Week 17: The Letter Q

The letter Q. Q is an interesting letter but not very much to it when it comes to young children. We found two themes this week, queens and quilts!

We had trouble coming up with some vocabulary words this week that A and E knew. We came up with: quack, quick and quarter. We had trouble finding some books but were able to come up with a few: Q by Kelly Doudna, Quack the Sound of Q by Cynthia Klingel and Robert Noyed, and The Kindness Quilt by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace. Our poem was the Queen of Hearts:

The Queen of Hearts
She made some tarts,
      All on a summer's day;
The Knave of Hearts
He stole those tarts,
     And took them clean away.
The King of Hearts
Called for the tarts,
     And beat the knave full score;
The Knave of Hearts
Brought back those tarts,
     And vowed he'd steal no more.

For Bible time we read about Queen Esther. We read a book called Queen Esther the Morning Star by Mordecai Gerstein. The book was a little old for A and E but A enjoyed it and we are still reading it this week. Our Bible verse came from Luke 6:31 - Do to others as you would have them do to you.

For science we were a little lacking with only a quoll (think something like a squirrel) and a Queen Conch for our animals.
 
In math we worked on rectangles. We practiced drawing rectangles, cutting out rectangles and counting rectangles around the house. We also went around and counted how many quilts we have!

Week 16: Letter P

Well, I think we have finally started to work back in to routine which is good since I would like to get through the whole alphabet before we become a family of five!

So without delay, the letter P! Our theme was pumpkins! Some of our vocab words were: stem, vine, seeds, skin, and ribs. It was nice to do pumpkins in the summer becuase we went out to our garden and looked at the pumpkins growing. We also came up with some other words that began with P: pizza, pancakes, push, pull and Peter Pan. A had to make sure we included Peter Pan because it is her favorite. We made pizza and pancakes this week too, which was a lot of fun. Our poem for this week was:

I am a bird you know quite well,

All dressed in black and white.

And even though I do have wings

They’re not designed for flight.

I waddle, waddle, waddle. 

We found some fun books this week: Hey, Pancakes by Tamson Weston, My P Sound Box by Jane Belk Monclure, Pink Takes a Bow by Christianne Jones, and Pink by Rebecca Rissman. We also decided to take some time and use the letter P to work on manners (saying Please, Thank You, etc.) So our wonderful librarian found some books to help us: Thankyouplease by Winters and Ortelli, Time to Say Please by Mo Willems, Manners at the Table and Manners in Public both by Carrie Finn

For our Bible time we read about Peter and our verse was from Romans 3:23 - All people have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

In math we worked on patterns and the color pink. 

Science time we looked at penguins, poppies, pandas, and a puffer fish. We also read about Pets by Gardner, Giant Panda by Edana Eckart, Penguins: Life in the Colony by Willow Clark and Platypus by Ginjer Clarke.

E really took to Pocahontas by Schaefer and Rosa Parks by Will Park during our social studies time.

For our art time we had a lot of fun working on puzzles, painting and or course playing with play dough!

 

Week 15: Letter O

After many weeks of taking time off for the summer and vacation we restarted school a few weeks ago. But, we have been busy with other things...we are getting ready to have our third baby! Yup, we will add another little one to our wonderful world. So, in an effort to catch up with our lessons that we have been doing lets jump right in.

We did the letter O a few weeks ago and we looked at oceans. Our vocab words for the week were: wave, reef and beach. Our poem for the week was "Once I Saw an Octopus." We really enjoyed this poem because it had hand motions to go with it.

Once I saw an octopus
In the deep blue sea. (Point downward)
I called, "Mr. Octopus,
Won't you swim with me?" (Cup hands around mouth)
Then out came his tentacles,
So very long and straight, (extend eight fingers.)
One and two and three and four,
Five and six and seven and eight. (count on fingers.)

I don't remember many of the books we had because it was so long ago. I do know that we read Ox-Cart Man by  Donal Hall. I usually find the letter alphabet books by Jane Belk Moncure, so I imagine we used My O Sound Box too.

For our Bible time our verse was - John 5:3 This is love for God: to obey his commands.

In math time we talked about octagons. We practiced drawing and counting the sides. We also used some foam pieces I have to make an octagon along with a rectangle, triangle, square and hexagon. We also practiced saying opposites. I would say off and then A and E would say on, or vice versa. I tried to think of many as I could: up and down, high and low, hot and cold, open and closed, etc.

Our science time looked at ostriches, an ochagavia flower, otters, and octopus. We found a book on otters that A and E liked to read a lot too.

 

Week 14: Letter N

Our theme for this week was suppose to be about newspapers but A and E really didn't get into them. So we didn't focus on newspapers that much but just had fun looking for different words that began with the letter N. We did have some fun practicing how to write this letter and reviewing the letter M.

 

For our English time we read the following books: Best Nest by P.D. Eastman, Sweet Dreams by Rose A. Lewis, My N Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure, The Napping House by Audrey and Don Wood, and Too Much Noise by Ann McGovern. Our poem was "The Night Will Never Stay" by Eleanor Farjeon.

The night will never stay,
The night will still go by,
Though with a million stars
You pin it to the sky,
though you bind it with the blowing wind
And buckle it with the moon,
The night will slip away
Like a sorrow or a tune.

Our Bible story was about Noah. We had a good book called Noah's Ark by Linda Hayward that has very simple language that E really enjoyed. Our verse for the week was from 1 John 3:23 "Love one another."

For math time we practiced counting as high as we could go. After we got to around 40 A got bored and didn't want to count anymore. We also looked around the house for things that were black.

For science we looked at pictures of a narwhal, a numbat, a nigella (flower), and a nightingale.

For Social Studies we read about Florence Nightingale. There is a good book about her by Carol Alexander. We also decided to learn about nurses. We found two books that A and E really liked. A Day in the Life of a Nurse by Connie Fluet and Nurses by Cynthia Klingel and Robert B. Noyed.

We had a fun little project of making a necklace. We took some string and beads and the girls made really pretty necklaces. They had a little trouble threading the beads on because they were so small and the string kept fraying but they have enjoyed playing with their necklaces when we were finished.  

Week 13: Letter M

Our theme for this week was the moon. We tried to learn about the different phases of the moon but that wasn't received to well by A and E.

For our English time we read My M Sound Box by Jane Belk Moncure, The Mitten adapted by Jan Brett, Mama for Mayor by Jan and Mike Berenstain, Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming and G. Brian Karas, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Clifford's Manners by Norman Bridwell.  Our poem for the week was "I see the Moon". I believe the author is unknown.

I see the moon
and the moon sees me.
God bless the moon
and God bless me.
 
When I see the moon
and the stars so bright,
I thank the Lord
for day and night.

For song time we sang She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain and Three Blind Mice.

For our Bible time we read about Moses. We read a fair amount about him. We started with when he was a baby. We also did his time with Pharaoh and the plagues. We ended with the crossing of the Red Sea. Our verse for the week was Colossians 3:2 "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."

For our time in math we worked on money. We went over the different coins we use and their respective values. We have also been doing the "Month Macarena" during our calendar time. Both A and E know the order of the months due to singing this song. A special thanks goes to Uncle Darren for teaching us this song and our "Days of the Week" song.

For science we spent a lot of time reading about Mars. Some books A and E really enjoyed were Mars by Lincoln James and another book entitled Mars by Thomas Adamson. A book that A really enjoyed reading was called Slow Down for Manatees by Jim Arnosky. She asked so many questions. We are going to Florida to visit some family in a few weeks. I am hoping we might be able to see one while we are there since she is really interested in them. We also looked at some pictures with a muskrat, moose, marigold, and mockingbird.

This week we didn't do that great of a job on social studies. We did try and practice using good manners which really doesn't belong any where in particular! 

Week 12: Letter L

To begin our time studying the Letter L we decided the theme would be about Lighthouses. We were able to find a lot of great books that centered around lighthouses and the role they serve for ships at sea!

For our English time some of the great books we enjoyed were: The L Sound Book by Jane Belk Moncure. Leila at the Library and the Letter L by Cynthia Klingel, Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle, Little Red Lighthouse and Great Gray Bridge by Hidegarde Swift and Lynd Ward, Gracie and the Lighthouse Cat by Ruth Brown. Our poem for the week was titled "Lighthouse" by Roger W. Hancock.

Lighthouse shines in darkest night.

warning of the rocky shores.

Foghorns blow in the thickest mist,

warn of the nearby shores.

Sounding horns and beams of light,

together exist within night's kiss.

 

For Bible time we read the Lords Prayer. I found a very nicely illustrated book called The Lord's Prayer that was done by Tim Ladwig. Our Bible verse was from Numbers 6:24 "The Lord bless you and keep you." I also took to signing this doxology to the girls. They really weren't that interested in it but it has a lot of fond memories for me. 

For math we found things that were similar in color to "lemon yellow". This was good to talk about different shades of colors. We also practiced drawing different types of lines. 
 

For science we looked at some pictures of a lobster, llama, lilac and a lorikeet.We also learned about ladybugs be reading a book called A Ladybug Larva Grows Up by Katie Marsico. A and E liked looking at the pictures and seeing how a ladybug changes from a larva to a ladybug.

For Social Studies we learned about Abraham Lincoln. We read a great book about him by Lola Schaefer. However, A and E really didn't really like this particular book. I thought it was pretty good, but I have always enjoyed history. We also learned about librarians. We read Going to a Library by Rebecca Rissman, We Need Librarians by Jane Scoggins Bauld and Our Library by Eve Bunting.

Week 11: The Letter K

 A has really taken to kites so our theme for the week was kites of course. She really wanted to go out and fly a kite after reading about them but it was too cold! Most likely we will be able to this summer. 

The books we read this week were: Kacy's Kindergarten and the Letter K (I can't remember the authors name), The Berenstain Bears - We Like Kites, My K Sound Box by Jane Belk, A Kiss for Little Bear by Maurice Sendak. Our poem for the week was entitled "Kites":

The March wind is calling,

"Come fly your kite!"

The wind is blowing

With all its might.

The kites are tossing

In the Sky.

The wind is calling,

"Come fly up high."

For our music time we had a fun time singing Kookaburra and Let's Go Fly a Kite. (A really likes Mary Poppins so we had fun dancing around the house while we sang this song.)

For our Bible time we read about King Solomon and our Bible verse was Ephesians 4:32 "Be kind to one another."

For math we looked at diamond shapes. 

For science we had fun learning about different animals. We read two really enjoyable books about animals. The first one was A Kangaroo Joey Grows Up by Joan Hewett and the other was Red Kangaroos by Edna Eckart. We also looked at pictures of the following animals: a kookaburra, kangaroo, koala and krill. We also looked at a flower called kangaroopaw!

For social studies we learned about Helen Keller. We found a good book about her by Sean Dolan. A and E asked a lot of questions about her because there were a fair amount of pictures from when Helen Keller was younger.