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!

My Homemade Slime...FAIL! (How NOT to do it!)

The Slime Nightmare

Let me just begin by saying, I am not a scientist! I am however pretty confident in my creative, DIY, Pinterest, Momma skills...until now!

It started out great. Little E wanted to make "slime"(thanks to the annoying commercial/ads posted at the beginning of, every. single. Youtube. video!)

I began by doing a quick...Pinterest search of...

How to make homemade slime

Y'all, there are seriously 100s of recipes! With borax, without. Shampoo, dish soap, cornstarch, contact lens solution, Epsom salt, shaving cream, Elmer's glue, glitter, food coloring, liquid laundry detergent...it goes on and on!

Just look <<HERE>>

The biggest factors for me were: 

A) What is the safest for my four year old, and

B) which recipe do I have all the ingredients for.

We started out with the simplest one I found.

Slime with Cornstarch

1c water(heated but not boiling)

3to 4 drops of food coloring

(mix those together)

2cups cornstarch

(slowly add to water mixture)

slowly begin to "work" mixture with hands until cornstarch dissolves and mixture becomes..."slime"

Sounds pretty easy, right???

This has got to be in the top 10 of grossest, weirdest things I have ever put my hands into.

Seriously...I'm a Momma. I have kneaded bread, made meatloaf, touched poop, vomit, dirt and a few un-identifiable substances!

This was worse!

I have NO idea, WHAT we made!

It was not slime!

It kind of had the texture of chewed gum you'd find in your kid's pocket after the wash but before it has been heated and dried. Add in a little grit from the dirt and lint that is now wrapped up and became a part of it.

One more close up pic....

Now...On to recipe #2!

Or as I like to think...almost slime. 

Slime with Epsom salt and Glue

4Tsp Epsom salt

4Tsp warm water

(combine)

in a separate bowl

8Tbs Elmer's glue

food coloring(2 drops)

combine and add to Epsom salt mixture

Again, work mixture together with hands until "slime" is made

Now, This one started out great! We thought we had finally gotten it! Real slime!

We has all the ingredients.

We had done everything just like it said.

And the "slime" was actually starting to form and feel like slime!!

Although there seemed to be a ton of extra "blue water" that the glue just wouldn't soak up. No matter how much we dipped and tried to work it into our slime.

I let Little E give it a try...

She LOVED it....for about two minutes!

And then, I don't know if it was the air or just that we didn't get all that water absorbed but it started to harden.Like first into a putty texture, then a dry playdough...then just a big, dry, gritty blob...

Like the cotton candy that sits out and gets air!

Hard. as. a. rock.!!!

I have no clue what we are doing wrong!

Making slime cannot be this hard!

Have you ever tried either of these recipes?

What works best?

I'd love to know of one we can easily make that really...works!

What's That Quote? #3

What's That Quote?

Happy Monday.

I know some of us are wishing it was Friday, or even Saturday already. Although we aren't promised, we can hope for tomorrow. 

That thought, got me thinking about this quote...

" To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow"

Audrey Hepburn

I'm sure many of you know what gardening means to me. It truly is one of my greatest passions.

(More of that > HERE )

It really is such a wonderful and rewarding thing. To plant, to be one with the Earth and my God. 

A garden is a process. We have to design, plan, gather seeds or saplings, plants. We have to treat the soil and then there is the tending. The weeding and watering to be done. We must be dedicated and prepared for obstacles of many kinds.(weather, animals, bad seeds, etc)

But, we plant anyway. Why? Because, we believe!

We believe that they will grow, and that tomorrow, and the tomorrow after that, we will see that growth and the changes. Eventually, after enough tomorrows, hopefully, we will see our glorious plants or flowers in their prime. Ready to harvest. Then, we will know that all that hoping was worth it.

This quote can have such a deep meaning to some. For me, it really does mean Hope! It means that while God tells us, and we are often taught; Tomorrow is never promised. We still hope. It is our human nature.

To believe in hope...

We "plant a garden".

We can look forward. We can plan ahead. We prepare.

Things may not turn out how we hoped, or planned. They may not happen at all, but we believe, we hope.

Without the hope for tomorrow, there can be no joy in today.

What would be the point? 

Do you plan a vacation to take with family?

Do you apply for that big job?

Do you take medication or a vitamin?

Do you shop for a newer car that will last you years?

Do you put away money for your child's future?

Do you clean your home early, so that your weekend is free?

If so, you are planting your garden!

Do you believe?

What does "planting your garden" mean to you?