Bug commandeered the camera at some point this week, and Monkey and Goose decided to start pulling faces for her.

Math Games

Inspired by the girls' recent interest in numbers we acquired a few new math toys. First, a set of dice. Bug in particular loves these. She spends time arranging and counting them all by herself, but Daddy and I will also jump in to roll two or more dice for her and Monkey and ask questions like the following:

• Which dice has the number [ ]? (preferably answered without counting every dot)
• Which number is smallest/biggest?
• Put them in order from smallest to biggest.
• What do they add up to?

 All the while, we reinforce ideas like the consistent arrangement of dots (1 dot in each corner is always 4) and consistent answered to math problems (2 dots plus 2 dots is always 4)

  

We also purchased a set of fraction bars since they've already evidenced a practical understanding of splitting things in halves or quarters. Daddy sat down and explained (to a rapt audience of all three girls) fractions up to quarters, and Bug at least has spent some time playing with various arrangments of the different bars.

They also pulled out the numbers matching game I made with juice can lids awhile back, and they can consistently match numbers of dots with numerals up to 8.

  

Zoo

We did another zoo day on Monday, and this time we got to take Daddy! Monkey and Bug were most excited to show him the giraffes, ostriches, the massive pigeon, and the tasty looking turkey. Our girls have no qualms about the fact that we eat some of these cute critters, and they were fascinated by the fact that Daddy had also eaten rabbit and goat. They also had fun connecting the animals they saw to various stories they're familiar with (Timon the meerkat from The Lion King, Kaa the python from The Jungle Book, various fish from Finding Nemo, etc.). This time Bug also worked on her map reading skills. She'd find where we were on the map, locate the next animal she wanted to see, and show me what path we would need to take to get there. Of particular interest to Monkey and Bug was a large sign showing the skeleton of an elephant. They noted that the elephant's tail had bones, but the trunk did not. Goose loved running after her sisters and seeing the animals; although we still can't convince her that not everything with four legs is a doggie and not every bird is a duck.

Language Arts
Bug at least is actually starting to read. On our way to the zoo, she was excitedly pointing out the signs to the zoo and explaining that she knew they were zoo signs because they had Z-O-O written on them (they were just green highway signs, not the zoo's official sign with pictures). Monkey, Bug and I have discussed that they  both know the first steps to reading (knowing letters and what sounds they make), and they are up for doing lessons to learn the next steps--but only once they turn four. They can rattle off a whole list of books they can "read" all by themselves along with close to a dozen nursery rhymes they have memorized. They often read these memorized books to themselves and to Goose.

Monkey and Bug also love to make up original songs as the soundtrack to whatever the pretend play of the moment is. Monkey in particular enjoys this, and I've even heard her intentionally rhyme some of her lines.

Goose and Bug started playing a new game this week: Goose dumps out the bag of Memory game cards and picks one out of the pile. She looks at the card, hands it to Bug, and asks, "This?" Bug takes the card, tells her what it is, and adds it to a very neatly stacked discard pile. I had been watching them play this game for a while when Bug looked up and informed me that she was helping Goose learn new words.

Bunk Beds!
Monkey and Bug loved helping Daddy build these! It was a good excercise in following directions and learning about tools, and they are just so much fun!

Nana and Papa Bear! (and Library Day)

Nana and Papa Bear came to visit for a few days, and for two nights Daddy and I left for a belated anniversary getaway. Daddy and I had a lovely time sans kids (movie night, uninterrupted dining out, perusing bookstores at our leisure, exploring the area, . . . It was lovely). Right before we left, everyone but me went to the pool, and the girls got to show off their swimming skills. While we were gone, they did some shopping, went out to eat, played with Nana's iPad, and basically had so much fun they wore out themselves and the grandparents.

 

The highlight outing, though, was that Nana and Papa Bear got to do library day this week. Instead of going to storytime, they went to the "big library" where they got to play on the playground, play with the library's "buddies" and statues, make Papa Bear read books til he was hoarse, and eat lunch in the library cafe. This week they came home with:

Chopsticks

Owl Lake

Players in Pigtails

Little Hawk's New Name

The Berenstain and the Ghost of the Forest

Cinder Rabbit

We also still have the books from last week as well as a newly purchased copy of The Complete Mother Goose, which the girls are very excited about. We've checked out versions from the library on a number of occasions, and Monkey and Bug love finding the nursery rhymes they already know. (The funniest one to read with them in the new book is the "What are little boys/girls made of?" rhyme. They think it's silly and quickly note that boys and girls are actually made of bones, blood, and muscles.) 

 

Superman!

After Nana and Papa Bear left, the entourage settled in with Daddy to watch original episodes of Superman and Aquaman (Daddy's favorite). They were all enthralled, but Goose was hilarious. She says alot of words, but not many of them clearly. However, "Superman! Superman!" comes out loud and clear. She definitely follows some of the action too, yelling "Wheeeee!" as the runaway train is falling and "Got it!" when Superman catches it.