Two Cowgirls Preschool - Letter V

Five Little Leaves Fingerplay

5 Little leaves so bright today.

Were dancing about on the tree to play.

The wind came blowing through the town,

And one little leaf came falling down

(Continue with 4, 3, 2, and 1.  Use felt, paper, or real leaves to demonstrate)

Well, Fall is officially upon us.  The air is chilly, and the wind has blown through leaving bare trees and drifts of crunchy leaves.  It was a perfect week to study Fall leaves!

Day 1:  Today we read the book How Do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro.  She worked on her letter V worksheet (which she loved!).  Then, when Millie finished her school work, the girls worked on quilt squares.  I drew Elise's design (an apple), and she traced it with Elmers Blue Gel glue.  Millie made her own creation.  I looked high and low and finally found the Blue Gel glue at JoAnn Fabrics in the glue isle.  ;)  You'd think that'd be the first place I'd look!

Day 2:  Today we read the book Johnny Appleseed  by Reeve Lindbergh.  The illustrations in this book are fantastic.  We spent a lot of time hunting for animals in the pictures.  They're super detailed and beautiful.  We finished up our quilt squares from Day 1, by painting them with fabric paint.  We're really excited to see what happens after we wash them!  The girls also created another quilt square.  Elise traced a pumpkin, and Millie made a spooky ghost scene.

It's hard to believe how far Elise has come since this time last year.  One year ago, she was so active, that it was terribly stressful for me to take her to piano lessons, as she never sat still.  Anytime Millie and I attended a class last year, I'd get a babysitter for Elise.  This year, she sits patiently, happily reading, coloring, or playing with her little toys.  This week Millie went to Polka dance lessons, and Elise sat quietly until the class was over.  I'm so proud of her!!  Hmmm, I wonder what life will be like in a year from now...

Of course, I want to give credit to the blogs/website that inspire me on my preschool journey:

www.WeeFolkArt.com

Jan Brett Printables (they're so pretty!) 

www.Preschool-Plan-It.com

Find out what other homeschoolers were doing this week, here.

My Favorite Autumn Decor

This is my absolute favorite quarter of the year.  I love everything; crunchy leaves, Fall colors, baking, scented candles, gathering with friends, food, etc.  It fills me up.  That's the only way I can describe it.

Here are some of my favorite Autumn decorations:

This has been my absolute favorite print since I was a little girl.  In fact, I'd leave it up year 'round if Bud didn't strongly disagree with me ;)  So, I leave it up from October 1st until Thanksgiving.

Plain and simple.  I love this wooden bowl full of wooden acorns.  I don't always bring them out.  I switch between acorns and decorative mixed nuts.  

I could stare at this display all day long.  My house is full of mini pumpkins and gourds.  I can't get enough of them!  They make great art projects too.  I'm pretty sure we'll be painting and cutting apart some of these mini pumpkins soon...

This sits in the middle of my dining room table.  My mommy made the pie plate cover (but I have long since lost (err...broken) the pie plate that goes with it).  On it sits a sweet acorn candle.  

If there was such thing as smell-o-vision, I'd let you smell my fall candles and hand soap.  Mmm!  

Two Cowgirls Preschool - Letter T

Apple Song (Sung to the tune of Itsy Bitsy Spider)

Once a little apple seed was planted in the ground.

Down came the soft rain, falling all around.

Out came the sun as bright as it could be,

And that little apple seed grew up to be a tree!

Here's what we did in preschool this week:

Day 1:  As part of our schedule with Wee Folk Art, we studied wool.  Today we read the book How We Use Wool, by Chris Oxlade.  It was a bit lengthy, so I skipped over most of it.  We just read the "bold" parts, and talked about the pictures.  She could relate to the book a lot because she has had a lot of experience visiting The Farm People's sheep.  When we were done with the book, she worked on her letter T worksheet.  Afterwards, she played a fun counting matching game that I drew up.  I cut out fall shapes out of construction paper, and drew bugs on them.  She had to match up the leaves with the same number of bugs on them.  When she finished with the matching, the shapes made a lovely necklace.  

Day 2:  We started out The Song of the Thrift Fairy, and writing her name.  After that, we read the book Pelle's New Suit by Elsa Beskow. The illustrations are gorgeous and the story is sweet.  I love everything Elsa Beskow has done!  When we were done with that book, she tried her hand at weaving, just like Pelle's mother.  I was impressed with how fast she picked this up :)

Outings:  Since we were studying apples, it was my intention to go to an apple orchard this week.  But, life happened, and we didn't make it.  We did, however, do a really fun Autumn activity.  We went to the Children's Museum to do some art!  They had out Fall colored paint, and fun props to paint with; pumpkins, corn, etc. 

When the girls were done painting, they had fun playing in the sensory bin for a while.  The bin contained leaves, bark, plastic animals, and gourds.  Elise liked running her hands through it all, and Millie made a food chain out of the little plastic animals.  I've been meaning to put together a similar sensory bin for Elise to play with during school, but I haven't had a chance.  This was the next best thing!  

Each week the art room changes, so I think we'll try to make it over there once a week during recess to get a little art on our schedule.

Check out what other homeschoolers have been up to this week, here!

The First Few Weeks of Homeschool

It seems that I could change the name of my blog to "All About Elise," lately.  Per my Moms request (Hi Mommy!), here is what Millie has been up to during her first 3 weeks of 3rd grade:

She met up with a bunch of friends to do a service project for Great River Greening, where they gathered acorns to be planted (the goal is 100,000 acorns!)

We get outside as much as possible while we still can.  Here she's stopping to smell the roses.

We went apple picking with her BFF.  The kids were more interested in playing with the dogs and climbing the trees, then actually picking apples.  Apple picking is hard work!  It's the first time we've ever done it.

She went geocaching for her first time.

She was super energized when she got to see a nucleus inside a cell through her microscope.  Her excitement was priceless! 

Along with a lot of great outings with friends, she read Animal Stories and started reading The Secret Garden.  She's learning about (and is really enjoying) Native Americans.  We've done some really cool activities with this, like painting rocks (like in The Birchbark House, which we just finished today), making hominy, watching video clips about the Seminole, and visiting the Dakota exhibit at the Minnesota History Museum).  She's working really hard at her piano lessons.  And, lastly, she's actually enjoying Language Arts this year, and her printing is really improving. 

It's been a busy 3 weeks!  If you ask her what her favorite subjects are in school, she'll say "History and Science".  And, she doesn't say "I hate math" anymore, which is HUGE.  Yay!  

Two Cowgirls Preschool - Letter L

Autumn winds begin to blow (blow)

Colored leaves fall fast and slow (move hands to show falling leaves)

Twirling, whirling all around (turn around a few times)
Until at last, they touch the ground (fall to the ground)

Our theme for this weeks was Autumn.

As part of our daily circle time, Millie reads a book to Elise, that coordinates with our weekly theme.  It allows Millie to practice reading aloud (which is something that can easily go by the wayside if I don't intentionally schedule it in).  This week she read Mouse's First Fall by Lauren Thompson, The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree by Lois Ehlert, and The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri.  All have great illustrations!

Here's what we did this week:

Day 1:

Today we read the book Tractor (Machines at Work) by DK Publishing, worked on her Letter L worksheet, and played Hi Ho Cherry O.  Playing the game was a great reminder that preschoolers need reminders about how to play fairly ;)  She was a pro at taking turns and putting the correct amount of cherries back in her bucket if she lost, by the end of the day.

Day 2:

Today we read the book The Rusty, Trusty Tractor by Joe Cowley.  This book was so cool!  It reminded me so much of Grandpa Howard and his tractors.  I need to remember to bring it to him to read next time...  After that we practiced writing "Elise", read about the lily of the valley flower fairy (one of my favorites!).  Millie joined Elise when they made Autumn wreaths using items they gathered the day before at the park.

As for getting out and doing a fun preschool activity?  We went to story time at the library.  Millie met a new friend, we saw some old friends, our old daycare lady was there with her kids, it was great fun!

Of course, I want to give credit to the blogs/website that inspire me on my preschool journey:

www.WeeFolkArt.com

Jan Brett Printables (they're so pretty!) 

www.Preschool-Plan-It.com

Elise's Candy Shoppe Birthday Party

My baby is four!  She requested a candy shoppe themed birthday party.

Here's what we did today:

10 people came to celebrate with Elise today!  "The Farm People", Grandma Suzie, Grandpa Roger, Aunt Kim, cousins Ben & Patrick, Millie, and of course Mommy and Daddy.

It would be a Candy Shoppe party without lots of candy!  Notice the Lego candy?  It's so cool, and works just like Lego's, too!

Silly girl

Pretty smile

Grandpa Howard gave rides in the Model T.  Everyone had a blast!

She blew out one candle at a time :)

Buttercream Frosting 

1 c soft butter

4 c powdered sugar

1.5 t vanilla

8 T heavy whipping cream

Combine butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl.  Beat with a mixer until combined.  Add the heavy whipping cream and continue to beat until smooth.  

She's already decided that next year, she's having a Barbie party. I better keep my eye on Pinterest for Barbie party ideas.  ;)

Two Cowgirls Preschool - Letter K k

This week was a blur.  As much as I wish our homeschool day was easy and slow, it is not.  In fact, we didn't finish everything we set out to do.  We did, however, have time for preschool!  Here's what we did this week:

I Love My Family

Some families are big (spread arms wide)

Some families are small (bring arms close together)

But I love my family (cross arms over chest)

Best of all!

Our focus during circle time this week was "Family".  We talked about the structure of different families.  We read some great books; Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs by Tomie de Paola and The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant.  

Day 1:  

We worked on our "letter K" worksheet (not nearly as interesting as the "letter I" worksheet, evidently) and read Beatrice's Goat by Page Miller.  The big event for the day was making butter!  It was pretty amazing, and tasted great!

How to Make Butter:

Put about an inch of heavy whipping cream in a jar with a waterproof lid.  Sprinkle in a dash of salt.  Then, start shakin'!  You can also put it in a mixer.  Keep mixing/shaking until the cream passes the "whipped cream" phase, all the way until you get a hard blob of butter in the middle of your jar/bowl surrounded by buttermilk.  

Day 2:

We started out the day reading The Song of the Kingcup Fairy by Cicely Mary Barker, writing Elise's name, and reading Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens.  Our big activity for the day was to bake bread to go with the homemade butter.  The recipe for herb bread suggested by Wee Folk Art sounded really (REALLY!) good, but I don't have a bread maker, so I used my old reliable recipe for sandwich bread.  Yum!  

I'm starting to adjust to our new schedule (a bit more than last week, anyways).  Next week I'm hoping to add a fun preschool outing into the mix!  

Of course, I want to give credit to the blogs/website that inspire me on my preschool journey:

www.WeeFolkArt.com

Jan Brett Printables (they're so pretty!) 

www.Preschool-Plan-It.com