Letter U week

Overview

Cricket did pretty well with out letter U work. Her and her Mimi made up a story about a Unicorn Under an Umbrella at the beginning of the week, and she really got into it from there.

Letter of the Week

Cricket started the week with our Hooked on Phonics Workbook and our letter U sign language sheet. We have been using the sign language power point from 1+1+1=1 and it is really making a difference with her understanding and interest.

Math

Cricket did her regular Hooked on Phonics math work and she is up to the number 16. She did pretty well with counting to 16, she know 6 and 9 but sometimes confuses 16 and 19. 

 
Our Yahtzee champ has had great practice with counting up to 25, in the process of luckily rolling yahtzee after yahtzee. 

 

Art

I found this beautiful floral cross for Cricket to color in and of course we had fun dying eggs.

 

We both LOVED the Jelly Bean Book that I found at 1+1+1=1. I actually colored this one, but Cricket loved reading it. 

 

Tot School

She also did this Kumon cut and arrange page.

 
 
Check out what others are doing at this amazing site:
 

And the winner is...

I had a fabulous time hosting my giveaway. Thank you all for entering and thank you again to Carisa at 1+1+1=1!

I used Random.org to generate the winner. The winning comment was #143

• Vindiciti said... I follow her blog! 

I am emailing the winner now!!!

Book Review: This Little Prayer of Mine

I had the opportunity to review This Little Prayer of Mine by Anthony DeStefano; illustrated by Mark Elliott.

This was such a sweet book for my little one. It really thoroughly covered everything I could think of for a little one to pray for, and it was presented in a natural and meaningful way. The text was supported beautifully by the illustrations. My daughter seemed to really enjoy it, and I'm so glad it now has a home on our bookshelf.

Disclosure of Material Connection: To comply with new regulations introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, I must post that WaterBrook Multnomah has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book to review through Blogging for Books. I also must say that the opinions are all mine. 

Easter in my Kitchen

Cricket and I had a fabulous time working on a bunch of kitchen Easter projects yesterday. Our first project  was to make these wonderful resurrection rolls. Cricket really enjoyed helping and she got so much out of the story. It clicked with her seeing the empty tomb at the end.

 

Then Mimi came over for a visit, and our second annual egg dying adventure. Cricket's favorite thing ended up being dunking an egg in multiple colors to make tye-dye eggs. Everything turned out cute and Cricket had a great time.




















Cricket wasn't going to see good paint (dye) go to waste so my little artist used it to paint pictures once all the eggs were dyed.

Finally, Cricket and I made a bunny cake together. She really got into decorating it with me.

Happy Easter everyone!!!

tiny talk and Cricketisms

 

These aren't so much Tiny Talks as "Cricketisms":

Coughies - I have a cough (hopefully she'll be saying this less as her asthma medicine kicks in)

We are also noticing more and more just how southern Cricket is. All of her vowel sounds are elongated, adding extra syllables to her words. So cat becomes ca-aaaaat. I know we live in the south, but I'm trying to keep this from being sooooo exaggerated. (Plus, dear husband says she gets it from me - sigh). 

Cricket learned that her Papa goes by the nickname Bud, and for some reason she thought this was hilarious. She was saying "Papa Buuuuud" (see above) over and over again and giggling harder and harder each time she said it.

Tiny Talk: 
Daddy was trying to work on pronunciation with Cricket after I asked her if she wanted Vanilla Ice Cream or Sherbet.
Cricket: Banilla, please
Daddy: VVVanilla
Cricket: Banilla
Daddy: No, it's not a B like banana it's a V (makes V sound again)
Cricket: Vbanana
Mommy and Daddy: Can't help but laugh

2nd Tiny Talk:
Cricket was playing with her toy broom, she spun it around and popped herself in the face. She immediately turned around and said "Momma, can I have a pogo stick?"
I say "Really? You just hit yourself with a broom, and your asking for a POGO stick?"
Cricket says "Yes (implied why not)"

Be sure to see what others are saying at Not Before 7

Letter U Books and more

 

Letter U books:

1. Up and Down by Oliver Jeffers - Well in principle and through my explanations this was a letter U book, but realistically the only "up" was on the cover. Besides flopping for letter usage we enjoyed the book. Cricket loves penguins, and the relationship between the penguin and the boy was cute.
2. Stone Soup by Marcia Brown - I know you are probably think I've lost my mind, and well yes its out there some where, but I had to stretch to find U books. At least this book did actually include the word soup a lot, so there were actual "u"s in the story. Moving on, we both enjoyed the book. I think Cricket would have liked more colorful images, but she thought the story was silly and she stayed engaged.
3. Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant: And Other Poems by Jack Prelutsky - See my review and mini stART project here
   

Bunny Books:

1.  The Golden Egg Book by Margret Wise Brown - Cricket said she didn't like this story, because both the rabbit and the duck kicked and threw things as they were trying to figure out what the other was. I also thought it was odd that when the rabbit was picturing what might be in the egg they were all mammals. I did like that on each page or page spread the text and illustrations were within an egg. 
2. Henry and the Buccaneer Bunnies by Carolyn Crimi - This story was really cute and the illustrations were clever and attractive. Cricket said she liked all the "real" pirates, no surprise there. I liked Henry, the misfit, who loved to read and knew how to do all kinds of useful things because of his reading.
   

These were our bed time/pleasure books:

1. Beauty and the Beast
2. Let's Go to the Fire Station (Mickey & Friends)
3. Gonzo and the Great Race (Jim Henson's Muppet Babies)

That makes 137 books total so far for 2011. I highly recommend joining in at the Read to Me Picture Book Challenge.

You should also see what others are reading this week at Mouse Grows Mouse Learns.

Raising Rock Stars Membership Giveaway!

I'm hosting my first giveaway, and I'm giving away my absolute favorite homeschool material. The LUCKY winner will receive a membership to the Member's Only Site for Raising Rock Stars Preschool from Carisa at 1+1+1=1.

If you aren't familiar with the Raising Rock Stars Preschool program you can check out the site here. You will see that many of the PDFs are offered for free, so you might be wondering what the benefit of membership is. I, personally, think that the greatest benefit is the access to the wonderful power point presentations. Cricket LOVES these. Each power point teaches a letter, a number, a color, a shape, and it includes a mini-reader. These tie in directly to the PDFs, Cricket just responds to the computer work in a much more excited way. In addition to access to the power points, as a member you get access to the materials before they are on the main page. I know I have found and excitedly posted about things that weren't even "out there" for the general public yet.

I have been using it this year with Cricket and you can see all my posts so far here.

In case you don't win don't fret, you can join the site here at a seriously amazing price.

Now for the good stuff, here is how you can win:
Mandatory 1st Entry:

• Visit 1+1+1=1 and tell me what you love most about the site or an amazing idea you found there

Extra Entries (be sure to leave a comment for each one): 

• Follow 1+1+1=1 Blog
• Follow 1+1+1=1 Twitter
• Follow A Class of Her Own via Google Friend Connect
• Follow A Class of Her Own Twitter 
• Comment on one of my other posts and let me know that you did. 

Giveaway Guidelines:

1. Each entry must have your email address included. If its not in your entry, and you’re the lucky winner, a new winner will be chosen.
2. This giveaway ends 4/30 at 9pm CST – all entries must be in before.
3. If you are the lucky winner, you have 48 hours to respond to my email. A new winner will be chosen if I do not hear back from you within that 48 hours.

**Carisa is generously donating the membership for this giveaway! Thank you and bless you for all you do!!!***

I am linking this giveaway here:

April is Poetry Month... stART

I was looking for letter U books at the library to go along with our letter of the week work and I stumbled upon this gem:

Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant: And Other Poems by Jack Prelutsky is actually a great collection of poems. Each poem featured a clever "hybrid" animal. One of our favorites actual ended up being "The Ballpoint Penguins" poem. In the first section of the poem it said,
"...Do little else but write and write.
Although they've nothing much to say,
They write and write it anyway."

This inspired me to do a simple ease and quick stART project with Cricket. She loves writing with ball point pens anyways, and it makes her feel like a "big" girl since that's what mommy writes with. So, I gave her a blank sheet of paper and a couple of Ballpoint Penguins and let her go for it. She thought it was funny and it was such a cheap and easy corresponding project.

I am linking to Brimful Curiosities for National Poetry Month

 

AND to A Mommy's Adventures for stART (go check out what more creative mommies are doing).

Ten Commandments - Rock Star Style

The power point and work for the letter T were superb. We spent all week talking about the 10 commandments, and Cricket picked up 3 of them really well including the memory verse:


Thou Shall Not Steal.  Exodus 20:15

I really enjoyed the sheet of all ten commandments that was included in the work. The commandments were paraphrased really well, in a way that Cricket could understand and that didn't lose value or meaning.

This also tied into the movie we were able to borrow from our library, The Prince of Egypt. At the very end of the movie it shows Moses carrying the commandments down from the mountain. All of this led to some really great discussions.

As I said last week Cricket really enjoys working with the vocabulary cards each week. Here she is doing a review of the words using her pointer.

Cricket sang at church again this week, and her Cherub Choir was just adorable.

Be sure to see what other families are doing with their Rock Stars at 1+1+1=1. 

Check back tomorrow, because I will be hosting a giveaway for membership to Carisa's fabulous site!

Modge-Podge of Tiny Talks

We are working hard on picking up toys when Cricket is done playing with them. Once this week I reminded Cricket to do this, and she looked around at the (not really that messy) mess and said "I could if I was a super hero."

One night Cricket and I were talking about slumber parties, and I told her that maybe the next time daddy goes camping we could have a slumber party. She seemed to like the idea and we went on to talk about other things. When daddy came upstairs to tell her good night the first thing Cricket said was "Daddy when are you going to go camping?"

Finally we were driving to the library today, and someone pulled out in front of me. I said "Stop car. What are you doing? (HEAVY SIGH)". A moment later I pulled up to a stop light and there was a car stopped in front of me.  Cricket said, " Momma that car is stopped, because they know how to drive." I seriously love my child!

Be sure to see what others are saying at Not Before 7

Monday with Mimi, just a little late

It is still technically Monday with a couple of hours to spare, but Cricket's Monday with Mimi was over hours ago. Cricket and Mimi had a fabulous day together as always.

They started off playing Lincoln Logs, and Mimi carefully followed Cricket's design plans and instructions.

Then they made the always adventures trip to Memaw's house. Cricket really enjoyed racing against Sissy, Memaw's dog, today. They also picked a great collection of flowers that were waiting for me when I got home.

Afterwards, Cricket convinced Mimi that they should go to the balloon store (also known as The Dollar Store). Cricket got a new butterfly balloon, jacks, and chalk.

When they got back to our house they headed outside with the chalk to draw great pictures and play hopscotch together. Mimi said that Cricket sweetly asked about how her foot was healing, when she noticed that Mimi was no longer wearing her boot.

Finally, Cricket and Mimi made mini pizzas together. Then, well, I got home and Mimi time ended.

Book Review - How to Be God's Little Princess

I had the opportunity to review How To Be God's Little Princess by Shelia Walsh and  published by Tommy Nelson. 

From the publisher:

A fun guide book for God’s little princesses.
What does it take to be a princess? Sheila Walsh has some important answers to share for every little girl. This trendy design features black & white line art and a two-color pink and black interior. The art will tie to each how-to topic in the book—how to make the best pink cookies, how to wear a tiara, how to earn money at home, how to care for a royal dog, how to be respectful, how to use good manners, how to help Mom, how to follow Jesus, how to act like a princess when things go terribly wrong, and many more.
 

My thoughts:

This adorable and totally pink princess book would be perfect for an elementary age girl. The reading level and content was a little above Cricket's head, and I think it would be a little too childish for a "pre-teen". I enjoyed reading through it though, and I am looking forward to sharing it with Cricket in a few years.

Disclosure of Material Connection: To comply with new regulations introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, I must post that Thomas Nelson has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book to review through Book Sneeze. I also must say that the opinions are all mine.

Color Mixing and Melting

 

I saw the idea for this project here, and her's turned out way better than mine. We still had fun though. 

I pre-made the cups filled with colored water and froze them. Our primary problem with the project is I either didn't use enough food coloring and/or the sticks I used absorbed too much of the color.

See how the color is primarily at the center of the ice? Cricket was still able to see the color going into the water and mixing once another color was added. She commented on how the water was melting the ice before I even said anything. 

Here, I put the ice back into the cup so she could observe how much it had melted. She liked that part, and kept doing it over and over again. 

Finally Cricket mixed all three colors, and we discussed how that mix started to make the water look black. She also enjoyed observing the changes in shapes and which ones floated.

I am linking this up at Adventures in Mommydom for Science Sunday. Please be sure to check the more impressive experiments there.

Letter T Week

Overview

Cricket was enthusiastic about school this week, and did a really good job on all of her work. We ended up primarily focused on turtles because of the selection of books I found.

In addition this week I took Cricket to see an allergist to get her never ending runny nose under control., and we left with an asthma diagnosis. I was not at all prepared for that, but all things considered it is very minor and Cricket is handling it very well. She is will to take her medicine (just struggling with inhaling through the inhaler), and hopefully this is something she will out grow. She will still have to have an allergy test in the coming months, and I'm not looking forward to putting her through that. We might need Daddy's brave face to be present at that appointment so my fear doesn't rub off on her.

Reading

This week we started an Arthur chapter book, and it went over much better. We are still working on it so my review will have to wait though.

Letter of the Week

Cricket started the week with our Hooked on Phonics Workbook and our letter T sign language sheet. We have been using the sign language power point from 1+1+1=1 and it is really making a difference with her understanding and interest.


I saw this cute idea to make a tree for letter T, and after we completed it Cricket and I were discussing how two also starts with the letter T. So, she decided to draw two birds and two apples in the tree top. I was so impressed with her bird.

I used a lot of resources from Confessions of a Homeschooler this week. She did really well with the pre-writing sheet, and enjoyed the other work. 

She turned the paper upside down to color the turtles right side up

Math

Cricket did her regular Hooked on Phonics math work and she is up to the number 15. She willingly and correctly wrote her number 15s, and is counting to 15 correctly consistently.  

Science

In addition to our science project, Cricket and I spent time caring for and discussing our sapling tree that we got back on arbor day. It is progressing nicely, in other words I haven't killed it yet. 

 

Art

I picked up a simple set of spring themed plaster magnets that Cricket really enjoyed painting. I think it's going to look beautiful on my fridge. 

 

She also requested to pint with her easel, in the end she said her painting was of three painters. She used her new collection of various paint brushes for the painting, and joyfully used every brush.

Tot School

Cricket continued to play with her sensory bin this week. She really enjoyed the linking bunnies I added, and we had fun playing roll the egg.

Her new favorite game this week was Old Maid. We played it over and OVER again, and she loved it every time.

 
Check out what others are doing at this amazing site: