Color Blocks

This project has been in the works for a while and just got put on the back burner until recently. Stephen cut these blocks for me and we sanded them together. I painted and sealed them along with a set of graduating color cards. There are 2 sets of 12 colors.
So far, we have tried out two games with them.1. Putting the blocks onto the color cards- Jubilee is mastering this one pretty quickly.2. Matching the same color blocks together- this one is difficult for her, but not frustrating- so just right!! (As you can see many of the shades are very close, so it is meant to make her concentrate and to develop her eyes.)

Getting Organized

I must confess that I can be an internet junkie. Perhaps more specifically if I want to relax for 10 or 15 minutes, my chosen chill is browsing crafty blogs and Homeschool blogs (especially Montessori or Charlotte Mason homeschooling blogs). I’ve read about workboxes on a couple of them and decided that would be a great way to organize my self a bit more. So here they are:The first one has all our supplies for the letter games, the second has counting games which Jubilee can choose between, and the third has games and puzzles which focus on visual or motor skills. It makes it nice because Jubi’s morning can be a bit more balanced, and I can tell her which box to pick a game from. She likes it too, so that is a good sign.

Stunning

We have been borrowing a friend’s car for the past little while, so the night before we took it back to her we went on a drive- Chapman’s peek for the sunset. (I once heard that it is ranked in the top 10 drives in the world, but I have no source except my eyes for you on that.)

Snacks

Jubilee helps me prepare her “letter” snack everyday. Here she is cutting up her cheese when we did C.

Snacks on other letter days have been:
D- dog shaped bread and butter (Jubi cut the dog and spread the butter) and some fruit
E- eggs(She whisked them for me)
F- fun fairy bread (bread cut into little shapes with butter and sprinkles on top), and fruit
G-green grapes and green cucumber
H- don’t remember what she had, but she ate it on the hippopotamus placemat
I- an icee (orange juice and loads of ice put into the blender) and some crackers
J- some jello
K- kefir drink

Picture peek at letter learning

Letter of the day

I’ve started doing a letter of the day with Jubilee. So every morning, we will use a letter cookie cutter to make playdough letters,

read about the letter in Dr. Suess’ Dictionary, pick out the letter from the alphabet poster upstairs, put the letter into the magnet puzzle on the fridge,

practice writing it on the write and wipe cards and placemat,

and finish with a snack beginning with that letter. Yesterday, we had apples and apricots, today banana and bread with butter, sitting outside on a blanket. (Jubilee cut up her banana and spread the butter herself)

Christmas Day

We had a very relaxed Christmas day, which was heavenly I think. (We really needed a relaxed fun day at home.) We started off with a breakfast of orange spice bread, eggs, and left over fruit salad. (Oh, and while I was cooking, Stephen and Jubi read the Christmas story in her children’s Bible). Then we opened stockings and exchanged gifts with our house mates. They went off to church, so then we opened our gifts to each other and those that had arrived so far in the mail.
Jubi made Stephen a “Daddy special box” for him to keep things that she makes for him. I’m sure it will be filled with treasured things in the years to come.
Jubilee certainly enjoyed getting presents!
Stephen made a corn hole set for me (a bean bag tossing yard game which is much more tricky to play than you would think). I was so excited, and we have played it nearly every evening since then!

Christmas Eve Dinner

Our Christmas eve dinner was lovely. Unfortunately my camera was sitting on the window sill nearly the entire evening. I didn't get any pics of the actual dinner or of us wearing very silly plastic crowns that are apparently a tradition to wear at Christmas gatherings in South Africa. (Perhaps I can get some pics from out house mates so that you won't have to be so dissapointed about that).
I did manage to snap a of pic of the dessert table though:

It was so nice to be a part of a big family Christmas dinner, even if it was not with our familes. Hope everyone had great Christmas celebrations too!
Tricia