The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Truman is currently learning the letter C & our theme is “caterpillars.”  I have been so excited for this theme – we just love The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  I set up his little area in our school{barn} with a felt mat & some books.  He also has a few related books & activities inside his boxes.

I will be using Carissa’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar printouts, as well as several of the letter “C” printouts from Confession of a Homeschooler’s.  Not to mention the plethora of idea’s I have pinned HERE.

We will also be including the Mustangs in on this one.  For them I will be focusing more on number & color sight words, as well as the life cycle of a butterfly.  We will be collecting as many different caterpillars as we can find & observing the different types of butterflies they turn into.

In addition to the letter “C”, Truman will be learning the color green & the same of a triangle.  I have prepared a few trays & boxes for him: green rice, sand, & blubber (moon sand).  The next row is play dough, colored pasta sorting, shape sorting  transferring.  The last row is a color green activities, letter box, stamping, & painting.

Truman usually spends 2-3 weeks on a theme & I know the bigger boys will not last that long on this, so with them I plan to follow up with a bug/garden/flower unit. (more on that soon hopefully)

Baa, Neigh, Cock-a-doodle-do

 

My little Buckaroo is quickly following in his big brothers footsteps.  He is 20 months old & ready for a little farm theme fun!

Truman is such a busy boy – rarely in the same spot for more than a few seconds, but he loves farm animals.  So I decided to use this to my advantage.  His little center in our schoolbarn got a little toddler updating this winter. 

I plan to use a farm theme as a mini VERY relaxed tot-school to teach Truman:

• colors
• counting to 3 (then maybe 5, and so on . . .)
• animal names & sounds

We will do various age appropriate activities including:

• storytime
• sorting
• matching
• picture discrimination
• big/small activities
• coloring
• sensory (touch & feel)

Animal Recognition & Learning to say their names:

DK – Touch & Feel FarmPicture Cards, Moo Moo What Are You?, My Little Farm book , Barnyard Hullabaloo, & My Barnyard Friends plush toys

                                        

Animal Sounds:

Who Says Moo, Morning on the Farm, Listen to the Farm, Magic Sound Blocks, & My Barnyard Friends 

Colors on a Farm:

Big Red Barn & several of the books listed above in addition to bean bags & our color bags (*I LOVE HWOT new bags!!)

• red – barn, tractor
• orange - cat
• yellow – baby chicks
• green – tractor, frogs
• blue – bird
• purple – flowers
• pink – pig
• gray – goat, donkey
• black – cow, bull
• white – sheep, chickens, rabbit, goose
• brown – hen, horse, dog, duck, goat, barn

Other animals I might add are:  rooster, turkey, owl, fox, mice

You could also add:  grass, wheat, hay & farm foods (*once we get these goals met I will add fruits & veggies)

Numbers & Counting 1, 2, 3

               Counting Chickens, Old MacDonald’s Farm A Counting Book, Discovery Toys Meaure Up Cups, & Farm Animal Counters (*This hand puppet is on the “Wanted” list!)

                                     

Inside our tot boxes:

Hide & Squeak Eggs, Farm stickers, Farm coloring books, My 1st Animal signs, Farm lacing cards, Farm grow capsules, Farm foam animals, Touch & Feel wooden farm puzzle, Barnyard Dance (*I LOVE THIS BOOK!!)

    

Story Books:

•  Who Took the Farmers Hat
• Click, Clack Moo
• Cows That Type
• Giggle, Giggle Quack
• Mommy, Do You Love Me?
• Icky, Sticky Frog
• The Hat
• Drive a Tractor

 

Over the years I have collected farm theme manipulative & books – 4 boys later I have quite the collection.  I will try to add another post of ideas for older children.  These are just a few things I have chosen to keep Truman’s from destroying the house days busy.  I don’t intend to use everything each day & will slowly work into somewhat of a schedule.  Currently, I am just grabbing one item from a couple boxes & tossing them his way as I divert him from coloring on the walls.  Eventually I will start a morning circle time with him & get a routine down (hopefully!) that includes him.  For now it is mainly just my sanity :)  I have found it is much easier to create business for a tot than it is to clean up their own creativity along the way.

Target usually has a great farm theme selection this time of the year in their dollar section.  I got the window clings, grow animal capsules, puzzles, books & sooo much more from Target for just a few bucks! 

Little Buckaroo’s Workboxes

Here is the youngest outlaw’s little area in our schoolroom: 

*Please note: this does NOT mean he just hangs out here perfectly content, playing with his workboxes all day.  No!  No!  No!  - that is what I’m saying 99% of the time.  He is ALL OVER THE PLACE.  This is his area, but not necessarily where he hangs :)

 

Considering we live on a farm, most of this is familiar to my Lil’ Buckaroo’s daily life, so I’ve created a little farm theme in is area:

 

*The rug, farm toys & barn are from IKEA.  The magnet board is from IKEA too & the magnets are so old they were Tyler’s (Melissa & Doug I think).  There is also more farm theme toys in his workboxes.

 

Here is the top of his workboxes – the stacking numbers are from Lakeshore, the stacking cups are from Discovery Toys, & the beaded maze & hammering toy are from IKEA.

 

Here are his shape sorting toys:

And more boxes:

Signing & Activity books, first words, colors, animals, lacing, blocks, & doodle tray:  

He does NOT rotate through all of these boxes every day.  In fact, he probably doesn’t even get to them all each week.  His favorites are the animal touch & feel cards & talking farm toy, the balls – he loves the oballs, & the doodle tray. 

Truman is definitely in the wild toddler stage.  He is a complete terror!!  Outside of his area he love the Montessori stuff & playing the sand trays . . . more on these soon!

2010-2011 Curriculum

My Lil’ Buckaroo (1 year):

Slow & Steady, Get Me Ready Bright & Beyond Playtime Activities

My First Words & Farm Touch & Feel Picture Cards

Baby Sign Language My First Animal Signs

He already has his own little workboxes:

Here is a peak inside:

He uses them as a ladder as well, so please don’t pay too close attention to how dirty they are :)

Here are few other toys I will be adding to his workboxes in addition to some toys from our centers (that are age appropriate):

Giant Chubby Pegboard Set Stack & Count Learning Board

Wonderworld Rolling Ball Big Oball

As time passes, I may make him his own Tiny Tot Time board:

My Mustangs (Grade K/1):

• Winter Promise Hideaways In History for History & Science

A One-Year World History & Science Program for Kindergarten and 1st Grade. Your child will be transported around the world to times and places in world history. As they go, they'll learn about the most important happenings in history, and also create their own fun spaces, or "hideaways," that include a World War II submarine, a western boomtown general store, or an Egyptian pyramid. There's a lot to enjoy in this adventure-filled program!

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• Winter Promise Language Arts Program: Advanced K “Just Learning To Read” (includes additional handwriting & spelling practice as well)

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• Trevor will use Handwriting Without Tears K book
• Tucker will use Handwriting Without Tears 1st grade book
• Writeshop Book A for beginning writing concepts
• MUS Primer & start Alpha in January

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Click here for our K/1 Storytime Book list.

Momma's Boy (4th Grade):

• Winter Promise Adventures in the Sea & Sky
  A One Year History & Science Program Designed for 4th-6th Grades.
  Adventures in the Sea and Sky will set sail on a swashbuckling scientific journey through history. We’ll track down seafarers and skydivers, astronauts and astronomers, pirates and pilots in a fast-forward trip through days of yesteryear. Along the way, tales of daring figures and devilish fiends will delight all ages.

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• Spell Well C & Cc *This spelling is from the same author as the Explode the Code books.
• A Reason For Handwriting Book D
• Finishing First Language Lessons
• Analytical Grammar Jr.
• Write Shop C
• Teaching Textbooks Math 5 & Life of Fred: Fractions
• Book List
  • Mrs. Piggle Wiggle
  • Shiloh
  • Encyclopedia Brown
  • Little Tim & the Brave Sea Captain
  • Pirate’s Promise
  • Hank the Cowdog
  • The Gift of the Pirate Queen
  • A Lion to Guard Us
  • Pippi Longstocking
  • Seabird
  • Pagoo

*NOTE: I am debating between using Analytical Grammar Jr. & Write Shop C or Winter Promise Language Arts 4 “Solving the Mysteries of Grammar”.

Group Work:

All my children will be studying world history this year. I prayerfully considered joining a Classical Conversations group this year; however, I made the decision to postpone it for the following year. At this point we will use the Foundations guide & cycle 2 cd’s for some memory work. I plan to implement this with the math facts, some of the science (the astronomy portion which coincides with our WP studies), some of the grammar, a little of the timeline facts, & the Bible memory work – the book of Ephesians.

I am very hesitant to have the younger boys in a different history & science program that my older son, but I really really like both programs I think they will each benefit them on their own level. If this does become overwhelming, I am prepared to just add my littler boys to the Sea & Sky program with the Younger Learners Guide & book suggestions. It is definitely going to be a juggling act this year.

We will also be using Answers In Genesis’ Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers, The Answers Book for Kids Vol 1-4, and Answers for Kids Bible Curriculum.

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We will also be adding a few lapbooks from Hands of a Child.

Tyler really wants to learn Spanish this year, but I’m draggin’ my feet on it. Rosetta Stone maybe?

For computer time – we are huge fans of Jumpstart Typing.

Come Look With Me Books are our favorite art appreciation books!

The Classical Kids collection is our pick for Classical Music.

We will also continue using the workbox system & out learning centers.

Mommy Stuff & Teaching Resources:

I love my The Well-Planned Day. I use it daily. It has both a monthly section, & a weekly/daily sections as well. It also has great homeschooling articles/inspiration each month. I use this for lesson plans, workboxes, field trips, weekly priorities, & dinner menus. It also includes tear outs for shopping lists, an attendance & grades section & so so much more. It is kind of pricey, but it has been well worth it for me.

I am gradually becoming a pocket chart fan! I will be adding several pocket charts & teaching resources from Oriental Trading Company:

• Numbers & Counting
• Patterning & Sorting
• Measurement
• Telling Time Magnetic Chart
• Graphing Dry Erase boards
• Weather Bulletin Board Set
• Geoboards
• Jumbo Counting links
• Book Organizers

I have also found some fantastic deals in the dollar section at TARGET! = HOT!!

That about sum’s it up! Next I will be sharing My Top 10 Homeschooling Must Haves & next week on the blog hop is School Rooms! I am so excited to be inspired!!! And yes, there is an update on our schoolroom that is STILL “Under Construction!”

Workbox Wednesday

When I first saw these I was so excited! 

I added my twist to them, gave ‘em a lil’ Texas flare & these were our schedule cards:

They were fabulous!  I was so proud of myself.  But then I admitted that they were a bit much for my crew.  My outlaws quickly became frustrated with flipping back & for & I continued to mix up the days.  So, as an alternative I made these:

  The clock in/out & schedule strips are all on one sheet!  They absolutely LOVE them!  Much easier!!  On the back of Momma’s boy’s is his HELP section – if you remember on the original ones I just put 4 velcro coins on the back for the “Help” cards, but when he would bring them to his scatter brained momma, I would loose them :)  So, now we have a better way of keeping up with them. 

Now for what’s in the boxes . . .

The Mustangs:

As I worked the kinks out of my planning, I made an outline for setting up the Mustangs’ boxes:

1. Math
2. Math Activity
3. Letter/Handwriting
4. Explode the Code
5. Letter Activity
6. Story time &/or Activity
7. Science Activity
8. Reading
9. Reading Activity/Misc.

Using these labels made planning MUCH easier!! 

(*Keep in mind this week’s letter is “W”)

          *Tomorrow we are going to see a college performance of “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.”

I’ll explain so of these workbox activities in another post soon!

OH!  I almost forgot . . .

I hate to waste these:

If you would like our old schedule strips:

Leave a comment & tell me how many you need (Limit 3).

If there is more than one person I will use random.org to pick a winner on Monday (because it’s my birthday!). 

And since it’s my birthday & all . . . there might just be another giveaway coming for a chance to win one of our newly designed schedule strip.  I’m just sayin’ . . . Maybe!