Living, Loving, and Learning at Home

Preschool With Josiah–The Snowy Day (BFIAR)

2012-01-19T18:45:00.001-08:00

Josiah and I spent the last two weeks “rowing” his next book – The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. I was really hoping for some real snow to go along with “The Snowy Day.” However, all we got were a few flurries. Unfortunately, we’ve had an unseasonably warm January and not enough snow to play in. So…we made our own snow, and had an indoor snowball fight.

Mommy won!

Josiah has enjoyed having his own real schoolwork to do while Alexis does her work boxes. I’ve set up three workboxes for him that he does with me about 3-4 times a week. I also try to plan some extra activities along with the workboxes (a cooking project, a craft…).

Snow Paint

I saw this idea on another blog. I wish that I could remember which one. Josiah helped me mix up some salt paint to paint snowmen and snowflakes.

1/4c Liquid Laundry Soap

1/4 c Water

2 Tbs blue paint

1 c salt

We cut these out to hang up and decorate our school room before adding them to his Lap Journal.

Snowball Cookies

Some of them may not have been quite “ball-like.”

He decided that he just wanted to lick the powdered sugar off of them!

Recipe:

1 C butter

1 tsp vanilla

6 tbsp powdered sugar

2 c flour

1 c walnuts (we left out because I didn’t have any)

1/3 c powdered sugar

cream butter and vanilla. combine 6 tbsp sugar and flour. Stir into mixture until just blended. Mix in Walnuts. Roll into 1 inch balls (or sausage looking things). Bake 12 minutes at 350 degrees. After cool, roll in the remaining powdered sugar.

Workboxes – For direct links to the resources I used, see the end of this post.

Some of his workbox activities included:

Making the Letter S with his Handwriting Without Tears Pieces

Counting the Snowflakes and clipping the clothespin onto the correct number (From The Snowy Day Printables at Homeschool Creations)

Finding the Letter S with his Do-A-Dot markers (Confessions of a Homeschooler)

Pre-Writing Practice (From The Snowy Day Printables at Homeschool Creations)

Color By Number (2 Teaching Mommies) – This was my favorite! He has NEVER shown a bit of interest in coloring or anything fine motor skill related. But, he picked this up and worked so hard on it!

Winter Playdough Mats (PreKinders) – Each one had a different number listed of things to make (5 snowballs, 4 icicles…)

Snowman Grid Game (PreKinders)- We took turns rolling the dice and placing the correct number of snowballs over the snowmen (1:1 correspondence). The first to fill the board won!

Initial Sounds Clip Cards (The Snowy Day Printables from Homeschool Creation)

Before Five in a Row Lap Journal – I got the inspiration for this Journal from Delightful Learning. Here, I keep the work for each book that he rows.

Resources Used:

The Snowy Day Printables from Homeschool Creations

Snowman Preschool Pack from Living Life Intentionally

The Snowy Day Lapbook Pieces from Homeschool Share

Letter S Printables from Confessions of a Homeschooler

Winter theme from PreKinders

Winter theme from 2 Teaching Mommies

How to be a TRUE SUPERHERO! (Part 1)

2012-01-16T09:53:00.001-08:00

I intended to start off the new year with a Bible study on the Fruits of the Spirit. However, I did not have time to get everything together, and our unit would not be finished up before the new baby comes in February. So, I started looking around for other ideas. When I came across this post at Impress Your Kids, I knew that it would be perfect for our first Bible study of the new year. Josiah is VERY into Superheroes right now, and he will be having a Superhero birthday party right about the same time that this series ends. Also, most of the planning and work is done for me (which is perfect for this very tired and pregnant mommy) …thanks to Amanda, at Impress Your Kids.

On our first day, we looked up our Memory Verse for the unit: 1 Timothy 4:12. We sang along to the Seeds Family Worship video to help us begin memorizing this. We listened for the qualifications for being a true superhero in this verse. There are five of them, which we will covering over the next 5-6 weeks.

1. Super Speech

2. Fantastic Conduct

3. Incredible Love

4. Lightning Fast Faith

5. Magnificent Purity

We also had fun watching and singing along to this video of Jesus is my Superhero. We talked about why Jesus is so much better than Superman, Spiderman, and all the other superheroes that Josiah loves to pretend to be. Each day of the Bible study, we continue to sing these two songs, which they both love!

Our first activity was to make Superhero Crests. These will be used to keep their badges on after we learn about each of the five qualifications. At the end of the series, they’ll be awarded with a cape to put their crest on!

They had fun decorating them, and they were pretty proud of the final product!

Our first verse for Super Speech was Matthew 12:34.

We did a little experiment to help them understand this verse. We made two different concoctions. Without telling them what we were making for either, I had told them what to pour into each container. In the first, I grabbed lots of “yucky” stuff that I knew the kids wouldn’t like. Luckily, I needed to clean out the refrigerator. I had some old spaghetti sauce, Italian dressing, salsa, pickles, and leftovers.

Then, we poured it into an old paint cup for added effect. We discussed how when we put yucky stuff into the jar, only yucky stuff would come out. It could not change into good stuff and have good stuff come out. It works the same with our hearts. We can not fill our hearts with bad things and expect good to come out of our mouths. We specifically related this to what they are allowed to watch and not watch. They chose not to drink it!

In the second container, we put cotton candy ice cream, some extra candy pieces and milk. We blended it up…and out came a very yummy drink! When we filled the container with good things, good things came out. This is the same with our hearts. We want to fill up our hearts with Scriptures, songs, kind words…and out of our mouths will come good things. They chose to drink this one!

They both said that they want their hearts to be filled with good stuff!

On the next day, we discussed a new verse regarding our speech: Ephesians 4:29. “Don’t let any evil talk come out of your mouths. Say only what will help build others up and meet their needs. Then what you say will help those in need.”

To illustrate this verse, they each cut out their own mouths. I wrote the Scripture verse on a long piece of paper. We practiced saying it an pulling it through the mouth. We talked about what would be “evil talk” and what kinds of things can “help build others up.”

We talked about this verse more the next day. We got out our large cardboard blocks. I let them make towers for a little on their own. Then I asked them what they were doing. They responded, “building!” I asked them to listen to our verse again and listen for something to do with building. They heard, “help build others up.”

We talked more about the meaning of these words, and we took turns adding blocks to our tower as we said kind words to each other. It was very sweet. They would hug each other after each kind word was spoken. Then we talked about how when we say mean, unkind words, it is like tearing down that nice strong tower that we had built.

The last verse we talked about was Psalm 34:13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. We sang along to the verse with the Hide Em in Your Heart Vol. 1. Of course, we had to hold our tongues as we sang!

After finishing up the first part of this series on being a TRUE SUPERHERO by having SUPER SPEECH, they received their first badge for their Superhero crest!

As you can tell, they are having lots of fun and learning, too! I love that their little hearts are getting filled up with the Word of God. I have heard them several times reminding each other to have Super Speech! Again, thanks to Amanda at Impress Your Kids for the wonderful ideas!

Coming Soon… How to be a True Superhero Part 2 – Fantastic Conduct

Our First Week of Christmas Fun

2011-12-07T19:38:00.001-08:00

Christmas is in full swing here at our house. We have had tons of fun this week with all of our Advent plans!

To begin, here are a few pictures of our decorating fun! After the decorations were complete, we watched a Christmas movie and ate snowmen with marshmallow snow!

In the evening, we have been working through Truth in the Tinsel. With each lesson, there is an ornament to make. We hang our ornaments on a small wooden tree. Some of the photos were taken before our ornaments were hung.

On Day one, we learned that Jesus is the Light of the world.

On Day 2, we learned that Jesus is King.

On Day 3, we learned about Zechariah. At first, he didn’t believe God’s promise for a son. Because of his unbelief, he was unable to talk until after John was born. For our ornament, we used a button to close his mouth.

On Day 4, we learned about the angel Gabriel going to Mary to tell her she would be the mother of Jesus.

On Day 5, we learned about Mary’s obedience to God’s plan.

On Day 6, we talked about the excitement that Elizabeth and Mary must have had as they talked with each other about God’s plan. Our Elizabeth and Mary ornaments are pregnant! OOPS…I forgot to take a picture!

On Day 7, we learned about the song that Mary sang to worship God. We looked for the reasons she had to praise God and thought of our own reasons to praise God.

If that wasn’t enough fun already…along with our family devotions, each day we are unwrapping a Christmas book and doing a simple activity to go with it. The kids look forward to the book and activity each day!

Day 1 – Snowmen at Christmas – We made cute snowman handprint ornaments.

Day 2 – Mooseltoe – This was one of their favorite books. I didn’t get a picture of the finished product.

Day 3 – How the Grinch Stole Christmas – We made green milkshakes and watched the original Grinch movie.

Day 4 – Christmas Night Fair and Bright – No pictures, but after we read the book, they decorated the windows in their rooms with Nativity window clings. It amazes me how such a simple activity can be so exciting for a young child!

Day 5 – Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree – This was a very cute story. They made sugar cone Christmas trees. They had lots of fun eating while they were creating!

Day 6 – Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend. They woke up to find new slippers filled with goodies, their new ornament for the year, and a chocolate “Santa turned St. Nicholas.” After reading the book, they got to open a present to share – the Playmobil Nativity Set.

Later in the evening, they took an anonymous gift to a neighbors house just like Saint Nicholas used to leave anonymous gifts!

Day 7 – Fancy Nancy’s Splendiferous Christmas – We made splendiferous Christmas cookies and had a Christmas tea party!

It has been a great first week of December, and we look forward to all that is yet to come!

To see what others are up to, be sure to check out the Preschool Corner and 5K too!

Advent Plans 2011

2011-11-29T20:34:00.001-08:00

I am so excited to begin celebrating Christmas as a family this year! I have been working for several weeks coming up with ideas for our advent calendar. I basically have two parts to our plans:

Family Devotions

I searched and searched for ideas on what to do as a family to focus on the meaning of Christmas. We’ve done several different things in the past from advent chains with a Scripture and activity each day, Christmas symbols, What God wants for Christmas, and Hubbard’s Cupboards Christmas plan. I originally planned to do the Jesse Tree as a family this year, but never felt quite like that was what we should do this year. Finally, I came across Truth in the Tinsel and knew it would be just right for us!

Truth in the Tinsel is an e-book Activity guide for families with young children. Each day from December 1-24, there is a clue provided, a Scripture reading, discussion ideas, and an ornament to make that goes with the lesson. It also provides “extra” ideas each day! I am so excited to begin this experience as a family, and I pray that my children will know Jesus more fully through it!

Our Book Advent

Just for fun, each day we will unwrap a Christmas book from underneath the tree. I have collected 24 Christmas books from home and the library. Some of these books are spiritual and others just focus on other fun aspects of Christmas such as snowmen or gingerbread Along with opening and reading a new book each day, we will do a craft or activity to go with it. Here are the books and activities that I have planned:

1. Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner – Make Handprint Snowmen Ornaments

2. Mooseltoe by Margie Palantini – Mooseltoe Creatioins

3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss – Make Green Grinch Smoothies and watch movie

4. Mr. WIllowby’s Christmas Tree by Robert Barry – Sugar Cone Christmas Trees

5. Christmas Night Fair and Bright by Julie Stiegemeyer – Printable Nativity make into magnets for play

6. Saint Nicholas – The Real Story of the Christmas Legend by Jule Stiegemeyer – St. Nicholas Day Celebration! We will talk about who St. Nicholas was, what he did, and how the legend of “Santa” came to be. The kids will wake up to new slippers filled with goodies, a gift to share (playmobil nativity set) and their new ornament for the year. As a family we will leave a basketful of surprises on a neighbors’ doorstep, ring the doorbell and runaway. We will leave a copy of The Story of St. Nicholas on their doorstep and challenge them to bless a family, too! I found many ideas for celebrating St. Nicholas Day here!

7. The Crippled Lam by Liz Bonham – Watch Crippled Lamb DVD

8. Fancy Nancy’s Splendiferous Christmas by Jane O’Connor – Make Fancy Christmas cookies and have a Christmas tea

9. Dream Snow by Eric Carle – Make a paper snowflake chain to decorate with

10. Frosty the Snowman by Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins – Jingle Bell Snowmen and Movie

11. The Little Drummer Boy by Ezra Jack Keats – Watch DVD

12. A Wish to be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe

13. The Christmas Baby by Marion Done Bauer – Make Christmas Cards

14. Christmas in the Big Woods from My First Little House Books – Make Christmas Pancakes like in the book and watch the Christmas Little House episode from season 1

15. The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie de Paola – paper poinsettia

16. The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg – When the children go to bed they will find a ticket for the Mini Van Express on their pillow. We will bundle up and have Hot Chocolate and snacks in the van as we drive around to see Christmas lights. During the day we will make a graham cracker/candy train.

17. Josie’s Gift by Kathleen Long Bostrom – Using wooden dolls from a craft store, we will make our own nativity

18. The Christmas Story – Christmas Play at Church!

19. Memories of the Manger by Michelle Medlock – Manger Craft

20. The Pine Tree Parable – Watch the Parable of the Three Trees

21. J is for Jesus by Crystal Bowman – Candy Cane Craft and print off candy cane poems to give with candy cane to friends

22. The Gingerbread Man – Holiday Baking!

23. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer – Reindeer Treats

24. The Real Night Before Christmas – Activity Book

25. My First Story of Christmas by Tim Dowley – It has been our tradition to read this book before opening gifts as a family

That’s It! I can’t wait to get started and look forward to making many memories this Christmas season. I’d love to hear your advent plans!

To see what others are up to with their preschoolers and kindergarteners, check out Preschool Corner!

Our “Thanks AND Giving Tree”

2011-11-15T18:17:00.001-08:00

We’re very excited about our new “Thanks And Giving” Tree. I found this idea on one of my new favorite blogs, Impress Your Kids. We talked about the word, “Thanksgiving” and broke it down into two words…thanks and giving. Of course, we are spending this week and next talking about the First Thanksgiving, but I also want them to understand what it means for us today. To whom are we to give thanks? Why? How?

James 1:17 tells us that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord. So, of course, we are to give thanks to God for everything. This thanks should prompt us to give to others in return and tell of all His kindnesses. I love the verse that Impress Your Kids used to sum this up:

Give thanks to the Lord. Worship Him. Tell the nations what He has done. 1 Chronicles 16:8

When the Lord blesses us, we should want to tell others. One of the best ways to share the good news of Christ is by GIVING.

I want to help my kids to understand this concept. So, I created a “Thanks AND Giving Tree” for us to do together the 10 days prior to Thanksgiving…and, hopefully, this will spur us toward giving throughout the year.

First, I printed off, colored and laminated a tree. Next, I used a die-cut machine to make 10 leaves with giving ideas written on each of them. After laminating the leaves, I put a velcro dot on the back of each leaf and on the tree. I also added dots to the bottom of the tree to have a place to put them as we take them off.

Each day, we take one leaf off of the tree. As we take the leaf off, we say something that we are thankful for. Then, we read the giving idea for the day and place the leaf at the bottom of the tree.

This week got off to a slow start because of a stomach bug in our house. But, we were finally able to complete our first giving task…Shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child!

Each child enjoyed filling up a shoebox (small plastic container) for a boy/girl that was his/her age. When we got home, they filled out the downloadable All About Me pages that were provided by Operation Christmas Child. We also plan on tracking our box online. It would be lots of fun to receive a letter back from at least one of the children! Afterwards, we spent time as a family praying for both the children that would receive boxes from our family.

What a blessing it was to share the love of Christ as a family to children we will never meet. I’m looking forward to the rest of our “giving” leaves this week and next. I’m also hoping to make this a habit of our family. Our Family For His Glory has some wonderful ideas for family service projects. It would be great if we could find time each month to serve as a family!

Nature Study–Outdoor Hour Challenge #1

2011-10-10T19:27:00.001-07:00

I have been very guilty lately of staying indoors way too much with the kids. Maybe it was the HOT summer or the nausea of pregnancy, but I just did not feel like venturing outdoors! However, after debating on what more we could do with our Science studies, I was encouraged by a friend to just keep it simple…Get outdoors and explore. What more do Kindergarteners and preschoolers need than to touch, feel, and listen to learn about the wonderful world God created!

I downloaded the Handbook of Nature Study and decided to participate in the weekly Outdoor Challenges as a way to get us outside. The blog suggested to start with the first 5 challenges and then to join up with them when those are finished. So, we started with Challenge #1. It was simple…Spend time outside. There was no agenda or questions to ask. After coming back inside, we were to talk about all that we saw and decide on one thing that we’d like to learn more about.

Well, our one time outside ended up turning into multiple adventures this week. We spent time at a local park, at the cabin, and in the backyard. We had TONS of fun and had lots to talk about!

At the Park

Lexy loves digging in the dirt!

Of course, we had to make time for the playground!

A hollow tree…who could use this???

Watching and listening

Another hole…this time I think I see something!

Why would a tree grow like this? It’s a lot of fun to pretend like it’s a horse!

Climbing

After a good day of playing and exploring at the park, what could be better than an apple cider slushie from the orchard!

At the Cabin

There’s always plenty of time for just playing outside.

Hiking the trails and exploring the woods

What will we see if we take a boat ride?

THOUSANDS of FRESH WATER JELLY FISH!!!

Lexy wanted to hold one.

We took a little ride over to “turtle mountain.” Where are all the turtles? Have they already started digging themselves down in the mud?

Time for a little fishing

Lexy caught one!

It wouldn’t be Fall without a wagon ride!

Phew, this is exhausting!

In the Backyard

What’s this…Josiah needs to investigate it with a magnifying glass.

Wow, there are lots of them all over the yard!

It’s a black walnut! Let’s get the outer layer off first.

Then, we can crack it open to find the nut.

Some of them were too hard. We’ll have to let them dry out for a few days. We learned that black walnuts sure are messy!

Time to jump in the leaves with Mamaw!

Has anyone seen Josiah?

SO MUCH FUN!!!

SO…In Conclusion:

1. We decided that we want to learn more about fresh water jelly fish. Why are they there? Where did they come from…they weren’t there last year. How are they different from the jelly fish we saw at the beach a few weeks ago?

2. Nature Study is lots of fun! We will be getting outdoors much more often!

Be sure to see what others are doing at the Preschool Corner and 5K too!

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt–BFIAR

2011-10-07T19:16:00.001-07:00

I am VERY excited to have started a consistent learning time with Josiah. His favorite thing in the world is BOOKS. So, after being inspired by many other bloggers out there, I’ve decided to use Before Five in a Row for preschool this year. A Letter of the Week type curriculum does not interest Josiah at all, but BOOKS do. With Before Five in a Row, we do lots of reading and many fun activities to go along with the books that we row.

I chose to start with “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt,” because Josiah already likes to pretend to go on bear hunts. There were so many great ideas to go along with this book that we didn’t get to do nearly all of them. Thanks to Homeschool Creations, Delightful Learning, and Stay and Play Mama for the printables and great ideas!

Each day, we would read and act out the story together…because you just CAN’T read it without acting it out!!!

They liked to take turns being the bear and hiding in various places for the cave. The laundry basket was fun!

“…one big, shiny wet nose…”

Thanks to our library which has wonderful literacy kits to check out, we had LOTS of little bears to count, hunt for, play with, sort, and use for color recognition.

Making Mud…and EATING IT!

“Squelch Squirch Squelch Squirch”

Everyone enjoyed making chocolate pudding to represent the mud in the book. We added little teddy bear crackers to make it extra yummy!

Number and Color Recognition

I made these little cards with the numbers 1-10 for the boys to count out the correct color of bear.

Acting Out the Story with Stick Figures

This was a favorite! They loved using these little puppets to act out the story on our Story Board.

Making a Memory

I really liked the idea from Delightful Learning to make a memory with each book. I hope that this will be a memory for my kids.

One morning, they woke up to find bear prints throughout the house. They followed the prints….

through the LONG, WAVY GRASS…swishy, swashy, swishy, swashy…

…through the deep, cold river…splash, splosh, splash, splosh…

…through the thick, oozy mud…squelch, squirch, squelch, squerch…

…through the deep, dark forest…stumble trip, stumble trip…

…and through the swirling, whirling snowstorm…woo hoo whoo hoo!

They followed the prints all the way to the bears cave and found…a FRIENDLY BEAR that wanted to have breakfast with them in his cave. We all enjoyed Blueberry muffins (since we did talk about the letter B this week) with the bear!

Lap Journal

We have tried lapbooks at different times with varying amounts of success, but they usually end up getting lost or messed up. So, I really liked the idea of a journal to keep our activities for each book in.

We worked on tracing lines ( Josiah had NEVER done this before) and patterns. He also worked harder than ever at staying in the lines while he was coloring. He does not usually like to do anything on paper. He also matched the bears with the correct habitat.

We played the bear hunt game together. He also sized the bears from smallest to largest.

He placed the bears over, under and through the cave. We also put our stick puppets, Bible Verse and poem in to remember.

Under our “mud poem,” I left room for a picture of us making chocolate pudding together. I had Josiah retell the story to me and wrote down (the best that I could) what he was able to retell. He talked very quickly and had most all the details. We’d read it so much that I think we all have it memorized! We also played a number recognition game where we hid the bear under a cave. They would have to guess which number cave the bear was under. And we sequenced the story with Story Card.

Other Read-Alouds

To go along with our Bear theme, we also read:

Bear Wants More by Karma Wilson

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear by Timothy Busy

Bear Snores on by Karma Wilson

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear by Bill Martin

Rhymes and Fingerplays that we Enjoyed

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear.

Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.

Then Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t fuzzy was he?!

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn around.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the ground.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, climb the stairs.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, say your prayers.

Teddy Bear Teddy Bear, turn off the lights.

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, say goodnight.

We had a wonderful time rowing our first book! After spending a little time doing some apple and Fall activities this week, we plan to start Goodnight Moon!

Be sure to check out what others are doing at the Preschool Corner!

LHFHG Unit 10 Week in Review and Journaling

2011-09-08T19:32:00.001-07:00

We had another fun and productive week of schooling. We worked through Unit 10 in LHFHG. Josiah joins us for all the Bible lessons, Science, Art, Rhymes in Motion, Dramatic Play and thinking games. He is learning so much by doing lessons along with Lexy!

This week’s focus was on the Exiles in Babylon

Memory Verse: Romans 12:21 – “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” We had many opportunities this week to discuss this verse in real situations Both kids love the Hide ‘Em in Your Heart cd that we use to learn the verses!

I didn’t do so well at taking pictures this week, but here are a few highlights:

Painting is always a favorite! They enjoyed painting a fire over “3+1” after the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego!

Making hands to “write on the wall” after the story of Daniel and King Belshazzar.

Decorating her sight words for the week with glitter

Painting her Word Family Flower from Ready2Read

…and of course, Josiah has to join in on the painting

After our history lesson about Alexander the Great and his colt, Bucephalus, we had a Science lesson on shadows.

Lexy’s Kindergarten Journals

One of my goals this year is to get Lexy to write as much as possible. One way that we are doing that is by journaling. We have several different journals/notebooks this year.

She had fun decorating the outside of her writing journal.

The way that we use this journal will probably evolve over the year as her writing progresses. For now, I start a sentence, and she finishes it. This is one of my favorites so far: “When I grow up, I want…to be a Mommy.” She does all the writing on her own. If she has trouble spelling a word, she asks for help.

Then she draws a picture to go with her sentence. In her picture she is pregnant with a little girl next to her.

The Calendar Notebook

This notebook is in her workboxes everyday. I printed the pages from various websites and put them together in a spiral notebook.

She writes the number for the day of the month. Then she flips the page and…

writes the full written date. Today is______. The written date is ________. The code date is ___________.

Then she graphs the weather.

Our Bible Journals

Although we have really been enjoying the LHFHG Bible lessons, I’ve found that it moves very fast for them to remember. So, I made each member of our family a Bible Journal. At the end of the week, we pick a story that stood out to us. We draw a picture depicting the story and write something about it. Obviously, I write for Josiah, but he tells me what to say. I thought I got a picture of his this week, but I can’t find it. So here are a few of my favorites from Lexy:

“Elijah went to heaven”

“The King worshiped idols. God warned him. Jesus on the Wall.” She meant to write Jesus “wrote” on the wall. You can’t tell from the picture, but she traced her hand writing on the wall. The people in the picture are the king and the people at the party.

And…I had to add my husband’s drawing Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the furnace with the angel.

I am in the process of creating a math journal which will rotate in her workboxes once or twice a week, as well. More on that to come.

Gymnastics

I forgot to take pictures of Lexy’s first week of gymnastics, so here are some of her second week! Here, she is mentally preparing herself

Anxiously waiting!

Warming up

And the Highlight of our week…A trip to the cabin. Lots of time outdoors, enjoying the new swing, hiking, finding treasures, swimming…

…and now we look forward to our trip to the beach! We’ll bring along some school books, but I’m not so sure we’ll get much done!

Starting Back to Kindergarten–LHFHG Unit 10

2011-09-02T12:56:00.001-07:00

It has been several months since I’ve blogged about what we’ve been doing; which, over the summer really wasn’t much! I started doing Kindergarten with Lexy in the Spring. We worked half pace, so as not to get too far ahead of the regular school schedule. Then, in early June we found out that….WE’RE EXPECTING ANOTHER BABY!!! All of us are extremely excited! However, several weeks later, I wasn’t feeling much like doing anything

So, we have finally started back and have nearly completed our second full week. Here is a recap of our first week back!

Unit 9

Focus: The Time of the Prophets

Memory Verse: Philippians 2:14 – Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure children of God (LOVE THAT ONE!)

In the morning after breakfast, chores, and calendar time, we start with our Bible time. I love this about homeschooling! Especially in these early years, I want our focus to be on character training and teaching the Word. There will be plenty of time for Math and Reading!

Bible:

We focused on the prophets Elijah, Elisha, and Jonah this week. The children saw many examples of evil Kings that worshipped idols rather than the ONE TRUE GOD. They saw that when the kings chose to ignore the warnings of the prophets, there were consequences…just like when we disobey. It is better to OBEY!

They had fun acting out the story of Elijah being fed by ravens (I know my bird puppet is not a raven, but it’s the closest that I had).

They also had fun making glittery pictures of heaven after learning about Elijah being taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire.

During our Bible time we also sing our memory verse songs from the Hide ‘Em in Your Heart cd by Steve Green. They love to make up motions tot these songs. They also enjoy doing the Rhymes in Motion that are written in to the Little Hearts for His Glory Guide. They are a great way to review the major concepts of the week and work on gross motor skills.

I also made each of us a “Bible Time Journal.” The Bible stories in this curriculum are moving much faster than we are used to. We’ve always done a story for a whole week in our house. I wasn’t sure how much they were able to remember from all the stories we’ve done. So, at the end of each week, we each pick a story to draw a picture of and write a sentence about what we have learned. I wish I would’ve taken a picture of the kids’ journals this week (I’ll have to add them later). Obviously, we have to write Josiah’s sentence for him, but he said, “God protected Joash from the mean Queen.” Lexy wrote, “Elijah went to heaven.” After we each do our entry, we share what we drew and wrote. It’s a great way to review what we’ve learned (pictures to come).

Workboxes:

After Bible time, Lexy sits down to do her workboxes. These are all things that she can do on her own with little to no assistance from me. I try to add fun things into them. So far, she is LOVING doing her boxes each day! They include handwriting, sight word activities, word family activities, journaling, etc. Here’s a peek into a few things she did during week one.

Painting Sight Words from Ready2Read Unit 3

Everyday she enters in her Calendar Notebook. (More about that to come)

Used Alphabet stamps to make her word family words

and MUCH, MUCH, MORE…I have a hard time getting pictures!

What are the preschoolers doing during the quiet working time?

Well, we haven’t officially started preschool back yet…I’m taking things slowly. We’ll hopefully start back in a few weeks. However, I use this time to do quiet activities with them. Here’s a little of what they did.

Puzzles

Stamps

Books

Painting

After workboxes, she and the boys have a break to play before lunch. After lunch, comes nap for the boys. During their nap, we work on Math and Reading. Once we finish up her school for the day, we play a fun game together before her (and MY) quiet time!

Math

We’ve worked slightly ahead in Lexy’s Singapore Math books. The unit this week focused on estimating weights of various items. I did not get many pictures, but we have lots of fun with the ideas added into Little Hearts for His Glory. She always looks forward to the hands-on activities.

One day, she measured out 1/2 cup of different ingredients into ziplock baggies.

She held them up to compare weights. Then, she put them from the lightest to the heaviest. She learned that the same quantity does not necessarily mean the same weight.

Each day, we also practice counting to 100 in different ways (by 1s, 10s, etc.)

Science
To go along with the story of Elisha telling Namaan to dip in the Jordan river 7 times, we did an experiment with water.

The saran wrap was “skin.” They colored brown marker for dirt and put drops of oil because our skin is oily.

First, they dipped it in the plain water 7 times, and saw that the water did a good job of getting the dirt off, but the oil still remained. Next, they dipped it seven times in soap and water. The oil came off. We talked about the importance of washing with soap and water.

On the day we learned about Jonah, we did a “sink/float” experiment. Sorry no pictures!

I am hoping to add in some nature studies soon. Lexy loves science, and I feel the Little Hearts for His Glory is pretty light on the science.

Phonics

Lexy’s reading has really taken off lately. I’m still waiting to order All About Reading Level 1 when it comes out in October. However, in the meantime, we have been doing a mixture of different things. Most importantly, we read, read, read….everyday! She reads a minimum of two books to us a day; however, I find her reading to her dolls/brother…throughout the day. We did just start All About Spelling Level 1 this week, and it seems to be working great as a phonics program, too. We go to the library often and check out lots of easy reader books. We’ve also been working through the Ready2Read program.

I’ve been meaning to put a video of her reading on here, but have yet to do it…hopefully soon!

Literature

Our current read-aloud is The Adventures of Peter Cottontail. Within the guide, there are discussion questions and writing activities. We enjoy this part of the day!

Other

Lexy’s piano class has started back up. She has a new teacher. I wasn’t sure how she’d do with switching after two years, but she seemed to like it. Her new book has started off very quickly. They will be playing with BOTH hands soon…that seems like a big step to me!

She also started gymnastics this week…I can’t believe I forgot my camera on the first day. I’ll have to remember next time. She LOVED it, and can’t wait to go back. They worked on bars, the balance beam, cart-wheels, and all kinds of fun things.

Linking up to:

Learning With Josiah

2011-06-11T19:29:00.001-07:00

Josiah has finished his first week of Pre-K3! We’ve had a lot of fun learning with friends. I am doing a combination of preschool/tot school a few days a week with some of Josiah’s little buddies.

For our curriculum, I am using a combination of ideas found on Totally Tots, RRSP, Letter of the Week, various other websites, and my own ideas. We are doing a letter each week with activities, songs, and a memory verse.

Letter: L

Memory Verse: Matthew 5:16

Shape: Circle

Color: Yellow

Number: 1

Our Learning Board

Each day, we start our preschool day at our Learning Board. The three colored papers at the top are pieces of construction paper the I laminated with velcro dots at the top. They are for our Shape, Number and Sight Words for the week. Also included is our memory verse, song, and application for the week. The little colored pockets are for our props. These all come from RRSP.

Letter Craft

L is for Llama

Sensory Tub

I filled our Sensory Tub with LOTS of circles (left from Lexy’s Polka-Dot Party) and pom poms.

The idea, besides just having fun, was to use the tongs to pull out the YELLOW CIRCLES. We also talked about the different sizes and textures of the circles.

Workboxes

In the preschool workboxes, I put 9 different activities that the children can choose to do sometime throughout the week.

Letter L Roads from Making Learning Fun:

Ladybug Shape Match Puzzles from Confessions of a Homeschooler:

Lollipop Letter Sorting (COAH)

Build a Letter L (Handwriting without Tears)

Letter L Lacing from Home Grown Hearts – sorry no picture

Letter L Corkboard Punch

Odd Olly/Even Elly – Kindergarten

Lexy and I played this game to work on Odd and Even Numbers

Lollipop Counting from Home Grown Hearts:

Letter L Do-A-Dots

Books:

1. Llama Misses Mama

2. 10 Ladybugs

3. Tawny Scrawny Lion

4. My Letter L book

5. I See (Sight word book that we would read each day)

6. The Big Red Lollipop

Other Activities:

London Bridges – sorry no pictures

Making and Tasting Lemonade

Visiting a Llama Farm – pending

Starfall – Josiah had a lot of fun learning about the letter L on Starfall.

Memory Verse Craft – Candle for Light

Song – This Little Light of Mine

Letter L Fun Family Night: Movie and Lollipops!

My favorite picture of the week – Lexy reading to her “Little Bub.”

I am linking up to:

Kindergarten– LHFHG UNIT 4

2011-05-06T13:15:00.001-07:00

FOCUS: Jacob’s Family in Egypt

Memory Verse: Proverbs 3:5-6

Heart of Dakota’s daily plans are divided into 2 parts: “Learning Through History” and “Learning the Basics.” We typically do the “Learning through History” portions together in the evenings as part of our family devotion time. All the activities focus on the Bible story for the day. This way, Josiah is also able to participate and learn. Lexy and I do the “Learning the Basics” together in the afternoons while Josiah is sleeping.

Learning through History

After reading about Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery, Lexy and Josiah made Egyptian collars.

They also had fun acting out the story of Moses’ Mother hiding him in a basket.

(trying to locate pictures)

We also made looking lenses to act out Miriam watching over baby Moses.

One day, we read about the burning bush. Lexy made a picture of things that plants need to survive.

We also spent time each day reviewing the memory verse.

Learning the Basics

Phonics:

We had been working through Reading Made Easy. However, my cd with the lessons has gone missing. So, in the meantime, we have been reviewing word families and working on sight words. You can read more about our recent reading activities in this post: Lexy’s Journey Into Reading.

Literature:

We are still reading “The Adventures of Reddy Fox.” Lexy looks forward to finding out what happens to each of the animals in the Green Forest each day.

One day she wrote a warning to Grandfather Frog. She mailed it to the Green Forest in her play mailbox.

Math:

We’re continuing to work through Singapore Earlybird Math. It’s been a great review of the basics.

Science:

Along with the activities listed in the guide, we have had LOTS of fun learning about clouds this week. You can read more about it in my post: Fun with Clouds.

We’ve had a fun week! I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone else has been up to!

Preschool Corner and 5K too!

Fun With Clouds

2011-05-05T21:58:00.001-07:00

I started watching a friend’s little boy this week. This has helped me to be more intentional with my plans with Josiah. I decided to add a little more structure to our mornings, doing activities that the boys and Lexy can enjoy and learn from. This week, we focused on CLOUDS!

SENSORY TUB

I was so excited to come across some fun sensory tub ideas at Counting Coconuts. I followed her example and used:

-blue aquarium rocks for the sky

-cotton balls for the clouds

-rainbow pom poms

-silver pipe cleaners shaped like lightning bolts

-orange felt sun

-clear rocks (like the kind in floral departments) for hail

-blue beads for rain

I also added some toy airplanes and helicopters. Also, we used cds with storm and rain sounds while they played.

All three of them had LOADS of fun playing with this tub. There was a lot of pretend play…the planes had to land when the lightning came, ect. They also spend lots of time scooping and pouring.

I also used them time to talk to them about texture. The boys found things that were hard and soft. They also came up with words to describe the feeling of the pipe cleaners.

BOOKS and ACTIVITIES
I wish I would’ve taken a picture of the three of them sitting on the couch each day waiting for the story of the day. They were so cute. Each day we focused on a different book.

It Looked Like Spilt Milk – by Charles G. Shaw

The boys helped me to “read” this book by telling me what each cloud looked like. Afterwards, they made their own “It Looked Like” picture. I put white paint on blue construction paper. They used straws to blow (like wind) the clouds into different shapes. Then, they told me what their cloud looked like.

I wish I would’ve taken pictures of the final products. They turned out cute. We had two “It Looked Like a Butterfly” pictures and one “It Looked Like an Ice cream Cone” picture.

After a lot of blowing, they decided to paint clouds with cotton balls.

I worked on number recognition and counting with the boys with a simple game. They placed the correct number of raindrops on the clouds 1-5.

Little Cloud – By Eric Carle

This was another easy books for the boys to help “read.” After we read the book, we had our first ever, EDIBLE SENSORY TUB! So much fun! This idea came from Delightful Learning.

Each child got their own tub of whipped cream. I would’ve like to have them help make their own, but never got to the store to get what I needed. They used their whipped cream to make their own cloud shapes.

After a bit, I added some black food coloring to a little of their whipped cream so that they could create some storm clouds. It them became evident who was eating her project!

Science Experiment

I found this fun idea at 2 Teaching Mommies. After talking about what clouds are, Lexy predicted what happens when a cloud gets full. Prior to the experiment, Lexy felt the cotton ball and described it as light, soft, and dry.

Next, she dripped water onto the cotton ball until it felt full. She described it as heavy, soft and wet.

Then she squeezed the cotton ball, and IT RAINED!

Fine Motor Skills
They had fun working on their fine motor skills by transferring cotton balls with tongs.

Lexy decided to make a birthday cake out of cotton balls

Sequencing

They put storm clouds in order from Smallest to Biggest.

The Cloud Book – By Tomie de Paola

After reading about the different kinds of clouds, we went outside to observe clouds. Fortunately, we had a little break in all the rain. Unfortunately, the ground was too wet to lie in the grass to cloud gaze.

They also painted the clouds that they saw.

Music Time

A few times this week, I turned on some music and let them use instruments and jump around the room. I found a song on our “Hymns for Kids” cd called An Unclouded Day. After replaying it LOTS of times, we talked about that unclouded day we will have someday in Heaven!

Shapes in the Sky – By Josepha Sherman
Again, we talked about the different types of clouds. Then, they made a picture collage of the types using cotton balls.

We made a cloud in a bottle!
(picture coming soon)

We blew cotton balls with straws!

We walked on clouds! I was hoping to have a fogging day so that we could literally walk on clouds. That didn’t happen, so I had to improvise.
(picture coming soon)

Other Books we Used:

It’s Cloudy – By Julie Richards

Clouds – By Anne Rockwell

All in all, we had a very FUN and FULL week. Besides cloud activities, there was time for playing blocks, reading, playing outside, even a royal wedding… and much more!

To see what other preschoolers are up to, be sure to check out the Preschool Corner.

Lexy’s Journey into Reading

2011-05-05T19:24:00.001-07:00

Shining Our Lights Preschool has just started a new linky for all those posts about teaching our children to read. We have been doing lots of reading activities around here lately, so I decided to join up this week for Teach Me To Read Thursdays. If you’re teaching a little one to read, hop on over there to glean some wonderful ideas!

Lexy began her journey into reading about 6 months ago. She had known her letters and sound for a long time and had started blending them a little on her own. So, since she was eager to learn and seemed ready, I began by introducing her to word families. We played many games from Happy Phonics and some that I printed off from various websites.

Since that time, we have started Kindergarten. The curriculum that we are using, Heart of Dakota, recommends Reading Made Easy for our Phonics lessons. However, Lexy is hit or miss on whether she enjoys the lessons. So, I am not pushing the formal lessons. I am eagerly awaiting All About Reading Level 1 to come out mid June. In the meantime, we are working on sight words and reviewing word families.

We recently made our very own Phonics Reader. I wanted to find some phonics readers that went right along with what we were working, and since I wasn’t able to find anything…We made our own. It turned out to be LOTS of fun. I had intended for Book 1 to take a week for us to create. Lexy enjoyed it so much that we did it all in one day.

Book 1 is titled: The Man and the Cat

Author: Mommy (once we get used to doing this, I’d like Lexy to start writing the stories).

Illustrator: Lexy

After I wrote the words to the story, Lexy would read each page and illustrate it.

The last page lists the sight words and word families used in our story.

Lexy has been reading her first story everyday this week. It has definitely increased her confidence in reading! She’s already asking to make Book 2.

Reading Made Easy introduces sight words into the phonics program. However, we are also using the sight word printables found on the You Can Read program on 1+1+1=1.

We used the Sight Word Puzzles to cut and glue onto paper.

Her favorite activity (sorry no picture) from these printables was finding the words she knew in sentences. She realized that she new many of the words that were not her sight words, and the few she didn't she was able to use picture clues. She found great satisfaction in being able to read the whole page!

As we are doing this program, we are adding the sight words to her caterpillar.

I am also planning on adding in some sight word activities from Home Grown Hearts. There are so many great ideas here! We have used these ideas in the past, and Lexy always enjoys them. The more sight words Lexy knows, the greater her confidence in reading!

Teaching reading has been almost as much fun as reading! I’m looking forward to reading many more great ideas in the coming weeks on Teach Me to Read Thursdays!

Also, to see what other preschoolers are up to, be sure to check out the Preschool Corner.

Curriculum Clean-Out Winners!!!

2011-05-01T18:10:00.000-07:00

Participating in the Spring Curriculum Clean-Out has been a lot of fun. I was very excited to win the GEO ADVENTURES through the blog Mother of Action. I'm also very excited to announce the winners of my giveaways! All winners were chosen by using Random.Org. All winners have 48 hours to contact me before another winner is picked.

Winner of Playtime Devotions:

Mariah from Home with Us...

Winner of the Toddler Calendar:

Colleen Wachob from The Wachob Family

Winner of Super Science with Simple Stuff:

MissMoe (I have no profile to view). If you are or know MissMoe, please contact me.

Winner of Kitchen Table Play and Learn:

Melissa Juvinall from Nursery Rhymes by Firelight

Winner of Ladders to Literacy:

Katie from A Class of Her Own

Congratulations!

Giveaway #5 - Playtime Devotions from Focus on the Family

2011-04-27T13:05:00.000-07:00

We started using Playtime Devotions when our oldest was just a baby. Each night, we would put her in her highchair with some cheerios for devotions. She loved the little rhymes with actions. Each page contains a Scripture, song/rhyme, and a prayer. It is a very easy way to implement family devotions with the very little ones. We loved using this book!

See this Amazon page to find out more about the book.

If you would like to win:

1. Leave a comment with your email address. US residents only, please.

2. For an extra entry, become a follower on my blog, and leave a comment letting me know!

Winner will be announced on May 2

Giveaway #4 - The Toddler Calendar

2011-04-25T18:43:00.000-07:00

The Toddler Calendar offers the two- and three- year old child exciting actvities that foster positive growth and development in a nurturing environment. The activities in this book are broken down my month and are high-interest activities that are designed to keep children eager, busy and ready to learn. Great ideas for Tot School!

Check out this link on Amazon for more information on this book.

If you would like a chance to win:

1. Leave a comment below. U.S. Shipping only, please. Be sure to include your email address so that I have a way to get in touch with you. I will accept entries through May 1st at 9 pm EDT.

2. If you'd like to earn an extra entry, follow my blog. Leave a comment letting me know.

I will announce the winner on Monday, May 2.

Giveaway #3 - Super Science with Simple Stuff

2011-04-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

This books includes 110 easy-to-do, hands-on activities make use of everday materials. Among the physical science topics covered are motion, heat, electricity, magnetism, sound, light and chemistry. The activities are geared for the intermediate grades.

Some highlights of Super Science with Simple Stuff include:

1. Students follow the scientific method in a friendly way through engaging activities that use simple materials - stuff that might otherwise be thrown away.

2. Each activity has one student worksheet blackline master and one page of teacher notes explaining the scientific principles underlying the activity and offering guidance.

3. Chapter openers provide an overview of the basic scientific concepts presented in the activities.

Check out this link on Amazon for more information on the book.

If you would like a chance to win:

If you would like a chance to win:

1. Leave a comment below. U.S. Shipping only, please. Be sure to include your email address so that I have a way to get in touch with you. I will accept entries through May 1st at 9 pm EDT.

2. If you'd like to earn an extra entry, follow my blog. Leave a comment letting me know.

I will announce the winner on Monday, May 2.

Giveaway #2 - Kitchen Table Play and Learn

2011-04-25T18:23:00.000-07:00

Looking for simple, yet fun ideas for teaching your preschooler at home. My second giveaway, Kitchen Table Play and Learn, is a great idea for you!

This book offers thirty themes with step-by-step activities that help you foster important skill in your preschooler and let you set the pace for learning. All you need are inexpensive, everyday items from around the house! It is packed with activities, games, crafts, and so much more. Some themes include: All About Me, Ocean, Dinosaurs, Fall, Transportation, and many more!

For more information about the book, check out this link to Amazon.

If you would like a chance to win:

1. Leave a comment below. U.S. shipping only. Be sure to leave an email address so that I can contact you if you win. I will accept entries through Sunday, May 1 at 9 pm EDT.

2. If you would like to earn an extra entry, follow my blog. Leave a comment letting me know that you're followning me.

I will announce the winner on Monday, May 1.

Giveaway #1 - Ladders to Literacy

2011-04-25T18:05:00.000-07:00

I have been busy cleaning and organizing every area of our house...including our school areas and curriculum closet! So, the Spring Curriculum Clean-Out has come at the perfect time here. My first giveaway is for "Ladders to Literacty - A Preschool Activity Book" by Angela Notari-Syverson, Rollanda E. O'Connor and Patricia F. Vadasy.

This book is loaded with games, crafts, storytelling, and other classroom play ideas (also good for the home). It is a fun way to engage young children in preliteracy learning. It provides adaptable activities to boost skills most strongly related to literacy, including: print/book awarness skills, metalinguistic skills, and oral language skills.

Check this link on Amazon for more information about the book.

If you would like a chance to win:

1. Leave a comment below. U.S. Shipping only, please. Be sure to include your email address so that I have a way to get in touch with you. I will accept entries through May 1st at 9 pm EDT.

2. If you'd like to earn an extra entry, follow my blog. Leave a comment letting me know.

I will announce the winner on Monday, May 2.

Kindergarten - LHFHG Unit 3

2011-04-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

Focus: Abraham and His Descendents We are moving right along in our Kindergarten studies. Both kids have been enjoying the many hands on activities that go along with our Bible themes. I'm so glad that I can include Josiah in a good portion of what we do. Our mornings are spent playing together and doing the science or art projects that he can be involved in. While he takes his nap, Lexy does the rest of her school.

Science: After reading about Jacob and Esau one day, we did a science experiment about our sense of smell (Esau smelled the good food and wanted to eat it). They took turns matching scents on q-tips with the bottle that it came from.

Phonics: Lexy has been working through Reading Made Easy. Between lessons (every other day), we play games to review. She enjoys reviewing with Happy Phonics, but I've also found many games online to print off. Refined Metals Academy has a great list of resources! This week we reviewed some word families. Lexy loves to play this foot game. We play it many different ways. Sometimes she just matches the pictures to the correct foot. Othertimes, she will run and jump on the foot of the picture I hold up. She loves to get up and move around! Sometimes, she spells words out with magnets to review. Singapore Math: Although we've been moving at half speed in the LHFHG guide, we're plugging away with math at full speed. The Kindergarten book has all been review for Lexy at this point; however, it has been a great foundation for her. We've been enjoying using many different kinds of manipulatives for the lessons. Here is one of Lexy's favorites: These fries are made out of sponges. Who wouldn't like to do math with McDonald's fries??? We keep our lessons short. Much of their learning comes through play. So, most of our day is spent playing. Lexy likes making pictures out of shapes with Josiah's Haba Geo Shape Tak Zap. Josiah just likes hammering in the nails!

The majority of the day, this is how you'll find Josiah! He loves his books! Notice his book shelf is a complete disaster. I straighten it about once a week, but it's hopeless! He's my little bookworm for sure! Time Outdoors I have been reading bits and pieces of Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschool Series. One particular quote has stood out to me: "In this time of extraordinary pressure, educational and social, perhaps a mothers first duty to her children is to secure for them a quiet and growing time, a full six years of passive receptive life, the waking part of it for the most part spent out in the fresh air." I loved that phrase, "a quiet and growing time." That's what I want for my children. I've been challenged to slow down and allow them this time to grow quietly. I'm also trying to get them out in nature as much as possible. Over the weekend, we had the opportunity to visit Mama and Papa's cabin. They had a wonderful time outdoors being kids! Lexy made sure to check on Papa's Apple Orchard!

She was amazed by this tree that had been uprooted during a winter storm. She was fascinated by the size of the roots.

They're loving their new rain boots! Walking and splashing in the creek is so much fun! There is also lots to find!

Josiah's favorite activity of the weekend was splashing around on the dock that had been flooded from all the rain.

My favorite...

I don't know any two kids that love to play in the dirt more! They can spend hours digging and playing together. It's a funny thing...when they're outside playing together, they're not fighting!

I'm hoping to start our Easter Nature Study from NaturExplorers this weekend!

We actually finished up Unit 3 a little early this week to begin our Easter focus. Other than Math and Phonics, we're taking a break from our normal school to do our 12 days of Easter! So far, it's been lots of fun! I hope to post about our first few days this weekend.

Check out the Preschool Corner & 5K Too!

Birthday Parties - My babies are 3 and 5

2011-04-03T19:22:00.000-07:00

Lexy's 5th and Josiah's 3rd birthays have come and gone. The years continue to fly, but what a wonderful time we had celebrating their lives! I am so blessed to be their Mommy and want to savor every day that I'm given with them. Josiah's Handy Manny Party Josiah insisted on a Handy Manny party, eventhough I could count on one hand the number of times that he's seen the show. We decided to have his party in the gym and set up stations for the kids (ages 2-5) to explore. Each boy received a hard hat with their name and a homemade tool belt (my first sewing project!). The girls received sun visors and garden tool belts. They decorated their hats with stickers as one of the activities.

Of course, Handy Manny had to have his repair truck there. The kids had fun driving it around the gym.

Other stations included: an art station with a tool box to create, work benches and tools, Melissa and Doug cardboard bricks to build with, Mega blocks, Construction Moon Sand set, and a bounce house.

After all their hard work, they took a lunch break...

...and played some more!

Josiah finally got his cake that he talked for days about...and then only a a bite or two!

He also enjoyed opening up his presents from friends and family. Thank you for celebrating with us!

Lexy's Madeline ParTea

Alexis has a reputation of picking hard themes for her birthday. All Madeline decor and toys have been discontinued for the most part. Madeline, however, is her favorite character. She enjoys the movies and books so much. So, we went with it!

Happy Birthday, Alexis!

Of course, a Madeline party had to be set in Paris! The girls enjoyed creating French flags and playing "Pin the flag on the Eiffel Tower."

Her Madeline hat cake (don't look too closely).

So Cute...a friend of mine came across a toy store that no longer needed their Madeline display. They gave it to her, and she gave it to us!

A tea in Paris is a perfect way for a little girl to celebrate her fifth birthday. Each of the girls received their own handmade Madeline hat (idea found at Family Fun).

Lord Cucuface even made an appearance...

...and led the girls in their prayer after the rhyme. "We love our bread, we love our butter, but most of all, we love each other."The girls each got their faces painted. lexy got Madeline on one side and the eiffel tower on the other.

They also visited the Louvre!

They stopped their tour of France with a picture in front of the Eiffel Tower. Notice little Pepito on the left!

We also read "Madeline's Rescue." Afterwards, they had to find Genevieve. Geneveive was a dog pinata.

We took a break to open presents. She was excited to receive American Girl bitty twins!

Lastly, they enjoyed cake and icecream while watching an episode of Madeline.

Now, to enjoy another year with my precious children!

LHFHG - Kindergarten Unit 2

2011-04-03T18:58:00.001-07:00

I'm a little late in updating on our 2nd Kindergarten Unit. Alex and I had a wonderful time attending the Midwest Homeschool Convention. I came back refresed, excited, and challenged...more to come on that in another post (hopefully). Focus: The People Sin This week our Bible/History focus covered Cain and Abel, Noah's Ark and the Tower of Bible. Science and Art activities are also centered around the Bible theme. The whole family enjoyed making the art project this week. We colored a piece of paper and then covered the colors with black. Next, we used a key to scratch heart designs in the paper. The idea behind this is that God knows our thoughtss. He sees how we feel on the inside, just like he knew what was in Cain's heart.

We are continuing to enjoy Singapore Math. Although, it is all review right now. Her number formation is improving greatly. I am so thankful for all the extra ideas added into the Heart of Dakota guide!

For one of our science activities this week, the children and I made boats out of aluminum foil. We then placed them in the bathtub to see how many bear counters they would hold. Lexy's boat held 34. Mine held 32. Josiah's, well we will never know...he wasn't quite patient enough.

We also decided to make a picture book of "Our Tree Through the Year." Once a month, we will take a picture of our tree and see how it changes. We'll also see how the children grow through the year as they stand in front of the tree. April 3, our tree has little white blooms on it.

Dramatic play: While building our own tower, we used "yes" in many different languages to remind us of how God confused the language of the people. They worked well as a team and made a tower to the ceiling. We also decided to begin Lexy's French lessons. She recieved "Hooked on French" last year for her birthday. She wants to learn French, because Madeline speaks French. This was a great week to start with talking about where the different language originated from. We plan on doing 1 or 2 French lessons per week. (By the way, if you didn't see the post about Lexy's Madeline ParTea and Josiah's Handy Manny Party, be sure to check it out!)

A note about Tot School: I haven't done well with updating on what Josiah has been up to. As you can tell from the pictures, he joins in with us with all that he can. He also spends a lot of time reading books and playing puzzles. Every once in a while we'll throw in a lapbook. Once he officially starts preschool in the Fall, I'll try to do better. For now, I'm not stressing about the planning and just having fun with him!

LHFHG - Unit 1 (Kindergarten)

2011-03-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, we will finish up our first unit in Little Hearts for His Glory! Our first two weeks of Kindergarten have been wonderful! I originally intended to do a unit per week. However, after the first day, I decided to go half speed for a while for several reasons:

1. Lexy is still not quite 5. She "technically" isn't Kindergarten age until Fall. LHFHG's suggested age range is 5-7. I do not want finish it up too early and not be ready for the next level.

2. Although I think she is learning a lot now, I think she will get more out of "History for Little Pilgrims" once she is a little older. I'd like to take is slowly so that she can get as much out of it as possible. Perhaps, we'll pick up to full speed in the Fall.

3. Lexy's favorite subject is Science. The Science is a little light and going half speed allows me to add to it...maybe do some lapbooks, check out some extra library books, and spend more time on the science concepts.

4. Going half speed allows us more flexiblity. Both kids are still so young. We want to enjoy free play time as much as possible...lots of days outside - just being kids!

With that said...I have loved using this curriculum. It is a very easy, open and go format. However, I can add to it as much as I'd like. Also, the activities are fun for BOTH kids! Here's a peak into our first unit.

Focus: The Beginning of History

Bible/History:

In LHFHG Bible stories are integrated with history stories. This week, we began with Creation. We are still doing our Bible time in the evenings so that Daddy can be involved with it. The weather was so nice this week, we were even able to do it outside some!

They've enjoyed the fun games that have gone along with the Bible readings.

To go along with our units, I've put together a Bible Basket for the kids to use in the mornings. While I'm doing my Bible study, they can use their own Bible basket. I plan to change it up every two weeks. For this unit, I included their picture Bible turned to the Creation story, Bible coloring pages, a creation felt scene, and a kid's worship cd.

They had an art project to reinforce the concept of Jesus at the center of history.

As part of "Learning Through History" each unit has a rhyme to learn. This unit, the rhyme dealt with all the continents that God made. I found a world map at the dollar store and cut it up into the 7 continents.

They would leap, walk, swing, hop, waddle, stomp, etc. to each of the continents. By the end of the unit, Lexy is now able to recognize the continents. After the rhyme, she likes to "put the world back together."

Also, on our art table, our extra material for the week was clay. They enjoyed making their own creations!

As a final activity to go along with this Bible story, I'm planning on making the Creation Concoction listed on the last page in this lesson with the kids this weekend. Fun!

Memory Verse: The memory verse this unit was Matthew 19:14: "Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these." We played the suggested games to help the kids memorize this. Even Josiah was able to say it! The last activity was to think of a way to share this verse with someone. Lexy decided that since it was about children she wants to share it with her Sunday School class at church on Sunday :)

Phonics:

I'm eagerly awaiting "All About Reading" to come out in April. For the time being, we are using Reading Made Easy. So far, most of what we've done has been review. Lexy's not crazy about the lessons, and I really want her to enjoy learning to read. We took a break one day and just played some games to go along with the word families that she was working on. She decided to write some words on the board. Although her handwriting needs some help, she did a great job!

Science:

Our focus was on the world that God made. There favorite part was talking about light! We read Lexy's science book with flashlights in the dark. We also played a game with Daddy. The kids were the sun (holding flashlights) and Daddy was the earth. Each time he made it around the sun, they sang Happy Birthday to the earth. Another favorite activity was flashlight tag. I don't think I'll ever outgrow that game!

We also talked about land and sea creatures. We looked and read about different ones and again did the suggested activities.

Music:

In addition to the songs and activities listed in LHFHG, Lexy takes a Harmony Road music class. This is her 4th semester, and she is learning so much. As part of our home assignment last week, she practiced writing the notes do, re, mi, fa, so, and la. She's now able to play songs with these notes in them. She also likes drawing treble clefs :)

Math:

I really debated on whether to skip the Early Bird math. At the start of Kindergarten, Lexy is able to count to 100 (sometimes with some mistakes). She can do simple addition and subtraction. However, I decided to go ahead and do the Early Bird. I'm glad I did. I really want her to build up confidence and not be scared of math. Plus, these first few lessons have had a lot of practice with writing the numbers. Her least favorite and most difficult subject is handwriting. This extra practice has really helped.

I'm really enjoying all the extra activities that the guide suggests to go along with the Singapore book.

Lexy and Josiah both made their own number books with die-cuts.

She practiced forming numbers.

She liked teaching her little brother the numbers 1-5.

As an extra activity, we graphed the marshmallows in Lucky Charms for St. Patrick's Day.

Reading/Writing:

Lexy has really enjoyed reading about Reddy Fox. Her favorite activity was writing a letter to Reddy to warn him against being so bold. She wanted to actually mail it. Thankfully, I remembered to get it out of the mailbox before the mailman saw "To Reddy Fox in Green Forest."

Just Being a Kid:

I love watching my kids play and use their imaginations. We recently went to a Dock Dog Competion. Apparently, it's still in Lexy's mind. I found her playing "dock dogs." She was really creative in using several different wooden toys to form her own dock and pool. So cute!

Decorating cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day

Life School:

We recently implemented a new chore chart. I'll post more about that later. Lexy has certain chores that are required of her, and some that she can do to earn extra money. We're using that to talk to her about giving and saving. She loves doing extra chores. Mopping is not one of her chores, but she's been begging me to mop. Finally, I decided to let her try. She did such a great job and was so proud of herself after finishing! Obviously, there were some spots missed, but I can always go back and get those!

Be sure to check back in a few days to see what Josiah's been up to in Tot School!

I'm linking up to:

Heart of Dakota Message Board

Preschool Corner - See what others are up to in preschool and Kindergarten!

Our New "Bible Basket"

2011-03-07T04:08:00.000-08:00

As part of our new morning routine, I've put together a "Bible Basket." I'm on the lookout for another name for it, but that's all I've come up with so far. The purpose is for the kids to develop their own personal, quiet time with the Lord.

I do my own devotional time in the mornings. The original intention was to have it done before the children wake up. However, lately, I've been having some early risers. Many times, I've sent them back to bed, but I do not feel right about that. It could be that they're not needing as much sleep right now. Also, I'd love for them to be able to see me spending time with the Lord as well. So, in came the Bible Basket. Now, if they wake up early, they can use the things in their basket while I do my Bible study.

This week, we are learning about Creation during our Bible time. So, in the basket, I've put one of their children's Bibles, the felt Creation pieces, and a children's worship cd. I plan on switching the pieces out at least every week with every new story. Sometimes, I may switch them out more frequently with something new to go with the story. This was our first morning using it. So far, it has worked wonderfully!

Kindergarten Curriculum - Box Day!!!

2011-02-14T19:02:00.000-08:00

It has been quite a while since I've posted any updates. We've still been busy with preschool/tot school activities. I just can't seem to find the time to blog. After a lot of thought and prayer, we decided to start Kindergarten with Lexy in March. Yes, March is an odd month to start, but she's ready. We're all ready for a little more structure to our days. After deciding it was time to start, the question of curriculum loomed. I spent HOURS and HOURS reading about all the different options, and I finally decided on what we would use. I ordered the material, and the first box of curriculum arrived today. Lexy is BEYOND excited! She tore into her box and wanted to get to work right away. It's going to be hard to wait until March!

So, here are our choices for curriculum:

Core Curriculum - Heart of Dakota's, "Little Hearts for His Glory" - I am so excited about finding this curriculum. I originally read about it on Our Family For His Glory. I like the freedom it gives to use our own phonics and handwriting choices. I also like the use of living books that it uses in later programs. This first year, we will be studying creation through present day. It also adds fun ideas to use with Singapore Math.

Math - Singapore Earlybird Kindergarten. We will also be using some MathStart books. Also a friend introduced me to GiggleLearn. I plan on purchasing this to use as a supplement.

Handwriting - I really wanted to use "A Reason for Handwriting." But after some thought, I came to the conclusion that Lexy needs more instruction in letter formation. She still has some letters that she has difficulty making. She needed a handwriting program that provided more instruction. Therefore, I felt Handwriting Without Tears was the best option for us.

Phonics - My plan is to use All About Reading Level 1 when it comes out in April. For the time being, we will continue with Happy Phonics, Explode the Code, Progressive Phonics books, and All About Spelling Reader 1. We also use early reader books from the library, play games online, and study word families.

Science - LHFHG uses "The World God Made" as the science test. It takes the student through the six days of creation. I also plan to add to these units with a variety of Usborne books and my own ideas.

Music - Lexy will continue to take her music lessons through Harmony Road.

Bible - I love that LHFHG integrates the Bible throughout all it's plan. We do have a special "Bible time." However, it is not just a separate subject. It's woven into all that we do. A memory verse is also included each week.

Fine Motor - Rod and Staff Workbooks D and F

Literature/Read Alouds - LHFHG incorporates six books of fictional stories written by Thornton Burgess.

History - History for Little Pilgrims, History Stories for Children. Like I said, we will be getting an overview of creation through present day.

Art- LHFHG provides an art activity each activity. Along with this, Lexy will continue to have time each week to create freely at our art station. We will also use activities from Usborne's Big Book of Playtime Activities.

So, as you can see, we are very excited about starting in March! But for now, I'm having fun getting everything organized!

To see more preschool and kindergarten ideas, check out Homeschool Creations!

Our Advent Tree - Days 1 and 2

2010-12-02T19:21:00.000-08:00

Over the years, we have tried different things as a family to keep our focus on the birth of Christ during the Christmas season. We've used the colored rings, taking off a different Scripture and activity each day during our family devotions. Last year, we decided to make an Advent Tree. We had our activities on strips of paper to take off each day. This year, we've decided to switch it up again. Instead of taking strips off our tree each day, we are adding to our tree each day.

Many of my ideas came from It's OK to be Weird, The ADVENTure of Christmas, and some files that I received from my mom. I like the idea of heart reminders each day. I used many of the same ones found on It's OK to be Weird, but I changed some things around. I also made up my own cards to add to our tree. These cards are my first ever download...be sure to check them out! The cards all have numbers (1-25) on the back. They draw a card off of our bulletin board each day and add it to our tree. Then, for the rest of the day, we focus on that symbol/verse/story. The culmination of that symbol is at our family devotions around the Christmas tree each evening.
Here is a look at our tree after two days.

Day 1:

Symbol: Heart
Reason: God Loves Us
Verse: John 3:16

We started the day off with making heart pancakes. I couldn't find our heart cookie cutter, so they didn't turn out so well. The kids still enjoyed it!

Craft: We made this Heart Christmas tree found at Danielle's Place.

During Lexy's School time, I added some heart activities to her workboxes. These included:

1. Fine Motor: Drawing and Cutting out hearts. I showed her how to fold the paper in half to make a heart. We talked about symmetry.

2. Heart M&M Addition from ChildcareLand

Day 2 -

Symbol: Apple
Verse- Genesis 3
Reason - Jesus Needed to Come

We read and talked about the story of Adam and Eve and what sin is.

Craft:

Fingerprint Apple Tree from Hubbard's Cupboard

Workboxes included:

1. Apple Math from Hubbard's Cupboard
2. Apple Sequencing Cards (Review)
3. Apple Number Ordering

And, of course, we had to have apple slices for snacks!

To see our advent activities from last year, read this post.

I hope everyone enjoys this Christmas season!

What's in the Box - Preschool Workboxes

2010-11-23T18:37:00.000-08:00

We've been learning about Thanksgiving this week. I'll post more about our Thanksgiving unit later this week, but here is a look into Lexy's workboxes for the week. I didn't get many action pictures. She wasn't in the mood for her picture to be taken.

Writing/Language Arts

I printed this sheet off from childcare land. Lexy is going to use it to write what she is thankful for.
Fine Motor/Language Arts

Lexy and Josiah each made there own set of turkey stick puppets after hearing the poem, "5 Little Turkeys." The printables also came from childcare land. After making and numbering their puppets, they used them to make their own puppet shows for me.

Math

We are still working on counting/number recognition to 100 with Lexy. She counts well up to 50 and then sometimes gets lost. She can count by 10s to 100 pretty well, so I think she could count to 100 if she really wanted to. However, I really like the "Uncle Wiggily Game" for counting to 100. It's a fun for her to practice the numbers without it seeming like a drill.

Memory

I printed off this concentration game last year. It has pictures of Thanksgiving symbols: cornucopia, turkey, mayflower, pumpkin pie, squash, pilgrims. We had fun playing concentration and talking about what the different symbols represent.
Handwriting

A friend let me borrow this handwriting books. Most of our nomral handwriting practice is done in her Explode the Code books or just everyday use. This book has been an "extra" that has been lots of fun for her. She practices writing the letters on the dry erase board. It also has puzzles to put together for each letter and letter tiles to make words that start with each letter.

Cooking

Josiah got in on the action for Lexy's cooking project. We made cut-out sugar cookies shaped like turkeys. Then the frosted them brown. It was a messy project!

Bible

Our Bible story this week is from Matthew 19, "Jesus loves the Children." Lexy's workbox contains cardboard figures of children. We will decorate them with fabric, markers, googly eyes, yarn, etc. to turn them into children. Then, we'll string them together to for a "Jesus Loves the Children" banner.

Reading

Lexy practiced her CVC and two letter words on these turkey cards also printed from childcare land. I would say a word, and she would make the word out of wooden letters.

Phonics
I put this castle game from "Happy Phonics" in to review vowel sounds. This is one of Lexy's favorite Happy Phonics games.
To find out more about our Workbox System read this post.

See what others have in there workboxes at Confessions of a Homeschooler! Check back in a few days to see the fun we've been having learning about Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-23T18:30:00.000-08:00

We just want to wish anyone who wanders this way a Happy Thanksgiving. Alexis and Josiah made these cute Thanksgiving cards this week to hand out to family. I found the idea for the handprint pilgrims at Almost Unschoolers and just decided to turn them into cards. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Fire Safety

2010-11-12T12:12:00.000-08:00

We've spent two weeks on Fire Safety and still haven't completed all the activities that I was hoping to get done. Maybe we'll be able to get to them sometime this weekend. This has probably been one of their favorite themes so far. Here are some of the highlights:

Tot School Activity

Josiah sorted hot items from cold items in this file folder game (sorry, I can't remember the link). Big sister was there to correct him if he got anything wrong. Gross Motor

We played several different games using Daddy's ladder. Mainly, they just had fun climbing up and down pretending to be fire fighters. They also had to walk through the rungs without touching them.

Free Play

They did a lot of free play with different fire toys. Their favorite was the KidKraft Deluxe Fire Station. It was fun to watch them play together. One of them would say their was a fire, and they'd both rush to help. One would drive the fire truck, and the other would drive the ambulance. They also would have their firemen act out cooking, sleeping, sliding down the pole, and working on the fire truck.

Fire Safety Lessons

They practiced "Stop, Drop, and Roll." I made some very pathetic flames out of orange felt. I put the flames on their clothes, and they stopped, dropped and rolled.

Sensory

I shredded red and orange construction paper for the sensory tub. Then I added in various fire related objects or pictures to play with. When I first completed it, I asked Josiah if he wanted to play with it. He said, "Me no play with fire. Fire hurt me." I'm glad he learned something from all of our talk, but he eventually learned that it was okay to play with the sensory tub!

Fire Drill

We had our own family fire drill. We discussed what to do if there was a fire in our house. Alex set the smoke detector off so that they would know what it sounded like. They practiced crawling under the smoke to the nearest safe exit. Then, we all met up at the mailbox. We also talked about feeling doors to see if they are hot, and, if it was, to go wait by a window.

Science Experiements

Lexy learned that fire needs air, heat, and fuel (wood, wax, fabric, gasoline, etc.) to keep it going. We watched a candle burn. Then, she put something over the candle and watched it burn out. She learned that this was because there was no more air in the jar. The second time, she blew it out. She learned that it went out because the air of her breath was cool.

The second experiment we did involved two balloons. The first we blew up and touched a flame to it. It popped. The second was filled with water. When we touched a flame to it, it didn't pop. This was because the water absorbed the heat through the thin balloon.

Field Trip!

We took a field trip to my uncle's fire station. Unfortunately, my camera battery died shortly after arriving. They had a great time climbing on the fire truck! They even got a short ride on it...on the driveway :) They also enjoyed seeing the inside of the fire station. Thanks, Randy!

Other Activities:

1. Magnets - I made magnets out of fire themed clip art. I put these on the dishwasher and we used them to make up stories. We also sorted them into various groups (things that start fires, equipment used to put them out, etc.)

2. Indianapolis Fire Department Safety Booklet - Lexy colored this and did some of the activities.

3. We went for a walk around the block and counted 6 fire hydrants.

4. 911 cookies - We plan on making 911 cookies to help them remember to dial 911 in an emergency.

5. We also plan on making fire trucks out of cardboard boxes for them to play in.

Books We Used:

1. Fire Trucks by Cynthia Roberts

2. At the Fire Station by Carol Greene

3. Fire Safety by Lucia Raatma

4. Safety Around Fire by Lucia Raatma

5. Fire Engines by E.S. Budd

6. I Can Be A Fire Fighter by Rebecca Hankin

7. Race to a Fire by Rachel Mann

8. A Day in the Life of a Firefighter by Linda Hayward

9. A Kid's Guide to Staying Safe Around Fire by Maribeth Boelts

10. A Very Busy Firehouse by Alyse Sweeney

Videos We Used

1. Lots and Lots of Fire Songs and Safety Tips - Marshall Publishing and Promotions

2. Fireman Same Saves the Day

3. Fireman Sam to the Rescue

Check out the Preschool Corner for more ideas!

Pumpkins

2010-10-31T19:48:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun with pumpkins that we had to take an extra week to get through it all! Unfortunately, I had to cut the pictures short because uploading them was taking way too long. Here's a snapshot of our unit...

Math:

We opened up pumpkins and took out the seeds. After cleaning them, we estimated how many seeds we thought that we had. Then, we used our Hundred Chart to count the seeds. Lexy would place a seed on each number. After the chart filled up, she put the 100 seeds into a pile. Then she would say whether she thought there were more or less than 100 seeds left. We continued on with this until all the seeds were counted. Our final number...601!

Science:

We did 3 different science experiments.

1. After reading From Seed to Pumpkin, Lexy created this pumpkin sequencing activitiy. She enjoyed showing it to people and explaining the process of a seed becoming a pumpkin.

2. I gave Lexy a pumpkin to explore. We opened it up and observed the outside and inside. She used her 5 senses to explore it. Then, she dictated a poem to me for her journal. She described what she saw, felt, smelled, tasted (imagined taste), and heard (when she tapped on it). Then, she drew a picture to go along with her poem.

3. We also observed how plants drink water. We used blue food coloring to tint a glass of water. Then we put two celery stalks in the glass. After a few hours, we saw how the leaves of the celery had started turning blue. Then, we broke the celery to see that the blue was inside the celery as well. Plants drink their water up through tubes much like we use straws!

Pumpkin Patch Trips!

We visited two different pumpkin patches. The first time we were visiting family in southern Indiana. The weather was great! The second time back at home, it was freezing! They enjoyed the hayrides, mazes, slides, and of course, picking out pumpkins. Both times, Josiah went for the smallest, greenest pumpkin that he could find....Silly boy!

Fine Motor Skills

One of my favorite activities was making a pumpkin seed necklace with Lexy. I poked holes in the pumpkin seeds. Then, she used a children's plastic sewing needle to string seeds on the thread. It turned out very cute, and she has enjoyed wearing it!

One of Josiah's favorite activities was hammering golf tees into the pumpkins. He's gone back to this several times, and it entertains him for a good long while :)

Pumpkin Decorating

They both enjoyed a Fall playdate with our MOPS care group. Then painted minature pumpkins.

After carving pumpkins, I told them The Pumpkin Patch Parable just as we did last year. Lexy was able to understand this much better than last year. She asked questions about the "yucky stuff" that Jesus takes out of us and the light that he puts in us.

Another book that we read going along with this was "Halloween, Is it For Real?" This book was a little over their heads, but I was able to modify it for them.

Other:

Lexy made a mosaic pumpkin.

Josiah made a felt pumpkin. Isn't it cute!

They also decorated pumpkin cookies. I gave them red and yellow icing to mix together on their pumpkin to make it orange.

Books We Read:

1. From Seed to Pumpkin - Wendy Pfeffer

2. Pumpkin Day, Pumpkin Night - Anne Rockwell

3. Pumpkin Fever - Charnan Simon

4. Autumn Orange - Christianne C. Jones

5. It's a Fruit, It's a Vegetable, It's a Pumpkin - Allan Fowler

6. The Pumpkin Patch Parable - Liz Curtiz Higs

7. Halloween Is it For Real? - Harold Myra

Poem:

The poem we used for our Weekly Board was 5 Little Pumpkins:

Five Little Pumpkins sitting on a gate

The first one said, "Oh my it's getting late."

The second one said, "There's a chill in the air."

The third one said, "But, we don't care!"

The fourth one said, "Let's run and run and run."

The fifth one said, "It's time for some fun!"

Then woosh went the wind,

and out went the light.

And, five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

I've enjoyed making memories with my children this Fall and during our pumpkin unit. Coming up next...Fire Safety (yes, a month late).

See what other preschoolers are up to at the Preschool Corner!

Fun With Leaves!

2010-10-07T12:40:00.001-07:00

Our theme for the last two weeks has been LEAVES! We've read lots of books and had all kinds of fun with leaves! Here's a glimpse of some of our activities:

Creating a Fall Fun List:

My plan was to make a large tree out of butcher paper to put in our school room. Then we would add the leaves to that. I never got around to that so we improvised. We used die-cut leaves and wrote some Fall activities that we wanted to do. Then we put them on the trees that are already in our playroom. As we do each activity, we will take the leaf off the tree. We will watch our leaves "fall" as we have Fall fun. Some activities include: hayride, roast marshmallows, visit the cabin, pumpkin patch, etc.

Leaf Art/Science:

Lexy painted some leaves to make leaf prints. We pointed out the veins in the leaves and discussed their job. Then she had fun painting her own Fall tree. Science: We read "Leaves! Leaves! Leaves!" to learn about the reason that leaves change colors. Then we picked several fresh leaves off of trees, found out what kind they were, and observed them over a period of 5 days. Each day, Lexy would color a leaf to show the changes. She would come up with words to describe it. She used words such as: smooth, crinkly, hard, crumbly, spots, etc. This was a great learning experience!

Fall Cookie Decorating:

My plans were to make leaf shaped sugar cookies and let the kids decorate them in Fall colors. However, I couldn't find my leaf cookie cutter anywhere. So, instead, we went with a general "Fall" theme. They still had fun cutting out the cookies, decorating, AND eating them. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures!

Patterns: I gave Lexy materials to make her own leaf hat. She had many small die-cut leaves and a large die-cut leaf to use on the front. She made a pattern out of the small leaves. To make it slightly more challenging, I had her make a pattern using the type of leaf rather than the color of the leaf.

Leaf Math: I printed this game off of Childcare Land. She matched simple addition problems with the answers.

PLAYING WITH LEAVES!

I wanted the kids to have a chance to play with leaves so we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house (they have LOTS more leaves than we do!).

First, they made sure the birds would have plenty to eat. Then they used their dollar store rakes to rake some leaves. They were much more excited about the rakes BEFORE we got to the raking. It only lasted a few minutes, then they were on to other things.

Of course, we had to make piles to jump and play in.

Lexy had fun making some leaf angels.

Then, we sat in some leaves and read "Leaf Man." Afterwards, we broke into teams to make our own leaf men. Here's me and Josiah sitting next to our leaf man. I was suprised out how much he was into this. He really helped to find the different parts of the body.

Here's Grandma and Lexy with their leaf man. They used leftovers from the garden to add a little character to theirs!

Leaf Rubbings

You can't do a study on leaves without doing leaf rubbings!

Song:

With each unit, we learn a poem or song that we do each day during calendar time. Our leaf song was sung to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." As we sang it, we threw some fake leaves up in the air.

Leaves are falling all around.

Watch them fall right to the ground.

Autumn's here; it is true.

Winter's coming just for you.

Leaves are falling all around.

Falling, falling to the ground.

Book List: I was very pleased with all of these books for our study.

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

Autumn Leaves by Ken Lobbias

Leaves by William Corderoy

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

Leaves! Leaves! Leaves! by Nancy Wallace

The Seasons - Fall by Nuria Roca

Ruby's Falling Leaves

Nature Walk/Leaf Sorting:

I still have plans to take the kids on a nature walk this weekend at a local park. We will look for leaves and sort them according to type/shape/color/edges.

We've had so much fun studying leaves. I even learned a few things, too! I'm looking forward to our pumpkin unit. To see other things that we did this week, check out this post. One major milestone was reached...Lexy began reading CVC words! Also, to see what other preschoolers are up to, be sure to check out Preschool Corner!

What's in the Box?

2010-10-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

I've decided to join up with "What's in the Box?" Wednesday at Confessions of a Homeschooler. The boxes listed here are actually from last week, but I'm just getting around to writing the post. To read more about our workbox system check out this post.

Preschool Workboxes

1. Leaf Addition Match - Lexy matched the leaves with simple addition problems with the leaves with their answers. 2. Our theme for the week was leaves. This box contained the book "Leaves! Leaves! Leaves!" We read the book. We also picked fresh leaves off of three trees. Then we observed the changes each day and learned why the leaves change colors. She colored the leaves and described the changes she saw each day.

3. Rhyming Card Game - She found picture cards that rhymed.

4. Story Notebook - We got out her story notebook. She used this to create her own story. Sometimes she cuts out pictures to use, and sometimes she draws her own pictures. She makes up a story to go with the picture, and I write it down.

5. "At" family game - Our phonics game of the week was an "at" family word game. She used the letters to create "at" words and match them with the pictures. She was reading CVC words for the first time! That smile shows how proud she was of herself!

6. Patterns - Lexy used small die cut leaves to create a pattern on the construction paper. We turned this into a leaf hat and glued a large die cut leaf on the front.

7. Fine Motor Skills - Lite Bright

8. Bible - Our Bible curriculum that we're using has puzzle sheets that go along with it. Lexy always enjoys doing worksheets.

9. Music- Her music box contained her books from her music class. She did her home assignments.

Tot School Playboxes

Here's a picture of Josiah's playboxes for the week. I didn't get individual pictures of them all.

1. Felt - Creating faces

2. Blocks - matching colors and shapes

3. Finger Puppets

4. Mr. Potato Heads

5. Building - Lincoln Logs

6. Fine Motor Skills - Lacing Beads

7. Counting - Number puzzles

8. Imaginary Play - Dinosaurs

9. Sensory - Clay

As you can tell, we are really enjoying our new workbox system!

Our Weekly Board and Schedule

2010-09-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

I'm not quite ready to write my preschool and tot school updates for the week considering we still have more to do tomorrow. So, I thought I'd take some time to share about our Weekly Board and daily schedule. I always enjoy reading how other families organize or schedule their weeks.

Weekly Board

We just started using our weekly board at the beginning of this school year. It is still a work in progress, but here is what we have so far.

We keep our board in the kitchen rather than the school room. This allows us to review the contents on the board several times throughout the day. We switch out the board every weekend to get ready for the upcoming week. Currently, we have sections for the color of the week (Josiah), our memory verse, letters to review, sight word, vowel sound blend cards, Bible Story picture, and a poem/song that goes with our theme of the week. I stick with a theme for two weeks and use it for preschool and tot school. Our theme for this week is leaves. Depending on the morning, I may place an activity on the table in front of the board for them to do as I get breakfast ready. On the day the picture was taken, there were die-cut leaves to sort by color, type, etc.

I plan on adding a section for Missions/Geography. I am working on getting things together to teach about a specific country for about a month. I would like to put up a picture of missionaries or children from that country to pray for the entire month.

Our Weekly/Daily Schedule

Our schedule is very flexible. We try to stick to a general routine on days that we stay home; however, if it doesn't seem to be working on a particular day, we scratch it and go with something else.

A typical day looks something like this:

7:30 - Josiah wakes. I hear his light flip on and he grabs some books and gets back in bed.

8:00 - Lexy wakes. They watch Curious George while I get a few things done.

8:30 - Breakfast. They play or do an activity at the little table while I get breakfast ready. Somedays, they help with the preparation. We read a devotion from our preschool devotional book and review our memory verse while eating.

9:00 - Morning Chores. Get dressed, brush teeth, brush hair, make bed.

9:30 - Calendar, prayer, hymn. Lexy and Josiah have been learning hymns at BSF so we've decided to add one to our morning routine.

9:15 - Tot School activities and/or Weekly theme activities. These activities are always play type learning that Josiah would enjoy as well. We also review items on the board and read our color book of the week.

9:45 - Play, Play, Play! We spend the rest of the morning playing together. I take short periods to throw in the laundry, clean, etc.

11:30 - lunch preparation. I try to involve them in getting lunch ready.

12:00 - lunch

12:30 - We usually take this time to read for a while before Josiah takes a nap

1:00 - Josiah's nap. Lexy and I do preschool together. She chooses 2-3 workboxes to work on with me and then completes her phonics book.

2:00- Quiet time. Lexy and I both take quiet time for ourselves.

3:00 - Josiah wakes up. Depending on the weather, we may take a walk/bike ride, etc. Play outside.

4:30 - Dinner preparation. Again, try to include the kids.

5:00 - Daddy comes home! I finish dinner. He plays with kids.

5:30 - Dinner

6:00 - Evening Chores. I clean up the kitchen from dinner while Alex helps the kids clean their rooms and straighten the house.

6:30 - play, family walk, outing, bath

8:00 - Snack Bible Time

8:30 - Bed

Some other things included in our week:

Monday evening - Lexy's piano lessons

Tuesday Morning - BSF

Tuesday Evening - Library classes

Wednesday evening - Church

Thursday mornings twice a month - MOPS

That's basically it. Again, we are not sticklers with time. This is just a general idea what a day in our home may look like. To see what other families do with their preschoolers, be sure to check out Preschool Corner.

Bible Time: Escape to Egypt

2010-09-23T17:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've written about our Bible time. So, I thought I'd do an update. We're still using Gospel Light's "My God and Me." Last week we covered week 16, "Escape to Egypt." The Bible story came from Matthew 2:1-15. The goal was for our children to become aware of the the many ways God cares for them - no matter where they are! Our verse for the week was "The Lord your God is with you." Zephaniah 3:17

Each night, Alex read the story using the big story picture. After the Bible story was read, we did a different active learning experience to help them relate the lesson to their lives.

Dramatic Play: Travel Time

In the Bible story, the wise men went on a long trip to Bethlehem. Mary, Joseph and Jesus wen ton a long trip to Egypt. The children were able to pretend they were going on a trip, too!

Alex made some fun airline tickets for them to use on their trip.

They thought about the things that they would need to take on a trip with them. They drew what they wanted to take and packed their suitcases.

Anxiously awaiting to board the plane!

Mommy was the flight attendent, and Daddy was the pilot!

We reminded them that God is with us wherever we go and took time to thank God for this truth.

Active Game: Ladder Walk

In Bible times, when people went on trips, they usually walked. We played a game where we took turns walking in different ways on the ladder: in the spaces, on the rungs, up and down the sides, with giant steps, jumping, twirling, etc.

Construction Center: Block Homes

God is with us everywhere - when we are at our homes, too! They used blocks and cardboard sheets to build houses. Then they could put their toy people in the homes and play with them.

Role Play:

One evening we acted out the story. We turned the lights off and used a flashlight to make a star on the ceiling for the wise men to follow. Sorry, no pictures to show for it.

This is a little snap shot of what we do for our family devotions. If you'd like more ideas, be sure to check out Raising Rock Stars!

Josiah's First Week Of Tot School

2010-09-20T18:22:00.001-07:00

Josiah was very excited about starting his first week of tot school. I've decided to start with focusing on colors. He is able to sort and identify colors; however, he uses the name of the Sesame Street character to identify the color rather than the actual color name. So, we're working on those color names. This week our focus was on apples and the color red.

Fall Sensory Tub: Josiah enjoyed using his new magnifying glass with the Fall sensory tub. It includes walnuts, acorns, pinecones, hickory nuts, and fake leaves.

Tot School Play Boxes

To read more about how we do workboxes, read this post. This week, Josiah's playboxes included:

1. Building - Magneatos
2. Puzzle - Number Train
3. Building - Road track and cars
4. Imaginative Play - Dinosaurs
5. Fine Motor - Lacing Cards
6. Other - Drill Set

Some pictures of him "play learning."

The Color Red

One of his favorite activities right now is to draw. A plain piece of paper and a few writing utensils and he's happy!

He sorted big and little die-cut crayons.

We went on a red scavenger hunt around the neighborhood. They enjoyed riding in the red wagon and using the red pointer to point at red things.

Other red activities included:

1. Playing with colored beanbags. Games such as: find the red ones, throw them into a basket, put the red beanbag on your head/etc.

2. A red collage - sorry I failed to get a picture of it

3. Making and eating red jello

4. Reading books about red - The Color Red, The Big Red Tub, The Little Red Hen, etc.

A Trip to the Apple Orchard

My little buddy was morn concerned about eating his apple cider slushie with his hands than with picking apples. He had fun using the apples he picked to paint!

To see what other moms and tots are up to check out 1+1+1=1!

First Week of Pre-K 4

2010-09-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

This was our first week of Pre-K 4 for Lexy and "Tot School" for Josiah. I will do a seperate post for Tot School. They were both very excited about starting our new school year. This was the best first day of school picture that I was able to get...silly kids! Our Sensory Tub:

I switched up the sensory tub to a Fall theme. It is full of leaves, pinecones, hickory nuts, walnuts, acorns, and 2 magnifying glasses.

Lexy's School Day:

We start our mornings with calendar, prayer/song, breakfast, devotions, and chores. After that, we do a few planned activities with Josiah for tot school. If I have some things planned for the theme of the week that they can both participate in, we do these in the morning. However, most of Lexy's schooling is done during Josiah's nap time. We spend about an hour of planned school each day.

Lexy begins by completing a few pages in her phonics book (Get Set for the Code). Then we begin on her workboxes for the week. To read more about our workbox system, check out this post.

This week, she worked on the letter s and n in her phonics book. Then, these are some pictures of her working on workboxes (which she was very excited about).

1. Forming "S's" out of playdough

2. Making and completing apple patterns. She really enjoys making patterns!

3. Our Science theme right now is Apples. Her Science workbox included a book about Apples, an apple, and apple sequencing cards. We read the apple book and completed the experiments in the book with her apple. These included, locating the 5 parts of the apple, predicting/couting the number of seeds in her apple, predicting if it would sink or float, and tasting it!

4. Apple Numbers- For Math, we reviewed the numbers 1-20. Here, she put the numbers in order.

5. Muffin Match from Happy Phonics. We reviewed matching capital and lower case letters. Lexy does not enjoy feeling "quizzed." So, to add a little fun to it, I threw in a chef's hat, apron, mitt, and mixing spoon.

Other workboxes included:

6. Music - She practiced her home assignment from music class.

7. Language Arts - Story Bags

8. Fine Motor Skills - She punched holes in apples and used pipe cleaners as worms.

9. Game - Again reviewing numbers 1-20, we drew a number and placed the correct number of apples (red pom poms) on the apple tree.

All in all, the workbox system, as we have it set up, seems to be working very well for us. It forces me to be more organized in my planning, and Lexy enjoys choosing her activities for each day. I like having a weekly system rather than a daily system for our needs. It takes the pressure off of me for having to fill them each night, and it gives her more freedom to choose what she wants each day. After all the boxes are completed for the week, she can choose her favorite ones to repeat.

After workboxes, she likes to use her pointer on our 100 chart. She points to each number as she counts to 100.

Geography:

We located Washington on the United States map. Washington grows the most apples out of all the states. We placed an apple on the state to remind us of this. (Okay, really it's a cherry, but it's all I had).

Field Trip:

We took a trip to the apple orchard. Lexy was very excited to pick her own apples! They also enjoyed apple cider slushies...yummy!

Apple Painting:

We used apple halves to paint one evening. We used only two colors, red and yellow, so that they could see that red and yellow mixed together create orange. Of course, using the apples only lasted for several minutes before they decided to use their hands, arms, feet and everything else! It was straight to the bathtub after this activity!

Homemade Apple Sauce:

Ever since Lexy saw an episode of Sid the Science kid where he made applesauce, she has been begging to do it. We finally got around to doing it. She was able to tell me how to do it and helped with it all. She loved the process, but was not crazy about the taste. It wasn't as smooth as store bought apple sauce.

Our Tadpoles:

We brought back tadpoles from the cabin several weeks ago. We're still waiting to see the transformation.

We had a great first week of preschool. To see what other preschoolers are up to, check out the Preschool Corner at Homeschool Creations. And, be sure to check back in a few days to see Josiah's Tot School post!

Our Preschool and Tot School Workbox System

2010-09-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

So, I'm finally back from my long blog hiatus. Although I do not have blogs to prove it, we remained busy this summer. We had lots of fun swimming, playing outside, going to parks, and doing all the normal summer things. Some learning happened here and there, too... random science projects, lots of reading, and playing.

Even with all the fun we had, I was very ready to get back into a normal routine. Our first week of school was great! I'll write more about that this weekend (as we still have more to do tomorrow). But, I wanted to take some time to share how we've switched things up this year. We jumped on board with the workbox bandwagon, and it fits us well.

Workboxes for us are done quite differently and on a scaled down version for a preschooler and tot schooler.

Preschooler Workboxes

I have set up 9 workboxes that are done on a weekly rather than daily basis. Each day, during Josiah's nap time, Lexy begins with doing a few pages out of her phonics books (Explode the Code). After finishing her phonics book, she chooses 2-3 workboxes to do each day. After completing the workbox, she takes the label off and places a check mark on it. I used velcro sticky dots to make these.

Here's what she had in her boxes this week:

1. Math: Apple Numbers. Reviewing recognition of the numbers 1-20.

2. Patterns: I die-cut a bunch of little apples in different colors. I made patterns, and Lexy would continue them. Then, she would create patterns for me to finish.

3. Letter Writing: Making S's out of playdough

4. Phonics: Muffin Match from Happy Phonics. This was a review of matching capital and lower case letters. We added a pretend aspect to it by throwing in some chef things. She pretended that she was the baker and needed to get the muffins ready for an Alphabet party.

5. Music: Her piano book was in a box with her assignment to do from music class.

6. Game: To go along with the apple theme of the week, she had to place a certain number of apples (red pom poms) on each tree.

7. Science: Apples. This box included a real apple along with "My Apple" and apple tree sequencing cards. As we read the book, she used her real apple to perform the experiments in the book. Then she placed the sequencing cards in order.

8. Language Arts: Story Bag. This idea came from Chasing Cheerios (not sure where). I placed wooded pieces in the bag. We took turns making up stories with the pieces.
9. Fine Motor Skills: Apple punches. The box included cut out apples, a hole punches, and pipe cleaner worms. She punched holes in the apples and placed worms in them.

TOT SCHOOL PLAY BOXES:

Josiah participates in a lot of activities that we do in the morning time for our theme of the week. Right now, we are also focusing on a color each week with him. I am trying to plan a few fun activities to do with him each morning. However, I've also set up some boxes for him. He doesn't have a certain time each day to do them. They are just there for him to play with as he wants. Basically, these are just a motivation for me to switch out toys so that he can play with different things.

My goal is to have a different building toy, fine motor toy, puzzle, and imaginary play toy each week. Here's what were in his boxes this week:

1. Building: Magneatos

2. Fine Motor: Lacing cards

3. Imaginary: Dinosaurs

4. Puzzle: Number Train

5: Other: Drill Set

6. Building: Road and Cars

7. Other: Calculator

Be sure to check back to see some fun pictures of our first week of school. To see what other preschoolers are up to, check out the preschool corner at Homeschool Creations!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

2010-07-13T18:02:00.000-07:00

While preparing lunch yesterday, Lexy came to me crying. Me: What's wrong? Lexy: (With tear filled eyes and quivering lips) I want Bean (her nickname for her brother) to stay a baby forever. Me: Well, everyone has to grow up. That's the way God made us. Lexy: I want him to stay a baby so I can play little things with him and hold him.......and....he's just so cute. This conversation continued on for a while. I put lunch on the table. We said a prayer and then Lexy ran off. She was gone for several minutes. When she returned... Lexy: I prayed that God would just let us all stay the same size forever. Me: If we all stay the same size forever, you and Josiah won't get to do all the fun things that you learn as you get older. Sometimes Mommy gets sad when I see how fast you both are growing up, but it makes me happy to see you learning new things. Don't you want to learn to ride a bike without training wheels and do the monkey bars? And, Don't you want help Josiah learn all the things that you already know. Lexy: (quiet and thinking) Another conversation while at the lake... We were roasting marshmallows around the fire when Josiah noticed some algae on one of the benches (a small section of algae he wouldn't of had to sit on). He started crying and throwing a fit about not wanting to sit on that bench. Lexy: Look Bean, I'll sit on the algae. It won't hurt me.

I'll continue adding to this post instead of making a new one:

April 2011

Josiah: When I grow up I want to be a farmer, a basketball player, and a monkey like Curious George.

Lexy: Uhh, Siah, people can't be monkeys. Why don't you just be a doctor.

To read some cute things that other kids are saying visit Tiny Talk Tuesday at Not Before 7!

Preschool Plans 2010-2011

2010-07-09T17:54:00.000-07:00

My plans for the upcoming school year are slowly coming together. I have lots of ideas floating around in my head that I just need to get written down. As of now, this is what I plan on using with Alexis for Pre-K4.

Phonics
Explode the Code - Primer books B,C and Book 1 of Explode the Code
Happy Phonics - I will use these games to supplement the Code
Bob Books and other easy readers
Games/Charts that I make myself
Talking Word Factory DVD

Bible
My God and Me by Gospel Light - We started this 52 week curriculum over a month ago, and we're loving it! It has lots of ideas for each Bible story which makes planning much easier. Although this is designed for a church setting, it has worked great for our small family.
Weekly memory verse
BSF

Science
The Berenstain Bears Big Book of Science and Nature - this is still on my "wish list."
Library books based on Lexy's interests
Units I put together based on her interests

Math
Family Math for Young Children - wish list :)
Living Math
Math Start Books and activities
Games
Blocks
Manipulatives

Handwriting
I've debated on whether or not to purchase Handwriting without Tears. I think I've finally decided against it, at least for now. Lexy's handwriting is coming along fine, so we will continue doing what we've been doing...which is...
Write On/Wipe Off boards
Rainbow Writing
Tracing

Music
Harmony Road Music - More Music in Me

Geography
All Around the Neighborhood - This will be our first unit.
Missionaries/Children around the World - I plan on creating a weekly board. We will place a missionary and/or child from a different country on the board for a month. We will pray for them and learn about their country throughout the month.

Art
Lots of creating at the art table...whatever she wants!
Craft to go with units

Literature
Weekly trips to the library for class and selecting books.
100 Books to Read before Kindergarten - coming soon. Units or activities to go with selected books.

Workboxes
I started putting together my own little version of workboxes. I've gone back and forth for the last 6 months or so on whether I would want to attempt these or not. My plans is to do weekly boxes for Alexis. As she completes a box throughout the week, she will have a chart to mark it off on. There will be nine boxes. Each week at least one box will be dedicated to a phonics game, handwriting, math, and fine motor skills. I'll post more about this and have pictures as it comes together more.

I still have lots of work to do before our new school year starts!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

2010-07-06T18:58:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to do a better job of recording the cute things that my kids say. It is so fun to look back and read them later on. I've just discovered Tiny Talk Tuesday and thought this would be a perfect motivation for me to keep recording these. Here are a few things my kids said over the weekend...

While driving to the fireworks, a frog hopped in front of our car....

Me: Lexy, why do you think that frog is out this late at night?

Lexy: Perhaps he's nocturnal.

I love her use of the word "perhaps" lately. Also, it is my understanding that not all species of frogs are nocturnal, and I am not sure what time of frog hopped in front of us. But, I was pleased that she remembered "nocturnal." It's been a while since we've talked about nocturnal animals.

While watching the fireworks...

Alex: What color was that firework?

Josiah: Oscar (referring to a green firework).

Alex continued asking Josiah the color of the fireworks, and Josiah continued answering by using the names of Sesame Street characters. A red firework was Elmo and blue was Cookie Monster.

Our Summer Bucket List

2010-06-23T18:54:00.001-07:00

I've read several blogs with Summer Bucket Lists and thought this would be a good idea for us to do. With all of our ideas actually written down, I will be more accountable to actually trying to accomplish them. My plan is to print out a picture of a sand bucket and type/write all of our ideas on them. As we do them, the kids can cross them off.

Here is what we have so far....

1. Sprinkler play (multiple times)
2. Picnics
3. Make our own ice cream
4. Holiday Park
5. Holiday World and Slashin Safari
6. Zoo (multiple times)
7. Camping Trip
8. Children's Museum (multiple times)
9. Traders Point Creamery
10. Cabin Trips
11. Perry Park
12. Franklin Community Pool
13. Fireworks
14. Swimming (lots)
15. Catch Lightning bugs
16. Visit a State Park
17. Putt-Putt (???)
18. Toy Story 3 with Lexy
19. Bouncer Town
20. Fly Kites
21. Berry Picking
22. Indians Game

Summer Days are Great For....

2010-06-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

Pig Sitting

Waking up at the Cabin

to swim and

ride the four wheeler with Papaw.

Returning home to swim some more

and look silly in goggles!

Meeting all your favorite characters at PBS Kids at the Park.

Touring a Fire Engine

Going to the Zoo

Petting Sharks

Feeding Giraffes

AND playing at the park!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Counting to 100 - Stair Step Style

2010-06-07T18:03:00.000-07:00

I recently ran into a retired K-1st grade teacher having a garage sale. I basically bought out her sale. She had lots of math materials. One of my findings was these stair step math cards. I've decided to use them to work on counting to 100. Lexy counts to 30 independently, and she can count to 100 with transitional help. So, I really want to take time to help her understand the pattern of counting and what makes up a number.

I've decided to take it very slowly by starting off reviewing 1-20. I want Lexy to understand the teens as 10 plus a number. These stair step cards are broken down into groups of numbers 1-12, 13-20, etc. First, she put 1-20 in order and then matched up the individual numbers over the top. We would say each number as we covered it.

After putting the numbers in order, she used base 10 blocks to put the correct amount above each number. Without me asking her to, she made these into an AB pattern. She was able to notice that each group was one step higher than the previous...like stairs. She also saw that each one would end in a different color than the previous one had.

After she did 10-11, I brought out the group of 10. I showed her how we could replace the 10 individual blocks with the one long group of 10. For numbers 11-20, she used the group of 10 plus 1,2,3, etc. This was a great way to review the concept we practiced with our number boards talked about here.

We will continue on to 100 by adding a group each time. Next will come 21-30. She will use the base 10 blocks to make the numbers above each group. We will also continue practicing counting by 10s.

Week-in-Review: May 24-28 2010

2010-05-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a little while since I've done a full wrap up of our preschool week. I've spent a lot of time reviewing our since and Bible, but we have been doing other things as well. Although it was a very full week, it was also a very relaxed one. This was the last week for many of our weekly activities until the Fall.

Music Recital

We started the week with Lexy's music recital. I couldn't have been more proud of my little princess. She sang loudly for everyone to hear and tried her very best!

Besides their keyboard songs, they also got to show some of the other instruments that they learned.
Afterwards, we celebrated with Mamaw and Papaw at Steak-N-Shake!

Writing/Spelling

We finished up Get Ready for the Code for phonics, and we're waiting to get our next book. In the meantime, I'm just following Lexy's lead with what she wants to do for Reading/Spelling/Writing. She loved doing the Code book, so we will definitely continue on with it.

This week, Lexy wanted to write her own book. So, we looked at some books and talked about the different parts of a book. We had a blank Little Golden Book. She brainstormed what she wanted her story to be about and then got to work.

Her story is titled, "Bell Lost Her Shoe." The basic story line is all of the princesses looking for Bell's shoe. She hasn't finished it yet, so I'm anxious to see how she ends it. So far, she has kept with the story line, which isn't always the case when she writes a story.

She has taken a big interest in how to spell all kinds of words lately. One day this week, she went to work writing on the white board. She called for me to come and see what she wrote. This is what I found...

She had written her name along with Mommy and Josiah. I didn't realize that she knew how to spell these words without any help.

Cooking

Both kids do a lot of helping in the kitchen, especially Alexis. She loves cooking! I plan to do a post soon about Math in the Kitchen. She has learned to read fractions and many other math concepts while helping me in the kitchen.

I've recently taken up cake decorating, and Lexy has been eager to decorate her own cake. So after making a cake, I saved my left over icing for her to use on her own cake.

Josiah helped make the batter.

They took turns turning the mixer on and off.

Once Josiah went down for his nap, she got to decorate it. She had so much fun...

...and was proud of her creation!

The finished product!

Science

We wrapped up our formal Human Body Unit this week by studying the brain. I'm sure we'll continue learning and talking about the human body, because her interest continues to grow. I failed to take any pictures, because there wasn't much to take pictures of. I couldn't believe how fascinated she was to look through big books about the brain. I tried to read some more on her level, but she just wanted to go through the books talking about what all the pictures were. Through our discussions she learned quite a bit...

Lessons Learned:

1. Our brains are about the size of two fists put together.

2. The brain is like the control center of our body.

3. The brain allows you to think, feel, move, etc. by sending messages through the body.

4. It sends messages through the spinal cord and nerves.

5. Different parts of the brain control different things.

6. The brain is protected by the skull.

To see our other Human Body lessons see these links: The Digestive System, Muscles, Bones and Lungs, The Five Senses, the Heart and Book List, Introduction

Experiments:

Our brain experiment wasn't much of an experiment. We combined our study of muscles with the brain and talked about how the brain allows us to feel emotions. She used the muscles in her face to show different emotions...happy, sad, surprised, angry, etc.

Random experiment: Lexy asked me why the room spins when she gets dizzy from spinning in a circle. I explained that it was because of a fluid in the ears that helps control balance. When you spin quickly the fluid in the ears moves, and when you stop the fluid keeps moving. While the fluid is still moving around your balance is off. I read somewhere that if you hold your ears after spinning around that it would help that dizzy feeling to go away. We decided to give it a try.

We both made ourselves dizzy and then held our ears. We still felt dizzy. Lexy came up with a few other ideas that she thought would work...hold your head, wrap your arms around yourself. She tried both and neither worked.

Dance Rehearsal

We wrapped up the week with a dress rehearsal for her ballet recital coming up. This will be her first dance recital. She learned that there is a whole lot of waiting, and she was very excited when it was actually almost her turn.

Kid Quotes: Josiah Edition

2010-05-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

This is my first Josiah quote!

While riding home from church last night, Lexy and Josiah were playing "baby and mommy" in the car. Lexy went on and on telling Josiah that he needed to burp. "Go ahead, baby, you really need to burp. You can burp now, baby....Do you have to burp..., etc, etc..." This went on and on for about five minutes with Josiah paying very little attention to her. Then, probably out of annoyance, Josiah spoke in a cute little voice:

Burp.

Not a real burp, but the actual word, "burp." I know this is one of those stories, that you just had to be there for it to be funny. So, I'm mainly recording this so I won't forget it. Alex, Lexy, and I all bursted out in laughter, which he loved. So, the rest of the way home, Lexy continued to tell him to burp, and he would say "burp" in different voices.

The Human Body: Digestive System

2010-05-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

We really have been doing more than Bible and Science around here. I just can't seem to find the time or the energy to blog about it...hopefully soon! However, I do want to update on our study of the human body. It is so fun to hear Lexy dialouge with Josiah about the things that she is learning. She will say things like, "Look, here is a joint. It helps you bend." Or, "Josiah, drink your milk so that you can get calcium to make your bones strong." Sometimes the dialouge is much longer as she tries to describe different processes of the body to him. It is cute to hear her version of what she has learned.

Our study this week took us through the digestive system, and Lexy was fascinated. Once again, most of her learning happened through looking at pictures in Human Body books and talking about them. Here is a list of a few books that we used:

1. The Digestive System by Darlene R. Stille - This book was written in simple enough language that Lexy could comprehend. There were a few parts that went into a little more detail than she was interested in.
2. Eating Right by Elizabeth Vogel
3. The Quest to Digest by Mary K. Corcoran - This book is definitely geared toward older kids, but the illustrations and the way in which it was written grabbed her attention.

Before reading the books or doing any experiments, I asked Lexy where the food that she ate went to. She pointed to her leg. She later found out that she was partly correct. When food travels through the small intestines, the nutrients from the food are absorbed into the bloodstream and taken all through the body.

Experiments:

We talked about whether we could still digest food if we were upside down. How could it to down? We hung upside down while eating a cracker to investigate. She discovered that the food still went down.To show why, we took a tube of toothpaste (I had to remind myself that this wasn't wasting since it was being used for an experiment) and squeezed it. We turned it both ways and watched the toothpaste come out. The esophagus is much like the tube. It is a muscle that pushes the food the direction that it needs to go.

Lessons Learned:

1. Food travels through the body through the digestive system.
2. The digestive system is made up of the esophagus, stomach, small intestines, and large intestines. She can point these out on a diagram.
3. The stomach churns food and mixes it with "stomach juices" which break the food down.
4. Nutrients from the foods go all through the body.
5. Food that can't be digested exits the body.
6. To prevent germs from getting onto the foods we eat, we should wash our hands before we eat.
7. You can help foods move through the digestive system by eating plenty of fruits and vegetables.

Next week, we will wrap up our study of the human body by looking at the brain (not literally).

Other Human Body Lessons:
1. Muscles
2. Bones and Lungs
3. The Five Senses, The Heart, and Book List
4. Introduction

My God and Me: God Made Animals

2010-05-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

I'm a little late in posting our Bible update this week, but better late than never! Last week was our 2nd week using My God and Me, and we are loving it. It has been so nice to have lessons to follow and ideas to pick from. It has made planning so much easier! Both of the kids are enjoying the wide variety of activities.

Lessson: God Made Animals

Memory Verse: God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Genesis 1:31. Lexy and Josiah have both been working on the verses. Josiah doesn't quite get the whole verse out, but he says words of them.

A Little Taste of God's Love: For our recipe this week, Lexy helped make pigs in a blanket. She rolled out the biscuits, placed cheese on them, and cut 1/2 a hotdog for each one. Then she rolled them up.

Construction:

We used legos to build a zoos.

Active Game:

Alex printed pictures of animals. The kids took turns (not willingly) throwing bean bags onto the animals. Then, they would walk in a circle around the animals acting out whichever animal their bean bag had landed on.

Bible Story and Activity Page: Each day we read the Bible story from a different source (Children's Bible, NIV Bible, Bible Story Page, etc). They also colored a picture of elephants drinking. For the water, we cut up Nuudles and they placed them on the paper.

Human Body: Muscles

2010-05-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

There is not much to share about our study of muscles. Most of our learning came through reading, looking at pictures in books, and short discussions.

Video:
We also watched a short video from kidshealth.org. There is a whole section on "How the Body Works." We watched the section on muscles. It is definitely geared toward older kids, but Lexy still enjoyed watching it. For some reason it will not let me link to it, or I would

Experiments:

I showed Lexy how to "make a muscle." She put one hand on her bicep and flexed. By doing this, she was able to feel her muscle with her other hand.

Then, we also took turns looking at the muscles in our legs. While wearing shorts, I stood on my tiptoes so that she could see the muscle at work in my calf. Then, she did the same.

We also took some time to stretch our muscles. Her favorite part, by far, was exercising her muscles!
Lessons learned about muscles:

1. Muscles are attached to bones by tendons.
2. We use muscles every time we move.
3. Some muscles are voluntary - we have to make them move.
4. Other muscles work without us doing anything - like our heart.
5. Our muscles become stronger the more we use them.

Other lessons on the Human Body:

1. Bones and Lungs
2. 5 Senses, Heart, and Book List
3. Introduction