Bar Graphs

Kids always seem to love playing these bar graph games which of course is great for teaching them about chance and what number the dots on the dice represent!  Zachary's class got these at school and we played it when he got home.  This picture was taken in the middle of it.  He was so excited to see which character "won" the game.  We used the dice from one of his board games and kept rolling until one character finally got to the top. 

Cat Paper Tearing

This cat is an art project that Zachary did in his kindergarten art class which was done by tearing the paper to make the shape of the cat.  They glued the poem below for a finishing Halloween touch for this special project. 

Pumpkin Plates

This is Adelyn's happy pumpkin.  She got to paint the bottom of the paper plate with orange and then glue on the pre-cut face!  I helped her during the process of painting by pointing to the whit spots that needed paint and then pointing to where she could put the glue for the face.  I also did the same for the stem and vine.  It makes for a nice happy Halloween decoration which is the type that I personally prefer :) 

All Saints/All Souls

All Saints/All Souls

                                        Zack Homrighaus                                    Sofia V. Mendez

You may have read my post from a few days ago about how we celebrate Halloween.  A tradition I've added to that in the last few years is to put up pictures of favorite Saints on that day in honor of All Saints day the next day and also pictures of family and friends who have gone before us in honor of All Souls day the following day.  For me, these two days have become days of reflecting on people who inspired me in who I want to be in this life.

In our family we take these days to honor all of the Saints we look up to and the family and friends we've lost.  The two pictures here are friends of mine from high school.  We found out Zack had cancer after our sophomore year of high school in 2000.  He fought it and lived three more years until December 27, 2003.  Sofia had a sudden issue with her brain fluid and passed away suddenly on October 1, 2011.  It was a real shock.  Both of these people were inspirational in countless ways. They have reminded me of the person I want to be on a daily basis.  Although we can think about our family and friends and honor them any day of the year, All Souls day is a special day we take each year as a community and to make sure we have time dedicated to those people.  In our Catholic tradition, All Souls day is also the day that we pray for people who have died that they go to heaven and pass out of purgatory.  It might be a strange thought for anyone who does not believe in purgatory.  We believe people go there before going to heaven, not as punishment, but to be cleansed of any sins/wrongs made on earth so that we can be in heaven soon after with Jesus in the perfect form.  It's suppose to be a place of hope and so we offer up prayers for those there. 

   

Now Keeping the Jaw Breakers and Hard Candy I've Always Hated

Every year on Halloween since I was growing up I've dreaded getting all of the horrible hard candy that ends up sitting in the pantry until Valentine's Day because nobody wants to eat it. And then we finally throw it away and waste it anyway.  I don't know any kids that really eat that stuff but apparently some do because stores sell it and people actually give it away!

Scott has been doing science experiments once a week or every other week usually (well sometimes we skip a few weeks but for the most par) for a couple of years. We repeat experiments a whole lot for repetition in the learning process.  Zachary's favorites have been colored ice cubes, the volcano and bottle rockets.  Lately he's been wanting to try mixing things he comes up with on his own.  Sometimes they all come from the pantry but it's disgusting to think about mixing these things he mentions.  He's been asking questions also like "what would happen if we did this, or if we put this in water, or if we did such n such.  I think it came to the point when he asked that about a candy and we decided to dissolve it in water. This happened to be a week or so before Halloween and I said, "Great! I know where all of the objectionable candy is going to"!

Sure enough, we got plenty of hard candy we are not going to consume.  Jawbreakers, exploding candy, sour hard things, hard colored candy that looks like cough drops....plenty of great stuff for science experiments.  The  kids enjoy watching things change colors or go from large to nothing! Hope it's something your kids would enjoy too.

Leave your suggestions or ideas you do at home!

Our Version of Halloween- Increase your Imagination

Please Use Your Imagination!

                         

A great book by Bart Vivian

Imagination is obviously important. When we use our imagination we are in a moment our senses are not being used to perceive, but instead our mind.  It is an important role in the learning process helping us to make sense of the world. Imagination has provided humans with the creativity to advance society in art, music, dance, writing/stories, science, psychology, and much more. And it's just fun. I can't really fly to any tropical islands right now, but I'm so there whenever I want in my mind. And since we have something called the internet which came about through creativity, ideas, dreams and imagination, I can use google images to find pictures of my tropical island to advance my own dream. 

So what am I getting at with this? Well we know that Halloween is pretend and features imaginative creatures and characters.  My problem is that I'm just not a fan of the scary stuff.  Although it's creative, it doesn't add a lot of improvement and inspiration to my life.  In fact it just plain causes me anxiety and encourages me to want to take all sorts of self defense classes. I've been this way since I was small. Every year something different scared me out of my mind for several weeks before Halloween. The scariest costume I ever had was a cute witch.  I'm sure I'm not alone in this.  There's plenty of people who enjoy the scary, horror, haunted house type of stuff and there's plenty who are like me.  My oldest is 4 and although he says he enjoys spooky stuff I know that he's quick to change his mind when he's sees the scary monster pictures, even though he does know and understand that it's pretend. 

I don't want to just throw out Halloween completely.  There's a lot of great imaginative things we can still do. For those of you that can't get enough of the haunted house scene, enjoy away! For us who don't care for it, you might enjoy some alternatives where you can still participate in the holiday.  There's plenty examples out there already such as the different pictures you can trace and carve on your pumpkin. Last year we had Elmo and this year we hope to have Cookie Monster. We definitely don't just see scary faces on front porches!

                                          
    I was reading up on the origins of Halloween and according to wikipedia there are several.  The two main ones I posted below along with the link to read more.  Most of it seems nice except for the Gaels bonfire to ward off evil spirits. The exact quotes will be below with the wiki link. Here is a list of things we like to do to enjoy our Halloween experience.

• Decorate the downstairs with autumn decor. 
• Read books about imagination on Halloween.
• Put up pictures of family and friends who have passed away to remember and honor them.
• Put up pictures of people we view as heroic, dead or alive.
• Imagine ourselves as storybook characters and have a parade
• Attend fall festivals and pumpkin farms.
• Bake cookies, pies and more!
• Carve a pumpkin of course :)
• Trick or Treat!

During the moments when our kids get scared we all search for our own methods of comfort to lift them up and help them to understand what reality is. Old Papa Bear put it quite nicely in this story which is part of one of our favorite series. Papa explained to Sister that she was afraid of the dark because of her imagination rather than what was really there.  When Sister remarks that she wished she did not have an imagination Papa explains that our imagination is very important.

There is a great song called Imagination by Hugworks.  It's a good song for a wide range of elementary students. http://new.music.yahoo.com/hugworks/tracks/imagination--175230835

Would love to hear about anyone else's Halloween traditions! 

Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while "some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-an orsow-in)", derived from the Old Irish Samuin meaning "summer's end".^[1] Samhain was the first and by far the most important of the four quarter days in the medieval Irish and Scottish^[2] calendar^[3][4] and, falling on the last day of Autumn, it was a time for stock-taking and preparation for the cold winter months ahead.^[1 There was also a sense that this was the time of year when the physical and supernatural worlds were closest and magical things could happen.^[3][4] To ward off these spirits, the Gaels built huge, symbolically regenerative bonfires and invoked the help of the gods through animal and perhaps even human sacrifice.


Halloween is also thought to have been heavily influenced by the Christian holy days of All Saints' Day (also known as Hallowmas, All Hallows, Hallowtide) and All Souls' Day.^[5] Falling on November 1st and 2nd respectively, collectively they were a time for honoring the Saints and praying for the recently departed
^{]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween}












 

Autumn

Books


Apples and Pumpkins- Anne Rockwell, Illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell


It's Pumpkin Time- Zoe Hall, Illustrated by Shari Halpern


The Littlest Pumpkin- RA Herman


The Biggest Pumpkin Ever- Steven Kroll Illustrated Jeni Bassett


Pumpkins- Mary Lyn Ray Illustrated by Barry Root


Four Friends in Autumn- Tomie DePaola


Growing Vegetable Soup- Lois Ehlert

Book Making
Find pictures on google images to make a book about autumn fruits/veggies, leaves, or what ever you want!
See ours below under "our experience".

Music
The Leaves on the Trees- Rachel Rambach- Listen & Learn Music
All About Autumn- Rachel Rambach- Listen & Learn Music
Autumn Leaves are Falling Down- To the Tune of London Bridge
Monster Mash
Dry Bones
Costumes on Parade- Rachel Rambach-Listen & Learn Music

Crafts

Salt Dough Leaves from That Artist Woman


Cue Tip Leaf Painting from La Classe Della Maestra Valentina


Cork Print Tree (could also use thumb prints) from Frugal Family Fun

Baking
Apple Cider
Apple Brownies
Apple Sauce
Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Pie Cake

Activities
Decorating the house- tablecloth, door decoration, cornucopia center piece, candles

Visit a local pumpkin farm/apple orchard.  Being out and away from the neighborhood in a new farm/orchard setting is exciting in itself.  Some include pony rides, train rides, crafts, and more. Bring cash just in case. Some take cards and some don't.  Find one near you at Pick your own

ASL


Autumn

From www.lifeprint.com


Our Experience

Salt Dough Leaves

Zachary                                  Adelyn

Cue Tip Trees- They had their own ideas in mind :)

Adelyn's Leaf Painting from school

Autumn Fruits Picture Book

Sugar Cookies with Halloween Colors

Cookie icing project directed by Aunt Michelle!

Cue tip Trees

Cue Tip Trees

Cue Tip Trees

Cue Tip Tree Painting

Posing for a picture because Mommy wanted us to

Climbing the Haystack Maze

Fishing for Bats!

Library Halloween Activities- Balloon swinging

Littlest Pet Shop and Buzz Lightyear