January Week 1

Here are the lesson plans for the first week of January:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 1:

Supply List:

construction paper, any color

marker or crayon

glue

marshmallows - different colors and sized if you like

Cookie sheet

Toy cars/trucks

Coarse salt

Prep:

The night before or the early morning, you'll want to freeze a thin layer of water in a cookie sheet with edges

Day 2:

Supply List:

Poster Board or larger paper and markers to write Bible verse

A Bible or Children's Bible that includes the story of Jesus calming the storm

White paper

Safety scissors

Prep:

You may choose to write out the Bible verse first, or you may choose to write it out with your child.

If you would like pictures to go along with the Bible story, you can print these. You may also like to use a Children's Bible that has illustrations.

Day 3:

Supply List:

Small pieces of paper

marker

several pair of mittens - if you don't have very many pairs, you could also cut some out of colored paper in a variety of colors

Prep:

Print out the snowflake cards here and write out the numbers 1-6 on the small pieces of paper

Gather or make the pairs of mittens and place one of each pair on the other side of the room, in another room, or even hidden for an older child.

Let me know if anyone has any questions or if you aren't able to access documents. Have a great week! Happy 2011!

January Book List

Merry Christmas everyone! Here is the book list for January in case anyone will have time to hit the library in the week ahead. I will get a supply list out for the first week or so as soon as I can.

January Book List

Snow Eastman, Philip and Roy Mc Kie

Snow Rylant, Cynthia

Dream Snow Carle, Eric

White Snow, Bright Snow Tresselt, Alvin

Snow Day Laminack, Lester

Tracks in the Snow Wong Herbert Yee

The Snowy Day Ezra Jack Keats

The Snow Show Carolyn Fisher

Snow Is Falling Branley, Franklyn

Mr. Snow Hargreaves, Roger

It’s Winter Glaser, Linda

Winter Lullaby Seuling, Barbara

The First Day of Winter Fleming, Denise

Winter Woes Marty Kelley

Snow Family Daniel Kirk

Calming the Storm (Sing a Story) Linda Ovresat

Picnics and Peace Allison Bottke

The Fruit of the Spirit is Jesus in Me Dandi Daley Mackall

December's Curriculum

Hey everyone! It seems that our December person was unable to make the curriculum right now so I wanted to check in and see what everyone wanted to do.

I was thinking that maybe we could each agree to make a post this month about a Christmas learning activity we did. We can choose a book, a nursery rhyme/song, and one craft and post about it (with pictures of our kids doing it). What do you think?

November Week 4

Welcome to Week 4! I'm a little late posting - sorry about that! We started our holiday travels early and I didn't make it to the computer in time. I tried to make everything easy for this week since it will probably be pretty busy. Enjoy the lessons and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Here are the lessons.

Prep for Day One
Print these cards to use with the Spanish song and watch the Spanish song video again if you want.

Prep for Day Two
1. The Letter L art is here at the No Time for Flashcards site.
2. Gather: glue, scissors, and construction paper.
3. Print the Phonic Leaf activity.

Prep for Day Three
Gather: bowl, measuring cups, and spoons.

November Week 3

Welcome to Week 3!

Click here for the lessons for this week. Hope the Turkey Trot is fun for your little one, it was smiles and giggles here!

Prep for Day One:
1. Gather materials: construction paper along with brown, red, yellow, and green paints.
2. Look at this picture to get an idea of how your turkey should look.
3. Watch this video for the Spanish Lesson.

Prep for Day Two:
1. Print both pages of the shape picture activity. One is for you to see the final product and the other is for your child to color. I would print the second page on card stock, if you have it, so it stays sturdy through coloring, cutting, and pasting.
2. Gather materials: vinegar, tissue paper (red or pink), white construction paper, and brush.

Prep for Day Three:
1. The Letter K art activity is here.
2. Begin and End Letter K activity sheets are here.

Enjoy!

November Week 2

Welcome to Week 2 - this year has gone by fast!
Here are the lessons for this week. Remember to start your learning days by asking your child what they are thankful for and adding it to their Thanks Box. Be sure to ask Mom and Dad too.

Prep for Day 1
1. Gather Materials:
Bottle Caps
Permanent Marker
Poster Paper
Family Photos
2. Using the marker write one letter of your child's name on each of the bottle caps.
3. Print the Alphabet BottleCap Key.
4. On the poster, draw a picture of a tree. You can use branches or a round top tree.
5. Cut photos of family/friends to get them ready to paste on the tree.
Read books from suggested list.

Prep for Day 2
1. Gather Materials:
pocket
Hershey kisses
paint
fabric glue
ribbon or lace
misc. art materials
2. Print two sets Thanksgiving Matching cards from Montessori for Everyone on card stock or cover back with construction paper.
Read books from suggested list.

Prep for Day 3
1. Gather Materials:
Construction paper
Jelly Beans
2. Check out the Letter J activity on the No Time for Flash Cards site.
3. Watch video of the song at the end of the J for Jelly Bean page.
4. Print Turkeys for sorting and counting.
Read books from suggested list.

Family Tree

We will be making our Family Trees next week. I just wanted to let you know, so that you have you're photos of family members printed and ready to go. It's easy to forget to print photos.

November Week 1

Click here to download the lessons for the week.

Prep for Day One!


 1. Gather materials:
Jack-o-Lantern or old pumpkin
New pumpkin
Tray or newspaper

2. Print The Decayed Pumpkin activity from Sid the Science Kid website.

3. Gather materials:

Shoe or cereal box

Construction paper of various colors (I used scraps)

Things to decorate your box: sequins, pom poms, stickers, etc.

Here is a picture of how our "Thanks" box turned out. I decided not to put a slit in the top of our box. We'll just lift the lid everyday when put a "thanks/blessing" card in the box.

4. Read 2-3 books from the reading list. I recommend Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes.

Prep for Day Two!

1. Print Body Part Cards on card stock.

2. For the Fruit of the Spirit activity read verse 1 John 4:19 "We love because he first loved us."  Think of someone who loves you no matter what. You can make mistakes, and it doesn’t matter what you like like, they will still love you. God loves us too. No matter what. He even loves you more than your parents.  He can help us love others the way we should.

3. Gather materials:

Glue gun

Poster board

Paper

Crayons

Sand paper

4. Use the glue gun to trace hearts of different sizes onto a poster board and let it dry.

5. Cut out hearts from sandpaper and tape them to a piece of poster board.

6. Read 2-3 books from the reading list. I recommend From Head to Toe by Eric Carle and Guess How Much I Love You by Sam Mc Bratney.

Prep for Day Three!

1. Gather materials:

Construction paper - I recommend brown for the letter I.

Glue

Feathers

Here is how our Letter I - Indian turned out. Feel free to edit him as you wish - I'm not an artist! Oh, and I couldn't find my feathers so I used some silk leaves I found at the dollar section in Target.

2. Gather material:

Tray

Paper

Kool-aid powder mix

Ice Cubes

3. Read 2-3 book from the reading list. I recommend This First Thanksgiving Day by Laura Krauss Melmed and This is the FEAST by Diane Z. Shore.

Have fun! Let me know if you have questions or have trouble loading anything.

Preparing for November

November is almost here!! The booklist for the month is posted. It's ok if you cannot find all of the Thanksgiving themed books. Any Thanksgiving themed book will work. Also here is the supply list for the month. This is a list of things you will need outside of the what you may already have (glue, construction paper, paint, etc.). I will break the supply list down by week as I post the activities.


Shoe box (cereal box, any box)
Index cards
Craft items to be used to decorate (sequins, pom poms, stickers, etc.)
Keep your old Jack-o-Lantern and other pumpkins
Newspaper
Baking tray
Feathers (Michael's has packages with various colors)
Ice
Kool-aid powder mix (any color, I recommend something dark like blue)
Family Photos - Anyone in your family you would want to include on a family tree
Measuring cups and spoons (if you don't have a plastic set, run to the dollar store)
Foam sheets (also at the dollar store)
Plastic bottle caps (collect enough for your child's name)
Strawberries
Glue gun
Sandpaper
Fabric glue
Poster paper (2 sheets)
Jelly beans
Pocket
Hershey kisses
Ribbon or lace
Tissue paper
Vinegar 

Alternatives to Pumpkin Carving

Carving pumpkins is such a fun, family tradition in many families. However, it can be frustrating for toddlers when they can't participate in the entire carving process. Here are a few alternatives to traditional carving that your toddler may enjoy.

• Painting pumpkins- Painting pumpkins is a fun, colorful alternative that allows your toddler to be in charge of the entire decorating process. You can use regular paint brushes, or get creative with sponges, Do-A-Dot paints, markers, etc.
• Sticker pumpkin- Use regular or foam stickers to decorate a pumpkin. They can be Halloween themed, or represent some of your child's interests. They get some fine motor practice from peeling and placing the stickers in the process. You can also use black contact paper to create a more traditional looking Jack-o-lantern.
• Pumpkin collage- Gather various items around the house or from outside, such as buttons, leaves, yarn, magazine clippings, pinecones, ribbon, etc. Glue them on your pumpkin to create a face, or simply a fun design. (Regular white glue may not be strong enough, so you may need to help by hot gluing the pieces on)
• Candy pumpkin- Have a variety of different types of candy available for your child, such as licorice, gumdrops, candy corn, life savers, etc. Let your child create a face or design out of the candy. Some candy may stick temporarily with a little lick. For a more permanent solution, hot glue the pieces on.
• Vegetable pumpkin- Go a little healthier and decorate your pumpkin with vegetables. Have a variety of veggies available along with some toothpicks. Stick the veggies on the pumpkin using the toothpicks. I still remember making a pumpkin like this in elementary school and winning "healthiest pumpkin" at the school carnival! Of course, I now know that everyone won some type of award, but I was still very, very excited =).
• Pumpkin shape sorter- Ok, this idea does require carving, but I thought it was a fun idea worth including! Make a pumpkin shape sorter for your child by cutting out basic shapes from the pumpkin. Save the pieces and let your child stick them back and forth through the correct holes (you probably want to shave down the shapes a little so they fit easily). You can also do this with a traditional Jack-o-lantern. Just save the pieces and have your child find the eyes, nose, mouth, etc. and place them in the correct spot.

If you have your own fun alternative to pumpkin carving, feel free to share!

October ~ Week 4

Wow, I can't believe October is already almost over! Here are the final lesson plans for October.

Prep Time ~ Day 1

1) Cut a piece of black construction paper into 8 long strips, or cut 4 black pipe cleaners in half to make 8 pieces.

2) Look at a couple of examples of a paper plate spider: example 1, example 2

3) Gather your materials:

• Paper plate and black paint (or a black paper plate)
• 8 strips of black paper or black pipe cleaners
• Optional: pencil for curling
• Googly eyes
• Glue, tape, or stapler
• Optional: additional plate and beans or rice
• 2 pieces of construction paper in black, white, or orange (2 different colors)
• Scissors, glue
• Halloween stickers
• 2-3 books from reading list

Prep Time ~ Day 2

1) On a white piece of paper, draw a spider web with a white crayon.

2) If you would like to do an extension activity with lesson 1, you can print out spider cards or use plastic spiders.

3) Print out "La Arana" worksheet.

4) Listen to, or bookmark, "La Arana Pequenita" if you would like to do the extension activity.

5) Gather your materials:

• White paper with white spider web drawn on it
• Black watered down paint and paint brush
• Optional: plastic spiders or spider card printout
• "La Arana" worksheet
• Crayons
• 2-3 books from reading list

Prep Time ~ Day 3

1) Print out the math monster worksheet.

2) Gather your materials:

• Piece of white paper
• Pencil or pen
• Crayons
• Math monster printout
• Piece of orange and brown construction paper (or foam)
• Scissors, glue
• Stuffed animals
• 2-3 books from reading list

October ~ Week 3

Here are the lesson plans for week three. Let me know if you have any questions!

Prep time ~ Day 1

1) Print out the bat and bird stick puppets. Back them with card stock and glue them onto a craft/popsicle stick

2) Print out the "comparing bats and birds" cards. Cut out.

3) Optional: Make a fun snack of fruit and "bugs" so you can pretend to be bats and birds.

4) Visit No Time For Flashcards to see an example of the "Glitter G"

5) Gather your supplies:

• Bat and bird puppets and cards
• Optional: pretend fruit and bugs
• Book "Stellaluna"
• Optional: Piece of paper (with either 3 columns labeled "bats", "birds", and "both", a venn diagram, or a double bubble map), or two hula hoops for large venn diagram
• 2 pieces of construction paper
• Green paint or markers
• Glitter
• Glue and scissors
• Any other bat books

Prep time ~ Day 2

1) Visit No Time For Flashcards to see an example of the "Handprint Bat"

2) Gather your supplies:

• Orange, red, and black construction paper (instead of black you can also use black paint)
• White crayon, scissors, glue
• Googly eyes
• Pumpkin
• Carving tools
• Candle
• Optional: alternatives for pumpkin carving ~ pumpkin candle holder, or materials for suncatcher- orange tissue paper, clear contact paper)
• Bat books

Prep time ~ Day 3

1) Watch the video on how to make the tissue paper candy corn.

2) Gather your supplies:

• White piece of construction paper, scissors
• Orange and yellow tissue paper (cut into squares, or you can do this as part of the activity)
• Vinegar (any kind will work, apple cider vinegar would make it smell yummy!)
• Paint brush
• Index cards and pen/marker
• Dice- The big foam ones work great, but a regular one works as well. Choose one with dots to practice counting, or one with numbers to practice number recognition
• Bat and/or Halloween books

Happy Columbus Day!

With Columbus Day tomorrow, I thought I would share a couple of activities that you can do with your child. I didn't include any in the regular lesson plans because I wasn't sure if it would be age appropriate for all kiddos, but if you think your child is old enough to understand, here are a couple of ways you can celebrate!

• Read a book about Columbus Day or check out this online book
• Sing some Columbus Day songs
• Create a stand up ship display (find instructions here)
• Pretend to be Columbus in a sailor hat and search for land with your very own spyglass
• Color a picture of Columbus and one of his ships
• Make egg carton ships

October ~ Week 2

Hope everyone is enjoying Fall! Click here to download next week's lesson plans.

Prep time ~ Day 1

1) Print out a supply list card if you would like.

2) Print out the kindness clip art (unless your child is old enough to come up with their own acts of kindness)

3) Look at the example of the "F is for Fall". You can use anything you would like to make the leaves.

4) Gather your materials

• Photographs of family, neighbors, friends, pets, service men/women, pastors, teachers, etc. (about 5)
• Large piece of construction paper/poster board
• Glue, scissors
• Brown piece of construction paper
• Other piece of construction paper
• Something to make leaves with: paint, Do-a-dot, crayons, leaf stickers, real leaves, etc.
• 2-3 books from suggested book list

Prep time ~ Day 2

1) Print out the pumpkin life cycle cards. *Make sure to pay attention to the pages. You will not need to print all of them because there are duplicates.

2) Choose which cards you will use. You do not need to use all 6 cards. For younger children, you may want to use only 3, such as "seed", "vine", and "pumpkin". For an older child you may want to use more. Decide what you think is appropriate for your child. Cut those cards out. You can back them on cardstock and/or laminate if you would like.

3) Bookmark the video if you would like to use it as part of the lesson.

4) Look at the example of the pumpkin life cycle extension activity if you plan to do it.

5) If you would like to plant your own pumpkin seeds you can find some instructions here.

6) Listen to the Spanish version of "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes". Print out the visuals if you would like to use them to help.

7) Gather your materials

• Pumpkin life cycle cards
• Optional: Materials for making a pumpkin life cycle such as, pumpkin seed, green ribbon or pipe cleaner, yellow tissue paper, foam pumpkin stickers, etc.
• 2-3 books from the suggested reading list

Prep time ~ Day 3

1) Print out or write down the recipe for pumpkin pie play dough. You can make the play dough as part of the lesson with your child, or before.

2) Gather your materials

• Book "The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin" by Joe Troiano
• Construction paper in various colors
• Scissors, glue
• Flour, salt, cream of tartar, vegetable oil, pumpkin pie spice, water, food coloring
• Optional: Things to use with the play dough, such as: pumpkin or circle cookie cutter, popsicle sticks, pumpkin seeds, black construction paper, etc.

Yummy October Recipes!

Cooking with your child can be such a fun, and educational, activity! I have not included any recipes in the lesson plans for October, but I thought I would share some I found online that would be perfect for the month of October. If you would like, you could do these with your child on the "off" days of school, to reinforce a lesson, or simply to just have fun =). If you have a yummy recipe to add, please feel free to share it!

Aut-yum Leaves

Acorn Dough Nuts

Sweet Scarecrows

Apple Bites

Pumpkin Pie Popsicles

Flap Jack-o'-lanterns

Cheesy Corn

Bat Chips

Spider Cookies

Hairy Daddy Longleg Cupcakes

Witch Cupcakes

Banana Ghosts

Pizza Mummies

October ~ Week 1

October is almost here! Click here to download the lessons plans for next week. Please let me know either on here with a comment, or on the Facebook page, if you have any questions!


Prep Time ~ For the Week

1) Change your calendar! You can choose to do this in advance, or with your child. Make sure to discuss this change with your child. Talk about the month and the season. Discuss some things that happen in October, such as Halloween, birthdays, any trips, etc. (anything relevant to your family) and add them to your calendar.

2) Print out the supply list and list of word wall words. The list of word wall words is for the entire month. Just the first 5 are for this week. You can introduce these words any time you feel is appropriate during the week

3) Optional: If you would like you can make props to go along with the "October" song. Download them here, print them out, and back them with cardstock or construction paper. Glue or tape them onto a craft/popsicle stick.

4) Watch the video of the "Be Kind" song. Print out the memory verse to go along with it.

Prep Time ~ Day 1

1) Draw a pumpkin on a large piece of construction paper and cut it out.

2) If you would like to do any of the math and science extension activties with the first lesson, print them out. I would recommend these more for older kids.

3) Visit No Time For Flashcards to see the Elephant E. You can also visit Totally Tots to see their version (I personally like it with the gray better =))

4) Gather your materials

• Variety of pumpkins (you can include squash or gourds for the second part of the activity if you would like). If you were not able to get several different pumpkins, just use one and print this out for the rest
• Pumpkin you drew and marker
• 2 pieces of construction paper
• Crayons, markers, or paint
• Scissors and glue
• Optional: "stick" type of materials such as pipe cleaners, craft sticks, toothpicks, straws, etc.
• 2-3 books from the suggested book list

Prep Time ~ Day 2

1) Print out the memory verse if you have not done so already. Print out the pumpkin clip art to add to your Fruit of the Spirit tree/basket you made in September (the pumpkin is on the second page)

2) Gather your materials:

• Memory verse printout
• Piece of construction paper and marker
• Toothpaste
• Pumpkin clip art printout
• Piece of white construction paper and marker
• Red and yellow finger paint
• Scissors
• 2-3 books from the suggested book list

Prep Time ~ Day 3

1) Collect a variety of leaves. You can either do this in advance, or go on a nature walk and collect them as part of the lesson.

2) If you think your child would prefer an outline for the leaf picture, you can visit this website to print out an outline of an animal. You can also draw one or do without an outline.

3) Print out the pumpkin cards. There is a color page and a black and white page, so choose which works best for you. You can also print out 1 or 2 sets, depending on how many you think your child can handle. Also print out the activity sheet that goes along with it. If you would like to continue using these throughout the month or do several different activities, I would suggest laminating them (you can use packing tape or contact paper), then writing on them with a Vis-A-Vis marker or white board marker. If you're just going to use them this one time then you can just write on them with a regular marker.

4) Gather your materials:

• Variety of leaves
• Book "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert
• Piece of construction paper or animal outline
• Glue
• Optional: contact paper
• Pumpkin cards and activity list
• Shaving cream
• Optional: tray, cookie sheet, or plate
• 2-3 books from the suggested book list

Lesson Plan Posting Tutorial

Everyone should have the Microsoft Word version of our lesson plan template, if you did not receive it by e-mail please let me know! (I can be reached at imagine.more@yahoo.com)

Okay, once you create your lesson plans for the week (remember there are 3 per week) you need to save them as a PDF file. You can download a free PDF file converter by clicking the gray button at Primo PDF's website. You must save and close the document before clicking and dragging it onto the PrimoPDF button on your desktop.

Once it's been converted into a PDF file you can use Googledocs to upload it onto the web. I was using Google Groups, but they have decided to eliminate the document sharing option for groups. Googledocs should work just fine for everyone though. This will create a url for your document so you can link to it on the web.

When you're ready, write up your new post and be sure to include hyperlinks to the required documents. The hyperlink button is the 5th button from the left when you're typing a new post on Blogger. Simply copy the url of the document, highlight the text you want to link through, click the hyperlink box, and paste the url into the hyperlink box that appears.

If you are using any activities or crafts that you got directly off of another website, please direct people to that website through a link rather than copying any content from the website onto the blog. This allows the originator of the activity full credit and gives everyone an opportunity to see the amazing resources out there for teaching little ones! Just be sure to link directly to the activity so nobody has to go on a wild goose chase looking for the activity you're referring to. It should be a simple click and print kind of thing.

There is a small box for "labels" at the bottom right hand of the new post box. I think it'll be easiest if we all just add a label for our month. So if you're posting lessons for October, week 2, just type "October" into the box.

October Supplies

Here is a list of supplies you will need for October! These are in addition to the basic supplies, such as construction paper, crayons, paints, glue, scissors, etc. There will also be some things that need to be printed out, so a printer (preferably color) and paper will be used as well. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns about any of them!

• Variety of pumpkins (try to find them in different sizes, shapes, colors, etc.; feel free to add gourds and squash if you would like; if that is too expensive you can just use one pumpkin and there will be pictures you can print out for the others)
• 2 pieces of large construction paper
• Red and yellow finger paint
• Optional: pumpkin seeds
• Toothpaste
• Variety of Fall leaves (collecting them can be part of the activity)
• Optional: Packing tape/contact paper/laminating machine
• Shaving cream
• Optional: Leaf stickers/foam stickers
• Photographs of family, neighbors, friends, pets, service men/women, pastors, teachers, etc. (about 5 photos)
• Flour
• Vegetable oil
• Salt
• Food coloring
• Cream of tartar
• Pumpkin pie spice
• Glitter
• Popsicle sticks/craft sticks
• Googly eyes
• Pumpkin for carving (other options: pumpkin candle holder, materials for suncatcher-orange tissue paper, clear contact paper)
• Candle
• Orange and yellow tissue paper
• Dice
• Paper plate (black, or white w/ black paint)
• Halloween stickers/foam stickers

September--Week Four

Click here to download the PDF file of all 3 daily lessons for the week.

Prep Time--Day One!

1) Set up a simple obstacle course for your child. Some ideas include using pillows to jump over, a box to climb through, a small table to climb under, objects to step over, etc.

2) Check out the No Time for Flashcards Dragon Dd page to see what the craft for Activity Two will look like and for more specific instructions!

5) Gather your materials

• construction paper
• red tissue paper
• marker
  
• googly eye
• glue
• scissors
  
• art smock
• 2-3 books from our Reading List (I suggest There's No Such Thing as a Dragon, Apple Farmer Annie, and Apple Picking Time)
  

Prep Time--Day Two!

1) Check out the No Time for Flashcards Pom-pom Apple Tree page to see what the craft for Activity Two will look like and for more specific instructions!

2) Print out the numbers worksheet from the Confessions of a Homeschooler blog.

3) Gather your materials

• red, green, and yellow apples (or cut-outs of apples)
• stickers
  
• 2-3 books from the Reading List (I suggest Apple Farmer Annie, The Giving Tree, and Apple Picking Time)

Prep Time--Day Three!

1) Print out the Instruction Page for the Apple Tree Through the Seasons Craft from Hubbards Cupboard.

2) Gather your materials

• 2 pieces of construction paper
• Large sheet of light blue construction paper folded in 1/4’s and labeled Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter
• 4 small brown construction paper rectangles
• 1 inch squares of green tissue paper
  
• 2 inch square of pink tissue paper
  
• green construction paper hole-punch circles
• 4 each of 1 inch yellow, orange, and brown tissue paper squares, red paint
  
• gluestick
• pencil
• crayons
• 2-3 books from our Reading List this month (I suggest There's No Such Thing as a Dragon, The Giving Tree, and Apple Picking Time)

September--Week Three

Click here to download the PDF file of all 3 daily lessons for the week.

Prep Time--Day One!

1) Set out a bowl of fruit for the day's lesson.

2) Check out the No Time for Flashcards Caterpillar Cc page to see what the craft for Activity Two will look like and for more specific instructions!

5) Gather your materials

• 2 pieces different colored construction paper
• pom poms (also called puff balls)
• googly eyes
  
• 1 pipe cleaner
• marker/crayons
• scissors
• glue
• art smock
• 2-3 books from our Reading List (I suggest The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Our Apple Tree, and Llama Llama Red Pajama)
  

Prep Time--Day Two!

1) Check out the No Time for Flashcards Pom-pom Apple Tree page to see what the craft for Activity Two will look like and for more specific instructions!

2) Print out this picture of an apple (or draw one yourself)

3) Gather your materials

• 2 pieces construction paper
• brown marker/crayon
• green paint
• paintbrush
• glue
• scissors
• red pom-poms
• red kool-aid
  
• 2-3 books from the Reading List (I suggest The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Our Apple Tree, and Pablo's Tree)

Prep Time--Day Three!

1) Gather your materials

• a bag for each child to collect leaves in
  
• 2 pieces of construction paper
  
• glue
• crayons
• tape
  
• 2-3 books from our Reading List this month (I suggest The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Our Apple Tree, and Pablo's Tree)

October Book List

For those of you who like to plan ahead, the October book list is up! Let me know if you have any questions!

September--Week Two

I'm formatting this a tad bit differently this week. Let me know if this is more or less helpful :)

Click here to download the PDF file of all 3 daily lessons for the week.

Prep Time--Day One!

1) Print out the Spanish Vocabulary Sheet. This can be added to a word wall,brought out like flashcards to practice, or just kept around to remind yourself of the spanish translation ;)

2) Check out the video of our Spanish song for this week!


3) Check out the No Time for Flashcards Bumblebee B page to see what the craft for Activity Two will look like and for more specific instructions!

4) Either gather 10 real apples or print out some apples to color and use as manipulatives in the Spanish Activity.

5) Gather your materials

• yellow/white and black construction paper
• 1 black/brown/yellow pipe cleaner
• yellow paint
• scissors
• glue
• art smock
• 2-3 books from our Reading List (I suggest 10 Apples Up on Top, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and Adios, Oscar!)
  

Prep Time--Day Two!

1) The night/afternoon before, start dyeing the pasta for our math activity. The instructions are on your lesson plan under Activity One. The pasta needs to dry overnight or you'll end up with some very colorful little fingers for this activity :)

2) Print out the A-P-P-L-E cards and the corresponding apple sequencing cards. I recommend cutting them out and gluing them onto each side of a piece of construction paper or cardstock so they are more durable.

3) Gather your materials

• dried pasta
• rubbing alcohol
• food coloring
  
• plastic baggies
• 2-3 books from the Reading List (I suggest 10 Apples Up on Top, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and Adios, Oscar!)
  

Prep Time--Day Three!

1) Print out the Bumblebee Letter Matching Sheets. You might want to cut out each square ahead of time so the activity goes more quickly, unless your child is old enough to help cut out squares.

2) Head on over to My Montessori Journey to see how she did the Torn Apple Art Project in her classroom. This will give you a good idea of how to structure Activity One.

3) Gather your materials

• paper plate
• 1 sheet each of red, green, and brown construction paper
• glue
• 2-3 books from our Reading List this month (I suggest 10 Apples Up on Top, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and Adios, Oscar!)
  

Patience is a Virtue...

Hey everyone! I just wanted to give a quick update so you know what's going on. Some members let me know that the file images weren't printing quite so easily as I'd thought, especially the Little Red House With No Windows and No Doors booklet. So I found a free PDF converter (Primo PDF) and now I'm re-loading all the files for next week's activities as PDF files instead. The booklet for lesson 2 is now re-loaded as a PDF file. Hopefully this makes things a lot easier for everyone.

I'll have next week's lessons all published by the end of the day in the new format, then I'll be publishing a tutorial on Monday for all our lesson planners so we all know how to publish posts, upload PDF files, and all of that.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday!

Teach Your Tot

I found a great website that has a ton of activities to use with Toddlers that you might find useful for building your lessons so I thought I would share it with all of you! It even has a list of books to read with each theme.

http://teachyourtot.com/main/page.php?2

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September--Lesson Three

This is the third lesson for the week of September 6th-11th. Click the image below to print the lesson plan out for yourself.

Prep Time!

1. Print the pages below on printer paper/cardstock and cut out the apples and baskets. Glue or staple the baskets onto another sheet of paper/cardstock, leaving the top of the basket un-attached. You should have created a nice little pocket for apples to go into the basket. You can color the apples yourself or have your child help color them, just be sure you have a mix of red, green, and yellow apples.





3. Gather your materials:

• red, green, and yellow fingerpaints
• 3 apples
• large sheet of paper
• art smock (remember, an old, oversized t-shirt is good too)
  
• 2 books from our Reading List for this month (I suggest The Little Red House with no Doors and No Windows and Apples)

Fun Time!
(For this week since it's new I'll break down each day for you, but all you really need is the printable learning plan above)

1. Pray for the Day--this can be either my suggested prayer or any prayer that works for your family.

2. Calendar/Weather--sit down in a circle or with your munchkin on your lap near the home's calendar. Move any pieces or use a marker to show which day of the week it is. Point out the month and season as well. Sing the two calendar songs together.

3. Songs/Nursery Rhymes--find a comfy spot to sit and sing the Counting Apples song. Use your fingers to demonstrate. If your munchkin is old enough, have her join in too with her own fingers, or just allow her to watch you be silly :) Then sing the Be Careful Little Hands song, this is an introduction into our fruits of the spirit theme for the month.

4. Activity One--Follow the lesson plan instructions to do Apple Stamping.

5. Activity Two--Get out the baskets and assorted apple cut-outs for your child. This activity will depend on your child's age and ability level. There are lots of things you can do with the apple cut-outs. You can have your child sort them into the baskets by color (red apples in the red basket, green apples in the green basket, and so on). You can take the multi-sized apples and have your child lay them out from biggest to smallest or vice versa. Or you can draw 2 simple tree outlines and set a couple apples on each one. Have your child "pick" the apples off of each tree and place them in the basket. The goal here is to see that if you pick 2 apples off of one tree and 3 apples off of the other you have 5 apples altogether! See, it's simple addition :)

6. Read Aloud--read the two books aloud together. If some of your kids are very young or antsy by this time feel free to set them up with a quiet activity like blocks or cars on the floor near you. You can read aloud and they can listen as they play. Keep the books in a basket or something in the main living area so your kids can go back and browse them, look at pictures, or chew on the corners ;-) when they feel like it throughout the week.

Show off crafts to Daddy, Grandma, and whoever else likes to dote on your child!

September--Lesson Two

This is the second lesson for the week of September 6th-11th. Click the image below to print the lesson plan out for yourself.

Prep Time!

1. Print the pages below if your child is above 1. These are the matching Aa pages for Activity Two. The original activity page comes from here.





2. Print out the Little Red House with no Doors and No Windows booklet. Fold larger pages in half and staple together into a half-page booklet.



3. Gather your materials:

• bowl of fruit
• magnetic fridge letters
• glue stick
• scissors
• stapler
  
• 2 books from our Reading List for this month (I suggest The Little Red House with no Doors and No Windows and It's Hard to be Five:Learning How to Work my Control Panel)

4. Prep Fruit Tree: cut out large brown trunk and green treetop for future use. Tape them on a door or pin them onto a bulletin board. We will be adding one piece of fruit each month to our tree. (Other options: create a basket instead of a tree; you could create a Fruits of the Spirit folder and instead of hanging the tree/basket on the wall ad each fruit to your folder throughout the school year.)

Fun Time!
(For this week since it's new I'll break down each day for you, but all you really need is the printable learning plan above)

1. Pray for the Day--this can be either my suggested prayer or any prayer that works for your family.

2. Calendar/Weather--sit down in a circle or with your munchkin on your lap near the home's calendar. Move any pieces or use a marker to show which day of the week it is. Point out the month and season as well. Sing the two calendar songs together.

3. Songs/Nursery Rhymes--find a comfy spot to sit and sing the Counting Apples song. Use your fingers to demonstrate. If your munchkin is old enough, have her join in too with her own fingers, or just allow her to watch you be silly :) Then sing the Be Careful Little Hands song, this is an introduction into our fruits of the spirit theme for the month.

4. Activity One--this is the first of our Fruit of the Spirit lessons, focusing on one character trait each month. After doing the lesson, explain to your child about the fruit tree/basket/folder on the wall and how each character trait (fruit of the spirit) will be added in as a picture of an actual fruit. Feel free to stop for a mid-morning snack of fruit after this lesson is completed.

5. Activity Two--If you have an under-18 month old, simply get out magnetic fridge letters and let them play. If it's a new activity, sometimes it helps to sit with them and show them how to get the letters onto/off of the fridge and move them around. The LeapFrog Fridge Phonics is a great option for this time, but even the really cheap colored letters are fun for kids too. If your child is able to hold a glue stick (18 months-4 years) then cut out the Aa pictures and read the words for them. They will glue the pictures into the blank box beside the Aa word. Then cut out each large box and staple together to make a little Aa booklet. They can take this to church or in the car to look at if they want, or just add it to their big books. If your child is 4 or older help them to draw a picture of the word in the box, then they can copy the word underneath the picture on the 2 lines provided.

6. Read Aloud--read the two books aloud together. If some of your kids are very young or antsy by this time feel free to set them up with a quiet activity like blocks or cars on the floor near you. You can read aloud and they can listen as they play. Keep the books in a basket or something in the main living area so your kids can go back and browse them, look at pictures, or chew on the corners ;-) when they feel like it throughout the week.

Show off crafts to Daddy, Grandma, and whoever else likes to dote on your child!

September--Lesson One

This is the first lesson for the week of September 6th-11th. Click the image below to print the lesson plan out for yourself.

Prep Time!

1. Head on over to PBSKids.org and print out Activity One: Making Applesauce!

2. Then head over to No Time for Flashcards and briefly look at her Alligator A page so you have an example of how Activity Two will look when finished.

3. Gather your materials:

• 8 apples, peeled and cut into chunks
  
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• cinnamon
• two bowls
• wooden spoon and/or potato masher
• medium-sized pot
• 2 pieces of construction paper (different colors)
• 2 googly eyes
• white foam paper or white construction paper
• glue
• scissors
• markers
• 2 books from our Reading List for this month (I suggest Apples and It's Hard to be Five)
  

Fun Time!
(For this week since it's new I'll break down each day for you, but all you really need is the printable learning plan above)

1. Pray for the Day--this can be either my suggested prayer or any prayer that works for your family.

2. Calendar/Weather--sit down in a circle or with your munchkin on your lap near the home's calendar. Move any pieces or use a marker to show which day of the week it is. Point out the month and season as well. Sing the two calendar songs together.

3. Songs/Nursery Rhymes--find a comfy spot to sit and sing the Counting Apples song. Use your fingers to demonstrate. If your munchkin is old enough, have her join in too with her own fingers, or just allow her to watch you be silly :) Then sing the Be Careful Little Hands song, this is an introduction into our fruits of the spirit theme for the month.

4. Activity One--follow instructions on the lesson plan. This one's not too messy, but a bib might be good for younger kids. Once the applesauce is made you can take a break from all this hard work and have a mid-morning snack!

5. Activity Two--this one includes markers and glue, so I'd recommend an apron, old t-shirt, or bib for the under-3 crowd. Draw a large, uppercase A on the construction paper with 2 triangles off to one side near the top of the A. Let your child color it however they want. While they color, cut out some white triangles for teeth. Cut out the A (don't cut off the triangle spots for the eyes). Glue it on the second piece of paper. Glue the googly eyes onto the triangle spots. Glue the teeth onto the inside, bottom portion of the A, that's the alligator's mouth. Let it dry.

6. Read Aloud--read the two books aloud together. If some of your kids are very young or antsy by this time feel free to set them up with a quiet activity like blocks or cars on the floor near you. You can read aloud and they can listen as they play. Keep the books in a basket or something in the main living area so your kids can go back and browse them, look at pictures, or chew on the corners ;-) when they feel like it throughout the week.

Show off crafts to Daddy, Grandma, and whoever else likes to dote on your child!

Prepping for September

Alright everyone, we're just 2 weeks away from our start date, yay!

To make sure everyone feels confident and prepared going into the month I thought I'd explain a bit and open this post up to any questions for those joining in on the lessons.

First, make sure you have glanced over the supplies list for Week 1. Click the image below and print it out if you'd like. Most things are pretty standard, and other things like construction paper, googly eyes, and fingerpaints are things that will be used for future lessons so don't feel like they are one time things. If you need ideas on the cheapest place to find things you don't have just let me know! As a hint, Target's dollar section has googly eyes and IKEA has a $5 small set of primary colored fingerpaints. Construction paper can be found anywhere for pretty cheap, as can markers and crayons. I'm getting apples from our backyard tree (aren't you jealous, hehe!) but I'm pretty sure those are easy to find elsewhere :)


Second, hop online or head over to your local library to reserve some books for this month. Below I have the entire month's list of suggested books. Don't stress if you can't find all of them, this is a suggested list, not the end-all-be-all of reading time! So long as you can scrounge up 2 books per week you'll do just fine I promise. Oh, and The Little Red House with No Windows and No Doors is a printable booklet I've adapted that you will be able to print out, fold along the crease, and staple into your own little book. Very cute and very easy I promise!



Third, think about where you want to do your crafts, songs, and reading time. Then you can put your craft supplies in easy reach. Remember, old shoeboxes make perfect boxes for craft supplies and they're free! Don't forget an old t-shirt or bib for an art smock. I plan to hang my son's in our pantry door for easy access since we do crafts at the kitchen table.

For reading time it might be good to have a basket for books around. You can refill this basket with library books every month, so your kids can browse books related to our theme whenever they want. This way library books stay organized in one area, easy to round up when they're due.

As for lessons, we (the planners) will be making the lesson plans and posting them 1 week in advance every time. Each week will have 3 days of lessons so you can choose which days you want to do the activities. When we post the lesson plans for the week just print them out and glance them over to see which materials you'll need to get out for each day. That's it, no creativity or teaching license required I promise!! Just plan to sing songs, do a craft, read a book, and enjoy your kids. Then show off their crafts to dads and grandparents to ooh and ahh over.

Now that I've written a novel and hopefully not scared anyone off, any questions?

Daily Learning Plan

Okay, I think I've got the daily learning plan uploaded properly onto googledocs so everyone can download it and edit it for their own months. Simply follow the link below, download it, open it with Microsoft Publisher, and edit and save it on your own computer as needed.

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B8CdEMsVH2jTNjA2YWU2Z
DctNWE0NC00YzZmLTgyYjAtMDM2MmU3YmY0ZmI2&hl=en&authkey=CPaWhKwP

Let me know how it works please!

Get Ready for the Code

I'm not sure how many readers might be interested, but in my search for mazes for my son I came across these workbooks that just fit him perfectly.

This is a preschool lead-up to a popular homeschooling phonics curriculum "Explode the Code". There are 3 small workbooks, all well-priced in my opinion at around $5.99 each. There are letter cards and a teacher's guide to go with it but I personally looked at those and decided they're not necessary.

Here are a few snapshots to preview what the workbook contains. There's the typical preschool work like matching, circling which one is different, etc. and the 3 books go through all the consonant letters, focusing on the lowercase. I love that it focuses on the lowercase letters because those are the ones most often used when we write anyway! The tracing mazes (third pic down) are what I know Tobias will love, this is his new favorite activity for some reason. Not that he stays 100% between the lines, but he does actually try to follow the path and I figure it's good, low-key practice as he moves towards tracing shapes and letters. This is a very phonics-based approach so as you work through each letter the emphasis is definitely on the sounds the letters make.
These workbooks can be found at Christianbook.com, along with other homeschooling curriculum choices.

Supplies Lists

To give everyone time to find the supplies they'll need for the weekly crafts I came up with an index card sized template for a supply list and a book list. Many libraries can order books you need from libraries farther away, or might have waiting lists, so I recommend doing a weekly library visit and looking for each week's books a few days ahead of time. At our house I plan to keep a basket in the breakfast area to display the books for that week. I've seen other people use a shelf too, however you want to do it I think it's a great idea to keep the week's books out on display as something special :)
There will be one Supplies List and one Book List per week. Many of the supplies lists will overlap so once you get the basics you won't need to buy anything except the occasional special food item (like apples) for a cooking activity.

The lists can be printed on 3x5 index cards and slipped inside library pockets that will be glued/stapled onto our file folders. Then when it's time to do your weekly grocery shopping or trip to the library you simply grab the index card and you've got a ready-made list, no work involved. These are available at Dollar Tree for $2.50 and Amazon.com for $4.99 for a pack of 50. They can also be made using cardstock, construction paper, or old file folders. You can choose to skip the actual pocket altogether and just put the index card lists inside the file folder or your purse, though I do think these look really neat and organized.

(and for those who are tempted by color, amazon has some really cute ones for $5.99 a pack)



**Those lists above are the real supply and book lists for September, Week One to give you a real idea and if you want to go ahead and start looking for supplies knock yourself out!

For those wanting a general list of materials we'll likely use, here are some good craft things to keep around in general:

• construction paper
• crayons
• pencils
  
• glue/glue sticks
  
• scissors
• fingerpaints (red, yellow, and blue are enough to get you all the other colors by mixing)
• art smock (use an old oversized t-shirt, it works great. Ikea also has a nice art smock/bib that fits several ages and has long sleeves so it covers the child fully)
• googly eyes
  
• pipe cleaners
• popsicle sticks
• paintbrush
• hole puncher
• tape
• puff balls
• cotton balls

Also, be sure to save things! I keep craft supplies in old yogurt containers, shoeboxes, spaghetti sauce jars, and baby food jars. Baby food jars are also perfect for pouring paint into. Tissue paper from christmas and birthdays is useful for tons of crafts. Empty milk jugs, soda bottles, paper bags, paper plates, and paper cups are also useful for crafting.