The Letter "A"

I figured...where do I start?...at the beginning!  I actually am waiting on my curriculum from  ABC Jesus Loves Me and there really is an order that kids should learn the alphabet in.  I can't tell you how excited I am about this site!  A sweet friend *(thanks Jaime)* told me about it and it is wonderful.  Check it out as there are all kinds of resources on there as well....I mean LOTS of stuff!
So, right now both of my girls are 5 (almost) and they were not adopted until they were older so we are working carefully to make sure that we really do get the basics down before we go any further.  We are watching "The Letter Factory" every day.  It is a very entertaining DVD so it keeps them interested.  It runs about 35 minutes in length and each letter of the alphabet and the sound it makes is explored.  I really enjoyed watching it too!  Hmmm...wonder what that says about me!  But I digress...check it out.  I got mine on Amazon but it's available pretty much everywhere.  After we did that, I decided to do some hands on fun stuff.  I went to this link after searching ABCJLM for the letter "A"http://www.abcjesuslovesme.com/component/content/article/86-letter-art/272-letter-a and once there I clicked on the "A" computer game.  It is very simple for the girls to manage and it's entertaining too.  When you complete the game it actually takes you to the homepage and that site has the whole alphabet with computer games and other ideas.  Once both girls had played it twice, it was time to move on.
Next I had them sit at the table and I gave each one a sheet of light colored construction paper.  I only told them bit by bit what we were doing so it got them excited as I did each step.  Cut up apple..."are we going to eat it?", going to get red paint..."yipee!  we are going to paint!"....No you can't have a paint brush....."red paint??"...you'll have to wait and see....So, I finally put them out of their misery and we took the red "A"pple and dipped in the red paint and then carefully (yeah....right) placed it on the paper.  They did that a couple of times and then I painted their hand and put that on there too.  A cute present for Daddy when he comes home.
I also printed out an upper case and a lower case "A" and then we got playdough out and rolled it like a hot dog and each of them filled in the photocopied letters.  It was fun and anytime they can play with playdough they are happy.
Well, they are in their rest time now, so I am going to try to do the same.
Until the next time...be blessed
Mama P

What Happens To Snow when...

you bring it inside?  My girls asked me the question and I decided that this was a perfect teaching moment! So I got a container and they packed the snow in it and we left it sitting in our nice toasty home.  I won't bother to post pics of this one....LOL....pretty obvious.  But they thought it was neat!  One thing that I didn't really think about was what the water volume would be.  It was actually right at half of the snow volume.  Couldn't resist putting on a pic of my two sweeties!
Happy Schooling!
Mama P

Starting School Tomorrow 1/2/11

My heart beats a bit faster when I think about the responsibility that God has set before me when He called me to homeschool our daughters.  The emotions are many.  I feel humbled as I know that I can only do this with God's help.  I feel unsure as it is not a clear journey with concrete steps to walk upon.  I feel overjoyed that I will have the incredible honor of watching my girls learn and mature.  I feel nervous about having a schedule and work that needs to be accomplished on a regular basis....not one of my strengths...but God knows that....I too will be learning!  So many thoughts and feelings but it all comes back to God's calling upon our family to homeschool.  Every year we will re-evaluate and go where God leads us.
I would LOVE to hear of wonderful sites, great resources and curriculum that you use and like.  Please jump in as a follower and leave your blog address so that I can follow you.
Glad we are on this journey together!
May God Bless each one of you!
Mama H.