Saturday, January 26, 2008

Harold and the Purple Crayon

The kids had a great time doing our latest Five In a Row (FIAR) book, Harold and the Purple Crayon.  My son Tom Sawyer especially enjoyed how the lessons revolved around art and being creative.  The kids each illustrated and narrated their first stories.  I really was impressed how they all stuck with it and gave me complete stories about what/where Harold was going.  You can tell that the dog bite I received earlier and all of our ER visits are having an impact on their lives.  All of their stories involved either a dog bite or ER visit.



We then worked on mixing shades of purple together by melting different shades of purple crayon.  The kids liked that.  We also worked on learning how to count by two's.  The kids got the concept really well and enjoyed counting several things by two's over the week.  We finished off the week by having an all-pie dinner.  In the story, Harold makes and eats nine pies (with help from a moose).  Since I lack a magic purple crayon and a moose to clean up the leftovers, we had six homemade pies.  We had strawberry, apple, ice cream, cheeseburger, quiche, and Montgomery pie.  YUMMY!!







Another great FIAR book down.  I have found that doing our core lessons sometimes get behind during a FIAR book so we have been going back and forth every other week.  We continue doing reading lessons and math with our FIAR book but tend to drop music, Spanish, fine motor, art ~ picture studies, and history.  So having a week that we concentrate on these things without a new book is helpful for me.  Sometimes I (as I bet most of us do) get overwhelmed with all the things I want to teach and all the tools that I want to use and forget to pace myself.  This technique has helped a lot.

Blessings, Dawn
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15 comments:

  1. quietcajunJanuary 26, 2008 at 2:25 PM

    I always have loved "Harold and the Purple Crayon"... hey, maybe that is what sparked my love of purple! LOL!


    If you have not already, please check out my afghan contest on my other blog and nominate someone to win a free afghan! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/bundledinprayer

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  2. proverbsmomof3January 27, 2008 at 4:53 AM

    and they were my oldest's favorite when he was growing up. How fun to have an all pie supper. I know what you mean about having so much you want to teach and so little time. Great idea alternating. That's what we have been doing only using the days of the week, like Monday-Art, Tuesday-PE, Wednesday-Music, Thursday-Language, and Friday could be anything, usually Logic. So much to share, so little time. : )

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  3. PeterRabbitPreschoolJanuary 27, 2008 at 10:25 AM

    hi Dawn,

    Thanks for all your encouraging comments while I"ve been in the "just after baby" stage! You are such a faithful reader!


    -Katrina

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  4. kellieannJanuary 28, 2008 at 4:09 AM

    You always have the most fun with your lessons. Now your pies have made me hungry, so I'm off to fix lunch! =)

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  5. duckygirlJanuary 28, 2008 at 7:08 AM

    Your homeschool looks like so much fun! Can I come be a student and eat pie too? :)


    ~Laura

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  6. BerniceJanuary 28, 2008 at 12:21 PM

    Sounds like you are having fun!! We are learning to count by twos also. J has gotten it down to about 8 after that he starts counting by ones again. I love teaching my child and I enjoy reading about others, especially you, teaching theirs!

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  7. sahmto4orMoreJanuary 29, 2008 at 1:29 PM

    I can't even imagine making six pies for dinner. I bet that was a big hit.


    Sounds like a fun study and a great week.

    It is hard to fit it all in. There are so many great things to teach out there.


    In Him,

    tracy

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  8. mykidsmatter2January 29, 2008 at 1:50 PM

    YUMMY time at your houe!!! I love that book... It is one of our favorites!!

    Have a great week!!

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  9. CTdittmarJanuary 29, 2008 at 5:09 PM

    I've never read that book, but you've certainly piqued my interest!! How creative and fun! Looked delicious...

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  10. icecastleJanuary 30, 2008 at 4:51 AM

    Sounds like fun!

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  11. westwardJanuary 30, 2008 at 12:25 PM

    All those pies!! Yum!


    I love FIAR, but know the feeling of leaving core things out. We used to go back and forth, too.

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  12. denisebpJanuary 30, 2008 at 1:27 PM

    My little kiddos love Harold! What fun! Your pies look great. I've never heard of montgomery pie; I'll have to go check that out!


    Thanks SO much for your comment on my blog. Nathan doesn't have a diagnosis, but I'm convinced that he has SID. He has so many sensory issues. When he was little, he refused to walk in the grass, on the beach, or in the snow; he couldn't handle anything that moved at all. He wouldn't wear anything with tags or that had a collar, and socks with seams were out. He has very sensitive ears and still can't deal with loud noises (except when they're coming out of *his* mouth!). He doesn't like to read because he doesn't like the feel of paper, and he refuses to write with a pencil because of the sound, so he only writes with pens or fine markers.

    I've gone back and forth about getting a diagnosis for him, but I'm learning towards getting one at this point.


    Thanks for understanding!


    Denise

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  13. SandBetweenMyToesJanuary 31, 2008 at 6:30 AM

    A yummy lesson.


    Letitia

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  14. subbertfamilyJanuary 31, 2008 at 12:17 PM

    Yum, can you come over to my house and bake? I too, get overwhelmed with all I want to teach my kids. Sometimes, I find that we'll start something and never finish. I've been doing better with that this year!! We've finished everything we've started!! yeah!!

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  15. bbullardJanuary 31, 2008 at 12:32 PM

    I love this series of books and I even enjoy watching him some mornings before the kids wake on HBO. It does inspire the creativity in all of us, and what a genious idea on the pies. Looks as if you all had a great day! God bless!

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