Polar Wrap-Up

Today, we made an igloo to finish off our Polar Unit!!  (We actually started it the other day, but someone was a little careless & bumped it with his elbow!! :(  We ran out of sugar cubes, so our igloo didn't get a roof, but no biggie!!  (We used a 1 lb. box of sugar cubes, that I found at Wal-Mart for about $1.50.)  We stopped 1/2 way while building, so that the bottom layers could harden - a good idea!!  This isn't the prettiest igloo, but it was fun to do together & he knew what it was. . . . so that's what matters!!  ;)  If you google "sugar cube igloo", you can see some cute ones!!!

Igloo "mortar" recipe:
* 3 c. powdered sugar
* 2 egg whites

Mix well.  If stopping 1/2 way during project, make sure to store in an air-tight container!

Hunter helped me make the "mortar" for the igloo!!











What a cheesy smile!!!  :)













We simply added pictures of polar animals around the igloo - would have been super cute with plastic animals, but didn't have any!!  :(

** If by chance, you're wondering why our "themes" are kind of random - - it's because I let Hunter pick them & if he doesn't know, then I just pick something fun!!!  ;)  We try to tie themes together throughout our randomness, but sometimes it just doesn't work!!  :)

Polar Graphing

Continuing along with our graphing, we talked about Arctic/Polar animals today & did some Polar graphing!!  I found a fun Polar Roll & Graph activity over HERE so we printed it out & put it to work!  :)  (I printed it in black & white & since the pictures were so light, some parts didn't print and I had to draw them in!)  :(  We were only going to graph 10 rolls, but being that Hunter loved this, we went to 20!!   

We also looked at some Arctic animals online - some of his favorites were: Arctic hare, Arctic fox & the polar bear!  Next week, we plan to make an igloo!!! :)

Color Mixing & Graphing

What a fun day!!  We talked about mixing primary colors today!  First, we started with a simple sheet about mixing colors (found it HERE a few years ago) - just using crayons but not actually mixing. 

Then, I divided a piece of white construction paper into 9 squares.  Using red, yellow & blue (and adding a little black, white & brown), I just put a few drops of each onto the squares, and we came up with new colors!!  Hunter loved this!! :)

Next, we talked about graphing!!  What a better way to learn about graphing, than by using CANDY!!!  M&M's to be exact!!  ;)  I've had this M&M graphing sheet forever (sorry, don't know where it came from - but could easily be created on your own!!), and thought Hunter would enjoy it!!  Of course, he did!!!













Bummed that I forgot to take a picture with all the M&M's on the paper, but you can get the idea by his little "circles"!!  ;)

Counting Fun!

Yes - it has been awhile, once again!!  :(  We're doing fun stuff, just not always posting it!!

Our focus lately, is counting to 20.  Today, we used muffin tins & beads!!  This is what we used:
* 1 - 12-cup muffin tin
* 1 - 6-cup muffin tin
* 2 mini plastic cups
* 20 circles (cut to fit inside muffin tins), numbered 1-20
* assorted beads/small objects

Super simple, no instructions needed!!  Just count objects & put beads into the right cups!! :) When we finished, Hunter wanted to make a necklace & spent quality time making his pattern!!  :) (As you can tell, my muffin tin has been used quite often!!  ;)
 (***** Don't mind the random picture placement - - I'm REALLY NOT enjoying the new picture upload process on blogger!!!) :(

Way Too Long!!!

I figured that since the last time I updated the blog was around Thanksgiving, I better update!!! :) We were so busy with Christmas, that we kind of had a really long break - - like about a month or so!! (Kinda one of the perks with only having one student!!) ;)

Well, we started back up last week & just kind of caught up on a few letters that we skipped. This week, we started an Ocean Theme! Hunter has been really interested in the ocean lately, so he picked the theme!! Today, we found some ocean flashcards at Target, (in the $1 section!!), and they're actually quite cool!! Just after Christmas, we went to one of our favorite stores - Half-Priced Books - (off Power & Southern), and we found a really cool book about oceans!! We mostly talked about ocean animals today, and made a cute octopus out of a lunch sack!! :) Our next topic will be ocean habitats!!

Gobble, Gobble!!

We talked about Thanksgiving today! Discussed pilgrims & Indians and made a super-simple headband & puppet!! :) (Of course, Ladybug just had to have a "hat" like Hunter's! :)

We're Still Here!!

WOW!! I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post!!! :( Our lives have been so busy lately, that blogging has been taking a back seat!! :( However, things are kinda slowing down for a while, so hopefully I can keep up!!!

We've been fitting preschool in here & there, trying to stay on top of things! We've kinda been reviewing letters & sounds lately, so not too many fun themes! :( We are doing a little Community Helper unit that Hunter is loving!! He's been waiting forever to talk about police!!! :)

While reviewing, we made some counting manipulatives, using bottle tops!! (After I entered my reward codes, of course!! ;) Super simple - just the way I like it!! I used 20 bottle tops, labels, markers & scissors (you could use a circle punch if you have one big enough - mine was too small :( My circles that I cut out were NOT neat by any means, so don't laugh!! Hunter thinks they're cool, so that's what matters!!! ;)

p.s. The red word strip chart - - $1 @ Target before school started!!!!