D is for Dinosaurs

The past few weeks have had it's ups and downs with bad weather and illness.  But, we've turned a corner!  Signs of Spring are starting to show and hopefully we'll put these stomach bugs and sore throats behind us.

So I'll post what we have for D is for Dinosaur week using MFW K.  Bud was not too crazy about Dinosaurs.  I thought he would love it---but, no--he doesn't like the ferocious looking meat-eaters thank you very much;)  We did have some really good discussions from reading some of the books on our book list.  We had some fun crafts and messy art projects.

The Words to Remember for D is for Dinosaur were: Big and Small God made them all


We used Enchanted Learning for a lot of the crafts and printouts.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/books/animals/thisdino/

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/printouts/d.shtml

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/DinosaurEaselArt.htm

We read:

Ken Ham's What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs

A Picture Book of Dinosaurs by  Claire Nemes

DK's "Meet the Dinosaurs"

to go along with Syd Hoff's Danny and the Dinosaur

They woke up on Valentine's morning to heart shaped waffles and a note on their plates from Mommy and Daddy--with a few other goodies, too;)

Bud really enjoyed coloring and writing the names of some of the dinosaurs.

That's Stegosaurus with a really big G in the middle;)

Sis trying to get the hang of color by number.

Shapes dinosaur

Making paper plate dinosaurs....Little Bear getting in on the act of course.

I threw in color mixing with white to make light colors like: baby blue and lavender.

Painting

The whole crew busy painting

Now they just have to wait until it dries to put the paper plate dinosaurs together.

I've mentioned our devotional that uses the alphabet--so here's a pick of our D devotional.

Linking to:

Preschool Corner @ Homeschool Creations

Weekly Wrap Up @ Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

T is for Turtle

Last week was T is for Turtle week in our MFW K curriculum.  By the way, I highly recommend it--it is fantastic.  This was a fun week for Bud.  He really enjoyed the books that we read for this unit.

The words to remember were: I do not give up; I persevere.   Those words to remember brought up a lot of discussion.  I have been able to refer to it often since we covered this topic.  I love the connections Bud is making with MFW.

We focused on The Hare and the Tortoise (Aesop's Fables).

Some of our favorites were:

The Hare and the Tortoise retold by Helen Ward.  This is a beautifully illustrated book.  Great detail of the animals.  This is one inappropriate word.  (s----d).  We skipped over it....and I actually read a different version and showed them these illustrations.

Diego and the Baby Sea Turtles by Lisa Rao

Terrific Turtles by Anders Hanson (Sandcastle books)

In addition to the MFW K activities, we enjoyed articles and printables from the following:

http://www.smithlifescience.com/SeaTurtleInformation.htm

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/TurtlePrintablesandIdeas.htm

http://www.dltk-teach.com/fables/tortoise/index.htm

The kids also went to a pet store with Dad to look at turtles.  There was only one there and it was hiding...but they enjoyed looking at the aquariums and other animals.  We learned the difference between sea turtles and a tortoise.  And learned different features of a turtle.  

We also used Mama Jenn's great copywork pages.

Turtle shape cut and paste

Coloring in action

Bud's finished product....Titus the Turtle

This kid looooves color by number sheets---looking it over with a bowl of Blue Bell.

Re-enacting the Tortoise and the Hare race.  They made tortoise and hare finger puppets.

His finger puppets ready for the race

Sissy's puppets

Looking through a Turtle book

Working on his copywork page



Linked to:
Preschool Corner @ Homeschool Creations
Weekly Wrap-Up@ Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

N is for Nest

I have not been matching up Before Five in a Row lately for Sissy.  Instead I've been using this routine with Sissy and Little Bear.  I really enjoy having all three at the table or listening in to the story or doing a craft or science experiment together.

Last week was N is for Nest week (animal homes).

The words to remember were: God takes good care of us.

Most of the suggested books were ones that we have read before.  But, it was good to revisit them.  We also kept our eyes open to animals and their homes.

Here are some of the books we enjoyed reading:

In Which Pooh Goes Visiting and Gets Stuck Into a Tight Place from Winnie the Pooh, Milne (Rabbit's burrow)

Two of the stories were from one of Bud's favorite books, The Best Nest and Are You My Mother, Eastman

But, the favorite of the week was Tanglebird by B. Lodge.  The kids loved this sweet book and thought it was so funny how his nest was so tangled at the beginning and how he learned to make a neat nest.  When it was time to turn in other library books for nest week, Bud wanted to keep this book a little longer.



In addition to the MFW  activities, here are some other links to things we enjoyed this week:

Great animals and their home match up from this great site: http://www.kizclub.com/animals.htm
http://www.kizclub.com/Topics/animals/animalhomes.pdf

 Mama Jenn's wonderful MFW K words to remember copywork  sheets: http://mama-jenn.blogspot.com/2010/08/words-to-remember-mfw-kindergarten.html

And nest, bird, egg craft: http://www.first-school.ws/activities/alpha/n/nest.htm

Oh and before I forget we watched Donut Man's video At the Zoo and it went along great with this unit.  There is a time in the show where the Donut Man even says the words to remember.  A perfect song on that video for this unit is 'Home sweet home' ---it talks about three  different animals and their homes.

**Not too many pictures this week for some reason;(**

Animal and their home cards and match ups

Sis working on her match ups

Little Bear got new jumbo crayons---he was a happy camper.

Links:

Preschool Link-up @ Homeschool Creations

Weekly Wrap Up @ Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

A is for Apples

Last week we started school again! We're back to school after a long Christmas break and before that two back to back unit studies on Thanksgiving and then on Christmas.

It was great and no pressure type of holiday, but boy was I ready to get back to our routine.

The first lesson back with MFW (My Father's World) K was A is for Apple.

The words to remember were: If I stay in Jesus I will have much fruit.

Bud enjoyed this unit because it touched on the fruit of the Spirit. He really liked learning those and rattling those off. It made for great teachable moments, too.

Our routine has been to open up with a 'circle time' of sorts at the kitchen table. We review house rules and then go over:

• Calendar
• A in Big Thoughts for Little People by Kenneth Taylor
• Rainbows Verse (Elephant Badge)
• Helping Goal: Keeping Desk Neat (before 5pm)
• Phonics

I then introduce the Lesson for the day, Bud works on the worksheets that are included for the day, any activity or craft.

I get asked a lot how I do this with the other two littles.  Well, the easiest way to explain, is that Sissy usually sits in with us for the circle/table time.  She usually runs off to play with Little Bear when Bud starts on something on his own.  Then the younger two join us back at the table for any type of craft.  I usually just give them extra paper or print out something along the same theme for Sissy.  See apple stamps craft below.

When Bud is finished and starts writing or playing or working on an activity on his own.  I then shift my focus on reading time for the little ones.  I read at least three books to each one---many times more---basically whatever they can handle.  For Little Bear, it's great for helping him to pronouce words and identify pictures/objects.  Sissy loves books and will hear me read a story and then will want to run and retell the story to her dolls.

Here is some pics from A/Apple Week:

Bud working on a diagram of an Apple

We sampled different varieties of Apples--  Pink Lady apples were the family favorite

his labeled diagram

Handwriting practice

bead sorting and counting fun---Bud and Sissy spent a lot of time with this.

We made mini pizzas even though it is not an A/Apple activity--it was fun though!

The finished product!

Bud couldn't wait

You can barely see the stairs and little rooms Bud drew on his Apple in this photo---it was his picture of the worms new home from Grasshopper on the Road by Arnold Lobel.

writing out the fruit of the Spirit

All three at the table for a craft: Bud working on artwork after hearing a story, the other littles working on an apple craft

making the apple stampers

Little Bear having fun!

Sissy's apple stamps

Fruit of the Spirit cards by Bud

The school/play room---another configuration

I brought a slide in from the outside--it was too cold to go out and they need to burn energy.  You got to do what you got to do;)

Little Buckaroo

He loves having his own desk/table

Little Bear on saxophone, Sissy on oboe and Bud on bassoon...they love to pretend they are in an orchestra.

Some other Apple Resources we used:

http://mama-jenn.blogspot.com/2010/08/words-to-remember-mfw-kindergarten.html

http://www.daniellesplace.com/html/rrpreschoolsamplefruit.html

-          Apples facts

-          http://www.motts.com/ApplesAndHealth/AboutApples/Facts.aspx

-          Apple seasons

-          http://www.motts.com/ApplesAndHealth/AboutApples/Growing.aspx

Apple diagram sheet

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/docs32465/johnny_appleseed/diagram.pdf

http://www.coloring.ws/fruit.htm

Tasting Sheet

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/docs32465/johnny_appleseed/taste_test_4.pdf

Mini Mayflower boats and the beginning of Thanksgiving unit study

Last week we read some of the Thanksgiving books in our book basket and also worked through a few of the activities from my big list of Thanksgiving links.  If you missed it...here it is: Thanksgiving Links

We first worked on our calendar---they enjoyed figuring out how many days until Thanksgiving.

We did a worksheet on items that are orange---but I don't know if you notice...little Sissy--spelled her name!!!

She's pretty proud of that;)

Little Bear using an orange marker to color his Pumpkin

Then I let them all mix red and yellow to make orange---I think he liked this, don't you?

Then we worked on a Mayflower voyage map and a mini Mayflower

the finished boat

We also did a float or sink experiment before we tested to see if these boats would float.

There they go

It floats!

I loved these coloring pages and copywork pages from Christian Preschool Printables

Resources we used this week:

thankful character trait tune charts by Hubbards Cupboard

http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/Joyful_Heart_Character_Trait_Tune_Chart_Thankful.PDF

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/thanksgiving/map/Help from the Lord scripture pages
http://www.christianpreschoolprintables.com/Pages/Thanksgiving/HelpFromLord.html 

calendar

http://www.calendarlabs.com/printable-calendar.php?template=tL1m

Help from the Lord scripture pages

http://www.christianpreschoolprintables.com/Pages/Thanksgiving/HelpFromLord.html

table turkey tracer craft

http://www.christianpreschoolprintables.com/Pages/Thanksgiving/ThankfulTurkeyCraft.html

orange color sheet

http://members.enchantedlearning.com/colors/colorworksheets/orange/page.shtml?p

pumpkin coloring page for extra paint

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q258/missfattyfat/other%20uploads/pumpkin-clr.gif

Books we read:

Thanksgiving Day by Gail Gibbons

http://www.amazon.com/Thanksgiving-Day-Gail-Gibbons/dp/0823405761

On Thanksgiving Day by Judy Zocchi (with Spanish)

http://www.infosoup.org/search/q?author=Zocchi%2C%20Judith%20Mazzeo&title=On%20Thanksgiving%20Day&searchscope=77

We watched:

Mayflower Voyagers (Peanuts)

http://www.amazon.com/Mayflower-Voyagers-America-Charlie-Brown/dp/6303152767

Thanksgiving Links and resources

This morning we started our Thanksgiving Unit Study.  I plan to do a little bit each day up until Thanksgiving.  The plan is to have a lapbook for each kid ready to display, along with art crafts that can serve as decor.  But, this is also a great introduction to what a holiday is...so I'm going slow. 

I'll post more as the week comes to an end...but, this morning I heard:

Bud: I'm thankful for Mommy, Daddy, sister, brother, calendars, Jesus and God, clothes and house.   (Wait, what was that?  Calendars?  It was so funny I rushed to find a pen and write it down)

Sissy: I'm thankful for bananas and crispy treats  (hahahahaha I love these kiddos)


I spent quite a while scouring the web looking for links that a) would be appropriate for my preschoolers skill wise b) wouldn't use up a ton of ink;)  so a lot of things require the kids doing the coloring themselves.

Here's what I found:

Thanksgiving Resource Links and List

We already have done a couple of the activities this morning and I'm looking forward to the next 10 days of prepping for Thanksgiving Day!