21 Days of Prayer for Sons Challenge

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Come join the 21 Days of Prayer for Sons challenge April 1-April 29.  Read all the details at the link above.

What's on our Bookshelf? All Fall Down by Helen Oxenbury

This book had my son begging for more!  There are only 4 short phrases in this book but we made the fun last for 20 minutes!  So, I read this story and each page has an action.  My son went wild with delight with the singing, running, bouncing and falling down.  He kept saying "More, more!"  The other day I pulled it out again and he grabbed a pillow (which is what we bounced on) and off we went.  He absolutely loves Ring Around the Rosies and the falling down part.  So this book was perfect for my 2 year old who needed to release some energy.

March Monthly Plan

*Bible Verse: Psalm 144:15  "Happy are the people whose God is the Lord."  from Songs for Saplings

*Brightly Beaming Resources:  We are using the Preparatory Curriculum for 2-4 year olds

Stars

Sun

*Sensory Play:
-pudding
-playdough

*Literature Connection:
We are going to revisit Brown Bear, Brown Bear with a tot pack that I made last year.

*Daily Music time: Songs from Music Notes and CD's we get at the library


*Art:

-coloring

-sponge painting

*Field Trips:
Playdates
MOPS
Library story time
Children's Museum
Nature Center
Play to Learn
Learning Sprout Tot Time
Zoo


*Skills/Chores:
-wash hands
-taking off clothes/diaper and put in laundry basket
-drinking from cup
-clean up toys
-throw away garbage/recycling
-clean up messes on the floor 

-put dishes in the sink

-help put dishes away from the dishwasher

-put clothes in the washer

Brightly Beaming Resources-Week #5: Lighthouses

We've been having so much fun going through our Brightly Beaming Resources lessons.  I'm learning a lot and getting my feet wet in homeschooling and Shrade is soaking up everything.  He is a little hesitant to try new things like when we built "stairs" to climb up to the lighthouse to shine the beacon.  (See picture below)

During this week we learned about octagons.  I didn't even have to "teach" it!  He already knew.  Now we are looking for octagons in our real world like a stop sign.

Daddy built this lighthouse and added a "beacon"

Some books that we enjoyed reading during this week:


Sample lesson day:
I say to Shrade, "It's school time, get out the poster!"
Shrade happily moves the poster from the wall and leans it up against the couch.
We sit crosslegged in front of it and I go over each section of the poster starting with the theme. 
Basically I ask him what the pictures are, colors, numbers, letter, etc.
We also say the nursery rhyme 2-3 times and I add hand movements or just rhythm by slapping his knees.
He normally doesn't participate in the nursery rhyme, but you might hear him say it later.
Then we read a book related to the theme.
At the end we focus on one component of the poster such as octagon and find all the octagons in the house and we even built one with blocks.
Brightly Beaming Resources gives activities for each section of the poster.
Then we are done and Shrade puts the poster away.
Then usually at dinner I ask Shrade to tell daddy what he learned that day.

Free and Fun Friday: Children's Museum

Hey, we love FREE and FUN activities!  My husband a day off right before New Year's so we had a free pass to go to the local Children's Museum.  We parked at the bottom of the hill and took the free link light rail into town.  We enjoyed some fun activities with our little son.  He even made a Happy New Year shaker bottle which he still uses!  Then we went back to where we parked and used a gift card to get a lunch at Subway.  My kind of day!

How about you?  What FREE and FUN things do you get to do with your family?

Stay tuned to more ideas!

Growing Kids God's Way: Discipline with Correction

This week we will learn about discipline with correction.

There is a difference between childishness and foolishness.

Think about what kind of behavior your child is exhibiting- accidental or intentional; a mistake or malicious intent?  This determines the type of correction.

With childishness, you will be admonishing which is more like teaching.

With foolishness, you need to correct this defiant behavior with verbal admonishment, action and consequential punishment.

This chapter contains far too many ideas and examples so I would suggest that you get this book or take this class.  Again, I'm just whetting your appetite with these short posts.

Next time: Consequences and Punishment.

Brightly Beaming Resources- Week 4: Eyes

Shrade and I had fun studying about eyes recently with our lesson through Brightly Beaming Resources.  On the first day you can see we had to put eyes on the face.  It was funny where Shrade decided to put the eyes the first time.  :)  Our Nursery Rhyme was Lavender's Blue.  Every day before we begin the lesson, I always review everything on the chart even if I haven't "taught" it.  Shrade can now identify colors, shapes, numbers and even repeat the Nursery Rhymes.  Repetition is the key to teaching and learning.

This week we read some fun books by Dr. Suess:


Well, we are having so much fun.  I've even brought out past posters and I'm amazed at what my son remembers.  I love teaching and am so glad my son is catching on.