Week Nine: The Letter I

This week our theme was Igloo! Our vocab words for the week were: insect, inch, instrument, and inside. Since the number for the week was nine we listed nine insects, and things that were inside the house or fridge and different instruments. Some of the books we read were: Imagination and the Letter I, Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni, Dancing with the Indians by Angela Shelf Medearis, The Little Island by Margaret Wise Brown.

The poem we learned was Inch Worm by Katrina Lybbert. I made up some motions to go along with it while we recited it and A really liked that. I think it helped her learn it faster.

Our Bible verse for the week was Matthew 28:20 I am with you always.

For math we measured different things with a ruler. We walked around and just found things to measure. If I were to do this again I would have pictures on a sheet of paper and do a scavenger hunt to find them and then measure them. As I said earlier we also counted/listed nine items that were inside the house/fridge/etc along with different insects and instruments. We also looked at and talked about a pentagon.

For science we looked at Indigo Bunting, Iris, Iguana, and an Imperator Angelfish.

For social studies we learned about Indiana, our home state.

We also got out our instrument box and played along to some songs while we danced. A and E always have great fun playing our instruments!

Week Seven: The Letter G

The letter G was not a good time in our house. Mostly it came down to the fact that our printer was out of ink! Also, a lot of this was done over the holidays so really not to much got done.

Our theme for the week was glasses.

We really didn't get that many books this weeks. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown was about our only "G" book.

For Bible time we read about Gideon and learned James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above."

We really didn't have much music this week. :( We were all sad because of this. 

Wow, we really didn't do much! I think this is most of what we did. Oh wait! We did practice some cutting. I have used stickers before with working on hand writing but I took it over to cutting this week. Check it out below!

Week Eight: The Letter H

Well, since the holidays are over I figured we should get back into school. Still, it did not go so well. More it is just a matter of time. We seem to be going out and doing more than I thought we would, even in this cold weather! So I decided to do a letter every two weeks. A and E both seem to enjoy this a lot more because we spend more time on different things and I think they are able to remember more.

So, this was our first time doing a letter for two weeks and we worked on the letter H!

For our English time we read: Old Hat New Hat and The Big Honey Hunt by Stan and Jan Berenstain, My Hands by Aliki, and Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss. I was a slacker and did not get around to a poem this week. :(

For music the girls had a great time! We sang If You're Happy and You Know It (a huge hit), Home on the Range, He's Got the Whole World in His Hands, and the Hokey Pokey (also a hit). A especially loved the last one and it started to help her cement her knowledge in right and left side.

For our Bible time we read about Hannah and our memory verse for the week was: Eph. 4:30 and do not grieve the Holy Spirit.

For Math we practiced counting by hundreds. We also talked about the color brown. This week we walked around the house and counted nine brown items. Our dog was counted a few times because she followed us around. My sweet girls just love their dog!

Science we looked at honey bees and horses. They were asking lots of questions about horses! We also added to vocabulary by looking at: hedgehogs, hippopotamus, hydrangeas, hibiscus,  Harper seal and herons.

Social Studies took us west as we learned about Sam Houston. For some reason E really liked reading about him but A did not. Oh well.

A and E did not want to do an art project this week. I had planned on drawing or painting a picture of our house.

However, A really did like our physical activity, HOPSCOTCH! We did it inside because of this Midwest winter weather. This was great for a physical activity, counting, hopping, and when E played it was good for taking turns. Check it out.

Week Six: Letter F (Really this time)

As I said earlier we hadn't gotten to the letter F (our official sixth week) last week. So now we have gotten on and been learning about Frogs!

Our vocab for this week was: webbed feet, tympanum, head and body. For the rhyme I took two verses from the Frogs' Chorus. A had a lot of fun saying this, especially since I made up some hand motions to go along with it. The books we read this week were Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister and The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss (E still likes for me to read this to her since I move each foot when we read it).

We really didn't get into music this week. A and E did enjoy Five Little Speckled Frogs. They both seem to enjoy anything relating to counting and when I just look silly singing. We also did the Farmer in the Dell. I wanted to play Finiculi, Finicula but I never looked for the music. Hopefully I will do it next time around.

For our Bible time we read about the feeding of the 5,000.  (Don't you just love all of those F words: feed, fish and 5,000!) Our verse for the week was: Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

We didn't do much math this week. We did do a little work on fractions with cutting things into halves or quarters. We also looked for the color green.

Science we looked at flamingo, flax, forget me not, ferret, and flounder.

When it came to social studies we read about...actually I don't think we did any social studies this week. Oops!

We did make a fan for our art project. As I said last week A and E had fun painting. We continued that this week. Then the girls were able to practice some manual skills by folding the paper. The girls were proud of their projects and couldn't wait to show Daddy when he got home.

Another fun art project we worked on this week was making turkeys. I know this doesn't relate to F but we still had fun with Thanksgiving just around the corner. The girls painted a paper bag and toilet paper roll. I then cut out their hand prints from the paper bag. After everything was dried A and I glued on the hand prints to the back of the roll. We then added eyes. A wanted to add a mouth and feet so we got out some pipe cleaners. They have made a festive decoration for this Thanksgiving holiday that looks great!

Well, we are looking forward to moving on to the letter G. Hopefully, our lives will slow down and we can enjoy learning all about glasses. If life doesn't slow down we will still continue to enjoy our time of learning as A continually asks to "Lets do school!"

Week Six: Review!

Well, it really isn't week six. We have been taking so long and enjoying our time together that I really don't remember how many weeks we have been at this. As you know I was out of town, then we had A's birthday party as soon as I got back, then we had so many family members around that I hadn't spent much time with the girls. So I decided we would take a week off and go over everything we had learned. I checked out the books the girls had enjoyed the most. We sang some of our favorite songs. Worked on the Bible verses we had learned already and just did a lot of painting. All in all it was a great week of having fun and learning together. I think we might do this in five weeks again just to go over the next five letters and review everything we have been learning!

Week Five: Letter E

For this week my wonderful MIL and husband got A and E started on the letter E and EGGS! The vocabulary words for the week were: membrane, shell, white and yolk. Our rhyme for the week was I Bought a Dozen New Laid Eggs. Our books for this week were The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper and Eva and Ethan (a First Sounds book) by Kelly Doudna. I tried to find Emma's Eggs by Margriet Ruurs but I had trouble finding it at the library.

For music we didn't have very much do to my husband said. So, if you have any songs that relate to E or eggs it would be helpful the next time we go through this letter.

For our Bible story we read about the Garden of Eden. Our Bible verse was: Romans 10:13: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 

For math time the girls worked on counting five and identifying ovals. A liked practicing drawing ovals.

Science time the girls looked at emperor penguins, elm, eucalyptus, egret, elk and elephant seal.

I tried to get the A and E interested in Albert Einstein but they weren't really interested in him. They wanted to have fun and play after I had been gone for awhile.

We did have fun making egg carton caterpillars. We took old egg crates and colored them. I got some pom poms for eyes and pipe cleaners to make antennas. A really enjoyed making them but E wasn't ready for it. This was a nice way to have fun and enjoy some fun time together after being going for awhile. 

Week Four: Letter D

Wow, I hadn't realized how long it has been since I wrote last. Life with two little kids just makes me realize where our priorities are. We have still had lots of fun learning. Awhile back my wonderful MIL watched the girls while I helped my step-mom move. (Also another reason to not have written lately.) She worked with them for part of the week while I was gone. She helped them continue in our work and learning all about DINOSAURS! A has really enjoyed looking at and reading about dinosaurs so I was hopeful she would still.

For vocabulary the girls learned a few of the names for the different dinosaurs. The poem for the week was Down in the Dell. It doesn't relate to dinosaurs but it was still enjoyable. Some of the books we the girls found amsuing were: Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman, Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff, and Dashing Dog by Margaret Mahy.

For music we did a lot of singing. A and E really enjoyed a dinosaur song set to the tune of No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. We also did Hey Diddle Diddle, How Much is that Doggie, and the Farmer in the Dell.

For our Bible time we read about Daniel and the Lions Den. A has really enjoyed this story before and she helped E get into the story. For our scripture verse we worked on Psalm 118:24: This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Our math time was lacking this week. We did some practice with the four. I wanted to work on measuring distance on different things. But, like I said, we were lacking on math this week, maybe next time around we can do a better job.

For science we looked at: dove, daffodil, dahlia, donkey and dolphins. We read a few books about dolphins. A and E liked reading about them.

For social studies we tried to learn about Daniel Boone and deserts. A and E weren't really interested in either of these this week.

I am trying to remember what we did for art this week and I really can't. Maybe it wasn't that interesting.