2 by 2 and ice play too!

Noah gathered the animals 2 by 2 a male and female. The kids understood that they needed both Mom and Dad to have babies.We pretended to be like Noah and count by 2's.My Kinder struggles there.For my 2 year old we practiced 1-10.

We started off this morning writing our favorite zoo animals.My toddler drew his favorite while my 6 and 8 year old scribbled away.For my Kindergartner I looked for spelling and letter formation. She picked a cheetah and got all the sounds especially the ch blend! She wrote cHeetu.Her c was backwards so we practiced c and her lower case h.

For my 2nd grader I had him practice telling the time.He wrote what time it was when he was done with writing.Then what it would be in 15 minutes,and then an hour.

Next I had him pick a 3 digit number.
1.write it out
2.draw it with cubes
3.add 3
 4.add 35
5.subtract 5
6.subtract 17
7.what are next 3 even numbers
 8.what are the next 3 odd numbers.
I got this idea here

This week we are working on picking up after we play.Our rule is one thing out at a time.We are also gathering all the Lego's,Barbie stuff and Squinkies I have found everywhere from people getting small stuff down and not monitoring the kids,when I was recovering from my C-section.I sigh...

Here is our bookworm.We add a section of him each time read a book.

Do you do quiet time? Every kid here does.The. can read,write,draw.Play with certain toys quietly.My oldest loves to draw but then there is paper EVERYWHERE!

Good mess?Yes? No?

It has been really hot here, so 24 hours before I wanted to do the activity for water week, I filled a container with water and little things and froze it.The kids had a blast! They smashed it and tasted the ice.We tried to get the baby to touch the ice but he wouldn't do it.He will stick with his nursery rhymes and books, thank you.I'm not sure where this idea originated so if you know let me give credit where it is due.

Letter of the week W and Zoo much fun!

First we started out with the story of Noah's Ark.We talked about the flood and how he brought the animals on the arc 2 by 2.We also talked about how he had to build it himself instead of the Lord just making an arc of here in our lives we have tests and trials and things that are hard.He can't make it easy for us otherwise we wouldn't learn.

We also talked about the letter of the week W.What starts with W:
wow ,what, warthog ,wet ,water and wound. I had my Kinder practice writing the letter W and the sound.

For the baby we are doing the nursery rhyme,What are little boys made of?
 Frogs and snails and puppy dog tails that's what little boys are made of.We read the book Touch and feel on the farm and talked about animal's sounds and how a frog is bumpy and a dog is soft.Here are pictures from the book some other baby stuff I had.

Theme:Zoo

We watched the Zoo song

We read a book The Underpants Zoo.What animals are in the zoo? I had the kids right down animals from A to Z to see how many they could think of.I had my Kindergartner sound out the words and then I corrected her later.It's good way to practice writing her letters and for me to know what she needs to practice with.

She got bored with the activity, but my 8 year old love to find the animals especially when we got to the hard ones like q,x and y.For my toddler we had him draw the animals and talk about the letters they started with.

Getting back to nature:What is inside a dandelion?The kids asked
There is white milk inside that is smelly and tastes bitter.They made soup out of water and weeds and grass.

We watched a Time lapse of dandelion.The kids thought this was pretty cool.They were surprised that it could be used as medicine.

We also played some sponge tag.You get the sponge wet and toss!Followed by a light saber fight on the trampoline.Another use for pool noodles!

Summer of Success-Week 1

June 10-14th

At the end of the year I always ask my kids their favorite things.I trace their hand and have them draw a self portrait.

We are starting our book logs.Each week we will do a special activity for reading. This week we are making a book worm.You start with his head and each time you read a book you add a circle to his body.They will also tally their minutes.We will make reading boxes for them to put books they want to read.Book logs can be put on back of box.

Book box broken down by age
5 and up can decorate,write his/her name on boxes
3-5 yrs can decorate with help.Try to get them to recognize the first letter of name
0-2 Have older kids pick book for the week.They could even read to baby

Here is a break down of week
Theme:Zoo
Scripture:Noah's ark
Nursery Rhyme:What little boys are made of
 Letter of the week W-water week where we will do various activities
Skills to work on daily-reading,writing,math

Monday: Dairy day and activities /make book box
Tuesday:library for books on baby Zoo animals
Wednesday:picnic
Thursday:free day after school and family contributions
Friday:Flag day&Fathers day craft
Sunday:Father's Day

Schedule
Wake up and do family contributions .They earn points and prizes.
9-10 1 hr of schooling-lesson,worksheets, reading,activities for theme or unit
11-12 outside /do things on bucket list
12-2 lunch and quiet time
2-3 snack &outside time
4-5 dinner prep,inside activities, dinner clean up
5-7free time and bedroom clean up
7-8 quiet time
8 in bed can read do things quietly until fall asleep
This is a very flexible schedule and I know there will be late nights :)

For the one hour of schooling is broken down by age as follows:
8 and up-daily tally of minutes read.add them to next days tally for math.fix misspelled sentences,word of the week found in dictionary. There will be words from reading too.After reading a book write character, plot,setting,climax and main ideas. Reading and picking an animal or whatever the interest.Prepare a report.This report will be broken down as data is collected and be done at child's pace.Weekly grocery list written and plan one meal.Counting practice and practice telling the time may also be done.An occasional spelling test might be given.Each subject will take 15 min.

5-7 year old will work on sight words,word families.Writing ideas and punctuation. They can write words for grocery list and identity what it starts with. Basic addition and subtraction will also be done.Counting by 2's and 5's and 10's.

2-4 letter,number,shape and color of the day.It is basically repetition at this point and lots of play.For the grocery list they can associate pictures with their corresponding words. They can also work on counting 1-10.

3 months-24 months
The more reading and singing the better! We earn nursery rhymes and play,explore.The older babies/toddlers may be able to count from 1-3.

Writing prompts for the week:
What I would like to do this summer is.....
My favorite milk treat is.......why...?
At my picnic we ate....or we saw...
I like picnics because. ....
What I love about my dad is

Hope you all have a happy and successful Summer!

Letter of the week V-6 ways for kids to make a video and Volcano

V is for Volcano.This week we did some volcano fun.
Our first experiment we took a tray, some baking soda,food coloring and vinegar.
I put the food coloring on the baking soda and the kids used droppers for some colorful fizzy fun.It is a variation on what was done here

The second time I did one color at a time so it wouldn't turn a dark color,but there would be more pretty color mixing.

Our next experiment I threw all good table manners out the window.You take milk,red food coloring and a straw.Then let the kids blow bubbles.

We listened to the volcano song.It is really cute.It has good vocabulary words for the older kids:

Volcanoes

Eruption

Lava

Magma 

Equilibrium

We also did V for Videos.The kids chose to do a 1.puppet show behind a white sheet.You could do anything though.A few more ideas would be to 2.have them teach something,3.do a cooking show,4.dance or 5.music video or 6.just be silly!

My kids like most have a hard time with controlling their tempers.They are like little volcanoes.When they get upset they over react at times and erupt with a display more terrifying than the volcano videos we watch.We talked about controlling ourselves and ways to calm down.

While I was folding laundry we pretended to be volcanoes and erupt!

Take back your Turf Thursday-How to pack your car so there is no surprises!

Is everyone ready for Summer?If you decide to go to the pool or park do you have a bag you can just grab?Do you have extra clothes and sun block?

I came across this blog where this person was more than prepared.She thought of everything! She really found a creative way to use the dollar store hanging organizer.Check her site out! Don't forget the stroller!

I also found these cute smaller grab and go bags.It would be good for smaller things like first aid or activities.

I was thinking too,if you have a space in a garage or mud room to have a bag for camping,hike and beach.You don't have to keep them in the car but just grab and go!Also you should have paper,crayons and pens to write things down when you think of them or for the kiddos!If they have their journals they can write when inspired to do so.

You can take a Lysol container and fabric and make a place for trash bags or grab and go bags.It could also be a good place to put snacks or treasures from the kid's adventures.

Also we put a fire pit together in less than an hour.We had the ring already so we went and got stones to put around it and rocks to fill the gaps.Pretty easy and only $50!We had to try it out of course!!

This week I have been sick so not much exercising happening here.This week is week 5.Check out this 7-Minute-HIIT-Workout.If you are new to my get ready for the beach in 12 weeks.I am not a fitness guru I just want to lose some baby weight.The first post is here!

A look back at the years activities

We started off the year with the letter,number and color of the week. My Toddler didn't know how to recognize his name and now you ask him what his name is and he knows.My Kinder was still learning sounds and now she can read above her grade level! I am a proud Mom!

In the Fall we moved to a new house and have made some new friends!

We had a teddy bear picnic and played in the bath paint  with cars.

Everyone loved the penguin appetizers.

After the Holidays we welcomed our baby boy.See how much he has grown!He did the upside down thing on his own.

I started Take back your Turf Thursdays.My leftover sock angry birds brought down the house!

I hope all of you were able to get your kids to bed better with my 5 tips to a smooth bedtime. We are still doing pretty good with that!

I organized my linen closet and made shelves in the bathroom for more space.Love it! Now how to get my kids to pick up their towels!

You joined us for our letter review Dr. Seuss style.

Did you remember to breathe and join me for Meditation Monday? The favorite post was 3 ways to bring balance into your life.I am so happy that you loved that one! I am still not sure about the name.Thoughts?

Rainbow week was so much fun.We did a lot and I also taught my kids some yoga.My 6 year old still won't sit still!

Everyone was hungry for The Hungry Caterpillar and my rainbow obstacle course.

Easter we did some egg-speriments.I started writing lessons for the baby.

We learned about the ocean and flew to the moon and the stars.

We are almost done with our letters.This week is U and V.Next week is W with water activities. Finally we end with X,Y and Z.Thanks for joining us and I hope I have inspire you in some way.Let me know of anything I can add or something you want me to talk about.......Don't forget to join us on our Summer of Success......2 more days!!!!

Letter of the week U

We started our morning off with the pledge of allegiance. My 8 and 6 year old know it but not

my Tot.We talked about what it meant to be Under God.U for under.U for united. I opened an umbrella, which I know you are not supposed to do in the house,but I had the kids sit under it.We imagined it was God's love and it is always there!

U for umbrella
We practiced up,under,next to,behind and in front.The kids moved the flag to the  corresponding place.

We colored on paper under the table.

They ate snacks under the table too!

The baby got to be under the umbrella. We hung toys and a mirror for him to play with.At almost four months he loves to bat at things and kick.Mirrors are also something that fascinate babies.We are still doing tummy time songs and books.
Our Nursery Rhyme this week :
Rain Rain go away
Come again some other day
Little baby wants to play

We talked about underground animals like earthworm, badger, gophers and snakes. My Kinder asked what worms ate so we finished with that and lunch under the umbrella. Boy I am going to have a lot of bad luck!!!

We are doing letters U and V together.We have been fighting a bad cold so hopefully tomorrow will be the letter V with a video and some volcano fun! 3 more days and school is out! We will keep playing and learning with our Summer of Success.I should have the first weeks plan up Friday but it is a busy weekend so it might be Monday.