Library Day - 2/20

Here are the books we read last week! Of course we used the Cat in the Hat books for the activity I posted before, but there were quite a few others they liked as well Of course the Tree House books were a favorite, but the second one pictured is where the Tree House books change from 10 chapters to various lengths, in this case 16! That was definitely a surprise... haha! It took some extra time to get through, but still great just the same. They also really liked the Martha Speaks book since they seem to really like that show lately, which is great because it's super educational and even I learn things I don't know or remember! Good stuff. 

We didn't do any extra read alone books last week, but look for one coming up in this weeks books! I've been a busy bee doing ridiculous amounts of online research into 1st grade curriculum! Obviously we're still only halfway through Kindergarten, but I'm a planner, and...well... sort of a borderline obsessive worrier about these sort of things... so I'm getting ready early if I can! I think I've decided what I want, just need to slowly pay for everything (ick) and start compiling things for next year while we power through on this year. I'm learning that I don't have to do EVERY worksheet in the known world for the topic we're talking about, because it's starting to put me behind where I want to be! I'm finally figuring out how smart my little crazy men really are, and that we can move at a much faster pace than a classroom with 30 kids, just because there's only 2 of them! So we're doing more in each lesson, and they actually like the way we're doing things now better, and everybody is happier when it's lesson time! I'll take more about the changes another time though, I've got lessons to prepare!  A homeschooler's work never ends! ;-)

Cat in the Hat Word Family Hats!

     One thing that the boys have had a little trouble with since the beginning of the year is word family ladders. The funny thing is they spend all day saying rhyming words, but when they sit down to do a ladder they freeze. So, I decided to find a different way to go about it. I was planning on reading Cat in the Hat this week, so I decided to add on Cat in the Hat Comes Back, and then do this really cool lesson I saw on Pinterest. Here's the link: http://www.pleasantestthing.com/2013/02/word-family-games-with-the-cat-in-the-hat.html#_a5y_p=3140512.
     So, I just cut six white rectangles, and then a bunch of white and red squares. Then I asked them what color background they wanted and we got started. I picked a word ending, and they came up with the words, and then wrote them. They worked together to come up with some, and some they did on their own, but I only had to give them clues a few times. They had some fun doing it, and hopefully helped them be able to do a "ladder" without it being so scary. I think they turned out great!

Library Day - 2/13

Here are all the books from 2 weeks ago... being sick got my so far behind! Ugh! Anyway, the exciting announcement from this week is that the boys read their very first library book on their own! They read the book "Hug" which is pretty much the word hug over and over until two other words come in at the end. It was simple, but they did it and it made them really proud to be able to read it all on their own! The whole point of the book was to help build their confidence, and it seems to have worked at least a bit! I already have two more books I want them to try, so I'll update once we tackle the next one this week!

They asked to read this one more than once before we had to take it back. Its a cute story about a knight, and some dragons that housesit for a magician and his cats! They can't read, so they just follow his instructions based on the pictures he drew... and it gets interesting. They really liked this one a lot!

The book they read alone! They've read lots of books that we made for school or through Starfull with the rebus pictures, but never a "real" library book before. :-)

Valentines Day Craft: Melted Crayon Suncatchers!

     Sorry for the delay in posting, but somehow I managed to be the only one in the house to catch a cold... and let me just say that it should be against some sort of Universal rule for Mom's to get sick. Bleh. So after a 3 day sick on the couch break... we're back. Thankfully we planned ahead and did these about a week before V-day, but I had to wait to post about it since we were using them as Valentine's! Here is the link to where I got the idea from: http://buggyandbuddy.com/crafts-for-kids-make-a-sun-catcher-with-crayon-shavings/.
    So, I got out some wax paper, and cut it into small squares. Then, I grated (and grated... and grated...) crayons on some leftover paper plates, and cut about foot long pieces of yarn. Then the boys came to the table (after asking approximately 12 BILLION times what we were doing) and got started! You just put one piece of wax paper down, sprinkle the crayon on top, top it with another piece of wax paper and melt it with an iron! Oh, and don't forget that if you're putting your suncatcher on a string, to put the string with the crayon layer, with about 2-3 inches of it sticking on the crayon once you sprinkle it. Then, cut the wax paper into whatever shape you want! They turned out really cool! They had lots of fun making them too! We made 12 total (6 from each kid), but for some reason I totally spaced on taking a picture of all of them done! So I took a picture of the ones they made for Andrew and I. <3

Library Day - 2/6

Here are all the books we read last week! Of course the favorites (as always) are Magic Tree House and the Scooby Doo choose your own adventure type book. They've been asking to help me read books whenever we read now (YAY!!!) so I have them read some of the words they know, and some that I know they can sound out and they love that they get to help read the story! It's a little harder for them to pay attention to what's happening in the story when they're helping read it, but we always go back and make sure everyone is understanding, and they're doing really good. They're on the way to reading a library book on their own. More on that with this weeks library post! :-)

Library Day - 1/30

     Apparently last week I was in a bit of a hurry before the Library and forgot to take close ups of our favorites... but then again I also forgot to post about it for a week... so what can you do... haha! Anyway, here are the books we got through this week. There is less than usual because we read 2 Magic Tree House books and a Scooby Doo Choose Your Own Adventure book too, so those take more than one sitting to read through. They of course love the "Jack and Annie" books best, but they also really liked the Perfect Nest too. It was a pretty cute book, and based on the fact that its usually constantly checked out, most other people must agree! One really cool thing that happened this week is that one of the Magic Tree House books had William Shakespeare in it. This week we read an early  reader book from The Lego Movie, and it had some random lego characters in it. One of them was a William Shakespeare and they remembered and related it back to the guy who made the play! Good stuff... even if it involves Lego characters... lol! I'll try to remember to take better pictures for this week!

The Water Cycle!

      This week, we took a close look at The Water Cycle! First we did a Starfall lesson where we read a book called Precipitation and checked out a diagram of the water cycle that showed all three parts; evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. Then, I had gotten a book from the Library called The Drop Goes Plop by Sam Godwin. It was really great at showing The Water Cycle in a way that was easy to understand.
      The next day, we did some Water Cycle experiments! First we showed evaporation by putting warm water in a clear plastic cup, the placing another clear plastic cup over the top to show the water vapor collecting in the top.  Next, we showed condensation by putting ice in a cup and watching the water droplets collect on the outside of the cup. Finally, we showed precipitation by getting a dry cotton ball and feeling how light it is before, then dipping the cotton ball in the water. When the cotton ball was full, it was heavy, like a cloud gets heavy with rain. When the water starts pouring out of the cotton ball, it's because its full and it has to let water out, again, just like a cloud. They totally got it and the wrote a journal entry about it! They did a great job with their kid writing too! Plus when we were done they got to play with the water and decided to see what happened when you add food coloring too. Fun times and great learning!