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! 

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!

Week in Review (August 13th) - Let's fold clothes

We had a great week here at the academy. We are going to walk in lots of power as we are still working on our verse about God not giving us a spirit of fear.  The kids enjoy it, and K is able to talk about what the verse means in relation to not being afraid.

Our new activity brings joy to my soul.  As a stay at home mom/homeschooling mom or any mom for that matter, at times, I feel like all I do is clean and do laundry.  So now, it's time for me to give the kids the opportunity to help out, and of course, at this age, they are ready to help :).  And thus, after inspiration from Counting Coconuts, we created a practical life activity in the form of a clothes folding basket.  Both K and G have used the activity, and they both like it.  In our basket are some of M's shorts, M's onesies, and K's t-shirts.  I would like to continue to incorporate different clothing items as folding of each is mastered.

Items in our basket

G working on folding a t-shirt...I helped her with the sleeves :)

We also worked on our phonics with our letter mat; G worked on her beginning word sounds, and K added forming his blends to our work as well as spelling various words.  M absolutely loves the mat as well (and anything else that has to do with letters), and takes letters out and says their sounds.  Now, he's starting to say the names of the letters as well as saying the sounds they make. 

K and G also had fun buliding puzzles; they really love them and enjoy putting them together all the time.  K also had the opportunity to do some water color painting.  He's getting so much better at understanding and implementing the concept of covering the whole picture in color, which is nice to see.

K painting Owl from Winnie the Pooh

The kids also had fun outside with our diy water table.  They played for about an hour and fifteen minutes outside; it's been a bit rainy here lately, so the kids haven't had the opportunity to play outside as much.  It was a lot of fun for them and low maintenance for me. 

I took this picture through the screen

An enjoyable week!

Week in Review (July 30th)

Last week was a good week.  We continued working on our scripture from the past couple of weeks about not being afraid.  We were a bit more relaxed with our learning time this week, but learning took place nonetheless.  We also enjoyed a surprise visit from Grammy, too.  How fun is that!

Thanks to my parents, we have gotten a bit of items from a former day care building they are transforming into their new church building.  The former owners left everything behind.  One of the items we used this week are these wonderful write on, wipe off letter boards.  I got these mostly for K at this point, but got two because I knew G would want to work on them as well.  K has enjoyed working on the letter board, and his writing is progressing.  We are continuing to work using the lines as our guide; that's definitely a work in progress =). 

K's letter work =)

The back of the board

We also received this wonderful letter mat.  We have used it to work on letter sounds and beginning word sounds for G, and beginning sounds, vowel sounds in cvc words, and ending sounds with K.  The kids really like this because they get to move around going from letter to letter.  M also enjoys this mat, he is learning his letter sounds (with a great deal of reinforcement from his teacheres K and G), and he will go to the letters, try to pull them out and make the appropriate sound for the letter.

We were glad to spend some time outside and had some fun with sidewalk chalk (new chalk also provided by my parents).  G worked on some of her sight words while we were out there, and K worked on his writing. M likes to draw with the chalk as well, and now, we have a lot less eating of the chalk, something for which I am grateful.

K's photography

Sight words

We enjoyed some fun at the park and reading as well.  All in all, a wonderful week!

Sidewalk Chalk numbers

I was feeling a bit stuck in what we were doing.  So a God-inspired idea came to me to use sidewalk chalk on the deck.  I wrote the numbers 1 through 10 on our deck, gave the kids different items to use as counters (checker pieces, bottle tops, felt stars, and the ever famous cars), and sent them to count away.  The kids really enjoyed it, with the exception of the heat, and G even look out the window whenever the Leap Frog music CD played songs with counting or numbers in them to look at our deck numbers. 

K and G working together

G working on her own

We also attempted to do some basic addition, subtraction with K like we've done with the cars and numbers I addressed in this post.  K was not really into going from number to number because he does not like the heat at all.  So I stood on the numbers giving him addition word problems, and I had him tell me what number I needed to move to.  He watched me out of the window.  That way I did all the sweating ;).

Week in Review (June 25th)

Last week was a great, but challenging, week.  We have a two year old, who is wonderful, but is still two years old.  Nonetheless, much was accomplished.  We did a kind of verse review during the week, reciting Psalm 23, Titus 2:12, and Exodus 20:12, the scriptures we have memorized thus far. 

Since Debby came to visit us, the kids also enjoyed some time on the deck splashing in their rain boots.

K and G in the rain

K did a good bit of math work. For a while, I've wanted to work with K on adding and subtracting, but he just has not been interested.  After praying and some trial and error, we've finally found something to interest K.  We call it the garage game.  We take all his little cars/trucks and put them out; we use our window sill as a garage and add and take away cars from the "garage" with him counting and telling me how many cars we have all together or how many cars we have left.  He asks to play this "game" virtually everyday.  We also use the big numbers that I made some time ago, which I accessed from here. 

K excited to add

K also continued working on his reading with the Ordinary Parents Guide book and his phonics CD and booklet.  G is still enjoying working on her oversized number and alphabet puzzle, "reading" her books from the library, and doing whatever big brother is doing.  M has really taken to stacking things (like the spices in our lazy susan) and trying to place the tops on things. 

K, G and M got to have some more water fun this week with a storage tub, some stacking cups with holes in them, and other bowls and transferring items.  This evolved into a "swimming pool" for G's little people and so much more.  The kids really enjoyed playing with our homemade water table.  My husband has since taken down the old baby bathtub, an idea I read about on another blog, and the kids now use that along with the other clear storage tub. 

My chickadees having fun together

I am grateful for another week with my little ones!

Week in Review (June 18th)

Another week at our house has come and gone, and we had fun.  We are still focusing on Exodus 20:12,  a verse about honoring your parents, and one day G even sang the verse, which helped her in obeying something I was asking her to do.  It's nice when that happens.

K has been working out of a book a friend referred to me entitled The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington.  This phonics book, geared to the classical approach to education, is divided into many short lessons and starts with teaching the letter sounds.  We started work with the lessons that focused on consonant blends.  Though K is able to zip through many of the lessons now, this book has helped me to see some areas where he needs extra work .  K enjoys it, and since it's something only he and I do together, he really likes that.  I talk more about this in this post.  K also did some tracing, cutting, and pasting with numbers.

Numbers on the choo choo train

G did a great deal of work with her 1-2-3 floor puzzle (which we do on the table).  She is getting so much better at putting the pieces together.  K joined in; he had fun helping her out.  G was so encouraging and gracious, telling her brother "Good job!" and thanking him for his help.  It warmed my heart. 

Team work!

K and G enjoyed some art time this week.  I finally bought some do-a-dot paints, and both kids liked painting with those.

K working on his Cars 2 picture and G on an Aerial picture

One day this week was a little hard; so, to break the monotony, we went outside for bubbles (which we play with at least a couple of times a week) and learning time.  G worked on her puzzles and K and I worked on adding using his cars, pretending different amounts of cars were going into the "garage."  It's been difficult to engage him with adding and subtracting, so I was glad this was interesting to him. 

ABC puzzle

On Saturday, the kids got the opportunity to enjoy one of our state parks with  fun in the spring and a boat tour where they got to see alligators, ducks and other birds and hear about their habitat and some facts about them.  Thanks to my friend Ra for inviting us!

M enjoying the water

An alligator on the bank

The kids also enjoyed some time at the park as well as fun with friends.  Grateful for another great week!

Excavating Buried Treasure

I actually originally got the idea for the excavating adventure from Chasing Cheerios a couple of months ago, but the idea came up again as the chickadees and I were watching an episode of the Sid the Science Kid, which addressed reversible change.  I decided to put the activity together right then, and the kids were really excited.  K kept asking me if the water had frozen every five minutes it seemed.  This was super easy to put together, and of course, the kids enjoy any activity where they are free to play with water. I simply filled a plastic bowl about three quarters full with water and put small toys, letter magnets, and other knick knacks in the bowl.  The first time the ice didn't freeze as hard as I wanted since we put the bowl in the freezer a little before lunch and took it out shortly after everyone woke up.  The items we used to break through the ice were warm water, salt, and butter knives, our version of ice picks. For me, this is definitely an outdoor activity =). 

Let the fun begin!

After we finished excavating the items, I brought out some extra cups and bowls and let them have fun with the water on the deck. 

It's all water play now

When K and G were done with their water play, I put the bowl and the items back into the freezer, and my husband and K had fun excavating again the next morning while I slept in (thankful to my honey for that). I am sure this time the ice was a bit more difficult to get through.

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!

Weeks in Review (May 21st and May 28th)

Yes, you read correctly; this is a couple of weeks in review.  I have been away from home for a little more than two weeks, but it has been fun.  It started with a weekend away with my love and ended with five days of vacationing fun, friends and softball with my sister.  My Mom and Dad were godsends during this time as they both helped make these getaways possible.  This time makes for a refreshed Mommy and wife =). 

Due to our travels, our schedule was a little (well, a lot) dfferent.  The kids had their travel tubs while we were with my parents (refer to this post for more information on the tubs), so they did get some designated learning time in (though a great deal of fun and learning were found in lots of places during this time). 

The children got the opportunity to share their verses with the family, which both parties enjoyed.
K enjoyed working with his letter magnets.  Who knew that my parents back door was like a big refrigerator?!  We didn't until K attempted to place magnets on them.  He loved that!

K making words

G enjoyed the Pooh matching game, which was originally in K's tub.  She simply matched the picture puzzles with a little help from Mommy (I had to give her the three cards that went together, usually in order and spread apart, and she put them together and counted the items on the card).

Both K and G worked with the First Words Flash cards, but K used them more (even though these were orginally packed in G's tub; funny how these things work out).  K would put them out, and he and I would take turns telling a fact or something about the picture/word on each card.  G simply identified the pictures and sometimes the beginning sounds of the words.

K with the word cards

G with the word cards

All three children enjoyed time outside with Paw Paw and Poppy.  Poppy enjoyed taking them on wagon rides.

The kids also enjoyed the ultimate in sensory areas, the beach! This was M's first time really being big enough to enjoy and play in the sand. He was so content the entire time we were there as long as sand wasn't in his mouth =).  K and G enjoyed the sand and the water as well.

M enjoying the sand

These were fun times.  We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  My vacation was fabulously wonderful(thanks E for taking me!), but I am glad to be back with the family.

At the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, OK