Thursday, August 8, 2013

LHTH Unit 5 (Max’s School)

Max is 3 years, 11 months old.  We are using Little Hands To Heaven preschool program, which is 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.

School time was rather ‘hit or miss’ throughout the summer.  We officially started back on Monday, August 5th.  I was too lazy to make my own back to school signs for each child, so Max got a pre-printed one from the internet.  Technically, it’s preschool…not preK…but he wanted a sign, too.  So he got one.  It’s just not truly accurate Winking smile

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Max is learning the story of Joseph this week.  Actually, he informed me that he ALREADY knows the story of Joseph.  He’s proven it by telling me the story BEFORE we read each segment.  I’d say his Sunday School teacher has done a marvelous job, as Max does indeed know the story of Joseph!

Because we learned about how Joseph’s brothers sold him, we learned a little about coins.  Max did coin rubbings on paper.  He rubbed FIVE coins on his Number 5 (number of the week) paper.

Since he’s learning about the number 5, we used a page from my Counting  1 – 5 Pack.  He counted and traced 5.
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He used three crayons at once to make rainbow stripes for Joseph’s coat of many color.

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We learned how Joseph was put in jail because someone told a lie about him.  We played a little truth/lie game, and the boys’ animals had to nod yes or no.

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We reviewed letters A – D.  I’m teaching him that there are “Mama & Daddy” letters, and there are also “Baby Letters”.  He definitely knows his uppercase A – D; he’s not so sure with the lowercase yet.  We are also working on the sounds each letter makes, using the LeapFrog song.  (The B says /b/.  The B says /b/.  Every letter makes a sound.  The B says /b/.)

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We made textured A – D on paper using cinnamon, decorator sugar, salt, and cornmeal.
This was a lot of fun for BOTH boys!

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Rod and Staff About Three series workbooks…

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following directions just like Joseph had to follow directions in Egypt,
and then GIVING directions (to Alex) just like Joseph did
when he was put in a position of authority.

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The Teensiest Preschooler Smile

We are now doing school when Little Sister is awake.  Her sign says ‘First Day of Tagging Along’.  (Yes, I did make her sign…).  She stays at the table to color, play with magnets, etc while we do Max’s Little Hands To Heaven. 

At some point in the year, when she seems ready, I may start trying to include her in some of our activities.  For now, she joins us during LHTH, has a snack, and then has ‘room time’ with a busy box.  I’ve been playing with Jensyn to teach her how to use the busy boxes of SAFE toys so that she knows what to do during room time.  We’ve had a few tears about being ‘stuck’ in her room (open door with baby gate), but it is getting better.

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She LOVED doing a magnet page!  This kept her busy for over 15 minutes, which isn’t bad for an active toddler!

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big brothers showing her how to correctly use dot markers
on the Dora magnet/dot pages that I made just for her

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(Oh, my - these pictures of my little girl with her crazy hair !  Her hair is REALLY something when I don’t take time to pull it back & spray it with a little water, lol!  I promise that I fix her hair before we leave the house!)