Thursday, February 19, 2015

Snow Days By: Siobhan

We have gotten a LOT of snow these past couple of months (about forty inches!) Snow days are just like ordinary days of school around here, but the kids have had a lot of fun playing in the snow. I  brought my camera out the other day to snap some pictures...
Lux LOVES the snow!
Our cousin, Elim has been coming over to do school three days a week at our house. We really enjoy having her here, and Lux follows her around constantly and calls her 'Nama' (Grandma :) )
The end of our driveway...
It was in the high twenties, and Tert was sure he didn't have to wear a coat. It felt amazing after the highs of five degrees :-/

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Happy Groundhog's Day 2015!




Happy Groundhog Day!

It's Groundhog Day 2015, and I thought that I would share some pictures of some crafts and activities that I did with Tert (1st Grade) and Filia (Preschool) today. 

First, we went online and checked out the video put up by the Washington Post to see if Punxsutawney Phil (the world's most famous groundhog!) saw his shadow.

(Turns out, Phil did see his shadow, which means that we have to settle in for another 6 weeks of winter. This didn't come as much of a surprise, as we've gotten over two feet of snow in less than a week. :-/)

We looked at some fast facts on Phil. It turns out he is spoiled rotten with a heated burrow and is fed dog food and ice cream before his big day.
I went online and found some great preschool activities for the kids. Enchanted Learning has some awesome printables. I put links throughout this post to the worksheets I used, but if you google 'Groundhog Day Preschool Worksheets' you will find a lot more.

Happy Groundhog Day! coloring pages (Click here to print it out)

I found this Winter/Spring worksheet on a Kindergarten blog. (Click here to print it out.)

 Next we did an adorable Groundhog Day Craft. It was very simple but Tert and Filia loved it! This blog has a better tutorial, but hopefully mine will help you get an idea of how it works...

2 Blue Construction Paper Circles
1 Green Construction Paper Circle, cut in half
2 Groundhogs (Click here for a groundhog template) and 1 groundhog shadow
1 glue stick
1 pair scissors
Cotton Balls
Crayons
Permanent Marker

Cut out your circles so that you have 2 blue circles and 2 green semicircles.  

(I forgot to get a picture of this part, but you also have take 1 of your blue circles and write on the top of it 'Spring is Coming Soon.' Then flip the bottom of it up and write 'Six More Weeks of Winter.' The picture above from the original tutorial might make better sense.)

 Glue your green semicircles onto your blue circles.

Your two blue/green circles should look like this. Next, take your Spring/Winter Circle and glue it to the circle with no writing.

Glue cotton balls to the sky to make clouds.

Decorate the Spring side. Glue one of your groundhogs onto the grass.

Now glue the Spring/Winter circle on top of the circle with no writing.

(I also added some tape so it would be extra secure)

Decorate the winter side with cotton balls. Glue the groundhog and its shadow onto it.

You're done!

 Spring is coming soon! :D

 Six more weeks of winter. :(

 Since we have to settle in for six more weeks of winter, we decided to settle in with some cups of hot cocoa. 

 Happy Groundhog's Day 2015!

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Valentine's Day Posts 2015

Valentine's Day 2015 Posts

 We have put up a lot of Valentine's Day Posts, and I wanted to put the links to them here. Click on the post title to go to that post. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Valentine's Day Poem By: Rus

Today is valentine's day
A time to love a time to play.

There are smooth chocolate hearts
a valentine for me
and so many people are full of glee.

People giving funds
to people sick or poor
and love, kindness, helping, bursting through the door.

gooey buns and chocolate
The oven filled with of odors
and people giving valentines are some of this days orders.


This day has a must be merry
and even people weary
will say the same thing as we.

We must be kind to others
even if they give no valentines
to us on this and all other days.

some may laugh and shout
and others may tease
but there is no reason to pout
this day we must be at ease.

Loving others is the rule
that we were given
and this day we must laugh and shout
as on thanksgiving.

This is one of the days
that God has given us
this day is no day to fuss.

Happy hearts
can be made
if we are kind and generous
and thank God for what he has given us

If we give the smallest gift
and with this love
this is what is what we are to do
we are to love.

This is what we are to do
to love and care
and give others a share
of what we have to give.

Some people might be greedy
but we must not
we are to thank any one
even if we are given a sock.

Happy, merry we must be
and thank God who gave the biggest gift.
He gave his only son.

We must thank God for giving us freedom
and that even though we did not deserve this gift at all
He made this earth this great big ball
for us!

O thankful we must be
that God has set us free!

By: Rus
4th Grade Age: 9

Heart Suncatcher Craft

 Heart Suncatcher Craft
Today we did another Valentine's Day craft with some friends. It was very simple but the kids really enjoyed it! 
 Supplies: Cardboard, Contact Paper, Ribbon, Tissue Paper Squares, Scissors
 The most time consuming part of this project is the first step: cutting hearts out of the cardboard. Mom bought some cardboard sheets.
 Place your cut out heart on a sheet of contact paper, sticky side up.
 Decorate the paper with tissue paper squares.
 Add another layer of contact paper, sticky side down.
 Punch a hole in the top of the heart. String some ribbon through, and you have your heart suncatcher!
Happy Valentine's Day!