Letter Q, Pencil Grip Frustrations, Etc.

I was lacking ideas for letter Q this week and getting a little tired of the alphabet theme. The kids are enjoying it as much as ever, but I'm a little bored and wanting to move to something else. Lexy already knows all the letters and sounds so it is really just for fun and for the sake of finishing what I started. Maybe moving to letter R will be better. Confessions of a Homeschooler has some great ideas for a Rainbow theme!

Bible

We are continuing to follow the curriculum on Hubbard's Cupboard for Bible. Our story this week was the feeding of the multitude. Our verse for the week was "Honor the Lord with your wealth." For some reason whenever Lexy quotes the verse, she says "Honor the Lord with your toys."

Phonics

After reading so many positive reviews on Explode the Code, we decided to give it a try. It came on Monday, and I was really excited to get started. I didn't think I would be doing workbooks with my 3 yr. old, but she ASKS to do workbooks. She enjoys them and was constantly asking if we could start doing them again. So far, we like it! The first 3 books will basically be review of letter sounds that she knows, but I think it will be good for her to go through them.

Daily Binder

We have added The One Year Devotions for Preschooler 2 reading to our Daily Binder routine that we do at breakfast each morning. To do the devotion, calendar, weather graph, and map, it takes about 15 minutes. We save the abc chart for lunch time.

Alphabet Activities

The girls painted Qs using q-tips. They enjoyed this and painted until their pages were full! After we looked at some of Lexy's quilts, they made their own quilt using construction paper and yarn. We patterned the blocks but didn't worry about pattering each individual square. I knew they would enjoy it more if I just left them up to doing it how they wanted. They have not completely finished "sewing" it together yet. It was a big project for 3 year olds!

Social Studies

We talked about the role of a Queen, and they each made their own Queen crown. Then, of course, we had to go to Dairy Queen! I was shocked that Lexy had no idea what Dairy Queen was...what kind of mother am I!

Paying with quarters for their cones!

Enjoying their cones!

The result

Science

We read a book about Queen Bees. They were pretty intrigued by all the pictures of the bees. They were able to recall back to me the differences between the Queen Bee and drones and worker bees. They also learned the two gifts that bees give to us 1. Honey 2. Helping flowers to grow.

Math

The majority of our math comes from everyday life experiences. Lexy helps me in the kitchen measuring, pouring, etc. We count things, do simple addition and subtraction, and look for shapes around us. I have to remind myself that we are doing much more in the area of Math than it feels. We did do a few extra things this week.

I found this idea on Nothing2Prove. I did this on the spur of the moment so I don't have a nice chart made out like she did. But, Lexy loves stickers and I knew she would enjoy this activity. I started patterns with dot stickers and then she finished them. The last pattern she made all on her own. As you can tell, she missed one pink dot in the middle. Each time she went to add a new dot, she would go back to the beginning and put her finger on each one and say the pattern. She is able to hear the pattern easier than seeing it.

We examined quarters and talked about the value of a quarter. They described the pictures that they saw on the back of them and I told them the state that each picture symbolized. Then they made quarter rubbings.

Fine Motor Skills

I have been researching the "pencil grip" for quite some time now and am still not quite sure where I stand on the issue. Lexy writes many letters well and loves to draw and color; however, she still holds her pencil full-fisted. Many relaxed homeschoolers say that this is no big deal, they will correct this on their own. Their are many others (mainly those in the field of education) that say this should be dealt with from the start.

Well, everytime I try to work with Lexy on it, she becomes very frustrated. I don't want to discourage her from wanting to write. So, I've been trying to find ways to work on this in a fun way (without her knowing, if at all possible).

My first attempt was the triangular crayons. This didn't work, so I put stickers on them to show where to place her fingers. This was kinda fun for her for a little while...and it only worked when she had those particular crayons.

My next attempt was cutting off and breaking as many pencils crayons as I could so that she would be forced to not hold it full-fisted. Somehow, she still managed to.

So, I broke down and ordered Crayon Rocks that I've been reading about. We finally got them last week and have been using them. These are meant to strengthen the muscles used for the tripod grip. She LIKES using them. The only complaint that I have with them is that she can't be as detailed as she likes to be with them. They're not pointed like crayons, pencils, markers, and pens that she is used to. It is harder to stay in lines and color in smaller spaces. She hasn't complained yet though.

She also got these Alex crayons for Christmas. She enjoys using these too. They seem to be working as well. The only complaint that I have with them is that they break WAY to easily. One drop on our tile floor and they're broken.

So, as far as finding a way that won't discourage her writing, yet will strengthen the muscles needed for tripod girp, I've succeeded. However, I just have to wait to see if it will actually work in correcting her grip when using other writing utensils. As for now, I'm putting up all other writing utensils and hoping for "out of sight out of mind." If she asks for them, I will get them out.

In the Kitchen

We made Quesadillas for dinner one night and Quiche for breakfast one morning. I had a little too much help with the Quiche, but it turned out suprisingly well.

Behavior Tickets

Lexy helped me color, cut and laminate these tickets. We will use them to reward good behavior. It is not meant to replace our methods of discipline that we already use (I guess to "supplement" it...can you supplement a behavior plan :) ). Lexy gets very frustrated when she doesn't think she can do something as well as someone else. I wanted a way to reward her for trying her best. So she will get tickets when I see her trying and not giving up, as well as getting them for various other things...picking up her toys without being asked, etc. She helped me come up with a list of rewards that she could purchase with her tickets. It included things like a piece of candy (5 tickets) and a sleepover at Mama and Papa's House (50 tickets). This will also be a good way to work on Math skills (how many more, etc).