Qq is for Quilt

Box #1 was a few pages from LOTW

Box #2 was a book called The Quilting Bee by Gail Gibbons

It was SO fun to read!!  There were tons of facts in easy to understand bites:

Box #3 is a worksheet I made that had a bed frame picture from the top down that he covered with mosaic squares he glued on.

Box #4 Patterning from LOTW.

Box #5 cutting activity from LOTW

Box #6 was a game called First Words.  He is at the point where he can read most 3 letter words without help and many other words with help. 

Box #7 was a set of huge foam dice and a the game “Roll to the Top”.

Box #8 was Dot to Dot count to 10 book

Box #9 was a pattern block sheet I printed (should have done it on card stock) that is a quilt square.  He loved this. 

Box #10 was completely off theme… but the boys got Ninja Bread Men for Christmas in their stockings and we had yet to make them.  Although we usually make our own cookie dough from organic ingredients, this time we used a gifted dough from a friend and made some yummy treats!

It was an awesome day with the letter Qq!

Updates from the Mat

Well 3 weeks ago we decided that Tanner needed to hang up his headgear for the season to give the knee a chance to heal. Physical therapy is going well and he is putting on lots of muscle. The jury is still out about doing a spring sport we will have to see what the Dr thinks.

Dalton continues to be on a tear with his record at 29-7. He leads the Raiders in wins. This Thursday the Raiders travel to St. James for team sections and then the following Friday for individuals. Dalton will have some stiff competition at individuals as the #1, #2 and #3 ranked kids in Class A are all in section 4 at 132. If you want to be the best, you need to beat the best. On the bright side 2 are seniors and 1 a junior.

We have a big B-day weekend coming up! Tabor turns 19!

Boyz

Pp is for Police

Box #1 was the book What’s Inside a Police Car along with a few handwriting activities and the Pp letter tub from Lakeshore Learning.  I used the printables from Homeschooling Creations for this unit.

Box #2 was two patterning activities.

Box #3 was the count to 10 dot-to-dot book.

Box #4 was a hair comparison venn diagram.

  We got Cyan and our little neighbor girl who has VERY curly dark hair to donate to the cause.  The hair was just different enough that Logan had no issue completing the venn diagram.   

Box #4 was a writing activity again.  We are working through the whole alphabet on handwriting so you will see these in here a lot.

Box #6 Pp is for Pencil pattern sheet.  Still a favorite!

Box #7 Another version of beginning sounds bingo!

Box #8 was a make your own stoplight kit that came along with police prinables from Homeschooling Creations.  Logan cut these circles out all by himself.  I was really impressed!

Box #9 was another book on Police Officers which Don (who was sick today) read to Logan and pointed out all the things that were similar to his job.

Box #10 was a Crime Scene that I created using the book Lu & Clancy’s Crime Scene by Louise Dickson.

We used pieces of Styrofoam to make tooth impressions of each family member and then had someone take a bite out of a cookie.  Then Logan had to ‘investigate’ (his $5 word for the day) to figure out who ate the cookie.  He LOVED it! 

Also in this box was a tiny book for his Pp is for Police lapbook that has numbers of finger prints.  We each donated our fingertips to help him collect how many he needed. 

May be the best school day ever!

Oo is for Owl and Ocean

I am trying to get back to it.  Here is what we did for the letter Oo!

Box #1: some Oo is for Ocean lapbook pages from Homeschool Share along with some pages from the Oo section of Letter of the Week from Confessions of a Homeschooler.

Box #2: Beginning sounds bingo!  I have three versions of this game that all work a little differently and it really helps Logan to see all the different words so that he pronounces and spells them with the right letters.  In young kids you often see Rr sounds turn to Ww sounds and sometimes Ffs or Tts are left out entirely… this way, he gets gentle, fun reinforcement for his letter sounds without really having to be corrected.  I have found it a wonderful tool!

Box #3 was patterning beads.

Box #4 handwriting practice on some dollar store writing strips.

Box #5 we added his lapbook things to his letter notebook… which is getting REALLY full!

Box #6 were 1 - 10 number, word, and picture card puzzle.  He still needs help with the word, but I can reinforce the beginning sounds at the same time.

Box #7 I added a sand garden and some shells.  He played with it for about an hour after he was done with school.

Box #9 was an owl pattern block picture I printed on cardstock.  He just LOVES these!  They are like puzzles to him and he has fun every time he works with them.    Idea from here.

Box #10 was the book Hello Ocean.  We read that and then he asked to go back and play with the sand garden again. 

Super Treats for our Superbowl

For this Superbowl it is not who is playing but what special treats are we making. All beef hotdogs from George's Meat Market in Nicollet.....freash ground flour....... Mini Pretzel Dogs!

Pretzel Dogsmakes 16 pretzel dogs (made from cutting hot dogs in half)recipe adapted from Alton BrownPrint this Recipe!1 ½ cups warm water (between 110 and 115 degrees F)1 tablespoon granulated sugar2 ¼ teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast22 ounces all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 cups)2 teaspoons salt2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooledabout 14 cups of water1 cup baking soda1 large egg, beaten, with a splash of watersalt and pepper for toppingIn the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine warm water and sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water and set aside for 5 minutes. The mixture will begin to foam and froth. If it doesn’t, throw the mixture away and start again with new yeast.Once the yeast and water is frothy, add the flour, salt, and melted butter. Using the dough hook, mix on low speed until well combined. Increase the speed to medium and knead the dough until it is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, creating a ball of dough around the dough hook. Beat on medium speed for approximately 4 minutes.Remove the dough from the bowl. The dough will be soft, pliable, and just a bit sticky. That’s perfect. Scrape any residue out of the bowl and coat the bowl with a bit of vegetable oil. Place the dough back in the bowl, sprinkle with flour, cover with plastic wrap, and store in a warm place to rise. Allow dough to rise, until doubled in size, about 1 hour.Place baking racks in the center and upper third of the oven. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and lightly brush the paper with oil. It’s important to brush the parchment paper or the pretzels will stick!Combine water and baking soda in a large pan (8 quart is fine) saucepan and bring to a boil.While the water comes to a boil, turn the dough out onto a clean, slightly oiled work surface. Divide dough into 8 or 16 pieces, depending on how large you’d like your pretzel dogs. 8 pieces of dough for whole hot dogs. 16

The Team

The boyz had a great showing on Saturday at our home tourney! Tanner had 2 pins and won the 3rd by a tech. Dalton got his "50th " career win and was listed on the Guillotine as a career milestone for a freshman. He was all excited until he saw the wrestler above him was a senior who has 200 wins. Tabor was a trooper and came home to work the score clock for the tourney.