Ironic Adventures
   

Teacher Store Splurge

Our Teacher Store closed. :-(   SUPER BUMMER.  I found out about it and went to see the closing sale only FOUR DAYS after it was announced, and there was hardly anything left! My friend and I went to score some items, it was almost sad to see so much fun stuff and be on a budget!

I saw a couple ladies with more than one loaded cart (and I mean stacked FULL) – and I found myself badly wishing we had a credit card. :-) Probably a good thing I only had a set amount of cash.

I was lucky to find a pocket chart, which I have been wanting badly. As well as a few other items:

  • Colored Sentence Strips
  • Prek-1 Math Wheels (in color and with a CD to do B&W or more color!)
  • K-1 File Folder Games (in color and ready to go!)
  • Dino Cards – going to use them to make a Cal # set.
  • Money Bulletin Board Set
  • Height Measurement Giraffe – like a 6 ft tall giraffe for the wall – so cute! And I even found a spot to put it up!
  • 7″ Fun Letters (enough for 2 whole alpha sets), going to laminate and hole punch a set of these for lacing cards.

 

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Thanksgiving (w12)

Picked our Thanksgiving Activities from all over the place this time. Here is the list!

“Turkey Unit” – 2 Teaching Mommies (2TM). They also have a Thanksgiving Unit HERE but I didn’t find it until after I had planned on using the Turkey stuff. Next Year!

“Thanksgiving Tot Pack” – Our Little Monkeys (OLM). This was my first time finding this amazing blog! Lots of great theme packs, and most all of them are FREE!
“Thanksgiving Pack” – Confessions of a Homeschooler (COAH). This pack came out literally a couple days after I planned and prepared all out Thanksgiving stuff! I was bummed because I tend to really love her stuff. So I printed it and we used a couple of activities anyway, since I love her stuff! I plan to use this pack next year with Thing Two.

Some fun Turkey worksheets! (2TM)


t-u-r-k-e-y spelling puzzles (2TM)


We played a memory game with some some word cards from OLM (not sure that was the intent, but that’s what we did!)


Thing Two found one of the extras from the Thanksgiving puzzle cards and decided it should be colored. He does his own thing A LOT, and that’s okay because he’s happy and I can work better one-on-one with his Big Brother…or get a large mug of coffee. Which ever. :-)


Got some “toaster tongs” at Bed Beth & Beyond because they were mentioned on a couple other blogs as being good for Fine motor. Which they would be, however, the tongs our BB&B had don’t open big enough to pose a challenge. BUMMER. And of course I opened and tossed the packaging before I tested them out. I know, smart, right?!

I did find they pose a challege using the little glass counters we have, but it was too hard for Thing Two, and just right for Thing One, he got it pretty quick. So, not all is lost – and hey, I can gt my toast our of the toaster without touching it now! How did I ever do it before?! lol

Hoping to order the actual made-for-this-sort-of-thing kid Tweezers from Amazon next time we have some school spending money!


Another great WS from OLM


Turkey Feather Patterns (2TM)


Size Sequencing (OLM)


Thing Two was jealous I was taking pictures of Big Brother, so he wanted to show off his “skills” too.


Number Order Puzzles (2TM). Thing Two made a good try at it – almost got it! (2TM)


This # Order Puzzle is from OLM


Pattern Blocks…always a good filler for when we’re done with the “theme” activities!


He pretty much just matches the Hexagons. I guess they are his favorite shape?


Thing Two grabbed out (or asked for by name) our Football Matching Game from 2TM. LOVE LOVE LOVE their Football Unit activities. We use them all the time for extra activities during the week.


Milk Cap Spelling (actually it’s more UC/LC matching at this point) from COAH


Thing Two also loves to get out our Very Hungry Caterpillar Tot Book from 1+1+1=1


some Thanksgiving counting practice from COAH


More from the Very Hungry Caterpillar Tot Book (color matching!). The pack has TONS of activities, all of which he loves.


Thanksgiving Puzzles from OLM


Foam ABC puzzles, upper and lower case, I got at Dollar Tree (best place for cheap & good school stuff!) He found the O’s – I don’t know why he insisted on the Sunglasses, lol.

Daddy’s Long Weekend = Black Friday School Day with Daddy!
Jon had fun working with the boys – they showed his the routine and taught him the songs we sing for our Calender time. It was pretty cute. I’m blessed to have his support & help in this adventure!


COAH number cards


OLM First Letter Clip Cards


Shadow Matching (OLM)


BINGO! (OLM)


Thing Two wanted nothing to do with BINGO! so Jon did some Dino Color Matching (from COAH’s LOTW) and still played BINGO! with us (amazing multi-tasker? haha).


And of course, when Daddy’s on the floor it means it’s rough housing time…apparently even during school time!


Jon “won” his BINGO! and explained to Thing One why and how. Then Thing One and I kept playing a few more times.

Well, that was a pretty good showing of our Thanksgiving week. After 3 months of Homeschooling I am feeling pretty good. It is a lot of work, but also a lot of fun – especially weeks like this when the whole family gets to learn together! I know this kind of thing is something I have to look forward to if we continue. I feel really blessed to have Jon so willing and wanting to be a part of school. This has given me a new appreciation for him – I never would have guessed he would WANT to be involved. I mean, I know most dad’s SUPPORT the homeschooling their wives do, but how many want to DO IT too? Mine does! This is a blessing since I am NOT a science or math person – which could come in handy in the years to come. :-)

Hope you all had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving filled with friends and family!

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Letter Tt – week 11

Turtle Activities: LOTW from COAH

Transportation Activities: Homeschool Creations Transportation Pack (HC)


I had tried showing him how to use this sheet from COAH for counting and 1:1 but he preferred color sorting.


PreWriting (LOTW)


See what he did with this HERE


UC/LC Sorting (LOTW)


Train Counting (HC) – I had Thing One add the correct amount of things to each Train Car. They made it a Dinosaur and Bear Train!


Memory Game with our Transportation Pack Cards (HC)


Turtle Puzzle (LOTW)


Egg Carton Turtles


Turtle Color Matching (LOTW)


I made some coloring & Trace activities for Thing One


This WAS a Word World Coloring sheet…lol


Finding all the letter t’s in a little T story. (LOTW K4)


Turtle Counting 1-10 (LOTW)


Turtle Lacing (LOTW)


He’s getting pretty handy with a needle and thread!


Thing Two continues to LOVE our Farm Tot Book Activities from 1+1+1=1.


A tracing page I made for Thing Two – he did a great job!


Milk Cap Spelling (LOTW)


Transprotation Clip Cards (HC)


Turtle Patterns (LOTW)


Tansportation Puzzles – 3 pieces each (HC) I just LOVE the graphics in this pack!


Tracing and Color (or paint in our house) (LOTW) – They take this so seriously!


QUIET TIME. Thing Two doesn’t nap much anymore, so he is always asking for things to do when Thing One is napping. Train Color by Number (HC)


Our T words


IT SNOWED! Had to color up the Weather Bear’s wintery clothes!


Transportation Size Sequencing (HC)


Transportation PreWrite (HC)


Transportation letter tracing (HC)


Turtle Count & Graph 1-10 (LOTW)


Transportation Shadow Matching (HC)


Another round of Size Sequencing, complete with Bus sound effects!


Magnet Page (LOTW)


See – more OCD from the little one! He had to take Thing One’s colors so he had enough to make his “wormin” all yellow.

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Thank You, God, For Blessing Me (by Max Lucado, illistrated by Frank Endersby)

Our family was given this adorable Children’s E-Book (ages 2-7) to review, written by Mac Lucado. Thank You, God, For Blessing Me is a perfect little bedtime story because it is written like a prayer (I think the last page should say “Amen!”). In this book, Hermie thanks God for everything be has: friends, family, shelter, food and the beauty of the world around him. He also asks God for help in being kind and obeying because “It’s how I say ‘thank you, God,’ in a very special way.” I think this is a great way to begin the explanation of our response to our salvation.


Having never picked up one of Lucado’s Hermie books before, I was excited to see what they were like. We read the story at bedtime – it was the perfect prayer to end our day! We all really loved the message of this book. It is written as a prayer Hermie says at the end of the day. It would be a wonderful new prayer to learn and say ourselves!

The illustrations, done by Frank Endersby, are absolutely adorable! Detailed drawings using vibrant colors to hold the attention of little ones – some of the cutest little bugs I’ve ever seen. The boys love anything having to do with bugs, so Thing Two enjoyed pointing out all the different bug characters to us. They have already asked for “the Hermie book” several times since our first read – so I know it was a hit!

The boys enjoyed the fun of reading a book on the computer (though I personally prefer real books for the kids to hold). I would recommend Thank You, God, For Blessing Me to family and friends with children – it would make a great gift for kids who are learning to say their own bedtime prayers!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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OCD Two Year old?!


Gave Thing Two a game I found at Dollar Tree to play with…first he took out all the tees by COLOR.


Then I noticed he was replacing them by COLOR as well.


Not only by COLO – but by QUANTITY TOO?!


He wanted me to see his “game”


Organized by COLOR SYMMETRICALLY! WHAT THE…..?! Seriously, this kid has some OCD issues. Wonder where he gets THAT from…lol :-) I don’t know what kind of “mind” or “learning style” this is showing…but it has to mean something (other than being nuts like his Mama!)

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