Monday

Rachel here. Today went great! Sure there were ups and there were downs, but the tears were kept at a minimum on all parts... Reese was our big winner when it came to tears. She is the most emotional person I think I've ever met... you know... because being 4 is EXTREMELY difficult. :)

After dropping her off this morning and letting Emma Grace do some 'work' at preschool, we headed home to remove our pants, do a puzzle, and get started on our preschool day.Emma Grace's work boxes.Working with all of her letter a materials.
Sandpaper letter.Practicing writing the letter a in sand.Tracing the letter with glass beads. (CoaH)
Letter a coloring sheet. (CoaH) Upper/lowercase sort. (CoaH)After finishing most of her work, it was time for a little bit of computer interaction. We used Starfall for work on the letter a, the number 1, and the color red. Then I let EG listen to The Rainbow Fish on Storyline Online while I finished up some dishes.
Because it was WAY TOO COLD to play outside, Emma Grace and I bundled up and headed to our local toy store, Imaginations, for some indoor playtime.After leaving Imaginations, picking Reese up from preschool, and eating lunch, it was time for Emma Grace to hit the sack. Reese began her K4 time by doing an alphabet puzzle. (CoaH)Alphabetizing letter cards and then finding the upper/lowercase letter magnet matches. (CoaH)Matching lowercase clothes pins to uppercase letter wheel. (CoaH)After Emma Grace's quiet time was over, Reese and I went upstairs to read The Cat in the Hat to her. Upon finishing it was time to head back downstairs for snack. This is what I like to call a mediocre fail... while it has all the appropriate pieces... it's a little wonky. This is our interpretation of the Cat in the Hat's hat. Imagine if you will solid red Lifesaver Gummies (miscommunication with Bryan on that one), regular Oreos as opposed to the spring variety, and white frosting... not red. :) Ours are super fancy. (Pinterest)Today was ART DAY, so we made "Things." (Pinterest)After finishing all of her K4 work, Reese was able to have some computer time using More Starfall.EG managed to keep herself busy by practicing her numbers (large numbers on the floor, I would call out a number, and she would have to jump to it. We're new with number recognition, so we started with 1-5.),finishing her morning work... working on her ABC artwork book cover, reading Dr. Seuss books, and working on her new puzzle. This was really difficult for her. I think it was information overload. She knows all of her letter sounds and most of their names, but dealing with those two aspects and upper/lowercase letters... I definitely had to walk her through it. Once we got rolling though it really worked out nicely. I would point to the letter, say it's name and sound, and then she would have to find it.While I fixed dinner, Reese practiced cutting...
... and Emma Grace went on a puzzle building rampage.We ended the night with a Harold and the Purple Crayon video and some fastening practice.I'm EXHAUSTED... and tomorrow we start it all over again. :)

A taste of Tuesdays

Rachel here. This morning I took the girls to a new paint your own pottery place in our local mall. It's different from other pottery shops in that they don't glaze your piece. They simply spray it with some kind of shiny stuff. Sadly this means no plates or mugs... I was really hoping to have the girls paint me a couple of fancy coffee mugs (PERHAPS MY HUSBAND WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THEM DO THAT FOR MOTHER'S DAY... AHEM). This means there are a lot of little figurines in there that we could live without. I did happen to spot large letters though, so I peeled the girls away from the Disney princess statues and got them to agree to painting the first letter of their names. I think they turned out cute, and we had a really nice time out and about. Tuesdays, from now on, are going to be our Field Trip days. We're going to venture out and... well... just venture out because lord knows we could use the fresh air. It's a day to make the effort even if we're just not feeling up to it.

This is what Tuesdays will look like:
700-800 Morning routine
800-900 Puzzles/books/free Montessori time
900-1000 Pre K/K4 at home
1000-1015 Snack
1015-1215 FIELD TRIP DAY/outside/free play
1215-100 Lunch out
100-300 Quiet time EG/K4 Reese/computer Reese
300-315 Snack
315-415 Outside/free play/children's yoga dvd
415-545 Dance class
545-700 TV/Dinner prep/Dinner
700 Bath/bedtime routine

This morning, while the girls ate breakfast... which takes forever and a day, I finished with my lesson planning for next week. Did you know this Friday is Dr. Seuss Day? We're incorporating that into next week's adventures... very excited. Can't wait to share!

Also today I'm 30 weeks... YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY ME! I head to the doc in the morning, so I'll share whatever I feel the need to share then. Thursday we do our 4D... what a week! :)

A is for Apple

Rachel here. Last week's letter was "a"... for everything apple. :) We began by making apple prints... red... yellow... and green.Then it was homemade applesauce. We found a super easy recipe on Mr. Rodger's website (yes the neighborhood one).
Peel, core, chunk apples, and put in a pot.Then add 1/4 cup sugar and a little bit of cinnamon.Bring to boil, and then cover and simmer for 20 min.Blend and cool... and voila!The girls ended up having it for lunch along with apple slices, Apple Jacks, and an apple cereal bar. Reminds me of Bubba Gump. ;)
"Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" tree along with this weeks books basket.Reese's "a" words and basket.Letter "a" apples... with real apple seeds in the middle and do-a-dot skin.Letter "a" activities... from CoaH and Kidsparkz.
This is Reese's favorite "work" of all time. Letter printed on copy paper, put on top of towel, then she pokes the letter/shape/her name with a toothpick. I think it's far more hi tech at school, but we do what we can here at home. :)Here she's creating her letters with foam shapes. I found the templates at Tired, Need Sleep and then transferred them onto foam sheets and cut them out. Reese LOVED them.Ahhhh... RED... or in Emma Grace's world... pink, yellow, blue... in that order. "Emma Grace, what color is this?" "Pink, yellow, blue." Doesn't matter what the color is... she doesn't discriminate. :) It's been an adventure to say the least.Random work.Leftover work from last week. I keep all of their work in a "tower" with drawers. If they get bored, we pull out an activity. Unfinished activities get put back in the drawer until it gets finished. Emma Grace will probably be working on "m" activities until she's 4. ;)This week... a weather chart/calendar makeover, starting chores, and the letter "t".