sweet little dress

I have officially started and finsihed sewing new dresses for the girls all. by. my.self. Usually my sister in-law or my friend Kristi has helped me in the past. But not this time!

This is a really simple pattern to follow, thank goodness! The only hard part I had was putting the elastic in the neck casing. I bought and downloaded the pattern at You Can Make This. I plan to make the girls a fabric flower or headband out of the polka dot fabric on the arms to match this dress.

character building - arguing

We started doing Erika's character study over at Confessions of a Homeschooler last week. The first study is on arguing. With more than one child in the house, arguing is something that will most definately be an issue! The study is short, sweet and to the point. Each week is spread out into 4 days and each day focuses on scripture and a story from the Bible that shows the issue. The girls and I have been doing the study together after I put Ethan down for his afternoon nap.

I have incorporated some visuals with the study by picking out some Behavior Boosters to go along with each character trait. I picked a different behavior booster for each girl to work on that specifically addresses their contribution to arguing.

Here is a look at how we are implementing the study at our house.

lesson plan

brainstorm things that make us argue with each other

read a story from My ABC Bible Verses

Behavior Boosters -

Sow What?

Tattle Tail Monkey

Check out some of the other behavior boosters we have used in our home!

the tale of peter rabbit

We have just completed a lapbook on The Tale of Peter Rabbit. The girls really enjoyed the extended learning that we did with this book. We talked about onomatopoeia, real versus fantasy, and why it's important to obey rules. Gracelyn helped Mr. McGregory plant a new vegetable garden and then wrote him a letter of apology on behalf of Peter. Ella put together a mini book on staying well in winter.

memory verse - "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." Ephesians 6:1 cover middle back favorite part of the story vegetable garden letter of apology real vs. fantasy worksheet our house rules drawings of rabbits

If you are wondering what the letter says, it says: Dear Mr. McGregory, I am sorry for eating your vegetables. I would like to plant more vegetables in your garden. Sincerely, Gracelyn

more bang for your worksheets!

I know worksheets get a bad rap, but I found a way to get the most out of a worksheet. First, have your child complete the worksheet. Then, if possible, think of another way to use that same worksheet in a different way.

For example:

1. complete the worsheet

2. cut the worksheet up into cards

3. put words in ABC order


So, with one worksheet, Gracelyn read 6 cvc words, worked on fine motor skills by cutting out the picture squares and then learned how to put the words in alphabetical order!

spinach salad

(Just ignore the paper plate and focus on the salad!)

Let me introduce to you my new favorite salad! It is very simple to put together and it is so yummy AND super good for you!

ingredients-
fresh spinach leaves (about 2 cups worth)
2 hard boiled eggs
2 strips of cooked bacon, crumbled
honey mustard dressing

spelling manipulatives

Gracelyn and Ella came up with a creative way to spell the other night! We have a pretty extensive pencil collection (thanks Aunt Ria!)and it amazes me the different ways the girls play with them. They love to put them all in a pile and take turns picking out their favorite pencils. I've even seen them pretend they are people!

(love)

(mom)

(Ella, Ethan)

tic-tac-toe!

Lately I've been thinking about being intentional with my time. More specifically, being intentional with my time with my kids. Sure I'm home with them alot, but I don't always take the time to be intentional with them. So I brought out a classic game and added a valentine's twist to it! It was a really fun way to end the day together! The kids have been calling out love when one of them gets three in a row!

valentine activities!

This week, we have been learning and having fun with some valentine activities! As always, I've pulled together lots of ideas from all over the web. I love how generous other homeschooling moms are to share their ideas and printables!

fun-

pink playdough with heart cookie cutters

art basket to make valentines

sponge heart stamping

math-

greater than/less than mat

missing numbers (10-20)

Bible-

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

greater than/less than

One of our kindergarten learning goals in math is to learn about greater than/less than. Before doing this activity, we have talked about which number is more and which number is less. For example, to pass the time in the car and to take advantage of that time, I will call out 2 numbers like 14 and 21. Then I ask the girls to tell me which number is bigger/greater or which is smaller/less. Once they got the hang of this, I thought it was time to introduce the greater than/less than sign to them. Gracelyn did very well with this concept. I haven't done it with Ella yet, but I don't think she will have any trouble with it either.

If you are interested in the mat, you can download it here.

DIY valentine cards

I put together an art basket for the kids to make their own valentine cards. They seemed to have enjoyed it and they were learning valuable skills like being patient and sharing! Gracelyn enjoyed getting to boss, I mean help Ethan with his valentine cards. I showed the girls how to fold their paper in half and trace a heart onto it and then cut it out to make a full heart. This was more of a challenge for them than I thought it would be.



supplies in basket-
white cards
envelopes
adress labels that say "happy valentine's day"
pink, purple and red construction paper
heart stickers
pink paint pen
heart punch
buttons
heart templates
pencil
glue sticks
scissors

co-op class - astronomy

(picture and idea taken from The Crafty Classroom.)

week 4-

This week we talked about Jupiter and the weather on Jupiter. I brought in a hurricane tube since The Great Red Spot on Jupiter is a lot like a hurricane here on Earth. We also made a mosaic of Jupiter out of dried beans.

materials-
4 different colors of dried beans

card board

glue
black construction paper
picture of Jupiter

directions-

1. cut out a circle from the cardboard

2. draw an oval near the bottom for The Great Red Spot

3. glue red beans in the oval

4. starting at the top of the circle, glue different colors of beans in alternating colors to represent the colors of the atmoshere of Jupiter

5. after it dries, glue the planet onto a piece of black construction paper

co-op class - astronomy

I put together a sensory tub for our astronomy class after I saw the astronomy tub over at Counting Coconuts. I had a lot of rice on hand so I decided to color the rice instead of buying aquarium rocks, but I really like the way her's looks with the rocks. The idea is for the ones that finish their work early, they can play in the sensory tub to keep busy while everyone else finishes their work. We will see how it goes! Even if they don't enjoy it, at least my son loves it and has enjoyed playing with it this week!

items in box
colored rice - blue
glass stones
Mars Rover
astronaut
alumium foil balls (moon rocks)
bouncy balls (planets
neon colored jacks (stars)
golf ball (moon)

co-op class - astronomy

( picture and idea taken from The Crafty Classroom.)

week 3-

This week the kids sang the Sun, Moon and Earth song again and made an Earth craft! On each strip of paper, the kids wrote out the following verse, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son that who ever believes in Him shall not perish but have ever lasting life.", John 3:16.


materials-
4 green strips of construction paper
4 blue strips of construction paper
2 brads
whole punch
sharpie

directions-

1. give each student 4 green and 4 blue strips of construction paper

2. have student write John 3:16 onto the strips of paper, alternate colors

3. stack all of the strips together and punch one hole at the top of the strips and one hole at the bottom of the strips

4. place a brad in each of the holes

5. fan the strips out into a globe

community helpers - police officers!

Today, Ethan and I worked on the policeman lapbook. He really enjoyed it and I enjoyed spending some one-on-one time with him! He already knows his colors and shapes, so these components were a review for him. A couple of weeks ago, he got hang of tracing lines, which is a great pre-writing skill. The new skill he learned today was patterning. The girls helped him when he would let them! He LOVED the fingerprint book, which worked on counting 1-10! I think that was by far his favorite part! We all talked about road signs and what each one means and why we have road signs. Then that led into a discussion about our house rules and rules that God has given us to live by. Gracelyn put together the police car on the back of the lapbbok.

front-


homeschool creations

middle-

homeschool creations

back-

shape police car

*Be sure to stop by The Preschool Corner for more ideas and activities to do with your preschooler!

purse prettiness

I'm not big into new purses or spending a lot of money on a new purse either. So, I shopped the mall of Citronelle (Dollar General) and found a nice brown pleather purse that I could live with. To make it a little more interesting and hip, I made a lovely fabric flower and pinned it onto my purse! Much better!!

before

after