The Letter B

This week we had fun learning about the letter B.  There are just so many cute things to do that begin with B, I couldn't decide, so we focused some more on fine motor work and math skills this week using things that begin with the letter B.

I made this puzzle for Little Guy using craft sticks and a picture of a bumble bee I printed from the computer.

I also made a pattern page to use with Teddy Grahams.  Although, I didn't realize when I made it that every pattern ended in the same color Teddy Graham! Oops!  Little Guy didn't mind though.

We also used some beige paint samples for Little Guy to practice his cutting skills.

We also practiced buttoning skills (which Little Guy definitely needs to work on) with this:

I sewed a button on each end of a ribbon, cut slits into the center of each square of felt, and that's it!  Perfect for little ones to practice buttoning.  It's great for the car and for restaurants too! 
*I did not invent this awesome little idea.  I came across it on another blog months ago, but I can't for the life of me remember where.  If anyone has any idea, do not hesitate to let me know, because I'd love to give the credit where it's due!

I made Little Guy a B Letter Hunt page.  He just uses the Bingo marker to mark all the B's he finds.  I usually use a premade page from Confessions of a Home Schooler, but she used butterflies for letter B, and I really wanted to stick with the bears.

We also broke out the Teddy Grahams again for this:

Lacing cards are definitely not Little Guy's favorite, but when I talk him through it step by step, he has a much easier time than if I just give him the lacing card as a solo activity. 

In case you're wondering, I just use a print out of a bear and glue it to a poster board, cut it out, and punch holes around the edges. 

We have so many paint samples lying around that I thought it would be great to use the beige squares for Little Guy to get some math and more fine motor work in.  I just numbered each card, and gave Little Guy a pile of paper clips.  The objective is to place the same number of paper clips as the number on each card. 

Little Guy found this activity extremely frustrating.  The paper clips were just too difficult for him.  I helped him with a couple, and by the time he got to the number 3, I just told him we didn't have to do it if he didn't want to, and he was glad to stop.  I might just leave them lying around one day and see if he takes to playing with them on his own when he knows there is no set goal.

This week we read:

"My B Book" by Jane Belk Moncure

(we love these books!)

"Where There's a Bear, There's Trouble" by Michael Catchpool

(This was really cute!  Little Guy really liked it.)

"Bread, Bread, Bread" by Ann Morris

(nonfiction)

"The Bear on the Bed" by Ruth Miller

(Little Guy LOVED this one!  If you have a boy, he probably will too.  It's a really cute little sing song book about a bear doing silly things on someone's bed, and I will prepare you:  there is poop involved.)

"Bicycle for Sale" by Dan Yaccarino

(we really like Oswald around here)

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Letter L

Little Guy was estatic that it was finally time for Letter L week, because that meant Lightning McQueen!  I thought it would be fun to make a some L's out of Lightnings, and so did Little Guy.

We did some love themed activities on Valentine's Day, which you can read about HERE.

We did the Letter L writing practice page from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  I had Little Guy do it on the easel this week to change things up.  Sometimes, it's easier for kids to write upright rather than on a table.

Then, we did some ladybug math.  I cut ladybug shapes and small black circles out of construction paper, decorated the ladybug shapes, and wrote a number on each one.  I set out the shapes and dots, and had Little Guy add the corresponding number of dots to each ladybug.  It was honestly much too easy for him.  I was thinking more of fine motor work, which we definitely need more of around here; but as for the numbers, 1-10 is just wayyy to easy for Little Guy.

After reading Llama, Llama, Red Pajama (one of Little Guy's favorites), he did a red pajama lacing card.

This week we read:

Llama, Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney

(we both love this book!)

The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper

(classic.  We followed it up with the movie, which is really cute too!)

The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle

My L Book by Jane Belk Moncure

Disney Pixar Cars Loud as Lightning

(unless your little one loves Cars, they may not sit for all of this one since it's kind of long.  Little Guy loved using the interactive Lightning McQueen on each page.)

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It's the Little Things...

So yesterday, I was outside picking up pinecones (something we do daily here), and the honeysuckle vine was buzzing with bees.  I ran inside to get my camera, but when I came back they were gone.  I waited a minute, and as if doing me a favor, a lone bee appeared and stayed put on a flower for a few seconds.   It was amazing.  Like he was giving me the chance to snap a picture.  Unfortunately, for some reason my camera wouldn't focus quickly enough and he buzzed off.  As he flew away, I thanked him for giving me a chance and decided since I had my camera out, I'd put it to good use.

Then, today.....

It really is the little things.  

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Linkies

Mondays:  Mostly Homemade Mondays, Montessori Mondays


Tuesdays:  Tell Me Tuesday, TwelveOEight Pretty Things Linky Party, The Winthrop Chronicles, Brag About It Link Party, Awesome Things Blog Hop, Let's Be Friends Link Up,


Wednesdays:  Free Pretty Things For You, Too Cute Tuesday, Wildcrafting Wednesday, What I Whipped Up Wednesday, Simple Living Wednesday, Craft Yourself Crazy, Frugal Days Sustainable Ways, The Blogger's Digest, Google Plus Link Party, Hit me With Your Best Shot,


Thursdays: Your Green Resource, Link N Blogs Link Up, Mommy Brain Mixer


Fridays:  Green Thickies Healthy Vegan Friday, Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge, Lady Bird Ln Weekend Show Off Party, Fun Friday Blog Hop, Bloglovin Blog Hop, Let's Be Friends Bloghop, On Your Heart, For the Kids Fridays, Bloglovin Blog Hop, Feature Friday,


Saturdays: Get Schooled Saturday, Share it Saturdays at Teach Beside Me, Craft Create and Inspire Party,


Sundays:  The Creative Homemaker Hop, The Sunday Showcase, Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime, No Time For Flashcards,

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V is for Valentine!

With Valentine's day coming up, we decided we'd spend this week on the letter V. 

I had Little Guy place M&M's on a V to get familiarize himself with the letter.  You can see by the pics he started rushing about halfway through because he wanted to hurry up and eat the candy!  I probably should have made a smaller V, but oh well. 

Since we're all pretty big readers around here, I thought it could be fun for Little Guy to make bookmarks as Valentine's presents for everyone.  I set out foam bookmarks that I found at the Dollar Tree, foam heart stickers, glitter, and markers and let Little Guy go to town.

We did some worksheets.

And made our heart shaped chocolates, which you can read about here. 

We also did this great "Find the V's" page with our bingo marker from Over the Big Moon.  I always find really cute themed pages there.

Then we did some more Valentine crafting and made our own Valentine cards.

We also learned all about volcanoes, did some volcanic activities, and even made our own, which you can read about HERE. 

The books we read this week:

My V Book by Jane Belk Moncure

(love this series)

I Love You Because You're You by Liza Baker

(sweet book)

Volcanoes and Earthquakes by Ken Rubin

(awesome pictures and drawings showing volcanoes and how they work)

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

(another sweet book)

Puddle's ABC by Holly Hobbie

(great ABC book that actually has a story in it along with the ABC pages.)

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Volcanoes

Since we've been talking about the letter V this week, we just had to learn about volcanoes.  I found a book with really great pics at our local library called "Volcanoes and Earthquakes."  We talked about volcanoes and how they form and what makes them erupt.  Little Guy was fascinated.



Little Guy worked on his letter tiles page and made a picture of a volcano.

We watched a really great video online at BrainPop! that you can find here.  Then, it was fun time!  We got out all our ingredients and set outside to make our own volcano!  So easy and fun.  All you need is baking soda and vinegar.  We added some food coloring to make it orange like lava.  It does bubble up though so you'll want to put it on a plate or in a bowl or take it outside to avoid a mess.

We (almost) filled the tiny vase with baking soda.

Topped it with our brown construction paper so it looked more volcano-like.

Then, poured the vinegar in.  *We were out of regular vinegar, so we had to use white wine vinegar, but it worked.

Super fun!!

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An Unschooling Day

We thoguht we'd spend the day at a local park since Hubby was home for the day.  They have a wonderful set up of a late 1800's farm and house.  We loved getting familiar with all the animals.  There was a wonderful lady there who was full of information for us on raising chickens and goats.   It was pretty awesome. 

Then we decided to look for the nature trails. 

We talked about what wildlife we hoped to see (and what we hoped not to see - like a bobcat).

Studied the tracks poster so we'd be able to identify any tracks we found.

Little Guy found himself a walking stick.

Little Guy discovered, unfortunately first hand, that even though a cactus might appear not to have any spikes on it, there might secretly be about 4 billion tiny sharp hairs just waiting to burrow themselves into your skin if you touch it. 

After we picked out as many spikes as we could, we had Little Guy rub his hands in the sand to take off the rest.

We didn't head home until late, and on the way home I said to Hubby, "Oh, we didn't do school today!"  He said, "I think he learned more today than he would have during 'school' anyway."  That's what I love about homeschooling our way.  We do our traditionalsih school activities, but with lots of unschooling mixed in!

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