Getting into the Christmas Spirit and Family Learning Co-op – Suncatchers and Rice Pudding!

Today we met with our the families in our homeschool co-op. Everyone was healthy today! The mom leading the group experience today led off with having the kids make rice pudding. While that was baking in the oven, we made suncatchers from paper plates and tissue paper. Then it was outdoors for some running around! Although it is December in Massachuesetts, it was in the 50's, so it was quite pleasant for the kids. They took turns riding a dump truck and big wheels down a hill and playing in a little house underneath the deck. D had a great time playing tag with the other kids. It is his favorite game and I'm not up for that right now in my condition! When the rice pudding was ready, everyone gathered around the table for snack with some apple juice and listened to two stories.

We decided today that we liked how things were going with the co-op and to continue in 2010. Additionally, we decided to add alternating Wednesday's as informal playgroup get togethers. So we'll meet weekly, but only have organized lessons or crafts alternating weeks. I'm really happy about that D is the only “only child” in the co-op. Albeit not for long. So I really appreciate the opportunity for him to have the regular interaction with the other kids.

Once back home, we made cupcakes for his dad's birthday tomorrow. He added his own flair. I gave him the cupcake papers to place in the cupcake pan. “All done!” He exclaimed and proudly demonstrated that he took it upon himself to separate out the wrappers by color and used all the blue tins for this batch. I appreciated his aesthetic. He scooped the batter into the cupcake wrappers himself.

We were inspired by our hostess's manger to get ours out this evening. I insisted that D wait until after dinner. That way he could help his dad put it together while I cleaned the kitchen. D loves the manger. He loves playing with the figures, especially the baby Jesus. Last year, when he was just learning to talk, he would ask for the “Baby Beesus”, which sounded suspiciously like his favorite word, “cheese”. It was very endearing. This year he seems to want to make one of the wise men a “bad knight” and one of them a “good knight”. We're beginning to share with him the story of the birth of Jesus, but I think he's putting his own spin on things. We got several Christmas-themed books from the library on Monday. We started reading The Littlest Angel. The artwork is wonderful, and definitely conveys the sense of wonder and awe appropriate for nature of the story. Perhaps tonight we'll move on to another selection...