Well, it feels like only a couple of weeks have past since I've last posted (more like a couple of months), but we have been keeping ourselves busy to say the least!
Alejandro started taking Arabic lessons via Skype, from Studio Arabiya.
Ben started to teach Ali and I the Arabic alphabet two weeks ago, and I must admit, this little guy learns a lot faster than his Mama! That is to say, he doesn't shy away from calling me out when I make a mistake, to which I tell him I am "just testing you".
We are working on the sounds that the letters make, and his first lesson was on Vowel sounds. It is all very interesting, and I am learning too!
At the beginning of March was a library party with the theme of The Chronicles of Narnia. It is one of Alejandro's favorite series of books, of which we've read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (his favorite), and have seen almost all versions of the rest of the books on video,and listened to them on audio c.d. This is a photo of "King Ali". He made his crown and shield, and wore his scooter pads because "they look like armor".
Because Alejandro takes after his mother, he has taken a liking to setting up a pretend store in the house, and using his sister's cash register, he puts coins in, makes up receipts, and asks us (Mom & Dad) if we'd like to buy anything. This leads him into wanting to count the money in his piggy bank. So I set up a simple lesson about money. He sorted and counted all of his pennies, nickels, quarters, dimes, and dollars, and tallied how much of each he had. We talked about how much the coins were worth, compared their size, etc....Here is Aminah helping Alejandro with addition and subtraction. (hehe)
After this project he wanted to clean his pennies. And, either because he is stubborn or, just a kid, he doesn't take to the tried and true ways of coin cleaning (or ring cleaning, or caramel making) until he has failed with his own experiment. So, he set about placing pennies in a bowl of water and trying to clean them with various products. (again, reminding me of myself, gosh how do they do that?!....I made glue after I broke a chair in my room with a hairspray and water solution).
In the end we read about and watched Science videos of other children attempting the same experiment.
We learned about chemical reactions, and had a blast, minus the smell of using vinegar and salt to clean our pennies.
Alejandro still asks me for "half days" of school, and whines when I tell him it is a school day. So, not all of our time is spent in fun and exciting games and experiments. Alejandro admits that what he really doesn't like is "Graphics practice" aka learning how to write letters. I tell him that not all learning is going to be fun and games, and sometimes you just have to learn and do things you don't like! Sorry kid. (We literally spend 10 minutes a day practicing handwriting...you'd think I'm making him sit there and writes lines for hours the way he talks about it! So, we struggle with the balance of getting our work done, and making it engaging, and finding a way to bring out Ali's natural curiosity and eagerness to learn.
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