Before Five in a Row: Katy No-Pocket

((Hannah is 4))

 ((Danny is 2))

 

 As of right now Katy No-Pocket is the last book we will be rowing this year. Not sure what we're going to be doing now but with summer right around the corner we might just take some time off and focus on lots of outdoor time. As I go on this journey I'm starting to realize some things. One is that Hannah needs activity time, two is that she gets bored with the same activities every week. She started getting really bored with the printable activities that go along with the books we are rowing. Even though they were different subjects and different activities she would get bored. This was tricky. I'm still trying to figure this out. I'm hoping that the preschool program that I've chosen will fix this. From reading it so far it looks like we're doing something different everyday. So besides focusing on outdoor time now, which the kids can never get enough of, I want to make sure Hannah is having some sort of book time and table activity still, they probably won't be related though like when rowing books.

On to Katy No-Pocket.

 Danny was really focusing on putting the pom poms into the bowls, it was so cute.

 Hannah painted the cover for the folder that will store this books activities.

 More cuteness, he just likes to flip the squares up and then swipe them all down with this hand, good for fine motor skills.

 

They wore their little aprons and you can't really see it but they have tools in the pockets like the nice man in the book.

 More play-doh and straws, so much fun, who knew?

 I put this whole book together for her, she was not interested at all, but once it was done she really enjoyed looking at the Daddy, Mommy and baby animals.

 

She also had fun naming the pictures on the cards. All in all it was a good week, I'm so glad we tried Before Five in a Row and I love the concept. I  might come back to it for Danny when he's a little older, but right now I think it's time to move on to a different style for learning time. I had planned on rowing through the summer so now that I've changed my mind I'm not sure what we will be doing.

Before Five in a Row: If Jesus Came to My House

 

((Hannah is 3 1/2))

((Danny is 1 1/2))

It's been a while since we did these activities, these past few weeks have been super busy. I haven't really had time to sit down and blog. 

Reading If Jesus Came to My House every day was great. It really put how we are supposed to love people like Jesus into easy to understand perspective. Great lessons. The part that stood out to Hannah the most was having Jesus near all of the time so there is no need to be afraid, especially at night time shadows like the boy in the story.We used the lapbook activities from Home School Share.

It worked out great that we were on the letter J while rowing this story. As you can see she's very enthused. She actually does still enjoy these Alphabet Cut & Paste sheets, they really help with phonics.

Danny had some fun playing with little bells and a bottle. Hannah had to get in on the fun, she's still more interested in Danny's activities.

A little more enthused after finishing her dot letter J. She does still love this activity.

We did the cutest art work for the Alphabet Art Book. I had no idea what to do for jellyfish so I looked on Pinterest and found this idea.

Before Five in a Row : The Little Rabbit

((Hannah is 3 1/2))

((Danny is 1 1/2))

 This week we had the pleasure of rowing The Little Rabbit by Phoebe Dunn. This ended up being a super special week with not many pictures. The first thing we did after reading the book the first day was make some rabbit ears. I didn't finish making Danny's because I knew he wouldn't wear them but now looking at the picture I wish I would have tried at least for a quick picture. He did however, enjoy playing with all of the stuffed rabbits we have. Both of their birthdays are usually around Easter so when Hannah was first born I went a little crazy with bunnies and little lambs. Hannah named the rabbit she is holding Buttercup like the star of our story and Danny is holding Patches the Bunny.

We used the book The Big Treasury of Little Animals. Danny was obsessed with flipping through the pages, he especially loved the page with the little kitten Pickle and his pink balloon. Danny LOVES balloons right now.

Hannah's favorite part of the story was the fact that Buttercup came in an Easter basket with two Easter eggs. 

Most of the days we concentrated on the printables. We colored a bunny picture together and used some fun worksheets. One of Hannah's favorite activities right now is pasting, we're still working on cutting but she makes sure to cover her paper with plenty of paste. The worksheet below was about labeling a turtle and she knew all the body parts.

This worksheet that she is working on was one that excited me the most this week. She had to count the rabbits and then circle the number. She got bored of counting herself so I helped with that but she was able to point out the number and circle it every time. 

We didn't finish this H worksheet the previous week so we added it in. So far I have been diligent in completing every letter for the alphabet art book. All of the letter I worksheets for this week are behind that page, just didn't get pictures.

One of the best and most memorable things we did this week was take a field trip to a local feed store that I knew had rabbits and baby chicks. Luckily this is two minutes away from our house. The kids both LOVED this. They got to see different types of rabbits. They didn't have the exact kind that Buttercup is but they had similar pink eyed and eared rabbits. I think the kids got a bigger kick out of the baby geese, ducks and chicks. This was the perfect time of year to read this book,  great for spring and Easter time.

((linking up with: Hip Homeschool Moms, Life with Moore Babies, Mama To 5 Blessings, 1+1+1=1, 123Homeschool4Me, Happy and Blessed Home, Teaching Mama & Hearts For Home))

Before Five in a Row: Blueberries for Sal

((Hannah is 3 1/2))

((Danny is 1 1/2))

We're back! After a long hiatus we're finally back at doing intentional school. December and January were full of being sick, mainly me. I was sick for 3 weeks in December through Christmas and the New Year and then a couple of weeks after I started feeling better I got sick for another 2 weeks in January. So it has taken me a while to get back to doing school. I also knew it was time to transition to a different method. Hannah and I were both ready to move on from our normal Tot School activities but I wasn't quite sure what to do in between before we start official preschool in the fall.

Sometime in the middle of being sick I had tried our first go at Before Five in a Row with Jesse Bear, what will you wear? It was fun but seemed like a lot of work. So while I was taking my hiatus and trying to figure out what to do I realized I was making "school" too difficult on myself. Around mid-March I came to the conclusion from some very special ladies that God has placed in my life that I was making a lot of things in my life too difficult. I had to be reminded that my mission in life right now are these little ones that God as blessed me with. I kind of forgot what my blog is even about, doh. But the Lord has so patiently wrangled me back in, refreshed my spirit and renewed my purpose.

Once I gave this "problem" to the Lord and asked to follow his guidance for our schooling, discipleship and over all future, everything started to fall into place. Planning has been easier, reading has been easier (even though we're still working on listening and being quiet, if you mama's have any advice I'll take it), and the activities have gone smoother. I really feel the Lord holding my hand through this one.

Part of what has made things easier is that I'm going with the flow more. Not everyday looks the same in our house, we have a lot of appointments and outings through the week, so I've had to take everyday as it comes. In the past if we didn't do school in the morning then it just didn't get done. Now I can move it around without a worry because I'm making it a priority. So if we do not get home until noon, then we have our lunch and then read our B4FIAR book of the week,  after we read I usually will put Danny down at this point for a nap and then I have time to spend one on one with Hannah doing our activities for the day.

 On the days that we are able to get it done in the morning Danny gets to join in on the fun. He gets to have his table time with different tot school activities, mostly fine motor skills at the moment. He is still 6 months to a year behind in this area, at least according to the occupational therapist's evaluation. But like everything in his life since his birth, he does things at his own speed and I'm fine with that.

He's very serious about his play-doh and straws.
 

Usually this time will mean that Sissy is doing the same thing, at least after she does some of her activities. Danny's activities always look like so much fun.

When we first started B4FIAR I was worried about reading the same book for five days in a row but it has actually turned into a great blessing. The kids and I soak up more each day. I see more things to discuss each day and the stories get easier to read. It is great when Hannah finishes parts of the stories or remembers what is happening, that gives me hope.

She had a blast with Blueberries for Sal and her blueberry hunt. I luckily happened to have a little tin pail and alot of blue pom poms.

Completely unrelated to the book we made some cloud dough for some good 'ol sensory play. Hannah did not like it at first but once she saw Danny having a good time making a huge mess, she decided she would try a little bowl. Mama had to dig deep and not worry about the mess, it felt great letting go. The kids had a blast and it wasn't a big deal sweeping it up.

Below are pictures of some more blueberry activities we did. We made a blueberry pie with construction paper and blue paint.

 Above is a picture of some letter/phonics work we are still doing. I'm trying to keep incorporating a letter every week. They are completely unrelated to the book we are rowing but I'm hoping it helps keep her fresh until preschool starts.

Some of the activities that we did and are not pictured (but available on my instagram) are we made giant blueberry pancakes with homemade blueberry syrup for lunch one day and we worked on some of the worksheets from Homeschool Creations & My Four P's throughout the week.

It was a great week full of many blessings, we look forward to many more rowing adventures.

((Linking up with: Rainy Day Mum, Hip Homeschool Moms, Skip to my Lou, Craft-O-Maniac, Living Montessori Now, 1+1+1=1 & Teaching Mama))