Muffin Tin Monday

I came across this wonderful blog with this super fun idea of Muffin Tin Monday.  We finally participated this week but I did not realize there was a theme.  So I just used what I had on hand and the kids thought it was great fun.  But if you want to see some really creative ideas be sure and visit http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/

Here are some pictures of our first participation.  I can't wait to get more creative and see everyone's ideas.  However we will have to do ours on Tuesdays after our trip because  our co-op meets on Mondays.

 

 

 

Letter of the Week....C

This week the girls focused on the letter C.  I have to say this is new for me the fact that they aren't catching on right away to their letters or sounds.  Anastasia or Joshua caught on so quickly.  For Joshua I give credit to Fridge Phonics by Leap Frog.  I finally got it back out since we moved.  I left it packed away in exchange for a clean fridge but no more!    It really works and the girls love to play with it and are already singing the sounds.  I have only put up the A, B, C and we will add a letter each week.

They colored and cut their big and little C's.  Made a C book and the C in the lower left corner is covered in cornmeal.  (My flash doesn't like the white paper)

Backside

This week's Workboxes

 

I know I have said it many times before but I LOVE using workboxes!!!  My kids are so motivated and stay on task now.  We are working out most of the kinks for the mornings to run smoothly.  For example today I told the kids if I am already working with one of them and someone else needs my help then they need to not interrupt and pick a book to read or a puzzle to do.  That really helped especially when I was trying to read with someone.

Anastasia is wanting me to put her work into the boxes as well so I have been laying it out for her and I will buy another rack and boxes when we get back from our trip.

Here are some extra things in the boxes this week.  I posted earlier the standard things in them each week (spelling, math, reading, Awana workbook) 

Anastasia's workboxes pretty much stay the same I try to add some fun things.  She just got her sewing machine fixed so we have been working in time for her to sew.  She is working on a baby blanket for her cousin that will be born soon and then one for her soon to be new baby brother.  She also practices the guitar for 30 min a day (Jay does a lesson with her once a week and then she practices on her own the rest of the week)  Her other extra right now is typing.   Then she has 2-3 Ocean activites a day.  This is all in addition to her regular math, reading, spelling and vocab.

Joshua:  Think it Thru tiles, drawing practice, computer this week is starfall.com, Ocean workbook (I made from learningpage.com), story to read with mom (I read at least two books to them all together each morning and then I pick a book to put in one of their workboxes that just that child and I get to snuggle on the couch and read together.)  Ocean animal report

Savannah and Alexa are also doing starfall.com for computer and this week they are doing the letter D activities.  They both got their Cubbie books this week so we are doing those activites as well.  Alexa is finishing her color book and Savannah has a Ocean workbook to work on.

That will pretty much be our workboxes for the next 3 weeks until our trip.  If I find anymore "fun"  or creative things to add for a change I will let you know.

Ocean Unit Study

We are having such a wonderful time with this unit study and the kids are learning so much!

I am amazed at what we have completed this first week!  (It is going to be a two week unit).  We are using  Hands of a Child  lap books; Ocean Habitats for Anastasia and Under the Sea for the other 3.  This is the first time I have used thier project packs for all four at the same time and I love the way the two work together and I can do age appropriate activites for all.

Of course I have to add more to it ! The units themselves are not lacking I just always keep searching for more info and lessons.  I just need to know when to stop!! 

I have an inflatable globe (ball) that we tossed around the first day learning the names of the oceans.  They loved that!

We are also making the mural from learningpage.com

It's all colored now we need to add the animals as we learn about them.

Also on that site they have great themed worksheets so I printed off the PreK and 1st grade ones put them in a folder and Savannah and Joshua work on them during workbox time.

My favorite activites this week have been the crafts and we did quite a few:

They made an Ocean Collage picture.  We took blue construction paper, yarn, and green paint.  They dipped the yarn in the paint and laid it on their paper then gently folded the paper.  This made it look like seaweed in the water. Then they glued on different ocean animals.

I just realized I didn't take a picture of them completed yet.

Joshua wanted to make a notebook page showing the food chain in the ocean.  He thought that was really cool.  Anastasia is learning about the different layers of the ocean and what lives where.  She is drawing those layers and writing about them.  (She doesn't want me to take a picture until it is all done.)

Story Time:

We read "The Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister and the kids created their own Rainbow fish complete with it's own shiny scale.

(Joshua's fish was out swimming somewhere in the house and couldn't be located for the picture!)  We made these 3D like and are going to hang them up.  We stuffed the middle with newspaper.

We also read "Starfish" by Edith Thacher Hurd.  The kids glued on Cherrios to their starfish to give it some fun texture.

Now for my favorite book this week.....I am a huge Eric Carle fan but had never read "A House For a Hermit Crab" even with Anastasia having hermit crabs we just missed this book.  It was so much fun to read!!  It follows the time line of the months of the year and the hermit crab looks for a new house.  He finds his shell but it is plain so he goes along the ocean floor and finds different things to add to his house till it is all decorated.

So the kids sponge painted their own "shell" (paper plate) made a hermit crab and then added the objects to it.  I printed them off and some were in color and some they colored.  They cut and glued them on.  These turned out so cute!!

If you want more specific on any of these crafts just ask I would be glad to share.

Family Fun

We missed a formal family fun night last week due to illness. The kids started feeling better and then Jay got sick. We kept up with our nightly reading and are currently reading "The Adventures of Chatter The Red Squirrel" This week our family night was pretty low key since Jay was still recovering. Friday night we made our homemade pizza and had the 3 minute cobbler for desert. We also made a special dessert. Since we are studying the oceans we made an "ocean in a glass". It didn't turn out exactly how I was hoping but the kids loved it none the less.

Okay so the directions call for clear plastic glasses and blue jello. I couldn't find blue jellow anywhere. There was every other flavor/color so I thought we could try cherry jello and use blue colored cups. It worked fine but you couldn't see the fishes in the cups it was all to dark.

I didn't get any more pictures the rest of the night as the camera batteries died and had to be recharged. After our dessert Jay and Anastasia led us in a song of "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever" then Jay read the days of creation from Genesis to tie in with our Ocean study. Then we played a bunch of different games on Wii together.

Awana

 

We had our first Awana Club meeting tonight.  It was so great!  Another lady and myself are co-commanders.  There has been a lot of work put in in these weeks leading up to tonight.  I feel so blessed with the leaders, clubbers and families that God has placed in our midst.  I have helped with Awana's for over 5 years with Anastasia and we have missed it the last year and a half.  So when our new church was on board with starting one I was so excited.

Chris one of our T &T leaders talking about the Bible being more powerful than a sword.

Game time--They needed to listen to directions being called out to them to stay on the white circle.

Cubbies enjoying their snack time.

Cubbies craft/coloring time

Joshua during handbook time.  He memorized his first verse:  John 3:16

Ok I had to take this picture.  Natasha had a pony tail on top earlier like "Cindy Woo"  when she pulled it out this is what her hair looked like! 

Going thru these pictures I realized I didn't get one of Becky and myself.  I will have to take one next week.

 

Preschool Activities

This week we finished up our "B" page for the girls ABC book

 

Here are some pictures of Alexa's color plates.  She gets one plate in a workbox each day with a colored piece of paper and a magazine.  She has to look through the magazine and find things with that color.  When we finish a few more I am going to hole punch and bind them like a book using yarn.

 

 

Our Finished Lapbooks

We got behind this week with sickness.  Joshua is doing much better but Anastasia's sore throat is really hanging on and she even got pink eye today. So she did not get a lot of school work done this week.  She barely started on the American Revolution and she was supposed to finish it this week.  We are going to put it off though now till after our trip because we are going to do a 2 week unit study on Oceans and then a two week unit on Disneyland all leading up to our trip.

Here is Anastasia's lap book on Colonial America:

 

 

 

This lapbook was from Hands of a Child.

I also got the other kids 5 Senses lapbooks put together today.  They love looking at them and talking about all the activities they were so proud and wanted to carry them all around. I took pictures of Joshua's they are all the same.  I haven't put Alexa's together yet she didn't do all the activites but is asking for a book now.  I will put together what I have.  She will probably do this unit again in a couple of years when she is the oldest with Natasha and Jadon. 

This was a made up lapbook from different things I have and came up with and also some worksheets from learningpage.com

Our ABC Book

Savannah and Alexa are working on making a ABC book. We are focusing on one letter a week. I put the activity in their workboxes each day. This first week was the letter A. I find activities and cut-outs from homeschoolshare.com and www.first-school.ws.

Here is our first page completed. We will make a cover page and bind them when finished.

(This is the back side of the page) The flash on the camera doesn't like the white paper very much.

We got some extra time to put this one together today since I just had the three little girls. Jay took Joshua and Anastasia to urgent care because Joshua has pink eye in both eyes and an ear infection and Anastasia has a sever soar throat and fever! Fun stuff going on around here....