Y is for Yarn

I considered being a total cop-out and just doing one day of Y and one of Z, but I resisted.  Ella was over for part of letter Y.  That was fun!  Here's what we did.

Day 1

We reviewed numbers and letters as usual.  Then the kids practiced patterns on pipe cleaners (AB, ABC, ABB, and AABB) and matched the gradients of yellow.  When they were finished with one, they switched.  It was kind of fun having a little pseudo-classroom for the day.  

 I introduced letter Y and its verse

"You are the light of the world." Matthew 7:12

For our Intro to Letter Y Activity, they wrapped Yy's with yarn.

Then they used the yarn to paint.

We finished by reading

Day 2

Today Parker started by putting the letters of his name in the right order.

Then he ordered numbers 1-15.  I was SO proud of him for being able to do that!!

Next, I got out one of his Highlights Magazines and he circled all of the Y's and things that were yellow.

Time to make a yo-yo!  He started by tracing two mason jar lids with a marker (to the best of his ability.  I had to help a little ;).  Then he colored the circles.

And cut them out.

Isn't that pretty awesome?  I can't even cut circles that well!

I cut a toilet paper tube in half and then we glued it all together...and of course I forgot to take a picture.  It didn't actually roll up like a yo-yo, but it was still fun to make.

We finished by reading

One letter left!!

X is for X Marks the Spot

Gotta love letter X!  It was tough to even come up with two days worth of material.  

Here's what did did!

Day 1

After doing the usual review, we learned letter X and its verse

"Let us examine our ways." - Lamentation 3:40

For our Intro to letter X activity, Parker made Xx's out of q-tips.  You know, like an x-ray?

Then we read

Next, we did a color-by-number xylophone.

I played the xylophone while we sang the ABC's.  Then I tried to teach Parker some simple songs. 

We finished by reading 

Day 2

We started by reading about the Exodus (when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt) in the 

Childrens Illustrated Bible.

Then we changed gears.  I made some X marks the spot tracing mats out of paper bags.

Parker traced the lines.

I tried to find a book about X marks the spot, but they were all chapter books, so Ryan made up a story about how he found this treasure map in the attic and that there might be some treasure under the red X.  Parker was excited to search for it!  

Sweet map eh?  (Compliments of my awesome husband)!

Ryan showed Parker how to read it.

Then it was time to go on an adventure!

It took us all around our block.

Until finally...

It was a special note that said we should go out for Fro-Yo!

Seems lame now that I'm writing about it, but Parker was more than happy to go out for a special treat =) 

Only two letters left!!

W is for Wild Thing

We only did two days of Letter W.  Actually, we only did two days of all the rest of the letters.  We had Adley's 1st Birthday this week, and then it was getting warm outside so we couldn't help but go out an play!  Here's what we did for Letter W.

Day 1

We started by reviewing Number Flashcards 1-15, counting to 100!! (Go Parker!), reviewing several verses and identifying letters A-U.  Then I introduced letter W and its verse

"When I am afraid I will trust in you." - Psalm 56:3

For our intro to letter W activity, he painted the Ww's with watercolors.  They turned out really cool.  Parker is starting to be more and more interested in taking his time and adding lots of color =)

Then, we read

and did a sequencing activity I printed off.  Parker re-told the story a few times,

and then we read

and did this giant puzzle.

Finally, we read

Day 2

We started by reviewing letter W and its verse, and then we read

 I printed this Wild Thing worksheet.  It's made up of all different kinds of shapes.  You have to find and count them all, and write the number. (Parker counted, I wrote the number and he traced it). 

I also printed off these fun counting sheets.  You count the wild things and then match the letters to the number word below.

We finished by having Wild Rumpus of our own.  (You'll know what I'm talking about if you've read the book).  We just turned on some music and danced around.

I could've done this next book on Day 3, but I was busy making birthday decorations for Adley =)

We read

I changed it in to "Parker's Walk."  He had to listen to me and act out what I said.  It's kind of beginning lesson to positional words.  For example...

Parker the boy went for a walk.  

Across the living room,

around the tractor,

over the pillow 

past the truck

through the kitchen

under the steps

and got back in time for snack =)

It would've been ideal to eat watermelon, but it was really expensive.  We settled for blueberries!

Throughout the week, we also read these books about whales.