Week in Learning

Can I just say I hate doing summary posts of our week in learning? Each day deserves its own special post- however I am much too busy to do that! So thank you to all who, despite reading the boring blog title and having no idea what you are getting yourself into, stand by and read anyway! I appreciate it! And I am away from my camera, so no pics yet. . .
My Faith Monday: Nephi is obedient

This lesson was on learning how to obey. I am sure that this is a principle most parents teach their children. I laminated a darling story I found online to teach my daughter the story of Nephi getting the brass plates. She was bored out of her sweet little mind! I made "I can obey like Nephi" and "I can disobey like Laman and Lemuel" and we talked about our choices and how those choices have positive and negative consequences. I printed cute little stickers that said "I can obey" that would show the world that my daughter had now been taught about obedience and she would be fabulous at it. Sigh. When I pulled out the stickers, my daughter started bawling. Shouts of "I don't want to obey" and "I don't like obeying"could be heard. I have a picture of her pouting wearing the cute obedience sticker. Sometimes these well planned lessons just shoot off in a different direction! I do have some handouts if you are interested. Just send me an email!

Tumbling Tuesday:

Going on a bear hunt, Teddy Bear Teddy Bear turn aroundWe played these two familiar bear games that went along with our Goldilocks fairy tale for this month. Going on a bear hunt game was a big success as we followed the pattern in the book and went on our own bear hunt!

Wednesdays Words:

We kept on working with Spanish colors. She is doing very well- I am just too stinkin busy to do more with the Spanish right now! We did do some Alphabet sticker match up sheets. This is really easy to make- you just need a printout of the alphabet and stickers for all 26 letters. Boo would take a letter sticker and place it on the correct letter on the alphabet sheet. So easy- and yet she requested to do it twice! I need to post pics so you can see how EASY this really is!

Tea Time and Rhyme Thursday

We did more retelling of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. My favorite versions of her retell include visits from the Disney princesses, Goldilocks hiding under the Daddy bed, and the baby bear getting upset at the Mommy and Daddy for not eating all their porridge. The mind of a two year old makes me laugh!

Field Trip Friday

We went on a little hike up in the mountains. It was wonderful. It was loud (sorry to the guy on the neighboring golf course) and full of adventure. We saw butterflies, birds, a cold river (which had me in panic mode- I am so afraid of drowning) lots of trees and ONE bug. Not bad! And then it was off to a duck pond for scouts. The pond where my husband literally got attacked by swans and scared my fearless two year old. (Later in the car she told us that the swan poked daddy's tummy and broke it- so funny!)

It is past midnight and I need to sleep! Find time to love your little ones! They are so, SO precious!

Happy Teaching!

Next week:
My Faith Monday: Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors
Tumbling Tuesday: Butterfly dancing and Act out the stages of the life cycle of a butterfly
Wednesdays Words: Caterpillar colors in spanish and more alphabet sticker match ups (lower and uppercase letters)
Tea Time and Rhyme Thursday- sequence cards for Goldilocks and the Three Bears and LOTS of caterpillar stuff
Field Trip Friday- Nature walk

Learning Days: Goldilocks, Bean Bags, and a scripture story

Boy, I need to get in a better routine with blogging again! Geez- I have been a slacker!! Here are some highlights of our learning days:

My Faith Monday

After doing Samuel the Lamanite, King Benjamin, and the Tower of Babel with her learning blocks- I figured we would use my Boo's blocks again for our lesson on the Brother of Jared. Here they are on their barges getting ready to go across the sea.

I also thought it would be SOOO creative of me to paint rocks with glow in the dark paint as part of the lesson. Well, turns out just because the paint is called "Glow in the Dark Yellow" doesn't mean it actually glows in the dark. I learned this the hard way! But we had fun going on a rock hunt and painting 16 rocks anyway!

Tumbling Tuesday

We have done lots of running, twirling, jumping, and more! Th

is week we also played a hula hoop game with bean bags. I put different colored labels on the floor, and while standing on that label, Boo had to throw that color of bean bag into the hula hoop. Lots of fun the FIRST time we played. After that my Boo had moved on to another activity!

Wednesdays Words

I checked out a Spanish video called Muzzy from our local library. I can't understand a word of this movie (its entirely in Spanish) but my daughter seems to really like it! We have seen it two or three times already! I also downloaded and printed a colors book from this site.

Tea Time and Rhyme Thursday

More with Goldilocks and the three bears! We have watched the Youtube video, used puppets to retell the story, and more recently I have laminated the story. I love how the princesses made their way into this version of the fairy tale!

We also had bear sandwiches in honor of the story!

Field Trip Friday

We went and fed the ducks at the local university. My daughter had lots of fun chasing the ducks away after we gave them every bit of bread we had. We also saw a Mommy duck sitting on her nest- she wouldn't budge and would glare at anyone approaching her nest!

To those who have emailed me with questions- I will get back to you as soon as I can, I promise! I am busy with work, church responsibilities, housework, . . . . all that fun stuff! But I have not forgotten you, I promise!!!

Happy Teaching!

Next week:

My Faith Monday: Nephi is obedient (obedience chart)

Tumbling Tuesday: Going on a bear hunt, Teddy Bear Teddy Bear turn around. . . .

Wednesdays Words: Continue working on colors, alphabet sticker match-up

Tea Time and Rhyme Thursday- sequence cards for Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Field Trip Friday- Hike

Upcoming Review

I have been given the opportunity again to do another product review from CSN stores. This website sells everything from cribs to cookie sheets! And everything in-between! If you are eager to learn what the product is, stay tuned!

The Evolution of our Family and Learning Binders

I am addicted to many things- from chocolate licorice, planning curriculum, kissing my daughter, and binders. I feel such a sense of power as I organize my life into sheet protectors. . . I just FINALLY finished updating our home & learning binders and I thought I would take you on a journey of our past binders.

Here is the binder that started it all. This was when our family consisted of me,
my sweet husband, and our two dogs. I thought I would be creative and do a silhouette pic of our faces- I swear the cover is the most important part of the binder!

An inside look at a divider. Did we use this binder faithfully? No. I am a great
planner and a not so great executor.

Which brings us to our simplified version of our family binder- known as the
little red folder. Problems- too little- there were pages of grocery ideas, food storage
expiration dates, cleaning schedules, menus, etc all stuffed inside a two pocket folder.
This system did not last long! Besides, there was no cute cover!

Our latest family binder as of today. I was inspired to do a scrapbooking
cover by my creative sister-in-law. I am happy with how it looks
on the outside!

Here is a look at the inside of the binder. There are dividers for menus, cleaning stuff/checklists, ideas (for home projects, scrapbook pages, blog posts, gifts), church stuff, special dates, routine, food expiration list, and babysitter stuff.

The first learning binder for my daughter. This was full of ALL the many activities I was going
to do with her- from art, to baby massage and yoga. . . it was all right here. This was the ultimate baby binder that unfortunately got lost in a cupboard for awhile. Not so effective!

This is the latest learning binder for my daughter. I have it divided into her learning days- My Faith Monday (which has a checklist of scripture stories as well as coloring pages and craft ideas all ready to go for Family Home Evening), Tumbling Tuesday large motor activity lists and games, Wednesday Words which has some spanish stuff, Tea Time and Rhyme Thursday which has printables all ready to go for this month's nursery rhyme/fairy tale, and a list of field trips for our Field Trip Fridays. The organization is all coming together, I just need to execute my little plans now!

Happy Teaching!

Field Trip Friday Ideas

Here are some ideas for field trips for your tot (some may not be applicable to your area!):

1. airplane museum
2. dinosaur park
3. duck pond
4. train museum
5. nearby walking paths
6. bounce house places like boondocks
7. exercise trail
8. fire station
9. local elementary school
10. treehouse
11. temple
12. mall
13. splash park
14. great salt lake
15. pet store
16. plant/flower store
17. nature center
18. skating
19. trout farm
20. paint store
21. post office
22. small airport
23. zoo
24. police station
25. bookstore
26. farm
27. bakery
28. tv or radio station
29. newspaper
30. vet
31. grocery store
32. ice cream shop
33. movie theater
34. cabellas
35. lagoon or other local amusement park
36. dinosaur national monument
37. hike a nearby hill or mountain
38. umbrella walk in the rain
39. rock hunt around the neighborhood
40. local university
41. chocolate factory
42. library
43. symphony
44. baseball game
45. red butte garden
46. tracy aviary

The list could go on and on! The important thing is to get out in your area and provide your child with the background experiences to broaden their horizons.

Happy Teaching!

Easter Program Idea

I think a fun new Easter tradition for our little family will be to hold a special Easter program for Family Home Evening. I found this in the Family Home Evening Resource Guide:

Easter Program

Read John 3:16.

Have a narrator read or discuss the following: Even though he knew that Jesus would be cruelly treated, our Heavenly Father sent him to earth. He sent Jesus because he loves us. And Jesus loves us so much that he wanted to come. They both wanted every one of us to have the chance to go back and live with them. Is it any wonder that the angels sang for joy over this miracle of love, the gift of the Savior’s birth?

Sing “Silent Night” (Hymns,no. 204).

Read Matthew 19:13–14.

Have a narrator read or discuss the following: When Jesus grew up, he spent his time teaching the people how to live and how to be happy. He preached the gospel, healed the sick, and blessed the children. He loved everyone, and many of the people loved Jesus, too. He lived a life of service and provided us with a perfect example to follow. Never thinking of himself, he lived his life giving to others

Sing “I Think When I Read That Sweet Story” (Children’s Songbook, p. 56).

Read Luke 22:44.

Have a narrator read or discuss: Jesus knew that the time had come for him to suffer for our sins and die. He gathered his Apostles around him for the Passover feast, which was to be his last supper with them. There he taught them about the sacrament so that they would remember him and what he was about to do for them. He said something very important to them, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you” (John 13:34). Later that same night, he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, and there he suffered for our sins to show his great love for all of us.

Sing “Love One Another” (included in this lesson; Hymns,no. 308; Children’s Songbook, p. 136).

Read John 19:17–18.

Have a narrator read or discuss: On Friday, after a long night of illegal trials, Jesus was sentenced to death. He was beaten and laughed at and spit upon. Then he was hung on a cross, with nails piercing his hands and feet, and left to die. Still, he never stopped loving. He forgave those who were putting him to death. While he hung there, darkness covered the earth, for men were murdering their Creator.

Sing “There Is a Green Hill” (Hymns,no. 194).

Read Matthew 27:57–60.

Have a narrator read or discuss: Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb on Friday evening, for Saturday was the Sabbath and burying people on that day was not allowed. Some women wanted to put special ointments on Jesus’ body to prepare it for burial, but they didn’t have time, so they planned to come back as soon as the Sabbath was over to finish preparing his body. The Sabbath was a long, sad day. Jesus was dead, and his followers could only wait and weep and think about him.

Sing “To Think about Jesus” (Children’s Songbook, p. 71).

Read Luke 24:1–9.

Have a narrator read or discuss: The great rock was rolled away, and an angel declared that Jesus had risen. Mary Magdalene was the first to see him and she told his Apostles, but they did not believe her. Soon he appeared to others.

Then, as the Apostles were gathered together, “Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

“But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.

“And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?

“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” (Luke 24:36–39.)

At last they believed, though they were filled with wonder and joy. Jesus had risen from the dead and was with them again.

Although the events of the first Easter happened almost two thousand years ago, the story of Jesus does not end there. Still he lives, and still he loves us. He has again set up his Church on the earth so that we can have the blessings of the gospel. And that is the miracle of Easter. Jesus the Christ has triumphed over sin and death. He lives.

Sing “Jesus Has Risen” (Children’s Songbook, p. 70).

Bear your own testimony to your family that Jesus lives today, that he is directing the prophet and guiding his Church. Allow each member of your family to express his feelings and appreciation for the Savior and the Atonement at this time.

Sing “He Is Risen” (Hymns,no. 199).

Close with a prayer.

Of course I will need to modify it a bit to work with my little queen of wiggles. I encourage you to start a Christ-centered Easter tradition in your home this year.

Happy Teaching!

A Great Site for Free Bible/ Book of Mormon Coloring Pages

I just stumbled across this site and I had to share it! I was searching for some coloring pages for my daughter on scripture stories when I came to the site LDSFamilyFun.com. You have to join this free site before you can download the files- but it just takes a sec and then you can download tons of files! There are activity page booklets (about 40 pages for each topic) on the following:

Book of Mormon:

Abinadi

Helaman

Samuel the Lamanite

Nephi

Jesus Christ

Mormon

Moroni

Joseph Smith

plus more!

Old Testament:

Abraham

Elijah

Moses

Joseph

David & Goliath

Samuel

Ruth

Esther
and more!
New Testament:
He is risen!
Lazurus
The Good Samaratan
Lord's prayer
Miracles of Jesus
Parables of Jesus
John the Baptist
The Kingdom of Heaven
and more!!

This site also includes activity booklets for George Washington, Alexander Graham Bell, Abraham Lincoln, Marco Polo, Galileo, Helen Keller, and more!

These booklets are supposed to be used in connection with videos that you can purchase. . . but they are pretty pricey. I would love to get them for my daughter but for now we will just enjoy the coloring pages! And there are activities in these booklets for older kids, too. . . take a look!

Happy Teaching!