Lesson 2.2 (Alphabet)

Ok, we got this book and let me tell you, it was worth every penny! She picked up tracing letters with this book unlike tracing letters from handwriting worksheets or anything else I have tried. Buy it now!

We continue to do our flashcards and work on recognizing the letters by sight that she doesn't know yet. We are also working on spelling her name. We like to spell her name to the tune of Bingo, and so now the next step is learning to write it. We like this site for customizable worksheets.

Besides learning the alphabet, P has been attending swim lessons. I find swimming lessons (and just any lessons) so valuable. P is especially good at learning from other people besides me. I can go over a concept a million times with her not understanding, and then a teacher will tell her the same thing and she gets it.

We also held a yard sale where P sold her bike. She chose to do this on her own, and so we let her. She got two dollars from her bike, and was able to pay tithing on what she earned. She is still too young to understand the monetary units and value, but can recognize names and was so happy and proud to take 1/10th of her money to be used for our church. We have been letting Penny earn money for things she wants for a year now, and I find that she is really conscious about how we use it and how to save and give.

P has really been loving games and rhymes lately. So we have been playing Memory and learning to memorize some nursery rhymes. I love how much she is learning!

Books:

Hickory, Dickory, Dock and Other Favorite Nursery Rhymes

Illustrated by: Sanja Rescek

Lesson 2.1 (ABC's)

Song: The Alphabet Song

Scattergories: We used this game to practice writing her letters. She would roll the die, and then using the game clipboards and paper we wrote down the letters. She thinks that this is the actual game and wants to play again today!

ABC Flashcards: We used Usborne Books abc Flashcards. They are no longer made, but I have a few other items I am going to be purchasing, like this and this, to help with her ABC's. Usborne is such a great resource, check it out!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
By: Bill Martin Jr.

ABC U Later (Ugly Dolls)
By: David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim

P knows the names of all her letters, but has a hard time with A-N, she knows O-Z perfectly, so we focus mostly on the ones she has a hard time with.

Lesson 1.2 (Real Life Colors)

Song: Primary Colors

Today instead of a structured time like yesterday, we did real life application lessons throughout the day:

-On our way to the grocery store we talked about stop lights. We talked about the colors, red, yellow, and green, and what they meant. At every stop light P would tell me the color and what it meant (green means go! yellow means slow! red means stop!)
-At the grocery store P helped me pick up our produce. We counted, named, and talked about the colors of each vegetable and fruit. She pushed around a little cart full of the food she had helped package up.

Games:
One of our favorite games is I Spy. On our way to the water park later in the day, we played I Spy with colors. This was especially fun because our water park is very colorful!

Coloring:
After these two activities she colored in her Kumon coloring book. There were a few pages that matched what we were doing that day (stop light, umbrellas, food.)

Science and Hands On:
In the late afternoon we made playdoh from her Memaw's recipe. My original intention was to have her experiment with mixing colors, but she wanted pink and we have pink dye. I still think this was a good activity because anything with mixing, cooking, measuring, and ingredients, is in my opinion, a great step towards learning about science.

Book:

Ugly Colors
By: David Harmath and Sun-Min Kim
(These are some of our favorite books! Kids and adults love them.)

Home Preschool: The Beginning and Lesson 1

My dear P is growing fast and with a new baby sister, a move to a different state, and her Dad working and in grad school, I know she needs some special time with just Mom. I also know that she is old enough to start working on some preschool learning. I am in no way a certified teacher, but I am her mother and I see what she is interested in and what can help her become the best person she can be. I'm hoping that if I blog our lessons, then I will be more organized and accountable for what we do every week. My goal is to have "home preschool" two-three times a week. I am going to incorporate scripture stories and songs into our lessons. We will be using only free or very cheap resources that I will share here. Wish me luck!

Lesson 1.1: Colors (Noah's Ark and Rainbows)

Song: Primary Colors

Bible Story: Noah's Ark (emphasis on obedience)

Finger Play:
Noah built an ark, oh so big and wide,
(Place wrists together, hands in cupping shape.)
All the animals hurried to be safe inside.(Wiggle fingers, then fold them in and touch knuckles.)
It kept them dry from the flooding rain,For forty days and nights.(Rock fists back and forth as if the ark is rocking upon the waves.)
Until Noah was told to come out again(Fingers open up and out to original position.)
And see the rainbow bright!(Form a rainbow with arms.)


From Sugardoodle.net

Coloring Page, Tracing Activity:

After she colored this, we practiced her scissor skills and she cut out a rainbow from a paper plate. We taped it to the back of this rainbow, as well as a popsicle stick, so that she can hold it up whenever we talk about colors.

Puzzle: M&D Fish Colors

Books:

Andy Warhol's Colors 

By: Susan Goldman Rubin

My Colors, My World (Mis Colores, Mi Mundo)

By: Maya Christina Gonzalez

Good Night, Sweet Butterflies (A Color Dreamland)

By: Dawn Bentley

Movie: Bubble Guppies Season 1 Episode 2 The Color Prix (Free on Amazon Prime Instant Video)

A Seuss Party

My daughter loves all things Dr. Seuss. She loves reading all the books and even knows little pieces of the stories that we read. So it seemed like the perfect theme for a party. I'm lucky because I have a bit of free time and I only have one kid so I can do way fun stuff like this! Enjoy the pictures!

The Invitation

 Treat Bags 

 Clover Bouquet (Horton Hears A Who)

 Oobleck (Bartholomew and Oobleck)

 Don't judge the cake- it was my very first one, and I hate baking.

The birthday girl loved every second of it!

About Love

I've been thinking a lot about Valentine's Day today. I'm lucky enough to have found love, but I have had my fair share of really bad V-days. There is one in particular that I will never forget. It was my freshman year in college, all my friends and roommates had dates or boyfriends on February 14. This was pretty typical of my freshman year. I was often the third wheel, rarely got asked out on dates and became pretty secluded. That day I decided to avoid my apartment complex at all costs. I stayed on campus all day and was studying in the library late that night. It was probably around 8:00 when a stranger came up to my table where I was studying, put down a note and left. I looked around, I was the only person on that whole floor besides the people working. I opened the note and inside was chocolate and a message that said something to the effect of: "Intelligence is beautiful. And the world needs more women with that kind of beauty. Thank you for taking your studies seriously. Happy Valentine's Day." I lost the note in the midst of multiple moves but will never forget the essence of that note. I was struck. It was a small gesture, I'm sure I was not the only recipient, but it was enough to get me through the rest of that night. You see, Valentine's Day isn't about lovers. It's about love. Everyone should love themselves and their family. And most people have that. Some other people have boyfriends/spouses/lovers and it's fun to celebrate that too. But mostly Valentine's Day is about love. I will never forget that, and I hope that is what most people remember.

This year Penny was old enough to pass out little Valentine's to the people she loves the most: her friends. And being a good mom, I am trying to indulge in her love of all things bugs and reptiles (even if it gives me nightmares and makes me want to vomit). We made Love Bug Valentines which I'm sure everyone has seen on Pinterest, but I don't care. Penny loved them and she loved giving them to her little friends. So here is a little Valentine's day post from both Penny and I. Happy Valentine's Day Love Bug. We hope you remember who and what you love, because we are remember all the people we love- and that includes you!

New Shirt

Sometimes I don't take time for myself. I think a lot of moms do this every once in awhile. One of my goals this year is to make more clothes for myself. My first project was this super simple top from C&C and I must say, I love it so much. It's not everyday you find a great shirt tutorial, use up some free fabric, and take a fantastic picture of yourself in a cute new shirt.