Challenges of Teaching Multiple Ages

As a mom of a 6th grader, a 3rd grader and a 3 year old, homeschooling can be a challenge some days.  It has been a few years since I have had to think about preschool activities.  And I find switching from the challenging subjects that my 6th grader is doing to fun preschool activities to be very hard.  And to make matters worse Amber does not always want to do the activities that I plan for her.  Next month I will be going to the homeschool conference in Ohio and that is going to be one of the things I focus on.  How to teach multiple ages.  But I have come up with a couple activities that has kept her interest:

 
What I would do is build something with blocks and then she would try to copy it.  She loves doing this!  I also pulled out some old Montessori activities that I made when Christopher was her age. The jars in front of Amber have various different items in them that make different sounds.  There are two of each so she shakes them to find the matching jar.

For this activity she has two divided containers that are labeled 0 - 9.  Her job is to count the correct number of popsicle sticks for each slot.

So now what I need to do is come up with more activities like these that Amber can do while the older kids are working.  I really am trying to cut down her time on the computer and have her play more but that is a challenge.

A First for Christopher!

I was so excited for Christopher today.  He was part of the Shadow Stations of the Cross at St. Margaret's.  And he was sooo excited too!  He has never volunteered to be in any performance of any kind so when he volunteered to be Jesus, I was amazed.  And he did an absolutely fabulous job and enjoyed the whole thing.  Here are a few of the stations:

It was so nice to see him be a part of something like this because he really is not one to volunteer for things. Now he has to do a second Stations of the Cross for the parish.  The one today was just for the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade catechism classes. And he can't wait to do it again!

Greek Art

The main subject for today was Greek art. Christopher completed a mosaic by glueing tiles onto a plaster base that he made yesterday.

Emily's project was to make a clay bowl by coiling it around and smoothing out the edges.

The bowl now has to sit and dry for a couple of days then I will cook it in the oven.  Once it has been cooked Emily will be able to paint it.

Yesterday Emily also made a mask for her Greek art.

Blog Under Construction

I am attempting to add three columns to my blog and trying to work the bugs out.  This is a test to see if I can post something.  Having some problems and getting a little frustrated but I hope to get them worked out soon.

Unfortunately there will be no pictures for my post today.  I wanted to take pictures but was so caught up in the activity that I forgot.  We had our Catholic Bible study today and it was so much fun.  I made a bread dough that was cut into smaller balls.  The children were given a ball of dough and were told to roll them out to make a pretzel.  They could either make the shape of a traditional pretzel or any shape of there choosing.  They were then painted with egg and sprinkled with salt.  The pretzels were then baked in the oven and eaten shortly after.  I got the idea to make these pretzels during Lent from a book called A Continual Feast by Evelyn Birge Vitz that states, "The pretzel is a very ancient bakery item, which traditionally was eaten only during Lent.  It appeared each year on Ash Wednesday and disappeared on Good Friday..... Christians ate no dairy products in Lent, so the pretzel was made only of flour, salt and water: it was as simple as it could be."

Here is the recipe:
1 Tablespoon honey or sugar (I used honey)
11/2 cups lukewarm water
1 envelope active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups of flour
Coarse or Kosher salt
1 egg, beaten

Add the honey to the water; sprinkle in the yeast and stir until dissolved.  Add 1 teaspoon salt.  Blend in the flour, and knead the dough until smooth.  Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with salt.
Bake at 425 for 12 -15 minutes.

This has become somewhat of a tradition in our house during Lent.  One I hope to continue for a long time!

Emily is doing a project for her study on the Arts in Greece.  She is making a statue out of modeling clay.

And here is her finished product.

Christopher completed his report on the history of the Pelopponesian War.

He did not like this assignment to much.  He had already typed the report on the computer but I made him copy it in cursive to get some handwritting practice.  It took him a while but he did a good job.  We also did a Latin crossword puzzle together which he moaned and groaned about doing but he was even quicker at getting that done.  It is really encouraging to see him do so well at Latin.  It is not easy to learn and he is doing very well.  It is one of his best subjects next to science.