Light Box Tracing

One of the many AWESOME birthday gifts Lyssy received this year was this Fashion Designer.

It came with this GREAT light box! Only problem is that the people transparencies that it came with are alittle hard for Lyssy to make just yet. Luckly, mommy was VERY inspired by this AWESOME light box (I think I've been unconsciously wanting one of these because I can't get over how great it is). I got some transparency paper and started making things for her to trace.

This is GREAT for beginning writing practice!

I made a few things that she is ALWAYS asking me to draw for her, along with her first and last name, the alphabet letters, and some numbers.

Oh and don't worry, Lyssy loves the light box just as much as I do!!

Ii lessons

It's the letter Ii week! It is Incredible to think that we are almost done with our letter of the week lessons! I have a few ideas of what we'll be doing next, but I'm not completely settled on anything yet.

Art:
-Ink Ii- I showed them what ink was by breaking a pen and then we wrote on the letter Ii with ink.

Lyssy is concentrating so hard!

-Initial Art
-Make Ice structures
-Invisible Art
-Make Instruments- we made paper plate maracas and then had alittle parade.


Science:
-Inchworm farm
-Search for Insects
-How long does it take for Ice to melt?

Math:
-Measure Inches
-Insect counting and patterns

Cooking:
-Ice cream sundaes
-Italian bread
-Icing

Movement:
-Instrument parade

Literacy:
-Brainstorm Ideas

Social:
-locate Iowa and Indiana on map

More Ii words:
iguana
impossible
igloo
Italy
icicle
Indian
introduce

Jj Week

We are Ready for a Jolly Good Week!

Art:
-Jean Jj's- I wanted to do jewel Jj's, but I didn't have any jewels. I did however have a pair of stained jean shorts, so I cut them up and let the kiddos glue them onto their Jj's.

-Jungle painting
-jelly fish

Science:
-plant Jasmine
-make Jar water sounds

Math:
-Estime how many Jellybeans are in the Jar
-Graph Jellybeans
-Make Jelwery
-Jar and lid fittings

Cooking:
-Jello
-Jellyroll
-Juice

Movement/Outside:
-Jump
-Jiggle
-Jive
-Juggle
-Jog
-Jumping Jacks

Literacy:
-Jack and Jill
-Jack and the Beanstalk
-Tell Jokes
-Jack be Nimble
-Jazz music
-Jesus
-John, Jacob, Jingle Heimer Schmidt

More Jj Words:
job
Japan
joy
June
January
July
jester
Jack O' Lantern
jet
jigsaw
jealous
jittery
jaguar
jail
jingle
jacket
jersey
jeep
jumble
jaws
journey
juniper
jug

Ss Lessons

We are SO happy to be getting back to our letter of the week, we all really missed the routine of it during our 2 week break. That said, I am Seriously overwhelmed by the amount of words and activities that can be done with the letter Ss. It really could be spread out over 2 or 3 weeks, but we will just have to save much of it for another time. Here is what we are doing this week.


Art:
-Star Stickers on Letter Ss

- Spray painting, cut dried art into sun

- Sponge painting

- Cutting with Scissors (TTT)

-Stamps (TTT)

Science:

-Straw/blowing races

-5 Senses- focusing on sense of smell and hearing sounds

-4 Seasons- focusing on Spring and Summer

Math:

-Sorting Shapes (TTT)

-Straw Lacing (TTT)

-Shallow/deep, Small/large

-Sort Seashells (TTT)

-Skittle Graphing

Cooking:

-Stone Soup

-Salad

-Spaghetti

-Sandwiches

Movement/Outside:

-Skip

-Simon Says

-Slide

-Spin

-Kick Soccer

Sensory Table:

-Sand

-Shaving Cream

-Scrubbing Stuff with Soap and Sponge

-Shredded paper

Table Top Toys (also known as work boxes or activity boxes):

Listed above as TTT

Literacy:

-Sing Songs

-Ss Tongue Twisters

Other Ss words:

silly

sock

snack

shoe

seven

sky

super

spider

story

snail

safe

snake

silence

serious

sift

spread

sticky

sensitive

suck

slurp

special

space

seal

squish

scallops

shrimp

squash

strawberry

shut

shirt

squirrel

sail

sneeze

squiggle

seed

snow

shake

salt

skeleton

sink

send

Letter Ll Lessons

We are ready for another Lovely Week!

Art:
-Lace Ll
-Lemon and Lime printing
-Linguini painting
-Ladybug rocks

Science:
-Invisible Ink (lemon juice)
-Lemon and Lime taste test (talk about bitter, sweet, sour, and savory)
-Living and nonliving
-Land/Air/Sea

Math:
-Count Leaves
-Opposites: little/big, left/right, light/dark, large/small, long/short
-Sort Laundry

Cooking:
-Lemonade
-Linguini
-Log cabins

Movement/Outside:
-Lunge
-Leap
-Follow the Leader
-Hunt for leaves, lizards, and ladybugs

Social Studies:
-LA
-President Lincoln

Literacy:
-Mary had a Little Lamb
-Library

Table Top Toys:
-Lincoln Logs
-Legos
-Lacing

Ll words:
lollipop
licorice
lettuce
lawn
lazy
lion
like
leeks
lasagna
lentils
lanterns
language
leg
ladder
lake
lobsters
lost
look
laugh
lunch
lines
listen
love
letters
lick
leopard

ABC Picnic Table Talk

Today's picnic talk over at ABC and 123 is the Alphabet. I don't even know where to start!! At the beginning of the year I decided that I needed to put my early childhood education to better use in my own house and do more organized lessons with my kiddos. Aidman was really struggling with the alphabet at school, so I decided to start with that. I wanted to give myself a doable plan of action so not to overwhelm myself. The plan was to have one activity a week in each area (art, science, math, cooking, and movement), now it has turned into about 3 activities a week in each area (with more areas added from time to time ie: social studies, plus table top toys).


I can't pick just one letter that we have liked doing, because we have loved SO MANY!!!


Every Monday to start off the new letter we sit down together and brainstorm all the words that start with that letter. I draw all the easy words on a paper. The kiddos LOVE this!! I hang that paper on the wall for the entire week and then we add it to a book we are making of all mammy drawn letters.

Letter Rr

Letter Hh

Another thing we LOVE doing is the letter art project. I always give the kiddos an object that starts with the letter and have them apply it to the letter that has been written on the paper.

Velvet Vv

Koolaid Paint Kk

If you look at my side bar you can see all the different letters and what we have done with each. This plan of action has REALLY worked well in my house and it really helps us to be on purpose with what we do.

Cc Lessons

I am feeling very Calm and Collected today due to my moms getaway weekend. Hopefully we will not have a Crazy week!

Art:

-Cotton ball Cc

-Car tracks painting

-Cut with scissors (TTT)

-Color with Crayons (TTT)

-Play with Clay

-Chalk

-Collage art (TTT)

Science:

-Caterpillar life cycle

-Clouds

-Grow Crystals

Math:

-Count Cars

-Cards, number recognition (TTT)

-Games: Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Cooking:

-Chocolate Chip Cookies

-Cc Muffin Tin Monday- carrots, cheese, crackers, cherry tomatoes, crasins, candy

Movement/Outside:

-Crab Craw

-Cat stretch

-Catch Ball

Social Studies:

-Canada

Cc Words:

cabbage

clown

cucumber

coconut

celery

circle

corn

cage

circus

Christmas

children

chop

cobra

crocodile

clean

cry

cook

cough

craft

can

cheerleader

cactus

cane

castle

clock

cones

Tt Lessons

This is going to be a Terrific and BUSY week!

Art:
-Tissue paper Tt
-Tracing (TTT)
-Tiger painting
-Triangle art (TTT)

Science:
-Turtles, visit them
-Bottle Tornadoes
-Tube Tunnels for marbles

Math:
-Toothpick and marshmallow structures
-Count to 2, 3, 10, 12,20
-Train Puzzle
-Teddy bear weighing (TTT)
-Toothpicks in vase (TTT)
-Textures (TTT)

Cooking:
-Tomato pic
-Tuna sandwiches

Movement/Outside:
-Tag
-Walk a Trail
-Play Twister
-Throw a ball
-Jump on Trampoline

Literacy:
-Tootie Ta song
-Teddy Bear song
-Tongue twisters
-Talk on Telephone

Social Studies:
-Texas

Table Top:
listed above as TTT

Tt words not listed above:
tangerine
tapioca
taffy
tools
time
tree
trucks
tall
tale
thank you
tiny
tulle
trash
tennis
tub
toes
Titantic
touch
tummy
taste
terrified
teeth

Ff Lessons

We are going to have a Fantastic Ff week!! Actually, the next several weeks are going to be super busy as I have chosen (yes that's right, I get to choose the letter because Aidman's school is almost over) letters that have a ton of great words to use.

Art:
-Feather Ff
- Finger painting (I may have the kids cut the paper into fish or flowers after it dries)
-Feet painting

Science:
-Go to visit Frogs and Fish at pet store
-Learn Fire safety
-Parts of a Flower

Math:
-Flour in sensory tube
-Float and Sink
-Counting with 4, 5, 14, 15

Cooking:
-Fudge
-Fruit Kabobs

Movement/Outside:
-Follow the leader
-Leap Frog

Social Studies:
-Fantastic Florida!

Literacy:
-List Family and Friends
-Talk about our Favorite things
-Tell Funny jokes

Table Top Toys: (just so happens to be tons of math this week)
-Forest and Farm memory game
-Farm puzzles
-Farm animal patterns and counting
-Flower lacing

Ff words: (not listed above)
figs
french toast
french fries
fondue
firefly
Friday
February
food
feelings
floor
far
forward
frown
fairy

Uu lessons

I am feeling alittle uninspired and underwhelmed about this weeks lessons.

Art:
-Umbrella Uu
-Unique Art
-Look at Paolo UcCello's paintings

Science:
-Universe and Uranus
-Ultrasound pictures of them

Math:
-Fine motor- Unzip, unbutton, untie, unbend
-Opposites- under/over, up/down

Cooking:
-Pineapple Upside down cake
-Ugly biscuits

Movement/Outside:
-Underwater swimming
-Hang Upside down

Social Studies:
-United States

Uu Words (not used above):
unicorn
uncle
unusual
unicycle
urban
ugly
ufo
ukulele
utopia
under ware
underline
ultra
unit
ultraviolet
umpire
ultrasound

Zz Week

We are going to have a Zany and Zippy Zz Week!!

Art:
-Zig Zag Zz
-Paint Zebra stripes

Science:
-Plant Zinnias
-Zoo, we can't go because it field trip month and it will be crazy, but the kiddos just went a couple months ago so we will make a book out of the Zoo animal pictures.

Math:
-Ziploc number bags

Cooking:
-Baked Ziti
-Zucchini
-Zoo snack- paint animal crackers with royal icing mixed with food coloring

Movement/Outside:
-Zoom across yard

Social Studies:
-Locate Zepherhills, FL on our map and take a drive there

Bible:
-Zacchaeus

Table Top Toys:
-Zoo Animals
-Rulers and paper
-Gluing together wood shaped to make into magnets

Zz words: (not above)
zero
zipper
zippity
Zimbabwe
Zhob River
Zaire
Zambia
Zorro
Zap
Zephyrosaurus
zone
zither
zipptydeedoda

Yeast Experiment

Today we decided to do a Yeast experiment for the letter Yy. We made two batches of rolls, one had yeast and the other did not, other than that they were exactly the same. When Aidman added yeast to the clear bowl, he bent down and said "Yum, that smells like bread".

From the start you could tell there was a difference. The one without was very sticky.

This is after the first rising. The one on the left has yeast.

Lyssy and Ab thought it was so much fun to play in the flour.

Ab was not interested in the rolls because she just wanted to play with flour, so Lyssy and I did all the work. Lyssy kneaded it.

Lyssy cut the rolls into circles.

Here are the rolls getting ready to rise again. The yeast rolls are on the left.

Here they are after the rising.

Now the yeast rolls are on the right. The non yeast rolls spent an extra 5 minutes in the oven and are dark on the bottom and very light on the top.

Visibly, yeast made a BIG difference. Tastefully, yeast made an even BIGGER difference. I wish I would have gotten a picture of Aidman's face when he bit into the non yeast rolls, he was disgusted.

We all LOVED this experiment!! Cooking is one thing, but figuring out why you should add a certain ingredient adds so much to the already awesome cooking experience.

BTW, the yeast rolls were wonderful! Here is the recipe.

2 1/2 cups bread flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons shortening

1 pack active dry yeast

1 cup water

1 egg

Dissolve yeast in water. Mix dry ingredients, crumble shortening into dry mix. Add egg and yeast water, mix. Place a damp cloth over and rise for 45 minutes. Knead dough, flatten out and cut into circles. Lay on buttered pan touching, lay damp cloth over and rise for another 30- 45 minutes. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Yy Work

I got both of these ideas from Mozi Esme and my kiddos loved them so much that I just had to post about them.

I've actually seen this yo-yo painting on many blogs. I knew the very first time I saw it that I would use it during the letter Yy week.

It really was alot of fun.

The yo-yo's are made of knee highs and beans, that's it.

Today we stuck tooth picks into yams. My kids LOVED doing this and it's such a simple thing to do! It was GREAT for their fine motor skills.

Aidman named his yam several different names, but he's in bed now and I forget what they were, opps.

Yellow Yarn Yy and Unplugged

I have been wanting to do an Unplugged Project for awhile now. Today when I saw that the theme was yellow, I thought it was just perfect because we did several yellow things for the letter Yy today.

We cut yellow yarn. It was kinda hard with kiddie scissors, so mommy did most of the cutting.

Then we glued Yellow Yarn to a Yy.

YAY, a Yellow Yy!

For our Table Top Toys this week I put out water transfer. Because it is Yy week, I added yellow food coloring the the water.

The kiddos are really enjoying squeezing out the sponge.

Yy Week

I LOVE Monday mornings. Weird huh? I look forward to all the fun things we do on Mondays, letter introduction is ALOT of fun, showing the kiddos the new table tops toys for the week, and of course Muffin Tin Monday. To get ready for Monday mornings can be work, but I enjoy it.

Art:
-Glue Yellow Yarn to Yy
-Yo-yo painting

Science:
-Yeast- make 2 batches of rolls, 1 with yeast and 1 without, and see what happens

Math:
-Yams, (fine motor activity) stick toothpicks in
-Measure Yard with our footprints

Cooking:
-Yeast rolls
-Yogurt parfaits
-Yorkshire pudding

Movement/Outside:
-Yoga
-Yodel in the Yard

Social Studies:
-watch youtube of Yellowstone National Park and locate it on our map (Aidman is really into the map lately)

Table Top Toys:
-Yellow water transfer with sponge
-counting shells
-flower garden

Books: (going to the library tomorrow)
Yertle the Turtle

More Yy words: (not listed above)
Yell
Yes
Yawn
You
Yak
yuck
yardstick
Yankee
yippie
yank
yacht
year

Oobleck

Today we made Oobleck for the letter Oo. Aidman decided he didn't want to participate, so we didn't make him. Laneybug and Lyssy made it by themselves.

They wanted purple so they mixed blue and red food coloring together.

I LOVED that Lyssy called it "Gooey Gooey".

They had a really good time playing with it. Again Aidman didn't even touch it, don't know why.

Here's the recipe.

In a small bowl mix 3/4 cup water and 1 cup glue (2- 4 oz bottles)- add food coloring if you want it colored. In a larger bowl mix 1 teaspoon 20 mule team borax (got it at Wal-mart) and 1/2 cup hot water. Pour the glue into the borax solution and let it sit for a few minutes. Stir together- the more you mix the water will absorb- we used our hands once most of the water was gone just to get a good consistency. Pour off any remaining water and enjoy!!

In Order

Yesterday we practiced putting things in Order. We had some sequencing cards (which comes first, girl cooking, eating, or washing dishes, sort of thing) that we did for awhile. Then mama came up with the idea of putting numbers in the correct counting order.

I gave Aidman Popsicle sticks 1-10 and Lyssy 1-5 to put in order.

They liked it so much that they wanted to put their names in Order!

It was cute to see them get excited about coming up with their own game.