Picture Perfect

I think there is so much more to learning than reading & writing. Art is often undervalued but it's benefits are so hard to ignore. From an early age, we have exposed both our kids to creative art. Nothing fancy nancy. Just your good ole drawing blocks, paints, brushes, sponges etc. Encouraging children to explore & engage in self expression does so much for their logical thinking & self expression. It opens up their world to experimenting & thinking out of the ordinary. It helps them get in touch with their true selves. Well at least this is what I think.

And so art has always played an important role in our household. Today, we did some poster colour painting.

Leah still very much in love with rainbows & flowers.

Anna with her own version of what a rainbow actually is.

Anna's piece of art. Extremely extract. Clearly shows her very different personality from her sister.

Leah's piece. I asked her what it was. She said this painting represents our family. Each flower for each of us - Daddy, Mommy, Anna & herself. That we are always surrounded by rainbows, fresh air, sunshine & nature. That our lives are always filled with colours & happiness.

Both kids had so much to express. Just a very simple painting but a very deep meaning. I'm not sure if she will ever become an artist & to be honest I don't really care. I just know I like that she has discovered a means of self expression. That her art interprets stories, convey meanings & express ideas. Don't ignore your child "messy" painting. Don't brush aside their craft work. Everything they mould & create, means something & represents something. It is really that other way they are trying to communicate with us and later to the rest of the world.

As a mom & a homeschooling mom, just simply this makes me happy. Makes me wanna brew a cuppa tea, sit back & enjoy the afternoon. And so, I leave you guys with a song while I sip on my tea.....

"What The World Needs Now Is Love"

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No not just for some but for everyone

Lord we don't need another mountain
There are mountains and hillsides
Enough to climb
There are oceans and rivers
Enough to cross. enough to last
Till the end of time

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No not just for some but for everyone

Lord we don't need another meadow
There are corn fields and wheat fields
Enough to grow
There are sun beams and moon beams
Enough to shine
Oh listen Lord if you want to know

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love
No not just for some but for everyone

Lacing New Words

We do really simple learning activities at home. Nothing too fanciful or time consuming to put together. I prefer spending the extra time I have with the kids as compared to struggling with my laminator. One of the things Leah really enjoys doing is lacing. We started out with a simple animal lacing kit which she grew out of.

I managed to find a set of lacing alphabet in lower case! LOL to that just because most kids hate lower case. Haha! Anyway, this set is from the brand "Learning Resources". I use that to add on to reading activities. In this case, I picked a story, we read the story, talked about it abit. Then identified some new words, wrote them down in our word book then laced the words!

Enjoying everything reading & lacing related!

I like how we had to deal with ONLY lower case. Same goes for adults, we dislike the unfamiliar & so this mommy is on a mission to make her children really really familiar with lower case!

Of course she did not walk away remembering how to spell ALL the new words. What is enough for me is her acknowledging them, reading them, understanding their meaning. I know when she is ready they will flow out together with the rest of the words that she has picked up.

For me, the key is knowing what excites her. I try to excite her about everything learning related and in turn I make it my responsibility to convert it into something interesting & age appropriate. Fingers crossed that it will always work!