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

H is for…Herb Twopence fairy and St. Helena.  After reading Serendipity’s Flower Fairy story, Joseph and William colored pictures of the Herb Twopence 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 Helena in our Alphabet of Catholic Saints.  Joseph did some copywork.  We also used the picture from the book to practice the letter H formation. 

H is for…the letter H.  We practiced letter formation using the Cuisenaire Rods Alphabet Book, Do A Dot, Salt Dough letters, and Pin Punch letters.   We also painted our salt dough letters this week…the vowels are yellow; the consonants are green.

H is for…Honeybees.  It just so happened that while we were studying honeybees, the Texas Beekeeper’s Association had their annual convention.  Joseph and William were happy to attend, along with their friends Belle and Joe.  They learned quite a bit about honeybees and even got to make their own beeswax candles!

H is for…helicopters, hot dogs, hats, and handicap signs.  We started show and tell this week.  The kids love it!  On the first day of a new letter they each choose an item or two to bring to our circle time and they tell all about it.   

H is for…Helen Keller.  We read about Helen Keller…a lot.  Over and over again.  Their favorite book was Helen Keller: The World in her Heart by Lesa Cline-Ransome.  I also had an old book with braille in it and they found that pretty impressive.

H is for…helpful.  We’re still using these great coloring pages and we’re including one each week along with a virtue story.  This was such a great opportunity to have some eager little helpers.  Washing the walls?  Yep, they were even eager to help with that.

H is for…hula hoops, hopscotch, and hula toss.    

H is for…hair.  We studied a picture of George Washington’s hair.  Joseph and William both did a narration and illustration. 

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

History (Helen Keller): Helen Keller: The World in her Heart

Science (honeybees): The Life and Times of the Honeybee; The Honeybee and the Robber; In the Trees, Honeybees; The Honey Makers

Favorite H Books:  Harry the Dirty Dog; Hermie; How the Grinch Stole Christmas; A House is a House for me; Hush Little Beachcomber; Horton Hatches the Egg; How Do You Say it Today Jesse Bear?; A Hug Goes Around; Horton Hears a Who; Henry and Mudge; Harold and the Purple Crayon; Hop on Pop; Harriet You’ll Drive Me Wild; How Many Feet in the Bed?; A Hole is to Dig; Harold’s ABC

G is for…Gorse fairy and St. George.  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 George in our Alphabet of Catholic Saints.  Joseph did some copywork.  We also used the picture from the book to practice the letter G formation. 

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

G is for…the letter g and the sounds it makes.  For phonics review (and phonics introduction for William!) and for our word box, we focused on the hard and soft sounds of g.  We added g words to our word boxes and then played hard g/soft g many, many times throughout the week.   

G is for…Geo Puzzles.  These are such great puzzles!  Joseph absolutely loves doing them and William is an eager helper. 

 G is for…God, Guardian angel, and Glory Be.  We read about God in our God’s Alphabet book and Joseph did some copywork.  We talked about making our way to Heaven so that someday we could see God (William has decided that he’d like to have a cookie party with God in Heaven when he gets there…I told him anything is possible and I’m sure that God would be pleased to join him in a cookie party).  We talked quite a bit this week about guardian angels.  We read about Wupsy in our Catholic Treasure Box books.  I found a wooden angel puppet that Joseph colored as his guardian angel.  We also prayed the Guardian Angel prayer.  G is also for Glory Be, which we practiced again and again this week.  William has the beginning down pat and he kind of mumbles his way through the latter half.  We’ll keep practicing. 

G is for…George Washington.  We read George Washington and the General’s Dog and Joseph did an illustration and narration.    

G is for…garden.  Daxson built us a beautiful vegetable box and we set to work planting seeds in it.  Since it’s a little late for planting, we didn’t have many choices.  We filled our box with radishes, spinach, carrots, turnips and beets.  We’re anxious to see how well it all grows!  We also started on a great garden lapbook, but ran out of time to complete everything.  I set it all aside for now and if time permits, we’ll finish it later in the year. 

G is for…gratitude.  We’re still using these great coloring pages and we’re including one each week along with a virtue story.  We read Gift of Gracias, which went along quite well with the theme of Gratitude.   

G is for…game.  We studied François Hubert Drouais’ Boy with a House of Cards.  Joseph did a narration and illustration.

G is for…green beans.  For a practical life exercise, Joseph snapped green beans. 

G is for…grapefruits.  Joseph and William really enjoyed eating grapefruits.  They scooped out the flesh, then used a straw to suck out the juice.  After they were done, I scraped the “grapefruit bowls” well and we set them out to dry.  Once they were dry, we filled them with bird seed and nestled them in our trees.  The birds emptied the feeders before the day’s end.

G is for…Go to Austin to see Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Gary and while there, feed the goats. 

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

History (George Washington): George Washington and the General’s Dog

Science (garden): Planting a Rainbow; Flower Garden; Tools for the Garden; All Kinds of Gardens; The Tiny Seed

Favorite G Books:  The Greedy Python; The Three Billy Goats Gruff; Go and Hush the Baby; The Growing Story; Grandfather’s Journey; The Glorious Flight; Goodnight Moon; Goldilocks and the Three Bears; The Gingerbread Man; The Gingerbread Boy; The Gingerbread Girl; Guess Who’s Coming Jesse Bear; Game Time; Go Dog Go!; The Giving Tree; Good Morning Chick; The Grouchy Ladybug