ColorKu & ABC

I HAVE to recommend this fantastic new board game I found -- it is all wood and is a variation on sudoku with colored balls which go into indentations (9 spots each in nine squares, just like the classic). Children love this game and it works on all levels. Little ones can sort the colors so that each block has all the same. Older ones can make patterns. Elementary children can try the puzzles (cards are included in differing levels of difficulty which tell you where to place the balls to start out). It is beautifully made and I am so excited to have discovered it!

Find it here for $29.95.

In other news, today school was delayed by 2 hours due to heavy winds and rain. So we made strawberry-banana bread (with sour cream and finely chopped crystallized ginger -- yum!), gave the dog a bath, and read books. We never made it to the Aquarium on Friday due to the same weather conditions; it has been hanging around for a while. It is dreadful to hear about all the weather-related tragedies going on all around the world. I was just hearing on the radio about the earthquake in China.

Natalie's school had a yard sale and I scored a wonderful four story all wood handmade dollhouse with a turret! It was $15. A good friend had made some small dolls for me which the children immediately moved into the dollhouse (thanks, Robin) and I am going to fix up the exterior where some pieces are missing but leave the girls to furnish the interior with whatever they think would be suitable furniture. Natalie was talking about folding some small fabric pieces to make beds.

We have our butterfly pavilion full of 5 once-caterpillars-now-cocoons that the girls are so excited about. Our front steps were absolutely swarming with tent caterpillars and they gathered some up plus some leaves and now all around the upper edge are white spun tents (they are a kind of moth). We can't wait for them to hatch out!

This week is technically "E" according to the nice people at Sonlight but Waldorf teaches the vowels through eurythmy instead of sound stories so I'm going to read the books they recommend but not push and add on more of my own. However, I will put the LMNOP alphabet suggestions here since next week is F and I like to do the LMNOP card word as the first one we do in the week (like D first for dragon) so I can show the children the card and they can figure out for themselves that it makes the shape. I'm not pushing on it too hard, just introducing the idea that words are made up of sounds. Leah is already really into rhyming. Natalie struggled in her first year at Tidewater, which is definitely where the other two will go, so I have to make sure they are a little more prepared instead of completely going non-academic like I did before. In fact, Natalie may have to repeat kindergarten -- I will find out the results of the assessment on Friday.


LMNOP Alphabet Illustrations for consonants

Bear
Cave
Dragon
Firebird
Goose
Holding Hands
Jumping Jacks
King
Lily
Mountains
Net
Prince
Queen
River
Stars
Tower
Valley
Waves
Yew
Zig Zag