Saturday Fun

What. A. Day! It's been wild and fun and now we're chilling at home with no intention of going out for the rest of the weekend (except for Church tomorrow). The great thing about all the learning activities we did today is that we didn't have to prepare any of them. They were things I made years ago and filed away when Gilgamesh outgrew them. I just pulled them out and we played them again!

We started the day with games! Alastor sorted construction paper apples into the corresponding basket. It took a few runs to get the hang of it, but eventually he put the green apples in the green basket, etc.

Gilgamesh played Buy it Right with Daddy, practicing calculator use and identifying types of money. Alastor matched game pieces onto the square cards.

These felt apples go with the Ten Red Apples song:

Ten Red Apples

Ten red apples growing on a tree,

Five for you and five for me.

Help me shake the tree just so,

And ten red apples fall down below.

One, two , three, four, five,

Six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

We probably sang it ten times! Each time, the boys took one side of the 'tree' and shook it until the apples fell off. Then we counted as we put them back on. I remember playing this with Gilgamesh when he was almost three and now he's reading! Time flies. It's fun watching Alastor do the same activities that got Gilgamesh hooked on learning.

Each boy counted five apples onto his half of the tree.

Put them back up and do it again.

We did this "one more time" five extra times. How do you say no to a boy who's bouncing on his toes in excitement? Well, when he wants candy, it's easy. But when he wants to count the apples again? Can't just say no.

Dance Central on Kinect, one of Daddy's favorite workouts.

Then we headed to the park to get some sunlight and fresh air! We almost got too much of the former. Alastor's cheeks were bright red about twenty minutes later. He's not sunburned, but boy, were we hot!

Alastor played in the sand a ton. 

Daddy taught Gilgamesh how to bat and throw.

Sports are one of Gilgamesh's favorite things. He'd play them all day every day if he could. I wonder sometimes what he'll choose when he realizes they each take so much commitment. Lots of time for that, though, thank goodness.

This picture of Alastor makes me smile every time.

We brought baseball gear for him, too, but he was way more interested in exploring and climbing!

...and jumping on the bleachers.

After all that excitement, we went to Michael's and picked up a few things I need for church tomorrow (knick-knacks for the Young Women), plus some crafts and school resources. And (good news!) I found a $6 pocket chart with colorful scheduling cards for Reading, Math, Science, Social Studies, Art, etc. It's going to make me feel so much more organized, and help teach Gilgamesh about time and sequence of activities. One of my biggest fears as a homeschool mom is that my kids won't learn to organize themselves, since that's something I've always struggled with. But I firmly believe that if we start them young and keep going back to organizational principles, it will become something they want to do, to help them reach their goals. It's just a pocket chart, but it represents the beginning of that to me.

Daddy  bought some kits to do with the boys, like a bird house and a wooden plane. Very cool! Daddy-Son time is crucial to creating champion knights. Well, Alastor keeps trying to pull me away to dance to the movie credits of Cheaper by the Dozen. Gotta go!