Friday, January 22, 2010

Preschool Corner: letter Ii

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Gabriel-3 yrs,  8 mos.
Kaleb, my k'ner also joins us on some of the fun activities.....because they are just that fun!!

I LOVE that these great Letter Ii ideas fit in so perfectly with our ABC I Believe lessons--both on INCHWORMS!!!

Memory verse for the week:  "...for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there none like me." Isaiah 46:9b.

A HUGE thank you so very much to the ladies who made/designed/found all of the printables and activities on these blogs/websites:
Confessions of a Homeschooler
Homeschool Creations
Danielle's Place

Look at these CUTE printables!!



We are finally getting back into the swing of our letter of the week study!!  I spent some time looking for some fun and creative activities.  I love, love, love the two blogs listed above!  Those ladies make my life so much easier!  :)  ABC I Believe lessons from Danielle's place are awesome as well.

I did great taking pics.....on the first day.  lol  I kind of slacked after that.

Gabriel had fun with the inchworm puzzle.









He LOVED the cut and paste activity.

We worked on numbers.  Doing some fun games and then working on 11-20.

Played games.

Read books.

I remembered this preschool activity bag that fits right in with our talks about measurement during this INCHworm week.



Decorated his letter Ii page with his brother.




Practiced letter writing.

Letter Ii book.



We played with the number puzzle.  Don't you love how he's all curled up, almost upside down while working on his numbers?  :)  




Made some fun crafts!!

Great week if I do say so myself!!!

If you would like to see what my older boys did this week, their weekly report is *HERE*.

Week 21: Jan 18-22 ...and a BIRTHDAY!!!!

Nathan turned 12 years old yesterday!!!!!   YAY!!!  We are celebrating with a Chuck E Cheese party next Saturday with his cousin, Justin, who is 11 days younger than Nathan.

We jumped right back into our regular schedule on Monday.  So good to be on track again!  Nathan wasn't as happy as I since he was a little behind.  I had to really stay on him to keep him working.  Between the holidays and then two weeks of sickness in the house, I imagined it would take a bit of re-adjusting.  Kaleb had a few problems getting motivated too, but we all managed and accomplished quite a bit.

I am working more and more with Gabriel who will turn four in May.  He is such a SPONGE!!!  I love it!! We had a lot of fun this week.  I posted about his great week with the letter Ii.  Kaleb is featured on that post since he likes to do some of the fun crafts and projects that Gabriel does.  Baby Drake even made the blog this week on Gabriel's post as well!!

Pictures!! You'll notice that I started out with a bang on taking pictures.....the first day.  :)  Forgot to pick up the camera much after that.

A very happy 12 year old!!  He asked and asked for a laptop.  Just a couple of weeks ago, a friend was getting rid of his daughter's old one since she got a brand new one for Christmas.  I think a nice, well-loved, gently-used laptop is perfect for the 12 year old!!



Just because he is SO cute.


Kaleb practicing matching numbers with words.






Jupiter


More on Gabriel and a bit on Kaleb can be found *HERE*.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Paper towel/toilet paper Inchworm.



This is a really cute craft idea I found on Homeschool Creations blog.  She has great instructions on creating the little guy.  We decided to sponge paint ours instead of using crayons. 

Kaleb and Gabriel LOVED making it!




Gabriel's inchworm.


Kaleb's inchworm:


Gabriel decided the two inchworms needed a hug...........from each other!!!


 For more Kiddos Create activities, go to Mama Jenn blog *HERE*.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Progressive Phonics



I ran across this website months ago.  I registered, but never went any further than looking.  I don't know how many times I have gone back to the website, thinking I should be utilizing it somehow.  I mean, after all....FREE phonics lessons!!  Surely I could find a way to use it!!!!

Today I was searching the www looking for some free printables on Th digraphs because Kaleb is having some trouble with the voiced and unvoiced difference.  Then we added in THR and NGTH...and the child actually GROWLED at me!!!    Time for a lapbook or file folder game......or Progressive Phonics.  (Ok, well I still plan on finding a lapbook or file folder game, but during my search I remembered PP.)

I printed the books (for fresh stories...he isn't thrilled with repeating the same few stories in Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading) and the handwriting pages.  During the printing I remembered that one of my two incredibly cool sils gave me a TON of phonics materials that they are finished with over Christmas break.  There were a couple more Th digraph books in the box too!!

You'll notice if you download the books that there are two book pages on each paper.  I folded the paper in half and used a glue stick to keep it together.  Then I hold-pumched each folded sheet (not at the crease, but at the glued ends) and used book rings.  I actually have book 1 and 2 of the intermediate series on this set of rings and I plan on putting the rest of the books in this series with this set so they are all together.  I also printed the handwriting pages and a couple of the activities pages, but I will just 3-hole punch those and put them in his handwriting notebook.

I do recommend gluing the top, side, bottom, and crease to keep the page together.  I had to go back through some when I realized just gluing the sides together wouldn't work.  I also recommend using a glue stick instead of school glue so you don't get those wrinkles.




I skipped the beginner series since Kaleb is past that already, but I do plan on going back and making those books to have for Gabriel and Drake.

Kaleb is VERY excited to have all these new books to read!  I am excited to {finally} be using PP.  I can't stand not having a reason to use a freebie!!

I don't know how well this program would work independently.  I have seen it listed solo in other homeschool moms siggy lines on forum boards though so it might be great!  I love OPGTR, ETC, and BOB books too much to give those up though.  I think it will be a terrific addition to our current phonics plan!! 

(btw....just have to share because it excites me to no end all day, every day.  Kaleb is such a READER!!  ....and his MAMA is the one teaching him!!!  I just think that is SO very cool!  He finally agrees that he is a reader too!!  YAY me!!  YAY him!!)

Friday, January 15, 2010

Preschool Corner: letter Hh







Gabriel--3 years, 8 months.

Our memory verse is Psalms 91:4a--He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust.

We read the corresponding story from ABC I Believe at Danielle's Place. We talked about how God is like a mother hen who stretches her wings out to keep her chicks out of the cold, rain, and wind.  They trust her to keep them safe and warm.  We snuggled with blankets and talked about how God's love is like a soft blanket wrapped around us all snuggly and warm.  


Gabriel and Kaleb made this really cute hen and chick craft from ABC I Believe as well.  I put them on construction paper so I can add their bible verse.







He and Kaleb cut, glued, and decorated their letter pages with hand prints.







We made haystacks.....with pretzel sticks (because that is what we had on hand).







We had a fun time with some of our preschool activity bags.

We played a few games.  Operation is his all-time favorite right now with the Cars Fishing Game running a close 2nd.



I found this cool printable on Homeschool Creations blog Tuesday night.  I printed, laminated, and cut the cards apart.  Then Gabriel and I sat down to play a couple games.  First I just had him identify the numbers in order and out of order.  Of course in order he just counted to twenty.  He gets 15-19 confused, but did fairly well.  He made it to 11 out of order.  We'll work on 12-20 now. I asked him then to put the numbers 1-10 in order.  No problems there! 









I asked him to match the numbers 1-10 to the dot cards.  He did amazing!!  He would look at the number and then make an educated guess on the dot cards based on how small or large the number was, most times picking the right card first!  I've never seen him do that before.  






 




We played with the LeapFrog Fridge Phonics letter game.  Gabriel and Drake LOVE game!!  


Gabriel has shown an interest in writing letters so I let him give it a try on the dry erase board.


We read books, books, and more books.


We tried this ABC matching game that I bought from Scholastic....and he LOVED it (so did my toddler!)









 




Gabriel played with his Color Wonder light paint set and made a beautiful picture.  I thought I had a picture, but I can't find it now.






We played with color a bit and you can see the pictures and link *HERE*.


A fun week!!  If you would like to see what my older boys are up to, their post is up too!