Creation Day 4 - Sun, Moon, and Stars

Today we made a mobile to represent the 4th day of creation.

Supplies used: Construction paper, crayons and markers, ribbon, and a glue stick.

First I drew a sun, moon, and stars onto white construction paper. (An artist, I am not.)

Then I gave Caleb all the yellow crayons and markers I could find and let him color away. He asked me to color with him, so of course I couldn't turn him down! :)

After he was done with coloring, I cut out all of the shapes. Then I took a black piece of construction paper and cut it in half length-wise. I took the two pieces and glued them together to make one long strip. Next, I cut varying lengths of ribbon and Caleb glued the sun, moon, and stars to them.

Then I had him glue the ribbon pieces to the black strip of paper and add extra glue so everything would be hidden when we folded the paper length-wise.



Then I made the paper into a circle, glued the ends together, and added ribbon to the top so it could hang.

He's already reaching for the stars! :)



Learning Colors - White

I am going to be focusing on learning the colors one week at a time for the first 9 weeks. While Caleb seems to pick up on letters and numbers very quickly, the colors haven't come as easily for him. The ABC Jesus Loves Me curriculum had us doing 3 colors a week and I knew that would be too overwhelming and confusing for Caleb. Plus, now I can incorporate the colors into our thematic units (A is for Apple - Red, D is for Ducks - Yellow, F is for Frogs - Green)!

This week we learned the color white. I put together a sensory bucket of white items and toys we had around the house. I plan on doing this each week.

Also, every week we will be adding another "scoop" of color to our ice cream cone. :)

For our craft we did a white texture collage.

Supplies used: Construction paper, glue, qtips, cotton balls, yarn, ribbon, ripped up paper towel, foam shape stickers, stamps and a white ink pad.

Caleb's favorite part was using the ink pad to put little white fingerprints all over the paper. :)

The finished piece of art!

And for today's snack....all things white! Milk, yogurt, animal crackers (which I know are more brown than white), sliced banana, string cheese, and popcorn!

Creation Day 3 - Land and Plants

Today we focused on the third day of creation; the creation of land and plants. I wanted to do an activity that would teach Caleb about the process of how we use the earth (soil) to grow all types of plants, trees, and flowers and how everything starts from just one small seed.

My dad (who I believe to be an expert on all things gardening related) came over to help out with today's activities and brought potting soil and beans along with him!

Supplies used: Potting soil, pinto beans, plastic cups, and water.

My dad poured the kidney beans out into a large plastic bowl and the potting soil into an empty pot I had on the front porch. Caleb had a lot of fun putting his hands into the bowl of beans and digging into the soil. Great sensory activities!

Caleb helped my dad fill the cups up with the soil.

Caleb didn't quite get the concept at first about putting just a few beans into the soil.

Grandpa had to show him how to do it.

Then Caleb filled up some cups with water from the hose and watered the soil.



And the finished products!

Caleb was a bit confused as to why the beans didn't sprout right away. We had watched a time-lapsed video the day before that showed a bean plant growing and he didn't understand why ours didn't do that too! My dad had a great idea to do a little craft so Caleb could see how the beans would sprout and what it would look like when they did. My dad cut out some pots, beans, stems, and leaves out of construction paper. He even hand cut out some letters for the title. Color me impressed!

 He had Caleb glue down the pieces.

It turned out so cute! Way to go, grandpa! I would have never thought of this!

After the craft Caleb and his grandpa sat down on the couch together and watched a old Jack and the Beanstalk movie I found on YouTube. What a fun day filled with some great memories!

Creation Day 2 - Water and Sky

Caleb was very excited about today's craft. Mostly because it meant he'd be gluing things. :)

Supplies needed: Construction paper, scissors, cotton balls, and glue.

Luckily I have a lot of scrapbook paper and found a light blue piece with a cool bumpy background. Caleb said that it was the rain, which was perfect for this craft!

I cut out the "ocean waves" from some dark blue paper, as Caleb is far from proficient with scissors. I had him help with the glue and he got to press them down onto the paper.

I helped him fluff up the cotton balls to make the clouds, but let him put the glue on the paper and press down the cotton ball clouds.

And the finished product!

He was having so much fun that he wanted to keep going after we finished our craft! So I gave him the scissors, the left over paper, glue, and cotton balls and let him be creative. He had so much fun cutting all around the paper.

Here's his finished creation. He was so proud of it and insisted on hanging it on the wall, too. :)

Creation Day 1 - Light

To go along with the first day of creation, we made a light box.

Supplies needed: Shoebox, scissors or knife, flashlight

First, I cut holes in the shoebox using a knife. I cut them on opposite sides from each other so the flashlight wasn't shining directly in Caleb's eyes.

I then had Caleb look inside and asked him what he saw. He responded, "It's dark.".

Then I had him put the flashlight in the opposite hole and had him turn it on. "It's light now!", he said.

I explained to him that before the earth was created that there was only darkness, but on that first day that God created light. His favorite thing to do was to say, "Let there be light!", and then turn the flashlight on.

After he got a little bored with the box, I had him do a coloring page for the day.

And of course it is now proudly displayed on our school wall. :)

Week 1 Lesson Plans

At the beginning of every week I will be posting the week's lesson plans and objectives. Of course these are subject to change or may be added to. That's what's so nice about homeschooling. I don't HAVE to follow anything exactly and can change things as I please!

Week 1

Bible Story: Days of Creation
    We will be reading from My Story Bible throughout the year.

Song: This Is The Day

Poem: Seven Days

Color: White

Book(s) of the Week: I See the World God Made

Fine Motor Skill: Draw "My Family"

Gross Motor Skill: Dance to music cds

I have different crafts and activities to go along with the lesson plans and will be posting individual posts to highlight those. Looking forward to seeing how this week turns out!

First Day of Preschool!

Today we started preschool! I'm definitely finding that it is going to be a learning experience for both me and for Caleb. I have to figure out how best to schedule our time and give him time to adjust. I also need to realize that his attention span can only handle so much.

I wanted to capture his first day with a picture. I got the idea off of Pinterest to take his picture at the start of each school year holding a sign with the grade and the day. It will be fun to make all these pictures into a scrapbook to give him when he graduates high school.

And now the fun begins! :)