Preschool Is Back in Full Swing

As I mentioned here, I had some issues not being able to do much in the beginning of my pregnancy, then December was filled with guests visiting from out of town (I still hope to get a post or two up on the holiday season).  Then, in January, I got sick with a bad cold for about 3 weeks.  It was the first time that Kyle ever had to take a day off of work to stay home with the kids while I was sick.  At the end of not feeling well, Kyle and I took our trip to Dana Point.  It is amazing how two days away can completely re-energize you.

When we got back, I was feeling better and we kicked preschool up a notch.   I have been trying to have at least 'reading lessons' with Katelyn 3-4 days a week.  In addition, I have been trying to include Brooklyn in some unit type studies.  Now, I am not a teacher in any way.  I have always said that teaching is not my gift (and I still agree with that), so I have to say that I am pretty happy with how it has been going.  I have to say, I'm not sure if I could do it without Pinterest.  It is where I find the links to many of the worksheets that I use, as well as the craft ideas.

The week before the Olympics started, we did a unit on the Olympics.  I have been able to find some units on the internet designed for the girls' ages, so I printed off a bunch of worksheets and also headed to the library to get some related books.  I have been trying to do some educational book before we do the worksheets (like learning facts about the topic) and then after the worksheets we read a fun story book that somehow ties in.  The best book in this unit was "Tacky and the Winter Games."  It was a huge hit with the girls.  They learned a lot about the different events and medals and enjoyed watching a little of the Olympics.  This was our first unit and it was fun to see them so excited about it.
      Here are some of Brooklyn's worksheets - she is getting good at size differences and recognizing certain letters and matching, etc.

         These are some of Katelyn's worksheets:

       We had a theme verse for the week and we studied the picture pages at the beginning of each day so they would learn the names of the events.  At the end of the week they got to do the dice with the olympic activities and they thought that was a ton of fun.

The following week was Valentine's Day, so we did a unit about Valentine's.  We started out each day with a Bible verse about love as I wanted them to know the real source of love.  We also did a few crafts.  While the numbers and letters and reading come easily in workbooks and daily life, I really have to consciously think about having Katelyn learn things like gluing and cutting, so crafts have been a good break from the normal for us.  Plus the girls, of course, love crafts.


       We did a few crafts this week, including necklaces and wreaths and this was the card the girls made for Daddy (Brooklyn put on these pieces, Katelyn did the one for my grandma which I hope to show in a Valentine's Day post later).

   Here are a few of the sheets that they did this week.  It was a busy week, so not as many as the week before.  Also, the items around the edges are Bible verses about love that we talked about at the beginning of each day.

Today we finished two weeks on learning about insects.  I hope to share more about that another day.