Preschool Weekly Wrap Up- Letter H

Our focus letter this week was the letter H.  Since it was just before Thanksgiving we learned all about harvest time.

Hunter did a cutting and sorting paper from Homeschool Creations.

 Harper joins us every time she sees an art project being done.  We stamped Legos into paint and used them to create a fun looking design.

Hunter working on his art project- making Indian Corn.

The completed Indian Corn.

Another activity we did was to cut open a gourd to see what was inside.  Then we used them as stamps.

Since it was Thanksgiving time we made this cute craft of the Mayflower.

We actually also did several letter H activities, but apparently I never took any pictures of them.  Oops!

Preschool Weekly Wrap Up- Letter T

 We always start off each week doing one of these letter dot pages for our focus letter of the week.  Hunter loves doing these and it is always the first activity we do after I introduce the letter.

Since it happened to be Thanksgiving time when he studied the letter T, we played a memory/matching game with turkeys and other Thanksgiving related pictures.

Hunter colored the turkeys different colors based on the color words.

He cut out numbers and glued them on to the picture with that number of items.

(Thanksgiving printables are from Over the Big Moon and Confessions of a Homeschooler.)

Hunter stamped turquoise triangles onto the letter T.

Table toys are one of his favorite activities!

Harper likes to do whatever Hunter is doing.

Hunter made this cute turkey craft.

He loved this turkey with feathers that spelled his name.

Another fun week of preschool at Our Crafts N Things!

Home School in the Woods Review

Hailey has been studying United States history this year and we have both had a lot of fun and learned so much.  With the presidential election coming up I knew I wanted to add some information about the election to our studies.  I was so excited when we were given the chance to review HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections from Home School in the Woods.  We have used Home School in the Woods before and really enjoy their products, so I was super excited to get started!!

The U.S. Elections lap-pak will take you and your child through the election process.  You start out by learning the definition of election and move on to understanding the different kinds of government that there are.  Some of the other topics covered include:

• The Three Branches of Government
• Suffrage
• Caucuses and Primaries
• The Presidential Campaign
• Election Day
• The Electoral College
• Inauguration Day

as well as many other topics that pertain to the election.

There is a 24 page booklet that you print for your child that covers the lessons.  You will also receive the lessons on audio, so you can just listen to the lessons rather than read them.  Along with the booklet, there are 21 different lapbook projects to be completed.  These hands-on activities really help your child to remember what was learned in the lesson.  You will also receive very detailed written directions as well as pictures to show you how each activity is put together.  I really appreciate the visual of how to put each project together since I need to see it in order to understand what I am supposed to do.

The U.S. Elections lap-pak is for children in grades 3-8, but it could certainly be used with older children, as I have also learned a great deal from the projects we have created.  When you purchase the lap-pak you can choose between a downloadable version or a CD.  Either way, you will be printing all of the materials, so keep that in mind.

So, here is how we have been using HISTORY Through the Ages Hands-on History Lap-Pak: U.S. Elections:

I started out by printing all of the project directions for myself.  Then I printed the first several lessons as well as the booklet.  You will need a variety of colored and white paper as well as colored and white cardstock to print the lapbook projects on.  We are putting the lapbook together as we complete the activities, but you can also store all of your work, until you have finished it all, and then put the lapbook together at the end.

Each day that we do one of the lessons we read the section in the booklet about our topic for the day.  Hailey did some of the reading, but for a 4th grader I found I had to stop her often to explain what she was reading.  So, for us it works best for me to do the reading so I can pause and make sure she understands what we are talking about.  Then, for each lesson there is a lapbook project to complete.  Usually Hailey will work on coloring it or cutting things out while I read.

Here is a sampling of the some of the activities Hailey has worked on:

We learned about the American Experiment which explained how the U.S. government was formed.  It took ideas from the Greeks, Romans, and English, and used those ideas to create a new kind of government.

Hailey learned about the different people we vote for- the president, vice president, senators, and representatives.  This project has a wheel that turns and for each elected office the requirements for the person running are explained.

Hailey learned about the three branches of government- legislative, executive, and judicial.  She learned what each branch is responsible for.

Another lesson was about how the candidates are chosen and we learned how caucuses and primaries work.  It is really neat to be working on all of this and learning about how all of the election process works, while we are seeing things happen in real time with the election.

We have not finished the lapbook yet as we are only about half way through the projects.  Here are some pictures of what the lapbook looks like so far:

Cover

Inside

Inside with the 2 side flaps open

Inside, under one of the flaps.

Here are some pictures of what the finished lapbook will look like, just to give you an idea of all of the amazing projects that are included:

We have enjoyed working on this election lapbook so much!  I love the hands-on activities and feel that we just learn better that way.  It’s great to read the information, but when you then make a fun project to go along with what you are reading it is much easier to remember what you have learned.  One day when Rich came home from work he asked Hailey what she had learned about during school.  She got her election lapbook out and proudly showed him what she had done so far.  She was able to explain everything she had worked on, which is exactly what I want her to be able to do.

Hailey’s opinion of the U.S. Election lap-pak– “It was a lot of fun to make all the projects.  I liked being able to color and make things about what I was learning.”

I love, love, love the hands-on materials made by Home School in the Woods and I would highly recommend this U.S. Elections lap-pak as a great way to teach your children how the election process works.

For more information about Home School in the Woods, check out them out on social media:

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Preschool Weekly Wrap Up- Letter P

Back in October Hunter learned all about the letter P and pumpkins.  Since it’s almost Valentine’s Day I thought it was the perfect time to finally get it posted haha

He painted a plate and then added some shapes to make a pumpkin face.  Apparently his pumpkin in sad.

This little cutie loves to be a part of our homeschool day 🙂  She likes to sit on the table to make sure she is the center of attention.

We worked on a pumpkin life cycle activity.

Hunter’s finished pumpkin life cycle.

We sang a fun song about 5 little pumpkins sitting on the fence.

As we sang the song Hunter took the pumpkins off and counted to see how many were left.

Hunter glued pennies onto the letter P.

I had some pumpkin number cards and I called the numbers while Hunter jumped off the couch onto the number I called.

Another pumpkin activity

Adding some pieces to show what is inside the pumpkin.

Hunter’s finished pumpkin to show the different parts of the pumpkin.

(Printables from Pumpkin Patch Palooza)

It was another fun week of preschool!