Activity bag

I was looking up ideas for preschoolers and came across some great ideas. I am still working on many but here are two that I have completed. The first one is just 4 little Glad plastic cups that I glued colored construction paper in. I had a bunch of these colored teddy bears that I got at a yard sale that work perfectly. I just keep everything in a large plastic zipper bag and he can pull them out whenever he wants. They are also great for learning to count. The magnetic color chart is just a chart I made with colors at the top. I got a bunch of paint chips and cut them to the right size. I got a cookie sheet and put magnets on everything so it would be easier to use. So far the first two activities have been a success. I got the ideas for these here.
I will post more as I get them done.



Magnetic color chart


Sorting colors

Outside for school

We were having issues with Jared being bored doing school so I decided to change things up a bit. We spent one day just doing stuff outside. Jared did his writing in the dirt which he loved. He wrote words and did math problems using sticks and rocks if he needed to count. As we were walking we would talk about different vowels sound and he would tell me words that had those vowel sounds. I must say, it was a much more relaxing way of doing things and I believe we got a lot accomplished.


Time for the cowboys to pose!


I love watching them walk together


A little playtime


Observing!


This is way more fun than writing on paper!



Jared writing math problem in the dirt

Field trip to Cincinnati Museum Center

Friday we took our first official field trip to the Cincinnati Museum Center. We have never been there before and we were all really impressed. I would have a membership there for sure if we lived close. There was so much to see and do and learn. The Natural History part was great. They had tunnels and caves that the boys loved. Actually we did too! The Children's Museum part had sooooo many activities for kids to do. They had a section where they had pictures and homes of children from other cultures. It was really interesting. They had little grocery stores for kids to play. They had a section where kids could build things and work construction. The list goes on. This was seriously a great place to visit. We will be going back sometime for sure. Here are just a FEW of the MANY pictures I took.

Mcruffy Math

I just wanted to post quickly and say how much Jared likes doing Mcruffy math. He loves using the circle counters and bears and everything he has done so far. It is a really good program and I'm very glad I settled on it. Here is a picture of him concentrating on his counting. Most of the time, while Jared is having school time, Kameron is content just to play. Otherwise, he likes to sit directly across from Jared and color. I have been preparing some activity bags for him which I'll post about later.

Drying Flowers

As I mentioned in my last post, we are reading about the pioneers and how they did things back then. Our first activity was gathering flowers to dry. In our reading we learned that the pioneers would do this in order to have pretty flowers to decorate their log cabin homes. They would also dry their herbs for cooking. Jared is really into this stuff. So the boys and I took a walk and gathered some wildflowers. We gathered Goldenrod, Queen Ann's Lace, and two more that I am unsure of. We then bunched them up, tied them, and hung them upside down on the clothes line on the back porch. I know it's probably too humid to dry well but it was really the only place we had. Besides, it was the point of doing it anyway. We are really excited for our next project. I'll post about it later.

The "Fun Stuff"

So later we decided to have a picnic lunch while we read about the pioneers. This was a big hit with both the boys. We ended up having the picnic on the porch instead of under the trees because we didn't want the dogs to bother us. We are using this book by David C. King and I can already tell I am going to have to purchase every single on of his books. I read to the boys while we ate and then we decided to go and pick some wild flowers to dry like the pioneers did. I will have to post pictures of that later. Until then, here is a picture of the boys enjoying their picnic lunch. By the way, I LOVE home-schooling!

The "Boring" Work

I thought I'd post some examples of Jared's work from today. This is what he calls the "boring" work. He really doesn't like the sit down work which is why we start off the day doing that so we get it over with and are able to move on to the "fun stuff". I am hoping that the more he gets used to this routine, the easier it will become. I still think Mcruffy will be a good match for him. He does really like the math and using the manipulatives that it comes with.

First day of school

Today was our first official day of school. We started out doing math. We are using Mcruffy math which I think is going to work well for Jared. He loved it and wanted to do more. We then moved on to spelling, reading, and writing and we are also using Mcruffy for these. He started out doing very well but he really doesn't enjoy handwriting. Hopefully that will get better. We did all of the most important stuff first and then the boys had break time. Actually, Kam hadn't joined in at this point. So after a 15 minute break, both of the boys came in for reading time. We read How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the USA. It is a great book and really teaches a lot especially for it being such a short book. We will read it several times and I think Jared will make a lapbook about it. I am going to be teaching about the different states so I thought this book would be a great introduction. Jared then finished the much dreaded handwriting sheet and it was time for lunch. It was so nice to have lunch together and even go swimming before we finished up with our school day. In the afternoon the boys did their art while I started reading Flat Stanley to them. All in all, I think it was a very good first day!

Our New School Room

We have finally got our new school room done just in time to begin. The school room belonged to each of my boys when they were babies. It took a lot for me to take down the wall hangings that have been up since before my oldest was born. I thought about redoing the wallpaper but couldn't stand to. It is still the original paper and border from when we first decorated our baby room. Now this room has progressed to being our class and we actually really love spending time in there. I can already see that I am going to need tons more space if I keep collecting crafts and books. Tomorrow we officially begin school in our room. For now, here are the pictures of where we will be spending loads of time.