The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

What started out with such promise at 5:30 am while I was planning, turned into murder and mayhem by 8:00 am. Okay, there was no murder but there was a great deal of whining and a raised voice or two. The plan for today was to read some of the kids favorite books, including Grandfather's Journey, which we are rowing this week. We were going to work on a mini book for our lapbook and then the plan was to start on another fun learning idea. Well, before I could even finish Grandfather's Journey, my youngest was whining. Did I mention PMS? Grrrrr. It was not pretty. One wanted to learn, the other didn't and wasn't afraid to try to blow it for the others. Okay - I give up!

Before I really *ahem* raised my voice, I decided to remove myself from the learning room. I retired to the kitchen to make a pan of brownies (which definitely solves every problem). Look what I returned to when I went to check on my little learners.


And we managed to salvage at least part of our learning (at least in my mind, this is considered learning ). Yes, those are brownies. They were delicious!

Thoughts on the Dynamic Learning Environment

Wow! That sounds so cool; a dynamic learning environment. But what exactly is it? Well, it is an environment that incorporates all of the senses to create a rich learning experience. Here are some ideas for incorporating the sense of hearing into your home or classroom.

Put together a listening center with a CD player and headphones. Stock it with books on tape, music cd’s, educational cd’s like School House Rock and Math Rap.

Set aside lots of time for reading aloud. Choose both fiction and non-fiction for your read alouds.

Put out a basket of musical instruments and some books with easy lessons on how to play.

Make available a tape recorder so that your child can record themselves talking or playing music and play it back as they please.