The Mad Chatters thread Part 2

[Bbgrizzle]

Paige, you have a plastic knee? Does it feel like a real knee? I have bad knees, so I'm just wondering ! I hope your mom is doing well.

 

[paigevz]

Hi, I'm back. Mom seems to be okay, Bonnie, just was sleepy when I called. I hope she'll have a quick recovery now.

Not really a whole plastic knee, but I had torn one of the large tendons and they did surgery to put a plastic part in there so the tendon could grow back over it. Didn't explain it all to my son though. 18 months in leg braces, that one. Start of my sedentary period, and I blame it for part of my weight problem now.

 

[jaycns]

We do school year round...helps when it comes time to take off three weeks in the fall!

I am glad to hear she looked happy at the end! I am sure once all three of them get "into" school they will be great! It's so hard to be in a new place with all new people, new classrooms, new teachers, new everything! BUT...it's kinda exciting at the same time!

 

[paigevz]

Lucas got his first little note today. Actually, just a note the teacher had left her aide to tell me he had trouble listening. The aide read it off a clipboard he keeps that he checks the kids off as they leave. Not too bad, but we still talked to him about it. First he said he didn't remember, then he did and explained it, but later when it came time to explain it to dad, he forgot again.

 

[paigevz]

Oh, little Ainslee went to school, a little bit.........how exciting! How sad for Mommy!

 

[Bbgrizzle]

Jay, we had year-round in Vegas too. I like year-round a lot.

Paige, sorry your little guy got a note, but at least it wasn't a bad one. Are you thinking he has ADD?

 

[paigevz]

Oh, gee whiz, I hope he doesn't! We went through so much to get Nick tested/diagnosed/prescribed..............He doesn't act like Nick that much, he isn't so impulsive, so hyperactive.........he can watch television, Nick never could. He does interrupt and make noises during conversations at the table and in the car, but I am hoping that's a normal 4 year old!

 

[paigevz]

What's shakin' Jay?

 

[jaycns]

Okay, I need a tad bit of help...could you, would you!??

I am teaching two different classes next Tuesday at the boys' co-op. Both of them are going to be centered around trees as a subject. The younger kid's class (5-7 year olds) is called "Books Alive" and we are going to do the following:

-Read The Giving Tree
-Act out the life cycle of a tree "curl up in a ball like a seed"...

-Do leaf/bark rubbings

-Sort items that come from a tree from ones that don't. The group will work together on it...the kicker in the end will be that all items presented will in whole or part come from some part of a tree...weird things like a carpet swatch, toothpaste, perfume, a tie, a rubber band, etc...along with normal things like maple syrup, oranges, Lincoln Logs, a wooden doll chair,etc

-Short lesson of how those things came from trees. Other reasons why trees are important.

-????? Some sort of physical activity related to trees HELP!! We have a huge gym and a huge outdoor area to use. I will have about 10 kids in the younger class. Any ideas???

 

[paigevz]

Sure, log rolls! Seriously, the love it, it's good for coordination and body awareness. Just have them lay on the floor as logs and then roll down the length of a mat. Get up, run back to the front and start again.

I'll be thinking of an outdoor activity for a few minutes.........

 

[jaycns]

The older class will be 8-10 year olds and have 12 kids in the class. Their class is called Words Alive.

-For that class we will do the same sorting activity.
-Go more in depth into the what and how they came from trees.
-Go in depth with other reasons why trees are important (oxygen, erosion, etc)
-Do a quick 15 minute introduction of a haiku
-Have the kids each compose their own haiku outside in a wooded area outside of the co-op.
-Do a leaf rubbing page and use that as the background for the final copy of their own tree inspired haiku to be written on.
-Play Blast (the word game) with words that relate to trees.
-???? HELP!! Need an idea for a physical activity related to trees for them as well!!

 

[Bbgrizzle]

Jay that sounds like a fun unit. Log rolls sounds like a good idea too.

 

[jaycns]

Sure, log rolls! Seriously, the love it, it's good for coordination and body awareness. Just have them lay on the floor as logs and then roll down the length of a mat. Get up, run back to the front and start again.

I'll be thinking of an outdoor activity for a few minutes.........

OH OH OH GREAT IDEA!! That would be a lot of fun for them...and very little for me to have to do...the only thing is, I surely cannot show them how to do that or they would think it was more like a beached whale rolling on the shore then a log rolling down a mat!!

 

[paigevz]

I've got one. You are the woodcutter and they are trees behind you. When you're not looking, they follow you..........so you walk across the yard and they follow, trying to touch you before you turn around........you can count or just walk, but at some point you yell "Trees!".........which in this case means freeze and look like a tree.........and then you turn around quickly. Anyone who isn't in a tree-like position is caught and goes back to the starting line. The goal for them is to catch you before you yell, and you are trying to catch them not being trees so you can get them farther away.

We play a version of this called Wolf. It's fun.

 

[jaycns]

Jay that sounds like a fun unit. Log rolls sounds like a good idea too.

Hee, hee, hee, I just noticed your glitter name said Bonnie WEASLEY!! Hmm...which one of the twins did you pick? That would be a hard choice!!

 

[paigevz]

The older ones can play it as well, but I'd let them each take turns being the woodcutter. Little ones like it better with the adult as the woodcutter.

 

[Bbgrizzle]

Hee, hee, hee, I just noticed your glitter name said Bonnie WEASLEY!! Hmm...which one of the twins did you pick? That would be a hard choice!!

If I have to pick just one, I will choose Fred (the one on the right). Only because I like his hair better.

 

[jaycns]

I've got one. You are the woodcutter and they are trees behind you. When you're not looking, they follow you..........so you walk across the yard and they follow, trying to touch you before you turn around........you can count or just walk, but at some point you yell "Trees!".........which in this case means freeze and look like a tree.........and then you turn around quickly. Anyone who isn't in a tree-like position is caught and goes back to the starting line. The goal for them is to catch you before you yell, and you are trying to catch them not being trees so you can get them farther away.

We play a version of this called Wolf. It's fun.

I just LOVE this idea!! I don't have to roll...I don't have to run. I can just walk and yell out TREES! Cool beans! That idea gets " "

 

[paigevz]

OH OH OH GREAT IDEA!! That would be a lot of fun for them...and very little for me to have to do...the only thing is, I surely cannot show them how to do that or they would think it was more like a beached whale rolling on the shore then a log rolling down a mat!!

If you can have a stereo in there, it works great with some upbeat music. Or you could stay true to theme and play Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.........that's sort of tree-ish..............

 

[paigevz]

Cool beans! "

My friend says that all the time, is it from a movie?