Letter A

Well, we just finished our first week homeschooling. I think we all had fun learning about the letter A. I was worried the first 5 minutes into it that Olivia would be too much of a terror (that is her middle name) but I quickly learned how to somewhat manage her. All in all, it was a pretty good week and Emily is all ready to learn about the letter B next week.

A lot of photos follow, but I know some people (mainly, a certain grandparent) are dying to know what we have been up to all week. I didn't get a picture of everything, but a majority of our activities are listed below. Most of the print-outs come from Confessions of a Homeschooler. I was immediately drawn to her bright, cheery, hands-on letter of the week curriculum, plus I liked the fact I could prepare everything this year and re-use it for all our other children. All of her activities can be printed for free individually, or you can download them all at once for a small fee. For all other resources, I will list the link.

We started off this homeschooling adventure by reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Emily just thinks this book is hilarious, so it was exciting for her to finally realize what the big palm tree was doing in our school room. One letter up, 25 to go...

I agree with a lot of people that young children don't need worksheets, but this kid absolutely loves them. She wakes up from naps begging to do them. The dollar store has become my best friend, in this regard, because they have so many preschool workbooks for c-h-e-a-p. This "letter A" writing practice is from Confessions of a Homeschooler, though.

Each day we generally end with some kind of craft, or coordinating snack time, such as "a"pple tasting. We did it a little early the first day because we made homemade applesauce. I must post the recipe because it is so good!!! Emily had a blast helping and did a lot by herself. I'm glad I thought of giving her a plastic knife because it worked perfectly.

This idea comes from Totally Tots. I already had everything cut out, and Emily just assembled it. We will be doing this for every letter, then putting them around the top of our school room to admire.

Miss Olivia had to get in a picture. Talk about someone needing a haircut. That is just embarrassing!

Day 2... I asked Emily if she wanted to get dressed. The first day I made her change so we could start off the school year right. The second day she had the option, which she declined, but she did tell me she needed a bow for pictures.

An "A" collage. If I had planned ahead, we would have used apple jacks or apple seeds. But I didn't. Sequins are just as fun.

More handwriting practice. She just LOVES tracing.

Cutting practice -- a weekly activity. She has become so much better since we started in the spring.

Our first file folder game -- worms in my apples! This idea came from Mama Jenn. I left all the apples blank so I could write whatever number I wanted to on them. We learned the numbers 1-9 this summer, and we finished up with 10 this past week. I figured that not all my children would be at the same point when playing this game, so it would be better for me to adjust each year.

Handprint apple tree via I don't know where. Sorry about that one. But, I have found so many fun handprint activities (most from Pinterest -- I love you!) that each week we will be doing one to coordinate with our new letter.

Day 3... still going strong. We pulled out the do-a-dot markers, which are always a hit. This letter search comes from Beginning Reading.

And check out those freehand a's. I'm so impressed. After a couple of meltdowns, I learned this summer not to push her writing freehand. I forget sometimes that she is still really young. I offered, not expecting anything, and she jumped at the chance. We have grown so much!

Emily loved this fun worksheet from Tons of Fun. Such a cute idea, and I'm glad I didn't have to spend time making something this creative. Gotta love free printables!

Apple lacing. They say lacing is one of the best activities for preschoolers. We have finally learned how to go in order through the holes. Mostly.

The beginning of the summer I printed off a whole bunch of number worksheets. My plan was to go through numbers 1-10 before school started, one per week. I missed my goal by one week, so I am pretty pleased. This worksheet is from Kid Zone.

We started off the beginning of the summer following the directions by putting an "X" on the ones that didn't fit. We then progressed to squares, and now we are at scribbles. Whatever. I believe this worksheet is from tlsbooks.com. So many free worksheets!

Whenever we finish learning a number, we decorate one to put up on our number wall. I will have to post a picture because the numbers make a colorful addition to our schoolroom.

Actually not getting into trouble...

More number practice. I can't remember where I got this idea from. Ideally, you would use red, green, and yellow skittles to count, but I knew that would mean I would end up eating the bag. Although Emily loves candy, she has someone to moderate how much she eats, unlike me. Plastic beads work.

Olivia was happy until she wanted in on the action and was told no. Poor girl. I did give her a few beads to play with and attempted to keep them out of her mouth the whole time.

Everyone getting in on the action. Who doesn't love do-a-dot markers? Well, Mom, when she discovers that Olivia has been marking her whole body.

Another "letter A" word search. And no smile for the camera. She really doesn't like cheesing it up, unlike our youngest.

Our last activity -- more cutting practice. She did such a great job cutting out the apples and gluing them on the tree. I had visions of this being a disaster.

Well, that is it. A fun week of letter "A" activities, and a long, boring post if you weren't interested. Next week, letter "B" and lots and lots of butterflies!