My daughter loves arts and crafts far more than my son ever did. Since we can’t use flour in our concoctions (due to my son’s allergies), I have to make do with other ingredients. This recipe is so, so simple. And makes for so much (safe and edible!) fun for baby. However, this paint recipe won’t produce a picture you can keep. It won’t dry nicely to save in an album or binder, so just keep that in mind!
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All you need for this painting is yogurt and natural food coloring! (We use theIndia Tree Natural Food Coloring Brand – the colors aren’t as vibrant and the blue is a bit purple-ish, but I love that they are derived from vegetables!) Mix until you get your desired color.
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We have spent our time with volcanoes, vipers, violins, and velcro. We are ready to finish our Tot School up and move to bigger things (Preschool), so I am going to try to get W X Y and Z done in these next couple weeks!
Bible verse of the week:
Hide me under the shadow of Your wings. Psalm 141:2
We use the ABC bible verse songs from Songs for Saplings. These songs are so catchy, beautiful, not “children’s music annoying,” and I find myself singing and learning and memorizing the bible verses along with John. Carisa at 1plus1plus1equals1 has made coordinating ABC Bible Verses posters which have really helped with his memorization as well.
Letter of the week: Vv
We put up our bible verse, a Vv small poster from Tot School, a Vv sign from my Kindergarten teaching days, and these wonderfulMontessori sandpaper letters above John’s table. We put these up on the wall so he could feel the letter every morning and trace his fingers on the letter. Our bin has his printables in an envelope, all ready, along with his poetry books and bibles.
We also have on the wall: a poem for the week (this is one for Valentine’s Day as part of my 24 Preschool Chants {free printable}, vocabulary from Tot School, and an ABC Chart. I also included a mini Valentine’s book from The Measured Mom.
Book of the Week
This is such a sweet book about an independent little snake named Verdi.
Stations
“Stations” on the kitchen table have been working very well for John. Check out the Learning Stations at The Measured Mom which is where I got this idea. John loves this and we are doing it at least three times per letter now. I put five stations out at a time — and we only got a chance to do this once this week — since I’m trying to finish the alphabet soon!!
Stamping Vs on the volcano — then he loves stamping cows:) Making the letter V with my Lego Alphabet Cards {free printable}! Always loves using the Do-A-Dot markers. Writing the Vv with dry erase markers!I am not pushing handwriting at all — and when I do it will be easier to harder letters — right now we are just exploring. You can check out my post on pre-writing and uppercase letter writing here: {Early Literacy Stage 3!}This wonderful handwriting sheet is free fromThe Measured Mom. Wonderful tripod grip!
John is playing with Lego Duplos all day, every day. This is mathematical work! Here we are sorting Legos by color.
We made a volcano! I was looking through Michelle at Delightful Learning’s archives, I saw this wonderful volcano idea! We made a volcano from play dough — unfortunately it was a bit small — we did not have much play dough stored up — but the kids didn’t mind! We filled it with baking soda and dad explained to the kids about the chemical reaction — this was hilarious — he is always explaining {science, things of the world} away, he knows so much! {i love him.} Well, we also didn’t have any white vinegar, so we used apple cider and that worked just fine.
We also had lots of fun with Safe and Edible Water Beads – Check out Blog Me Mom for the details on how to make this.
We are making an alphabet book with uppercase letters. We are starting it now, but we’ll start the alphabet again after our Tot School ends with Z. I will save these and put them in a “book” — probably just with three pieces of yarn — for him to remember each letter! We are using printables from The Unlikely Homeschool.
It is simple — just decorate your letter with something related to that letter.
This week it is V for Velcro — we added these little velcro dots and moved a little “v” around the big “V”.
At 17 months, she’s not quite-still a baby, is she?! Sitting at her table with her tea cup :) I couldn’t not share this photo!
During our station times, May sits at the opposite end of the table and is happy to work with Do A Dot Markers! She gets so proud of herself! Her pages are from the wonderful ABeka Art Books. May loved these colorful fish bowl gems with the V — and she was actually putting them on the V in the right shape — this engaged her for quite a while!
Enjoy your little ones,
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I am creating a felt animal for my son for every letter of the alphabet in a new series: ABC Animals in Felt!
This week has been devoted to the letter V. I could have made a vulture, but since I don’t really like vultures and we already made a bird last week (U is for Umbrella Bird), I didn’t give John a choice :) A Great Horned Viper is super cool and a bit scary, but John says this is his favorite so far! (All boy.) He was excited about his felt viper!
All you need to make a Felt Great Horned Viper is:
felt: tan, brown, pink, lime green, black (or you can use paper!)
cotton balls
hot glue gun (or Elmer’s if you’re just using colored paper)
amazing Fiskar scissors (if you’re going to work with felt at all, you have to check these scissors out!)
** This craft uses a hot glue gun — please keep out of the reach of children — these are for adult use only!!
This is the only way this makes sense to me. I cut the picture I drew out (free printable at the end of this post!) into pieces. Then, I assemble all of my felt pieces — I cut two each of the two long snake bodies and head. Tip: I cut the bodies a bit wider than the printable suggests — this way you’ll be able to fit your cotton balls inside when you’re trying to hot-glue it together. I made a bunch of brown spots for the back of the snake, they don’t need to all be the same. I also cut some little lime green eyes and glued on a tiny black felt line on for his eyes. I glued the body together and then filled one side with cotton balls and carefully glued the back of the snake on top. I have found that it is easiest to have a fork handy to press the two sides together — this prevents burning your fingers….This felt project was definitely the most time-consuming, but it was worth it!
Here is the viper’s mouth. I glued the pink mouth between the two tan mouths and then glued it on top of the body. This was done by the seat of my pants, not super technical. I made four white rolls — two for horns on the top of his head and two for his big fangs inside his mouth — I simply rolled a little piece of white felt, hot-glue-gunned it and cut it until I felt the looked “right.” And now his horns are on his head! Scary looking! And he is done! A labor of love! My son couldn’t wait to play with him. My son absolutely loves his Great Horned Viper. And some play-time pics with his viper eating his little animals….
I made a template, and a coloring page, for you to make your own umbrella bird! I am not an artist, but I hope you find this helpful!
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If you’re looking for a wonderful book to read with this activity, the letter Vv book from AlphaTales is all about the Viper. I like that this book also talks about Valentine’s Day, which is another great V word still on the mind, though this is not the Great Horned Viper, I doubt that kids will be too upset by that :) Vera Viper’s Valentine!
Here they all are, on our floor, where they are often, all around the house. Oh well, they will be well-played with. We’ll see how long they hold up :)
Happy Crafting,
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I am broken. My body will never be the same. Even as I write this, four months after my arm breaking, I can’t help but shed tears. It’s just an arm. But I feel deformed. It won’t straighten. I look odd when standing up. It won’t bend near all the way. I can’t put my glasses on without contorting my wrist to try and do it by myself. I am making strides every day. And I am proud of myself for all my hard work… and pain.
And I write not to make you feel sorry for my little injury…. of course I didn’t lose my arm. And I didn’t lose a child, as my own mother did. I never want to seem as if I am comparing my injury to something much more serious or catastrophic or life-altering, or less serious for that matter, in anyone else’s life. But this is what I’m going through now. It helps immensely to write it down, and even to share it. Because this is good news.
All who are belingered and limping — the son of God came for you.” – my pastor, speaking about the hope of Christ
Jesus, being fully God, became fully man. His body became broken, not just on the cross, but by becoming a sinful, sick, imperfect human. He knows my longing to become whole again. He felt it when he was here on earth. And the amazing news is that He will make me new again. Jesus, who gave up all the glories of heaven, became a broken man and suffered a horrific Roman crucifixion, so that my body, my sin, my arm would one day be healed. He conquered the death of our humanity through His resurrection!
I dream of that day, when I arrive and see my Saviour face to face, and I will embrace my Him and all my loved ones that have passed before me — and my body will be new. I will become like Him. I will have a second birth because of His free grace.
Thank you, Jesus, for humbling yourself beyond recognition — so much so that your Father turned His face away — so that I may live, and be whole, again. Glories and praise to the one true King.
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. - 2 Corinthians 5:1-5
KinderBach is a wonderful online piano and music-learning program written and taught by Ms. Karri Gregor. I had the opportunity to review The KinderBach Online Piano Lesson Membership with Teacher Corner and I have been so impressed with how well it has held my three year old’s attention and has taught him important musical concepts. KinderBach is a leveled program (Levels 1 – 6 are currently available) that teaches early learners, mostly 3 to 7 year olds, how to begin playing the piano and understand basic musical concepts. My son is only three, so we worked through Level 1. But we are certainly excited to keep moving, as he is able.
I have been eager to teach music to my son for two reasons — he loves all things musical and I myself am “musical,” {I studied Voice Performance before becoming a kindergarten teacher :) } so I encourage music learning and listening in our home daily.
I was immediately impressed with Gregor’s enthusiasm in the KinderBach program — her fun attitude in the videos themselves, but also in the entirety of her work. She has written the program herself and you can tell it has been a labor of love! She also is a talented musician, singer, creator, and artist — she has drawn all of the little characters which help children to learn the musical concepts as she goes!
I love the introduction of simple musical concepts:
High and low sounds: Fun dancing and sing-a-long time with little Frisco the boy, as well as some interactive coloring pages are included. I like that these concepts continue to be repeated throughout Level 1 of the program.
Black and white keys:Sweet little Dodi the Donkey needs a home — her home fits perfectly on the two black keys. This concept is a little hilarious to me, but my son loves it! He has been talking about the two black keys and the three black keys ever since he started watching and listening about “Dodi’s home” — these sweet little ways of learning work!
Quarter notes: Children learn beats with homemade kitchen rhythm instruments, by walking with the very cute musical little pal Frisco, and by exposure to the actual quarter note itself. Children learn in so many different ways and she exudes great knowledge by expressing and teaching these concepts through many different means.
Teaching the fingers: I love that KinderBach teaches the fingers as “1, 2, 3, 4, 5″ — this is less confusing for a child than giving the fingers actual names (pointer, tall man, etc.) Right at the start, she introduces a 2-3 finger position for the black keys (i.e. Dodi the Donkey’s home). This is cleverly done — however, if you don’t favor “cutesy” musical teaching with these extra flairs to hold and captivate a child’s attention, then the program may not be for you.
John loved these lessons. Every time we go through them, he doesn’t mind reviewing what he already has watched (there are 40 lessons per level). He does not usually like to color, but other children may enjoy that coloring pages are included. He is beginning to learn (and love) how to place his fingers on the piano, rhythmic styles, and dancing with Frisco, of course!
KinderBach allows children to move at their own pace. It also weaves well-known, yet beautiful, songs — Starlight Starbright, Hot Cross Buns, I’m a Little Tea Pot — to reinforce the teaching curriculum (i.e. quarter notes, etc.) This is a nice touch — to subtly show a student that all of these musical terms (and hard work!) will eventually turn itself into actual songs and musical creations!
This program, though it is thorough and includes wonderful teacher guides, student guides, and activity books (with coloring sheets and practice learning sheets), it is mostly a computer learning music program. I tend to want to shy away from technology (I am trying to stay old-fashioned! i.e in the dark ages). I can’t help but nostalgically wish that my children could live in a garden without the use or need for technology.
However! I really fell in love with the program, it is winning me over — technology is indeed wonderful, because programs such as KinderBach are available to more people which means more musicians will be made! How wonderful. If I were not a musically-inclined person, I don’t think this is the only tool I would use for my child to wholly learn piano, perhaps as a beginner, but one-on-one lessons with a real-life teacher is very important to me, from an educator’s perspective.
The KinderBach Online Piano Lesson Membership with Teacher Corner is a wonderful value at only $95.88 (this works out to be $7.99/month) for one year of access. This includes over 240 web lessons that can be accessed by computer or iPad, etc., downloadable PDF activity pages, access to all Teacher Corner materials for Levels 1 to 6 PDFs and Audio MP3s, as well as all story books, coloring pages and song books.
I look forward to continuing teaching my son piano with this wonderful program. Check out how others are using the KinderBachprogram from the Schoolhouse Review Crew.
May loved these 
I made a bunch of brown spots for the back of the snake, they don’t need to all be the same. I also cut some little lime green eyes and glued on a tiny black felt line on for his eyes. 
And now his horns are on his head! Scary looking!
And he is done! A labor of love! My son couldn’t wait to play with him.
