Homeschool/Preschool Week #5 (Letter A, tracing, and counting)

Week #5 Round-up!

Welcome to our week #5 Round-up!

We have actually gotten a lot of classwork done. Despite our crazy, hectic, coffee induced(Momma only) week we have had. 

There have been work schedules, birthdays, tournaments, Homecoming parades, and so much more!

Little E and I have had to work our school time in and around, but we've managed!

This week we have....

Finally! Finally, gotten the Letter A! Yes!

She has been working so hard on it. I have to say, this has been one of our hardest lessons. I'm not even sure why, but it definitely has taken us a few weeks.

Little E has learned to identify, say the sound and also been tracing the letter. Capital and Lowercase!

I also have played the Official "A" Song video...I don't know how many times!

It's catchy y'all! 

Tracing letters and lines...

I have found a ton of great printables to work on her tracing!

Here is my featured Momma blog for the week!

Adventures of a Mother of 2

Seriously! Awesome stuff!

We've also been doing some work in her Little People Preschool workbooks this week.(Dollar Tree)

I printed off different "line" tracing pages. straight line, loops, zig zags.

I am learning from other homeschooling mommas that this helps with pencil control.

Little E had been having such a struggle with holding the pencil or even markers correctly. I finally remembered to buy a pack of the "fat crayons" and they seem to be helping...So much!

She definitely has more control and can press harder...like, enough to actually see what she is drawing or writing!

She has more confidence now that we can see her work and she can stay on the lines so much better!

Counting 1-10(or 12)...

Little E can can count to 10 all by herself. Some days she can get to 12, but sometimes after ten, it is 15 or 7...

We have gotten in the habit of counting everything! We count going up and down the stairs...which is like 100 times a day! We count our food! grapes, crackers, popcorn... We count while she is on the potty. LOL Seriously, it works! Whenever, wherever...WE COUNT!

Next week, I am hoping to work more with her flash cards to start identifying numbers.

She knows, 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 and 10 so far.

Our book for the week...

The Berenstain Bears Family Get Together

This is such a cute book, and great for counting all the family characters. Ma, Pa, brother, sister, Auntie, Uncle, Gramps, and Gram...

It is written in rhymes and easy for her to catch on and remember. I think we've only read it about 3 times so far this week ;)

I hope you enjoy our adventures and continue to join us!

Here are our previous weeks in case you missed them or want to go back.

Week #1

Week #2

Week #3

Week #4

Stay tuned for next week and don't forget to follow on Pinterest for all the great ideas we find!

Pinterest!

Homeschool/Preschool Week #4 (Letters, Leaves, Pumpkins, and Potions)

Preschool Activities and Adventures....

We are finishing up week #4 and man, have we been busy! Little E has been working...and playing so hard and has really gotten into learning this week. I think she is finally "getting it"!!! I have caught her even asking, "Today, I have school time?" or "I have my school before I play ponies?" The first few weeks it was a rough start to getting both of us on any kind of schedule and I seemed to be having to really coax her to get interested enough to sit and practice any type of worksheets...before the "fun stuff".

I was lucky the first few days just to get her to sit long enough for me to read and explain the paper to her before she was...done and ready to play.

As the weeks have moved on and we are learning together when is our best time to do school and she is learning more of a structure, it has gotten easier.

This week...

We started more of our Autumn/Fall theme. I printed of more Fall Trees! She really loves those!

I also found a few other free printables of pumpkins and leaves. We painted our pumpkin and gave him some "googly eyes" for fun.

We used the leaves paper to practice our "Fall colors" and learn how each leaf is different(like snowflakes and clouds). We painted them and when some of the colors ran, she loved that! She kept telling me, "I made rainbow leaves!"

That got this Momma thinkin'...

Fall... Halloween... witches, ....POTIONS!

Now, this got a bit messy, so I am still looking for "neater" ways to do this little experiment, but it did teach her about colors, blending, and it was a fun, outdoor activity we could do together.

I gathered a few random(luckily they weren't our "good" dishes) cups, bowls, and a spoon.

We added water to a couple and then we squeezed in a few drops  a TON of food coloring. blue, green, yellow, and somehow we had a purple neon one.

I had her name each color and see how less dye made it lighter, more dye it got darker.

Then we would "make a potion" by pouring one color(blue) into the cup of yellow water and see what color it made. I did have her try to guess what color it would be. She guessed, "Pink!" every time! She had so much fun and did her best "Whaa ha ha!" witch voice throughout the whole day.

We've also been working on...

The letters A and C this week. We are struggling a bit with A. I'm not sure why, but she just hasn't gotten it yet. C, we are doing much better on. It helps that we have Caralyne, Caden, Carter, Catalina, and a Chloe in our family, so we have been going over and over all the C names this week.She has identified it, practiced writing or tracing and making her best /K/, /K/, /K/ sound all week!

We even found a Youtube video of  the official... Letter C Song. Let me warn all my dear Mommas, it gets very...annoying, very quickly, but it really does teach them a ton all about the letter. There is a song for each letter of the alphabet. A song and video that averages about 3 minutes, about all 26 letters!

Our books for the week...

We have read a ton, as usual. Our two picks for our Fall theme are:

Peter Rabbit and the Pumpkin Patch

Time to Harvest

I hope you all have had a great and educational week and enjoyed our adventure recap!

We'd love to hear about everyone's week!

What have you learned this week?

Have you started a Fall/Autumn theme?

What are your favorite ways to teach?

Homeschool/Preschool Week #3 ( Numbers, Counting, Patterns, and Pumpkins)

Preschool Activities and Adventures...

I can't believe we are already finishing up week three!

And, it is the first day of Fall! I'm not even ready to touch that subject.

I'm not one of those, Ooooh, pumpkin spice everything, ready for campfires, and loving all things crisp and cool.

I am definitely a more sun out, flip flops, iced tea, tank tops and 80+ degrees kind of girl!

Luckily, Little E has been more cooperative with having some "desk time".She too is a, wake up, get dressed, go outside, kind of girl. (Some days she doesn't even get to the get dressed part before she is begging at the door, like the doggie that needs to tinkle!)

Week Three Round Up

This week we slacked off on all the letters and alphabet. She seemed to be getting frustrated and wanting to play around or whine every time I mentioned her "Letter work".

To me, that is a red flag that she was either A. Not quite ready for those, or B. She was getting burnt out and we needed to change things up a bit. 

I don't want to feel like I'm forcing her too much. I understand she needs to learn these, but if it is causing her to become uninterested or down right put off by "school" then we can move on and come back later on.

I have tried to sneak in asking her to identify "big letters" while we are reading and she is doing great with that.

This week we found a fun way to get started on identifying numbers and also counting.

It really is pretty basic. I just did a plain Office doc and spaced out the numbers into a sort of grid or block. I believe I used font size 88. You can always play around and figure out which is best. 

We only did 1-4 today but soon I will add more numbers or even mix the order up.

We then gathered about 473  10-12 blocks and placed the correct number amount on that space. 

(1 block on #1 space)

 I made her count each block she placed on the grid and then count them all together(total).

At first she only wanted to use the pink blocks. Green and white blocks were "wrong". LOL

After finding ALL the pink blocks, she was back on track. 

We did this about 5 times and I had her tell me each number(identify) on the paper.

I would ask her:

Can you find #3?

After she pointed to it, then I would have her add 3 PINK blocks to that grid.

Here's what ours looked like. It isn't pretty, but it serves it's purpose.

Patterns...

I tried to use our time...and her attention wisely.

While we had all those blocks out, we also worked a little bit on doing patterns.

Again, she wanted only pink blocks, so it was a challenge at first.

Her "pattern" was all 6 pink blocks, nicely aligned into a row! I had to laugh.

I did get her to follow my pattern after a few tries.

We also did some artwork this week. She is on a painting kick. I printed off a few "Fall" pics and instead of coloring them, we busted out the Dollar Tree paint set!

Although as you can tell, by the end of this week, we only have brown and black paint left.

Hey, it was only $1.00 and we weren't expecting a Picaso.

Here is her Pumpkin from today.

As always, there has been TONS of reading and story time!

This week she has been stuck on Tom's First Day of School.

I bet we have read this book 20 times! She loves it.

It really is a cute story. It starts out with Tom learning he has to start school. He isn't excited at first.

After his sister teases him with "scary stories" about school, he is even more scared.

Mom and Dad take him the next day and he learns about all the wonderful things there are to do.

He makes friends, enjoys class, lunch, and recess.

It shows lessons in teasing, making friends, learning that everyone is different, sharing, and not being afraid.

We are finishing up this week with a few more books we haven't gotten to yet and probably a...letter sheet! We shall see.

We also have a busy weekend ahead, so I have plenty ready for Monday, and the start of week #4.

I hope everyone had a productive week.

If you've missed our adventures, you can go back and see what else we've been doing:

Week #1

Week #2

I hope you enjoy our journey and adventures.

Please share any ideas or tips you have found!

We love new ways to learn!

Enjoy the Weekend!

Amazing LIST of Books about SCHOOL for PreK and Kindergartners

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents"~ 

Emilie Buchwald

I am an admitted book hoarder and hopefully will pass on this wonderful love of reading to all my children.

I strive to read every day!

My children see me reading, book shopping, logging in or researching books, doing a book review or recommending books on the DAILY!

They can't get away from me and my addiction..err, habit.

Tidbits of my hobby here: A Novel Experience

My youngest just turned 4 years old, and she has already become the boss of..."Read one more, Momma!"

This I hear 3 to 4 times a day. 

Usually, when "Mr. Sun" is sleeping and my coffee has worn off for the day!

It has become a nighttime ritual.

And while...honestly, there are times, I just want to read my OWN book or try to let her "read" independently...I usually end up reading to her, the same book...again!

And again!

I love that this is "our time".

 I could sit and read to her for hours, if we had all that free time. I love that she would allow me to, and she enjoys it.

I see her remembering what happens next and asking questions when she doesn't understand something in the story. She has even begun reading along or "spoiling" the next page by reading ahead because she is remembering the story!

It is so amazing watching her go through this process of learning. I can sit in awe of this accomplishment!

These important times are the beginning steps in her learning to read,...and enjoy reading!

I have learned it is so much easier to get her interested if I let her choose the book and also let her pick out what she likes at the library or bookstore.

It doesn't always have to be "kiddy books".

Non-fiction, science, nature, animals, transportation, even cookbooks with pictures....all these subjects have a book that will intrigue a child if they are interested.

I wanted to try to make some lists and also help organize her books to be ready for homeschool/preschool.

Organizing by author didn't really seem too practical for our needs, so I am trying to separate them by theme or "characters"(Arthur, Berenstain Bears, Disney, etc)

So, My first list is of books about school.

Do you need #books to help your #child get ready for #backtoschool or starting school.
Here are a few we lovehttps://t.co/VKvUMEhgRi

— Trema Renae (@CoffeeWastedMom) August 1, 2018

We seem to be moving backwards in working on "Back to School" in week #2, but that is okay. It's still September and she is enjoying the books. Well, and that seemed to be a subject we found a lot of books about.

Some we have read, some I had read years ago to my older girls, and some I found online or on other great lists.

So here they are:

My List of Amazing Books about School!

**UPDATED LIST**

1. Olivia and the School Carnival~ Tina Gallo

2. Tom's First Day of School~ Beth Robbins

3. Strawberry Shortcake Goes to School~ Grosset & Dunlap

4. Wonder Pets: Off to School~ Sascha Paladino

5. Little Pirate Goes to School~ Lawrence Schimel

6. Kindergarten, Here We Come~ Quinlan B. Lee

7. The Berenstain Bears Go Back to School~ Stan and Jan Berenstain

8. A Place Called Kindergarten~ Jessica Harper

9. First Day, Hooray!~ Nancy Paydor

10. If You Take A Mouse To School~ Laura Numeroff

11. Preschool To The Rescue~ Judy Sierra

12.Llama Llama Misses Mama~ Anna Dewdney

13. Mouse's First Day of School~ Lauren Thompson

14. The Night Before Preschool~ Natasha Wing

15. Back To School? Cool!~ Suzy Spafford

Here is a great "box set" of beginner activity books:

My First Activities Book series

I hope you will find these books to read and enjoy with your littles!

Please comment on any you have found or any you would like added to the list!

I know there are SO many more wonderful books out there!

What are your favorites?

Happy Reading and Happy Learning!

Thursday. This, That, and the other...

Where did Wednesday go???

Hello, 

 I guess I should be totally bummed that I missed my weekly Wednesday(WIP) post and I do apologize. I hate missing anything planned or scheduled. I'm sure you all are devastated there wasn't anything new to read on here. Again, I apologize. 

Yesterday kind of started out lazy and relaxing(which was super nice) but then as usual, got crazy busy and time just flew. I finally decided, no post was better than a crappy one written in my exhausted state with a three year old who didn't settle down until around 1 am...Which technically means I would have missed Wednesday anyway.

Although I did get a few things accomplished yesterday.

First off, I wanted to share in my excitement! I received my very first international mail!!

I didn't actually receive it yesterday, but I did manage to grab a few pics, get them loaded, edited and reread my letter and enjoy my "fun mail". 

As, I've told y'all before one of my dear friends lives over in England and we have decided to also rekindle the lost art of pen palling! It is so wonderful to get real letters! Sure, we chat online, do video chats and IM but it isn't the same. I love having a letter I can cherish and look back on years from now. And her penmanship is AMAZING! It is quite an inspiration. We definitely need to bring back real handwriting classes here folks. This girl is putting our school system to shame in one 4 page letter!

I also managed a trip to the store to add to my "stash". I admit, I am addicted to yarn/wool! I have become the "one more skein" girl every time I go out. Although I am actually using it and learning a lot of new tricks and "patterns". I have a craft fair that I will be participating in coming up in November at a local church so I do actually need things to sell! 

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

These are my newest project. They are super cute and so easy to make!(And, they actually work!) Even I got the whole pattern figured out, start to finish and have about 6 of them made up!

Here is where I found this quick and free pattern! >>Bath Scrubby Pattern

And as usual... You know I have been reading something!

This is book #1 in a trilogy and so far I'm liking it, not love but it is a nice easy read.with a good bit of history(my fave).

Accidentally Amish: Valley of Choice #1

Hope y'all have a blessed weekend. Happy blogging and happy reading!