A few weeks ago, I was chatting with my friend, Jenny, and lamenting over the fact that time is flying and I don't seem to have any of that precious commodity to do any special projects with Megan. I had wanted to step up her "schooling" a bit this year and also have some fun with crafts and such, but the boys really need lots of my time. Add that to the normal things done to run a house and I feel like I run all day long just trying to keep up with life!
Jenny reminded me to plan ahead. After that, the time it takes to actually do the things I wanted to do isn't much. Really, how much can a preschooler take anyway? They get pretty tuckered out! I don't know what I was thinking, but she only does about an hour total of "school work" each day. That's not very much at all! And we both are enjoying the one-on-one time together.
I've kept it fall-related so far and I'll probably continue the holiday or season theme going for each letter of the alphabet.
The first week we did "L" and made this pretty leaf mosaic:
My mother-in-law helped me sort all the beans when they came up for Brandon's birthday party. Do I know how to entertain or what! ;) Thank you, Judy! We also read leaf/tree books and did some letter "L" worksheets. And, of course, we've been noticing the change that's occurring right outside our window!
Next, we did "A" and learned about apples. We've read apple books and done "A" worksheets and we've made a beautiful apple print (thank you Angi, for the reminder!):
It is so hard to get this girl to look at the camera!
and baked an apple pie:
Of course, we also have lots of hands-on learning things like a textured alphabet puzzle, paints, and tangrams:
Notice she's still in her pj's! We often get some work done before her brothers are out of bed! She tends to be a morning girl just like her momma :)
She also has her dance class which has been tons of girly fun for her, and guess what? I took the boys for their basketball evaluations the other night and she's old enough to take cheerleading! Yep, we have a little cheerleader :)
Thank you, Jenny, for the encouragement and tips! While this girl was poorly neglected in September while we got a good foothold in our school work, I feel like she has some things that are her own now; things that will engage her and work her brain! And I feel like I'm finally getting to enjoy some time with her! After all, she is my last four-year-old ;)
It is so hard to get this girl to look at the camera!
and baked an apple pie:
Of course, we also have lots of hands-on learning things like a textured alphabet puzzle, paints, and tangrams:
Notice she's still in her pj's! We often get some work done before her brothers are out of bed! She tends to be a morning girl just like her momma :)
You shake for a really long time! The kids just took turns, each shaking the jar until they got tired then passing it to the next. When it started thickening they got really excited, but we opened the jar and it was more like whipped cream than butter so we put the lid back on and shook some more! I think they shook for about 15 minutes or so then I took over. It was almost done. The recipe recommended cheesecloth which I didn't have so I just shook some and drained the liquid off then did it again til we had butter!
Of course we had to have some buttered toast to check out our hard work! Nicholas had his eaten before I could get a picture!
I can't wait to make homemade jam this spring!
