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! 

Week in Review (June 11th)

We have had a good, action packed week here at our little academy.  Our memory verse for this week is Exodus 20:12, a verse about honoring your father and mother. 
We also started focusing more on intentionally teaching the kids Spanish vocabulary through song.  We have a couple of Spanish children's cds that the kids love.  G asks multiple times a day to listen to the body parts song, as she calls it. And even little M tries to join in as we perform the actions of the song. 

K worked in a Hooked on Phonics book I bought at a bookstore clearance sale; we worked on the silent e.  The book had a page where he had to choose the vowel(s) that he needed to fill in the blank, so to give him a visual, I placed the vowels from the sandpaper letters on the table beside him as he worked. 

K at work

He also used his magnetic letters to spell words that contained the silent e.  I would say a word and he would spell it.  Of course, once he finished spelling his silent e words, he wanted to spell other words =).

G enjoyed playing with play doh, and did this for all of our learning time one day.  She also enjoyed more water pouring this week.  She asks to do this throughout the day.  It really engages her right now. 

G pouring away

K asked for the beans so he could pour them, so both K and G poured and played with the beans, making "breakfast" for one another.  It was so cute. 

I found out this week that M has developed a new skill.  He can stack his shapes onto the stacker pegs.  This is the first time I have seen him do this.  I was really excited. 

Go M go!

On Friday, we worked on a Father's Day activity for my wonderful husband; I am so happy and thankful that he is the Dad of our children.  Most of the cards/crafts we make seem to be a bit more labor intensive for me, but the kids enjoy it anytime we get to make things like this. 

Work in progress (it's a little messy)

Finished products from K and G

M and Mommy's card

Week in Review (June 4th)

We had a fun week at our casa last week.  We spent a lot of time getting back into the swing of things after a few weeks away from the normal routine.  We continued our work on our scriptures about self-control. 

K enjoyed working on his Go Together cards and we tried some water transferring activities with a turkey baster.  At first, I gave him a medicine dropper, but the time it took to move the water was much too long to hold his attention.

Matching work with Winnie the Pooh Go Together Cards

Water transferring

G also enjoyed a water transferring activity with a sponge.  This activity definitely had her attention for a good bit of time.

Glancing over at K

Both K and G enjoyed bubbles and play-doh. 

K has some Cars wands, and G has some princess wands. 

K pretended to build a building with his construction vehicles.  G ws content to create flower imprints with her accessories

We also had a little science fun.  After watching Sid the Science Kid in an episode about water changing into ice and vice versa, we froze some small toys in a bowl, and then the kids used salt, warm water, and ice picks (i.e. butter knives) to melt the toys and get the ice out.  We will be doing this again soon.  I talk more about this activity in the post here.

Just getting started here

M is still entertained with the pom tub and his cups. 

Over the weekend, the children enjoyed an impromptu slumber party while my friend was giving birth to her fourth sweetie pie.  All of the kids involved loved that!

All and all, a great week!

I am a little late in getting out last week’s review out; things have been a little busy around here.  There was still lots of fun to be had and lots of learning that took place.  We continued to work on Titus 2:12, emphasizing our use of self-control during the day.

K’s reading is improving every day; he really enjoys reading and figuring out words and tries to read everything he sees.  It’s amazing to see how many words he knows how to pronounce and sound out, some words I don’t remember having taught him the “rule” for.  The idea that reading teaches kids to read is definitely playing out with him.

K reading a Bob book

K and G also enjoyed working with the water beads this week.  This was the first time G has really tried to sort the beads by color on her own, and she is so proud of herself when she finds she has a substantial (to her) amount of beads sorted.  It was also good to see the two of them working together to accomplish a goal.

M loved playing with the pom tub, which I talk more about in this post.  He is actually transferring the poms and really engages with that.  He is my very focused boy; when he gets in the zone, he is in the zone =).

Go M!

We also made birthday cards for Ms. Flo, a close friend of our family.  The kids really enjoyed that and were really excited about giving her the cards. 

K at work

G at work

One of the most memorable moments this week was simply sitting down and coloring with K and G on Friday.  It was good to spend quality time together talking as we colored. 

I stepped away for a moment to take the photo

I am glad God has given me my sweet chickadees.  They are awesome!