Tot School

Hunter is 18.5 months old.

It’s been a few weeks since I have done a Tot School post.  We have been so busy enjoying summer that I just haven’t had time.  So, here are some of the things we have been working on over the last few weeks.

For the 4th of July we made some cute pictures, using glue to create stars that resisted water colors when the kids painted.  See the full post here.

Hailey and Hunter worked really hard and made some utensil holders that we used at our July 4th party- they turned out super cute and you can see them here.

This was my favorite 4th of July activity- we made candle jars and they turned out so cute.  You can see the finished project here.  They were perfect for decorations at our July 4th party.

This week we started an ocean/beach theme and here Hunter is working on a spiny sea creature.

You can see the finished sea creatures here.

Hunter also worked on making a super cute Rainbow Fish- you can see the whole post here.

The color Hunter is learning is purple, so he made a purple suncatcher to add to our collection.

Hunter finding the purple fish he made.

Stop by 1+1+1=1 to see what the other tots were up to this week.

Be sure to like me on Facebook and follow me on Pinterest so you don’t miss any of our fun activities.

Bee Crafty Kids- Rainbow Fish

I am super excited to be co-hosting the Bee Crafty Kids link up!!  Every Friday I will be posting a fun craft that you can do with your kids.  I will be co-hosting with 3 other wonderful ladies.  Since it’s our first week to host together I wanted to introduce you to the other Bee Crafty Kids co-hosts:

Dusty is a stay at home mother of three who is expecting her fourth child this summer! She has been married to the love of her life for nearly 8 years and is trying to figure out her own path while devouring chocolate and leaning on the Lord. She blogs about homeschooling, home making, motherhood, and faith at To the Moon and Back. You can also keep up with her on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter.

Jolene is a homeschooling blogger who hails from Johannesburg, South Africa. She is a wife and mom of 4 children aged 11, 6, 4 and 22 months. Her family are all avid readers and love spending time together reading, watching movies and spending time in the outdoors. You can read her blog at Monsters Ed Homeschool Academy and follow along as she homeschools on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Selena is a former tax accountant-turned-homeschooling mom of four. She is a homeschooling graduate herself who was able to go on to college and begin a career in finance, so she knows from experience that homeschooling works! The family practices eclectic homeschooling and both Selena and her husband Jay weave in aspects from all of the major homeschooling methods to create a well-rounded, relaxed learning style for their children. Selena shares her family’s homeschooling adventures every weekday at Look! We’re Learning! Readers can keep up with the family by subscribing via email or by following Look! We’re Learning! on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

Now, on to the fun craft I have planned to share with you!!

Here at Our Crafts ~N~ Things we are learning all about the ocean and the beach throughout the month of July.

Today our craft is this super cute and simple rainbow fish.

Here is what you’ll need: 2 paper plates, 3 coffee filters, water colors, wiggly eyes, craft stick, scissors, hole punch, glue and yarn.

Line up the 2 paper plates like this.

Cut out a small triangle shape while holding the plates together, which will be the mouth.

Have each child use water colors to paint 2 paper plates.

Each child will need to paint 3 coffee filters using water colors.

Once everything is dry, fold the coffee filters into fourths.

Cut a slit around the middle of each plate, behind the mouth for gills.  Insert the pointed end of the coffee filter into the gill.

Turn the plate over and glue the pointed end of the filter onto the back of the plate.
Repeat using the other plate and coffee filter.

Next glue the tip of the 3rd coffee filter onto the back of your plate, this will be the tail.

Add a wiggly eye to each plate.

Glue the paper plates together.

Punch 2 holes into the top of the fish and thread the yarn through.

Tie the other ends of the yarn to the craft stick.

The completed rainbow fish.

Have fun playing with your rainbow fish.  They can be used as puppets 🙂

Now it’s your turn!  Link up and share what you and your kids have been busy making.  Grab a button so others can join in the crafting fun too 🙂

<div align="center"><a href="http://ourcraftsnthings.com/" title="Our Crafts N Things"><img src="http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/q594/dustybug83/BeeCraftyKids3_zps44074ad6.png" alt="Our Crafts N Things" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Rules are simple:

~Enter the direct link to one or more of your own posts that showcase a craft or hands on activity for children.

~A link back with the above button is appreciated, but not required

~Try to at least comment on one or two of the other blogs that took the time to share and join!

Spiny Sea Creature Craft

We are going to be spending this month learning all about the ocean and the beach.

Today we made spiny sea creatures.

Here is what you’ll need: styrofoam balls, paint, something to paint with, paper plates, glue, toothpicks and wiggly eyes.

I put the paint on the paper plates.  When Hunter sat down he picked up his ball and started rolling it in the paint.  I hadn’t thought of doing it that way, but it actually made sense to try it that way.

When Hunter saw Hailey using the foam brush he started using one too.

Hailey painting her sea creature.

I stuck 4 toothpicks in the bottom of the balls so they could stay propped up to dry.

Once the paint is dry, add some eyes.

Then add as many or as few toothpicks as you want.

Spiny Sea Creatures

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2013 – 2014 Curriculum

Now that I have made the official announcement that we will be homeschooling this year, I thought I would share our curriculum choices with everyone.

Our core curriculum will be Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory from Heart of Dakota, with a few extras added in, which I am using for second grade.

My teacher’s guide 🙂  I love how everything is so nicely organized for me!!

Language Arts: (we will do this daily)

We are using Heart of Dakota for LA.  I will use their spelling lists (list 2) as well as some of the language arts activities.  We are also using the Emerging Readers Set from Heart of Dakota, where Hailey will read the books in the picture and then answer various questions about the books.  We are using Rod and Staff 2 for grammar.  For handwriting we are using Cheerful Cursive, since Hailey has been asking to learn cursive.

These are story time books from Heart of Dakota that I will read to Hailey.

Math: (we will do this daily)

It took me a really long time to decide what math curriculum to pick.  I finally decided to go with Singapore.  This summer we are going over 1B since Singapore tends to be ahead of where public schools are.  So far it’s going very quickly because it’s all review, but I know when we get to the end of the workbook it will slow down.  When school starts in the fall we will do 2A and 2B.

History: (we will do this daily)

We are using Heart of Dakota for history and will use the books pictured above as our text.

Geography: (we will do this 2 times per week)

We are going to use Road Trip USA for learning about the 50 states.  We are only going to cover 1 state per week to start.  Depending on how it goes we might move up to 2 states per week as the curriculum is written, but we’re going to see how it goes first.  In addition we are also using Highlights Which Way USA magazines and/or Little Passports US edition.  Right now are getting both subscriptions because I can’t decide which one I like better hahaha

Science: (we will do this 2 times per week)

We are going to use Heart of Dakota for our science curriculum and the book pictured above will be our text.  It seems pretty light to me, so we are planning to add in some unit studies based on Hailey’s interests.

Bible: (we will do this daily)

We are going to use Heart of Dakota for our Bible curriculum.  In addition to that we are going to read through Bible stories and do activities based on the stories.  We are also going to use the What’s in the Bible DVDs, although right now we only have the first DVD and I want to make sure we like them before I buy anymore.

My Planner:

I love planners and writing my plans down 🙂  It took me forever to decide which planner to buy and so far I’m glad I decided on this one.  It might not be totally necessary to have a planner when using Heart of Dakota, but the plans are written based on a 5 day week.  We are going to go to a homeschool co-op once per week (this will be our art, music and physical education) and will be gone for most of the day on our co-op days, so I am trying to re-write the plans to fit things into a 4 day week.

So, that is my plan so far.  We will see how it goes and adjust as needed 🙂

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