Preschool Week 5

We finished our study of North America this week.

I got caught up on a couple of the activities that I haven't had time for. We did a sticker activity in Adventures Around the Globe and talked about New York City. We learned about Canada. We did a little activity in Adventures Around the Globe where we were supposed to find the differences between two pictures. Rhonda was surprisingly good at it! There was one that neither one of us could find, though--I guess finding differences isn't my strength!

I skipped some of the crafts we were supposed to do, but we did make a Statue of Liberty torch. That was fun for Rhonda because she got to cut the little pieces of paper to go in the top to make "flames." (She likes to cut paper, but she's not very good at cutting particular shapes yet.)

We finished Little House in the Big Woods. I think Rhonda really enjoyed it. I had so much fun sharing one of my childhood favorites with her.

We read a book about Sitting Bull, A Boy Called Slow. I didn't know much about Sitting Bull, so this was an interesting read for me, too.

We finished Thirteen Moons on a Turtle's Back. 

Rhonda finished her North American animal project this week. We looked at pictures of baby deer and she drew a picture of one.

Rhonda had fun using the flag stickers in the Flags Around the World book. It was fun to see some of the different flags of North America.

Here are some of the supplemental books we read this week:

Too Many Tamales
We the Kids
The Golden Flower: A Taino Myth from Puerto Rico
Coyote and the Firestick: A Pacific Northwest Indian Tale
Arrow to Alaska

On another note, Rhonda memorized her part for the Primary program: "Go to church on Sunday." We had a practice during Primary this week and she did such a great job speaking her part loudly, clearly, and without any help. I think she might have been the only kid who had her part memorized (yet--we still have two more weeks before the program). I'm so sad I won't be able to see her in the program this year (we'll be in London), but her grandparents will take her so at least she'll still be able to participate.

Preschool Week 4

This week we did lots of reading about kids who live in the United States in Children Just Like Me. Rhonda really likes reading this book and gets excited to learn about the kids.

We continued reading Little House in the Big Woods. Rhonda's enjoying it so far. Sometimes she'll mention things to me from the book. She wants to be just like Laura. It's really cute.

We've continued to read Thirteen Moons on a Turtle's Back, and Rhonda really likes that book as well. She makes guesses about the stories based on the pictures. (She wasn't too happy to see a picture that didn't have a moon in it.)

We read about bison in the Animal Atlas. I was sad to learn about the history of the bison. There used to be tons of them in North America, until they were very quickly hunted almost to extinction by European settlers, and now there are very few.

We read some fun animal poems. I really like the animal poems in the National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry because they aren't just silly poems (although some of them are); there are plenty that I find very intriguing personally.

Rhonda especially loves to read the nursery rhymes out of Over the Hills and Far Away. I can't recommend this book highly enough to families with little kids! The illustrations are so beautiful and interesting, and I love that it includes rhymes from English speakers all over the world. Rhonda always asks for "just one more nursery rhyme."

We've also continued to read through the Illustrated Book of Mormon Stories. Rhonda used to have a hard time remembering something from the story, but now she always remembers something, plus she will often ask questions about the story while we read it. It's fun to see her engaging with the Book of Mormon stories so well.

Supplemental books we read this week:
Cinco de Mouse-o!
Song of the Swallows
Thunder Boy, Jr. 
G is for Golden Boy: A Manitoba Alphabet
Show Way

This week we started Sierra in dance class! I wasn't planning on putting her in dance this young because I don't think kids her age really need any structured classes, but the last few weeks she's been trying to participate in Rhonda's class. She loves it so much that I couldn't resist putting her in a class of her own! It's a mommy & me class so we get to do it together. She loved her first class. She did a lot of just watching, but she loved playing the instruments. She's remarkably good at following and copying actions.

Speaking of Sierra...she learned to climb out of her crib this week! So, we moved the top bunk out of Rhonda's room and put it in her room so she could have a regular bed. The transition has been smoother than I dared to hope. She loves her new bed! When we go in her room, she often points to it and chatters about it excitedly. She has no trouble going to sleep. She is so cute lying in it--she looks so tiny in such a big bed.