Preschool Letter P

I'm having a hard time finding my Letter P pictures!! I must catch up with these so that it won't be so hard putting together the posts!! We are finished with the alphabet now, so I'll be coming up with some different activities for us to do and also incorporating the lower case letters although he is doing great at recognizing most of them!

Here is Luke doing his Homeschool Creations Letter P collage!




I think Luke was tired of pictures here! We made our P is for Penguin letter craft from Totally Tots!




He also colored and put together a Letter P Itsy Bitsy Book and a Hidden Image worksheet! He really loves these!







We made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins! And I remember that I forgot to take pictures of the process but I did remember to snap their faces after they ate!



We also did some fall Planting together! The boys helped me plant Pansys! And you wouldn't believe the success I've had with them! I STILL have yellow blooms on them! They were planted in October and I have the blackest thumb around!!



We also made a Pumpkin to help decorate the house for fall!



And we visited a local Pumpkin Patch!! The boys had fun running through the pumpkins, petting the anmials, riding the hayride and especially playing in the corn crib!



Our memory verse for the week was:

"Be patient with everyone." 1 Thessalonians 5:14

That concludes our letter P week!

Preschool Letter O

Yes, I know!! I had mentioned in my Letter N post that I was going to catch up with all of our letter of the week posts! But when I went to do letter O, I couldn't find any of the pictures!! Finally, I found a memory card that held the pictures, so here we are! We're starting Letter W this week! So, I'd say I'm a little behind on my posts!


We started out the week, as usual, with a collage of different things that start with the letter O by Homeschool Creations.





Next we did a Ocean scene and talked about ocean creatures and plants! We also watched several videos on National Geographic Kids about different kinds of sea creatures. I know we watched a few about Octopuses (Yes, I looked it up and it's a legitimate word for the plural of octopus!)! They are amazing creatures!





Luke made an owl out of a letter O. We got the idea from No Time for Flash Cards and we watched this video. It's an animated video and reading of the book Owl Babies by Martin Waddell.





Next Luke made his very first lapbook on Ostriches! We found the ostrich lapbook on Homeschool Share. I just used what I thought Luke would enjoy and could understand.





And while Luke and I put together the lapbook, Eli colored an ostrich coloring page!





Our scripture verse for the week was:

"I will Obey your word." Psalm 119:17


Letter O was a fun week!

Letter N

WOW! It's has been FOREVER since I have posted our letter projects. In fact Letter N is from way back in September! I'm going to try and catch up on our letter of the week posts over the next two weeks so bear with me! I'm going to have to use pictures to help me remember all that we did!

N is for Numbers!



And Noodles!



Luke also worked in his Kumon Uppercase Workbook and did Homeschool Creations Letter N Collage!



Luke made some snack mix that was full of yummy things.. especially Nuts! We talked about different kinds of nuts and how good they are for you!




He also did some cutting practice! He is really improving!



And we found this old and funny book about Noses at the library! Each page has a picture of a nose and you have to figure out what animal goes with the nose! We also read some different books about the sense of smell and how our nose works!



Our favorite part of the week was making these cute little bird's Nests from Mama Jenn's blog!



And then we made N is for Nest from Totally Tots!




Letter N was FUNNNN! :)

Letter M

Last week we did the letter M. It was a short week with Labor Day but we did get a good bit in. We of course started with the letter M collage. Letter M is for Money, Mouse, Marbles, Milk and Mop.











We did a cute Totally Tots letter M craft. M is for Mouse!









We read two books about mice. The first was Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh.



After reading the book we did a counting activity. I wrote numbers 1-10 onto index cards then I gave Luke a pile of paper clips. He had to randomly draw numbers and then clip the correct number of paper clips onto each card!


We also read Mouse Paint by Walsh. And then we painted mice! We learned about mixing red, blue and yellow paints to make purple, green and orange! I drew 3 ovals on 4 pieces of paper (2 for Luke and 2 for Eli). They painted 3 mice red, blue and yellow. Then they mixed the paint to get orange, purple and green. After they are dry you can add faces, arms, legs and tail. Here is Luke painting his mice:

And here is Eli painting:

We also made Double Chocolate Chip Muffins (this recipe , minus the cherries) and read If You Give A Moose A Muffin!

Last we went on a Letter M scavenger hunt! Fun!

Here is what he found: Mouthwash, Movie, Markers, Man, Monster Truck, Magazine, Make up, Money, Magnet and Mirror.

Luke also worked on his Kumon Uppercase Workbook!

Our verse for the week was, "A merry heart does good like a medicine." Proverbs 17:22

Our Family Rule that we learned was: We Tell The Truth ~ Exodus 20:16 - "You shall not lie."

And a cute story about our 'rule' that hopefully shows reinforcing these things is working... Today, the boys were playing in Luke's room and I heard them bickering. Then I heard Eli start crying. Before I was able to head in that direction, Luke ran into our bedroom, came up to me and said, "Mommy, I'm not going to lie. Eli was trying to get my clothes and I took my arm and pushed him."

He got a spanking. But I did tell him I was thankful that he told me the truth!

:)

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Letter L.. whew this was a long post!

Letter L was a super easy one for Luke... considering it's in his name! We still had o much fun learning about different things that start with L and also doing all kinds of fun activities and crafts! First we started of with a Letter L collage from Homeschool Creations! (FYI, this post is long.. I probably should have made it two parts!)







We had a lot of fun learning all about Ladybugs! We read the book Ladybug (can't seem to find it.. but I'll keep trying), which was full of ladybug facts! We used some parts of the Ladybug Lapbook from Homeschool Share (I just discovered this site and will be using it more in the future!). We used the "Parts of a Ladybug" and also "I Can Follow Directions" which was a great learning tool! Then we made a cute ladybug out of a paper plate!











For snack time we had Ladybug apples and Lemonade! Yum! I got the snack idea from Mama Jenn! We used chocolate chips instead of raisins!





Both boys got in on this craft! I printed off a Lemon coloring page and then mixed some lemonade mix in with yellow finger paint. This made the paint smell just like lemons! I was afraid that Eli might try to eat it since it smelled so good but he didn't! ;)











I am still searching for where I found this Lollipop printable! I have got to start writing it down! Anyway, I cut out these lollipops and created different sequences for Luke to finish. Ok, found it.. the printables came from Homeschool Creations!







Then we made a Lollipop! I didn't help him much with this. I cut the yarn in several pieces and let him do the rest. He's pretty meticulous with his work.. wonder where he gets that from?

The weather was GREAT last week. Oh the beginning of fall! Love it! So we went outside and went on a scavenger hunt to find things that were Little and Large! Here is one of our Large pictures:

And here is one of our Little things:

This week we talked about how God is our Shepherd. We read Psalm 23 and talked about how God takes care of us just like (better than!) a shepherd does his sheep and Lambs. Luke put together a puzzle of shepherds watching over their sheep.

Then we made a Lamb! Directions here!

And for our last craft, we made the cute Lion from Totally Tots! We read Would The Love a Lion? by Kady McDonald Denton.

Luke also really loved working in his Kumon Uppercase book this week! He's been eyeing those workbooks for several weeks now and he was so excited that this was the week we were going to start them! We did 4 lessons total.

Our verse was, "Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart." 1 Sam 16:7

The house rule that we focused on was: Love, Honor and Pray for One Another and we read 1 Corinthians 13 several times to talk about what it means to love others.

And in case you haven't seen enough pictures... I updated my posts on Letter J and Letter K to include more photos since I found my cartridge!

Preschool 2010-2011

As most of you know Luke and I have been doing very unstructured preschool activities for the past year. Right now, he learns as we live... and I add a few neat crafts, experiments and activities to go with it all! We're 'officially' starting back to preschool this week and I am adding some new things to go along with what we've already been doing. So, just to share and keep a list of resources for myself, here is what we will be doing during our very unstructured preschool year:

1. Bible Time- Right now we're using this book (ok, well I can't find it online.. but I'll try to take a picture later and post it). The stories are really simple and the boys enjoy listening to the stories. It comes with a DVD of the stories being read to the pictures in the book and then there is a song after it that goes along with the story. They also like learning new songs about the stories too! I'm also hoping to purchase The Jesus Storybook Bible. Hopefully we can get it for later in the year! We will also be continuing Scripture memory (link below) to go along with our letter of the week.

Psalm 119: 9-16

"How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!
With my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.
In the way of your testimonies I delight
as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word."

2. Letter of the Week- Yep, we are continuing the letter of the week. We're still mainly focusing on the Uppercase. We should finish the upper case right before Christmas and we'll start the lower case in January. We will be using Kumon Uppercase and Lowercase workbooks along with all of the fun activities I use online. We'll be reading lots of books that goes along with our letter projects. Here are some of the things I use online:

Totally Tots - Alphabet Crafts
Totally Tots - ABC Scripture Memory
(I also highly recommend Song's for Saplings that go along with Totally Tots Scripture memory... my boys LOVE it!)
Confessions of a Homeschooler - I get lots of ideas and do many downloads from her site!
ABC and 123 - Again, tons of ideas!
Mama Jenn - More and more ideas...

Ok, I could go on and on! There are so many great resources but these are a great place to start!

3. Math/Science- We'll start off the year doing Kumon Numbers 1-30 and go from there. I always incorporate math and science into our activities. We learn about different animals, places, etc along with our letter of the week. We count and sort and sequence and take away and add. It really is amazing what you can tie in! For instance this week we will be talking about our sense of taste and smell! Lemons anyone? We've also talked made ladybugs and counted spots, legs, etc.

4. Other skills, etc. We'll be working on mazes for pencil skills and lots of scissor work too! Of course we'll be in the kitchen a lot! And thank goodness the weather will be cooling off soon! He's four. I'm not stressing. He will learn as we live. And most importantly I want him to know God. So... that leads me to our last and newest addition:

5. House Rules and Character Traits: We are using Gregg Harris' 21 Rules of This House. I love each one of them and they will be good for the Hubs and I to remember as well! We will be going over one a week and reading Scripture that goes along with them during family time. I'll be incorporating these Character Qualities during the day as well. We'll just talk about them as we go about our day.. nothing formal. Also on my list is the the Westminster Shorter Catechism and the Ten Commandments. All of these things can be woven into daily life.

Duet 11:18-23 ~“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the Lord your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves."

Letter K

So, if you read my last post on letter J, you know that I don't have the pictures for letters J and K. But to my surprise a few of the pictures from week K were in my August album that I must have uploaded along with Luke's soccer practice pictures! I did go back and take a few pictures of things that weren't there! It's been 2 weeks since we did letter K so I may have forgotten all that we did! Here are the high lights:


We started off the week talking about thing that start with the letter K. The boys colored/traced their letter K's. I got these printables from Confessions of a Homeschooler. We typically do these every week, although I don't know if I always get a picture. I usually go over how to correctly write the letter and then Luke traces his. Then he usually colors his in. Here he is helping show Eli how to draw his K!




We also took a trip to the library and to our surprise one of the story time books was about a Kangaroo. Then all of the kids colored a picture of a Kangaroo!




We also did a Totally Tots alphabet craft, which was a Kangaroo. Luke and I also watched some videos on the National Geographic website and learned some facts about two different types of kangaroos. Did you know that kangaroos hop because they cannot move their legs independent of one another? Well, now you know! There is also a species of kangaroos that live entirely in trees!

Next we made a letter K out of popsicle sticks. Luke colored them and then I hot glued them together. I couldn't take a picture of it because a certain little guy broke it! Luke also colored two more popsicle sticks to make a Kite! Luke had lots of fun "flying" his kite around the house!

Then we read Hamlet and the Enormous Chinese Dragon Kite!

Our verse this week was "Be Kind to one another." Ephesians 4:32a. We talked about what it means to be kind and all throughout the week we pointed out different things that the boys did that were kind!

We also made homemade popcorn and did some fun measuring and sorting with some extra Kernels! I gave Luke a cup full of popcorn kernels in a bowl and then gave him several different measuring cups and spoons. We measured out basic measurements and then I just let him have fun playing and scooping them from different containers! Hello, math!

And hello sweeping up kernels from all over the floor! :)

Well, that catches us up! Next week we will start Letter L!