Week 8: H is for House

Last week was Hectic! Not so much because major things happened, but in regular daily life. For some reason (getting over colds, teething, growth spurts?? Who knows) both kids were a little out of sorts and it was a struggle to do all of our regular activities. 

Eisley has been struggling to find her groove with our homeschool schedule and last week she flat out refused school all together. I was able to convince her a few times to do her work boxes (which were pictured last week) But other than that, she was just not feeling it. 

Although this can be frustrating, because I took the time to create and plan all this out and now it's gone to waste. I tend to look at the bigger picture (what's the problem?)...I didn't change the work, just the boxes they were in and that was super exciting for her...but it's almost like she was disappointed with what she was finding inside. So I looked through my plans and decided, how can I make this more simple, more colorful, more fun! 
Well it didn't take very long to realize, perhaps taking a more Montessori approach might be more her style and sure enough, we're already off to a much smoother start with school this week. The activities are a lot more simple and open ended and most are self guided and self correcting. She and Cody are so different and finding her learning style is still a learning process in and of itself. I just have to stay flexible and do what works and toss what doesn't. Now although I do use Montessori "inspired" activities, we don't use this method through all of her school schedule. We pick and choose from different methods and use what works. I've found that to be most successful for us.

Now like I said, Eisley wasn't the only one having a tough time, Cody was having some struggles as well! Apparently in this struggle between my son and I, I had it all wrong! What I thought was disobedience from lack of structure or just being bored, was actually coming from feelings of not being able to lead. He is very strong willed and likes things done a certain way (He might get that from me), loves to problem solve and is great at encouraging so it makes sense that he has a great structure for leadership. Problem being...there can't be 2 leaders. Not at the same time at least. So I have changed a few things in our routine and have been letting him lead our morning circle time! He loves it. I plan to give him more opportunities to lead and make decisions, I just have to figure out how...(ideas welcome!) Having an 8 year old boy is all new to me and sometimes I feel crazy, thinking to myself, "Is he really saying/doing/acting like this? Sometimes I love God's sense of humor, other times I think "Did I really have to learn that lesson this way...there wasn't an easier way?!" But that's life. God is still good!
H is for Horse, Heart, Helado, and Halloween!

Morning Workouts! Cody loves leading us in some simple workouts to start our day. They've also enjoyed when I use the blue tape on the floor for different physical challenges. We used the lines to see how tall everyone was, how far they could reach and how far they could jump! (P.S. don't mind cody's layering, he thinks it's hilarious to put on more clothes then he needs.)

Color matching bears! Bear Counters

Building a house with blocks!

Sorting 1s, 5s, 10s, and 20s!

Letter H, sticker find! I realize she has completely given up on the whole finding the letter. She just puts the stickers anywhere she pleases. haha. 

Taking a brain break and trying some 1 player Blokus!

Pattern Block H!

Ribbon Weaving!

Sorting Hot and Cold. This activity was very successful, although she can't read the words, she would guess from the picture and big bro would help her by reading the word. She did a great job!

Helado! (Ice Cream) We're trying to incorporate as much spanish into our days as possible. Some days I speak in spanish for most the day and love that they still understand alot of it. Especially Eisley. But I know that around 3 and 4 was when Cody started to lose that. So we're trying to make this a regular thing so they can keep it up!

Sand Writing! Eisley's new favorite activity! I made the orange sand with salt and orange food coloring. (It's a little rough on the fingers, so I don't plan on using that anymore). The pink sand I bought at Michael's! I found it (Not on sale) for $2.50 for 1.5 lbs! It comes in every color and is so fine, it's really soft on the skin! So I'm stocking up! Use a 40% off coupon and it's seriously such a good deal!

Just a little glance at our morning circle time area. We sing songs about the days of the week, months of the year, the pledge of allegiance. We talk about the weather, the seasons and go over our bible verse of the week. 

Shape matching activity!

Heart Craft, glue and tissue paper!

Glass beads and alphabet dot sheets!

Our leapfrog fridge letters came back out after a year of not having batteries! Eisley loves it, and loves that she can hear the alphabet whenever she wants. As annoying as this thing is, it has really helped her with letter recognition!

Shape matching! I found these button shapes at Joann's but, the bag only contained these 6 shapes, if you want bigger and more variety, you can find a better option HERE. But these were $2.50 after a 40% coupon so, I bought them. The shapes can be found with the Letter of the Week Curriculum we use, HERE!

Color bounce! This activity was really simple. A ping pong ball and 4 boxes with a piece of colored foam sheet in them. I had her put the boxes where ever she wanted and had her try to throw the ball into the color I called out! She lost interest after all 4 colors were used and Cody took over, he started standing on chairs and figuring out what he could bounce the ball off of to land in the boxes. Turns out it was super fun for the 8 yr old!! haha

Paper clips and Magnet Strips! These were fun! I had everything for these already so that was awesome! Jumbo popsickle sticks, Adhesive magnet strips and paper clips. So I cut the magnet strips in half lengthwise but, the adhesive on the back of the magnets didn't stick at all. I ended up using the hot glue gun to make them stick. The hot glue was perfect, those magnets are stuck down and not going anywhere. 

Melissa and Doug Lacing Cards!

Talking about our organs with this My Body Puzzle (Boy 5-Layer Wooden Puzzle)

Hoping to get a girl one soon!

Lock and Key activity! I thought this might be too hard for her, but she totally got it and loved it! These locks can be found at the Dollar Tree!

She is getting so good at this nut and bolts activity, I'm trying to think of a few different ways to make it a little more of a challenge.

Alphabet Puzzle!

Playing with our Locktagons (Locktagons Building Set)

I forgot to post our Halloween pictures from this year! I had grand plans for our family costume and was really excited about making them(we were going to be We Bare Bears), but as usual time got away from me and I didn't make them. So we used these costumes that we bought last year the day after Halloween!! You can't beat $2 a piece!! But I'm really glad I let the costume making slide this year because the weather was horrible and we decided to stay inside and didn't end up trick or treating after all. We may have also stumbled upon a fun new family tradition! We felt bad about not getting to go to any activities (because most were outdoors) so we made little treat bags for the kids with small toys and crafts and a candy or two. Then we had a movie night. I can't tell you how much the kids said "This is way better than trick or treating!" I was so surprised! Honestly it's not a huge lifestyle change I was trying to make, (but less candy would be amazing, thank you!) our kids usually get paid for the candy then we toss it. So I didn't even think this would be a fun option for them! Turns out, they asked to do this again next year!! WHAT!! Of course! Yes!! Love when things like this happen!