Jensyn Writes

Maybe it’s because she’s my first girl.  Maybe it’s because this is just part of her personality.

I’m not really sure.

What I do know is that this little girl LOVES to write!  She spends a good chunk of each day with a notepad or some sort of paper.  She adores colored ink pens, although black will do if nothing else is available.

Jensyn will walk around with a little spiral notepad, walk up to each person in the room, and say, “Name?”  You’ll tell her your name, she’ll make a little scribble, and then she’ll move on to the next person.  “Name?”

Once in a while, this is followed with, “Your order?”.  I’ll tell her, “I’d like a hotdog and some yogurt, please.”  She gets a big grin, makes a little scribble on her paper, and runs off.

It is SO cute!

While the picture above doesn’t show it very well, Jensyn has an almost perfect grip when holding a writing utensil.  She’s never been taught; it just came naturally to her.

Here are a few more examples of her “work”…

 

Buy A Teacher Resource Bundle & Help Moore, OK

Teachers Notebook is offering a $20 bundle that’s FULL of Teacher Resources.  *ALL* proceeds will go directly to local relief efforts to help the victims of the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma.

I’ve donated my Solar System and Apples PreK packs, but there are TONS and TONS of other items included by all sorts of Teachers Notebook sellers.  Take a look!   For $20, you’re getting well over $1000 of teaching resources!  Yes, you read that correctly – $1000!!!  I doubt there’s a better deal out there…and this is a deal that definitely makes a difference.

Click above on “See This Special Bundle” to view all the goodies you’ll receive by making a $20 donation to relief efforts!

I wanted to add that I am *so very impressed* with Teachers Notebook owners Steve & Debbie Esemplare.  Their actions are so kind and generous, and I received a personal message from Steve today almost instantly after sending them a thank you regarding their generosity, caring, and thoughtfulness.  I thought that deserved a little public recognition.  There’s a reason that I choose Teachers Notebook as my main store, and that is the attention to detail and personal communication directly from the site owners.  They are AMAZING!

Max’s “C” School

Max is 3 years, 8 months old.  We are using Little Hands To Heaven preschool program that’s adjustable for ages 2 – 5 by Heart of Dakota.  I’m trying to post enough to give you an accurate idea of what is covered in Little Hands To Heaven, yet leave it vague enough that you can’t use this post as a replacement for the teacher’s manual.  It’s full of fun ideas and activities to fill 20 – 30 minutes per day with active, creative learning that is centered on Christ. 

Unit 3 is about the letter C, the number 3, and the story of Abraham.  We took a while to finish this unit simply because the weather was BEAUTIFUL, and we chose to play outside instead of doing school.  That’s the fun of being 3 – who cares if you’re doing school or just having fun outside? :)

Little Hands To Heaven is such a sweet preschool program.  It’s gentle as can be, yet there is so much to be learned in a hands-on way.  I’ve come to really LOVE and appreciate the way the Bible stories are told in “The New Bible In Pictures For Little Eyes”.

This book is unique in the way the stories are told, and it fits the Little Hands curriculum very well.  The stories have a different writing style than any other children’s Bible we own.  I like the question at the end of each story, as they are simple enough for a 3 yr old, yet they help you to know that your child has a good grasp of what you’ve just read.d

Making a cottonball C
(I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this, but we are hanging these on the stairway leading to our playroom.  I think it will look really fun when the whole alphabet is up!)

Counting 3 suitcases, tracing a 3
(Why suitcases?  It’s because God told Abraham to pack…and this is how WE pack!)

Learning to spell his name (even though he knew pretty well already…)

using stuffed animals to re-enact the story of Abraham and his three visitors from heaven, and counting 3 plates, 3 napkins, 3 cups, 3 fruit snacks for each guest

circling the C and c letters in the little poem, tracing the line from the uppercase C to the lowercase c.

drawing a tent in each box (his ‘tents’ were rather comical, and he knew it…my little goofy boy!) and counting to 5.  This is too easy for him, but I don’t know that he’s ready for the next option – which is drawing 2 items in each box & counting by 2s, so we’re just enjoying the ‘easiness’ for a while.

This page is from my free Counting 1 – 5 pack.  Max was really proud of himself for making such nice 3s.  I think my number-loving boy is really going to enjoy these pages!

Oh boy…I know the lamb had something to do with one of our Bible stories, but at the moment, I am drawing a blank!  (And I am too tired at the moment to get up and check the manual!)  The lamb kept Max company while he worked in his Rod & Staff preschool workbooks and his Never Bored Kid book.

There’s more, but with such a hands-on curriculum, I can’t really share it all or none of you would buy it – you’d just copy from here! Max is so thrilled to have his own special school time, and Little Hands is really a perfect fit at his age!  (Alex loves to follow along most of the time, too…it would make a good program for a 5 yr old if you added in a few additional things like Rod & Staff A - J

Disclosure: This post contains an Amazon Associates link.

“My Chap-sick”

Jensyn has a HUGE love for any sort of lip balm right now.  She discovered Burts Bees in my nightstand about a month ago, and she claimed it as her own.  She has also tried to steal her brother’s Chapstick on more than one occasion.  He now keeps it on top of his dresser so that Jensyn can’t reach it.

(blurry, I know…sorry!)

Silly Little Girl is so obsessed with this stuff!  She spends HOURS (no exaggeration) smearing “my chap-sick” across her lips & from ear to ear.  I don’t mind too much when it’s Burts Bees smeared all over her face (for health reasons, but also because it’s clear). 

But today it was sugar cookie scented Avon lip balm. 

White. 

Hilarious when viewed in person. 

Jensyn was less than happy when I went to wipe it away.

I have no idea what brought on this obsession, but she is definitely a girly-girl!

And yes, her diaper IS coming unsnapped. 
I wanted to catch her silly-ness in the moment.  Her diaper is all fixed now!

Oh, Max…

 

Max, shouting:  Mom, I had an accident!  Come see!
Me:  I can’t come right now.  Can you come show Mommy?
Max:  No!  I *NEED* you to come here!
Me:  Okay, hang on just a minute while I finish with Jensyn!
Max:  HURRY!  It’s a BIG accident!
Me:  Did you wet you pants?
Max: Noooooo...it’s an even BIGGER accident.  HURRY!!!!

I run into the kitchen to find Max on the patio step HOLDING THE SCREEN DOOR IN HIS HANDS.  He was letting the dog out, and the door came off track.  Poor kid got stuck holding that gigantic screen door all by himself for a good 2 minutes before I got there!

Screen door is back on track.  Max thinks I’m a miracle worker .

(The picture has nothing to do with the post.  It’s just a picture of that darling Max’s grin!)

*FREE* Counting 1–5 Math Pack

 

Math Packs…

This a bit of a change from my typical packs, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about doing for close to a year.  I finally decided to just go ahead and give it a try to see what moms and teachers think of the idea.

So, here’s the first installment of my Math For Little Learners series.  This pack is a free introductory pack.  From here on out, each $1.25 pack will contain a minimum of 25 pages.  The next few topics that I have in mind are: Numbers 6 – 10, Shapes, Intro To Addition, and Telling Time.

Here are some sample pages from the Counting 1 – 5 Pack, which you can grab from Teachers Notebook for FREE!

The pack begins with a page for each number from 1 – 5.

Every few pages, you’ll find a practice page
for the numbers your child(ren) has already learned.

Once your child has learned to recognize, count, and trace the numbers,
s(he) will move on to counting, matching, and tracing practice pages.

After that, you’ll find 5 practice pages with counting, coloring, and tracing the numbers.

Then it’s time for a little FUN!
Count how many objects are in the picture, and write the correct number in the box.
(The boxes are small; Mommy or teacher may need to help!)

Last of all, your child(ren) will have fun ordering the numbers 1 – 5
to complete four separate picture puzzles.

Download the Counting 1- 5 Pack from Teachers Notebook,
and please let me know what you think!

MFW K–Bb Butterflies

{CLICK HERE} to view the rest of our MFW K unit posts.
{CLICK HERE} to view our post explaining WHY we chose MFW K for our family.

Alex is 5 years, 4 months
Max is 3 years, 8 months

We are using My Father’s World Kindergarten as our base,
adding in some of my own printables.

 
This week, we are learning the letter Bb for Butterfly.
Our Bible words are: God can make me new!

I think Waiting For Wings was probably Alex’s favorite, but we truly enjoyed all of these books.  (Please let me know if you can’t see these book cover links.  They show up fine on our laptop and my Kindle, but my sister couldn’t see them on her computer.  I’m trying to figure out if it was a fluke or if there’s something I could change to correct the problem.)

2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV84

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

Just as caterpillars make an amazing change, God ccan make an amazing change in US!

I now walk out of the room while he does the cut & paste page below.  He has to do it without even glancing at me for encouragement, and he’s doing great! I catch him reading things everywhere we go now, and I LOVE IT!

I walked in on Alex reading a Bob book to Max a few days ago.  I listened quietly from the doorway for several minutes, then Alex looked up and spotted me.  He got all flustered and embarrassed, but he was reading it perfectly and fluently until he saw me.  Good job, Alex!

Beginning Sounds Page
(from my Butterflies Preschool Pack)

 

simple addition practice
from my Butterflies Preschool Pack

ordinal number practice

This page was surprisingly easy for Alex.  I thought he’d struggle to figure out which numbers to fill in the blanks, but he knew!  The struggle was making the number 20!  For some reason, even though he’d just completed an entire page of 21s for math practice, he could NOT get the two correct.  We were giggling so hard as each attempt came out all wrong!

Butterfly Transformation…we purchased a Butterfly Garden and then ordered painted lady caterpillars.

This is one of those hands-on weeks that you just don’t want to skip.  It’s AMAZING to watch this transformation!  None of these pictures are posed.  This is honestly how I found my children many times throughout the week.

Even as the mom of the bunch, I found myself with my head on the kitchen counter many times this week, too.  The 24 hour period that the caterpillars transformed into butterflies was so special!  I was able to stand there and WATCH as a caterpillar changed to a chrysalid.  AMAZING!

We carefully transferred our chrysalids from the culture cup to their new home in the butterfly garden.  Before pinning them inside, the kids enjoyed seeing them up close.

Alex has been keeping our neighbors, Joe & Kathie, informed on the caterpillars.  I’m sure he’ll be anxious to catch them outside and tell them we now have 5 chrysalids!  We just moved the chrysalids to the butterfly garden today, but we still have 6 – 9 days before the butterflies emerge.  I’m pretty sure you won’t be able to pry us out of the house on those days, for fear of missing this miracle in action!

We used cardboard egg cartons, do-a-dot markers, google eyes, fuzzy pompoms, and pipe cleaner to make these cute little caterpillars.

 

We played the butterfly roll & cover game, using chocolate chips to cover our spots.  Alex won, over and over again.  Mama just couldn’t win on this day!

 

caterpillar to butterfly maze
(from my Butterflies Preschool Pack)

 

Do-A-Dot page from the same pack

Circle What’s Different

 
(Max is 3 years, 8 months)

Just for the record, I *offer* these activities to my little ones.  I  *NEVER NEVER* force a 3 year old to sit down and do “worksheets”.  Max is free to play or do his own thing.  I encourage puzzles, hands-on activities, etc…and he can do whatever paperwork interests him.

Jensyn (2 years, 1 month) did made caterpillars with us.

Jensyn putting pompoms on her caterpillar – Max putting pompoms on his caterpillar

Max’s caterpillar

Max completed much of my Butterflies Preschool Pack.

Which Has More – Shadow Matching – Count How Many

Do-A-Dot Page – Find The Bs page

Circle What’s Different

This little man got hold of his “About Three” workbook the other day and completed a BUNCH of pages without me knowing it.  He did a VERY good job on all of them, though!  He only has 2 pages left in his book now!  (This probably belongs in the next “Max’s School” post, but the pictures were in the grouping with these, so here they are…)

Mom, since you asked, take note of Max’s hand of choice.  He’s circling with his left hand, but he carefully traced the lines with his right hand.  He seems to favor his left hand most of the time, but I don’t think he’s 100% decided yet!

{Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.  If you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I will earn a small amount your purchase.}