Lapbooking bug

We have the lapbooking bug in our house!!!  Oh me oh my!  The excitement, the drama, the glue!!!

So far we have only made one about dinosaurs.  It is not terribly in-depth, because O is only just 5, but I was really impressed with the learning he did.  He researched, he asked questions, and he did some excellent writing.

The next unit we are working on is an "Africa" project, and it has lots of science (mining, habitats, food chains), art (masks, beads, patterns) history (Livingstone Burton and Speke) and Geography (lakes, rivers, mountains, continents, populations, habitats, transportation, etc).  Plus more that I can't remember off the top of my head.  How all of this will come together into a lapbook, I am not sure, but I am sure it will look fabulous.  I did spend a small fortune on books on Amazon the other day, which are due to arrive at some point today.

Anyway, a glimpse of our lapbooking of today...

Lazy teacher

Today O told me I was a lazy teacher in a school for lazy people.  I got quite offended.  Nearly everything we do has an educational purpose.  Well apart from the hour of Thomas the tank engine they get on the TV every morning whilst I run around doing washing, cleaning the kitchen, and putting the dinner in the slow cooker.  When pushed to explain  he said that I don't make him sit at his desk all day long like children at school, so I must be a lazy teacher.  So I think it was a compliment!!!  Maybe???

Either way, we spent part of today doing dinosaur learning, he did some number line work, we went to the allotment and the park and the shop, he had his music singing class and there may have been some cuddling on the sofa with some books at naptime.  I am exhausted, so I don't think I have been lazy today.  In fact I am going to make a cup of tea at 8.30 at night - the first in 12 hours, by the way!!! I did tell my mum that I was so under appreciated that I was going on strike.  So from now until 6am I am on strike.  Maybe 6.10 or even 6.30.  It depends when the children wake up.

Dinosaur learning

Today O has written a couple of dinosaur riddles.  He loves his dinosaurs, so I have come up with a very basic unit of learning on a dinosaur theme for September.  The latest plan we have is to make a lapbook based on a dinosaur theme.  Hopefully this will go well, and be a nice keepsake of his learning.  I am going to do a simplified one for E as well, so she can join in a bit more rather than causing havoc!!!!!  O also wants to make a volcano, so that is tomorrows plan.  Papier mache volcano, and when it is dry, we are going to paint it, then do a science experiment with baking soda, vinegar and food dye.  I suspect it will be a bit of a gloopy week!!!!!

The weeds are taking over

It is a disaster at our plot at the moment.  The last 4 weeks have been as follows - raining followed by nasty cold, 1 week camping, first week back at school for Paul and tummy bug no 1, second week back at school and tummy bug no. 2.  So basically we have been to the plot to harvest twice in that time, and no weeding at all.  I  went tonight to give the poor ground a long over due drink of water, and to harvest, and to weeding, except I ran out of time for that.  And I didn't harvest the runner beans because I ran out of bags.

I have just weighed the bag of green beans I picked though - 6lb!!!!  What on earth will I do with that number of beans.  There is actually no space in the freezer.  I may pickle them.  Can you pickle green beans?  If not, I may have to invent pickled green beans.

Green beans

1 full tesco bag of green beans
1 full tesco bag of runner beans
3 courgettes
12 cherry tomatoes

Now what do I make with that little lot!!!!!

Spaghetti Squash

We have a new baby.  One that has been nurtured through wind and rain, good times and bad.  And that baby's name is Spaghetti Squash.  We brought it home from the allotment the other day full of pride and  awe, and it has pride of place in the kitchen.  Unfortunately I cannot bring myself to cook and eat it!!!!  I'm not sure I am cut out for this grow-your-own malarkey.  I just get too attached my precious veggies.  Apart from beans that is.  We have eaten a lot of beans recently as I seem to have planted far more than we can eat.  If they continue this way, there is going to be far more than I can freeze.  I shall have to start giving them away to unsuspecting strangers I meet on the street.

So basically, as is good in our green little world.  Apart from the blossom end rot on 2 of the tomatoes, but that is a saga for another day!!!