Learning by Heart – weeks 8 and 9

“The mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom”
– Henry Ward Beecher

Fancy shot of our first Advent candle :)

My camera broke halfway through week 8, and since I was behind in my posts anyway, I decided to combine the past two weeks into one post.  Believe me, it didn’t take long for me to go buy another camera (I HAVE to have a camera!), but anything we did that wasn’t captured in a photo has completely escaped my memory.  I KNOW we did things on those days without a camera, but I have no idea what they are!  Besides, it’s not much fun to post about an activity without a picture to accompany it, right?

{ M is 4 years old }

SHELF ACTIVITIES:

For December I’m sticking with easy and fun activities.  Some of them are just plain fun with not much learning involved.  We’ll get hardcore preschool again after the holidays are over. ;)  (That is totally a joke, btw.)

I set out an Advent wreath craft for M, with glitter foam pieces, glitter snowflake stickers, green cardstock, and sequins.  No shot of the activity beforehand, but here it is finished: He really enjoyed making it!

Counting – I set out our number cards and a gumball machine (Dollar Tree!) full of wooden beads.  M loves this little gumball machine and I knew it would help grab his attention.  It’s the first thing he went for the morning it was out.  He set out the number cards in order, then worked the gumball machine to get beads out and counted them onto the cards:

A new puzzle:

Sewing with yarn on a piece of cotton fabric -  I have to smile to myself when I put things like this out for him.  He LOVES doing this kind of thing, but I don’t kid myself that his interest will last.  Someday he will get the idea that this isn’t a very manly sort of activity. :)  But it is great fine motor skill work and really, it’s important for boys to know how to use a needle and thread too!

This was sort of a review and catch up week, so M did a cut and paste sheet for the soft /g/ sound to put in his ABC book.  Somehow G escaped us as we were going through the first few letters of the alphabet.  

Play dough cooties -  I’ve been seeing a lot of people use Mr. Potato Head objects with play dough.  It is such a great idea!  Unfortunately the only Mr. Potato Head we have is in our camper, about an hour away.  So I grabbed the pieces from our Cooties game, and M made a lot of fun little sillies:

Play dough number mats 11 – 20 – with some leftover fall-colored play dough (gotta get that Christmas play dough made!):

Pipeline Game pieces – for fine motor work:

Extra Activities:

A lot of shoveling has been going on…

And a lot of snowman-making…See the tiny snowman beside M?  He made this one all by himself, and used MY GLOVES for hands, hee hee. :)  It’s a very sweet little snowman.

And one day M made a pulley system with the fridge door handle.  He didn’t know it was a pulley, but it was!  After I told him that it was a pulley and that in real life they use them to lift heavy objects, he was awfully proud of himself for inventing it. :)  And we did some on-the-spot learning about pulleys!

Hey!  You are looking at the pulley,
not the ugly kitchen flooring, right?!

I’m linking this post up to Preschool Corner, Friday Wrap-up, and Weekly Wrap-Up; be sure to check them out!

Have a beautiful day! :)

 

Christmas shop online at CSN Stores

CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find everything from stylish briefcases to furniture to toys, toys, toys, which is exactly what is on a lot of mama-minds this time of year, right?  I love CSN (I know I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating)… really, if you are doing some online shopping, check them out – their prices are great and most items come with free shipping.  They will match the price of competitors too, so you really can’t go wrong.  They also have a great variety to choose from (well, with over 200 stores you can imagine the variety!), and their customer service is excellent.  I’ll be reviewing… something exciting… from them soon, so stay tuned!

Have a beautiful day! :)