L is for a Not so Lazy Week...

This last week featured the letter L and number 2.  We discussed the Bible stories of Lazarus, Lydia, and reviewed the first 2 people: Adam and Eve.  We started the week off with a Monday Special: a giant Lollipop :)

 On Wednesday after Story Time, we had a picnic at a park that was interrupted by a a school's field trip, so we left and met some friends at another park.  One of the reasons we were going to the park was to collect Leaves for an art project, but we got a little distracted playing with our friends: Lydia, Reed, Griffin, and Annalise.

We found an interesting insect and THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR!  He was the biggest we had ever seen :)

We eventually collected leaves and did our very own Leaf rubbing, but my 3 year old got a little carried away with coloring on top of the leaves and actually crushed most of them- LOL!  If you look closely you can see a few leaf outlines.

This week was also the 1st day of Fall, so we did an art project to hang on the fridge.  I did this last year with Aylin, but it is super cute with 2 trees :)

 Hilton turned 3 months old!

 Aylin and I had our annual Disney on Ice trip with my family.  This year it was all about the princesses, so after dinner we took a princess carriage ride to the show!  We also went to visit Bobby's parents, but I forgot my camera :(  Hopefully I will remember it next time.

We really had a great week :)

Y Is For...

This last week of playing school was a little slower paced than the first, but we still had fun.  Aylin learned about the letter Y and the number 0.  We only did one Bible story for the letter Y: The Rich YOUNG Ruler.  Our favorite activity was Yogurt Painting!  She thought this was the best thing, she even told different people about it, friends at church and strangers at Joann's.  It's very simple to do, just add food coloring to your yogurt of choice and paint away.  We taped a big Y on our paper before getting started, and when she was finished, I wrote "yogurt paint" with white paint.  It was very heavy so I laid it on another piece of construction paper and placed it on our kitchen table to dry.  After 24 hours, it was hanging on our fridge.  It hasn't started smelling, yet :)

 Yes she ate it, too :)

We also made a Y out of YARN.  She needed lots of help with this and we actually worked on it randomly for a couple of days.

 This was also the day that I had an exchange student: Rapunzel!

She made a Y picture of different things that start with Y and hung it up on the fridge.  She did the cutting for the Yard by herself and all the glueing; she LOVES to glue!

We also watch videos on Watchknowlearn.org.  I have a classroom set up and put different videos in there for her to watch.  It is FREE to join and set up, and if you make a classroom you can set it to private or public.  It is a great resource to use, but I recommend you watching videos before just showing them to your students. 

http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Default.aspx

 She also plays games on my iPhone or her daddy's iPad whenever she wants.  May I recommend buying the app LETTER SHOOL.  Aylin loves it!  

http://letterschool.com

We do flashcards with our letter of the week, some tracing, and reviewing, too.  Of course, we read as many books as she will let me.  You can also find read alouds on Watchknowlearn :)  This weeks agenda is the letter L and number 2.  

Playing School

Aylin wanted to go to school this year.  I don't know where it came from, she enjoyed the couple of times she visited my school when I was working, but all summer she talked about "going to school like a big kid."  Even after I told her I would not be returning to work, she insisted on "going to school to play with the kids."  Bobby and I decided we were not going to pay the $100+ a month for her to attend a preschool or mother's day out program, so instead we are "PLAYING SCHOOL" at home.  That is what she calls it :)  We started last week; as soon as Hilton falls asleep for his morning nap, Aylin announces "Time to play school Momma!"  She is only 3, so this is not a have to do activity.  So far, we have not Played School for longer than an hour, and one day it was only 20 mins.  But it is giving us a chance to do something together everyday without brother, and I think that is her favorite part.  Here are some pictures of our 1st week of playing school:

1st Day of 3 year old Preschool. Aylin Jewel was very excited!  We did the Letter A and Number 1.  Bible stories discussed: Abraham, Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark, Only 1 God. 

Activity 1: Tracing in Applesauce

 

 

Activity 2: An Ark Abundant with Animals

Activity 3: All About Me Poster

I asked her a version of that 20 question interview for your kids all over Pinterest.  Then we cut out pictures for some of the answers and glued them on the page.  She decided to hang this up on her door.  She loved painting her hands and feet, and her eyes are her thumb prints :)

Activity 4: ANT Restauraunt

We picked different foods and placed them on the tables.  We used watermellon, pineapple, honey, chocolate syrup, saltine cracker, sliced cheese, and a teddy graham.  Then we predicted what foods the ants would like the most.  Aylin's guess was her teddy graham.  We put it outside in the yard and waited for 4 hours. 

 

 We had ANTS! 

 They LOVED the honey!  We also examined the long line of ants that lead out of our backyard and talked about how they were taking food back to their home.  At this point Aylin flipped out! LOL!  She started screaming that they were all over her, nevermind that I was already holding her in my arms because she didn't want them to get her.  It was hilarious.  She calmed down pretty quickly, and decided to leave her restaurant in the yard for her daddy to see.  Unfortunately, I forgot about it, and Buttercup and Tessie ate what was left of it :) But awesome science project!

 

Activity 5: Thumbprint Family

She put this on our fridge.

We had a great 1st week.  This week we are talking about the letter Y and number 0.