practical life every day

while overseas
there are somethings that we just don’t have
either because
they are in storage
or they are not available locally.
when this happens
i tend to focus on practical life activities.

the girls help more around the house
by folding their own clothes,
loading the washer,
and hanging clothes on the line.
sanaa likes to use the squeegie to clean the bathroom.

all of them like to help cut the vegetables needed for dinner
and/or help prepare dinner.
once a week we make pizza
using the fresh bread delivered daily to our door.

they also help prepare breakfast
by cracking eggs, measuring (oatmeal, grits, water), and the like.
usually we make biscuits from scratch for breakfast once or twice a week.

from these experiences
they understand how to handle a knife,
sift and strain,
stir and knead,
load and unload the dishwasher, and etc.

it’s great fun for them,
i truly appreciate their help,
and we (parents) thank them for contributing to our family.

let’s turn off our lights on march 28

earth hour 2009 is on march 28
from 8:30 – 9:30pm local time.

earth hour kids web site
http://www.earthhourkids.org/
has simple explanation of the greenhouse effect
and climate change,
lessons plans for various age groups,
a few (contrived) games,
reminders about how to conserve resources in our homes,
and information on different animals
that are being affected by climate change.

last year we had fun talking about what it would be like
if we had no electricity,
and walking around our neighborhood
looking and listening to night scenes and sounds.
it would have been nice to see the stars,
but we couldn’t in the haze of city lights
and i remember that one of my girls commented that the sky was brown!
maybe dünya saati (earth hour) here in türkiye
will be more of nature-friendly experience.

earth calendar

earth calendar is a “daybook of holidays
and celebrations around the world”.
use it as part of your culture studies
as well as happenings on the events board
to help children understand the distinction between past and present.
click a button to find out what’s happening today
or you can search for holidays around the world
by date, country or religion.

link: http://www.earthcalendar.net/index.php