Okay, prepare yourself for a long review. I have condensed a whole months worth of learning and fun into one big post. I didn't have time this month for weekly posts and all of our learning fit tied in nicely together all month so I decided on one end of the month post. ENJOY!
BIBLE TIME
This month for our Bible time we have been reading My ABC Bible Verses by Susan Hunt. We have been using this book throughout the past several months focusing on a letter (one story) per week. This time we are reading through more quickly. This month we read letters A-H. These stories are great for starting conversations about godly character. We refer back to these stories throughout the day as a reminder of how God calls us to live.
We have worked on two new verses this month.
Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath.
Colossians 3:20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.
Itty Bitty Bookworm
Our structured school time this month was focused on bugs, caterpillars, butterflies, and ladybugs. We also read a couple of books about spiders, but if you know me then you understand why we didn't dwell very long on the darling little eight legged arachnids!
Books We Read (all listed in our Itty Bitty Bookworm Curriculum)
Focus One: BUGS
BUGS! BUGS! BUGS! Better Homes and Gardens- this book has lots of craft ideas
I like Bugs by Margaret Wise Brown- Caleb liked that he was able to read this
The Bugliest Bug by Carol Diggory Shields- This was our favorite of the bug books.
Focus Two: Caterpillars
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle- gotta love this one!
My, Oh My-Butterfly by Tish Rabe- this book was WONDERFUL! It was really packed full of much more information that I expected! Caleb really enjoyed this one. May even considering buying this one.
Where Butterflies Grow by Joanne Ryder- we mostly just looked at the pictures in this one
Butterfly House by Eve Bunting- this one really didn't interest us much
Focus Three: Ladybugs
The Very Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle- Caleb had fun reading this one with me and it is a great book for teaching time to the hour so we worked on that skill with Hannah while we read this book.
Ladybug Girl by David Somar and Jacky Davis
Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth
Focus Four: Spiders
The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani- Both kids loved the new verses in this book.
Miss Spider's Tea Party by David Kirk- We didn't care for this one.
Hannah sorted bug pictures.
We made a bug counting book.
Hannah adding fingerprint bugs to the bug jar in the counting book.
Dot paint caterpillars
Ordering the bug alphabet.
Making a caterpillar puzzle with her name on it. These were really cute. I have a good picture of Caleb's but somehow missed it while I was loading pictures. They played with these several times. Hannah's is actually a little tricky because of the repeated letters in her name.
Dot paint caterpillars.
The very hungry caterpillar.
Ladybug math. I would say, "the ladybug had 3 black spots then he got 2 new spots. Now how many spots does the ladybug have." They had to act out the problem. We also wrote the equations out on a dry erase board. Way too easy for Caleb, but good practice for Hannah.
Ladybug Line-up: a friend gave us this game just a few weeks ago and it fit in nicely with our topic this month. Roll the dice, put your chip on a ladybug with the number of dots shown on the dice. Three in a row wins. There are also more advanced ways to play with addition and a subtraction game on the other side.
The Live Butterfly Garden
Our big project of the mont was our live butterfly garden. We ordered larvae and watched them grow, turn into chrysalids, and emerge as butterflies. We received 5 larvae and 4 of them actually made it through the whole process.
Caleb investigating the new larvae
Hannah investigating, though I can almost promise you both eyes are probably closed!
5 Chrysalids
We were so excited to actually get to watch one of the butterflies work it's way out. I saw movement as I walked by and called the kids in to watch. It was pretty cool!
Hannah preparing for the release.
Caleb saying good-bye. He really loved his butterflies. When we first got the larvae he would spend an extensive amount of time telling them goodnight. He was very happy to send them out into the world though :)
Other Fun Stuff this Month
CALEB asked me to take this picture of them together before church the Sunday after Easter. He wanted to pose, so I grabbed my camera before he changed his mind. This was for daddy who was out of town for 3 weeks in April. Caleb was missing him this particular morning and wanted to take a special picture for him.
We went to a Pirate Birthday Party for one special little 4 year old boy. We also had to say good-bye to this little guy and his parents this week as they move to Hawaii. So thankful for this final fun day to remember with them.
All the little pirates
From pirates to superheroes! We were also very blessed to spend two weeks playing with some special friends who were in town for a visit. Hannah, Olivia, and Caleb all dressed up like spiderman. Caleb is now fascinated with pretending to spin webs around everything in the house. And I need to learn a thing or two about superheroes because I obviously could not tell Caleb anything about them!
A final picture with sweet Olivia and precious Isaiah.
