted item made especially for your little one.


Age 3-6
~Child sized broom and dustpan and mop.
~Child sized kitchenware.
~Child sized gardening tools.
~Books that are a little more intesive. These books can be more imaginative now.
~Simple painting and building kits.
~Molding clay.
~Stencils and other drawing supplies.
~Connectable building sets.
~Art easel and other supplies.
~Wooden lacing dolls and animals.
~Practical life frames, such as lace tying, buttoning, zipping, etc...
~Age level games like checkers.
~Wooden train or car/street set.
~Marbles, jacks, jump rope.
~Again, knit, crocheted, sewed, felted, or quilted item made especially for your preschooler. This can be inspirational to their own interest in crafting.
~Materials for beginning knitting or sewing.
~Musical instruments.
~Dollhouse or treehouse.
~Bicycle.
~Fairly large letters for manipulation.



Age 6-9
~Knitting, sewing, quilting, looming kits and/or materials.
~Art activities.
~Basic pottery-making set.
~Musical instruments.
~Building construction sets.
~More coplex puzzles, like science or map selections
~Wooden puzzles that deal with fractions.
~Age appropriate science sets.
~Gardening/botany kits or supplies.
~Globe.
~More complex building sets.
~Sports equipment.
~More complex games, like chess.
~Archery set.


Age 9-12
~Stilts, unicycle, or a pogo stick.
~Trampoline.
~Sports equipment, like a snow board or stuff for volleyball or soccer.
~Chapter books, literature, poetry books.
~Sewing Machine.
~More compex crafts, like candle making.
~Craft supplies. For instance, yarn and accessories for the young knitter or lots of fabric for the experimental quilter.
~Wood working supplies (tools, materials, , accessories, books) for an aspiring woodworker.
~Musical instruments and a variety of music...or lessons.
~Architecture sets.
~Challenging, developmental games.
~Science and Nature sets.
~Journal or notbook for writing.

Quick Knits for the Holiday Season

As the holiday season progresses, I get more and more into winter and the Christmas spirit. Winter weather inspires me to start knitting again. I have been more into sewing and completing other projects that generally have to do with making things for the boys. It seems like there are always times when the boys are awake and needing stimulation or at least my presence, so I can't often settle in my bedroom where my sewing station is. Also, if I am making a gift for one of the boys, they cannot be present. So, I am stuck not being able to accomplish many of the projects I set out to complete. This is where Christmas knitting comes in. I can knit little projects just about anywhere and at any time I am not busy doing my many other daily tasks. Here I have a queue of adorable, festive holiday decorations. I hope to enjoy it myself and inspire others to get crafty this coming season.

Knitted Ornaments


Mistle Toe


Holiday Lights

Nutrition Lessons - Part I

We are sort of working in conjunction with our Montessori preschool, by accident actually. Each month they pick a few themes to follow along with, and so do we. This particular month, I chose nutrition, Native Americans, autumn, and harvest. To coincide with our nutrition home school studies, Jaguar was challenged to place each of the grocery store advertisement cut-outs in the correct pile. Each pile represented a different food group, and amazingly he caught on to the differences pretty quickly. These are the piles he so proudly made. I was originally going to mount each of these on index cards, but I then thought we could make a food guide pyramid on poster board and then he could arrange these cut-outs in their proper food group, creating a visual collage of colorful healthiness.


Jaguar also played a game of determining which food did not fit in with the other 3 in a given group. Below are a few of the arrangements he had to figure out. Once he figured out which food did not fit, I would have him explain to me what food groups each of them were in to double check his answer and reinforce his understanding of the variety and categorization of nutritious food.

Never Too Old to Play with Play Dough

Play dough is one of the age old activities for young children. However, working with your hands to mold artwork is beneficial for any age and can bring a family together in a fun, often funny manner. Play dough can be easily made at home, where you know the ingredients are safe (in case your little ones munch a few pieces). In fact, there are several recipes that can be utilized, including edible picks that include peanut butter and honey. They are quite easy to find on an internet search. I chose to use a traditional recipe, as shown below. I made 5 different colors with food coloring to represent Autumn colors. We all had quite a bit of fun creating, cutting, rolling, molding, cookie cutting, mashing, building...Well my husband and I just molded a turkey and a couple of faces...The kids really did all the work.

Recipe for Play Dough
1 cup flour
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons cream of tarter
1 teaspoon oil
1/4 cup salt
food coloring

Mix all ingredients (add food coloring last). Stir over medium heat until smooth. Remove from pan, let cool slightly, and knead until blended and smooth. Store in a plastic bag or airtight container when cooled.

Autumn Leaf Quilts

Autumn is a time for cooking, crafting, family, nature, school...... I love getting back into sewing and knitting as the weather gets colder. I have not yet dove into quilting, but I have an itch to start looking into it. If there is something I love about autumn, it is the falling leaves and their beautiful colors. I looked around to find some free quilting patterns with autumn leaves and here are a handful with their corresponding links. Enjoy!


Autumn Leaves Frayed-Edge Quilt



http://www.advanced-embroidery-designs.com/projects2/guide_leaves_frayed-edge_quilt.html


Autumn Leaves quilt



http://www.jankrentz.com/download/autumn_leaves_pattern.pdf


Autumn Bounty borders quilt



http://quilting.craftgossip.com/free-pattern-autumn-bounty-borders-quilt/2009/08/08/

Making Montessori Materials - Part II

Sensory experiences are critical to developing children, especially in their younger years. According to Maria Montessori, among these sensory experiences are not only smell (olfactory), sight (visual), touch (tactile), taste (gustatory), and hearing (auditory), but also weight (baric), temperature (thermic), muscular awareness of shape (stereognostic), and colour (chromatic). Today, Jaguar and I utilized Montessori scent bottles to flex his sense of smell and ability to match common aromas. I could have bought an expensive Montessori set, but I decided it would be easy to make on my own. I saved 8 baby food jars from Bobcat and filled them with 4 different spices: parsley, oregano, basil, and nutmeg. I then made a blindfold for Jaguar to wear while he matched each smell with only his nose and his hands manipulating each jar. He had fun doing this, and once he properly matched everything, we took off the blindfold and rematched the smell with his ability to see what he was smelling, and we also named each spice so he knew exactly what he was sensing.

Fill Your Child's Dress-up Box on a Dime

After Halloween, we are left with costumes that have probably only been worn once or twice and will be outgrown by next year. So, what do we do with them?

Well, I throw them in a "dress-up bin" and the kids can dress themselves for imaginative play anytime they want. This year, we were all pirates.
Another great way to fill the dress-up bin, and thereby your child's imagination, is to hit the post-holiday sales. Halloween items are often 75% off the original prices. You can purchase a couple costumes and a couple wigs for under $10.

Furthermore, you can also go to yard sales, flea markets, thrift stores, or make your own crafty costumes and accessories.

Making Montessori Materials - Part I

There are so many ways to save money when homeschooling your child or just giving them gifts that are developmentally geared for their age. One way to save is to make your own materials. Though there are many things that would be easier to buy premade, there are also many other things that could be created with improvisation and the right materials. I have made a couple items so far, with many more in mind...hopefully to be made before Christmas.

This is a set of counting beads that I made for Jaguar as a Christmas gift. These are great for all sorts of mathematics. I simply utilized beads, wire, and a cheap craft box. These are just flashcards I made, mainly for Jaguar. I used old magazines, other publications, and computer images. I simply glued them on index cards and organized them in a recipe box from the Dollar Tree. There are about 7 of each letter. There are so many ways to discover language and reading with these cards, and they are fun to make!

Likewise, I decided last night that Jaguar can easily begin learning to read the clock. So, I made 24 cards, each with a clock on them. Half of them have the time on every hour and the other half has the times on every half hour.

There will naturally be more items. I have already made one zipper frame. I have yet to make make at least 4 more. I plan on making puppets for Bobcat, as well, and a fabric box and matching ricebags in various textured fabric....My husband plans on making a pink tower, brown stairs, maybe even a dollhouse..... We will see in later posts as these couple of months progress.

Halloween and Autumn Creations With the Kids

This last holiday weekend brought lots of fun and business for the kids. Halloween and Autumn are always a fun focus to initiate the colder season to come.

Lynx particularly enjoyed the sewing projects he did, which is wonderful because it helps to center him. He designed and sewed a felt monster and sewed the face on a felt skeleton. This was his first experience with sewing ever. Lynx also is in the middle of putting together another monster with precut pieces.

Jaguar was busy making pipe cleaner finger puppets, matching ghosts and their different facial expressions, counting pumpkin seeds, sorting colored spiders, free painting with fall colors, making leaf pattern decorations, and more.

The boys also painted fall tree silhouettes on a sunset background with watered down paint and straws for the trees. I did one, too, because it looked fun.

Lynx helped me make homemade pumpkin pie…it is the best! Once you have pumpkin pie from an actual pumpkin, you never want to go back to the can (although that can be pretty good too). We also made cranberry sauce and apple cinnamon peanut butter "sushi". They were simple, but very tasty.

Bobcat played with his treasure tray full of autumn themed sensory stuff and walked through a pile of fall leaves.

Before we went trick-or-treating, I sewed some bags for all the boys to decorate with fabric paint and potato stamps cut in the shapes of pumpkins.

Of course, I had the boys carve a pumpkin. We had one pumpkin and I went back to the store Halloween morning only to find all the rest of the pumpkins were completely wiped out. So, Jaguar carved one side, and Lynx designed and carved the other side.