learning time: colors

from water and animals, we moved onto colors and the story of noah's ark.  yes, animals could have just as easily been tied into this lesson, but i also like how the weeks seemed to flow together and somewhat overlap (which is not my original intention).

day 1:  JSB noah's ark story and handprint rainbow

•  we started the week reading the noah's ark story and talking about the rainbow and all of the different colors in it.  from there, i traced brendan's hand on a piece of paper that i placed on top of a stack of multi-colored paper.  i cut out his hand in the colors of the rainbow and he helped me glue them on.  i asked him what the colors were as went in order from left to right and he got them all correct!  (sidenote:  red, green, blue, and yellow are his best.  when he is really focused, he can usually also get orange, purple, and sometime brown)  he was so very proud of his rainbow and smiled so big when we showed lee that evening.
  
   
   

day 2:  color sticker book

• some days are busier and harder than others to adequately do our learning time during the day.  usually those days are also the ones when lee has class in the evenings so we still have some time left before the day is done.
• my cousin hannah picked this sticker activity book out for brendan for his birthday, and it became a perfect tool for color week.  brendan had a blast picking out stickers and finding their correct location.  most of the pages were designed to group together different objects of the same color.  he placed some stickers with the correct color and others he did not...partly because they were objects he was less familiar with and partly because he was just having too much fun with the actual stickers!  thanks again for the great gift!

 

 

day 3:   color sorting and thank you notes

• lucky for us, brendan received a great set of melissa & doug building blocks from GJ for his birthday, and i bought a set of small plastic bins from the dollar store as part of the decoration for his party...all of which were all the same colors.  i lined up the four different colored bins and let brendan choose a block from the box.
• first, we discussed the color block he chose.  then, i asked him which color bin it matched.  he only missed one out of the seven he did which i thought was a great first attempt at sorting of any kind.
• brendan's birthday thank you notes arrived and my great intention was to have them all mailed or hand-delivered prior to harper's arrival but that was only a halfway-successful plan.  like i have said before, brendan LOVES to color.  we had not colored with crayons in a while since he discovered his love for markers but i thought crayons were a better fit for the card.  i asked him to name the colors he chose as he colored and helped him with the ones he is still learning.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

day 4:   bay area discovery museum with friends

• although this awesome trip the discovery museum was not just to focus on colors, color was just one of many aspects to this great hands-on museum just minutes from our house (and free thanks to library passes!)
• in terms of colors, brendan particularly enjoyed painting the glass and coloring cards for grandparents' day that the museum so graciously mailed for us.
  
   

day 5:  fire truck box painting

• i should probably blog, or at least make note of, these events the day they happen, but i have not done that yet.  if i remember correctly, this particular friday was one in which lee took the car to work to save on his commute time.  on these days, we make sure to find plenty to do around here so we do not go crazy knowing we cannot truly get out and go anywhere further than down the street to the playground.
• i have to be careful to not become a box hoarder for all of our craft time because as soon as we have any kind of delivery or buy a huge box of diapers i want to set the boxes aside and find a craft that can make good use of it.  fridays with no car are perfect days for cardboard box activities.
• thanks yet again to pinterest, i decided to approach this paint project in a new way.  first, i drew out the sides of a fire truck on two big pieces of kraft paper.  then, i put dots of paint all over it based on the color each part should be.  THEN, brendan was free to "paint."  this helped it look somewhat like the intended outcome but also gave him a chance to practice using a paintbrush.
• i let the sides dry during naptime, and afterward, it was ready to drive.  i added a steering wheel for fun and drew in some buttons.  i am still not convinced he ever truly knew it was a firetruck but i do know he had fun painting the sides and playing in the box...the most important aspect of all.

 

 

 

 

hang on

learning time has not just been for brendan nor has it been limited to the times we are doing crafts or reading books.  in the midst of our themed weeks, i have already learned that at the very most i should simply go into each day with a general direction and goal in mind instead of how i think every aspect could (or should) play out.

in the moments when i have stepped back and let brendan's imagination lead the way, i have watched him do and learn even greater things than i had imagined for him.  i now know he loves glue sticks, stickers, and markers.  a simple revelation, perhaps, but knowing how to best grab his attention at such a young age has made a huge difference.

aside from the actual learning time, we are also learning how to do this whole stay-at-home mom thing.  yes, we.  brendan has only ever had me (and lee) home everyday during the summers where schedules are a little more relaxed.  i realized i needed to shift my mindset and priorities when brendan started repeating a rather unpleasant phrase back to me, "hang on."  whether it was heading out the door or a request when i was in the middle of something else or him running down the sidewalk too fast, i discovered i was telling him to hang on far too often. 

i think God could have just simply left it at brendan repeating after me, but i think to really ensure that He got His point across, God gave brendan the ability to add just the right amount of emphasis to each of those words to really hit home.  most likely, this is how brendan heard them, too.  brendan was never truly in the wrong in these moments...mostly just being a busy little boy.  it was me who needed to hang on and assess the situation.  could i have waited to make him aware we were about to leave in order to gather everything i needed first?  could i have set my phone down and not updated social media yet again in order to read a book for the tenth time in five minutes?  could i have prayed for balance and soft ground if he fell on the sidewalk or, better yet, been more intentional to be right beside him in case he did fall?  absolutely. 

most of the time, it is i who needs to hang on and enjoy the moment without pushing it aside for matters that are probably less important than the kiddo right in front of me.

learning time: animals

our second week of learning time focused on animals, one of brendan's favorite things.

the biblical side of the week finished off our last venture into the creation story but was also a nice transition into our third week (colors and noah's ark/rainbow).  the options for learning about animals are endless so i just picked a few fun activities for each day.  i am hoping to come back to animals again in the future when we can go on a nature walk and discover animals outside for ourselves, but that just does not happen very easily for this nine-month pregnant mama!

day 1:  butterfly craft and Jesus Storybook Bible - creation, day

• again, i could have picked any animals for this week, but i went with the cool crafts i had seen online.  brendan is really interested in painting these days and seems to improve his brush skills each time i pull out those yellow tubes of fun.  the only prep for the butterfly was choosing a color of paper.  on the first butterfly, i drew the wings ahead of time.  however, i quickly realized that my son did not care to be restricted to my little wing area so i let him paint first and then the paint dry on the second butterfly before i outlined the wings.  he also loves anything that involves a glue stick so we added an antennae to each butterfly...he picked the colors, applied the glue, and helped me press down the pipe cleaner.
• we also went back through the JSB version of the creation story, but this week we mainly focused on the page that includes the God creating all of the animals.  brendan can recognize and name many of the animals, and thanks to living on the seminary campus, now knows what a deer is!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

day 2:  bird craft

• no, i did not pick all winged animals for this week.  in fact, the bird was not even originally part of the plan but when i thought about how simple it would be and found a bag of craft feathers for $1.50 at a local craft store, i had to include it!  after a brief google search for a basic bird outline, i cut out the bird, attached the wings, and drew the face.  brendan knew right away that it was a bird, and i think he knew what feathers were.  but, he had never played with feathers before.  the glue stick made an appearance once again and before long, brendan had created quite the colorful bird.  i hung it up with the rest of his artwork and he was so proud to show lee when he got home.
• i also unveiled another library book that had been hiding out until the animal week:  Dog's ABC by emma dodd.  this book is so cute and is apparently part of a series of books, including one i am hoping to use during our color week.
  

day 3:  animal puppets

• for those of you who are my facebook friends, you may remember a status about animal puppets not going so well.  i was fully prepared for one of these activities or crafts to not be as awesomely spectacular and perfect as i pictured it in my mind.  and that's ok.  i had already colored all of the animals...which is quite therapeutic and relaxing for those of you who have not picked up a crayon in a while.  on this day, brendan helped me glue the animals to the paper bags and greatly enjoyed the surprise of each animal i unveiled.  once they were all complete, i draped a blanket over a couple of chairs to create a stage for the puppet show.  this is where i did not factor in the fact that my two-year-old son saw me behind the chairs and did not understand why i was trying to hide there.  whenever i would attempt to hide behind the chairs, he would just walk around and find me...maybe he thought it was a game!
• an update to that facebook status that i am happy to report is that he has played with the puppets more on his own since then than he attempted to when i tried to make it formal.  note to self:  let him lead the way more often!  (*can you tell someone has learned how to be silly when the camera comes out?!*)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• side note:  i found the puppet templates here.  some are free and others are not.

day 4:  animal letter matching cards

• today, we were pretty low-key and used one of our very own resources:  the awesome eeboo puzzle pairs, alphabet and numbers recommended by my friend, liss, and purchased by grandma and papa.  i love these puzzle pairs because brendan can literally put together a picture and the letter it goes with.  plus, he can also start word recognition with the pictures.  we mainly played with the animal letters, but brendan has some non-animal favorites, too.
  

day 5:  B-I-N-G-O letters & song

• one of brendan's new favorite songs is B-I-N-G-O thanks to a nursery rhyme cd birthday present from aunt beth.  on the cd, the song includes a dog barking which makes it even more appealing to brendan.  this activity incorporated music, letters, and paint so i thought it was a nice wrap to the week.
  
  
  
  
• we also reread the JSB creation story, and the ABC book i mentioned on day 2 continued to be a big hit.

learning time resources

i have wonderful friends and family who have shared their favorite learning, craft, homeschool, and preschool activity websites.  so, i thought i would share them with you!  hopefully, this will be an ever-growing list because their are so many people willing to share their fabulous, creative ideas with the rest of the internet.  i also plan to post this as a sidebar as well so neither you nor i have to come back and scroll to find this post.

in no particular order...
of course, pinterest is an obvious go-to site.  specifically, here is the board i have started:  learning time pinterest board

another is the montessori board of my friend (aka, family of family), katie strickland:  montessori pinterest board ...she has a great collection of preschool activities for all ages.

my aunt shared this great site with me that i have also seen show up on multiple pins:  confessions of a homeschooler

my friend, katie (a former librarian, current zumba instructor, and all-around awesome person), informed me of this site.  i love all of the hands-on activities to choose from!  no time for flash cards

google helped me find this great site for incorporating Bible stories into our learning time.  the great aspect about this site is that you can find activities that reach kids of all ages, plus they share videos and resources to expand each of the lessons.  ministry to children

i know many of you have your own learning/education/school boards on pinterest so please share any other sites you love to use!

learning time: water

for the most part, i have tried to align our learning time topics with the Biblical lesson we are integrating.  this may change some around the holidays, but that is ok.  i chose to begin with water because, well, part of the creation story is God separating the waters in the sea and the sky and creating land to come up from the water.

i think this was the perfect first lesson for both of us.  anything water-related is fun and interactive, but each of the daily activities also gave me the chance to see how he would do with various projects and crafts...and which ones worked better before or after naptime (a crucial component when dealing with a two-year-old).

here is our order of activities...

day 1:  intro story and water table fun

• after breakfast, we read the creation story from the Jesus Storybook Bible through day 3.  we read through the JSB every night (we are probably on our 3rd or 4th round of reading through it since brendan received it for his first Christmas) so the story certainly was not brand new but hopefully reading it again in this way helped reinforce the story more
• after naptime, water table fun began.  our actual water table did not make the trip from houston so i improvised with what we had around the house and set it up while B was snoozing.  he really enjoyed the different options and even shared with his friends later that afternoon






• the only new parts i added to the water table were some lovely dollar store purchases in the form of a spray bottle (biggest hit of the entire setup), a set of funnels, and 4 plastic containers that i had originally purchased a couple of weeks prior as part of the decor for his party
• we discussed that water helps plants grow, keeps us clean, and is healthy for us to drink.

day 2:  adding clouds to the water discussion

• brendan discovered the fun of cotton balls during craft time.  we made a picture showing the separation of the water into the sea and sky.



• all i did to prep was cut out and glue the darker blue water part to the paper.
• brendan used a glue stick for the first time and really liked it.  then, he placed the cotton balls on where the glue was (and sometimes where the glue was not).  he seemed really proud of his picture 
• we discussed that clouds are in the sky and rain can come from the clouds
• we also read the first of two library books i checked out for water week:  splash, joshua, splash by malachy doyle.  i had never heard of this book but found it at the library and thought it looked cute.  brendan was a fan of how many times he could say "splash" while reading.

day 3:  life skills with water

• (now that i think back on it, this would be great to include as one day during each week, but that was not my original intention)
• brendan helped wash dishes for the first time.  he was very excited to stand at the sink and wash dishes with mommy.  in fact, he climbed into the chair...a feat i did not know he could do!

 
 
• we filled the sink with water and soap.  brendan enjoyed the bubbles most of all, but then we added his plate and milk cup from breakfast.  he did a great job of rinsing everything, but we had to be careful not to have the water be poured out onto the floor instead of the sink.
• we also read the JSB story again as a reminder of how God made water.

day 4:  alphabet fishing

• this is my own rendition of a great idea i found on the internet.  we did not have anything that would serve as a fishing pole so brendan's alphabet fishing was just with his hands
• i filled a bucket (ok, it is actually one of the deep drawers from his toy setup in the living room) with water and gathered all of his bathtub letters.  i liked using these because they float, and i only put enough in at a time that would just cover the surface.
• i asked him to find each letter and, for the most part, he found them!  then we lined them up on the table in order (i could not find the P at the time)
• my favorite part of this activity was when brendan went through and started naming off the letters on his own in his own order.  so proud of that kid!
• we read a second library book today following the water theme:  the three little fish and the big bad shark by ken geist and julia gorton.  
• without making it too scary as the shark ate up two of the three fish houses, i tried to play on parts i knew brendan would like:  "knocking" as we read about the shark knocking, silly voices for the fish, and cheering at the end when (*spolier alert*) all the shark's teeth fell out and the fish we safe.

day 5:  the aquarium!

• our fabulous library (and others in the bay area) have the wonderful feature of free museum passes for members.  all you have to do is sign up online and print off your pass on the day you need it.







• brendan especially loved the starfish and the otters, but he seemed pretty fascinated by it all.
• i wish he could have experienced the touch pool with the rays, but we will just have to go back when his arms are a little longer and his hands are a little less splashy.

and that brings us to the end of week one!  i would love to hear ideas from others who have done or found water activities because i hope to build on these learning times next year when he is ready for even more activities.