Gettin BUGGY with it!

We've been studying bugs & insects on & off all summer just for fun! But last week we began full-time schoolin again so I continued our buggy adventures for Rylan & we focused on the letter B.

LETTER FUN

We checked out some bug themed alphabet toys at the Resource Center & all the boys enjoyed them! Rylan sorted the B & b, matched bugs to the right letter on flower mats, did an ant themed puzzle matching the capital letters to their lower case buddies, & the boys played a fun board game called AlphaBUG Soup together. I altered the directions to fit each of their needs, Rylan: recognizing letters, Brady: phonics & spelling. Rylan also practiced writing his Bs using a printable from Raising Rockstars Preschool from 1+1+1=1. We also used her printable for our weekly Bible verse: Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be call sons of God. Matthew 5:9. I am pleased to announce that Rylan really learned this verse! All week long he & Brady talked about being peacemakers & one day when we left for the grocery store Rylan called back to our pets & said, "Be peacemakers Fred & Carlos! Behave!" I was tickled!

EXPLORING

The Resource Center has all sorts a fun items to help the boys explore bugs. We really like the theme kits from Lakeshore! 

 

 The boys used their talking microscope they got for Christmas to look at all sorts of bug slides & learn a lot of facts about each one. This may go down as one of the best gifts they've ever received! Thanks Uncle Jon Jon & Aunt BeBe!!

 

The boys were ECSTATIC to get their caterpillars in from Insect Lore! They observed them everyday & couldn't wait to watch their butterflies hatch. None of us really wanted to let them go, but eventually we did, but before we released them Brady insisted on praying for them :) We also went on a bug hunt in our yard & found a couple ladybugs, beetles, spiders, a HUMONGOUS wood roach (insert cringe!), & tons & tons of rolly pollies! They caught some to observe in their bug habitat they got from their Sonic Kid's Meals.

 

PLAY

Here are a few pics of the boys playing with some more bug themed toys we were able to check out. The favorite was the magnetic bug thing Keller is playing with.

 

MATH

Brady tried to teach Rylan addition using a book we checked out. He didn't get it, but did enjoy counting all the bugs :) I printed out various math inspired printables from 2 Teaching Mommies' various bug themes. Rylan's favorite of course was using marshmallows to do the spider graphing book. Learning is always fun when you can eat it.

  He also had a good time putting together these cute lady bug counters. He had to match the colors & count the dots, then find the head with the correct number on it. After he did it by color he would mix up the body parts & just had fun playing around with them.

BOOKS

As you can see we were able to get lots of fun books! The littles had a lot fun playing with the felt board for Quick As A Cricket, & I used this book with Brady to review him on adjectives & verbs. The Happy Bee & Beetle Bop came with a CD to listen to the stories. I try to find a book each week that they can listen too.

ART

The boys made caterpillars from egg cartons & dragonflies from coffee filters & clothes pins. I LOVE the picture of Rylan coloring his butterflies! Our kitten Carlos watched Rylan's hand going back & forth quickly & jumped up to catch it, but then seemed interested in just watching him color. I was glad I had my camera on hand!

Get Ready...

Well June is just about over which means we are getting ready to start schoolin again. I'm actually looking forward to it. Brady will be starting Adventures in My Father's World & I found a blog with a link-up full of other mommas who use My Father's World...you would've thought I won the lottery!! :)




As for my 4 year old, Rylan, I've decided to use lots of goodies I've found from various blogs. I really love Raising Rock Stars Preschool, but Ry isn't quite ready for all of it so I'll just use bits & pieces for now along with some fun stuff from my other favorite sites.

Making Learning Fun

I'm still getting things organized & about to do a HUGE clean out of our school room to get everything ready. My goal is to start July 9. Now I just need to get set & GO!

A Break For Me! Hallelujah!!!

 This sweet lil guy LOVES school! After 2 weeks of finishing 1st grade he begged & begged & begged to start up 2nd grade. I really did NOT want to, I needed a break! This past year was a whirlwind adventure in opening up about my past & the Lord opened many doors for me to travel & speak. As if being a full-time homeschooling momma didn't keep me busy enough, I was off doing events & press conferences a LOT! 

Now I completely loved every bit of it, even when it was hard, & depressing, because I know the Lord had me doing exactly what He had called me to do. But I'm tired. Worn out. Spiritually, emotionally, physically, & mentally exhausted! I had prayed & asked God to give me a break, some rest to regroup, refocus, & just be. Then my precious Brady comes begging & begging to do school again & I caved in. We started a little, but things kept coming up, knocking us off track & then he & his middle brother got very sick for almost 2 weeks. 

So in the midst of my tiredness & wanting a chance to relax I overloaded myself with more schoolin, not fully prepared & then stuck in the house with sick kiddos. I was at a breaking point. I cried out to God to show me what to do, where to go & He gave me peace, stillness, time to reflect. I asked Brady if we could please hold off on 2nd grade, Momma needed a break. And his reply?

"Sure. I just wanted to be in 2nd grade so I could be in class at church with my 2nd grade friends before they went to 3rd grade. But my teacher told me I couldn't change until August."

I died out laughing! So now, praise the Lord, I get a break! We are still practicing his math facts & reading of course & doing fun stuff with Rylan because I'm still doing preschool stuff with him. I must say I am so relieved! This summer we have a lot of fun stuff planned with VBS, play dates, & this will be Brady's 1st year to go to church camp! Lots of fun adventures await us.

I pray you all have a great summer as well!!

Fun @ the Children's Museum

Today we went to the Children's Museum with some friends & had a blast! I of course took a ton of pics, but I spared from looking at ALL of them & decided to just post a few from our day.

They all had a blast dancing & grooving in the music room!

 My kids love the Muppets & Rylan begged to have his picture taken with this pic! Creator Jim Henson is from Mississippi.

Brady's favorite part is the Digestive System! You enter through the mouth go down the esophagus to the stomach, run around all the intestines & slide into a toilet! How hilarious is that!? And to top it off it makes burping, gurgling, squishing, & pooting noises as they travel through!

 

And we ended our day with a yummy picnic!