This week was packed with so many adventures, friends, and baking! We read many books as well per the usual. One book we read was from our Before Five in A Row curriculum. The book was the classic, "The Runaway Bunny" by Margaret Wise Brown. So we did many activities to go along with this book. The activities incorporated math, art, writing, reading, and playing of course! I wrote about this adventure specifically "here." Fishing and hiking were also part of the activities for this journey in learning and playing together through this story. You will see photos throughout this post from some of that fun.
We continued with our May scripture memory and reading through the book of Romans.
Fishing!
We are always exploring nature. So much can be learned by doing so, plus, major bonus for the development it gives to the child's brain just getting outside and dirty and exploring. We found, captured, observed, then released this skink down by the pond.
Another nature adventure this week was observing a baby Titmouse our friend and neighbor rescued. What a sweet little fuzzball!
Being Mother's Day week and being homeschoolers, there was no big "Muffins for Moms" event to be had so I decided we would get in the kitchen and bake together, practicing measuring, hand skills like mixing and cutting, composting, and all the things. We made healthy strawberry muffins from scratch with strawberries we had picked together! Then we ate them adding the strawberry jam on the side that we had also made previously. Delicious! And Elie had picked me the flowers for the table bouquet!
At Kindermusik this week it was another awesome adventure as always! Ellie went to class solo with her friends as usual and like always at the end of class, the grown ups joined to see what they had been doing. Ellie traced my feet and I hers. She built a daunting tower with big blocks!
Ellie then created her own class at home in the driveway where she took anything she found that suited her to build her own town! She made towers, people, houses, and she sang her songs from class while riding her bike and told me, "I'm riding all around the town!"
We took a field trip to Hunter Farms in Easley to strawberry pick with friends and get homemade strawberry ice cream!
We went hiking at two spots with friends one afternoon. We journeyed to Black Balsam - it was indeed an adventure. We had plans to hike up to Tennent Mountain - however; the WIND was insane. It was actually truly blowing me back, took my hat, and was freaking the kids out. So we hiked to the top of Black balsam and retreated down the mountain for lower grounds and less wind. We drove a couple miles down the road to Graveyard Fields to play in the falls where the wind was not nearly as menacing. Still, the wind was part of a lesson I was teaching to go along with her book (as was the hiking) and so it was still positive! We had fun basking in the sun and watching the kids and pups play!
We went walking in nature a lot as usual too, and we found some really fun things. Lichens, fungi, flowers, etc.
This is a growing young ladybug!! How awesome?! We have been watching them since they were laid eggs upon the apple trees. So wild that this turns into a ladybug!
Some of the ducks on our pond had some babies and we have also been watching them grow and joining our neighbors almost nightly in feeding them and the fish.
Honeysuckle time! Eating these and using them in tea is a favorite!
Ellie worked in the garden and yard a lot. She helped weed, leaf blow, lay rock, and water everything. I love how gardening enhances her self confidence, skills, knowledge, and responsibility.
Ellie worked on her writing and letters by writing her name and the word "Bunny" to go with our book.
Ellie also worked on letter recognition and phonetics and number recognition by going fishing in "Alphabet soup" for letters and numbers! She would stir and scoop then examine her catch telling me what she laid out.
Another fun activity that went with our BFIAR curriculum this week was to use a straw and blow boats around a bin of water.
Continuing our study of caterpillars, butterflies, and the life cycle, we read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and as I read, Ellie followed along and chronologically found and laid out her felt story pieces to go with the words!
Ellie released her Painted Lady Butterflies she raised and we cuddled and read about this species and also others as well.
Ellie cut out pieces of construction paper and glued the pieces to some butterfly templates I printed.
The dollar bin at Target had 3 clay flower pots for $3 total. I snatched those up and brought those home for Ellie to paint however she wanted. She said one was a Christmas vase. Then my husband picked me wildflowers and I got to put them in Ellie's vase!
More kitchen work : We made healthy scratch biscuits and also dipped them in our local raw honey and homemade strawberry jam with local strawberries.
Ellie built a bird's nest for she and I to cuddle in and read stories one morning. It was so cuddly!! We read for hours!!
For Mother's Day, I asked Ellie these questions and she signed her name. She got a little too big then had to squeeze in "i" & "e!" Haha!
Books read this week:
A great week at the Gladden house!
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