playing "cards"

These last two days, W boy have developed a love for cards. We have been playing a Chinese card game called "Fight for top hand". Its a kinda of like poker, but pairs can only top pairs unless you have a "bomb" which is 4 of a kind. Anyway, for W, it has been a sorting game for him since he has to put the cards in order. The cards start with "3" ends with "2", then joker being the highest card. But it has also been good to train his eyes to spot the pairs, or 3 of a kind. Anyway, he's been loving it.



We read "Tiddelick the Frog" from Enki Kindergarten. I think I enjoy it more than W boy. But he did like the "comprehension verse" and was really good at the rhyming words that are in it. He liked the story but when I read it, his mind was on the "Power Ranger" series book. At least it's good we are reading and rarely watch the program on TV. After I read his "Power Ranger" series, he wanted me to read "T.T.F" again and we will-- tomorrow. :-)

Adventure Circle (Enki-K)

This post if for my fellow Enki parents.

Here is our adventure circle. We usually don't have a formal adventure circle/story line. The story line posted below is as elaborate as we go. We just learn a song, usually the songs are short enough we memorize it in 5-10 minutes. If not, we practice it for a few days. Then we find some fun activity from each of the sections (usually seasonal) to do.

We normally start with learning a new song and its movement after a call to circle song. Then go into the verses from the different sections. Sometimes W boy picks and choose. Like today, I wanted to show him "Star Fairies" but he wanted to do more of the tugging movements found in "woodcutters" (p 108-K) so we did "Tug Boat" instead. We also adapt the movements to fit our own needs but will try it by the book at least 1 time. This works really well with J especially with the songs as she likes to watch how I do the movement (1st time is by the book) then we do our movement as we feel is right for the song. We challenge each other on how many different ways we can come up with for the movement to the song.

Usually, I give W a heads up like we are going to do our Enki movement next. If he is playing like he was today, then I ask him how long he wants to play. He said 9 minutes and I said, I will give you 10 minutes. Then I bring him to the clock, show him what time it is, then ask him to count up 10 for the minutes. I let him know when it that particular time, we will do our "exercise".

Round and Round 3x

"It is winter. Look outside. The Evergreens are beautiful. Let's sing about Evergreen."
Oh Evergreen (p116-K) Midline 3x (we would sing this normally about a week, a week and half then learn a new song.)

"Let's go find little dwarfs and see what they are doing."
Little Dwarves (p120-K) Midline 3x
(carry a real sack- bag filled with blanket; hack with pretend Axe)

Oh, that was lot of work. Let's pretend we are little tug boats and put our bags on the ship.
Tug Boat (p145-K) Base Sense 3x

I also want to mention we don't do adventure circle everyday. Some days we opt for other exercises or park etc. But the kids normally are willing participants. Sometimes, the timing is a little off or they are tired and we just skip for the day or try a different time. I have found usually first thing after breakfast does not work well for us so we do it more mid-day. But there is really no set time per say. With J still in school, her circle is usually in the evening but W boy joins in even he had already done it earlier in the day. :) Material for her circle is normally from Enki-1st grade.

forgotten pictures (w's drawing )

This is W's drawing of the Nero robots in December 2008. Forgot about it. I got 2 cameras and I use both depending on which one have battery or which I remember. So sometimes I forgot to show W's work. This seems easier than to keep all his pictures.

W really liked the guitar. He keeps going to pluck the strings. He says he wants to learn to play it. :)

Kalahari

For W boy's 5th birthday, we took him to celebrate (a few days early) at Kalahari. We stayed overnight at the African-themed resort/water park. J/W had a blast. W boy did not want to leave when it was time to go and J girl asked if we can come back here for her birthday. :)

W's favorite attraction is not shown but it is called "Victoria Falls" which incidentally was my favorite too. :-)


This is the wave pool. We spent quite some time there. J/W with Grandma with an open glass view of the water park. We also did lots of water rides with the tubes and raft. Some were a little scary for J. But W boy loved them all.

Taking a break and watching some "flow rider" (aka learn to surf) action. It was cool watching daddy on the "flow rider". He did so good!! That was his favorite along with "zip coaster".
At the "shooting stars"; this was J's favorite attraction.

Having fun at the Tree Top Play. It's a huge play structure complete with ball shooting.

Playing mini golf. W had some beginners luck as some of them he got in with just 1 swing. See the Golfer's foot stance? :)

J/W/I take a picture with our amazing paradise appetizer. First we did not what the white smoke was; that was just for dramatic effects.
J/W went on stage for open dance. But they were shy dancing on stage.
W boy with his birthday sundae. He even got a happy birthday wish on the big screen.

Elephant- a book of opposites

If anyone is looking for a good book on opposites, then "Elephant- A book of Opposites" by Pittau & Gervais is a good one. There are lots of opposites in there, and some I would not have even thought of. The pictures are funny too. : ) Though reading the reviews from amazon, few find a few pictures in there too much. Guess its hard to please anyone.

We enjoyed the book. J and W was pouring over it. Now they both know all the opposites in the book. W boy was learning to use his phonics skill + memorization + visual help to read the book all by himself. :)

J's work in process

J has quite a few things she is working on. She's knitting a scarf for her teacher and it has been slow going. I think this break we had been a little too busy. I'm not use to being out for most of the days but J/W seem to enjoy the outings. They definitely enjoy their each others company. Thank God, we have all been healthy. The kids did not even have sniffle.

J also started writing a story during the break. She got couple drafts. I first discovered the story in her room a couple of days ago, just lots of words but no pictures. Then she got pictures but she said the picture's coloring was messy so she redid the whole thing. Anyway, below you will see a picture of it.


This J's scarf as of today. I don't think she knitted today. She's been busy playing, going out and then playing some more. Knitting obviously is not high on her priority list. :)

This (I think) is her final draft of the beginning of her story."Once upon a time, there was a castle that did not look that good. But they had a lot of fruit. And there was a princess that was beautiful an wise. She was also very, very, very nice......"(I'll have another post if J finishes her story)

Fun with the R's

Today, we went to our friend R's house for New Year's day celebration. J/W met up with their friends Z and H. The kids played very independently and get along really well. Once again, we stayed longer than I had intended too. ;-)

I was especially impressed that J/W did not freak out over Gingi, a puppy our friend got very recently. Usually they tend to be very afraid of dogs, especially over hyper little puppies who likes to jump on them. So today even though Gingi was very playful and put his paws on J/W and barked, J/W was fine and surprisingly calm. :-)


Having fun throwing the confetti. They pick it all up, and then threw it up again and then did it all over again. It was voted back for next year. Not bad for a $1 purchase, eh? Way to go, N!

J/W/Z plays a game of "Whack"(I think). Everyone concentrating hard.
H gives W boy a hug. :)
J reads to H.

Here is another cutie- B. This is Gingi, a beagle mutt.