Review Letter E and squash bugs!

I can't believe that April is almost over. It has been fun starting this blog. I am still playing with ideas so feedback would be much appreciated!

I am not going to mention circle time unless there is something new to report. It is pretty repetitive but we mostly talk about our day,songs, finger plays and the weather. We will often do a story too.

Writing/language: Sow we reviewed letter E as in egg and elephant.

We are crazy about bugs at least the ones that don't bite or sting! I saw this on pre-kpages.com.The activity is called In the tall tall grass.

Need: 1.construction paper or I used scrap book paper.2.scissors.

First fold the bottom of the paper up to not quite halfway. This will be your flap and the place to hide your bugs. Cut the top of the flap to look like blades of grass.

 Next I made my bugs from clip art.I decided to use it as a review for sounds that we have been working on.1.A for ant.B for butterfly.C for caterpillar.D for dragonfly.F for fly and G for grasshopper. I then did  different numbers for each bug for ex.2 butterflies.Cut them out and hide them in the grass.

 

The last step is to write out a sheet that says I  can see___butterflies. Continue for each one.  I see 2 butterflies.Sorry I need to get a better camera.

Our next activity was a ton of fun!I call it Bug Stomping. I took those same bugs and put them on the floor. Then I cut small pieces of paper to draw randomly.The sounds were A-D and F,and G. When I called out a sound. The kids picked out the bug that started with that sound and squashed it with their own shoes.

Here we go ready?!.................b buh.......

SMASH!

Toddler time: Letter recognition with ABC song and hearing sounds.Counting and gross motor skills and coordination for squishing bugs! Gross motor skills uses the big muscles like running,jumping,climbing and balance. Fine motor skills and hand eye coordination for picking bugs up. Fine Motor skills are using the smaller muscles like hands cutting paper, and picking things up.Color green.

Preschool Party:Writing and Language.Letter E sound recognition and application.Listening and following directions.Using both motor skills.Counting and grouping.I am also trying to increase my daughters attention span for Kindergarten.

Thanks for playing with us! Next week we will be doing the letter K,l and X.Themes will be about me and my family kindness,filling our buckets and bees.



Review G and water table

As promised here is my water table. It is just a simple under the bed storage. We already have a sand box so they mixed the two with different containers and added rocks. It was a big hit so I ended up not doing centers today.

Circle time is a great time to talk to the kids and also to sing. We sing lots of songs including, If your Happy and you know it, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, Pop Corn Popping on the Apricot Tree, Twinle Twinkle llttle Star and we are learning Mary had  a  little Lamb. It is important I think to incorporate music everyday.

We have been reviewing the letter sounds for A-I. It has been a little difficult for my daughter to catch on. Does anyone have any good ideas? I have been trying to have her blend the letter she knows with A-I like red, bed,fed,bad, had,cab,dad,hid,bid. She gets really frustrated and wants to stop. I always listen to my kids if they want to stop so they don't get frustrated. She is doing really good writing her letters though.

I saw this cool idea on icanteachmychild.com/2-3/. She had many I spy games. I took her idea but I changed it. We took old magazines and cut out letters, shapes,numbers. Lexi had a lot of fun with cutting.I let her cut into a box. We took the cutouts and glued it to make our own I spy mats.



I spy mats



We are still practicing sharing.I also introduced family signs like mom, dad, brother,sister,aunt, uncle, grandma,and grandpa.We will be learning these signs and doing our family unit soon.

Review letters E,I and G, and the color red

At the end of the month I like to do a review. This month we were working on letters E,I and G. We practiced our sounds A-I. My daughter is having problems with some of the sounds so we will keep practicing. There really is no rush.

Circle time and toddler time.We sang the welcome song we do every time. If I find it online I will let you know.Head shoulders knees and toes and other fun songs. Talk about the weather and log it in her book. Went to her desk and practiced writing the letter E from top to bottom or what most teachers call the school way. My daughter wanted to draw a butterfly so she did. We also talked about the days of the week.

Math-I gave the kids a plate. We talked about its color,red. It is a circle.Then I had them pick the fruit and food from the hungry caterpillar week. They picked 5.Then I asked them how many were red. I had to help my toddler count.Picture is above.We also took a muffin tin and put a number 1-5 in each tin. We made our first brown bag popcorn.It worked and is so much cheaper! They put the number of popcorn in the corresponding tin of the same number

I might start to add behavior goals or manners to the mix. Today we did sharing. My toddlers favorite words are "mine" and "no". We practiced holding the doll and giving it kisses or hugs. I laid on the praise! We will be practicing that for sure more often!

10:00am-Snack and outside time

10:30-11:30-I did something different. I noticed that teachers do centers but as I do not have that much space I just broke up my room into 4 sections. The kids could stay in their center for 15 minutes and then switch. My daughter didn't want to switch but stay in the art center so tomorrow she promised she would try switching so we will see. The 4 centers we had were art center, reading, dress up and puzzles.

11:30am-lunch and outside time.Often times we will go outside for a picnic. Today we did sand play the kids kept making me things to eat. Soon to come is a water table I hope!

 

12-2 Naps and books and my TV time. It is usually cut short by the kids wanting to watch their shows.

 2-snacks and outside play.Then we pick up my first grader.

4-study time.I have already witnessed too many moms with kids who swear they have no homework so I call it study time and depending on the age is how long of a time it is. If your teenagers pull that and you don't know what to teach have them just sit at the table.Maybe their homework will magically appear! For my Pre-K I did a flip book that I got from the school that they want us to do everyday. It has a parent side and a kids side. In this one she had to point to colors as they were mentioned in a story.

This is the schedule that I am sticking with for now. Hope you enjoy my page!

5 ways to make your morning more peaceful and enjoyable

How did every ones week go? Did you make some goals? Did you follow through? What worked and what didn't work? If you feel like you are ready to move on and make a new goal for your happiness then go over your list of negative thoughts first. Maybe add to it or do the next one. If you are not ready to move on then take your goal from last week and adjust it and try again. I mentioned earlier that the examining part of your blueprint takes the most time. Be patient with this. As you find balance and peace internally the atmosphere in your home and relationships inside the home and outside will begin to change.

I want to mention too that if you are holding on to ill feeling towards a person or an event in your past or even towards yourself cast that stone from your view it is stopping your progression. We want our happiness to last so it always starts with pointing the finger at ourselves and being ready to make the changes to get us there.I don't mean to say that you should bame yourself or talk bad about yourself. I just want you to refine yourself first before you try to change other aspects. It is all about our attitude and whether we want something bad enough. I want to not struggle everyday with my health and energy but I went out to find what works for me to get through my day and though I am no where near completing my blueprint. It is coming together. The secret to success is time and to seize every moment.Do what you want to do make it work.Decide what is most important to you and pause everything else. I want to help you all to live in the moment good or bad.

I did an experiment this week and wanted to share what I learned. It took me a while but I found that if I did certain things in the morning it centered me in a way and helped me find peace even when it was a bad day. I hope as you read the following that you might find some things that work for you and how truly simple it is to find pockets of time for yourself. 1. I love to wake up slowly.I find that if I lay in my bed and take deep breathes that I am calm. If you wake up in a panic because you are late imagine your mind being jumbled and confused the rest of the day. You are tense and stress had already started to creep in. Do your best to allow time to get up early. 2.After I lay there and think of what a great day I am going to have I stretch my neck legs and whole body. Think about it if you have been laying down all night your body is tight and will protest performing its duties. Take a few minutes to stretch. 3.I then pray and meditate where I focus on just my breath and let go of all stress. Now I can tackle my morning.4. Hopefully I have prepared lunches and know my to do list from studying it the night before. There is no next thing on my list just whatever I am doing at that time.Which is usually trying to get my kids out the door. They too are organized laying their shoes out and clothes, backpacks.It really does work so don't skip this step. Hopefully you have extra time for what I call cuddle mania. 5.Shower your kids with attention. Be part of their morning.Talk to them about their day and all the fun things they will do. Write cute notes in their lunches or email and text your honey. Always allow extra time for emergencies or just to be calm and relaxed. Avoid the tendency to rush and do a million things at once.

So that is my mornings usually except last week was a very tough one because of allergies and not enough sleep that i didn't do any of the following and guess what? I hit snooze, I was tight and stressed. I get irritated with my house and kids. To sum it up it was hard to center myself and find my happy place. Anytime you are stressed taking time to breathe and calm down and re-evaluate is key.What is our hurry these days really? How much of it is important? Truly ask yourself these things and make a morning routine if you do not have one. Try mine or take bits and pieces. It will help you stay sane as a busy mom and put into perspective what is truly important.

I started my morning this way today and that is my goal for the week. To slow down my mornings and be more prepared. I hope you all make it a great day and let me know what you think or what I should add.

Breathe, relax and be calm.

Letter I continued and number 5 introduced.

 

Day 2 of our Caterpillar and butterfly theme. This a picture that didn't turn out so well  but it is suposed to be a caterpillar eating a leaf.I told the kids that they start out very tiny ans they eat and eat and eat. My daughter said like our baby? Yes just like our baby so he can grow and get bigger. For circle time we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.The kids loved putting their fingers in the holes and my preschooler daughter knew the story after one time of reading it. Of course we reviewed letter sounds A-I and introduced the #5.How many fingers do you have? How many toes? 5

 Next we took each item that the caterpillar ate and we made 1 apple, 2 pears and 3 plums and so on. I cut a hole in them to put a caterpillar through.To make the caterpillar we took one I found on clip art and glued it to a Popsicle stick. The caterpillar is on my daughters nose.   

For toddler time we talked about the fruits and the colors and we counted each type as we stuck the caterpillar through the food shown on the picture on the right. Down below is our color match with 5 caterpillars and 5 butterflies.He had to match the colors up for example, yellow caterpillar to yellow butterfly.

I wanted to say a little bit about toddler time. They absorb so much at this age. They are like little sponges.It is important to have a structured routine that they can depend on and to have a lot of repetition. If they want to stop an activity stop and do something else.If they want to join in an activity that you are teaching let them.They do need a lot of supervision though. It is important to go at their own pace. At this age they are little scientists they throw things to see what will happen, they touch everything. They like to pull and push things. Get down with them and observe what they do. We are a musical family so their is a lot of music and silly dancing.Other favorites are finger plays.Many of them you can find on line. I also teach them sign language.Since they don't talk for a while it is nice when they can sign milk and you know exactly what they want. My daughter on the bottom picture is signing red. We found red things around the room.

A-Z learn with me! Letter I lesson and Butterfly theme

Circle time-1.look at weather  and record in weather log, 2.Review letter sounds A-I. Introduce the letter I and its sound. Here is our letter I box all I could find was ice cream.Reading-Becoming butterflies by Anne Rockwell. The book is about a class that watches a caterpillar changes into a butterfly.

Dance on the caterpillar. For this activity you need construction paper,scissors and a pen. Cut out 27 circles. Write alphabet letter on  each circle. Mix them up and have them arrange them in alphabetical order. Toddler time- have them tell you he colors of circles. Sing ABC and Itsy Bitsy spider.That is a picture of my little guy singing Itsy Bitsy Spider.

 

The skills they will be learning is recognizing shapes and colors. It is important to expose them to music and lots of dancing. After they have done that leave only a few circles and play music.Have them dance on circles and when the music stops.Freeze!

How to gain and keep a positive perspective

 

Hey this is to all you wonderful moms who do so much but always feel like you fall short. I know I struggle with this on a daily basis. Don't sell yourself short! I saw this segments on Studio 5 where they talked about to do lists and I feel like mine is never ending!! She mentioned Ta da lists to write down what you did accomplish. I tried it and I felt so much better. We can do it just take one day and one task at a time. Our days of multi tasking should be over!

We are continuing to work on things and as we do this I think that you will notice that other places in your life start to look better and you see them in a different perspective. I think that Perspective is an important part of a blueprint for happiness.We do not see ourselves like others do.We do not see situations the same as others. Richard G Scott said the following:                           !

“When I take a small pebble and place it directly in front of my eye, it takes on the appearance of a mighty boulder. It is all I can see. It becomes all-consuming—like the problems of a loved one that affect our lives every waking moment. When the things you realistically can do to help are done, leave the matter in the hands of the Lord and worry no more. Do not feel guilty because you cannot do more. Do not waste your energy on useless worry. The Lord will take the pebble that fills your vision and cast it down among the challenges you will face in your eternal progress. It will then be seen in perspective. In time, you will feel impressions and know how to give further help. You will find more peace and happiness, will not neglect others that need you, and will be able to give greater help because of that eternal perspective” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1988, 70; or Ensign, May 1988, 60).

    We don't always realize that your perception of yourself or your family atmoshpere is being blocked by this "all-consuming" thoughts.Change your thoughts and thought patterns and what you can control and  you change your blueprint and ultimate plan. For an example in the morning I used to wake up dreading the chores and my mile long to do list. Now before I go to bed I tell myself  all the things to look forward to,like writing this blog.When I wake up in the morning I tell myself it is going to be a good day and I get myself excited. You know the saying you are what you eat.Well, I think that we are what we think. Thinking negatively or one bad part of your day and all is over is like a domino effect.It continues to go if you let it to affect everything and everyone. The same is true for a positive outlook. Now I know what you are thinking. What if it is just a bad day?Is it or isn't it? It depends on how you see it. Do you have control of you? Environmental influences creep in and that you have no control of .It is how you react and process your events of the day that is in your control.I hope this improves your perspective and what might be stopping you.  If you haven't been honest with the things that are cluttering your life then now is the time. Keep Spring cleaning your mind.Clear it out and start over little by little you will see the change I know I have and do everyday. 

                                           Breathe, relax and be calm

 

20 ideas for your plastic Easter eggs

    I love those plastic Easter Eggs but what do you do with them after Easter is over? I have been using them a lot to entertain my kids or use in my pre-schol lessons

1. I use it for the letter of the week.When they find for example the letter G they have to say its name and sound.I hide several more empty ones.
2. You can also do the alphabet and have them unscramble it and put it in Alphabetical Order.
3. Use them for rewards.For example at the end of the week for egg-celent behavior I would let them pick an egg.You can put candy in it or little toys.
4. Put glow in the dark bracelets in egg and ave them search for them in the dark.
5. If routines are getting boring I might hide the eggs in their room and it will tell them what to do next like brush their teeth or pick up pajamas and put it in the hamper.
6. Use it to count.
7. Ask you kids if they think the egg will float or sink what if you open it and put the halves in water?
8. Make goup and put it in the eggs.
9. Race with egg on a spoon.If you have a group you can make it a relay.Have them go around chairs etc
10. Scoot egg halves on a hard floor see who can scoot it the farthest.
11. Play hot potato.Play music and have the kids pass the egg around.When the music stops so does the egg and whoever has it is out.
12. Open all the eggs and have the kids put the eggs back together and have a race.
13. My daughter like making maracas.You could put other objects in their and have them listen for the different sounds.
14. Roll eggs down a ramp.You can make the ramp from cereal boxes,books whatever you have in the house.You can also roll them down the driveway.Roll them though paint and roll on paper.Or use it as a stamp.Take egg halves in paint and stamp on paper.They can make designs
15. Stack the egg halves on top of each other the person to put the egg piece that makes it fall is out.
16. Use as a stencil for ovals.You can create almost anything.
17. Have them group them by colors.
18. Use eggs to make a pattern like blue blue pink blue blue...what comes next.
19. Put spelling word broken into individual letters and have them unscramble to spell word.Good for 1rs grade and up.
20. Great entertainment for babies let them chase it around the room and squeal with delight.

    If you have any ideas let me know I am sure that there is more.

How to use whatever you are doing to teach

      Life is what you make of it-

     I woke up this morning with a bad case of Allergies.I couldn't see and I was so miserable!I put my sinus mask on to help with the discomfort.Then I put 2 spoons in the freezer and took them out in a minute and out them on my eyes.It acts just like cold cucumbers and brings down the swelling.My kids saw me so they got out spoons.We had so much fun goofing around.We also had a race with eggs on a spoon.I had not planned it as part of my lesson.Those are the moments you treasure forever.I try when I am teaching my 5 year old not to leave out the baby. I will continue to give tips to include the 1-3 year old.The best tip I can give you is to give them containers and something they can put in and out over and over.It is the best entertainment I have found!Get down on the floor and let them suck them into your world of playing                           

      My daughter said one day that she was going to make a robot mom and dad.I asked her why and she said that the robot dad could go to work and the robot mom could clean the house.It was a real eye opener to remind me how much the kids just want our time.I think that is why I teach my kids until they go to Kindergarten.I get to play with them and really enjoy them.We forget as parents the art of playing.

        Another little tidbit is that we can use playing to find out what is bothering our kids or what they are thinking.We use Barbie dolls where my daughter or I is the mom and we act it out.What a great way to tell what they are thinking and they think that they are playing.

     The insects swallowed the alphabet!.Hurry and get the letters and put them in Order.My toddler open and closed the eggs and put the papers back in it.Repetition is the key we also counted and talked about the colors.My Pre-k would talk to him too and tell him this is S and this is F. Then we played a game where you use the Easter eggs again.You only need 3,open them up so they are in half..Then take a small object and put it under half of the egg.Move it around and see if they can guess where it is.We talked about a half and whole.We counted the stones and just goofed around for a while.My toddler kept putting the stones in and out of the bag.

     For the next I drew a picnic blanket.It is very simple all you need is a piece of paper ,and an ink pad.You take the paper and. make it checkered.On the White squares you do three finger prints and have them count to three.I had to help my toddler but he was counting with me.I got this idea for the finger print ants at the following site. http://www.greatestresourcechildcare.com/AprilPreschoolLessonPlans.html

Plenty more to come on the many ways to use Easter eggs!

How to use letter G in lesson

Hi! I am excited for this week! I hope that you are enjoying the lessons and that special time you get with your kids. I am trying to get more organized.I have more of a schedule now.We did circle time with a book.This book is called Because a Little Bug went ka-choo.By Rosetta Stone. Look outside and record it in weather book.  We talked about when we get mad do we kick things or people? No!We picked out the words that rhymed.We found dropped and bopped,Jake and Lake,down and brown,stone and alone,Mary Lou and through,sink and think,yelp and help,fast and mast,down and town,afraid and parade,forget and yet,true and ka-choo.We also talked about up and down, near and far, in front or behind,under and over.Count eggs and put on groups.All of these activities were done from 9:30-10.At 10:00am we go outside and have snack time.

 What you need:plastic eggs to count and make sure they can match colors or designs.                        

Print the letter G from this website.Have kids color.http://www.first-school.ws/t/alpha1_dn/g1.htm .Get together letter G box.We found coincidentally green gators, green grass and flower that grows and grass.Ears to hear sounds hide behind couch and have them guess sounds.

                                                                                   

Of course we had to play head shoulders knees and toes.Play where is your nose,mouth,eyes and ears for your toddler.Play head shoulders knees and toes.Talk about ears and why they are important.What if you couldn't hear? Bang on the drum a slow beat means walk and fast beat means run. Bell means to kneel down. A whistle means to stop and put your hand in the air. After they are comfortable with these sounds and what they mean combine them.

11:30-12:00pm-Outside play and lunch.We decided to combine it and have a picnic outside and we brought our favorite books.

                                                                               

Happy Easter

It has been a good Easter.We celebrated my daughters b-day with more family.We did an Easter theme.I always go to parties where they wow me with their decorations and theme. I wanted to really impress this time. So here are decorating ideas for any party.I saw it on Studio 5.

                                                                                              

    

                                                                                                                     

In the muffin tins believe it or not that is water and lemons that I froze in the freezer.You can see the lemon better in the one on the right.

  

Next step is to put it in your pitcher and you have a colorful display in your drink.It would be great Spring and Summer.

                                                                               

                                                                                                                 

The next thing I did was scoop out ice cream in cupcake liners.Then I put it back in the freezer and get it out to serve. It really takes time to scoop ice cream.Less mess too!

These cups got a little more spruced up with cupcake liner flowers.Poke a hole in them and put the straw through.

                                                                                   

We dyed eggs outside.It was a good thing too because there were plenty of spills and many Humpty Dumpty moments where we lost some eggs.

what was your goal?

This week has been a little easier to spend time with the kids because they have been home for Spring break all week.However I have really made sure that I spent one on one time specifically.I am exhausted now but I really was so happy being with my kids and having them hug me and cuddle with me and just getting down and playing with me.When we make a goal we have an aim for our blue print.What do we really want to get out of this?I wanted to feel more free to play with my kids so that meant letting my to go list slide. I had a few minutes to do things here and there.Especially if the kids were off playing.It didn't take long for a conflict to arise however and I had to step in before someone got hurt.Now mind you when  are talking about blueprints we are talking about people and not a house plan but the same ideas apply. We have to know what we want and find a way to obtain it.Make your drawing of the perfect you or the perfect family internal.As we do more internal the external will change also. We are exploring our options so to speak.We have lots of ideas no doubt now is the time to try them.

As we succeed in our endeavors we should notice things becoming easier and more of a habit.At the end of the week we evaluate and see what went well and where we might have made mistakes.Then we can adjust and start again.Some of you may make goals all the time and others may have but didn't like it.Find what works for you.I am here to tell my story.A few Months ago I could barely get out of bed and now I am up and being happy and being a mom again.I would wake up in the morning and and tell myself it was going to be a good day.I never rushed to get out of bed.I took my time,stretched or just sat there and breathed in and out.Don't discount making goals.It really does work.It gives you focus and a purpose.Instead of thinking you have all these roles you have to fulfill you have one and that is wherever it falls.This week I was mom the best I could be.Next week it might be home manager.I will still incorporate this weeks goal in too if I feel like I am ready. I can always take a step back and that it ok.Tomorrow I might just take one step forward.Be in the moment! Even if it is housework there is no next step until you take the first step .Soon we won't even have to think about it anymore.In a Month we will look back at all we have accomplished and we will feel so good.Remember to reward yourself for a job well done.Till next goal.

Breathe,relax and be calm

Last day of Letter E

   Story time!Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.........its time for finger puppets so why you read the story to your kids them can act it out.Just go todltk-kids.com to print out these cute finger puppets.My oldest son is too cool to participate.My daughter didn't want to color. It is just one of those days.
                                         

Eyes:They are a very important sense that we have.I chose 5 items and had them memorize them.Then I had them close their eyes and I took something away.They then had to guess what was missing.We did this a few times.Then I had them close their eyes and keep them closed.It was a lot harder to for them to even find it so I had to guide their hands to find them items.The children picked each one up to determine what they are.Next I had the kids walk to each room with eyes closed.My oldest said he could find his way by touching the walls and feeling with his feet.We then walked outside and I asked them what they noticed.They said they felt a breeze.They heard wind chimes and cars driving by.They were bare foot so I asked them if they felt anything on their feet and they could tell when they moved from the side walk to the grass.

Today is a good day to mention that things don't always go as planned so I didn't make it through the lesson.We had to talk about why we don't hit and scratch each other instead..We talked about all the good things hands can do like pick up toys, grab things,eat and drink,pour milk,hold hands,hugs.Then I asked them to say what bad things hands can do and of course they knew it already.It was no problem to say hit,punch,slap each other in face or bottom.I have tried the positive response to good behavior but it is easy to get lost in the stress and having to be mindful.

                                       

What we have above is our new behavior color system. I got the idea from teachingheart.net. To make this all you need is an envelope with each kids name on it and construction paper.The colors you will need are as follows.Green means its been a great day.Yellow means warning be careful.Orange means a loss of privilege which you let them know in the warning stage.Red means time out in room and a call to dad.Or it could mean missing out on the family activity.

Next week we will finish the Letter E.We will start the Letter G and Introduce the butterfly theme.We have already done lady bugs I hadn't started the blog yet.I will try to include that if I can. 

April Monthly list

              It took me a long time to put together but I have a notebook of monthly,weekly and daily tasks and chores. It is just an outline. There are days that I don't get it done but my mom told me about a system that works really well to keep track of all of it.I will tell you in a later post.1.Write a list of every chore you do,daily,once a month,year etc you can be as detailed as you want.
             First of all I love to know the deals. The seasonal sales for summer should be starting this month.So keep an eye out for those.It's also not too late to take advantage of the spring closeout sales. Also if you want Easter things wait a couple day after Easter and you will get the best deals.Follow the 3-3-2 rule.This rule stated that 3 days after a holiday,items will be 30-50% off,the next 3 days will be 70-75%, and the last 2 days will be 90% off.freebies2deals.com
              Plan your vacations if you haven't already.
              Register summer activities.
              Check smoke detectors.You should be doing that at least every six months.
               72 hour kits-check the food eat it and then replace them.If you haven't done one yet you should.Here is the list of items that you can use for each person:

• flash light with spare batteries and candles and matches
• portable radio with spare batteries-this might be the only way to get your information if telephones are down
• first aid kit with the following:

1. aspirin and pain relievers
2. laxatives
3. rubbing alcohol
4. diarrhea medicine
5. soap
6. gauze
7. band aids
8. bandages to wrap up injuries
9. cotton balls and swabs
10. safety pins
11. scissors
12. thermometer
13. sanitary napkins and disposable diapers can be used for dressing,splint and padding
14. tape for bandages
15. needles and tweezers
16. Popsicle sticks for splints
17. baking soda
18. individual medical needs
19. extra clothes
20. diapers and tampons/pads
21.  disinfectant
22. food like granola bars,peanut butter, tuna and can opener,plastic silverware
23. things to occupy the kids like crayons paper,books,games and crafts
24. money in coins
25. personal supplies like tooth brush/tooth paste and deoderant

These are just a few to get started.Do one of these each shopping trip or allocate funds from every pay check.This is something I really want to do this year. Most times I can only do $20 each paycheck but sometimes I can do more.             

• make copies of all legal documents-its a great time to do it during tax time because you are already going through your papers.

              
                Fertilize your lawn if you haven't done it already.
                I like to pick a room each month to deep clean.This month I am going to deep clean my living room:remove cobwebs,dust ceiling fan,vacuum baseboards,wash windows,wash the walls,wipe light fixtures,clean the walls where its black from the swamp cooler.Yuck another year of dealing with minimal air conditioning.

             

Day 2 of weather and letter E lessons

April 4^th-We did a lot yesterday so you might want to break that kesson up.We talk ed about wind and how it effects the weather.We added to our weather book. Show how wind can move different objects. Wind maze science on kidsactivities.net.
 
What you will need:blocks or boxes or anything to make a sturdy wall  to make the maze.then it is up to ou how you want to build it. Next get a light ball or something the kids can blow through the maze.We used a marble.
                                                                 

Kick it down and they biuld again!My toddler has fun with that one.This is for any age.I also asked the baby to tell me the colors of the blocks.

 Blow paint on paper with a straw. I found out that water paint doesn't work too well. Throw a scarf up in the air and have the kids try to catch it.
 Make a weather sock and of course it has to have streamers! 

 What you need: construction paper,scissors,tape,streamers,string.1.Cut construction paper into strip as wide as you want.Then tape it together,so both ends are joined together.

                                              

                 

                     

2.Take your streamers and tape as many as you would like to the very bottom so they will hang down.3.Cut string and attach to both sides of the construction paper at the top.