Deirdre, Author at JDaniel4s Mom

Deirdre Smith writes/owns JDaniel4’s Mom. After twenty years as a elementary school and technology resource teacher in Northern Virginia, she became a stay at home mom in upstate South Carolina. Her blog features ways she and her 5 year old are exploring learning, crafting, creating healthy meals and living life to its fullest. Deirdre can also be found on twitter as @jdaniel4smom and on her blog's FB page. You can also check her out on Google+.

Read.Explore.Learn- Things in the Dark

October 29, 2010 By Deirdre

Welcome to Read. Explore. Learn! This meme was designed to be a place for you to share the learning opportunities, crafts, field trips, and other activities you have done this week that tie-in to children’s books. I look forward to seeing the ways you have learned with and explored books.

Steps:

Link your activity below.

Please place the Read.Explore.Learn. the badge on your post or create a link back to this meme.

Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below and leave a comment. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment.

If you are not linking up an activity and are just visiting, please try to stop by a few of the links below.

My Book Tie-In of the Week

We read The Fox in the Dark by Alison Green. A fox is sighted by many animals in the dark forest one night. One a time they each end up at rabbit’s house seeking refuge and a place to sleep for the night. Rabbit’s bed gets crowded. Animals are shoving and pushing for space. Still, there is knocking on the door. A small fox wants a place to stay. He is lost and can’t find his mom. Finally, Momma knocks on the door looking for him. The animals surprise her by letting her and her little one stay for the night. This book scared JDaniel a little the first time we read it. When he realized the fox wasn’t looking for a midnight snack, he relaxed and enjoyed subsequent readings of the story.

What did we do?

Craft

It has become a tradition for JDaniel and me to visit his Aunt Jane at the high school she works in costume and deliver her a treat. This year I had him decorate an old shoebox with Halloween stickers. We put cookies we baked into the box and took it to her school on Wednesday. She loved the box and I bet she inhaled the cookies.

Writing a Poem

Shape Poem interactive tool

Freaky Fungus or I Found a Brain in the Yard

October 27, 2010 By Deirdre

I found this huge mushroom in my front yard. It looks a lot like a brain to me. The corpus callosum is missing from the mushroom. It makes it hard to see the right and left hemispheres clearly. The rippled effect one sees in brains is most easily seen on the edges of the mushroom.

What do you think? Does it look like a brain to you?

Mom Wants Extra Sleep! Learning to Make a Bed! The Cat in the Hat!

October 26, 2010 By Deirdre

This morning when I went into get JDaniel out of his crib I found him laying down with his blanket over his head. Yes, he was laying there clasping a blanket over his face and head.

I was frantic and shouted, “JDaniel get that blanket off your head!” What are you doing?”

“Oh! I am camouflaged, “he said calmly taking the blanket off his head.

“You can’t be camouflaged. Your blanket is green and the sheet is white,” I told him.

“Then I am in a cocoon,” he replied.

“You could have trouble breathing with a blanket over your face. It doesn’t matter what you were pretending to be,” I answered.

“No, look I can breathe,” he responded holding the blanket over his mouth.

Why did he have a blanket on over his face? There are three reasons for this my trying to sneak more sleep, JDaniel’s learning to make a bed, and the Cat in the Hat.

Trying to Sneak More Sleep

One morning I was exhausted and I snuck back into after getting JDaniel’s breakfast. I was sure that if I pulled the covers over my head he wouldn’t find me. Apparently large lump in the bed was very noticeable to him. He came charging in laughing and soon pulling at the covers.

“What are you doing Mom?” he asked.

“I am a caterpillar in a cocoon. If you give me a few minutes, I will burst out of the covers as a butterfly, “I said sleepily.

He waited patiently beside the bed for me to hatch out of the cocoon. I was hoping he would run back and finish breakfast or get tired of waiting for me to hatch or check out what my husband was up to. No, he waited. He wanted to see me fly out of bed and he wanted to jump in bed and pretend he was now it a cocoon. He has been pretending to change from a caterpillar to a butterfly ever since.

Learning to Make a Bed

I am trying to teach JDaniel how to do simple household chores. While helping me make my bed one morning he noticed that a flat sheet, pillows, and blanket were on the bed. He asked me about why they were there and why he didn’t have them in his bed. His crib contains only a fitted sheet. JDaniel has enough trouble finding his pacies as it is at night. I decided to not add pillows, blankets or toys that would impede his finding them. He was insistent that he needed them right away. I convinced him that starting with a blanket would be a good first step. If he liked it and it wasn’t a problem, we could add a pillow. He has used the blanket for a few weeks and loves to have it draped over him at night.

The Cat in the Hat

The need for extra sleep and learning to make a bed has been covered. What is left? Oh! The Cat in the Hat hasn’t been explained. Last night before bedtime we watched the Cat in the Hat on T.V. There were two stories in the episode. One featured a silk worn who built a cocoon. The second story was about a gecko and how he could hide well using his camouflage. I guess JDaniel must have been thinking about the show when he woke up this morning and decided to surprise me.

He decided to let the blanket hang on the side of his bed at nap time and not have it draped over him. Maybe he was afraid of scaring me again.

Muffin Tin Monday- Two Spiders Have A Halloween Lunch

October 25, 2010 By Deirdre

I tried to make a spider web with sour cream, but I couldn’t make a fine enough line. After three attempts I laid some whole wheat spaghetti on the nachos and prayed that people looking at it would think it was a web.

The second challenge as trying to make the muffins look like spiders. I thought using green peppers would look okay and be a healthy thing for JDaniel to eat. He loved the muffins along with the turkey and cheese inside. The olives disappeared quickly. The green pepper legs were handed to me with the suggestion that I might like to eat them. JDaniel thought the muffins looked like spiders. My husband wanted to know why JDaniel was eating cats. Aren’t cats a Halloween symbol? Is there a spider cat? Do they really look like cats?

The third and final challenge was trying to get JDaniel to try wearing the spider rings. He won’t wear bugs on his fingers he told me.

The carrots and apple weren’t a challenge. Thank goodness they went over with JDaniel. I was done with challenges for the day.

Read.Explore.Learn. – Fall Harvest

October 22, 2010 By Deirdre

Steps:

Link your activity below.

Please place the Read.Explore.Learn. the badge on your post or create a link back to this meme.

Please try to visit at least three of the other people that have placed links below. I will visit each of you and leave a kind comment.

If you are not linking up an activity and are just visiting, please try to stop by a few of the links below.

My Book Tie-Ins of the Week

Tractor by Craig Brown describes how each of the tractor attachments can be used to help a farmer with his crop throughout the year. The pictures in this book are amazing. I have to admit that I looked in the glossary in the back of the book to find out what some of the farming terms meant. JDaniel loved watching the fieldwork throughout the planting and harvesting season.

Hello, Harvest Moon by Ralph Fletcher beautifully describes a night filled by the light of a bright harvest moon. I love the wonderful rhythm of the words that describe the night time activities that can now be clearly seen due to the moon. The pictures in this book are amazing. If it weren’t for the fact that JDaniel would probably not sleep well, I would love to have a harvest moon here soon.

Autumn Harvest by Alvin Tresselt shares with its readers the things that can be found in a farm community in the fall. This book contains a lot of words and JDaniel’s attention seemed to wander when I read him this book. I loved the weaving together of wonderful word pictures like “.. the gossipy birds strung along telephone wires, waiting to start their autumn flight.

What did we do?

Farm Equipment Sensory Box

I placed some rice and several types of noodles in a plastic tub for JDaniel to explore. I showed JDaniel the glossary at the back of the Tractor book and the noodles I had selected to represent each tractor attachments. He loved playing with it. He played with it for a long time and made very little mess. The next few times the rice and pasta tub was taken out it made a huge mess. I am still finding rice. My husband mentioned that maybe he was too young for this. I am not sure if he will get neater with age.

Painting Pumpkins

JDaniel got to paint his pumpkin from the pumpkin patch at playgroup this week. The mom who hosted playgroup this week, Jennifer had the children use washable finger paint. It was an awesome idea. The paint stayed on the pumpkins and not the children.

Catching Fall Leaves

JDaniel loves to be outside. He loves to play with leaves. I thought it would be fun to try to catch leaves in a butterfly net. The wind hasn’t been blowing here much lately so, I decided to throw leaves in the air and have him try to catch them. Later he decided to catch leaves out of piles of leaves I had raked.

$90 GC to CSN Winner

October 22, 2010 By Deirdre

Heather won the $90 GC to CSN! I have contacted her via e-mail and let her know about her win.

Exploring Nivens Farm

October 20, 2010 By Deirdre

Yesterday I posted pictures we took at a pumpkin stand in downtown Simpsonville, South Carolina where we purchased a large pumpkin for our front porch. Today I have more pumpkin related pictures to share. These pictures are from a field trip JDaniel and his playgroup went on to Nivens Farm. We got a small pumpkin and bag of apples as part of the farm visit package. I am going to share so of the wonderful things we did and saw while exploring Nevins Farm.

We started with a hayride around the farm. JDaniel clung to me as the tractor took off and only relaxed half around the farm. When I asked him his favorite part of the trip later that day he said this was his favorite part.

Then someone headed off to look for a pumpkin. JDaniel was supposed to select one of the small pumpkins that were already picked as part of our farm visit package. After being guided back to them, he spent fifteen minutes trying to select a pumpkin. I was so ready to select one for him.

After selecting one of the small pumpkins, he jumped on inner tubes.

There was a wood teepee set up. JDaniel waited patiently for his turn to explore the inside of the teepee.

It is hard to see him in the tube. If you squint carefully, you may see his shadow. JDaniel crawled through the tubes many times. He also loved standing at one end of the tube and calling to me on the other end. The echoing effect really interested him.

Almost Wordless Wednesday- Pretty Pumpkins

October 20, 2010 By Deirdre

We found such a variety of beautiful pumpkins at a local pumpkin stand. I had to take a picture of some of the more unusual ones.

I love the lace pattern on these pumpkins

These white and green pumpkins are stunning.

JDaniel loved these too.
He ultimately picked a traditional orange pumpkin.

Harvesting Words- Mom, Tell Me about It

October 19, 2010 By Deirdre

There are times when even I the official JDaniel translator does not understand what he is trying to tell me. Sometimes due to the context of the conversation and sometimes due to where we are when we have the conversation I can figure out what he has just said. When I do not recognize the word he is trying to say, I ask him to tell me about it. Sometimes I ask him the following questions: What does it look like? What is near what you want or see? What color is it? Have we seen it before? Narrowing down the object of discussion usually helps him discern the word he is trying to say.

Lately, JDaniel has been pointing out objects we see when we are out in the car as a fire truck. After getting me to tell him that it is a fire truck, he says, “Tell me about it.” The first time he did this I wanted to break out laughing. I caught myself before the chuckle could escape from my lips. I am so glad I did. JDaniel was being serious. He was giving me an opportunity to share with him what I knew fire trucks. I do not know a lot. Most of what I know about them has come from watching videos on fire trucks with him and he already knows those facts.

I look forward to him asking for me to tell him about things again. This is a great opportunity to talk about shapes, colors, sounds along with introducing new vocabulary words to him.

What are you doing Mom?

This question comes up a lot of car rides or when I am doing the most mundane things. The answer to the question when I am driving the car is to say, “JDaniel, I am driving the car.” I have thought about it and am not sure that is what is asking. He seems content with my answer but, I do wonder if he is looking for more details just as he is when he says,” Tell me about it.” I have started putting what I am doing in sequence with details. “Well, I am driving the car on the highway, because it is the fastest way to the library. When we get there, we can look for books” I say to him.

Does he need all these details?
Yes, he must or he won’t be asking for them.

Do I think taking the time to give him the details helps his brain development?
Yes, I think it is helping him build brain connections that he will use as a foundation to build knowledge on later.

Does he just like to talk like his mom sometimes?
Yes, he most certainly does.

What questions are your children asking?