School Daze... The End......for now....

Ryleigh is 4 and Braeden is 22 Months

For our last day of class we had parties...one in the morning for TSB and one in the afternoon for Preschool... before the sugar rush, we managed to fit in a few fun activities... although "official" classes won't resume until September.... I am having a summer playgroup activity once a week for messy fun... outdoors of course!

Exploring the sensory bin, puzzles, and the tunnel...

Emma regarding Braeden warily...as he attempts to trade her a puzzle piece for a drum mallet...

Braeden and his friend...working on their Father's Day Frames...

Parachute and Bubbles Time...

Braeden having a hard time deciding which to eat first...the cookie or the brownie...

The wild TSB end of year party...

I made the girls Preschool Graduation Certificates.... I got the idea from here...

The Girls' last day of Preschool...

Ryleigh working on her frame...

The girls' finished Father's Day Frames...

The girls had a very civilized quiet party.... and then ran around screaming...with joy of course ;-)

Celebrating Summer Vacation...by taking the truck out for a spin...

To see what others did this week check out Tot School at 1+1+1=1; Preschool Corner at Homeschool Creations; Mom 2 lil Posh Divas and the Weekly Wrap-up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Field Trippin' .... to the Aquarium....

Today we spent the day at the Aquarium... which was a huge hit... with all four kids... It was slightly challenging to bridle Braeden's enthusiasm... I think he wanted to ride some of the bigger sealife....

Ryleigh watching the fish swim...The kids really enjoyed being able to go right up to the fish, turtles, sharks....

The big fish were definitely a hit...

Braeden...attempting to climb out to ride the "fishieeeeeeeeeeeeee!"...

A close up of Braeden's reaction....

Fish...nibbling on a plant...

Going in for a [much] closer look....

At the very big Walrus...

The kids really like this exhibit- they could look [depending on their height] down at the fish... and it was like being outdoors in a pond...

Eye level with the fish...

"Wait...are there more fishies over there?"

"Ryleigh!!!! .....are those more fish? Can we go over there? Are those fishies too? Do you see them?"

"Yes- there are more fish over there! Come, let's see them..... Braeden.... BRAEDEN!!!! Are you coming with me?"

We finished our day with a walk on the boardwalk... Braeden very much wanted to climb out and go for a swim....

For more fun science projects go check out Adventures in Mommydom.....

School Daze... Not quite the end...

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for You Can Count on Monsters!!!!

Ryleigh is 4 (Just) and Braeden is 21 Months

Apparently... I have not done an actual school post since the middle of April... (oops)... working is really cutting into my blog time... better than cutting into school time I suppose... Anyway... instead of posting all 565 pictures that have been taken since the middle of April... I have narrowed it down to some highlights... also... some pictures and projects can be found in my stART posts... further...coming up in posts...because I know you totally want to know... will be Ryleigh's Birthday and Dance recital...

Ryleigh and Braeden with the Easter Bunny at the Eggstravaganza...circa... end of April

Ryleigh turned 4 at the end of April... here she is blowing out her candle for her family party...During her Birthday week...we did Birthday themed school projects...

Her Birthday Party theme was Princes and Princesses...so I had the girls make these Shape Castles during the week...

In Tot School Beginnings the kids have been working on textures... here they are making a texture collage... with beads, flower petals (real), cotton, sequins, stickers, etc.... they all did really well gluing!

Braeden painting on some bamboo... more texture work... these bamboo place-mats are from the target dollar spot... he was more interesting in going on the swing-set...

I had the preschool class do some tie dyeing... so much fun... and the shirts came out great!

Ryleigh... modeling the shirt she made and holding up the one that I made for her...

This week we took a field trip to the Bronx Zoo... I feel like the kids were not so thrilled that the paparazzi followed them there...

The 5 monkeys watching the gorillas.... they were a huge hit and definitely Braeden's favorite exhibit....

This week I did Number and Letter assessments with the girls from COAH... they were very helpful in determining where we will start "next year"....

The girls love this MATH MAT... they jumped to numbers and colors...

To see what others did this week check out Tot School at 1+1+1=1; Preschool Corner at Homeschool Creations; and the Weekly Wrap-up at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

Wordless Wednesday....Math is Fun!!!

stART- Owen & Mzee A Day Together

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for You Can Count on Monsters!!!!

A story + art = a great stART!!

This week we read Owen & Mzee, A Day Together...which is based on the New York Times Bestseller Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship... such a good (TRUE) story... The Baby Hippo and Turtle are the best of friends...

For our project we used potato circles to paint...and created "turtle shells"... with blue and yellow paint...sometimes they even made green! We did this in the Tot School Beginning (and Ryleigh) class...and it went really well...

For more great stART posts check out A Mommy's Adventures!
For more fun projects check out Red Ted Art , JDaniel4's Mom and Mom 2 lil Posh Divas

Monster Math Review and Giveaway!!!

I was so excited to receive my monster package in the mail... not as excited as Ryleigh... because...well... what 4 year old doesn't like mail? Anyway...right from the get go this book caught my attention...the packaging was so fun and the box looked like a monster had taken a (pretend) bite out of it...

You Can Count on Monsters written by Richard Schwartz is a great way to learn prime numbers and factoring from 1-100. There are monsters for each prime number... which really catches the eye... Each Monster has something that relates to its number, but sometimes you have to look hard and count to find it.

Ryleigh and Braeden are a little too young for this book, but I will definitely use it when they are older. It is fun to read and the pictures are great!

You can purchase You can Count on Monsters for $15.99 on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Learn more from a fun and informative feature of You Can Count on Monsters on NPR!!

The GIVEAWAY :
Two readers will win a copy of You Can Count on Monsters. 4 chances to enter: (Leave a comment for each separate one- and include your email!!!)

• Tell me which monster you like the best from here (Required Entry)
• "Like" The Ramblings and Adventures of a SAHM on Facebook (link is on your left)
  
• Post a status on your Facebook with this link:)
• Publically follow The Ramblings and Adventures of a SAHM via Google Friend Connect
  

Winner will be randomly chosen on June 12, 2011 11:59 PM EST. Please reference Giveaway Rules at the top of the page before entering. Good luck!

*I received a free copy of this book to review- however, all opinions are my own.

Wordless Wednesday... HOT!!!!

Baby..... it's HOT outside.....