this and that

100th day ~ woot woot!

2012-02-02T11:50:00.007-06:00

To celebrate our 100th day, we broke from our "normal routine" and had some fun! We put 100 gumballs into a gumball machine with our Do-A-Dot markers. By far the highlight of their day :)

We also played a tally mark game with dice and a recording sheet. This activity was a great way to reinforce tallying and counting by 5s. We worked on a 'I Can Write 100 Words' book throughout the day that I got from first grade fever, drew ourselves at 100 and made a 100th day trail mix! I printed off the tally mark game, drawing paper and estimation recording sheets from what the teacher wants.

it's groundhog day!

2012-02-02T11:06:00.007-06:00

We actually did all of our groundhog activities yesterday because today we are celebrating our 100th day of school! Woot Woot ~ only 80 more days to go for this school year!! More about our 100th day tomorrow.
We started our morning off by writing down what we already know about groundhogs. The girls knew 2 facts - they are mammals and live underground. Not too bad :) Then we looked up information about them on the internet and recorded the new information onto index cards. After we got the factual stuff out of the way, we had fun with the tradition of groundhog day! We talked about predictions and predicted whether or not we thought the groundhog was going to see his shadow. We called some of the grandparents and aunts and got their predictions and recorded all of our data onto a graph that I printed from Growing Kinders. Today, we have to write a sentence about what really happened.

We wrote 6 facts onto this adorable graphic organizer that I also printed from the groundhog pack from Growing Kinders.

Then they drew burrows and did a little creative writing as if they were the groundhogs.

We did a word search that I printed from a cupcake for the teacher.

To finish off the day, we did a little quick and easy craftivity ~ a groundhog made from hearts, googlie eyes and a black pompom. Easy Peasy!

walruses

2012-01-24T20:50:00.005-06:00

This week we are focusing on walruses! Do you know much about these creatures? Well, we didn't and we have been finding out all kinds of cool stuff about them. Like - did you know that walruses use their tusks to help pull themselves up out of the water? That's pretty cool and I love how God created each animal uniquely and gave them things that they would need to help them survive in the wild.

We started the week off pretty much the same way with me asking the girls what they already know about walruses. They were able to come up with 4 facts which I recorded and placed in our pocket chart. We read some information on them from a book we picked up from the library and wrote down the new information we learned and added those facts to our chart. Then we got on the national geographic kids website and read more facts and watched a short clip about walruses and then wrote down even more facts!

I think I came up with this idea for the walrus craft. I did see something similiar on a website, but I tweaked it a little and came up with the idea to make him or her into a paper bag puppet. I had the girls write and draw 3 facts that they have learned so far about walruses on this journaling sheet from Mrs. Jump.

They ended our walrus learning by labeling a walrus. I found the image on google and created this sheet in Word, but was totally inspired by Jennifer at First Grade Blue Skies and Mrs. Jump! Jennifer, by the way, makes the cutest label it sheets EVER! Go check them out here :)

paper plate polar bears

2012-01-20T14:08:00.004-06:00

Today we learned a few more facts about polar bears and added those facts to our pocket chart. Then I had the girls write and draw 3 facts that they have learned so far. I found anohter cute polar bear craft from here and had them make him! Isn't he cute?

polar bear, polar bear

2012-01-19T14:54:00.005-06:00

This week we are talking about arctic animals! I bought this amazing pack from Teacher Bits and Bobs' TpT store. Seriously, these packs are great - I love that I can still plan in themes and reinforce things that we are learning this year AND that they are so adorable! (picture taken from teacher bits and bobs blog)

We went to the library yesterday and checked out some non-fiction and fiction books about arctic animals ~ especially polar bears. Before reading a book about polar bears, I asked the girls what they already knew about them. I wrote their answers on index cards in blue. Then, I read them a book about polar bears. After reading the book, I asked the girls if they learned anything new and recorded their answers on index cards in pink. (don't judge the color of my wall ~ it's a major oops color!)

And of course, I had to follow this activity with a craftivity! I found this adorable polar bear craftivity on Pinterest ~ have I mentioned before how much I *love* pinterest :) You can ckeck out the teaching blog that originally posted about these polar bears here. I found the emergent reader at making learning fun.I have another polar bear craftivity that I plan to share, so be sure to check back tomorrow!

playful penguins

2012-01-18T15:13:00.006-06:00

Last week we learned about penguins! It was a lot of fun and the girls really loved the penguin craftivity that we did! I think they were more impressed with my collection of scrapbook papers that I have stashed away! We started the week off by doing a KWL chart - Know, Want to know and Learned. They actually knew more than I thought they did about penguins. Ethan was even able to tell me a fact or two about penguins, too!

We organized all of the facts that they knew on a chart that looked like this -
We did it all together and I modeled how to fill out the chart on our dry erase board. Then I gave them a copy for them to fill out. These graphic organizers came from Fun in First. They used these charts throughout the week as a reference for other things. We worked on words that begin and end with sh, ch and th (digraphs) that I got from The First Grade Parade.
We reviewed what verbs are and I had the girls make a flip chart of verbs that penguins can do.
I had the girls write 6 facts about penguins to go along with the *cute* penguins that they made!
We went to the library and checked out a bunch of non-fiction books about penguins that we read throughout the week. They also labeled a penguin that I got from First Grade Blue Skies.

***Check out our lapbook that we made a couple of years ago about penguins.

snowman poem

2012-01-11T13:51:00.005-06:00

I thought it would be a good idea to add in poetry to our literature genres and when I saw this on Mrs. Jump's blog that she was sharing for free as a homework assignment, I quickly recreated it so I could use it with the girls. The girls had to read the poem and then illustrate the beginning, middle and end in the boxes.

snowflake similes

2012-01-10T12:27:00.006-06:00

It had been a while since we talked about similes so I made this sheet for the girls to write some similes about snowflakes. After they wrote their similes, they water colored the snowflake.

"The snow is as cold as ice cream. Snowflakes fall as softly as rain and as quietly as a leaf."

snowflake craftivity

2012-01-05T15:31:00.004-06:00

We made these cute snowflakes after I saw them on What the Teacher Wants. We talked about how every snowflake has 6 sides. After they made the snowflakes, I had them copy the poem onto handwriting paper.

winter bliss

2012-01-04T13:51:00.010-06:00

Hiya! Remember me? Despite my lack of posting, I am still here and homeschooling the girls! Let's see if I can give you a speedy update - we celebrated Thanksgiving with our families, moved back to Georgia, celebrated Christmas and Gracelyn's 7th birthday. Whew! It has been non-stop, but we are so glad to be back home near our families and friends!

Since things were crazy, I decided to buy a couple more packs from TpT to use during the holidays. This is what we used during the month of December -

teacher bits and bobs

doodle bugs teachings

We also made an elf out of cardstock and I had the girls fill out an elf application that I got from The First Grade Parade ~ she is so clever! We made a santa with a torn beard and wrote a letter to santa that I got from Teacher Bits and Bobs.

This is what we are using for January -

teacher bits and bobs

I couldn't wait to share these adorable puffy snowmen we made out of shaving cream and school glue. It was so easy and they really do dry puffy! If you are interested in doing these snowmen, just mix equal parts of school glue and shaving cream together. I had the kids draw their snowman with a pencil on the blue paper first and then fill in the body with the mixture. We used orange cardstock for the noses and black cardstock for the hats, eyes, and buttons. (I used my hole punch to punch the eyes and buttons.) The arms are toothpicks and the scarves are ribbons. Everything will dry onto the snowman so there isn't any need for glue.

I'll be posting more frequently now that we are somewhat settled and in a routine again! I have lots more winter-y activities to share with you guys!

turkeys, pilgrims and native americans...oh my!

2011-11-15T12:54:00.008-06:00

This is week two for our Thanksgiving learning. I have to say that I am so glad I bought those two packs from teachers pay teachers. They are great and have been so helpful reviewing and reinforcing our learning.

These are the skills we have been working on -
math -
fact families
reading number words and writing the number
ordering numbers from least to greatest
even/odd
ordinal numbers
language arts -
adjectives
nouns
writing -
complete sentences
descriptive sentences
how to writing
lists
ABC order
long a word families

Here is a quick peek at some of the things we have been working on...

turkey fact families

2011-11-09T11:48:00.004-06:00

Didn't these turkeys turn out so cute? The girls have fact families down pat now and I am so proud of them! They are such hard and smart little learners :) They make this Mommy proud! I saw these super cute turkeys on The First Grade Parade ~ surprise, surprise!

recycled turkeys!

2011-11-08T13:49:00.005-06:00

I found the cutest little turkey hiding in my yard today! Well, not really, but isn't he adorable? We made these darling turkeys a couple of years ago and this year we are going to use him as a writing prompt. If you would like the instructions on how to make these turkeys, you can find the tutorial at plum pudding. We decided to add feathers to ours just to give him some added pizzaz!

an update

2011-11-07T20:56:00.006-06:00

I just wanted to give you all an update on us. Lastweek, we maintained our school routine {sorta} and I did lots of planning, printing and cutting for the next 2 weeks. Now I have to laminate and cut again :) After drooling over several cute thanksgiving packs at a few of my favorite 1st grade blogs, I decided to buy 2 packs from teachers pay teachers.

I bought this thanksgiving math and literacy pack from Doodle Bugs Teaching -

and this thanksgiving words writing pack from Teacher Bits and Bobs -

We were supposed to start using these adorable learning materails today, but my 4 year old son decided to turn cartwheels like his sisters. Only it didn't end so well... now he has a broken clavical and has to wear a sling for 2 weeks. Things are about to get interesting around here to say the least! AND to top it all off, Ella started running a fever tonight ~ she has a terrible head cold and is miserable. Here's to hoping for a better day tomorrow!

similes, please!

2011-10-28T13:29:00.003-05:00

Today, we talked about similes. The girls grasped the concept pretty quickly. We will continue to talk about similes and review them as we go along this year. First, we made an anchor chart and I came up with some examples. I had the girls tell me the 2 things I was comparing in each example. Then, I had them write a simile for a pumpkin. I found this writing paper at Oceans of First Grade Fun!

pumpkin learning stations

2011-10-27T22:00:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I had the girls write sentences with our fall vocabulary word cards.
They also did a long vowel word sort.
And, did a matching game in math.

life cycle of a pumpkin

2011-10-26T14:01:00.010-05:00

Today we talked about the life cycle of a pumpkin. I had the girls do this pocket chart activity together.

Then, they put this little craftivity together. I saw this idea at Fabulous in First. Here's the link for the sequencing activity.

This is the life cycle activity we did last year.

pumpkin predictions

2011-10-25T14:27:00.007-05:00

Yesterday, I had the kids do a little predicting about pumpkins. I found this great pumpkin prediction recording sheet at First Grade Blue Skies.

Here are their predictions -
Ethan - 4 seeds, float
Ella - 100 seeds, sink
Gracelyn - 20 seeds, sink

Actual finding -
our pumpkin had 298 seeds
pumpkins float

The kids helped clean out the pumpkin. Ethan was a little apprehensive at first, can you tell?

Daddy finished off by carving the pumpkin!

pick a pumpkin {activity}!

2011-10-24T14:08:00.005-05:00

It's pumpkin week here at our house! Man, I love fall and all of the activities that go along with this season. Today we started the week off by doing sight word shape writing - reviewing fact families
did a pumpkin prediction activity
abc order
Check back this week and see all of our pumpkin activities!

apple round-up!

2011-10-21T15:02:00.005-05:00

Whew! We had a fun week learning with and about apples. I made a collage of all of our apple activities that we have done this year and last year. If you see something you like, you can find all of these activities by clicking on the apples tag.

apple tree sequencing

2011-10-21T12:14:00.002-05:00

I got this cute apple tree sequencing activity from, yep you guessed it ~ The First Grade Parade!

fact families

2011-10-21T12:11:00.002-05:00

I came up with this idea today during math for the girls to have more practice with writing fact families.

how to bake an apple pie

2011-10-20T14:14:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, we read The Biggest Apple Ever. It's a cute book about Clayton and Desmond who can't find the biggest apple to win the school contest, but decide to make the biggest apple pie ever to share with their class. For writing, I had the girls write and draw 'how to bake an apple pie'. I made a graphic organizer and divided the page into fourths. I labeled each section with transition words like - first, next, then and last.

apple stained glass craft

2011-10-19T13:11:00.005-05:00

Last night, the kids made these adorable stained glass apples! I saw this idea on The First Grade Parade, too.

materials-
construction paper - red, green and brown
tissue paper - red, green and yellow
glue stick
laminator and sheets (or clear contact paper or wax paper)

directions-
1. fold the red construction paper in half and then cut an apple shape out of it
2. fold the apple in half (on the same fold line) and cut the center out - leaving only an outline
3. cut a stem and leaf out of the brown and green construction paper and glue on top of the apple 4. glue the apple outline onto the center of a laminating page or whatever you are using
5. cut the 3 colors of tissue paper into squares
6. glue the tissue paper into the center of the apple
7. seal the apple closed either with your laminator or an iron if you use contact paper - the contact paper will stick to itself

parts of an apple

2011-10-18T14:16:00.004-05:00

Today, we labeled the parts of an apple. I used a die cut that I had and paper pieced the stem, leaf and flesh. The girls glued black beans for the seeds and they labeled the parts.

even/odd numbers

2011-10-18T14:06:00.005-05:00

I downloaded this cute math mat activity from The First Grade Parade a couple of months ago and saved it up for our apple week. I've had the girls do this activity a couple of times already this week.

sight word shape writing

2011-10-18T13:01:00.006-05:00

I came up this idea yesterday and tried it out with the girls. I think it looks kind of neat! I hope the girls enjoy it because they will have to do it again next week when we do our pumpkin theme! If you would like the apple and pumpkin shape for sight word work, just let me know and I'll be happy to share!

apple time!

2011-10-17T10:54:00.009-05:00

Today we are starting our apple theme. I know it's a little late for apples, but I was waiting on some new apple books to come in from Scholastic. We started the day by describing an apple with adjectives. Then I peeled the apple and we used our 5 senses to also describe an apple.

Ethan got in on the action and I recorded his answers on his page for him!

The girls then used the graphic organizer to write about apples in their writing journals.

Be sure to check back, I have lots of other apple activities planned for this week!

fall fingerprint trees

2011-10-12T12:57:00.005-05:00

This week we are doing a fall theme. Monday, I printed off a tree from making learning fun for the kids to add fingerprint leaves to. They really enjoyed this activity and it will be a great keepsake for me!

number line addition with mr. froggy!

2011-10-11T14:24:00.005-05:00

Last week, I taught the girls how to use a number line as another method to add numbers together. I glued frogs to popsickle sticks and used him as a visual. I also taped the numbers 1 - 10 on the wall as our number line. I think Froggy was a fun way to introduce the concept of using a number line! This is how I taught this lesson:

5 + 3 = 8
start hops answer

"Put Froggy on the number 5. He needs to make 3 hops to get to the answer. What number does he stop on? So, 5+3=8."

finger spacing

2011-10-10T14:42:00.002-05:00

Ever notice that when kids write, they like to write their words back-to-back with no spaces between each word? Well, I teach my girls to finger space with 2 of their fingers while they are writing. That way I can easily read their writing.

The Foot Book {antonyms}

2011-10-07T10:09:00.008-05:00

I taught the girls the offical first grade word for opposites ~ antonyms! We read The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss and listened for antonyms throughout the book. After reading the book, I had the girls trace their feet onto paper and then think of a word and the antonym. So cute! I saw this idea on The First Grade Parade. I am loving all of these great 1st grade blogs!

big, little

nice, mean

wet, dry

happy, sad

sums of 10

2011-10-06T10:34:00.004-05:00

I saw this cute idea on The Sharpened Pencil and fell in love with it! You probably didn't know this about me, but I have a thing for rainbows! If it is rainbow colors, I will probably buy it even if I don't need it! I'm just sayin'! Anyway, as part of our review this week and a way to reinforce sums of 10, we did this rainbow visual. They make me smile just looking at them :)

another noun activity

2011-10-05T10:07:00.004-05:00

We took our fall break lastweek and went home to visit family. So, today we are getting back into the school routine. Today we are just reviewing some things that we have already learned. To review nouns and get used to identifying them in sentences, I wrote several sentences on popsickle sticks. On the other side of the popsickle stick, I wrote the nouns from the sentence so they could self check.

all about nouns

2011-09-23T11:19:00.003-05:00

The main reason I wanted to do a farm theme this week is because I thought it would be an easy way to introduce nouns. The girls picked up on nouns really quickly and we have done a few different activities about nouns so far. On the first day, I introduced nouns by telling them that a noun is a person, place or thing. I had them draw a picture of a farm and then we labeled the nouns together.

Ella, age 5

Gracelyn, age 6

Another fun thing we did was do a noun collage. I had the girls clip nouns from magazines and glue it in the right category. I loved doing stuff like this when I was in school!

Ella, age 5

Gracelyn, age 6

abc order

2011-09-22T13:22:00.003-05:00

Another activity that we have done this week is putting farm words in alphabetical order. I cannot find the blog where I got this activity from. I hate it when I do that! Anyway, I love the graphics! ~ aren't they so cute?

*Edited - The alphabetical farm activity came from Fabulous in First. Thanks Jackie for finding it for me!

farm sensory tub

2011-09-21T13:00:00.005-05:00

After seeing a couple of cute farm sensory tubs on pinterest, I knew I would have to put one together for the kids to play with during our farm themed week! I added a couple of small clear plastic containers after I snapped the picture for scooping and pouring practice and to feed the animals of course!

materials -
1 large bag of popcorn kernals
barn
tractor
farm animals
small containers

I am linking this post up to the preschool corner and our country road.

scrambled eggs!

2011-09-20T13:55:00.008-05:00

This week we are doing a farm theme! I put together a sight word activity for the girls to do called scrambled eggs! I put alphabet letters in plastic eggs and had the girls crack open the eggs into a bowl and spell the sight word. Then they wrote the sight word on the worksheet I made to go along with this activity.

(I'm so over blogger turning my pictures! Does anyone know how to fix this?)

raising rock stars

2011-09-18T12:44:00.004-05:00

Lastnight, we did the Abraham and Sarah Bible story lesson that Carissa has provided in her Raising Rock Stars curriculum. I haven't been very consistent with these, but my goal is to do one a week. The big thing for us this past week is that the girls are interested in looking up the scriptures for themselves in their Bible! I can't tell you how happy that makes my heart to see the girls open their Bibles and read from it.

"Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendents will be like that "too many to count!" Genesis 15:5

fishy fun!

2011-09-16T11:05:00.002-05:00

Oops! I forgot to publish this post several weeks ago when we read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. I actually planned a few fish related activities for Ethan that week, but he didn't want me to take pictures of him doing his work, so I didn't :) This is what he did - worked on his name, Ff (capital and lower case) sorting, and color matching. He also did the venn diagram activity with the girls. Several times!

Here are a few of the other activities the girls did too that week - patterning, matching number word to numeral, color word recognition (file folder game) and wrote a ryhming story.

Here are some other things that we did with this book-
a word search
venn diagram
patterening

down down the mountain

2011-09-15T18:07:00.010-05:00

This week we rowed Down Down the Mountain. This book is about a sister and brother, Hetty and Hank, who really want a new pair of shining creaky squeaky shoes. Their granny tells them exactly how to get the new shoes just by planting some turnip seeds.

We had a lot of fun with this book and even managed to do a couple of projects to go along with it - log cabin building and soap making! I got the printables for the lapbook from homeschool share. I was really impressed with the girls at how well they were able to compare and contrast life on the mountain for Hetty and Hank with our life today. I'm trying to incorporate more graphic organizers and visuals for the girls. We did lots of math story problems, also found on homeschool share, too. They still really really LOVE math journals! Their copy work came from Psalm 112:9, "...share freely and give generously to those in need. Your good deeds will be remembered forever." We also did a sequencing activity on what a plant needs in order to grow. I'm still trying to locate a real turnip for the girls to investigate and learn about. We tried by looking at a picture online of a turnip, but it was too hard to see details about the leaves and roots. We still haven't completely finsihed all of the activites I wanted to do based on this book, so we may take another day or two to finish up. This is what we have done so far...
lapbook
copywork
compare and contrast activity
what does a plant need to grow sequencing activity
soap making (re-making!)
log cabin building

pre-primer & primer sight word searches

2011-09-02T14:56:00.005-05:00

I have completed the word searches for the pre-primer and the primer sight words. If you are wondering, I am using the Dolch word lists. I am currently working on the 1st grade list. I hope to have those finished this weekend. Hope your little ones enjoy them! Please let me know if there are any errors so I can fix them.

wspp1.zip
wsp1.zip

word search

2011-08-31T16:43:00.004-05:00

I made this super easy word search for the girls to do today to go along with our Dr. Seuss book ~ One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish! I will definately be making more for them to do using their sight words. Let me know if you are interested in these too so I can make them accessible for you.

dr._seuss_word_search.zip

red fish, blue fish

2011-08-31T09:33:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, I had the kids color fish for a venn diagram activity. They could only use their red and blue crayons. After they cut their fish out, I told them we had to group our fish on the diagram. I asked them what fish we should put in the red circle, what fish should we put in the blue circle and what fish should we put in the middle? They did this activity two or three times. For the second time, we turned the fish over and they "fished" one and placed it in the corresponding circle.

dr. seuss

2011-08-30T13:57:00.007-05:00

This week we are learning with One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish! Yesterday, I started the week off by reading the book to the kids. Then, they made up a rhyming story (3 sentence minium) and drew a picture to go along with their rhyme.
Ella, age 5 - "A flat mat had a flat cat. The cat had a flat bat. A bat had a rat on back."

Gracelyn, age 6 - "This is Flink. Flink likes to drink drink drink. Flink is a pink gink. Flink likes to wink wink wink."

They also did some patterns (abab, aabaab, aabbaabb) on a cute worksheet that I found on What the Teacher Wants.

me on the map

2011-08-30T13:43:00.004-05:00

I saw this awesome idea on Pinterest! Once I saw it, I pinned it to my school board because I knew we would do it this year. I figured it would fit in nicely with our continent unit and help them see how learning about the continents relates to them. It was also a nice way to review our home address! The state, united states, north america and earth outline images all were found on google images.

map activity

2011-08-24T12:57:00.005-05:00

Today I had the girls do a map activity that included listening skills and following directions. I provided them each with a blank world map. I would then call out a direction like, "Color Africa green. Color North America orange." and so on. I am amazed that they can already locate and identify all of the continents on the map. Oh, and they LOVE The Continent Song! The other activity that had to do today was copy work. Their least favorite!

The Continent Song -
Let's name all of the continents.
There are 7 on earth.
There's Europe, Asia and Australia
North and South America too.
Now don't forget about Africa
And Antarctica too.
For there's 1...2...3,4,5,6,7 continents!

map work

2011-08-22T17:03:00.005-05:00

Today the girls made a world map by pin punching around each continent. We just used large push pins to punch around the continents. Why didn't we just use scissors, you ask? Because the contienets were small and I knew it would be hard for the girls to cut something that small and keep the shape of the contients. It was also really good practice for hand-eye coordination which is a necessary skill in writing. It was a lot of prep work on my part (my finger is still sore from using an exacto knife last night!), but I think the end result turned out nice!

materials -
pattern of continents
construction paper - orange, pink, red, green, yellow, brown, white and blue
large push pin
exacto knife
glue

directions -
1. print and cut out the paper templates
2. trace onto cardborad
3. use an exacto knife to cut around the continents
4. trace the continents onto the appropriate color of construction paper
5. have student pin punch around the outlines
6. cut 2 circles out of blue constructions paper
7. glue the continents onto the world

world geography

2011-08-22T13:39:00.008-05:00

This week we will be learning about world geography. Each day they will do some type of work related to the continents. Today, we started out by learning that there are 7 continents. I made a push pin world map for them out of some very inexpensive materials. We also learned a song about the continents sung to the tune of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". I will be using the traditional Montessori continent colors for this unit: North America - Orange, South America - Pink, Europe - Red, Asia - Yellow, Africa - Green, Australia - Brown, Antarctica - White.

materials -
print out of the maps
2 sheets of foam
rubber cement
7 white push pins

directions -
1. print out the maps
2. cut out the 2 maps and glue each one onto a foam sheet
3. provide student with 7 push pins and the continent labels
4. the control map is the map already labeled with the continents; the other map is blank and that is where the student will do their work
5. have students pin each continent name onto the continent; students can use the control map to check their work

busy boy

2011-08-19T09:19:00.003-05:00

Ethan has been busy at school, too. As with most 3 year olds, his attention span is only about 3-5 minutes per activity! Needlessly to say, he finishes "school" very quickly! Maybe next week I can offer him more activites. But, this week he has been busy -

pouring water

finger tracing ABC tactile cards

using his magnifying glass to look at small pictures and then match it on the board

cutting play dough

harold and the purple crayon

2011-08-18T09:10:00.022-05:00

This week we have been rowing Harold and The Purple Crayon. We have done lots of different learning activities and an art project to go along with this book.

art -

materials - chenile sticks, pom-poms, button, sequins, felt shapes

Ethan, age 3 (had a little help!)
Gracelyn, age 6
Ella, age 5

math - fractions (1/2, 1/4 and 1/8)

cutting purple playdough pies into halves, fourths and eighths

exploring fractions

math journal - Harold had 12 pies. He ate 2 and gave 5 away. How many pies did he have left?

math journal - draw a triangle above a square. draw a circle next to a rectangle

copy work and poem -

illustrate a monster to go along with the poem

war!

2011-08-12T09:10:00.005-05:00

This week we have been reviewing math concepts that we learned last year. To review greater than/less than, we played the classic card game - War! The kids really enjoyed this game too! They even challenged their granddad who is visting us this weekend to a game! I think they enjoyed how animated he made the game :) We only used playing cards 2-10 and took out the face cards.

go fish!

2011-08-11T10:36:00.003-05:00

This week we have had fun playing Go Fish! during math. I can't take credit for this idea because it came from our math curriculum - Singapore Math 1a. It's a great idea and easy to make. While the girls can recognize numerals 1 - 10 and can count (one-to-one correspondence), they still needed help reading the number words. So, this game was perfect and fun for them!

materials -
30 blank index cards
magic markers

a set of 3 cards is a match!

read to learn ~ chrysanthemum

2011-08-10T17:36:00.010-05:00

"Until Chrysanthemum started kindergarten, she believed her parents when they said her name was perfect. But on the first day of school, Chrysanthemum begins to suspect that her name is far less than perfect, especially when her class dissolves into giggles upon hearing her name read aloud. That evening, Chrysanthemum's parents try to piece her self-esteem back together again with comfort food and a night filled "with hugs, kisses, and Parcheesi." But the next day Victoria, a particularly observant and mean-spirited classmate, announces that Chrysanthemum's name takes up 13 letters. "That's half the letters in the alphabet!" she adds. Chrysanthemum wilts. Pretty soon the girls are making playground threats to "pluck" Chrysanthemum and "smell her."

We read this book last week and did a couple of learning activities to go along with it. We did a text to self writing activity and talked about adjectives.

writing prompt -
"If I could choose any name, I would choose ____________________ because____________________________________."

adjectives -
We took each letter of the girls name and thought of an adjective that started with that letter.

Great
rowdy
awesome
crazy
intellegent
elegant

Elegant
loving
loveable
awesome

*I would love for you to share a read to learn activity that you have done with your child/children!

math journals

2011-08-09T15:38:00.008-05:00

This year I want to focus a little more on math than I did lastyear. We will be doing math journals every morning during our math time. Can I just say that the girls LOVE math journals (so far)! It's simple and inexpensive and a quick way to reinforce math skills already learned.

Monday's journal entry was to draw different shapes -

Ella, age 5

Gracelyn, age 6

Today's journal entry was to do 25 tally marks -

Ella, age 5

Gracelyn, age 6

learning goals for 1st grade

2011-07-30T11:43:00.003-05:00

I finally finished our learning goals for 1st grade! I ALWAYS feel overwhelmed when I start thinking about all we need to do and learn. And, I ALWAYS feel better when I make a list of learning goals for the year.

phonics
distinguish between short and long vowel words
silent e
compound words
simple contractions
r-controlled vowels
reading/fluency
reads 60 words correct per minute
self corrects
reads with inflection
comprehension
retells stories
distinguishes fact from fiction in a text
identifies the main idea and supporting details of informational text read or heard
recognizes cause-and-effect relationships in text
vocabulary
identifies words that are opposites (antonyms) or have similar meanings (synonyms)
language arts
nouns (singular and plural)
verbs
adjectives
writing
response to literature
correct letter formation
word spacing
use commas in a series of items
math
count and model up to 100; divide into equal parts
identify, make fair trades with pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters up to one dollar
identify bills and make fair trades ($1, $5, $10, $20)
place value notation for the numbers 1 to 99 (ones and tens)
add and subtract numbers less than 100
inverse relationship between addition and subtraction
skip-count by 2s, 5s, and 10s
apply addition and subtraction to 2 digit numbers without regrouping
solve and create word problems involving addition and subtraction to 100 without regrouping
identify, label, and relate fractions (halves, fourths) as equal parts of a collection of objects or a whole using pictures and models
compare and/or order the length, height, weight, or capacity of two or more objects
tell time to the nearest hour and half hour
know number of days in a week and months in a year
build, draw, name, and describe triangles, rectangles, pentagons, and hexagons
build, represent, name, and describe cylinders, cones, and rectangular prisms
read and use tally marks, picture graphs, and bar graphs
pose questions, collect, sort, organize and record data using objects, pictures, tally marks, picture graphs, and bar graphs
earth science
weather patterns
seasons
physical science
sound
shadows
magnets
life science
characteristics of living things
basic needs of living things
identify basic parts of a plant
Social Studies
Benjamin Franklin (inventor/author/ statesman)
Thomas Jefferson (Declaration of Independence),
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark with Sacagawea (exploration)
Harriet Tubman (Underground Railroad)
Theodore Roosevelt (National Parks and the environment)
George Washington Carver (science
folk tales
John Henry, Johnny Appleseed, Davy Crockett, Paul Bunyan, and Annie Oakley
geography
identify and locate city, county, state, nation, and continent on a simple map or a globe
locate all continents: North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Antarctica, and Australia
locate the major oceans: Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian
identify and describe landforms (mountains, deserts, valleys, plains, plateaus, and coasts)

Here are last years' learning goals for Kindergarten!

summer break

2011-07-28T14:20:00.004-05:00

So... I unintentionally took a summer break from school and blogging. I had planned to school through the summer, but it just never happened! Instead we enjoyed lots of swimming, reading chapter books together, blueberry pickin' and eatin', summer youth camp, vbs and a nice long vacation!

I have been slightly addicted to Pinterest though! I guess that is how I've been fulfilling my techie time this summer! That and Words with Friends :)

I have started planning and ordering our curriculum for this upcoming year. Check back tomorrow and I will post our Learning Goals for 1st Grade.

the rainbow fish

2011-06-27T18:48:00.006-05:00

After almost a month of not doing school, our mini summer break, we are back in the saddle again. This week we are doing an ocean theme! I have picked a few books about ocean animals and activities to go along with each book. Today, we read The Rainbow Fish. I love this book and it was fun doing the activities to go along with the book. While we were discussing the book, 1 Samuel 16:7 came to mind. "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

water painting

copy work

couting fish (21-50)

color word file folder game

sight words with shaving cream!

2011-06-01T14:03:00.006-05:00

Today we had fun practicing our sight words with shaving cream! The kids LOVED IT! Make sure you get a can that smells good because it made our school room smell so good, too! Clean up was a cinch ~ just wipe off with a damp paper towel or cloth! This would also be a great rainy day activity to do with your little ones!

i scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

2011-05-27T12:55:00.000-05:00

This week was a short week for us. We finished up at co-op on Monday and headed home to visit family and friends for Memorial Day weekend. I think we actually only got in one day of schooling. I had fun planning and preparing this theme for the girls though! I got all of the printables from Making Learning Fun. I will say that there was a whole lot of cutting involved! So, we may do this theme again next week, just to make me feel better at how much time I put into cutting and stiching the felt ice cream cone! I still have a few things planned that we didn't get to do yet.

ABC capital and lower case letter match

sight words

how many scoops of ice cream?

letter writing

felt patterning

sight word activity

2011-05-25T08:46:00.004-05:00

I found this cute sight word activity at Making Learning Fun! I guess you can figure out our theme for this week ~ icecream!

fairy tales

2011-05-20T18:40:00.013-05:00

This week we did a fairy tale theme and used the knights and castle preschool pack from Homeschool Creations and the princess preschool pack from 1+1+1=1. I think the girls' most favorite activity was the princess graphing game! It's always a good sign when they choose to do something out of their workboxes when it's not school time! Ethan wasn't in the mood to do school this week so he mostly played and distracted his sisters, well, mostly distracted his sisters!

beginning letter sounds

princess graphing with buttons

rhyming words and princess word match

princess story and word find

number word and number match

knight story and word find

which is different?

princess and castle color by number

handwriting practice

sight word read, write and paste sheets

sight words and reader for Gracelyn

sight words for Ella

explode the code for Ella

explode the code for Gracelyn

review week

2011-05-17T11:33:00.009-05:00

Last week we did some review activities. Mainly because I didn't get around to planning a thematic unit! However, I do think taking some time to review is a good idea just to make sure that kids are remembering what they learned and it also gives you time to do some informal assessing.

blend ladders + ending letters from Confessions of a Homeschooler

CVC word file folder game

match it! telling time

ski;p counting by 5's to 50

sight words and reader

sight word activity from The Moffatt Girls

sight word activity

match it! ryhming words

skip counting by 10's to 100

sight words and reader

sight word activity

2011-05-15T16:07:00.005-05:00

Here is a new sight word activity that I put together for Gracelyn. I wrote out 4 sentences using sight words and some CVC words that she knows. Then I wrote each word from the sentences onto smaller sentence strips. She had to arrange the words in order to create each sentence. I think we both needed a new way to practice her sight words!

busy boy

2011-05-13T15:12:00.001-05:00

Ethan has been keeping busy during school, too. I have been trying to offer him different learning activities that go along with our units. I realize I could do a little more for him, but after a few activities he is ready to go play. And I try not to forget the importance of free play during the preschool years. I'm in no rush to start formal schooling him ~ after all, he is still my baby boy and I'm not ready for him to grow up!

Bird Themed Activities-

playdough mat and line tracing
egg matching
color the bird book
chick-chick in a nest

Garden Themed Activities-

garden sensory box

line tracing

playdough

science-y craft

2011-05-12T07:47:00.002-05:00

We did a science craft last week to go along with our garden theme. I think they turned out pretty good!

materials -
foam sheets
pom-poms
brown yarn
blue construction paper
glue

garden sensory tub

2011-05-11T08:30:00.002-05:00

Last week we did a flower/garden theme for school. I put together this sensory tub for the kids to play with and I am happy to say that all 3 of the kids have enjoyed this box very much. For a few days they played ice cream shop with it! I love how their imaginations work!

items in tub-
black beans
small pots
garden tools
chenille stick flowers
ladybug rocks
caterpillars

flower/garden theme

2011-05-10T13:22:00.016-05:00

Last week we did a flower/garden theme for school. Of course I used the cute preschool pack from Homeschool Creations to load in their workboxes. I also put together a sensory tub for the kids to play with - which they loved!

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

co-op class - astronomy

2011-05-10T12:59:00.005-05:00

This week in our co-op class, we talked about space travel. After our discussion, I had the kids design their own rocket using some basic art supplies. I didn't know if they would get into this project or not. I was really surprised at how much time, thought and effort they put into making their rockets. They especially liked the part where they got to run around the room and fly their rockets! I wish I had my camera with me so I could have taken a picture of the different designs.

materials-
toliet paper and/or paper towel rolls
foam sheets
streamers
stapler
tape
markers/paint/crayons
scissors

alphabet mats

2011-05-04T09:03:00.005-05:00

I decided to bring out our collection of plastic lids for Ethan to use during school. Last year I made number mats for Ella to use, so now I'm in the process of making alphabet mats for Ethan. I made the E mat first since his name starts with an E. I'll share the alphabet mats with you all just as soon as I get them finished! In the meantime, start saving those lids!

materials-
alphabet mats
plastic lids

spelling fun

2011-05-03T10:19:00.000-05:00

Ella had fun the other night with our spelling stuff! I love it when my kids initiate learning on their own! We used to use letter magnets a lot last year, but haven't done much with them this year. Maybe it's time to bring them back out again!

for the birds!

2011-04-29T11:05:00.013-05:00

This week we went with a bird theme and did some learning activities with our left over plastic Easter eggs! This was a really easy unit for me to put together, thanks to Jolanthe over at Homeschool Creations and for the girls since all of the activities were a review for them.

*Be sure to check out the preschool corner to see what other families are doing!

insect collages

2011-04-27T13:21:00.005-05:00

(Sorry the picture is so dark!)

Here are the insect collages that we did last week to go along with The Very Quiet Cricket. I found the idea online somewhere, but there wasn't a picture to go along with the idea. So, I guess this is the way they are supposed to look! I just went to google images and found the insects and printed them out.

materials-
insect sheets
tissue paper cut into small squares
watered down glue
paint brush
scissors

directions-
1. print out insect sheets
2. pour a small amount of glue in a bowl
3. add just a little bit of water to the glue, mix
4. paint the glue mixture on the insect
5. place tissue squares on the insect, overlapping to form a collage look

crickets in our workboxes

2011-04-23T21:54:00.006-05:00

Here is what was in this week's workboxes to go along with The Very Quiet Cricket.

Gracelyn

explode the code

sight words and reader

writing activity

ordinal numbers

cr- blends

mini book

label the parts of a cricket

insect tissue paper collage

Ella

explode the code

sight words and reader

writing activity

ordinal numbers

cr- and sw- blends sort

insect tissue paper collage

label the parts of a cricket

Last week we did activities to go along with The Grouchy Ladybug and this is what was in their workboxes. Be sure to check out the Preschool Corner to see what other families are doing!

the very quiet cricket

2011-04-21T12:11:00.007-05:00

This week we are continuing on with our insect theme by reading The Very Quiet Cricket. Just like last week, we have been doing some fun and educational activities to go along with this book.

comprehension - story sequence cards
insect tissue paper collages
writing activity
label the parts of a cricket
mini book
cr blends
ordinal numbers

ladybugs in our workboxes

2011-04-19T13:53:00.015-05:00

Here is what was in last week's workboxes. I wasn't able to upload all of the pictures because blogger was running very slow. The only boxes not shown is Gracelyn's sight words and reader and their explode the code workbooks.

Gracelyn

word families

addition sheet

favorite part of The Grouchy Ladybug

number book

life cycle of ladybugs

Ella

sight words and reader

number book

word families

domino math

favorite part of The Grouchy Ladybug

life cycle of ladybugs

ladybugs!

2011-04-19T10:01:00.010-05:00

Here is a close up of the ladybugs we painted lastweek.

materials-
flat rocks
red paint
black sharpie
paint brush

directions-
1. go on a nature walk with your kids and look for flat rocks
2. wash the rocks off with water to get rid of the dirt
3. allow the rocks to dry in the sun

4. paint the rocks red - let dry completely
5. use the sharpie to create the ladybugs on the rocks!

the grouchy ladybug

2011-04-16T12:25:00.008-05:00

To go along with our insect unit, we have been doing a few fun and educational activities to go along with this book.

telling time to the hour
main character traits
talked about respect
learned about the life cycle of ladybugs
illustrated their part of the book
completed a day in the life of the grouchy ladybug flipbook
painted ladybugs from rocks

co-op class - astronomy

2011-04-14T14:00:00.007-05:00

A few weeks back we learned about Saturn and I let each student make their own Saturn to take home with them.

Ella's multicolored Saturn! Gracelyn's blue with orange dots Saturn!

materials-

styrofoam ball

old cd

paint

toothpick

directions-

1. cut the styrofoam ball in half

2. paint both halves of the styrofoam ball

3. let dry overnight

4. place a toothpick in the center of one of the halves

5. sandwich the cd between the two halves

*Our cd isn't staying in place, so if I were to do this project again, I would try glueing the 2 halves to the cd. If anyone tries this, let me know how it worked for you and what kind of glue you used!

patchwork skirt

2011-04-12T14:34:00.004-05:00

Lastweek while on spring break, my sister in-law and I made skirts for our girls!

a visit to the pond

2011-04-05T21:21:00.005-05:00

We have been on spring break this week and came back home to Georgia to visit with our family. Today we went to a park that is in our home town to feed the ducks and look for tadpoles. I thought it would be a great tie in since we have been learning about ducks and frogs! The kids loved feeding the ducks, but we weren't able to find any tadpoles because the water was way too muddy from the storms lastnight.

ribbit ribbit!

2011-04-01T08:11:00.014-05:00

This week we learned about frogs! It was a short week for us so we didn't do any crafts to go along with this unit. Here's what was in this week's workboxes...

Gracelyn-

skip counting by 5s

sight words and reader

word search

copy work

life cycle of frogs

addition

explode the code

Ella-

explode the code

Ff handwriting sheet

life cycle of frogs

addition

phonics worksheet

Ff mini book

skip counting by 5s

Here are the completed life cycles!

Be sure to check out The Preschool Corner for more ideas and activities to do with your preschooler!

the story about ping

2011-03-30T13:38:00.003-05:00

"The tale of a little duck alone on the Yangtze River, The Story About Ping is a sweet and funny book with wonderfully rich and colorful illustrations. On a day like any other, Ping sets off from the boat he calls home with his comically large family in search of "pleasant things to eat." On this particular day, he is accidentally left behind when the boat leaves. Undaunted, the little duck heads out onto the Yangtze in search of his family, only to find new friends and adventures--and a bit of peril--around every bend".

their favorite part

Science-

sink or float experiment

Math-

counting skills and following directions

Comprehension-

story sequence cards

Art-

art - drawing water ripples

illustrate a duck

We also talked about some literary components like repetition, fiction, and what makes a story a classic. We talked a little about where China is, learned about the Yangtze River and looked at some examples of Chinese culture.

To finsih off this book study, we celebrated by making Chinese Lanterns!

I decided instead of doing a lapbook, I would try putting everything in a folder since we had so many full sized sheets to go along with the book.

on our shelf...

2011-03-29T10:39:00.001-05:00

rain

raindrops

cloudy with a chance of meatballs

rabbits good news

waiting for wings

wet world

little cloud

the cloud book

spring

planting a rainbow

when the winds stop

little cloud

2011-03-28T09:26:00.004-05:00

This week we also read Little Cloud by Eric Carle and did a couple of extensions based on the book.

planting a rainbow

2011-03-25T14:53:00.008-05:00

We read Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert and decided we needed to plant our own rainbow too!

I was only able to snap a picture of Ethan scooping the potting soil into the container, but all 3 kids took part in this job!

vining pink verbena

crystal orange zinnia

taishan yellow marigold

sugar madness petunia

madness moonlight mix petunia

spring weather

2011-03-25T13:27:00.014-05:00

This week we talked about spring weather: rainbows, clouds, and the water cycle. I couldn't really find a lot of pre-made things for this unit, so it turned out kinda pieced milled together. But oh well~school must go on! Here's what was in this week's workboxes...

Gracelyn-

explode the code

rainbow math mat

number tracing cards

match it! addition cards

sight words and reader

addition worksheet

abeka workbook pages

poem copy work

copy work

Ella-

explode the code

sight words and reader

rainbow math mat

letter Rr handwriting sheets

number tracing cards

match it! addition cards

abeka workbook pages

rabbit number recognition

letter Uu upper and lower case letter sort

rainbow size sequence

busy boy

2011-03-22T10:35:00.010-05:00

My boy has been so interested in school lately. I don't take alot of time to put anything "formal" together for him just some quick and easy activities. Although I am trying to get him to recognize the first letter of his name.

watercolor painting

2011-03-21T10:35:00.005-05:00

Lastweek we also painted caterpillars and butterflys with watercolors to go along with our unit on The Very Hungry Caterpillar. All three kids loved this activity and have asked to do it several more times!

the very hungry caterpillar

2011-03-19T20:21:00.006-05:00

Here's a look at our week based on the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, written by Eric Carle. I had a lot of fun putting this unit together and I hope the girls and Ethan liked it as much as I did! We made clothes pin caterpillars and painted with watercolors. Here's what was in their workboxes...

Gracelyn-

sight words and reader

days of the week copy work

writing prompt

story comprehension

math worksheet

syllable clip cards

color word caterpillar

butterfly number matching book

classification: fruit or vegetable

Ella-

story comprehension

days of the week copy work

alphabetical order caterpillar

writing prompt

syllable clip cards

math worksheet

color word caterpillar

butterfly number matching book

sight words and reader

classification: fruit or vegetable

caterpillar math

spring reading...

2011-03-19T19:15:00.003-05:00

peter cotton tail

bear wants more

have you seen my duckling?

it's spring!

what makes a rainbow?

the very hungry caterpillar

caterpillars galore!

2011-03-16T16:30:00.008-05:00

Look at these adorable caterpillars we made today! As you can probably tell, we are continuing on with our Spring theme this week. But, we are basing most of our school work on the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, written by Eric Carle.

materials-
pom-poms
wooden clothes pins
glue
googly eyes

little artist

2011-03-15T14:51:00.008-05:00

Ella is turning into quite the little artist! I constantly find her coloring or drawing throughout the day. Here are some of her lastest masterpieces...

a girl eating snack

balloons in the rain

a little girl watering her flowers

a girl cooking pancakes

a man juggling on a unicycle

girls at the pool

rainbow

girls in a car

the very hungry caterpillar

robin craft

2011-03-12T11:44:00.005-06:00

We have been seeing a ton of robins in our backyard! So to go along with our Spring theme, we made a robin. I cut out the pattern pieces and prepped the paper and then had Ella trace the pattern onto the paper and cut each piece out. This craft was a good way to practice those scissor skills and work on those fine motor skills which are necessary for handwriting.

materials-
brown, red and orange construction paper
googly eye
pencil
pattern
scissors
glue

directions-
1. print pattern onto card stock
2. cut out pattern pieces
3. cut construction paper a little bigger than the pattern piece
4. have your child trace and cut out the pattern pieces
5. glue the red belly onto one half the brown circle
6. glue the body down onto the belly
7. glue on beak, eye, tail feather and feet

spring has sprung!

2011-03-11T14:21:00.012-06:00

I've finally started using our workboxes again this past week and I really don't know why it took me so long to get them going again! It has been so nice using them to organize the day's work and have the girls take responsibility for their own work. So for this weekly wrap-up, I decided to show you what was in each girl's workboxes this week!

Gracelyn-

Spring emergent reader and copy work

sight words and reader

explode the code

blends

sight word worksheets

spelling puzzles

Spring cards

addition worksheet

"Happy Spring" color, cut, glue activity

addition worksheet

Ella-

sight words and reader

explode the code

addition worksheet

"Happy Spring"color, cut, glue activity

spelling puzzles

Spring cards

handwriting sheet

daffodils

2011-03-10T13:53:00.004-06:00

Little signs of Spring are all around us down here in lower Alabama! So to welcome Spring, we have been talking and learning about all the different signs of Spring. We made these super cute and easy daffodils yesterday and I think they turned out so sweet!

materails-
9" paper plate
egg carton or small foam cup
strip of cardboard
yellow and green paint
scissors

directions-
1. draw a star onto the paper plate
2. cut out the star
3. paint the star and egg carton yellow

4. after the flower petals have dried, glue the center onto the star
5. cut leaves from the remaining paper plate pieces
6. paint the stem and leaves green
7. glue the pieces together

8. gather your children aroung the daffodils and snap a picture when they are finished!

sweet little dress

2011-02-25T10:37:00.002-06:00

I have officially started and finsihed sewing new dresses for the girls all. by. my.self. Usually my sister in-law or my friend Kristi has helped me in the past. But not this time!

This is a really simple pattern to follow, thank goodness! The only hard part I had was putting the elastic in the neck casing. I bought and downloaded the pattern at You Can Make This. I plan to make the girls a fabric flower or headband out of the polka dot fabric on the arms to match this dress.

character building - arguing

2011-02-24T13:58:00.002-06:00

We started doing Erika's character study over at Confessions of a Homeschooler last week. The first study is on arguing. With more than one child in the house, arguing is something that will most definately be an issue! The study is short, sweet and to the point. Each week is spread out into 4 days and each day focuses on scripture and a story from the Bible that shows the issue. The girls and I have been doing the study together after I put Ethan down for his afternoon nap.

I have incorporated some visuals with the study by picking out some Behavior Boosters to go along with each character trait. I picked a different behavior booster for each girl to work on that specifically addresses their contribution to arguing.

Here is a look at how we are implementing the study at our house.

lesson plan

brainstorm things that make us argue with each other

read a story from My ABC Bible Verses

Behavior Boosters -

Sow What?

Tattle Tail Monkey

Check out some of the other behavior boosters we have used in our home!

the tale of peter rabbit

2011-02-18T10:48:00.005-06:00

We have just completed a lapbook on The Tale of Peter Rabbit. The girls really enjoyed the extended learning that we did with this book. We talked about onomatopoeia, real versus fantasy, and why it's important to obey rules. Gracelyn helped Mr. McGregory plant a new vegetable garden and then wrote him a letter of apology on behalf of Peter. Ella put together a mini book on staying well in winter.

memory verse - "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." Ephesians 6:1 cover middle back favorite part of the story vegetable garden letter of apology real vs. fantasy worksheet our house rules drawings of rabbits

If you are wondering what the letter says, it says: Dear Mr. McGregory, I am sorry for eating your vegetables. I would like to plant more vegetables in your garden. Sincerely, Gracelyn

more bang for your worksheets!

2011-02-16T17:42:00.012-06:00

I know worksheets get a bad rap, but I found a way to get the most out of a worksheet. First, have your child complete the worksheet. Then, if possible, think of another way to use that same worksheet in a different way.

For example:

1. complete the worsheet

2. cut the worksheet up into cards

3. put words in ABC order

So, with one worksheet, Gracelyn read 6 cvc words, worked on fine motor skills by cutting out the picture squares and then learned how to put the words in alphabetical order!