Kids in the Word: Josiah

It's hard to believe another week has flown by! This past week we learned about King Josiah finding God's Word in the temple. We talked a lot about the Bible and that the Bible is God's special book.

Books 


Obviously, we read the story from our toddler Bible. This was covered in only one short story, so we supplemented with:

King Josiah and God's Book

this Arch Bible story is a good retelling of King Josiah deciding to clean the temple and finding God's scroll in the process. Josiah decided to make some changes and attempted to get rid of idolatry and re-institute the Passover feast. I'm new to the Arch books series and quickly becoming a fan. The story captures Jonathan's attention and provides good opportunities for further discussion.




Pretend Play 


We acted out the Bible story. Here was the messy temple:

And here is King Josiah:

Finding the Bible under all the mess:

Grace supervised:

Cooking 


We made scrolls using crescent roll dough. We divided the dough into rectangles and then rolled up the ends. These were garlic flavored so I sprinkled them with cheese and herbs (plain ones would be yummy with cinnamon sugar!):

Art 


I had an art project planned for earlier this week, but we've all been dealing with a cold, so it hasn't happened yet. I may update if we get to it... but in the meantime you can see my 1 & 2 Kings Pinterest board for some other ideas!


Music 


We learned the song the B.I.B.L.E. -- Jonathan was so cute. At first he started singing B.I.B.I.O.! By the end of the week he got it down though. :)




Next up... Jonah! Have a wonderful week! Thanks for visiting!

Tot School: T is for Trains

Jonathan is 34 months
Grace is 14.5 months

Bible 


We've been continuing with our weekly Bible stories and this week we learned about King Josiah. We played games, sang songs and did crafts along with our story. Check in on Wednesday for our Kids in the Word post to see what we've been doing!


Reading & Language Arts 


This week, we focused a lot on trains. Jonathan loves his trains and his train table and even Grace has a lot of fun with them. We've been reading lots of books about trains. Here are some favorites:

Jonathan has a bunch of Kumon workbooks and we recently started working on his tracing book. He's really enjoyed tracing lines on some of the printables that Carisa does over at 1+1+1=1 so I thought this book might be of interest to him. We started doing one worksheet a day and he always asks for more. His pencil grip still needs a lot of work, but he's been having fun with it. You can check out some of his lines here:

Psst. You can also download some tracing worksheets over at SchoolSparks.

Art 


We did a little finger painting with a friend this week and we also pulled out the play dough:

We also did a bit of a picture study, looking at a painting by James Clarke Hook called Blackberry Picking:

We talked about what the people in the picture were doing and compared it to our experience of going to an apple orchard. I got the idea from Language Lessons for Little Ones by Sandi Queen.


Math & Science 


We talked about friction this week after reading about how trains travel on tracks to reduce the amount of friction. To do a simple experiment, we got out some of Jonathan's trains and attempted to roll them on the hardwood floor and then compared how they rolled on a rug. We talked about which trains went the farthest.

We also did a bit of a nature walk and went to the park this week. As we walked we talked about the different colors of leaves we found and tried to find red, orange and yellow leaves. When we got home, we did leaf rubbings and then pressed the leaves between two pieces of contact paper:

Sensory Play 


We walked through leaves and talked about the crunching sound they made. We also pulled out our fall sensory bin and Grace had fun playing with the silk leaves:

Motor Skills 

I threw some balls in our pack & play and this was a great way for the kids to get some energy out:

But the biggest news is Grace is finally standing on her own:

and she's taken three steps. So maybe we'll have a walker soon!

Pretend Play 


Of course, we played with our trains a lot:

and Grace has been enjoying her tea set from Nana:

Practical Life 


We've worked on learning how to get dressed-- this week we've been trying to do snappers:

and as far as potty training... ugh. Jonathan did so well with potty training and initiating going to the bathroom. Then, he just wasn't interested. We started having accidents and he told me he didn't want to stop what he was doing and go potty. So I'd love to hear advice-- what do I do? It isn't that he can't go potty but that he won't. He'll still go if I initiate and he wants to earn stars and get matchbox cars. But he won't stop what he's doing and tell me. Should I move him back to diapers? Keep pressing forward? It's tiring and frustrating to boot!



So, that's been our week. We're all a little under the weather this weekend, so I hope that we'll be up for some of the activities I hope to do next week. Thanks for stopping by!

Linking up to:

Tot School @ 1+1+1=1

Link n' Learn @ No Time for Flashcards

Sunday Showcase @ Mom to 2 Posh Little Divas & Classified Mom

Read Explore Learn @ J Daniel4's Mom

Preschool Corner @ Homeschool Creations

For the Kids Fridays @ Sun Scholars

Kids in the Word: Elijah

This past week, Jonathan and I learned about Elijah. We covered four different stories during this time:

- Elijah is fed by ravens

- Elijah and the widow

- Elijah and the priests of Baal

- Elijah goes to heaven in a chariot

First, we read the corresponding stories from our toddler Bible. Then, I supplemented our Bible reading with two books from the Arch Books Bible Series:

Elijah Helps the Widow and God's Fire for Elijah. I haven't really read books from the Arch series before. Each story is told with colorful pictures and rhyming verse. Jonathan (at almost 3) really engaged with both of these stories. They are a great way to supplement your Bible reading. I'm planning on looking for more of the books from this series!

Art 

I found lots of craft ideas that I posted on Pinterest. Here's what we did. We glued craft sticks down to make an altar and then tore up tissue paper to make flames. (Originally, we marble painted to make flames but then had a friend over so we ended up using tissue paper so both kids could do the craft- similar to this craft.). 

Music 

We reviewed the song "My God is So Big" and talked about how He is the only God we should worship and serve! We prayed that Jonathan and Grace would be bold like Elijah and trust that God would take care of them. 

So that was our lesson this week! Now we're moving on to Josiah. Check out The Pelsers for more ideas for discipling your little ones. God bless! 

Montessori Monday: Self-Dressing

 

We've been focusing a lot on potty training around here lately and one of the practical skills related to potty training is dressing and undressing one's self. I love the Montessori idea of helping your child learn how to help himself.

In order to help Jonathan learn how to master all the intricacies of snaps, zippers, buttons, etc. there are a couple activities we've engaged in lately:


1) Hanging daddy's clothes on our learning tower and having Jonathan practice snapping or buttoning or fastening the item of clothing.

2) Using our Melissa & Doug Basic Skills board. This is a puzzle as well as a tool for practicing basic skills. The drawback to this one is that since it is a puzzle, the pieces are not 100% stable for working on the different items. It's still a fun addition though:

3) We have a quiet/busy book which my mom made for me when I was a preschooler. Each sewn page features a different skill set. Here's an idea for a similar busy book:

Source: fortytworoads.blogspot.com via Amanda on Pinterest

We haven't mastered these skills yet, but it's good practice!

See more Montessori-inspired ideas over at Living Montessori Now! and One Hook Wonder. This post is linked up to Montessori Monday over at those terrific blogs.

Kids in the Word: King Solomon

A couple weeks ago, we learned about King Solomon. Let me tell you, finding resources to teach on Solomon was pretty tough! I found no children's books that I liked and coming up with a craft was hard as well. I was determined to press on so here's what we did:


Books 


First, we read from our toddler Bible. Solomon was divided up into 4 or 5 stories, so we did one story per day.

I tried to find some children's books on Solomon, but couldn't find any except for King Solomon and the Bee. This is a myth adapted from rabbinic literature-- but I didn't feel comfortable reading Jonathan a myth about a true biblical figure. I don't want him to confuse the Bible with mythology.

Do you know of any books on King Solomon? I couldn't even find any Arch books (a pretty expansive series for children) on Solomon. I'd love to have some up my sleeve for next year.


Life/Character


Since Solomon asked for wisdom, we talked a lot about what wisdom is. We talked about making wise choices which honor God. I read some Proverbs about wisdom:

Proverbs 2:6  For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. 


Proverbs 3:13 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding. 



Craft 


We made a crown (since Solomon was a king). I just had Jonathan color on yellow cardstock and then I cut out the crown and had him glue it on paper. He also decorated it with star stickers and was very particular about one gold star, two silver stars, etc.  It would also be cute using gem stickers or something similar, but we didn't have any on hand. Since Solomon asked for wisdom we wrote one of our Proverbs on the crown:

So, this was a hard week to pull together, but I'm glad we learned about Solomon. Next up-- Elijah!

Potty Training- Day Three

Well, I think perhaps we made it!

We had no more accidents yesterday-- and Jonathan even stopped playing to run to the potty. We had no accidents this morning until we ventured out to the park, but that was the only one. He has one more big present left to earn on his potty chart (the Cars DVD). But, I think I can say that he's potty trained! I expect accidents here and there, but he's initiating and going potty on his own. We use Pull-Ups for nap time and I may for church this weekend... but I think the hardest part is done.

Whew! I am exhausted. I hope to be back to regular posting next week. For now, I'm going to take it easy! Have a great weekend!

Potty Training Update-- Day Two

This is our singing potty chair.
Warning: It will serenade our house guests at random!

So, we went through 14 pairs of underwear yesterday- I think that may be a record! But by the end of the night Jonathan had started initiating more-- and even got enough stars on his chart to earn a Tow Mater truck I bought at Walmart.


This morning, we only had two accidents and he went potty by himself enough times to earn another Cars toy-- I think its name is Pacer. So things are looking better! Both of the accidents were when he was distracted (a toy or eating lunch), so we'll continue to work on it. At least we've made good progress! I feel exhausted, my house is in shambles, but I'm encouraged nonetheless!

Potty Training Day One

It's been quiet around here. I'm taking the week off to focus on potty training. We babysat for friends Monday and Tuesday. And today we started potty training... all that to say, I'll be back with Kids in the Word (and other posts) next week.

For those of you who are interested in the potty training details...

We're throwing Jonathan a three day potty party. This morning he woke up and the family room and bathroom area were decorated with streamers and balloons (left over from 1st birthday celebrations). We bought a boy doll that goes potty and started to "potty train" the doll. Our doll went on the potty a few times and got treats (which he shared with Jonathan) and star stickers on his potty chart.

I intended to keep Jonathan in diapers until after nap, but then he wanted to be in big boy underwear just like the doll. So we moved into his Cars and Thomas the Train underpants.

Now, our biggest hurdle with potty training is having him initiate going potty. He's been very comfortable sitting and using the potty-- but always at our initiative. He typically uses it three or four times a day (after every meal). We've had the occasional dirty diapers and lots and lots of wet ones. And every once in a while he'll initiate going potty. But not usually. So, my hope is by moving him into big boy underwear, he'll begin to initiate more.

At first, we had one poop in underwear which he told me about right away. Then, we had several pairs of wet underwear-- one of which he told me about, the rest he didn't seem to care. I was pretty discouraged! We checked every 15 minutes to see if he was dry. If he was dry, he got a treat. If he was wet, we changed his underwear and put him on the potty. If he got anything in the potty, we put some stars on his chart,

I knew to expect accidents, but I didn't expect him not to care. We cleaned up the accidents and talked about how our pee/poo is supposed to go in the potty-- not the floor. We also talked about telling our body to wait until we ran to the potty.

So, he finally initiated and told me "Mama! I have to go pee!" So we ran to the potty, he went pee and mommy did a happy dance. He put a sticker on his chart (which happened to complete a row) and got a toy-- a Tow Mader truck. Suddenly, he was a lot more motivated. He initiated one more time after that and now it's time for nap (in a pull up).

I don't know whether or not the trend will continue, but at least it's progress! Stay tuned for more updates... but I'd love if you have words of wisdom to share...

Tot School: Grace's Week (14 Months & 33 months)

I had grand intentions for this week, but we didn't get as much done as I had hoped! My pictures were mostly of Grace, so here's what she did this week:


We had unseasonably warm weather, so we went on several walks:

Grace really enjoyed our busy gears this week:

And this busy box toy. She just figured out how to push the button to make the panda come up-- she's so proud of herself!

She's started standing a little bit more. She's figured out how to stand with her back to an object, so she's learning better how to be aligned.

Jonathan got a doll to help with potty training and she became quite the little mother:

giving kisses

Trying to feed the baby

She decided that she wanted the bottle herself

Jonathan's Week

Jonathan and I did do a little bit of "Tot School" this week-- mostly reading about robots and rockets. I think I'll carry some of the ideas into next week. One thing that is so fun to see is that he's really developed good phonological awareness recently. He's started pointing out to me when words rhyme and can tell me what letter a lot of words start with. It's amazing to see how quickly this has developed! I'm thinking about starting working on reading after Christmas. Any recommendations on what to use?


Next week is also... potty training {enter ominous music}. He's 33 months old and he will go potty every time I put him on the potty, but he won't initiate. He knows he's gone potty-- but won't tell me beforehand! So, we're going to move to big boy pants and we'll see how it goes! Any advice?

Mom's Favorite 


I love seeing my children be sweet to one another!  (I promise it's not a choke hold!)

See what other Moms are doing over at 1+1+1=1! Have a great week!