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 (August 20th)

This week was a good one at our house.  The kids have a new memory verse, Deuternomy 6:5, which talks about loving the Lord your God completely.  I found the suggestion of this verse along with the actions that go along with it here.

K asked me if he could work with his coin actvity (I discuss this activity here), so I brought that back out.  He enjoyed sorting the coins and has improved in his knowledge of the names of the coins and how much they are worth.  K has also continued his work with his letters and continues to improve there.

G has really gotten into puzzles and enjoys many of the puzzles we have available.  We also continued our sight word work; it's been some time since we worked on this.  She's doing well and knows about 20 words.  She uses the cards below, and we also check out the Sight Words DVDs from the library, which we watch occassionally (the sight words DVD series is by a company called Preschool Prep)  While we are reading, I allow her to tell me the name of a various sight words when we come across them, and she is even beginning to find them on her own in books and when we are out and about. 

I have a ring of cards (from my parents) and a set of unringed cards (I believe I purchased these at walmart some time ago)

M is doing more talking, and he loves music.  We have two leap frog drums and some simple an instrument tub from Toys R Us that he truly enjoys.  Here he is playing our little keyboard. 

With one of his favorite trucks in hand =)

A great week for us her at the academy!  Hopefully next week I will have more pictures to share!

Week in Reivew (July 9th)

We've had a fun week at our little academy.  We were out a lot more than we were in, so there wasn't as much formal learning, but there was still lots of fun to be had.  I took a little extra time this week to work with the kids on staying disciplined and staying on their mats during verse time and prayer. They did much better, and I was proud of them for that. 

G got in on the action in The Ordinary Parents Guide.  She has come in while K and I are working on his lesson, and so of course, she wants to do her "blessing" as she calls it.  It was so cute when K tried to tell her that blessing was what their Poppy says over them at night, but she still calls it her blessing.  She knows the letters of the alphabet and their sounds, but I started at the beginningof the book with her, and we've worked on the vowels.  We play a little game where I say the vowels sound, and she picks up the corresponding letter.  She could do that all day.  There is also a little poem/song that goes with the vowels that we sing. 

Using the Sandpaper letters

K pulled out some cupcake baking cups from Valentine's day while I was sorting through things/cleaning, and so those came back into the rotation for two activities.  Both K and G enjoyed counting with beans, and then they brought out the muffin tin and pretended to fill the baking cups in the tin.  Good pouring practice. 

K working on cups with multiples of five in them

G working on cups with 1 to 10 on the bottom

Still working on keeping the beans in the tin ;)

We also got a second shelf!  K helped, and even G helped out this time.  They really enjoyed participating in the shelf building.  My husband was so patient with them; it was great watching them work together to build the shelf. 

K hammering a nail in

G hammering a nail in

M is learning his letters and letter sounds, and really enjoys playing with these letter magnets.

His favorite letter at the moment is O

The highlight of the week for the kids was the trip to Chick-Fil-A as it was Cow Appreciation Day on Friday.  Time to dress up like a cow!  I cut pieces of felt using the template from Chick-Fil-A's website, and I taped them to their shirts/bottoms.  I started sewing the spots on initially, but it was too time consuming.  I will have to start out a little earlier next year! 

We enjoyed time with friends, time at the park, and time at the library (we really enjoy story time and checking out books to read at home!) as well. 

Our Reading Lessons - The Ordinary Parent's Guide

K has been working out of a book entitled The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. This book has been wonderful for us. It teaches reading phonetically and starts with the sounds of the letters of the alphabet. Because K already knows the letter sounds and how to sound out short vowel words, we skipped to the section on consonant blends. We worked through that section doing one to two lessons a day.

The lessons usually begin with a short review and an introduction to the concept. For example, in the consonant blend section, you review the two letters that make up the consonant blend, and then introduce the blend. Then you and the child work through words with that particular consonant blend and a short story with words containing the blend. Most lessons contain multiple blends.

There are many aspects of this book/work that I like. First, I like the fact that this is self-paced. You don't need to feel like you have to go through an entire lesson at a time nor do you have to limit yourself to only one lesson if your child is ready to move on. Additionally, going through these lessons has helped me to see where K is having issues. For instance, sometimes he doesn't read the words/letters that are on the page. So now, I am more intentional with making sure he is reading what is there. We also go back and review any blends, etc. he is having difficulty with. Another benefit is that this work also requires concentration and focus from K. Some days we do more, and on others, we do less, but we usually work around 15-20 minutes at a time.

Here is a picture drom the day we worked on the addition of s to words and a discussion of singular and plural. On this particular day, I got multiples of items around the house show him the difference between the two.

the letter tiles and book

K really enjoys this book and asks almost everyday to do a "lesson" out of it. He is moving along well, and we adapt the instructions to fit our needs. It is a wonderful tool to use in addition to the other things we have.

The suggested materials are magnetic letter tiles (these can be ordered from a website the book mentions), 3x5 index cards, scissors, pens, pencils, drawing supplies, paperclips, yarn, magnets, and a couple of other items. Some of these items are for optional activies. The items we have used so far are the moveable alphabet (instead of the magnetic letter tiles) that I printed from here and a magnetic writing board. Sometimes, I use other miscellaneous items depending on the lesson.

Our magnetic board - I usually use this when K is having a hard time sounding out words to isolate sounds

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

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!