Ganson Sculptures at MIT Museum

We visited the MIT Museum during their Second Friday program and had a great visit. The Ganson Sculptures had to be our favorite area - we could have watched them for hours! Here is a TEDTalk about how he was inspired and created his sculptures - 

Family Math Nights

Math nights can be a great fun way to interactive and apply math concepts to help solidify usage. We have done them at home, done them at the library, had co-op nights around them and the families have always had a fantastic time! This site - Math Night - was featured in the Clickschooling Newsletter this week and reminded me that we haven't had one in a really long time!
Some of my favorite modules are -

   

and some of my favorite resources include - 

From a reader -  

Kate Nonesuch said...

You may be interested in my free family math resource, funded by the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills, HRSDC.
Family Math Fun!
A manual for educators and parents who want to promote math thinking in kids of all ages.
• Things to do in the kitchen and on a walk, rhymes, games, and things to make, all to promote math thinking and learning.
• Math for the whole person: spirit, heart, body and mind are all connected in the activities in this book. When these are in balance, math becomes part of our whole lives, not a beast or a barrier.
• Patterns, recipes, and hand-outs all included (109 pages). •

Download it free at http://www.nald.ca/library/learning/familymath/cover.htm

Unplug from “Holiday Stress” - That is JUST what we did!

Unplug from “Holiday Stress” and… memorize your children…

Really REALLY liked this post from Laurette. We had a really great holiday long weekend and enjoyed it just the way we wanted to!
Here are some of my favorite pics from the weekend -

Day full of Muppets!!! - Movie review

Ok we love all things muppets, but when I started seeing the trailers for The Muppets, I was a bit hesitant and unsure that it could live up to my high expectations! Well I have to say - MY CHEEKS HURT from smiling and my eyes were stinging from having wiped them so often. This movie was HYSTERICAL. From the 80's robot to the random outbreaking of song to the map travel button - this movie was exactly what it should have been. Jason Segel did an incredible job and I have to say that this was the first TRULY kid family friendly movie I have seen in a long time. There were no inappropriate and unnecessary jokes that you had to hope would fly over the kids heads, just pure Muppet humor, slapstick and fun!

And to top off our Muppet day the CW is airing the Christmas special - A Muppets Christmas - Letters to Santa - is airing tonight and we will be snuggling up on the sofa to watch!

Trimming the Tree and Jamming out -

In addition to tree trimming the day after Thanksgiving it has become a tradition in our home to have guitar hero jam sessions -

It is rather hysterical and everyone gets in the mix - luckily, I am the only one who thinks of grabbing the camera!!!! 

For more hysterical guitar hero moments be sure to check GCKstudents You Tube Channel - Bunniestar97

Itty Bitty Visitors

The Itty Bitties and the Littles came for a visit today - 

 

Random Pics from the week

Jumped the gun a bit

Last week when I said it was the last beach day of the season - I guess I jumped ahead a bit because we were back at the beach yesterday and this time we had CJ along with us! The waves were incredible and the sun felt so nice! It was a really great time.

itty bitty HeartBeats™ - Review and GIVEAWAY!!!

My nieces came in handy for this incredibly cute review!!!  itty bitty HeartBeats™ is a super cute animated musical series for girls and boys ages 2-6 - just so happens SC is 4 and GC is 2!

Through humor, friendship and original songs, the itty bitty HeartBeats help children on Earth solve problems and "do things from the heart."

With engaging animation and upbeat melodies this series touches on a variety of subjects such as long distance friendships, sharing troubles, and being afraid of the dark. The itty bitty HeartBeats™ emphasizes three core values:

• Living a healthy, nutritious lifestyle
• Having a healthy heart, both physically and emotionally
• Teaching positive life lessons

SC was engaged from the get go, but when I took out the SweetHeart doll, she was even more on board. GC stayed engaged for a short time while watching the video, but really liked the coloring book and the music. They both declared that BabyHeart was their favorite! I think that SC really understood most of the concepts, while they definitely went flying over the head of GC, but exposure is sure to bring results and help to set expecations! The emphasis on being kind and caring for others is what really resonated with us. This is truly a wholesome kids show, with great values, morals and viewpoints! CJ said it reminded him of a very well done cross between the smurfs and the care bears! I am very hopeful that this series will be expanded. 

BabyHeart - The Girls Favorite!

Now for the giveaway!!!
One lucky reader will receive - 
1 itty bitty HeartBeats DVD
1 plush doll - CoolHeart or SweetHeart
5 sheets of stickers


I have a few ways you can enter, please submit separate comments for each method so that I will have a number for each one and make sure that I have a way to contact you! 

1. Head on over to itty bitty HeartBeats™, watch an episode and come back here to let us know what you think, who your favorite character is or what your favorite song was! 
2. Tweet about this giveaway making sure to mention both @theittybittys & @gckhomeschool
3. Follow @theittybittys & @gckhomeschool on twitter - or let me know if you already do! 
4. Share this giveaway by linking it through a blog or website.
5. Share this giveaway on Facebook.
6. Share this giveaway with Google+1. 

Entries will be accepted from Tuesday 9/27/11 through Tuesday 10/11/11 10/4/11 10pm EST. Winner will be chosen on Wednesday 10/12/11 10/5/11 and announced no later than Friday 10/14/11 10/7/11.


CONGRATS TO Kathryn at Cummins Life the winner of this great prize pack! Hope your kids enjoy!!!




~~~Disclaimer: I was contacted to do this review and giveaway, but this review is completely unbiased. I was given materials to review, but was not compensated in any other way for this review. Itty Bitty HeartBeats will be filling the giveaway and is solely responsible once the winner's information is sent to them. 

Where in the states is CJ? - U.S. Geography with a Twist!

With CJ going over the road now, we are going to utilize his travels to reinforce our U.S. Geography! We are using a topographical map, that though it has cities, capitals, and a very light outline of the states, their aren't named on it. So KM uses our atlas to locate the town CJ is in and then locates surrounding towns to coordinate his location! Even when he is not here he can still be part of her education!

Itty Bitties are getting BIGGER!

Went to visit the Littles and the Itty Bitties today and since the Littles were quite occupied with the neighbor's I was free to play with the Itty Bitties and they are getting soooo BIG!!!

 

 

 

At four months they are getting so vocal, expressive and oh so slobbery!