I is for…Iris fairy and St. Ignatius.  After reading Serendipity’s Flower Fairy story, Joseph and William colored pictures of the Gorse fairy.  Joseph also did some copywork from the poem that is in the Flower Fairy book (which he did while listening to the Flower Fairy CD).  Then we looked up the actual wildflower in our field guide.  We read about Saint Ignatius in our Alphabet of Catholic Saints.  Joseph did some copywork.  We also used the picture from the book to practice the letter I formation. 

I is for…the letter I.  We practiced letter formation using the Cuisenaire Rods Alphabet Book, Do A Dot, Salt Dough letters, and Pin Punch letters. 

I is for…the letter i and the sounds it makes.  For phonics review (and phonics introduction for William!) and for our word box, we focused on words with the short i sound.   

I is for…Indians.  We did lots of reading about the Indians in relation to the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving (“I” week occurred just before Thanksgiving).  I cut the sleeves off of a couple of plain white t-shirts to make vests for Joseph and William.  We then used black tea to dye them.  After they dried, the kids used traditional Indian symbols to decorate their vests.  They also chose their own Indian names. 

I is for…igloos.  We made igloos from paper bowls.  We turned them upside down, cut out a door, and glued cotton balls to them.  Then Joseph and William got out their Arctic animals and engaged in some imaginative play.

I is for…ice cream.  Actually it’s for “Better Than Ice Cream” since we’re not doing a whole lot of dairy around here.  The name might be a little exaggeration (I mean, really, can anything be better than real ice cream?) but it was delicious and the fact that we added absolutely no sugar made me a very happy mommy.  You can find the recipe here. 

I is for…I’m sorry.  We’re still using these great coloring pages and we’re including one each week along with a virtue story.

I is for…Insects.  After lots of reading about insects, we visited the Botanical Gardens for some up-close encounters with insects.

     

In our book baskets this week (I’m choosing one book from each basket to have Joseph do a narration and illustration of):

History (Indians): Knots on a Counting Rope; The First Thanksgiving; Thanksgiving Day; Squanto’s Journey

Science (insects): The Life and Times of the Ant; Are you an Ant?; Are you a Ladybug?; From Caterpillar to Butterfly

Favorite I Books:  I am an Artist; It’s About Time Jesse Bear; Is Your Mama a Llama?; I Knew You Could; I Am Not Going to Get Up Today; I Spy books; It’s Mine; If Jesus Came to My House; If You Give…; I Was So Mad; I Know It’s Autumn; I Like to Be Little; Inside a Barn in the Country