W – Worm Boys!!

During “W” week my WILD Mustangs had a LOT of fun playing with WORMS!

. . . Candy worms that is :)  Okay, they dug for worms in the yard, but they did NOT cut them up & put them in order from smallest to biggest like they did the candy worms:

And they did NOT put the earthworms they found in patterns like they did the candy worms: 

They also did NOT put make a “W” with the real worms either:

They did however, chase me around the house with their worms!  Fortunately, they spared me the disgusting dissection lesson, as our science lessons have paid off – Tucker reminded Trevor, “Worms are good for the ground.”  Wh-ew!!

H: Humming Bird

Last week was H week at our house & our animal of the week was a Humming Bird.  The mustangs made humming birds *with Hearts on them I might add!  Then we all helped daddy fill the Humming Bird feeders.  The boys have been on the lookout for Humming Birds ever since.  Last year we had over 20 at one feed all at the same time.  We are hoping we break our record this year.

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Homeschooling in the Country

Only in the country does your dad build a big bonfire & encourage you to burn almost everything in sight.  (sorry no pictures)

Only in the country do you get to have lunch over an open fire (literally!)

During H week, we not only talked about Humming Birds, but we also talked about HOT.  The boys roasted Hot dogs & marshmallows over a HOT fire.

Tucker was in his element! The Mustangs also worked/played with their Hot Cold file folder, separating things that were Hot & Cold.

P- “P” Pizza

During P week I decided to let the boys make their own Pizza! They thought this was the coolest thing EVER! I earned major cool mom points for this one. I guess we are going to have to do it more often now.

We also decided to decorate are jumbo letter P like a Pizza!

This was super easy! I just cut strips of white & yellow paper & circles out of red. I even added a little counting to it by having them count their circles pepperoni.

S - Skittles

Last week my Mustangs worked on the letter S. I couldn’t resist having a little fun with some Skittles . . . you know, because we’ve only been sick for a month, are already rowdy WILD Mustangs, extra Sugar is a great idea :0

*Tucker was pouting at this point in the day (he does that frequently) so he chose not to be apart of this activity – He was upset he didn’t get to eat them first.

I gave Trevor a cup full of skittles. First I had him spoon them (with an IKEA baby spoon) into a heart shaped ice-cube tray. I tried to get him to make a pattern with them. Then I had him use mini-tongs (also from IKEA) to take them out.

Next I gave him the same cupcake wrappers from our heart activities & had him count skittles into them. We also made a letter S with them. Then he ate them!

Big brother was NOT about to let the little guys have all the fun, so he used them to spell his spelling words out with. *By the looks of this picture he also did a little taste testing.

K

K was our letter last week:

At first they were hesitant . . .

 

But I actually think they enjoyed it . . .

 

Yes!  I did make my BOYS put lipstick on . . .

Only so they could make a Kissing K though:

And I think they are actually more manly for it! 

 

While they were busy kissing I ready them 2 of their favorite stories:

And of course filled their pockets with kisses & made sure each of them had their own kissing hand . . .

              After all our kissing was over we were ready for a snack!  What better snack than Kabobs!!  I couldn’t stop there though – we used our fruit to make patterns first . . .

They didn’t last long though!  YUMMY!

M: Mmm Mm Mmm

Last week my mustangs were introduce to "Mmm Mm Mmm" M.

We are have a great time with our letters this year. The boys are much more interested in learning them this time around. Last year they had very little interest. I was worried Trevor wouldn't be able to keep up with Tucker, but he is doing wonderfully. I will have to post a video of them & their letter sounds soon.

This week for the letter M we had some fun with Marshmallows. I gave the boys small & large marshmallows in a bowl with 2 different colored pails. I told them to separate them. Next they painted their large M's & glued marshmallows on them. Their M's are "camo" can you tell?

We also read If you give a moose a muffin. And if you read If you give a moose a muffin to mustangs, they are going to want to make muffins. :) And if you make muffins, they are going to want to eat the muffins. Eating the muffins with make them thirsty, so they will want a glass of milk to go with them . . .

What better manipulative for M week to use for some sorting, counting, & adding activities than M&M's?!

We had a great week with the letter M . . . E is next. Stay tuned it will be exciting!

Letter "B" & Building Center

My Boys were learning the letter "B" last week . . .

I did NOT used the words bad or beat or belt or butt at all & certainly not in the same sentence!

We did make Beautiful Butterflies & Big B's with Beads.

We ate teddy Bears.

And they spent a lot of time in the Building center . . .

Here is what is inside our Building Center:

Train tracks, wegits, Mr. Potato Head (since I took these pictures for this post we have added pirate accessories for Mr. Potato Head - Target!), blocks, legos, tinker toys, & lincoln logs. Outside in Big Daddy's Barn they have their own tools for them to bang away on (OUTSIDE!!) & their very own little work bench (not pictured).

*Momma's boy saved his own money & bought himself a toolbox & some tools. He has his own "Building Center" far away from the mustangs (I'm afraid they will use the tools as weapons. In fact, I know they will. Don't ask.) Momma's Boy does go off exploring & building new forts frequently.
Yesterday, he cut his finger with a saw & said, "Don't worry mom, I'm okay, but I need a bandaid." I looked at him to find spatters of blood from his thumb to his elbow! He continues, " . . . I'm okay, it just makes me more of a man!"
Okay, no more "man training" this week!

Look what him & the 3 B's Built together:

I let him & one of the B's do their own photography :) - it is a swing. They found a rope, tied it to a big broken tree limb, climbed a tree & tied it to a strong branch . . . All without breaking any bones! Very proud!!

Here is what you will find inside Momma's Boy's Big Boy Building Center:

Legos, tools (hammer, screw-drivers, wrench, pliers, level, tape-measure, drill, screws, nails, & a few things I'm not sure what they are), American Boys Handy Book, & The Dangerous Book For Boys.
*He still plays with all the other toys in the the main building center, but this is exclusive to him.

Now the Boys are in Bed & I'm enjoying my Break from all the screaming from their Battles throughout the day . . . just enjoying this Blue-eyed Baby in Bumbo that isn't as ramBunctious as his Big Brothers

Pretty soon it will be time for me to add our baby toys to the building center for this sweet little Boy. Look for a baby addition to our building center soon!

You can also visit My Rockin' C Amazon Store for items we have or I'd like to add in our centers. For now I will be recouping from today & anticipating what tomorrow may Bring with my house full of Boys . . .

A: Apple

Today the Outlaws & I explored the Henrietta Creek Apple Orchard where we learned about apples, honey, bees, & cotton. We also got to see some very beautiful caterpillars & a ton of butterflies! Here are a few pictures from our day . . .

This just so happen to be "A" week with the Mustangs so this field trip fit in perfectly. We had a great time & if you ask Tucker he will say, "you gotta try some honey with your apple!" Have you ever had honey on your apple?

All About Me PK/K Class

Here it is! I'm finally done!

I have been having so much fun putting together an "All About Me" lesson plan for the Enrichment Class I am teaching in the fall. I have used resources from the Internet & activities from Everybody Has a Body book.

Here are the pages I made for the children's "All About Me" book they will be making in my class:

The themes for my "All About Me" class are:
"I Am Special"
"My Home, My Neighborhood"
"My Family"
"My Body"
-- Outside (basic body parts, hands & feet, arms & legs)
-- Inside (guts & stuff)
"My 5 Senses"
"My Emotions"
"My Manners"

You can find the complete lesson plans for this class in my Teaching Diligently Yahoo! Group

Click to join teachingdiligently

ABC MUST HAVE!!

Alphabet by Matthew Van Fleet is a must have for your alphabet book collection. I came across this book by chance yesterday while waiting on a RX from Sams & it is now my favorite alphabet book! There are so many great things about this book that I don't know where to start . . .

First this is a beautifully illustrated, hard cover, touch & feel book with pop-ups & pull-outs throughout. Each letter has 3 creatures & 1 plant that begin with the letter (one creature is large, the other 2 are small - making it a great searching game). At the back of the book you will find a "Safari Sightings!" page that shows smaller pictures of all of these for each letter. For example, A - search the A page for an ant, aardvark, & acorn. We had soooo much fun reading this book, playing with all the fun pull-outs & touching every page! The safari hunt was a blast! To make you fall in love with this book all the more, you will find a spectacular pop-up alphabet poster. Adding to my excitement of this book is a FREE Alphabet Event Kit. This book could become a core alphabet book to expand upon for a preschool or alphabet program. We absolutely LOVE it!!

This picture is from Barnes & Noble.com - this site has very detailed pictures of the book.

Handwriting Without Tears

WOW! Handwriting Without Tears' Pre-K material is amazing! It is so much more than a handwriting curriculum. The songs are fun & upbeat. We love dancing around in the morning to the "Hello" song as we begin our day.

I am using this with the mustangs (2 & 4) & will begin Momma's Boy next week on the 2nd grade level. The Mustangs are doing fantastic. Within days of using the little pencils & flip crayons they were holding them perfectly. I had struggled with this for weeks & was dreading this process, but it just happened (I wish I could take credit for it).

They love building their letters with the wooden set. They have passed the durable test with a few sword fights b/t letter building. The letter cards are a great addition to building time & are quick & get the job done. I was surprised by my 2 year old's progress with these. The Stamp board is great for on the go times or waiting in doctor's offices.

This has been so fun for us & is almost a complete Pre-K curriculum: letter recognition, motor skills, songs, shapes, numbers, colors -- WOW! I am so impressed! The letter strips for the desk are fantastic! -- My boys actually use them (again, even the 2 year old is spotting his letters on this).

As for teaching, it is hands on & a fun time with my children. The teacher's guide is very informative & gives helpful suggestions. Once you get the concept of the process & materials there is very little prep time. I really like the suggestions of describing the strokes - so simple. The wall cards are big, but easy for my boys to spot & recognize. I have enjoyed this curriculum as much as my boys have.

I really don't have any dislikes - it is not a laid out curriculum, you have to get your feel for it (although there is a suggestion page at the end of the guide - just not detailed). At the Pre-K level, it was expensive to purchase all the materials suggested/available; however, I do feel like it was money well spent.

I would say the must haves if you are on budget would be the music, crayons, pencils & wooden letter sets with the cards. The play dough isn't any different than regular play dough & I feel like can be done without the set, but it is convenient. The Mat Man activities seemed like too much prep for me at first, so we just read the book; however, my mustangs LOVE Mat Man & the hands-on of building him as we read the book is so much fun for them.