I love fresh starts, whether it's a new week, a new month, or especially a new year. This one feels especially exciting because we haven't really had "normal" since before Oliver was born. He was born in September and because of how long it took us to get him sleeping much at night, we were in survival mode until we were well into the holidays. And as much as I love the holidays, there's something nice about getting back to the routine of life after so much excitement!
My main plans for our homeschool days are to prioritize reading aloud, help Ashtyn practice piano and typing, and help Parker progress with reading. I also want to spend lots of time with the kids playing and learning.
With our activities, I want to keep them simple still (Oliver is sleeping better, but babies are still a lot of work!). I choose activities from areas like science, art, math, games, physical activities, and social studies. On Fridays, the "activity" is chores, so I plan the activities for Monday through Thursday.
Monday, January 3
Since it's winter and we are bound to have snow for awhile, I thought we'd start off the month with a snow-themed week.
The first activity I want to do is have the girls measure a melting snowman. You make a mini snowman and measure him, then bring him inside and hypothesize how fast he will melt. Then you measure him each hour or half hour and see how long it takes him to melt!
We've actually done this activity before and the girls really enjoyed it. I think they'll have even more fun with it this year since Santa brought them each their own measuring tape.
Tuesday, January 4
A fun simple activity is to paint in the snow! You put food coloring and water in a little bottle for the kids to spray onto the snow and make pictures with. I know all three girls will love this one.
Wednesday, January 5
A fun activity I have wanted to do with the girls but never have is make Snow Candy with them. This recipe uses maple syrup, so we can tie it in with the story from Little House on the Prairie about the sugar snow they have.
Thursday, January 6
And finally, I'll help the kids make snowman names. This is a simpler activity that doesn't involve bundling the kids up and cleaning up snow off the floor when they come inside. I think we'll need that after the other activities I have planned this week.
Monday, January 10
Something I've been learning more about recently is Game School, which is helping kids learn through playing games with them. I love this idea! I found a fun math game I can play with the kids called Roll to 100. I found the rules for it here.
Tuesday, January 11
This day I'm planning a Paper Doll craft. I got little cut outs of a girl from the dollar store, and I'm going to give it to the girls with markers, paper, and scissors. They can decorate it, make clothes or accessories for it, or do whatever they want with it.
Wednesday, January 12
A couple months ago, Ashtyn did an online science class and during the class, they did some experiments. We didn't have the materials to do the experiment with them at the time and by the time I got the materials, it was the holidays and we were busy doing other things.
I want to do the experiments this month. Ashtyn will be so excited! The first one we'll do is make Glow in the Dark slime. You use a highlighter, borax, water, and glue. Then you put it in black light and it glows and bounces.
Thursday, January 13
Today, I thought we could do a simple and fun spelling/physical activity. This spell-your-name activity is one I found on Pinterest. I think all the kids will have fun with it and it will help reinforce for Rylee (who is currently learning how to spell her name).
Monday, January 17
This year, I want to learn about some different countries with the kids. I thought these Children Around the World worksheets would be a good way to do it. We can watch some YouTube videos about the country, find a recipe to try from that country, and fill out these papers about them. I think the girls will really like it and we can choose one country a month until we run out of worksheets.
Tuesday, January 18
A simple and fun drawing activity is this pizza printable I found. They can put whatever toppings they want on it and I think the kids will have a lot of fun with it. The link I had saved on Pinterest isn't working, so I'll just print the picture for the girls.
Wednesday, January 19
The experiment this week is called Dinosaur Toothpaste. You use hydrogen peroxide and dish soap with yeast to make it foam up and can add food coloring for fun.
Thursday, January 20
Today is going to be a playdoh day! The kids love playdoh, but since it makes such a mess, I don't get it out often. I like to plan to get it out at least once or twice a month.
Monday, January 24
Today, I wanted to play board games with the girls. We got some fun games for Christmas from different family members and I thought we could try some of them out!
Tuesday, January 25
Today I'm planning a drawing day. Ashtyn and Parker really enjoy drawing tutorials, and I have some on Pinterest that will be fun for me to do with them.
Wednesday, January 26
The final experiment from the class is simply using baking soda and vinegar to fill up a balloon. It's a classic.
This is the last day of school before Ben's birthday, so I'm planning on helping the girls each make a card for him. They love being able to give something to him on his birthday.
No comments:
Post a Comment