A Post about the Post

                                            Dish towels are great bead organizers for math.

 This week we're reading Mailing May, a true story about a little girl in 1914 who was mailed across the state of Idaho to visit her grandmother because her parents couldn't afford a train ticket. Thankfully, the story has her traveling with a relative who worked on the mail train!

 I remember writing the president when I was little and receiving something back in the mail. I thought it was a good chance to teach them how to address a letter properly. We did it step by step.

 However, it was really tough for them to come up with a message for the president. They aren't exactly focused on societal issues at the moment, so I said they could just share something about themselves.

 Continuing our mail theme, we read a book about the Pony Express. Of course they had to try it out with their stick horse.

The part I love about teaching the kids myself is I can tailor things to them and include all 3 in the activities... so far! After reading a couple of books about the post office, we set up our own. I found a stack of old scrapbook smalls I never seem to use up. They looked a little like postcards and even covered all the seasons and occasions you might send a card for. On the back, I wrote zip codes that coordinated with mailboxes (shoeboxes and lids) around the house.

 I put all the mail in random boxes and each kid had an assigned route. They had to pick up their mail on their route, take it to the post office, give each a stamp, and sort them on the table according to zip code.

      A certain little boy got excited about the stamps. They were superheroes after all.

Once all the mail was sorted, they picked up their route numbers and delivered to the correct mailboxes. If it sounds complicated- it was, but just a little. After they ran their routes we talked about ways to make it more efficient. Such as lining up the zip codes in order for sorting. And gathering all your mail instead of returning to the post office after every delivery. They went on to play it for awhile on their own and really loved it. I was happy to hear them helping each other and working out little compromises to get the job done. Colin took it especially seriously. I gave him         1- digit zipcodes to help him be independent.

In other news, Chloe has claimed our old little camera for herself. Occasionally I'll see her snapping photos of our pet fish or the television. Today I decided to look through the camera. Other objects seemed to catch her interest such as corners of tables and doorknobs. But there were also a ton of selfies on there with different expressions.... and a few very unflattering photos of me just walking around with bad posture : )

Kids also like to do weird things to freak you out. When putting Colin to bed, he said he liked to leave the closet door open, but the other night Bad Colin came out. Of course, a mother's mind jumps to, "He's hallucinating!" or, "Get the exorcist!"  (because we all have one of those on hand). He did say it was a dream and that Bad Colin didn't really do much, so I guess we won't worry about it. The same night, Dax and I were chatting in the den and Chloe got up to use the restroom. We heard some unusual noises, possibly sobbing, so I dropped what I was doing and peeked in. She was giggling in a strange way, like she wasn't quite awake. She wouldn't respond to me except with giggles. She washed her hands then came out to me giggling. She gave me a few headbutts and went back to bed. Strange...