Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Address and Telephone Number Songs

Tuesday
September 22, 2009

Meara is learning her phone number and address. She can remember the street name, city and state but not our street number. I found two great songs she has been enjoying help her memorize her information.

My Name and Address
(Tune: Rain, Rain, Go Away)

My name is [child's name],
This is my address, [address],
[city], [state].


Telephone Number Song
(Tune: London Bridge)

[123-4567], ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring.
[123-4567] is [child's name] telephone number!


We LOVE to sing this one too!

Saturday, September 19, 2009

The Old Schoolhouse Spiffed Up Classroom Contest

*UPDATE*
We won the contest! Thanks to The Old Schoolhouse magazine for all their effort that went into making this contest happen and to the sponsors who donated the prizes! Thanks to everyone who voted for us...we enjoyed everyone's kind and generous comments!

Saturday
September 19, 2009


I am soooooo EXITED to be one of five finalists with some other very creative people in The Old Schoolhouse Spiffed Up Classroom contest on facebook. We truly feel blessed to have an unused room in our house that we transformed into Meara's classroom. Thanks to ALL of you who voted for me so far!!! ;-)



The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
Each photo has been tagged with the name of the semifinalist. Please go back and look at all of the photos belonging to each semifinalist before you decide on your favorite. I have only included one photo from each person here. To vote, choose your f...avorite schoolroom and click the "like" button below the photo. On Sunday at midnight EST, we will tally the votes and award the winner with a $100 gift card for the Container Store.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The Kissing Hand and more apples

Wednesday
September 9, 2009

We are continuing with our apple theme but this week we added The Kissing Hand book. Here are some of the things we did today.


We talk about money everyday and recite these poems.

The Penny
Penny, penny, easily spent Copper brown and worth one cent.

The Nickel
Nickel, nickel, thick and fat, You're worth five cents. I know that.

The Dime
Dime, dime, little and thin, I remember, You're worth ten.

The Quarter
Quarter, quarter big and bold, You're worth twenty-five I am told!




You can find this apple stamp book here.



We are reading The Kissing Hand this week. These are some of the activities we have done with it.
I found these really cute raccoon Uno cards to print out yourself. You can find them here.


In the book the mom kisses Chester's hand and in turn he kisses hers. We decided to depict that with our hands.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Letter A Apple Art

Thursday
September 3, 2009

Continuing with our apple theme Meara made a finger painted apple. It works so much better on the glossy paper plates! She used the Crayola finger paint. I was surprised that it stained her hands. She was a little embarrassed when we went out later in the day with her bright red palms...after 24 hours of hand washing it has finally worn off. I don't remember it doing that when I was a kid. She had so much FUN squishing the paint around and using the foam letter sponge. I LOVE watching her face when she is being creative.


Making Applesauce

Wednesday
September 2, 2009

For two weeks our theme is apples. For science this week we decided to make applesauce. Since Meara LOVES to cook this was exciting for us!


When it was all finished the taste test proved that it was delicious. Although, it wasn't like Mott's applesauce in texture or color but I think it was more tasty!
Crock Pot Applesauce
Take ten large apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks. Put them in a crock pot along with 1/2 cup water, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 3/4 cup sugar. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 8-10 hours. Take a potatoe masher and mash. This can be eaten warm or cold. Refrigerate the remaining sauce.




Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Our Learning Room

Tuesday
September 1, 2009

This is our "learning room". I LOVE that someone else called their room that so we have adopted that term. We have two stuffed handmade planets and a HUGE space shuttle hanging from the ceiling. The hutch we inherited has made accommodating storage space for us. We also turned our bookcases on their sides to make everything more accessible for our kindgergartner. I think it's really important to have at least one real piece of art, we chose a piece my cousin painted to give us inspiration(it reminds us of home).



I found this chain with hooks at a yard sale. I thought it would be perfect for hanging our puppets. We are using an old microwave cart for storage also. It's great for storing the water tub and toys where Meara can easily take them out and put them away with little assistance. We also have our FAVORITE thing sitting on top...my old record player and records from when I was her age.



Our art display area (piece of burlap rope tied to the banister) and storage. The basket houses our musical insturments and the green and yellow containers hold our legos.



Our morning routine wall with the reminder of love...our family tree with everyone's handprints.