Week of the Cat/ Letter C

Charlie worked on matching lower and upper case letters together and then putting them in alphabetical order. (matching game from 1+1+1=1.com)

Both boys worked on lacing. Charlie decided that he wanted to make a number necklace and he arranged the 1-10 number beads on his lace.

We pulled out a new number puzzle like one I had growing up. It was easy in the fact that Charlie knows his colors and so quickly put the correct pieces together. Difficult in the fact that he is still working on his numbers and does not know some of them from sight. We have been working on the 20's and introducing 30's to him in the last 2 weeks.

We did a connect the dot ABCs, cat style.

Charlie worked on his word card puzzle. He actually sounded out the words and read Cat, fox and. (makinglearningfun.com)

We started our Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree today with our letter C. Both boys enjoyed this.

We watched Chicka Boom on youtube and had fun dancing and singing to the song.

Letter C for Caterpillar

Tracing and writing his name...so cute!

We made some of these yummies
frozen bananas covered in chocolate with pecans, coconut and sprinkles
Charlie also worked on some large dice math
He rolled the dice put the number of dice #1 in the first box etc and then added the 2 together. He can now read an equation, 5+3=8 etc. He counted up to 50 this week with his Kumon books. He is mixing up 13 and 14 less and learning to count by 10s. Numbers are still the one area that I know he could use more work in, but I am proceeding as he seems interested and willing at this point.

Charlie colored a cat face that turned into a little pocket and held C words, cowboy, corn etc. He had fun coloring all the little word tiles and would show each of them to me when he was done. It is hard to see in the picture, but little white kitty is sitting next to the crayons watching him...so cute!

Charlie is also taking great delight, both boys are really, in feeding and caring for our new dog, Bo.

This was a short week for us, only 2 days of school. But we squeezed a lot in and had a lot of fun!

Tommy's Tot School

We have been doing a lot of fun stuff with Tommy in the last 2 weeks


Playing with our Dig container. I keep it filled with rice krispies, toy cars, small cups, spoons etc. This is an all time favorite.

Helping mom make muffins on freezer cooking day.

Washing up

practiced cutting with playdough during brother's school time.

drawing, working on lines and the letter T

Sink or Float experiment with brother

Color matching game (from totally tots)

C is for Caterpillar letter of the week

another color matching game using cookie sheets and abc magnets

watching the recycling truck

and made chocolate covered bananas..yum!

Back to School! Dinosaur / letter D

We had a great break in December from our normal curriculum but it is also refreshing to get back to our routine!

This week was Dinosaur and letter D week.

Charlie worked on his Code books

He cut out shapes to make dinosaurs

The boys made fossils and LOVED this activity!

We did a few worksheets about Dinosaurs and the letter D. Charlie worked on cutting, letter writing, coloring, matching skills and recognizing other words that begin with the letter D.
We used playdough to make numbers and count

I took out some plastic dinosaurs from the library and we did a lot of pretend play with them. Charlie even made trees out of Legos for the dinosaurs to eat. We learned about a lot of different dinosaurs and different characteristics about them. I had found a fun sticker book at the dollar bins at a store and Charlie loved matching the stickers with the correct dino!
Charlie is really into make maps. He made a map of a city that had a Zoo and a Museum where the Dinosaur fossils live. Here is a picture of his Dino at the Museum
The pen is pointing to the head of the dino, the legs stradle the musuem. so cute!
We are really enjoying make charts lately. We did a Float or Sink chart and both the boys loved seeing what objects floated and which ones did not. We talked about the similarities between objects that floated, what they were made of etc, and the ones that sunk to the bottom. We even tried to make the yellow cylinder sink by putting other small objects into it to. This was great fun for us all!

Charlie has also been doing a lot of writing. Here is making his buddy Connor a bday card.
And all the kids made D for dinosaurs. It is so cute to see how each one is different.

Advent Wrap Up

Our Advent family fun continued throughout the month of December.

We learned about the Shepherds and how they went to see Jesus.
We made little sheep out of our hand prints and colored sheets.

Daddy and the boys making their sheep crafts

We also talked about the Wise men and that they brought Jesus' gifts.
We did do a coloring sheet to go with this lesson, but some how that sheet turned into a drawing of one of Charlie's famous "city scapes"
.

When our cousins were here for our Christmas dinner (a few days early) we colored our Jesus pictures.

Brandon colored this one for me.

It is easy to get lost in all the hub bub of the holiday season. It is so easy to allow making commercial magic for our children become the priority on Christmas morning. I confess, I LOVE everything about the Christmas season. I love shopping for gifts for the ones that I love, arranging presents under the tree, baking cookies, twinkling lights, Christmas music, decorating the house with fir trees and sparkling glass balls, and the visit to see Santa is high on the list. And even though we will always put cookies out for the jolly ole elf, we have also made greater strides to teach our children the true meaning of Christmas.

I feel so blessed that our family decided to take even a few short moments during this past month to talk about, read and create all around learning about our Lord and Savior. It was a great experience and something I hope that we will continue to do throughout the year.

Preparing for Christmas: Angel Gabriel and Mary

This year we started a new family tradition that I hope will last for years to come.

Each week, or every few days as it turned out, we came together as a family and worked on a project based on the happenings around the birth of Christ.

In Part l we focused on the Angel coming to speak with Mary. We read Luke 1:26-38
"Greetings, most favored one and do not be afraid. God has chosen you out of all women. Very soon you will have a baby. You must call him Jesus."

We sat down and colored a sheet and talked about why the angel came to Mary.Our coloring sheets

Then we made an angel craft.

Daddy and the boys making their angels

It was nice to be together as a family, talking about Jesus, and having fun. It was also nice to see the boys working with their Daddy. Since we primarily do most of our school and projects during the day, Daddy misses out on a lot of those moments. It was a really special moment for all of us.

Preparing for Christmas

wreath made by Charlie last Christmas 08

We have taken the month of December off of "school" to prepare for Christmas. Charlie is at a great age and I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to really teach the kids about what Christmas is all about. Sure we love the jolly ole elf, and enthusiastically await his arrival, but that is not what Christmas is really about. Jesus is the reason for the season!

Everyday we have an Advent activity planned. Some days it is as simple as decorating a Christmas tree or drinking hot chocolate and eating cookies. Other days it may be preparing our Good Samaritan boxes with toys and candy for little boys in third world countries or taking food to the food pantry at church. Playdates with friends to exchange gifts or making presents for family far away. Thanks to my dear friend Sharon for the inspiration!

Each week we will come together as a family and do a specific project preparing for the birth of our Christ. This will give us the opportunity to learn about Jesus together as a family and have fun doing it. Such a simple idea really, but one I picked up from Carissa

For me there is an excitement in the air when Christmas approaches. The lights, the food, the presents. The biggest present is Jesus! May we always remember the true meaning of Christmas. And may we plant on our children's hearts the importance of this lovely holiday.

Merry Christmas Everyone!