Our Homeschool, Week 7: "Thanksgiving"

For the last week and a half,  we've been having fun with activities from our Thanksgiving board. We did lots of different things, including color sorting "fruit" for "pies", number recognition and counting, and puzzles. Of course, there were lots of crafts and sensory activities as well. We even had a visit from one of our backyard hens during a letter recognition activity!

You might notice the EEG hat on Bu in one of the above photos...we made sure to stick to our schedule even during the EEG to make sure we got accurate readings! Homeschool is a typical part of our day, and I wanted to make sure the EEG reflected that.

The first week of December, we'll be working on the Dinosaurs board. I'm looking forward to that, I love dinosaurs! 

Currently...

Doing: waiting for the ipad to run out of battery so Bu and I can get some homeschooling done :)

Watching: ANTM...catching up on an episode I missed a few weeks back. I'm a little sad that they've officially cancelled the show, I've been watching it since the beginning! I've seen every episode and even all of the British, Australian and Canadian series.

Thinking about: how grateful I am that we FINALLY got Bu's EEG handled, now we can go into the holiday break with one less thing weighing on us. We can just relax and enjoy each others company

Eating: tortilla de chorizo y papa (my dad's latest cooking fixation LOL)...I'm not complaining, I could eat this every day! I'm also excited to try making my first ever green bean casserole later today. Sort of a "trial run" before I make one for the family on Thanksgiving.

Anticipating:18 days until Disney! Turns out my grandparents are coming also, so it'll be FOUR generations on our family trip. This is so special and I'm so happy for this experience!



Also, WOOO IT'S MY LITTLE SISTER'S BIRTHDAY!!!!

Our Homeschool, Week 6: "Bugs"

We sort of took the week "off" from homeschooling this week. It was a busy time for the family, lots of running around...so we did a lot of puzzles, reading and educational apps, but not a lot of "on theme" tasks.

For anyone that wants to check out the Bugs board for themselves, the link to the Pinterest board is HERE.

And this next week, we'll be doing Thanksgiving activities. We have a couple of medical appointments, so the homeschooling will likely go on into the weekend...but we're intending to not take it so easy this week! There's no shortage of holiday-themed activities, and we intend to partake in them!

Our Homeschool, Week 5: "Autumn"

This week, our lessons were centered around the fall season! It's getting dark out earlier, but that's unfortunately the only real indication of autumn so far here in Florida.

Regardless, it's my favorite season! I can't wait until we (maybe) start to feel some nice breezes, (possibly) less rain, and (perhaps) even some light sweater weather!

Not likely, but I always maintain hope!

We had a lot of fun this week, focusing on a lot of fine motor and math/counting activities with some crafts thrown in. Here's some of the stuff we did:

I found these leaves in the Target Dollar Spot. It brought a bunch, but I only used two of each of the five colors to create a matching game. We labeled each color as we searched for its mate.  

We also got this nifty autumn decoration kit on clearance at Target. I'm not sure why, but after Halloween, all the fall stuff goes on sale. I guess to make way for Christmas? Works for me! I can still use all this stuff! (And what about Thanksgiving, huh???)

This was originally $5, marked down to $3.50, and then half off at the register.  It was all foam stickers and a few extra knick-knacks, but Bu loved helping me put things in their spot and I loved all the sensory and fine motor practice he was getting! He loved this so much (to my surprise) that he ran off with it and took ages to surrender it for its intended purpose.

And lastly, here's a mishmash of a few activities.

A) Lots of do-a-dots and shape recognition (I asked him to mark all the circles, then all the triangles)...
B) picking up buttons and putting them in a piggy bank. Lots of patience and coordination required!
C) counting from 1-6 with candy corn (on clearance!)
D) our favorite (for now) shape and color puzzle
E) a close-up of the worksheet I used for shape recognition, plus a pumpkin I cut out of construction paper and laminated with the alphabet written on it. I found awesome plastic clothespins at the Dollar Tree a while back that are a little easier for small hands to open, so we played a letter recognition game where I'd say a letter and he'd have to find it on the pumpkin and cover it with a clothespin.
F) do-a-dot autumn leaf!


To find the links to these worksheets and a lot of these activities, you'll find my Preschool- Autumn Pinterest Board HERE. And make sure to check out the Preschool - Bugs Board so you can follow long with our activities for next week!

Currently....

Listening to: Day 3 of the Autism Summit Online...they're currently discussing the importance of eating organic long-term and avoiding cow milk at all costs.

Working on: trying to get Bu to possibly eat pancakes...I read that kids need foods presented to them up to a dozen times before they'll taste them. Bu used to LOVE pancakes when he was eating a typical diet, but they've fallen out of favor for well over a year now. He doesn't care for sweets. But pancakes are such a great vehicle for proteins and fats, I would LOVE if he'd give them a chance again! So I made him paleo coconut pancakes (they're yummy!) and I slathered on a bunch of extra coconut oil. I'm hoping he'll eventually give them a try if I offer him one at every meal lol

Annoyed by: Brady (one of our cats) is refusing to allow me any personal space, which is making the action of typing quite challenging.

Eating: rice, black beans, and grilled chicken. Not paleo, but still GFCFSF. I've been too slack since my birthday, and I've been feeling crappy as a result. My face is acting up and I'm not pleased with that. FINALLY did groceries today for the first time in almost a month, so hopefully we'll be good now!

Anticipating: Less than one week until the EEG. I'm not as nervous now as I was before the first appointment, but I'm getting more and more anxious the closer the day gets.

Portfolio.

It was just brought to my attention that I'm supposed to keep a portfolio of Bu's homeschooling activities (tasks, materials, samples of his work).

I'm so excited! I already have those handy binders where I'm keeping his completed worksheets and art projects, plus of course, this blog. And now I have an excuse to buy another planner just to keep track of our lessons and field trips!!!!

The fact that this news thrills me rather than freaks me out is further evidence that I picked the right path for my family! LOL