Happy Juggling Day!

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Yep, National Juggling Day would be today, June 13th.  And that’s the literal thing – not this figurative stuff we’re all pros at…  (By the way, if you’re late off the mark on this one, June 18th is World Juggling Day, so you’ve still got time to practice.)

To celebrate, we checked out a book and watched a movie on how to juggle.  Boy, am I in my second childhood here!  I’m amazed at how quickly I figured out how to launch three balls in the air and catch them all – every time!


Esmé rather got stuck on making the juggling balls – wrapping tennis balls with balloons for better grip.  I must say that they worked fabulously – the balloon makes all the difference.  Still just a tad-bit big, but much better than plain tennis balls.


And while I was preoccupied with juggling practice, Esmé disappeared for a few moments and came in to join the act – as the clown…


Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve ALMOST got that 4th throw thing…

And maybe this’ll help me with real life?

Happy Raggedy Ann & Andy Day!

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Today, June 12, is Raggedy Ann & Andy Day – so we’ve been filling in more educational gaps with Raggedy Ann cartoons and books!

I never could figure out why June 12 is special in Raggedy Ann & Andy’s history, but they do have an interesting story that starts back in the early 1800s when Johnny Gruelle’s grandmother created a generic handmade cloth doll.  In 1914, Johnny’s daughter Marcella received a tainted vaccination and spent months in bed, while her father entertained her with Raggedy Ann adventures. Though Marcella tragically died, Raggedy Ann lived on.

To celebrate, we’ve made TP roll dolls using DLTK’s pattern.  Though Esmé insisted on swapping heads and putting Raggedy Andy’s head on Raggedy Ann’s body, because he was much prettier…


They have a whole section of crafts on Raggedy Ann and Andy.


We’re also doing some alphabet ordering using these cute Raggedy Ann and Andy desk strips (which I cut into miniature cards) from Learning Treasures.


I love the paper plate Raggedy Ann and Andy craft over at Live, Learn, Love – if I can locate my red yarn, we’ll add this to the list of celebratory activities today.  There is also an entire Raggedy Andy unit study on Homeschool Share if one wanted to spend a week on this theme.

Now I’ve gotta get back to reading about the dolls’ adventures to the little Miss…

Happy Corn on the Cob Day!

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June 11th is Corn on the Cob Day.  Five guesses as to what we did to celebrate…


Any ideas yet?

We went shopping for those baby corn thingies that go into the cob ends to make them easier to hold.  Because Esmé doesn’t like greasy hands.


Yum!

Happy Birthday, Maurice Sendak

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June 10th is Maurice Sendak’s birthday. 

And what better way to celebrate the birthday of an author of children’s books than to head to the library and have a little reading fest of all his books?  So that is what we did…

I must admit, I’ve got mixed feelings about Sendak’s work.  I admire his imagination and creativity.  I don’t particularly appreciate the “spookier” side of it; the goblins that steal babies, etc.  So I’ll just say, “Read at your own risk.”

A side note:  I found it interesting that Sendak’s original plan with Where the Wild Things Are was actually Where the Wild Horses Are, but he found he wasn’t great at horse illustrations.  Personally, we would’ve liked horses better, but the book probably wouldn’t have been as memorable…

One book we did enjoy is Chicken Soup With Rice (except for October…).  In fact, we did a month-long calendar unit study last September with this book as the base.  I realize I haven’t posted about that yet – I’ll try to get it up sometime this weekend.

In the meantime, enjoy this rendition of Chicken Soup With Rice by Carole King:

Happy Birthday, Donald Duck!

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I was amazed to discover Esmé didn’t know who Donald Duck was.  I’m loving these holidays of June; we are uncovering so many educational gaps… :)

Yes, June 9th is commonly defined as Donald Duck’s birthday – the day he debuted in 1934.  Yep – he’s another invention of the Great Depression era…

To celebrate, we checked out a couple of Duck videos from the library and ran through a few clips on YouTube.  Definitely worth a look is Donald’s page on the Disney site, which includes a handful of videos and games.  And you can find a stack of printable coloring pages at ColouringBookPages.


Right now Esmé is sitting through Disney’s Donald in Mathmagic Land, a homeschooling classic that I thought would be a little advanced for her, but Donald is keeping her attention…

For your viewing pleasure, here is The Wise Little Hen, Donald’s debut picture:


Happy birthday, Donald!  And welcome to Donald’s legendary world, Miss Esmé!

Happy Upsy Daisy Day!

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Yes, June 8th is a day to remind people to get up gloriously, gratefully and gleefully each morning…  According to Stephanie West Allen.

This is a rather recent holiday, and I have no idea why June 8th was chosen.

Nonetheless, I love the concept “upsy daisy,” which is a playful, reassuring phrase one uses while lifting a child or otherwise giving someone a helping hand.

We celebrated with cheery good-morning music.  And with picking daisies, of course.

First, here is the Upsy Daisy Song, which makes me smile just for the bizarreness of it.  I’m not sure why it makes Esmé smile, but it does…


A few other morning favorites:

• Open Up Your Heart and Let the Sunshine In, a Flintstone classic that my mother used to sing in the mornings.
• Top of the World by the Carpenters.
• Let Your Light Shine by Hillsong when you need to get moving.

What music gets YOU up gloriously, gratefully, and gleefully in the mornings?

Happy Daniel Boone Day!

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On June 7, 1769, Daniel Boone first saw the beautiful land of present-day Kentucky.  The Kentucky Historical Society has since declared this day to be Boone Day…

Boone was born near Reading, PA, which is, of course, extremely interesting. Because I went to high school near there.  The rest of his life, which includes scads of Shawnee adventures and land claims lawsuits, is kinda interesting, too…

Did you know Daniel Boone never wore a coonskin cap?

Yeah.  So we made a couple of coonskin caps to celebrate the day.  Just because.

We happened to have a little kit obtained at a thrift store, but it really is easy to make even without.  You start with this:

• A paper bag – convenience store size (a little larger than a lunch bag)
• A tattered strip of black construction paper
• Pencil, ruler, scissors, stapler

Use the ruler to measure 3 inches from the bottom of the bag and draw a straight line across.  (We overdid it with 4 inches.)

Cut the bag on the line.  You can discard the top of the bag.  The bottom will be the cap.


Cut 1-inch fringes on the cut edge.

Staple the tattered strip of black construction paper to the bag.


Wear.


Or, like Esmé, refuse to wear because Daniel Boone never did.  (Or rather because she wanted to make a whole baby raccoon, not a version of skinned, dead coon.  And you can’t wear whole baby raccoons, you know.)


Your call…

And a happy Boone Day to ya!

Happy Yo-Yo Day!

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And a happy “walk the dog” day to ya!

June 6th is National YoYo Day in honor of Donald F. Duncan Sr.’s birthday.  Whoever that is…

I presented Esmé with a celebratory yo-yo and asked her in search of an educational moment, “Where do you think yo-yos came from?”

“The store…” she exclaimed with obviousness.

“Uh, that’s not exactly what I meant.  Maybe they came from China?” I explained, grasping at origins.

“I believe you’re doing the same thing your daughter did,” Pappa said to me.

Sure enough, the yo-yo had a “Made in China” emblem on it.

Checking out the history, I discovered that the yo-yo DOES seem to originate in the Orient, though no one can pinpoint exactly where.  It’s been around, like, forever?  Used as a weapon of all things in the Philippines, it made its way to Europe around 1800.

Which brings us to Donald Duncan, who was behind the mass production and marketing of yo-yos as toys in the US in the 1930s, in large part with the help of a Filipino named Pedro Flores.  Happy birthday, Donald!


(Another Great Depression cure?  Donuts, Rocky Road, and Yo-Yos – shows that great things come from tough times?)

By the way, if you’ve got elementary-aged kids, there is a cool unit study, including hands-on science study, available at homeschooling.about.com…

Happy Cancer Survivors Day!

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Moving on to a more serious celebration…

Did you know that in the US, almost half of all men and one third of all women are expected to be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives? 

The first Sunday in June is National Cancer Survivors Day:  a day to show the world that life after a cancer diagnosis can be meaningful and productive.  A survivor?  “Anyone living with a history of cancer – from the moment of diagnosis through the remainder of life.”

How to celebrate this one?  Live.  Just live!  In awe of the wonders around you, and the wonder that is you.

I was chatting to my mom today about her upcoming treatments and her recent haircut, and later I came across this commercial for a children’s cancer fund.  Sniff.  I’ll be watching it with Esmé, but those scissors will be tucked out of sight…


Here’s to celebrating life!

Funnix Math: Free!

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Just a little PSA here: 

We’ve been having a great time with Funnix’s reading program – the gentle approach and the simple, not-too-flashy interactive computer tutor has worked well for us.

I just learned that Funnix now has a Beginning Math program.  Not only that, it is available as a free download through June 26.  All components of the program are included:  100 computer-based lessons, workbook material, a teaching guide, and a placement test. 

I'm in the process of downloading it – it takes forever to download at our pathetic internet speeds – so I can’t give you our opinion of it yet.

If you’d like to try it out, head on over to Funnix.com before June 26.

End of PSA…

Happy Old Maid’s Day!

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June 4th is Old Maid’s Day, did ya know?  Time to live it up, ladies!

When I explained the “old maid” phrase to Esmé, she immediately began crafting plans to get all old maids married off.  I nipped it in the bud by pulling out the Old Maid card game I had found at the Dollar Tree.

I’ve actually never played Old Maid before, so this was a learning experience for me, too.  You can play with a regular set of cards – just taking out one of the queens, or there are a number of printable card sets available online.  I found a myriad of rules – and we tried several – but the gist of it is to match cards, with one card not having a match. 

The Fisher Price Old Maid set we got was a fun animal set, with the skunk playing the part of the old maid.  Perfect for preschoolers – though Esmé decided to play one round without the skunk card because she hated for anyone to lose.


The origin of this holiday is a little vague, though there is some evidence suggesting it started after World War II – when many women had put their romantic lives on hold and then found a lack of suitable marriage candidates.  And celebration activities are very much open to interpretation.  We may still make Old Maid pie – a conglomeration of leftovers.  Or not.

Happy Donut Day!

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This is absolutely the last sugary holiday we are celebrating for a while…  I’ve crossed National Applesauce Cake Day off the list and everything.

That being said, Happy Donut Day!  National Donut Day, the first Friday of June each year (June 3rd this year), is another holiday with Great Depression origins – with Rocky Road and donuts, I’m not quite sure how the depression could have lasted as long as it did!  Thanks, Salvation Army, for honoring women volunteers and motivating Krispy Kreme, Dunkin’ Donuts, and many other companies to offer free donuts around the country for generations to come…

To make our celebration somewhat educational, we made our donuts from scratch.  Using a package of refrigerated biscuit dough, a pan of hot oil, and powdered sugar.  Which is about as much scratching as I feel like doing.  At least we get to discuss the dangers of hot oil and overexposure to sugar and other important educational stuff.


Care to join us?  We’ve got more biscuit dough in the fridge, and Esmé didn’t use up quite all the sugar, though she tried her best.

Happy Rocky Road Day!

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June 2nd – National Rocky Road Day…

I was a little disconcerted to realize how many random holidays have something to do with food – I’ve got no desire to escalate our sugar intake this month. 

However, when I realized Esmé had no idea what Rocky Road is, I knew we needed to address this gap in her education, sugar or no sugar.

After an extensive study of the Great Depression and the events leading to the creation of Rocky Road ice cream (jk…), we brought out the goods. 


Esmé highly recommends the celebration of this all-important marshmallow-filled holiday!

Wordless Wednesday

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While there’s no summer in this part of the world, we did enjoy a little break from the rain a couple days ago…  Happy Wednesday!