BOLD

Happy New Year! Wow, 2012. It seems each year passes by quicker than the last. 2011 was my year to be FREE. A year a freedom it was. God granted my hearts desire to walk out this past year in the freedom only He provides. Daily He gave me opportunities to grow in His freedom. Some days I met Him head on and other days I was less than a willing participant. ;) I can honestly say I am so thankful that God was faithful in this area and as I move onto a new year I know He will continue to grow this freedom He freely gives.

My word this year is BOLD. I tried to choose a different word. Bold would not leave me alone. When I started thinking of what my word would be it was the FIRST word that came to my mind. I quickly dismissed it. Bold = responsibility that I did not want to take on. This word begin to take root over a year ago when I was writing to encourage a friend who was going through a hard time. She had lost someone close to her and I wanted to let her know how God had used her friend to change my relationship with Him, that He had used her friend to give me a gift of prayer and intercession I didn't know I had. Her response to me was BE BOLD with this gift. That sentence comes to me often when I see someone that could use prayer or encouragement. God's word also tells us this in 2 Timothy 1:5
That precious memory triggers another: your honest faith—and what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you! And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn't want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.(msg)

Then I was reminded to be bold when asking God for anything and that Boldness and Freedom go hand and hand. 1 John 5:13 My purpose in writing is simply this: that you who believe in God's Son will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you have eternal life, the reality and not the illusion. And how bold and free we then become in his presence, freely asking according to his will, sure that he's listening. And if we're confident that he's listening, we know that what we've asked for is as good as ours.(msg)

This year what being bold means to me is  that I am going to be BOLD with my faith. Bold with my resources. Bold with my business. Bold in my ministry. Bold in my teaching. Bold in my study. Bold in the care and raising of my children. Bold in my marriage. I am going to live a BOLD life for Christ in every area. With Christ all things are possible! What is your one little word for 2012?

If you want to know more about the idea behind choosing a word of the year check out Ali Edwards blog. She also has a cool giveaway going on right now but it ends TODAY!

And if you haven't seen my Thank YOU at Rooted Images head on over to the blog!

2nd 6 weeks

I am a little late posting our 2nd six weeks update. Here are my letters to the boys for this past six weeks. We are well into the 3rd six weeks right now, I have so much blogging to catch up on! I want to post some of the things we have been doing. I have been pretty good at taking pictures. Not good pictures but still capturing some of our activities in a blur on a camera phone is better than not having them at all. I am sure soon I will have time to go through them and post. Until then here is the recap. :)

Drew,                                                                                                                                                   

Your 2^nd six weeks in kindergarten has been great! We have studied the letters H, S, C, D, G. We have been reading lots!  You love to rhyme words right now. You love to do your workboxes each day. This six weeks we have learned about addition up to 10, and you love practicing by playing math bingo on the iphone and using bean counters. Also covered in math were positioning, ordinals, classifying and sorting, Patterns (you are very good at these) Intro to telling time and parts of the clock, simple problem solving and logic and you are begging me to do subtraction.  We have been learning how to be good stewards of the things God has given us and how to be humble and not blame others for our choices. You really took these lessons seriously and earned lots of stickers! You are really interested in community right now, especially the mail man, fireman and police officers. In science learned about Dinosaurs and you loved making your very own dino dig and field guide. I am amazed at how much you know about dinos!  We talked about the earth and looked at a globe to see what was land and water, you found Texas on the globe all by yourself.  You helped rearrange the school room and love our library. You remind me often to use my library voice in there.   You also learned to ride your bike with NO training wheels! Super exciting.  You now have your orange belt in Tae Kwan Do and you are really good at your moves. You are growing up and I am so proud of you. Keep up the good work!

Love,

 Mommy

Alex,                                                                                                                                                     

You make me laugh everyday! You really know your letters and their sounds. This six weeks we talked about the letters H, S, C, D, & G. You love to play the game where we think of all the words we know that start with a certain letter. You are still trying to decide which hand you want to write with. I have a feeling you are going to be left handed but we will see because you really switch back and forth a lot. You loved making our dino dig and field guide. I think you know as much as Drew does about dino’s and I am amazed that you know all their names.  You really listen when Drew is doing math. You are getting really good at counting objects to match the number cards. You are great at sorting objects and you love to play with blocks. You have gotten really good at riding your big boy bike with training wheels. You go VERY fast! You have your orange belt in Tae Kwan Do. I am super proud of you. Keep up the good work Big AX!

Love, 

 Mommy

God is Love.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16 one of the most quoted and memorized passages that Christians often recite. I went to a funeral this past week. We celebrated the life of an amazing woman. People spoke of her kindness and the way she gave to those around her. It was a beautiful time of remembering. The focus of this event was  to celebrate her life and her final destination. She was a believer and no one questioned who she would spend eternity with. That was such a joyful thought to me. That while those in the room that day miss her right now, SHE is dancing with her KING! The preacher said, “She probably feels sorry for us that we are still here.” I think that maybe true if she isn’t so much in awe of where she is to even realize who isn’t there.

I have no problem with preachers giving “the good news” at funerals. For me it is an appropriate time to remind others just how short life is and that there is a reality that goes beyond this journey here and now on Earth. Something happens in the aftermath of loosing someone you love. Your heart opens up in a way that is usually closed off to the world. We begin contemplate our purpose in life, what happens when we leave these bodies, we begin to question reality. We look for comfort. We seek or we run or maybe a little of both.

What I do not like at anytime is when the Gospel is told in a way that sounds like this, “God doesn’t want you to go to Hell. But that is where you will be if you don’t ask Jesus into your heart.”  While this is true, I don’t believe God’s motivation is to “save” us from the burning flames of hell. While this is a byproduct of salvation, it is not, in my opinion God’s motivation. No one can claim to know what motivates God. He is a mystery. I do know a little something about what motivates the human heart.

Fear can be a great motivator.  It can keeps us safe. A healthy fear keeps us from running into traffic or touching a hot stove.  It also paralyzes us at times. It can cause obsessive behavior. A child who has an unhealthy fear of authority thinks he is in trouble even when he has done nothing wrong.  Fear can also cause us to flee if we feel there is no escape to the terrible fate that waits for us. 

Love can also motivate. Love motivates us to make good choices. It motivates us to sacrifice for others. It motivates us to share. It gives us a reason to keep on trying. It gives us hope.

In my personal experience Love motivates in a deep way. God has really shown me He wants to spend eternity with me MORE than he doesn’t want me to go to hell. I wished at this particular funeral this preacher would have approached salvation from God’s love. Not what we are trying to avoid, but what God has gift wrapped for us if only we would sign for the package.  I do believe this minister’s heart was in the right place. Wanting to show others how important this decision to accept our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is. I just wonder if Jesus had to preach a funeral, what would his word’s have been.

I believe he would have wept with us that day. Not in mourning for the dead. But out of the pain He saw on his other beloved people. The story of Lazarus shows this side of Jesus’ heart. 





John 11

³³ When Jesus saw her  weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ³⁴ “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

³⁵ Jesus wept.

I also think he would be about his Father’s business. So many times in the bible Jesus went off to pray, alone. Do a quick search on Jesus + pray and see what you come up with. More than I can list here. This is one prayer Jesus prayed for those that would come to know him. Yes, while here on Earth Jesus prayed for you and me.

John  17

²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

²⁴ “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

²⁵ “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I have made you^[e] known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Jesus only did/does what he saw the Father doing.

John 5

¹⁹ Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

Jesus spoke so much of the Father’s LOVE. God the Father does not possess the ability to love. HE IS LOVE. He created Love. It is woven into the very fiber of who He is. Jesus understood the Father’s love for him. That is why he was able to obey even to the most horrific end. Because he knew his Father, he knew that all would be redeemed. You and I would be able to rejoice not just that we have a place in heaven but that we get to share it with HIM! He doesn’t need us friends. HE WANTS us! There is a huge difference in being needed and wanted.

Jesus wants us to walk with him so that others will know He is real! That his Father sent him and HE is real! God knew the only way we would ever be able to wrap our brains around his existence would be if we experienced him. My experiences with God are what define my knowledge of his “realness”  Where my experience has not happened, my faith must bridge the gap. I have not walked to the other side of this life yet. What I do have experience with is  living with the Lord. Him hearing me, talking with me, being faithful to me, providing for me.  Those things only happen when I communicate with Him by praying, spend time in His presence and reading His written word.  Now, my faith tells me there is a life after this, that those who believe in Jesus will be there with me and the Lord himself will share it with me.  It tells me this because that is what His word says. I know His word to be true only by experience. By reading and trusting, then watching Him do what he says he will do.  So faith feeds experience in relationship and experience in relationship feed faith.

I met Jesus because I was introduced to him. Not because I heard a prayer and repeated it. I was introduced to him by a few people who us both  and wanted us to meet.  Someone told me, “Jesus loved you enough to die for you. Has anyone else done that for you?” Jesus died for us. You are his friend! 

John 15

¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

If we could only grasp the depth of God’s love for us, we would not question His existence. We would not wonder if this life was worth all it takes. If we were able to absorb the simple truth of LOVE we would be quick to introduce our Jesus to someone else. That he might make a difference in their life here on Earth now and in eternity. 

My prayer is that we all may meet Jesus in this life. We get but one life here on Earth to decide what we believe about God. God didn’t make this a hard test. Jesus said if we believe in him, we believe in the Father who sent him. It is a FREE gift. Simple. He sent Jesus to die for you. Do you believe there is a God? Do you believe you need him in your life? Do you believe that he sent his son Jesus to die for you? If you answered yes to all these questions WELCOME to the family of God! 

All you need to do now is, say it out loud! Tell someone you know and trust so that they can rejoice with you!  Tell God Thank you for all he has done and will do in your life. Pray, praying is simply talking. Talk with God. Then pause and listen for him to speak back. It may be a thought that comes to mind. It may be a picture you see. It may be a song you hear. The more you do it. The more you will recognize His voice. As long as that line of communication is open, He will lead you deeper into relationship.

This is what I wish would have been preached. GOD IS LOVE. Everything He has done or will do concerning us comes from this place of LOVE.

Grocery Budget Challenge.

I have decided to challenge myself. I am so tired of spending (more than I want to say) so much money on food every week. I know food prices are high but I think my problem is I want EASY. I think I can have it both! I did the grocery game a long time ago and while we did save money I found I didn't cook some of the things I bought. I don't mind using coupons but I don't want to spend hours doing it. Really I am not asking too much am I?

I started reading about $5, $10 dinners... Can these people really do that? Well I don't know if they can but I am going to try what feels like an EXTREME budget for me. First I will say I have a pretty decent pantry stocked with staples nothing crazy over the top but I will not have to purchase every ingredient for every meal. I did go to costco a few weeks back before I decided to do this and got pork chops, fish, chicken breasts for the freezer. I know this will make my budget meeting much easier for now. I still think it would be possible with some modifications. I will try to include the prices for those items even if I didn't actually spend that money. That being said here is my budget for the next 4 weeks.

Each week my goal is to spend no more than $80.00. This is for breakfast, lunch and dinner and a snack for the little ones! If you are already feeding a family of 4 on that budget, PLEASE let me know because I would love to hear your ideas. :)

It breaks down something like this...
Breakfast I will try to keep at $2 a day.
Lunch $3 a day.
Dinner (this is the tricky one!) $5 a day.
Since I have little ones... Snack  $1 a day.

I found this website.http://www.5dollardinners.com/ that was a great start to planning my meals. Great printables and awesome links for resources.

I said this was going to be a challenge! I have planned 6 weeks of meals. I need accountability!!! That would be you! If you want to join me leave a comment.

Meals for WEEK ONE...
Monday
Breakfast: Pumpkin Bread (I have the mix)
Lunch: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
Snack: Nuttella and Graham Crackers (I have)
Dinner: Tilapia scampi (I have the fish) white rice, broccoli

Tuesday
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Meat, Cheese, Crackers
Snack: Homemade Granola Bars (I don't add the salt. way too salty! Other than that these go FAST!)
Dinner: Mexican Cassarole bake (baked cornbread, refried beans on top of that, ground beef with taco season, topped with shreaded cheese you can also add corn if you want)

Wednesday
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Sandwich and Chips
Snack: Apples and Granola Bars
Dinner: Patty Melts, chips

Thursday
Breakfast: Pancakes
Lunch: French Bread Pizza
Snack: Grapes and Cheese
Dinner:Chicken and Stuffing with cranberry sauce, green beans

Friday
Breakfast: Bisucts with Chocolate Gravy
Lunch: P.B.& J grapes
Snack: Chex Mix
Dinner: Lasagna Roll ups, garlic bread

Saturday
Breakfast: Eggs, Sausage and Toast
Lunch: Sandwich and Chips
Snack: Granola Bars and Apple Slices
Dinner: Crock pot Ribs, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls

Sunday
Breakfast: Cinamon Toast
Lunch: Grilled Ham and Cheese
Snack: Grapes
Dinner:
Honey Seared Ckn (I use orange ckn and add honey it is the way Drew likes it and I have it already in the freezer), Fried Rice

We can all trim our food budgets. Even if you don't care about the cost savings, How nice is it to have a complete meal plan for a week!

The first Six Weeks.

I was telling Michael last night how much I have enjoyed this first 6 weeks of school. I have seen Drew go from just sounding out simple 3 letter words to reading his books off the shelf in his room to Alex. I have seen Alex keeping up with Drew in ways I never imagined. I have been so blessed to be their teacher. I am so thankful that God opened this door for me to view my children's daily progress. Yes it takes up time. Yes it is hard some days when one or more of us doesn't really want to stay on task, and I am including myself in that equation. Most days are joyful, fun, and messy. I know I have done my job when I hear the boys say, "Mom, lets do more school!" and I hear that often. I love that God has forever changed the way our family views "school." It isn't a time of day or a place. It is the process of learning about ourselves, God's mighty nature and His awesome universe. This summer when I was planning our year God gave me a  theme verse for this year it is Titus 3:8 "This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent for everyone." My focus has been on doing that which God sees as good. Not to check a good deed off my list but to soak up more about what God's goodness really means. Schooling my children is good in the Lord's eyes because He knew that in this season it was exactly what our family needed. It is good in His eyes because He told me to do it and I obeyed and trusted that He would fill in where I wasn't able. He has blessed our experience and family life because of our willingness to listen to His direction.

At the same time God gave me my verse, He also gave me one for the boys. 1 Peter 2:9. "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, god's special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light."  This verse reminds me that my boys are possessions of God, not mine. that he has trusted me to bring them up in Him, as a royal priesthood. While teaching them to read and count is important, my goal is to teach them how to connect to God so that they may fulfill the purpose He has placed on their lives.

I do think measuring progress is important. Homeschool is different in that the process of learning is the goal not the result to any given exercise. For Kindergarten I have set goals for the year. Each 6 weeks I am revising the goals for that particular session. I am finding the boys are blowing my expectations out of the water and I really did lots of research about what should be mastered by the end of Kindergarten. This is an AWESOME problem to have.

Since I know I was interested in how other homeschool mom's do their grades and progress reporting I will share mine. The boys report cards look like this.

Outside

Inside

I have added to the symbols. When I made this card I wasn't sure how I was going to do grading for Kindergarten. School is so hands on. I am not anti test by any means, it is just at this age most "test" are oral and done as we learn. Not on paper with big red x's and a number at the top of the paper. I did want a way to track progress for him to see, Daddy to see, to keep a record for someday when he is older, and there are many programs in the community that reward kids for doing well in school in which you need a report card to show.  So I came up with our kindergarten grading system that really does stay true to the letter grading system. A = Mastered all goals.  B = Mastered most goals. C = Mastered few goals. + (A+) means above expectation. Honestly with a teaching ratio of 1 to 2 if my students are engaged and not mastering most goals I am not doing my job as a teacher. I am also summing up what they have learned in a letter to them at the end of each grading period. Oh and I do write comments on the back of the report card and date it. Then they will get Daddy to sign it. ;)

I am using this blog as a yearbook of sorts to keep up with our journey in hopes of printing it out for the boys at the end of the school year. So forgive me, as not everything I write here is with "you the reader" in mind. That said, I do love it when you get inspiration for your homes and classrooms from this window into our world!

To sum up the first six weeks here are my letters to the boys about their progress. These will be filed with their report cards.

Drew,
Your first 6 weeks of Kindergarten have been amazing! You have really picked up on reading. Yesterday I was so thrilled to see you reading "Gordon's New View" You even got words like "station" and "express" correct. That makes my heart so happy! You have really done well in Phonics and you know all your Vowels and we have started on the consent blends for the letters t, l, b, n, m. In Math, your favorite subject, you have really been using your problem solving skills to complete drawings and answer questions that someday you will know as word problems about different pictures you are shown. Your excitement about Addition and Subtraction is contagious. I wasn't even planning on covering that this 6 weeks but you jumped right in and started teaching me! I love it! We have also been working on money recognition and telling time. You are almost there and you really want a clock for your room. In science we have learned so much about God's world. Insects, Elephants, 5 Senses, Nature, Birds, Transportation, and even the Ocean. Our field trips to the Museum, Aquarium and Grammy's Chicken Coop were so much fun and I loved seeing how your field trip reports turn out. I love that you are excited about God's word. That you notice when we don't change our bible verse and are always asking for more! God is really going to use your love of His word!!!  Art and Music are super fun and I love it when we sing and paint! You are doing amazing in Tae Kwan Do. I can't wait to see you at your first belt test soon. You are such a smart, loving, sweet boy. I love that you always want to see me with a smile on my face. I love the way you love on me in your sweet Drew way! Thank you for letting me be your kindergarten teacher!!!!

Love,
Mommy




Big AX!

I love Tot-School with you! Shhhh! Don't tell Drew but I think you are really good at Kindergarten. ;) You have learned all your Vowel sounds and names! That is really big boy stuff. You know your consents t, l, b, n, m names and sounds also. You have even picked up on a few sight words! I am super excited for you because it wont be long and you will be reading just like Drew. I see you with your books trying to sound out word and it makes me smile so big. You wouldn't settle for your own tot-school work. You want to do exactly what Drew is doing so I just let you. I am amazed every single day at just how smart you are. In math you can count to 20 and you use one to one correspondence when counting objects. You also know geometric shapes, circle, star, triangle, square, rectangle, pentagon, hexagon, octagon, and 3-D shapes, cone, cube, sphere and cylinder. You know all the colors of the rainbow and love BLUE! You also have discovered so much about God's big world. You loved our Ant farm when we were talking about insects. We also learned about Elephants, 5 Senses, Nature, Birds, Transportation, and even the Ocean. Our field trips to the Museum, Aquarium and Grammy's Chicken Coop were so much fun you really liked throwing chicken scratch to the chickens but were not so sure about the shark tunnel at the aquarium. You love Chapel time and Art anything that is messy is alright by you. I love that you hid God's precious word in your heart. You always want to say Phil. 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."  Watching you kick and punch in Tae Kwan Do is so neat. You really are great at anything you put your mind to do! I love your smiles, hugs and kisses. I love the way you are always so excited to ring the bell or hold the flag. Thank you for letting me be your teacher!!!

Love,
Mommy

N is for Nest and Nature.

Today we started N is for Nest and Nature.
After phonics and math we took a walk outside to gather things for our Nature Sensory Bin.

 We walked the back yard to find sticks, leaves, and rocks. We noticed where the Lizzy the Lizard sleeps. (according to Drew under the deck and he was right.)

In our front yard we found a real nest in our redbud tree! The boys were thrilled! Then we walked over to the neighbor's yard to collect several acorns. Alex said it was like an Easter egg hunt and Drew was worried the squirels might get mad.

In the end our Nature bin turned out awesome!

Next we were off to the kitchen to do some wet felting. If you have never tried this it is an awesome sensory activity. It is easier to do balls as in this tutorial on youtube. Be sure and watch part 2 of this series to see how to finish out the project. We have made the balls before and the boys still play with them. I bought my natural wool online and I got a small bag of colored wool also to use as decoration.

First we talked about where in Nature we get wool. Drew was concerned that it hurts the sheep, so we talked about how it was just a haircut and he was fine. We talked about the many uses for wool and they both thought it felt like clouds looked and was warm and cozy.

Drew thought green, orange and purple made nice eggs. Alex wanted blue, green and yellow.

We took some fuzzy yarn and wrapped around the nest to make it look more like a real nest and now they are out with our fall decorations. I am going to bring them out again in the spring!

A day at Grammy's Chicken Coop.

We recently spent the day with Grammy in her chicken coop. They boys LOVED getting the eggs and feeding the chickens right out of their hands. We made friends with Rusty, Specks, Squawk, Chicken Noodle Head,  Lucy or Rio depending on who you ask, and Lacy. Who knew that a day spent tending to chickens could be so much fun. We were not ready to leave and I was almost convinced that I might need a chicken or two. But then again if I want to stay married,

I could just go to mom's and get the eggs!

This is Rusty, I think... It could be Lucy but I think it is Rusty.

Feeding the Chickens

Thank you Grammy for such a fun day!

Grandparent's Day and O is for Ocean...

Papa David came over to celebrate Grandparents Day during school.

Papa did the Pledge with us, while Alex held the Flag.

He did our lesson with us, taught us a magic trick, and then each of the boys stood up and told everyone the things the liked to do with Papa David. They Papa told the boys his favorite things to do with them. It was so sweet. Then we busted out of school early for a safari!

Rain Forest Cafe

Alex was so happy to be eating with his Papa!

Then there was O is for Ocean...

For our sensory activity, every night we had a blue ocean bath. Just a couple of drops of food coloring and a little bit of soap for the bubbles. The boys are still asking for blue bath water! It was a hit for sure. We talked about sharks and other ocean life and how God's word tells us that God wants us to take care of our world. Nonna (grandma) was actually at the Texas coast the week before and got the boys 2 great books to go with this unit.

Drew used this one to draw different fish and find out fun ocean facts.

This one is super cute and Alex loved the rhyming and the slide out pages.

 We took a field trip to the Grapevine Aquarium with Papa David as we celebrated Grandparents day to end our week. 

Checking it out!

Watching the Sting Ray's in the bubble! They would swim right up to the window. The boys thought it was super neat.

They have glass platforms and floors all over the place. Drew wasn't sure about this at first. This was over the Sting Ray pool. Soon He did venture out over the glass.

Discovering the deep sea with Papa David.

The Jelly Fish were really relaxing to watch. I could have just stayed there but we had so much more to see.

Here at the rock pools you can pet a crab, starfish and here they boys are looking at a tiny lobster. This one, Drew was quick to tell me, does not have claws.

Pretending to be trapped inside a bubble.

Gee, wonder where they got this idea! LOL!

This was an awesome field trip. When Drew did his field trip report he said his favorite part was seeing a clown fish. I mean who doesn't like finding Nemo.

U is for umbrella...

As our first 6 weeks of Kindergarten comes to an end, let me catch everyone up on us!
This project was just too cute not to share. I found it at Mama Jenn's blog.

The glue dries clear and it looks like water drops!

The boys loved this! The umbrella was out of card stock and they had to glue the pieces together. Then they got to do... DOT - DOT - THAT'S A LOT! (usually our saying is dot dot not a lot with glue). This was back when it was over 100 degrees and we were praying for rain!

A is for astronaut... and other space fun!

This week is A is for Astronaut. We are using this to jump into our space theme. The boys are thrilled!

First we took a look at our Space Discovery Bin.

I used black beans as the filler, glow in the dark stars, moons and comets, balls for planets, a couple of space shuttles, Obi is in there because he is pretending to be our astronaut with his space helmet, a couple of jeeps for our Lunar Roving Vehicle, and some fun glass beads and marbles. I also added color letter A beads.

 We talked about  moon craters and how they were formed. Then we went to the kitchen to create our own lunar surface. We also conducted an experiment to answer the question what make a crater bigger or smaller. Drew's answers were awesome! Bigger balls bigger crater, throw it harder you get a deeper crater. Makes me smile! While we had the flour out we decided to practice our letter A and of course Alex had to taste the flour. He decided it was better in the brownies we made the other night than by itself!

Then we made it back to class to fly to the moon!

We practice our A's on the light box. For Alex I used clear tape so he had an outline to follow. Drew really enjoyed doing this without the guides and he decided on a solid purple A.

They were not ready for school to end today!