What makes me smile? Making homemade play dough and admiring my daughter’s very first pigtails. As the mother of a very bald baby, I have been waiting for this day for a long time. =)

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It’s that time again . . . that is, it’s time to eat soy turkey (just a little vegetarian humor=)) and create turkey and pilgrim hat window clingers. To be make these window clingers, Annabelle and I traced cookie cutters shaped like turkeys and hats and cut them out together. For those of you who are homeschooling or are implementing the Montessori approach in your homes, tracing cookie cutters and other shapes are wonderful pre-writing activities that help children to build their fine motor skills, concentration and a sense of order for how writing is done.

Meanwhile, Annabelle’s inner artist is flourishing. Since we’ve made her art supplies more accessible for her, she spends much of her free time drawing, painting, and felting. Right now she prefers to paint; for now, I introduce one color to her per paint session and am hoping to introduce how to mix colors in the coming months. Again, creative play like painting, beading, lacing cards, and paper clipping are pre-writing activities that help children develop fine motor skills.

Below is one of Annabelle’s paintings that she created during 2 creative play sessions; she used brushes, a foam brush, and her hands as stamps.

To learn more about creative play and other pre-writing activities, visit:

How To Use Montessori Sandpaper Letters

How to Develop Your Child’s Pre-Writing Skills Through Creative Play

Preschool Tracing Activities

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Yesterday afternoon Matt, Annabelle and I drove into D.C. to attend a children’s Thanksgiving event at the National Museum of the American Indian. On the way there, Annabelle fell asleep in the car, so Matt asked me if I wanted to stop and take pictures. Of course, I accepted and gladly suggested Georgetown. He dropped me off behind M Street where I wandered around Montrose Park and a nearby cemetery where I snapped lots and lots of photos. Above is what I saw.

Once Annabelle woke up we played in the Montrose park for a bit before loading back up into the car and heading towards the Museum of the American Indian. While searching for parking, an officer stopped us at a light where we were made to wait for about 20 minutes. We saw

leaders from China and Germany passing through on their way to the Whitehouse where President Bush hosted the G20 Summit to discuss regulating the global economy and world trade. After the officer waved us through though, we sat in traffic again because

protesters rallied against California’s Proposition 8, the ban on gay marriage. The group was full of energy with lots of rainbow umbrellas and flags, awesome and intelligent signs (I particularly enjoyed one sign that said, “Let’s Vote on Your Marriage”), and an enthusiastic and steadfast crowd who endured brief but heavy down pours.

Phew! What a day downtown. After our busy day in the city, we’re leaning towards a low key children’s event with ample parking and no risk of protests and world summits. That said, I felt grateful that my daughter not only took in a beautiful day in the park but also saw motorcades for world leaders, as well as a rally that supports civil rights. Not too shabby for a trip downtown.

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Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. ~ Abraham Lincoln

Courage! Look out, beyond, and see
The far horizon’s beckoning span!
Faith in your God-known destiny!
We are a part of some great plan.

~James Weldon Johnson

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be. ~Langston Hughes

O, let America be America again —
The land that never has been yet — ~Langston Hughes

We must take back our land again,
America! ~Langston Hughes

Or do you think those precious drops
From Lincoln’s heart were shed in vain? ~James Weldon Johnson

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work . . . ~Abraham Lincoln

that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . . and that government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from the earth. ~Abraham Lincoln

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” ~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!” ~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

On Sunday, my family had the great fortune to witness the Congratulatory Wall for President Elect Obama, set up by Avaaz, an organization of global citizens committed to taking action for important issues in today’s world. While there I had the opportunity to photograph the many visitors who were signing the wall as well as one man who I noticed kneeling down next to the inscription at the top of the steps on the Lincoln Memorial. Again, I am so grateful to have been among these many visitors and that my daughter and husband were there to share these moments with me.

To learn more about tolerance education and to teach tolerance at home to your children, visit tolerance.org.

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Listen, Listen written by Phillis Gershator and illustrated by Alison Jay

Listen, Listen is a lyrical children’s book packed full of sound imagery that is perfect for young children and early readers. From the first line of the book, “Listen, listen . . . what’s that sound?” readers and audiences begin a poetic journey of onomatopoeia that takes us through the seasons. Whether you’re riding in the car or snuggling up for an afternoon of reading books, Listen, Listen will engage your toddler, preschooler, and older child with its vivid language and memorable illustrations.

Illustrated by Allison Jay, Listen, Listen draws our attention to the many sources of seasonal sounds.  Using oil paintings with a crackled finish, Jay’s artwork creates the effect of timeless illustrations for a timeless tale.

Listen, Listen will occupy a small toddler with its language, imagery and illustrations, and it is a great learning tool for pre-schoolers and early readers.  Included in the last pages of Listen, Listen are vocabulary concept pages, which further draw the child into the story as he or she notices the more detailed elements of the book.

Children will learn about animals, plants, precipitation, and activities associated with each season, which makes this a wonderful learning tool for elementary aged children.

Listen, Listen is a publication printed by Barefoot Books, which is aligned with several organizations that promote global conservation and educate children about the importance of preserving and respecting our environment.

To win your own copy of Listen, Listen, leave a comment on this post. A winner will be announced one week from today on November 20. Happy Reading!

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I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day. ~Vincent Van Gogh

Dad pushes his dear one across the pavement in her miniature car, which she found at the Goodwill.

catching leaves is as much fun in the dark as it is in the light; the leaves highlighted by a dim cast from our neighborhood lamps

when cars ride by

a silhouette of trees created by lights from neighboring apartments

a moon hidden but glowing from behind the clouds; what I see from our swingset.

With our early evening play resembling the night, I am beginning to see the rich colors and opportunity for adventure that Van Gogh alludes to.

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Yesterday, in what turned out to be the longest of nights (during which my husband and I pleaded with our daughter  to sleep or at least rest), I made the decision to get out of bed with my daughter at 6 a.m. and take her for a drive so that my husband could get a few hours of sleep and function as a somewhat sane person during the day.

I quickly dressed and brought Annabelle downstairs where we strapped on her sparkling pink sneakers over her polka dotted footy pajamas.   Since it was so early in the day and the air was cool, I selected a puffy white vest for her to wear over her pajamas.  Looking at her (and thinking about it now), I realize how much we, as parents, get away with when it’s that early in the morning (i.e. dressing our kids as though they dressed themselves) and how much fun it is to be a parent (though I would vote for sleep over a silly outfit any day).

At first, I thought I would take her to see the ducks, although we were both disappointed when some early morning walkers told us that even the ducks don’t come out as early as we do (I politely told the walkers that we usually prefer to sleep at that hour).  I then promised Annabelle that we would have more fun with the ducks at a later time but that we needed to go elsewhere.  Still, I had no idea where to take her.

Then I jogged my memory for ideas of other ponds or at least safe places to go so early in the day.  With all the excitement of the election and my a rekindled interest in politics, I decided that we should drive into the city and take in the national sights early in the day–something that I had never done before.

Driving into D.C. on Constitution Ave., we took in the colorful foliage and parked nearby the World War II Memorial.  As we headed for the Memorial, we saw

dazzling red and gold trees

the Washington Monument reflecting in the pond with gorgeous trees decorating its base

and  on our way back we stopped at the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue

As we jogged up to the White House, Annabelle and I sang her favorite “Choo-choo” song with lyrics that go something like, “First we go to so and so’s house and then we go to so and so’s house.”  Since we were at the president’s house, I sang the song that way too.  The only other visitors were 2 middle aged men in law sweat shirts, and I can only wonder what they thought of us since we literally jogged up, sang our song, snapped the above photo, and jogged away.

While my night and morning didn’t turn out as I had expected them to, my daughter and I still managed to enjoy the morning and do something we had never done before.  Admittedly, I felt exhausted for the rest of the day, and yet, I am still happy for my adventurous morning with her.

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Now that Election day has come and gone and history was made, I found myself wandering through my own sleepy world with a small smile on my face. I feel so pleased with our election’s results, as many of you may well know. I do offer my apologies to readers who enjoy my blog but who may not like to hear my politics. I promise to get back to talking about the small stuff, the green stuff, the homeschooling and parenting stuff that bring many of you over here. So, let’s get to it.

Today, with autumn as our backdrop, our Montessori group planned to head outside to spend a day raking, jumping, and playing in leaves. Not only is raking leaves a practical living skill for our preschoolers to learn, but being outside collecting leaves and playing with them inspires a love and connection with nature that is invaluable.

But before I get ahead of myself, let me share a bit about how our lesson went. The mom/guides enthusiastically guided our children outdoors with rakes in hand. Once outside, our children noticed this or that and the raking of leaves was all but forgotten. Still, we reminded our children that there was fun to be hand and leaves to raked, so we (the moms) began to rake.

Minutes later our little ones noticed that their stomachs were rumbling. It was snack time. Indoors we went. Once inside, the children set the table with place mats, bowls, and plates. We then served them apples and carrots to fuel their energy for another round of raking. Here are pictures of the hungry ones:

Once snack time ended, our children headed back outdoors although this time with a little more gusto for leaf raking. Another mom and I carried our rakes to large leafy patch of the yard and began to rake and rake and rake. Eventually, the older children took notice and wandered over. Then, the younger ones joined us to observe the work that is raking leaves. A 3 year old in our group told me, “This is hard. I don’t think that I like raking leaves.” So the other mother and I reminded him about the best part of raking leaves, “You can jump in them, dear.”

And so we raked some more. Below are a few more pictures from our lovely morning with the leaves:

Annabelle uses her head to rake . Max is amused.

Max shows the younger children how to rake.

Sabrina is enthusiastic, at last, to be among the leaves.

I have to confess that when I was growing up in a leafy, leafy neighborhood in Connecticut, I detested raking leaves. What I remember though are funny and sometimes odd conversations had with my parents, neighbors, and my grandfather. Raking leaves was simply a matter of having patience, hanging in there, and feeling a little bit of relief when the yard was clear. As an adult though, I am learning to like it (although our yard is much, much smaller than when I was a kid) and am hopeful that Annabelle may enjoy it too.

Below I’ve included resources for fun, enthusiastic leaf raking with your children:

Mommy Lounge

Whole Family

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“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

I feel like last night was one of many first steps that Americans have taken towards electing a president we are proud of and believe in.  That said, John McCain’s concession speech moved me beyond words, and I only wish his campaign had let him be the candidate I saw speaking last night.

Yes we can!

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With all the excitement of the holidays and Election 2008, I’ve found myself playing with my daughter and crafting with her in our art room as much as possible. I guess you could say that I “need” to create in order to relax and feel centered. Added bonuses, too, are spending time with my little girl and watching her draw from within herself to create something of her own.

For a while now I have been wanting to build a felt board in the art room (I was inspired by this post that I read a few months ago on the Artful Parent) and to make better use of our chalk board and easel. Meanwhile, I also have a magnetic white board that has been lying around from my teaching days, and I wanted to somehow bring that into our art space too. Here’s what we did:

Felt Board

To create our felt board, I covered a large piece of foam core with felt measured and cut to fit. Together Annabelle and I glued the felt onto the board. We then used panel nails to hammer the felt board into the wall. Together we cut out felt shapes and other felt objects, like a leafy tree. Our friends Sabrina and Dinah spent an afternoon with us showing us how to use felt characters and objects to tell stories and sing nursery rhyme songs. I am excited to learn more about using the felt board for story time.

Below are pictures of Annabelle with the felt board before we hung it up.

Easel and Chalkboard

To make better use of our easel and chalkboard, I simply needed to rearrange our furniture and reorganize crafting supplies. I repositioned a table to make space for Annabelle to move around her easel, getting to her drawing supplies, chalk, and paint brushes (paint is something she asks me to take out).

Last week, we spent one evening painting spooky Halloween images playing with both tempera paint and water colors. Annabelle is also having great fun with drawing balloons (large circles) over and over again. This coming week I am hoping to experiment with our new no-voc acrylics.

Magnetic White Board

Since we have 2 magnetic white boards, I am planning to cover the second one with fabric (as I did with the first one) and place magnetic shapes, numbers, and letters on the board. Right now the other magnetic board features Annabelle’s artwork, so I think we’ll just have fun using the second board for imaginative play (similar to how we’ll use the felt board for story time).

I am looking for more ideas on ways to be creative with all of our “boards.” I’d love to hear your ideas for how you and your child(ren) or students have fun learning and playing with these kinds of materials. If you’d like, e-mail me at greenmamma@greenmamma.org to share your ideas.

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