Week in Review (October 8th)

Last week was a good one at the academy.  We have continued to work on Colossians 3:23 and apply it to our work. 

K has been doing a great deal of writing work.  We used flour this week to write in (I discuss this more here).  We also worked on drawing.  Once we started our workbook, I realized that he doesn't really draw much, so I created some homemade stencils using old file folders, shapes from our Melissa and Doug shape sorter, and a box cutter/pair of scissors.  K and I drew some people and a house and wrote captions for them.  He has enjoyed doing this on his own for the past week. 

While we were drawing at the table, M was drew on some paper as he sat in his high chair.  He loves drawing.

K and G also did a fun sunscreen activity with construction paper.  After watching an episode of Sid the Science Kid where they talk about the sun and why we need to wear sunscreen, we put sunscreen on our construction paper and set it out in the sun for a while to see if how the sunscreen "protected" the paper and briefly talked about how sunscreen does this for our skin (just like the characters did in the episode).  It was quick and easy, and we got a little science in (yay!).

K, G, and M enjoyed  some time outside at our book picnic (I talk more about this here).

We spent some time at the park, some time with friends, and enjoyed the library too.  All in all, a great week with the chickadees!

A Book Picnic

Last week, I took the kids on a book picnic.  I was inspired by my friend Jenni.  The kids and I went out to a local parks and read books together on a blanket.  K and G both chose three books, and I chose three for M.  We didn't get to them all, but it was nice to be outside and read together while it lasted. Another benefit is that M had space to run around when he was done with the blanket. 

Some of the books we brought

Reading time

 

M  on the move

 

We also did some acorn colleccting and even counted a few and talked about fall/autumn.  It was fun! 

Flour Writing

K has been working on his letter writing, and as is the case with most children, has a few letters in particular that cause him trouble.  I wanted to find more creative, fun ways for him to work on his writing, and I remembered my friend Debbie telling me about how she let her girls write in the leftover flour from baking.  So K has been working on his e's and w's in flour using unsharpened pencils and the handle of some measuring spoons as his writing utensils.  Of course, this is something he enjoys. 

Working on my lowercase e

I did it!

I thought this would be something fun for G to do to, and M even got involved. Inevitably, it went from letter/number writing to drawing to playing in the flour.  They all had a ball, and flour clean up isn't so bad. 

 

 

 

Building Patience and K's writing

Yesterday, a friend told me about a book which references kids raising us as parents, addressing how our children give us the opportunity to grow as we spend time with them.  I have seen this lately during my time with K (and with each of the children) as he has been working. 

About a month ago,when we were working on the deck, I felt like K was dillydallying while he wrote his letters from his board.  He wanted to erase the chalk off the deck when the letters did not look exactly as he wished and hewas just moving slowly, and I admit that I was getting frustrated. After some time, I remembered that he was simply doing his best and I relaxed, giving him the space, time and encouragment he needed.  In the end, he did a great job.  He wrote the entire alphabet, upper and lower case, and stuck with it until he finished.




Starting out

Some of his final work

A similar scenario occurred this week.  K begin using a regular pencil as he began a new workbook. It was a new experience for him and frustrating for him sometimes (and for me too), and he wanted to give up (i.e., stop working in the workbook). Of course, with the transition and adjustment, his writing fell off some. I had to keep reminding myself to give him the time and encouragement he needed (even though, at times, I was not). There was more erasing and rewriting than usual, but he has gotten so much better just over the course of three or four days of practicing. He also recognizes and takes joy in the fact that his writing has improved. Additionally, I was amazed at how neat his handwriting was when he wrote some numbers on his magnetic board after working with the pencil all week.  When compared with other things, writing takes a great deal of focus and concentration for K.  I am very proud of him!

Some of K's work from the end of the week

These are only two situations of many involving learning with the children.  As a parent and my children's teacher, I feel I am working on my patience, more often than not.  But it is a blessing.  I am grateful (usually after the fact) that I have the opportunity to learn and grow along with them. 

Happy Birthday G!

A special girl celebrated a birthday this week! Our G turned three years old, and she was excited. Almost everyday this week, she wanted to thank God for her birthday. Her Poppy took her out on their traditional daddy/daughter birthday date. He took her to her favorite restaurant, Chick-Fil-A, and took her to Toys R Us to get her a birthday ballon; he also bought her a princess purse. When they came back, the family had cupcakes and opened her gift. She was most excited about the cupcakes and has been telling everyone all week about getting to have "cake." She is a sweetie and our precious princess. We thank God for her everyday and for giving us the last three years with her and prayerfully many, many more. Happy Birthday sweet girl!!!



Before going out with Poppy

Singing Happy Birthday

Week in Review (September 24th)

Last week was a good week here at our casa.  We continued to work on our verse about loving your neighbor as yourself.  I love the way the children come and tell me that they are loving their neighbor as theirself when they do something nice for a sibling.  I am glad to see them actively applying one of the verses they've learned. 

K continued his work with the analog and digital clock this week.  We moved into working on half past the hour.  A great feature of his clock is the game that is on it.  The quiz game, as it is called, asks him to find a particular time on the clock and gives him three chances to do so before moving on to the next question.  During his rest time, he takes the clock and plays the game.  Initially, he rarely got the time correct, but now he does much better. 



We also worked on understanding more about seconds and minutes using the library books we checked out on as well as some online timers.  First we watched the second hand move all the way around an analog clock and then we watched the numbers move from zero to sixty on the digital timer.  Then we used the digital timer to see how long it took us to do various things.  K and G really enjoyed that. 

 


Watching digital timer

We did a good deal of reading and used our lettter mat and worked on beginning letter sounds for G and letter sounds and spelling for K.

Just a scrabble word as some say.  We were making the short u in the word shut into a long u by adding the silent e =)

We had some fun outside.  At the park, and the kids had the opportunity to see one of the big trees trimmed. K was absolutely engaged, and M tried to "catch" the truck as it was driving parallel to where we were.  Additionally, there is some construction going on behind our house, and the kids enjoy going on the deck or in the backyard to watch. 

Fun in the mist maker



Watching the men trim the tree

Backyard construction

All in all, a great week!